Of course, there’s the question about the game’s user-created content, which the series is well-known for. Servers went offline indefinitely earlier this year because of technical issues, so said creations are unavailable to download. The campaign and other offline features will remain, and players can still create their own content. It just can’t be shared.

It’s unknown whether those same technical issues are the reason for delisting the title – neither Sony nor Media Molecule has provided any details.

LittleBigPlanet 3 launched in November 2014 for PS3 and PS4 – check out our review here. Alongside improvements and new features to the game’s robust toolkit, it introduced new playable characters with different abilities. It also featured backwards compatibility for levels created in LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2.

An important update on LittleBigPlanet 3 (PS4) and LittleBigPlanet DLC on the PlayStation Store: pic.twitter.com/Nmm9e94DxD

— Sackboy: A Big Adventure | LittleBigPlanet (@LittleBigPlanet) October 8, 2024

This means that any content related to going online in LittleBigPlanet 3 on the PS4 is no longer available, including user-generated content, which was one of the biggest unique features of the title. It is worth noting, however, that any user-generated content for the game that was downloaded and stored locally on a PS4 will still be available.

LittleBigPlanet 3 will also continue to be otherwise playable offline, including its creation features. While players can make new levels and other content for the game though, they will be unable to share it with other players. Offline features like the campaign will continue to remain available.

Originally released back in November 2014, LittleBigPlanet 3 was developed by Sumo Digital. Series creator Media Molecule was, at the time, working on video game creation kit Dreams. Sumo Digital itself, meanwhile, later went on to also develop LittleBigPlanet’s 3D platforming spinoff Sackboy: A Big Adventure.

Tekken 6 – Azazel

Oh, Azazel. While scooting through the Story Battle mode, you shouldn’t have much trouble with the various fighters (including the King of Iron Fist himself, Jin Kazama). Of course, then you run across Azazel, a massive beast that fires lasers, stomps the ground to create spikes for multiple hits and even spins forward for massive damage. Azazel is considered one of the worst bosses in the series and rightfully so.

In this feature, we’ll be listing what we feel are fifteen of the most disappointing games on the PS4- but disappointing, we should remind you, does not mean bad. Many of these games are a lot of fun, some have improved vastly since launch and managed to turn things around from initial disappointment. Being mentioned in this list simply means that these games, when we played them first, failed to live up to the standard of quality we expected them to hit.

Also note that for the purposes of these list, we’ll only be looking at PS4 exclusives- barring a couple entries that were either only console exclusives at launch, or remain console exclusives to this day.

With all that out of the way, let’s get into it.

DRIVECLUB

When Driveclub first launched, it’s fair to say that it ended up disappointing a whole lot of people. Though it was stunning to look at and hit technical heights that console games rarely do even to this day, there were many who felt that the game was, all said and done, a bit too dull, a bit too uninspired. Developers Evolution Studios would go on to provide excellent support for the game following its release, and arguably pretty much managed to turn things around, turning a disappointing launch into what was a legitimately great driving sim. Their subsequent closure, even in light of said recovery, proved to be a shockingly premature and abrupt one.

DriveClub

Evolution Studios’ DriveClub had a pretty rough start with server issues and glitches making a lot of the content inaccessible. Nevertheless, the developer stuck with it, improving the experience, adding more content and branching out into different ideas (like bikes). By now, DriveClub stands as one of the better racing experiences out there, even if it isn’t as hyper-realistic as, say, Gran Turismo Sport.

The free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers in February have finally been confirmed by Sony. These include a whopping five PS4 titles to choose from with the obvious star being LittleBigPlanet 3.

There’s also some rather good indie efforts like Not A Hero and Starwhal. Ninja Senki DX and TorqueL round out the free PS4 titles for this month. They’re also cross-buy for the PlayStation Vita, which means you get them free for the handheld as well. Furthermore, Starwhal will be free on PS3.

PS3 owners have one more free title to look forward to: Anna – Extended Edition which is essentially a psychological horror puzzle game from 2012. It received fairly decent praise from critics at the time.

You can expect the new PlayStation Plus titles to be available once the PlayStation Store updates on February 7th. Until then, pick up January’s free games while you still can. What are your thoughts on February’s titles? Let us know in the comments.

Sony will be retiring the servers for LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet 3, LittleBigPlanet Portable, LittleBigPlanet Vita, and LittleBigPlanet Karting in Japan, permanently ending all online services and components for the franchise in the nation.

All servers will be taken offline on July 31, 2016- this means that after this date, you will no longer be able to play online, access online features, access community functionality, or upload your own stages. For some of these games, which are less than two years old – LittleBigPlanet 3 only launched on thew PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in 2014, for example.

Services for some games in the franchise will also be ending in the west- LittleBigPlanet Portable goes offline in the west on July 31, while LittleBigPlanet Karting sees its online services ending on August 31.

With this wide discontinuation of online services for games in the franchise, as well as with Media Molecule having moved on to other projects, like Dreams, and the relative failure of LittleBigPlanet 3, it appears as though this may be the end of the road for Sony’s original “play share create” franchise.

Super Mario Maker may be the better game to play, but few things can match the versatility that the user creation tools of LittleBigPlanet afford to players. And if any proof were needed for that, this should be it- someone managed to recreate the Uncharted 4 trailer entirely using nothing but LittleBigPlanet 3’s editing tools- definitely not something you would be able to do in Super Mario Maker.

It looks adorable, as all things LittleBigPlanet usually do- seriously, Nathan Drake and co. have no business looking as cute as they do with this trailer. Even the obviously threatening portions of the trailer take on a new charm when imbued with LBP’s adorableness.

You can check out the trailer for yourself below. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will be launching exclusively on the PS4 in April 2015. LittleBigPlanet has been available on the PS3 and PS4 since holiday 2014. The game is compatible with all of your LittleBigPlanet 2 and LittleBigPlanet Vita data.

"There’s charm oozing out of every nook and cranny of the game."

Is LittleBigPlanet 3 good, then? To give you a straight and absolute answer, yes. Yes, it is good. It’s very enjoyable, and you will probably spend dozens of hours playing it. But is it the huge leap forward over its predecessor that LittleBigPlanet 2 was over the first entry in the series? No. Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to judge the game on how much better than its predecessor it is, rather than judging it purely on its standalone quality. But given the fact that LBP has always been a franchise that encourages and promotes creativity and refreshing shake ups to traditional gameplay quirks, LBP3 was always going to be judged on how different, how new it was.

Of course, I don’t mean to imply that LBP3 is just more of the same with no real changes to the formula whatsoever. LBP3 takes everything that we loved about the second game, shakes it up and delivers it on a much, much larger scope, to the extent that sometimes it almost feels like there’s way too much content for both, us and the game, to handle.

The first pro of LBP2 that the third major installment in the series capitalizes and expands upon is the undeniable and irresistible charm of Sackboy and co. LittleBigPlanet 3 is every bit as charming, amusing, cute and pleasant as you would expect it to be, and then much, much more. There’s charm oozing out of every nook and cranny of the game. It definitely feels like, here, Sumo Digital have taken the best of LBP2 and amplified it multiple times because this is the kind of thing you can never have too much of.

"The Adventure Mode is modeled after famous stage plays and screen scenarios, and all the levels are excellently well designed, offering some great platforming and satisfying puzzle sections."

This time around, LBP3 places more focus on story and presentation as well, and that becomes instantly clear when you see that all the supporting characters of the game are fully voiced. Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll see a thrilling, complex narrative to give the likes of Mass Effect and The Last of Us a run for their money, but it’s still good to see that the game tries to have a bit more focus on having a more cohesive campaign, and with the help of said cohesiveness, offers a somewhat different yet still highly enjoyable single player campaign experience.

The Adventure Mode is modeled after famous stage plays and screen scenarios, and all the levels are excellently well designed, offering some great platforming and satisfying puzzle sections. Some of the floaty controls of LBP and LBP2 are still a problem here, which means they often get in the way of us having all the fun we could have as players while playing in the Adventure Mode, but the 8-9 hour romp is still highly enjoyable and one that is definitely much more noteworthy than its counterpart in LBP2.

However, some of the too-much-content-to-handle issues come into play here too. There are a lot of new, cute and charming playable characters available in LBP3 and the few sections you get when you play as them are enjoyable and largely memorable. However, the issue is that there just isn’t enough of those sections. All those new characters and the new gameplay mechanics they offer and the freshness they propose to add to the gameplay feels like a wasted opportunity in the end.

"LittleBigPlanet 3 may not be the amazing milestone in the platforming genre that its two predecessors were, but it’s still an amazing first foray into the eighth generation for the effable Sackboy and his merry gang of charmers."

The Creation Mode, though, is where LittleBigPlanet shines yet again. And it’s much, much bigger now, and, satisfyingly, much better. While it’s nothing revolutionary or astoundingly new in the mould of LittleBigPlanet or its successor, it’s still pretty damn good. Compared to the three measly layers of creation in LBP2 (they seem pretty measly now, trust me), LBP3 offers sixteen layers for players to exploit in the Creation Academy.

Another case of too much to handle? Not by a long shot. While it may seem a little daunting and tedious and just a bit too much work to be as much fun as it should in the initial stages, once you get the hang of it- and you get the hang of it pretty quickly, thanks to the amazing Popit Academy, which teaches you all the fundamental basics that you need to know about the Creation Mode in twelve brief platforming sections- you realize that there is a lot more customizability here than you know what to do with, and the game is that much stronger for it.

Sure, there are faults in the game- undeniable faults. There are just too many bugs to handle sometimes, to the point where hard resetting not just the game, but the system itself becomes the only viable solution, and sometimes it feels like there is just too much content here, and that Sumo Digital went overboard with the bigger-better formula.

But in a day and age when games are trimming down on the fat year by year and hardly offer anything new, hardly offer any more content than what they absolutely have to, having more content than the developers and players can handle is an excellent flaw to have. LittleBigPlanet 3 may not be the amazing milestone in the platforming genre that its two predecessors were, but it’s still an amazing first foray into the eighth generation for the effable Sackboy and his merry gang of charmers.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Game Overview:

LittleBigPlanet 3 features three new characters, other than Sackboy. Players can now team up with bound up with OddSock, Big Toggle and Swoop. Each character has unique abilities which adds a new layer of dynamism to gameplay.

LittleBigPlanet 3  is now available for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. The game was developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sony.

Check out the video walkthrough of LittleBigPlanet 3  below and let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.

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