With the Nintendo Switch on the horizon, I’ve organized my Wii U’s backlog in order to see how long it’d take to clear it all out for good. Not necessarily because I’m aching to shelve the thing, but it just so happens to be the smallest of my gaming libraries.
Although the console is backwards compatible with the Wii’s games, I’m not considering them as part of the backlog. That’s a whole different beast altogether. I am, however, including the Wii U Virtual Console stuff I’ve yet to get to.
To keep track of things I’m using HowLongToBeat.com as a baseline, which is a website that allows its registered users to submit their recent completion time for nearly any game in existence. It then displays the average completion time using those submitted by its userbase.
These times are broken down in to three categories: Main Story (campaign), Main Story + Extras (campaign and some optional side-content), and Completionist (100% completion, sometimes considering trophies/achievements).
I tend to be patient, casually exploring and soaking in the atmosphere, while also trying to get as much out of a game as possible. With that being said, however, I’m not always a completionist. Sometimes the optional stuff gets boring and I just want to push ahead with the story instead. So it’s important to consider all three options, I think.
The numbers listed are the completion times, in terms of hours. In no particular order, let’s see what we’re working with.
Xenoblade Chronicles X
- [MS] 67.5
- [MS+E] 104.0
- [C] 243.0
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
- [MS] 48.5
- [MS+E] 61.5
- [C] 82.5
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD
- [MS] 25.5
- [MS+E] 33.5
- [C] 39.0
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
- [MS] 29.0
- [MS+E] 36.5
- [C] 44.0
Super Metroid (SNES via VC)
- [MS] 7.5
- [MS+E] 8.0
- [C] 9.0
Earthbound (SNES via VC)
- [MS] 27.5
- [MS+E] 30.0
- [C] 35.0
If I just stick to the campaigns ([M]), which is highly unlikely, it’ll take roughly 202.5 hours to finish out my Wii U backlog. I think that’s pretty hilarious, considering it’d take approximately 243 hours just to finish Xenoblade Chronicles X as a completionist.
With [MS+E] more my style, since I tend to explore and take my time, I’m looking at roughly 273.5 hours. Again, that’s just 40 hours more than it’d take to fully complete Xenoblade Chronicles X by itself.
And finally, for ha-ha’s, if I were to 100% complete all six games it’d take about 452.5 hours. Obviously, most of that is from Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Honestly, the [MS+E] total isn’t unreasonable for six fairly expansive games. I’ve put 200 hours in to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on two separate occasions, and more recently 150 hours in to both Dragon Age: Inquisition and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt within the last two years.
That’s definitely doable.
Cheap Boss Attack 
I game similarly to you. I’m not a completionist per se, but I like to get everything if I can. If the side quest or task is too much, takes too long, and/or is too difficult to do, I’ll pass it by. Like dodging 200 lightning bolts in FFX for Lulu’s weapon or collecting Pink Tails in FFIV for that adamantine armor. I look at it like “Is this going to enhance or decrease my enjoyment of the game?” If it’s the latter, I can skip it.
Hm, I need to take a look at that website in depth. I popped over to it through your link, but they wanted you to sign up right away, which I’m okay with if dems the rules, but I didn’t just yet. It sounds like a lovely resource though.
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I don’t submitntimes, I just click on search at the top and look up the games in my library. I think you only need to register if you want to submit your own times to shift the averages.
And yeah, that’s how I look at it. If it adds nothing, I’m fine giving nothing in return.
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Oh cool even better. I don’t mind signing up, but if I can just search without that caveat I’d prefer that.
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You can definitely achieve that. On a side note, I also have Earthbound and Twilight Princess on my Wii U back log.
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Yeah, it doesn’t seem all that unmanageable once it’s all added up.
Earthbound is on my short list of “shame games” that I never played, despite their hype and adoration. Red Dead Redemption and Twilight Princess are the others.
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I wouldn’t mind picking up a Wii U to play Tokyo Mirage and Xenoblade if the price ever drops. Not sure how many weeks it would take me to get through one hundred hours of content though.
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Yeah, the sheer length of Xenoblade has been intimidating me since release. I have the game, the guide, and haven’t touched it. Tokyo Mirage I was all over at launch, but got sidetracked with a review that took just long enough to make me forget what was going on. Now I have to start over.
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I was originally aiming to do 100% in Xenoblade Chronicles X, but finding the side quests are more of a chore than actual fun. I’m now just going to get through the main story.
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I picked up the strategy guide to help with the side-quests, but it’s a last resort.
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yea it’s needed, 90% of the time the quests are asking to find a super rare illusive item that isn’t specified in a specific location on the map, it’s tough
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