Should more RPG's follow the model Dragon Quest XI has for demos?

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nintendoboy16

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#1 nintendoboy16
Member since 2007 • 41489 Posts

So, not long ago, I downloaded the demo for Dragon Quest XI for my Switch, and a day after that, I buy the game for the same platform (side note, it's my first Dragon Warrior/Quest) and one thing I really like about it is that it lets players go up to the first ten hours of the game and when that's done, you can transfer your progress. Even though the game is out, I plan on running it up until I need the real game.

Actually, more I think about it, any other game that uses a similar model for demos already?

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TJDMHEM

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#2 TJDMHEM
Member since 2006 • 3260 Posts

yes.

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mrbojangles25

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#4  Edited By mrbojangles25
Member since 2005 • 58155 Posts

Yeah it's a pretty novel concept in this day and age, especially with the scarcity of actual game demos.

@getyeryayasout said:

I'm surprised more demos don't do that. I'm sure I've played demos with a similar option, but none that come to mind.

It seems like it would lead to more sales. By the 10 hour mark most gamers are going to be invested into the game all but financially and could feel compelled to protect that 10 hour investment (playtime, save data) by purchasing the game.

Yeah I agree, I wish there were A.) more demos, and B.) these demos were actually representative of the entire game by actually having a chunk of the game in the demo.

Some memorable demos for me were:

  • FEAR: actually had a whole level of the game in the demo. Really gave you a taste of the game, and I was hooked from the moment I engaged slo-mo and shotgunned and scissor-kicked my first enemy. The levels in FEAR were not particularly long, but they were well-crafted and long enough.
  • Battlefield: Bad Company 2: they essentially gave you the entire game except they only included one map. The thing was, it was a great map and for weeks after the game actually came out, I still played the demo haha.

Surprisingly (or not), MMO's probably offer the best "demos" these days in the free, month-long trials they often have. If you really wanted to push the definition of "demo", you could argue the free-to-play option of many MMO's are infinite demos in that they give you a taste of the game but not the whole thing.

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Planeforger

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#5 Planeforger
Member since 2004 • 19550 Posts

I've seen a few other games take this approach lately, such as Valkyria Chronicles 4 or Daemon Ex Machina.

It's a nice incentive to get people to play demos.

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sakaiXx

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#6 sakaiXx
Member since 2013 • 15868 Posts

Well sure, but DQXI on ps4 is around 110 - 130 hours to finish story/platinum so 10 hours for that slow ass game is a no biggie.

Games with more compact 20-30 hours gameplay unfortunately cant do 10 hours demo.

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Litchie

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#7 Litchie
Member since 2003 • 34468 Posts
@Planeforger said:

I've seen a few other games take this approach lately, such as Valkyria Chronicles 4 or Daemon Ex Machina.

It's a nice incentive to get people to play demos.

Ori and the Blind Forest as well.

More demos would be cool.

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xantufrog

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#8 xantufrog  Moderator
Member since 2013 • 17875 Posts

Definitely. Demos are a great thing, and I think they benefit the dev/pub too.

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uninspiredcup

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#9 uninspiredcup
Member since 2013 • 58642 Posts

Anything is better than calling your demo a "beta" and walling it behind a preorder, which seems to be the order of the day.

In regards to Dragon Quest, it's a nice option. But in most cases rather just play through it again.

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jaydan

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#10 jaydan  Online
Member since 2015 • 8360 Posts

I think the demo strategy works well for this type of game, because it is a huge game; and even though it's a huge demo, it's only a small sliver of an otherwise giant game.

I don't think it should be that way for everything that comes out. If it is a 6 or 15 hour game, it definitely would not work effectively because people will just play the demo and not buy the game.

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djoffer

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#11 djoffer
Member since 2007 • 1856 Posts

Meet steam! 2 hours demo of every game on there:)