Older gamers will remember the PS1 days when big JRPGs would come on anywhere between two and four discs. Some games did not even have to be lengthy to have multiple CDs. With a lot of cutscenes, audio data, and FMV sequences, a shorter eight or ten hour game could easily go across several discs.
Most think these times are over, but those dedicated to physical media know this not to be entirely true. The games below are either too big for one Blu-ray disc, or their Xbox 360 version had to come on multiple DVDs due to their comparatively small storage space.
Updated on July 9, 2023, by Dominic Allen: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second part of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, got recently revealed and marketed as a two-disc game. Most consumers have gone digital by this point, but many still go physical when possible. For the latter route, two-disc games are still possible to see as file sizes get bigger, and a Blu-ray can only hold up to 25 GB or 50 GB if it's dual-layered. Games nowadays can easily exceed that limit making two discs necessary.
14 Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Two Blu-ray Discs)
BioWare's most celebrated games come in one total package in the remastered Mass Effect Legendary Edition. With a total file size of over 80 GB spread across all three games, it's got to have more than one disc, and it does.
You have a play disc and a data disc, with the installation process different between the two consoles. It's great to see EA took the effort to make this entire experience available on the disc and playable with no internet required. A lot of games likely wouldn't have that same luxury nowadays.
13 Wolfenstein: The New Order (Four DVDs On Xbox 360)
One aspect that was definitely in Sony's favor in the seventh-gen console war was the Blu-ray disc of the PS3 games compared to DVDs on the Xbox 360. Microsoft instead sided with HD DVDs which lost the format wars, so that was out of the picture for the rest of the generation.
360 games that were launched after the Xbox One came out were especially stressing the limits of this disc format. For example, 2014's Wolfenstein: The New Order. This game released on four total DVDs. With over 40 GB in total, games were simply taking more space, and it's no wonder why many 360 and PS3 titles like Mortal Kombat X were cancelled.
12 Dead Space 2 (Two DVDs On Xbox 360)
The sequel to Dead Space was bigger and better in a lot of ways. Its graphics were great, offered a more sprawling adventure, and more awesome weapons and monsters. At around ten GB, it's just over what a single DVD can take, which is why it's on two discs. However, this can surprisingly go in your favor.
One of the most notoriously difficult achievements ever is beating the game on Hardcore difficulty. Enemies hit hardest, you can only save three times, and if you die, you restart at your last save. If you're playing unpatched and on disc two, however, if you die, you restart at the beginning of that disc. This makes the achievement easier than the PS3 version.
11 Lost Odyssey (Four DVDs On Xbox 360)
For the longest time, Xbox has been seen as a space not primarily for JRPGs. Nowadays, though, that's started to change with many coming to Xbox, including Persona. An Xbox-exclusive JRPG you must check out is Lost Odyssey.
It was essentially Xbox's answer to Final Fantasy, with even certain devs of the series contributing. Fitting of a Final Fantasy-like game, it's spread out across four discs. This makes sense considering the large number of cinematics. If you're playing on modern Xbox consoles, you'll thankfully won't need to switch discs if you own the game physically.
10 Last Of Us Part 2 (Two Blu-ray Discs)
This PS4 exclusive is simply massive in every way, including the giant tears that will roll down your face during several emotionally charged scenes. Few linear single-player games take more than 24 hours to beat, so it makes sense for this amount of data to fill up more than one Blu-ray disc.
Is this a new standard for all future Naughty Dog games? Will all of their games come out on two discs from now on? Considering how long they take to make and their enormously large budgets, it very well could be the case.
9 Final Fantasy 7 Remake (Two Blu-ray Discs)
The original Final Fantasy 7 on the PS1 came on three CDs. The game was huge and also included a lot of CG cutscenes, which took up a lot of disc space. Imagine fans' surprise to find the first part of the remake, which only covers the Midgar chapter, taking up two Blu-ray discs.
Never let it be said that Square is not ambitious, and the two-disc treatment is already announced for the second part, and hopefully, the same applies to the third. Fortunately, just about every moment of Final Fantasy 7 Remake is pure bliss.
8 Red Dead Redemption 2 (Two Blu-ray Discs)
Rockstar Games is the king of the open-world genre, and each game in their catalog brings something new to the table. Red Dead Redemption 2 eschews the goofy antics of Grand Theft Auto for a grounded Old West tale.
The story has enough content to fill up several seasons of a television show, as the main character goes from a faithful outlaw to doing whatever he can to make up for his past mistakes. It's so big, the epilogue is about as long as an average game.
7 Max Payne 3 (Two DVDs On Xbox 360)
On the PS3, almost no games require multiple discs. However, several multiplatform games required two DVDs on the Xbox 360. Max Payne 3 is not a particularly long game by any means, but it is packed with details and is one of the best-looking games of its generation.
The 2012 first-person shooter still holds up today, though most would recommend playing it on PC for the optimized visuals and frame rate. Just be prepared for an extremely dour protagonist, though he's certainly justified in his rage and sorrow.
6 Final Fantasy 13 (Three DVDs On Xbox 360)
People nostalgic for the PS1 Final Fantasy games might be better served playing Final Fantasy 13 on the Xbox 360. It will bring them back to the good old days of having to change discs, really making the adventure feel grand.
The PS3 version comes packed in one Blu-ray, which is pretty impressive considering the game's length and its gorgeous graphics. The thirteenth mainline entry did polarize fans, but it definitely did some things right, like the intriguing battle system.
5 L.A. Noire (Three DVDs On Xbox 360)
This open-world detective game forces players to find hints, carefully interview suspects, and point out the perpetrator to multiple cases. The game utilizes extremely advanced facial capture technology for incredibly lifelike performances.
The amount of data put into the world was too much for one DVD. Where the PS3 could handle it on one Blu-ray disc, the Xbox 360 version came on three DVDs. The game has since been re-released on modern platforms, so there is no reason to go back to the 360 version.
4 Mass Effect 2 (Two DVDs On Xbox 360)
Like many trilogies, the middle Mass Effect is often considered the best. The first game has some jank, the third game botched the ending for many, but Mass Effect 2 perfects the gameplay while having one of the finest cast of characters in any RPG.
With such a fine game, no Xbox 360 owner minded having to switch discs in the middle of the adventure. With the Legendary Collection out, there's little reason to play the 360 version, though it still plays great through backward compatibility on Series X.
3 Grand Theft Auto 5 (Two DVDs On Xbox 360)
Grand Theft Auto 5 is such a massive and impressive adventure, it is hard to believe it initially came out on PS3 and Xbox 360. On the latter, the adventure came on two DVDs. The first disc was simply a data install, however, so you did not have to switch between DVDs in the middle of the campaign.
GTA 5 was re-released on PS4 and Xbox One in 2014 and later Xbox Series X|S and PS5 in 2022. Another wild fact you likely didn't know is that the 2015 physical PC version released on seven discs! At least Rockstar actually had the full game on the disc, unlike other PC games that same year, like Metal Gear Solid 5.
2 Halo 4 (Two DVDs On Xbox 360)
Halo 4 is a unique case for the multiple-disc setup. You do not need the second disc to play the single-player content; it is purely for multiplayer and Spartan Ops. The installation for it is around four GB, so anyone without a hard drive for their console is out of luck.
It's a shame, as those four GB S model consoles look great with their mat finish. 343 Industries did not do too bad a job on their first effort in the franchise. Halo 5 was not as beloved, while Halo: Infinite had a great campaign but dodgy multiplayer experience.
1 Cyberpunk 2077 (Two Blu-ray Discs)
Imagine spending so much time installing a game on either the Xbox One or PS4, and then it runs like the launch 1.0 version of Cyberpunk 2077. Fortunately, the patched versions and playable ports on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S heavily improve the experience, but it's still inexcusable.
The launch 1.0 version is what's on the physical disc, and if you're going the offline route, your experience will be a nightmare. The patched last-gen versions are in some ways worse due to the world being more empty to run at a smoother framerate. At least the game is in a much better state now.