Worried about game length

[Rispido84]

I'm willing to pay 20 euros for this game, I've enjoyed the demo and I love the concept.

BUT, game length is deal breaker for me. I'm not paying "an euro per hour of gameplay", so I need to know how long will it take to go throw the game.

Thanks.

[Cyrenic]

I think if you watch at the history of Moonlighter you can pretty much expect the same here. A bit lackluster in the beginning, but necessery additions later on. Like New Game+ and much QoL stuff. But that's how games are done nowadays. They should have had enough time already to do everything, but I highly doubt it.

Also I don't see what's wrong with 1 Euro for 1 hour of gameplay. Many games give much less and are still getting praised. Replayability isn't a criteria for a good game for many years now, sadly.

I'm more concnered because it had a release date of 29th of August the other day and now it says September. And 10% go until it releases. And when it releases they put out coupons from 11bit or whoever and you get it for less and all that bs. And when online multiplayer hits after like 3 months, you get at least 15-20% discount. And that's when the game starts getting interesting for most people. Not for me. I have my coop partner right here. We can play local, so we will get like 1 copy now, and the other when online multiplayer happens most likely. A bit sour about the price, too, since "$ = €" but that's what many european based devs do now.

Anyway, demo was like 2 hours and when you finish it resets your progress from what I've expirienced. And it wasn't anything that gives you a strong opinion about the game. These games change in the later game anyway. So you never know what you get, really.

But to answer your question: I'd probably guess 25-30 hours for the story + side missions. Everything after that will most likely come later.

[Rispido84]

Originally posted by Cyrenic:

I think if you watch at the history of Moonlighter you can pretty much expect the same here. A bit lackluster in the beginning, but necessery additions later on. Like New Game+ and much QoL stuff. But that's how games are done nowadays. They should have had enough time already to do everything, but I highly doubt it.

Also I don't see what's wrong with 1 Euro for 1 hour of gameplay. Many games give much less and are still getting praised. Replayability isn't a criteria for a good game for many years now, sadly.

I'm more concnered because it had a release date of 29th of August the other day and now it says September. And 10% go until it releases. And when it releases they put out coupons from 11bit or whoever and you get it for less and all that bs. And when online multiplayer hits after like 3 months, you get at least 15-20% discount. And that's when the game starts getting interesting for most people. Not for me. I have my coop partner right here. We can play local, so we will get like 1 copy now, and the other when online multiplayer happens most likely. A bit sour about the price, too, since "$ = €" but that's what many european based devs do now.

Anyway, demo was like 2 hours and when you finish it resets your progress from what I've expirienced. And it wasn't anything that gives you a strong opinion about the game. These games change in the later game anyway. So you never know what you get, really.

But to answer your question: I'd probably guess 25-30 hours for the story + side missions. Everything after that will most likely come later.

Hi Cyrenic!

I don't like the way videogame industry is working nowadays and the tendency for short retrogames with prices over 20€/$, so I don't want to encourage that behaviour. I also don't like those "half finished" releases, with the promise of a "finishing patch" if everything works well for the devs. Those are the reason that make me reject non AAA games with less than an hour of gameplay for an euro/dollar... I know that I'm paying for a "late-beta" that could, or not, be finished. As stupid as it sounds.

On top of that, talking about Children of Morta, devs are asking for my money in advance, even after pushing the release date (as you pointed) with a minimal discount. Try to imagine that situation in any other industry and your mind will explode. Imagine buying a car with a 10% discount but not knowing when will it be finished (after being pushed the release date) and with the certainty that, once you finally get it, you will need to take it to your mechanic for final tweeks.

So yeah, if I'm opening my wallet I want to know first if at least I will have around 25-30 hours of gameplay, at least.

[Cyrenic]

But we'll just have to take what we get. Many things have been already done in the gaming industry. Right now the people just want to feed theirselves with video game programming. Sadly we have games like Forager, that's just one guy getting a few 100k bucks for just an average game. But the huge problem is, that it's all about graphics now. And that the game length has decreased by alot. Started back in like 2010/2011 with Dragon Age 2 I believe. That was the most abridged game ever.

What I do is wait shortly before release, see if I want to play it right now and just preorder it like 1 hour in advance at most. If it goes off sale before that just wait until it goes on sale again or buy from an external site. As customer you still have many options. But I don't think they are pushing around the release date for funsies. There is some serious work behind it, I believe.

[Danimosity]

I bet the release date was pushed because of bugs found in the last couple of days with the demo being out there.

As far as content goes, I am guessing that there will be three portals containing three zones each, with 2 levels and a boss in each zone. Then maybe a final zone with another 2 levels and boss fight. Considering it took a few hours for me to beat the first zone boss, I think there is plenty of content. As for replayability, The demo had two available characters, where the game had many more, all of whom will probably require leveling to be viable in harder levels. This easily doubles the play time at least. Besides, you are paying for the quality of experience, not just time spent. I played Moonlight when it came out and felt it was a rather empty experience. This demo gave me more enjoyment than the entirety of Moonlighter

[foreground noise]

Another quantity > quality post

[[Ygg]Azarhiel]

Did you play it ? Did you fight the first boss ? How long did it take you to do so ?
I doubt this game will be finished in 20h in the first try now that i've seen the first boss. It will take couple of hours dying and trying to beat that boss. If every other boss in this game are like this one, i'm good for a 40 hours + game.

This game is like Hollow Knight, it probably can be finished in less that 5 hours, but not on the first try... Usually, players that finish that kind of games in a shot amount of time (aka speed running) stacked hundreds of hours to be able to speerun it...

[Phirestar]

Well in the demo, we played the first 2-3 hours of the game, which was enough to get through the introduction and the first dungeon. There are three "places" that must be traveled to before entering (I'm guessing) the final zone at Mount Morta. We know that there's at least three dungeons on the path to the first spirit, and probably an equal or higher amount for the other two.

Based on what I saw from the story side of the game, it seems like there will be multiple events to trigger within single dungeons. The goal isn't merely just to reach the end and beat the boss. But to also discover all of the secrets within the floors of the dungeon, in order to progress different plot-points and / or gain access to gameplay-relevant content such as the shopkeep. That would make each one last for a good bit of time, and I would guess some of the later dungeons might have more than two floors total.

We also didn't get to see any of the other 4 playable characters, of which 2(?) aren't even there at the Bergsons' home.

So, I'd say it's safe to assume that the game is not going to be too short. If I were to take a vague guess at playthrough time, I could see it being maybe 30 hours for completion. And that's assuming that it's only the one main campaign, and there aren't any sort of additional extras outside of it.

[Rispido84]

Originally posted by moon haunter:

Another quantity > quality post

Dont get me wrong, mate. I'm not asking for quantity over quality. I don't want a 100 hour game for an euro/a dollar, but I think that demanding a quality product under a €/$ per hour of gameplay is not exaggerated. And we have to keep in mind that, as beuatiful as a pixel-art game can be (I'm a great fan and I'm here because of it), it's not an AAA title. I'm totally sure that Children of Morta required a lot of time and effort, but it's not a title as "The Witcher 3" or GTA.

So I am worried about buying an indie game for +/-20€ and get an unpolished product with a game lenght under 20 hours. As simple as that, talking just by my experience as a player/buyer. And I repeat, I'm not stating anything but asking for info.

[lopedo]

I beat the spider boss on my second run with the male character. I don't know how you guys took 2 hours to kill him. That said, I did start over and play a few more runs to see some of the events/power ups.

Rouge-lite genre these days is pretty tainted. Take a 4-8 hour game, split it into chunks, randomize it, call it a rouge-lite. Will this be different? I dunno. I hope so. Personally, the combat didn't hook me enough to give it a pre-order, and I'll read reviews and watch gameplay once it comes out to see if I'll pick it up.

[Mati]

Get it on sale then, stop wishing for quantity over quality, its ruining games. It already ruined open world games..

[Aru]

Originally posted by MatijaxD:

Get it on sale then, stop wishing for quantity over quality, its ruining games. It already ruined open world games..

The most jarring example of this is AC:Odyssey. Game is absolutely beautiful but even Atlantis dlcs are boring because you do the same things over and over and over again for 100+hours.

[Rispido84]

Guys, world is not black or white. There is no option A vs B. I'm not asking for quantity over quality or the other way around, and this is becoming a bit boring. I've just talked about my worries of CoM being a game under 20 hours of gameplay, as simple as that.

It's hard for me to understand that need of jumping into threads just to repeat a mantra, as a lemming train. At least most of the people here were really trying to help, expressing an elaborate point of view.

[[Ygg]Azarhiel]

Originally posted by lopedo:

I beat the spider boss on my second run with the male character. I don't know how you guys took 2 hours to kill him. That said, I did start over and play a few more runs to see some of the events/power ups.

Rouge-lite genre these days is pretty tainted. Take a 4-8 hour game, split it into chunks, randomize it, call it a rouge-lite. Will this be different? I dunno. I hope so. Personally, the combat didn't hook me enough to give it a pre-order, and I'll read reviews and watch gameplay once it comes out to see if I'll pick it up.

Great, you are very good at playing this kind of game, have better reflexes etc. One of my friend finished Hollow Knight 100% in less than 20 hours, i'm at 70% and already past 30h mark.

No unique players are equal on this point. Someone may be better at logistics, someone will be better at fighting games and another one will be better at plateforming.

So it is not because you beat it on your second run that it will be the same for everyone.
For me it took 20 minutes to find the boss with the Father, and another 35 minutes with the older daughter. Accounting on death and trries, i probably won't beat it in less than 2 hours...

[Power]

Originally posted by Rispido84:

I'm willing to pay 20 euros for this game, I've enjoyed the demo and I love the concept.

BUT, game length is deal breaker for me. I'm not paying "an euro per hour of gameplay", so I need to know how long will it take to go throw the game.

Thanks.

exactly how much do you pay to see a movie that lasts 2 hours? Im gonna go ahead and assume its more than 2 euros. Why do people seem to think that a video game should cost less and last longer than any other form of entertainment.

We pay like $30 to eat out at a restaurant, $12 to watch a 2 hour movie in a theater. $8 to splash around in a waterpark for a few hours.

But people seem to expect a Video game for $20 to last 60 hours to be "worth it" and if a $60 AAA game doesn't last 300+ its a bad game. thats just stupid.

[Rispido84]

Originally posted by Power:

Originally posted by Rispido84:

I'm willing to pay 20 euros for this game, I've enjoyed the demo and I love the concept.

BUT, game length is deal breaker for me. I'm not paying "an euro per hour of gameplay", so I need to know how long will it take to go throw the game.

Thanks.

exactly how much do you pay to see a movie that lasts 2 hours? Im gonna go ahead and assume its more than 2 euros. Why do people seem to think that a video game should cost less and last longer than any other form of entertainment.

We pay like $30 to eat out at a restaurant, $12 to watch a 2 hour movie in a theater. $8 to splash around in a waterpark for a few hours.

But people seem to expect a Video game for $20 to last 60 hours to be "worth it" and if a $60 AAA game doesn't last 300+ its a bad game. thats just stupid.

You still have to understand how market works, because it's obvious that you don't... Or probably you don't want to.

There has to be a balance between costs, benefits and what the customer is willing to pay for the experience. You pointed at "$12 to watch a 2 hour movie in a theater"... Yeah. In my country theaters are almost empty as a regular basis, only breaking that reality with the release of Blockbusters. Why? Because for less than $12 you have a Netflix/HBO monthly subcription, so customers are punishing theaters.

In any case, by your statement and the movie example, how much should a title as Witcher 3 cost? The average main story run lasts for more or less 50 hours, so... $300? Can't you see that your point is not holding reality?

On top of that you did not read the thread. I don't want Devs to offer 60 hours of gamplay for $20. I'm just against the stream that nowadays is giving us, players, less than an hour of gameplay per $/€... Specially on non AAA titles. And, as we say in my country, movement proves itself by walking... Those non AAA titles that give +-15hours for $20-25 are selled way better on discount, because people find them expensive for what they're getting.

Can you imagine a big number os buyers waiting for titles as GTA or Pillars of Eternity to go on discount? They are getting a fair price, so they are buying at the start.

Finally, as I've pointed before, I opened this thread just to talk about my worries related to game lenght, and the possibility that CoM could give us less than 20 hours of gameplay. You have to keep in mind that Devs asked us for our money in advance, but they didn't give that info. I think it's not fair, and I'm wasting my time here because I've enjoyed the demo and I want to buy it, but not by encouraging a tendency in videogame industry that I don't like at all.