The best PS5 games you can play right now

Our list of best PS5 games, from Astro's Playroom to Ratchet and Clank.

Feature by Tom Senior Managing Editor

Additional contributions by Christian Donlan, Martin Robinson, Matthew Reynolds, and Oli Welsh

Updated on 27 Nov 2023

The best PS5 games can take you from web-slinging in New York to tense dungeon crawling in Demon's Souls and Elden Ring. The console has a burgeoning list of terrific games to try. Of course, it will also play almost the entire PS4 back catalogue via backwards compatibility, so easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer range of games out there. To help you narrow that particular choice down, head over to our best PS4 games list, which has some cracking recommendations, from the classic to the unsung. In the meantime, let's celebrate the very best the Playstation 5 has to offer.

Elden Ring

An epic fantasy RPG from the creators of Dark Souls, Elden Ring offers up a beautiful, forlorn and often horrifying open world full of doomed knights and looming bosses. It's a punishing swords and sorcery combat game at heart, and as notoriously difficult as From Software's other games. Your first foray up a coiling path full of warriors may feel much like any other Souls game, but from there it just gets weirder as the map gradually expands and you learn more of George R. R. Martin's engrossing lore. It's a huge adventure already, but flexible classes and surprisingly detailed RPG stat sheets have engaged theorycrafters and inspired many to play it all over again.

Oh, and keep an ear out for the gorgeous soundtrack. It's an invigorating accompaniment to a run around the park if you want to feel like you're being chased by gangs of 12 foot tall ghost knights.

Want to read more? See our full Elden Ring review

The Last of Us Part 2

Ostensibly another game about shooting hundreds of zombies (and a few hundred human goons), The Last of US Part 2 is also a harrowing revenge tale that again sees Ellie and Joel trying to carve a life out in the Wilderness. The hit TV show has revived interest in this beautifully directed game, leaning on a strong, complex pair of main characters. Ellie and Joel's relationship elevates the game from simply being another schlocky, shocking gorefest, though be warned, the intense and horribly realistic violence - and the relentless amount of it - mean this isn't for the fate of heart. In its best moments The Last of Us Part 2 puts down the bows and baseball bats and takes the time to tell a love story, though the fungus infected zombie hordes are always lurking at the perimeter.

Want to read more? See our full The Last of us Part 2 review

Cyberpunk 2077

After years of updates and a shaky start, CD Projekt RED's immersive futuristic RPG is actually good now. Very good, in fact. Night City is a wonderful near future metropolis overflowing with leather clad hustlers with spectacular hair dos. You carve a chaotic and destructive path through the scene, all while being berrated by the digital ghost of a dead terrorist called Johnny Silverhand. This rocker turned nihilistic killer is played by Keanu Reeves, who joins a fantastic cast of malcontents, all souped up by cybernetic ehancements, and all looking for the next gig to make a buck.

Those enhancements also make for an entertaining upgrade tree that lets you hack people's eyes from afar, or get really good at firing guns while sliding. Alternatively you can pick up a katana or install arm blades to take a melee approach. The best bits happen between the gun fights, though. The lingo takes some getting used to, lifted from the work of pen and paper RPG creator Mike Pondmith, but once it clicks the quality of the storytelling shines through. The Phantom Liberty expnsion is a must play as well.

Want to read more? See our full Cyberpunk 2077 review

Astro's Playroom

Bundled-in software feels like a thing of the glorious past, as does Team Asobi's Astro's Playroom - a brilliantly imaginative old-school platformer, pre-installed on every PS5, that runs wild and free through PlayStation's past, from the original demo disc bundled in with Sony's very first video game console through to cherished classics like Ape Escape, Gravity Rush, Bloodborne and beyond.

By the time Astro's Playroom's short six-hour runtime has finished, it's more than earned its place alongside those PlayStation classics. More than a nostalgia trip, it's an inventive and uniquely tactile platformer that puts the PlayStation 5 through its paces, and underlines the point that Team Asobi is one of Sony's very best assets when it comes to video game development.

Want to read more? See our full Astro's Playroom review.

Spider-Man 2

We used to have Spider-Man: Miles Morales in this list, but then Spider-Man 2 came out and featured both Miles and Peter Parker for twice the web slinging fun. You switch between them as they sweep New York, which has been taken over by a furious man in furs called Kraven the Hunter. He's not the most inspiring supervillain, but he's soon joined by the sinister symbiote known as Venom. This alien goo thing can take over your body, making you stronger, faster and much, much angrier. The Arkham style third person combat is nimble enough, and the feeling of swinging through New York is exhilerating right to the very end. It really is worth picking up the game to have a swing around.

Want to read more? See our full Spider-Man 2 review.

Demon's Souls

The debate about From Software's best will rage on until the last embers have died out, but there's no arguing which game started it all. 2009's Demon's Souls not only birthed a genre but raised the bar on murky video game adventures, gifting us with deep lore scratched into the stonework, exquisite combat that has you clanking iron against armour and atmosphere that's to die for.

To see all that resurrected and refined on PlayStation 5 is quite the thing, and in so many ways it's the ideal launch game - and ideal accompaniment when you first pick up your PS5. Here's a classic whose heritage and excellence is undoubted, delivered with searing fidelity thanks to Bluepoint's exhaustive makeover. Is the original FromSoft game the best one? The debate will never be settled, but for now this is the most impressive one you can currently play.

Want to read more? See our full Demon's Souls review and buy it now from Amazon.

Control: Ultimate Edition

Cor, what's that font? And where do you get those up-lighters? And is that a monstera, skulking in a sweet concrete flower bed? Control is special. It's a smart and fast-paced action game from the people behind Max Payne, but it's also a whole world stuffed into a beautiful, terrifying, mid-century modern office building. The lighting's by Kubrick, the floors are by Harry Gesner. You get to chuck trash cans around with your mind, blast zombies with a gun that transforms into a different kind of gun, and even uncover a room filled with Post-it notes.

The best thing about Control is that it knows when to take itself seriously, such as with the perfect animation for a projectile hitting a filing cabinet, and when to enjoy the campy nonsense, which is generally where the plot and world-building come in. With a sweet upgrade for the PS5, this game has never looked better.

Want to read more? See our full Control review and buy it now from Amazon.

God of War

Sony sometimes seems so in love with Oscar-bait misery that you can forget how much fun even its more sombre games can be. Is God of War sombre? It has a protagonist grappling with fatherhood and a bit of a mid-life crisis, certainly, but he also makes friends with giant snakes and at one point gets to punch Faraday from Lost through a small mountain.

It's beautiful stuff - which now, thanks to an update, runs at a silky 60 frames per second on PS5 - a Metroidvania wrapped in luxurious mythical detailing, and powered by a wonderfully brutal bit of theatre whenever you lob your axe into someone and then god-brain it back into your hand, as everybody around you erupts into fountains of hot Lucozade. Not bad, Sony, but can we have another Sly Cooper soon?

Want to read more? See our full God of War review and buy it now from Amazon.

WRC 9

The quality of the WRC series might come as a surprise to more casual racing game fans, and understandably so - having coasted along under the watch of the ever-industrious bunch at Milestone, not much was expected when the officially licensed rally series shifted over to upstarts Kylotonn with WRC 5. What's happened since then, though, has been nothing short of remarkable.

From a knowingly arcade initial offering, the series has evolved into a hard-edged take on what's a somewhat underappreciated golden age for the sport, with cars as powerful and awe-inspiring as those seen in the Group B heyday. WRC 9 is the culmination of all that, and is the measure of - perhaps even superior to - Dirt Rally 2.0 when it comes to off-road kicks. The PS5 version, with its brilliant use of the DualSense controller's haptics and adaptive triggers combined with a 60fps frame-rate, simply seals the deal.

Want to read more? Find out why WRC 9's PS5 update shows the DualSense is a revelation for racing games and buy it now from Amazon.

Destiny 2

Destiny 2 isn't the easiest game to get your head around. If you've been lured in by its free-to-play version, the first thing that probably strikes you is: where do I start? Playing through the game's quick introductory mission is liable to leave you with a bunch of choices of where to go next, and no clear idea of which is the best option to pick.

For those already invested, however, Destiny is probably the best it's been for years, thanks to an excellent expansion in Beyond Light and a revolutionary next-gen update that gives everything a boost, from faster loading times to vastly improved performance that showcase the game's stunning environments and combat at their best.

It's enough to heartily recommend giving Bungie's shooter another chance (if you are, we recommend getting refreshed with the New Light tutorial, then playing each story campaign in sequence before taking on some dungeons and raids with friends) - and thanks to cross-save support across all platforms, doing so is easier than ever.

Digital Foundry looks at Destiny 2 PS5 vs Xbox Series X|S - A True Next-Gen Advantage

Want to read more? See our full Destiny 2 review and buy it now from PlayStation Store.

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart

Personality is the order of the day with Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, as it always is when Insomniac's the team behind things. Digital Foundry will rightly point to the technical marvels of its portals - which are themselves ray-traced to perfection - but what matters as much as the method is the effect.

Rift Apart is a breezy game, a light game. It has verve and snap and panache and all that but it's just such a joy to be in, above all. It's actually quite a humble PS2 game at its core, wrapped in an extraordinarily expensive jacket, and in many ways that's all you could possibly want from a Ratchet and Clank game coming out on a PS5. Shoot things, smash things, collect things, scoot about and get whipped around corners and along rollercoasters at warp speed. And the story, by the way, which introduces the all-new, all-empowered Rivet and Kit, is as kindhearted as any. What a treat.

Want to read more? See our full Ratchet and Clank review and buy it now from Amazon.

Hitman 3

Less about sneaking your way through enemy-filled bases and more about planning the perfect assassination in a Groundhog Day-style framework, the modern Hitman games have built up a well-deserved and devoted audience over the years.

Even if you're late to the party, the third game is the best place to start. Hitman 3 features some of the most varied and inventive levels in the series - one moment pushing through crowds in a warehouse-sized nightclub, solving a murder mystery in an English mansion the next - and the ability to import levels from previous games you've purchased (chances are you already own the original through PS Plus) makes it feel less of a sequel and more of a best of package.

On next-gen consoles is where Hitman 3 shines thanks to those all-important load times. It's a rare series where experimentation through save scumming - the act of reloading after you attempt something risky, like 'subtly' dropping a chandelier on your target and seeing if you can get away with it - is actively encouraged, and knowing you can do so in a matter of seconds feels like just the task SSDs were made for.

Want to read more? See our full Hitman 3 review and buy it now from Amazon.

Fortnite

Recently, Fortnite hosted a short film festival, in which you could pull up and lob tomatoes at a screen showing Creature Comforts while the Predator mimed giving and receiving pizza just out of shot. This is a weird game, but it increasingly seems to be a classic: a perfect hangout space with a very nippy Battle Royale stuck in the middle of it.

And with its next-gen upgrade, it's genuinely beautiful too, great lighting effects and a lovely draw distance blending with an art style that turned out to be the secret weapon. This is a game where anything goes, and nothing looks out of place. Just ask the Predator.

Want to read more? See Fortnite's entry in our games of the decade series.

Returnal

Playing through Returnal you will wonder, at some point, whether Returnal wants you to keep playing it at all. The best word for it is hostile: a hostile planet, a hostile (or at least inscrutable) UI, a hostile core to its mechanical design. This is a rock-hard bullet-hell rougelite - you die a lot, and when you do you have to start it all over again.

The upside of that, though, is how good it feels to progress, to triumph over a game that just seems to absolutely hate you. Successfully releasing yourself from a parasite, or cleansing a nightmarish malfunction, or vanquishing that one boss, is heavenly. Some of the combat is euphoric. Some of the guns are magic. Some of the "biomes" you visit - the muggy, mecha-foggy third is an all-timer - are just sensational. It's an unholy marriage, ultimately, of old-school arcade hardcore and new-school sci-fi action. Happy marriage or not, it's something you have to experience.

Here's Aoife playing through Returnal's wonderful first hour

Want to read more? Here's our Returnal review and you can buy it now from Amazon.

Hades

It's not that unusual for one game to sweep every game of the year award going, but it is quite unusual when it's a smaller-scale indie production - as happened with Supergiant Games' Hades in 2020. Carefully honed during a long early access period, this stunning, sophisticated and downright sexy dungeon crawler cast a spell on everyone who played it - and now it's available on PS5.

As Hades' son Zagreus, you must try to escape the underworld over and over again, facing randomised challenges - and bonuses - as you go. The action is fantastically well balanced and the character builds are deep and interesting, as is the seemingly bottomless well of story you experience piecemeal each time you progress through the game. It's a modern classic.

Some beginner tips for starting Hades.

Want to read more? Here's our Hades review and you can buy it now from Base.

Deathloop

One of the most unlikely console exclusives in a while, and not just because the company that made it was recently acquired by Xbox. This is, on paper, rarefied stuff. It's an immersive sim made by the masters of this highly specialised genre at Arkane Lyon: a genre beloved by those in the know but seldom a big seller, which offers the player a tremendous amount of freedom of action within the tight confines of a claustrophobic and intense action game. Deathloop hardly simplifies the pitch with its head-spinning time loop conceit and strange world of hedonistic, immortal, sci-fi super-assassins trapped in a kitschy 1970s setting. It's a blend of Dishonored, Hitman, Austin Powers and Groundhog Day.

And yet it just works, thanks to brilliant design that refines Arkane's previous, already very sophisticated template while increasing its accessibility and ramping up the fun factor. The outrageously cool art direction goes a long way, and the icing on the cake is the asymmetrical multiplayer endgame, inspired by Dark Souls, in which players can invade others' games and attempt to assassinate them while they play.