2006 brought the release of the powerful (and pricey) Playstation 3. The early days of the PS3 notoriously had very few games to play, but by the end of its lifetime, the console had grown a very respectable library.

In fact, the seventh generation of consoles is arguably the best generation of all time — with the PS3 itself sporting some genre-defining exclusives that are still being iterated on to this day. Looking back at this massive library, there are almost too many great games to choose from.

Updated by Chad Thesen on December January 3, 2024: This article has been updated to bring it up to a higher level of quality. This will enhance the reader's experience and make the article more engaging thanks to the inclusion of metacritic scores, bullet point facts, and special tags under each entry that readers can make use of.

10 Catherine

Metascore: 79

• One of the most unique puzzle experiences around.
• The morality choice system is not simply good and evil.

Catherine was a bizarre horror/romance/puzzle-platformer made by Atlus, developers of the Persona series. It was presented as a "Golden Playhouse" game, suggesting other one-off games could be released under the Golden Playhouse banner sometime in the future. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Catherine is still the one and only.

Players take control of Vincent Brooks, a twenty-something dude with a curse. In his dreams, he must climb a massive tower — or die. This is where most of the gameplay happens; Vincent must solve puzzles by moving blocks to create paths up the tower. The gameplay is extremely fun for some, and deeply maddening for others. The narrative, reminiscent of Persona-like social situations, follows Vincent as he struggles with commitment issues as he is torn between his long-time girlfriend, Katherine, and a new fling named Catherine. The recent remake is good too, if you can get over its weird handling of a new trans character.

9 Fallout: New Vegas

Metascore: 84

• Perfectly blends action, RPG, and shooter elements.
• A world that just makes you want to explore and reveal all of its lore.

Though published by Bethesda and built using their engine, Fallout: New Vegas was written and developed by Obsidian. Their excellent storytelling, combined with Bethesda's more modern game design, made New Vegas the best game in the Fallout series.

Fallout: New Vegas contained interesting moral dilemmas, political commentaries, funny characters, and fascinating quests. The game also had several huge DLCs, all of which were worthy follow-ups to the main campaign. Fans of Fallout, Bethesda games, or just RPGs in general owe it to themselves to experience this masterpiece.

8 Dark Souls

Metascore: 89

• Would polish the soulslike genre to what we know today.
• Replaced the hub world of its predecessor with a large connected map.

Although From Software's first game, Demon Souls, was a moderate success (and exclusive to Playstation), Dark Souls was the game that truly defined a new genre. It has since become a gaming icon, the benchmark against which other difficult games are compared.

Dark Souls was so good, in fact, that it succeeded despite several shortcomings. Performance was the worst offender, as some areas were plagued by framerate issues in the game's original version (looking at you, Blight Town). However, its famously uncompromising gameplay and unparalleled level design more than made up for it. Although Dark Souls could be extremely difficult, it rarely felt unfair. This created a satisfying sense of progression where the player improved in skill alongside their character's improving stats.

7 Uncharted

Metascore: 88

• A large collection of treasures made inspecting every corner and nook exciting.
• A perfect blend of traversal and gunplay made for memorable combat encounters.

Uncharted is an unquestionably great series of PlayStation-exclusive games. The first game in the series, which was released in 2007, set a new benchmark for narrative adventure games. It was a lighthearted, cinematic adventure with fun gameplay and a handsome protagonist — and really, what more could you want?

Drawing on inspiration from Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones, Uncharted presented these time-tested archetypes in a polished, entertaining way. There's a reason people were drawn to these familiar tropes. There's no denying the allure of a good "popcorn movie". Uncharted exemplifies the idea of a good "popcorn game."

6 Persona 5

Metascore: 93

• An incredibly deep and well-made RPG system.
• Extremely stylized visuals make every scene a treat.

Persona 5 was released in 2017, years after the PS4 had taken the world by storm. However, its PS3 version was virtually identical to the PS4 one, and it's the only Persona game playable on the PS3. In fact, this stylish title is arguably the console's best JRPG — despite being released 11 years after the console's initial launch.

Persona 5 introduced polished gameplay and graphics on top of beautiful art, funky fresh music, and slice-of-life storytelling. Its characters are (mostly) well-written and loveable. The story, while meandering at times, was entertaining and often heartfelt. Persona 5 delivers tons of content for its price tag, clocking in at an average playtime of roughly 100 hours.

5 Grand Theft Auto V

Metascore: 97

• The best action adventure available on the PS3.
• GTA V rivals even Skyrim with how many systems it has been re-released on.

The single-player story mode of GTA V deserves its spot on this list based on its own merits, completely independent of the ridiculous success of GTA Online. GTA V refined the series' core gameplay mechanics to a razor's edge. Complete with breathtaking graphics that still hold up to this day, the game has helped its developer, Rockstar, achieve a stunning level of success.

GTA V still tops sales charts, despite the fact that it originally came out nine years ago. It stunned the world when it did so. The story is entertaining, but it truly shines in addicting gameplay. The more arcade-like driving in particular ffeels near-perfect, a major improvement over GTA IV's somewhat realistic and unwieldy driving.

4 The Last of Us

Metascore: 95

• The best survival horror available on the PS3.
• Continues to be one of PlayStation's biggest franchises.

Released toward the end of the PS3's lifespan, The Last of Us became the gold standard of the third-person narrative shooter genre. Naughty Dog took all of their learning from the Uncharted series and delivered a more mature and deeply emotional journey with The Last of Us.

Although it takes place in a decaying world filled with monsters, it's really a deeply personal story about parenthood. It's nearly impossible to discuss the narrative without spoiling it, but anyone who hasn't already played The Last of Us owes it to themselves to play it ASAP. It's Naughty Dog at their best — fetching it a bump up in the rankings of this list.

3 Portal 2

Metascore: 95

• Puzzles are incredibly well thought out.
• Story and humor surpass its already high score.

Like most Valve games, the original Portal was a stroke of genius. When the sequel was released in 2011, players were ecstatic to find that Portal 2 was just as good as (if not better than) its predecessor.

I'm afraid you're about to become the immediate past president of the Being Alive club

Portal 2 expanded on the first game with a more in-depth story, new gameplay mechanics, and a co-op game mode. It fleshed out Aperture Science and GLaDOS, and it added some fun new characters as well like Wheatley and Cave Johnson. The gameplay mechanics established in the first game were expanded upon with some unique twists — the blue Repulsion Gel (the bouncy stuff) was especially fun. The co-op mode, offering entirely new puzzles to explore in tandem with a friend, was also a fantastic addition.

2 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots

Metascore: 94

• A unique gaming experience, exclusively on the PS3.
• Very bazaar and outlandish concepts to captivate players.

Metal Gear Solid as a franchise, is delightfully insane — and shockingly poignant. Each game in the series is in some way groundbreaking, and MGS4 is no exception. In MGS4, the famed protagonist Solid Snake becomes "Old Snake" due to a medical issue with accelerated aging. The game does awesome justice to Snake's "final mission" in a war-torn world.

MGS4 introduced several new gameplay mechanics to the series, including improved third-person controls, on-site weapon deployment and customization, and more. It was also the first game in the series to use the FOX Engine which became famous for its amazing graphics. Although MGS5 may be the series' best game in terms of gameplay, MGS4 established a major impact with its stellar narrative. Even with recent bundles and collections available on PC, MGS4 remains the only Metal Gear title that can be played exclusively on the PS3 — meaning if you don't own one, you're out of luck. This exclusivity makes it a high contender for this list.

1 LittleBigPlanet

Metascore: 95

• The best platformer available on the PS3.
• It allows for infinite creativity through imagination.

The first LittleBigPlanet was a revolutionary game — and adorable to boot. This side-scroller was mostly known for its deep and engrossing level editor alongside the cute character customization that has become synonymous with the IP. LittleBigPlanet built on the successes of similar games with level editors, such as Alien Hominid, to deliver a uniquely detailed experience. While it has somewhat faded in terms of popularity, other games like Super Mario Maker and Dreams have followed in its footsteps.

By giving players the tools to design their own levels, the content in these types of games is virtually unlimited. Unfortunately, the servers for LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2 have been permanently shut down. However, LittleBigPlanet 3's servers remain up, and LBP3 is a perfectly serviceable option for fans of the series. This game's exclusivity on the PS3 makes it an experience locked for those chosen few, and that puts it firmly at the number 1 spot of this list.