Best Looking Game On Every PlayStation Console

Since the mid-1990s, Sony’s PlayStation has been synonymous with gaming. The PS1 set the groundwork for the PS2’s dominance, the latter of which might genuinely have the best video game library of all time. The PS3 had a slow start but eventually became great, while the PS4 and PS5 have been mostly smooth sailing. Along with typically great and varied gameplay, PS consoles have featured more than their share of beautiful games that push graphics to the next level, at least outside the PC scene.

What is the best-looking game on each PlayStation console? Honestly, this question is not easy to answer, as visuals are not solely reliant on technical quality. Art style plays a huge factor, and stylish graphics often age better than their more realistic counterparts. Still, we are going to take a trip through PlayStation history and highlight what are arguably each system’s most stunning games.

PSX – Vagrant Story

A Unique & Impressive Action RPG From Square

While the original PlayStation’s famous “wobbly” graphics aesthetic may not stand up to modern-day visuals, the console certainly had numerous titles that were graphically groundbreaking for their time. Perhaps one of the best examples of this was Vagrant Story, at the time being Square’s newest action RPG title, released in 2000. They took a slightly different direction in the game’s style from what they were known for, being more dark and realistic rather than the usually bright visual style seen in their Final Fantasy titles.

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Aside from being widely praised for its great gameplay, the game’s visual presentation was regarded as stunning for the time, with highly detailed environments and beautifully animated characters. Its assets had some of the highest polycounts ever seen on the PS1 to date, which allowed it to capture a high level of detail in its atmosphere overall. Vagrant Story would quickly go on to garner universal acclaim, later being re-released on both the PSP and PS3. Not to mention being the only game on the console to ever receive a perfect score from the popular Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu.

PS2 – Gran Turismo 4

Graphics Just as Realistic As Its Racing Mechanics

The PlayStation 2 has quite possibly one of the most iconic game lineups of all time. Much like its predecessor, many of its titles were visually stunning for their time. But when it comes to some of the console’s most impressive graphical displays, Gran Turismo 4 takes the cake.

The series’s take on the sim racing genre was just as realistic as its graphical presentation, both of which the franchise has become well known for over the years. And when its newest fourth installment came to the PlayStation 2 in 2004, it was Sony’s best display for their popular racing series thus far. Its roster of 700+ vehicles featured gorgeously realistic reflections, with even the outskirts of each track having a great amount of detail put in. GT4’s utilization of motion blur was a clever trick for its visuals, making the various viewing angles of races appear as though they were real footage.

Gran Turismo 4 was also noted for its new “Photo Mode” feature, where players could take and edit high-quality action shots of their vehicles, raising the bar even higher for its already fantastic visuals.

PSP – God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta

Massive Battles That Pushed The Handheld To Its Limit

God of War: Ghost of Sparta

10/10

Released

November 2, 2010

• 
  

Even though Sony’s original PlayStation Portable didn’t sell nearly as much as its main competition, the Nintendo DS, there was almost no comparison when it came to graphical capabilities. And God of War: Ghost of Sparta was one of the many PSP titles that proved it was the clear winner when it came to hardware.

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The God of War series had already established itself on the PlayStation 2 back in 2005, and made an impressive entry to the handheld platform with Chains of Olympus on the PSP in 2008. Ghost of Sparta took the already high bar and raised it even further, looking nearly identical to that of the franchise’s previous games, running on much more powerful hardware. Featuring the same large-scale boss battles in equally massive environments inspired by Greek mythology, the game pushed Sony’s handheld to its absolute limit and somehow still managed to run incredibly well.

It’s still debated whether the game was better than the previous Chains of Olympus. Ghost of Sparta‘s graphics were undoubtedly astonishing for the PSP, leading the game to gain high praise as one of the handheld’s best games of all time.

PS3 – Killzone 3

Some Of The Best FPS Graphics On The PS3

Killzone 3

Systems

7/10

Released

February 22, 2011

ESRB

m

When it came to the PlayStation 3, Sony’s very own Killzone 3 came to be known as one of the best-looking FPS games seen on any console at the time. While the PS3 might’ve had a bit of a rocky launch, it made a swift comeback in the next few years, and it ended up getting a great lineup of games that were both innovative and impressive.

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There are many great-looking games to choose from on the PlayStation 3, but KZ3 managed to look great and run smoothly at the same time. Being the third installment in Sony’s series of FPS games, the game had some time to build upon and perfect what its previous entry had already done on the PS3. Killzone 2 already looked fantastic for 2009, but 2011’s Killzone 3 upped the ante in terms of showing what the console could do. The game’s snowy environments were especially stunning for the time, where the bright lighting and blizzard-like particle effects still hold up incredibly well to this day.

Killzone 3 didn’t exactly hit the high numbers of rival FPS titles like Call of Duty or Battlefield. Nonetheless, it would still end up being regarded as a great entry to the PS3’s library, being especially noted for its impressive visual presentation.

PS Vita – Uncharted: Golden Abyss

A Handheld Exclusive Entry To The Famous Series

The Uncharted series quickly became one of Sony’s most popular IPs during the sixth generation, spawning a great trilogy of games on the PlayStation 3. In 2011, Uncharted: Golden Abyss was released alongside the new PlayStation Vita, and it became pretty obvious why it was chosen as one of the handheld’s launch titles.

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The series has been known for its graphical fidelity on consoles, but seeing that same level of detail and polish be brought over to a handheld, especially with its new OLED screen, was pretty amazing for the time. Featuring the familiar action-adventure gameplay, as well as the well-crafted, often exotic environments players were used to, all crammed into a portable format, with good controls and performance to boot. What more could a long-time fan ask for?

Despite being a powerful handheld, the PS Vita was mostly considered to be one of Sony’s largest blunders in gaming. Regardless, Uncharted: Golden Abyss ambitiously brought a full Uncharted experience to the handheld platform, and was easily one of its best-looking titles overall.

PS4 – The Last Of Us Part 2

A Stunning Sequel

The Last of Us quickly received high praise for its story, gameplay, and graphics when it first appeared on the PS3. So it’s no surprise that its sequel, The Last of Us Part 2 would do the same for the next generation of consoles. The PS4 was a big step-up over its predecessor, having tons of new features and much more capable hardware, even getting 4K support with the Pro model later on.

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The team at Naughty Dog intended to use the new console to its full potential for the series’ next entry. Being a story-driven game, the characters can especially make or break the experience, but gladly, one of the areas the game excelled the most was in its life-like animations. The way they were able to capture so much detail in each actor’s expressions was what helped in selling the game’s photorealistic visuals, not to mention its incredibly emotional scenes. The entire atmosphere, including the abandoned and overgrown environments, is both stunning and eerie at the same time.

The Last of Us Part 2 was just as visually impressive as its predecessor was in 2013, with both games receiving critical acclaim as some of the best PlayStation titles of all time. It even spawned its own HBO Series adaptation in 2023 that has already seen two seasons so far.

PSVR – Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

As If The Series Wasn’t Scary Enough

The Resident Evil series has been creeping gamers out ever since its early days on the PS1, and with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard bringing VR into the mix, it only upped the series’ creepy factor even more.

The PlayStation platform finally had a full virtual reality experience with the PSVR, with a wide variety of VR-compatible titles, but Resident Evil 7: Biohazard’s terrifyingly photorealistic graphics provided some of its best looks. Not only was Biohazard the first game in the series to use a first-person perspective, but it was also Resident Evil‘s first foray into offering a VR-compatible experience. Exploring its dark and dingy environments, armed with a flashlight for visibility, created a sort of “found footage” feel to the game’s realistic look.

Suffice to say, it made the scariness of the previous third-person entries feel like child’s play in comparison. Resident Evil 7: Biohazard wouldn’t become a fan-favorite in the franchise, but it was a big step-up for the survival-horror series with its first-person viewpoint, having great visuals both in and out of VR.

PS5 – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

An Early PS5 Showcase That Remains Unbeaten

Out of all the PlayStation consoles, the PS5 was the hardest to complete, as there isn’t all that much separating its most beautiful games. Open-world projects like Ghost of Yotei are incredible technical achievements that feature vistas that are jaw-droppingly stunning, but their sheer size means that texture quality can vary from location to location. As a launch title, Demon’s Souls showcased the PS5’s power, and it was the only exclusive to be truly next-gen for the first 6 months of the console’s life. Returnal will always be one of the best PS5 games, and it is drenched in atmosphere.

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However, even after all this time, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart still blows away most new releases with its Pixar-level presentation. As a linear 3D action-platformer that has self-contained worlds that are relatively small compared to some other games, Rift Apart does not have to sacrifice its graphical prowess at any point, ensuring a campaign that is gorgeous from start to finish. Insomniac also went out of its way to pack as much movement as possible, and even the simple act of shattering boxes to pick up bolts is a marvel to behold.

While Astro Bot has kind of superseded it, Rift Apart is still one of the absolute best games to demonstrate to somebody what modern consoles can achieve.

PSVR2 – Red Matter 2

The Horizon Games Are Always Technical Marvels, And Call Of The Mountain Is No Exception

Developed by Vertical Robot, Red Matter already looked great on the first iteration of Sony’s VR headset. But it was clear that developer Vertical Robot was keen on using the newer PSVR2 to its full capacity for Red Matter 2.

While the original model was great for its time, the PSVR2 offered some nice improvements and upgrades over its predecessor, so VR games were looking better than ever on PlayStation. When it comes to Red Matter 2, one of its many stand-out points is the distinctive outer-space setting, taking place during the Cold War. Not only visually outstanding to see, but also unique and interesting to explore. The game focuses on traversing various Soviet space stations, each having mysteries to uncover by searching the detail-packed environments.

What’s more is that the game wasn’t made by a large AAA studio, but rather by a smaller, indie developer, making it all the more impressive. While the PSVR2 still has lots of time to branch out its game library, Red Matter 2 is undoubtedly one of its best-looking titles at the moment.

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