PyroMenace asks a very important question that I had not thought of in quite some time. Is the linear game dead? My first response might be yes until I actually sit down and think about that for a minute. Many RPGs might still be considered linear by some people. So my answer to that question would have to be no, but the newer styled games are working to see that some day they are wiped from the face of the planet for ever. It will happen, just watch.

Linear games these days usually get the heaviest criticism if there is nothing backing it up in the story or game play departments. This is probably the reason that the role playing genre is seeing such a drought for the console giants. For the usual Final Fantasy formula based RPG to be successful now there must be strenuous attention to its production values and a strict devotion on story to keep an interesting plot focus. Plus you pile on the average 50-60 hour game length, and you got a really long development process. Gamers are growing an ever increasing appetite for entertainment in their video games so more games are becoming closer to real life. Meaning that gamers like making more choices when playing and the level of interaction gets deeper and more complex, so in result, linear game play can no longer cut it.