Elden Ring is getting new DLC, but not everyone is done playing the main storyline. The dark fantasy RPG is full of quests, hard boss fights, and a twisted storyline that has kept players more than busy. But how long does it exactly take to beat Elden Ring?
Your intense journey in Elden Ring will take you all around The Lands Between and Beyond, which will take a long time if you are looking to complete the main storyline entirely.
A straight-up playthrough of Elden Ring’s main story will take about 59 hours.
Elden Ring can take even longer if you want to be a completionist. Doing the main story and all of the side quests will take more than 100 hours on average. If you finish every single thing in Elden Ring, leaving no stone unturned, you’re looking at an average of 132 hours.
The exact amount of time it takes you depends on a lot of factors. Your skill level and if you play solo versus co-op will change your playtime significantly. FromSoftware’s Yasuhiro Kitao himself said at the Taipei Game Show in 2022 that the game should take around “30 hours,” although there would be “dozens more hours worth of gameplay” left over.
Thirty hours seems a bit too lofty of a goal for most gamers after seeing the average.
How many side quests are in Elden Ring?
There are a total of 36 side quests in Elden Ring. You can take part in these side quests after you encounter various NPCs throughout The Lands Between. Talking to different characters will unveil side quests that give you extra tasks to do if you want a break from the main storyline.
What is the fastest Elden Ring speed run?
While it can easily take over 100 hours to complete Elden Ring in its entirety, not everyone wants to spend that much time exploring all it has to offer.
Speed runners have taken it upon themselves to find the fastest ways to beat Elden Ring, often with some specific challenges in mind.
Right now, the
shortest speed run for Elden Ring
is 19 minutes and 30 seconds, which happened five months ago. That time goes up to 55 minutes and 1 second for the top speed run without using any glitches. The speed runner with the best time while also getting all of the achievements in the game is 2 hours 39 minutes and 13 seconds.
One of the wildest runs, however, is just 3 minutes and 58 seconds, the first-ever time someone has beat the game in under four minutes. This was done using a teleport glitch that can only be done on certain parts of the map and with precise timing. At that point, the guy barely even played the game.
A commenter joked:
Mom: Hurry up! We’re leaving in 4 minutes!
Him: Aight lemme just finish Elden Ring real quick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFf4APizCs4
The speed-running community is clearly on another level entirely. But for those who want to experience the storyline and boss fights, you’ll be spending a lot more time grinding the game. Expect to finish the game in about 60 hours if you stick to the main storyline.
Olivia Richman
About Olivia Richman
Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.
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