Sony’s stable of world class studios have put the pedal to the metal all through 2022. Delays through 2020 and 2021 have meant that this year has been a treat for PS5 and PS4 owners alike, as they wrapped up their plans for cross-gen games. That might have left us feeling that we’re yet to really see what the PS5 can do when it’s the sole focal point of a first party studio, but there’s much more to games than just graphics, and it would feel mean to deprive PS4 owners of these fantastic games.
Our leading titles for Best PlayStation Game saw two of of Sony’s premier studios deliver two long-awaited sequels for two of their biggest franchises. On the one hand, an epic saga that is reaching a note of finality, on the other, a world and franchise that really feels like it’s only just getting started.
Of course, only one game can win.
It’s remarkable to look back on the earliest games in the God of War series and see how dramatically it has changed. The rage-infested slay-athons of the PS2, PSP and PS3 gave way to a more matured tone and nuanced story in the 2018 sequel and reboot. God of War: Ragnarök picks up where that game left off and sees us through to a narrative conclusion to its Norse saga.
While it might seem like a rather straightforward follow up, Santa Monica Studio has carefully refined and improved every aspect of their adventuring template, making the game feel more fluid, supercharging the combat and featuring deeper RPG customisation, and expanding the world that you’re able to explore while lobbing you Leviathan Axe across all Nine Realms of Norse mythology.
God of War: Ragnarök is prestige PlayStation gaming at its peak.
– Jim H
Horizon Forbidden West – Runner Up
Horizon Zero Dawn saw Guerrilla Games teach themselves a lot of new tricks, from telling a very different type of science fiction tale to the Killzone series, to crafting an open world, and blending action RPG character building with compelling third person combat against super-cool animalistic robots. Horizon Forbidden West saw them grab every opportunity to do better, from the storytelling and characterisation, to the combat, and even with extracting the very best graphics out of the fading PlayStation 4 generation. This was also a strong visual showcase for the PlayStation 5, of course.
There’s a good argument to be made for Guerrilla to be a rather unfortunate studio when it comes to Game of the Year awards. Two times in a row, their games have released just weeks before experiences that have defined their respective years – Horizon Zero Dawn a hot minute before the Nintendo Switch arrived with Breath of the Wild, and now Horizon Forbidden West coming just ahead of Elden Ring at the start of this year, and with God of War: Ragnarök by its end. Third time might be the charm on the awards front, but Horizon Forbidden West should not be overlooked in the here and now.
Stray – Runner Up
Stray immediately captured the imaginations of gamers upon its initial reveal. For one thing, the internet at large was completely obsessed with amusing cat pictures and memes for a good five years or so, and for another, it did a great job of capturing the feel and motion of a cat making its way through a hustling, bustling world.
The final game manages to realise a lot of that vision, starting with the adorable prologue before leading into the wider adventure that really taps into a cat’s innate agility as you explore, enables you to indulge in some of the more chaotic cat-like tendencies, and soak in this gorgeously rendered robot city.
Honourable Mentions (in alphabetical order)
- Elden Ring
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Gran Turismo 7
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
