Ghostrunner, Gravity Rush 2, and Judgment: 6 Hidden PlayStation Gems Worth Playing Beyond Blockbusters
When browsing the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 library, marquee blockbusters like God of War Ragnarök, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and The Last of Us Part II naturally command the spotlight. Yet just beneath Sony Interactive Entertainment’s biggest tentpoles lies a treasure trove of fiercely creative titles built around bold mechanics and unforgettable atmospheres. From one-hit-kill cyberpunk katana parkour and gravity-shifting open skies to gritty Tokyo detective noir and time-loop mysteries, here are six hidden PlayStation gems you need to play right now.
1. Ghostrunner and Gravity Rush 2: High-Speed Lethality Meets Skybound Freedom
Developed by Polish studio One More Level and published by 505 Games, Ghostrunner drops you at the base of Dharma Tower, humanity’s last neon-drenched megastructure shelter after a world-ending cataclysm. Its core rule is merciless: both your cybernetic warrior and every enemy in your path die in a single hit. That design turns every corridor into a high-velocity combat puzzle of wall-running, magnetic grappling, mid-air sensory dashes, and split-second katana deflections. On PS5, the native upgrade shines with a razor-sharp 120 fps mode, ray tracing options, and crisp DualSense haptic feedback.
Offering an equally exhilarating sense of motion wrapped in vibrant comic-book poetry, Gravity Rush 2 (Gravity Daze 2 in Japan) stands as one of the most imaginative adventures ever crafted by the late Japan Studio under director Keiichiro Toyama (creator of Siren and Slitterhead). Controlling gravity shifter Kat alongside her cosmic cat Dusty, you do not merely fly: you reorient the pull of gravity itself, turning vertical walls or the open sky into your floor. With the bustling floating markets of Jirga Para Lhao, three distinct gravity styles (Normal, Lunar for featherlight leaps, and Jupiter for crushing heavy strikes), and Kohei Tanaka’s sweeping orchestral score, this PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium standout remains a beloved gem, much like the recent arrival of Tales of Eternia Remastered on PS5 for fans of timeless Japanese artistry.
2. A Plague Tale: Innocence and Judgment: Medieval Darkness vs. Kamurocho Noir
Shifting to 14th-century Europe, A Plague Tale: Innocence showcases the narrative mastery of French developer Asobo Studio and publisher Focus Entertainment. Set in 1348 Aquitaine amidst the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, the story follows fifteen-year-old Amicia de Rune as she fights to protect her sickly five-year-old brother Hugo from both the ruthless Inquisition led by Grand Inquisitor Vitalis Bénévent and ravenous swarms of thousands of rats. Blending stealth, alchemical sling crafting, and clever light-and-fire puzzles with a native 4K 60 fps PS5 upgrade and Olivier Derivière’s haunting cello score, it delivers an emotional sibling bond that hits harder than productions twice its size.
If rain-slicked Tokyo alleys call to you more than medieval torches, Judgment (Judge Eyes) offers a thrilling detective noir spin on the world created by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and Sega. Stepping away from traditional yakuza clan politics, it stars Takayuki Yagami (portrayed by Takuya Kimura), a disgraced defense attorney turned private investigator prowling the streets of Kamurocho. On the trail of a serial killer known as The Mole, Yagami balances courtroom intrigue, suspect tailing, lockpicking, and drone reconnaissance with bone-crunching martial arts split between the crowd-sweeping Crane Style and the duel-focused Tiger Style, all running at a locked 60 frames per second in its remastered PS5 edition.
3. Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! and The Forgotten City: Psychological Subversion and Roman Time Loops
Few games weaponize player expectations as brilliantly as Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!, created by Dan Salvato (Team Salvato) and co-published on PS4 and PS5 by Serenity Forge. What begins as a cheerful high school visual novel where you write poems to impress club members Sayori, Natsuki, Yuri, and club president Monika soon unravels into an unforgettable fourth-wall-breaking psychological horror experience. Using a built-in virtual desktop interface so console players can inspect files and uncover hidden lore, the Plus! edition adds crisp 1080p artwork, six emotional Side Stories exploring the girls’ friendships, and 26 music tracks.
Finally, while some recent roundups mistakenly list Askiisoft and Devolver Digital’s neo-noir slasher Katana ZERO as a PlayStation pick (despite a March 2021 ESRB PS4 rating, the game remains exclusive to PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox without an official PlayStation Store launch), the true sixth hidden gem waiting on PS5 and PS4 is The Forgotten City. Developed by Australian team Modern Storyteller led by former lawyer Nick Pearce and published by Dear Villagers after starting life as an award-winning Steam mod, this mystery traps you inside a secret underground Roman city governed by the Golden Rule: if even one of its 23 citizens commits a sin, everyone is turned into solid gold. Armed with a time loop and sharp philosophical dialogue, it is a masterclass in interactive detective fiction to enjoy while awaiting upcoming indie releases like Kitaria Fables 2 on PS5.
My Take: Why These Focused Worlds Linger Longer Than Safe Blockbusters
What always stays with me whenever I revisit games like Gravity Rush 2, A Plague Tale: Innocence, or Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! is their refusal to play it safe. Where eighty-hour mega-budget blockbusters often smooth out their sharpest edges to appeal to the broadest possible audience, each of these six titles commits wholeheartedly to a singular creative vision. Whether I am falling sideways across the skies of Jirga Para Lhao, guiding Amicia and Hugo through the dark by torchlight, or debating Roman ethics across time loops in The Forgotten City, these hidden gems prove that PlayStation’s greatest strength lies in the daring variety of its catalog.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
