I'm trying to block out time to finish darklands and roughly how long do you think it would take - given I don't use a walkthrough unless i'm very stuck?

It is an older game, there can be a lot of variation based on your play style. I'd guess between 100 and 200 hours.

I'd go with 50 hours, if you're aiming to finish the game it's not that long.

It's not really that kind of game. It's almost totally non linear, and although there is a main quest, it doesn't "end" the game and is repeatable.

Therefore, it boils down to your play style and how much you enjoy building your party and doing the various fetch quest type tasks which are available. If you just want to "win" you can cut to the chase once you know all the pitfalls (which are cryptic and sometimes bug related). But if you are enjoying it, you might want to spend a little longer adventuring.

Walkthrough not going to do much for you anyway. abbayarra sound reasonable.

What he said. There is no "You beat the game, congratulations, Game Over" moment in Darklands. After I first installed Darklands back around 1994, I kept the game on my computer — playing it on and off, and swapping my old hard drive into new computers as I chased the technology tail — for about ten years. In that time, my party chased the main quest, busted the High Sabbat while milking the witches for information, plowed through the Knights Templar fortress, passed all of Baphomet's tests, defeated Baphomet and averted the Apocalypse at least a dozen times. I'd sit through the "Victory over Baphomet" cutscene, then my party would reappear near some random city, I'd send them to the nearest inn and I'd retire and replace the designated "sacrificial lamb" who had permanently lost a buttload of Strength from Baphomet's "Lancers/Horseman of War" test.

Baphomet is very, very determined to kickstart Judgement Day, I have to hand him that! I'd admire his persistence if only he weren't using it to achieve Very Bad Things. >;)