How Long is too Long? A Story Length Query

This week I've been trying to navigate all the social media posts about people doing some version of the following:  1.) bemoaning the fact they haven't had success in ordering the PS5; 2.) gloating over the fact they were able to order a PS5 or, of the more PC variety, 3.) bemoaning the fact that they haven't had success ordering a 3000 series GPU; 4.) gloating over the fact they were able to order a 3000 series GPU.  After seeing approximately 9 billion different versions of the aforementioned posts, a couple of pieces of gaming news were able to break through.

System specs for CyberPunk 2077!

Both pieces of news are related to the highly anticipated CyberPunk 2077, which is slated to be released later this year (November-ish, I believe).  After much waiting and anticipatory gnashing of teeth, the system requirements were released (see image below).  I was pleasantly surprised as both the minimum specs and the recommended specs seen reasonable.  I know there was some concern that the game could gobble up an insane amount of disk space, but the 70 GB listed is well below what many people anticipated (I think Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey is currently gobbling up a very sizable chunk of space on my HDD).  Now everyone has a target to aim for and hopefully the rabid fanbase can get their hands on needed upgrades prior to the release

The other piece of news is related to the length of the main storyline.  According to this source, the story in CyberPunk will be shorter than the story was in The Witcher 3.  Data from player activity in TW3 revealed that many players never actually finished the main storyline and CD Projekt Red apparently wants more people to finish it.  I am a bit surprised by the fact that people didn't finish the main storyline--according to the above linked article people can finish the entire main storyline in 32 hours...if they skip all the side content.  What kind of monster does that though?!?

Personally, I've always enjoyed a big RPG and if it's well designed (as TW3 is) I'm willing to spend a lot of time playing.  I can also understand the reality that many people just don't have hundreds of hours to sink into completionist playthroughs of todays uber open-world RPG's.  I am looking forward to a long jaunt through the world of CyberPunk 2077 and fully intend to spend as much time as I can meticulously completing every bit of content.

Even though TW3 had a long story I liked how it was designed--it took you to every region in the main game and placed you in a new location at perfectly spaced intervals.  Lingering too long in one place can get tedious, so a change in scenery is needed every once in awhile.  One of my main complaints about Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey is that the absurd size of the map feels fairly pointless.  The main storyline doesn't take you to every region (although there are side quests that can draw you there) and much of the exploration based content seems a bit like needless filler (but, I'm positive that I read something Ubisoft said--that in their playtesting people actively requested the nightmare map o' symbols that seems pretty stock in their games).  I'm on board for engaging content rather than the mindless grind through map symbols that don't contribute much to the actual game.

As much as I would love to pre-order CyberPunk, I'm probably going to hold off until it has been released, gone through the early release growing pains, and is stable and has been patched (even though I don't remember many problems with TW3).  It's going to be painful, but I think I will survive.

Good luck to those of you trying to navigate the PS5/3000 series GPU ordering frenzy.  I would highly encourage you PS5 people to come to the world of PC gaming where it's not a bare knuckled brawl for hardware (the vast majority of the time).  I know you love your exclusives....but it's better over here ;)