PlayStation Plus Essential Games for April 2026, Explained

The PlayStation Plus Essential games for April 2026 are all in different genres; it’s a Soulslike, trio of classic action games, and an online co-op, loot-focused title. However, they all have a few things in common, as they have a similar average review score and all came out a few years ago. These three games are Lords of the Fallen, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, and Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream.

Here’s a explainer on all three PlayStation Plus Essential games for April 2026. These three titles will be available for subscribers from April 7th to May 4th.

3) Lords of the Fallen

Lord of the Fallen — not to be confused with its 2014 predecessor with the same exact name — is a hardcore Soulslike that originally came out in 2023. A mix of decent to tepid reviews meant its average score settled at 73.

This title wears its Dark Souls influence on its chainmail-covered sleeve, something it has in common with its aforementioned predecessor. Players move through a dangerous world like they would in most other Soulslikes, hacking away at enemies with its weighty combat for currency that’s used to buy upgrades. It’s a relatively standard entry in the genre and only slightly elevated by its haunting enemy design and impressive visual fidelity. Lords of the Fallen’s hook lies with its special lamp that lets players move in and out of the spooky Umbral realm that lies on top of the regular one. While a technical achievement and something that gives players a second chance after they bite the dust, traversing dimensions is often cumbersome because of how limiting it is.

Lords of the Fallen launched in a rough state. Cheap enemy placements and constant overwhelming hordes of grunts often meant fights were slogs to get through. It felt as though developer CI Games came to the conclusion that being difficult was all that mattered even if that challenge stemmed from tedium. Terrible tuning all around turned this promising RPG into an utter nightmare.

However, CI Games spent two years patching Lords of the Fallen as if it were some live-service or early access game. These updates added features like a shorter effective range for enemy snipers, smaller aggro ranges for some foes, lower enemy density in many areas, lower enemy aggression when swarming the player, Vestige save points in New Game Plus (yes, it initially shipped without those specific save points in that mode), cross-platform play, upgraded sound effects, new spells, a storage chest, additional quests, a boss rush mode, gameplay modifiers, stronger bosses, more lock-on options, backup saves, control rebinding, a refined tutorial, a less harsh version of the Umbral realm, PS5 Pro support, a stronger parry, more responsive and fluid combat controls, shared progression in co-op, a friend pass for co-op, a dedicated jump button, a new user interface, a pause function, a harder Veteran difficulty, smarter and deadlier enemies, and tons of balance adjustments. While it still has its issues, Lords of the Fallen is a radically different game because of these changes.

And while that exhaustive list of tweaks came in the form of free updates, Lords of the Fallen also has a bit of paid DLC (that, as always, isn’t included for PlayStation Plus subscribers). The $7.99 Dark Crusader Starting Class comes with the Dark Crusader class, and the $14.99 Legendary Pack comes with a digital artbook, soundtrack, and model viewer. Both are included in the $19.99 Deluxe Edition upgrade.

2) Tomb Raider I-III Remastered

As its name implies, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered is a remastered version of the first three entries in the series. It came out to decent reviews, earning an average score of 75.

This remaster is a fairly faithful rendition of those classic action games but with various improvements. Like the Legacy of Kain remasters that succeeded it, this collection has a visual style that evokes the PS1 era while having enough modern bells and whistles to make it look somewhat like a contemporary game. This means improved textures, lighting, and character models across the board, and players can even switch to the old visuals at any time with a push of a button to see the differences more clearly.

It still has the tank controls of the original, but there is a new more modern control scheme. While appreciated, it doesn’t suddenly make these games control well, something that is even more clear when considering its painful camera. New save features can help alleviate some of this pain, though, yet nostalgia or high tolerance for dated games is required. And while not related to the gameplay, this remaster also includes a photo mode and subtitles.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered has surprisingly seen some free post-launch support. Free updates have added new costumes, various visual improvements, additional photo mode poses, an outfit selector, improvements to the modern controls, quicksave hotkeys on console, and a challenge mode that lets players replay levels with various modifiers on. While this mode added more replayability, it was highly criticized for its bugs and low-quality costumes. Aspyr released an update that fixed some of these problems, but another patch is on the way.

Trophy hunters on PlayStation platforms are likely to be a little frustrated with this release in a few ways. For one, it has 285 trophies to earn across the three games and DLC on PS5 and 287 trophies in the PS4 version, a vast majority of which are Bronze (and none are Gold). It’s a lot, even for the most ardent collectors.

The second point of frustration comes from the discrepancy between versions. The PS5 version has no Platinum trophies, while the PS4 one has three Platinums, one for each title. As is the case with the recent Call of Duty games (before a few of them got booted from the central launcher), each game is treated as DLC, explaining why it doesn’t have a Platinum on PS5.

1) Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream is an online action game based in the popular light novel series. It was met with lukewarm to good reviews upon release and earned an average score of 70.

This multiplayer title is the most niche of the three since it hones in on heavy anime aesthetics and the player’s willingness to collect loot. It has some flashy action that floods the screen with various effects, which feeds into the game’s mantra of constantly rewarding players. As such, it can be quite grindy because a lot of the appeal is centered around earning better loot. One of its major downsides, though, is its relative lack of content, which makes the grind even, well, grindier. So while it has a decent core, it doesn’t quite have the legs to keep players hooked on its treadmill.

Fractured Daydream has seen a fair bit of free and premium support. Some of the free updates have boosted the drop rate of high-tier gear, increased the maximum player rank, added new raids and quests, adjusted daily and weekly challenges, implemented various lock-on settings, and made it easier to get stronger equipment, all of which accompany various other smaller adjustments. Most of the premium DLC includes a mix of skins, characters, missions, weapons, and cosmetics. The Premium Upgrade pack contains a mini-game, artbook, soundtrack, and costume. And, of course, the game has its own currency players can spend real money on.

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