The best RPGs for PS5

Technically the seventh mainline Yakuza game, Yakuza: Like a Dragon smartly rebranded itself to appeal to new fans because of the massive change in gameplay. While the Yakuza games have always been RPGs of sorts, with more action brawler combat, the latest game tossed all that out in favor of a turn-based combat system. Not only that, but the game introduced a brand new protagonist, leaving Kazuma Kiryu, the star of the previous six mainline games, to rest and acquainting us with Ichiban Kasuga. What remains is the combination of an incredibly serious, gripping, and often dark story set in the familiar Kamurocho, set side by side with some of the most wacky, off-the-wall, and hilarious characters, dialogue, and side quests ever depicted in games. Initially being shown as an April Fool’s joke, the turn-based combat of Yakuza: Like a Dragon ended up being an amazing fit for the series and incredibly satisfying to play. The new protagonist and story make it a perfect entry point for RPG fans looking for something wholly unique in the genre. What other RPG is set in the modern day, following middle-aged men using umbrellas and bats as weapons and throwing birdseed at enemies to summon pigeons as spells? Aside from the lengthy main story, the amount of content in this game easily matches any traditional JRPG. Plus, the developers have already confirmed that moving forward, the Yakuza series proper (which will now simply be called Like a Dragon) will stick to this turn-based style of combat, with improvements and changes, obviously — but it will be a safe investment for RPG fans looking for a new series to dig into.

The Tales of series has been living in the shadow of bigger franchises, such as Final Fantasy, basically forever. That may not change overnight, but the newest entry in the series, Tales of Arise, certainly will push it closer to mainstream success than any prior game. With a brand new art style and performance afforded by modern consoles, Tales of Arise looks and plays far better than any previous entry in the series. Every special skill and spell has amazing effects tied to them, and all your party members are stunningly detailed and expressive without going for a purely realistic look. Art is just one half of the experience, though. The story Tales of Arise tells is perhaps more deep and metaphorical than you might expect. We’re far beyond the days of JRPGs being simple stories of collecting elemental crystals, sure, but too few tackle real issues like race, slavery, and discrimination. While not everyone will see it as a perfect representation of those difficult themes, Tales of Arise does an admirable job of portraying them in a grounded way despite taking place in a fantastic setting. The party this time around is one of the best, with evolving and fun characters you’ll come to love on a personal level, and all serve unique roles in the fast-paced combat. This isn’t a turn-based affair, but tactics and planning are still key to victory.

Initially, Disco Elysium was a PC exclusive title back in early 2019. It was kind of a cult hit, earning incredibly praise from everyone who played it, but didn’t quite reach the wider audience. Fast forward to the release of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut for PlayStation 5, and this already immaculate game became even better. The base game’s main strength was its writing, and that remains true in the PS5 version. There are lines written for everything. Not only does every character have something to say — and of course, they’re all deep and well written — and your character has multiple options for what they will say or do, but every skill you have also talks to your character. Depending on what you invest in, you will only see a fraction of all the writing in this game in a single playthrough. If that sounds like a ton of reading, well, it is. But, the final cut pulled off what might as well have been a miracle in voicing every single line of dialogue in the game. Considering how wide open this game is in terms of how you build your character, skill-wise and personality-wise, and how adaptive the game is to all of those choices, you could play this game at least two or three times and get essentially unique experiences every time. There is a mystery at the center to solve, but the way you go about it is totally up to you. There’s nothing else quite like Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, and odds are there won’t be anything like it ever again.

The original version of Ghost of Tsushima came out just months before the PS5 would launch. Despite the older hardware, it was still one of the most graphically impressive games we’d ever seen. The entire island of Tsushima was massive, detailed, and absolutely dripping with color and atmosphere unlike almost any open-world game before it. Many hoped we would see an enhanced version for the PS5, and Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut gave us everything we could’ve wanted. The game now hits an astounding 60 FPS, supports 4K resolution, and the already quick loading times are essentially eliminated. Technical upgrades aside, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is a tale worth going on. Based loosely on actual historical events, you play as Jin, a samurai during a Mongol invasion of his home. As he attempts to fight back the invading forces and rescue his uncle, his last surviving family, he must slowly resort to tactics viewed as dishonorable among the samurai. The story here is almost totally crafted here, with no real way to impact the events until the very end, but considering how much more personality we get from Jin as a result, it is a much tighter narrative. Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut also includes an entire expansion to further detail Jin’s story and past, plus give you more open-world activities to take on.