When one thinks about RPGs, they usually imagine epic adventures players take months to go through. The average length of these games ranges from anywhere between thirty and sixty hours. Open-world RPGs can go well over one hundred hours depending on how much time one wishes to spend in a particular world doing side quests.
The ten RPGs listed below are on the opposite end of the spectrum. While some of them still tell epic stories, they all boast surprisingly short runtimes. Some have side quests and bonus activities, but the main path is always particularly short.
10 South Park: The Stick Of Truth (11 1/2 Hours)
Video game adaptations of famous television shows and movies are often risky endeavors. Obsidian managed to make South Park a compelling game by turning it into an RPG paying homage to the series' storied history. The best part of it all is the short run time, making the sure game never overstays its welcome. The sequel is slightly longer, but changes things up with a new battle system and more original humor, since most of The Stick of Truth's jokes are taken from the show.
9 Final Fantasy (17 1/2)
The first Final Fantasy lacks many of the series' hallmarks, but still manages to remain an incredibly charming JRPG adventure. At less than twenty hours, it is easy to blast through in a weekend, something all fans of the series should do just to know where the franchise comes from. The PSP remake also updates the graphics to exquisitely beautiful sprites while fixing any bugs from the prior versions.
8 Undertale (6 1/2)
While Undertale is only six hours long, it is not entirely fair to say this is all the joy one will get out of the journey. With multiple endings and several different ways to play through the minuscule RPG, one is encouraged to play through it several times. It is easily one of the most unique RPGs on the list, and fans are anxiously awaiting Toby Fox's next project, Deltarune, the first chapter of which is already available.
7 Super Mario RPG (17 Hours)
What can't gaming's favorite Plumber do? He plays baseball, volleyball, tennis, and even stars in a series of RPGs, the first of which was Super Mario RPG on the SNES.
The title mixes mechanics one expects from Super Mario, such as platforming, with classic turn-based combat. While it never received a proper sequel, and several classic characters never formally returned in any form, there has been a series of RPGs starring Mario since then.
6 Child Of Light (11)
Princess Aurora awakens in a mysterious world after seemingly dying in her sleep, thus starting the unique RPG adventure that is Child of Light. Unlike most turn-based RPGs, the game world is side-scrolling. The story is also told almost completely through rhyme. The only complaint about the game was a lack of difficulty, which was remedied with an update changing the names of the difficulty modes. Originally they were "Normal" and "Hard", now they are "Casual" and "Expert".
5 Banner Sage (10 1/2)
The Banner Saga is made by a studio consisting of several former BioWare employees, so one knows they understand RPGs well enough. The game is a short tactical role-playing romp following a Viking caravan fighting an ancient race of creatures. While only ten hours, the story changes depending on the player's actions, so one can have a different experience each time, much like a classic BioWare game. Two other games in the series have come out since then, completing a trilogy.
4 Bastion (6 Hours)
Supergiant Games is currently riding the wave of success and admiration from its recent spin on the roguelike genre, Hades. The studio has showed its aptitude for incredible originality from the start with its first title, Bastion. The action-RPG's story is told through an omniscient narrator who details both the melancholy story and the action on screen during gameplay. It only takes six hours to go through, but it is a memorable romp as players rebuild a hub and upgrade their character.
3 Fable (12 1/2 Hours)
Lionhead studios was famous for writing checks its games could not cash. While some ambitious promises were made for Fable the game did not actually live up to, the final product is still a unique and compelling RPG adventure.
Players go through several stages of the protagonist's life, whose appearance and abilities change based on the decisions they make. The game also does not take itself too seriously, filled with quirky British humor. While the series has been dormant for a while, a reboot is currently in the works.
2 Costume Quest (5 1/2 Hours)
Leave it up to Double Fine to put a wild twist on the RPG. Players control kids on Halloween night as they attempt to rescue their brother from monsters. When entering battle, the characters turn into whatever costume they are wearing and engage in turn-based combat. Fortunately, this was better received than the polarizing twists on the RTS genre they did with Brutal Legend. Double Fine is currently owned by Microsoft and working on Psychonauts 2.
1 Parasite Eve (9 1/2)
On the surface, Parasite Eve looks like a Resident Evil clone. However, playing reveals a unique mix between survival horror and RPG combat. The battles utilize an active-time battle system where players have to wait to perform an action, while the story takes players on a linear journey through New York where they are encouraged to explore and scrounge for supplies. The story is based off a Japanese novel about a mysterious life form called Eve who controls people through the mitochondria in their cells.