Games that took you ages (real time) to complete

[Broken Mirror]

I don't know about you, but I had (and have) a few games in my collection, that took me quite some time (in real time, not game time) to finally complete them.

Yes, this is going to be one of my longer posts 😜 So before you read on (or not) what are your worst offenders (considering the point in time you pressed start to the point in time you saw the credits rolling)?

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My worst offender is interestingly one of my favorites: FF VIII. It took me about 15 years to see the final game screen. I managed to play through VII twice and complete Grandia II, Skies of Arcadia and many others (even HL, HL², etc)

After screwing up my first savegame (about 60h went into this IIRC) I started over, but put the game down because of various reasons. When I finally was ready to continue, I started over because I wanted to know exactly where I was, get into the world and story again, etc. This happened a few more times until I finally sat down in 2016 and was determined to play through this thing once and for all on my trusty old PSone.

During all that time, this game developed into some kind of personal end-boss for me. A ton of “respect” had build up over the years so I was a bit dissapointed how easy it was in the end. Also, the end sequence was way too short compared to the one from VIII.

Another one was Fire Emblem (GBA). Took me 24h in-game time and one year real-time. The issues were almost the same as with FF, but I didn't start over. I wanted all characters to survive, so I had to start over certain stages a lot.

There are many other games I started but did not yet complete. Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star IV, FF VI and Chrono Trigger, just to name a few. I'm currently trying to finish Xenoblade Chronicles 2 though, as I've also got this one for over a year now (with the savegame being just as old).

[Calen]

Prince of Persia Sands of Time. Took me about 2 years. About half way through the game I got to this water level where you had to jump from a pole then onto a bar to reach a switch that opened the next level. For some reason I didn't realized I could jump onto the pole, so for 2 years I was just running around that level trying to figure out how to get to the switch. TMW you really you just wasted so much time because you're an idiot.

[Dub-Z]

I've put some stuff off for years too. Maybe just get distracted, or even get something day 1 and inexplicably not play it til the next year or so. Dumb gamer backlog habits.

I think I got Final Fantasy X in early 2002 and stopped around the snowy mountains, kinda felt meh about it, but came back to it maybe between 2005-2007 and loved it. After I'd played through FFX-2 even. I think I also didn't see past Disc 1 of Final Fantasy IX until 2007 too. Wow.

I've put hundreds of hours into Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, but I've never actually beaten either of them. I just try playing the way I want, doing all kinds of sidequests and completionist style play, or trying out mods when I had my laptop until I burn out. I even consider Fallout 3 my favorite one and one of my favorite more modern games despite never seeing the end or following the main quest beyond Lamplight Caverns.

[isturbo1984]

Nice! Congrats on the years-long endeavor. I think I might have you beat though. Mega Man X. Rented it, never beat it. Got it for Christmas, ironically, the following year. Got to the end multiple time, but could never beat Sigma's final form for some reason. Finally beat the damn thing a few years ago almost 20 years later.

[Hingadingadurgen]

as i get older i feel like even spending a 100h in a game is considerable dedication, i'm honestly not sure if it's because games are shorter/easier or if i'm better at them than i was.... or even if i just am less patient and can't last as long in them because of that.

"Winning" a game definitely changed meaning for me though that i can say for sure, it used to be "reach credits" or "reach max level" but now it's more like "unlock as many achievements and explore as much as possible can"+"reach credits" I take much more time on sidequests now than i did.

Game that took me the longest to beat if i ignore games that i just gave up on (like silver surfer on the 'Family game' famicom ripoff i had ) and roguelikes (like binding of isaac etc) because i can't really tell 'when they end' ... oof irono... recently Divinity original sin 2, 400 hours + ( buuut i played much more than just one fast rush through into the credits) with semi casual playtime, this means it gave me more than a month easily.
or oblivion and skyrim, each claiming a few months of my life.

However if you take games that i haven't played regularly at all with i'd say it's gonna be games i keep going back to like gran turismo 4 on the ps2. that game has claimed a few months in playtime or years if you count with all the pauses i've taken.

[Grimsayer]

I remember playing FFVIII when I was 10 or 11 and getting stuck on the part in the story where you had to find the white seed ship.
I was just floating around the world map for a good month before I found it tucked away in a little bay that I had sailed straight past so many times.
On topic tho, the game I spent the most amount of time on would be Jak X: Combat racing on PS2 because I had an Issue where my save file would get corrupted 3/4 of the way through (happened 4 times).
After a year of that I just did a marathon session and completed it in one sitting.

[Hopeless Wombat]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA let's not talk about this...

[nmlss]

Tales of Symphonia. First RPG I ever played (I've never been a fan of the genre) and I got completely stuck in a battle the I couldn't beat, so I left it and thought that was it. After more than a year without playing it, I ran out of new GC games to play and I HAD TO play Tales of again, so I started the game, the fight begins… and I beat it at first try. I don't know how the fuck I did it. But after that I enjoyed the rest a lot and turned out to be a great game.

Also, I don't remember which comedian said that (if you know, please tell me), but it's pretty funny how gaming is the only hobby where you might not finish something because you don't have enough skills. Just imagine the same thing happened with books or movies. Halfway the story, you're asked what's all about and if you don't answer correctly, you can't continue watching or reading.

[Sabre]

Super Mario RPG. I skipped through the tutorials as a little kid so I never learned about timed attacks or blocking and was really confused that I could never beat the first boss. I tried a few more times over the course of a year before one day I said "Yes" to learning the tutorial. Press A at the right time to double hit and press A at the right time to block. Elementary School mind was blown. To this very day I still play tutorial levels for any game I get even if it's a sequel to a game I already have with the same mechanics.

I think it took me another year or so to beat it since it's such a huge game. Especially for back then.

[Last_Dragoon]

Final Fantasy X. I got the game in 2002 and I loved playing that game. I kept losing to the boss battle on Mt. Gagazet and unfortunately my ps2 had issues reading disc so I stopped. Fast forward to 2013 and I picked up the remaster for my vita and spent any chance I could playing until I finally beat it. Fast forward 5 more years and I got the platinum trophy which took 160 hrs of game time.

[aileron]

I don't think I've ever* finished a game I get bored of them and move on to something else. I just get no satisfaction in trying over and over and finally doing it.

*I'm not counting things like solitaire or chess or Civilisation where each game is different and there's no story to it.

[Toasty!]

I kinda feel this . There is so much good video games out why stick with something boring? Just so you can tell you’re friends you “beat” it?

[Broken Mirror]

I think there is a difference between wanting to complete a game but for some reason you don't and a game being boring or feeling like a chore.

For example: I really want to finish Final Fantasy VI, Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star IV, but I somehow can't bring myself to do it because if various reasons: 1. I put them down a long time ago so I forgot what to do next and have to start over (again). In case of FFIV I might be under-leveled (the Enemies on the floating Island seem to be overpowered for my team). 2. (And this is pure guesswork as I'm not a psychologist) once you finish those games, they're done. Sure you can replay them, but it just isn't the same.

[Merlin]

runescape. I still haven't finished it.

[MadMummy76]

Dragon Age Inquisition 6 months (Grindiest game of all time)
GTAV: 2 years (started on PS3, finished when PC version was released)
Rise of the Tomb Raider 2.5 years
Tomb Raider (reboot) over 3 years.

Those that stand out, I think I finished every other game within a reasonable timeframe, or didn't finish them at all.

[Thatoneuser]

The Godfather 8 years
Portal 2 1.5 years

[Irritablesquid]

Elder scrolls and fallout series for me, they are massive and you have so much you can do.
sadly it took me so long because i would get bored, especially in skyrim with its worthless player decisions that made very little impact in the world.

There are other games but they were through my lack of time to play them, i tend to finish every game i play in good time.
Timeframes for finishing games tend to be subjective, i know some people who will complete a game every week and think a month for a single game is too long, i prefer taking my time because its meant to be enjoyed.

Generally each game lasts me a month or so before i finish it. Unless its very short.