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4 weeks ago
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Murillo Zerbinatto is a contributor from Brazil. He's an RPG enthusiast (with a focus on JRPGs) who has been around the world of games and content creation for more than five years now. He has a particular love for Final Fantasy and has absorbed all the content this long-running series offers, including its obscure spinoffs such as Dimension I & II, Explorers, and My Life as a King. While playing RPGs is already a time-sinking endeavor, Murillo doubles down by being a platinum hunter as well.
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RPGs are notoriously long games. It's common to invest 50+ hours into a single title just to reach the credits, and with JRPGs, that doesn't change much. The biggest difference between what makes RPGs and JRPGs timesinkers, however, is that many Western RPGs offer narrative choices, which can encourage players to restart the game or see where a different decision might lead them.
Meanwhile, most JRPGs are linear, and the player has little agency or impact on the narrative, making a single playthrough enough to see what the game has to offer. That is, until you start engaging with every side activity a title provides.
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10 JRPGs That Take Forever To Complete
I really want to emphasize the “forever” in the title.
In this list, I'll feature some JRPGs that will offer more than 100 hours of content if you focus on the main story and its extra content. I'm not talking about completionist runs or platinum trophies, since some activities require grinding and artificially inflate the runtime.
As a reference, I used HowLongToBeat for my selection and considered the main story plus extras, not completionist data.
10 Fire Emblem Fates: Special Edition
Three in One
Just like this edition of Fire Emblem Fates, this will also be a special entry. Fire Emblem Fates is split into three distinct versions called Birthright, Conquest, and Revelation. Unlike Pokémon, these versions do not feature small changes, but entirely different gameplay structures and even plots.
Birthright and Conquest launched together, offering different perspectives on the war. In the former, our main character sides with the Kingdom of Hoshido and the gameplay is more forgiving, while in the latter, we ally with Nohr, which comes with a greater difficulty. Revelation was released later as DLC and offered a neutral path through the conflict.
The reason I included this edition of Fire Emblem Fates is that you can play all three versions within a single title, which exponentially increases your playtime. One route takes around 40 hours, but if you play all of them, the runtime is tripled, easily surpassing 120 hours. It's a full-course meal for Fire Emblem fans.
9 Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
Ultimate Quests
If I want to be nitpicky, I don't necessarily consider Monster Hunter a JRPG. But when thinking about games that offer more than 100 hours of content and still include RPG elements, I decided to add it here.
The entire gameplay loop of Monster Hunter is designed to keep players hooked for hours on end, hacking away at the same monsters, praying that a specific piece of loot drops so you can craft better weapons and armor, and then face even more dangerous foes.
However, if you focus only on the main story, you'll spend around 80 hours in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. If you want to complete all the quests, you can easily add another 100 hours on top of that. Yes, you can reach up to 180 hours of main and side content. In total, there are nearly 1300 quests in the game, enough to drown your backlog even further.
8 Rune Factory 4
Every Farm Simulation Is a Time Sink
It feels like cheating to include a simulation game here because, honestly, who's counting hours when we're having fun farming, crafting, getting married, dungeon crawling, and everything in between. Still, here we are. Among all the games in the series, Rune Factory 4 is the one that offers the most playtime.
And that's without even talking about completing everything, like maxing out skill levels or finishing the shipping list. Just completing the story arcs, getting married, and fulfilling requests will already guarantee a boatload of enjoyable time, something only a farming sim with RPG elements can deliver.
One thing worth noting is that, according to HowLongToBeat, Rune Factory 4 Special demands less time than the original. I believe that's because of the Newlywed Mode, where you start the game already married, but I could be wrong. What you can't go wrong with, though, is playing any version of this game.
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7 Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Longest Post-Game, But Not the Best Overall Game
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice
Every Disgaea game splits its audience into two distinct groups: casuals and hardcores. Casual players are those who experience the main story, soak in the hilarious plot with its wacky cast of characters, and once the credits roll, they move on to the next game.
Hardcore players, on the other hand, aim to reach the maximum level cap, whether that's 9999 or 99999, deal damage in the trillions, and min-max every character. This is an insane ordeal and can easily offer more than 200 hours in almost every mainline entry. However, if you fall somewhere in between, wanting to experience post-game content without committing to endless grinding, then Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice is your best bet.
The third game offers the most robust post-game content in the series without relying too heavily on grinding in the Item World. Keep in mind that it's often considered the weakest entry overall, but we're talking strictly about playtime here. You'll find extra story maps, the Land of Carnage, and even the Raspberyl Mode for those who had access to the DLC or the PS Vita version.
6 Record of Agarest War
For the Record, I Don't Recommend This Game
In total transparency, this list is about JRPGs that offer more than 100 hours of playtime, which doesn't necessarily mean they're all great games. For instance, while Record of Agarest War provides close to 125 hours of main and side content, I don't recommend playing it because it's highly repetitive. But that's the beauty of subjectivity, right?
If you enjoy or are curious about a strategy JRPG with numerous time-skip moments, then Record of Agarest War might be up your alley. The game isn't entirely bad and even has some interesting features, like how choosing a different partner alters the protagonist's lineage down the line. The problem lies in the inherent grinding and repetitious combat.
Still, if that doesn't bother you, there's a lot to enjoy here, especially if you're hunting for the true ending (you should definitely use a guide). You'll only gain access to the Boundary Zone by achieving that ending, so you'd better start honing your crafting and flirting skills.
5 Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The Gacha System Alone Will Take 100 Hours
Every Xenoblade Chronicles game is massive, even if you focus exclusively on the main story. But once you decide to complete all the side quests, brace yourself, because you'll be spending a lot of time alongside Rex in Xenoblade Chronicles 2.
While the first Xenoblade Chronicles can also exceed 100 hours, many of its side quests are relatively mundane, especially if you decide to help the wretched Nopons in Frontier Village. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3, on the other hand, offer far more personal and varied side quests that genuinely encourage player engagement. Xenoblade Chronicles X does this too, but it's a different kind of beast altogether.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 features the Blade system, where you randomly use resources to draw new side characters. It feels dangerously close to a gacha system, with the key difference being that you don't need to spend real money to acquire resources, though farming is still required. Every single Blade comes with their own storyline that ties deeply into the game's lore, making each piece of side content feel comfortably familiar.
I completed all 100% achievements in Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, and I don't recommend it. Now, I'm slowly working my way through everything in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Because of that, I can confidently say that while it takes a long time, it's still worth investing the effort to truly get to know every Blade and unravel the world of Alrest.
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4 Persona 3 FES
The Post-Game Is Bundled
To my surprise, Persona 3 Reload is a bit shorter than Persona 3 FES. I thought this was due to gameplay optimizations and quality-of-life improvements, since completing the main story plus extras in Persona 3 Reload adds up to less than 100 hours, while Persona 3 FES easily crosses into triple-digit territory. But I was wrong, and there's a good reason for that.
Persona 3 FES is an enhanced version of the original Persona 3, offering several improvements and an epilogue where you play as Aigis. The catch here is that this epilogue also appears in Persona 3 Reload under the name Episode: Aigis: The Answer, offering nearly 30 hours of extra content. However, since it's DLC and not included in the base game, its runtime is counted separately.
That's why it made sense to include Persona 3 FES here (you should still play Reload, though), as the epilogue is part of the base experience. Between studying, side jobs, Social Links, Persona fusion, exploring Tartarus, and defeating Shadows during the Dark Hour, expect well over 100 hours if you want to experience everything the game has to offer. Also, let's not delve into the discussion of how Persona 3 Portable includes a female protagonist route with entirely new Social Link storylines.
3 The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
Erebonia Arc Finale
The final entry in the Erebonia arc is also the largest, offering a bit more than 100 hours for those who tackle the main content and its extras. The base game alone provides over 60 hours of gameplay, which is fairly standard for JRPGs.
If you want to complete quests and collect enough Academic Points to increase your rank, you'll need to dedicate even more time. That's not even considering the habit of making the rounds and talking to every NPC after each major story beat to catch new dialogue.
Since The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV concludes the Erebonia arc, it also delivers several major plot points that connect closely with the next mainline entry. If you want to do everything the game offers and earn the platinum trophy, expect at least two playthroughs and around 150 hours of gameplay.
2 Persona 5 Royal
The Highest Rated JRPG
It's incredibly hard to make a list of long JRPGs without including Persona 5. Many of the games here surpass 100 hours only if you engage with side quests, and that's fair. In the case of Persona 5 Royal, however, you'll need to invest over 100 hours just to complete the main story.
Granted, much of the secondary content in Persona 5 Royal is intrinsically tied to the main story progression. After all, if you want to advance the calendar, there's no better way to do it than by developing Social Links, improving Social Stats, creating new Personas, visiting Mementos, and engaging in other leisure activities.
Even so, the main plot is colossal. Luckily for us, the story of Persona 5 Royal is absolutely fantastic. To this day, it remains extremely contemporary, showcasing how social media can influence collective cognition. There's a reason why Persona 5, despite its runtime and visual novel traits, remains the highest-rated JRPG on critic aggregators.
1 Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Best Side Quests Ever
Much of what I had to say about Xenoblade Chronicles may have already been covered in the entry for the second game. However, it's still worth including Xenoblade Chronicles 3, because this game deserved far more love than it received over the years.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is, to me, one of the best JRPGs out there. It checks every single box of what makes a game enthralling: story, characters, world, combat, progression, exploration, and, of course, side content.
Every side quest in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is handcrafted and connects beautifully either to a specific character or to the main plot itself. Even when objectives boil down to a simple fetch quest or defeating a monster, their execution and impact on the world of Aionios are palpable. They add so much depth to the experience that most of the time, they don't even feel like side content.
If I could make one request to JRPG fans in 2026, it would be to give Xenoblade Chronicles a chance. The entire franchise is a technical marvel on Nintendo consoles and also a master class in building an engaging, addictive world filled with lively, charismatic, and humanly flawed characters.
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