how long are the tea parties and ???

[Ryo]

i got 1 and 2 unlocked and close to getting 3, but i havent started any of them, how long are they each?? are they just as long as normal episodes or are they short?

[TrickZZter]

You're supposed to read them as soon as they unlocked.

[Ellixer]

They really depend on the episode as I recall. Some are kind of short (Episode 1 and 2's) some are really long. I don't think they're ever longer than the actual episode, but they can really take a while. In any case you are supposed to read them as soon as they are unlocked. I don't know why they gave people the option to skip them since you would have to fill in a lot of blanks in Episode 2 if you didn't play Episode 1's Tea Party and ???.

[Heatth]

It varies, but they are about as big as a "chapter" in an episode. Some are quite big, but they are never as big as an episode, not even close.

Anyway, you messed up. You are supposed to watch them in order. I suppose you used the "unlock" button on the menu to go to the following episodes, right? That is not what you are supposed to do. After you watch an episode, its Tea Party is unlcoked, after the tea party, the ??? and after the ??? the next episode. The tea party and ??? are integral part of the story, not an opinional extra.

[the2ndSign]

You're supposed to play the game like this: Episode 1>EP1 Tea Party>EP1 ????>Episode 2 etc. The tea parties aren't Super long. They're not like Higurashi's all-cast review session; they're actually important and necessary to fully undertand the story. So, basically what everyone else has been saying.

Checking each episode's Tips from the main menu after completion is worthwhile as well.

[Karifean]

Some (especially those of the first few chapters) are only around 10-20 minutes, the ones in later episodes can take an hour or two. And as everyone else has already said, reading them is certainly mandatory.

[Lars]

The true question is why haven't you read them yet after you finished each EP.

[Ryo]

because they werent important

[kilicool64]

Originally posted by Ventus:

because they werent important

You are in no position to claim that without reading them. Some really important stuff happens in the first tea party in particular.

[the2ndSign]

I mean, hey, if you want to miss big chunks of the story, go for it.

[Ellixer]

Originally posted by Ventus:

because they werent important

They are all important.

Maybe you played Higurashi and made the assumption that it's a comedic fourth-wall breaking sequence. It isn't. Tea Parties are part of the Episode and all of them connect one Episode to the next. They are not even epilogues, they are literally part of the Episode. Episode 1-4 will straight up have no ending if you don't read the Tea Party. If you started Episode 2 without reading the Tea Party I don't know how you didn't get confused that Beatrice straight up appeared to Battler and they acted like this isn't their first meeting and instead have tea and play chess while looking over the game and discussing it.

[marakeusz]

It is the novel's fault really. I understand why the sections are separated. But the next chapters should not be unlocked before finishing "extra" chapters. There is no good reason for that.

[TrickZZter]

Originally posted by marakeusz:

It is the novel's fault really.

No, it's not novel's fault. Ventus just messed up by pressing "unlock" button.

[marakeusz]

My mistake then.

[Lars]

If you think they aren't important then don't bother reading the novel at all.

[Smeckledorf]

Originally posted by Lars4Street:

If you think they aren't important then don't bother reading the novel at all.

This is partially untrue. From the mystery aspect: the tea parties are fluff. If you are reading because you enjoy the story, then you need to read the tea parties.

Albeit, the tea parties are canon so not reading them might leave you confused at certain points of the episodes.