The Best PlayStation Games of All Time According to Famitsu Readers

To coincide with the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation’s launch, iconic Japanese gaming publication Famitsu conducted a reader poll asking its audience to name the 30 best games across the hardware’s history. From PS1 classics to newer games on PS4 and PS5, any title ever released under the PlayStation banner was fair game, and more than 4,000 readers voted on the poll in an attempt to determine the franchises and games synonymous with the brand. As expected, plenty of nostalgic classics on the PS1 and PS2 dominated the list, showing just how influential and important both systems were in evolving the gaming landscape. With our own 30th anniversary of the PS1 approaching (September 9!), we thought it would be fun to see Famitsu readers’ perspective before compiling our own list.

• Release Date — July 17, 2020
• Developer — Sucker Punch Productions
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Stealth
• Famitsu Score — 40/40
• Platform — PlayStation 4

Out of 30 games, there are only 3 on the Famistu list that are from the PS3 and beyond, and one of them is one of the rare games to earn a perfect score from the publication — Ghost of Tsushima. But given how incredible an open-world game Ghost of Tsushima is, its inclusion as one of the best PlayStation games of all time is definitely warranted. In addition to its strong gameplay, Ghost of Tsushima features one of the most visually stunning and lovingly crafted visions of historic Japan.

• Release Date — June 14, 2013
• Developer — Naughty Dog
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — Action, Stealth, Survival Horror
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 3

Most of the games chosen by Famitsu readers are titles from Japanese studios, but leave it to Naughty Dog to break onto the list with The Last of Us. It seems like the studio’s 2013 apocalyptic epic is universally appreciated among PlayStation players, and it ended up being the only game on the PS3 to make the list as one of the best games under the brand’s umbrella. And fair enough; it’s an undisputed classic and a landmark in video game storytelling.

• Release Date — November 30, 2000
• Developer — Wolfteam
• Publisher — Namco
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 33/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Better known in the West as Tales of Destiny II, Tales of Eternia is the third game in Bandai Namco’s Tales of JRPG series and the only representation the series has on the Famitsu poll. The Tales games are relatively niche in the West, even among JRPG fans, but Tales of Eternia was a major success in Japan, selling over 550,000 copies in just under a month. Seems like players’ fondness for this RPG with real-time combat has never faded over the last 25 years.

• Release Date — September 9, 1996
• Developer — Naughty Dog
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — Platformer
• Famitsu Score — N/A
• Platform — PlayStation

Famitsu doesn’t usually review Western games, especially not 30 years ago during the PS1 era, so it never did get a chance to score Crash Bandicoot. But regardless of the game’s lack of a critical reception, Sony’s push to make the character the official mascot of the PS1 pushed Japanese players to import the game in droves, resulting in this iconic 3D platformer being just as loved in the East as it was in the West. At this point, it feels wrong to make a list of the best games across all iterations of the PlayStation hardware and not include Crash Bandicoot.

• Release Date — December 8, 2005
• Developer — New Entertainment R&D Dept.
• Publisher — Sega
• Genre — Action, Beat ’em Up
• Famitsu Score — 37/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Better known as Like a Dragon in Japan (which the series has now switched to as its official naming convention), Yakuza was a stunning first entry in what would become one of Sega’s most popular modern franchises. Take one part open-world drama set in an impressively realistic rendition of Japan, add in some fantastic beat ’em up gameplay, and sprinkle in plenty of humor and absurdity, and you have the Yakuza series in a nutshell. Its first entry is still fondly remembered by players and is a pivotal first step in establishing one of Japan’s most popular open-world franchises.

• Release Date — July 22, 1999
• Developer — Bexide
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Genre — Simulation, Virtual Pet
• Famitsu Score — 34/40
• Platform — PlayStation

The “virtual pet” craze kind of came and went in the West, but it practically never went away in Japan, only gaining popularity and traction throughout the years. So when Sony released the PocketStation peripheral, it smartly tapped into that phenomenon with a virtual pet game that could be played both at home on a PS1 and on the portable pocket station, with Doko Demo Issyo becoming its own major franchise in the process. Not only is Doko Demo Issyo fondly remembered by Japanese players for its lighthearted gameplay, it was a major sales driver for the PocketStation that helped the peripheral become successful in Japan while it mostly flopped in the West.

• Release Date — July 10, 2008
• Developer — Atlus
• Publisher — Atlus
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 33/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Persona 5 would give the series its breakout moment in the West, but it was already one of Japan’s rising stars in the JRPG world for years prior. The popularity of the franchise really took off with the creation of the “modern” style of Persona gameplay from Persona 3 and beyond (designed by former series director and Metaphor: ReFantazio creator Katsura Hashino), and Persona 4 is where the full picture of what the series had to offer came into view. Persona 4 has one of the best settings and stories in the series (tied together by a compelling murder mystery), and its blend of social sim and RPG elements is one of the more balanced in the franchise.

• Release Date — September 20, 2001
• Developer — Omega Force
• Publisher — Koei
• Genre — Hack and Slash, Musou
• Famitsu Score — 34/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Musou games are a great dopamine rush for anyone who enjoys some hack-and-slash action, and the genre was practically spearheaded by Japanese developer Omega Force, creators of the Dynasty Warriors franchise. Accordingly, the series’ breakout first entry on 6th generation hardware, Dynasty Warriors 3, is one of the many PS2 games chosen by readers for Famitsu‘s list of best PlayStation games, and it also happens to be the first entry in the series that really made a commercial splash in the West.

• Release Date — June 28, 2001
• Developer — Sacnoth
• Publisher — Aruze
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 30/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Here in the US, Shadow Hearts and its excellent sequel are seen as cult-classic JRPGs that flew under most players’ radars, but both games were far more successful in their native Japan. The first Shadow Hearts is one of several JRPGs on the PS2 to find its way onto the list of 30 best PlayStation games chosen by Famitsu readers, and it’s absolutely worthy of its place in the ranking. A great horror-tinged RPG with a compelling story and fantastic combat, Shadow Hearts has just about everything you’d want from the genre.

• Release Date — December 15, 1995
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 26/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Surprisingly, Suikoden is one of the few iconic PS1-era JRPGs that didn’t receive a glowing score from Famitsu, but that didn’t stop players from picking it up en masse upon its release. For its time, Suikoden was one of the only major JRPGs on the console, releasing before later hits like Wild Arms and Final Fantasy VII (both on this list, of course), and it acts as a sort of bridge between two distinct eras of JRPG gaming. For a lot of players, myself included, Suikoden is still one of their favorite JRPGs and one of the PS1’s most iconic games.

• Release Date — December 22, 2005
• Developer — Square Enix Product Development Division 1
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — Action RPG
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Bigger and better than its predecessor in just about every way, Kingdom Hearts II is seen by many as the peak of Tetsuya Nomura’s action RPG franchise, and it quickly became one of the PS2’s best-selling games. And really, the recipe for success is all there — quirky, anime-inspired characters designed by one of the minds behind Final Fantasy VII, beloved heroes, villains, and locations from beloved Disney films, and a story so convoluted that it makes other JRPGs seem tame in comparison.

• Release Date — November 27, 2004
• Developer — Level-5
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

The Dragon Quest franchise is an important and foundational pillar of Japanese gaming culture, and the series’ 8th entry is still seen by many as one of the best games in the series. Accordingly, it’s one of two games in the Dragon Quest lineage to make its way onto the Famitsu Top 30 list of best PlayStation games. Dragon Quest VIII is still a lengthy “comfort food” JRPG, but it’s far more streamlined than its immediate predecessor and one of the best-looking games on the PS2 (thanks to Level-5’s expertise with cel-shaded visuals).

• Release Date — November 17, 2004
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action, Stealth
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

For many series fans, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater represents the pinnacle of the franchise and stands as Kojima’s magnum opus, so it’s no surprise to see it land on a reader-chosen list of the best PlayStation games. Of course, critics felt the same about Metal Gear Solid 3, making it one of the many titles on this list that’s pretty much universally accepted as one of gaming’s masterpieces. The new gameplay elements — like CQC melee combat and the camouflage system — help distinguish MGS 3 from its predecessors, and it arguably has one of the greatest stories in the series.

• Release Date — May 16, 2002
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — MMORPG
• Famitsu Score — 38/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

The Final Fantasy series’ shift to MMORPG design with its eleventh mainline entry never really caught on in the West, owing to a lack of infrastructure to support it at the time of its release. But in Japan, Final Fantasy XI was a big deal, with plenty of the game’s most dedicated Japanese players continuing to keep the game alive nearly 25 years later. While it would eventually be outclassed and outpaced by Final Fantasy XIV, Final Fantasy XI is a pivotal entry in the series as the franchise’s first online game.

• Release Date — December 17, 1998
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 30/40
• Platform — PlayStation

If Suikoden was already one of your favorite games on the PlayStation, it only makes sense that Suikoden II would be as well, as both titles are practically linked to one another in both gameplay and story (and take place only three years apart from one another). But more than that, Suikoden II is just a better-balanced and more tightly-paced adventure that features a whole new cast of heroes to unlock, some incredible combat, and one of the best JRPG villains in the history of the genre.

• Release Date — July 7, 2000
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 38/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s return to the Final Fantasy franchise with the series’ ninth entry was a big deal for fans. After a handful of more modern-leaning entries, Final Fantasy IX brought the series firmly back to its high fantasy roots and simplified gameplay systems, ditching experimentation in favor of embracing tradition and familiarity. As a result, Final Fantasy IX continues to be seen as one of the best entries in the franchise, and a fitting end to the console’s now-legendary PS1-era trilogy of games.

• Release Date — December 23, 1997
• Developer — Polyphony Digital
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — Driving/Racing
• Famitsu Score — 35/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Driving simulators and racing games are arguably an even bigger deal in Japan than they are in the West, which helped the revolutionary Gran Turismo quickly become one of the PS1’s best-selling games. All these years later, it’s still impressive to go back and play the original Gran Turismo, and it says a lot about its importance in establishing one of Sony’s most popular and successful franchises that it’s the only game in the series to make it onto the Famitsu reader poll.

• Release Date — December 20, 1996
• Developer — Media. Vision
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 31/40
• Platform — PlayStation

While Suikoden may have been the first big JRPG on the PS1, Wild Arms was the first three-dimensional JRPG on the console, which was a major paradigm shift at the time of its release. It also happened to release just a month before Final Fantasy VII, making it the perfect appetizer to one of the system’s most important and iconic games. But Wild Arms is more than just the prelude to Final Fantasy VII; it’s a great JRPG in its own right with a unique setting that earns its place as one of the more iconic titles to release under the PlayStation umbrella.

• Release Date — January 26, 2018
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action RPG
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 4

Capcom’s Monster Hunter: World would see the formerly niche series finally break through to mainstream popularity in the West, but it was already a best-seller in Japan. So, of course, readers chose it as one of only two PS4 games to land on the Famitsu reader poll of the best 30 games across the brand’s history. That Monster Hunter: World is still drawing in plenty of players in the wake of this year’s Monster Hunter Wilds speaks to the game’s enduring popularity and important place as the perfect on-ramp to the series.

• Release Date — February 11, 1999
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 37/40
• Platform — PlayStation

The saga of Final Fantasy VIII‘s shifting place in the series has been an interesting one to watch over the years. Initially loved by critics and players (enough to become one of the PS1’s best-selling games) and then hated before coming full circle and being seen as a misunderstood and underrated entry, Final Fantasy VIII is nothing if not unique. Regardless of how you feel about the game’s more polarizing mechanics (like the Junction/Draw system and its interesting approach to enemy scaling), Final Fantasy VIII deserves recognition for having one of the series’ best mini-games: Triple Triad.

• Release Date — August 26, 2000
• Developer — Heartbeat
• Publisher — Enix
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 38/40
• Platform — PlayStation

For a time, players seemed to think that a JRPG was better the longer it was. By that metric, Dragon Quest VII is one of the greatest JRPGs by default, since its main story can take up to 150 hours to complete without even engaging in any side content. Dragon Quest VII is a hugely important game in the series as the first entry on 5th-generation hardware; so much so that its later 3DS port would also become a huge hit in Japan. But then again, pretty much every Dragon Quest game is bound to be a success in its home country thanks to the franchise’s place as a national and cultural icon.

• Release Date — December 3, 1994
• Developer — Namco Hometek
• Publisher — Namco
• Genre — Driving/Racing
• Famitsu Score — 37/40
• Platform — PlayStation

When it comes to the PS1’s fairly strong launch library, only one game stood out enough among players to make it onto Famitsu‘s list of the best PlayStation games, and that title is none other than Ridge Racer. It’s hard to think of a more iconic game to introduce players to the power of the PS1, and that’s precisely what Ridge Racer did, wowing players with its almost arcade-perfect 3D visuals and performance right in the comfort of their living rooms.

• Release Date — November 1, 1996
• Developer — G-Craft
• Publisher — Sony Computer Entertainment
• Genre — TRPG
• Famitsu Score — 29/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Western players wouldn’t get to experience Arc the Lad II until the later release of the Arc the Lad Collection from Working Designs. But in Japan, Arc the Lad II was one of the more popular TRPGs (or SRPGs, as they’re better-known in Japan) on the console, enough to where it lands on this list as the sole game in the genre over even Final Fantasy Tactics. Interestingly, Arc the Lad II didn’t even receive as high a score from Famitsu as other TRPG/SRPG games of the era, proving that players and critics don’t always see eye-to-eye on a game’s importance.

• Release Date — September 3, 1998
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
• Publisher — Konami
• Genre — Action, Stealth
• Famitsu Score — 37/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Today it might be easy to take Metal Gear Solid‘s importance as a groundbreaking video game for granted. But for those of us who were PS1 owners and players at the time of its release, it served as a massive leap forward for the medium that gave us a glimpse of the future of video games. Metal Gear Solid not only reinvented the stealth genre, it helped push the medium forward into more cinematic storytelling, proving that the arrival of the PlayStation had signaled a profound paradigm shift in how interactive media could be approached.

• Release Date — December 1, 2010
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action RPG
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation Portable

Japan’s love for games that can be played together in social settings helped make the PSP one of the PlayStation brand’s best-selling consoles in the country, and the handheld’s success was certainly helped along by the Monster Hunter franchise. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd was one of the later games in the console’s lifespan, and it would also end up being one of the select few titles to ever earn a near-perfect 39 out of 40 review score from Famitsu.

• Release Date — March 22, 1996
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Famitsu Score — 38/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Like Metal Gear Solid would do later on in the console’s lifespan, Resident Evil (known in Japan as Biohazard) would signal that video games had “grown up”, telling a dark and mature story that, for the first time, presented a horror game that could actually be scary. It also helped kick off Capcom’s most successful franchise to date, making it a culturally significant title that, despite its being geared toward Western audiences, has a massive following in its native Japan.

• Release Date — July 19, 2001
• Developer — Square Product Development Division 1
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 39/40
• Platform — PlayStation 2

Much like Final Fantasy VII had done years prior for the PS1, the launch of Final Fantasy X on the PS2 proved to be a major leap forward for the franchise and a bona fide system seller for the PS2. So it comes as no surprise that, all these years later, players look back fondly on Final Fantasy X as a title synonymous with the experience of picking up a PS2 and getting to experience its technological advancements over the groundbreaking PS1. Aside from its importance to the PS2 as a console, Final Fantasy X also happens to be one of the last “classic” Final Fantasy games, featuring one of the series’ greatest stories.

• Release Date — February 11, 1998
• Developer — Square Product Development Division 3
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 31/40
• Platform — PlayStation

Anyone who’s played Xenogears will readily sing its praises as one of the greatest games ever made, even if the actual gameplay side of things runs out of steam toward the end. From a design perspective, Xenogears is nothing if not ambitious, and that’s without even mentioning its incredibly complex and moving narrative that incorporates heady and esoteric subject matter and themes. There was nothing else like Xenogears at the time of its release, and there’s arguably still nothing like it more than 25 years later.

• Release Date — March 27, 2008
• Developer — Capcom Production Studio 1
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action RPG
• Famitsu Score — 34/40
• Platform — PlayStation Portable

Chosen by Famitsu readers as one of the best and most iconic PlayStation games, and as the best game in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (known in the West as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite) was yet another pivotal entry on the PSP that thrived thanks to its seamless local co-op. Unsurprisingly, it quickly became one of the series’ best-selling games, moving an impressive 670,000 units on just its launch day in Japan.

• Release Date — January 31, 1997
• Developer — Square
• Publisher — Square
• Genre — JRPG
• Famitsu Score — 38/40
• Platform — PlayStation

The Final Fantasy franchise is one of the most beloved game series to come out of Japan, and its transition into 3D with Final Fantasy VII was a major event that seemed to signal the true “start” of the PlayStation’s dominance. Truthfully, were it not for Square’s decision to partner with Sony on its new console, who knows where the PlayStation brand would be today. The importance of Final Fantasy VII to helping establish the legitimacy of the PlayStation is not lost on players, resulting in the game’s place as the absolute best game associated with the brand according to Famitsu readers.