Hall of fame: PS5
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE NEW GEN’S GREATEST GAMES
01 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
This popcorn-munching space adventure is a wonderful return to form for the lombax/robo duo, and the new dimension delights with characters like Ratchet counterpart Rivet. Between instantaneous rift-hopping and smartly designed weapon triggers, it plays with every unique PS5 feature to create a console must-play that’s top of the class, and will have you grinning throughout epic set-pieces.
02 Demon’s Souls
Not many games allow you to feel the thrum of a gigantic heart in the controller. From sword slashes against nightmarish creatures to feeling magic fill your hands, this stunning recreation of the PS3 classic is a tour of just what makes PS5 so great.
03 Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
Cloud and the gang get a glow up with better visuals and slicker combat that limit breaks this bold reimagining of the Midgar section. Yuffie joins in with an extra story that bridges the gap between this and what’s to come, cleverly playing on nostalgia and fan expectation.
04 Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
A new hero for a new generation, Miles Morales swings onto PS5 with a new sense of purpose. The low-key story offers a more intimate Spider-adventure than Parker’s bombastic escapade, but when the action kicks in the ray-traced visuals light up the screen.
05 Control Ultimate Edition
Jesse Faden’s mind-bending, environment-destroying, object-chucking new-weird adventure sings on PS5. A frame rate of 60fps delights, and Remedy’s use of ray tracing is among the best we’ve seen. The only problem is you have to pick only one of two visual options.
06 Hitman 3
On PS5 Agent 47’s latest hit list looks beautiful – oh boy, those reflections. The good news is not only can you play the latest missions on PS5, you can replay all missions from Hitman and Hitman 2 inside IO’s new PS5-developed engine. That’s a lot of content.
07 Astro’s Playroom
Free and pre-installed on your PS5, this is more than a showcase for your new console’s best, most innovative features. Astro’s Playroom is a beautifully-crafted, if short-lived, platform adventure that takes a tour through everything that makes PS5 so special.
08 Resident Evil Village
Ethan Winters discovers why this village’s house prices were so low. As he searches for his stolen baby, tall vampire Lady Dimestrecu tees off a host of supernatural nasties in the slickest Resi to date, mixing bombastic action with some series-topping fright.
09 Guilty Gear Strive
If this is the smell of the game, then we don’t need any candles. Brash as ever, and laden with head-banging tracks, this anime-styled fighter is a spectacle to watch or play. Pared-down mechanics make it accessible, but there’s still plenty of depth for skilled players.
10 The Nioh Collection
Team Ninja is on top form with its unique samurai take on soulslikes. Tough as hanzo steel, both games run great on PS5, and offer nearly 200 hours of co-op demon-slaying action that’d put even Yojimbo through his paces. It’s a challenge well worth taking on.
11 Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Cal and BD-1 Jedi jump over any hurdles the original release threw their way, PS5’s power making this feel like the game it should have been at launch. While a little safe at times, this adventure feels like classic Star Wars as you explore planets metroidvania-style.
12 Mortal Kombat 11 – Ultimate
You may have played Mortal Kombat 11 before, but you’ve never played it like this. In 4K at 60fps this PS5upgraded Ultimate edition plays faster, smoother, and better than ever. Making good use of the quick-loading SSD, the game’s fights come thick and fast.
13 Chivalry 2
This big multiplayer bash has armies clashing at one another with physics-based slashes, stabs, and swoops. Even cabbages can become weapons. Part-FPS, part-fighter, and part-ragdoll ‘em up, bloody war has never been as joyous or silly. Oh, biscuits!
14 Dirt 5
On PS4 Dirt 5 is one of the best sim-cade racers around; on PS5 Codemasters’ racer offers various performance modes to make the colourful action really sing. This is one of the few games on PS5 to currently offer 120fps, which ensures a super-smooth race.
15 Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Welcome to Revachol. You’re a mess of a cop with no memory, and barely any clothes. Solve a hanging, invent communism, sing karaoke… but do it your way. Skill check successes and failures pave a story of your own, and the writing is superb.
16 NEW Hades
After a wait, Supergiant’s latest rushes to the defence of roguelikes and leaves us going “Hell yeah.” It effortlessly pulls off that ‘just one more go’ feeling thanks to fast, frenetic combat and the rewarding nuggets of story each death treats you to. Slick and stylish.
17 The Pathless
The Journey and Abzû developer returns to PlayStation with a beautifully stylish open-world adventure that recalls Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus. When not battling massive monstrous beasts we’re encouraged to pet our eagle, and that’s not a euphemism. Charming.
18 Bugsnax
You are what you eat in this peculiar adventure that’s not afraid to walk (and crawl) its own path. Scour Snaktooth Island for its missing denizens, wolf down a handful of Snax… and see what happens. It doesn’t exactly push PS5, but it will test your imagination.
19 F1 2021
We finally reach Braking Point, but in a good way. Braking Point is this racer’s new story mode, which is packed with engaging drama and comes on top of an already stellar career mode. The racing is the slickest yet, looking great on PS5. This is far from just a pitstop.
20 Metro Exodus: Complete Edition
Emerging from the tunnels of last-gen, Exodus dazzles us with some truly impressive technical feats. Environments are stunningly realised with beautiful lighting, and each gun feels characterful with DualSense features – especially the pump rifle.
21 Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition
Slugging your way through double-digit hordes of enemies at 120fps ensures this PS5 remake of the PS4 classic impresses. If you want visual pizazz over framerates then turn on ray tracing and play at a solid 60fps. Special in name and nature.
22 Overcooked! All You Can Eat
Like a food festival filled with laughing gas, there’s no end to co-op shenanigans as you shout at one another to co-ordinate increasingly complex recipes, hurling food around makeshift, ludicrous kitchens. Includes all prior Overcooked! content, plus some extra courses.
23 Yakuza: Like A Dragon
Out with Kazuma Kiryu and real-time brawling, in with Dragon Quest fan Ichiban Kasuga and his turn-based street scraps. A gripping crime yarn merges with laughout-loud moments in the way only Yakuza can pull off, and Kasuga instantly becomes a new favourite.
24 Outriders
At a glance it’s muddier than Glastonbury, but what lies beneath is a clever co-op shooter with a surprising number of interesting, unique builds. Classes bestow powers like firestorms or teleporter time-manipulation, to make you cream of this alien planet crop.
25 It Takes Two
That classic tale of divorce where two parents turn into tiny doll versions of themselves. In mandatory co-op you have to work together to find your depressed daughter and lift the spell, while dealing with a self-help book giving spicy relationship advice. The usual.