Best RPGs To Play Over A Long Time

Summary

• Video games take long to come out & players rush to avoid spoilers.
• Some games better enjoyed slowly over time, especially RPGs, for rewards.
• Persona 5: The Phantom X encourages playing over time for daily bonuses.

Video games take a long time to come out, if they do at all, as cancellations happen all the time. As such, when a video game does manage to release, it should be celebrated. Dedicated players will take the time to sit down and plow through a game as quickly as possible to avoid getting spoiled by others online, and just because they want to immerse themselves in that world.

While these are good reasons to binge on games, some work better as an accompaniment to everyday life, especially RPGs. These RPGs will reward players for methodically playing themover a long period of time. If players missed these RPGs initially, they should check them out now, and take their time in doing so. They will be ranked here based on how good the rewards are for playing them slowly, taking into account quality, too.

Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django

Go Touch Grass

The first Boktai game had a novel gameplay gimmick to defeat the various monsters and vampires. There was a solar panel on the GBA cartridge that would charge the solar-powered weaponry in the game in real time. Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django had this solar panel as well, but it was complemented by a more robust RPG system.

It’s a better game overall and demands that players go outside when it’s sunny to play it properly, which means that it will probably be best to play it over an extended period, as the sun tends to set on a daily basis.

Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels Of The Starry Sky

A Once Great Hub For Multiplayer

Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Sky was the first mainline game to hit a portable before a home console—in this case, the DS—along with adding a cavalcade of new features. Multiplayer is a big example, as three players could assist each other in turn-based battles. More so than that, there was an online store in the game that refreshed its rare items regularly and also dropped new maps for players to explore alone or with friends.

It was a living game that remained a constant in the pockets of players until services were sadly shut down in 2014. The game is still great, but the time to experience it at its peak has long passed.

Persona 5: The Phantom X

Gacha-Based Timers

Persona 5: The Phantom X is the latest game in the series and sub-series featuring direct and indirect sequels to Persona 5. It’s a free-to-play game, meaning there are many gacha-based mechanics, including an online store and daily bonuses.

The daily bonuses are one reason players should play the game over a long period to gather up materials. No one should ever have to pay into a free-to-play game, and to Persona 5: The Phantom X’s credit, it doesn’t force anyone to do so with intrusive ads.

Final Fantasy 14

The Nature Of MMOs

Final Fantasy 14 is another multiplayer game from Square Enix that is very much alive. Final Fantasy 14 best represents all current MMOs as one of the more popular examples and one of the more stacked examples in terms of content. It’s not that players shouldn’t go through this game quickly: they simply can’t.

Even if someone didn’t have a job or a family to support, a month wouldn’t be nearly enough time to see everything the game has to offer. There are daily reasons to log in, like most MMOs, which will make the game easier over time, so Final Fantasy 14 is best enjoyed as a slow burn.

The World Ends With You

Put A Pin In It

The World Ends With You has two leveling-up mechanics. First, players can level up characters, like Neku, the protagonist, traditionally by fighting monsters and gaining EXP. Players can attack monsters with Pins, and each one has a different attack pattern, from slashes to fireballs.

Pins will level up with EXP, too, but they can also gain EXP if players are away from their game for extended periods. If players aren’t in a rush, this is a good way to get stronger without even playing the game.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy

Rebuilding Norende Village

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy starts chaotically with Tiz, one of the four main characters, almost getting swallowed up by the earth along with his village. Tiz’s goal is to rebuild Norende Village, and players can do this by recruiting NPCs sent over by other players.

These NPCs can be used to build structures like shops, and then players can get rare loot early in Norende Village if they play Bravely Default: Flying Fairy correctly. The more NPCs are added to a project, the faster the project will be completed, and it all happens in real-time. The maximum amount of time one building takes is almost a hundred hours, which is true for the 3DS original and the Switch 2 remaster. It goes without saying that players will need to step away and return to this one periodically.

Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom

A Born King

Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom has a similar village-building mechanic as Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, except in this case, it’s a kingdom-building mechanic. The game is about Prince Evan, who gets thrown out of his kingdom at the game’s outset. Together with a ragtag group of rebels, they decide to build a new kingdom to then take back the old one.

Players will recruit NPCs, assign them to projects, and then unlock content in real-time. It’s more complex than Bravely Default: Flying Fairy’s system, and Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom has better story justification to back it all up, but it is still a time-consuming process.

Ring Fit Adventure

Feel The Burn

Ring Fit Adventure is the ultimate RPG for players who want to take things slowly. It’s almost impossible to play through this game in a marathon, because it takes a physical toll on the body as an exercise game.

Players will create their trainer and then go through a linear progression of levels, each one dotted with monsters. They can be defeated by doing exercises, from crunches to stretches, all of which deal different levels of damage. It’s one of the most unique RPGs ever made, let alone one of Nintendo’s wildest experiments. What’s more hardcore than rocking chiseled abs in real life?