What's the longest you've ever taken to finish a game?

So I just completed the first Witcher game, after starting it in May 2014 and putting in almost 54 hours of gameplay it's taken me almost 8 years to complete! Bare in mind, however, I didn't play it often during that period and I tried to complete as many quests as possible.

What's the longest amount of time you've taken to complete a game?

Started Kingdoms of Amalur sometime in 2013, and beat it last year. Similar situation as you, kinda played of and on, had kids which cut my gaming time a lot. Last year I picked it back up and b-lined toward the end. Awesome game, quest design just gets a little repetitive. Taking breaks was the way to go.

It's really hard to say but it's either Skyrim or Witcher 3.

Tales of Symphonia (on the Gamecube). It took me a few months; 79 hours in total. I didn't even see all that the game had to offer.

Persona 5 and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier.

Persona 5 was a give or take a 100 hour stretch. I took my time because I really wanted to get the most out the game, up until it started getting closer to end if I remember right.

Now with Super Robot Taisen, while this was when I was still trying to understand JRPGs and struggled with leveling until I committed to grinding, the game nearly took me a month to play and I was still not near the end. I ended up trading in that copy at the time and I have a different copy, but I have not played it for a long time because the game can be time-consuming.

Tough to say as I assume this is for getting to credits for the first time, not a 100% run, or get the 'true' ending in a game?

If I had to guess, finish games to credits quicker than the average. It is on replays that I tend to take my time more.

I'm getting the hunch am near the end of Elden Ring close to 35 hours in, and sure I've probably missed a whole lot but that's why I like doing a blind run first and foremost. It's mysterious and leaves me open to surprises. I've found myself less interested in side diving in Elden Ring recently and just wanting to see how it all comes together, what I assume to be the normal ending too; whether that be an interesting ending, or the usually dull/ worst ending, I'll have to find out.

I can worry about the alternative side quests, etc next run. I may even just make a new Tarnished, new build.

First time to credits, there’s been a few really long ones. Off the top of my head some recent ones have been:

- Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade Chronicles 2

- Dragon Quest XI: S Definitive Edition

Those have been 100+ hour long adventures the first time through. Elden Ring is currently over 100 hours and I’ve yet to finish it for the first time.

Honestly I don't know because I don't finished most games, for better or worse. It's why I tend to like "sandbox" type of games--city builders, management games, factory games, etc--instead of more linear games.

Out of the games I have installed at the moment, I'd say the one I have beat ArmA 3? Just sort of chipped away at it over time and while the campaign isn't particularly long there's a lot of other stuff to do in that game so that is why it took so long.

Probably Ocarina of Time. Going in blind at 10 years old ended up taking me months to beat. Kept getting stuck at certain junctions as I was unaware on where to head to next.

I also was a scaredy cat back then too. The creepy atmosphere of the forest temple had me backing out and doing other things around hyrule before I managed to muster up enough guts to complete it. Then there was the Well and Shadow Temple. I took one foot inside the Well then ghosted right back out of there. Must have avoided those two places for a few months doing nothing but fishing and complete whatever side quest I managed to stumble across. Not sure how I built up enough courage to tackle the Well and Shadow Temple, but I managed to complete the both of them.

Then I got stuck on the Spirit Temple segment as I actually didn't know where to go once I conquered the Shadow temple. Eventually figured it out after another month of aimlessly running around. After it was all said and done, think it took me almost 1 year to beat OoT...

Skyrim started it way back on PS3 and finally finished it in 2015.

@RSM-HQ: that is basically what I meant. I usually don't speed-run through games with side-missions and open -worlds like RPGs I usually try and do every quest/mission before completing the final levels, hence why it took me so long to complete The Witcher 1.

Some of my favorite games have no win condition whatsoever.

I think it's pretty cool that everyone handles games differently.

I always saver my playthroughs when I already know what to expect, so a second or third run. On a blind run many things are often missed with area/ section gating; that makes it impossible to go back and undo. Naturally I would only do this for games I would like to replay, and Elden Ring so happens to be one of them.

Collective data over the years show that fewer than 15% of people actually beat any given game anyway. Most do not. Developers have come to follow this as crucial information.

That's why developers put a lot of the budget towards the beginning/ opening of a game because they assume the player-base will get bored and move-on quickly. It's imperative to show what makes the game special as early as possible.

And honestly I'm no exception, I do beat a lot of games. But I also disregard games too if I'm just not enjoying them in the opening hours. If I had to guess, I only beat 10% of games I've played.

@RSM-HQ: that's an interesting statistic, I can only think of a small handful of games I HAVEN'T completed as I usually see games through to the end. As I mentioned I'm a completionist so it wouldn't feel right not seeing it through to the end after putting the effort in at the start.

Since 2014 I've been using a highly popularised hours method to gauge games for personal enjoyment. As once I use to playthrough many games that people told me "it gets better", and they never did; so I would finish the game and be left frustrated and bitter.

To give an example of how it works- After a certain period of time playing an alarm goes off (depending on the type of game it is, RPGs are usually the longest, I typically give them 5 hours)

Linear action games are usually two hours. So after the two hours I make mental notes of what I liked and what I didn't like. If I'm overall not having fun with the game I drop it on the spot, trade-in, get a refund, etc. If I'm still undecided? I give it another two hours and re-evaluate.

While this method is certainly not for everyone it helps me out a whole lot. I play games to have as much enjoyment as possible. And if it's not very enjoyable it comes across as a waste of my time. And time is really the factor, we have an abundance of riches for games, and not all games speak to all people, and some are just straight-up garbage too.

Not that I've completed it yet but I'd say Dragon Quest VIII for the 3DS. I'd guess it's been over a year since I first started that game. I will probably never finish the main story either. I'm just not a fan and it feels like a chore to play compared to the other games in the series.

rdr2 took me 92 hours and was the longest until elden ring took the lead now, 183 hours in and still haven't finished a single playthrough :')

@tocool340: similar story for me, i must be around your age.

I was stuck at the water temple a very long time...

The Witcher 3 took me 2-3 years to beat. I'd play it on and off then I eventually just started over to regain my focus. When I was dead serious it only took like two weeks, though.

I honestly can't say. I rarely actually finish games anymore unless they have a story that's central to the game. Those games usually don't take very long. Off the top my head I'd say FF7 on the PS1 years ago is one I can remember really sticking with it to finish. Took a couple of weeks.

Probably a little over a year, Horizon Zero Dawn. I had rented it from the local library shortly after launch. Really enjoyed it! But after maxing out my renewals I never played it again until I bought it after a year or so. I regretted waiting that long.

It depends on how you mean but i think i played Mega Man 2 for the firts time over 20 years ago and i only finished it in like.... 2016? But i did not play the game each month or each week during the time period.

Usually if it takes a long time it is because i took a break from the game, not because it was hard.

@tocool340: Ah yeah the well was a bit scary. I remember playing it one night and also a movie , alien 3, was on tv and i sort of went back and forth between the game and the movie. (i wanted to watch the movie but i also wanted to not stop playing the game i guess) The well was not an official dungeon or temple in the game but i think it was almost as big as one of the real temples?

The only place where i think i got so stuck i needed to get help from the club Nintendo phone line was probably in the Gerudo valley fortress where i could not find all of the four carpenter brothers i think you needed to talk to in order to advance further into the desert to the last temple before the final fight against Ganondorf.

Ocarina of Time, great stuff :)

Actually, if we consider not just the games but also high difficulties, i think it took me quite a long time to beat Civilization 5 on the 5th or 6th difficulty (there are 8 in total) and i played the game quite often for a few years.

Playing on level 3 or 4 on the other hand would be a bit too easy.

Mafia 2 is probably a game that took me a year to finish when it first released on PS3. Having to play through hard mode was difficult in some spots and redoing the missions again and getting the collectibles took me a lot. Though I probably went months without playing it before getting back into it. I think Batman Arkham Knight I started in 2015 and it's been 7 years since I went back to it. That's probably the longest I been when playing a game and not going back to it.

I would say bf3 mp. It took me 2 years to get last rank online.

I still haven't completed Skyrim. Had it from release and have it on 4 different platforms.

Bought Dark Souls 3 on release day and beat it a couple days ago. Kept having to take breaks cause of work and school and each time I went back to it I could never remember what I was supposed to be doing and would start over.

Gotta be either Persona 5R or The Wicther 3...

• P5R - Put over 100 hours in, made it about 2/3 of the way through then fell off. Finally decided to give it another go 8-12 months later, started over, and stuck with it for a staggering 200+ hours. I loved the game a LOT; don't remember exactly why I stopped the first time.
• W3 - Overloaded with side quests the first few tries. Finally powered through and ignored some side quests and finished years later after starting over a few times. The movement feels bad in W3, even with the alternat animations they added. I don't ever want to play it again, but the world and some of the quests were genuinely enjoyable. It took about 100 hours the third attempt.

I'd play P5 again before I ever play W3. Interesting contrast with the quest design in these two games. P5 really rewards you for digging into the characters and you will miss a ton of stuff if you don't check up on them frequently. W3 is just a waypoint simulator; you follow the compass almost mindlessly.

Oh yeah! And the first Elden Ring play through was about 250+ hours before I hit NG+, but that was within the first 3-4 months or so.

Are we talking about time-span or hours played? Because if time-span... Ghost of Tsushima (installed it in somewhere in July of 2022, finished it a week ago). If time spent playing... probably Oddyssey (IIRC, STEAM had 90+ hours clocked-in).

Most of the time if I stop playing game for more than a couple of weeks, I don't end up going back to finish it.

There might have been some games as I kid it took me ages to finish since I was worse at games and they tended to be harder... Elder Scrolls 3 Morrowind comes to mind, but its so long ago I can't remember the details.

One I can remember taking ages to beat is the original Dark Souls. I played up to the boss at the end of Blight Town, then got frustrated and stopped playing for several months. Eventually, I came back to it and slowly worked my way through it. probably took me the better part of a year to finish.

With Persona 5R, I initially invested over 100 hours into the game, making it about two-thirds of the way through before losing momentum. However, after taking a break for 8-12 months, I decided to give it another shot. I started fresh and this time, I stayed committed for an astounding 200+ hours. I fell in love with the game and its intricate storytelling, though I can't recall exactly why I stopped playing the first time.

On the other hand, The Witcher 3 presented a different experience. During my initial attempts, I found myself overwhelmed by the abundance of side quests. It wasn't until I decided to power through, ignoring some of the side content, sonic chat that I finally completed the game after multiple restarts. Despite enjoying certain aspects, such as the immersive world and engaging quests, I don't have a desire to replay it due to the unsatisfying movement mechanics, even with the added alternative animations. The quest design in The Witcher 3 primarily revolved around following waypoints, often without much thought or exploration.

If given the choice, I would opt to replay Persona 5 rather than The Witcher 3. The character-driven nature of Persona 5 deeply resonated with me, and the game rewards thorough engagement with its rich cast of characters. On the other hand, The Witcher 3 felt more like a waypoint-driven experience, lacking the same level of character depth.

Lastly, I should mention that my initial playthrough of Elden Ring lasted over 250+ hours before venturing into NG+. However, this extensive playtime occurred within the first 3-4 months of the game's release.

that would be ES oblivion,umpteen hours put into the game 3 or 4 fresh starts and still haven't completed the main story

Took me from 1995 to just this year 2023 to finish Magic Carpet 2.

Mind you, it wasn't the same exact save file each time... what would happen is I'd play it pretty far but then just kinda leave it long enough that I didn't go back to it. Well this year I went full out, started the game from the start right to the end. Completely done now.

Other than the crashing, amazing game though for its time, I would play it every year almost but never all the way to the end.... mostly due to the random and repeated crashes you'd get in many of the levels which would turn the game into a routine of saving every few minutes to just be able to finish a level.

Another even older game is Ultima 7, I got it in 1992, I play it every year or so but never get all the way through it either... I'd just give up or get some game breaking bugs and have to quit anyways. You can break the game main story questline if you don't do things in a proper order for some of the quests... one bug was if you flew to Minoc on the magic carpet instead of walking there on foot, it wouldn't trigger the quest properly and you could never finish the game from that point on.

The Witcher 3 offered a unique encounter. In my early endeavors, I became swamped by the sheer number of side quests. It was only when I resolved to push forward, setting aside some of the additional content, that I ultimately managed to finish the game after several restarts. Although I relished specific elements like the captivating universe and intriguing quests, I lack the inclination to revisit it due to the dissatisfactory movement mechanics, despite the inclusion of alternative animations. The mission structure in The Witcher 3 predominantly centered on tracking waypoints, frequently lacking in depth or room for exploration. https://eastcoastpropertyservicesllc.com/post-construction-cleaning/

How was the end of that game?

I remember getting to the desert region and stopping there.

*lol just realized this post is a year old. Damn necro thread.

@mrbojangles25: Ha! No problem, I still remember making this post :)

The final boss is pretty fun, but there isn't some huge, profound story payoff. Keep playing if you really like the combat, thats the one part the game really nailed. Every other aspect was just kinda good enough. You'll be doing basically the same handful of quests for the last 10-hours, that you were doing for the first 10-hours. Scenery changes a bit, enemies change color, talk to some folks at a camp or town, that are voiced by the same half-dozen actors as the last one.

But man the combat was fun. Really well made if you like you multiclass. I respeced often to experiment, and finally settled in on a warrior-mage with a sprinkling of stealth abilities.

Witcher 3 also took me almost 6 years! bought the GoTY edition in 2018, played till I got to Skellige and halfway through the troll quest before dropping for other games. over the years I return sometimes but just last month I finally got the time to finish the game and I opinion changed, witcher 3 is incredible!

Just beat my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate III. Normal. Just a little over 40 hours, but less than 41. Blind run (though already familiar with the Early Access build), I did not explore fully and mostly kept on the beating path. For my next Tactician run I'll probably try and do every quest possible. Even check guides to see if I miss anything important.

This was with a Neutral path party; neither heroic or villainous. I do not come to the aid of anyone but I also don't betray and join evil factions.

Made two customs using the window exploit. Made a Paladin Oath of Vengeance/ Berserk Barbarian (great multiclass combo) & a Druid Circle of the Moon (Owlbear smash); the other two slots I filled in with Gale and Shadowheart. So a Wizard and Mage. A balanced combo is always a good idea.

My next playthrough will be a good path run, and then a Dark Urge path. And if I'm still in the mood a evil path playthrough without the Dark Urge.

All Nintendo games.