Hours to complete old school RPGs

[Lord Mushroom]

I plan to play RPGs a bit the next months, and I only want to play the best games. I know roughly how many hours I will play in total. But to find out how many games I have time for, so I can plan out in which order to play the games (especially important if more than 1 game in a series makes the cut), I need to know the average hours to complete.

I have read that most SNES RPGs take about 20 hours to complete. Chrono Trigger, which many say is the best RPG of all time, is said to be about that length.

But by the time I have completed Final Fantasy 1, I will have spent about 40 hours if you include the time I "wasted" on starting over with a different party, so there are longer games as well. And I am guessing good RPGs typically lasts longer than 20 hours, but I could be wrong.

[InsaneDavid]

Chrono Trigger is open to how much stuff you want to do, how you want to do it, how long you want to poke around seeing every little thing, etc. I guess the same can be said for a lot of RPGs.

If the PS1 is open to you as a system of choice, do yourself a favor and play Grandia. Most say it's a 50 hour RPG but I think my play was around 36 - 40. That one play is all it took to make it my favorite RPG without any doubt.

[o.pwuaioc]

Definitely depends on the game. If you want a shorter romp with some excellent games, try the Breath of Fire series.

[Parodius Duh!]

Depends on the game 100%

One game may max out at 15+ hours, one might take 40+, then crap like Beyond the Beyond will take 100+ hours (not because its good and lengthy, but because its a confusing pile of bullshit)...

[Aussie2B]

Me thinks if you're cramming so many back-to-back in a few months, you're going to get burned out on them.

I'd say RPGs are, in general, longer these days than in the past, because all of the clueless kiddies that think "longer = better". Older RPGs are usually far better paced and don't drag on well past their fun factor. Regardless, though, old RPGs, just like modern RPGs, vary immensely in length, and play style (if you like to speed through things or if you like to savor and are a completionist) is a big factor too. If I had to come up with an estimate, I'd say most older RPGs are 20-30 hours, but some are more around the 10-hour mark, like Arcana and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. But there were some considerably long ones back then too, including some in big franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. If you really want to know play times, it's best to just ask on a game-by-game basis, but you'll have to get a feel over time on if you typically match, exceed, or go faster than most estimates.

[Rickstilwell1]

Depends on the game 100%

One game may max out at 15+ hours, one might take 40+, then crap like Beyond the Beyond will take 100+ hours (not because its good and lengthy, but because its a confusing pile of bullshit)...

Does not take 100+ hours if you are actually good at it. Not even close. Maybe more like 20-40 hours. Of course this is coming from someone who knows where everything is and beat it 11 times.

[Lord Mushroom]

I am not looking for recommendations on games. I will be using Gamestop´s ranking of (non-action) RPGs religiously to find out what the best RPGs are. I will probably limit myself to NES, SNES, Master System and Genesis.

Are there any other consoles, which have the type of RPGs I am looking for? To be of any use to me, they must have games available on ROM. The consoles also has to be earlier than PS1 and/or handheld.

What about all those Pokemon games? Would I like them, or are they different from traditional RPGs?


If the PS1 is open to you as a system of choice,

I don´t like the look of post-SNES RPGs. I don´t like the 3d, the shifting camera-angles and the endless talking. I just wanna explore the world, kill everything that stands in my way and save the princess. :)

The only reason why I like the remade Final Fantasy games on PS1 is because they have just improved the graphics and added some cut-scenes.

[Lord Mushroom]

If you want a shorter romp with some excellent games, try the Breath of Fire series.

I am most likely gonna play number 2 and maybe number 1. But definitely not number 4. I tried that one a little a few years ago.

[Lord Mushroom]

Me thinks if you're cramming so many back-to-back in a few months, you're going to get burned out on them.

I am not gonna play all that much. About 300 hours over 5 months is the plan at the moment. That is 2 hours per day.


(if you like to speed through things or if you like to savor and are a completionist) is a big factor too.

I like speeding through.


If you really want to know play times, it's best to just ask on a game-by-game basis, but you'll have to get a feel over time on if you typically match, exceed, or go faster than most estimates.

Sounds like a good idea. I will assume RPGs last 25 hours (unless I know otherwise), make a list of what I consider to be the best games I have time for within 300 hours, ask you guys how long you think it will take to complete that list and add or remove games to/from the list accordingly. That should make for a good starting point, and I will take it from there.

[kupomogli]

RPGs vary per person, but if it took you 40 hours completing the original Final Fantasy, even starting a new party, then I'd imagine other RPGs would take you atleast 20 hours or more. Playing the original Final Fantasy, I can complete it in around five hours on a good run, but it's my most completed RPG and I've probably finished it 100+ times so I know pretty much everything about the game. I'd say first time playing it might be a 10-20 hour game.

Dragon Warrior 7 is the best and longest in the series, took me a little less than 80 hours to complete everything outside of developing each final town version of your characters town, having one of every monster in monster town, and also getting all monster hearts to learn the monster class for each character and mastering all the monster classes(I've actually mastered no monster classes because I might have a total of four monster hearts.)

Here are games that I remember my times. Unless I'm mistaken, these should all be first run times.

Arc the Lad ~20 hours with everything
Arc the Lad 2 ~40 with most completed, including Hunter's Guild
Chrono Trigger ~12 hours. ~20 with everything
Dragon Warrior 7 ~80 hours with most completed
Final Fantasy 4 ~12-15 hours with everything
Final Fantasy 10 ~30 hours
Front Mission 3 ~20 each story path, so 40 hours altogether. Each path is completely different and a question from Ryogo at the beginning is what determines your path.
Parasite Eve ~6-10 hours
Star Ocean First Departure ~10 hours
Suikoden ~9 hours with all 108 stars
Tactics Ogre ~60 hours with everything
Vandal Hearts ~12 hours with Vandalier
White Knight Chronicles ~20-25 hours
Xenogears ~35 hours
Xenosaga ~30 hours

[Lord Mushroom]

Final Fantasy, I'd say first time playing it might be a 10-20 hour game.

I must suck. :)

Thanks for the list. While I would have to multiply those times by 2 or 3 to get the hours it will take me, it is still useful.

[Lord Mushroom]

Here is a list of games that probably will make the list:
Chrono Trigger
Breath of fire 1+2
Phantasy Star 2+4
Final Fantasy 2 (PS1)
Earthbound
Star Ocean
Dragon Warrior 3

How long do you guys think it will take me to complete those individual games?

[Ryudo]

Seriously Try Ys I & II since it comes with both games you can beat it in about 12 hours (any version)
Ys III in about 4-5 (Genesis version)

[kupomogli]

Thanks for the list. While I would have to multiply those times by 2 or 3 to get the hours it will take me, it is still useful.

I don't really think you'd have to multiply the times by anything really. Maybe Dragon Warrior 7, but everything else I've listed I can't see taking more than 5-10 hours longer, regardless of skill.

Suikoden for example. Experience gained is based on your level. So if you're at a low level, you gain a high amount of experience. At a high level you'll gain a lower amount of experience. Even if you like to get to a higher level, you'll be aware when you're at a high level for the location. Parasite Eve is another game. Whenever you go through every area in Parasite Eve, each battle location you'll fight an enemy first time you step there, but then it takes quite awhile for enemies to respawn in those locations, so while you can grind, that kind of pushes you out of the idea. Vandal Hearts and Front Mission 3 are tactical RPGs that go from level to level, no exploration, so those you won't get much more time in. The others you explore in but they're easy enough to where it wouldn't take long to find out where to go and what to do, maybe grind a little if needed, etc.

[JSoup]

White Knight Chronicles ~20-25 hours

Really? I've had that game on my shelf for months and haven't had the urge to play it because everyone keeps telling me it's a 100+ hour game.

[Aussie2B]

Kupomogli's times are pretty damn low, at least for the games I've familiar with. A first time player of the first Final Fantasy beating the game in 10 hours seems incredibly unlikely to me. 20+ I could see. Most first time players of Chrono Trigger take more than 20 hours, although I don't think many people skip all of the optional character quests near the end. Doing so would be missing out on a good chunk of the game/story. I took around 40 hours playing through Final Fantasy IV my first time. Like I said earlier, I'm admittedly slow, but I'd say 20-30 would be WAY more likely than someone taking 12-15. Almost everyone who does everything in Tactics Ogre spends 100+ hours, or at least a good deal more than 60. It's a huge timesink. The game itself is long, and the bonus dungeon has 100 floors/battles. The fastest players of Star Ocean usually take at least 15 hours, with most people taking more yet. I can't recall how fast I beat Vandal Hearts, but I remember the average battle took roughly an hour, sometimes more, and there are 30-some battles in the game, I believe. Can't imagine many players beating it in under 20.

[kupomogli]

Really? I've had that game on my shelf for months and haven't had the urge to play it because everyone keeps telling me it's a 100+ hour game.

I played the first one through on WKC2, but it's nowhere near 100+ hours. Maybe the first and second, all the quests, and all the customization options, the game could last you well over 100+ hours, because playing the quests with other people online is the best part of an already good game.