20 Longest Games From 2018 & How Long it Takes to Beat Them All

20 Longest Games From 2018 & How Long it Took to Beat Them

2018 has been and gone, and if you really wanted to, you could spend a heck of a lot of the year playing through the many lengthy games that released over the 12 months.

With the help of HowLongToBeat, we’ve gone through and sifted out the 20 longest games from 2018, and calculated the 20 Longest Games From 2018 & How Long it Took to Beat Them, both in terms of simply finishing the main story, as well as a completionist playthrough.

The figures you see listed next to each game title is the amount of time it takes to complete the main story or chunk of the game. We’ve detailed the completionist numbers, too, but as collectibles and side quests are often optional, we deemed it best to focus on the main story completion times, instead.

1. Far Cry 5 – 17 Hours

Far Cry 5 saw the welcome return of the bombastic series to our screens, this time doing away with the tropical locales of the previous two entries and bringing the explosive action closer to home. Set in Hope County, Montana, players must take down an extremist cult led by Joseph Seed and his siblings.

Though the game can be ‘completed’ within the hour by simply nope-ing your way out of any conflict with the Seeds at the very beginning, you’ll probably want to actually play through the story itself.

This’ll take about 17 hours, with 41.5 hours being the average time for completionists to clear all of the Clutch Nixon stuns, destroy all of the cult property, and grab all of the collectibles.

2. Yakuza Kiwami 2 – 19 Hours

A remake of 2006’s Yakuza 2, Kiwami 2 retells the story but with all of the updates to bring it up to the modern day video game standards. Though Yakuza 6 arguably offers just as much content in its main story, Kiwami 2 pipped it onto this list due to its larger amount of side content.

Kiwami 2’s main story takes 19 hours to complete on average, similar to that of Yakuza 6’s story. However, due to Yakuza 6’s extensive voice acting, Kiwami 2 has a bunch of additional side content, taking its average completionist time to 68.5 hours.

3. God of War – 20 Hours

One of the PS4’s best exclusives of 2018, God of War saw Kratos venture into Norse territory, from the familiar Greek mythology that the series has previously focused on. Embarking on an adventure with son Atreos to scatter his wife’s ashes at the top of the tallest mountain, Kratos must face a perilous journey featuring iconic Norse gods.

A quick blast through God of War’s story takes about 20 hours, but if you want to take down all of the Valkyries, complete all of the trials of Muspelheim, and unlock all trophies, you’re looking more towards the 50-hour mark.

4. Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise – 20.5 Hours

Taking place in an alternate universe to the original story, Lost Paradise sees protagonist Kenshiro exploring a post-apocalyptic Earth in a buggy, taking down groups of enemies, and even getting involved in chiropractic sessions.

In terms of its main story alone, Lost Paradise takes about 20.5 hours to complete, but those looking to see all the game has to offer are looking at around the 40-hour mark.

5. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 20.5 Hours

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may be the definitive party game on Switch for when your friends are over, but its World of Light mode is fairly extensive, too. Players travel around a world map with initially just Kirby in their party, defeating other characters in typical Smash battles.

In order to defeat the darkness and rescue the captured spirits of the roster, it’ll take you about 20.5 hours to beat. However, for those wanting to complete every battle on the map, you can spend as long as 39 hours in World of Light. Not to mention collecting all of the soundtracks and more.

6. Pokemon Let’s Go – 23.5 Hours

Pokemon Let’s Go essentially remakes the original Pokemon titles for the modern day, casual audience. The catch mechanics were changed to those seen in mobile title Pokemon GO, and wild Pokemon battles are no more.

As such, Let’s Go can be completed fairly quickly, as the grind has been reduced considerably. You’re looking at 23.5 hours to complete the main story and beat the Elite Four, but if you want to complete your Pokedex and take on all of the Master Trainers, it’s going to be more like 45 hours.

7. Little Dragons Cafe – 24 Hours

A bit of a stealth release back in August, Little Dragons Cafe comes from the creator of the Harvest Moon series and tasks players with running a cafe and also raising your own dragon.

It’s fairly easy, but there’s a good amount of content here to have you playing through its main story for 24 hours. It does kind of lack in side-content, though, so once you’re done with the story, there’s not a whole lot else to do for a completionist playthrough.

8. Below – 26 Hours

Having seemingly been in development hell for a good few years, Below finally arrived to bring its rogue-like, depth-descending experience to PC and Xbox One.

While it’s certainly not the most polished rogue-like out there right now, it’s still enjoyable enough if you can get to grips with its survival mechanics such as hunger and thirst gauges.

For those simply wanting to reach the end of Below’s story, it’ll take you about 26 hours to complete. But for those wanting to nab all the achievements on the way and 100% complete it, you can make that 35 hours.

9. Thronebreaker – 27 Hours

It may not be the third-person open-world Witcher game that fans are no doubt clamoring for, but Thronebreaker is actually a pretty great blend of story-based RPG and digital card game.

As you’d expect from a CD Projekt Red title, the game’s main story is pretty lengthy, weighing in with an average 27 hours completion time. For those completionists, though, you can expect to be spending 40 hours, instead.

10. Fallout 76 – 33 Hours

Arguably Bethesda’s biggest blunder, Fallout 76 may not have been the entry in the post-apocalyptic series that fans had been hoping for. Instead of offering an engaging, story-driven RPG, fans were left with an empty-feeling West Virginian wasteland that they had to share with other players.

Still, if you can overlook Fallout 76’s many shortcomings, it’ll take you about 33 hours to reach the end of the main story. As is always the case with Bethesda’s open-world titles, though, there’s far more to the game than just its main quests.

The average completionist time currently sits at 133 hours, though we’d argue it’s certainly possible to spend even more time than that if you get into its end game content.

11. Ni no Kuni 2 – 35.5 Hours

Though Studio Ghibli may not have had an input in Ni no Kuni 2 as it had in the first title, the game was no worse off for it. It still looked absolutely breathtaking, had engaging RPG gameplay, and once again had a ton of content for players to sink their teeth into.

That being said, it is possible to complete the main game’s nine chapters in about 35.5 hours. However, for those once again wanting to complete the various side missions and fetch quests for NPCs, as well as going through Dreamer Doors, finding all the treasure chests, and more, you’re looking at around 90 hours.

12. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – 36 Hours

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey continued to walk the path that Origins laid down before it, shifting the gameplay into the realm of RPGs, over a simple action adventure game. This time, players were sent back to Ancient Greece and find themselves embroiled in the Peloponnesian War.

They’ll explore the many different lands, set sail on the seas, and fend off mercenaries set after you, just to list a few of the activities at your disposal.

In order to complete the main story, Odyssey takes about 36 hours to complete, but if you want to complete all underwater location objectives, become the first mercenary, and see everything else the game has to offer, it’ll take you around 107 hours.

13. Valkyria Chronicles 4 – 38.5 Hours

Valkyria Chronicles 4 saw the official return of the series after seven years off. Taking place during the events of the first and third entries in the mainline series, Valkyria Chronicles 4 puts the story of the Gallian forces on the backburner and instead focuses on the Atlantic Federation.

A mainline run-through of the game on average takes 38.5 hours to complete, with those looking for a completionist playthrough spending an average of 69 hours seeing all it has to offer.

14. Kingdom Come: Deliverance – 40 Hours

Rather than placing you in the shoes of some legendary hero, Kingdom Come: Deliverance instead has you controlling Henry, the son of a blacksmith. After your village is burned to the ground by a mercenary raid, you’ll join the resistance and embark on an adventure that sets you on a path to become a real hero.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s main story takes about 40 hours to complete on average. However, to complete all of its side quests, win the various horse races, and discover all of the locations on the map among other things, you’ll be looking at 114 hours on average for a completionist playthrough.

15. Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – 41.5 Hours

Following on from its critically-acclaimed predecessor, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire sees players setting sail across dangerous seas as they explore the region of Deadfire.

There’s at least another 41.5 hours of isometric RPG goodness in Deadfire’s story alone, with the average completionist time now sitting at 73 hours.

16. Red Dead Redemption 2 – 44 Hours

Our Game of the Year 2018 winner, Red Dead Redemption 2 is another western classic from Rockstar Games. With an enormous map, engaging story, deep mechanics, and an insane amount of content to see if you want to reach completionist status, it’s sure to keep you busy for hours.

In terms of completing the main story, the average completion time is 44 hours. However, for those wanting to get the 100% completion achievement, the average rockets up to 133 hours.

17. Monster Hunter: World – 51.5 Hours

The first big game of 2018 was also one of its longest, and certainly takes the crown from a completionist point of view. Monster Hunter: World saw the series embrace a semi-open-world format, placing players into large maps and tasking them with hunting down various monsters.

Just as in previous entries in the series, World has a large emphasis on grinding out and improving your gear with the parts you harvest from monsters. As such, you can expect it to take 51.5 hours to just finish the main story.

It’s an even more daunting task for completionist hunters, with HowLongToBeat listing the average completion time at 267 hours. Better set a couple of weeks to one side for this one.

18. Dragon Quest XI – 54 Hours

Arguably one of the longest games of 2018, Dragon Quest XI brought the classic JRPG action to the PS4 when it released in September. Though it doesn’t do a whole lot to push the genre forward, if it’s classic JRPG gameplay you’re looking for, Dragon Quest XI has an abundance of it.

You’re easily looking at 54 hours to complete the main story, and that’d be on the short side. Toss in all of the side content, as well as its ‘true’ ending, and you’re looking at 118 hours for a completionist playthrough.

19. Octopath Traveler – 59 Hours

One of the finest RPGs of 2018, and one of the Switch’s best exclusives of the year, Octopath Traveler married old-school visuals with classic JRPG action. Turns out that’s a match made in heaven, especially when put on the Switch thanks to its hybrid, portable nature.

In order to play through each of its character’s storylines and reach the end, you’re looking at about 59 hours to complete. However, for those wanting to reach the true ending, it’s going to be more like 95.5 hours.

20. Pathfinder: Kingmaker – 140 Hours

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is another PC RPG that may have slipped under many players’ radars in 2018. Set in the Pathfinder universe, Kingmaker is an isometric party-based RPG that sees you exploring and conquering the ‘Stolen Lands’ to add them to your expanding kingdom.

Unfortunately, Pathfinder lacks a main story average completion time on How Long to Beat, but its ‘Main + Extras’ time sits at a huge 140 hours. This falls roughly in-line with the time we spent with the game for review, too.

The Grand Total

If you wanted to play through all 20 of the games’ main story’s that we’ve listed here, you’re looking at a huge 770.5 hours of time spent playing. That equates to just over 32 days. Yep… a month.

That figure gets a whole lot more daunting if you wanted to go for completionist playthroughs for these games. It skyrockets to 1701 hours, which equates to nearly 71 days of playtime.

Of course, just to reiterate the initial disclaimer, these figures are based on averages recorded on HowLongToBeat, and your own playthroughs may take significantly longer or shorter depending on skill level and other subjective factors.