The Best PS5 Games of 2026

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is the long-awaited sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man and its superb 2020 spinoff, Miles Morales. In this action-packed open-world New York, you’ll play as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, battling your way through an invasion or two. And you’ll encounter the PS5 incarnations of more than a few iconic Spidey characters, including Harry and Norman Osborn, Mysterio, Venom, and Kraven the Hunter. This installment adds wingsuit flight to the existing player package, making traversal faster and even more varied than before.

God of War Ragnarök is an almost perfect sequel to 2018’s God of War, continuing the story of Kratos and his son, Atreus, as they seek to avert disaster. The combat is tight but welcoming, the visuals are stunning, and the story is engrossing.

There are enough changes to keep the action-adventure formula from feeling stale, and a mountain of accessibility options ensures the game is something everyone gets to enjoy. The game also recently got an expansion called God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla, free for all players who own a copy of Ragnarök.

If you’re a fan of Dark Souls, the series of action RPG created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, you may want to consider jumping into the mystery and danger of Elden Ring. Co-created by Miyazaki and George R. R. Martin, author of the best-selling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, this fantasy RPG lets players explore the vast Lands Between and take on unforgettable enemies. A large-scale Elden Ring DLC expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, is set for release on June 21, with various digital and physical editions available.

In this game, you can create your own character and test out different weapons, magical powers, and skills to determine which are the best fit for your character. You can also choose to trek on foot or by horse, and play either solo or online with friends.

Many players admire the breathtaking world design in this game—from magical mountains to castles full of monsters and wide open grass plains. It’s a challenging yet rewarding adventure, which may be difficult for beginners; the game itself offers very little guidance.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is a stunning next-gen showcase that launched about seven months after the PS5. Another knockout from Insomniac Games, this game boasts fun and varied shooter sequences, grand boss fights, and unbelievable traversal across several dimensions.

As Ratchet and Rivet, you’ll take on the evil robot Doctor Nefarious, enlist the help of creatures from throughout the multiverse, and restore peace to a number of realities.

Picking up right from its predecessor’s ending, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth continues the story of Cloud and company as they travel beyond Midgar to stop the evil ex-SOLDIER Sephiroth from destroying the planet. Traversal and combat remain mostly unchanged, so getting into it will be a breeze for fans of Remake. Welcome additions include open-world environments, chocobo mounts, new playable characters, and a plethora of fun minigames to distract you from the main story. Rebirth takes what worked in the 2020 reimagining and expands on it, resulting in one of the best sequels in recent memory.

If you’ve never played a Final Fantasy game before—there are a lot of them—this is the place to start. With stellar performance upgrades on the PS5, this Square Enix reimagining of an old classic is the first part of an epic, romantic, funny, and thought-provoking journey.

There are a number of difficulty settings as well as two very different combat styles (modern and “classic”), and the characters are unforgettable. This game’s a blast.

Baldur’s Gate 3 arrives more than two decades after its predecessor, but the critical consensus is that it’s set a whole new standard for traditional role-playing video games. The city of Baldur’s Gate is located in the imaginative realms of Dungeons & Dragons lore, so this game involves all manner of elves, monsters, mindflayers, vampires, and so on. Combat and other interactions use simulated D20 dice rolls, which adds to the tabletop feel developer Larian Studios is known for. If you want a rich fantasy storytelling experience you can easily sink 90 to 200 hours into, look no further.

Alan Wake II is the latest reality-bending blockbuster from Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Max Payne, Quantum Break, and Control. The story picks up 13 years after the original 2010 action thriller, with fiction writer Alan Wake lost in a dimension called the Dark Place. Players alternate between the role of Wake himself and a new character, FBI agent Saga Anderson, who has certain telepathic abilities. Upon release, this game was immediately hailed as a new game-of-the-year contender alongside the likes of Zelda and Baldur’s Gate, and if you’ve played any of Remedy’s previous games, you know you’re in for a good, wild time. A pair of DLCs, titled Night Springs and The Lake House, are forthcoming sometime this year.

If you’re looking for a fun, highly replayable action game with a touching comic-book story and a gorgeous open world, look no further than Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. In this game, young teen Miles Morales is following in the footsteps of his idol, Peter Parker, and ends up discovering his own powers.

Also available as a PS4 game, this masterpiece breaks out from the shadow of 2018’s Spider-Man and establishes itself as one of the all-time great pieces of superhero media. If you were a fan of the animated Into the Spider-Verse, this is a must-own game from one of PlayStation’s top studios.

This polished remaster of Naughty Dog’s beloved action game The Last of Us is a must-play for horror fans. It’s lighter on jumpscares than your typical horror title, but it has a lot of approachable crafting and combat systems to make you feel like you’re fighting for your life at the end of the world. The characters, performances, and writing are pretty top-notch, and using stealth as you make your way through a broken, infected landscape is always gripping.

If you find yourself enjoying Part I quite a bit, the second game, Last of Us Part II, is even better in a lot of ways. There’s a lot of tough subject matter in these games, so it’s a controversial sequel, but it’s unforgettable—and a masterful example of the genre.

IO Interactive’s Hitman 3 is geared toward adult players, but it’s a fantastic example of what modern hardware is capable of. From the luxuriant heights of a Dubai skyscraper to the coat closet of some remote Knives Out estate, you’ll control Agent 47 as he dispatches his targets one by one, over and over, as creatively and stealthily as possible.

This game isn’t just a pretty spectacle to play on PS5; it’s an ingenious sandbox that rewards true mastery.

Ghost of Tsushima is a love letter to the samurai film, offering stylized swordplay, filmic effects like a black-and-white “Kurosawa” setting, and a robust photo mode. Set against the backdrop of the historic Mongol invasion of Tsushima, the story follows a warrior named Jin Sakai (Daisuke Tsuji) as he gathers allies and reclaims his home.

Aside from incredible combat, a moody open world, and charming characters, it’s also got a co-op multiplayer component that supports up to four players.

The beloved Resident Evil series continues with the eighth installment: Resident Evil Village. This game is a continuation of Resident Evil VII, where players take on the role of Ethan Winters as he searches for his daughter, who’s been kidnapped. Players move through a village that’s alive with action and horror, where they’ll face unexpected threats like werewolves, vampires, and mutants.

While unraveling this mystery, players will find that this game has realistic graphics and just enough horror to keep you on the edge of your gaming chair. Some players feel this game isn’t scary enough or that it’s too short, but we beg to differ on both counts.

Created by the developer Guerrilla Games, this adventurous sci-fi game tells the story of Aloy, who faces different hardships in a post-apocalyptic North America inhabited by robot dinosaurs. In Horizon Forbidden West, you’ll discover vibrant cultures, mechanical and human enemies, and explore faraway landscapes as you cross forests and mountains to reach the ruins of San Francisco.

You’ll battle large beasts throughout the game using a blend of primitive weaponry and high-tech gadgetry. The game makes great use of the DualSense wireless controller’s adaptive controllers and haptic feedback. A DLC expansion, Burning Shores, arrived in April.