[Updated 2nd Aug to include the latest hits and make the list relevant for the current year]
PlayStation has a massive library of games, ranging from popular genres to lesser-known subgenres. Some of these games were way ahead of time, and many live eternally in our memories years after their release.
We’ve compiled a list of the top 41 PS4 games that best use the console’s prowess. While some of these titles are popular among other consoles, some are exclusive to the system and deservingly so.
40. Days Gone (2019)
Action/Adventure/Open World | Metacritic Score: 71
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
It is understandable why so many gamers passed over Days Gone in 2019. It had a shaky launch, was populated by unlikeable characters, and frequently needed a more substantial plot. More so, zombie-themed games were starting to feel oversaturated, but Days Gone stood its ground (or at least tried to).
However, over time, fans started admiring the game’s more vital aspects, and there’s no doubt Days Gone deserves your attention. The gameplay’s strongest feature is balancing action and survival elements, giving you just enough to keep things interesting throughout.
Some missions force you into intense shootouts against human enemies where you must make the most of cover fire and strategic advancements. Since resources are always limited, you’ll want to take advantage of other portions that let you play covertly. Although these chapters unfold as expected, they are incredibly well done, especially given the well-calibrated difficulty. Enemies are never unbeatable, only strong enough to feel like a serious threat.
39. No Man’s Sky (2016)
Action/Adventure/Survival/Open World | Metacritic Score: 71
Image via Hello Games
No Man’s Sky is a success in its own right. The game’s creator, Hello Games, has worked for six years to transform it from what was panned in 2016 as a failure into something near to fulfilling all its pre-release promises. No Man’s Sky is a mammoth when it comes to its potential worlds (and stars) to explore. It also allows you to establish large communities, play with friends, and interact with various NPCs and quest-givers that were conspicuously lacking in 2016.
No Man’s Sky can be breathtaking at its best. The experience of landing on a new planet and stepping outside your ship to view a huge foreign environment is almost enough to justify the cost of admission. Your first voyage into an atmosphere beyond your wildest imagination will make you awestruck; the vast, empty expanse of space is as beautiful as it is terrifying.
38. Kena: Bridge of Spirits (2021)
Action/Adventure | Metacritic Score: 76
Image via Ember Lab
It takes a simple look at Kena: Bridge of Spirits to inspire a smile and childlike charm for an art style you’re probably familiar with. Pixar-like character designs show that this crew has a wealth of experience in creating outstanding digital works.
Kena works as a Spirit Guide to help spirits who cannot pass on to the next existence due to unresolved guilt or unfinished business. The narrative follows her as she navigates a stunning but perishing region searching for a sacred mountain shrine while assisting the restless spirits she encounters. The character designs, facial expressions, and animation in Bridge of Spirits do an excellent job of instantly appealing to everyone you meet, especially Kena herself. It’s safe to say that this game was made with a lot of effort and empathy in place.
37. Detroit: Become Human (2018)
Action/Adventure | Metacritic Score: 78
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The most underappreciated genre in the video game industry is certainly one that includes interactive storytelling. But, few games make the best of this genre, and Detroit: Become Human is a great example.
The game puts you in the Android minds of a few playable characters who knowingly or unknowingly decide the fate of people around them. More importantly, humanity’s relationship with artificial intelligence. It offers so many options that many players must be aware of some of them. Detroit: Become Human excels at satisfying every plot need; even little changes to choices result in different story arcs.
Your curiosity’s tendency to answer itself is a key gameplay feature in Detroit: Become Human. Even those who may not have been originally drawn to the story may want to read it again since the impact of the multiple-choice situations can give it an entirely new vibe.
36. Infamous Second Son (2014)
Action/Adventure/Open World | Metacritic Score: 80
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The initial Infamous games established how ridiculously fantastic an open-world experience can be when you get to play hero and villain as you wish. Second Son is a superb insight into the world of open-world superhero action games, and that’s really what games like this are all about – its dazzling abilities and the characters’ heavier, more realistic tone. Second Son hits some prominent high notes in character interaction and plot despite failing to convincingly reconcile the player’s moral decisions with the protagonist’s sense of good and evil.
Second Son’s big selling point is the Morality system. Delsin’s personal motivation to be the person he wishes to be stands out through the game’s anti-heroic arc. Nothing in the narrative suggests that he would ever be interested in murdering innocent bystanders or that his police officer brother would approve if he did. Nevertheless, you are encouraged to kill everyone you come across to maximize your evil gameplay. Since extreme behavior is always rewarded with more power, there is never a good time to engage in evil behavior, and vice versa.
35. The Last Guardian (2016)
Adventure/Puzzle | Metacritic Score: 82
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The Last Guardian is a unique game that nurtures a bond between a curious child and his enormous beast of a pet, Trico. The Last Guardian’s core puzzle-solving and movement seldom rely on your independence. You, the player, are never exclusively in charge of your journey.
These values are a crucial part of The Last Guardian. The boy is defenseless without Trico, a helpless thing stuck in a dangerously large hostile environment. Trico’s size and power will help you get away, while he will require your direction to figure out what to do next. This implies that the majority of the game will be spent trying to convince the creature to help you with various tasks.
34. Control (2019)
Action/Adventure/Open Zone | Metacritic Score: 82
Image via 505 Games
From Remedy Entertainment’s Max Payne and Alan Wake games, fans were hyped enough to expect a ‘new’ hit. And they weren’t disappointed. Control is everything these games did right, garnished with a pinch of bizarre storytelling and memorable combat mechanics.
Your character, Jesse Faden, has superpowers that let her fling objects around. Control is a game that significantly depends on its vicinity. The entire game is set at the Federal Bureau of Control’s headquarters. Your mission is to seek information about what happened to her brother Dylan. This simple setting sets new grounds for things you’ll encounter: both fascinating and terrifying.
As you journey through the game, Jesse Faden receives communication from a voice within her mind. The only person within the structure who can expel the infected and restore various control points is her. You will eventually acquire a variety of upgradeable talents that will alter how you play the game moving forward.
33. Hades (2018)
Action/Adventure/Roguelike | Metacritic Score: 82
Image via Supergiant Games
The way that Hades’ story and gameplay are intertwined is nothing new for Supergiant Games, who have made a name for themselves as experts in coordinating your actions with their narratives. It entails taking on the role of Zagreus, a deity of rebirth, in a roguelike game like Hades. He sets out to flee to the land of the living after growing weary of being under his father Hades’ control and searching for information about his origins. Along the voyage, he faces numerous living things, mythical characters, and undead monsters.
Endings aren’t neat, and they’re seldom ever definitive, much as the Greek mythology that Hades draws his inspiration from. The fact that Hades is aware of this is its greatest strength because these relationships are drawn-out, frequently disappointing, and difficult to achieve true closure in.
32. Ghost of Tsushima (2020)
Action/Adventure/Open World | Metacritic Score: 83
Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment
The newest adventure from Sucker Punch is rich with compelling folklore and stunning visuals that make exploring its broad interpretation of Feudal Japan a soul-comforting journey. In its 30+ hour main campaign and all the side tasks that beautifully echo thematic parts of your main adventure, Ghost’s cast (both English and Japanese) does a fantastic job of bringing the game’s complicated tale of honor and loss to life.
Combat is fantastic, a simple but nuanced investigation of Japanese swordplay that remains enjoyable until the last bout, despite the stealth being simplistic. Being among the top PS4 titles, Ghost of Tsushima stands engagingly strong as an inclusion in the system’s vast library of games.
