Over four years after its release, Sony's PlayStation 5 has bested Microsoft's Xbox to dominate this console generation. If you want a plug-and-play experience with the latest games, PS5 is a fantastic choice.
The PS5 introduced several tech advancements over its predecessor, from the extra functionality you get from the DualSense controller's advanced haptics and triggers to instant load times with its solid-state storage, as well as the PSVR 2 headset. But the PS5's biggest appeal, building on all the best PS4 games it's backward-compatible with, is its lengthy catalog of exclusive and cross-platform games spanning multiple genres. Sony has leveraged its intellectual property to create everything from the gritty narratives of God of War: Ragnarok and The Last of Us Part II to the colorful, nostalgic platforming of Astro Bot. There's something for everyone on the PS5.
We've curated this list of the best Sony PlayStation 5 games you can buy right now, including some stellar ones that showed up on CNET's 2024 Game of the Year list and the premier narrative experiences from 2025.
Best PS5 Games - December 2025
Sony Astro Bot Astro Bot is one of the best PlayStation games in years like concentrated joy coming back from a simpler time in gaming's past. It's a whimsical tour de force of unfettered creativity, essentially Sony's equivalent of iconic Nintendo 3D platformers like Super Mario 64 or Galaxy. Astro Bot is a love letter to every Sony game, with references and cameos to PlayStation games and hardware stretching back to before some gamers (including this writer) were born. Astro Bot isn't just a nostalgic cash grab dropping dozens of member berries and phoning it in. It's a game where every level is a mechanical and visual triumph, with power-ups that allow players to float like a balloon, bullet dash, spring punch, climb like a monkey, blast like a rocket, stop time and shrink down to the size of a mouse, each one changing how you engage with the collectible bots and puzzle pieces. This game also makes full use of the DualSense controllers -- different levels take advantage of the gyro capabilities and even have you blowing into the controller to spin pinwheels to create gusts of wind. When you succeed in your task and make it to the end of the level? You best believe you're going to be serenaded with hundreds of acorns, gold coins, snowballs or whatever bauble fits the level's theme, just because the game wants to remind you that it can handle dropping all those beautiful physics objects in front of you at once. Astro Bot is a unique and laudable PlayStation experience, made possible only through a combination of Sony's cultural currency and the PlayStation 5's hardware. It's a must-have game for the console. Release date: Sept. 6, 2024 Genre: 3D platformer Developer: Team Asobi - Tyler Graham, writer $60 at Amazon $40 at Target
Microsoft Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 A J'RPG mixing deep combat with a rich story, great music and solid voice/motion-capture performances Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an RPG for the ages. Made by former Ubisoft developers, the game's delightfully French take on the story-rich Japanese RPG formula remixes familiar gameplay and story elements into a rich, involved world with a plot that keeps surprising players. Set in the last human city of Lumiere, the protagonists form the titular Expedition 33 as the latest in a long line of heroic efforts to defeat the Paintress, a sorceress who can be seen lowering the maximum age of humanity one year at a time. Fighting fate with your friends is a time-honored JRPG theme, which is remixed with some delightfully silly French elements (fighting mimes to get baguette-and-beret outfits) and soulful moments of character growth. It's not hyperbole to say that Expedition 33 has some of the best-written dialogue scenes acted with convincing motion capture -- a wonder in a genre replete with stiff, sometimes cringey melodrama. The mature storytelling is complemented by some of the best music you'll hear in a video game, with dynamically different tracks and choral vocals for each biome you visit across the game's sprawling world. Best of all, the combat packs a lot of customization in equippable abilities and modifiers, which combines with active button presses to dodge/parry enemy attacks (or empower your own). It's a deep system that's as delightful to master as it is to completely break, racking up damage in the millions by the end of the game. While PS5 has no shortage of RPGs, Clair Obscur is a superb entry in the genre, with enough tweaks to the formula to delight newcomers and veterans alike. It's even more phenomenal as a debut title from Sandfall Interactive and a brand-new IP in a niche dominated by Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Elder Scrolls and other DnD-like games. Release Date: April 24, 2025 Genre: Role-playing game with active battle elements Developer: Sandfall Interactive $49 at Amazon $50 at Best Buy
Hazelight Studios Split Fiction A fun, lighthearted two-player-only adventure. Split Fiction is the latest two-players-only game coming from Hazelight Studios, which has built a reputation of similarly novel couch or online co-op titles, like the award-winning It Takes Two. The new game is a cavalcade of fun action and puzzle sequences that don't overstay their welcome, switching up mechanics and set pieces to keep the game flowing. Players control either Mio or Zoe, two fiction writers lured to an evil corporation attempting to steal all their ideas, which they must play through to escape. The game alternates between these, throwing players from a cyberpunk science fiction story to a cozy fantasy and back again every hour or so, with enough whimsical side stories to break up the flow and ensure there's always something new around the corner. With a light story in the background, and as Mio and Zoe go from strangers to friends in a tightly-tuned cooperative gameplay, Split Fiction is a great pick for pals or partners looking for a polished game they can play together -- so long as the occasionally difficult bits don't wear you down. Read our Split Fiction review. Release date: March 6, 2025 Genre: Co-op action platformer Developer: Hazelight Studios -- David Lumb, Senior Mobile Reporter $49 at Amazon $50 at Best Buy $50 at Target
Kojima Productions Death Stranding 2: On the Beach The weird post-apocalyptic walking simulator returns with a lot of quality-of-life changes After reconnecting the post-apocalyptic United States in the first Death Stranding to resuscitate civilization, you'd think Sam Porter would catch a break. Unfortunately, there are plenty more countries to connect. In 2025's Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Sam's peaceful life with Fragile and bridge baby Lou is upended, and he must trek to Australia to bring it back from the brink -- and save his family. Death Stranding 2 retains the original game's mix of lonely walking simulator, combat, wild story and odd characters excellently animated off of motion-captured celebrities. The bonkers worldbuilding feels like pure Hideo Kojima, the auteur who moved on from Metal Gear Solid to produce his singular vision in these games. It's an alchemy that still works, and alongside the quality-of-life upgrades on the original Death Stranding, so many small, signature touches -- from the characters posing in photo mode to everyone wishing you happy birthday on your actual real-life birthday -- make it feel like a very singular experience. The meat of the game is the same: Sam is still delivering packages across vast distances, giving players time to noodle on the themes of human connection. But his growing family of oddball characters gives him access to an airship and fast travel, showing the fruits of Sam expanding his human network as much as he links up logistics chains. Yes, you'll be talking to a doll in the game -- but it's better than wandering the waste alone in one of the most unique and well-crafted games ever made. Note that we also recommend the original Death Stranding on this list of best PS5 games, and it's worth trying first for those who want to understand the story (and have a spare 40-60 hours), but you don't necessarily need to play it before starting this one. You can just watch a recap video on YouTube (like this one) to get you up to speed. Release Date: June 26, 2025 Genre: Stealth action walking simulator Developer: Kojima Productions $50 at Best Buy
Sony God of War: Ragnarök Santa Monica Studios' God of War: Ragnarök, released in November 2022, continues the titular god Kratos' epic dad adventure through lands inspired by Norse mythology -- and clashing with the Nordic gods themselves -- while raising his son Atreus. The sequel to the 2018 God of War, which served as a soft reboot of the classic series, has been lauded for its voice acting, lush graphics and tight combat, but it's the narrative that sets the game apart from other AAA action games. Ragnarök picks up where God of War left off as Kratos' killing of the Aesir god Baldur triggers the leadup to the mythical realms-wide, age-ending titular battle. With more weapons, enemies, bosses and gameplay featuring slices playing as Atreus, Ragnarök improves on everything from the first game. There's even a free DLC, Valhalla, serving as a narrative epilogue to the Norse chapter in the war god's story. For a cinematic adventure of epic scale, God of War: Ragnarök is hard to top. Read our God of War: Ragnarök review. Release date: Nov. 9, 2022 Genre: Narrative-driven hack and slash adventure Developer: Santa Monica Studio - David Lumb $43 at Amazon
Guerrilla Games Horizon Forbidden West Another great sequel of a fan-favorite game, Horizon Forbidden West is Guerrilla Games' sequel to the 2017 smash hit Horizon Zero Dawn. Forbidden West, which came out in February 2022, follows Aloy's quest to find a cure for a plague in a post-post-apocalyptic world, where sentient beast-like machines roam the land while tribes of surviving humans unravel the mysteries of fallen civilizations. As an open-world game, Forbidden West builds on its predecessor with more areas to explore, underwater sections to investigate, weapons to find and skills to master. Guerrilla Games expanded production of the sequel with more emphasis on story cinematics, with a star-studded cast led by Ashly Burch and the dearly missed Lance Reddick, as well as the talents of Angela Bassett and Carrie-Anne Moss in new roles. The sprawling game is further expanded in the DLC, Burning Shores, that explores even more of what happened in the past -- and the course of the world's future. For a big adventure promising dozens of hours of gameplay in an open world, Horizon Forbidden West is a great choice. Read our Horizon Forbidden West review. Release date: Feb. 18, 2022 Genre: Post-post-apocalyptic open world action-adventure Developer: Guerrilla Games - David Lumb See at Amazon
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