Best PS4 Exclusive Games of 2018

It’s award season here at Twinfinite, so we’re taking a look back at the best PS4 exclusive games that have shone brightest and are deserved of our annual award. Voted on by our editors, these titles stand as the console’s most exemplary titles that’ll be remembered long into the future.

Honorable Mention: Ni No Kuni 2

Features Editor Alex Gibson: Delivering a worthy successor to Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch was always going to be a huge challenge. The 2011 title was beloved for its blend of charming storytelling and exciting turn-based combat. Its gorgeous aesthetic, too, had a real magical quality as a result of the input from the prestigious Studio Ghibli.

Talented developer Level-5, however, proved they were up to the task. Ni No Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom does so much more than iterate on a tried and tested blueprint, it reinvents itself with all-new gameplay systems, an equally endearing story, and a wealth of content that’s kept us gleefully invested for dozens of hours.

The kingdom building mechanics, that are reminiscent of Suikoden, which not only kept me engaged from a gameplay perspective, but also added context to the story. Other interesting features like its RTS-like Skirmish battles didn’t work quite so well, but they did help add depth and variety to the experience.

The change to a real-time battle system caused trepidation among fans before launch, but it took all of about five minutes for me to settle in and appreciate what a superb decision that was.

Ni No Kuni 2 is simply a more exciting and entertaining game to play than its predecessor, and though the overly easy difficulty setting in combat (later rectified with a hard mode) slightly frustrated, I can’t fault what is a brilliant mix of pulsating action and careful strategy — especially with Higgledey companions adding an extra layer to the dynamic of battle.

Level 5 certainly took a risk when it branched the sequel away from the typical story-driven gameplay loops we’ve seen in so many JRPGs gone-by, but ultimately that paid off in a big way. Ni No Kuni 2 now stands proudly beside genre-leading titles like Persona 5 as Japan’s most impressive titles.

Best PS4 Exclusive Games of 2018

Second Runner-Up: Detroit Become Human

Contributor Danny Ryba: Love him or hate him, David Cage and his development studio, Quantic Dream, put out one of the best PS4 exclusive games this year in Detroit: Become Human.

The story-driven title not only featured amazing full motion capture and vocal performances from its actors to bring the dynamic in-game characters to life, but also created a fully realized futuristic Detroit to immerse players in.

True to other Quantic Dream titles, the game let players have a hand in which protagonists lived and died during the story, depending on choices they made, and even took things one step further by featuring an impressive flowchart to see what choices fractured the storyline.

Detroit showcased a greater depth of variety in gameplay than previous Quantic Dream titles, with some scenes being puzzle driven, others being narrative focused, and some being quicktime action scenes.

At this point, they’ve streamlined the formula to an exact science, combining choose your own adventure narrative threads with a fleshed out cast of characters that don’t feel dry or cookie-cutter, with all of them having meaningful growth across the entire storyline.

Detroit deserves to be remembered as one of the best PS4 exclusive games of 2018 for the well-developed characters and writing it offered, as well as the vast number of divergent paths and narrative trees players were able to explore along the way.

Best PS4 Exclusive Games of 2018

First Runner-Up: God of War

Features Editor Alex Gibson: God of War’s stunning return marks a complete departure from the blueprint of previous games in the series. It’s a story-driven experience this time around, with more dialogue and characters than all three previous games combined. It completely transforms Kratos as a personality, as he bounces off his son Atreus in a close bond that forms the crux of the narrative.

There are a host of other likeable characters, too, and the back and forth banter between each of these colorful personalities is a real highlight. Sony Santa Monica manages to find a pleasing balance between the story’s darker tones and plenty of moments of comic relief.

Gameplay also receives a total overhaul, with a Souls-like action-RPG flavor that works in tandem with the new over-the-shoulder third-person camera to produce weightier combat. It’s much more measured, demanding plenty of strategic uses of special abilities and combos.

The game perhaps goes a little overboard with its cluttered weapon and item crafting, though, which feels as though it bogs the experience down unnecessarily.

It just isn’t as accessible as I would have liked for a God of War title. Other complaints include the sometimes frustrating puzzle sequences, which lack imagination, and the Uncharted-like traversal, which flies a little too closely to Naughty Dog’s own formula.

These are all fairly minor grievances, however, yet ones that are still worth mentioning to qualify why God of War doesn’t quite steal top spot for us this year in the best PS4 exclusive games, despite its universal critical acclaim.

Best PS4 Exclusive Games of 2018

Winner: Marvel’s Spider-Man

Guides Editor Chris Jecks: There are few games that have offered up the same level of moment-to-moment enjoyment as I got out of Marvel’s Spider-Man. With each web shot that flung me ever-faster down the narrow streets of Manhattan, every bad-ass finishing move I laid down on a bad guy, heck, every last collectible in the game was sheer fun to pick up, and that’s saying something.

For the most part, a lot of Spider-Man’s enjoyment factor is based on just how satisfying slinging your way around the city with your web blasters as Spider-Man really is.

Insomniac Games has absolutely nailed how it feels to be in total control of Spidey as he plummets towards the ground at breakneck speed, only to sling himself up and away from the floor literal inches away from the impact. Pursuing bad guys through the streets, or taking part in little time trial challenges never feels frustrating, because the traversal controls are so tight and intuitive.

It’s not all about just swinging your way around the city, though. Spider-Man’s here to fight crime, and the story that unfolds in Insomniac’s title is an entirely original one. Sure, it has its brief moments of being a little predictable, but outside of that, it feels like something that could just have easily been a story arc within a comic or a Marvel movie.

Not content with shining the spotlight solely on the masked superhero, Marvel’s Spider-Man also puts Peter Parker under the microscope, allowing players to get an idea of the civilian life that he must balance alongside his alter ego.

And then you’ve got the actual combat itself. Feeling incredibly similar to that seen in the Batman Arkham series, Spider-Man’s combat is fast, fluid, and accessible. Regardless of your skill level, Spider-Man makes you feel like some unstoppable superhero with the way you’ll be simultaneously taking down multiple enemies, or pulling off some insane takedown that you didn’t think possible.

Once you reach the latter stages of the game and you’re fully equipped with a myriad of abilities and a special suit ability to activate in desperate times, each and every fight becomes a perfect opportunity to try and combine moves and abilities together and see exactly what’s possible within the game.

With a plethora of side content, a number of suits to craft and unlock, a new game plus mode, and additional story missions coming in the form of DLC, Marvel’s Spider-Man is bursting with content, and you’ll want to soak up every last drop of it.

Superhero movies have become a dominant force within the film industry, and if Marvel’s Spider-Man is a sign of things to come, superheroes could be just as big within the video games industry once again.