# How Long to Beat Returnal (Story + Tower of Sisyphus)
Source: https://thelockoftime.world/blog/how-long-to-beat-returnal
Returnal takes 15–25 hours for the first clear — the full story roughly doubles that. First clear, story, and Tower of Sisyphus, on PC and PS5.


Returnal's first story clear takes most players 15 to 25 hours of total playtime, spread across many failed runs. The full ending — all three acts — roughly doubles that, landing around 25 to 40 hours.

The reason it's hard to give a tighter number is the genre itself. Returnal is a roguelike, so your time is a function of how many times you die before each wall finally falls.

## How long to beat Returnal

| Goal | Time |
| --- | --- |
| First story clear (Act 1–2) | 15–25 hours |
| Full story ending (Act 3) | 25–40 hours |
| Tower of Sisyphus cleared | 40–60 hours |
| 100% (all trophies) | 60–80 hours |

The first clear varies wildly because the early hours are where most players hit a wall. Once the combat clicks, later biomes go faster than the first one did.

## What affects your playtime

A few things move your number a lot:

- **No difficulty options.** The base game ships with one difficulty, and it's steep. There's no slider to smooth the early hours, so a player who struggles with bullet-hell patterns can spend a long time on the first two biomes alone.
- The cycle system. Death sends you back to the start, but you keep permanent unlocks — weapon proficiency, new traits, story items. That means failed runs still count, which is the only reason the hours stay reasonable.
- Story collectibles. The full ending isn't just about beating bosses. You need to find specific sunface fragments and revisit the house sequences, which means deliberate exploration rather than pure combat.
- The Tower of Sisyphus. This endless, score-attack mode was added after launch and is its own large time sink for players chasing the top.

The big one is the early skill wall. Two players who both "beat" Returnal can log very different hours depending on how long it took the shooting to feel natural.

## Is it worth the time?

Yes, if you want a roguelike with AAA weight. Returnal's third-person shooting feels unlike anything else in the genre, and the atmosphere — a hostile alien planet that resets around you — carries the hours.

The honest caveat: the difficulty is real and there's no relief valve. A single long run that ends in death can cost you an hour of progress, and that sting isn't for everyone. If that kind of loss sounds more stressful than satisfying, this is not the roguelike to start with.

## How it compares to similar games

If you're sizing Returnal against the games it sits next to:

- [**Hades**](/blog/how-long-to-beat-hades) is gentler. Its meta-progression makes you permanently stronger, and a first clear lands around 8 to 20 hours, with the story unfolding over many more runs.
- [**Dead Cells**](/blog/how-long-to-beat-dead-cells) is shorter to a first clear, around 12 to 15 hours, with difficulty that scales up only if you opt into the Boss Cell tiers.
- [**Hollow Knight**](/blog/how-long-to-beat-hollow-knight) runs longer to "beat," roughly 25 to 30 hours, but it's a hand-crafted Metroidvania rather than a run-based roguelike, so the time feels very different.

Returnal sits at the demanding end: not the longest, but one of the toughest paths to its ending. If its combat is the draw, it's worth lining up against other [games like Saros and Returnal](/blog/games-like-saros) in the same fast-roguelike lane. If Saros is next on your list, our [how long to beat Saros](/blog/how-long-to-beat-saros) breakdown has the early completion-time data.

If Returnal's brutal loop is your type of game, [KUTO: The Lock of Time](https://store.steampowered.com/app/4755510/KUTO_The_Lock_of_Time/) is worth watching. It's a time-bending Metroidvania with a run-based structure — every ability you unlock is one more lock off the thing that ends everything, and death sends you back with your meta-progression intact. Wishlist it on Steam so you don't miss the launch.


## FAQ
**How long does it take to beat Returnal?**
Reaching the first story ending takes most players 15–25 hours of total playtime across many runs. The full Act 3 ending adds another 10–20 hours and requires backtracking to collect story items.

**How many hours is Returnal?**
Most players finish the main story in 25–40 hours. 100% completion including the Tower of Sisyphus and all trophies takes 60–80 hours for skilled players.

**Is Returnal hard for average players?**
Yes. Returnal is one of the harder roguelikes with no difficulty options in the base game. The cycle system means you make progress even when you die, but early hours have a steep skill wall.

**How long is a single Returnal run?**
A full successful run through all six biomes takes 2–4 hours. Most failed runs end in the first 45–90 minutes. This makes Returnal one of the longer-per-run roguelikes — saving mid-run is now possible via suspend points.

**Does Returnal have checkpoints or save points?**
The PC and updated PS5 version added suspend points — you can pause and quit mid-run and resume later. This doesn't change difficulty but removes the 'must finish the run in one sitting' problem from the original launch.

**How long is the Tower of Sisyphus in Returnal?**
The Tower of Sisyphus is an endless challenge mode added in the Ascension update. Each successful floor adds to your score. Completing the main story loop (the first climb) takes 1–2 hours; the tower has no fixed end.

**Is Returnal worth the time investment?**
If you like challenging roguelikes and third-person shooters, yes. The combat system is one of the tightest in the genre. If you're not accustomed to roguelike death loops, the early frustration can be significant — the first 5–10 hours are the hardest.

**How long does it take to platinum Returnal?**
The platinum trophy requires clearing all six biomes, completing the House sequences, defeating the Ophion boss, and finishing the Tower of Sisyphus challenge. Most platinum hunters report 80–120 hours total.