I got a good laugh when you said "isn't A2 enormous though?" By some standards, it may very well be! For me it is the minimum comfortable size to "upscale" entire pages (text and everything else) to be legible by mapping it to that size and inverting colors if needed for light text on a dark background. This is a great question and definitely an important point to understand how much text I mean, though, because I am directly upscaling entire pages from A4 to A2, so the content that started out that way in 14 point Courier New Font is still the same relative scaling to the page. In effect, with this method, if it's 50 pages of A2 14 point at 100%; then, it will be 50 pages in A4 also as printed by a PC, but the true print size of that 14 point font would then now be upscaled 4x (like playing a NES game at 4x basically where each pixel is now a block of 4 pixels instead).
When I'm playing a game with text I can't read without painstaking manipulations of the visuals (if indeed they can even be read after such methods), I usually use a plot transcript. So I'm very familiar with plot transcripts for video games and how much plot-related text there is. For game design, I think this makes an accessible way for a developer to gauge how much textual content there is to the core of the game. As in, how much story should the game have compared to a game you find to be a good length. I don't know how else you'd do it with any reasonable accuracy. Such transcripts generally do not typically include random commentary by NPC's that's worthless to the plot, side quests or any mini-game text.
Here is an example of one that's everything in the game: [LINK]
Here is an example of one that's particular about the plot of the game but also includes much of the other text in defined sections as well: [LINK]
Here's one that other than some "optional areas" (really almost the whole World of Ruin is an option area to some extent) really only has the plot-related transcript and not the dialogue of every NPC you could talk to in each area: [LINK]
That said, gameplay "hours" is certainly a metric that gets a lot of use in many contexts, but one I find incredibly difficult to find meaning in because so many factors can affect the actual rate a gamer gets through a game's content (even if 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz standards were not a thing with the 15-20% difference in game speed on many platforms, which is sadly still a problem today in particular for software emulation even on the most current gaming consoles...looking at you in particular Nintendo Switch). Anyway, you can easily manipulate gameplay hours just by changing the maximum/minimum speeds various game elements allow the player to progress at, too...which every developer either uses "the standard" of the platform they're on, tweaks some baseline to their satisfaction of play, or develops their own engine timing to get the exact feel they want. Hence, I don't find gameplay hours to be particularly compelling as a result. Granted, you can tell almost immediately if a "100+ gameplay hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" game as advertised is only going to be that long because you are literally watching as each letter of text is rendered on-screen, the battle intro sequences have a good 15-20 seconds of just transition trash or worst of all you just have inexplicable "waiting" periods in between selection options/commands and something actually happening. There are many ways a developer can "pad" their gameplay hours which makes the metric unreliable for determining how much game content there really is, but VERY reliable for adult gamers pressed on time who just want to know how long it took most gamers of a certain type to complete a game.
Developers can kind of do the same thing as you mentioned with worthless text...like in Grandia. Oh my word...unique battle system, but slow...and the amount of worthless conversation available is just mind-boggling in that game! However, again, that's not usually covered in a game transcript unless it's also just a complete text dump of the game so I do mean plot transcript to exclude such random text tidbits. This can definitely vary also based on how the transcript is presented depending on how it's generated...but usually what I do is download the transcript in plain text and omit the extra line returns with a text-based software like Atom (which I incidentally also use when progamming) to get an idea of how much plot-related text there actually is.
As for mini-games, when done right, they can be integral parts of the backstory of a particular area or even character that makes it more memorable. As gameplay elements, they can break up any sense of monotony in the continuity of game mechanics up to that point which can allow for increased attention span and reduced player burnout when the game is epic in length. If a game is too short, mini-games just muddy the waters and dilute the value of the gameplay continuity you need in a shorter game. Mini-games are not one size fits all, and if you just want to make them to make them rather than carefully conceive and construct it within the context of the game world, it can make a ton of difference and you may want to just back off the idea. However, to give you an example of how it can be used to drive content, what you did in Taming Dreams kind of gave a mini-game feel even to dialogue for completionists (at least if your idea of fun is looking up words in a dictionary and following the rabbit-trail of cross-referencing definitions Wikipedia-style until every word stops popping up in a different color). That could sometimes almost feel like whack-a-mole though for people who didn't find that an enticing mini-game concept... (Dramatic Re-enactment of Someone Totally the Opposite of Me Getting Giddy When More Terms Pop Up: "EGADS!...I just wanted to know what that word meant...but now another 6 more popped up when I selected it....noooOooooOooo...why Tobias?...why have you redefined every word of English and made a whole new lexicon of neologisms? I just want them all to go dark and stop it with the shiny colors...is the final boss a Dictionary-Wielding Palindrome???") That said, the Secret of Monkey Island definitely did make a mini-game out of in its own right of pirate passage duels that became somewhat legendary. A mini-game doesn't have to be something confined to one zone or gameplay element...and also doesn't need to be called that or evoke that concept to have the same effect as one. For some great (and several lame) examples of mini-games embedded in the game AND mini-games existing as separate instances from the rest of the gameplay, look no further than Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. When even Mario's "Super Jump" and "Ultra Jump" moves basically are their own mini-game in every battle that some creep in Monstro Town is tracking and you could've been playing the game for real battle results and more jumps since the very beginning: it invokes all sorts of gamey elements of frustration for completionists in how hard it is to ever get the best reward or find an ultimate cap to the game in-game...and amazement at the depth for most everyone else. On the other hand, totally crappy mini-games at Grate Guy's Casino and Booster's Tower can be so laughably bad luck toss-ups that you can't stand to do them anymore after "achieving" whatever it was you'd hoped to gain from playing them. A fourth-wall-breaking trans-dimensional mini-game available from the menu at all times after a certain point just let's you shoot beetle shells with stars anytime you want...with a video game handheld console in a console video game. Yet another shell-jumping mini-game at Land's End actually serves as a tutor of sorts to prepare you for jumping better and faster on the later game platforms to avoid battle monotony as the game matures, but again making that area more memorable as a result. Hope that helps! (smile)
When I'm playing a game with text I can't read without painstaking manipulations of the visuals (if indeed they can even be read after such methods), I usually use a plot transcript. So I'm very familiar with plot transcripts for video games and how much plot-related text there is. For game design, I think this makes an accessible way for a developer to gauge how much textual content there is to the core of the game. As in, how much story should the game have compared to a game you find to be a good length. I don't know how else you'd do it with any reasonable accuracy. Such transcripts generally do not typically include random commentary by NPC's that's worthless to the plot, side quests or any mini-game text.
Here is an example of one that's everything in the game: [LINK]
Here is an example of one that's particular about the plot of the game but also includes much of the other text in defined sections as well:
[LINK]
Here's one that other than some "optional areas" (really almost the whole World of Ruin is an option area to some extent) really only has the plot-related transcript and not the dialogue of every NPC you could talk to in each area:
[LINK]
That said, gameplay "hours" is certainly a metric that gets a lot of use in many contexts, but one I find incredibly difficult to find meaning in because so many factors can affect the actual rate a gamer gets through a game's content (even if 50 Hz vs. 60 Hz standards were not a thing with the 15-20% difference in game speed on many platforms, which is sadly still a problem today in particular for software emulation even on the most current gaming consoles...looking at you in particular Nintendo Switch). Anyway, you can easily manipulate gameplay hours just by changing the maximum/minimum speeds various game elements allow the player to progress at, too...which every developer either uses "the standard" of the platform they're on, tweaks some baseline to their satisfaction of play, or develops their own engine timing to get the exact feel they want. Hence, I don't find gameplay hours to be particularly compelling as a result. Granted, you can tell almost immediately if a "100+ gameplay hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" game as advertised is only going to be that long because you are literally watching as each letter of text is rendered on-screen, the battle intro sequences have a good 15-20 seconds of just transition trash or worst of all you just have inexplicable "waiting" periods in between selection options/commands and something actually happening. There are many ways a developer can "pad" their gameplay hours which makes the metric unreliable for determining how much game content there really is, but VERY reliable for adult gamers pressed on time who just want to know how long it took most gamers of a certain type to complete a game.
Developers can kind of do the same thing as you mentioned with worthless text...like in Grandia. Oh my word...unique battle system, but slow...and the amount of worthless conversation available is just mind-boggling in that game! However, again, that's not usually covered in a game transcript unless it's also just a complete text dump of the game so I do mean plot transcript to exclude such random text tidbits. This can definitely vary also based on how the transcript is presented depending on how it's generated...but usually what I do is download the transcript in plain text and omit the extra line returns with a text-based software like Atom (which I incidentally also use when progamming) to get an idea of how much plot-related text there actually is.
As for mini-games, when done right, they can be integral parts of the backstory of a particular area or even character that makes it more memorable. As gameplay elements, they can break up any sense of monotony in the continuity of game mechanics up to that point which can allow for increased attention span and reduced player burnout when the game is epic in length. If a game is too short, mini-games just muddy the waters and dilute the value of the gameplay continuity you need in a shorter game. Mini-games are not one size fits all, and if you just want to make them to make them rather than carefully conceive and construct it within the context of the game world, it can make a ton of difference and you may want to just back off the idea. However, to give you an example of how it can be used to drive content, what you did in Taming Dreams kind of gave a mini-game feel even to dialogue for completionists (at least if your idea of fun is looking up words in a dictionary and following the rabbit-trail of cross-referencing definitions Wikipedia-style until every word stops popping up in a different color). That could sometimes almost feel like whack-a-mole though for people who didn't find that an enticing mini-game concept... (Dramatic Re-enactment of Someone Totally the Opposite of Me Getting Giddy When More Terms Pop Up: "EGADS!...I just wanted to know what that word meant...but now another 6 more popped up when I selected it....noooOooooOooo...why Tobias?...why have you redefined every word of English and made a whole new lexicon of neologisms? I just want them all to go dark and stop it with the shiny colors...is the final boss a Dictionary-Wielding Palindrome???") That said, the Secret of Monkey Island definitely did make a mini-game out of in its own right of pirate passage duels that became somewhat legendary. A mini-game doesn't have to be something confined to one zone or gameplay element...and also doesn't need to be called that or evoke that concept to have the same effect as one. For some great (and several lame) examples of mini-games embedded in the game AND mini-games existing as separate instances from the rest of the gameplay, look no further than Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. When even Mario's "Super Jump" and "Ultra Jump" moves basically are their own mini-game in every battle that some creep in Monstro Town is tracking and you could've been playing the game for real battle results and more jumps since the very beginning: it invokes all sorts of gamey elements of frustration for completionists in how hard it is to ever get the best reward or find an ultimate cap to the game in-game...and amazement at the depth for most everyone else. On the other hand, totally crappy mini-games at Grate Guy's Casino and Booster's Tower can be so laughably bad luck toss-ups that you can't stand to do them anymore after "achieving" whatever it was you'd hoped to gain from playing them. A fourth-wall-breaking trans-dimensional mini-game available from the menu at all times after a certain point just let's you shoot beetle shells with stars anytime you want...with a video game handheld console in a console video game. Yet another shell-jumping mini-game at Land's End actually serves as a tutor of sorts to prepare you for jumping better and faster on the later game platforms to avoid battle monotony as the game matures, but again making that area more memorable as a result. Hope that helps! (smile)