Have you ever played a game and thought it was too long or just long enough? For example, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Person 5 are two notoriously long games and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who would say that these games were too short or that they could have been longer. In these cases, they were actually extended through DLC and expansions.
The best open world games to play for a long time
Sit back and spend weeks or months in these open world games because there is so much great content to experience.
So which games should get a playtime boost that desperately needs it? The following games are perfect as they are, but they're also so good that more would be even better. From RPGs to shooters, let's imagine a world where these games were given more time to shine.
Star Fox 64
Gone before you know it
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Average playing time: 2 hours
Star Fox 64 can be completed in just two hours, and that's generous since it's a very short game. It's still one of the best N64 games of all time, but it could have been better if the developers made it a broader game instead of just following a set path through shooting on rails.
Any kid waiting to get it back, which was very expensive like all N64 games, was probably disappointed by its length and replay value. Even the 3DS version didn't add much to the base game, apart from the cool looking 3D effects.
Resident Evil 3 (2020)
The sprawling streets of Raccoon City
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Average playing time: 6 hours
Resident Evil 3both the PS1 original and the 2020 remake, is one of the shortest mainline entries in the franchise. As Jill Valentine, she returns to Raccoon City to make one last attempt to investigate Umbrella, but they have other plans and send an experimental mutant after her: Nemesis.
In the remake, players can easily go through it in about six hours with more action than puzzles. Replay value is high due to the short run time and the ability to purchase weapons for further play. That said, it would be great to see Capcom expand the scope of the original game more and extend Raccoon City into a larger, connected, sprawling area.
Titanfall 2
BT, catch it!
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Average playing time: 6 hours
Titanfall 2 it lasts about that long Resident Evil 3 remake, but it'll feel even shorter because it's a high-octane shooter that goes from standard to setting in the blink of an eye. Between Jack and his sentient mech, BT, players will shoot both mechs and enemy soldiers as they overcome obstacles just like in the anime.
It's one of the best mech shooters of all time, giving fans a glimpse into Respawn Entertainment's storytelling talent. It's not unusual for shooting campaigns to be this short Call of Duty it often runs around this game time, but it would definitely be better if the narrative took its time to get going. Maybe one day the third entrance can be a little more open.
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny
Showdown of the samurai
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Average playing time: 9 hours
Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny it was released first for the PS2 and like most Onimusha games, it's incredibly short. The 2025 remaster made it more accessible on consoles, but also made it easier to navigate through with solid controls.
10 games that seem shorter than they really are
Well packed with action and storytelling, these epics feel surprisingly brisk despite their actual length.
Estimates put the game at around nine hours, but that's incredibly generous, even with the side content, as it's more of a five-hour game depending on skill and talent. There are reasons to replay it as there are branching decisions, but there is no New Game+ so progress cannot be carried over. This is something that would encourage players to continue with the remaster, in addition to adding more content.
Hello 2
Master Chief's Master Cliffhanger
Hello 2
- Released
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September 4, 2004
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Average playing time: 9 hours
Halo: Combat Evolved was a big deal but Hello 2 was an even bigger hit at launch with a larger campaign and more multiplayer modes. The addition of dual wielding certain weapons was a new feature that helped it skyrocket Halo 2 popularity, but the campaign had one flaw.
The cliffhanger was met with a divisive response as the game sort of ended as if Bungie had run out of time. The cliffhanger was even worse because fans had to wait three years before getting a solution, so during that time Bungie could extend the game to even things out.
Parasite Eve
Shout out to the bigger big apple
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Average playing time: 10 hours
Parasite Eve is a unique RPG for PS1 that combines turn-based action with survival horror vibes. As a detective in New York, players would walk around the city and fight monsters with various weapons, all of which required ammunition.
There was plenty of ammo though, so it wasn't nearly as bad as the game Resident Evil. On the one hand, the tight campaign made New Game+ tempting to replay immediately and unlock a new dungeon. That said, fans would agree that if the game was as long as a Final Fantasy game, or came close, it could have done it Parasite Eve even better.
Mega Man Legends 2
Improved but empty
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Average playing time: 11 hours
Mega Man Legends 2 was an improvement over the original as it no longer took place on a single island. Players had to take their airship to several islands, from tropical ruins to ice-covered land, which helped with the variety of dungeons.
This means that the game was about the same length, so the playing time did not increase. Compared to other action-adventure games at the time, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Mega Man Legends 2 soon. Also like Hello 2cliffhanger has been killing fans since 2000.
Super Mario RPG
Mario's First RPG, Remade
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Average playing time: 12 hours
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a SNES classic that was a short and snappy turn-based adventure and the first RPG for Mario. Decades later, it was redesigned like Super Mario RPG for Switch in 2023, but not much has been added beyond some quality of life options.
7 RPGs officially longer than Baldur's Gate 3
While these games aren't as rich an experience as Baldur's Gate 3, they certainly keep players busy.
The easy difficulty and group attacks probably made the game even faster, but even on normal difficulty it can be beaten in a weekend. It's a shame that a brand new area wasn't revealed or that the areas weren't expanded because remakes should have more chances like Final Fantasy 7 Remakeespecially for short games.
Anthem
No road map in sight
Anthem
- Released
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February 22, 2019
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Average playing time: 14 hours
Anthem the whole run was divisive as the whole experience had many negatives and positives. On the one hand, there was nothing quite like a live service game, thanks to the mechanized suits that players could embark on, kind of like playing an Iron Man RPG. The downside was that the town center was small, with little interaction with NPCs, which was odd for a BioWare game.
Also, the main campaign was very short, and even if players dived into every piece of content at launch, it would only be sixty hours. Sixty hours is a lot for a single player RPG, but not like a live service game. Updates have been slow and haven't added much over the years and now it's gone forever.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Edition
Annual pilgrimage
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Average playing time: 17.5 hours
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was an interesting action RPG spinoff for the series that allowed players to create a character and then go on an adventure across the land to stop the spread of the Miasma poison. Players would go through dungeons, make it to the end, and then have to repeat their pilgrimage year after year to keep the peace.
This meant having to repeat the same dungeons on a loop and without many it could get repetitive even in co-op. As a mere remaster, it would be asking a lot for Square Enix to add more content to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Remastered Editionbut it wouldn't be so weird either.
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