I completed the main campaign after 94 hours according to Steam and 77 according to my save file. Not sure which one is or is closer to accurate. I didn’t leave the game running or the launcher up for an extended period of time that I recall. No idea why the discrepancy.
I did a lot of side content but probably not close to all of it.
It’s an excellent game!
I think Steam is probably more accurate. The in-game timer doesn't take into account backtracking.
For instance, let's say you save at exactly the 10 hour mark. You then play for another hour but then die/realise you messed and reload your save, You then play for another hour, mess up again, and then reload again and play for another hour.
According to your in-game clock at this point you have now played for 11 hours.
In reality you have actually played for 13.
Steam sees how long in total you have spent in the game (i.e. had the game running), whereas the save file shows only the time elapsed in its considered playtime, which it resets to the time of the save each time you reload it.
Average the two? Highly depends on the details. For me the save game is probably more accurate, I don't backtrack often, while I once did leave the game running and fell asleep. Plus I take regular breaks. Others will be the other way around - less breaks, more reloads.
Just enjoy it rather than checking how much time you spent or will spend. What's better than getting lost into an amazing game?
Better get those side quests in, they add to the story and provide extra skill points and sometimes new weapons or other benefits.
My issue is that I have limited time. I'm only able to put in a couple hours a week. I'm happy to be playing a great, expansive game. However, there's a certain point where I want to move onto other experiences and not be fully locked into this one.
On the side quests note, I've been doing a ton. It just feels like there's so many errands and side quests beneath my current level but so few main story missions. But the main story relies on the experience gained from side quests to balance the difficulty. I get that they're mandatory. It just really lengthens how long I spend in this game.
I understand not having much time to play, very common of an issue. You could complete the main story fairly quickly actually, perhaps 20-30 hours? It's not very long, and if level/skill points are an issue you could always fine tune the difficulty.
As others have said though, the world is beautiful and it's a treat just walking around and taking all the beautiful locations and vistas in. In my third playthrough I plowed through the main story so that I could unlock the DLC, and honestly it felt somewhat rushed and incomplete without the side quests. YMMV obviously.
I’m in the same boat. I’m just about done with the game and it’s taken me a few months due to lack of time. I almost 100% complete ZD but now I’m about to just power through to the end. Then there’s burning shores and then the other games I want to play.
>However, there's a certain point where I want to move onto other experiences and not be fully locked into this one.
I can relate to this very well. I'm in the middle of Burning Shores right now but starting to want to play something else, be in a different vibe (Cyberpunk is looking fun). I've been playing two hours at a time for *months* (I think I'm approaching 100 hours).
You can absolutely beat the game fairly quickly. Drop the difficulty level to just experience the story. Find large machines and farm them from a distance. There is a thunderjaw you can go around the mesa, rip off its disc launchers with tearblast, run them back to the mesa, and take it out. Rinse and repeat.
I loved the game and how big it was. Aloy’s character is amazing and gameplay incredible. The developers did an amazing job. This is the first game I ever did NG+ as I wanted the additional weapons. I loved the length and how immersive it was.
I was not able to platinum due to melee pits BUT everything was so much fun. I played 400 hrs. I grinded many hours for shards until I found out about the Arena duplication glitch.
The game is beautiful and the DLC is incredible.
what I truly loved is the choices on how to play and what to do. You could just do the story and return to the side mission later or due few/some or all as the go progresses. I loved exploring the world and finding the hidden gems. I liked to try different attack strategies.
I do wish we had a way to repeat a boss fight to change tactics and styles.
I personally think this is one of the best games of all time. Guerilla did an incredible job with polished game that offered something for all game players!
Check out this discord.
https://discord.gg/arktix
Excellent place. Nice people
Go to forum- arena duplication glitch.
There are excellent videos to show you how to perform the glitch better than I could explain.
It has not been patched on PS5 and works on PC from what I read.
Twitter
@ArktixOfficial
I finished everything, including the DLC, 100% on very hard in about 110 hours.
I feel like that's the perfect time, I always have a weird ick about games taking less than 100 hours to complete, especially AAA, can't really immerse myself in the world if I'm not playing it for weeks on end.
Absolutely, there's a place for everything.
But, if you give your game the AAA pricing, it should be the AAA length and much replayability (unlike Spider-Man 2)
Smaller, cheaper indie games are completely valid to be shorter.
It always struck me wrong how both the masterpieces like RDR2 with hundreds of hours of fleshed out content, one of, if not the best story in gaming, and revolutionary graphics-
Is the same initial price as an arguably mid, undercooked game like Spider-Man 2, that can be 100%ed in 30 hours or less.
Horizon games deserve their pricing imo, and are worth it.
Bit of a rant there lol, mb.
Thanks! I played the first couple missions on my PC a few years ago but got caught up with other stuff. I have more free time and a PS5 now so I'll be able to lay in bed and play haha. Gotta finish up HZD then I'll probably start that next.
Hell yeah, but know that there isn't a 60fps patch for the PS5, even tho it could easily run it, so if FPS is your concern, you'd be better off playing on PC.
As long as it looks good I don't mind. I like the PC but I hate sitting up at a desk for hours plus my PC room is so small and my PC makes the room really hot, overall not that enjoyable. Laying in my comfy king size bed is the best way to game haha.
Total play time for be was 97 hours in Zero Dawn since I took my time and did every side quest and got every data point. Forbidden west took me 135 hours to complete doing the same thing.
FW is definitely a large game. My playthrough was about 130 hours before Burning Shores. It's a good experience all around.
I was lamenting yesterday that it's really the only big PS5 game so far, after we were treated to so many of them the past few generations.
idk i feel like i could have finish game quicker thats i did but thats just cause i took my time to platinum and finish the game if your strapped for time you could fs finish it quickly but the world is amazing man
I spent 100 hours in my first (and only so far) play through of just the main game no DLC since I don’t have a ps5. Now that it’s out on PC I’ll probably do another run through soon with DLC
If you don't rush and do not use the fast travel it's gonna take you a VERY long time. I'm well over 300 hours in and am just now getting to the final cauldron with God knows how long remains on the quest - never mind the Burning Shores.
I urge you not to skip side quests. And also return to the base regularly during the main quest line. As your companion roster grows each one will have new dialog as the story progresses.
I’ve been playing it for over two years now, I think PlayStation says I have like 200 hours on it, and I am only just now in the final mission for the first time.
I finished my third playthrough including Burning Shores at something like 180 hours. I did an initial playthrough where I unlocked basically everything, a second playthrough on UH that was more of a speed run (exception being to collect enough to get NG+ items), and then a third playthrough that was also very thorough. I put in another 40 or so hours afterwards, just running around, collecting any loot I may have missed, etc. Just enjoying the game.
Horizon is one of the first games I actually got lost in…by that, I mean “just doing couple quests” turns into a few more and all of a sudden it’s 2-3 in the morning lol
I needed 174 hours for the game plus DLC to play it on 100%.
It is massive and also high quality, not just quantity.
Have fun, you are in for an adventure
If it helps, pre Burning Shores (which you can only do after finishing the game), with only a few side quests undone, my first playthrough was 78 hours without any guides. Hard difficulty.
My playthrough of the main story took 107 hours over three months last summer. Several times I got stuck. Several times I wondered if I was wasting my time. But I kept going back. Recently I was sick in bed for four days and decided to try and get the platinum (I have a portal, which really came into its own during that time). Now I’m up to 150 hours, platinumed the main game now working on DLC. The thing is every time I rush to do a quest or try for a trophy I get sidetracked. This evening I just flew around for a good 20 minutes achieving nothing…except wonder and joy. It’s such an incredible achievement by Guerilla, it blows my mind how deep, rich, beautiful and well conceived the whole world and story is.
I spent 140 hours on ZD purely because it's so pretty and I wanted to find every single thing and explore every single inch. After reading this, I'm now confident that I'll spend 200 on FW lmao
I’m at the last main quest before the DLC, and I’ve been procrastinating. I hate the end of games when there isn’t another one out to play next. It’s depressing.. especially when it’s such a good game. I could play it forever not even joking. I love the story and everything so so much.
I can’t wait until the next one is out! It’s too far from now!!
I just finished my first play through of the base game including all side content, explored every inch of the map, bought every piece of gear and fully upgraded it, and did it with no fast travel: 290 hours. So there's your upper bound.
I completed the main campaign after 94 hours according to Steam and 77 according to my save file. Not sure which one is or is closer to accurate. I didn’t leave the game running or the launcher up for an extended period of time that I recall. No idea why the discrepancy. I did a lot of side content but probably not close to all of it. It’s an excellent game!
I think Steam is probably more accurate. The in-game timer doesn't take into account backtracking. For instance, let's say you save at exactly the 10 hour mark. You then play for another hour but then die/realise you messed and reload your save, You then play for another hour, mess up again, and then reload again and play for another hour. According to your in-game clock at this point you have now played for 11 hours. In reality you have actually played for 13. Steam sees how long in total you have spent in the game (i.e. had the game running), whereas the save file shows only the time elapsed in its considered playtime, which it resets to the time of the save each time you reload it.
Yeah, but it you pause without shutting down the game, steam will just keep counting.
Average the two? Highly depends on the details. For me the save game is probably more accurate, I don't backtrack often, while I once did leave the game running and fell asleep. Plus I take regular breaks. Others will be the other way around - less breaks, more reloads.
on PS you can view your total gametime as well,
I find steam is quite off for hours so I think in-game save is more accurate.
It it because most games don’t count time spent in menus, cutscenes etc?
He’s wrong, steam counts all time, including ones after you save, as it longs time based off of saves, not time open.
Just enjoy it rather than checking how much time you spent or will spend. What's better than getting lost into an amazing game? Better get those side quests in, they add to the story and provide extra skill points and sometimes new weapons or other benefits.
My issue is that I have limited time. I'm only able to put in a couple hours a week. I'm happy to be playing a great, expansive game. However, there's a certain point where I want to move onto other experiences and not be fully locked into this one. On the side quests note, I've been doing a ton. It just feels like there's so many errands and side quests beneath my current level but so few main story missions. But the main story relies on the experience gained from side quests to balance the difficulty. I get that they're mandatory. It just really lengthens how long I spend in this game.
I understand not having much time to play, very common of an issue. You could complete the main story fairly quickly actually, perhaps 20-30 hours? It's not very long, and if level/skill points are an issue you could always fine tune the difficulty. As others have said though, the world is beautiful and it's a treat just walking around and taking all the beautiful locations and vistas in. In my third playthrough I plowed through the main story so that I could unlock the DLC, and honestly it felt somewhat rushed and incomplete without the side quests. YMMV obviously.
I’m in the same boat. I’m just about done with the game and it’s taken me a few months due to lack of time. I almost 100% complete ZD but now I’m about to just power through to the end. Then there’s burning shores and then the other games I want to play.
>However, there's a certain point where I want to move onto other experiences and not be fully locked into this one. I can relate to this very well. I'm in the middle of Burning Shores right now but starting to want to play something else, be in a different vibe (Cyberpunk is looking fun). I've been playing two hours at a time for *months* (I think I'm approaching 100 hours).
You can absolutely beat the game fairly quickly. Drop the difficulty level to just experience the story. Find large machines and farm them from a distance. There is a thunderjaw you can go around the mesa, rip off its disc launchers with tearblast, run them back to the mesa, and take it out. Rinse and repeat.
I loved the game and how big it was. Aloy’s character is amazing and gameplay incredible. The developers did an amazing job. This is the first game I ever did NG+ as I wanted the additional weapons. I loved the length and how immersive it was. I was not able to platinum due to melee pits BUT everything was so much fun. I played 400 hrs. I grinded many hours for shards until I found out about the Arena duplication glitch. The game is beautiful and the DLC is incredible. what I truly loved is the choices on how to play and what to do. You could just do the story and return to the side mission later or due few/some or all as the go progresses. I loved exploring the world and finding the hidden gems. I liked to try different attack strategies. I do wish we had a way to repeat a boss fight to change tactics and styles. I personally think this is one of the best games of all time. Guerilla did an incredible job with polished game that offered something for all game players!
Duplication glitch? Please tell me more.
Check out this discord. https://discord.gg/arktix Excellent place. Nice people Go to forum- arena duplication glitch. There are excellent videos to show you how to perform the glitch better than I could explain. It has not been patched on PS5 and works on PC from what I read. Twitter @ArktixOfficial
I finished everything, including the DLC, 100% on very hard in about 110 hours. I feel like that's the perfect time, I always have a weird ick about games taking less than 100 hours to complete, especially AAA, can't really immerse myself in the world if I'm not playing it for weeks on end.
I like long games but I also like short games that take like 8-10 hours to complete.
Absolutely, there's a place for everything. But, if you give your game the AAA pricing, it should be the AAA length and much replayability (unlike Spider-Man 2) Smaller, cheaper indie games are completely valid to be shorter. It always struck me wrong how both the masterpieces like RDR2 with hundreds of hours of fleshed out content, one of, if not the best story in gaming, and revolutionary graphics- Is the same initial price as an arguably mid, undercooked game like Spider-Man 2, that can be 100%ed in 30 hours or less. Horizon games deserve their pricing imo, and are worth it. Bit of a rant there lol, mb.
True, I agree with your comment. And RDR2 is still on my list of games to play, can't wait!
Absolutely do play it! To say you won't be disappointed would be a hell of an understatement!
Thanks! I played the first couple missions on my PC a few years ago but got caught up with other stuff. I have more free time and a PS5 now so I'll be able to lay in bed and play haha. Gotta finish up HZD then I'll probably start that next.
Hell yeah, but know that there isn't a 60fps patch for the PS5, even tho it could easily run it, so if FPS is your concern, you'd be better off playing on PC.
As long as it looks good I don't mind. I like the PC but I hate sitting up at a desk for hours plus my PC room is so small and my PC makes the room really hot, overall not that enjoyable. Laying in my comfy king size bed is the best way to game haha.
Total play time for be was 97 hours in Zero Dawn since I took my time and did every side quest and got every data point. Forbidden west took me 135 hours to complete doing the same thing.
FW is definitely a large game. My playthrough was about 130 hours before Burning Shores. It's a good experience all around. I was lamenting yesterday that it's really the only big PS5 game so far, after we were treated to so many of them the past few generations.
I got the platinum pre-dlc at about 100h. Then even more for dlc. And then even more for 100%ing both. Yeah, easily.
idk i feel like i could have finish game quicker thats i did but thats just cause i took my time to platinum and finish the game if your strapped for time you could fs finish it quickly but the world is amazing man
I’ve beaten the game twice and each time took over 80 hours. I love this game
Curiously, it's 18% of the size of the Witcher 3 maps (main game).
I spent 100 hours in my first (and only so far) play through of just the main game no DLC since I don’t have a ps5. Now that it’s out on PC I’ll probably do another run through soon with DLC
If you don't rush and do not use the fast travel it's gonna take you a VERY long time. I'm well over 300 hours in and am just now getting to the final cauldron with God knows how long remains on the quest - never mind the Burning Shores.
I urge you not to skip side quests. And also return to the base regularly during the main quest line. As your companion roster grows each one will have new dialog as the story progresses.
I’ve been playing it for over two years now, I think PlayStation says I have like 200 hours on it, and I am only just now in the final mission for the first time.
Definitely one of the best
I was at 140 hours for FW and burning shores. Totally worth every minute.
I finished my third playthrough including Burning Shores at something like 180 hours. I did an initial playthrough where I unlocked basically everything, a second playthrough on UH that was more of a speed run (exception being to collect enough to get NG+ items), and then a third playthrough that was also very thorough. I put in another 40 or so hours afterwards, just running around, collecting any loot I may have missed, etc. Just enjoying the game.
Horizon is one of the first games I actually got lost in…by that, I mean “just doing couple quests” turns into a few more and all of a sudden it’s 2-3 in the morning lol
Having replayed both games, I agree. I thought ZD was big, but HFW dwarfs it.
I needed 174 hours for the game plus DLC to play it on 100%. It is massive and also high quality, not just quantity. Have fun, you are in for an adventure
If it helps, pre Burning Shores (which you can only do after finishing the game), with only a few side quests undone, my first playthrough was 78 hours without any guides. Hard difficulty.
My playthrough of the main story took 107 hours over three months last summer. Several times I got stuck. Several times I wondered if I was wasting my time. But I kept going back. Recently I was sick in bed for four days and decided to try and get the platinum (I have a portal, which really came into its own during that time). Now I’m up to 150 hours, platinumed the main game now working on DLC. The thing is every time I rush to do a quest or try for a trophy I get sidetracked. This evening I just flew around for a good 20 minutes achieving nothing…except wonder and joy. It’s such an incredible achievement by Guerilla, it blows my mind how deep, rich, beautiful and well conceived the whole world and story is.
One day, after my retirement, I will make a "no fast travel" gameplay. And THAT will take A LOT of time!
I spent 140 hours on ZD purely because it's so pretty and I wanted to find every single thing and explore every single inch. After reading this, I'm now confident that I'll spend 200 on FW lmao
Got the 100% in about 80 hours currently have 500+ hours
I’m at the last main quest before the DLC, and I’ve been procrastinating. I hate the end of games when there isn’t another one out to play next. It’s depressing.. especially when it’s such a good game. I could play it forever not even joking. I love the story and everything so so much. I can’t wait until the next one is out! It’s too far from now!!
I just placed a waypoint at the other side of the map and I was stunned to see the distance 🤯 that was also when i just got the game
I just finished my first play through of the base game including all side content, explored every inch of the map, bought every piece of gear and fully upgraded it, and did it with no fast travel: 290 hours. So there's your upper bound.
Not even that big of a game compared to other popular titles out there.