Summary
- Long RPGs like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2 offer immersive gameplay and replayability, with completionist playtime exceeding 140 hours.
- Games like Persona 5 Royal and The Witcher 3 provide epic storylines that captivate players for over 100 hours, making them top contenders for the best RPGs of all time.
- Monster Hunter Freedom Unite and World of Warcraft are massive games that offer hundreds of hours of gameplay, perfect for players seeking long-term and highly engaging RPG experiences.
There is never a shortage of lengthy RPGs (role-playing games). This genre has dominated the gaming industry since being introduced in the early 1980s. Approximately forty years ago, we saw the release of retro games like Temple of Apshai, Beneath Apple Manor, and Dragonstomper. When we think of really old RPGs today, however, we usually look to Dungeons & Dragons.
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To some, over a hundred hours of gameplay is too long and not worth the effort. Others disagree and would relish the opportunity to delve deep into a quality RPG. Is a lengthy, convoluted RPG worth playing until the end? Here are the twenty longest RPGs of all time.
Updated October 20, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: Long RPGs can be some of the most memorable experiences for gamers, especially if they are worth getting immersed in. Though some of the longest RPGs of all time owe their length to item grinds or random chance mechanics, like World of Warcraft's loot and leveling system,. Other long RPGs, like Baldur's Gate 3, owe their length to the depth of exploration and replayability. BG3 is particularly replayable thanks to the impact that players have over their own story, and the massive variety of ways that players can take on its combat and quests. This list of the best longest RPGs ever has been updated to include these two RPGs, as well as to reorganize each listing based on the completionist playtime – it can take a really, really long time to beat some of these games to their fullest, after all.
20 Wizardry 8
- Average Playtime: 85+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 100+ Hours
While Wizardry 8 is definitely starting to show its age visually, the gameplay mechanics hidden within the game's programming still hold their own despite now being almost two decades old. In many ways this serves as a testament to the talent of the team over at Sir-Tech Canada, whose creative and often intuitive design solutions have really stood the test of time.
Fans of the Might & Magic series will feel right at home in the world of Wizardry thanks mainly to its enjoyable combat, challenging difficulty and interesting settings. It will require quite a bit of patience though; not only when it comes to learning how to play the game effectively, but also making it to the end of the story. Those with a bit of time on their hands should definitely consider spending it here.
19 Harvest Moon: Back To Nature
- Average Playtime: 80+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 120+ Hours
As a game with simulation and role-playing elements, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature was the first non-Nintendo Harvest Moon game. It contains many aspects of Harvest Moon 64, including its characters, but with new personalities and traits.
Released for the Sony PlayStation, the game revolves around farming. Despite having discarded the isometric camera, Harvest Moon: Back to Nature plays fluidly. BTN is lengthy, but by no means tedious. The graphics don't hold up as well, which is why it might be time for a new remaster/remake project.
18 Inquisitor
- Average Playtime: 90+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 120+ Hours
It will take you approximately 90 hours to beat the main story of Inquisitor. Reviews for the game were mixed, but it's undoubtedly a lengthy RPG. You will become engrossed in its gloomy story while playing as one of three character classes. Exploration is encouraged as this game is set in an enormous world.
Inquisitor's various dungeons and surface areas in forests and towns are something to marvel at. Moreover, this game contains plenty of text pages to learn what's beneath the story.
17 Rune Factory Frontier
- Average Playtime: 90+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 125+ Hours
Rune Factory 4 may have won our hearts on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch, but another game in the series was much longer. We are, of course, referring to Rune Factory Frontier. It was released for the Nintendo Wii and is the third Rune Factory game.
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All of these games on the list don't just have good stories, they're quite long as well. Tackling these games are a perfect way to spend a weekend.
Similar to Stardew Valley, you own a farm while the plot unfolds. There are four seasons during which there are different crops to plant. By and large, this is an immersive game with an intriguing plot. It's so engaging that its 90.5 hours main story won't feel that long.
16 Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3
- Average Playtime: 80+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 135+ Hours
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (also known as Persona 3), is surprisingly not the longest game in the series. Persona 3 was released as a PlayStation exclusive for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable.
In the game, you play as an orphaned student who is attending a new high school. After transferring, you are attacked by creatures recognized as shadows. The plot thickens as you develop a persona, which proves to be powerful.
15 Persona 5 Royal
- Average Playtime: 120+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 140+ Hours
2020's Persona 5 Royal is hands down a top contender for the best RPG of all time. Its story is one that will leave you so engrossed that its length won't seem to overburden. The length of the main story is approximately 103 hours, but completionists and players who delve into the extras will take dozens of hours longer.
The Royal edition is the way to go if you're going to play this game. It contains extra characters, a new semester at the Shujin Academy, and added depth to the overall story.
14 Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Average Playtime: 95+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 140+ Hours
Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a game that comes very close to replicating the tabletop formula of Dungeons and Dragons. It has an extremely complex combat system involving elemental interactions and many layers to gaining an advantage over groups of foes, and the length of the main story (let alone the huge number of side quests) feels about as epic as a DnD campaign.
While it's possible to speed run the game and beat it in less than 24 hours total, most players end up taking their time through the fully narrated story to explore every facet of the world of Rivellon.
13 Pathfinder: Kingmaker
- Average Playtime: 75+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 180+ Hours
This game is available on Steam as part of the Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition. Set in the Pathfinder universe, this is a game inspired by hit RPGs like Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate. Set out on a customizable journey where you must take over the Stolen Lands.
It takes approximately 82 and a half hours to beat the main story of Pathfinder: Kingmaker, so don't expect this to be a short-lived adventure. The game contains numerous battles in the harshness of the wilderness.
12 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Average Playtime: 95+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 180+ Hours
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the most recent entry in the renowned adventure series from Nintendo, has been hailed as a crowning achievement for the company. It's a Zelda title to be certain, but it breaks away from many conventions of the series. It turns Zelda into an open-world survival RPG rather than a linear story-driven one and offers an unbelievable number of quests, customizations, and collectibles for players to complete.
Many fans consider it to be one of the best open-world games of all time, despite it being Nintendo's first major foray into the genre. It takes most players a little over 50 hours to complete the main story of Breath of the Wild alone. When factoring in side quests, exploration, and other activities in the game that most players are bound to take on, the average playtime goes well over 100 hours – it's a completely different story when one factors in Korok Seed collection, too.
11 The Witcher 3
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- Average Playtime: 100+ Hours
- 100% Completionist Playtime: 180+ Hours
The Witcher 3 is the crown jewel of CD Projekt Red's well-known Witcher series. It completes the story of Geralt of Rivia and gives the franchise a much more colorful and vibrant aesthetic to complement the world's blend of high fantasy and nightmarish fairytales. Games in The Witcher franchise are typically longer than other RPGs and offer many in-game systems to keep players engaged, and The Witcher 3 turned all of that up to 11.
The game is fully voice acted and features incredibly deep lore for almost every aspect of the world. It takes most players more than 100 hours to complete the main quest of The Witcher 3 while also completing some side quests along the way, and completionists often have hundreds and hundreds of hours logged.