Summary
If you’ve been gaming for a long time, you might recall there being something of a drought in role-playing games during the years when Sony’s PlayStation 3 was in the spotlight. This was especially true of RPGs by Japanese developers, though there were notably fewer RPGs of all sorts. Increasingly, fans turned elsewhere for the genre.
All that changed in a big way with the arrival of the PlayStation 4. RPGs were back, and even some of the more notable late-PS3 titles were given face lifts for those who owned the shiny new fourth-generation hardware. With so many great PS4 RPGs, it isn’t easy counting down to our top 18, but we sure have tried our best.
Given the increasing tendency for developers to re-release their games with spiffier graphics and performance updates on subsequent hardware, we’re including plenty of games that now sport PS5 versions (or at least, are best-played via PlayStation 5). But their PS4 roots remain!
18Ys 9: Monstrum Nox
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
Ys IX: Monstrum Nox puts you in the role of the adventurer Adol, imprisoned and then cursed to be a Monstrum. With his new gifts, he must remove the threat of the shadowy Grimwald Nox.
Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana is a great game, but developer Falcom taps into the PlayStation 4’s increased power with the more visually spectacularYs 9: Monstrum Nox- even if most of us have played Ys 8 on PS4, Switch, or PC.
That island-themed adventure starring protagonist Adol has its roots on Vita, and it shows; meanwhile, Monstrum Nox’s city of Balduq is sharper, better-defined, and populated with more than a few fascinating characters.
Adol becomes the titular ‘Monstrum’ this go-around, and really, though his saga may be niche in the grand scheme of gaming as a medium, those of us who have grown with the guy can’t help but wonder if he’ll ever retire after a life of such consistently challenging surprises.
17Kingdom Hearts 3
The Kingdom Hearts series' second console-oriented installment debuted all the way back in 2006; thereafter, a slew of handheld and mobile titles emerged. While some fans were just plain pleased to see the sprawling storyline continue, many yearned for the sort of bigger-budget fare that only a console game’s budget can afford.
That wish came true in 2019, whenKingdom Hearts 3arrived with the promise to put a cap on the primary plot arc that had enveloped the series for so many chapters.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is admittedly an uneven experience, especially for those who would have preferred a bit less Disney dawdling and a bit more content for the story’s original elements, but it does come together well at the end - doubly so if you own the Re Mind expansion released a year later.
Kingdom Hearts 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Concluding the Dark Seeker Saga, Kingdom Hearts 3 is an action RPG from Square Enix. It sees Sora once again team up with Donald Duck, Goofy, King Mickey and Riku to stop Xehanort from enacting his dastardly plan.
16Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
It’s difficult to deny the impact that 2017’s Nier: Automata has had on the Japanese RPG industry. The collaboration between Square Enix and Platinum Games aimed to deliver a sequel to the cult-classic original Nier, and while the impeccably fluent and satisfying action combat surely would have turned heads to some extent, few could have predicted that Automata would go on to become one of Square’s best-selling games in generations.
Naturally, attention thus tilted back toward the first game, andNier Replicant(pardon us for omitting the numbers) serves as a worthy graphical uptick and general quality-of-life update.
Never mind that it’s far easier to find; Nier Replicant is simply more pleasurable to play, although purists who prefer the original Nier’s gruff father figure - a change made with Western audiences in mind - to the brother-hero that Japan has always sported may lament the shift to a more common archetype.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
Nier Replicant ver.1.22474487139 is a remake of the role-playing game initially launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It redesigns combat to resemble its sequel, Nier Automata, and adds new story beats and a full voice cast.
15The Outer Worlds
Obsidian Entertainment hit the ground running with Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, Neverwinter Nights 2,Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and more. Rightly viewed as featuring some of the most talented members of the RPG-making industry, with legacies further back than the developer’s 2003 founding, it’s plain to see why the announcement of space-based The Outer Worlds was met with such enthusiasm.
It’s a little smaller than some might like, and a little jankier, too, butThe Outer Worldshas plenty of heart, with delightfully cheeky character-writing, and very much its own fresh vibe in the crowded sci-fi scene.
Depending on your PC specs, you might want to avoid Spacer’s Choice Edition, which - ironically - is a current-gen remaster that frequently fumbles in performance and alters enough of the game’s art style to be more of a love-or-hate than an outright successor.
The real successor - The Outer Worlds 2 - is now in development.
14The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim - Special Edition
If you feel like adding Skyrim to this list is a bit of a cheap trick, we apologize. But Special Edition did PS4 (and Xbox One) some real favors; the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions that launched alongside PC in 2011 were, in a word, ugly. Skyrim’s majestic beauty was often hindered by frame rate nightmares and dated textures. Bethesda Game Studios was, quite simply, puttingtoo muchgame on those aging warhorse consoles.
Skyrim: Special Editionfeels like a breath of fresh air in comparison, and while it’s better and better on PS5/Xbox Series (and will forever be at its best on PC), PS4 owners will find a perfectly playable rendition of the best-selling RPG of all time.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
One of the all-time greats, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim redefined the concept of the Western RPG. With countless awards under its belt and releases on almost every platform imaginable, you’ll find yourself engrossed in a colossal open world in your role as the Dragonborn. You must face your destiny and save the land from a formidable foe.
13Yakuza: Like A Dragon
With all the talk of turn-based RPG series ‘needing’ to transform into action-RPGs to ‘keep up with the times’, it was a real shocker whenYakuza: Like a Dragon, bucked the trend in a big way by taking a series known for its beat-em-up action combat and venturing into the turn-based field. Between the dramatic gameplay shift and brand-new protagonist Ichiban, Like a Dragon is a radical departure.
And yet, it retains every bit of the goofy charm, the endlessly amusing mini-games, and the unmistakably Yakuzavibethat has long made Yakuza a staple name for a certain subset of gamers. That subset has surely increased, too; we remember a decade ago and more, when it seemed virtually nobody in the Western world was familiar with Sega’s ongoing saga.
Yakuza (or rather, ‘Like a Dragon’, as it’s now properly called - it’s a long story) will never be a blockbuster franchise, per se, but it’s definitely risen in popularity.
Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Yakuza: Like a Dragon, known internationally as Yakuza 7, introduces a new cast of characters and an entirely new battle system. It also marked the first time a Yakuza game was available with both the original Japanese cast, and a localized English version.
12The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 3
Did you know Japanese developer Nihon Falcom has been crafting a single long-running storyline for 12 video games and counting? As with Like a Dragon, the Trails franchisedoesgarner somewhat more notoriety in the West these days, but it’s hardly the exponential leap necessary for us to feel confident that most of you will say yes.
Trails is split into several sub-series, each following largely their own cast, even as the grand storyline develops between them all. The first entry made specifically for PlayStation 4,Trails of Cold Steel 3, is the third in a quartet of games bearing the Cold Steel subtitle, and for our money, it’s the best of them.
ew characters join familiar faces as a shadow grows over the Erebonian Empire - it’s not that follow-up Cold Steel 4 is bad, but it’s this penultimate chapter that fires on every cylinder.
11Final Fantasy 15
A lot has been said about whatFinal Fantasy 15did wrong. In fact, Final Fantasy 16 is upon us at last, and yet it seems like FF15 arguments have practically already eclipsed much of the FF16 chatter. Does that make Final Fantasy 15 ‘The Last Jedi of RPGs’? We’re not qualified to say, really, but it sure does feel like it.
The thing is, Noctis' road-trip-turned-tragedy is beloved as much as it’s reviled. It feels unlike anything else in the series, with its open-world road trip and highly-praised ‘brotherhood of bros being bros’ vibe. The story falls apart just about immediately once itfinallygets going, as the move from the open world into a more linear affair has the unfortunate effect of feeling rushed.
You also need to consume several other pieces of media to get a full picture of what’s even happening.
But the highs are so high, with the quirky chocobo rides, the cheesy banter, the campouts, the hangout animations, and more. While Final Fantasy 16 is probably thebetter game, it’s hard to shake the feeling Final Fantasy 15 is morefun.
10Dragon Age: Inquisition
As of this writing, it has been just shy of nine years since BioWare gave usDragon Age: Inquisition. The third entry went bigger, bolder, and longer than either of its predecessors, especially the confined (and somewhat maligned) second. These changes toward a semi-open gameplay environment weren’t met with universal praise, but that doesn’t stop Inquisition from being one heck of an RPG overall.
Even better than the base game is its two-years-later coda, Trespasser, which released in 2015. It teased a sequel that has been rebooted twice; let’s just pray to Andraste it doesn’t happen a third time.
While we wait a decade for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, we can take solace (and Solas) in knowing that at least the series has paused on a note as great as Inquisition.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the third in the popular action RPG series from BioWare, and serves as a sequel to the events of Dragon Age 2. You must travel the continent of Thedas in order to seal the ‘Breach’, a kind of portal that is sending demonic enemies into the world.
9Yakuza Zero
Earlier, we mentioned the Like a Dragon series' appreciable rise in general awareness outside of Japan. If there’s any game to thank for it, surely it’sYakuza Zero. Admittedly, Yakuza Zero launched on PS3 as well, but its simultaneous PS4 launch has long since made it a fourth-gen Sony hit in the minds of the many.
And what a hit it is! This Kiryu-starring prequel benefits from all the glitz and glam of the late 1980s, which shone as brightly in Japan as anywhere else across the globe. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s trademark Yakuza funk blends perfectly with the era. There’s lots to love in the nearly two-decade Like a Dragon franchise, but Yakuza Zero might just be the high mark.
