Length in video games is a tricky topic because, despite what it may seem at first,more isn’t always better.
Certain types of titles benefit from shorter campaigns, which allow for more intense and memorable experiences, despite not requiring as much time to be spent on them.
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These box-office stinkers thrived on consoles.
However, modern video game trends have led us to increasingly longer adventures, with open-ended levels packed with side quests and various objectives that dilute the journey and, occasionally, diminish its quality.
As a fan of works that make the most of every second they demand from the player, this practice can be unpleasant, so I’ve decided to vent through this list often great games that go on for way too long.
10Mass Effect
Boring Spaces
Mass Effect
Fextralife Wiki
Mass Effectsurprised me from start to finish despite having played it many years after its release, but it’s very much a title of its time.
To offer a denser intergalactic adventure,BioWareadded a lot of side content that contributed nothing to the adventure, either in terms of gameplay or narrative.
Using the inefficient Mako to explore empty, bland planets with repetitive designs and boring mechanics is by far the worst thing about all ofMass Effect, and perhaps even the only genuinely bad thing.
Fortunately, the studio learned the lesson, andMass Effect 2featured some of the century’s most beautifully crafted side content, sothe first installment’s mistakes were necessary to achieve that breakthrough.
9Borderlands 3
Chores Without Depth
Borderlands 3
While I’ve spent many hours playing this game and found it highly entertaining,Borderlands 3suffers from overextending its main campaign.
Unlike its predecessors, I feel it has more engaging and varied side content, butthe main quest becomes extremely tedious because it drags out the encounter with the Calypso Twins for too long.
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Besides living in Handsome Jack’s shadow, Gearbox tried too hard to force their presence on screen, creating many more main missions that add nothing to their charisma or backgrounds.
By the time the climax arrives, and you’re completely disappointed by the final fight,you have no choice but to look back and realize all the wasted time.Borderlands 3is still a very fun game, but in the process of trying to surpass its precursors, it gets too close to the sun.
8Darksiders 2
Errand Boy of the Apocalypse
Darksiders 2
Being an errand boy in a video game is among the most common ways open worlds have executed their mechanics, especially in the past decade.
Luckily, games likeThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntcame along to show us how to do it right, but equally wonderful titles likeDarksiders 2arrived too early for the class and failed miserably.
Death’s adventure is one of the best hack-and-slash games in history, but not so much one of the best open worlds, since all its quests, main and secondary,are reduced to repeating the same action numerous times.
Find two keys, save three ghosts, defeat four warriors, get five fragments of whatever…All missions are completely bland, and they tarnishDarksiders 2’s perfect gameplay by unnecessarily lengthening everything.
7Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Rinse and Repeat
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
I’m far from being aMetal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Painhater, as, despite recognizing its numerous shortcomings, I was pleased with it.
However, one thing I agree with its detractors on is how unfortunately long the experience is, as it not only features exorbitantly large levels, but also hasa repetitive and endless structure throughout the main campaign.
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For every mission, there are dozens of side quests, and most involve performing the same tasks in slightly different circumstances, creating a strangely fragmented narrative that never quite works.
To see the actual ending, you have to fulfill unclear and redundant requirements similar to the previous content you’ve already seen, sothe game is a constant chain of doing the same thing repeatedly if you want to get the most out of it.
I like it because, gameplay-wise, it’s the most fluid of all, the setting is wonderful, and the soundtrack is unforgettable, butthe title’s overall design is an indefensible disaster.
6Inscryption
An Excessive Ambition
Inscryption
Raving aboutInscryptionis one of my greatest passions, as I consider it among the most transcendental and unforgettable indie titles in history, though that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its problems.
Mostly,this has to do with Daniel Mullins’s overly intense attempt to subvert expectations, something that works perfectly in the first couple of acts but wanes in the third one.
There comes a point where continuing to surprise the player becomes practically impossible, but the game keeps trying throughmore and more twists and unexpected changes that don’t allow for a pleasant conclusion.
Going from a card roguelike to an escape room to an adventure game to a multidimensional mystery is outstanding. Yet, after so many hours,Inscryptionloses its ability to impress like it did at the beginning and, therefore,leaves a bittersweet taste at the end.
5NieR Replicant
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
I’ll always love titles that try crazy things, even if they don’t always work, and this is precisely the case withNier Replicant.
I adore everything about this game andYoko Taro’s work in general, buthaving to traverse the same bland areas multiple times with the same limited and constant combat system is just too annoying.
The story, characters, and music are by far the game’s best features, but all of this is hidden behind a series of errands that take dozens of hours to complete, including dull side quests and main quests that aren’t much better either.
IfNier Replicantwere half as long and didn’t force you to collect weapons, as if saving the world depended on it,I’m sure many more players would love it as much as I do.
4Blue Prince
The Credits Are Not The End
Blue Prince
When you first reachBlue Prince’scredits, the feeling of being in one of the best puzzle games in history is, I’d say, completely unavoidable.
However, if you’re curious about the sheer number of loose ends and decide to keep playing, it’s easy to realize the credits are just the iceberg’s tip, andyou’re missing more than half the content.
You keep digging, connecting more dots,taking more noteson each piece of information you find, andeventually conclude you’re looking at the most layered title in video game history.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s completely fascinating, but there comes a point where, unless you’re an absolute genius, it’s practically impossible to continue. The game never stops throwing more and more clues and even red herrings at you, confusing you at every turn instead of enlightening you.
BeatingBlue Princewithoutguidesor tips has to be among the greatest feats achieved in modern video games. It’s a masterpiece, butit’s genuinely too much.
3Elden Ring
Overflowing with Content
Elden Ring
Fextralife
Elden Ringis a title of unprecedented scale and immersion, as the ease with which it absorbs you and makes you a part of The Lands Between is something worthy of being described as magic.
When, after 30 hours, you’ve barely left Limgrave and you get to see Liurnia for the first time, or when you reach Leyndell, Siofra River, or Caelid,all you can do is stand up to honor FromSoftware’s titanic work.
Still, the sense of wonder turns to oppression as time goes on. I arrived at the Royal Capital thinking I was nearing the end, butnaive me didn’t know I’d barely touched the campaign’s halfway point.
Setting foot in Farum Azula made me feel as impressed as I was worried. First, because I couldn’t believe a game could be so big, but second, because I didn’t want the game to be that large.
With a couple fewer zones and more density in the later ones,Elden Ringwould have been even more definitive. I think it’s among the greats of our time, but I also think it lasts too long.
2It Takes Two
Should Last Half As Long
It Takes Two
It Takes Twois one of the last couple of years’best co-op games, but I also think it deserves more criticism regarding its length.
The first levels and mechanics are completely fresh and innovative, but the campaign is full of ups and downs due to its excessive size.
Chapters like Rose’s Room,Snow Globe,and The Attic drag on for too longand don’t allow for the rapid transition of gameplay that occurs between each level, making their own mechanics ultimately tedious.
As a result, there’s a marked unevenness, with chapters that are much shorter than they should be and others that drag on too long,creating an imbalance between mechanics that makes some undervalued and others overused.
Besides, considering its co-op nature,It Takes Two’s length makes it less accessible. The number of sessions you have to play to see the credits is higher than the average, so it wouldn’t be my first recommendation for a game of the genre.
1The Last of Us Part 2
Too Many Perspectives
The Last of Us Part 2
I’ve always said I likeThe Last of Us Part 2more thanThe Last of Us, as I find it to be a title that borders on perfection, but preciselywhat prevents it is its length and pacing.
The game starts off phenomenally, breaking stereotypes and subverting expectations, butit declines as it progressesbecause of the excessive number of flashbacks and constant changes in perspective.
By the time you approach the end, the momentum achieved during the game’s first half has completely weakened, and the intensity is no longer the same. It’s valuable to see both protagonists' experiences, but the execution is inconsistent.
Even without considering the changes in perspective, the game has unnecessary extra hours,presenting an ending that drags on for too long and can’t live up to the significant hype built around it.
Had it been a little shorter and the campaign’s narrative focus been better redistributed, I don’t doubtThe Last of Us Part 2would be unanimously more beloved than the first,which is much more compact and less redundant than its excellent but flawed successor.
