Starfield sounds endless in theory, but that scale rarely pays off. Too many planets blur together, exploration loses its sense of surprise, and quests settle into familiar routines without raising the stakes. When the systems stop evolving, and the story never hits a real crescendo, finishing the game can feel like coasting through space chores rather than reaching a finale. | © Bethesda Game Studios
Baldur's Gate III is one of those games you love spending time with, even if you never see the credits. Reaching the final boss feels less like a climax and more like a huge time commitment you have to psych yourself up for. Between an hours-long finale and the endless “what if” choices waiting in a second playthrough, finishing it can feel strangely overwhelming. | © Larian Studios
At first, the open world in Elden Ring feels exciting, but it doesn’t take long to show its hand. Exploration quickly turns into nonstop combat, often recycled, with familiar enemies and bosses that feel lifted straight from Dark Souls and slightly remixed. When every point of interest leads to yet another fight instead of something unexpected, finishing the journey starts to feel repetitive and dull rather than mysterious. | © FromSoftware
Hogwarts Legacy nails the fantasy at first, but that sense of wonder fades as the hours pile up. Beneath the gorgeous castle, the world feels oddly static, with shallow role-playing, repetitive quests, and systems that don’t really grow or surprise you later on. When the story never deepens and the gameplay loop stays the same, reaching the finale can feel more like an obligation than magic. | © Avalanche Software
Watch Dogs 2 starts strong, but the momentum fades as you get closer to the end. The story never quite hooks you, missions blur into the same hacking-and-sneaking routine, and the upbeat tech-bro tone doesn’t give the finale much weight. When there’s no real narrative payoff waiting, finishing the campaign can feel like checking off the last task rather than seeing something meaningful through. | © Ubisoft
Surprisingly, the combat can end up being the biggest hurdle in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. There are so many inputs and systems to juggle that fights often collapse into messy button-mashing instead of feeling skillful. If you’re not into Soulslike design, pushing through to the end can feel more frustrating than fun. | © Respawn Entertainment
Nintendo really did make the biggest Smash ever, and that’s part of the problem. World of Light drags on for so long that what starts as a fun solo twist slowly turns into a checklist of fights that all blur together. By the time you’re chasing the last unlocks and alternate paths, finishing everything feels less like a victory and more like pure endurance. | © Nintendo
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla absolutely delivers a massive Viking sandbox, but the sheer length can be its own punishment. Even if you enjoy the setting, the relentless stream of regions and objectives makes the whole thing feel like a slow slog rather than a tight adventure. That “I’ll come back later” feeling can settle in hard, and before you know it, you’re grinding through hours instead of having fun. | © Ubisoft
After loving Breath of the Wild, this one can feel strangely familiar in the wrong way. The world doesn’t change enough to feel fresh, and the heavy focus on building and object manipulation turns into busywork rather than discovery. Weapon fusing sounds exciting on paper, but watching random items awkwardly glued onto swords quickly kills the magic and makes finishing the game feel like a chore. | © Nintendo
An RPG that asks for 80-plus hours needs to justify every minute, and this one doesn’t always manage that. Endless NPC dialogue, padded fights, and constant tactical pausing stretch encounters far longer than they need to be. While the magic and fantasy trappings are solid, the whole experience struggles to stay engaging when stacked against the sharper, more focused Origins. | © BioWare
There’s a solid RPG buried in here, but the scale works against it. Getting anywhere takes forever, leveling feels uneven thanks to wildly placed enemies, and progress often stalls for reasons that have nothing to do with skill. Add a dry, convoluted sci-fi story and a completion time creeping toward hundreds of hours, and pushing to the end can feel more draining than rewarding. | © Nintendo
Fallout 4 leans hard into familiarity, and not always in a good way. The crafting systems and power armor look impressive, but they don’t do much to mask how similar everything feels to earlier entries, from the washed-out wasteland to the scavenging-heavy loop. Between VATS breaking the flow and a flood of side quests pulling you off course, finishing the main story can start to feel slow and tiring rather than exciting. | © Bethesda Game Studios
Racing sims already ask a lot of patience, and this one really tests it. The visuals are undeniably slick, but the core loop feels rigid and repetitive unless you’re deeply invested in cars and fine-tuned racing mechanics. Stretching past 50 hours just to finish the main campaign, and far more if you chase completion, can make the whole thing feel flat and overly drawn out. | © Turn 10 Studios
Final Fantasy usually feels like an adventure, but this one can start to feel like work. There are plenty of flashy visuals and big story moments, yet the constant cutscenes and melodramatic tone wear thin fast. Add in the extremely linear structure and combat that turns repetitive after long grinding sessions, and finishing it can feel more exhausting than rewarding. | © Square Enix
Yes, it’s a great game, and fans aren’t wrong about that. The issue is how often progress gets erased, turning constant deaths, lost souls, and backtracking into a loop that slowly drains your motivation, especially in such a long campaign that doesn’t evolve much. After a while, even the combat loses its edge, and those bleak, empty environments stop feeling atmospheric and start feeling flat. | © FromSoftware
Not every long game earns its runtime. Sometimes the mechanics wear thin, the story loses momentum, or the sense of discovery dries up long before the credits roll. These are the games that start strong – or at least interesting – but make finishing them feel like more effort than it’s worth.
