The Longest Games Ever

There is no hard and fast rule about how long a video game needs to be. After all, great games come in all lengths. There are some wonderful brief games that only last a few hours and can be beaten in one session. There are also fantastic titles on the other end of the spectrum, though, that last hours upon hours.

Related

10 Visual Novels You Can Beat In A Few Sittings

Only got a few hours to spare? Try these visual novels.

It’s all about what is done within the time. So, more doesn’t necessarily mean better. Yet, the developers of Valheim and others may disagree since they made extremely long titles. In fact, according to HowLongToBeat, they have the longest main stories ever.

Updated November 19, 2024 by Ben Jessey: When we created this list, we included a bunch of the longest games on the HowLongToBeat website. However, more players have provided their completion times to the site, meaning some of the numbers aren’t accurate anymore. So, we’ve updated them and added a few more titles to the collection.

22

Record Of Agarest War – 75.5 Hours

Record of Agarest War is a game that needed to have a fairly long story. This is because it tells a tale of a war between good and evil that lasts generations. These generations are actually featured in the game itself.

After set points in the narrative, you jump forward to the next generation of warriors. This wouldn’t have really had the same impact if the game only lasted a few hours. It’s supposed to feel like you’re engaged in a lengthy war. Your character’s role in the conflict is complex, as you can follow the light or dark path. Along the way, you participate in many turn-based battles.

21

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – 76.5 Hours

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Systems

Released

April 20, 2010

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is all about going on different quests and slaying various beasts. These creatures are called monsters for a reason since they’re very dangerous. At least, they’re dangerous to the average shmuck who faces off against them.

Yet, it wouldn’t be much of a Monster Hunter game if you were just prey. You have the capability to stand up to these beasts and take them out. Getting all of the main ones, though, will take significant time since this is a 76.5-hour game.

20

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate – 76.5 Hours

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Systems

Released

February 13, 2015

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence

The original Monster Hunter 4 was only released in Japan, but a few months later, the Ultimate version came out. This allowed North Americans and Europeans to experience this lengthy action RPG.

The game is about fighting large monsters, but there is a bit more to it than that. You get to explore detailed environments, acquire resources, and track your large target. These things can take a bit of time, so it isn’t surprising that the game takes as long as 76.5 hours to complete, especially as some of the toughest beasts take a long time to beat.

19

Pathfinder: Kingmaker – 77 Hours

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is based on the Pathfinder tabletop RPG series. As those games tend to be long, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that a video game version eats up a lot of hours, too. During that time, you will be experiencing an isometric RPG that features both real-time and turn-based combat.

Related

8 Best Side Quests In Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Take a break from the main story of Pathfinder and delve into some of these side quests – they’re worth experiencing.

Outside of fights, you can spend time building up your kingdom. Well, technically, it’s not really a kingdom at first. It’s just a piece of land. But you can make it into a kingdom over the course of the game. You do this by creating buildings and assigning important roles to people. All of this can take some time, which is one of the reasons the game is long.

18

Gran Turismo 4 – 77 Hours

Gran Turismo 4

Systems

Released

December 28, 2004

Developer(s)

Polyphony Digital

Publisher(s)

Sony Computer Entertainment

ESRB

e

Most racing games don’t have an average completion time since they don’t technically end. Gran Turismo 4 is different, though, as it has an actual conclusion in the form of end credits. It isn’t the end of a major narrative or anything like that. Instead, you unlock the credits once you win the Gran Turismo World Championship.

This series is only unlocked after beating all the beginner and professional events. So, it’s the climax to your racing career, which is why it deserves a credit sequence. It takes about 77 hours to get it.

17

Valheim – 78 Hours

Systems

Released

February 2, 2021

Developer(s)

Iron Gate AB

Publisher(s)

Coffee Stain Studios

ESRB

r

Survival sandbox games like Valheim don’t generally have endings. After all, they’re just usually about surviving in an open world for as long as you can or want. Yet, Valheim is different from traditional survival titles.

You are controlling a Viking attempting to prove himself worthy of entering Valhalla. If you know about Norse Mythology, you will know that those who reach Valhalla are brave warriors. Therefore, you must prove yourself in that regard, too, by defeating the six bosses in the game. They’re no slouches, and you start with nothing, so it takes a while to achieve those six victories.

16

Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate – 78 Hours

Monster Hunter Generations is a spin-off to the main Monster Hunter series. Yet, despite being a spin-off, it’s a lot like the mainline titles. This is because every mission tasks you with hunting large, dangerous beasts.

The Ultimate version is an HD port for the Nintendo Switch, and it’s even longer than the original title. You need around 78 hours to finish all the main quests in this version.

15

Dragon Quest 7: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past – 78 Hours

Dragon Quest 7 is a turn-based JRPG with a story that revolves around an island. It’s named Estard and is thought to be the only bit of landmass around. However, the hero of the story finds evidence of the existence of some surrounding islands.

This leads to a long, colorful adventure involving time travel. You go to different places in the past to learn a lot about the missing islands. So, you explore plenty of distinct places throughout the story, which is why it takes such a long time to beat.

14

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 – 78.5 Hours

RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 is a management simulation game that you can play for as long as you desire. You are free to build the most impressive and lucrative theme park possible. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t complete the game in a sense.

There are a host of different scenarios that place you in a unique park and give you an objective to complete. Finishing them all takes about 78.5 hours. This hefty playtime is due to how long some of the more difficult scenarios take to beat.

13

Story Of Seasons: Trio Of Towns – 79 Hours

Systems

Released

February 28, 2017

Developer(s)

Marvelous Inc.

Publisher(s)

Marvelous Inc.
, XSEED Games

ESRB

Everyone 10+

Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns is an RPG mixed with a farming simulator. These types of games don’t typically end, but you can reach the credits on this one, and it takes around 79 hours to do so.

The start of the game sees your customizable protagonist leave home in pursuit of their dream of becoming a farmer. You achieve this dream as you spend the entire game planting and growing crops. You also speak to people and can even get married if you desire, so you’re able to live a full life as a farmer.

12

Harvest Moon: Back To Nature – 80 Hours

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature

Systems

Released

November 22, 2000

Developer

Victor Interactive Software, Marvelous Interactive

Publisher(s)

Natsume

ESRB

e

Harvest Moon: Back To Nature is a farm simulation game that actually has an ending. The story begins with you as a child, but you soon grow up and take ownership of a farm. You have to build the place up over the next few years while building relationships with nearby residents.

Related

The Best Harvest Moon Games, Ranked

Harvest Moon, also known as Story of Seasons, is a popular farming game – but with so many entries in the series, which is the best to play?

You can even get married in this game and have a kid. Who you decide to spend your life with and how well you build up your farm impacts your conclusion, which will arrive after about 80 hours. This lengthy time is understandable, as the game’s story spans several years.

11

Persona 3 – 81.5 Hours

Systems

Released

July 13, 2006

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Language, Partial Nudity, Violence

Persona 3 tells a wild and compelling tale about a high school student who joins a special group known as the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (aka SEES). This group investigates a strange anomaly called the Dark Hour. In the process, they battle monsters known as Shadows in a mysterious tower they can enter during the Dark Hour.

When you’re not doing that, you’re living a typical teenage life. These quieter moments contain life and social simulation elements. To give both aspects of the game enough attention, it would have to be quite long. It certainly accomplishes that by lasting 81.5 hours.

10

My Time At Sandrock – 82 Hours

My Time At Sandrock is a farm life simulator set in a desert town. You play as a newcomer to the said town, as you’re hired as the area’s new builder.

The gameplay is fairly open, as you’re free to build, farm, find resources, talk to people, complete quests, and explore. However, there is also a main story to work through by completing missions. Doing them all takes about 82 hours. Because of the nature of the game, though, most players will likely get distracted at various points, meaning the game takes longer to finish.

9

Let It Die – 82.5 Hours

The whole goal of Let It Die is to reach the top of a dangerous tower. You don’t do this through climbing skills. You head into the tower and have to fight your way up each floor, as this is a hack-and-slash title. Helping you along the way is a grim reaper that likes to skateboard.

That fact alone should tell you that this is a pretty strange game. It’s also a pretty tough game where you’re expected to die, forcing you to start again with a new character. It takes over 100 hours to complete.

8

Might And Magic: Heroes 6 – 83 Hours

Might And Magic: Heroes 6 is a turn-based strategy game that contains a few RPG elements. It’s set in a fantasy world called Ashan. The place looks beautiful, but it could soon become a battleground due to an impending war between angels and demons.

Caught up in the conflict is a family of heroes. This tale lasts around 83 hours. The measured and strategic gameplay is likely part of the reason the game is so long.

7

SnowRunner – 90 Hours

SnowRunner puts you in the shoes of an off-road trucker who has to navigate difficult weather and dangerous terrain to make deliveries. You don’t just deliver whatever you want to wherever you want. You have specific contracts and tasks to complete.

The contracts serve as the main missions, and they vary in difficulty. To complete all of them takes around 90 hours, according to the users on HowLongToBeat. So, it’s one of the longer adventures you will experience in gaming.

6

Oxygen Not Included – 90.5 Hours

Oxygen Not Included

Simulation

Survival

Management

Systems

Released

May 18, 2017

Developer(s)

Klei Entertainment

Publisher(s)

Klei Entertainment

ESRB

t

In Oxygen Not Included, you manage and look after your own space colony, making sure your people have oxygen, good food, power, and more. In the process, you can explore different asteroids and planets. So, there are survival, simulation, and exploration elements to this game.

These sorts of titles don’t tend to have endings. Yet, you can technically ‘beat’ Oxygen Not Included by reaching The Temporal Tear, which is the farthest destination on the Starmap. It takes a lot of time to achieve that impressive feat, though.

5

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite – 100 Hours

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite

Action RPG

Fighting

Adventure

Shooter

Systems

Released

March 27, 2008

ESRB

t

As you’d expect, in Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite, you hunt monsters. In fact, most of the game’s missions revolve around slaying beasts of some kind.

Related

The Best Hunting Video Games

We’ve assembled a list of the best hunting games ever to grace a screen.

Sometimes, you need to track and kill towering creatures. On other occasions, you have to dispose of smaller monsters, but there are typically more of them. There isn’t much story in the game, but you can still beat it by finishing all the missions, which takes around 100 hours or so, depending on your skill level.

4

Persona 5 Royal – 101 Hours

5.0/5

Persona 5 Royal

Released

March 31, 2020

Developer(s)

Atlus
, P-Studio

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence

According to HowLongToBeat, Persona 5 Royal takes a few hours longer than the original Persona 5. Both of them are incredibly long games, though, about a secret group known as the Phantom Thieves. These teenage vigilantes attempt to change the hearts of evil adults.

They don’t do so with interventions and influential speeches. Instead, they have the power to go into the Metaverse, which contains their target’s desires. From there, they can make them change their ways. The group targets plenty of people in the game. Plus, there are life simulation elements and plenty of long story conversations. So, it’s no surprise the game is so long.

3

Satisfactory – 102 Hours

Systems

Released

September 10, 2024

Developer(s)

Coffee Stain Studios

Publisher(s)

Coffee Stain Publishing

ESRB

M For Mature 17+

Satisfactory is a first-person, open-world game where you are tasked with building factories using the tools you start with and any of the natural resources you can find.

The reason you need to use natural resources is that you can’t just take a trip to a local store for supplies, as the game is set on an alien planet. So, exploring and gathering resources is very important to the overall experience. From the description alone, you may have figured out that this is a sandbox game. As a result, reaching an ending isn’t what the game is all about. That said, there is still an ending to the game, but it will take you 100+ hours to reach it.