The PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games for August 2025 cover a lot of ground. The line up has well-regarded hits from the last few years, a returning first-party PS4 (and, technically, PS5) classic that is returning to the service after leaving in 2023, a stop-motion narrative adventure game, two well-known PS1 games in a huge franchise, and even a brand-new experience from a consistent indie team known for its beautiful worlds. This only covers a portion of the titles offered for both PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers, and only the two PS1 titles are locked to the Premium tier.
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Even though some of these titles are on the shorter side, it’s still a lot to sift through. As such, here’s all 11 PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium games for August 2025 in one ranked list.
11) Resident Evil 3
Resident Evil 3 is often near the bottom of Resident Evil rankings when looking at the first four titles. Coming to PlayStation Plus alongside its beloved predecessor helps demonstrate why. It focuses slightly more on action and isn’t the smoothest version of this formula, a natural occurrence for a third game in a trilogy. This stagnation is even evident when looking at the franchise, as it helped give way to the classic and radically different Resident Evil 4. While going toe to toe with the daunting Nemesis is interesting and is far from the worst Resident Evil, it’s clear why this installment isn’t often seen as one of the best ones.
10) Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key
Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key’s aggressive anime qualities are apparent right out of the gate — it’s got a long name that hardly makes sense to most people and has an assortment of curvy waifus. This sequel is mostly about gathering items to synthesize equipment, something that’s bolstered by its new mechanic revolving around keys. Keys can be earned during combat, which is a mix of real-time and turn-based actions that consist of timed button presses and elongated attack chains. These battles are punctuated by their saccharine story aimed squarely at existing fans, meaning its appeal may be rather limited.
9) Earth Defense Force 6
Sometimes it’s time to shoot bugs, and Earth Defense Force 6 is exactly that, which has been the case for decades. This latest entry doesn’t even look like it is the latest entry, because it still has the visuals of a PS3 game with its abundance of muddy textures. But that’s part of the charm. It’s a campy shooter focused on cooperative play where players shoot, shoot, and shoot again over its shockingly long 40-hour campaign. It’s essentially a podcast or hangout game, and it fits that bill pretty well.
8) Harold Halibut
Harold Halibut is a strangely named narrative adventure game that looks like a stop-motion film with real dolls (real dolls were actually scanned for the game). It’s quite a unique visual style that sits alongside its strange story starring a cast of characters who often speak with dry wit. The focus on these characters and the idea of empathy makes Harold Halibut special, even if moving around its numerous underwater dioramas is a bit tedious at times due to its sluggish movement speed.
7) Coral Island
It takes a lot to stick out in the farming sim space, but Coral Island still manages to make a name for itself. This cozy sim has more of an environmental, anti-capitalist bent, as it has players working against a greedy corporation that tries to take advantage of the locals after an oil spill devastates the town. This gives its story more value and imbues its farming gameplay with more meaning. They’re quite traditional mechanics that don’t go beyond the genre standard, but they’re still tuned well enough. It all comes together in the end and demonstrates how games can be more than the sum of their parts.
6) Unicorn Overlord
Unicorn Overlord has a vague name that implies it is some forgettable anime horse game, but it’s anything but that. This tactical RPG from Vanillaware — the team behind hits like Odin Sphere, Dragon’s Crown, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim — has a unique combat system where battles are a mix of real-time and turn-based affairs that play out semi-automatically. It encourages players to think about where they put their units, how they move around the battlefield, and what gear to equip. All of this is wrapped up in Vanillaware’s signature art style and a Game of Thrones-esque fantasy world that serves as a fitting backdrop to its violent gameplay.
5) Resident Evil 2
There’s a reason Resident Evil 2 is still regarded as one of the best horror games of all time. Even though it looks dated by today’s standards, it’s still an excellently paced adventure that has the capacity to elicit tension through its purposely clunky gunplay and limited resources. This emulated release will come with rewinding and save states, which will lessen some of that tension since a fatal zombie bite can be easily undone. But it will at least give people the opportunity to play such a totemic title, especially if they loved the fantastic remake.
4) Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 1’s support may be minimal at this stage, but it’s still one fantastic fighter. The Kameo system opens up the game by giving every base roster character access to new moves they wouldn’t otherwise have. Essentially, an up-close brawler like Shao Khan could get ranged tools with the Sektor Kameo, while Havik’s combos can go on for even longer with the Mavado Kameo. The possibilities are staggering and a clever way to expand upon the Variation system from Mortal Kombat X. Its story mode completely implodes in the latter half and its solo Invasions mode is a repetitive slog, meaning many of its tertiary modes are lacking. However, NetherRealm Studios nailed the gameplay, which is the most important part.
3) Indika
Indika is made for a service like PlayStation Plus because it is a new series that has strange key art and a vague title that doesn’t give insight into what it actually is. And what it is is actually quite special. Indika is a narrative-focused adventure starring a nun in an alternate version of Russia and delves into religion and the handful of the complexities involved with that messy subject through the interactive medium. It’s a wonderful and unique fusion that is buoyed by its mature handling of its themes that caps off with a truly powerful (and medium-specific) finale.
2) Sword of the Sea
Sword of the Sea is the lone new title coming to PlayStation Plus in August, and Sony surely picked a great one. This vibes-based game takes place in an utterly gorgeous world awash with bright blues and some of the prettiest sand in gaming; a sure byproduct of creative director Matt Nava’s time as art director on Journey. But instead of being just based on vibes, Sword of the Sea’s snowboarding mechanic provides a mechanical thrill through its speed and simple trick system. The trick system isn’t implemented perfectly into the game’s strangely restrictive upgrade economy, but it’s still a kinetic way to get around and absorb this tightly paced adventure.
1) Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man has swung back to PlayStation Plus Extra’s library after leaving in 2023 just before the sequel’s launch. And despite the quality of said follow-up, Insomniac Games’ Marvel debut is still quite the achievement. This tale follows Peter Parker a few years after donning the iconic suit and creates an antagonist that takes inspiration from the seminal superhero film Spider-Man 2. This gives the narrative more personal stakes and shows how a story can thrive if it carefully balances both Peter and Spider-Man. The swinging is the true star, though, and is an effortlessly rewarding way to zip across New York City’s skyline. It just feels fantastic, and the same can be said about its combat, which is a heavily Spider-Man-ized version of the brilliant Batman: Arkham combat model. It’s one of the best superhero games ever for these reasons and will likely always be remembered as such.
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