Demon’s Souls
One of the most quietly significant games of the 00s has been transformed here into a visually incredible, endlessly rewarding dark fantasy. Make your way through imposing medieval castles, a horrendous prison tower and foul swamps using a sword, shield, wand and whatever else you can scavenge to defend yourself against what you find there. This game can be brutal and unforgiving – progress is hard-won, the combat is exciting and consequential, and the bosses are legendary – but you can always summon other players to help you, and if you can engage with its challenge, this is a game you’ll never forget.
Returnal
You’ve crash-landed on a hostile planet full of fascinating and dangerous creatures that look and sound like something out of an Alex Garland movie. You make your way tentatively through jungles, deserts and ancient structures, finding better guns and trying not to be unceremoniously slaughtered by everything you meet. When you inevitably die, you do it all again, right from the start. Returnal might not sound like fun and yes, it does require commitment, but it’s just so thrilling to play that living out the same time-loop again doesn’t seem like a chore. Plus, the further you get into the game, the cleverer it turns out to be.
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Hades
A stylish, moreish and unexpectedly sexy game in which you try to fight your way out of the Greek underworld as Zagreus, son of Hades. The ingredients are simple – a few different weapons, various perks from all the gods of Olympus rooting for your escape, snappy and intelligent dialogue – but they combine into something different and interesting, and with every attempt you edge closer to the surface. Its memorable, playful take on mythology helps make this the best game in its genre.
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Deathloop
Developer Arkane Studios brings so much style and aesthetic confidence to its games, they’re a pleasure just to witness and exist in – and Deathloop is no exception. An exuberant, super chaotic action adventure set in a degrading time-loop on an island inhabited solely by sociopathic rich people, this game boasts smooth gunplay, wild locations and narrative chicanes that have you gripping the proverbial safety bar in disbelief. However will this talented team follow it?
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Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
An absolutely joyful game about a lonely space-rodent, his robot pal, and a supervillain crisis that has him meeting his dimensional twin and going on a galaxy-spanning adventure with her. Whether you are pointing cartoonish weapons at wonderfully animated alien enemies or leaping and skating around alien planets on jet-boots, it always looks absolutely sumptuous and wants you to be having a good time. It’s technically astonishing, sure, but also big-hearted, lovable and very, very fun to play.
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Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut
Set in Japan in the 1200s and hugely informed and inspired by samurai cinema, this is the most absurdly beautiful open-world game around. Just watch the cherry blossoms fall and grass blow in the wind as you ride around the island of Tsushima and slash through Mongol invaders. Its action wears thin after a while, but nonetheless this is a game that shows off both the PlayStation 5 and developer Sucker Punch’s superabundant attention to visual detail.
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Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
Building on the acclaimed 2020 update of Square Enix’s classic steampunk adventure, Intergrade tweaks the visuals for PS5 and adds the Episode INTERmission content, which brings in a whole new quest around fan-favourite character Yuffie. It’s wonderful to see well-known locations around Midgar lavishly redecorated for the new console, and for those who have never previously encountered the original game or the remake, my goodness, what a treat you have in store.
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It Takes Two
A co-operative adventure about a failing marriage doesn’t sound like the stuff of gaming magic, but Hazelight Studios has brought startling innovative flair to what could have been a mawkish trial. Arguing parents May and Cody are shrunk down to toy size and have to fight their way through their own home and garden to reach their daughter, fighting giant instincts and working together to solve clever, engrossing puzzles (and these are truly collaborative ventures, not just one player standing on a switch, while the other opens a door). Ultimately, this is a game about the value of communication and beyond the annoying talking book narrator, it delivers its marriage guidance in the subtlest of ways.
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Astro’s Playroom
The PlayStation 5’s first game is still one of its best, an exuberant tribute to PlayStation history, hardware and games that is effortlessly likable. You can get through it in an evening, but in those few hours you’ll use the controller to climb mountains as a robot monkey, fire arrows at a dragon made of stone and zip around an imaginative dreamworld of twisted-together cable trees and platforms made of disc trays. Plus, the music will be playing in your head for weeks.
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