Hello everyone!
I recently finished a private playthrough of Grey Heritage: Counter Gambit and wanted to talk about some of the things that happened along this journey.
Playthrough Time Expectations
The game is 13 chapters long instead of my usual 14. I did consider pushing it to 14 chapters, but I felt like it would come off as filler, and I wanted a tighter, more conclusive finish to the trilogy. My own run took 6 hours without any cutscenes. Because I'm the developer and already know the game inside and out, I like to multiply my time by 1.5x to 2x to estimate a first-time playthrough for the audience. This means I expect about 9-12 hours of pure gameplay from your personal playthrough.
The script is about 40,000 words long. The average person reads about 1,000 words in 4 minutes, but since this is a video game with transitions and effects, I push this average closer to 5 minutes per 1,000 words. This means I expect players to take about 3-4 hours to experience the narration.
(9-12 Gameplay Hours) + (3-4 Narration Hours) = 12-16 Expected Playthrough Hours.
So far, I’ve been using this formula and I've noticed it’s roughly accurate based on people’s playthroughs of my previous games. This is a pace I am personally very satisfied with.
Prioritizing Game Design
Because this game is a sequel and the finale to the trilogy, I didn't have to work as hard on creating the world, assets, or new mechanics from scratch. This time, I was allowed to focus solely on how good the game design feels. Game design and telling stories are the things I’m most passionate about in this industry, and I believe they are my core strengths as a developer. Grey Heritage: Counter Gambit might be my favorite game I’ve worked on so far.
When looking back, I like to consider how much I loved working on a game and what might happen once I release it. My personal ranking for Counter Gambit is quite high. I think this features some of the finest level design and pacing I’ve achieved across all my games, and I am extremely proud of the work it took to get here.
I will say, though, by default, this might be the worst-selling Grey Heritage title. I don't mean this to be pessimistic or anything. It’s the finale to a trilogy, so the number of people who have played and finished the previous two games will naturally be lower. By design, this will sell less, and fewer people will play it.
(I joined 2019 to share my work WAY back.)
So why did I make Counter Gambit?
Over 6 years ago, I wanted to make an SRPG trilogy. I draw strong inspiration from Fire Emblem, but I am also a huge fan of epic trilogies and series. I’ve had this trilogy idea since I created Faded Vision. In fact, Grey Heritage: Noble Duty was actually the first story I ever wrote. However, I decided Faded Vision was the better title for my first release, and that I would work on Noble Duty afterward. Counter Gambit is the culmination of both games and was planned from the very beginning.
Now that I am seeing the end in sight, it’s surreal to watch this trilogy finally come to fruition. It has been a long journey with many ups and downs, but I am incredibly grateful to have made it this far.
I really hope you enjoy the trilogy in its entirety. Again, thank you so much for your interest in the Grey Heritage series, and I hope to see you at the finish line!
-BTrain