10 PS4 Games That Are Perfect From Start to Finish

Image via Naughty Dog Published Sep 9, 2026, 7:36 AM EDT Sign in to your Collider account The PlayStation 4 was among Sony's finest modern efforts. Sure, it wasn't quite as good as the PS2 (depending on who you ask, anyway), but it did pretty well for itself, to the point that people are still playing it long after it reached the end of its life cycle. Loads of incredible games came out for this acclaimed console, which served as incentives for people to actually buy it in the first place. Covering a multitude of genres, a ton of games were released from 2013 to 2020, when the PS4 was in its prime and an outright cultural phenomenon. Some of these games are exclusives to the console, and some aren't. One thing they have in common, however, aside from the fact that they all came out for the same console, is that they all did very well, scoring high with fans and critics alike. Indeed, calling these PS4 games "perfect" is not an exaggeration. 'SOMA' (2015) Image via Frictional Games SOMA is an underrated little existential sci-fi/horror game from the makers of the critically-acclaimed Outlast. This stand-alone game has you playing as Simon, a Canadian man in the city of Toronto. Living with a brain injury due to a previous accident, Simon opts to participate in an experimental neurological treatment process. Instead of it fixing his problem, he wakes up centuries in the future, in an abandoned lab at the bottom of the sea, with a brand-new robot body. Using his new body and a helpful guide, Simon must navigate his way out of the facility, all while avoiding corrupted robots prowling the shadowy corridors. This game became a smash hit in the horror community for its profound ending. No other game has inspired such a feeling of existential and philosophical dread. The ending is quite the payoff, and the game bears a truly singular atmosphere. If you're a horror fan, this is something you absolutely have to check out. 'Concrete Genie' (2019) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment Concrete Genie is an underrated PS4 exclusive set in the city of Denska, a fictional seaside down that has fallen under the shadow of an amalgamous force called the Darkness, which has emerged after a catastrophic oil spill. The protagonist is Ash, a bullied boy who finds a magic paintbrush in Denska's lighthouse one night. With this paintbrush, he is able to create genies, magical creatures that aid him on his quest to restore colour to Denska. The game isn't super combat-heavy, instead relying on the player's imagination to see them through to the end. Everything you paint comes to life, meaning your obstacles are limited only by your creativity. This family-friendly game is an exercise in how important art is to human society, and why it should always be cherished. It also happens to be an incredibly fun game from beginning to end. 'Bloodborne' (2015) Image via Sony Computer Entertainment Bloodborne is a standalone entry in the Soulsborne saga, created by FromSoftware, which pioneered the formula. The game is set in the Gothic-inspired city of Yharnam, where a bloodborne is sweeping through the residents, turning them into monsters. To combat the threat, hunters have arisen, which is where the nameless protagonist comes in. You play as an unnamed hunter who has arrived seeking a blood transfusion, only to become wrapped up in Yharnam's woes and the infighting of the upper echelons. Like other Soulsborne games, Bloodborne is notoriously difficult. It's functionally different from the others in terms of combat style, so it shakes up the formula a bit. Despite being a PS4 exclusive, the game received widespread critical acclaim for its atmosphere and tight combat. Players also loved the boss design, most of which are physically revolting to look at. The creators of this game have some imagination; that much is certain. If you like Gothic horror, RPGs, or challenging gameplay, Bloodborne is the game for you. 'Until Dawn' (2015) Image via Supermassive Games Until Dawn is a PS4 exclusive visual novel game with a terrifying horror theme. The game stars eight young adults, most of whom are played by some pretty big names including Rami Malek and the late Hayden Panettiere. The friends travel to a ski lodge in Alberta, Canada, for their annual getaway following the disappearances of two of their group the year prior. When they get to the lodge, however, they soon find themselves stalked by a masked killer. The game opens up as a slasher, but quickly delivers one of the most monumentally jaw-dropping plot twists in gaming history about halfway through. From there, it delves into Indigenous spirituality, featuring the cannibalistic Wendigo. Since it's a visual novel, choices are super important here. There might not be much input from the player, but this means every single action counts. There are tons of different possibilities, so each playthrough will never be the same as the one before it. Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you're not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one. 🏕️Jason 🔪Michael 💤Freddy 🎈Pennywise 🪆Chucky TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 Something feels wrong. You can't explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty. ALeave immediately. I don't need to understand a threat to respect it. BStay quiet and observe. If I can see it, I can understand it. If I can understand it, I can avoid it. CStay awake. Whatever this is, I am not going to sleep until I feel safe again. DConfront it directly. Fear grows in the dark — I'd rather know what I'm dealing with. ECheck everything, trust nothing. The threat might be closer than I think — and smaller. NEXT QUESTION → 02 Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply. ASomewhere remote — a cabin, a campsite, off the grid and away from people. BA quiet suburban neighbourhood where nothing ever happens. Except tonight. CIn my own head — the most dangerous place of all, depending on what's already in there. DWherever children are — because something about this place attracts the worst things. ESomewhere ordinary — a house, a toy store, a place where the last thing you'd expect is a threat. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn't account for. What's yours? APhysical fitness — I can run, I can swim, I can outlast something that relies on brute persistence. BSpatial awareness — I always know the exits, the hiding spots, the fastest route out. CPsychological resilience — I've faced my worst fears before. They don't have the same power over me. DEmotional steadiness — I don't panic. Panic is what gets you caught. EScepticism — I don't underestimate threats because of how they look. Size is irrelevant. NEXT QUESTION → 04 What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it. AThe unstoppable — something that will not stop, cannot be reasoned with, and is always getting closer. BThe invisible — a threat I can feel but can't locate, watching from somewhere I can't see. CThe psychological — something that uses my own mind and memories against me. DThe unknowable — something ancient, shapeless, that feeds on the fear itself. EThe mundane — a threat so ordinary-looking that no one will believe me until it's too late. NEXT QUESTION → 05 You're with a group when things start going wrong. What's your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn't. AThe one who says "we need to leave" first — and means it, even when no one listens. BThe one who stays quiet, watches the others, and figures out the pattern before anyone else does. CThe one who holds the group together when panic sets in — because someone has to. DThe one who asks the questions nobody wants to ask — because ignoring them gets people killed. EThe one who takes the threat seriously when everyone else is laughing it off. NEXT QUESTION → 06 What's the horror movie mistake you're most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not. AGoing back for someone — I know I shouldn't, but I can't leave them behind. BAssuming I'm safe once I've found a hiding spot. That's when it finds me. CFalling asleep when I absolutely cannot afford to. Exhaustion is its own enemy. DLetting my curiosity override my instincts — I always need to understand what I'm dealing with. EDismissing the threat because of how it looks. That's exactly what it wants. NEXT QUESTION → 07 What's your best weapon against something that can't be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it. AThe environment itself — I use the terrain, the water, the geography against it. BPatience — I wait, I watch, and I strike at the one moment it doesn't expect. CLucidity — if I can stay in control of my own mind, it loses its primary weapon. DCourage — facing it directly, refusing to run, taking away the fear it feeds on. EImprovisation — I use whatever's at hand, however unconventional. Creativity over brute force. NEXT QUESTION → 08 It's the final scene. You're the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What's yours? AI kept moving. I never stopped, never hid for too long, never let it corner me. BI figured out the pattern before anyone else did — and I used it against the thing following it. CI stayed awake, stayed lucid, and refused to give it the one thing it needed most. DI stopped being afraid of it. And the moment I did, everything changed. EI took it seriously from the start — and I never once made the mistake of underestimating it. REVEAL MY VILLAIN → Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck. Jason VoorheesJason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit. He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn't strategise, doesn't adapt, doesn't outsmart. He simply pursues. Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge. The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance. You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected. Michael MyersMichael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it's too late for anyone who isn't paying close enough attention. But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound. Michael's power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is. Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had. You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it. Freddy KruegerFreddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised. You are harder to destabilise than most. You've faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven't looked away. The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it. Freddy's greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on. Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here. PennywisePennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it. The Losers Club didn't survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly. You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away. That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise's worst nightmare. It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all. ChuckyChucky's greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it's already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is. You don't have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance. Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone. Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing. Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 'God of War' (2018) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment 2018's God of War marked a great shift in the franchise. The series previously began in the PS2 era and was more of a fast-paced, high-octane hack-and-slash about Greek mythology. The reboot, however, switched its focus to Norse mythology, continuing the story where it left off. This time, main character Kratos is living a quiet life with his son, no longer on a quest to demolish the Greek pantheon. The combat changed significantly, as did the story, tone, and overall direction of the game, offering more of an open-world experience rather than the linear angle the rest of the series had. Combat was also more focused and tight, centering more on smaller engagements than large, gore-filled encounters of dozens of enemies. The game was more heavy-handed and emotional, and it made for a brilliant revival of a beloved franchise. God of War is bound to become a classic—heck, it already is. Image via Konami Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain comes from a long line of PlayStation exclusives, though this particular entry is not an exclusive at all. The game aimed to bridge the gap between the very first Metal Gear game and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, which had come out the year prior. This also happened to be the final canon entry in the series, and the final entry to be directed by Hideo Kojima before Konami unwisely let him go. The Phantom Pain is the longest of the entire series, spanning dozens of hours and multiple open-world environments. However, gameplay is much more open-ended and allows for more player freedom. The core stealth elements are still there, but Kojima also provides players with a few new toys to play around with. It might not have been the strongest entry in the series, especially when it comes to the opinions of die-hard fans, but it's a phenomenal game that never gets boring. 'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' (2018) Image via Activision Like Metal Gear, Spyro initially began as a PlayStation-exclusive series, though this particular entry was not exclusive whatsoever. It is, however, an incredible game. It's actually a collection of the first three Spyro games that came out between 1998 and 2000, remade for modern systems. The 3D platformers starred the eponymous purple dragon as he travels across the realms to save other dragons, rescue fairies, and beat up some baddies. Throughout the cleverly designed levels, Spyro can play minigames like ice hockey or whack-a-mole, collect gems, dragon eggs, and talismans, and discover secrets that have been added to the original levels. Gameplay is simple, yet so much fun. Not only is it nostalgic; it's gorgeous and easy to get into. Family-friendly, innocent, and even a little comical, Spyro Reignited Trilogy is a modern triumph in the world of gaming remakes. 'Ghost of Tsushima' (2020) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment Ghost of Tsushima is a historical RPG game that, unlike most of the other entries on this list, is completely grounded in reality. The story is set during the Mongol Invasions of Japan in the 13th Century, when they landed on the small northern island of Tsushima. There, a samurai named Jin Sakai is wounded in battle and left for dead. Recovering from his wounds to discover an occupied island, Jin abandons his samurai code to start taking on the invaders by himself, using guerrilla warfare at his disposal. The island of Tsushima is vast and beautiful, even if it is small when compared to the Japanese mainland. Though some aspects are obviously embellished, the game presents a unique historical context that isn't often spoken about. With tons of side quests to tackle, haikus to write, and loads of time to explore, Ghost of Tsushima is one of the best PS4 exclusives ever made. Sony really knocked it out of the park with this one. 'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End' (2016) Image via Naughty Dog Coming as the final mainline entry in the saga, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End stars an aging Nathan Drake as he is visited by Sam, his older brother, whom he presumed dead. Desperate for one last adventure, the Drake brothers embark on a journey across the sea to find the lost pirate colony of Libertalia, developed by the famous Golden Age pirate Henry Avery. The visuals in this game truly couldn't have been any better if they tried. It looks very realistic, which adds to the overall atmosphere. Levels are more open-ended, the combat and stealth systems have been completely overhauled (with the stealth system actually being a viable approach, unlike previous entries in the series), and the multiplayer was better than ever. It's a grand old pirate adventure and a satisfying conclusion to a beloved PlayStation-exclusive saga. 'Shadow of the Colossus' (2018) Image via Sony Computer Entertainment Shadow of the Colossus is a ground-up remake of the original PS2 exclusive of the same name. The story and setting have been kept exactly the same, but it has been updated with new graphics, more collectibles, and a new mode to increase replayability. The story of this classic game, as many know, concerns Wander, a young man who seeks the slumbering god Dormin in the Forbidden Land. Wander hopes Dormin will be able to resurrect his girlfriend, the Princess, from the dead. Dormin agrees to do it, but only if Wander kills 16 colossi that roam the Forbidden Land. Each colossus functions as a boss fight, where the player must work out how to climb their back and plunge their sword into their weak points. Every colossus is completely different from the previous one: some fly, some swim, some burrow in the sand, some lumber across the earth. It's all about adapting to the situation and using the environment to aid you on your quest. There are no standard enemies, giving the world an intentionally empty, melancholy feeling. With a bleak, depressing world, incredible gameplay, and a heartbreaking ending, this game is worth every penny.