It's the end of a long day and you're looking to escape or maybe just zone out for a while. You want to play something, but you don't have the energy for a deep RPG storyline or anything too mentally taxing.
In that case, the best escape from the daily grind might just be, well, more grinding—but in video games!
Many games offer grinds that aren't fun or satisfying, but there are plenty of others that incorporate grinding as a central part of their experience and successfully make it enjoyable and engaging.
If you're looking for that type of game on the PlayStation 4, here are my picks for the best PS4 grinding games!
15. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness
While Star Ocean has never enjoyed Final Fantasy or even Tales levels of popularity, it still has a loyal fan base. Much of this is because of its combat system and the series' infamous post-game dungeons.
You can easily make it through Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness on the default difficulty, but you'll need to grind gear and levels for the post-game, especially on higher difficulties.
14. Toukiden 2
If you're a fan of Capcom's Monster Hunter series, you'll feel right at home with Toukiden 2. In fact, if you played Monster Hunter and wished it had a stronger focus on story, then this is the RPG for you!
Toukiden 2 features many of the same mechanics and grind, with a continual push to upgrade your equipment and abilities so you can kill bigger and tougher enemies for even better loot and progression.
Thanks to the multiple weapon styles, you can easily sink hundreds of hours into Toukiden 2 once you get hooked by its grind loop. The game is remarkably well-balanced to ensure that there are always new areas to explore as you progress through it.
As you defeat the Oni that swarm the lands, they free the souls of ancient heroes known as Mitama. These figures are based on real people from Japanese history, and they're here to help upgrade your character's powers, weapons, and armor.
13. Fallout 4
Exploring post-apocalyptic Boston isn't for the faint of heart, but countless possibilities await you if you dare.
While Fallout 3 might still be Bethesda's best entry in the Fallout universe, Fallout 4 is a definite improvement when it comes to level progression, crafting mechanics, and the brilliant "second-hand future" aesthetic with power suits and weapons built from seemingly useless junk.
The grind in Fallout 4 stems from exploring Boston and its surrounding areas. It always feels like there's something new waiting just around the next corner, rewarding your curiosity in the best possible way.
With no level cap and countless weapon upgrades, you can spend hundreds of hours grinding in this game without repeating yourself once.
12. Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2
It's always great when an esteemed RPG is also an adaptation of a well-loved franchise like Dragon Ball.
While the original Dragon Ball Xenoverse adapted most of the original anime's storylines into a series of "What If?" scenarios, the sequel turns its focus toward the slew of films in the franchise.
This means that the plot is significantly weaker—most of those movies are just plain bad—but the refined mechanics make up for it.
Most importantly, don't make the mistake of thinking that Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is a fighting game like Dragon Ball FighterZ. This is pure MMO goodness set within Akira Toriyama's beloved universe.
You complete missions to earn experience points and money, which you can then spend to purchase many of the iconic moves, attacks, and abilities from the show.
Sure, there's an element of luck when it comes to securing some of the most powerful moves, but who doesn't love the idea of unleashing a full-powered Spirit Bomb on their enemies?
11. The Elder Scrolls Online
The Elder Scrolls Online isn't the only MMORPG on this list—you'll see Final Fantasy XIV down below—but don't be turned off by the fact that this one's ranked "lower" than the other.
MMORPGs may share a lot of the same DNA, but each one is uniquely suited to certain tastes, and you may like this one more than the other depending on your own preferences.
Either way, MMORPGs are quintessential grinding games, so if you've played previous Elder Scrolls games and liked what they offered, you'll find plenty more to enjoy in The Elder Scrolls Online.
It still feels like an Elder Scrolls game but there's plenty of grinding to be done. It's also less reliant on groups than Final Fantasy XIV, so if you tend to be a loner—even in online games—this is the game for you.
10. Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance
The entire Disgaea series of tactical RPGs is known for grinding, grinding, grinding. Known for their comically high cap on levels and stats, you'll be grinding battles for hours as you try to level up your party to where they need to be.
But in Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance, that's only the beginning. Most of the items in this game contain their own randomly generated dungeons, and you'll need to fight through them to level up the items.
Suffice it to say, you'll never level up every item in this game—but that doesn't mean it's a slog, either. In fact, the grind in Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance is surprisingly satisfying every step of the way.
9. Final Fantasy XIV
Taking a page from old-school classics, Final Fantasy XIV is a lot more grindy than most modern MMORPGs. End-game levels are seriously earned, and many items require loads of time to acquire.
But what sets Final Fantasy XIV apart even further is that everything else around the grind—the story, the lore, the community of players—is deep, complex, and fascinating.
You want to be in this world, which just makes the grind that much more interesting. And just when you think you're done, you'll find a new class added to the game to level up or some new type of item to grind out.
8. Borderlands 3
If you've never played the Borderlands games, the quickest way to describe it would be: imagine playing an action-RPG like Diablo III or Path of Exile, except the whole game is a first-person shooter.
Borderlands 3 is the best entry of the franchise, with over a billion randomly generated weapons to discover as you explore the vast open world of Pandora. In addition, spend skill points on your class's skill tree to bolster your capabilities even further.
Between the main story, side quests, and world, there's so much grinding to do—and it's capped off with the signature Borderlands-style humor that oozes from every character you meet along the way.
7. Assassin's Creed Odyssey
Grinding has always been a key part of the RPG experience, so when Ubisoft finally released an Assassin's Creed game that embraced the genre, they had to get this aspect right.
While many of the mythical weapons in Assassin's Creed Odyssey aren't needed to complete the main story, they will be required if you want to take on the more dangerous foes in ancient Greece.
The grind in Assassin's Creed Odyssey mainly takes place on the side quests, many of which will reward you with powerful weapons and armor based on key figures from Greek mythology.
Fighting more powerful enemies grants more experience points and allows you to visit some truly fantastical locations. This PS4 classic rewards grinding by opening up an impressive world for you to explore.
6. Genshin Impact
Whether or not you approve of the gacha ("toy vending machine") mechanics employed by Genshin Impact, it's impossible to deny the game's influence since it first launched in September 2020.
You probably know Genshin Impact as a mobile RPG, but it actually launched simultaneously on the PS4. With bright, memorable anime-inspired characters to recruit and a vast world to explore, this game is synonymous with the character recruitment RPG genre.
Plus, the regular updates and free expansions ensure that there are always new characters to summon and monsters to defeat.
While many balk at the "pay-to-win" aspects of Genshin Impact, it's definitely possible to progress—at a reasonable pace—without spending any money at all.
You do need a bit of luck to secure some of the more powerful characters, but you can always grind to earn more summons and stronger items without making any in-game purchases. Play this way and you'll never run out of things to do in Genshin Impact.
5. No Man's Sky
In retrospect, No Man's Sky has earned itself two big reputations: first, for having one of the worst launches of any modern video game, and second, for having one of the best comebacks of any video game, period.
At launch, No Man's Sky was woefully incomplete. It boasted a huge universe that was underutilized, underdeveloped, and underwhelming. Some players claimed false advertising, and it became the poster child for why gamers shouldn't pre-order games.
But Hello Games didn't give up. They spent years adding quality updates and DLCs to the game, bringing it much closer to the developer's original vision. Now, players can jump from world to world and unravel the mysteries of a long-dead civilization.
The grind in No Man's Sky revolves around the different resources you can mine and craft on each world. Early on, you'll be world-jumping just to find enough fuel to get around. Eventually, you'll upgrade your ship and be able to finance your adventures across the stars.
4. Diablo III
Diablo IV just released a few months ago, but if you're still gaming on a PlayStation 4, you're better off sticking with Diablo III.
Having launched over a decade ago, Diablo III has years of refinement under its belt, resulting in one of the smoothest and most engaging experiences on the console.
If you have both Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer expansions—included in Diablo III Eternal Collection—then you won't run out of stuff to do for a long, long time.
Simply put, Diablo III just doesn't quit. Even after you've beaten the game three times, you'll still have more difficulties to overcome, more gear to acquire, and more places to discover. This is one of the best "listen to a podcast and grind away" type games out there.
3. Warframe
There are distinct similarities between Warframe and Destiny 2—like the fact that they're both grind-heavy loot shooters—but play the two games and you'll see how different they are.
Warframe focuses much more on the titular Frames, which are always growing in number, along with all the other gear you'll need to grind out over the weeks, months, and maybe even years.
For context, Warframe came out several years before Destiny 2, which is a double-edged sword. It's had a head start in terms of refining its bugs and shortcomings, but Destiny 2's design team saw Warframe and went in a different—arguably better—direction.
2. Destiny 2
To this day, Destiny 2 is the best loot shooter on PS4. Even when you eventually hit that point where you think you've finished Destiny 2, you'll learn that you still haven't yet.
There's always more out there, whether it's some sort of currency to grind, some new piece of gear to attain, or another piece of DLC added to raise the level cap.
We've seen several "Destiny 2 killers" over the years, but none have managed to dethrone the king. And if you haven't played it yet, it's time to give it a shot because the base game is free to play! (Unlike Warframe, Destiny 2 does require all other content to be bought.)
1. Monster Hunter: World
Since the first installment on the PlayStation 2, the Monster Hunter franchise has always been about the grind. No matter how grindy the grindiest game you've ever played, Monster Hunter is even more.
It all feeds back into one core loop: hunt monsters, loot parts, use those parts to craft better weapons and armor, all so you can hunt tougher monsters to loot bigger parts to craft even better gear. This refined loop gets addictive quickly and it can be tough to quit.
If you've never played Monster Hunter before, go ahead and dive right in to Monster Hunter: World. It's the pinnacle of the series so far, with vast quality-of-life improvements over its predecessors. This is the quintessential grinding experience in video games, period.
