Certain PS2 games like Ape Escape and Primal are reportedly having major visual issues with their PS Plus Premium versions. The addition of a classic library of PlayStation games spanning the PS1 through PS3 as well as the portable PSP was a major draw of PS Plus Premium following the announcement of the service's overhaul. With a catalog of over 400 classic games available with the Premium subscription, many fans looked forward to streaming and downloading their favorite classic games. However, some games on the service are seeing major technical problems.
A post to the PlayStation Plus subreddit from Reddit user oilfloatsinwater claimed there were some significant technical issues with the PS Plus Premium version of Ape Escape 2. The user reported seeing a message saying the game "might experience unexpected behavior" on PS5. The post would go on to describe several visual issues with the Ape Escape 2 port, including screen flickering, the flickering of text and icons, and textures not loading correctly, among others. The user also claimed that other players have reported similar issues with games like Okage: Shadow King and Primal through the service.
Other users on the subreddit echoed many of the same issues oilfloatsinwater had experienced with Ape Escape 2. Some suggested that the port runs better on PS4 than the PS5 version, while one user claimed Ape Escape 2 will run better when streamed rather than downloaded. Gaming YouTuber Mystic has also uploaded a video to his channel addressing similar issues with a variety of games, both ones mentioned in the post and others, like Manhunt and The Warriors. Sony has yet to officially address any performance issues with the PS Plus Premium ports.
PS Plus Premium's classic offerings include a wide variety from many of Sony's past consoles, with a particular focus on the PS3. Games from the PS3 take up the largest chunk of the Classics library for PS Plus Premium members, with PS3 games only available for streaming. The PS3 has been notoriously difficult for backwards compatibility with later PlayStation consoles, due to the unique architecture the console was built on. Many fan-favorite PS3 games like Metal Gear Solid 4 are still unavailable to play on modern consoles.
Ape Escape 2 and other classic games' difficulties on PS Plus Premium come as the service has continued to expand its library of classic games over the months since its overhaul. Recent updates have added classic Sony staples like Sly Cooper and Syphon Filter 2 to the subscription package. Other popular games like Dino Crisis and The Legend of Dragoon have also been heavily rumored to be coming to PS Plus in the near future. However, with any new classic game, fans will always have to be mindful that games like Ape Escape 2 may not function properly on newer hardware.
Source: YouTube