For a whole generation of gamers, the PlayStation 3 represents a golden age. Alongside the Xbox 360, the PS3 had some of the greatest multiplatform games of all time, and its exclusives were second to none. The PS3 was the home of “Demon’s Souls,” “The Last of Us,” “Gran Turismo 5,” the first three “Uncharted” games, and so many other world class titles.
For fans of the PS3, the summer of 2026 was an emotional time. In July, PlayStation announced the end of an era and revealed that the digital marketplaces for the PS3 and PS Vita would be shut down by 2027. At the same time, the company revealed that the next PlayStation won’t have any physical game discs, triggering a wave of outrage from gamers and nostalgia for the good old days.
When gamers look back on the PS3, they think of the megahits first, but the console is home to so many underappreciated gems. Sony wants you to forget some PlayStation details from the past as the company charges ahead into the next age of gaming, but these forgotten PS3 hits deserve to be remembered.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
“Black Myth: Wukong” blew everyone away with its depiction of the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West” and its intensely addictive melee combat. However, over a decade before Game Science took the world by storm with “Black Myth,” a different developer tried its hand at turning “Journey to the West” into an action adventure game. “Enslaved: Odyssey to the West” was developed by Ninja Theory and released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2010. Despite the PS3 version debuting to positive reviews, the game is barely talked about today, despite it now feeling like a prototype “Black Myth” with a sci-fi twist.
“Enslaved” reimagines “Journey to the West” as a story set in a post-apocalyptic future. Players control Monkey, who must travel through a dangerous world filled with destructive robots that are searching for people to kill. Monkey is mostly a melee fighter using his staff to beat down enemies, but he can also launch projectiles that can damage and stun foes. Aside from combat, “Enslaved” focuses on platforming mechanics, with players having to use Monkey’s acrobatic skills to navigate the devastated and overgrown environments. The game is a thoroughly engaging adventure, and it stands out as having one of the most unique post-apocalyptic settings of the PS3 era.
Lollipop Chainsaw
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
If you love over-the-top zombie action, then “Lollipop Chainsaw” is a must-play PlayStation 3 game. Released in 2012, the game was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and features a story written by a pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe James Gunn. The plot follows Californian high schooler Juliet Starling who has to fight to save herself and her town when a zombie outbreak turns it upside down.
The game is full of raunchy humor and doesn’t take itself at all seriously, which contributed to the mixed reviews it received at launch. However, despite some critics not buying into it, the game went on to sell over a million copies, becoming one of the most successful projects that Grasshopper Manufacture has ever developed.
Many players were intrigued by the game’s aesthetics, but they were hooked by its combo-heavy hack-and-slash combat and levels full of unlockables to discover. You’ll almost never find gamers complaining about an opportunity to slice up zombies with a chainsaw, and “Lollipop Chainsaw” was the best outlet for that on the PlayStation 3.
Puppeteer
The 2013 side-scrolling platformer “Puppeteer” is a wonderfully imaginative PlayStation 3 game from Japan Studio that deserves a lot more recognition. On the surface, the game’s puppet show aesthetics run perilously close to “Little Big Planet,” one of the most popular PlayStation franchises ever, but once you’re in the game, it’s clear that “Puppeteer” is no rip-off. Players take on the role of Kutaro, a puppet who has to gather pieces of the Moonstone to overthrow the evil Moon Bear King. Kutaro is aided in his journey by the magical cat Ying Yang, who doubles as a second player for local co-op action.
“Puppeteer” turns its weird and mystical premise into a delightful platforming adventure. Armed with magical scissors, players can cut through pieces of the scenery to solve puzzles, unlock new areas, and discover hidden secrets. Along the way, players gain access to abilities that help them defend themselves from attacks and clear away enemies. Kutaro also has access to multiple heads which both give him new powers and represent the number of lives he has left in a level. Critics widely praised “Puppeteer” at the time, but today you won’t often find it listed among the best PS3 games of all time.Â
Remember Me
The 2020s has given us lots of incredible sci-fi settings to explore in games like “Cyberpunk 2077” and “Pragmata,” but that’s nothing new. Back in the PlayStation 3 days, gamers had access to another incredible sci-fi game that took cyberpunk themes and ran with them. 2013’s “Remember Me” is a third-person action adventure game set in Neo-Paris in the year 2084. Players control a revolutionary named Nilin who gets locked in prison and has her memories wiped. Nilin needs to fight her way out of prison, restore her memories, and bring down the memory-controlling technology once and for all.
“Remember Me” is a prison escape story wrapped in a fascinating cyberpunk cloth, but it’s the game’s combat system that’s truly unique. Players unlock basic attacks called Pressens that can be strung together in the Combo Lab. When combat breaks out, you use your self-designed combos to deal maximum damage. The real fun of the game comes in trying out different combos and literally building a fighting style that suits you best. “Remember Me” is classed as a “Platinum Title” by publisher Capcom on account of it selling over a million copies and it was the second-most downloaded PlayStation Plus title in Europe following its launch, but sadly it’s not as well-remembered as it deserves to be.
Sony Interactive Entertainment runs a program called PlayStation C.A.M.P. that gathers people from inside and outside the gaming industry to pitch inventive new ideas. Out of that project came the downloadable 2013 title “Rain,” a puzzle game unlike any other. Players control an invisible boy wandering through a city and other strange environments while looking for an invisible girl. As the boy explores, he needs to solve puzzles to move freely through the city and deal with dangerous invisible creatures that are also wandering the streets.
The very first puzzle players have to solve is figuring out how to keep track of their own character, who’s only visible as an outline in the rain or as wet footprints on the ground. The game uses invisibility as a jumping off point for a slew of puzzles layered throughout a somewhat somber but nevertheless memorable series of levels. “Rain” is an atmospheric puzzle game that would likely get more recognition toady if it wasn’t a PlayStation Network exclusive.
