NES games aren't generally known for their never-ending length; in fact, most of its greatest Mario-themed releases can be completed in an hour or two once you know what you are doing. Still, exceptions exist to every rule, and the Nintendo Entertainment System has a couple of massive RPGs that refuse to end. Also, this was the "Nintendo Hard" era, so these forever games spend the majority of their campaigns beating you into submission.
When we look at the longest NES games, they generally fall within the same genre and even style of gameplay. We are talking dungeon-crawlers and JRPGs that absolutely adore random encounters. You need to push through hundreds of battles, cryptic text, confusing labyrinths, and genuinely impressive moments to see the end of these journeys.
The NES received only one Magic and Might game, presumably because the 1992 release was more than long enough to satisfy an entire generation.
Book I: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum is an impressive technical achievement, and the NES port surpasses the 1986 Apple II and DOS original in visuals, presenting a 3D art style that allows variety across the various towns, castles, dungeons, and outdoor biomes. Masaharu Iwata's soundtrack is also top-notch and a vast improvement over the PC version. Most importantly, the controls are tailored to fit the NES controller, and the interface was arranged to add far more menu layers since the gamepad had only a couple of buttons.
What I'm trying to say is that the NES has the complete Magic and Might experience, and that means a long campaign with brutal difficulty, very little hand-holding, survival mechanics, and resource management. Even if you know the exact route to follow, Book I is still a long journey; however, new players in the early '90s didn't have the luxury of easily accessible walkthroughs, and the game doesn't often point you in the right direction.
As hinted at in my intro, all three Ultima games on the NES are lengthy affairs that can keep you busy for potentially months. Ultima 3 and 5 are certainly exhausting, but the console JRPG-esque port of Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar takes the crown. Compared to most RPGs of this era, this story provides a unique directive, as your goal is to become the Avatar, a moral paragon who can lead Britannia into an enlightened age.
Consequently, you travel through the land trying to master eight virtues by gaining points in each one, and you must maximize them. Naturally, you need to play the part of the holy one, and simple bad acts like lying or stealing content from a chest impact your virtue and could erase hours of progress. Besides being your best self, you must also find runes, colored stones, mystic arms, and plenty of other items scattered across Britannia.
We are talking about a hardcore NES RPG here, so don't expect a quest log or even a mini-map. Even talking to an NPC feels like it takes forever. When you finally gather everything and feel like you are nearly done, you have to dive into The Great Stygian Abyss and complete its grueling eight floors.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/nes-rpgs-long-games-take-forever-complete/
