The gaming sphere is saturated with long, epic-length RPGs that sweep players away into vast lands of fantasy and mystery that can take upwards of hundreds of hours to explore fully. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Cyberpunk 2077 are all fantastic games, but they’re also a huge time investment to fully play. For some players, this is an exciting chance to lose themselves in another world; for others, it’s an overwhelming task. Thankfully, there are tons of bite-sized RPGs for players who only want to spend a weekend exploring rather than weeks or even months.
Videos by ComicBook.com
5. Eastward
Eastward is a gorgeous and mysteriously charming RPG set in a world on the brink of collapse. Play as Sam, a young girl with a nebulously ominous origin, and John, the man who discovered her. Follow this dynamic duo as they investigate Sam’s past, fight their way through cute-but-challenging dungeons that will require quick combat and puzzle-solving skills.
Most indie games tend to be on the shorter side, but Eastward clocks in at around 20-25 hours, depending on the thoroughness of the player’s exploration. With recipes to collect, secrets to find, and mini-games to master, Eastward has plenty going on outside of its main story quest. A completionist might spend 30hours in Eastward‘s winding back alleys and idyllic forests, while a player on a mission might make their way through the game in less than twenty. No matter the pace played, Eastward is the perfect RPG for fans of games like Undertale and Chrono Trigger.
4. Stray
For those who aren’t as interested in Eastward‘s pixel graphics, Stray offers a short and sweet alternative set in a similarly ruined world. Play as a cute little kitty that’s fallen into an ages-old fallout bunker, dodging robots and mutant creatures alike to climb back to the surface and rejoin your feline brethren. Stray‘s world is rich with secrets to discover and ancient technology to harness in one lone cat’s efforts to escape the robotic city they’ve fallen into.
Along the way, climb, sneak, and explore a wide variety of environments that all offer unique challenges. The game is about 15 to 20 hours of gameplay depending on the player’s pace, and while there are no mini-games to be found, it offers enough to do that each moment is exciting and engaging. Take a weekend to get lost in Stray‘s fantastical and deeply memorable world.
3. Citizen Sleeper
Rather than a traditional over-the-shoulder or first-person RPG, Citizen Sleeper offers a more text-based story that puts the player in the shoes of a cybernetic worker who has escaped from their corporate sponsors. On the run from both their boss and the law, the player must make a new life for themself aboard Erlin’s Eye, a ruined space station inhabited by thousands of other space-faring fugitives and citizens alike. Unlike many, more traditional RPGs, Citizen Sleeper‘s text-based story means players can take it at their own pace, discovering the many secrets the Eye hides as they get to know the myriad of interesting individuals that call it home.
Because of its text-based format, how long Citizen Sleeper takes to play depends on the player’s reading speed, but it generally lasts around eight to ten hours. It has multiple endings, meaning players who choose to can reload previous save files to make different choices, but pushing through to the game’s main ending shouldn’t take longer than 12 hours, even with a slower reading speed.
2. Cloudpunk
Continuing in the spacefaring, cyberpunk theme, Cloudpunk is another sci-fi RPG that features a gritty, neon-soaked city and sinister conspiracy to either be joined or stopped. Play as a deliveryperson-for-hire, whose job is to get packages where they need to go without asking questions. This RPG is a noir mystery in a rainy, futuristic world that explores themes of surveillance, resistance, and community in an unforgiving society.
Cloudpunk is around eight hours long, featuring first and third-person gameplay as players traverse the city of Nivalis by hovercar and on foot. The first-person driving is one of the most interesting pieces of gameplay, where players will need to keep their wits about them and their eyes on the road to complete their deliveries safely and on time. Perfect for players who are tired of the fantasy RPG scene, Cloudpunk is a gem among the sci-fi options of the genre.
1. Sable
Many RPGs can be high stress, putting players in intense combat situations or featuring life-or-death stakes–Sable does none of that while still crafting one of the most personal and impactful emotional journeys the RPG genre has ever seen. This game features open-world exploration through a vast desert, following the story of Sable and her coming-of-age Gliding. Using Sable’s trusty hoverbike, navigate the desert and discover the many ancient ruins and mysterious remnants of time gone by.
Sable is an atmospheric exploration game that takes around 15 to 20 hours to complete, but can be done quicker if not fully explored. The time it takes is up to the player, so this is one game that can really be done at any pace. There’s something powerful about Sable‘s brevity that leads the player to really take the time to contemplate the game’s final choice, offering something bite-sized but poignant.
Most Viewed
-
image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image courtesy of Prokino Filmverleih
