The PlayStation 5 has well and truly arrived, being over a half-year-old and having several exclusive games. If you’ve been lucky enough to get your hands on the new console, then here are 15 games you should play.
Like its rival, the Xbox Series X/S, the PlayStation 5 is an incredibly powerful console on which you can play some of the fastest, most beautiful, most demanding games that have ever been created. The PS5 has SSD storage to cut down loading times, an intricate, complicated cooling system, and a new controller (the DualSense) with one of the best haptic feedback systems ever built. The PS5 also launched with some exclusive games, and several more have launched since the console has been on the market. Xbox Series X/S games are usually not exclusives (though the console has several exclusives coming), while Nintendo Switch games are almost nothing but exclusives. This list is a mix of games that are PS5-exclusive and PS4 games that look great on the new console.
Astro’s Playroom
The first game that any new PS5 owner should play when they get their new console is Astro’s Playroom, which is available for free with the console. It’s designed to give users the full experience of playing with the new DualSense controller. Each of the levels will give you opportunities to test the DualSense’s haptic triggers and other features.
In addition to the game’s technical greatness, it’s also just a really fun, colorful, enjoyable game. The worlds you explore are cartoonish versions of the hardware inside your PS5, and you collect various artifacts that are really hardware Sony has produced. It’s an adorable nostalgia trip, especially if you’ve owned PlayStation consoles before.
Demon’s Souls
A remake of the PS3 classic, Demon’s Souls brings the brutal difficulty of a From Software title to the next generation. If you’ve never played a From game before, this is a good game to get started with — not because it’s easy, but because it’s not. In addition to the gameplay, the game is beautiful on PS5. The atmospheric environments look good on the console, and the lack of long wait times makes the game marginally less frustrating. If you want to play the game that invented the Souls-like genre and also see what your PS5 is capable of, this is the game to get.
- One of the toughest games you'll play on the PlayStation 5, Demon's Souls is a classic From Software game.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Marvel’s Spider-Man was one of the best games for the PS4 — and it still looks good on the PS5. But if you want the full next-gen experience, like being able to feel web-shooters as you’re swinging around New York City, then you need to play the quasi-sequel, starring Peter’s successor, Miles Morales.
I say “quasi-sequel” because the game takes place after the first game, but is more of a side story. Miles has a number of moves that Peter didn’t have in the original game, courtesy of his electric superpowers. The game is somewhat shorter than the first, but it’s still a fun game that stars a colorful cast of characters with whom Miles can interact.
- Return to New York with the next-generation Spider-Man, Miles Morales, as he tries to stop a series of villains from wrecking the city.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
One of Sony’s longtime franchises, Ratchet and Clank have never looked better than they do in their latest adventure. Their old nemesis Dr. Nefarious has stolen a weapon that opens rifts to other dimensions, and it’s up to Ratchet, Clank, and Ratchet’s alternate dimension counterpart Rivet to stop him. Rift Apart is basically designed to show off the power of the PS5’s SSD, meaning that you can jump through rifts with no loading slowing you down. It’s also one of the more kid-friendly games available on the PS5.
- The latest game in one of PlayStation's longest-running, kid-friendly series, Rift Apart sees Ratchet and Clank hopping across dimensions.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Over a decade old with a dozen games under its belt, the Assassin’s Creed series continues to expand and improve. The latest, Valhalla, is a Viking adventure starring the warrior Eivor, who gets drawn into the eternal conflict between the Assassins and Templars while raiding England. The British countryside looks stunning with the PS5’s GPU, and the gameplay is as smooth as it’s ever been. While the game is a typical Ubisoft adventure, it’s also a good entry point if you’ve never played an Assassin’s Creed game before.
- Take another trip through history with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a Viking adventure that sends you all over the British Isles.
God of War
God of War is the latest adventure of mature, somber Kratos, formerly the Greek god of war, as he and his son Atreus embark on a long journey to put their wife and mother to rest, which somehow leads to an epic quest that would put the ancient poems to shame. As with all games, it not only looks better on the PS5, but it also plays more smoothly. If you haven’t already played it, it’s part of the PS Plus Collection, a group of PS4 classics offered to PS5 users also subscribed to PlayStation Plus.
- The notoriously violent series takes a serious turn as Kratos joins the Norse pantheon and goes on an adventure with his son.
Returnal
This PlayStation exclusive has a lot of different genre names — it’s a roguelike sci-fi third-person shooter. What you might not be able to glean from looking at the trailers is that Returnal is also a horror game, and a pretty effective one at that. It’s a great test of the PS5’s hardware, and it’s not an easy game to master — the lack of a save feature was such a problem for gamers that they pleaded with the developers to add one. But if you want a game that’s a little more serious for the PS5, this is your game.
- This sci-fi roguelike title is one of the harder games you'll play on the PS5, and it's also a low-key horror experience you have to try.
Ghost of Tsushima
Released just a few months before the launch of the PS5, Ghost of Tsushima is a grand tale of Jin Sakai, a noble samurai who must become a nascent ninja in order to save his home island of Tsushima from invading Mongols. It’s a fun game if you’re a fan of third-person action-adventure or Japanese history for that matter. It’s also a stunning game, and the open world looks beautiful on the PS5 with a sufficiently powerful TV.
- This game is a historical adventure that follows the story of a samurai-turned-proto-ninja on a mission to expel an invading force.
The Last of Us Part II
The sequel to one of PlayStation’s most successful titles, The Last Of Us Part II tells a harrowing story about flawed people attempting to survive an impossible situation. The star, Ellie, is a character you can both love and be incredibly uncomfortable with, and characters around her aren’t much better. The game is also a tense, frightening horror action game that refuses to let you get too relaxed, and it looks better on the PS5 than anywhere else.
- A tragic horror game, the Last of Us sequel follows the story of Ellie as she goes on a rampage in this dismal, post-apocalyptic world.
Bugsnax
This curious little game casts the player character as a reporter in a world full of muppet-like creatures called Grumpuses trapped on an island populated by animals that look exactly like food. When the Grumpuses eat the titular Bugsnax, parts of their bodies become like the thing they just ate. What I’ve just described sounds very cartoonish and silly, but don’t let the colorful graphics fool you — the game is an adventure/horror hybrid that, were it just a little darker, would fit neatly into a Lovecraft story. It may not tax the PS5’s hardware, but it’s an enjoyable game perfect for someone who might not have enough time for a longer title.
- Bugsnax is a cute adventure/horror hybrid, that is perfect for those that dislike a very long storyline.
Persona 5 Royal
The Persona RPGs are a bit of an odd cookie. You play high school students who fight using their Personas, hidden aspects of their own personalities. In Persona 5, you play as the Phantom Thieves, lovable rogues attempting to steal bad feelings from the hearts of those around them — yeah, this is a strange game to describe. But it’s also very absorbing and enjoyable, and its characters are all great. Persona 5 Royal is an updated re-release that adds lots of new content to the game, and a PS5 must-play if you like RPGs.
- Follow the adventures of the Phantom Thieves in this quirky RPG, one of the best for the PlayStation consoles.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Nathan Drake’s last great adventure (at least for now) follows him as he attempts to find a lost treasure with his no-longer-lost brother. All Uncharted games were designed to take full advantage of the PlayStation’s graphics, being very cinematic adventures with panoramic camera angles, and this one looks even better on the PS5 than it did on the PS4. It’s an emotional and involving adventure, and it’s one offered to PlayStation Plus subscribers on the PS5 for free in the PS Plus Collection.
- Nathan Drake is always good for an adventure, and he's on a hunt for a pirate treasure in Uncharted 4. It's a must-play for any PlayStation gamer.
Resident Evil Village
The latest entry in the long-running Resident Evil series, Village tells possibly the campiest, most enjoyable story in the series. RE7’s Ethan Winters returns, and he’s in a lonely, isolated European village searching for his lost daughter. What he finds is possibly the strangest infected population that has appeared in the series so far. So Ethan must fend off monsters like werewolves and vampires, and it’s both an enjoyable and scary adventure, and one of the PS5’s must-play horror games.
- The latest Resident Evil game is one of the best horror games available on the PS5, and tells a great, campy story involving werewolves and vampires.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Sony recently announced it’s bringing the sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, called Horizon Forbidden West, to the PS5 sometime later this year. So now’s the perfect time to catch up on the series by playing the beautiful adventure game on PS5. A game that captivated gamers the moment it was originally revealed, HZD is a post-apocalyptic story in which humanity has been replaced as the dominant species by giant, animal-like machines. It was a must-play on the PS4, and it deserves a second look on the PS5.
- A PlayStation classic, Horizon Zero Dawn follows the adventures of Aloy as she tries to find answers in a world filled with giant machines.
WRC 9
Racing games are always great tests of a new console’s hardware — by design, they require high framerate, low-to-nonexistent loading times, and high visual fidelity. WRC 9 delivers on all of those, and it makes great use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback, more so than any other racing game available on the platform. Racing games aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but there are several available for the platform, and WRC 9 is the one to beat right now……though that might change when Gran Turismo 7 launches, whenever that might be.
- One of the PS5's best racing games, WRC 9 is one of the best games to play with the DualSense controller.
This list is only going to get longer the more the PlayStation 5 is on the market, and the more people are able to buy the elusive console. There are a number of other great cross-platform releases that are fun to play on PS5 — check our list of the best Xbox Series X/S games, which has several games that are also available on PS5. If you’re more of a mobile gamer, we have lists of great Android games and the best Switch games to play.
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