There's plenty to choose from and more exciting games to come, and thanks to the new external hard drive support from the latest PS5 update you'll be able to store them all. Some games make excellent use of the DualSense controller’s innovative haptic feedback, others will make your gaming TV shine with 4K gameplay, and some are just plain great games. Without further ado, here are our initial picks for the ten best PS5 games.

10. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
If you’ve never played a Yakuza game, fear not. Yakuza: Like a Dragon acts as a soft reboot, introducing a new protagonist and swapping the usual solo real-time brawling for turn-based combat and a party system. Yakuza has always had some role-playing DNA, but Like a Dragon fully embraces it to big success. Its hero Ichiban Kasuga is a die-hard fan of the Dragon Quest games, and many familiar JRPG tropes and mechanics are simultaneously parodied in Like a Dragon and also implemented extremely well. There’s a layer of meta-comedy sprinkled throughout, and though it gets extremely silly, it never feels out of place or distracting. Like all Yakuza games, there’s a long, engrossing, deadly serious crime opera of a main campaign, a slew of utterly ridiculous substories around every corner, and a suite of surprisingly addictive minigames, from business management to kart racing. But this time it’s set in Yakuza’s biggest locale to date, the bustling port city of Yokohama, coming together to set the franchise off in a new, exciting direction.

9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure
While Sackboy: A Big Adventure foregoes the creation side of the LittleBigPlanet series, its focus on being a fun, charming platformer pays off in a delightful adventure that can be played both solo or co-op. Sumo Digital's level variety keeps things fresh, so one moment you're riding a train through a moving level that has you occasionally jumping off to grab collectibles, while the next you're grooving through a level set to Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk (yes, really).

The humor is cheeky, particularly when playing in co-op – you can help your teammates or just slap them with a fish. And – as with most games we've seen on PS5 – it's a visual treat. Sackboy looks great; the different fabrics and accessories on each of his customizable costume pieces dazzling thanks to the new system's improved graphical capability.

8. Bugsnax
Talkin' bout Bugsnax started out as internet meme fodder brought on by a strong marketing campaign and a catchy tune, but Bugsnax deserves to be recognized for much more than that.

Developer Young Horses continued its absurdist streak with this environmental/creature based puzzle game that has you snapping photos and catching tasty critters. Underneath Bugsnax's cute and quirky exterior is a heartwarming story full of ominous twists and turns as you try to rebuild a settlement by fulfilling folks' requests. Each returned resident means another person to interview for the story you're writing about Bugsnax, Snaktooth island, and - ultimately - what happened to Elizabert Megafig, who invited you to the island, to begin with. Its progression systems continue to pique our curiosity, too, which makes the gameplay loop enticing throughout – and Bugsnax's big reveal (no spoilers!) didn't disappoint.


7. The Pathless
The Pathless marries a simple-but-elegant (and completely engrossing) movement mechanic with a gorgeous open world. Running, jumping, and gliding through developer Giant Squid's forests, rocky plateaus, and snow-capped mountains is a treat thanks to the main bow-and-arrow gameplay relying less on precision accuracy and more on empowering you to carve a fun path through the terrain. It's a world that encourages exploration and satisfies your curiosity, making the destinations you reach as fun as the journey itself thanks to a host of clever puzzles. Add in a handful of boss battles that are part epic chase scene and part Zelda-esque showdown – all backed by a moving, epic score – and you've got one of the most intriguing launch titles on the PS5.

6. Hitman 3
Hitman 3 acts as the finale in IO Interactive’s phenomenal “World of Assassination” trilogy, turning Agent 47 loose on some of the biggest and most intricate levels yet, including the inspired Dartmoor Mansion. And it's perhaps the finest example of IO's formula: He can assassinate his victims with badass cold-blooded efficiency, or trigger some Rube Goldberg-style series of events that results in a much more comical death... or if something backfires, a Wile E. Coyote-grade failure. When making a new Hitman game for next-gen consoles, IO Interactive could’ve shipped one game and called it a day, but they also remastered the first two games to the point that they’re visually indistinguishable from the latest installment (sold separately, unless you own them already, in which case it’s a free upgrade). In any case, the World of Assassination Trilogy was great on PS4, but it’s even better on PS5. Anyway, long story short, you can kill a guy by making him slip on a banana peel, which is funny anywhere, but on PS5 it’s also very pretty thanks to increased resolution, smooth 60fps, and an overall smoother experience over the last-gen version.


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