Beloved PS2 JRPG Officially Returns On PS5 After 20 Years, And It's Free

2 days ago 3

A white PS5 console in front of a blue Sony background.

Published Apr 21, 2026, 8:41 AM EDT

Austin King is the Senior Editor of Gaming at ScreenRant and has been with the site since 2020 with a focus on RPGs and tabletop games. He previously managed content for Geek to Geek Media, and has served as a writer for sites like Nintendad, Geek Fitness, and more.

In addition to his work at ScreenRant, he also hosts the Dragon Quest FM podcast and is the author of several books, including co-writing Nimbus (a #1 bestseller in 2013). His latest is the nonfiction The Dragon Quest Book, available now.

He's written about pop culture, video games, and genre studies over the course of his career. You can find him on BlueSky, X, and at Dragonquestaustin.com

PlayStation Plus has unveiled its Extra and Premium games for April, and there are some incredible additions this time around. The biggest one is arguably a JRPG from the PlayStation 2 that hasn't been seen in nearly 20 years. If you're a fan of the genre, then you owe it to yourself to check this one out now that it's arrived on PS5.

The full lineup of April games is available on the official PlayStation Blog, and this month's offerings include some big names like The Crew Motorfest and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered. However, April also brings the release of a PS2 classic, which now has upscaled rendering, rewind, and auto save features that enhance the experience even more.

A PS2 Classic Is Back On Modern Consoles

Wild Arms 4 has been added to PlayStation Plus for Premium members, and this is a pretty nice addition. The original PS2 game was a bit polarizing, since it dropped the Wild West look of the previous game for a sci-fi tone that makes it look and feel more like Xenosaga, Rogue Galaxy, Star Ocean, or any number of sci-fi JRPGs that released around the same time, which means it didn't stand out as much.

It's still a solid game that uses the HEX system for combat. It's a placement-based system that should look familiar if you've ever played Trails In The Sky or some SRPGs, although it's not 100% like either of those. Once again, you can take up ARMs (magic guns, basically) and you'll find similar tropes and character archetypes from previous games in the series.

PlayStation Plus Gamers Can Grab It Now

Wild Arms 4 is by no means a bad game, but it does have a reputation for being the weakest in the original PS2 run, although Wild Arms 5 is a bit divisive as well despite having a lot of people who love it. It's not quite the masterpiece that the first game was, which was made even better thanks to Wild Arms Alter Code F, which released right before it. And Wild Arms 3 is still one of the best in the series, so Wild Arms 4 had a tough act to follow.

You can watch an unofficial upscaled version of the original trailer for Wild ARMS 4 above.

Still, it's a great JRPG, and it's well-worth checking out. It's also a bit of a miracle that we're finally getting Wild Arms 4 after all this time. If you're a member of PlayStation Plus with Premium, be sure to give this one a try. And if you don't have premium, Wild Arms 4 is honestly worth a one-month subscription.