Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

I was just wondering, what were the shortest RPG's you beat?

For me, It'd have to be;

Soul Blazer (I don't have specifics, but I finished it in around 12 hours)
Illusion of Gaia (Again, no specifics, but I finished it in about 15 hours)
Terranigma (Took me 25h:46m)
Magic Knight Rayearth (Took me 7h:14m)
Castlevania - Symphony of the Night (Took me 20h:06m)

I normally prefer playing RPG's under 50 hours.

Without a doubt, it was Monstania. It's been too many years to recall the exact hours, but I believe it was under 20. If you want to play Monstania, to see how long it takes you, you'll need an English patch. BTW, I wrote the English story for Monstania, but it was not a D-D project. The game is short but fun, and it has some puzzles and lots of Kobold monsters, as I recall.

Same here, Monstania was probably the shortest RPG I played as well, which is a shame, seeing as it was a great game. It took me a little under four hours to complete. Soul Blazer and Star Ocean were also pretty short. Then again, I guess overall, it's better to have a short good game rather than a long and crappy one. Though, I usually perfer playing long RPGs such as Tales of Phantasia.

Well it isn't exactly RPG but kinda close, I finished Actraiser in around 3 hours. Which was good because I had to have the cartridge back to the rental place 1 hour later heh. Parasite Eve was probably next. About 8-10 hours. Suikoden in under 16 just recently. Phantasy Star Gaiden was a good short play. I don't remember exact times but I'm sure it was also under 16. And Evolution 1 was well under 20 hours. Don't remember exact time though.

Now as a side note: I can also say for certain which game I spent the longest time on one play through. My first time through Magna Carta: Tears of Blood, I can't say how long because the counter stopped counting at 100 hours. I figure it was between 110-120. And yeah I know the game was supposed to not last that long but something about that game made me take my sweet time or something because I've never ever put 100 hours into any other RPG.

I've been meaning to play Suikoden for some time now, It'll probably be my next game to play.

I also tried Monstania, but I can't - for the life of me - get into tactical or strategy RPG's, I don't know why though.

This is true! But it might be really interesting to see as an RPG, especially if it came out looking like Shadow Hearts.

Eh, I don't find this at all funny since I don't care for any of that crap. I'm refering to the Snes version of Star Ocean which is pretty short. Yes, it has a lot of neat options and a few side quests, but the main story is quite short. I beat it in less than two days the first time I played it. Maybe you just suck at it or something. And try to be more polite next time, a rude mouth is not impressive... -_-;

Edit: I just checked and it took me about 18 hours to beat Star Ocean for the first time. And yes, I did complete all side quests and did all the "private actions" in towns and all that. As I said, the game has a lot of neat features that you can play around with, but the main story is quite short. With Chrono Trigger, I had 23 hours, and with 7th Saga and Tales of Phantasia, it was about 35 hours. As for SRPGs, all I can remember is that Bahamut Lagoon took me about 30 hours. So yes, if it's under 20 hours, I'll say that it's a rather short RPG, wouldn't you? Check out the first post of this thread, you'll even see Terranigma (25 hours) listed by Zetshiro as a short RPG. Much in the same way that Phantasy Star Gaiden GG is a short RPG (10-15 hours max.) since it has a short story, but lots of level grinding.

Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake.

I just always considered the "Metroidvania's" as RPG's because of the heavy focus on exploration, equipment, and experience points.

It has a lot of elements.


Woah, I had no idea Star Ocean was that short. It always came across as one of those HUGE games for the SNES.

But then again, Terranigma made me feel that way too. I thought I played it for at least 40 hours before I checked the counter.

Now, now... Play nicely Master Chen. From what I've read, it takes about 30 hours to play through Star Ocean. This is very doable in two days, especially if you've got a whole weekend free.

Also, I would venture to claim that one does not have to obtain 100% of everything in a game to "beat" it.

Just because YOU can't do it Master Chan doesn't mean that someone can't. I think he meant everything possible during first play through. But honestly, you really came off like a hothead and this board is for being fun and upbeat, not negative. Please keep your replies friendly. If you don't believe the person, fine you can say so, but to jump someone's butt is another matter. Just say "I don't believe it can be done but we'll agree to disagree." Honestly, I've beaten a couple games in times many people didn't think was possible on the first play through so it IS possible that someone can do things you can't. At the same time, I've also finished games much slower than others have too. I can't comment on Star Ocean because I haven't and have no intention of playing the SNES version (something I will not discuss the reason behind.)