is it just me, or do the neverafter episodes feel very short? i don’t know if it’s bc i started watching critical role and i’m now used to long flow of combat + roleplay, but i feel like the episode breaks between roleplay and combat scenes are taking me out of the story a little bit? maybe it’s just me thou !
I think it's just a different format! I don't find Neverafter eps short at all. I'm not sure if you're familiar with other D20 seasons, but they used to adhere to an extremely strict combat-RP-combat-RP episode order which I did find quite limited, but over the seasons have become much, much less regimented.
Personally, I think I air more on the side that CR episodes feel excessively long than D20 ones short, and that's probably just personal preference. Having seen all of CR and all of D20, CR definitely has a lot more live deliberation, sort of player-meta energy.
It's kind of like with CR, you're at the table of one of their sessions, which exactly what the show was always trying to be since its inception- a live-streamed D&D session. The budget has of course gone up over the years and we have lost a bit of the original energy, but it still has this clear feeling of being the D&D session straight to your eyeballs. No changing cameras, no edited in effects (unless it's editing merch onto Ashley Johnson's body), just the continuous flow of consciousness.
Compared to D20, which is more clearly trying to be a narrative, high-production value show. It is also actual play, but doesn't give off an air of sitting at the table with them as much (with the exception of FHSY, which was livestreamed on Twitch). Much like CR, it is exactly what it intends to be and has been from the jump, always possessing these high-production elements like the dome, fancy battle sets, and multi-cam shots, it's just that what it attempts to do is different than what CR sets out to do.
Whichever feels more satisfying to you tends to be personal preference, I like them both, but getting back to your original point, I do feel CR goes long and like to split CR episodes up into two 2 hr sessions if I can. If one of your Neverafter struggles is feeling it's too short maybe let a few episodes stack up (or the whole season) and watch on a binge, it might feel more cohesive to you.
