Some of the most beloved narrative moments in gaming history are those thattook a long time to buildup to. Games with long narrative arcs at the center of progression tend to be RPGs, as the format allows the player to directly take part in the story as it unfolds to its ultimate conclusion.
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In some games, though, unnecessarily long introductory segments turn new players away before they ever get to experience the real meat of the narrative later on. Having to complete the same long intro with every new game is sometimes enough to make dedicated players turn off the game for good on their first completion.
Updated Jun 29, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: Story-based games that take their time getting to the point are incredibly common. In fact, it’s a bit of a trope in gaming that RPGs and the like aren’t fun until players get hundreds of hours in. There are some games that take ages to get good, but for the most part that’s a bit of an exaggeration. MMOs in particular, like Guild Wars 2, suffer as players are typically guided linearly until the game trusts them to go their own way. Additionally, there are some games that don’t get truly good for the first few hours because the true meat of the game is found beyond a satisfying introductory section like is the case with Inscryption.
14Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2, like any MMO, takes its time to get to the meat of the game both in terms of gameplay and narrative. Players start out in zones based on their chosen race and progress through starter quests and self-contained storylines, all while slowly building their character’s personal story.
After a good ten hours or so of getting used to the game’s controls and getting through the first zone, players will finally start progressing their personal story through quests determined by answers to questions asked during character creation.
13Inscryption
Inscryptionis a fantastic game through and through, from the moment the game launches to its conclusion, and it’s not included here because the first few hours of the game are necessarily bad.
Inscryptionis agame with a lot hidden, so much so that new players really have no idea what they’re getting into. The game starts out with the fantastic card game setting, but slowly things turn out to not be the way they seem - this is the moment when the game hits its stride, usually reached after a few hours of playing.
12Bioshock Infinite
Bioshock Infiniteis thethird in theBioshockseriesand probably the most well-known entry in the franchise. Instead of being based in Rapture under the ocean, though,Bioshock Infinitetakes place far above in the sky city of Columbia.
The game takes its time getting to the point where players are given actual freedom of movement in the world, and though the story is interesting enough to keep it moving, the game doesn’t truly start getting fun until more combat options have been unlocked.
11NieR Automata
NieR Automatais a game that’s hard to describe. It’s an RPG at its core, with a mix of combo-based combat, bullet-hell segments, and a storyline so massive it’s difficult to truly comprehend in just one game, let alone the series as a whole.
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NieR Automatastarts with a pretty epic introductory sequence where the player infiltrates a factory and downs a monstrous mech. It’s a visually spectacular segment, but going back to it more than once gets stale very fast.
10The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion…
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivionis one of the most well-remembered RPGs of the early Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era. Playersgoing back into the gameafter all these years might be surprised to find out just how long the game railroads the player with required quests.
The initial escape segment is long enough by itself, but then it takes another few hours just to finish major parts of the main quest that allow more choices in the game.
9…And The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Just likeOblivion,The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrimhas a problem with the initial mandatory quests presented to the player. It might actuallybe worse thanOblivionbecause the iconic Dragonborn abilities aren’t unlocked untilmanyhours into the game.
The drawn-out introductory questlines inSkyrimhave caused players to create mods that let you choose your start. TheAlternate Start - Live Another Lifemod is the most popular mod that changes the intro, as it offers a number of choices that customize each playthrough from the start.
8The Witcher 3
WhileThe Witcher 3has some of the deepest andmost complex loreof any modern RPG, it takes a while to get there. The tutorial segment at the School of the Wolf is skippable (for the most part), but the starting area of White Orchard takes a few hours to get through.
The rest of the game opens up exponentially upon leaving White Orchard. It serves as a decent introduction to the world and mechanics ofThe Witcher3, but for players going through NG+ or doing a modded playthrough, it gets tedious quickly.
7Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords
Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lordsis among the most reveredStar Warsgames. It’s mostly praised for its intricate and well-developed narrative, but the start of the game is among the most notoriously tiresome in all of video gaming.
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Peragus is a zone that takes most players a few hours to complete. The relatively slow combat mechanics haven’t aged well with time, so to many this introductory segment will feel longer and longer as time goes on.
6Grand Theft Auto V
The story of almost everyGrand Theft Autogame is generally second to open-world gameplay and combat mechanics. The story ofGrand Theft Auto Vis as bombastic as it is engaging. The introduction to the game usually takes a long time, but the fifth entry to the series is especially lengthy.
The ability to freelyswitch between charactersis not unlocked until the player finishes the repetitive heist introduction. However, true freedom in the open world isn’t truly achieved until deep into the game’s main questline.
5The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princessis generallyseen as a high pointfor the series. It gave Link and the world of Hyrule a high-resolution facelift for the first time, and sold very well for both the Gamecube and Nintendo Wii upon release, garnering a later HD remake.
The introduction to the game is the longest in anyZeldatitle, though. It takes upwards of two hours just to get out of the initial village starting area, and the first dungeon isn’t even found until about three to four hours in a normal playthrough.
