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10 PS4 exclusives we can’t wait to play in 2016
Sorry Xbox fans, Sony called dibs on these awesome games.
Nathan Drake is back again for Uncharted 4
© Sony/Naughty Dog
It takes time for consoles to come of age. The early years of a machine’s life cycle are often defined by multi-platform games from third party publishers, but as time goes on and rivals up their game, it becomes vital for a console maker to stand out from the crowd, find their own USP. That always boils down to one thing: exclusive games. The Marios, Halos and Uncharteds.
This generation is no different. With the Xbox One playing rapid catch up under the stewardship of Phil Spencer, Sony can’t rest on its early sales lead with the PS4. It needs stand out titles you can’t play anywhere else, and luckily for the company, there are plenty of those on the way. Don’t believe us? Take a look at these PlayStation exclusives incoming in the next twelve months.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
The hype couldn’t be higher for Naughty Dog’s first ‘proper’ PS4 game after the success of The Last Of Us remake. Sony’s tentpole production for 2016 is looking explosive to say the least, but whether it can recapture the Indie-esque magic of the original trilogy and come to define a console in the same way Uncharted 2 did the PS3 remains to be seen. We’re ready to find out come 18 March though.
Persona 5
JRPG fans have been waiting two console generations for this one, Atlus seeming content to push out a remake of Persona 4 on PS Vita and skip the PS3 altogether. Perhaps that’s because trying to persuade newcomers why they should play a Persona game is tricky and Marketing didn’t fancy it. “It’s a bit like Pokémon and a bit like a dating simulator, only with randomly generated dungeons,” doesn’t exactly sound very enticing. You should play it though, just take our word for it. Really.
Nights Of Azure
Another JRPG you won’t be able to enjoy on Xbox One. This one features a group of high school students teaming up with a load of cute ‘demons’ to fight monsters in a fantasy world, and yes we realise that in this regard it sounds exactly like Persona 5 or any other JRPG ever for that matter, but it came out in Japan in October and everybody said it was pretty good, so it’s got that going for it. Nights Of Azure lands in Europe in April.
Gravity Rush Remastered
The PS Vita’s best game is about to make its debut on PS4 so you’ve got almost no excuse not to enjoy this revolutionary platformer which sees you controlling the effects of gravity to scrape through levels. It’s out February 2, while a true sequel is due later in 2016 for PS4.
The Last Guardian
Hahahaha. The Last Guardian coming out? That’s like someone finding a jetpack in GTA V or a Metal Gear Solid game making any sense. Not gonna happen. Wait, what? It’s coming out in 2016? Huh. We guess puzzle games about winged giant catdog hybrids can fly after all.
Tales Of Berseria
While Square Enix insists new Final Fantasy games are on the way with tantalising reveals and precisely no release dates, Bandai Namco quietly keeps plugging away at the rival Tales RPG series. We’ve only just finished Tales of Zestiria, the first PS4 game in the franchise but already the next entry is on the way. Expect a far away kingdom, intense fights focusing on combos and chaining moves and some sort of airship. Tales of Berseria doesn’t yet have a release date, but we’re willing to bet the farm that it goes on sale before Final Fantasy XV.
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Ask most gamers what PS2 games they’d most like to see remade for PS4, and Odin Sphere wouldn’t be on the list. An obscure JRPG from 2007, it had been all but forgotten when Atlus suddenly announced it would be returning to the PS4 in January. Perhaps the success of Child Of Light has shown there’s still a market for sidescrolling RPGs, or it wants to whet appetites for Persona 5 a few months later – either way, it’s the perfect opportunity to revisit a beautifully animated adventure.
Until Dawn: Rush Of Blood
Sony could have just said “We’re making House Of The Dead for PlayStation VR” and we’d have been down, but instead it took the time to show off this unexpected on-rails spin-off at its recent PlayStation Experience event. Until Dawn surprised fans with its innovative take on the slasher film experience, and Rush Of Blood provides another twist: these are fairground rides recreated in VR. Spooky.
Rez Infinite
Look, we’ll seize on any excuse to tell you just how good the Sega Dreamcast was and is, but even the most diehard haters (aka PS2 fans) will have to admit this is awesome. Sony has teamed up with Tetsuya Mizuguchi to bring back the classic rhythmic shooter for PlayStation VR, so you can look around the pulsing Tron-like levels while you blow them up in time to EDM. Best of all, Mizuguchi has even built a suit to let you feel the game’s vibrations while you play. A regular ol’ PS4 version is in the works too, but really, who wouldn’t want to combine a Dreamcast classic with a fully body massage? Heretics and self-flagellants, that’s who.
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Hayao Miyazaki is no longer making movies, which is a tragedy. Count yourselves lucky then that Level-5 has clubbed together with Studio Ghibli once more to come up with the next best thing, a PS4 sequel to the studio’s fantastic PS3 RPG, complete with beautiful hand drawn animation from the Japanese answer to Disney. We’re also hoping that party AI has been improved this time round, because adventuring through the world in the first game felt a bit like prodding children wearing high-vis jackets around on their first school trip, asking them kindly not to use up all their magic points at once then watching them chuck them all up the wall and slurp up all your potions in one fight. Idiots.
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