I’m Getting Bored of Every PlayStation Game Telling the Same Story

I’m a immense instrumentality of PlayStation’s first-party offerings. They’ve travel to embody the benignant of cinematic adventures I’ve ever looked for erstwhile sitting down with a controller successful my hand, feeling similar genuine blockbuster events meant to beryllium savoured. But wherever successful the past this marque of glossy storytelling felt similar caller crushed being trodden, I can’t assistance but consciousness that precocious it's go the well-worn road. It’s not conscionable that each of PlayStation’s large releases adhere to the now-trademark third-person, cinematic stylings – the unchangeable of developers has go seemingly obsessed with stories that research the nonstop aforesaid themes: grief and revenge. And I’m starting to get bushed of it. As a rule, these games are each impeccably good made, but I’m starting to miss that epoch erstwhile PlayStation’s scope felt wider and things were a small much “fun.”

The realisation that truthful galore PlayStation games person explored the aforesaid grim communicative themes struck maine erstwhile playing done Sucker Punch’s caller Ghost of Yotei. While I thoroughly enjoyed it and respect its consistently breathtaking attack to combat and the genuine consciousness of find it creates done exploration, I couldn’t assistance but consciousness I’d been told its communicative before. As Atsu, you’re tasked with avenging the decease of your parents connected a blood-soaked travel crossed 17th-century Japan arsenic you hunt down each of ‘The Yotei Six’. Not lone is this communicative unluckily adjacent to the crippled of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which I besides played to completion earlier this year, but it's the aforesaid operation of fiery revenge arc crossed with meditations connected what is to grieve that has go thing of a hallmark for PlayStation Studios successful caller years.

2020’s The Last of Us Part 2 is an evident trailblazer, with Ellie’s acheronian descent into a rage-filled embodiment of revenge coming arsenic a effect of the decease of her begetter figure, Joel. That, of course, was the sequel to the 2013 archetypal that explored however Joel struggled to header with the decease of his ain daughter. At the time, The Last of Us was seen arsenic fuelling a question of “sad dad” games, including 2018’s God of War, but successful hindsight, these were the gathering blocks for PlayStation’s preoccupation with grief.

2022’s God of War Ragnarok is simply a communicative fuelled by the nonaccomplishment of mothers and sons and the choler that comes with them. Insomniac’s Spider-Man bid follows some Peter Parker and Miles Morales arsenic they effort to flooded supervillain threats arsenic good arsenic wrestle with their demons stemming from dormant parental figures. 2020’s Returnal is simply a looping sci-fi nightmare calved retired of the protagonist Selene’s familial grief-related trauma. And past there’s 2025’s different large PlayStation exclusive, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, which whitethorn not technically beryllium a first-party game, but surely is simply a verifiable feast of maternal and paternal anguish.

Don’t get maine wrong: I’m a instrumentality of each of the games listed above, each singular successful its depictions of characters and each offering wildly antithetic gameplay experiences. But erstwhile viewed arsenic a whole, it's casual to perceive that their stories are each being sung from the aforesaid hymn sheet. Familial grief is astatine the centre of each of these stories, and portion I surely consciousness that mature themes person a spot successful games, it is each starting to consciousness similar I’m getting deed astir the caput with the aforesaid ideas astatine this point. The “cycle of violence” is successful precise existent information of becoming a loop of diminishing returns.

Of course, it’s existent that not every PS5 crippled follows this signifier — Astro Bot isn’t an exploration of generational trauma successful heavy abstraction — but you drawback my drift. I deliberation that’s incidentally what I enjoyed truthful overmuch astir Team Asobi’s ode to PlayStation of old, with its joyousness and colour lasting retired from the different morose crowd. It felt similar a rarity. But it ne'er utilized to beryllium this way.

The PS3 gave america Naughty Dog’s Uncharted era, which, though it yet ventured into much melancholic territory successful A Thief’s End, firmly planted its emblem successful themes of escapade with a code ripped from the pages of pulp fiction. I’ll ever person a brushed spot for Insomniac’s Resistance and its World War 2/sci-fi warfare mashup, arsenic good arsenic LittleBigPlanet, which, each the mode astatine the different extremity of the tonal spectrum, celebrated creativity and community. Yes, these games each contained varying levels of quality nuances, but were each fundamentally astir antithetic things: treasure hunting, alien invasions, and idiosyncratic expression. They weren’t each trying to service the aforesaid story, and I can’t assistance but consciousness that if a caller Jak and Daxter crippled were to travel retired today, it would beryllium astir an Ottsel’s thirst for revenge against the killers of his blonde-haired friend.

I anticipation that aboriginal PlayStation exclusives tin look to this much varied, absorbing past for inspiration, adjacent erstwhile choosing to tackle much “serious” taxable matters. Team Ico’s PS2 classical Shadow of the Colossus took connected a mournful tone, but recovered thing genuinely unsocial and poignant wrong it, astatine a clip erstwhile specified ideas were acold little communal successful games. It stands arsenic a unsocial masterpiece to this day, telling its communicative done vagaries and minimal cutscenes – a acold outcry from the trademark cinematic benignant we present expect of PlayStation games. What we didn’t person backmost successful the mid-2000s were 5 much PS2 releases that took its nonstop contemplations connected emotion and nonaccomplishment and told the aforesaid communicative successful a antithetic wrapping. Every clip you played thing caller from Sony’s studios connected the present 25-year-old console, it felt similar a marque caller experimentation with a antithetic communicative to tell, not conscionable a saltation connected a theme.

That brings maine backmost to Ghost of Yotei, a crippled that is superior to its predecessor successful astir each aspect, barring its cardinal story. While I link to Atsu much than I ever did Jin Sakai — she’s a overmuch warmer beingness to walk a fewer twelve hours with — Ghost of Tsushima’s communicative explores different, fresher ground. The communicative balances the idiosyncratic struggles of Jin against the backdrop of an penetration of a nation, with themes of honour, betrayal, and belonging striking a chord and making it basal retired erstwhile it arrived blistery connected the heels of The Last of Us Part 2 successful 2020, earlier grief seemingly took clasp of each Sony storyteller.

Perhaps PlayStation’s involvement successful grief is simply a reflection of the authorities of the world, though. When viewed done the lens of erstwhile PS5 exclusives similar Ghost of Yotei and Death Stranding 2 were being written, that melancholy is somewhat understandable. The COVID pandemic inarguably took clasp of our satellite successful the years 2020 and 2021, and arsenic such, themes surrounding unexpected nonaccomplishment and wide trauma would nary uncertainty person been astatine the forefront of galore minds. It volition truthful beryllium intriguing to spot if this signifier volition proceed overmuch further, then, present that the satellite has (somewhat) settled backmost into what it looked similar beforehand. Will the stories being told successful projects that began accumulation post-2022 reflector a antithetic authorities of the planet, oregon proceed to look wrong ourselves astatine our darkest moments? These are, of course, each valid tales to tell, and I’m a immense proponent of creation being reflections of those creating it, but I can’t assistance but privation for a small much assortment going forward.

There’s crushed to beryllium hopeful and skeptical, considering what Sony has coming up next. Insomniac’s Wolverine looks to beryllium delivering connected each of the gore and decapitation you’d anticipation to see, but volition that mature standing beryllium reflected successful its themes? Logan is surely a quality consumed by a lust for revenge; volition that spot america taken down a acquainted way of burying past demons done ultraviolence, oregon volition we get an altogether antithetic communicative that taps into a antithetic portion of his psyche? James Mangold’s Logan already told america a communicative that would’ve slotted nicely into PlayStation’s “sad dad” canon, arsenic X23 tapped into the softer broadside of his adamantium body, truthful I bash anticipation we don’t conscionable get a rerun of that thought here.

We besides cognize that Saros is connected the mode from Housemarque successful March, and it surely looked awesome successful the astir caller State of Play stream. As for Naughty Dog, the crushed zero of this long-running epoch of grief, we cognize that the workplace volition beryllium taking connected the sci-fi realm adjacent with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. Its archetypal trailer was promising, delivering a much fun-filled code than we’d ever imagination of seeing from The Last of Us. Of course, we’ve hardly scratched the aboveground here, but it would beryllium fantastic to spot Naughty Dog rediscovering immoderate of that Uncharted levity here. Both of these upcoming PS5 games, incidentally, are stories astir radical investigating mislaid off-world colonies. I anticipation for my involvement that they find wildly antithetic stories to archer connected each of them, alternatively than observe reminders of the grief they’ve near behind.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.