How Many Hours do you Spend?

[Locke4God]

How many hours do you spend on a typical "modern" Final Fantasy Game. I say modern, meaning from 7 on, because the older games are smaller and generally take less time.

I usually have a target time of about 95 hours. When I first played VII (my first FF) I spent 75, but really felt like I rushed, so I took 85 for VIII, and since then have settled down to around 95 per play through.

But I'm interested because I was just in a thread for IX and several people said they had spent as little as 50 on that game. I don't even know how you would do that, but I wanted to see how much time each of you usually spend.

[Josh_R]

VII i usually spend about 100+ hours and the ones before it was not excatly short Locke I spent about 75+ on all before it and X I spent 120+...

[Xanatos]

It really depends on sidequest's, minigames, secrets and basically how much am I fired up for the game. When I played FF V I was doing everything in my might to finish the game as fast as I could. Usually I play somewhere about 60-70 hours but when finishing the game for the second time than longer only because I try to complete the game 100%.

[Victoria]

I usually give an extra 10 hours for sidequests and getting the good weapons/materia/whatnot.

I really don't play more than I have to unless I have to spend a few more hours grinding because I can't beat the boss yet.

People who waste time and play 100+ hours on games they could easily beat 40 horus ago is beyond my understanding.

If you're a perfectionist, that's fine. If not, why bother?

[loaf]

FFVII took me 40 hours to beat the very first play through.

FFVIII took me 80 hours to complete first time.

FFIX 25 hours.

FFX 40 hours.

FFXII 75.

other play thrus are just hella different.

[Unknown Entity]

I take my time playing them when I first get my hands on them. Then on my second or third play through, I know what I need to do, and I rush through it.

On my last play through of FFXII, I beat it at 60 odd hours. My first play through was about 150.

FFVII just takes me forever because I love that game, and I take my time with it. I don't mind if it's a waste of time if I'm having fun - if I get bored, I can always start rushing again. I had well over 100 hours... and Aeris hadn't died yet once. I think maybe I was just avoiding that scene by levelling everyone in that section in Junon.

EDIT: So really, I don't know what to put on the poll... =S

[Locke4God]

That's really interesting. 40 Hours. Good Work. I did VII the first time in 75 hours, but I really felt like I was absolutely racing through and I didn't have as much fun as I do now that I take more time.

I saw a quote that suggested it was wasting time to spend 100 hours. While I'd look at spending 150 hours or more as getting to that wasting time realm, I've found there's plenty to do that would easily take well over 80 in most games. Plus if you like playing the game, then I don't see how any amount of time is wasted, unless you call playing video games in general a waste of time, in which case you probably wouldn't be reading this.

My overall grind strategy though, is to just run around any new area you come to an extra time or two, get in an extra 15 or 20 battles before you head into a new city and you'll rack up plenty of exp enough to defeat whatever boss you meet next. What I don't like to do is race around avoiding fights and then have to put in 5 hours of pure battles to get what I really need at the end.

[Dodie16]

I tend to play Final Fantasy games at least twice. Usually on my first playthrough, I'm trying to rush through the game so I can see what's going to happen next.

Approximate Times on First Play:

FFVII- About 40 hours
Crisis Core- About 30 hours
Dirge of Cerberus- Only about 12 hours. This game is short.
FFVIII- About 55 hours
FFIX- About 55 hours
FFX- About 60 hours
FF X-2- About 30 hours
FF XII- I clocked in 80 hours after I faced the Final Boss, but I have gone back to do other stuff, and now my game is at about 120 hours.

40+30+12+55+55+60+30+80= 362/8 = 45.25 (I played an average of 45.25 hours on FF games)

I have a FFVII game where the time clock has stopped at 99:99:99, because it doesn't keep track any further than that. I know that I have clocked in a hell of a lot of hours on it, just not exactly how many.

[Lily]

VII was about 70 hours

VIII I cant remember , probably more, Id guess about 80/90, Im nmost displeased that there isn't any save data for VIII on my memory card....

IX just shy of 100

X the file that ive almost 100% apart from a couple of dark aeons and penance is 140 hours

XII - 163 Hours gotta complete the bestiary and Yiazmat before Im done there, so I reckon Ive a fair few hours to go on that

Soo I cant really say, it's dependent on the game, I know I spent roughly 40 hours on each game from I to VI but I couldnt give an average for this lot really

[smurphy]

For each game i just love grinding levels so it will always take me 100+ hours for each...................even after the 20th playthrough. FFX is the worst because it contains blitzball, which i will spend a good 40 hours on.

[GypsyElder]

FF V-I'm still playing, right now I have 46hrs
FFVI- I just started
FFVII- I'm pretty sure I have 200+ I don't know the exact amount because the time stops 99:99
FFVIII-at least 100 hrs
FFIX- Time starts over but it's red, I spent the most time on this game because it was one of the first one's I bought. 200+ I might go back and check the exact amount later.
FFX-200+ almost 300, the combination of playing blitzball all the time, the time it took to get all the ultimate weapons, having everyone fill out the whole Sphere Grid and filling in empty nodes.
FFX-2: I lost count, sooo many because of how many new game pluses I have started. I'm about to start a new one soon.
FFXII- I have no clue, I'm too lazy to go check.

It's not unusual to me to spend over 100 hours on a game anymore. I'm a completionist and then some

[Full Life]

DEPENDS IF I JUST WANT TO QUICKLY CLOCK IT 20 HOURS but if i want to do everything 30 hours +

[Meier Link]

Really for me it depends on the play through, it can very greatly depending on what all I plan to do. As for some of the in game extras such as blitzball, arenas, and the gold saucer I can rack up 20 hours of game play easily just doing that alone.

If I do a main story play though it is generally alot quicker but I find it less enjoyable.

Last time I played VII I had about 60 hours in when I took down Sephiroth but I neglected alot of side quests and resisted the urge to go and play the snow boarding game.

VIII: I think the last save file I have on that one is about 120 hours but most of that was just playing around and I left it on for a day or so haha.

IX: I made it through the main story in under 65 hours once with no side quest but maxed out character levels haha.

X: On my last play through I went for a direct play though, I have yet to finish it but I am about 35 hours in and knocking on Zanarcands door.

XII: I have a save file with about 120 hours on it and another one with over 200. I want to play around with this one but for some reason I think I accidently traded this one in when I went to get rock band.

X-2, never spent much time with this one and I honestly don't remember the total hours. I got a 99% the first play through and played it again just to get the 100%. Damn that moogle you have to talk to at the VERY begining of the game!

::edit::

Highskill, which title are you talking about? 30 hours for completion. That is an obsurd statement for 99.9% of all of the Final Fantasys.

[Treize]

I usually beat these games between 60 and 70 hours, and I usually do the majority of the sidequest, get rare weapons, etc. I don't see how some people can put so much time into some of these games. I can see if you are a completionist and are trying to max stats and get every item and such, but otherwise I completely agree with Sheena that it is almost a waste of time to play for 100+ hours. For example, in Final Fantasy IX, you can do just about everything in 70 hours. The only thing you probably wouldn't be able to do is get to level 99, which I don't understand why it would matter if you can beat every boss when your characters' levels are in their 40s/50s.

I think the only Final Fantasy game that is taking really long for me is Final Fantasy XII, and that is because I've been level grinding for 20-30 hours now. This game will be one of the few games that take me more than 100 hours to complete.

If you are just trying to beat the game, the average would probably be 40-50 hours.

[Yesha]

I beat FFXII for Like 120+ hours.. since.. I compLeted everything.. the hunts, espers, weapons.. even getting them to LvL. 99, of course!

ALL FF games I pLayed was very much.. up to 80-90+ hours.. since I didn't very much compLeted every sidequest on it.. especiaLLy FFX, since.. just getting their weapons were quite hard, and I didn't enjoyed bLitzbaLL.. and so on.. :-)

[Freya]

Depends on the game. .-."
But normally, between 50 and 60 hours. At the beginning I tend to search for every side quest I can find, at the end I don't find any at all and just rush through the story. Then, I need much time to level up my characters at the end of every FF.
Still, I search for side quests, but don't find them. xD" The only exception of this rule is FFX. I've spent 100+ hours on that one, just because I began beating all the Dark Aeons, hunting all monsters, etc. Also, XII has been slightly longer, because I hunted monsters again.

[Mr.Marzipan]

I tend to take about 60-70 hours to do everything I can before I'm finished with installment, I like to take my time with the games. If could easily beat it in half the time but I'd feel like I was missing out on a lot of things. I think I've spent the longest on X though, simply because of all the Dark Aeons. Oy, did I need to do some grinding for those.

[ANGRYWOLF]

More than 200 hours..as I try to do all the sidequests, get all the espers and get all the major weapons and items..as well as level up to the max...

[Ralz]

Let's see... actually, it took me about 100+ hours to fully complete FFVI. I took way too long with maxing everything out.

FFX, to this day, has my longest playing time of 400+ hours. o_O

[DragonHeart]

Hahaha, I am beyond Jay's understanding. >_>

But, it's not that I waste time. I happen to get lost. A lot. Yes, even in video games I have no navigational abilities lol. I've had many a game over from stumbling into places (and optional bosses!) that I really shouldn't be encountering at that particular point in the game. Which is why I'm probably one of the few people who did not whack the Diresaur outside of Rabanastre on their first playthrough of XII.

Anyways, I have many 100+ hour game files but the times are deceiving. Minigames! Chocobo Hot and Cold, Blitzball, Triple Triad. Even Tetra Master. In my main FFX file literally half of it (at least 100 hours) is purely from playing lots and lots of Blitzball. Same with VIII and Triple Triad. And I do occasionally go out of my way for some heavy sidequesting. It all depends on the game, how much time I have to play and what I feel like doing. And it's not like it's from continuous play. The aforementioned FFX file is one I've been playing since I bought the game back when it first came out.

I'd say I'm pretty average when it comes to actually completing the story, I just get sidetracked easily. When I'm not lost...it's not the bosses that kill me, it's the six hours of flustered wandering in weird places that does.

~DragonHeart~

[Che]

I usually rush through the story and do a few sidequests before I finish. In the past after I beat the game I usually just stopped playing, as I felt there's no real reason to level anymore, or get anything else. My rule on sidequests is I will do them if they seem fun at the time, but I usually don't pursue them to complete them all.

I think I played more of FFXII after I beat the game. The ending kind of sucked, the final boss was a joke, and I just kept playing for the Gilgamesh fight and some other HNMs.

In the past month or two I've replayed FFIX, FFX, and half of FFXII. My goal each time I started playing was to complete it all. I got tired of going through FFXII's story, and the License board really just lets you get everything without any consequences. Kind of cheap. FFIX got really boring, as I played through it and remember everything from like 10 years ago or whenever it came out and it just didn't feel the same playing it again.

I am playing FFX again now, though. I started a fresh game yesterday and I'm in the Thunder Plains as of before I went to sleep last night. Pretty good time, I'm hooked again and I really want to get all the ultimate weapons this time around.

I beat the Luca Goers first time round this time, without using the Jecht Shot (I tried to use it with 3 people on me pretty close to the goal and one of the dudes just grabbed the ball from me like I was a joke, pissed me the F off). I had Wakka score with a Venom Shot in overtime to win 1-0! Got that silly +4 STR sphere and the trophy. Hadn't played any Blitzball since then, though.

[The Moogle Shinigami]

I've never really timed myself, but I'd say 200+ on 9 and under (I like to find every little secret before moving on) and about 110 hours on 10+

[Crazy Chocobo]

It can vary, in VIII I took over 100 hours my first time but then again I left my game on through out the day and I wasn't playing so that piled on the hours. My second time I think it was about sixty hours or less which was much better. In VII I think it's about fifty or sixty so far, I still haven't finished it but obviously it takes a lot longer if you decide to do all the side quests and what not.

I'm not a perfectionist but I like doing what I can when it comes to collecting all the optional stuff such as Materia and weapons etc.