Hard as it is to believe, the PS5 is — by Sony's own admission — already well past the halfway point of its life-cycle. (It's even time to start thinking about PS6.) It's fair to say that PS5 hasn't been deluged with classics, and the rate of must-play new releases is slower than it has been on previous PlayStations. What's sure to be the console's defining game, Grand Theft Auto 6, isn't even out yet. Even so, the PS5's library has grown to the extent that there's a lot to sort through, and new and old PS5 owners will be wondering what to play.
So here’s our living list of the best video games we’ve played on the platform — influenced by the personal tastes of the Polygon team — to be updated as more games come out. Our latest update to this list on Oct. 21 added Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. The Polygon staff plays a lot of video games, and everything in this list comes personally recommended by at least one of us.
We determined what should be on our list of the best PlayStation 5 games by looking at the quality of each title, but also with an eye for breadth and variety — so you should find something on the list you’ll enjoy, no matter what genres of game you like, how much time you have, or what vibe you are after. If you're craving a return to the days of Wipeout, when a PlayStation racing game was as likely to involve antigravity sci-fi craft rocketing around at hundreds of miles per hour as realistic cars, then Galactic Racer is the game for you. It also happens to be one of the most innovative racing games in a long time, a much-needed shake-up for a stale genre.
It introduces a roguelite structure and build-crafting into both single-player and even multiplayer modes, while keeping it all totally coherent with a very Star Wars fantasy of racing dangerous, rickety hot rods. As a treat, there's a healthy dose of Burnout in there, too. —Oli Welsh Read Oli Welsh's full review of Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Here's another classic PlayStation flavor resurrected in an unexpectedly glorious way.
As the latest in Bandai Namco's long-running dogfighting air combat series, Ace Combat 8 sounds like a niche known quantity. Try it, however, and you'll be pleasantly surprised again and again: by the sophistication of the controls, the variety of the level design, the meaty length of the campaign, the amazing fidelity of the visuals, and the depth and seriousness of its operatic wartime storyline. —OW Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. The PS5 generation has been a bit short on really great tactics games, but that's all changed with this superb squad strategy game from Bit Reactor, set during Star Wars' Clone Wars era.
Many on the team worked on Firaxis' XCOM reboot games, and you can sure tell — this is fine-honed game design full of precision, personality, puzzle-like ingenuity, and just the right amount of unpredictability. Zero Company also makes brilliant use of its setting, compellingly painting a grunt's-eye-view of the collapse of the Republic, and assembling a squad of characters you'll really care about. Especially when you lose them forever in the default permadeath setting. —OW Read Elijah Gonzalez's full review of Star Wars Zero Company.
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