What are the longest video games ever made?
Video games vary widely in length. Players can finish some in less than a day. On the other hand, some can take months at a time to finish!
Why are some games so long, anyways?
Between the storyline, side quests, and getting that grind for the best possible build, long games have an advantage: the really get players invested in the game. Thus, they make passionate fans.
Of course, a game doesn’t need to be long to be good or gripping. That said, length does help. It also doesn’t hurt if there are plenty of secrets and easter eggs to look for too. After all, people want to get the most out of their game, especially if they paid a lot of money for it!
Let’s take a look at the top 10 most extended games ever made. This will be due to either their story or the complexity of the missions given. We won’t be including survival games or multiplayer games, though, as those are artificially made long on purpose.
Fallout 3
[Image via Bethesda]
- Year: 2008
- Base Game Length: Roughly 50 Hours
Fallout 3 was the first fully 3D open-world game in the franchise. It was also the longest video game in the franchise.
Set in the desolate wasteland of Washington, D.C., Vault Dwellers explored a massive world. The moment players saw it, shock and awe set in. Everyone wanted to explore everything.
The beauty of Fallout games wasn’t just how much you could explore, but there were also the different ways you could explore. For example, you could choose to be smart, dumb, lucky, good, evil, or anything in-between. This made for a lot of experimentation that would soon become the standard for all future Fallout titles.
Even without the DLC from the Game of the Year edition, Fallout 3 has well over 50 hours of content. Every single location offers the chance to scavenge for scrap. Plus, you can complete side quests. With the DLC on top of that, players could definitely wander even more. Especially with Mothership Zeta!
Horizon Forbidden West
[Image via Guerrilla Games]
- Year: 2022
- Base Game Length: Roughly 80 Hours
Everyone loves a good sequel to a great game! Horizon Forbidden West takes place six months after the events of Horizon Zero Dawn, where we find Aloy heading off to a new area of post-apocalyptic America. Just like the first game, it’s almost love at first sight.
Players run through a variety of environments ranging from lava-filled mountains to vast open water. Hours fly by as you hunt down robots and salvage their parts to make the best equipment and armor. Don’t be fooled though, all of this will end up testing your mettle as a hunter.
With its all-star cast and gorgeous graphics, Forbidden West doesn’t leave much to the imagination. The average gamer will spend as much as 80 hours with the base game alone. Keep in mind, much of that time will be used to deal with much bigger robots that stop you in your tracks.
Dark Souls (2011)
[Image via FromSoftware]
- Year: 2011
- Base Game Length: Around 40 Hours
The third entry into our longest video games list, Dark Souls is infamous for being as hard as it is addictive. This dark environment throws players into a hostile fantasy world.
Monsters eager to kill you and reset all of your progress abound. In order to win, the player needs to learn how to use their points, what equipment to use, and how to exploit dirty moves. They also need to learn all this quickly.
Dark Souls is not played like traditional role-playing games. Actually, it gives the players little to no direction. However, this helps the game: it encourages exploration, learning new things, and working with other players. As crushing as defeat can be when a strong enemy pulverizes you, it just makes the eventual victory all the sweeter.
Players can spend as much as 30 to 40 hours with the main story. With all the exploration and farming for souls, though? Doubling that time isn’t out of the question. That’s not even counting the expansion, which can leave players spending as much as 100 hours in the game.
If you do go into this game blind, remember this advice: Praise the Sun and prepare to die.
Persona 5 Royal
[Image via Atlus]
- Year: 2020
- Base Game Length: Around 100 Hours
Steal the hearts of those you want to change. Persona 5 was one of the most popular JRPGs to come out in Atlus’ long-running series. It’s also one of the longest video games. Playing as a wrongfully arrested student, the game turns the protagonist from an outcast to a gentleman thief.
The Persona series blends great storytelling and social interactions. It feels like you’re the star of an anime! By day you attend class, have a job, and meet with your friends. By night, you are Phantom Thief, going through a gauntlet of monsters to change the hearts and intentions of the scum of Japan.
While the base game has a fair amount of content, Persona 5 Royal adds more characters, extra days, and new tasks to complete. You will easily spend over 100 hours trying to max out everything. Not to mention all the possible love interests to win over!
Fallout New Vegas
[Image via Bethesda]
- Year: 2012
- Base Game Length: At Least 150 Hours
Fallout New Vegas is considered one of the best games of the Fallout series and for good reason. Players take the role of the Courier. The Courier travels across the Mojave wasteland to get their stolen goods back after being shot and left for dead. Like any other Fallout game, the journey off the beaten path really stands out.
The locations are very interesting and the NPCs you encounter are just full of character. The real show stealer, unsurprisingly, is the Vegas Strip. DLC also offers more enjoyment and even greater missions. Even without that, you will easily be lost in over 150 hours of gameplay. Really, this is truly one of the longest video games.
If Fallout 3 or 4 didn’t give you the same shock and awe you felt before, New Vegas definitely will. Even today, people play it to their heart’s content exploring all different story paths and character builds.
Maybe soon we can get a New Vegas 2, Bethesda?
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
[Image via CD Projekt RED]
- Year: 2015
- Base Game Length: Roughly 200 Hours
The Witcher 3 is one of CD Projekt RED’s highly acclaimed series. Loosely based on Andzrej Sapkowsi’s bestselling novels, the story follows monster hunter Geralt of Rivia. This game throws players into a world where magical creatures and humans live together with tense and often hostile conflict.
The Witcher series is known for well-developed characters voiced by an all-star cast. The time it takes to go from town to town almost feels like you’re going through in real-time like a fantasy epic. There are so many side quests that take you off the beaten path with multiple ways to complete them as well. In other words, the game really defines what it means to be immersive.
This game is indeed one of the longest video games: it often takes as many as 200 hours to finish. That time will give completionists a run for their money! Plus, this length doesn’t even consider the two expansions that add so much more for people who enjoy this dark fantasy tale.
Elden Ring (2022)
[Image via FromSoftware]
- Year: 2022
- Base Game Length: Over 100 Hours
Honestly, many Hollywood producers must envy Elden Ring. FromSoftware collaborated with George R.R. Martin, the same author who brought everyone Game of Thrones, to make this game. Elden Ring brings players into what can only be summed up as open-world Dark Souls. With a large area with varying degrees of intrigue, Elden Ring gives players a punishing yet beautiful tale to experience.
Guided by the source of grace, you are a “Tarnished.” Newly risen, you seek to become the new Elden Lord. Much like in the Dark Souls series, the game gives players a huge amount of freedom to make whatever character they want.
However, Elden Ring’s complexity dwarfs that of Dark Souls. In fact, there is almost no way to tell where to go or what to do. The game basically gives the keys to an amusement park filled with all sorts of creatures and bosses that want to kill you to players. Then it says: “have fun!”
There are six possible endings to find with dozens of dungeons and castles to explore. Oh, and you get to fight giants and dragons too! Players could spend hundreds of hours exploring this land. Keep in mind though, much of that time will probably be spent trying to get passed whatever it is that will kill you over and over again.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
[Image via Konami]
- Year: 2015
- Base Game Length: Over 100 Hours
Hideo Kojima’s final Metal Gear Solid game was definitely his best. For the first time in the franchise, Phantom Pain brings players to an open-world experience. Never before has stealth missions and taking over outposts feel so satisfying and cinematic.
Taking place sometime after Ground Zeroes but before Metal Gear Solid, Phantom Pain follows Big Boss as he looks to rebuild his army and start finding the plans for the Metal Gear in the deserts of Afghanistan. The game combines all that was great with Snake Eater and Peace Walker into a one-of-a-kind entry into the franchise and this list of longest video games.
Players recruit a huge army of their choosing. They build their base how they want it. They even get to have a dog as a partner! Or even fan favorite Quiet, if you wish! You will spend well over 100 hours taking down bad guys in any way you wish. Just go easy on those cigarettes and be careful of how you hide in cardboard boxes.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
[Image via Nintendo]
- Year: 2017
- Base Game Length: Just Under 200 Hours
Fans arguably love Breath of the Wild so much that it might beat Ocarina of Time in Nintendo’s most popular exclusive title. Link sets out once again to save Princess Zelda. Only this time, Link has the whole world and a number of dungeons to explore to find her. Oh, and it’s also an open world, making this one of the longest video games.
The Zelda series has always been popular but was never made this grand of a scale. Between crafting items and going dungeon crawling, Breath of Wild offers so much to fans. This wide offering no doubt helped the game become so popular that it later inspired Genshin Impact to use its formula.
Players can easily spend almost 200 hours just exploring every square inch of the area. With Tears of the Kingdom just around the corner, this is a great game to play while waiting. Of course, you could speed-run the game. Many have before. Still, where’s the fun in that?
Cyberpunk 2077
[Image via CD Projekt RED]
- Year: 2020
- Base Game Length: 200+ Hours
Get ready to chip in, Samurai. Cyberpunk 2077 may not have had a smooth development, but the experience is stellar. Yes, yes, the game suffered from lots of bugs and glitches. Yet CD Projekt RED never gave up on giving fans a great experience. In the end, they succeeded.
Exploring Night City never felt so much fun. Much like The Witcher, Cyberpunk makes players feel as if they’ve stepped into the shoes of a second life.
V and Johnny Silverhand start their crusade to make their mark in history. The enormous Night City contains lots of side missions and gunfights. Want character customization? You got it. Actually, the customization feels like it came out of the tabletop game Cyberpunk 2020. Plus, for fans of the anime Cyberpunk Edgerunners, easter eggs wait to be found.
The game itself can easily take over 200 hours. The DLC, Phantom Liberty, also adds in as much as another 80 hours. Suffice it to say, Cyberpunk leaves you addicted and somehow, someway, craving more.
Facebook Comments