5 10/10 RPGs You Can Beat In 15 Hours Or Less

Published Jul 27, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more. While the majority of RPGs are long-winded experiences, often lasting dozens, if not hundreds, of hours, there are a few smaller, more self-contained games that you can actually beat in only a few hours. These titles vary a lot in terms of narrative setting and gameplay structure. For example, there are tons of turn-based RPGs that last over 100 hours to beat, and even more so if you lean toward secondary bits of content, such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. If you’re playing action-based RPGs, depending on how they’re structured, they can be just as long. Not all of the titles within this genre, however, have to last dozens of hours, and you don’t necessarily need to speedrun every RPG to beat it in less time. You can find some great RPGs that last less than 10 hours, including titles like Undertale, the original Final Fantasy, Haven, and Parasite Eve. However, there are so many others, and it’s great to know your options if you want to drop into an RPG and only spend around 15 hours with it. Super Mario RPG One of the most obvious and straightforward titles to fit those parameters is Super Mario RPG. Originally released for SNES consoles back in 1996, the title known as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was developed by Square and published by Nintendo. The game features the main ensemble of characters from the Mario franchise, including the titular hero, Princess Peach, and Bowser, as well as brand-new additions (at the time), like Mallow and Geno. Super Mario RPG took inspiration from other Square Enix masterpieces, like titles from the Final Fantasy series and Chrono Trigger, featuring both turn-based combat sequences and exploration as its gameplay pillars. Since enemies visibly populate the overworld, you can avoid or pick your battles without having the often unpleasant surprise of random encounters along your journey. The cool thing about it is that Super Mario RPG was fully remade for Nintendo Switch consoles, having been released in 2023. A fun fact about Super Mario RPG is that it can be quite quick to beat. According to How Long To Beat, you can complete the main campaign in only 12 hours – and if you drop in a few side quests along the way, you’ll be looking at around 14 hours of investment. It’s also “delightful,” according to Screen Rant’s review of Super Mario RPG for the Nintendo Switch. Dragon Quest 1 HD-2D Remake The very first Dragon Quest is also exceedingly fast to beat. First released in 1986 by Enix for the NES console, the title was created by Yuji Horii in an attempt to reach a wider audience than previous RPGs. The premise of the game is quite simple, as you’ll step into the shoes of the hero who sets off to face the evil Dragonlord. Much like in the first Pokémon titles, as it is a source of inspiration for Nintendo’s franchise, the turn-based combat is quite simple. During encounters, you can choose to fight with the hero’s weapons, cast a spell, use an item, or flee in a very straightforward manner. There isn’t much complexity in the original Dragon Quest, especially when compared to some of the best Dragon Quest games that were released years later. Quite recently, the first Dragon Quest was remade and released in a bundle called Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which contains the first two entries in the series. The first Dragon Quest can be completed in under 10 hours, according to How Long To Beat, even if you’re a completionist going after everything there is to do in it. If you’re playing the remake, you can use the enhanced combat speed options, as well as the fast text feature, to make the game go by a lot quicker. This is further sped up if you already know how the game works and how to progress through it without having to spend too much time learning. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster While the original Final Fantasy title is arguably the shortest entry from the mainline series, Final Fantasy 4 Pixel Remaster is also quite quick to beat. Originally released in 1991, the title created by Square has been brought back, enhanced with the Pixel Remaster collection released in 2021. The fourth core installment in the franchise is one of the most beloved ones in the series to this date, and it’s also one of the most important RPGs ever. This is because Final Fantasy 4 introduced the Active Time Battle system, known popularly as ATB. In it, time goes by in combat, and both the player and the enemies have continuous actions based on the speed of their cooldowns. Contrary to previous games without ATB, you can’t just spend minutes thinking about your next action, as enemies won’t stop attacking as they wait for you. On top of the revolution that is its gameplay, its story is also one of the most well-known ones, following the Dark Knight Cecil. While the average playtime of the original Final Fantasy 4 rests at around 20 hours, this game is beatable in much less time, especially with the tweaks added with the Pixel Remaster release. With the Boost setting, for instance, you’ll spend less time grinding to be on an adequate level to proceed through the story, so you’ll certainly be avoiding tons of tiresome battles along the way. As huge and ambitious as it may seem, you can actually beat The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered quite quickly. This action-based RPG was originally released in 2006, taking place in the center of Tamriel, Cyrodiil. The game is a classic that helped set the foundation of what would later become the revolutionary Skyrim, and it has just been remastered for current-generation hardware. Of course, similarly to Skyrim, Oblivion Remastered has a ton of content, and it can take you nearly 100 hours to complete everything there is to do in the action RPG. However, if you focus solely on its main campaign, you can get through it quite quickly. According to How Long To Beat, it’ll take you an average of 17 hours to beat, but it is quite possible to complete the main story in much less time. Knowing where to go and what to do always helps, and depending on how fast you pick up the gameplay system – especially if you don’t have an issue with having habits from Skyrim, for instance – you can easily rush through The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, making it beatable in only a few hours. It’s a good way of getting that dose of Tamriel as you wait for the release of The Elder Scrolls 6. Yo-Kai Watch Yo-kai Watch, the first game in the series, is quick and easy to beat, and it’s a remarkable game, too. The title was originally released for the Nintendo 3DS in Japan in 2013, and then made its way to Western markets in 2015. In it, you control either Nate or Katie, as they befriend Yo-kai that are willing to be befriended, while battling those that are wreaking havoc in town. The game has over 100 hours of content to offer players, should they choose, but if they focus on the main campaign alone, they can beat it in under 20 hours – and even less, if they’re already familiar with its story and its gameplay systems. The information comes from How Long To Beat. For players in Western regions, playing the original on 3DS may be the only way of doing so. In 2019, Nintendo released a port of Yo-kai Watch for the Nintendo Switch, but this port never made it out of Japan. It features improved graphics, extra gameplay features, and much more, though the zone restriction may impede you from checking it out. Even so, this is one of the best short RPGs you can beat with only a few hours of gameplay. RPG