Premium’s expansive selection covers all sorts of genres and preferences. The library has RPGs, shooters, platformers, and horror. It has projects designed to keep players engaged for weeks on end, but not every title comes with a campaign that lasts more than 20 hours. What are the best short games on PS Plus Premium?
The Last Of Us: Left Behind
Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us sent the PS3 off on a high, and the game did not have to wait long to receive a remaster. In 2014, Sony combined the base story with its Left Behind expansion and released a PS4 version, which is available on PS Plus Premium. Newcomers to the franchise should play this package; however, people who have already experienced Joel and Ellie’s story and only wish to try the expansion can just jump into the stand-alone version of Left Behind.
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The prequel condenses everything great about The Last of Us into a roughly three-hour campaign. Left Behind provides further insight into Ellie’s personality and background, all the while exploring aspects of her characterization that were not explored in great detail in the base game.
Limbo
Playdead mastered the art of short and impactful games. Limbo and Inside are both fantastic titles that clock in at under four hours, and they make every second count. Utilizing an expressionist aesthetic, Limbo is a visually arresting 2D puzzle-platformer drenched in horror iconography.
As the boy, players make their way through a horrifying world filled with entities capable of inspiring nightmares. Limbo opts for a minimalist narrative style, encouraging players to interpret the story as they see fit.
Rain
Released towards the tail-end of the PS3’s run as Sony’s main console, Rain is a visually arresting adventure game about an invisible boy who goes searching for an invisible girl. Acquire’s game garnered a somewhat mixed reception upon its release, and its simple gameplay loop can be polarizing. However, Rain crafts an effective atmosphere thanks to its gloomy art style and the main characters’ designs.
At under 4 hours, Rain almost threatens to overstay its welcome, but the experience is overall a recommendable one.
Mega Man 9
Mega Man 9 was not just a return to form for Capcom’s popular franchise, but a comeback in general. A throwback to the earliest entries in the series, Mega Man 9 is a hard-as-nails platformer with selectable boss fights, engaging weapons, and a great soundtrack.
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Nowadays, the 2008 title can come across as a bit derivative; however, back when it was released, Mega Man 9 showed that this classic formula could still work. PS Plus Premium members also have access to Mega Man 10, and while a decent game in its own right, Mega Man 9 is superior.
Papo & Yo
Papo & Yo revolves around a child’s attempts to interact and deal with a “monster,” one that clearly is designed to represent a real-life entity. Filled with simple puzzles and platforming, this game is primarily driven by emotion, telling a coming-of-age story that feels grounded in reality despite its fantastical presentation.
Papo & Yo leaves something to be desired on the gameplay side of things, but its narrative carries the experience over the line and toward a recommendation.
Infamous: Festival Of Blood
Festival of Blood is a standalone DLC based on Infamous 2. The expansion reuses the mainline game’s map, although it is given a horror twist courtesy of a vampire-themed story. Cole has been turned into a vamp by Bloody Mary, and he has to take her out by the end of the night to free himself from a fang-driven future.
Festival of Blood retains Infamous 2’s awesome gameplay, albeit without the implementation of a karma system. Cole even gains access to a neat new power that makes traversing the map a lot of fun. While nothing amazing in the grand scheme of things, Infamous: Festival of Blood is a fun way to spend a few hours.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest For Booty
Released exclusively as a downloadable title in North America, Quest for Booty does not pretend to be a full-sized Ratchet & Clank experience. However, Insomniac still crafted a polished and highly entertaining platformer, albeit one stripped of the secondary content found in other franchise entries. Linking Tools of Destruction with A Crack in Time, 2008’s Quest for Booty served its purpose as a stopgap project to give fans something to enjoy while waiting for a meatier release.
In November 2022, Sony added a host of Ratchet & Clank games to PS Plus Premium, making it as simple as ever for players to experience the franchise’s PS2 and PS3 eras. As one chapter of a larger picture, Quest for Booty is a blast.
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