Video games come in different completion times, from a few minutes to hundreds of hours. But in a genuinely engaging title’s case, only one rule matters – the longer, the better!
Websites like HowLongToBeat.com offer estimated times required to beat the game depending on the approach. Some players only play the main story, while others prefer a completionist approach – but the average time varies depending on personal preferences.
Many prioritize exploration and adventure over the main plot. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the longest games based on players’ experiences – some of these numbers are rather unexpected!
Fallout: New Vegas
| Release date: | 2010-10-21 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Obsidian Entertainment |
Surviving an unforgiving apocalypse is tough, and these numbers definitely prove it!
According to HowLongToBeat.com, Fallout: New Vegas’s campaign covers approximately 27 hours, 59 with side quests and 132 with the completionist approach. But some players like to take their time in the game, inventing their own gameplay goals, taking from 300 to even 1200 hours!
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
| Release date: | 2015-05-18 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | CD PROJEKT RED |
Based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, The Witcher offers a complex and long story set in the unique world of Slavic tales.
While The Witcher’s main story takes around 51 hours, prepare for 173 or more to see all the game’s aspects. However, some players claim they reached around 300 hours thoroughly exploring every nook and cranny of this incredible world, and it was definitely worth it!
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The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
| Release date: | 2023-05-12 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | Nintendo |
Link’s adventures get longer with each installation released – and that’s a good thing!
Tears of the Kingdom offers an impressive 59 hours in the main story, 115 with side quests included, and a whopping 239 if you choose the completionist approach. This particular map is so packed with content and secrets that you may never want to leave it!
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Xenoblade Chronicles II
| Release date: | 2017-12-01 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Monolith Soft |
Travel to Alrest, a conflict-torn but beautiful land, to decide its future and find your destiny.
As one of the longest games to beat on this list, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers quite a massive adventure promising around 62 hours of fun if you decide to play the main story alone. However, it can take up to 257 hours to see all of it – more than Tears of the Kingdom has to offer!
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Persona V
| Release date: | 2022-10-21 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Atlus |
As a classic Japanese RPG equipped with a gripping storyline, Persona is sure to take lots of anyone’s time!
Prepare for plenty of fun, as the main story alone can take up to 97 hours! How about completionist time? Not much more – about 173 hours, so regardless of your approach, know the double life of high schoolers with supernatural abilities can engage.
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Elden Ring
| Release date: | 2022-02-25 |
| Genre: | Action RPG |
| Developer: | FromSoftware |
As a soulslike game, Elden Ring is one of the most challenging titles on the market – perfect for enthusiasts of epic fantasy adventures!
Although the main story takes only 59 hours, the completionist approach equals around 133. Such a large world, however, can take much longer, according to players on Reddit. Many clocked up hundreds of hours on a single character – probably because of all these secrets and enemies to beat.
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The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
| Release date: | 2002-04-29 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Bethesda Game Studios |
Many claim Oblivion or Skyrim are the longest in The Elder Scrolls series – but only Morrowind offers truly endless adventure!
Morrowind’s campaign covers only 46 hours – not that long. But if you want to see all its aspects, prepare for up to 355 hours of exciting exploration. According to the most dedicated players, this number can reach 1,000 hours!
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What is the longest game? Is it the number of quests, confirmed average hours, or the map size? Each of these factors matters, but ultimately, the longest game to beat is the one we want to keep playing as long as possible. It’s as simple as that. No overall numbers matter if we love the game world so much we want to see everything it offers. It is possible not the time, but the complexity determines its length because only that feature allows us to create our own objectives and make the adventure more personal.