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 titles that showed up on CNET's 2024 Game of the Year list.
Best PS5 Games - July 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 $53 at Amazon $60 at Target
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 $47 at Amazon $50 at Best Buy $50 at Target
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 $38 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 $60 at Best Buy $55 at Target $56 at Amazon
Housemarque/Screenshot by CNET Returnal Returnal is one of the most narratively rewarding roguelike adventures on the market. Like Hades, the story only truly progresses when you've struggled your way across the finish line multiple times. Unlike Hades, Returnal is a buttery smooth third-person shooter and a nightmarish bullet hell. Astronaut Selene Vallos crash lands on Atropos, an alien planet full of hostile xenobiology, and she doesn't start out with the combat experience to navigate the challenges laid at her feet. A time loop brings Selene back to the beginning of her journey any time the planet's inhabitants tear her asunder, which marks a brilliant convergence of gameplay and narrative: Selene is learning how to fight right alongside the player in a sort of Edge of Tomorrow-like scenario. While combat might feel futile at first, repetition makes it easier to dodge the geometric fields of plasma and fireballs that enemies will be fielding at you. Players can unlock high-tech weaponry during each run, ranging from standard sci-fi carbines to pylon launchers that chain electricity between fired projectiles. Later in the game, Selene unlocks a grappling hook that lets her zip around arenas -- these upgrades will eventually lead you to feel like a hunter rather than the prey. You no longer have to take on the Herculean task of making it off-world alone. Returnal's Ascension update added two player co-op, so you can battle through the ever-shifting time loop with a friend. This update also added the Tower of Sisyphus, a challenging endless mode designed with the most skilled Returnal players in mind. Release Date: April 30, 2021 Genre: Sci-fi roguelike third-person shooter and bullet hell Developer: Housemarque - Tyler Graham $49 at Amazon
Naughty Dog The Last of Us 2: Remastered The Last of Us 2, the long-awaited sequel to the post-apocalyptic zombie game from Naughty Dog, first came out in 2020 on last-gen consoles to enormous critical and cultural acclaim (if eerie timing during a pandemic). Only a few years later, the studio released a remastered version for PS5 in January 2024. The graphical gains aren't significant, but having a definitive edition for current-gen consoles is helpful for players to pick up and experience, and there are several extras like No Return (a roguelike zombie survival mode) and the unfinished Lost Levels not found in the original game. Where the original The Last of Us was a story about grief and the (very bloody) lengths taken to start anew after the apocalypse, The Last of Us 2 is a story of consequence and the (very bloody) lengths taken for revenge. As you'd expect of developer Naughty Dog, this is a beautiful, laboriously crafted story unlike pretty much anything else in gaming, and The Last of Us 2 Remastered is the best way to play it. Worth a place on anyone's shelf, but don't expect to come out of it unscathed. Read our The Last of Us 2 review. Release date: Jan. 19, 2024 Genre: Narrative-driven post-apocalyptic third-person shooter Developer: Naughty Dog - David Lumb $42 at Amazon
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