The best PS4 games of all time

FromSoftware could be one of the most influential developers of all time, but it didn’t start out that way. When Demon’s Souls launched on PS3, it didn’t exactly set the charts on fire, and it certainly didn’t spawn the genre we now call Soulslikes. That came later, with a spiritual sequel called Dark Souls.

Even so, Sony saw the promise in the Japanese studio and gave it another shot at making an exclusive PlayStation game. Bloodborne was the result. Dark Souls via Lovecraft, this twist on the formula encouraged a more aggressive style of play, almost completely doing away with the shield while adding in a speedy dodge and a firearm-based parry, all of it backed by a life-steal mechanic that encouraged players to hit back hard whenever they took damage. It ain’t easy, but few games are more rewarding. Soak the cobbled streets in blood.

For a long time, the Resident Evil series couldn’t recapture the magic of those original games. It peaked with Resident Evil 4 and never quite got back to those heights, though it did get close with Resident Evil 7. But it was here, in this remake of Resident Evil 2, where Capcom proved that it can still do traditional survival horror.

Trapped inside a former museum turned into a police station, you have to contend with zombies, an unkillable stalker, and nonsensical contraptions to escape. Whoever set up that fountain exit to the sewer needs help. Dark and intense at first, it’s a video game space that you’ll turn into a second home through repeat plays.

Oh, look, it’s another classic PS1 game remade for the PS4. But while Resident Evil 2’s remake was content with moving the camera and retaining the essence of the gameplay, Final Fantasy 7 feels like a completely different game.

The turn-based battles are gone, replaced with hyper action that’s reminiscent of the original game’s most outlandish cutscenes. You really do feel like you’re swinging around a seven-foot sword and firing off magical spells. Hearing these characters speak adds a lot of depth to the story, too, and you’ll never see the ending coming.

Persona 5 is one of the most stylish JRPGs ever made, to the point where every single menu transition is a treat. Rather than being set in a fantasy world, you take control of a student in modern-day Tokyo, and you’re tasked with diving into the hearts of evil people before cleansing them.

But it’s the stuff that happens outside of the dungeons that makes Persona 5 special. With a set amount of time each day, you’re completely in control of your own schedule, and every choice you make impacts what kind of strengths and relationships your character has. This Royal edition of the game adds more characters and more dialogue to an already massive game.

One of PS2’s best games is now one of the best games on PS4, thanks to this stunning remake. There’s something alien about Team Ico’s games, from the expansive, desolated worlds they create to the wordless protagonists, they evoke a certain loneliness in you.

That’s made worse in Shadow of the Colossus by your objective: kill the only living creatures left in this place. Track down the colossi – these hulking, peaceful giants – climb their fur, and stab them repeatedly in their soft spots until they drop. Do it for love.

Don’t listen to the naysayers, The Last of Us Part 2 is a superior game to the original. That’s no easy feat – the first game is one of the best PlayStation titles ever made. With bold storytelling, expanded stealth mechanics, lifelike AI systems, and a gut-curdling gore system, The Last of Us Part 2 is a tour de force that doesn’t pull any punches.

Let's be clear: Street Fighter V had a rough launch. In fact, a very rough launch. The game was premium-price, and barely had as much content as a free-to-play MOBA, without stable servers or netcode. That's on top of a much slower-paced experience, which could feel limiting when compared to previous entries.

Fast forward a few years, several seasons, and dozens of updates later, Street Fighter V: Champion Edition is one of the best fighting games you can play on PS4. The combos are extended, allowing players to get more creative, the cast is diverse, and the netcode is... well, better than launch. If you want to play a game that forces you to learn and master the basics, Street Fighter V is one of the purest 2D fighters you can play in the modern day.

As far as what you do in this game, it’s a very by-the-numbers open-world title. But Marvel’s Spider-Man is elevated by smooth movement and brilliant performances from the actors. Simply moving around in this game feels good, so you won’t mind collecting 50 backpacks – you’ll be too busy stringing together web swings and acrobatics to care.

Take control of a ronin monster hunter as he tries, and fails, to not get involved in politics. You don’t need to have played the first two Witcher games to jump in here because CD Projekt Red does a masterful job of introducing you to this fantasy world and its concepts until it becomes all you can think about. The best western RPG released in the past decade, you owe it to yourself to play it and both of its expansions.

It can’t have been an easy job for Sony Santa Monica to rehabilitate a character like Kratos, a man who’s best known for his temper tantrums and ashen skin, which is actually a reminder of the time he murdered his wife and kid. Leaving the Greek world he doomed behind, Kratos has tried to make a new life for himself in the land of the Norse gods, but when fate comes knocking, he has to face his own past to protect his son’s future.

Switching the game to a more intimate camera and making the combat more methodical, you can see the influence of The Last of Us all over this and the 2018 reboot. This sequel is bigger and better, with more bosses, more set-pieces, and more ways to dish out pain.

How did Rockstar make this game work on the PS4? How is it still the best-looking game around, despite there being new consoles on the market? Only the wizards at Rockstar know.

Red Dead Redemption 2 follows a gang of misfit outlaws as they wander across the Wild West in the hopes of clinging onto the old ways of life – robbing, murdering, and conning people as they go. But it’s the world that makes this game so special, with every lonely hut and topographical anomaly housing some secret, story, or cool vignette. Then there’s the wildlife, which feels like a living ecosystem that’ll still be around long after you’ve kicked off the cowboy boots.

Sucker Punch's open-world RPG set in a feudal Japan was a dream come true for many fans. This portion of Japanese history has fascinating Western fans, and still influences modern Eastern media heavily to this day. Ghost of Tsushima is the best, most realistic depiction of this moment in time that there is in video games.