How long is too long for a single player game?

How long is too long? Does it matter to you?

Most pokemon games only take me about 25-30 hours for the main campaign. Chrono Trigger is around this length if I'm not mistaken. Longer games such as Xenoblade 1 took me about 55 hours. Xenoblade 2 took about 70 hours and drove me insane at some points.

I'm playing Persona 5 Royal and have nearly 65 hours. And apparently there's 3 palaces left. This might end up being the longest I've spent on a single player JRPG. I enjoy it, but I am getting slight fatigue.

I've been playing New Vegas since early this year and I'm only around 40 hours, but I haven't been playing for completion. Mostly to amuse myself and mess around. I could see myself hitting 100+ hours.

Identifies no general limit for length. Depends on the game. Views an individual game as too long when it does not present new or interesting abilities, story/characterization, situations for existing abilities, discoveries, and so on in a well-paced manner. (Allows time to absorb and/or experiment with new things, of course.) Realizes this in the moment or in hindsight, typically.

I also think it just depends on the quality of the game. I started Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this morning and, at this point, I don't think it could keep my attention for 70 hours unless it just starts slowly. I have put around 140 hours into FE Three Houses, however and I would probably put a lot more into it if they ever released more DLC story. I have also heard Octopath Traveler is a pretty long game and I am about 8ish hours into it and it is another one, unless is ramps up soon, that I will most likely call it quits on.

Figure said:

I also think it just depends on the quality of the game. I started Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this morning and, at this point, I don't think it could keep my attention for 70 hours unless it just starts slowly. I have put around 140 hours into FE Three Houses, however and I would probably put a lot more into it if they ever released more DLC story. I have also heard Octopath Traveler is a pretty long game and I am about 8ish hours into it and it is another one, unless is ramps up soon, that I will most likely call it quits on.

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Surprisingly, it wasn't the length that drove me crazy with Xenoblade 2. It was the side quests. Some of them have absolutely awful design. They can take so long to complete, then block you from finishing them because you don't have the proper field skills. Not to mention the level 70-80 enemies on the map being aggressive for no reason.

The story was decent and I think it's big moment comes pretty early, if I'm not mistaken the end of Chapter 3. If that doesn't interest you then yeah I'd put the game down.

I don't know in actual hours, but I know that Stellaris takes way too long for me to complete before I feel annoyed, even when I reduce the amount of in-game years and play on Fast. So for me, games should probably not be too long 😅

Really it does depend on the pacing and quality of the narrative and gameplay for me as to how I judge a game's length - I've never experienced the "too much of a good thing" conundrum with video games because I grew up playing long JRPGs and I can quite happily sink hundreds of hours into good ones and not be put off by having more to do - in fact, the more I have to do, the better. But when a game doesn't hold my interest, fatigue is a genuine problem for me because of this because I am very used to playing games for a long time before anything of note happens in the plot that is actually of note, and some of my favourite games have long opening segments that take their time to establish the plot/characters/gameplay systems before they really open up and become enjoyable...and plenty have these aspects and don't. Case in point, Xenoblade 2. I was fed up with that after 10 hours. I kept playing, thinking it would get better, because slow starts in JRPGs are a common enough occurrence. It never did. When a game has a narrative and cast as abhorrently bad as Xenoblade 2's, even a single hour is too long frankly. I sometimes wonder if slow starts are a problem with video games or necessary setup for a good experience...

Monster Hunter World and Rise are both interesting ones however, because both hold your hand for too long before they actually let you play the game properly thanks to their awful narratives...and then there isn't enough to do in either so they feel far too short. It took me 250 hours to complete World, vs. the 1000 or so I sank into Generations Ultimate getting all the Guild Card achievements, and Rise kept me occupied for about 50 hours and I couldn't be bothered (yet anyway) to go back and do the content they patched in because the base game was such poor quality.

But unlike the "too short" complaint - which is far more common these days it seems - I think a game feels "too long" only when you're not really enjoying yourself...which is a clear sign that it's not worth playing, in my opinion. Games are supposed to be fun after all, so when they stop being something you play for enjoyment and something you play out of a sense of obligation - either to achieve some in-game objective or just to get to the end of the main content - then it's time to stop playing them.

I think the longest game I've played and actually completed is Dragon Quest XI on the Switch. I did almost all of the side quests and most of the bonus bosses iirc, except like a few that were way harder than the rewards were worth. All in all I believe I logged 100+ hours, and I don't remember feeling like it dragged for too long, although to be fair I took a few months break about halfway through. In general I think a combination of compelling story and engaging gameplay can keep me hooked even for hundreds of hours, while a boring plot or too heavy/repetitive grinding will make me drop a game very fast.

When it gets boring and uninteresting is when it's been too long imo. There are also games that are just less appealing when you play them than you thought when buying them and it can be a struggle to even work up the will to complete it and play for like say 30-40 hours of it.

but in terms of hours it can be anything. I've done 2 full playthroughs (including NG+) in TW3 and logged 900 something hours in there xD

I never find single player games to be too long, honestly. I think the longer the better IMO. I am more of a single player kinda person anyway.

There is no such thing as "too long" for single player games, it is how you use the length that matters the most. If you will make your game last 200 hours, but 150 of it is backtracking and boring gameplay... then it is too much yes

but if its 200 hours and its always fun and engaging... it probably might even be not enough

I barely play single player games myself these days :(

I take my time with games, so length doesn't bother me a bit even if it takes a long time to beat. Though games I play through quicker have always been Pokemon and I tend to replay Pokemon games multiple times when I should be playing through my other games that I'm enjoying the story and gameplay, but I'm strange like that with playing multiple games at once.

ZeoStar said:

Surprisingly, it wasn't the length that drove me crazy with Xenoblade 2. It was the side quests. Some of them have absolutely awful design. They can take so long to complete, then block you from finishing them because you don't have the proper field skills. Not to mention the level 70-80 enemies on the map being aggressive for no reason.

The story was decent and I think it's big moment comes pretty early, if I'm not mistaken the end of Chapter 3. If that doesn't interest you then yeah I'd put the game down.

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And how many chapters are there? I just got to play a bit more, I am about three hours in and just got to the first city. I can tell I am definetly still in the tutorial phase and I am starting to really enjoy the game. The cutscene at the end of the Prologue was pretty good and the music was fantastic. My only real complaint right now is the voice acting although I read that it does improve.

If it doesn't soon, I will probably just get the Japanese voice pack.

Not too much, usually. 20 sounds good?
Though I did spend 80 hours in my last Xenoblade and 120 hours in my last Xenoblade 2 playthroughs.

Figure said:

And how many chapters are there? I just got to play a bit more, I am about three hours in and just got to the first city. I can tell I am definetly still in the tutorial phase and I am starting to really enjoy the game. The cutscene at the end of the Prologue was pretty good and the music was fantastic. My only real complaint right now is the voice acting although I read that it does improve.

If it doesn't soon, I will probably just get the Japanese voice pack.

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10 chapters in total. Just make sure to check the skills of your blades regularly and use Pouch Items (there are some really good ones) and you will be fine. Also: don't expect much from the tutorials. They are bad, like, really bad and don't convey the mechanics they explain too well, especially the more complicated ones.

This is a diagram if you ever get stuck on the mechanics. It's what I referred to when getting unsure of how to play



Also it's worth mentioning that the chapter vary in length. 8-10 are short.

Megan said:

Not too much, usually. 20 sounds good?
Though I did spend 80 hours in my last Xenoblade and 120 hours in my last Xenoblade 2 playthroughs.

10 chapters in total. Just make sure to check the skills of your blades regularly and use Pouch Items (there are some really good ones) and you will be fine. Also: don't expect much from the tutorials. They are bad, like, really bad and don't convey the mechanics they explain too well, especially the more complicated ones.

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Yeah the tutorial wasn't very great, I am in chapter 3 now and there are still some things I need clarification on. My only real complaint now though is, why do we need level 80+ roaming monsters that come out of nowhere to one shot you? It doesn't add anything to the game and it just makes it frusterating. Just had to put it down for a bit because I can't progress and I was getting mad.

Figure said:

Yeah the tutorial wasn't very great, I am in chapter 3 now and there are still some things I need clarification on. My only real complaint now though is, why do we need level 80+ roaming monsters that come out of nowhere to one shot you?

Spoiler:

I am just trying to leave Gormott right now and there are two high level roaming monsters that come out of nowhere and destroy me.

It doesn't add anything to the game and it just makes it frusterating. Just had to put it down for a bit because I can't progress and I was getting mad.

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You mean Territorial Rotbart? Yeah, this guy in particular is a staple in basically every Xenoblade game. He does the exact same in the first game. It's basically just a sort of mini tutorial trying to teach you that there are going to be high level monsters in the game so you should always be careful when exploring. He's just a very extreme way to show you. xD

The others are mostly fine and somewhat avoidable, though.

Megan said:

You mean Territorial Rotbart? Yeah, this guy in particular is a staple in basically every Xenoblade game. He does the exact same in the first game. It's basically just a sort of mini tutorial trying to teach you that there are going to be high level monsters in the game so you should always be careful when exploring. He's just a very extreme way to show you. xD

The others are mostly fine and somewhat avoidable, though.

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Oh I am sure it is 100%my fault I was just annoyed because I had just put down the game lol.