The PlayStation 4 sits comfortably atop the throne as one of the last generation’s best consoles. It’s the bestselling platform of the lot, with its early success being pinned mostly to its solid exclusive titles and aggressively timed DLC deals in the face of the competition. As of 2022, the PS4 has shipped more than 117 million units worldwide.
Things have evened out in recent years when it comes to exclusives, but throughout the generation, Sony’s wedge of a machine has built up a healthy catalog of games across every conceivable genre. Its successor, the PlayStation 5, is backward-compatible with nearly every PS4 game, meaning you’ll likely find yourself coming back to games from the previous generation on your new machine. There is a cluster of PS5 games that won’t ever be coming to PS4 though.
Either way, here is our definitive list of the best PS4 games.
God of War Ragnarök
Elden Ring
Resident Evil 4
The Last of Us Remastered
The Callisto Protocol
Forspoken
Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Overwatch 2
Shovel Knight
Stray
Kicking off our list is the cat game everyone is talking about. That’s right, in Stray, you play as a feline tasked with escaping a desolate, cyberpunk city, while freeing a group of trapped robots in the process. While this game is a cat lover’s dream, it’s great for all players, partially because it’s so approachable. The main focus in Stray isn’t to stump you, but rather, to take you on a memorable journey, with light action, platforming, and puzzles sprinkled throughout. Its art is gorgeous, the music is fantastic, and its story will probably make you cry.
Horizon Forbidden West
Ratchet & Clank
Batman: Arkham Knight
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
The Dark Souls formula got a healthy dose of speed and horror when Bloodborne released in 2015, and FromSoftware has managed to make things even more extreme in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Set in Sengoku-era Japan rather than a wholly original world, the game is nonetheless filled with magic and monsters ready to kill you at a moment’s notice. No enemy is too weak to deserve your attention, and many are formidable in one-on-one fights. The real meat of Sekiro, however, are the boss fights. They play out like choreographed dances, requiring you to learn a boss’s every move before you’re ready to go in for the kill. With the Posture system becoming more important in most fights than a standard health bar, you need to stay aggressive, but getting greedy will result in a swift death.
Devil May Cry 5
Bloodborne
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Grand Theft Auto V
Red Dead Redemption 2
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
God of War
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Marvel's Spider-Man
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
The Last of Us Part II
Mortal Kombat 11
DOOM Eternal
Apex Legends
Fortnite
Minecraft
Stardew Valley
No Man's Sky
Dead Cells
Persona 5 Royal
Final Fantasy VII Remake
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Monster Hunter: World
Ghost of Tsushima
Destiny 2
Rocket League
Assassin's Creed: Origins
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