TheShin Megami Tenseiseries is immensely confusing. Not even on the story or gameplay front, but in regards to actually getting into the series. Seemingly every game Atlus has ever made is connected to it somehow, and the line between what is a mainline game and what is a spin-off can get a bit blurred at times.

We’ve went to the effort of sorting through the vast franchise and including only those games that are numbered and don’t have further subseries of their own. That sizes down the mainline series considerably, though also makes it a much more manageable beast. So without further ado, here is how long it would take to beat every Shin Megami Tensei game.

Considering the drastic changes added in each re-release of a Shin Megami Tensei game,we’ve included both the original and updated versions of each game.

How Long To Beat The Main Story In Each Shin Megami Tensei?

While the entire Megami Tensei series may be massive, the games that constitute what could be called the mainline Shin Megami Tensei games is much more reasonable,coming in at

13 games including update versions, or 15 if you want to include Imagine and Liberation Dx2. That’s still a pretty hefty number though, and you can expecta sizable time investment.

23

25

31

35

20.5

47

49.5

51.5

43

43.5

48.5

45.5

Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance

Owing to the more endless nature of them,Shin Megami Tensei Imagine and Liberation Dx2have been excluded.

While the games have overall grown in length as they’ve progressed,they tend to plateau around the 45-50 hour markstarting with Shin Megami Tensei Nine. That said, the length of time between the longest and shortest games, If and Strange Journey, is31 hours. That’s enough time to beat the story mode of Shin Megami Tensei.

These numbers, of course, are just for beating the game. You’ll likely be spending a decent chunk extra if you want to invest in some optional content. This is just the bare minimum requirement.

How Long To 100% Each Shin Megami Tensei Game?

So with the knowledge of how long you’ll need just to get these games completed, you probably want to know how long you’ll need to see and do everything. RPGs have a reputation at times for taking up a lot of time, and the Shin Megami Tensei games are no slouch in that regard. Here’show much time you’ll need to have them 100% completed.

32.5

31.5

47.5

62

68

91.5

118

117

86.5

103

96

99

While updated versions of these games tend to show less hours in general, this is typically influenced by people who have played the originals and can speed through content more efficiently.They are generally much longer.

Just like the length to complete the story of each game,the time needed for 100% completion tends to grow at the same rate, with Strange Journey once again nabbing the top spot for longest to complete.

The gap between the longest and shortest games, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 2 and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, has grown considerably with86.5 hours between them. That’s just enough to complete the entirety of Shin Megami Tensei 4: Apocalypse. Big numbers.

How Many Hours In Total To Complete Every Shin Megami Tensei Game?

You’ve seen all the games, you’ve taken note of how long each of them takes. Now let’s break downhow long it would take to complete every single game in total. Spoiler alert: it’s a very significant amount of your life.

As you can tell from the numbers above, to get 100% completion you’re functionallydoubling your amount of time with the series, which is no small investment. That’s more hours than there is in a month! You’ll have your work cut out for you on this one.