PlayStation Now is a platform that allows you to play PS2, PS3, and some PS4 games by streaming them on your console with the option of downloading a few of them. While not popular at first and having a few issues that only a game streaming platform can have, the service has gotten better throughout the years.
PS Now is perfect for those of us who’d love to play some of our favorite old games without having to rebuy the console or to those PC gamers who’d like to get their hands on some PlayStation exclusives.
Now that the service is more affordable than ever, I highly recommend to take a look at their library of games and see if anything catches your drift. You’ll find some fantastic games there that you can play back-to-back and as many as you can for just a few bucks a month.
One thing to clarify is that PlayStation Now circles through three games every few months, they are usually triple-A and very popular ones to incentivize people to use their service. While there have been some amazing games listed there, for the sake of this list, I’m going to leave those out and focus on the ones that have ongoing access, meaning the ones that will stay on the service for the foreseeable future.
The Last of Us
Starting off with this classic, The Last of Us offered a rollercoaster of emotions to those who played it. The graphics are stunning, the environment tells a story of its own if you pay close attention, and the gameplay is thrilling.
Unlike other games in the zombie genre, The Last of Us has some neat mechanics with dealing with the infected, having you use stealth most of the time rather than head in guns blazing. Resources are limited, so it’s always better to save them for when you encounter human enemies who are as desperate as you are to survive.
But besides the excellent graphics and neat gameplay, what makes this game a masterpiece is the narrative. The story makes you care with the main characters, Joel and Ellie, in a way that few games can. It shows the nitty and gritty of surviving in a harsh world and their struggles. It’s safe to say that those who haven’t had the chance to play this game yet definitively should.
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar made us marvel at their level of attention to detail in Red Dead Redemption 2, but that doesn’t take any merit from the original. Rockstar did an incredible job of putting you in the shoes of a cowboy in search of redemption and a chance to have a peaceful life with his family.
While the game is bonkers just like any Rockstar title, the story grounds the action believably while allowing you the freedom to do pretty much anything you like and tie up as many people in the rails of the train as you want.
John Marston is probably one of the most sympathetic characters that Rockstar has created, and considering the number of crimes and misdeeds he has committed, that’s saying something.
As always, though, what sets this game apart from most and makes it a Rockstar classic, it’s the wide-open world full of characters, lands to explore and stuff to do, all without forcing your hand. And just when we thought that a wild west game couldn’t get any better, Rockstar released the sequel.
Bloodborne
As an avid fan of the Souls game, I can’t recommend Bloodborne enough. The atmosphere is creepy and daunting, streets filled with coffins and people mumbling nonsense who will not hesitate to attack you on sight.
This game differs from the Dark Souls series not only in the setting but numerous other things. Shields are gone, and the option to regenerate some of your health back with every well-timed hit encourages the player for more close and frantic combat.
The story is a bit more straightforward than other FromSoftware games but still cryptic. Instead of wondering around in a decaying world where the only people left are few and far between, Bloodborne instead decides to throw you into the world as it starts to go crazy, and the passage of time as you progress through the game shows this masterfully.
The RPG elements enhance the combat and are more simple, leaving that fear messing up your favorite weapons with the wrong kind of upgrade behind. The only downside this game has had is that it was exclusive for the PS4, but thanks to PlayStation Now, PC gamers can get their hands on this masterpiece and enjoy (or frustrate) their way around the dark world that FromSoftware created.
God of War Series
I couldn’t decide on which one was the best to put here, so instead, I put the entire series as part of the list. It has the main trilogy along with the two prequels, and they are all worth trying. All of them combined will add on hours upon hours of slashing and killing hordes of enemies with blood-pumping quick time events and gruesome finishers. Not to mention you can kill a wide myriad of greek gods, all of which account for some epic battles.
This series has also been known to be PlayStation exclusive for years and still is, but now thanks to the perk of having PS Now in your PC, people who never had the chance to try these great games now can, and those of us who did play them but left their respective consoles behind can also reminiscent of the good old days killing gods.
Doom (2016)
Doom has always been a staple of first-person shooters, so you can imagine my excitement back when this game came out in 2016. Right from the get-go, you’re pit against an army of demons.
The combat is as fast-paced as a shooter can be: it encourages you to get close and dirty with enemies to get health and ammo, something that most shooters retract from. Typically, you’d be shooting a bunch of goons from behind cover while your health regens only to peek around the corner, shoot a bit and then hide back again.
In Doom, you’re rewarded for each bloody kill, and the framerate is more than enough to enjoy the guts flying through your screen while you seamlessly zigzag your way around demons. Not to mention the feature that allows you to create your own maps. It’s easy to understand, and it gives you a wide range of options to customize your maps.
Both singleplayer and multiplayer are engaging and fun. The multiplayer is as frantic as the singleplayer, the six different modes allow for some variety, and, while borrowing heavily from other online FPS games, it still feels like a Doom game.
Mafia 3
This game shares some similar strengths and downsides as a franchise similar to it, the Grand Theft Auto series. One of the main strengths of Mafia 3 being that the story is engaging, and the characters are fleshed out and well-realized.
One of the main weaknesses, however, it’s the repetitiveness of the missions. Most of them, just like the games made by Rockstar, can be summarized as: “Go here, start the mission, drive halfway across the map, kill these people, escape, rinse and repeat.”
It does have a way to keep you hooked to the game, which is by making you care about the characters you interact with. And the big action set-pieces have more of a presence compared with other games in the franchise.
The tone is a bit of a mix between bits of satire but with seriousness scattered throughout the story, making it grounded when it’s supposed to be without taking itself too seriously as to become boring. Mafia 3 is a crime drama with action and solid shooting that will keep you engaged to the end.
Resident Evil 4
Resi 4 is an odd jewel. By all means, it shouldn’t have had the success it did. After all, it changed a lot of the core mechanics that up until then made Resident Evil games into what they were. The fixed camera angles changed into an over-the-shoulder perspective. There was more of a heavy focus on action than strategy when dealing with enemies, and there was a lot of more legibility than the previous titles.
Who can forget Leo’s cheesy comebacks? Or the cartoonish villain that was spiteful rather than intimidating? Or how about the fact that a big chunk of the game is an escorting mission for one of the most hated characters in gaming history? This may all sound like criticism, but the funny thing is that it’s not! Those are some of the highlights of the game and what made it so appealing in the first place.
It managed to introduce all of those things while also making you scared of walking around a church. The game is challenging, and the moments of laughter can turn into a blood-pumping button smashing in a matter of seconds. A classic all of its own and worthwhile replaying in yet another platform.
Fallout: New Vegas
While I am a huge fan of roleplaying games and first-person shooters, you’d be surprised to know that I’m not really into Fallout. I couldn’t really get into either Fallout 3 or Fallout 4, and while I do understand the appeal of those games and the number of sales speak on their own, the franchise is not one I’m particularly fond of.
With that said, there is an exception to that rule, and that is Fallout: New Vegas. Back when I played New Vegas, I couldn’t place my finger on why it caught my attention more than the main games ever did. Having replayed it on PlayStation Now and knowing that it was made by a different studio, I can see why now.
While the main Fallout games have vast open worlds with a satisfying shooting system and RPG elements, it never dives deep into either of those things.
Granted, New Vegas doesn’t make any significant changes in terms of shooting, but it does in the roleplaying aspect of the game. In New Vegas, your decisions actually matter, and I don’t mean just a few button prompts in very specific parts of the main storyline that change the ending. I mean sidequests and whether or not you fail in them, the way you complete them, what you say to certain NPCs or even the points you choose to spend in your attributes.
There are consequences to your actions, and, contrary to most games, the world doesn’t revolve around you, or at least it doesn’t feel like it does, which just makes the game more immersive, and the world feels more alive as a result.
This might be a bit of a rant compared to other entries of the list, but it’s because I hold New Vegas as one of those few games that really take advantage of the gaming aspect of it. Regardless of whether you like RPGs or FPS games, I’d highly recommend giving New Vegas a shot when you’re scrolling through the PS Now library. You won’t regret it.
Beyond: Two Souls
There’s something about David Cage, the director of Beyond: Two Souls, that really shines in the games he directs. While non-sensical at times, games like Fahrenheit, Detroit: Become Human, and Heavy Rain are some of my favorite games of all time.
One thing that all of those games have in common is that they walk a thin line between being videogames and movies. While the cinematic scenes and set-pieces are spectacular, they also focus on the decisions that you, as the player, make and their effect on their own stories.
Like in most of Cage’s games, Beyond: Two Souls acts as more of an interactive movie where button prompts have you choose what the characters will say or do to alter the story and their ramifications, adding replayability. In this title, you’re in control of Jodie, a young lady with psychic abilities that is bound to a supernatural entity named Aiden.
The way their relationship works and the effects it has on the story are enough to recommend the game, but besides that, it also has a lot of staples from other David Cage’s games. Lots of action, tear-inducing moments, and a touching story that will have you glued to the screen.
Batman Arkham Series
Alright, this is another “combo” on the list, but can you blame me? If I had to choose only one of the three Arkham games available on the PS Now platform, it’d be Arkham City, but to only recommend playing that one would be a disservice to the franchise.
Asylum, City, and Origins deserve to be played in their entirety, and now you can. Funnily enough, the order I’d recommend playing them to get the most fun out of would be chronologically. Starting with Origins, then Asylum, and finishing strong with City. And while it is a shame that Knight is not part of PS Now at the time of this writing, the platform is always adding new games to their roster, so my fingers are always crossed.
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