When the PlayStation 5 releases in North America on November 12 2020, a slew of PlayStation 4 games will be made available for PlayStation Plus subscribers to download and play for free courtesy of the PlayStation Plus Collection.
18 games are included spanning the console’s life, with the most recent release being 2019’s Days Gone. While 18 free games is certainly a solid library, some gamers are scratching their heads due to some obvious omissions. Nobody expected recent releases like Ghost of Tsushima or The Last of Us Part 2 to make the list, but the following games below felt like obvious picks to throw in the pack.
10 Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
2016’s Uncharted 4 puts a bow on Nathan Drake’s story, one of gaming’s most celebrated human protagonists. However, the most recent release in the series is the smaller Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, starring Chloe Fraser and Nadine Ross. Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection was already made free earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it would have been nice to have this game for free in order to have the entire mainline series gratis.
9 Knack
Mark Cerny, who designed the PlayStation 4 and upcoming PlayStation 5, also directed the launch title Knack. Sony pushed for it hard, but it did not garner the same amount of love other PlayStation exclusives of this generation did. Still, it seemed like a sure pick for a collection such as this, if only to pad the number of titles available. People dig against it hard, but it is a fun action platform.
8 Killzone Shadow Fall
Before Guerrilla Games came out with Horizon Zero Dawn in 2017, they crafted the PlayStation 4 launch title Killzone Shadow Fall, which wraps up their first-person shooter series. As a first-person shooter it is not the most magnificent offering from early in this generation — Wolfenstein: The New Order is better in almost every way — but it was a great technical showcase early in the system’s life and is still pretty to behold today, which would have made its inclusion a no-brainer.
7 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Death Stranding is too recent to make it in the collection, but Hideo Kojima’s last effort in the Metal Gear Solid franchise seems ripe for inclusion. Despite some shortcomings with the ending due to several factors surrounding its development, Phantom Pain remains one of the best games of the generation.
The open-world stealth action mixed with a brutal science fiction narrative taking place in 1984 makes it one of the most memorable experiences most gamers had since the PlayStation 4 came out.
6 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
While the future of Bethesda’s games will most likely stray far away from Sony’s consoles, Skyrim made its way to many consoles during its life, including the PlayStation 4. Fallout 4 is already making it onto the collection, so it would have been nice to balance the post-apocalyptic open-world RPG with the high-fantasy tropes associated with The Elder Scrolls franchise. The remastered edition is also one of the best ways to experience the game short of the PC.
5 Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is currently injecting joy and frustration into gamers’ heart with its mixture of cutesy charm and challenging platforming, but this is just what fans of the series expect. The character may not define the generation, but it certainly defines PlayStation as a brand, despite its current multiplatform status, so putting the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy seemed like a good fit for this collection.
4 Horizon Zero Dawn
After finishing Killzone, Guerrilla Games went more ambitious with a unique open-world experience, Horizon Zero Dawn. Fans are currently waiting for the sequel, which will release for both the PS4 and PS5.
The first game is already three years old, so most who planned on playing it probably already beat it. With this in mind, it could not hurt adding it to the collection in order to attract new players and generate even more hype for the sequel.
3 Gran Turismo Sport
Microsoft has the Forza series, and Sony has been pleasing racing enthusiasts with Gran Turismo since the PlayStation One. Each game in the series always turns out as a technical showpiece for its respective console. While people should be getting excited for the PS5’s power, putting Gran Turismo Sport into the collection would have been a great way to remind people how far developers could push the PS4. It would also help keep racing fans happy until Gran Turismo 7.
2 Shadow Of The Colossus
Before games were taken seriously as an art form, Shadow of the Colossus came around on the PS2 to showcase the storytelling potential of the medium. Bluepoint Games, who is currently working on the Demon’s Souls remake, reminded everyone of the game’s greatness with a faithful remake released in 2018, retaining the classic gameplay and beautiful narrative while making the world and monsters as beautiful as ever. Putting out what many consider one of the greatest games ever made would have been a huge get for this collection.
1 Yakuza 6
Up until recently, most associated Yakuza with PlayStation, though this connection has been slightly severed by the series’ recent deal with Microsoft, which will delay Yakuza 7’s release on the PS5 until March. One wonders if this would also prevent prior Yakuza games from making it onto the PlayStation Plus Collection. If this is not the case, then it is a mystery why at least one Yakuza game is not available as a part of the deal.
