Seems offensively short

[Lebe Frei]

I see a lot of threads about how the game is made in RPG Maker, and I really don't care about that if the game is good and has real work done on it to not make it a generic title. That does seem to be the case here.

My hesitancy in purchasing this, though, is that the reviews seem to average to 7 hours of play time. That is a ridiculously short amount of time for any RPG. I'd like to know what the justification is for such a short play time. I see that combat is avoidable, but that isn't a great excuse to shorten a game.

Cthulhu Saves the World is about that length, but it wasn't made in a pre-created engine and it was priced appropriately.

[schrottinator]

To the Moon took me about 4 hours to beat and I'm sure other people are faster than me. That game had a pretty deep inpact on me on an emotional level and I would say that the writing was worth every Cent I spent on release.

I'm fine with 7 hours as long as these 7 hours impress me. With all the ranting here about Skyborn being an RPGMakger Game and such a short description on the store page I wish for a feature list which is much bigger in detail.

So far it seems that the strongest point of the game will be the plot. At least that's what I assume after reading the store page and watching the trailer and the screenshots.

I also disagree on the argument about "pre-created engine" and Cthulu Saves the World. Every CryEngine-/UDK-/Unity-game would have the same flaw.

[Lebe Frei]

I do thing that the cost of an engine should reflect the price of a game, though. And that the length of a game should also reflect price. Even with all assets purchased, and not on sale, RPG Maker is probably 200 dollars. Unity Pro is 1500 dollars, Flash game development tools can't be purchased alone anymore but were around 600 dollars. CryEngine charges a revenue %, etc.

But my point isn't in the engine use, unlike most of the other posts here. I still don't buy it that 7 hours is satisfactory for an RPG. When "AAA" action titles started running this length, reviewers panned them. Now it's the industry standard, but I am not prepared to accept such short game lengths in RPGs. I find it very disappointing, and that is why I am not considering buying it. I own almost 200 purchased games, it isn't a matter of "cheapness" but I have spent 7.49 or less on games that I have 100 hours on... 7 is lame.

[Ellye]

Originally posted by Lebe Frei:

I do thing that the cost of an engine should reflect the price of a game, though. And that the length of a game should also reflect price. Even with all assets purchased, and not on sale, RPG Maker is probably 200 dollars. Unity Pro is 1500 dollars, Flash game development tools can't be purchased alone anymore but were around 600 dollars. CryEngine charges a revenue %, etc.

And each of those costs is completely irrelevant compared to the cost in manpower. Don't underestimate the amount of work that developing a game takes.
Even the most expensive of those engines would probably be less than 1% of the full development price of a commercial game. Even if a developer makes a game alone by himself, even you place his "wage" value/hour way below the avarage, it would still be enough to make the engine cost seem insignificant.

Anyway, I do kinda of agree with your point, that 7 hours sound short for a RPG. Though I'm willing to concede that, if those 7 hours are actually interesting instead of just padding (like most "long" RPGs nowadays are), it might be worth it.

[best nick EVER seen]

I'll wait for a 75% or 90% price drop. I paid 1.50 € (I think) for Cthulhu and Breath of Death. Both games take around 5 to 8 hours to play through and even offer different "mods" to add some kind of replayability value.
In addition to that, the price here in europe is 6.99€ which is around 9.64$ at the moment... too much for my taste and the full price is just out of the question.

The game looks interesting though, so I'll keep an eye on it, till the price gets a drop to areasonable ~3€

[N1tr0]

It took 10 hours for me, so, i think it's an ok for that price. Story is nice, so it worth it.

[Lebe Frei]

I purchased it and have played it for a couple of hours. I am enjoying it so far. I still am not convinced that the price is reasonable, especially the pre-sale price, but I will update my opinion when I am done.

[Mandrake42]

Im about 8 hours in and haven't finished it yet. I know the mine Im currently in will take me about another hour (Its hard, I think Im not supposed to be where I am yet, but man, the XP). I know for a fact I have another big dungeon after that plus a few side quests so Im fuguring 10-12 hours? Ill keep you posted

[Timeraider]

Thats why i hope they get their oher games especially Deadly Sins 2, which is closer to 20-25 hours

[Mandrake42]

I just clocked 15 hours and only just got the second elite class each character gets. Id play more but its like 5am. Once again Ill keep you posted on the total finish time but 15 hours and it doesnt look like the end game yet.

[renbletz]

It took me about 15 hours to complete, playing on Hard mode and doing all optional bosses & content.

If length is a concern, the Hard difficulty setting can pad out the time a bit... and I'd recommend using it anyway, as the game's kinda too easy on Normal anyway.

I will say, though, that the game's length is its biggest drawback; it's a pretty high quality experience during those hours. Good dialogue, characters, and plot, along with great battle and itemization systems.

[Mandrake42]

Im still going at 17 hours but Im really pretty sure Im near the end now, Im about to ascend right into the top of the city, just clearing out the Arena first (Note I did all the sidequests and found all the cards so that probably added a couple of hours). Considering I got it on sale for $7.50 Im pretty damn happy with it. Ive gotten less hours from AAA titles that cost me 10 times the price. Sure the graphics in a AAA title are better, I won't argue that for a moment but I think a game gameplay and fun factor count for a lot and Ive gotten what I consider a really fair deal with Skyborn..

[Crescent LaBlood]

Originally posted by Lebe Frei:

I do thing that the cost of an engine should reflect the price of a game, though. And that the length of a game should also reflect price. Even with all assets purchased, and not on sale, RPG Maker is probably 200 dollars. Unity Pro is 1500 dollars, Flash game development tools can't be purchased alone anymore but were around 600 dollars. CryEngine charges a revenue %, etc.

But my point isn't in the engine use, unlike most of the other posts here. I still don't buy it that 7 hours is satisfactory for an RPG. When "AAA" action titles started running this length, reviewers panned them. Now it's the industry standard, but I am not prepared to accept such short game lengths in RPGs. I find it very disappointing, and that is why I am not considering buying it. I own almost 200 purchased games, it isn't a matter of "cheapness" but I have spent 7.49 or less on games that I have 100 hours on... 7 is lame.

what bout thew cost for comercail use of Scripts and GFX , ie one person wants 35 dollers from me just to use 3 Char sets 0.0 , and another wants 15 a game to use his script
.

[Lebe Frei]

So that's 50 dollars... Not exactly bank breaking in game development. It doesn't justify having a game that costs as much as a game that you actually did the work on, in my opinion. You bought someone else's scripts AND art, SAVING you money. Do you know how much you'd have to pay someone to do art or coding exclusively for your project? It's a hell of a lot more than 50 dollars.

[Crescent LaBlood]

to be honest i belive in sell low sell fast and watch it all add up:P

[Lebe Frei]

I think that's probably smart in a situation like this. Zeboyd's low prices obviously worked for them.