How long a beat 'em up should be?

[16-bit Fighter]

Hey gus, it's been a while since I posted something in the forum! I'm back in my project, then I need to come back here.

What are your opinions about how long a good beat 'em up should be? Does it depend on things (playing with someone by instance) ?

 

[Bloodbane]

For me, good beat'm up should last for an hour at most. That's for beat'm ups without save feature.
With save feature, the length will depend on content. If the content is deep, couple extra hours should be fine. But if it were shallow, another hour might be too much.

 

[Mr.Q!]

For me, good beat'm up should last for an hour at most. That's for beat'm ups without save feature.
With save feature, the length will depend on content. If the content is deep, couple extra hours should be fine. But if it were shallow, another hour might be too much.

This is right, I have been thinking about this for many years and the best/easy goal would be to achieve a runtime less than an hour, or close to old arcade beat em ups. There are several games in this age that go over 1 hour and despite being pretty looking and with lots of content, people will just leave it and never play it again, despite being that good (for me, that's what happens to me with Shredder's Revenge, for example).

 

[DCurrent]

The most memorable from golden age, as noted above, tend to clock in around an hour. These days, I would want a bit more content, but arranged as such that there are things to explore or routes to take. However, sessions within that world still need to avoid wearing out their welcome. Which means not just open world, recording, and saving, but also a curated layout. One that lets you play "complete" games or chapters that are long enough to satisfy and short enough to keep fresh, even if they're part of a larger universe and story.

DC

 

[O Ilusionista]

(for me, that's what happens to me with Shredder's Revenge, for example).

Same here.
I think that game is incredible, with several interesting ideas... but there came a point (around the battle against Wingnut) when my son and I got tired of playing.

I agree with everything that was said here. I think the length should be as long as necessary to be a fun game to play. And longer games can be divided into chapters, for example.

Unfortunately, one thing that negatively impacts games nowadays is a long duration forced by Steam's refund policy – in reality, the blame lies with people who abuse it and finish the game quickly and request a refund.

 

[16-bit Fighter]

Thanks for your replies!
It tends to strengthens my conviction that my game would better be divided into two games or chapters.

Unfortunately, one thing that negatively impacts games nowadays is a long duration forced by Steam's refund policy – in reality, the blame lies with people who abuse it and finish the game quickly and request a refund.

I wasn't aware of this refund policy! Indeed it's not an advantage for beat 'em ups.

 

[O Ilusionista]

I wasn't aware of this refund policy! Indeed it's not an advantage for beat 'em ups.

Unfortunately, there are people who abuse this system. Steam detects these abuses and punishes accounts, but only when the person does it many times.
People have every right to ask for a refund on a game they didn't like. But finishing the game and asking for a refund to be clever and gain an advantage is a character flaw to me.

 

[16-bit Fighter]

I agree with you, it's not fair from this kind of players.

 

[Hanzo]

Personally a good beat'em up length should be an hour or an hour and a half tops. And second a good beat'em up should also have a good soundtrack to go along with the action and third solid controls. Some of the more recent beat em ups go on for two hours or more unless you have variety to mix it up but sometimes it will feel like padding.