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What are the best cult classic games on PS4?

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Mar 23, 2020

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10 Games Considered

Best cult classic games on PS4	Price	Genre	Release Date
-- Gravity Rush 2	$39.99	-	-
-- Life is Strange	$19.05	Adventure, Narrative	Jan 29 2015
-- NieR: Automata	$59.99	Action Role-Playing	-
-- Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings	$59.99	Role-Playing	-
-- Undertale	$14.99	Role-Playing	-

Gravity Rush 2

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The combat is just awesome

The combat in Gravity Rush 2 is so much fun. Your character is well-versed in martial arts, but what makes it unique is that she incorporates her gravity powers in them. This allows you to float around enemies, kicking and punching them from all sides. You can also use your gravity powers to throw various objects such as trash cans or lampposts at enemies. Even though it plays very simple as a whole, the various enemies, mini-bosses, and bosses each require a slightly different approach in battling them, allowing the combat to stay exciting right until the ending credits. See More

Top Con

The camera sometimes struggles to keep up

Because the combat is so furious in Gravity Rush 2, sometimes the camera simply can't keep up. It doesn't happen often, but it is certainly a huge annoyance when it does. See More

Top Pro

Gravity control makes for some interesting gameplay

Gravity Rush 2 puts you in control of a character that can control gravity, allowing you to change the direction of it. Flip the gravity upside down, you're falling into the sky now. Flip it sideways, you're zooming horizontally over the city roofs. It might take some while to get used to, but the freedom of movement makes the game really fun. See More

Top Con

The stealth missions are a pain

Gravity Rush 2 occasionally has stealth missions, which aren't any fun at all. If you get spotted even once you have to start over. This wouldn't be so bad if the game had any stealth mechanics at all. You're just stuck using your gravity powers and regular movement, hoping the enemies won't spot you, which makes it feel tacked on and unpleasant. See More

Life is Strange

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Choice based gameplay with a twist

Your character can rewind time, so you can undo any recent choice or action, allowing you to try out different ones. This feels really awesome since in most games you'd have to reload your save or replay through entire sections just to view the other choices. See More

Top Con

Choices feel a little lacking

While there are many choices in Life is Strange, most of them have no long term impact on the story. The only noticeable changes are the dialogue lines and what scenes you get. While this adds some nuances to your journey, the destination is ultimately the same. See More

Specs

Genre:Adventure, Narrative

Top Pro

Great story

Life is Strange expertly portrays a teenagers life during high school, capturing all the good and bad emotions, while also adding a supernatural twist. The main character and her issues are relatable, side characters are interesting, and the plot twists are very unexpected. The story as a whole is very enjoyable, keeping you on the edge of your seat most of the time. See More

Top Con

Some audio sync issues

In addition to poorly done lip syncing, character voice lines sometimes overlap as well. You might not understand what's being said unless you turn on the subtitles. It can be really annoying at times, even with subtitles. See More

Top Pro

A well-polished experience

Excellent voice acting, great story, smooth lighting, detailed object/level design, extensive number of people and objects to interact with, and even amazing music. Everything about the game makes it very enjoyable to play. See More

NieR: Automata

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An incredible amount of gameplay

You can easily spend 60 plus hours exploring the world NieR: Automata, and still have much more to do. See More

Top Con

Random lag spikes

When walking into an abandoned city, or during cutscenes, you'll randomly experience lag from time to time. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

Fast-paced and action packed combat

The combat in NieR: Automata is incredible. It has a very hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and acrobatics. You will have to switch from using small, quick jabs with your weapon, to devastatingly strong attacks. You also have to utilize ranged attacks, as well as the companion that follows you around if you want to have any hope of surviving every encounter. It can be very difficult to win battles sometimes, but it also feels equally rewarding when you finally achieve victory. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Some players have been complaining about the game crashing, freezing, save files missing, etc. See More

Top Pro

A unique take on storytelling leads to a very entertaining experience

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is great: in order to get the full experience, you've got to do multiple playthroughs of the game. You unlock more chapters of the story as you complete the previous chapters more times: completing the first chapter twice will unlock the second chapter, then when you complete that you will unlock the third. When you begin, you play as an android known as YoRHA. However, subsequent playthroughs will allow you to choose different characters. This lets you experience the story from a different perspective. It's really interesting and certainly serves to make the game more fun overall. See More

Top Pro

It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment

NieR: Automata is set in an apocalyptic time where Earth has been overrun by robots, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope. See More

Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings

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Creative concept of entering paintings to explore new worlds

The many fantasy-like worlds you explore through the mysterious paintings are very pretty and whimsical. Going into the paintings themselves is fascinating since it's something you don't get to do in real life, and you get to learn more about Lydie and Suelle as you go along. Gathering resources and fighting monsters while surrounded by waterfalls and flowery forests helps keep the gameplay from getting too repetitive or stale. All of this adds a more magical feel to the game's more ordinary slice-of-life sections. See More

Top Con

No English voices even though previous Atelier games included them

For some reason, Atelier Lydie & Suelle doesn't have an English dub and just has the original Japanese voices with English subtitles. There's nothing wrong with only having the Japanese option, but it's really weird considering the other Atelier games in the West have English voice acting. New players don't have much to worry about here unless you can't stand having to read subtitles. If you're a fan of the series and you're used to the English dub, you might be thrown off by the change. See More

Specs

Genre:Role-Playing

Top Pro

Charming and colorful anime art style

The art style is has many bright colors and well-drawn characters. Everyone has all sorts of colorful hairstyles, eyes, and outfits like pink, blue, and crimson that aren't too over-the-top. Their eyes have cool swirls for pupils, their skin tones are radiant, and every character has a bright and lovely smile. This is a beautiful anime style that looks good in the 3D cel-shaded graphics and the 2D cutscenes with still art that are more like a visual novel. See More

Top Con

You won't find a sprawling narrative here like in most RPGs

The stories in the Atelier games are more about everyday life mixed in with whimsical fantasy. This isn't the kind of RPG with the type of layered, rich story with dramatic twists and turns that you'd expect from the genre. If you want a heavier narrative with more to say, you won't get that with this game. See More

Top Pro

Slice-of-life story and gameplay that's relaxing and laid-back

There's a sweet simplicity to the story and gameplay that focuses more on everyday life. Playing as the two twins, Lydie and Suelle, you're mainly trying to make ends meet and become the best possible alchemists you can be. You pass the days at your own pace as you take on jobs from the townspeople, leading you to explore the worlds inside of paintings, gather materials, and craft those materials into items through alchemy. It's nice that this game lets you kick back and relax with a more low-stakes story and simplistic gameplay. See More

Top Con

Graphics for environments aren't that great

The visuals for the environments don't hold up to how pretty the cel-shaded graphics are. The textures are low-quality with jaggies sticking out. It's not so bad on the PC version and the PlayStation 4; things are much more obvious on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Vita. There are also some invisible walls that cut you off in places like open arches leading to shops, making the maps feel a lot smaller. If you can handle limited maps with so-so graphics, then these problems aren't that big of a deal in the long run. See More

Top Pro

Engaging gathering and crafting system with alchemy as the game's main focus

Atelier Lydie & Suelle focuses on gathering materials and synthesizing them into alchemy formulas as the main mechanics. You can lose yourself in the game for hours as you explore the fantasy-like levels, picking up resources from bushes, hacking away at trees, or mining them from rocks. You can take as long you want to gather the stuff you need before going back home to your alchemy lab, or your atelier. The puzzle-like 4x4 crafting grid has a neat strategy in how you can make the most out of your ingredients. If you just put your ingredients wherever on the grid, you'll end up with a bad product. Arranging your ingredients together in certain ways on the grid boosts the end product's effects, like putting them near green squares to improve your product's healing effect, which improves the item's overall quality. Going for quality gives you more experience points to level up and more money from the jobs you take on. Taking your time to gather the materials you need and synthesizing them into the best possible items pays off in the end. See More

Top Con

Not for people who hate repetitive busywork

If you can't stand doing the same things over and over again in games, then Atelier Lydie & Suelle probably isn't for you. The whole game is about exploring maps to gather materials and then crafting those materials into something useful through alchemy. There are some turn-based battles thrown in, but these more or less take a backseat to the alchemy mechanics. The heavy focus on gathering and crafting can end up feeling like busywork, turning the game into a drag for players who hate that kind of thing. See More

Top Pro

Solid turn-based combat that's welcoming to beginners

Atelier Lydie & Suelle's combat is simple enough for beginners who want to try out a turn-based JRPG. The interface is clean with basic commands for attacking and using skills, magic, and items. It's easy to get the hang of when to go on offense while your health is high, and when to switch to healing when your health starts to get low. The combat doesn't overwhelm you with complicated tutorials or mechanics, staying at a beginner's level with some room to grow down the line. This is a really good choice to start with if you want to get into turn-based combat before moving onto other games. See More

Undertale

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Unpredictable gameplay

Various ways too tackle the game that depends solely on the choices you make. See More

Top Con

Replaying can be a chore

The first time going through the game it's a nice experience, especially when we know nothing about the game. A different story is when we try going the same route and try changing one thing. Not only all the jokes and plot points have already been experienced, it can take a while to get to the point when we decide to do something different. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Genre:Role-Playing

Co-Op:Single Player

Top Pro

Full of interesting easter eggs

There are many secret mechanics to be discovered in the game. It may take a couple of playthroughs to discover them all, but when found it will make for a mind bending discovery. How the game appears is not how the game is actually being played. See More

Top Con

Punishes you for playing an RPG game like you would normally do.

Remember when you accidentally killed that monster? Well, we're going to make you hate yourself for it. See More

Top Pro

Amazing characters

The characters in the game are written well, each with their own personality. One may be too nice, and will lower their hit points when you attack, just to not offend you. Another may have personal goals of validation from their friends and family. This well fleshed out world works thanks to the characters contained within, making for an enjoyable story filled with humor. See More

Top Con

Art could be better

Much of the game is plain looking with simple graphics, and some with downright bad looking graphics. While it can be appreciated this was all created by one person, the graphics could use some polish in order to really make the game shine. See More

Top Pro

Incredible soundtrack

Just like the simple but pleasant graphics in the game, the music matches this with a lo-fi score that is very fitting. See More

Life is Strange: Before the Storm

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Improved writing over the first game

The original Life is Strange suffered from some instances of awkward lines that sounded like a middle-aged adult trying to emulate how teenagers speak; thankfully, Before the Storm has a much clearer, down-to-earth script that helps the characters sound more authentic and real. Rachel's use of "hella" is more amusing this time around, as it gives context as to why Chloe picked up on it and used it frequently in the first game. Overall, each of the characters in the game are more well-rounded across the three episodes thanks to the smooth writing. See More

Top Con

Limited exploration

With much of the focus on the storytelling, it's still unfortunate that Chloe can't leave the designated story areas without turning around and repeating the same line about how she's supposed to focus on her objective. The limited areas to walk around in are understandable, yet disappointing, with missed opportunities for Chloe to walk down the street from her home and see what her neighbors are up to, or for her and Rachel to hang out in more places around Arcadia Bay together. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Adventure, Narrative

Top Pro

Chloe is more likable this time

In the first Life is Strange, many players complained that Chloe was insufferable and selfish as Max's best friend, complaining in order to have more of her time when she might not have deserved it. This time around, watching the events of Before the Storm unfold from Chloe's eyes is enjoyable, largely thanks to how easygoing she is with Rachel--for the most part--and how far she's willing to go to sacrifice for her throughout the plot. Chloe makes dorky jokes that don't always land and back-talks school staff at Blackwell Academy with harmless ease, making her a much warmer, sillier character compared to her prickly, temperamental self in Max's adventure. See More

Top Con

Third episode falls flat in some areas

Life is Strange: Before the Storm is an all-around stand-out title, with the first and second episodes building up to an impactful third installment that feels lacking in certain aspects. Without getting into spoilers, there are a few plot holes that aren't wrapped up by the end, and much of the tension in the episode falls flat because of these glaring holes that none of the characters bother to address. See More

Top Pro

Great soundtrack

Daughter, the indie folk band from England, worked on the tracks for Before the Storm, pulling together many of the game's great moments with thoughtful acoustic tunes and moody piano tracks. The more upbeat, hopeful tracks fit in incredibly well with Chloe's adventurous scenes with Rachel, giving a sense of wonder as the two explore Arcadia Bay together. One song in particular, 'All I Wanted', is a memorable, catchy folk track that captures the feeling of Chloe and Rachel supporting one another through their struggles, which is what Life is Strange: Before the Storm is all about. See More

Top Pro

Choices have consequences

Much like in the first game, Before the Storm features several choices throughout the game that have an impact on future plot points across the three episodes. How these choices end up impacting the ending are debatable, but there are still a myriad of choices that change the outcome of a single playthrough, such as Chloe's decision to handle certain sums of money, or whether or not she's willing to accept her mother's unlikable new boyfriend. Chloe and Rachel's interactions can also be limited to friendship or expanded into a romantic relationship through player choice. See More

Steins;Gate 0

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Multiple endings that depend on your choices

One of the best parts about the story is how your decisions affect the ending you get. The multiple paths branch out depending on how your respond to emails and text messages, which show the recipient characters how you think and feel. Their reactions to your state of mind determines how things play out in the long-run, opening up lots of chances to replay the game to see all the different outcomes. See More

Top Con

Not for people who want more involved gameplay

Since Steins;Gate 0 is a visual novel, that means a lot of reading. The gameplay boils down to how you get one of the multiple endings, which is limited to your responses to text messages and emails with other characters. If you want a game with more interactivity, then this one probably isn't for you unless you're willing to try something different. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Visual Novel

Top Pro

Great English localization

The English localization is pretty good. The voice acting is purely in Japanese, so the game relies heavily on its subtitles to get its story across. Thankfully, everything sounds natural and flows well, keeping things relevant and accessible for non-Japanese audiences. Every little thing on-screen is translated to English, too, including things like cute reaction stickers that your friends send you through text messages. There are a few mispellings and mistranslations here and there, but it's not bad enough to pull you out of the experience. Anyone will have an easy time understanding all of the dialog here. See More

Top Con

Some reused art assets stick out

From time to time, you may notice that the characters don't always look the same. There are some old models from the first Steins;Gate game that get reused here, probably to save time, but it's distracting. The old character models aren't as interesting or detailed as the new ones for this game, so they end up sticking out in a bad way. It's nothing too terrible, though it may throw you off. See More

Top Pro

Unique concept of bending time to prevent World War III

The story takes things one step further with its themes and concepts. You're part of a group of students who use time travel and artificial intelligence support to stop a terrible future where World War III breaks out between the major powers on the planet. There's plenty of intriguing science-fiction lore to learn about along the way, and it's all easily digestible thanks to great tips that the game shows you from time to time. It's a cool concept that goes beyond the usual stories about war, keeping things new and exciting. See More

Top Pro

Dark and mature storyline that grapples with grief and loss

Steins;Gate 0's story is quite serious, dealing with some real concepts that many games don't really explore. The story takes place in an alternate timeline after the first Steins;Gate game where the protagonist failed to save his loved one, causing him to struggle with anxiety, PTSD, and depression. You spend much of your time speaking with other characters who try to get through to the main character, hoping that he overcomes his grief to help save the world from falling into war. It's a poignant yet realistic approach that still has layers of hope, keeping things from getting too bogged down in sadness. See More

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number

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Exciting fast-paced action

Hotline Miami 2 is about brutally murdering mobsters in their safe-houses. You can plan out your path before entering a safe-house but once the action starts, it never slows down. You'll run down hallways and through rooms, killing mobsters with any weapon within reach, including baseball bats, knives, katanas, shotguns, rifles, and many more. Before you know it, there will only be a sea of corpses left to keep you company. See More

Top Con

Can be really frustrating

When you die in Hotline Miami 2, you have to restart the level/section. Because most enemies can take you out in one hit, a momentary lapse in attention can be fatal. This can be especially frustrating in long levels since dying near the end means you'll lose about 30 minutes of progress. See More

Top Pro

Great art style for added immersion

Hotline Miami 2 has a very simple, colorful, and pixelated art style, which it uses to great effect for immersion. The bare minimum pixels were used to create the colorful environments, characters, and animations, so you never can make out the details. These pile up in your head, constantly using your subjective imagination to fill in the blanks. This creates a more disturbing and surreal experience, depending on how imaginative you are or how you feel about senseless slaughter. See More

Top Con

Confusing story

The story takes place before and after Hotline Miami 1, so it's never really clear when or why anything is happening. This is made worse by the fact that there are 12 protagonists, causing you to switch viewpoints a lot. If you ever feel like you're not keeping up with the story, don't bother with it, just enjoy the senseless slaughter. See More

Top Pro

Excellent soundtrack

The soundtrack perfectly fits the grimy and psychedelic atmosphere of Hotline Miami 2. Most of the songs fall within the electronic, synthwave, and outrun genres. Sometimes there are high-tempo songs matching the on-screen action, other times there are eerie songs in a really bizarre story scene. Whichever it may be, it's always exhilarating to listen to. See More

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition

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Really good open world set in Hong Kong

The open world setting is great. Modern-day Hong Kong is pretty unique for a video game, and thankfully it's a true-to-life recreation of what the metropolis looks like. There's a perfect mix of traditional temples, for example, with taller, Western-style glass buildings that you'd find downtown. You can go just about anywhere, whether it's on foot or taking a car for a spin down the roads and highways, with plenty of side quests and mini-objectives to find and complete. It's a good-looking world that's designed well and filled with a good amount of content. See More

Top Con

Not worth it if you already played the original Sleeping Dogs

Aside from the added DLC, there isn't much of an incentive to pick this up if you played the regular Sleeping Dogs. The graphical upgrades are okay, but might not be worth shelling out the extra money. See More

Specs

Genre:Action-Adventure

Top Pro

Great story that deals with plenty of gray moral issues

The story in Sleeping Dogs is done well, touching on some very human issues. Playing as Wei Shen, an undercover cop, you pretend to join certain gangs in Hong Kong in order to spy on their operations. You're technically not supposed to care about the members of the gangs, but Wei ends up growing close to them, genuinely wanting to help them and be a part of their lives. This conflicts with his role as a police officer, causing him to play both sides while he figures out his priorities and who he's really loyal to. It's an intriguing dynamic that lets you get into Wei's head and his emotions. See More

Top Con

Unpolished

There are a lot of strange quirks about the game that make it feel and look janky. Controls aren't particularly seamless, with Wei's walking and running animations looking off, and driving animations feeling too loose and unrealistic. Even with the polished graphics for the Definitive Edition, they still look low-effort and low-budget, a lot like the rest of the game. One thing here and there isn't too bad, but adding them all up, they can end up as a bunch of distractions. See More

Top Pro

The Definitive Edition has all of the DLC included in one package

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition comes with everything added to the original game. This is pretty good for new players who have yet to experience Sleeping Dogs at all, or maybe for someone who played the original game years ago and didn't want to buy the DLC. See More

Top Con

Feels too similar to other sandbox open world games

If you've played a bunch of other open world games in a modern city, then Sleeping Dogs will probably feel too familiar to you. This is fine if you really enjoy these types of games and you're looking for something similar. For anyone else who wants something fresh from the genre, the samey gameplay mechanics, tons of icons dotting the map, and mission structures may end up boring you instead. If you're feeling burnt out from these types of games, you may want to steer clear of this one. See More

Top Pro

Well-implemented hand-to-hand combat with cool environmental finishing moves

The hand-to-hand fighting system is rock-solid with some neat finishers you can pull off. Punches and kicks are snappy and responsive, with a good amount of weight behind your button presses to really make you feel involved in every fight. You can grab opponents and maneuver them however you want, mainly with guiding them over to the nearest shutter cage, window, the edge of a rooftop on a high building, and so on. Finishing your enemies off with these environmental finishers is tons of fun: you can throw them off a building, ram their head into glass, or slam down a shutter over their heads. It's a brutal spectacle that makes the combat here stand out from other games. See More

Shenmue I + II HD

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Plenty of charm in the story, presentation, and voice acting

Shenmue and Shenmue II originally came out in the 1990s and early 2000s, but they have a ton of things going for them that keep the games playable for the current generation. You play as a young man unwinding an interesting revenge plot against his family, with all the cultural intrigue of the Chinese community he interacts with throughout his investigation. Despite the dated textures and old-style game mechanics there's a certain charm to the way you go about your days talking to townspeople and shop owners, looking for clues and tracking down the bad guys. The voice acting is questionable at times, but in a hilarious and endearing way that only adds to the charm these games have. If you're willing to laugh with the games and not at them, then you can have a pretty good time. See More

Top Con

Looks and plays more like a direct port

While it's awesome that the collection helps get new players invested in the Shenmue universe, they really are more like direct ports than anything. Aside from an optional, updating control scheme and some neat options like getting to change the games' display, they're the exact same versions from the SEGA Dreamcast. You won't get the more fluid and responsive controls and gameplay that many players have grown used to these days. If you know what to expect going in, then it's not so bad at all. Going in blind and having lofty expectations is what could kill your enjoyment the most. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action-Adventure

Top Pro

Unique blend of different genres that all come together nicely

The Shenmue games are a great mix of action-adventure, brawler fighting, role-playing, and social simulation all in one. You role-play as Ryo Hamazaki in the way you really live through his shoes and experience the drama of his life. While you spend most of your time keeping track of your notebook and gathering clues on where to go next for your investigation, talking to the townspeople you meet can turn into a sim in the way you get to know them as actual people and learn about their struggles. The fist-fighting battles you get into are intense, requiring some real timing and precision with your attacks and blocks as you take down your enemies. The whole package is a cool mish-mash of different elements that all fit together in a special way. See More

Top Pro

Two older games in one package that still hold up today

Shenmue I + II are essentially ports of two older games in one collection, though there are some good reasons why the gameplay is serviceable for modern gaming. These games really pioneered some of the mechanics that tons of games of the current generation have. The systems like the day/night cycle, QTE segments, and many more are recognizable enough, helping to make the games feel familiar despite their old age. They're set at a good price point as well, making this a solid starting point if you're interested in picking up Shenmue III. See More

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