No one can deny how absolutely massive Baldur’s Gate 3 is in terms of playtime. On average, most players can get through it in about 72 hours, but for the completionists out there who want to go through multiple playthroughs to see different scenarios and get all of the achievements, they are looking at an average of 176 hours. Technically, the choices are limitless because of the wide degree of customization options at hand.
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That said, 176 hours sounds about right for Baldur’s Gate 3, and yet there are much bigger games out there. Focusing on completionist runs, these RPGs will keep players busy for months if not years, depending on how dedicated they are. These times were gathered from surveys on How Long To Beat, so while they are not exact, they are fairly good representations of game lengths.
My Time At Sandrock
Wedding In The Desert
My Time At Sandrock
- Released
- November 2, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ Due To Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Comic Mischief +
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Simulation, Farming
- Main Story: 83
- Main + Sides: 118
- Completionist: 154
My Time at Sandrock is a chill life-sim that players can invest a lot of time in. Set in an arid desert region, players must transform their settlement into the best place in the West. Beyond building constructs and planting crops, players can explore the world to look for materials and fight various enemies in action-based combat.
The amount of resources players put into these settlements seems endless, as players can continually add more things. There are story beats to follow, too, and different marriage options, giving players a reason to restart the whole thing if they want. Overall, the life-sim aspects are largely why players like to play My Time at Sandrock for hundreds of hours.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Find The Truth Three Ways
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- Released
- July 26, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Strategy, RPG
- Main Story: 49
- Main + Sides: 76.5
- Completionist: 211
Fire Emblem: Three Houses is a tactical RPG that lets players choose fairly early which of three paths they want to follow, which will be different from the other two. In military school, players can decide to have their character align with one of three characters, all belonging to separate nations, including Claude, Dimitri, and Edelgard. This will then give players a set of playable party members, all of whom have different skills and personalities to master.
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The differing gameplay mechanics alone are enough to get through all three playthroughs, but the stories and character interactions are also interesting. Between side quests, leveling up classes and evolving them, and bonding with characters, one playthrough will be lengthy, let alone three complete campaigns, and this isn’t even considering bonding differently with characters.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Aiming For Your Skell
Xenoblade Chronicles X
- Released
- December 4, 2015
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Animated Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
- Main Story: 68
- Main + Sides: 108
- Completionist: 251
Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U has a longer completionist runtime than the remastered version on Switch. Certain mechanics were streamlined to make it a smoother experience, like how quests are handled along with basic movement. That said, the remaster is the best way to experience the game, and no matter what, it will be a lengthy endeavor that does not require players to restart their game to see new outcomes. Instead, Xenoblade Chronicles X’s world is just absolutely massive, which allows players to explore at their leisure.
However, dangerous monsters that far out-level players will constantly stalk them, which can be approached much later in one of two ways. If players level up their party, they can take these colossal beasts down, but players can also unlock mechs called Skells. Overall, between mapping out the entire game, doing all the quests, and fighting everything in sight, Xenoblade Chronicles X will take a while. It’s a grind on the level of an MMO that puts gameplay over narrative wonders.
Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels Of The Starry Skies
A Deceptively Giant DS Game
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
- Released
- July 15, 2009
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
- Main Story: 47.5
- Main + Sides: 87
- Completionist: 699
Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was the first mainline game in the Dragon Quest series to be released first on a handheld, aka the DS. It was also the first game that added co-op and a player customization option. At the start, players could create their character and eventually three other party members. They can then learn classes called Vocations, and leveling up one will affect the character’s base level by increasing stats and unlocking skills that can be used to create the ultimate warrior.
To create the ultimate character, players would need to level up and maximize each character’s class potential, which already takes a long time. The story isn’t anything massive, but the amount that players can unlock in the post-game is wondrous beyond class leveling. Players used to be able to pass randomly generated maps to friends to find classic bosses or secret loot, but the online functionality has been turned off now. Still, either alone or with three dedicated friends, Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is still one of the most unforgettable games in the franchise that is deserving of a remake.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
More Monsters Than You’ll Know What To Do With
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
- Released
- March 18, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- t
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- Main Story: 79
- Main + Sides: 171
- Completionist: 838
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is a port of a port, releasing first in Japan as just Monster Hunter Generations in 2015. This 2018 North American Switch version adds more content and tweaks a bit of the gameplay. This was a big game for fans in Japan before Monster Hunter: World changed the Monster Hunter franchise forever. It was a celebration of a decade of games in the series, featuring monsters reborn in new dynamic ways. Like all Monster Hunter campaigns, it takes about an hour just to track a monster down and defeat it in one mission.
This doesn’t take into account failing, having to retry, or grinding through the same fight multiple times to get the right materials for crafting. That’s why the campaign can take longer, but then all of the post-game content and extras truly make Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate the ultimate experience for the classic era of Monster Hunter. Between mastering and crafting every weapon and armor set, players will feel the burn unless they can go through it with friends.
Genshin Impact
Free-To-Play Forever
Genshin Impact
- Released
- September 28, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Teen / Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action, Adventure, Gacha, Open-World
- Main Story: 76
- Main + Sides: 332
- Completionist: 1,027
Free-to-play games are crafted to make players come back and want more, and this is true in Genshin Impact. Since it launched in 2020, the game has added new areas to explore and new characters to collect. Each new zone will take dozens of hours to complete in the story, adding up to hundreds, and then more with a completionist mentality.
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Players also have to consider the randomization aspect since players have to use in-game currency to unlock certain aspects of content like characters, and real-world dollars can help. So overall, Genshin Impact is costly, whether that means dumping hundreds of hours to get and collect everything, or costly in terms of taking shortcuts and using real money.
Final Fantasy 14
MMOs Are Made For Infinity
Final Fantasy 14
- Released
- August 27, 2013
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen - Language, Mild Blood, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
- Main Story: 105
- Main + Sides: 483
- Completionist: 3587
Final Fantasy 14 is a real MMO, and it is the ultimate time investment for anyone who truly wants to have an experience that will last them longer than Baldur’s Gate 3, and this includes just playing through the game as one character. The nice thing about the class system is that Jobs can be cross-classed, meaning players will rarely get locked out of content. Starting as a different race and class in the world will create different experiences, but again, even one playthrough is seemingly a lifetime investment.
There is a cost as well because Square Enix charges a monthly fee, but if players only want one massive game anyway, then there are few that are as satisfying as Final Fantasy 14. The storytelling may be different, but fans rank it up there as one of the best in the Final Fantasy series. Between main quests and side content like Raids, this truly is an expansive MMO that keeps getting bigger every few years with seemingly no end in sight.
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