10 Best PS5 Games of All Time, Ranked

The PS5 library has reached the point where choosing the next game is harder than finding something worth playing. There are compact platforming adventures, enormous RPGs, and action games that can take over an evening before you’ve remembered what you originally sat down to do. The useful question is which one fits what you want next.

This ranking brings together ten released games with PS5 versions, balancing distinctive ideas, a strong sense of purpose, and different ways to play. It includes exclusives and multiplatform releases, with the relevant edition named where that matters. Treat the order as an editorial recommendation, rather than a sales chart or a promise that one genre will suit everyone.

Choose Your Next Game

10. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Rift Apart sends Ratchet and Clank through a dimensional adventure with Rivet joining the cast. Its weapons give fights room for humor and experimentation, while platforming and travel between worlds keep the action from staying in one place for long. It’s a useful reminder that an action game can be energetic without adopting a grim tone.

Choose it if you want a focused adventure with a lively visual identity. The PS5 release is the version relevant to this list, even though the game is also available on PC. It’s a friendly entry point to the series’ style, with enough going on in its weapons and characters to give each new area personality.

9. Returnal

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Returnal traps Selene in a hostile alien world where death starts another run rather than ending the story. Weapons, movement, and reading incoming attacks give its encounters an immediate challenge, while the changing journey encourages you to use what you find. The mystery supplies another reason to try again after an unsuccessful attempt.

It’s a strong fit if learning a game’s systems is part of the appeal. There is campaign co-op, but it doesn’t turn every part of Returnal into the same shared mode; the Tower of Sisyphus is separate. Choose it for the combination of shooting and a repeat-run structure, with the expectation that progress may include failure.

8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 brings Peter Parker and Miles Morales into one story, with both heroes contributing their own abilities. Moving around New York is a central attraction, whether you’re heading toward the next mission or taking a detour. Combat, gadgets, and the story’s threats give the two Spider-Men plenty of work once they arrive.

Pick it if you want an action adventure that lets traversal carry some of the fun between objectives. Despite having two playable Spider-Men, it is a single-player game rather than a co-op release. Knowledge of the earlier games helps with the characters, so newcomers may prefer to follow their stories before starting this sequel.

7. Ghost of Yōtei

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Ghost of Yōtei follows Atsu through a revenge story set in Ezo, introducing a new protagonist and a different period from Ghost of Tsushima. Exploring its landscape and pursuing the people connected to her past give the adventure a personal direction. A broader choice of weapons lets encounters move beyond relying on one approach to every opponent.

It’s the pick for players who want another large action adventure with a clear setting and character at its center. The new protagonist makes it distinct from simply continuing Jin Sakai’s story. Choose it for exploration and combat, while keeping the separate title and its setting clear when comparing it with Tsushima’s Director’s Cut.

6. God of War Ragnarök

Official launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Ragnarök continues Kratos and Atreus’ journey through the Norse realms, with their relationship sitting alongside the larger conflict. Combat, exploration, and equipment choices give you things to do between its major story moments. The expanding cast and changing situations also make the adventure more than a sequence of fights with a bigger opponent waiting at the end.

Choose it if you want a substantial action game with a story carrying the journey. The 2018 God of War provides useful context for the characters, so it’s a sensible starting point if you missed it. Ragnarök has a PS5 version as well as a PS4 release; check the edition rather than assuming any copy includes every platform entitlement.

5. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Official final trailer for the original PS5 release. Watch on YouTube (FINAL FANTASY).

Rebirth takes Cloud and his companions beyond Midgar, giving the party more room to explore and interact. Its combat mixes direct control with tactical decisions, so knowing the characters and their abilities matters as much as reacting in the moment. Side activities and regional exploration make the journey broader than the story path alone.

It’s a strong choice if you want an RPG that spends time with its cast. This is the second game in the Final Fantasy VII remake project, rather than a replacement for Remake Intergrade or a complete retelling on its own. Start with Remake if you want to follow the revised story in order.

4. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Expedition 33 sends a party into a world shaped by the Paintress and the threat of a shrinking lifespan. Its turn-based structure leaves room for planning, while dodges, parries, and timed actions ask you to stay involved when the enemy takes its turn. Character builds add another layer to that mixture.

Choose it if you want a story-led RPG with battles that reward both preparation and reactions. Its distinctive setting gives the adventure an identity beyond the combat system, while the party gives you different ways to work within it. This is a PS5 release, so it shouldn’t be confused with an older-console version or described as a PlayStation exclusive.

3. Baldur’s Gate 3

Official launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (Larian Studios).

Baldur’s Gate 3 builds its adventure around choices you can approach in several ways. Conversation, exploration, and turn-based combat all draw on the character you create and the companions beside you. A problem may have a direct solution, a risky one, or an option you only notice after looking more carefully at the environment.

It earns its place for players who want decisions to shape the journey. Co-op adds the possibility of making those decisions with friends, although agreeing on a plan can become its own activity. Give it time to teach its systems, and choose it when a flexible adventure appeals more than a tightly directed action campaign.

2. Astro Bot

Official PS5 launch trailer. Watch on YouTube (PlayStation).

Astro Bot takes its small robot across worlds built around movement, discovery, and changing abilities. Each new idea gives the platforming something different to ask of you, while rescuing bots and finding secrets provide reasons to look beyond the obvious route. The PlayStation references add character without being the only reason to explore.

It’s the recommendation for anyone who wants a focused game that keeps introducing something new. This is the standalone Astro Bot adventure, not the included Astro’s Playroom and not the PS VR game Astro Bot Rescue Mission. Pick it for its platforming first, with the familiar faces as an extra part of the fun.

1. Elden Ring

Official gameplay reveal trailer. Watch on YouTube (BANDAI NAMCO Europe).

Elden Ring gives you a large fantasy world and plenty of reasons to leave the road. Dungeons, enemies, and equipment encourage exploration, while different builds let you approach its demanding combat in your own way. When one obstacle stops you, there is often somewhere else to go and something useful to learn or find.

It takes the top spot for how strongly its discovery and progression support each other. You choose a route and build a character around the challenges you meet, rather than following one fixed checklist. The base game is the recommendation here; Shadow of the Erdtree is a separate expansion, and Elden Ring Nightreign is a separate game.

Which Game Should You Start With?

Astro Bot is the first recommendation for a focused platforming adventure. Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3 offer more freedom, while Returnal supplies the sharper repeat-run challenge. For a story-led journey, consider Ragnarök, Rebirth, or Expedition 33 according to the combat style you prefer. The best next purchase is the one that fits your evening, rather than the one with the longest list of features.

Looking for more? Classic PlayStation games · Open-world RPG alternatives.