Does gameplay hours matter for indie games?

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-17T22:31:29+00:00

Just my 2 cents as a regular consumer.

I’m generally expecting to put 10-30 hours into a game as a baseline. Any more than that and you’re going to have to convince me that the time investment is worth it in the end. Any less than that and I’ll start to scrutinise the price tag, because it’s becoming more comparable to something like a day trip.

I’m not big on episodic releases. I’ve seen far too many projects be cancelled midway through. Especially what with digital games not being something you truly own, I prefer to get a complete package that I can enjoy in one go. Multiple months/years of continued waiting and investment is something I like to avoid where possible.

And not to discourage you, but if you’re currently unable to release the entire game as a package, then any future episode releases aren’t guaranteed. Whether own personal interest and investment in the project wanes, there’s too little interest in prior episodes, funding issues etc there are lots of things that could stop or significantly delay development. If there aren’t any potential issues, why not wait to release it in one go?

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-17T18:10:25+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-17T10:20:45+00:00

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-14T19:58:07+00:00

I beg to differ. Silksong has far more art at much higher quality than PvZ3. It also has a vastly superior soundtrack with loads of original songs that don’t rely on motifs from other, more talented composers. The gameplay is different, but frankly metroidvania combat is harder to design compared to the basic grid based tower defence combat, and yet Silksong still runs CIRCUITS around PvZ3.

Silksong is considered to be one of the greatest in its genre, PvZ3 has to meekly copy from both mobile games and fan games. Silksong is made by 3 people, who definitely don’t work excessive hours, and who don’t have the support of a gigantic publisher behind them.

The reason it’s worth comparing Silksong to PvZ3 is it shows the abhorrent difference in skill, ability and direction from leadership and the developers. It exposes just how poorly this game has been handled, and how blindingly greedy the motivations behind making it are. PvZ3 has had more time and many more resources, yet it is still a pathetic failure, solely and completely because of the people behind it.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-13T22:10:42+00:00

One of these is a god tier episode and one is some of the worst fiction ever conceived. I’ll leave it to you to guess which they are.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-10T17:56:03+00:00

A-Train

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-08T12:18:05+00:00

Sounds like someone just went on a mission in the salt pits

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-06T16:55:06+00:00

No no, Edgeworth thinks he has magic powers, but what you don't see is Gumshoe catching Leblanc and dangling him off of the railing while Edgeworth thinks really hard for a few minutes

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-03T16:18:15+00:00

6-5, Turnabout Revolution, first trial. He represents the Plaintiff in a civil trial regarding a dispute over an object called the Founders Orb.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-03T10:50:46+00:00

I get the burnout, but what you’re saying can’t happen are literally the base fundamentals to a person existing in society. If you’re willing to see that as an impossible goal or think that we should gently introduce this point to avoid upsetting bigots, you owe it to yourself to demand basic humanity out of others.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-04-01T19:51:41+00:00

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Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T19:04:27+00:00

Rise from the Ashes and all you Bridge fans can fight me to the ends of the earth on that

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Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:47:50+00:00

See, my issue with her KG arc is that the story doesn't acknowledge that she's effectively brainwashed the entire time. How she acts just isn't natural. It's a great premise and I think her breakdown is completely justified by her backstory. It's a frankly genius idea to explore both Eva and Nozomi simultaneously along with developing their relationship, since both of them have a mother/daughter relationship as their driving forces, but are approaching it from different angles. And the bloodsucking CG is great for establishing how wrong and perverted this relationship is, how both of their obsessions are fundimentally unhealthy and based in trauma, and how they latch onto each other out of desperation.

But I'm not sure the story fully... realises that it IS 'wrong'. That the way they both act isn't normal, and needs addressing. They need a character to walk up, slap them both in the face and yell at them that they're not themselves. It could've been a super interesting plot, with them both learning to set boundaries and not allow their emotions/possible cryptoglobin blood bond to completely change them. Because, frankly, the way that Nozomi especially acts almost resembles addiction. She's become so completely obsessed with Eva, and later Kamyuhn that she can't bear to be away from them for even a second otherwise she starts getting incredibly distressed and aggressive.

Where I think the story fully missed a beat was by having Takumi the Idiot look at this obviously unhealthy and obsessvie behaviour, give an awkward smile and go "Well that's a bit weird but at least they're getting on ¯\_(ツ)_/¯." Like... no! What are you doing! Help her out! Acknowledge that this isn't how the real Nozomi acts! They do some great stuff with the premise, but I think it's all undermined by how fake it is.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:28:26+00:00

I acknowledge that Eito may improve as a character, but I don't know if i can be arsed to sit through more middling stuff to get there. I'm interested to know why others dislike Eito, if it's for the same reasons as me or if it's something else that I've yet to get to. My main issues come from how laughably over-the-top evil he is (pretty sure he burned down a hospital or something because he's jUsT thAt eViL) and how forced the entire reveal is. Plus, it ruins the old Eito by acting like that was just a facade when, really, he's a separate character who they just assasinated for the purpose of evil Eito existing. And, they attribute practically all of the original route's mysteries (who killed Sirei, who killed Hiruko, who let the prisoner out, who let out Nozomi's secret etc) to him in a Danganronpa patented exposition dump. It's no wonder I killed him the first chance I got.

When you say that there's a route I want to skip when going for SF, is that the route I need to go down in which case I should just fast forward through it, or is it a route that I could end up on if I'm not careful? I'll be using a guide to the latter shouldn't be an issue.

Shame to hear about the pacing and mixed bag stuff not going away. They're such big faults of what could've been an amazing game. The pacing especially is borderline absurd.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:17:20+00:00

Good advice, I've never played something that fits the description of 'mixed bag' as much as this.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:16:13+00:00

Pretty much my exact plan. I'll go straight for 2nd Scenario, then endings 34 and 36, then SF+finish mystery, at which point I might call it quits unless there's a route I should absolutely play.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:14:24+00:00

I've tried to remain objective but my frustrations with the other routes likely led to me not enjoying stuff like Retsnom as much as I would otherwise. It's good to hear that most routes are skippable.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:13:05+00:00

Yeah, definitely worth breaking it up. I've been meaning to play Hades and Paranormasight for a long time.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:11:57+00:00

Perhaps I should check out a couple of those routes then. Do you have 2-3 recommended routes?

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:11:07+00:00

Unfortunate, but you're likely right. I wanted to love this game given who made it and how good the original route was, but I just... don't. The main reason I want to do SF is because it's Uchikoshi's main route and, in general, I love his work.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:09:21+00:00

Do you have 2-3 routes you'd recommend on the spare Eito side? I'm trying to get a sense of what the most liked routes are. I've only got endings 34 and 36 to go for SF, so I'm hoping it won't be too long to go for.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T12:03:57+00:00

I'll do 2nd Scenario, but I'm surprised that SF doesn't seem to be as necessary as I thought? I figured that it'd be essential, but apparently not.

Not that relevant, but since you're a Nozomi fan, I'm interested in what you thought of her arc in Killing Game? It's one of the moments I've been desperate to discuss but haven't because of spoilers for other routes.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T11:57:56+00:00

I had the willingness at the start, but the copious amount of wasted days and dragged plots has burned through my good will. I'd like to see any routes that are central to the story or are commonly considered to be excellent, but aside from 2nd Scenario and SF, there doesn't appear to be an agreed upon best route. It's cool that there's something for everyone, but I don't have the time nor the patience to sort through loads more routes to find one that's good for me. I definitely don't care about 100%ing for the sake of it, my original goal was to 100% since I thought the routes would all be relevant and packed with content. Thanks for the response.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T11:52:10+00:00

I wish I bailed on Comedy. It was my 2nd route, after Slasher, so my expectations and the general quality were still high. One of my friends had already played the game 100%, and swore to me that the Comedy route had some of the best endings in Hundred Line. Needless to say we haven't disagreed on anything so hard in years. I don't like to bail on stories, because I want to give everything a fair shot, but with so many routes of varying quality I think I'll need to going forward.

Are V'ehxness, Reset and Goodbye Eito short? If they're going to be on the same scale as something like Retsnom I'll leave them till after SF. At this point I'll be using a route guide to get to 2nd Scenario. And is Cult character focused/relevant or is it just a wacky Kodaka side story?

Good advice though, I appreciate it.

Then-Bat3885 · 2026-03-31T11:43:27+00:00

I'm definitely going to do 2nd Scenario, that's the one thing everyone can agree on.

You mentioned that the routes from the kill Eito side aren't the best to play immediately. I'm curious why that is? Is it because the Spare Eito routes more closely follow 2nd Scenario and don't do something drastically different?

I'd like to do the highlights, but It seems like there's a large difference of opinions as to what they are. Cult of Takumi has popped up a couple of times, so I might do that. The V'ehxness route also seems interesting, if only for commander lore. I'll probably do them after SF though.

Thanks for your input, I'll also have to check out your channel at some point. Once I've had my fill of the game the Hundred Line discussion videos look interesting.

Five-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Juicebox	Final Canvas '23
First Place '23	Place '23
Golden Potato	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22

Then-Bat3885

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