How Long Will It Take To Beat Earth Defense Force 6?

A long-awaited game that was finally ported to the west after being available in Japan since 2023, Earth Defense Force Six is finally on our shores and the wait has been worth it. Chock full of its usual silliness that made the franchise so fantastically fun to get into, EDF is back and better than ever.

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There’s more aliens to blast apart, more weird weaponry to unlock and unleash on Earths old foes and after the misstep of Iron Rain, EDF Six is a welcome return to form. Slip back into the familiar shoes of Storm Unit and take back the planet from the time traveling Primers once and for all. Just as long as its predecessors, here’s how long it takes to beat Earth Defense Force Six.

How Long Does The Story Take To Finish?

So one thing anyone familiar with the Earth Defense Force franchise will tell you is that these games sit you down for the long haul. There is no way to just breeze through this game, so you’re getting your money’s worth for the amount of time spent playing the game with all its heaving content.

In general, the average time to beat Earth Defense Force Six is sitting around 45 to 48 hours to hit those end credits according to HowLongToBeat. Though it’s assumed that’s on Normal difficulty, because on Hard or Inferno it’s going to take much, much longer.

For example, the plot doesn’t start properly until mission 14 when you get the opening credits, which is about four to five hours in. Before that you’re doing warm-up missions to get used to the game, its creatures and the mechanics of your class.

There’s 150 missions, so you’re going to be powering through it for a while and your progress and speed through them is going to depend on a few things. Such as the classes you or you’re party are using, the amount of people in your party, their levels and weaponry, the difficulty level and your effectiveness in combat.

Until mission 14 your inventory is seriously handicapped.

So your average time is going to vary, but it’ll be more than 40 hours at the bare minimum on Normal. Plus, you’re looking at least double that to 80 hours if you’re on Hard, and then possibly triple to well above 100 hours once you crank it to Inferno.

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How Long Does It Take To Max Every Class?

So, one of the interesting things about how Earth Defense Force Six handles leveling is, you play one class, you get gear for that class until you swap it over to another one and start over. Maxing out the other roles is essentially what you’re going to be spending a lot of the post-game doing if you’re a completionist or curious.

In general, you’re looking at around 40 to 50 hours, or until you’re satisfied, to max level one class. There’s four classes so that’s around 160 to 200 hours to max everyone if you’re playing on Normal. But if you’re on Hard or Inferno difficulty it could take longer or less than that as the mobs get harder whilst the weapons that drop are much stronger.

Overall Earth Defense Force Six is a massive time sink no matter what you decide to do.

How Long Does It Take To Beat The DLC?

If you’re looking for more chaotic carnage against the Primers then you’re going to have to wait a little unfortunately. There is DLC available for Earth Defense Force Six, but it’s currently only accessible for those that have either imported the Japanese version, or live in Japan.

There are two mission pack DLCs, and according to those that have been able to access it you’re looking at roughly 50 hours apiece for each pack. That’s an extra 100 to 150 hours of extra game time on some absolutely brutally tough missions with what are, according to the Community, the best weapons in the entire game. The DLC packs are also pretty cheap, so it's a decent buy in to quite a lot of content to chew into.

The DLC will be coming to Earth Defense Force in the coming months. So you won't be waiting too long for more EDF action.

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