Highlights
- PlayStation exclusives are beloved for their emotionally engaging single-player narratives and well-written characters, but they also feature excellent collectibles that enhance the overall experience.
- Insomniac Games' Spider-Man sets the gold standard for collectible costumes, with almost 30 suits that pay homage to the beloved superhero's different eras. Spider-Man: Miles Morales continues this trend with equally excellent costumes.
- Games like Ghost of Tsushima and God of War use collectibles to expand the game's world, explore character development, and provide fun experiences for players. The Last of Us tells compelling stories through collectible notes, making them an integral part of the game's storytelling.
PlayStation exclusives have an excellent reputation among video game fans. This is because Sony's various studios have focused on delivering emotionally engaging single-player narratives filled with well-written characters and incredible worlds. While the console has provided a diverse range of exclusives across many different genres, all the most beloved franchises on Sony's consoles share more than just a high level of polish and quality. PlayStation exclusives all feature excellent collectibles that make exploring their worlds worthwhile. Whether they are usable items or a simple lore dump, the collectible items in PlayStation titles have contributed greatly to what makes each game so memorable.
One type of collectible prominent in many games is cosmetics. While these are far from unique to PlayStation exclusive titles, Insomniac Games' Spider-Man sets the gold standard for collectible costumes. The game includes almost 30 suits, ranging from the classic Spider-Man costume to more obscure ones like Spider-Punk. These costumes each have unique properties associated with them and pay homage to the beloved superhero's different eras. Spider-Man: Miles Morales continued the trend of its predecessor with similarly excellent costumes for its hero. In both games, suits were unlocked by completing different tasks, making the process of acquiring them as fun and diverse as the costumes themselves.
Ghost of Tsushima's Collectibles Raised The Bar for Future PS Titles
Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima has a variety of collectibles. The collectible banners and swords found on Pillars of Honor add to the game's wide array of cosmetics while other tasks on the checklist, like completing haiku, offer more in the way of character development than tangible items. With over ten different types of collectibles and activities to find and complete, Ghost of Tsushima uses the mechanic to expand the samurai fantasy, explore Jin's character, and show players its beautiful world. While it was less expansive in its scope, God of War and its sequel, God of WarRagnarok, also use collectibles for the dual purpose of giving the player new abilities while expanding its lore.
God of War's collectibles are comprised of world lore, chests, artifacts, and more. Like Ghost of Tsushima, these collectibles are often used to make the player explore a part of the map they haven't been to or interact with the environment in a new way. God of War Ragnarok features Kvasir's poems, which are often references to other PlayStation exclusives. "Afterlife Abandonment" is a clear Death Stranding reference, while "Tool and Bang" pays homage to Ratchet and Clank. There are plenty of other references in these poems as well, making them a fun Easter Egg, and Kvasir's poems stand out because they pay homage to other PlayStation titles in a way that is lore-friendly and creative.
The Last Of Us Has Players Collect Stories
Naughty Dog's use of collectibles is one that tells stories and builds out its world. Its most ambitious application is telling the story of Ish in The Last of Us. Ish's tale is simultaneously heartwarming and absolutely crushing, and it's told entirely through collectible notes. While the game's collectible artifacts do the most for its storytelling and world-building, every type of collectible is grounded in the world and its characters. The collectible comics make sense because Ellie reads them. The Firefly pendants tie into the plot as players are trying to reach a Firefly outpost. Safe combinations and supplements, while utilitarian, fit into the world in a seamless way.
The collectibles in PlayStation games have set a high bar for the rest of the industry. The Last of Us has built collectibles into its storytelling, making the two inextricable, while games like Spider-Man and God of War use them to provide fans with fun experiences and fan service that goes above and beyond. All of these games, and many other PlayStation exclusives, use collectibles as more than a thing to find; they are built into the fabric of the experience. Collectibles in PlayStation games are so good because they enhance and amplify the experience rather than simply draw out each game's playtime.
