20. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy (PS5)
A superhero game from Square Enix is enough for hardcore PlayStation players to proceed with caution after Marvel's Avengers, but developer Eidos Montreal has done Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy proud with a faithful, funny, and thoroughly enjoyable campaign based on original storytelling. It's a meaty one too, lasting north of 20 hours. The characters of Drax, Groot, Rocket, and Gamora are just as you remember them from the Marvel movies, and even Star-Lord performs valiantly despite the lack of a Chris Pratt face scan. Combat is deep and engaging, exploration is limited but fun, and dialogue is top-notch.
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19. The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PS5)
Arguably the greatest PS4 game, upgraded and repacked for PS5, with cut content and an all-new roguelike inspired mode, which takes full advantage of Naughty Dog’s underappreciated third-person shooter gameplay. The Last of Us Part II Remastered will hold few surprises for those who’ve already played the original, groundbreaking outing – but that doesn’t make it any less essential.
18. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5)
Following a disastrous PS4 launch, Cyberpunk 2077 might as well have been a brand new game on PS5 over a year later. CD Projekt Red stuck to its guns, delivering a much improved version of the open world RPG on Sony's current-gen console, free of the game-breaking bugs and crashing issues that plagued the initial release. The result is memorable and often engrossing dark future title, peppered with great characters, punchy combat, and some excellent freeform mission design. Better late than never!
17. The Last of Us Part I (PS5)
Forever tainted by its high launch price, The Last of Us Part I is a faithful remake of Naughty Dog's 2013 masterpiece that brings the post-apocalyptic adventure up to modern standards. While the gameplay is largely untouched, its visuals shine with stunning character models, gorgeous backdrops, and an abundance of detail to ensure there's something to look at in every corner. Some will forever question why it was needed, but The Last of Us: Part I has never looked better.
16. Death Stranding Director's Cut (PS5)
Death Stranding Director's Cut takes the truly unique "strand game" adventure and dials things up a notch for PS5. Hideo Kojima and his team created a haunting and strange world with the original game, tasking players with traversing a desolate and dangerous landscape to make deliveries. It shouldn't work, but it does — every step you take can be a risk, and this need to watch your footing is an interesting way to create tension, especially when those nasty BTs show up. Director's Cut enhances the experience with improved graphics and performance, DualSense support, 3D audio, and a range of new content.
15. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS5)
Yakuza: Like a Dragon barely feels next-gen as it’s very much rooted by Ryu ga Gotoku Studio’s dated engine and game design principles, but it’s bursting with personality and one of the most varied releases on this list. At its core, it’s a traditional, turn-based (a first for the franchise) role-playing game built around an engaging and relatable party of core characters, but it’s so much more: this small but densely populated open world harbours go-karts, an entire business management minigame, and more wacky side-quests than you can shake a massage wand at. This is one of the most unique and time consuming titles on PS5.
14. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (PS5)
With the best turn-based gameplay, the biggest and best cast of characters, and the most gripping story in the series so far, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is comfortably the greatest Yakuza game to date. Ichican and Kiryu hit up the new destination of Hawaii in search of the former's long-lost mother, but their quest really is just the tip of the iceberg. Improved combat makes fights more engaging than ever, upgraded graphics bring new life to classic locations like Kamurocho, and deep and fascinating characters both new and old mean you won't want to stop playing until the credits roll. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth really is RGG Studio at its peak.
13. Hogwarts Legacy (PS5)
Taking place hundreds of years before the events of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Legacy finally lets fans live out their dream of attending the eponymous school. While there's an intriguing story to follow that takes you far beyond the castle itself, this RPG's strengths are all in the smaller things. The school is a joy to explore, as are the surrounding grounds, because of an obsessive attention to detail that really does imbue the open world with magic. Layer on top solid spell-based combat, flying on your broom, and even rearing magical creatures, and the result is a real crowd-pleaser — and definitely the best game in the franchise.
12. Returnal (PS5)
Returnal is a frantic, ultra-tight third person shooter dressed up with some rogue-like elements to add variety and unpredictability to the mix, and the result is wonderful. Trapped in a loop on a hostile alien world, Selene is forced to relive her fateful crash landing each time she dies. Its mysterious story melds brilliantly with the roguelike structure, and between that and the excellent gameplay, Returnal is a difficult game to put down — and that's before mentioning online co-op, daily challenges, and the highly replayable Tower of Sisyphus.
11. Resident Evil Village (PS5)
For a franchise that has no shortage of experimental entries in its back catalogue, Capcom knows how to make a traditional Biohazard campaign when it wants to. Resident Evil Village adopts the first-person perspective of Resident Evil 7, but this time offers a confident and familiar romp through a sinister Romanian village. With an eclectic cast of curious – but occasionally underdeveloped – villains, the true character of this sequel is the setting itself, which harbours countless secrets and some truly memorable moments. And for those rocking a PSVR2, the full game is playable in virtual reality, which really ratchets up the intensity with overhauled controls and impressive visuals.





Comments 29
Happy to see Returnal in the top 10, one of the best games of the PS5 gen and is the reason I have complete faith in Saros being awesome!
I loved the 2018 GoW and was really looking forward to ragnarok but for some reason I just got bored of it half way through and left it.
Maybe I should give it another go.
Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Uncharted, The Last of Us Part Iⅈ all are better than GoT and GoWR.
Returnal would be a good game if it wasn't one of the worst examples of its genre(roguelike). A roguelike where a run is going forever and leave you out of any eagerness to try again because how long it's gonna take to try where you are again? No, thanks. A roguelike without that curicial "One more run" because of how tiring it gets.
PoP is a great metroidvania.
@Scottyy I mean, there are short cuts which can save you a lot time, I personally never found the run backs unfun and actually liked how different each run was!
@datamonkey The pacing in Ragnarok was ass, the story limped to its conclusion, the puzzles were repetitive, and the level design is frustrating to navigate. Probably my biggest disappointment this gen.
Returnal for me is number one game here. Near perfection.
@Scottyy Once you've finished the stages you can basically skip them and are handed a weapon relevant to the stage you're going to.
A run taking three to four hours for myself was perfect - I'm there for the tight Housemarque gameplay after all.
Demon's Souls for me is still the best of the bunch. Beautiful graphics and amazing unique gameplay and enemy design. Tried Ragnarok but unskippable and seemingly interminable cutscenes became too annoying, can't take the characters in Spiderman seriously, Ghost Of Tsushima was fun and gorgeous to look at for 20-30 hours before tiring of its repetitive formula.
@Oram77
Even when I used shortcuts it still felt like a chore to just reach where I last died etc. It just wasn't fast enough for me to "Let's try one more run" etc. I heard that things start to get better with Biome 4 but I didn't reach there.
@MrPeanutbutterz
Well, while sometimes you can "nearly" skip them since they are just in the next room etc. most of the time it took at least a couple of rooms to get there. And like I said, having all these skirmishes again felt like a chore; not because "It's roguelike, of course you will do some of them again" but because it took too long until I reach where I am eager to try again. And I completely disagree about last part, runs should be short so that I have the will to try again when I die and not curse "Nobody got time for that again."
I loved Sisyphus Tower MUCH MORE than main campaign since it is exactly what I am saying. Another thing is I didn't feel like permanent upgrades were enough comparing to number of runs you did. They must have noticed that since Soros' tagline is "Come back stronger."
I haven't played yet but I am almost sure that Hades for example doing a much better job about "runs" from what I gather.
Edit: Jeez, even GoWR-Valhalla is a much better "roguelike" than Returnal.
@datamonkey
Valhalla DLC is a much better "game" than main campaign.
@MrPeanutbutterz "I'm there for the tight Housemarque gameplay after all" aren't we all brother 🙌
@Scottyy Hey if you just didn't jive with the game that's totally fine, for me it just scratched that itch of being a really gamey game.
@Oram77
I felt too relentless above all. I really gave it a chance in the end.
Skyrim Anniversary edition isn't on Plus for me, just the special edition? I have the highest tier.
Lots of great games in there but i've played all I want to in that list except just 5... and 3 of those 5 I already own. Silent Hill 2 is probably the only 1 I will play on PS+
I tried Demon's Souls shortly after Elden Ring and it felt extremely dated especially the soul crushing runbacks after you die. I bailed about 5 hours.
@Scottyy I just finished Returnal for the first time a few weeks ago and it's shot up to one of my favorite games. It was difficult at first but gets fairly easy once you get the rhythm down (turning on "always run fast" was key). I can see getting really frustrated without being able to save the game that was implemented later.
@MrPeanutbutterz agreed also one of my biggest disappointments this gen.
Not got round to returnal yet but heard lots of good things and will do one day!
@Oram77 Still tops my own personal list. Fantastic game.
@Scottyy Miles Morales is at best mid.
@Brundleflies21
I score it 4/5. Great launch game for PS5, neon lights etc. looks awesome. Miles' powers feels new enough to play another Spidey game. Story is surprisingly emotional. Some great set pieces.
@ECharles
I played it with "save feature" already being in it. And played it a lot(near 30 hours) and overall I didn't like it.
Chaotic article, not mentioning which game was on Essential or higher paid tier.
@datamonkey I was exactly the same
@MrPeanutbutterz I actually agree with a lot of this. Ragnarok was unfocused and bloated but in spite of that I still liked it a lot.
Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden is absolutely missing from this list. Easily top 10!
Everyone has own list and rating. There is no perfect game, each of these has pros and cons, good things and flaws. It’s very subjective.
I've included a fair few that I've done on either ps4 or ps3 instead of the ps5 version with the likes of TLOU 1/2, Skyrim, cyberpunk, control and a couple of others but by my count I've got 25/30 games played and platinumed from that list. Silent hill 2 and AC mirage are on my system waiting to go just havent got to them yet, not into final fantasy, mortal kombat, I dont play many fighting games and then soulstorm is the only other one I havent played that I may get around to eventually.
Returnal and Demons Souls are my two favorite ps5 exclusives I’ve had the pleasure of playing and platting, absolutely god-tier gaming right there. Sadly, I feel they’re often overlooked or just forgotten about. DS in particular is still one of the most visually striking games I’ve seen to this day and Returnal’ audio design and haptics are nothing short of amazing. Anywho, back to Bloodborne. 🍻
Great to see ‘Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’ in this list - was a real surprise quote how excellent it is, and how little you hear about the game.
Superb, emotional story, very funny dialogue, really fun gameplay. Only negative it has is there’s not more of it.
Sackboy: A Big Adventure isn't a single player game. Yes, you can play it single player, but it's not possible to play a good few of the levels without multiplayer, a bunch of trophies are tied to multiplayer and a bunch of the game's story levels are locked behind multiplayer...
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