The average playthrough for this game typically takes around 20-30 hours to beat.
So, you’re itching to dive into this new game, but you’re probably wondering, how long does it take to beat this game? Time is precious, and knowing the commitment before you start is key. Let’s break down the expected play time.
Most players finish the main story in about 20 to 30 hours. However, this can vary greatly. Some players will spend more time exploring all the side content, so they might rack up closer to 40 hours or more.
How Long Does It Take To Beat This Game?
Okay, you’ve got a shiny new video game, and you’re itching to dive in. But before you get completely lost in another world, there’s a burning question on your mind: “How long does it take to beat this game?” It’s a question every gamer asks, whether you’re trying to plan your weekend, see if it’s worth the money, or just plain curious. The answer, as you might suspect, isn’t always simple. It’s like asking how long it takes to eat a pizza – depends on the size, how hungry you are, and maybe if you have friends helping you out! Let’s break down all the factors that impact a game’s playtime.
The Core Playtime: Main Storyline Focus
When people talk about “beating” a game, they usually mean finishing the main story. This is the path the developers designed for you to follow, with clear objectives, memorable characters, and a conclusion. This core playtime is a good starting point for understanding how long you might spend with a game.
However, even focusing just on the story, you’ll find a big range of playtimes:
- Short Games (Under 10 Hours): These games often tell a concise story. They could be indie titles, puzzle games, or some action adventures that really get to the point. They’re perfect for a weekend session, or a relaxing evening after school. Think games like Journey or a simpler platformer.
- Medium Games (10 to 30 Hours): This is where a lot of popular games fall. You get a pretty developed story, with some side quests to experience, but not too much to keep you for too long. Lots of action RPGs and adventures fall in this group, offering a good balance of main plot and optional activities. Many modern AAA titles that aren’t open world land here.
- Long Games (30+ Hours): These are the epic adventures that really sink their hooks in. They often have expansive worlds, complex stories, and lots of side content. Games like massive role playing games or open-world epics will keep you occupied for dozens, or even hundreds of hours.
Factors Impacting Main Story Playtime
Even within the main story, things can change the time it takes to complete a game:
- Difficulty Level: Games have different difficulty settings. If you play on an easy mode, you might breeze through the game faster, while a harder mode can require more grinding or replaying sections. This is because it will affect your overall playstyle and strategy.
- Your Skill Level: How good you are at playing games can greatly change playtime. Some people are naturally good at games, or learn mechanics fast. Others may take more time to understand how the game works, and that will affect how long it takes to get through different parts of the story.
- Game’s Design: Some games have open-ended maps or lots of dialogue. These can lengthen the playtime even if you’re sticking just to the main story. Other games have a very streamlined, straight forward approach, that can speed up your playthrough.
Beyond the Main Story: The Allure of Side Content
Okay, you’ve beaten the story. But is that really the end of the game? For many titles, the main story is just the beginning. Side content adds layers to the game and can often double or triple the overall playtime.
Exploring Side Quests and Missions
Side quests are smaller stories or tasks that are not crucial to the main plot. However, they often offer interesting insights to the world, extra experience points, new equipment, or fun characters to interact with. They help build the game world, and they can be very enjoyable, so many players spend a lot of time on side content.
- Variety of Quests: Side quests can include fetching items, battling tough enemies, solving puzzles, or even simple tasks like gathering resources.
- Rewards: Side quests often give you experience, items, money, or other rewards that help with your overall progress in the main game.
- World Building: Side quests frequently help add to the world by expanding your knowledge of its history, or showing you different aspects of the world.
The Lure of Collectibles and Completion
Many games include hidden objects or collectibles. These might be special items, pieces of a puzzle, or just unique things scattered around the world. For some people, finding every single one is part of the fun! This can take a lot of extra time, but for completionists, it is a major point of interest.
- Hidden Items: These items may not affect gameplay, but players want them as a badge of honor and achievement.
- Challenges: Completing collections often requires some level of skill, including exploring everywhere.
- Achievement Hunting: Finding collectibles are a frequent target of in-game trophies or achievements.
The Endless Fun of Post-Game Content
Many games have content you can only access after you finish the main story. This might be super-challenging dungeons, the ability to play through at a higher difficulty level, or extra story content that goes beyond the original ending.
- New Game Plus: Playing again with all of your hard earned gear is another way to extend a game’s life span. This can be done multiple times, and the increase in difficulty can make the game feel brand new.
- Endgame Challenges: Many games will offer special challenges after you finish the story, including very powerful enemies or very difficult puzzles.
- Extra Story: Some games have expansions or DLC that add more story after you finish.
Genre Matters: How Different Games Vary in Playtime
The type of game you’re playing makes a big difference in how long it will take to beat. Some genres are known for long playtimes, while others are better for short sessions.
Role-Playing Games (RPGs)
RPGs usually have a long playtime, especially those with a detailed story and open world, including games like Final Fantasy or The Elder Scrolls. They feature character customization, lots of side quests, and often have stories that can take many hours to play through. Here is what makes them so time consuming.
- Deep Story and Characters: RPGs often have deep stories and detailed characters that will engage you.
- Character Progression: Spending time leveling up your character and acquiring loot, adds additional time to the gameplay.
- Open Worlds: Many RPGs have large open worlds for players to explore. This can also increase the overall playtime.
Action-Adventure Games
Action-adventure games can vary a lot in playtime, depending on if they are more focused on fast paced gameplay or on exploration. Games like Uncharted or The Legend of Zelda fall into this category. Expect a good balance of action and puzzle-solving.
- Linear vs. Open World: Linear action games often have shorter playtime, where open world versions can increase playtime.
- Puzzles and Exploration: Both can add extra time to your playthrough.
- Combat Challenges: Some action-adventure games can have hard combat encounters, requiring several attempts before succeeding.
Puzzle Games
Puzzle games are often on the shorter side, but the playtime can change depending on if you get stuck on any difficult puzzles. Games like Portal are known for tricky puzzles that will keep you thinking.
- Puzzle Difficulty: Harder puzzles will increase the time it takes to complete the game.
- Number of Puzzles: Some puzzle games have a short amount of puzzles that you can do, where others will give you dozens of them.
- Replayability: Some puzzle games offer new challenges after completing the main story, or different ways to solve the same puzzles, increasing replay value.
Multiplayer Games
Multiplayer games are a unique case since they have almost unlimited playtimes. There is no end of game credits because there is no story. The fun comes from playing with friends, or other people online. This is where your playtime can really extend past what you see in a single player game.
- Competitive vs. Cooperative: Competitive games offer near infinite playtimes where cooperative games will have more of an end point.
- Evolving Content: Games will have updates that add to the gameplay, keeping you engaged for longer.
- Community Engagement: Playing with friends and building a community often will cause a player to spend more time in a game.
How to Get a Good Idea of Playtime Before You Buy
So, how do you get a good sense of how long a game will take before you start playing? There are lots of ways to research before you begin.
Checking Game Review Websites
Game review websites are a fantastic resource to help determine how long a game will take. These are websites like IGN, GameSpot, or Metacritic.
- Average Playtimes: Most reviews will state the average amount of time it took to beat the game.
- Different Playstyles: Reviews will mention if they stuck to the story, or if they went for a more completionist approach.
- User Reviews: User reviews often have a breakdown of how long the game took them to play.
Using “How Long to Beat” Websites
There are websites dedicated to tracking how long it takes to complete games. Websites like “HowLongToBeat” collect data from players to provide you with an estimate on game length. They give you an idea of how long the main story, main story plus extras, and how long for a completionist run will take.
- Community Data: These websites use info from the community, making it very accurate.
- Different Playstyles: They usually break down playtimes based on sticking to just the main story, doing a few side quests, or going all out to complete everything.
- Specific Platforms: Some sites will break down the playtimes based on what gaming platform the game was played on, such as PC, Playstation, Xbox, or Nintendo.
Watching Gameplay Videos
Sometimes watching gameplay can help give you a sense of pacing. Watching a streamer or YouTuber play a game can show you how long it takes to get through different parts. Watching a game being played will give you a better idea of whether it looks like a longer or shorter game.
- Pacing of the Game: Watching videos can help show the pace of gameplay.
- Gameplay Sections: You can see what the different sections of a game look like, and how long it takes to complete them.
- Side Content: Videos can show what kinds of side quests and content the game offers.
It’s important to remember that everyone plays at a different pace. Some people like to take their time, while others like to rush through the game. So, these playtime estimates are helpful, but not a hard and fast rule.
Ultimately, the best way to know how long a game will take you is to dive in and play! But understanding these factors can help you better plan your gaming sessions and choose the games that are right for you. Enjoy the ride! It is important to remember there is no right or wrong way to play a game, so don’t be afraid to play at your own pace.
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Final Thoughts
A typical playthrough of the main story will take most players around 20-25 hours. Completionists, aiming for every side quest and collectable, will spend significantly more time, potentially 40+ hours. The total playtime depends largely on individual playstyle and how much of the world you want to explore.
Ultimately, the question of how long does it take to beat this game is answered by acknowledging that a focused path will be much shorter than a completionist one. The core game is designed to be engaging over that main story 20-25 hours.
