Top 10 PS5 Games to Play in 2026 (Highest Rated & Most Popular)

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the defining PS5 game of 2025 and one of the most celebrated RPGs ever made. Developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive in their debut release, it is a dark fantasy RPG set in a world where the evil Paintress wipes out every person at or above a certain age, a number that decreases each year. You control a party of characters on a desperate expedition to stop the next erasure before it becomes reality.

What sets it apart from every other RPG is its hybrid combat system: turn-based strategy meets real-time reaction mechanics in a way that keeps every battle tense and deeply rewarding. The voice cast led by Andy Serkis and Charlie Cox delivers performances that rival prestige television, and the soundtrack is already one of the most acclaimed in gaming history. Over 5 million copies sold within months of release, and Metacritic named it the Best New PlayStation Game of 2025.

Ghost of Yōtei

Ghost of Yōtei is Sony’s landmark PS5 exclusive of 2025 and the sequel to the universally beloved Ghost of Tsushima. Set in Ezo, the region now known as Hokkaido in 1603, you play as Atsu, a wandering ronin hunting down the Yōtei Six: a gang of outlaws who murdered her family and left her for dead when she was a child. The revenge narrative is gripping from start to finish, full of surprises that rival anything in the first game.

Where Yōtei makes its biggest leap is in combat and world design. An expanded weapon set adds dual katanas, an odachi, a kusarigama, and firearms alongside classic sword stances, with a wolf companion who participates in standoffs and can assist in battle. Visually, it is among the most beautiful games ever released on PS5. The game won Console Game of the Year at the 2025 Golden Joystick Awards and dominated the PlayStation Blog Awards with seven category wins.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

After years of being the most anticipated game in the industry, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally launched in September 2025 and it was worth every moment of the wait. Demand at launch was so intense it temporarily crashed multiple digital storefronts simultaneously. Silksong follows Hornet, the princess-protector from the original Hollow Knight, as she is transported to the haunted kingdom of Pharloom and must fight her way out.

The result is one of the most complete and accomplished action-platformers ever released. Team Cherry retained everything that made the original legendary, precise combat, intricate interconnected maps, a hauntingly atmospheric world while expanding the scope dramatically. Pharloom features over 40 legendary bosses and more than 200 unique enemy types. At RM80.49, it is also the best value game on this entire list.

Split Fiction

Split Fiction is the third consecutive masterpiece from Hazelight Studios, the developers behind A Way Out and It Takes Two. Two writers, Mio and Zoe, become trapped inside their own story simulations and must work together across a relentless variety of gameplay scenarios to escape. No two levels feel the same, one chapter is a sci-fi shooter, the next is a fantasy platformer, the next a puzzle game with gravity manipulation.

What makes Split Fiction extraordinary is how seamlessly Hazelight shifts tone, genre, and mechanic without ever losing coherence or momentum. The co-op design ensures both players are always equally engaged and necessary, making it the finest two-player experience on PS5. Friend Pass support means only one player needs to own the game for both to play together online.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is Hideo Kojima’s most ambitious game yet and Metacritic’s Best PlayStation Exclusive of 2025. Set in a time-scarred Australia, Sam now joined by companions, embarks on a new mission to save humanity from extinction. The core loop of traversal, delivery, and connection-building returns from the first game, but expanded, refined, and far more varied in its moment-to-moment gameplay.

What distinguishes Death Stranding 2 is its tonal audacity. One moment you are carefully navigating treacherous terrain, the next grappling with loss and existential themes including, yes, an ass-kicking pizza chef. Norman Reedus, Elle Fanning, and Shioli Kutsuna lead a star-studded cast that sells every wild swing the narrative takes. It is unlike anything else in gaming and a uniquely PS5 experience.

Elden Ring + Shadow of the Erdtree

Elden Ring remains the highest-rated PS5 game of all time on Metacritic with a 96 Metascore, and in 2026 with its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion included in complete editions, it is the single most content-rich and critically celebrated action RPG available on the platform. Developed by FromSoftware in collaboration with George R.R. Martin, it is an open-world that redefined what the genre could be: a vast, interconnected Lands Between where every corner hides a secret, a boss, or a piece of lore worth uncovering.

The base game alone offers 60 to 100 hours of content. Shadow of the Erdtree adds a substantial new region, the Shadow Realm with new bosses, weapons, and story content the FromSoftware community regards as essential. If you have not played Elden Ring yet, 2026 is the perfect time to start with the complete package.

Bandai Namco also recently confirmed Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition for Nintendo Switch. While the game has not been released yet, the version without the DLC expansion will still be fully playable on Nintendo’s handheld platform, making it one of the most anticipated upcoming ports for Switch players.

God of War Ragnarök

God of War Ragnarök remains one of the finest games ever made and a shining example of Sony’s first-party output at its very best. Continuing from the 2018 God of War, Kratos and Atreus face the onset of Ragnarök, the Norse apocalypse across nine spectacular realms. The combat builds on its predecessor’s axe-and-shield foundation with new weapons, abilities, and an expanded companion system that makes Atreus far more integral to both story and gameplay.

What elevates Ragnarök beyond a great action game is its storytelling. Christopher Judge delivers a career-defining performance as Kratos, and the game’s exploration of fatherhood, legacy, and fate is handled with a maturity few narrative games can match. Its PS5 DualSense integration, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers makes every impact feel physical in a way that must be experienced to be understood.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 shares the highest Metacritic rating of any PS5 game: 96 and its user score of 9.3 reflects a player community that remains deeply passionate about it years after launch. Larian Studios set a new benchmark for what an RPG can achieve: a full adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules in a sprawling, branching narrative where virtually every major decision has meaningful consequences, and no two playthroughs are ever the same.

The PS5 version runs flawlessly, with a streamlined controller interface that makes the complex systems feel natural, and split-screen local co-op for up to two players. A complete playthrough with thorough exploration runs 100 to 150 hours, but the world is so richly written and the characters; Shadowheart, Astarion, Karlach, so memorably crafted that every hour earns its place.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is Insomniac Games’ most technically accomplished PS5 title and the most expansive Spider-Man game ever made. Playing as both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, switching between them seamlessly, you swing across a dramatically expanded New York City that now includes Queens and Brooklyn alongside Manhattan. The addition of web wings for gliding adds a new dimension to traversal that becomes immediately indispensable.

The villain roster led by Venom and Kraven the Hunter delivers some of the most spectacular set pieces in PS5 history. DualSense integration is among the most impressive in any game on the platform: adaptive triggers simulate web tension and haptic feedback makes every impact feel physical. At its best, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is pure, unfiltered joy.

Astro Bot

Astro Bot won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024, one of the biggest upsets in the award’s history and remains the single best argument for owning a PlayStation 5 in 2026. Team Asobi’s love letter to PlayStation history is a 3D platformer built entirely around the DualSense controller, using every feature like haptics, adaptive triggers, the microphone, the speaker, gyroscope in ways that feel like genuine gameplay innovations rather than gimmicks.

Every level introduces a new mechanic. Every world is visually distinct. Scattered throughout are hundreds of PlayStation character cameos that reward any level of gaming history knowledge. Astro Bot is joyful, clever, warm, and technically brilliant, a game that could only exist on PS5 and could only have been made by a team that deeply loves what they are making. Suitable for every age and skill level.