Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are out now, marking the ninth generation (or Gen-9) of Pokemon games. While the Pokemon series has inspired countless spin-offs and iterations including the very similarly structured Pokemon Legends: Arceus from earlier this year, Scarlet and Violet are part of the mainline RPG series. The series is known for its lengthy story modes and endless hours if you want to catch 'em all. So how long will Pokemon Scarlet and Violet last?
How long does it take to beat Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Based on our experience, you can expect to finish the story quest in roughly 35-40 hours if you mostly work on the critical paths. These games use a very different structure than most other Pokemon games, though, with three separate story quests and a non-linear progression structure. Once you progress out of the tutorial section, you can pursue the missions in these three stories in almost any order you would like.
- Victory Road - The traditional Pokemon experience has you traveling to towns and seeking out Pokemon Gyms to challenge their trainers and earn badges as part of the Pokemon League championship. This rewards you with badges that level up your Pokemon training skills, as the more badges you have, the higher-level Pokemon will listen to your commands.
- Starfall Street - The new antagonists of this Pokemon game, Starfall Street has you track down Team Star bases and raid them to topple their commanders. This rewards you with currency and special items like TMs.
- Path of Legends - A new type of Pokemon quest has you tracking down monstrously-sized Pokemon. This questline rewards you with new traversal options--some of which are necessary to reach more advanced Legends, Team Star bases, and Pokemon gyms.
While the story is less linear than past Pokemon games, these three mechanics do give the game a rough order. You need higher-level Pokemon to take on tougher Legends and Team Star bases, for example, so you need to get some badges at Victory Road so that those higher-level Pokemon will listen to you--but you also need some of the traversal options from the Legends to reach those gyms. As a result, it would be very difficult or perhaps impossible to pursue one of the three questlines to completion without dabbling in the others. You're meant to be shuffling between them as you go.
While the game does not explicitly tell you which order to take on the events, it does track which order you've completed them with a number marking on the map. Generally speaking, you start in the southern region and the further north you go, the tougher the challenges.
There are also tons of side-activities to complete. You can battle other trainers out in the field for rewards, craft recipes that grant you temporary buffs, attend classes at school, and take part in raid battles. Altogether the game can last much longer, especially if you intend to max out your Pokedex. But completing the main story itself will probably take around 40 hours.
Make sure to read our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet review. And if you need more help getting started, check out our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet starters guide, and our recommended badge order guide.