Summary
- Final Fantasy 12 has the longest main quest in the series, offering over 60 hours of gameplay.
- Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the longest games ever, taking over 70 hours for the main quest alone.
- Monster Hunter Freedom Unite requires over 100 hours to beat, with up to 500 hours for completionists.
Many games, especially in the RPG realm, are known for being long. That's usually because of all the sweet extra content, because many of the most famous main campaigns in gaming are surprisingly short. Oblivion, for example, is one of the the biggest titles of 2006, which just made a remastered comeback and is aiming at becoming the biggest title of 2025. Players can beat its main quest in no longer than 4 hours.
There are, however, games that will take a lot of time out of players trying to beat their incredibly long main quests. Here's a look at the games that will give players the biggest bang for their buck, in terms of main plot length.
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7 Final Fantasy 12
The Longest Game In The Series
Final Fantasy 12
- Released
- October 31, 2006
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
- Over 60 hours
There are always going to be fans out there wondering what the longest game in the Final Fantasy series is. In truth, it's likely either FF11 or FF4, but that's due to the constantly added new content. As far as the longest main quests upon release go, Final Fantasy 12 will offer players the greatest value length-wise.
That lenght is courtesy of the game's long and challenging main dungeons, as well as its excellent world map integration with the game. Final Fantasy 12 also features some of the longest bosses and political-intrigue-filled cutscenes in the series, which helps ramp up its numbers. The most important part, however, is that nothing really feels like padding. Final Fantasy 12 remains one of the best games in the series to play nowadays.
6 Baldur's Gate 3
As Large As It Is Grand
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
- Over 70 hours for the main quest
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the longest games ever made, and not just because players will save-scum at any given chance in the hopes of getting better outcomes for their rolls. The game's three acts are filled to the brim with important stuff to do, and players are certain to take their time making the best-possible decision — or the most chaotic one imaginable.
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As far as cost-effectiveness goes, it's hard to beat Baldur's Gate 3's main quest size, quality, and the amount of free extra stuff out there for players to try out. And, considering how many options Baldur's Gate 3 gives players to deal with the challenges at hand, one could say Baldur's Gate 3's real duration is close to infinity, if players want to see everything the game has to offer.
5 Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Loads Of Freedom
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
- Released
- March 27, 2008
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Fighting, Adventure, Shooter
- Over 100 hours of gameplay
Though the Monster Hunter series seems to have been growing with each passing entry, none of the most recent entries gets the title of biggest hunt around. That distinction goes to Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, where casual players will have to spend over 100 hours to beat the game.
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite originally came out under the name Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, meaning it's a beefed-up version of the previous game, and that's no joke. If players decide to go the full-on completionist route with this one, they're looking at over 500 hours of content, with over 100 hours coming from the main story.
4 Persona 5 Royal
The Longest In The Series
Persona 5 Royal
- Released
- March 31, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
- Over 100 hours of gameplay
No game in the Persona series is short, even when players are only sticking to the main quest. Base Persona 5 was already pretty long, so it's no surprise that Persona Royale 5, the bigger and better version, will have even more for players to indulge in. A full playthrough of Persona 5 Royale will take over 100 hours, and, if players are looking to 100% complete the game, that number might go up threefold. Boasting such numbers, it's hard not to recommend P5 Royal as the best game to get for anyone trying to experience the series for the first time.
3 Elite: Dangerous
Elite Time Spender
Elite Dangerous
- Released
- December 16, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Drug Reference, Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Flight Simulator
- Over 100 hours to beat; over 1,000 to fully complete
Elite: Dangerous is one of the largest games in the literal sense. Instead of a huge 2D map to explore, players have a large chunk of a galaxy to play in, and it's far from being huge just for the sake of it. Elite: Dangerous has a lot for players to do, even if they're just doing the basics.
Much like most games of its kind, the extra content severely dwarfs the main content, but the main content is already so vast that casual players will likely never ever run out of things to do in this universe. There are games with even larger game worlds out there, but as far as the number and size of missions designed for players, beating this game is a galactic-sized task.
2 Minecraft
Surprisingly Long, Though Many Don't Remember It
Minecraft
- Released
- November 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Fantasy Violence
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Used to take up to 200 hours to beat
One of the best things about gaming in the time of the Internet and social networks is the communities that arise around games. When they're not toxic, they offer various hubs of incredible insight for players to improve their gameplay experiences. Nowadays, anyone can do a simple Google search and learn all the steps they must take to beat Minecraft's mysterious main quest in a few hours. Speedrunners have beaten it in minutes, and with absolutely wild methods.
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Without any of that, however, finding out what to do in the original Minecraft wasn't easy, and finding how to progress until the battle with the dragon boss was no easy task. Luckily, Minecraft ended up being the highest-selling game in history. The youths of today (who likely weren't even born when the game came out) will get to shave off a few hundred hours off of their mandatory Minecraft playtime to reach the end.
1 The Longing
It's Too Long
The Longing
- Released
- March 5, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Mild SUggestive Themes, and Violent References
- Genre(s)
- Adventure, Idle Games, Indie Games, RPG
- Over 400 real-world days to beat
It's hard to beat a game meant to be long in a world where even long games are meant to be digestible. Well, that's The Longing, a game where a deliberately slow character goes on a deliberately long adventure in a deliberately huge area meant to take players as long as possible to beat.
The Longing isn't for speedrunners, but rather for people who want a game they can go back to every day just to achieve a little more progress. Though it might seem boring for some, The Longing hits the right spot for a lot of players who like experimental games and dread the idea of ever having to put down a game for having nothing more to do in it.
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