Ranking PS Plus Games 2021 (Best PS5 Games)
Ranking PS Plus Games 2021 (Best PS5 Games)
PlayStation seems to be more aware lately of how much value Xbox Game Pass offers. First, there was the PS Plus Collection that debuted alongside the launch of the PS5 and provided some amazing experiences free of charge to anyone that owns a PS5 and PS Plus*. It was a smart value add to new PlayStation 5 owners and clearly a move that Sony made due to Game Pass
*free games require impossible to find $500 system plus monthly subscription but you get the idea
While this move didn’t put the ball back in Microsoft's court and they aren't day one exclusives like what you could find on Xbox Game Pass, these are some of the best PlayStation games of PlayStation 4 generation including God of War, Last of Us Remastered, Monster Hunter World, Persona 5, Uncharted 4 and many other excellent titles.
With brand new games being released on PlayStation Plus, we are possibly seeing a shift in PlayStation’s philosophy for the service. It started with PS5 exclusive Bugsnax in November for the launch month of the system. Since then we have seen Destruction All Stars and now Maquette. Not all games that release are PS5 exclusives just yet but so far they have been new releases or a new PS5 version of a game such as Maneater in January.
With this new PlayStation philosophy, it seems like a great time to create an evolving list of the PS5 PS Plus releases so far in 2021 starting from worst to best.
Ranking PlayStation Plus PS5 2021
(Worst To Best)
Maneater
(January)
Originally released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One back in May of 2020, Maneater gained some attention for it’s premise of being a Shark RPG and due to the pandemic, the minimal game releases meant that most new releases garnered more eyes. Maneater fell into the category of “B” game that used to exist, whereas now it seems there are either AAA experiences or Indies.
Maneater sank to the bottom for the time being because the PS5 version didn’t offer much that wasn’t already available. 4K/60 was added as well as faster loading but slight visual improvements aren’t going to be the type of game that can rival Xbox Game Pass. Maneater was also just below average game with a review aggregate of 68%. It’s the equivalent of a Dolph Lundgren movie that comes straight to Prime Video, you can do better.
Destruction AllStars
(February)
What happens if you took one of PlayStations most beloved series of yesteryear, threw it into a blender with Fortnite and then spiced in a little Burnout. You would be left with Destruction AllStars. In a similar vein to one of 2020’s surprise PlayStation Plus hits Fall Guys, Destruction Allstars gets in your face with bright colours, loud noises, over the top announcers, and huge explosions.
Once due to be a full priced launch title for the PS5, Destruction AllStars was delayed at the 11th hour and announced as a PlayStation Plus title months before its arrival. Destruction AllStars actually remained on PlayStation Plus for an extra month, which is quite uncommon. I can’t see many people paying full price for this game when it comes off the service.
However, due to its modern accessibility, Destrcution All Stars does have the potential to carve out a decent niche of its own with a respectable community if it can listen to the community feedback, make the game more fun and keep existing players in the ecosystem. Currently Destruction AllStars sits at a 63% review average and at a random weekend Twitch check, the game had 9 viewers.
Maquette
(March)
Maquette is a relatively short perspective puzzler with a romantic narrative as you unfold a youthful relationship with key moments being reflected in the puzzles you solve using perspective.
Maquette is a small indie game that justifies its position with a accessible length, innovative ideas, a simple yet relatable story and phenomenal voice acting done by Bryce Dallas Howard and Seth Gabel who are married in real life. Their chemistry adds weight and nuance and elevated a simplistic script that wouldn’t have landed as well as it did.
Maquette doesn’t reach the levels of some of the genres best like The Witness, but with a play time of around 3-5 hours, you can have a good time and feel accomplished for finishing a game. Maquette was also available on PC as well and currently has a 70% review average.