Essential PS4 Games Every Player Should Try
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The PlayStation 5 is here, but it's almost impossible to find in stock anywhere. The good news is some of the best PS5 games are actually just PS4 titles. The PS4 isn't going anywhere yet. This Sony console is home to a rather vast library of excellent big-budget and indie video games. We don't have the words or pages to list them all, but we've highlighted a few of the absolute best PS4 games available today, and every single one is compatible with the PS5. Every player has their preferences, but these titles are worth some time no matter what kind of gamer you are.
Be sure to check out all our other buying guides, including the Best PS4 Accessories, Best PS5 Games, and Best Gaming Headsets.
Updated May 2021: We've added new titles, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Control, Last of Us Part 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Spider-Man Miles Morales.
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- Courtesy of Ubisoft
Explore (and Pillage) England
Assassin's Creed: ValhallaI swore off the Assassin’s Creed series after the fourth entry, Black Flag, but what brought me back was the promise of sacking ancient England as a hardcore, tough-as-nails Viking warrior lesbian, Eivor Wolf-Kissed. Well, my Eivor was a lesbian, but yours might not be! This is an Assassin’s Creed game that gives you meaningful choices throughout the game—following in the footsteps of its predecessor, Origins and Odyssey. Your appearance, your gender, your romantic entanglements are all up to you. Plus, you can captain your very own longship!
Though long and cluttered with many meaningless side quests, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is a gorgeous and engrossing game for anyone who loves a good open world.
- Photograph: Activision
Risk and Reward
Sekiro: Shadows Die TwiceSekiro: Shadows Die Twice is a lot of things: It's gorgeous, challenging, and an homage to one of FromSoftware's earliest games. But more than anything, it's a game of brutal beauty. Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, you take on the role of Wolf, a shinobi who cannot die. Well, you'll die a lot, actually—but you come back! This is a game built around the tension of confrontation. When do you draw your sword and when do you sneak past opponents? What do you do when you have no choice but to fight? These are the questions Sekiro seeks to answer.
- Photograph: Remedy Entertainment
Psychic Mystery
ControlImagine if Twin Peaks and The X-Files had a crossover episode that was actually a video game. That’s essentially what Control is, a creepy-spooky third-person action game set within the walls of an infinite and infinitely changeable skyscraper known as the Oldest House. Seriously, the less I say about it the better; it’s a game that holds its cards close to its chest for good reason. It’s a blast to play, and just as fun to experience the story the first time through.
- Photograph: Obsidian
Side Quests on Side Quests
Mophie The Outer WorldsThere’s some internal debate surrounding The Outer Worlds here at WIRED. If you play RPGs for the side quests, you’ll probably like it. If you run through the main story and ignore side quests as much as possible, you might find the game tedious. Either way, it’s a good pick for the RPG-obsessed gamers tired of replaying Skyrim—or getting online gameplay shoved down their throats (looking at you, Bethesda). Developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the same team behind Fallout: New Vegas, the game is rife with riffs on capitalism, multifaceted companions, and a character arc that includes flaws as well as positive perks.
- Photograph: Sony
Colossal Classic
Shadow of the ColossusShadow of the Colossus is one of the best games ever made, and if you've never played it you owe it to yourself to check out this remastered version. Set in a barren, beautiful wasteland, SOTC makes drama out of minimalism, combining action-adventure gameplay with a series of breathtaking and harrowing boss encounters. Books have been written about how brilliant this game is, and the remaster renders it all in an enhanced graphical style. Purists may prefer the original, but if you've never played it, there's no good reason not to grab this one.
- Photograph: Square Enix
Fight for Your Friends
Kingdom Hearts IIIIn our review, we said this game "feels like coming home." If you've been with the series since its inception in 2001, this one deserves a playthrough even if you aren't a hardcore Kingdom Hearts fan. You'll still have fun traversing the Disney-themed universe as beloved character Sora. Travel with your friends and, more importantly, fight for them. As one might expect, the game can feel a bit childish at times, but for some people, that's a part of the magic.
- Photograph: Asteroid Base
Couch Co-Op
Lovers in a Dangerous SpacetimeLovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is one of the most frantic, frenetic co-op games around. Up to four players (no online play, sadly) work together to pilot and defend a circular spaceship from hordes of baddies. It's your job to explore the galaxy to rescue kidnapped "space-bunnies" and defeat the forces of "anti-love." It's a goofy story that fits with Spacetime's beautiful neon colors, but don't let the look fool you—this is a tough 2-D game. Your teamwork will be tested as you each run between stations to man the engine, shield, four guns, map, and special attack cannon.
- Photograph: Amazon
Mafia Drama
Yakuza 0Everybody expects Yakuza 0 to be a pulpy action game with slick beat-’em-up mechanics. What a lot of people don’t expect is its edge-of-your-seat noir plot, multilayered characters, and hilarious side quests. Yakuza 0’s story—broken up by back-alley fights with thugs—is one of the best in any action game ever made. In one moment, a sad turn of fate will bring you to tears. In the next, your character is browsing the video shop with a man in tighty-whities named Mr. Libido. It’s a roller coaster, but one you won’t want to get off.
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- Photograph: Blizzard
Team Player
OverwatchFive years after its release, Overwatch is still one of the most popular games to hit the PS4. It even has a professional esports league built around it, and for good reason: It's a game that has managed to capture some of the character-based zaniness of something like Super Smash Bros. while adding in addictive team-based play. Every character has unique skills and weapons, and every match has a different goal, like capturing a flag or guiding a payload through a map to safety. Blizzard continually adds new characters, maps, and modes, and while Overwatch 2 is in development, it's still a good time to jump in and be a hero.
- Photograph: Paradox Interactive
City Sim
Cities: SkylinesEA's SimCity franchise has struggled in the last decade, but Swedish publisher Paradox Interactive thought the idea was worth another shot. Cities: Skylines plays almost exactly like SimCity, but with more realism. Skylines simulates things like traffic congestion and mass transit lines incredibly well, which is fun to watch, and occasionally maddening as mayor. Even though it's complex, it feels as natural to build cities on a controller as it does a mouse and keyboard, and that's impressive.
- Photograph: Capcom
Big Swords, Bigger Food
Monster Hunter: WorldIf you've ever wanted to fight a dinosaur with a giant sword made out of its own bones, you should give Monster Hunter: World a try. In this incarnation of a beloved series, you are a Monster Hunter exploring the wild unknowns of the New World, hunting gigantic monsters for "research" ... and loot, of course! There are also cat-people who make you truly enormous platters of improbably large food before every expedition. Seriously. They even dance while they do it.
- Photograph: CDPR
Hunt Even More Monsters
The Witcher 3: The Wild HuntI will never stop evangelizing the virtues of The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. This game is right up there with Breath of the Wild as an example of an open-world game that really does justice to its source material, setting, and tone.
Explore a vast world as Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter for hire. It’s a dirty, thankless job, but someone has to do it. You’ll face off against all kinds of mythical creatures, and get involved in sociopolitical strife--or do whatever you can to avoid getting dragged into fights that don’t have anything to do with you. Better yet, your choices in this game have a big impact on the way the story plays out.
- Photograph: Sony
Spirited Away
Everybody's Gone to the RaptureThis is a game without weapon-toggling, shooting, or even running. In it, you walk around a lifelike British village and try to figure out why all the people are gone. Clues are all around, and you can experience the story at your own pace, in your own way. Rapture isn't for every gamer, but according to our review, it "may leave you a little different than when you found it."
- Photograph: Atlus
Anime Adventures
Persona 5Persona 5 is a uniquely bizarre game, and it's even weirder if you've never played a Persona game. In short, it's a Japanese RPG about a normal teenager and his abnormal life. Alongside taking part-time jobs and worrying about girls, you'll spend your time in the supernatural metaverse breaking into the psyches of dangerous criminals and changing their hearts with arcane magic and the help of a talking cat. You know, normal high school stuff. It's like playing your way through a quirky high school anime or manga series with the slick visuals to match.
- Photograph: Sony
Super Dad
God of WarThis might be the dadliest game ever made. It's a story about Norse legends, grappling with a personal history of violence, and a father trying to raise a son. Admittedly, God of War, with its scenes of intense violence, is not for everyone. But M-rating aside, you'll find a lush action game built with a surprising amount of heart
- Photograph: Enhance Games
Tetris Evolved
Lumines RemasteredLumines got its start on the ill-fated PlayStation Portable and had a sequel on Vita. Those are two reasons you may not have played it, and if you haven't, you've missed out. Lumines Remastered comes from the developer behind cult classics Rez and Child of Eden. It plays like a clever twist on Tetris, demanding that you group like-colored blocks together in time for a line to come and erase them. Think of it as a classic game with a fresh coat of HD paint, all set to a groovy techno beat.
- Photograph: Capcom
Horror Masterpiece
Resident Evil 2The original Resident Evil 2 was the first survival horror game I (Jess Grey) ever played. I spent countless nights hunched over the controller, heart thundering in my chest. I think I cried the first time I saw the Licker (a skinless monster-man with claws for hands and a whip-like tongue) crawling across the ceiling at me. The modern remake is a loving re-creation of these delightfully horrifying moments, with updated visuals and gameplay. It's a head-to-toe remake of the game in the best way and a modern classic, whether you played the original or not.
- Courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment
Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Photograph: Annapurna Interactive
Mansion Mystery
What Remains of Edith FinchWhat Remains of Edith Finch is a bit like Gone Home. It's another game in which you walk around a creepy home and try to piece together a mystery. It's oddly chilling and more cinematic than some of its peers, offering unconventional flashbacks that act as mini-games, letting you interact with the past in peculiar ways. If you haven't played a game like this, it's not a massive investment. You can plow through the story in a few hours, but try to take your time. You won't regret it.
- Photograph: Motion Twin
Dungeon Defeater
Dead CellsRoaring wildly out of the gates, Dead Cells is an infinite combustion engine: all energy, power, and motion. A roguelike game in the vein of Spelunky, it's one of the most accessible and entrancing titles in its genre. The premise is simple: wake up in a prison cell as an undead warrior. Get a weapon. Get out. Keep going. You'll die a lot, but each death is another opportunity to delve deeper into the gnarled web of crypts, sewers, and rooftops that make up the prison colony you're trying to escape, and the path is thick with monstrosities and obstacles. There are a lot of action games that feel and look like Dead Cells. But few play like this.
- Courtesy of Sony Interactive Entertainment
Robot Raptors
Horizon Zero DawnEver wondered what the world would be like if it was filled with robot animals? In Horizon Zero Dawn, you're a hunter and an outcast sneaking and fighting robotic creatures in a vast, post-apocalyptic open world. It's an outstanding third-person adventure, and one of the best single-player PS4 exclusives. Even better, it's not a sequel to anything. It's a new creation by developer Guerilla Games—and if you own a PS4 Pro, it does a good job showcasing the upgraded system's graphical prowess. A sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, is slated to launch later this year.
- Photograph: Sony
A Grim Classic
The Last of Us RemasteredThe Last of Us looks like your typical post-apocalyptic zombie game, and in some ways it is, but it's also deeper than that. It tells the story of a teenage girl who grew up in the ruins of the world and the man who takes her across the US to safety. It builds a world better than most games, and the remastered version comes with the Left Behind campaign that made waves a few years ago by shifting the game's focus to its female protagonist.
- Photograph: Sony
Not for Everyone
The Last of Us Part 2This is a polarizing game and for good reason. Not only is the gameplay itself just drenched in gratuitous violence—including violence against animals—but the story has some issues. Too often you'll find yourself cocking your head to the side saying “Really? We’re doing this now?" But if you’re like me and you played the first Last of Us game, you almost have to play the sequel. I needed to know how it ended.
This game has a Mature ESRB content rating, but we'd like to reinforce that it may not be a title for anyone sensitive to graphic scenes of intimate violence against women, animal abuse, transphobia (including deadnaming), and child abuse.
- Photograph: Sony
Plagued
BloodborneA bloody weapon, an army of horrendous monsters, and one very bad night. Bloodborne is possibly the best game made in the vein of Dark Souls. It's a spiritual successor that takes what worked about the original—ultrahard combat, ingenious storytelling, atmosphere oozing out of all corners—and weds it with unspeakable cosmic horror. There's a little Lovecraft in here, a little Mary Shelley, and a little Bram Stoker. And a lot of genius.
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