Games Like The Last of Us on PS5 & PS4 (2026)

Why it's here: The single closest thing to The Last of Us on the list: a teenage girl shielding her plague-stricken younger brother across a collapsing medieval France, the entire game built on the same protective bond and the same scarce-resource stealth. Combat is desperate rather than empowering, every encounter a calculation. Whether the swarming-rat spectacle deepens that tension or distracts from it is the read.

Why it's here: The lone-survivor fantasy The Last of Us only hints at, stretched across an open world: Deacon St. John, a drifter biker picking through an Oregon overrun by infected Freakers that move in terrifying hordes. It pairs that survival horror with a road-movie story about loss. The launch reputation was rough; whether the patched, expanded version now reads as a hidden gem is the question.

Why it's here: The emotional core of The Last of Us with the action stripped away: a convicted man and an orphaned girl he chooses to protect through a zombie apocalypse, told as a choice-driven adventure where every decision sticks. The Lee and Clementine bond hits the same nerve as Joel and Ellie. Whether episodic, dialogue-led survival counts as enough game depends on what a player wants from one.

Why it's here: Survival as constant accounting, the way The Last of Us makes every bullet matter: a journey across a post-nuclear Russia where ammo doubles as currency, the gas mask is always ticking, and a tight band of companions carries the story. It swaps linear corridors for open sandboxes. Whether that freedom sharpens the tension or thins it out is the divide players meet.

Why it's here: The post-apocalyptic America and the lonely human connection of The Last of Us, abstracted into something stranger: a courier from Hideo Kojima reconnecting a fractured continent on foot, hauling cargo across haunting terrain. The isolation and the world-building land hard; the traversal splits players down the middle. Whether the rhythm of the walk turns meditative or maddening is the entire experiment.

Why it's here: The infected-city dread and ammo-starved tension of The Last of Us, distilled into pure survival horror: a rookie cop and a teenager navigating a Raccoon City overrun by the undead, every corner a resource gamble. The remake rebuilds a 1998 landmark with modern controls and crushing atmosphere. Whether its tighter, scarier loop scratches the same itch as TLOU's combat is the call.

Why it's here: The escort-under-pressure mechanic that defines The Last of Us, turned into a masterclass: a government agent protecting a president's daughter through a village of the infected, blending tense survival horror with propulsive action. The remake sharpens one of the most acclaimed action games ever made. Whether the faster, gorier pace loses the slow dread or improves on it is the debate.

Why it's here: A post-apocalyptic world built on the same haunting question as The Last of Us: how did everything fall apart? Aloy, an outcast hunter in a far future where tribes live among robotic beasts, uncovers a buried collapse through some of the sharpest lore on PlayStation. The tactical machine hunts shine; the human combat less so. Whether the central mystery pulls a player past the filler is the test.

Why it's here: The father-and-child bond at the heart of The Last of Us, told from the parent's side: Kratos and a maturing Atreus crossing a brutal Norse world, the relationship carrying more weight than the spectacle around it. Same studio-grade cinematic storytelling, same emotional throughline under the action. Whether the combat reinvention or the quieter character beats pull harder is the thing players keep arguing.

Why it's here: The cinematic, set-piece-driven adventure DNA The Last of Us was born from, by the same studio: Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer scaling collapsing ruins across two remastered globe-trotting thrillers. It trades survival dread for blockbuster spectacle, but the character writing and pacing share TLOU's polish. Whether the lighter, pulpier tone is a relief or a comedown after Joel and Ellie depends on the mood.

Why it's here: The lone-warrior melancholy and cinematic weight of The Last of Us moved to feudal Japan: Jin Sakai defending Tsushima from a Mongol invasion, torn between his code and the dishonour victory demands, set in one of the most composed open worlds on PlayStation. The story carries real dramatic heft. Whether that beauty deepens the drama or merely decorates it is the read.

Why it's here: The branching consequence and emotional gut-punches of The Last of Us, pushed to their limit: three androids in a near-future Detroit whose fates genuinely fork, characters dying and endings reshaping around each choice. It is more authored drama than action game. Whether consequence that actually sticks outweighs thin moment-to-moment play is the question it puts to every player.

Why it's here: The atmospheric, melancholy survival mood of The Last of Us in miniature: a stray cat picking through a decaying, neon-soaked city long after humanity is gone, the loneliness and the ruined world doing the emotional work. It is short, light on combat, heavy on place. Whether a few quiet hours in a beautifully dead world land harder than a sprawling epic depends on the player.