• PlayStation Plus has many inconsistencies in the way it labels and presents games on the service.

• Some games include misleading labels for the system they are on or have incorrect cover art in the library.

• The catalog includes streaming-exclusive versions of games as well as native ports and lacks downloadable versions of classic titles.

PlayStation Plus is a pretty solid offering, giving subscribers access to new and classic games, as well as exclusive discounts and other perks. But the service also has some pretty glaring problems, primarily with its game catalog which is hampered by poor organization and visibility.

Games in the wrong categories

One of the first things I noticed recently browse the PlayStation Plus games catalog is that quite a few titles appear in sections that don’t make much sense.

While browsing PlayStation Portable games, for example, I saw Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves And Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot two modern titles that were obviously never released on this system. It’s unclear exactly how these games ended up here, but it was likely some sort of logistical error.

Meanwhile, many other games appear listed as PSP games that, even if they received PSP ports at some point, are the original home console releases. LEGO Star Wars 2 appears in the category, for example, which got a port to the PSP, but the version included is the PlayStation 2 version.

This may not be a problem for some, as the two versions are comparable in terms of gameplay, but they are far from identical. It’s somewhat misleading to see it listed alongside PSP titles like Daxter And Killzone: Liberation.

Including games you can’t even play

PlayStation Plus has a serious FOMO problem. Without a filter to only show games you have access to as a member, it’s easy to be disappointed when you come across a game you’re excited about, only to find out it’s not available for your level.

Premium subscribers will have access to everything, but those in the mid-range Extra tier will have a smaller, more organized catalog and will not have access to streaming. Despite this, you will still see everything listed in the same catalog, regardless of your subscription level.

There are no tags or filters to specify which tier you’re a member of or exclude games you won’t have access to, which can be frustrating. Xbox Game Pass allows members to view tier-specific catalogsbut with PlayStation Plus, it feels like Sony is exploiting the fear of missing out to encourage people to level up.

Misrepresentation of games

The way many games are presented to consumers in the PlayStation Plus catalog is somewhat misleading across the service.

Many of the games featured in the PS3 catalog are not original PS3 games but HD ports of PS2 games, so it’s a bit misleading to call them PS3 games. Some of them feature improved graphics, but they’re actually the same games as their PS2 versions, sometimes with technical issues that weren’t there before.

Some are labeled with inaccurate titles or cover art once added to your library, such as the recent port of Siren. On the store page it appears normally, with the correct cover art and title for the US release, but once I added it to my library it was tagged with the European PAL region title, Mermaid forbidden.

The inaccurate depictions of games don’t stop there either, as LEGO Star Wars 2 features screenshots of levels that aren’t even in the game. It’s possible that when listing the game, screenshots were taken from The complete saga, which presents the levels of both games, by mistake. These aren’t huge problems, but they could be handled better.

Ports doubled in several categories

As I mentioned before, many titles listed as PS3 games are actually just remastered versions of PS2 games. To make things even more confusing, many of them appear in both categories, which can mislead subscribers who may not know the difference.

A lot of Ratchet and Clank games, staples of the PS2 era, don’t even appear in the PS2 catalog, being instead relegated to the PS3 library, while others appear in both. These may be graphically enhanced PS3 versions of these games, but it’s a bit unfair to present them as original games for that console.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad if the catalog was at least consistent about where these games appeared. Even there, though, they’re often split into the PS2 and PS3 categories, making it even more clunky for fans looking for games on one console or the other.

Streaming-only versions of games that already exist on PS5

Going through the list of games in the PS Plus catalog, mostly for the Premium tier, was exciting at first, as it was full of classic exclusives and third-party games from a wide range of genres. However, upon closer inspection, I started to notice some strange choices in the catalog, mainly in the releases Sony chose to include.

Resident Evil 4, 5, And 6 all appear on the service with the Devil May Cry HD Collection, which made perfect sense at first. That was until closer inspection revealed that these were the PS3 versions of each game only available for streaming, although there were already native downloadable versions on PS4 and PS5.

PS Plus’ streaming service works better than expected, but I always assumed Sony’s reliance on the service was a concession to more easily release titles that are difficult to port natively. It makes much less sense to opt for a streaming-only PS3 version for games that have already received native ports.

Curious choice for native ports

On the other hand, many games that received native downloadable versions on PS Plus also don’t make sense. Premium and Extra level catalogs feature classics from every era of the platform’s history, but which ones get native ports versus streaming versions sometimes seems somewhat arbitrary.

It’s good to have classic series like Sly Cooper And God of War on the service, but it’s strange to see them relegated to streaming while more obscure titles benefit from native ports. While major PlayStation franchises remain exclusive to streaming, tie-in films like those from Disney Up and many other third-party titles have downloadable versions.

Streaming through PS Plus Premium is surprisingly decent for what it is, but game performance will never compare to native playback. This makes it all the more frustrating to see titles like Ice Age: Scrat’s Nutty Adventure be chosen in favor of iconic titles like Infamous when it comes to being carried.

I’ve had a lot of fun with my PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, and I swear by it despite its problems, but the service is far from perfect. Especially with last year’s price hike, Sony still has a lot of work to do to make the service easier to navigate for its paying subscribers.