Hello everybody! Today we are continuing a list theme I’m starting to enjoy in my posts. Today’s list is the top ten Playstation games I’ve played. This list consists of series mostly not foreign to Playstation fans, so you will not be shocked by most of these. I concluded that this list should only have one game from each series I include, so I am sorry Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, you will not be on this list. Another rule I chose to have was each game needed to be exclusive for its respective Playstation platform at some length in time. Unlike my Top Ten Games of All-Time list, these will all be ranked. With all of that out of the way, prepare your bodies and minds to read! And, just in case. SPOILERS
10) Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time
A Crack in Time was the perfect ending to the main series. The game had a fairly good story and was exceptionally well-designed. The humor that the series is known for was used very well with the reintroduction of weapon videos. The weapons themselves bring a sense of humor to the game as well, as always. Mr. Zurkon and the Groovitron make their returns, while the Sonic Eruption, which is a small machine which is connected by a Xenogote, a frog without limbs essentially, making a sonic eruption as the name says. Quite humorous! But the worlds in this game are incredible to look at, a lot more so than in Tools of Destruction, because of the knowledge the developers had of the PS3 with working on Tools of Destruction and the Resistance series. The game looks like a Pixar movie. Less so than the Ratchet & Clank remake, but technology advances and it was over seven years in between those games. The platforming levels with Clank were also really creative, utilizing slowing down time, not a new platforming concept. However, they do it so brilliantly so I love it.
9) Infamous
If you know me at all, I love superhero stories. However, I did not love them as much as I do when I got Infamous for Christmas in 2010. I had a very long play session of just pure enjoyment. Empire City did feel like it was just in a devastating incident. I felt the city really did feel a loss when the opening incident happens. Cole McGrath is a really good character to have as the main character. A person you wouldn’t expect to get powers, but he does because of circumstances of where he is, originally. The end twist might be one of my favorite twists in the whole PS3 generation. Gameplay is rather fluid and is great for its time. The powers you get are also varied enough to think about your strategy for each fight. The cutscenes are so unique and gorgeous to just look at. Infamous really needs to come back, but I know Sucker Punch is working on Ghost of Tsushima, so that is highly unlikely.
8) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
GTA: San Andreas came out exclusively for the PS2 for only six months, so it is on the list regardless! San Andreas was the first Grand Theft Auto game I ever played after being introduced to the series by my cousins a year or two prior to the release of San Andreas. The first one I played definitely could’ve been GTA IV, but who knows at this point. When I bought San Andreas as a high schooler, I remember fondly going through San Andreas and driving recklessly, typical GTA things, going through various missions, learning about these characters, and changing CJ as to how I viewed him as in my head really showed how great Rockstar was as a high schooler who never really noticed developers’ efforts and their own growth in between games. The environment felt lively for a PS2 game and you can tell there was a history there. The soundtrack was grand for the atmosphere Rockstar tried to bring. San Andreas is definitely a game I loved and will try to go back to eventually.
7) Spider - Man
Spider-Man was one of my favorite games of 2018. The feeling of moving through the highly detailed New York, as Spider-Man should, was a feeling unlike many I’ve had in games. The best thing about Spider-Man is the movement, but another great aspect of it would be the story. I loved how they intertwined Peter Parker’s life along with being Spider-Man and the constant mental state that puts him in. The villains were also an excellent part of this game. They fleshed them out and gave them all reasonable motivations that I still remember to this day. The minor characters are a great complement to Spider-Man and the villains bringing that tension to those minor characters, which is difficult to get right in Spider-Man stories. I will need the sequel relatively soon even though I highly doubt that will happen. So Insomniac, please make a beautiful sequel!
6) Horizon: Zero Dawn
Horizon: Zero Dawn was a great game that was on my radar the first time I saw it. It was by a developer I only tried once before, Guerilla Games, with Killzone: Shadow Fall since that was a launch game on the PS4 and I needed games to play. Killzone was a very well mechanically designed game and beautiful in some areas, but I am not a massive first-person shooter guy. So when trailers for Horizon: Zero Dawn was shown, I was heavily interested. Shooting robotic animals with arrows as a heroine was a unique RPG experience I never had before. I was all for it like I am all for Aloy discovering her past. As the game released, I fell in love with the story as it unfolded. The lore of the game was something I did not expect to fall in love with as I found specific messages around the world that made me more and more invested. It is in-depth and carefully crafted into a unique post-apocalyptic story. The combat felt impactful each time you shot an arrow, whether it hit or not. When you encounter a new agile, or terror-filled enemy, you feel empowered after you defeat it, as each new enemy brings a new challenge and weakness to exploit. Enemy variety is also intense. There are many robotic enemies that reflect dinosaurs and then some other fancy enemies. The world is beautiful. The environments have their own sense of life and an individual personality about them. The DLC really adds to this sense as well, having an area completely covered in snow and ice. However, also adding characters you care about in all of these areas. Aloy as a character was a wonderful sense of empowerment and the story of her discovering her past was truly one of the pillars as to why I love this game. The series is in good hands with Guerilla and I am excited about the series’ future, and hopefully a PS5 launch title!
5) Metal Gear Solid
In my Top Ten Games of All-Time List, I included Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on the list. However, after heavy thinking and not having a lens of nostalgia for MGS3, MGS1 is more of a grand story overall in one singular area, whereas MGS3, you explore many areas to get this grand story. The bosses are also more memorable. The obvious one that everyone responds with as their example of the brilliance of Hideo Kojima is Psycho Mantis, reading your memory card to know your moves. Other than Psycho Mantis though, other memorable bosses include; Sniper Wolf, Revolver Ocelot, and Liquid Snake. I also slightly enjoy the ending of the game a slight bit more than MGS3. Now, I loved the fight between Boss and Snake and the emotion that brought, but I do love family tension more than mentorship fights. Liquid Snake’s motivation and also Naomi Hunters’ entire monologue about her, Gray Fox, and her motivations in the game. Truly amazing stuff. Hideo Kojima is one of my favorite storytellers in all of games because of these two games. So, bless his soul.
4) Kingdom Hearts 2
After playing Kingdom Hearts 3, and truly loving every second of it, I do see that Kingdom Hearts 2 is probably a bit better overall. One of the advantages I see for Kingdom Hearts 2 to put it ahead of Kingdom Hearts 3 that gives it an edge would be the bosses. In Kingdom Hearts 3, the bosses throughout the entirety of the game, only a very few are important to the main arching story before the final act, that is when all the bosses that are important to the story show up in boss fights. Sure, other parts of Kingdom Hearts 3 are a lot better like the open, vast worlds you get to explore, but it did not have a boss that truly mattered to the story until relatively later compared to Kingdom Hearts 2, where one of the first boss fights is Roxas facing Axel in a clash of friends. May not be important to Sora’s story, but it is important in the overall universe. The first bosses in Kingdom Hearts 3 are the Titans in the Hercules universe. Not really important to the overall story. There are many examples of this where there could have been a boss to build the main story in Kingdom Hearts 3, but chose a Heartless, or something else instead. Some of my favorite bosses in Kingdom Hearts 2, were people like Axel and facing Demyx early on. They’re all spread out until the final act, where you face a majority of the first incarnation of Organization XIII, just like in Kingdom Hearts 3. However, I feel it’s more successful in Kingdom Hearts 2 since it spreads out the bosses up until the third act. Another aspect is the polish of Kingdom Hearts 2. When I was at the final act of Kingdom Hearts 3, there were points where very minor characters in the background were basically static images during cutscenes. That should not be a thing for this caliber of a game. However, here we are. On to the next game!
3) Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Uncharted 4 is beautiful. It perfectly caps off Nathan Drake’s story but leaves just enough to leave you wanting more. The storytelling always knows what it wants to achieve in every scene, which gives each scene the personality the Uncharted series is known for. The dynamic Nathan’s brother, Sam, brings a struggle to Nathan that you typically see in an Uncharted game, but this struggle is more personal than before. An inner struggle for Nate to do the right thing, but also help out his brother. Uncharted 4’s environmental storytelling is phenomenal. The story gives context and more layers sure, but you also get what is happening through the environment at times, especially towards the historical concept of the story. Uncharted 4 might be the last Nathan Drake centric Uncharted game, but I am ready for whenever Naughty Dog wants to go back to the series.
2) The Last of Us
The Last of Us. A game that truly made me think about how beautiful life can be without zombies, or The Infected as they are more categorically correct. The game tells a story of such a journey and hardship that makes you in awe every second. The greatest early example of this is the opening scene. If you have played The Last of Us, but put it down early on for some reason, you at least know one of my favorite video game openings ever. This opening sets the tone for the entire game and does not lean away from this tone throughout the entire game. This game exemplifies the best way storytelling in games can be achieved and even stand against the best forms of overall storytelling in movies and books. The characters are amazingly fleshed out, and the dynamics between them are thought out with so much care in which struggle they go into throughout the game. In my eyes, this is truly one of the pillars of the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation. The Last of Us Part II really needs to come out already.
1) God of War (PS4)
After almost a year, God of War is still amazing. Definitely, the top Playstation game I have probably ever played. The dynamic between Atreus and Kratos throughout the entire game is really heart tugging. The gameplay is also impeccable with the ax throwing and the methodical usage of the ax. Now, I did gush all about this game when I did my Top Ten of 2018, and Top Ten of All-Time. So, we won’t go as in-depth as last time. However, this game is gorgeous! The areas have so much color to them that set the tone correctly for each world. There might be few boss fights key to the story, but they are intense and mentally exhausting with the story mixed in with the gameplay of them. Now if you want optional boss fights, the Valkyries are a fun bunch of heart-wrenching agony. Especially the last one. So, They are beautiful enough for me to be fine with the number of boss fights. The opening boss fight! Beautiful! God of War 2, please be as grand as God of War 2018.
Thanks for taking time out of your day and reading! ‘Till next time!
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