20 Best PS4 Adventure Games

Beyond: Two Souls came out on the PS3 in 2013 and reached the PS4 on 24 November 2015. You play Jodie, who has a psychic link to Aiden, a ghostly being that follows her everywhere, and the story jumps around her life as she grows from adolescence to adulthood. Jodie is portrayed by Elliot Page, and the actors spent a year-long project in Quantic Dream's Paris studio doing voice and motion capture together. In fights the action drops into slow motion and you push the stick the way Jodie is moving.

Critics were split when it came out. Director David Cage has said games should be something that can be played by everyone, including non-gamers, and that is the right way to see this one. One mission in Somalia goes very wrong, and it stays with you. Players usually recommend it as a pair with Heavy Rain.

Abzu is an exploration game where you are a lone diver in a lush ocean world. You swim deeper and deeper into the depths, meet majestic creatures and find ancient secrets on the way down. The name roughly translates to "The Ocean of Wisdom" from ancient Sumerian, which tells you how seriously it takes the sea.

It is a short game, and it moves at your pace. There is nothing to grind and nothing to master. You swim, you look around, and the ocean does the rest. The best way to play it is in one sitting with the lights low. Abzu asks less of you than any other game on this list, and that is the whole idea. If Journey worked on you, this is the one to play next.

What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of short stories about a cursed family in Washington State. You play Edith, back at her family's home for the first time in seven years, and each bedroom opens the story of a different Finch. Each story ends with that family member's death, and no two play the same way. It is the second game from Giant Sparrow, the team behind The Unfinished Swan.

It won the British Academy Games Award for Best Game 2017 and Best Narrative at The Game Awards 2017. One story has a young man cutting the heads off fish at a cannery while a fantasy plays out in his mind, and it is the part everyone remembers. That sounds grim, and it is, but the game is also funny and warm about the people it loses. It is short, and you will think about it for a long time after.

Fallen Order came out on PS4 in November 2019, with Stig Asmussen directing at Respawn. You play Cal Kestis, a Jedi Padawan who narrowly escaped the purge of Order 66, and you rebuild your powers while the Empire hunts you. Respawn looked at Metroid Prime and Dark Souls for the combat and levels. Many areas can only be reached once you unlock new abilities, so planets are worth a second visit. Dying costs you experience points, but you get them back by hitting whoever killed you.

The music was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the London Symphony Orchestra, which is about as Star Wars as a soundtrack gets. It won Adventure Game of the Year at the 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. awards. If you ever wanted to swing the lightsaber yourself instead of watching someone else do it, this is the PS4 game for you.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to 2013's Tomb Raider. PlayStation owners had to wait for it, because it started as a timed exclusive for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, and the PS4 version arrived in October 2016. Lara searches for the legendary city of Kitezh and a promise of immortality. Rhianna Pratchett returned as the game's writer. The team listened to player feedback, cutting the number of quick time events and adding more puzzles and challenge tombs.

It had sold 11.8 million units worldwide by November 2021. Players often name it in the same breath as Uncharted, and the tombs are the reason. When Lara is alone in a cave working out how an old machine fits together, the series is at its best. The story is fine. The tombs are why you keep going.

Telltale's The Walking Dead first came out in five episodes between April and November 2012, and it is set in the same world as Robert Kirkman's comic. You play Lee Everett, a convicted criminal whose police car crashes on day one of the outbreak, and he ends up looking after a girl called Clementine. Your choices carry over from one episode to the next, and the game remembers everything you said.

It won Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications and had sold 28 million episodes by July 2014. Players call it Telltale's best and warn you that it will hurt. The warning is fair. Nobody ever listens to it. Lee and Clementine are the reason this list has a whole tier of choice games, and the ending still lands on the PS4 the way it did in 2012.

Heavy Rain came out on the PS3 in February 2010 and on the PS4 in 2016. David Cage wrote the 2,000-page script and travelled to Philadelphia to research the setting. You play several characters on the trail of the same killer, and a father learns his son Shaun has only three days to live. The killer's tests include driving against traffic on the highway and crawling through broken glass. Normand Corbeil's score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, and each lead has a sound of their own: Ethan Mars gets the piano.

It sold 5.3 million units by January 2018. Players recommend it to anyone after a detective story, and it gets dark in a way few big games tried in 2010. The controls are odd. You get used to them, and they make small everyday actions oddly tense.

Journey came out on the PlayStation Network in March 2012 and was ported to the PS4 in July 2015. You play a robed figure crossing a desert toward a rugged mountain with a beacon of light in the distance. Online, you can meet another traveler, and the only form of communication between you is a musical chime. Austin Wintory's music responds to what you do, and the score got a Grammy nomination for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

Critics have since listed it as one of the greatest video games of all time. Players point to it first when someone wants a calm game with no fighting. You can finish it in an evening, and meeting a stranger who sticks with you all the way to the top is still one of the nicest things a game has done.

Hellblade came out on PS4 and Windows in August 2017. A team of about twenty developers led by Tameem Antoniades made it, and they called it an independent AAA game. You play Senua, a Pict warrior who journeys into the Norse underworld to rescue the soul of her dead lover from the goddess Hela. Senua lives with psychosis, and the voices in her head give you advice in fights and sometimes try to mislead you. The developers worked closely with neuroscientists to get it right. There is no heads-up display and no tutorial.

Critics praised it as a work of art, and Melina Juergens, who plays Senua, was singled out. It sold over one million units by June 2018. Players suggest it to people who want something unsettling that is not a straight horror game. Play it with headphones.

Firewatch came out in February 2016. You play Henry, who takes a summer job as a fire lookout in the Wyoming wilderness. Your only human connection is over a handheld radio, where you talk to your supervisor Delilah and pick what to say. The whole forest was built from a single painting by Olly Moss, and part of the inspiration came from two of the developers growing up in rural Wyoming.

It won Best Narrative at the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards, and by 2018 it had sold over 2.5 million copies. Critics loved the story and the look, but the ending split people. Players remember the mystery and the walks through the forest. The friendship you build with Delilah over the radio does most of the work, and it is better written than most films.

The Lost Legacy started as a standalone expansion for Uncharted 4, and it is the first Uncharted game not to feature Nathan Drake. It came out on PS4 in August 2017. You play treasure hunter Chloe Frazer, voiced by Claudia Black, through towns, ruins and temples across the Western Ghats of India, with Nadine as her uneasy partner. The maps are larger and more open than earlier entries.

It is shorter than A Thief's End, and it is tighter for it. Chloe and Nadine bicker like a real pair, and the climax on a moving train is one of the best set pieces in the series. Players tell newcomers to play the whole series, The Lost Legacy included, and this is the one people most often skip by mistake.

Shadow of the Colossus first came out in 2005, and Bluepoint Games made a remake of the game in high definition for the PS4 in 2018. You ride across a forbidden land with your horse, hunting giant creatures for a power that can waken a loved one. Each colossus is its own puzzle: you find a way up, climb it and stab the sigil. Some colossi are peaceful and will only attack when provoked, which makes killing them feel worse.

The monster movie genre, the original Godzilla included, was one of the inspirations. There is almost nothing else in the land: only one kind of lizard changes anything, and eating its tail raises your stamina. The remake keeps the lonely mood of the original. It is a sad game about doing something you probably should not be doing.

Team Ico began developing The Last Guardian in 2007, and Sony announced it at E3 2009 for the PS3. Then came numerous delays, and hardware difficulties moved the game to the PlayStation 4 in 2012, drawing speculation that it would not see release. Fumito Ueda directed it, and it shares a lot with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. You play a boy who makes his way through castle ruins with Trico, a huge creature whose name mixes the Japanese words for bird and cat.

Critics praised the art direction and Trico, though some criticized the gameplay. That complaint is fair, because Trico does not always do what you ask. It is also why the bond feels real. You are working with an animal, and when Trico finally jumps where you pointed, it feels like you earned it together.

Life Is Strange was released in five episodes across 2015 by French game developer Dontnod Entertainment, after its 2013 game Remember Me flopped. The big idea is that you can rewind time and change what you just did, then live with the new outcome. Dontnod conducted field research on the West Coast of the United States, meeting people and taking pictures there.

It was followed by a prequel, Life Is Strange: Before the Storm, and the sequel Life Is Strange 2. Players describe it as closer to interactive fiction than a puzzle game, which is both a warning and a recommendation. It is the teen drama of this list, and it means every word.

Detroit: Become Human came out on PS4 in May 2018. It grew out of Kara, Quantic Dream's 2012 technology demonstration. In a near-future Detroit where androids serve humans, you follow three android protagonists, and each one's choices can change the city. David Cage completed the script in over two years, and the developers visited Detroit to research the setting. Each android got a composer of their own.

It is Quantic Dream's most successful launch and best-selling game, at 15 million units sold by January 2026. Players praise how far the choices branch, and a second run can look like a different game. It is also a good one to play with someone on the couch, so you can argue over every decision.

The Last of Us Part II came out on PS4 in June 2020, following delays partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is set four years after the first game. Ellie sets out in revenge for Joel's murder, and the game also puts you in the shoes of Abby, a soldier who killed Joel. Neil Druckmann co-wrote the story with Halley Gross, and Gustavo Santaolalla returned to compose and perform the score. It cost around US$220 million to make.

It sold over four million units in its release weekend and won 326 Game of the Year awards. Its story divided critics, and it was review bombed on Metacritic. Even its critics praised the audio design and the performances. It is the hardest game on this list to sit through, and it was built to be.

Until Dawn came out on PS4 in August 2015. It was originally planned as a first-person game for the PlayStation 3 and its Move controller, and Supermassive turned it into an interactive horror drama. All eight characters can live, or all eight can die. The Butterfly Effect system means a small choice early on can come back hours later, and a strict auto-save system stops you from undoing anything. The cast includes Rami Malek and Hayden Panettiere.

There was little marketing effort from Sony, and its sales still surpassed expectations. Players call it an interactive horror movie and a great evening with company. Everyone in the room will have an opinion about who should die first, and they will be loud about it.

A Thief's End came out in May 2016, and it was Naughty Dog's first game developed specifically for the PlayStation 4. Retired fortune hunter Nathan Drake is forced back into the world of thieves, and this time it is personal: Nate and Sam hunt for Avery's treasure, the pirate kind. Amy Hennig led the project at first. After she left in 2014, Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley took over.

With over 18 million copies sold, it is the highest-selling Uncharted game. Players hold it up as the model of a straight action adventure. It is also the most grown-up Uncharted, a story about a man who misses danger more than he should, and the set pieces are the best the series ever had.

The Last of Us came out on the PS3 in 2013, and The Last of Us Remastered was released for the PlayStation 4 in 2014. Joel and Ellie cross what is left of the United States, and Ellie claims she is immune to the infection and may be able to help develop a cure. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson portrayed Joel and Ellie, and their relationship became the focus of development, with everything else built around it. The score was composed and performed by Gustavo Santaolalla.

It sold over 1.3 million copies in its first week and 17 million by April 2018. Left Behind adds a single-player campaign following Ellie and her best friend Riley. Players file it right next to Uncharted, though it is far bleaker, and the ending is still argued about.

God of War came out on PS4 in April 2018. It is the eighth game in the God of War series, and it moves Kratos from Greek mythology to Norse mythology. He is older and more seasoned now, raising his son Atreus in the realm of Midgard. Creative director Cory Barlog described it as a reimagining of the franchise, and Kratos swaps his chained blades for the Leviathan Axe.

It had sold 23 million by November 2022, the best-selling game in the series, and it was named Game of the Year by numerous media outlets. Critics singled out the dynamic between Kratos and Atreus. Players often recommend it to Uncharted fans, and players recommend it more than any other PS4 adventure game.