Estimating how long a video game takes to beat is difficult. Even a linear game has a lot of variables like difficulty and how a gamer paces themselves that determine whether a video game will be a few hours longer or shorter than somebody else’s playthrough.
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All the games below are actually quite short, but are made significantlylonger purely because they are so difficult. This isn’t supposed to be critical of these games but instead goes to show that even though content can feel thin, overcoming the challenge and feeling the growth in skill is the real reward and value of the experience.
8Contra
This side-scrolling shooter started life in the arcades. Most retro gamers will be morefamiliar with the NES version. Without any assistance, players only have a few lives to beat the game’s eight stages. The debut entry in this franchise is famous for having what is maybe the first cheat code in gaming.
Dubbed “The Konami Code”, this combination grants players a total of 30 lives they can use to even the odds. Players should not get too comfortable even with this many lives, because it is still easy to get a game over in just a couple of stages even with so many extra lives.
7Demon’s Souls
The originalDemon’s Soulswas an enigma that took players months to unwrap. There are only five levels and they are all quite short subsections, each featuringsmall subsections divided by bosses,but each of them is a seemingly insurmountable mountain.
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Getting through the regular enemies is tough enough, but some bosses will have the average player banging their head against the wall. If every enemy was a pushover, it would only take a few hours to rush through. With the challenge and training, most gamers will spend between 20 and 30 hours on a first playthrough.
6Sifu
Sifu’sprotagonist is out for revenge against those who killed their family when they were young.The player ages every time they dieIf they get too old they can no longer continue. However, they can replay earlier levels at a younger age to be younger at later levels.
This means players will replay levels several times to master the timing and patterns and die fewer times. The bosses themselves are extremely difficult especially before one recognizes their attack patterns and weaknesses. To add another level of challenge, the true ending only unlocks if players beat all the bosses without killing them.
5D
This adventure game technically only takes two hours to beat. This does not mean players will reach the credits in two hours, however.If one does not solve the game’s puzzlesand follow the correct steps, then it is game over and back to the beginning. Like many classic adventure games, it is often obtuse.
Without a guide,Dcan take many tries to get right. With no saves or pausing, players have to make every moment count and should take it easy on the bathroom breaks.
4Cuphead
The unique art style and catchy music inCupheadwill appeal to everyone. Its extreme difficulty will be a huge barrier to many, though.Cupheadmostly consists of bosses, though some traditional levels break up the bigger encounters.
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If every boss could be completed in one try, it would only take about 2 hours to beat. Depending on one’s skill level, a single boss could take two hours. The recent DLC,Delicious Last Course, does not make it any easier.In fact, the bosses in the recent expansion are some of the hardest in the game.
3F-Zero GX
Story modes in racing games are not always the best idea.F-Zero’sunique worldand aesthetic could have made for an interesting narrative.
Most gamers will never know ifF-Zero GXhas a good story mode or not, simply because the stages are so incredibly difficult. Doing just the first two chapters will take hours upon hours of retries. Most of the chapters require absolutely perfect precision to beat. Most people will give up before reaching the end.
2Crash Bandicoot
TheCrash Bandicootgames vary in difficulty depending on the entry.The second and third games in the original trilogy are not too hard, only offering a challenge when striving for 100% completion. The debut entry from 1996, however, will be brutal to the average player especially if they expect something as breezy asCrash Bandicoot 2.
Certain levels will have just one jump players might get a game over trying. The most recent entry in the franchise,Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time, brings back the challenge of the first game.
1Bloodborne
Bloodborneis often seen as a great introduction to FromSoftware’s style of game design. While it might take about 20 to 25 hours to beat on average, the first three or four of those will likely be spent reaching Father Gascoine.
Without the challenge of unforgiving checkpoints, difficult bosses, and the risk of losing the game’s currency,Bloodbornewould be a much shorter game. However, it is these mechanics mixed with the unique game world that make it one of the most revered titles of the last ten years.
