The 10 Best PS4 Games Ever Made, Ranked

Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment Published Sep 12, 2026, 5:41 PM EDT Writing from the Chicagoland area in Illinois, Robert is an avid movie watcher and will take just about any excuse to find time to go to his local movie theaters. Robert graduated from Bradley University with degrees in Journalism and Game Design with a minor in Film Studies. Robert tries his best to keep up with all the latest movie releases, from those released in theaters to those released on streaming. While he doesn't always keep up with the latest TV shows, he makes it a goal to watch nearly every major new release possible. He has been honing his craft and following any and all movie news all his life, leading up to now, where he has a vast knowledge of film and film history. He also logs every movie that he watches on his Letterboxd page, and has hosted a weekly online movie night with his closest friends for over 6 years. Sign in to your Collider account While PlayStation as a brand has always been a dominating force in the video game industry, they arguably reached some of their highest highs during the 2010s with the massive success of the PlayStation 4. The fifth best-selling video game console of all time and the second best-selling PlayStation console, the PS4 brought a sense of overwhelming quality and consistency back to the PlayStation brand, especially after the relatively rocky reception of the PS3's launch. From massive evolutions of beloved PlayStation franchises to many exceptional new original franchises that got their start on PS4, the various exclusives on the console proved to be one of the best exclusive lineups of all time. While the console also had its fair share of amazing third-party experiences like Red Dead Redemption 2 and the Resident Evil 2 remake, the real major selling point of the console has been its amazing exclusives. 10 'Horizon Zero Dawn' (2017) Image via Guerilla Games One of the biggest examples of visual polish and dynamic gameplay on the PS4, Horizon Zero Dawn proved to be the absolute magnum opus of Guerrilla Games, who previously developed the acclaimed Killzone franchise for PlayStation consoles. The action RPG takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States, where animalistic machines have dominated the Earth while humanity lives in primitive tribes in varying levels of technological advancement. The player plays as young huntress Aloy as she sets out on a journey of self-discovery, using ranged weapons and stealth combat to defeat the mechanical threats around her. Taking inspiration from prominent post-apocalypse stories and action open-world games, Horizon Zero Dawn delivers some of the most engaging worldbuilding in the PlayStation franchise, amplified by deeply satisfying action gameplay. The game was widely celebrated as one of the must-play PlayStation games of the console's middle years, yet in wider gaming culture it is sadly overshadowed by its release just days before an even more masterful open-world adventure game, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 9 'Death Stranding' (2019) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment Following the shocking departure of Hideo Kojima from Konami and the cancellation of Silent Hills, all eyes were on what Kojima would do next as a studio not held back by Konami. After several long years of waiting, the result was Death Stranding, a deeply experimental adventure game that plays into all of the classic strengths of Kojima's cinematic storytelling in gaming. It follows the story of courier Sam Bridges (Norman Reedus), who is tasked with delivering supplies to isolated colonies across a fractured US in the wake of a cataclysmic event. With an all-star cast of notable actors and actresses portraying the characters, Death Stranding's deeper meanings of connected community in the modern fractured world directly lean into its gameplay elements. It's a game whose abstract gameplay can be made easier through the collaboration of online players, with many asynchronous online functions making its open world that much more compelling. While certainly not for everyone, the game has a distinct charm that makes it a genuine work of art that has aged gracefully since its release. 8 'Final Fantasy VII Remake' (2020) Image via Sqaure Enix The original Final Fantasy VII continues to be celebrated as one of the greatest PlayStation games of all time, so it only makes sense that over 20 years later, the legendary game would finally be remade with modern technology in Final Fantasy VII Remake. While technically only remaking the first third of the game, this remake is still filled to the brim with content and overwhelming passion for the original JRPG masterpiece. It provides new depth and layers to the iconic characters of the original game while setting up the pieces for a converging remix on the classic Final Fantasy VII storyline. The game also employs a style of real-time battles instead of the turn-based combat of the original game, making it more accessible to modern audiences while also allowing the remake to have its own identity separate from the original game. With the final game in this remake trilogy set to release in April, the exceptional legacy of this remake only grows more and more with each passing year. 7 'The Last of Us Part II' (2020) Image via Naughty Dog The Last of Us wasn't just the last truly amazing game released on PS3, but its PS4 remaster was one of the first truly amazing games released on PS4, setting the stage for the long-awaited sequel to take the world by storm. While it may not have been the unanimously celebrated narrative masterpiece that the original game was heralded as, The Last of Us Part II still plays into Naughty Dog's greatest strengths in terms of stealth action gameplay and compelling emotional storytelling. While the original game was one of unexpected hope in a painful apocalypse and committing immoral acts to cling onto happiness, The Last of Us Part II is the painful reality of such actions, showing the brutal consequences both seen and previously left unseen. Its story of revenge and the cycle of violence left many gamers of the era conflicted, yet its visual polish and gameplay strengths continue to make it one of the most well-crafted experiences that the PS4 has to offer. 6 'Marvel's Spider-Man' (2018) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment Licensed games are often a mixed bag of quality, especially when it comes to adapting some of the most celebrated superheroes of all time. However, Insomniac's exceptionally crafted Marvel's Spider-Man certainly has much more in common with icons like the Batman Arkham trilogy instead of a disaster like Superman 64. This amazing tie-in video game captures all of the strengths and charm of Spider-Man as a character, creating what is undeniably the essential Spider-Man video game experience. Swinging through New York is as engaging and seamless as ever; the story being told is one of charm and raw emotion that cuts to the heart of Spider-Man's moral dilemmas as a hero, and the combat is incredibly inventive and satisfying to play. It's incredibly rare for a tie-in video game to not only be one of a console's best exclusives, but also the start of a top-notch franchise that has defined PlayStation's success in the past decade. Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you'd actually make it out of alive. 💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars TEST YOUR SURVIVAL → 01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one. APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it. BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don't keep you alive. CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who's pulling the strings. DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it. EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can't fix a broken galaxy alone. NEXT QUESTION → 02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires. AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don't need resources — you can generate them. BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it. CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity. DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on. EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely. NEXT QUESTION → 03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you're honest about what you're actually afraid of. AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant. BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left. CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you're a problem, you're already out of time. DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn't even know I was playing. EThe Empire tightening its grip until there's nowhere left to run. NEXT QUESTION → 04 How do you deal with authority you don't trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything. ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it. BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better. CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy. DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can't beat a system you refuse to understand. EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn't just tactical — it's physical, psychological, and very much about where you are. AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters. BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest. CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions. DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand. EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire's attention rarely reaches. NEXT QUESTION → 06 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are. AA tight crew of believers who've seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose. BOne or two people I'd trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks. CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice. DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last. EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts. NEXT QUESTION → 07 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they're actually made of. AI won't harm the innocent — even the ones who'd report me without hesitation. BI do what I have to to protect the people I've chosen. Everything else is negotiable. CThe line shifts depending on who's asking and what's at stake. DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people's future, even if it'd help now. ESome lines, once crossed, can't be uncrossed. I know which ones they are. NEXT QUESTION → 08 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another. AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it. BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving. CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out. DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations. EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else's boot. REVEAL MY WORLD → Your Fate Has Been Calculated You'd Survive In…Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for. The MatrixYou took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You're a systems thinker who can't help but notice the seams in things. You're drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it. You'd find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines' worst nightmare. You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it. The Matrix built an airtight prison. You'd be the one probing the walls for the door. Mad MaxThe wasteland doesn't reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That's you. You don't need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you're good at all three. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider. In the wasteland, that distinction is everything. Blade RunnerYou'd survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You're not a hero. But you're not lost, either. In Blade Runner's world, that distinction is everything. DuneArrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they're survival tools. You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You'd learn its logic and earn its respect. In time, you wouldn't just survive Arrakis — you'd begin to reshape it. Star WarsThe galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn't have it any other way. You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion. You'd gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire's grip can be broken. You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn't something you're capable of. In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ 5 'Ghost of Tsushima' (2020) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment One of the last massive must-play experiences on PS4 before the PlayStation 5 would end up launching just 4 months later, Ghost of Tsushima is an exceptionally crafted samurai action game inspired by the all-time greats of samurai storytelling and the larger trends of open-world action games. With breathtaking visuals and a seamless blending of stealth gameplay with an open-world structure, Ghost of Tsushima pushed the PS4 to its absolute limits to create one of the most well-made adventure games ever made. As opposed to the previous Sucker Punch Productions franchise, Infamous, which largely focused on fantastical elements and ranged combat, Ghost of Tsushima tells a grounded, gritty story while largely playing into the intricacies of melee combat. However, even when the story being told is one of death and deception, there is a raw beauty in its depiction of Tsushima Island and the humanity of adhering to the warrior code. 4 'Uncharted 4: A Thief's End' (2016) Image via Sony Computer Entertainment Continuing off of one of the most celebrated trilogies in PlayStation history and some of the best PS3 games, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ups the ante of the Uncharted formula to create an experience more action-packed, more emotional, and more technologically impressive than each previous game. The beautiful final chapter to Nathan Drake's story is rife with finality and power in its storytelling, with Naughty Dog taking the lessons they learned from The Last of Us to create a true evolution of the Uncharted franchise. It still stands as one of the most electrifying experiences that gaming has to offer, almost as if it directly translated the feeling and uplifting energy of a perfect blockbuster film into a playable format, complete with twists, turns, and so many memorable set pieces. All of the strengths that made the Uncharted franchise so exceptional are at their best in this legendary finale, giving closure to some of the most iconic characters in PlayStation history. 3 'Persona 5 Royal' (2019) The original Persona 5 was already massively celebrated in its own right as a dual release on both PS3 and PS4. However, as many long-time Persona fans know, the real staying power would come in the form of the eventual enhanced release, much like Persona 3 did with Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 did with Persona 4 Golden. However, instead of simply some niche additional content, Persona 5 Royal completely revamps the structure of the game, adding a new team member, a whole bunch of new content, and a new final act to the game. It's a revamped and fully complete version of one of the greatest JRPGs ever made, adding many quality-of-life changes to the original as well as adding so much more to do and experience. When many people go back and replay through the game, there simply isn't a reason to revisit the original game when this masterful enhanced version exists and is one of the glowing highlights of the entire Persona franchise. 2 'Bloodborne' (2015) Image via FromSoftware Few game studios have been as overwhelmingly influential in the past 15 years of gaming as FromSoftware and their legendary Soulsborne series of games. Arguably one of the most influential and acclaimed of these games is the first one not to be part of the Dark Souls franchise, Bloodborne. This PS4 exclusive sports an exceptional gothic art style and the same seamless high-difficulty gameplay that makes Soulsborne games so endlessly compelling to gamers. Considered by some to be the height of the entire Soulsborne franchise, Bloodborne's blending of masterful visuals as a standalone experience makes it both incredibly approachable as a Soulsborne experience and wildly distinct among AAA games. It was an instant system seller that defined the early years of the system, as well as continuing to define the PS4's legacy as it stands as one of the few exclusives that has never been remastered or ported to either PS5 or even PC. 1 'God of War' (2018) Image via Sony Interactive Entertainment No singular PlayStation exclusive has defined the PS4's legacy quite like God of War, the Game of the Year-winning action adventure reboot that elevated the fantasy hack and slash franchise into a realm of cinematic storytelling and powerful emotional weight. It accomplishes all of these great evolutions of the franchise while still adhering to its raw, fundamental strengths, as the sheer strength and sacrifice of Kratos as a character is even more palpable when his goals are more aligned with the protection and care of his new child, Atreus. This masterpiece has completely redefined what was already one of the most successful PlayStation franchises into being their undeniable icon, crossing generational lines to be one of the first games that comes to mind when considering mastery on PlayStation consoles. Even if no other game were released on the PS4, this singular masterpiece may have been enough to secure the success of the console, as it is still celebrated as one of the absolute greatest games of the 21st century.