This guide for Pokémon Legends: Z-A is all about checking and maximizing the Friendship ratings of your Pokemon.

Exp. Points

Having your Pokemon in your team in order to gain Exp. Points in battles is the natural way to boost Friendship with them. Exp. Candies will also do the trick, if you are willing to leverage the in-game economy through farming Mega Shards to exchange for items.

Note that letting them faint in battle has a negative impact on their Friendship rating.

Items

Aside from Exp. Candies there are also a bevy of other items you can use on or give them in order to bribe your Friendship rating higher. Various medicinal items, vitamins, mints, and berries all count towards this.

Note that berries can have a negative impact on base stats while boosting Friendship, as clearly indicated by their description.

Cafés

Sitting down at a Café with your Pokemon raises your Friendship rating, and you can simply repeat this a few times for some quick leveling.

Soothe Bell

This item is acquired well into the game, as a reward for completing side mission 036 ‘Some Friendly Competition’, which itself is unlocked during main mission 14 when the Canari Quiz Whiz Contest becomes accessible.

The Soothe Bell is a unique held item that boosts Friendship gains for the Pokemon in possession of it, and is ideally given to them right before attempting to rapidly jack up the rating through the use of other items.

How To Check Your Current Friendship Rating?

Trainers can check their Friendship level with a given Pokemon by visiting the NPC dedicated to the task. She is seated at the Café Pokémon-Amie, just north of Magenta Plaza. After initiating conversation, select a relevant Pokemon, either on the team or from your Boxes, to know the current status of your Friendship with them.

If you don’t see her there, you will need to complete side mission 025 ‘Trubblesome Patrons’, which itself is unlocked after main mission 09, in order to permit the Café to open its doors.

Which Friendship Ratings Are High Enough For Evolution?

A maximum Friendship is unnecessary for actually evolving relevant Pokemon, just a high enough rating will do. In descending order:

• “It’s incredibly friendly/amicable toward you! Being with you must make it very happy!”
• “You really do like this Pokémon, and always keep it by your side, don’t you?”
• “It looks to me like you and your Pokémon could still become an even more wonderful team!”
• “You two are fairly friendly, but I can tell there’s still plenty of room for you to grow closer!”

A poor Friendship rating is indicated by the following results, in descending order:

• “Well, it’s grown somewhat friendly toward you.. Yes, that’s what I’d call this.”
• “Hmmm.. I think your relationship may still take some time to build up.”
• “It almost looks like you’ve been letting it get KO’d in battles nonstop, but that can’t be right. Right?”
• “What’s this? Are you a disciplinarian? This poor Pokémon isn’t the least bit friendly toward you!”

That is everything you need to know about checking and increasing your Friendship rating with your Pokemon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This guide for Pokémon Legends: Z-A is all about how you can unlock all 32 Boxes for storing Pokemon.

Unlock More Boxes

The method is actually fairly straightforward and requires no additional questing or items.

• Begin by having at least as many Pokemon as you have boxes currently: so if you have eight boxes, you need at least eight Pokemon in hand.
• You can check how many Boxes you have already by heading over to the Menu, then Boxes, and using the button prompt at the bottom that indicates ‘View All Boxes’.
• Return to your primary box, start splitting your Pokemon across available empty boxes, so that there is a minimum of at least one in each box you have.
• Return to the main Menu.
• Select Boxes once again, and check ‘View All Boxes’. There should now be an additional number of empty boxes.
• You can continue doing this as long as you have Pokemon to occupy the empty boxes, up until you hit the box cap of 32.

What Is The Cap On Box Pokemon?

With a maximum of 30 Pokemon per box, and 32 Boxes at your disposal, you can hold a total of 960 Pokemon across all of your boxes.

That is how you unlock all 32 Boxes for Pokemon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A guide is all about amassing Ticket Points as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Z-A Royale Nightly Event

This Pokemon-themed battle royale will have you challenge trainer after trainer in quick succession in order to earn Ticket Points. The number of Ticket Points awarded is based on their alphabet rank: so an X-ranked opponent will give you 450 Ticket Points, while a W-ranked opponent will give you 500, and so on. As you progressively rank up, successive Challenger’s Tickets will require ever greater amounts of Ticket Points to unlock.

Ticket Points are capped at the amount required to unlock a Challenger’s Ticket for your current rank per night, and any excess earned will not carry over towards the next unlock.

Along the way you may come across bonus cards as battle rewards which present you with battle challenges such as “Sneak up and start battles before your opponent spots you!”, among others. These battle challenges can have a variable reward value in both Ticket Points and Prize Medals, but offer a substantial triple digit reward for the former. The objectives themselves are easy enough to complete.

You will also come across challenge cards just floating around within Battle Zones, appearing as glowing neon blue cards. You can only hold three active battle challenges at a time, with the option to discard one of them if you pick up more. Feel free to use that option should you lack a Pokemon in your roster that can cover the type move or status requirements, for example.

Farming Strategy Tips

In order to maximize your time and effort in the nightly event, there are some tips and tricks you can utilize for best effect.

Unless explicitly directed to do so by a challenge card, do not employ stealth as this will slow your progression for no discernible gain. Charge headlong into battle, assuming you have a strong team lined up, and get the battle over with as quickly as possible.

Avoid complicated world traversal in order to reach opponents, and simply teleport to the next Battle Zone instead.

Take advantage of the fact that the world outside the battle is paused, and use it to heal up and prep for the next battle, which you should already be in position for before landing the winning blow.

The clock is also stopped while gathering your rewards post-battle, giving you another opportunity to look for your next target.

While stealth is unnecessary, when you are compelled to employ it, be sure to use any and all cover. Noise detection has not been simulated in the game’s stealth mechanics, only visual detection. You can viably sprint right up to an opponent when they are facing away from you.

Your own Pokemon do not count towards visual detection. However, enemy Pokemon can visually detect you.

Have a broad selection of type and status moves in order to cover all your bases when it comes to task completion. This is especially important in order to take full advantage of the variety of battle challenge cards which reward you with substantial Ticket Points, thus sparing you from grinding many trainer battles.

A particular battle challenge card to look out for is “Immediately knock out unaware opponents with your first blow!” which has a value of 1200 Ticket Points and 120 Prize Medals.

These strategies will almost guarantee a high success rate in the Z-A Royale Battle Zones.

Those are the best ways to grind for Ticket Points in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A guide is all about earning Poke Dollars as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Gold Canari Plush

The Gold Canari Plush is one of five distinct Canari Plushes. These items can be found in the Shop Inventory of the Colorful Screw Exchange at Racine Construction.

It increases the amount of prize money you will receive from trainer battles, in exchange for three Colorful Screws.

Not only can all five Canari Plushes be equipped simultaneously, they can also be upgraded for improved effects. A fully upgraded Gold Canari Plush will require a total of sixteen Colorful Screws, and will give you a 1.5x bonus to prize money at the end of trainer battles.

Z-A Royale Nightly Event

This Pokemon-themed battle royale will have you challenge trainer after trainer in quick succession in order to earn Prize Medals, to which multipliers are then applied based on your win rate. Your Prize Money rewards are computed at the end of the night, once the Battle Zone is deactivated.

Prize Medals are capped at 9,999 which can be multiplied by 10 to arrive at a prize money total of 99,990 per night. A fully upgraded Gold Canari Plush can raise that up by 50% to 149,985. However, an additional bonus multiplier can be applied to the Prize Medals per trainer bested in battle. This win multiplier also has a cap of 3.0x, which amounts to 30 wins versus trainers.

This jacks up the potential prize money pool to 449,955 every night, assuming you can successfully battle and win 30 trainer encounters.

You will also stumble upon Prize Medals just lying on the ground within Battle Zones, appearing as glowing golden coins. Their base value amounts to ten Poke Dollars each, without multipliers applied.

Treasures

You will come across hundreds of sparkles on the streets of Lumiose City, which are mostly Treasures that you can pick up and sell for Poke Dollars at the Pokemon Center. Do so freely, as they have no other utility besides their dollar value, which can range from three to four digits.

Side Missions

These missions offer up cash rewards upon completion, but are not necessarily a viable farming option as they are not repeatable nor are the amounts awarded very high. The occasional Treasure item might have a high sale value, but that’s about it.

Those are the best ways to grind for money in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A guide is all about earning Prize Medals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Z-A Royale Nightly Event

This Pokemon-themed battle royale will have you challenge trainer after trainer in quick succession in order to earn Prize Medals, to which multipliers are then applied based on your win rate. Your Prize Money rewards are computed at the end of the night, once the Battle Zone is deactivated.

Prize Medals are capped at 9,999 which can be multiplied by 10 to arrive at a prize money total of 99,990 per night. A fully upgraded Gold Canari Plush can raise that up by 50% to 149,985. However, an additional bonus multiplier can be applied to the Prize Medals per trainer bested in battle. This win multiplier also has a cap of 3.0x, which amounts to 30 wins versus trainers.

This jacks up the potential prize money pool to 449,955 every night, assuming you can successfully battle and win 30 trainer encounters.

You will also stumble upon Prize Medals just lying on the ground within Battle Zones, appearing as glowing golden coins. Their base value amounts to ten Poke Dollars each, without multipliers applied.

Farming Strategy Tips

In order to maximize your time and effort in the nightly event, there are some tips and tricks you can utilize for best effect.

Unless directed to do so, do not employ stealth as this will slow your progression for no discernible gain. Charge headlong into battle, assuming you have a strong team lined up, and get the battle over with as quickly as possible.

Avoid complicated world traversal in order to reach opponents, and simply teleport to the next Battle Zone instead.

Take advantage of the fact that the world outside the battle is paused, and use it to heal up and prep for the next battle, which you should already be in position for before landing the winning blow.

The clock is also stopped while gathering your rewards post-battle, giving you another opportunity to look for your next target.

While stealth is unnecessary, when you are compelled to employ it, be sure to use any and all cover. Noise detection has not been simulated in the game’s stealth mechanics, only visual detection. You can viably sprint right up to an opponent when they are facing away from you.

Your own Pokemon do not count towards visual detection. However, enemy Pokemon can visually detect you.

Have a broad selection of type and status moves in order to cover all your bases when it comes to task completion.

These strategies will almost guarantee a high success rate in the Z-A Royale Battle Zones.

Those are the best ways to grind for Prize Medals in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A guide is all about how to correctly approach wild Pokemon in order to successfully catch them every time.

Stealth Captures

The first step is the approach, which can garner a variety of reactions from wild Pokemon. Most will flee, while some others will do the opposite and rush you instead. Your ideal strategy is to always employ stealth when stalking wild Pokemon regardless of temperament. Begin by pushing in on the left thumbstick in order to crouch. Next, leverage your environment if possible, as you sneak up towards the target. Tall grass and other cover objects do have an impact on detection. The visibility of your own Pokemon to the target Pokemon is irrelevant: only your trainer needs to evade detection.

Once in range, zoom in with the ZL button which deploys a reticle. Observe the stack of arrows to the right of the reticle: more of them in green is ideal and maximizes your chances of success. You will note that this occurs when the target is facing away from you. After a lock is confirmed, use ZR to deploy the Poke Ball in order to catch the Pokemon. Quick Balls are recommended for stealth captures as they have an inherently enhanced success rate, though other Poke Balls may be more relevant based on creature type and level.

Combat Captures

Some Pokemon just will not go down easy, and battling them is the only way to guarantee a successful capture. This will be mostly true of wild Pokemon that have a tendency to rush you. Deploy your own Pokemon to start a fight.

At this point, you will have to whittle down the health of the wild Pokemon in order to guarantee a capture. Once dazed, as indicated by the rotating halo of stars above them, you will have a brief interlude where you must capture them before they simply disappear entirely, so be quick.

Canari Plushes

In addition to the variety of specialist Poke Balls, you can also get a hold of five distinct Canari Plushes. These items can be found in the Shop Inventory of the Colorful Screw Exchange at Racine Construction. These Plushes have different use case scenarios as mentioned in their description blurbs.

Prioritize the Blue Canari Plush which increases the success rate of wild Pokemon captures, in exchange for three Colorful Screws.

Not only can all five Canari Plushes be equipped simultaneously, they can also be upgraded for improved effects. A fully upgraded Blue Canari Plush will require a total of sixteen Colorful Screws.

That is everything you need to know about successfully capturing all kinds of Pokemon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A is all about leveling up as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Exp. Candy

You can purchase Exp. Candy in the Shop Inventory of the Mega Shard Exchange of Quasartico Inc. These cost as little as eight Mega Shards each, which are easily farmable in the hundreds from clusters of Mega Crystals scattered all around the open world of Lumiose City, within a span of five minutes per run.

All you need is a Pokemon with a lightning fast and quick to reset attack such as Extreme Speed, and you are good to go.

A hundred Exp. Candy at a cost of 800 Mega Shards can easily level a Pokemon through dozens of levels with a mere ten minutes of Mega Shard farming.

Red Canari Plush

The Red Canari Plush is one of five distinct Canari Plushes. These items can be found in the Shop Inventory of the Colorful Screw Exchange at Racine Construction.

It increases the Exp. Points your Pokemon will gain by a little, and you will actually get one for free from Tarragon at the start of the fifth main mission.

Not only can all five Canari Plushes be equipped simultaneously, they can also be upgraded for improved effects. A fully upgraded Red Canari Plush will require a total of just thirteen Colorful Screws, since you get the first one for free, and will give you a 1.7x bonus to Exp. Points post battle.

Alpha Pokemon

The pinnacle of wild Pokemon opponents, these super-sized Pokemon have both high HP and a unique moveset at their disposal.

Taking them on ordinarily will earn you a large chunk of XP, and even more so if they are at a higher level than you, but this is a task in and of itself.

You can cheese such encounters by using the Poison move, Toxic, that badly poisons targets. The poison has a ticking, cumulative effect that worsens over time. Simply deploy the Pokemon to use it, then withdraw while evading the Alpha’s attacks. Eventually it will succumb to Toxic, allowing you to reap the rewards.

Perish Song is a late game alternative to Toxic, and causes any Pokemon that hears this song to faint after 30 seconds, unless they switch out of battle. Since only six Pokemon can learn this and only upon leveling up, you may have to use other Exp. Point grinding methods to begin with.

Defeated Alpha Pokemon also reward you with Exp. Candies as a nice little bonus.

Capturing Versus Killing Pokemon

There is a significant bonus to Exp. Points gained from catching wild Pokemon rather than simply despawning them, as much as 66% more. As long as you have Poke Balls at your disposal, catching defeated Pokemon should be your default strategy.

Lucky Egg

This item can be given to Pokemon to gain a bonus to earned Exp. Points. This is less than recommended, as it only becomes available late in the game at the Vert Pokémon Center through side mission 109 ‘Wondrous Self-Healing Pokémon’, which itself only unlocks after main mission 37.

Those are all the best ways to grind for Exp. Points with minimal effort in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

This Pokémon Legends: Z-A guide is all about finding and farming Mega Shards as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Mega Crystal Farming

Mega Shards appear in pink crystalline structures in various locations around the map. These Mega Crystals have to be cracked open using one of your Pokemon in order to shatter it and scatter the shards within.

This can get tedious with the wrong type of Pokemon, as the Mega Crystals tend to be spread quite a bit from each other, and you also have to account for the significant attack move cooldowns of your Pokemon.

The ideal selection of attacks are those that are both fast in their animation and quick to cooldown, allowing you to rapidly deploy them over and over in succession. Area-of-effect attacks can come in handy, however their returns diminish if they take too long to animate or cooldown.

Extreme Speed is a top tier choice as it has a three second cooldown and is quick to complete, while also having excellent power behind it. Quick Attack and Bullet Punch follow close, also with a three second cooldown but reduced power. A number of other good move choices include Ice Shard, Surf, Aqua Jet, and Shadow Sneak.

Mega Crystal Locations

• Up on the rooftops around Hotel Z. Simply climb the ladder behind the hotel and proceed along the path to find plenty of respawning crystals.
• Up on the rooftops of Wild Zone 9. A teleportable location that you can easily access on farming runs. Begin at the upper level and then descend to the lower, and by the time you are done, you can actually loop right around back to the start of your run just in time to catch the Mega Crystal cluster repawn, which ordinarily takes 30 seconds.
• Up on the rooftops of Area 18. Not as tightly packed as other rooftop locations, but sufficiently high yield to be worthy of your time.
• All along the exterior wall of Prism Tower. Just run along the perimeter and target the Mega Crystals both on the tower proper and the walkway surrounding it.
• On the exterior walls of the buildings along the back alley behind Restaurant Le Yeah. Might require a little bit more effort than ground-bound Mega Crystals.

Bear in mind that you can only hold a maximum of 999 Mega Shards at any given time, so be sure to spend as many of them as possible between runs in order to avoid wasting your time and effort.

Pink Canari Plush

The Pink Canari Plush is one of five distinct Canari Plushes. These items can be found in the Shop Inventory of the Colorful Screw Exchange at Racine Construction.

It increases the number of Mega Shards you will find after smashing Mega Crystals, in exchange for three Colorful Screws.

Not only can all five Canari Plushes be equipped simultaneously, they can also be upgraded for improved effects. A fully upgraded Pink Canari Plush will require a total of sixteen Colorful Screws, and will triple the Mega Shards collected from a given Mega Crystal.

Ranked Battles Online

Battling other trainers online on the ranked ladder will reward you with Mega Shards too. This avenue is not nearly as efficient as simply farming the open world of Lumiose City for Mega Crystals to shatter.

Those are the best locations to find and farm Mega Shards in Pokémon Legends: Z-A.

With that being said, here are a few advanced tips and tricks to make your time in this new adventure more fun, and easier to manage. While the game does facilitate varying playstyles, these tips are aimed towards making your character be equipped to deal with a variety of situations and have the abilities you will need to constantly upgrade your Pokemon and improve on your battle prowess.

With that out of the way, let’s dive in!

1. Strike From the Shadows

It’s a good idea to always try sneaking up on stray Pokemon or rival trainers and initiate combat via a sneak attack. This not only gives you an advantage right off the bat but could save you time, and potentially resources such as consumables if you’re able to get the jump on your opponents.

It’s also a great way to capture Pokemon out in the wild and add them to your collection without having to battle them first, provided you have the right Pokeball type to do so.

2. Seek Out Pokemon Centers

Pokemon Centers are quite important locations that you must seek out as much as you can. In addition to acting as fast-travel points, they also house NPCs who serve important functions. There’s a nurse who can heal up your Pokemon between battles in addition to another NPC who can retrieve Pokeballs you use in the field for you. You can also purchase different types of Pokeballs as you unlock them via playing the story, an important part of the gameplay loop.

Unlocking as many of them as you can will help save you a lot of time and effort in the long run. You’re going to want to have one nearby as you begin to level up and battle against more dangerous opponents in the game!

3. Explore Rooftops For Valuable Loot

If you haven’t already discovered Holovators, seeking them out and unlocking as many as you can lets you get to Lumiose City’s rooftops which house a lot of rare and valuable loot for you to pick up. While you can get by via exploring the streets and collecting everything you see at the ground level, up high is where you find a better crop of collectibles and you should be taking to the roofs whenever you can.

4. Don’t Neglect Side Quests

Side Quests in Pokemon Legends: Z-A are a great way to earn rare new Pokemon that you might not find out in the field while also being sources of valuable currency and loot. It helps that they’re also relatively short for the most part, allowing you to quickly blaze through their objectives. On balance, they’re a great option for those of you looking to add a few potent Pokemon to your party without having to spend hours hunting them down.

5. Dealing With Obstacles

We’d recommend nabbing a Pokemon for each of the elemental types in the game as it not only lets you handle a more diverse set of opponents, but can also let you unlock new paths to explore around Lumiose City. Since new paths lead to new discoveries, having a varied roster of Pokemon means that you quickly open yourself up to better ways to play the game quite early on in your adventure.

6. Use Your Recalls Wisely

You’ve probably found that some of your opponents are able to inflict statuses that cause damage to your Pokemon over time. If you’re looking to preserve consumables that either mitigate or negate those effects, you could try recalling your Pokemon by throwing out a Pokeball while in battle.

You could lose a bit of time as your Pokemon will have a cooldown period before it can attack again, but it’s a quick way to get rid of a DoT effect in many cases. However, you should know that some of these effects block you from recalling Pokemon altogether, so it’s always best to keep a few consumables stocked just in case.

7. Control Your Time

Since Battle Zones in Lumiose City open up only at night, it’s a good idea to stay on top of the game’s day/night cycle and use it to your advantage. By that, we mean pacing yourself and completing objectives during the day right up until night is almost upon you. At which point you can manually switch to night mode once you’re good and ready to take on a few trainers and level up.

This ensures that you’re using your time optimally and avoiding approaching potentially hard battles already tired from a day of exploring and battling Pokemon.

8. Loot Everything!

If you see something that isn’t nailed down to the ground, pick it up! It’s a great way to fill up your inventory with useful items and valuables, allowing you to have a well-equipped hoard of things you might need later down the line. It’s also a great way of having enough stuff to sell should the need arise.

Besides, you might just find rare items during your travels that can make your adventure go that much better. It’s part of why we recommend having Pokemon in your party that are capable of clearing elemental obstacles, since it lets you go down new paths as early as possible.

9. Mega Evolutions Win Fights

We’re quite big on using Mega Evolutions to win your fights with style and also as a way to ensure your Pokemon come out of fights relatively unscathed, Look at them as a sort of type-pivot punish that you trigger just before your opponent launches a deadly attack. Your Mega form not only shakes off the damage you’d otherwise receive, but also makes the most of that immunity as you land a guaranteed swing.

Using them tactically is a great way to exploit the temporary stat bonuses they grant you, which could mean the difference between a 2HKO and an OHKO in the heat of battle.

10. Research Missions Are Key to Gaining New Abilities

You should look at doing as much as you can to complete Dr. Mable’s research objectives as soon as you get the chance since she provides you with valuable TMs that you can equip across the board to give your Pokemon cool new abilities. It’s great that TMs are not one-time consumables and you can equip them with compatible Pokemon as you see fit.

The good doctor’s missions are also excellent sources of other valuable loot so making her a priority is going to serve you quite well in the long run. You might want to keep updating your Pokemon’s move pool quite regularly since their loadouts don’t automatically update themselves once you acquire new TMs.

11. Socialize As Much As You Can

Aside from exploring every possible corner of Lumiose City, it also pays to talk to as many of its denizens as you can. It’s quite likely that they provide you with useful items and loot, making it worth your while to have those conversations as you find your way around the streets.

It could also lead to some interesting discoveries along the way!

12. Ensure Your Pokemon Actually Follow Orders

If you’re not at a required threshold when capturing and training higher level Pokemon, you might find that they’re not as likely to listen to your commands when you’re out in the field. To that end, completing research objectives and improving your level thresholds are a must if you want to get the most out of your companions.

13. Unlock Different Pokeball Types

Prioritize unlocking different types of Pokeballs as quickly as you can as you’re going to need them to capture rarer Pokemon along your journey. Having a few Pokeballs of each type in your inventory lets you approach potential new additions to your roster without having to worry about whether you’re actually ready to capture them.

14. Stack Challenge Cards in Battle Mode

Since battling other trainers at night is your best way to level up, picking up challenge cards along the way and completing their objectives nets you a nice little bonus at the end of each fight. What’s great is that you can pick up cards with the same or similar objectives and belt them all out in one go, netting you the collective rewards they offer while saving you a lot of time.

15. Pick Your Battles

While in a Battle Zone, it’s a good idea to farm safer encounters in order to max out your Mega gauge and try and figure out the best possible combinations for your party before heading into a Promotion Match.

Putting in the effort to prepare for these matches means that you’re more than likely to achieve a Promotion once you take them on, and do so in style since you’re already heading into it with the right combination of Pokemon and a full Mega gauge. It’s a great way to ensure that you don’t let the game’s RNG mechanics get in your way and allows you to potentially finish tough battles on your first attempt.

You might also want to know that opening up the menu during a battle lets you access your satchel and use items you’re carrying. However, there’s a cooldown before you can get back into your satchel again so pick your moments wisely.

And that’s a wrap on our tips and tricks to make your time in Lumiose City be that much more fun and engaging. We’d love to hear from you if you have any other ones for your fellow players in the comments!

However, there are a few games this year that can test even the most determined players with their immense size and scope, and more than a few on the way. To that end, in no particular order, here are a few long adventures that can chew up many hours of your time while keeping you well entertained in the process.

1. Ghost of Yotei

Slated for an October 2025 release, this follow up to Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima is primed to recapture the magic of its predecessor while taking the franchise to the next level all at once. This PS5 exclusive action adventure title follows new protagonist Atsu as she hunts down the Yotei Six, who were responsible for killing her family and leaving her for dead.

She does so by relying on her exceptional swordplay and stealth skills, along with the ability to wield multiple weapons in combat. Yotei brings a lot to do within its boundaries, with sumi-e paintings, training with bamboo shoots, bounty hunts, and so much more and is likely to take you around 60 hours to fully experience everything it has to offer.

2. Pokemon Legends: Z-A

This action RPG for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 is sure to keep you coming back for more, bringing the best of the beloved IP to the table. Set in and around Lumiose City in the Kalos region, where Pokemon are able to coexist with humans in designated Wild Zones, the game is stated to bring real-time battles via a new combat system and a host of other activities for you to take on as you craft your legend from the ground up.

With a new story and side missions also being featured in the game, this is a title that Pokemon fans will be waiting to dive into when it launches in October 2025. While little is known about the story’s runtime, this is a game that is sure to have many players returning to Lumiose City long after they have completed it, if past titles are any indication.

3. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Hideo Kojima’s latest release is one that can quickly enthrall you with its breathtaking views of Mexico and Australia, with Sam Porter embarking on a new quest to bring the Chiral Network back online in these new areas. That’s not the only thing occupying his time, however, with BTs to take down, new faces to meet, and a host of other activities that he can take up during his travels.

That’s not all! Kojima has made life after On the Beach’s explosive main story quite encouraging to take on, and there are a lot of things to do after you roll the credits on Sam’s latest adventure. That could very well take you more than a 100 hours to get through it all, making this one a no-brainer if you’re looking for a massive game to take on!

4. The Outer Worlds 2

The upcoming action RPG sequel to the original Outer Worlds takes its players to a new solar system in which they are tasked with investigating rifts in the sapce-time continuum for the Earth Directorate. With an increased focus on action and a visual overhaul to better service it, this October 2025 release is certainly one to watch out for.

While the original game took about 40 hours to experience in its entirety, Outer Worlds 2 could very well raise the bar with its branching story paths that stem from its returning dialogue tree system. Combined with its new world, this is a title that comes with a lot of replay value for those who want to experience everything it has to offer.

5. Monster Hunter Wilds

Although this action-RPG is best enjoyed with a team of your friends, it’s more than possible to get through the sprawling adventure it presents on your own. That’s easier said than done, however, with the Forbidden Lands presenting you with a plethora of monsters to hunt down across several biomes as you search for a missing expedition as part of the main story.

With meaningful improvements to crucial aspects of the experience such as its combat, RPG mechanics, exploration, and more, this game could easily take you past the 100-hour mark if you decide to track down everything you could possibly do within its massive open world. Happy hunting!

6. Assassin’s Creed Shadows

With the series finally taking to the shores of feudal Japan, Naoe and Yasuke’s adventures through its villages, and fields builds on everything good about its past instalments to bring a polished and highly entertaining experience to the table.

There’s a lot to do and see in the studio’s take on Japan, along with several targets to take down. Expect to hit the 100-hour mark if you decide to channel your inner completionist while going even higher if you decide to try out the game on its higher difficulties.

7. Clair Obscur: Expedition 

If you haven’t already travelled to the shores of Lumiere and witnessed Sandfall Interactive’s marvellous spin on RPGs, this is a title that can keep you coming back to its Belle Epoque inspired world for a while yet.

The Expedition’s charm, wit, and determination against overwhelming odds make for a very compelling story while the game’s combat can be very hard to learn but is equally rewarding to master. While it doesn’t match the staggering playtimes of other entries on this list, Clair Obscur is a game that you will want to replay almost instantly for its second ending, and a very well-implemented New Game Plus mode.

8. Kingdom Come Deliverance II

This first-person action RPG brings an expanded open-world and a host of improvements over its predecessor, making it well worth your time to dive into the immersive adventure it offers. There’s a lot of variety in its gameplay loop, with your choices affecting different outcomes across its playtime.

Its story is not to be scoffed at either, bringing wit, charm, and intrigue to the Bohemian countryside in an adventure that can keep you occupied for at least 50 hours while diving into every little detail of its world could easily push you close to about 140 hours.

9. Dying Light: The Beast

While originally envisioned as a DLC expansion for Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Techland went ahead to make a standalone title out of its upcoming survival horror title that’s slated for an August 2025 release.

While it is a more compact experience when compared to Dying Light 2, it could very well keep you very entertained for quite a while considering how immersive its gameplay and mechanics can get. Kyle Crane’s return to the helm of this new adventure is an added bonus, and this one is sure to keep its players coming back for more long after they have rolled the credits on its story.

10. Borderlands 4

Gearbox’s Software’s upcoming first-person looter shooter is set to expand on everything the wildly popular franchise has done in the past. Putting you in the shoes of the Vault Hunter in their resistance against the tyrannical Time Keeper, this title is sure to tip the scales in terms of its playtime while managing to offer a wide range of activities for you to take on.

If Borderlands 3 is any indication, its sequel could easily take you more than a 100 hours to experience fully, and perhaps even more if Gearbox manages to fulfil its ambitions for the game.

11. Metroid Prime 4

Retro Games’ upcoming action adventure title is slated to continue Samus Aran’s adventures after the destruction of Phazon on a new planet with some familiar faces and new ones making their way to the game.

With the introduction of new abilities and features, this upcoming title for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 is sure to give you many a reason to explore its world as thoroughly as you can, and perhaps even dive back in for another playthrough once you’re done.

12. Black Myth Wukong (Xbox)

If Game Science’s Black Myth: Wukong slipped you by since you’re an Xbox owner, it’s well worth diving into the action this August when the game finally makes it onto the platform.

The Destined One’s rise to Sun Wukong’s greatness is an adventure that can be quite the challenge, with a fully complete playthrough taking well over 60 hours depending on how well you’re able to tackle the many threats you find along the way. There’s a lot to see and do in this visually breathtaking title that brings an excellent combat loop to its relatively linear world. For fans of the Monkey King’s adventures, this one’s a no-brainer.

13. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

The adventure that started Naked Snake’s trajectory to his time as Big Boss is well worth diving back into, with Konami bringing more than just a visual overhaul to a title that needs no introduction.

There’s about 30 hours of play in this game if the original title is any indication, but this Kojima classic is well worth the time you invest into its excellent stealth mechanics and riveting story. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, this is a remake that could very well bring the Metal Gear Solid franchise to a new generation of gamers who may not have had the chance to experience its magic yet.

14. Jurassic World Evolution 3

This sequel to Evolution 2 from the stables of Frontier Developments brings the iconic construction and management sim franchise back for another round. There are over 80 species of dinosaurs to populate you take on Jurassic Park.

What’s more, added functionality like the ability to modify the terrain and share your custom parks, enclosures, and buildings with friends can make Evolution 3 a title that you keep coming back to for a long time, with previous titles clocking in at about a 100 hours for completionists.

15. Silent Hill f

NeoBards and Konami’s survival horror title is primed to bring chills and thrills to the table in equal measures this October with a new adventure taking place in Japan, and new horrors to uncover.

Ebisugaoka is beginning to look like the perfect stage for Konami’s renewed focus on Japanese horror in its latest addition to the long-standing franchise, and while its playtime is anyone’s guess, it could very well be an adventure that you will want to replay several times over if the studio plays its cards right.

BONUS: Mafia: The Old Country

Although Hangar 13 has ditched Mafia 3’s open world for a more linear, story-focused experience this time around, The Old Country is worthy of your attention as it takes the franchise back to the early days of the Mafia for a story that could be the franchise’s flagship.

Current-gen hardware has enabled the studio to bring a visually stunning recreation of early Siciliy to the table while its new protagonist is set to bring a poignant tale of loyalty and inevitable betrayal to the table in this addition to the Mafia lineup this August. Expect a playtime of about 30-40 hours on this one.

And that wraps up our picks from 2025’s lineup of single-player titles that you could dive into as and when you need a new adventure to take on!