Xenogears is the Longest PS1 Game at 81 Hours for 100% Completion
Boasting an epic sci-fi story spanning multiple lifetimes, 1998‘s Xenogears still reigns as the longest PS1 game available. Simply finishing its main campaign takes around 56 hours – and don‘t forget the arduous path to 100% completion clocks in at over 80 hours!
To put that extraordinary scope into perspective, here‘s how Xenogears compares to some other notable long games:
| Game | Length |
| Xenogears (main story) | 56 hours |
| Xenogears (completionist) | 81 hours |
| The Witcher 3 | 50 hours |
| Elden Ring | 90 hours |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 43 hours |
Modern masterpieces like The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 tell expansive, open world stories, but Xenogears still exceeds them all whenaccounting for all of its dense content. Only the vast realm of Elden Ring can compete as a timesink!
Xenogears‘ Ambitious Story Spans Millenia
Xenogears‘ complex narrative tackles weighty themes like religion, identity, and human purpose with inspiration drawn from psychotherapy, Jewish mysticism, and Gnosticism.
You play as Fei Fong Wong – one of the mysterious few who can pilot the otherworldly Gears. Over the course of his journey, Fei unlocks his past lives spanning thousands of years.
Xenogears‘ story spans generations, with critics praising how it maturely explores moral issues and philosophical questions rarely seen in games. Of course, all that dense plotting takes time!
Game Length Broken Down
Let‘s examine Xenogears‘ mammoth structure and where all those hours go:
Main Story: Around 56 hours of cutscenes, dungeon diving, and boss battles to finish Xenogears‘ core narrative. Still longer than most games!
Side Quests: Roughly 25 hours spent on side activities – extra gear battles and Arena challenges pad out the runtime.
Getting every collectible, accessory and scene pushes completionists to over 80 hours total. Given its convoluted plot, that almost seems necessary to properly digest Xenogears!
How Other Iconic PS1 RPGs Compare
The original PlayStation cemented itself as an RPG titan thanks to all-time greats like Final Fantasy VII. But Xenogears leads a pack of other sweeping PS1 epics that took dozens of hours to conclude:
- Dragon Warrior VII – 200 hours
- Persona 2: Eternal Punishment – 95 hours
- Final Fantasy Tactics – 80 hours
- Grandia – 75 hours
Japanese RPGs flourished on PS1 – their intricate systems and anime stylings absorbing players for months on end as they journeyed through rich fantasy realms.
The PlayStation‘s All-Star Library
Boasting over 3,061 games during its lifespan, the PS1 delivered all-time classics across genres like:
- Final Fantasy VII (RPG) – 9.8 million units sold
- Gran Turismo 2 (Racing) – 9.37 million units
- Metal Gear Solid (Stealth) – 7 million units
- Tekken 3 (Fighting) – 8.3 million units
- Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 (Sports) – 2 million units
And who could forget scandalous series like Grand Theft Auto and Resident Evil debuting too? Thanks to its diverse library, PS1‘s 967.42 million total units sold makes it the 5th highest home console ever.
The March of Gaming Technology
It‘s astounding Xenogears‘ sprawling world fit on a standard PS1 CD! Now Call of Duty and sports titles demand over 100GB installs. Hefty hard drives are an essential investment just to maintain a handful of current gen games.
While Xenogears demanded over 80 hours way back in 1998, live titles like Destiny 2 and Fortnite now endlessily occupy players for thousands of hours thanks to seasonal updates and ever-growing content vaults.
If anything, we need lengthier, denser solo adventures like Xenogears more than ever as an antidote to those endless games-as-a-service!
