While many AAA video games boast about including days' worth of content to enjoy, Squanch Games' High on Life goes for a much shorter runtime. Instead of being a 20+ hour shooter, most players can complete High on Life in as little as six hours. This leads to a pretty concise story that seldom takes a break, and that may have been a great choice.
Many players have enjoyed shooting through Justin Roiland's imagination so far, and the game's short length may be helping a lot. It has a bad habit of reusing enemies and locales, and Justin Roiland's brand of comedy can sometimes be too much for people. However, many of these issues are alleviated by the fact that players do not spend much time in High on Life. A game like this strongly benefits from a shorter length, and more developers should take note.
Justin Roiland's Comedy Can Be a Lot
What players get out of High on Life is contingent on how much they enjoy Justin Roiland's brand of humor. He has made a name for himself with a unique voice through popular animated shows like Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites, and he brings that same humor to High on Life. However, instead of being contained to quick 25-30 minute episodes, players have to endure this humor for around 10 hours in Squanch Games' latest release. While it is definitely very funny in areas, sometimes Roiland's humor can be a bit too much.
A common criticism of Justin Roiland is that he only goes back to so many voices, and all of them are on display again in High on Life. He also brings a very self-referential and meta style of humor to whatever he works on, which works well in his animated shows. It also works pretty well in High on Life, but after so many hours it can get annoying. The game even offers a way for players to turn off some of the constant dialogue, as if Squanch Games anticipated that players would get sick of the chatter.
Yet Roiland's style of humor is popular for a reason, and High on Life is not short on laugh-out-loud moments. Most players should have a great time shooting through this galaxy and interacting with its wild cast of characters. However, the same might not be said if it kept going through dozens of hours.
High on Life Makes Good Use of its General Lack of Content
High on Life is not particularly deep, and there is not a lot of variety within its galaxy. While it has some cool-looking planets, there is a point in the story where it begins to reuse locations. There are also not many enemy types, and the bosses are not varied enough to warrant reappearances. This can make the latter half of the game feel like a slog, but Squanch Games helps make up for that lack of variation by not dragging the players along too long.
High on Life will spend a couple of hours introducing various planets and enemies, and then spent the last couple revisiting them. The story is quick enough that a lot of players may not even be bothered by the reuse of assets, even if this would have become noticeable should Squanch Games try to tell a grander story. It may have stretched High on Life's content even thinner, leading to a far less enjoyable experience.
High on Life is not a perfect game, but its short length helps improve the experience immensely. The runtime doesn't overstay its welcome, and allows players to look past some of its faults if they become more focused on laughing and having a great time. While a short length may not work for every game, High on Life shows that there is still a place for shorter experiences among the modern expansive AAA landscape.
High on Life is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.