• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Great Games that can be Finished in 4-5 hours

sin-and-punishment--successor-of-the-earth-6.jpg


Actually, way less than 4-5 hours.
 
Going by the recent speed run mania and Awesome Games Done Quick, every single game you could imagine fits this. Probably not on the first, second or eighth playthrough though, which is presumably what you mean.
 
Mirrors Edge in 5 hours? I thought that games was a really hard trial&error game.

The original Half Life 2 is not a game you beat in 5 hours the first time though, that I know.

And while Mass Effect 1 might be beatable in 8 hours, it´s not really recommended that you play the game that way unless you want to miss a lot of stuff. I didn´t do that many side missions, and yet it took me 16 hours.
 
CecilRousso said:
Mirrors Edge in 5 hours? I thought that games was a really hard trial&error game.

The original Half Life 2 is not a game you beat in 5 hours the first time though, that I know.
Click to expand...
i don't think it's a trial and error game. not sure how many hours it took me first time... but most of the sticking points i remember running into involved the combat and not the platforming.
 
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
Most of you probably know about this one. I really enjoyed playing S&S because of its music, visual style and, ultimately, its story. I highly recommend its soundtrack. Jim Guthrie is a very talented musician.

Mirror's Edge
Unique gameplay delivered brilliantly. Has its flaws but I'd recommend everyone to try it.

Machinarium
Extremely clever puzzle/ adventure game (point & click) with a fantastic soundtrack and a (surprisingly) heartwarming story. Normally I'm not a big fan of the point & click type of game, because you never really feel in control, but I didn't get that at all in this game.

VVVVVV
It's a really simple platformer in setup: you're a captain and you've got to save your crew. You get around by reversing gravity instead of jumping. There are no enemies, instead it's the levels that you fight against (not to be interpreted that the levels are bad, the design is very good).
The game is mostly built up in 'windows' that are the stages, much like the older Mega Man games. They can be pretty hard, but you restart instantly at checkpoints at the start of stages so it's easy to redo them when you die, which you will. If they replaced the walking character with a ball you could probably call this a puzzle game.

Sonic Generations
Blazed right through its main story. It was pretty fun, but I didn't expect it to be this short. I wouldn't recommend it at its current RRP on consoles. I got it for 15 euros on PC and I thought that price was spot on. You could probably get more out of it if you try to beat your own times and do all the challenge stages, but I didn't find them particularly interesting.

Scoregasm
Your standard shmup with a bunch of levels (arenas) that you can run through pretty quickly. If you're into this kind of thing it's worth playing. Very solid gameplay and its soundtrack is excellent. Replayable ad infinitum.

It's possible to finish the Jump Ultimate Stars' story mode pretty quickly, especially if you don't need to read the mission objectives in a translated guide though I'm not sure you'd want to leave it at that. Really fun game to just pick up and play (once you've learned to navigate its menus).
 
gunbo13 said:
Most games this generation.

I'll pick DMC3/4, Bayonetta, NGS, NG2
Click to expand...
Ahhhahahahaha, what?
entrement said:
Really? Not first time through?
Click to expand...
Yeah come on, seriously. I can beat DMC4 and Bayonetta in under 4 hours now, but I've played both of them for over 100 hours apiece.
gunbo13 said:
Single play-throughs last about that long if you don't die. And this thread appears to be about games we already played.
Click to expand...
Who is superhuman enough to play though games on anything other than easy the first time and not DIE? And if it's about games we already played, OP is misleading.
EDIT: Specifically, I am looking for games that a gamer can beat in 4-5 hours the first time they play it (without walkthroughs).
Click to expand...
lol okay, the action games mentioned by gunbo do not apply.
 
Puyo Puyo games (provided you know what to do)
Gungriffon (II)
Shinobi PS2
Katamari Damacy
Pilotwings Resort (I did it in a little more than 5 hours, which isn't easy, but it can be done!)

Those are mine.
 
Hawkian said:
lol okay, the action games mentioned by gunbo do not apply.
Click to expand...
OP was misleading as stated.

"What are some of your favourite short games that you turn to when there isn't a whole lot of time for gaming?"

If I know a game is short I had to have played it before. And you "turn to" games you already played. And I play those games in 4-5 hours and don't go for speed, hence my answer.

The OP is clearer now.

EDIT:
Action game playtime statements are always cute.
 
I'll go wth:

Warhammer 40k Space Marine (took me 7)
Bastion
James Bond: Bloodstone (4.5 hours to finish, I liked it a whole lot but it's divisive.)
Kane & Lynch 2 Dog Days (4 hours, also great. Controls were fine for me and the presentation is phenomenal)
 
Just from my steam list
Portal - 2 hours
Portal 2 - 5 hours
Trine - 4 hours
 
What types of games are you looking for? I think a lot of PSN games are designed with that idea in mind - Super Stardust is a game you can get through pretty quickly on Easy. Risk Factions is another fun game if you like the board game, and with their new rules you can get through a game in under 30 minutes if you wanted.
 
CecilRousso said:
2 hours for Portal 1 and 5 for Portal 2? Wow, were you in a hurry when you played them or what? :)
Click to expand...

I was actually surprised Portal 2 ended so fast, for some reason I was led to believe it was gonna be closer to 8 hours.
 
greyshark said:
What types of games are you looking for? I think a lot of PSN games are designed with that idea in mind - Super Stardust is a game you can get through pretty quickly on Easy. Risk Factions is another fun game if you like the board game, and with their new rules you can get through a game in under 30 minutes if you wanted.
Click to expand...

I am mainly looking for games with some sort of single player campaign. Every RTS/TBS game in existence offers skirmish maps that are less than 5 hours. Same with FPS multiplayer. Same with sports games (unless you are completing a season).

Other than that, feel free to list whatever.


Blizniak said:
I was actually surprised Portal 2 ended so fast, for some reason I was led to believe it was gonna be closer to 8 hours.
Click to expand...

Average time on Howlongtobeat.com is 7.5 hours, which was about how long it took me. Of the 187 people who submitted completion times for the main story, about 10% beat the game in 5 hours. Many of those were second runs though, and some (2.5 and 3 hours) were either speed runs (which should have been listed under speed runs) or lies.
 
Blizniak said:
I was actually surprised Portal 2 ended so fast, for some reason I was led to believe it was gonna be closer to 8 hours.
Click to expand...

It took me about 10 hours according to Steam, and although I wasn´t that fast (I stopped and listened during quite a lot of dialogue), I can´t see how that would take more than 1-2 hours from a normal first playthrough.
 
Ys: the Oath in Felghana can be finished in about 5 hours if you know exactly where you're going or if you play on the easiest difficulty. The fastest time I've finished the game in is about 2.5 hours carrying over save data from a previous playthrough.

Awesome game regardless of how long it takes to finish, I'd always recommend Felghana to anyone wanting a simple straightforward no-filler all-fun action RPG.
 
zinder said:
Is Vanquish really around 6-8 hours? Because Bayonetta was around 10 hours.
Click to expand...

Yea, the game clock doesn't time you on death runs and cutscenes though, but it does count pausing I think, I could be wrong. I clocked around 9hrs because I'm slow, but my friend clocked about 7hrs if I remember correctly on hard the first time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Good Games that takes 40 hours or less to beat?
45
364
Dacvak replied
Denuvo is getting bypassed in all games that use it; Resident Evil Requiem pirated under an hour despite its 5 DRM
2 3 4
158
3K
phant0m replied
Top 10 games you finished (or played) in 2025.
2
62
1K
Humdinger replied
Digital Foundry: What Can Be Done About Unreal Engine 5 Games With Image Quality/Performance Issues?
2 3 4
183
3K
crackajack replied
What games have you already finished this year?
2
56
695
Trogdor1123 replied
Top Bottom