In the age of developers competing to create longer and longer games, players with less time on their hands may feel a little pressured when it comes to completing them. Many gamers just don’t have enough time to finish the main story of a massive, open-world title, not to mention achieve 100% completion of it.
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Thankfully, not all game developers succumb to the pressure of creating titles with overwhelming numbers of objectives and stretched-out campaigns. While most open-world games still provide dozens of hours of content, time-restricted gamers will be happy to know that many of their main story campaigns can be completed in less than thirty minutes, making them ideal for brief play sessions.
10 Immortals Fenyx Rising
This colorful open-world game was developed by Ubisoft Quebec, the team responsible for Assassin's Creed Odyssey. It is heavily inspired by that AC title, but calling it an Odyssey clone would be doing Immortals Fenyx Rising a disservice. It takes a lot of the brilliant gameplay elements from the studio's previous title and builds upon them by adding features known from other open-world titles like Genshin Impact and Breath of the Wild.
The result is an engaging open-world adventure that's filled with color, humor, and a pretty good storyline thrown in the mix. The game's main plot can be completed in about 25 hours. Completionists, however, will be able to double that playtime, as it can take anywhere from 50 to 60 hours to get around to doing every single thing this game has to offer.
9 GTA IV
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has never been known to bloat their games with unnecessary content. Instead, Rockstar's hit series developed a reputation for creating bustling, lived-in open worlds, without needing to make them overflow with useless side content.
While there is still plenty to do in the fourth entry to the franchise and achieving 100% completion would take gamers way more than 30 hours, getting through the brilliantly written main storyline should take just about 28 hours, making GTA IV one of the shortest Grand Theft Auto titles to date.
8 Far Cry 5
The fifth entry in the Far Cry franchise is a unique one, not only because of its original take on developing the story but also in terms of how short it is, especially for a Ubisoft game. Players can to the end credits without doing anything on the side in just 18 hours!
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Of course, there is a whole lot more to do in Far Cry 5, but even after getting around to doing the extra stuff, gamers can fit their playthrough within the 30-hour limit. That's not bad for a full, open-world game with a large map, plenty of traversal methods, and a whole heap of secrets just waiting to be found.
7 Watch Dogs 2
While the first Watch Dogs is also not the longest title out there, its sequel is definitely the better game. It takes the innovative hacking elements that players loved and places them in sunny San Francisco, full of things to do and wacky characters to meet.
Watch Dogs 2 has players take control of Marcus Holloway, a talented hacker, who joins the ranks of DeadSec to bring down ctOS 2.0, the malicious operating system that is in charge of all of San Francisco's infrastructure. The plot is pretty straightforward, but it is the gameplay that combines hacking with some well-polished action sequences that makes this game worth trying out. After completing Marcus's story arc and exploring most of the side activities in San Francisco, players should find their playtime clocking in at exactly 30 hours.
6 Assassin's Creed: Syndicate
Often overlooked as one of the weaker titles in the Assassin's Creed franchise, Syndicate was the last "classic" AC game before the revolution that was the release of Origins, and the series' transition into full-blown action RPGs.
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Going back to it nearly six years after its release date, Syndicate actually looks and plays like the game that hardcore Assassin's Creed fans still fondly remember. With London in the midst of the Industrial Revolution being the main setting, the open world is sizeable, and yet never feels too bloated. The main story is only 18 hours long, which sounds crazy when comparing it to Valhalla or Odyssey. Players who want to take in all of London's landmarks and secrets should be able to so in around 32 hours.
5 Judgment
As far as narrative-driven open-world experiences are concerned, it doesn't get much better than the Yakuza series. Its spin-off, Judgment, is heavily inspired by film noir detective stories of old, as it tries to recreate a similar atmosphere in the gang-ridden Kamurocho district.
The main story can be beaten in around 27 hours, and it is definitely one of the better plotlines in a video game in recent years. It has it all: betrayal, legal drama tropes, outlandish plot twists, and plenty of humor. With Lost Judgment's release right around the corner, it's hard to think of a better time to pick up Judgment and get lost in Takayuki Yagami's turbulent redemption story.
4 Just Cause 4
In a similar manner to the Far Cry series, the Just Cause franchise's focus is on explosive sandbox gameplay, except the fact that Just Cause doesn't cover it all up with ambitious storylines and charismatic villains. Just Cause 4 fully embraces its wackiness and gives players total freedom over the way they want to approach missions and wreak havoc in a tropical environment.
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The game's story takes a little over 15 hours to beat, and while it is a little ridiculous and over-the-top, playing through it is an absolute blast. With a wingsuit, grappling hook, and more explosives than one can count, Just Cause 4 is a great gameplay-focused experience for gamers who just want to unwind for a couple of hours after a long day of work.
3 Sleeping Dogs
Often described by players as the "Asian take on GTA", Sleeping Dogs can definitely give off that kind of a vibe, but there is much more to this game than meets the eye. With a focus on masterfully designed hand-to-hand combat reminiscent of the Yakuza series and a simple, yet immersive undercover cop story, this 2012 game is truly an underappreciated gem.
There is plenty to do in the neon-lit, gritty rendition of Hong Kong, and while the structure of missions is heavily inspired by Grand Theft Auto, the game does manage to avoid being a GTA clone by implementing beat-em-up mechanics and a more serious approach to the story. It's also very short. 16 hours is enough to get through the main story, and a completionist in a hurry could blast through all of the game's content in under 25 hours.
2 Red Dead Redemption
The size and length of Red Dead Redemption 2 may have led many players to forget how much shorter and more contained the previous entry to the franchise was.
Jack Marston's redemption story can be completed in around 18 hours, and while players will still need just under 50 to achieve 100% completion, these numbers fade in comparison with RDR2's 50-hour-long main story and the 170 hours it takes to get that coveted Platinum trophy.
1 Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most original and interesting titles released during the last generation of consoles. This PS4 exclusive didn't only introduce innovative gameplay elements and a new take on boss fights, but also spoiled gamers with a story that is nothing like the usual video game plotlines players have grown accustomed to.
The story of Aloy, her people, and the post-apocalyptic world overrun by massive, self-replicating robots is a must-play, not only for action game fans but all gamers in general. The lack of time shouldn't be an excuse for not playing it, as the main storyline takes only 22.5 hours to beat. Hopefully, Horizon Forbidden West will raise the bar even higher, once again getting players to demand more innovation from open-world game developers.
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