Summary
Sony has long been considered to be cutting edge when it comes to their technology, and their game consoles have been no different. Ever since the long-running company’s gaming industry debut back in 1994, each console release intheir PlayStation lineuphas always seemed to bring something new and exciting to the table.
As expected for a game console, with those exciting advancements in hardware also comes equally exciting games, of course. Titles that consistently pushed the boundaries of each console, trying to squeeze every last bit of power and performance out of its hardware, whether due to the game’s scale, visuals, or even a mixture of both.
We’ve included a few more Honorable Mentions below each console for some more graphically impressive titles.
While the original PlayStation’s famous “wobbly” graphics aesthetic may not stand up to modern-day visuals, the console certainly had numerous titles that weregraphically groundbreakingfor their time. Perhaps one of the best examples of this wasVagrant 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 theirFinal Fantasytitles.
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 Storywould 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.
The PlayStation 2 has quite possibly one of themost iconic game lineupsof 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 4takes the cake.
The series' take on the sim racing genre was just as realistic as its graphical presentation, both points that 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 4was 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.
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. AndGod of War: Ghost of Spartawas one of the many PSP titles that proved it was the clear winner when it came to hardware.
TheGod of Warseries had already established itself on the PlayStation 2 back in 2005, and made an impressive entry to the handheld platform withChains of Olympuson the PSP in 2008.Ghost of Spartatook 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 previousChains of Olympus.Ghost of Sparta’sgraphics were undoubtedly astonishing for the PSP, leading the game to gain high praise as one of the handheld’s best games of all time.
When it came to the PlayStation 3, Sony’s very ownKillzone 3came 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.
There are many great-looking games to choose from on the PlayStation 3, butKZ3managed 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 2already looked fantastic for 2009, but 2011’sKillzone 3upped 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 3didn’t exactly hit the high numbers ofrival FPS titleslikeCall of DutyorBattlefield. 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.
TheUnchartedseries quickly became one of Sony’s most popular IPs during the sixth generation, spawning agreat trilogy of gameson the PlayStation 3. In 2011,Uncharted: Golden Abysswas released alongside the new PlayStation Vita, and it became pretty obvious why it was chosen as one of the handheld’s launch titles.
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 newOLED 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 Abyssambitiously brought a fullUnchartedexperience to the handheld platform, and was easily one of its best-looking titles overall.
The Last Of Usquickly 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 2would 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.
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 2was 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 ownHBO Series adaptation in 2023that has already seen two seasons so far.
TheResident Evilseries has been creeping gamers out ever since itsearly days on the PS1, and withResident Evil 7: Biohazardbringing 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, butResident Evil 7: Biohazard’sterrifyingly photorealistic graphics provided some of its best looks. Not only wasBiohazardthe first game in the series to use a first-person perspective, it was also its 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: Biohazardwouldn’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.
The long-runningAssassin’s Creedfranchise has been known for many things since its debut in 2007, from its story to its stealth-oriented gameplay. But of course, its graphical presentation can’t be forgotten either, andAssassin’s Creed Shadowsis easily the best the series has offered so far.
The PS5 finally brought real-time lighting, reflections, and shadows to consoles, making many of its games look stunning across the board.Assassin’s Creed’s 2025 installment is a fantastic display of theconsole’s new ray tracing technology, especially with the wonderfully detailed architecture of its unique setting of 1500s feudal Japan. The character models and animations are unbelievable too, even without the console’s ray-tracing capabilities. With the sheer realism of character interactions and expressions, especially in cutscenes, it could easily be mistaken for a live-action movie at first glance.
Despite a longer wait due to a few delays,Assassin’s Creed Shadowsended up as a unique and enjoyable entry to the series. Trying to mention all the game’s visual strong points would make for a long list, but suffice to say, it is one of the best graphical displays seen on the PlayStation 5 so far.
Developed by Vertical Robot,Red Matteralready 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 forRed 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 toRed 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 its 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 2is undoubtedly one of its best-looking titles at the moment.
- Horizon Call of the Mountain
