The 10 BEST PlayStation Franchises
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Script written by Aaron Brown
PlayStation has some of the most well-known franchises in all of gaming. For this list, we’ll be looking at Sony first party franchises that have more than one entry in the series and that are exclusive to Sony consoles. We won't be including any original franchises that don’t belong to them anymore, like Crash or Spyro. Our list includes the “Horizon” Series, the “Uncharted” Series, the “Gran Turismo” Series, the “Twisted Metal” Series, and more! What’s your favorite PlayStation exclusive franchise? Any you’d like to see make a comeback? Let us know down in the comments.
Have you ever played a game and thought “I could make a game better than this”? Well Media Molecule told gamers to square up and prove it with their LittleBigPlanet series. Giving players access to the tools they needed to create everything from their own kart racer to recreating levels from other beloved franchises, those with the time and dedication could not only create their own worlds but share them for others around the world to experience. The series mascot Sackboy proved to be such an icon for the series he even got his own spin-off platformer, sans the creation tools. While all these tools would be further perfected in Media Molecule’s next endeavor, Dreams, the path to many future game creators’ start began with a Sackboy and a LittleBigPlanet.
You just can’t keep a good man down. After unceremoniously dying at the beginning of a battle to stop the evil sorcerer Zarok and his undead army, Sir Daniel is mistakenly labeled as the hero of the battle, so when Zarok returns, so does Sir Daniel to redeem himself and live up to the legend. With a variety of spooky levels to explore and the undeniable comparisons to the Nightmare Before Christmas’ aesthetic, the MediEvil series was one of Sony’s most well received franchises back on PS1. Sir Daniel has managed a bit more staying power than other original PlayStation mascots and even had his original game remade for the PlayStation 4 in 2019. While the hack and slash series has been dormant for some time, Sir Daniel still has a loyal fanbase and many are still hoping for a remake of his second adventure.
There have been many car combat games over the years, but most of their DNA began with Twisted Metal. The series that put the car back in car-nage, players are given access to a myriad of twisted characters and their insane vehicles as they slam metal and use multiple power-ups to gain the upper hand. The series has had its shares of ups and downs, with Twisted Metal Black in particular being one of the best entries, but nonetheless, the franchise had staying power and with news of a new entry in production as well as a tv series, the world of Twisted Metal continues to remain of the industry leaders when it comes to all-out car combat car-nage. Last one, I promise.
Superhero games have been a staple of the gaming industry since its infancy, and while there is no shortage of great titles to choose from, the inFamous series was still something special. Taking on the role of Cole McGrath, players were given free reign not only to parkour around the city to their heart's content, but also choose what type of hero they wanted to be. At various points in the game, players were presented with good or evil options and their choice would affect not only the story but the powers they could unlock as well. Cole became such a beloved character that when Sucker Punch attempted to change his appearance for the sequel, backlash was so severe that the OG Cole was reinstated. “Second Son” expanded on the lore of the series and introduced all new powers to play with as well as fan favorite character, Fetch.
After the success of Halo on the Xbox, Sony was desperate to find a “Halo-Killer” for their series of consoles and after the Killzone franchise failed to deliver, Insomniac took a shot at the title with their Resistance series. While the franchise might not have been the “Halo-Killer” Sony was hoping for, Resistance gained a massive cult following thanks to its unique setting of an alternate WWII in which an alien invasion begins to take over the world and Insomniac's ever creative weaponry straight out of their Ratchet and Clank series gained the titles a fan base that continues even to this day. The franchise found its footing with its 3rd and final entry, managing to tell an emotional and horrifying story with an incredible payoff. Insomniac is currently swinging from project to project but that doesn’t stop fans from requesting a reboot.
The newest addition to Sony’s catalog, the Horizon series made their presence known with their very first entry, Zero Dawn. With an amazingly detailed and vibrant world, Horizon set itself apart not only with its colorful post-post apocalyptic world, slick and stylish combat, and not to mention freaking the robot dinosaurs, but also in its protagonist who has already achieved legendary status in the gaming community, even though she’d hate the title. Aloy resonated with gamers with her cunning fighting style, quick wit and her steadfast nature that refused to back down from any challenge. With only 2 entries so far and at least 2 more on the way, the Horizon franchise is already one of PlayStation’s best and we hope the team at Guerilla continues to let us explore the world of the Old Ones.
The premiere simulation racing series, Gran Turismo and Polyphony Digital set the bar for all future racing sim games all the way back in 1997. With an unprecedented number of cars to choose from, all modeled from their real-life counterparts, the level of detail Polyphony brings to each game has only been recently rivaled with the likes of the Forza series. For those looking for the most authentic racing and driving experience this side of driving a real car, albeit substantially slower and less fun, this is the closest many will ever get to taking to the track in their dream cars. Even despite recent setbacks to the franchise, the Gran Turismo name still carries the legacy of decades of pitch-perfect racing and performance.
Platformers have been around almost as long as video games themselves and Sony has no shortage of fan favorite platformers to choose from. While any of them could have made this list such as Jak & Daxter or Sly Cooper, we had to go with Sony’s longest running action platformer series, Ratchet and Clank. The tale of these two unlikely heroes has been going since 2002 and nearly every game is a direct sequel with numerous callbacks for longtime fans. While most platformers focus on nailing those pitch perfect platform jumping skills, Ratchet and Clank did all of that while making sure everything was on fire with some of the most inventive weapons in the entire gaming industry. R&C games have always been graphical powerhouses while still managing to tell an engaging story about a pair of heroes many gamers grew up with and the two show no signs of slowing down.
While Naughty Dog’s other flagship franchise The Last of Us could’ve easily made its way onto this list, we decided to go with the franchise that left us with the feeling we’d just experienced a summer blockbuster rather than the existential crisis over the horrors we just committed. The Uncharted series is a love letter to the Indiana Jones movies that inspired it albeit with the more over the top action set pieces of a Michael Bay film, but that combination oddly works. Nathan Drake has cemented himself as one of gaming’s favorite wise cracking, barely escaping by the skin of his teeth, swashbuckling hero many saw themselves as kids. Gamers watched Nate and his companions grow as the series progressed, and even after his retirement, the series still lives on with friends’ globetrotting adventures for the next big treasure hunt.
A franchise just too angry to die, Kratos and the God of War series has become one of Sony’s most well respected series in their entire gaming catalog. The story of Kratos’ revenge and his subsequent reinvention as one of gaming’s greatest father figures is an unprecedented turnaround for what was generally known as some of the most violent video games on modern consoles. With engaging combat and a narrative that weaves in actually mythological lore as well as telling a compelling story, the God of War franchise has evolved over the years from the series built around its over the top action and violence into enough of a household name that even non-gamers know Kratos’ story, Sony and PlayStation have created an icon synonymous with PlayStation the same way Master Chief is with Microsoft and Xbox.
PlayStation has some of the most well-known franchises in all of gaming. For this list, we’ll be looking at Sony first party franchises that have more than one entry in the series and that are exclusive to Sony consoles. We won't be including any original franchises that don’t belong to them anymore, like Crash or Spyro. Our list includes the “Horizon” Series, the “Uncharted” Series, the “Gran Turismo” Series, the “Twisted Metal” Series, and more! What’s your favorite PlayStation exclusive franchise? Any you’d like to see make a comeback? Let us know down in the comments.
“LittleBigPlanet” Series
Have you ever played a game and thought “I could make a game better than this”? Well Media Molecule told gamers to square up and prove it with their LittleBigPlanet series. Giving players access to the tools they needed to create everything from their own kart racer to recreating levels from other beloved franchises, those with the time and dedication could not only create their own worlds but share them for others around the world to experience. The series mascot Sackboy proved to be such an icon for the series he even got his own spin-off platformer, sans the creation tools. While all these tools would be further perfected in Media Molecule’s next endeavor, Dreams, the path to many future game creators’ start began with a Sackboy and a LittleBigPlanet.
“MediEvil” Series
You just can’t keep a good man down. After unceremoniously dying at the beginning of a battle to stop the evil sorcerer Zarok and his undead army, Sir Daniel is mistakenly labeled as the hero of the battle, so when Zarok returns, so does Sir Daniel to redeem himself and live up to the legend. With a variety of spooky levels to explore and the undeniable comparisons to the Nightmare Before Christmas’ aesthetic, the MediEvil series was one of Sony’s most well received franchises back on PS1. Sir Daniel has managed a bit more staying power than other original PlayStation mascots and even had his original game remade for the PlayStation 4 in 2019. While the hack and slash series has been dormant for some time, Sir Daniel still has a loyal fanbase and many are still hoping for a remake of his second adventure.
“Twisted Metal” Series
There have been many car combat games over the years, but most of their DNA began with Twisted Metal. The series that put the car back in car-nage, players are given access to a myriad of twisted characters and their insane vehicles as they slam metal and use multiple power-ups to gain the upper hand. The series has had its shares of ups and downs, with Twisted Metal Black in particular being one of the best entries, but nonetheless, the franchise had staying power and with news of a new entry in production as well as a tv series, the world of Twisted Metal continues to remain of the industry leaders when it comes to all-out car combat car-nage. Last one, I promise.
“inFAMOUS” Series
Superhero games have been a staple of the gaming industry since its infancy, and while there is no shortage of great titles to choose from, the inFamous series was still something special. Taking on the role of Cole McGrath, players were given free reign not only to parkour around the city to their heart's content, but also choose what type of hero they wanted to be. At various points in the game, players were presented with good or evil options and their choice would affect not only the story but the powers they could unlock as well. Cole became such a beloved character that when Sucker Punch attempted to change his appearance for the sequel, backlash was so severe that the OG Cole was reinstated. “Second Son” expanded on the lore of the series and introduced all new powers to play with as well as fan favorite character, Fetch.
“Resistance” Series
After the success of Halo on the Xbox, Sony was desperate to find a “Halo-Killer” for their series of consoles and after the Killzone franchise failed to deliver, Insomniac took a shot at the title with their Resistance series. While the franchise might not have been the “Halo-Killer” Sony was hoping for, Resistance gained a massive cult following thanks to its unique setting of an alternate WWII in which an alien invasion begins to take over the world and Insomniac's ever creative weaponry straight out of their Ratchet and Clank series gained the titles a fan base that continues even to this day. The franchise found its footing with its 3rd and final entry, managing to tell an emotional and horrifying story with an incredible payoff. Insomniac is currently swinging from project to project but that doesn’t stop fans from requesting a reboot.
“Horizon” Series
The newest addition to Sony’s catalog, the Horizon series made their presence known with their very first entry, Zero Dawn. With an amazingly detailed and vibrant world, Horizon set itself apart not only with its colorful post-post apocalyptic world, slick and stylish combat, and not to mention freaking the robot dinosaurs, but also in its protagonist who has already achieved legendary status in the gaming community, even though she’d hate the title. Aloy resonated with gamers with her cunning fighting style, quick wit and her steadfast nature that refused to back down from any challenge. With only 2 entries so far and at least 2 more on the way, the Horizon franchise is already one of PlayStation’s best and we hope the team at Guerilla continues to let us explore the world of the Old Ones.
“Gran Turismo” Series
The premiere simulation racing series, Gran Turismo and Polyphony Digital set the bar for all future racing sim games all the way back in 1997. With an unprecedented number of cars to choose from, all modeled from their real-life counterparts, the level of detail Polyphony brings to each game has only been recently rivaled with the likes of the Forza series. For those looking for the most authentic racing and driving experience this side of driving a real car, albeit substantially slower and less fun, this is the closest many will ever get to taking to the track in their dream cars. Even despite recent setbacks to the franchise, the Gran Turismo name still carries the legacy of decades of pitch-perfect racing and performance.
“Ratchet & Clank” Series
Platformers have been around almost as long as video games themselves and Sony has no shortage of fan favorite platformers to choose from. While any of them could have made this list such as Jak & Daxter or Sly Cooper, we had to go with Sony’s longest running action platformer series, Ratchet and Clank. The tale of these two unlikely heroes has been going since 2002 and nearly every game is a direct sequel with numerous callbacks for longtime fans. While most platformers focus on nailing those pitch perfect platform jumping skills, Ratchet and Clank did all of that while making sure everything was on fire with some of the most inventive weapons in the entire gaming industry. R&C games have always been graphical powerhouses while still managing to tell an engaging story about a pair of heroes many gamers grew up with and the two show no signs of slowing down.
“Uncharted” Series
While Naughty Dog’s other flagship franchise The Last of Us could’ve easily made its way onto this list, we decided to go with the franchise that left us with the feeling we’d just experienced a summer blockbuster rather than the existential crisis over the horrors we just committed. The Uncharted series is a love letter to the Indiana Jones movies that inspired it albeit with the more over the top action set pieces of a Michael Bay film, but that combination oddly works. Nathan Drake has cemented himself as one of gaming’s favorite wise cracking, barely escaping by the skin of his teeth, swashbuckling hero many saw themselves as kids. Gamers watched Nate and his companions grow as the series progressed, and even after his retirement, the series still lives on with friends’ globetrotting adventures for the next big treasure hunt.
“God of War” Series
A franchise just too angry to die, Kratos and the God of War series has become one of Sony’s most well respected series in their entire gaming catalog. The story of Kratos’ revenge and his subsequent reinvention as one of gaming’s greatest father figures is an unprecedented turnaround for what was generally known as some of the most violent video games on modern consoles. With engaging combat and a narrative that weaves in actually mythological lore as well as telling a compelling story, the God of War franchise has evolved over the years from the series built around its over the top action and violence into enough of a household name that even non-gamers know Kratos’ story, Sony and PlayStation have created an icon synonymous with PlayStation the same way Master Chief is with Microsoft and Xbox.
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