Sony PlayStation Plus Deluxe review: Games list that varies wildly with quality

Sony recently released updates to their online platform, with the highest tier being PlayStation Plus Deluxe. Each one has a different price and a collection of video games that go along with it.

In some regions, the highest tier is PlayStation Plus Premium. In others, it’s PlayStation Plus Deluxe, which I reviewed on my PlayStation 5.

Is the upgraded system worth it? It’s certainly better than the baseline PS+, that’s for sure. Depending on what you are looking for in your subscription system, it may or may not be for you. I’ll go over what each part of the subscription service does.

However, while the modern game collection is pretty fantastic, the “classic” selection of titles is mediocre at best. It has some terrific retro RPGs and a few amazing fighting offerings, but it really doesn’t stack up.

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What is PlayStation Plus Deluxe, and what comes with it?

The upgraded PS+ system has three tiers, with the lowest being the same price as always. It has the same features fans have come to expect — a few free games a month, the odd discount, and the ability to play online.

They also get the PlayStation Plus Collection, and the Game Help feature only exists for PS5 owners.

Things get a bit bigger when it comes to the PlayStation Plus Extra collection. It has features from the lower tier plus exclusive content and an assortment of titles from the PS4 and PS5 libraries. It’s a little more expensive, but it’s not the final form of this subscription service.

Then, depending on your region, you can purchase either PS+ Deluxe or Premium. They’re identical, except for the cloud streaming options. Areas that don’t have access to cloud streaming will have PlayStation Plus Deluxe.

Both options are otherwise the same. PS+ Deluxe and Premium have the benefits of the previous tiers, alongside a collection of PS1, PS2, PSP Classic Games, and PS3 Remasters.

They also have time-limited game trials on recent, huge titles. If you have cloud streaming in your region, you also have PS3 games to cloud stream and can also stream PS1, PS2, PSP, and PS4 games.

Though my region does have PlayStation Plus Premium, for the purposes of this review, I’m reviewing the PS+ Deluxe features. Only a limited group of territories have PS+ Premium, but everyone can get Deluxe.

Where the subscription service succeeds: PS4/PS5 games

The collection of games will vary from region to region, which makes sense. But I have to say, the choice in the modern games section featured more than a few fantastic offerings that make it worth looking at.

From Dead Cells to Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, Doom, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, and the madness of Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: Classic Edition, the game list is genuinely fantastic. You can also pick up any trophies that were unlockable in the original game, which is excellent for trophy hunters.

Many fantastic titles are on the PlayStation Plus Deluxe list, and it features some of the biggest and best games of the last few years. I appreciate the modern list being modern and not just a bunch of PlayStation 4 and 5 launch titles.

Quite a few offerings I already own or have reviewed in the past, but there were genuinely games I was looking forward to getting into.

Where the subscription service falls flat: Classic games section

The PlayStation Plus Deluxe “classic games” section was the one I was genuinely interested in. As someone who loves retro and classic titles, it seemed this was the one for me.

However, it has far too many PS4 Remasters for my liking. Far, far, too many.

While I have read that Sony will add more classic games as time goes on, right now, it’s more than a little underwhelming. Now, I will say I was happy with several of these games. Arc the Lad, Wild Arms, Wild Arms 3? Yes, please.

The lack of PlayStation 3 games is more than a little disappointing. I would have liked to see these titles among the classics because there are too many to ignore. PlayStation 3 games are not available for play because the PS5 cannot emulate PS3 games.

This is why the system has them via cloud streaming. I understand them only being available in certain regions for this reason. But where the PlayStation Plus Deluxe subscription falls flat is the actual classic games.

Adding more titles can happen over time, though, and more likely will.

One interesting thing was that some, not all, of these games could save anywhere and rewind time in the classic games. I took advantage of this in several of the classic RPGs on the platform.

The game trial system is an excellent idea

I just wanted to write briefly on this system in PlayStation Plus Deluxe because I think it’s a great idea. It allows you to try some of the most prominent games on the platform, such as Horizon Forbidden West, for a few hours.

For about five hours, you will have full access to the title. It’s a remarkably great way for users to decide whether to buy or not.

In conclusion

At the time of writing, I have both Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, and while I use the latter more, Xbox’s subscription service has a more incredible selection of titles at present for a reasonable price.

Sure, not all of those titles are amazing. There are some clunkers in the list.

PlayStation Plus Deluxe has a nice list of excellent video games, but the list is still smaller compared to some other services on the market. I do love that all the offerings on the list also have trophies, so even classic PS1 games have them.

The main list of titles is excellent, and I am glad to see many classic games, but I was just surprised by how many remasters were on the list. I can’t be upset about the lack of PS3 games on Deluxe, but I do hope that when and if Sony unveils PS3 emulation for the PS5, those games will come to the classic list on Deluxe.