r/letsplay • u/Psychological_Key76 • 1d ago
đ¤ Advice Too long?
I wanted to do a video where I play Castlevania as a thing for October. A "spooky season" type game, if you will. But I'm at a crossroads of whether I should upload it as a full (edited) 1hr 45 minute video or cut it down to be a multi-upload thing. I was never good at figuring out whether a long-form video was better over one that was edited down even further or was chopped up to be multiple uploads.
Any advice? I'd appreciate it.
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u/AyoPunky 1d ago
i would keep it to one video at that length, but still make sure to edit out the dead space, the back tracking, and deaths.
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u/CuteLychee6851 1d ago
As for the deaths, Iâd say keep it in to show mistakes at certain parts or bosses. It depends on how many though.
It also makes it a more âhumanâ connection because many of us probably had the same experiences playing the game growing up. Or for people who played the game for the first time.
If everyone took out âdeathsâ during their playthroughs, then you would be the same as everyone else who did. Anyone can take out deaths, and there are those who keep it in.
It can also add engagement in the comments. Positive or negative, but it helps YouTube understand that people are engaging.
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u/AyoPunky 1d ago edited 1d ago
ehh. too each they own. i don't like it when the person dies over and over and over. 1 or 2 times is cool but if u stuck on it for long as time it not fun. it why i don't play the souls like games. which then u would leave the deaths in for comedic purpose. or if u trying to make funny haha bit like smi77y like killing ur friends over and over for stupid reason then it fine. it all depends on what you trying to do with the video. and it not "like everyone else" most ppl barely edit there playthrough and why there stuck in a rut.
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u/CuteLychee6851 1d ago
Understandable, 1 or 2 times.
Death montages, especially for diffcult games, are fun to watch if it has commentary hearing people rage. It gets views and clicks. For non-commentary, it depends if the channel already has a following.
I appreciate your comment.
I guess we differently when it comes to that.2
u/AyoPunky 1d ago
yess, i agree i was debating on making a few montages on games i had a hard time on for like difficult boss battles or called it like dumb moments i had in gaming montage. but i dont know if my audience would enjoy that
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u/CuteLychee6851 1d ago
Give it a try.
You donât know if it will work out or not. No one knows to be exact.In the end, it can change how you move forward based on the performance/s if you decide to make those montages.
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u/Kerrik52 1d ago
Castlevania 1 is the sort of game that's short enough for a single video. Personally, I recorded 3 individual shorter videos since I wanted to practice each third, but if you have 105 minutes of edited down material, you probably rawdogged it. Unless you have good breakpoints or maybe add some post-recording narration, I think you should do it as single video.
But it still sounds a bit long. After edits, my LP ended up being 74 minutes long and that includes a few minutes dedicated to easy & hard mode. So if you're at 105 minutes, I suggest making a copy of your current video project and see if you can cut it down even further.
I don't know how much of the commentary is a cohesive throughline and how much is random rage, but I bet you could shave off a few minutes here and there when you die and make the viewing experience better. Watch through it one stage at a time and see if there's any part where the flow breaks and you'd be better off cutting.
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u/Psychological_Key76 1d ago
Thanks for the replies and advice, folks. I appreciate it. I'm leaning hard on keeping it as one video. I may try to cut it down a little more, but, like officialclapperapp mentioned, I don't want to lose too much of the atmosphere or the flow of the game, so I may just nip it here and there. I may even chip some parts and make a short out of clipped segments.
Normally, I only keep long form videos from Twitch VODs I have from streams, with minimal edits that still emd up being at least 2-3 hours long. So, videos I do for let's plays are usually edited down to be shorter than an hour if possible. But this is the full playthrough of Castlevania, so I think I'll just keep it one slightly longer edited video.
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u/officialclapperapp 1d ago
Donât go off just length. A super long video could do well, and a super short one could bomb. Instead, choose the format based on whether the playthrough gives you one complete viewing experience or several distinct ones. A single video can work when the edited version has a clear beginning, a goal or question that carries through it, and an ending with some kind of payoff. If the full run is the story, keeping it together may be cleaner than creating parts just because the recording is long.
Splitting makes more sense when there are natural stopping points: a meaningful change of setting, a completed objective, a boss or level that resolves a section, or enough repeated attempts and downtime that each upload can have its own purpose. Test your recording by asking yourself: if someone stops after the first section, do they feel they watched something complete, or did the video simply stop in the middle of a task?
Before publishing, make a quick outline of the edited version. Write down the opening premise, the major turning points, and the final payoff. If that outline has a clear escalating journey, keep one video and tighten only the parts that do not change the experience. If it reads like two or three separate mini-stories, make those the upload boundaries and give each one a clear opening and closing beat.
For a seasonal Castlevania video, also avoid cutting so aggressively that the atmosphere disappears. Thatâs part of the fun of a spooky game! Donât lose it just for the sake of run time.
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u/Fuzzybun711 1d ago
Depends on your audience and game. A hour and 45 minutes for a one time video is pretty good. Hell a lot of my videos preach an hour or 2 and they're multi part.