How long is the main story?
About 20–30 hours. The director gave 20–30 before launch, and launch-week guides land in the same band — TechWiser and 17173 say 20–25, Keen Gamer says 25–30.
That is a normal length for a character-action game with 30 missions, and it assumes you are pushing the critical path rather than clearing every optional fight.
Time by playstyle
| Playstyle | Hours | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Main story | 20–30 | Critical path, required bosses only |
| Main + side | 30–40 | Side quests, most optional bosses, some collectibles |
| Completionist | 45–60 | Every optional region, all quests, tempering and collectibles |
| 100% on 66 Days | 65–70+ | The same clear with deaths that actually cost something |
The jump from 20–30 to 45–60 is not padding. The optional layer holds weapons, Phantom Edges and quest lines; the boss list marks which fights are optional, and the missables page explains which ones you cannot come back to.
Why do the published numbers disagree?
Three reasons, and none of them is a mistake:
- Different stopping points. "Main story" means opposite things to a reviewer who skipped side content and a completionist counting every optional region.
- Difficulty. Hour counts assume a normal setting. Deaths on Hellwalker add retries without adding content.
- The measurement date. Some figures were produced on review builds before the pre-launch balance update, which changed boss and enemy stats.
So treat any single number as a midpoint, not a spec. The honest range for a first run is 25–40 hours depending on how much of the optional layer you touch.
What actually stretches a run?
- Optional bosses. Many are skippable and cost you a weapon or a Phantom Edge rather than story — see the boss list.
- Side quest chains. Nine of them have trophies attached, and four can be closed permanently by killing a boss too early.
- Tempering and collectibles. Weapon upgrades and the accessory count are the long tail of a 100% run.
- Deaths. The only variable that scales with difficulty rather than with content.
Not on the list: travel. Eight regions connect without loading screens and bells handle fast travel, so backtracking is cheap.
How is the game structured?
Thirty main missions across eight regions, with Pangzhen as the hub. Missions run 40–50 minutes on average if you stay on the path — which is exactly how you get to a 20–25 hour critical path.
The structure matters for planning: because regions connect and fast travel exists, you can leave an optional area and come back. The exception is the quest-gated content covered on the missables page.
Is it worth the price?
At $59.99, a 20–30 hour main story with a 45–60 hour completionist layer sits at the denser end of the $60 tier. Whether that is value depends on whether you engage the optional layer at all — a critical-path-only run is the shortest version of this game, not the intended one.
Our review scores page covers what critics thought of the pacing, including the one 6/10 that argues the opposite case.
What is not confirmed
| Question | Status |
|---|---|
| Exact average playtime across all players | Not published — only estimates and reviewer logs |
| Whether NG+ carries gear into the new run | Partially confirmed — NG+ exists; carry-over rules are not documented here |
| How long 66 Days takes on average | Unknown — few players have finished it |
| Whether patches shortened the game | No evidence |
Sources
- Beebom: how long to beat — 20–30 / 35–40 / 50–60, director attribution
- TechWiser: how long to beat — playstyle table, mission list, 66 Days estimate
- 17173: 主线 20 小时起，八大地图 — 20–25 / 30–35 / 40–45, eight-region structure
- Keen Gamer: platinum roadmap — 45–50 hour platinum, difficulty requirements