Topic: Greatest Playstation Franchises Of All Time.

Colin McCrae Rally. With it's sixteen pixels in 1998 "this is ACTUALLY realistic!"

Funnily enough I had (& absolutely loved) the original on Sega Saturn, probably in around 1997 I’d imagine. I think it was post-the success of the first game that Sony then signed an console-exclusivity deal with Eidos for future games. Which sucked as, I was Sega born-and-bred!

@BowTiesAreCool Yeah but YOUR CAR GOT MUDDY! 😮😮😮

@Th3solution Sorry for the late reply mate but I've been really busy.
In answer to your kweschun - whatever floats your boat.....maaaaaaan.

@Thrillho it was a genuine piece of magic! Up there with ps4 characters having wet shorts coming out of water

@hypnotoad It’s cool, bruh. You’re allowed to be busy sometimes. 😜

So if there are no rules, then I’m going to make a list of some of my favorite franchises that are classically tied to PlayStation or were system sellers, regardless of developers or publisher.
@RogerRoger took my original idea of Tomb Raider as one of the top franchises for the platform. Others in my top ten would be Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted, Jak & Daxster, Infamous, Little Big Planet, Gran Turismo, God of War, Ratchet & Clank, and …I don’t know what to call the franchise but I think the Team Ico / Fumito Ueda games would be effectively a franchise, even if it’s just the three games. But each of the three have been at the forefront of pushing PS2 and then PS4, and even the PS3 with the remasters and the legendary long development of The Last Guardian across two platforms, taking so long that it seemed to be an omnipresent project until it’s release of PS4.

Edit: ooops… just realized my top 10 became a top 11. Eh, whatever. You get a bonus entry.

@Th3solution yeah I think you must have caught the actual greatest somewhere amongst your top 11 (catchy 😉). Surprised that Uncharted (or The Last of Us for that matter) didn’t figure more prominently in this thread tbh.

@colonelkilgore All of those franchises were reasons to have a PlayStation, for me. Personal system sellers. Uncharted was simply an absolute phenomenon for me. I remember gushing to my friends about how awesome the graphics looked at the time.

In my mind a franchise consists of a minimum of 3 related games. The Last of Us does certainly come close with the Remaster which might be considered a third entry. At least critically it’s probably the more important of the two modern Naughty Dog game series, but culturally Uncharted has sold more systems and reached more players, I think.

One could make an argument that the seminal PlayStation franchises could be divided into a couple different generational time frames. The most modern big games which are new and budding future franchises are likely to be equally as important — Horizon Zero Dawn, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man — but are just getting their feet wet with the first sequels.

Another series came to mind, and although I don’t know if I can stretch and call it a franchise, I think the Quantic Dream / David Cage games are worthy of mention. Their four main games have all been important across PS2, 3, and 4. Thematically, all the games are different with unique settings and independent stories, but they all have that common game style of narrative choice. (Incidentally I do feel the Ueda games as mentioned in my previous post are a little closer fit as a franchise because even though they likewise are each independent games which share a common playstyle and common developer, I think in their case the three games legitimately all are set in the same world. It’s a whole separate discussion in and of itself, but it seems clear that the games are loosely related narratively) The QD games don’t sell a ton, but artistically I think they pushed gaming genres and ideas and have been linked to PlayStation throughout.

It’s notable to mention the few franchises that span the entirety of the PlayStation ecosystem from PS1 through PS5. The ones I can think of are Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider (so long as that new game does get completed and released on this generation, and I can’t imagine it won’t.)

@Iver May I interest you in Hitman?

But yeah, the true stealth games seem to be dying off and most things have turned into action with stealth mechanics. It reminds me, we need a new Tenchu game.

Dark Souls/Uncharted franchises - hands down.