Role-playing games are on the rise, partially thanks to last year’s massive multiplatform hit (stay tuned), and if you’re a dedicated PlayStation 5 player, you might be delighted to know, that there are plenty of awesome RPGs available on your console of choice.
If you’ve recently taken interest in this genre and you’re wondering what to play, we’ve got you covered with a list of 10 hottest games in the genre you could get right now and spend dozens of hours with.
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So without more introduction, let’s see ten of the…
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
| Release date: | 2020-11-10 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | Ryu ga Gotoku Studios |
The recent entries in the long-running Yakuza series have been a significant change of style from Kiryu’s bizarre misadventures.
Since the new frontline protagonist, Ichiban Kasuga, has a great fondness for classic Japanese RPGs and overactive imagination, his two entries are, consequently, very close to an RPG, including class-like Jobs and turn-based combat. It is a bit weird, but it’s very well done.
On top of that, it’s Yakuza at its finest, a vibrant mix of dramatic storylines circling the criminal world, heartfelt, weird, and hilarious side-stories for the protagonist to participate in between main quests, and a tons of fun and detailed minigames for fun and profit. Ichiban is much more energetic than the ever-stoic Kiryu, but the fellow is also extremely likable, which is a cherry on top of this excellent game.
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Disco Elysium
| Release date: | 2019-10-15 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | ZA/UM |
On a completely different end of the role-playing video game spectrum, there’s Disco Elysium.
It’s a weird, intensely opinionated RPG theoretically about conducting a murder investigation in a politically fractured city, but actually it’s about trying to keep your disaster of a detective alive and avoiding humiliating himself. Which isn’t easy, because, unlike other RPGs, here your skills have opinions.
Your abilities, such as Visual Calculus or Empathy, are written as if they were characters, and they can at times override the conversation, simulating how brain can play weird tricks on people, pulling on unusual threads or making them say something awkward. The protagonist’s psyche plays an incredibly important role in this odd RPG’s narrative, making it worth replaying many times.
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Final Fantasy XVI
| Release date: | 2023-06-22 |
| Genre: | jRPG |
| Developer: | SQUARE ENIX |
Final Fantasy XVI is the latest original RPG (well, action RPG) in the venerable series, and it injects a lot of Devil May Cry-like energy to its combat system, becoming the most action-oriented entry in the series.
But it’s not all combat, as FF16 has a strong emphasis on exploration and the stories of its world, most of which are centered on magical Mothercrystals and elemental Titans called Eikons.
The story focuses on Clive Rosfield, a man with complicated past and equally complicated present, who is on a personal quest to destroy the Mothercrystals and get to the bottom of his backstory. It will involve antagonizing nations, facing prejudice against people who can use magic innately, and a lot of interpersonal conflicts. And a lot of snappy combat, of course, can’t do without it.
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Cyberpunk 2077
| Release date: | 2023-12-05 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | CD PROJEKT RED |
Cyberpunk 2077 rode on a lot of promise, and especially now, after a major expansion, there hasn’t been a futuristic city this immersive since the last Deus Ex game.
It puts you in the role of a customizable mercenary named V, who wounds up with a precious chip in their head, which not only attracts attention from corporations, but also generates a digital ghost of a long-dead man in your brain.
It’s a lot to deal with, and then there are also numerous side quests and stories which make the world richer. On a gameplay front, Cyberpunk 2077 is a first-person action RPG, with a ton of hi-tech gear to play with, an engaging cybernetic implant system, and a lot of cool abilities which can define your playstyle, whether you want to go in guns blazing, or cause some tricky chaos.
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Final Fantasy VII Remake
| Release date: | 2021-06-10 |
| Genre: | jRPG |
| Developer: | Square Enix Creative Business Unit I |
The second Final Fantasy game on this list, but this one is a remake of an absolute classic.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is a modern re-do of PS1 original. Isometric camera and pre-rendered environment turned into detailed, large and immersive 3D areas, low-poly characters look lifelike, and purely text-based dialogues are not expanded, and fully voice-acted. A total re-do indeed.
The remake split into several games, each vastly more detailed and content-rich than the originals. They also play around with the story, introducing unexpected twists and turns, which might surprise and confuse even veterans of the originals. The remade FF7 are fantastic action RPGs, with great graphics, story, and acting. All set in a world which has place for both magic and industry, guns and swords.
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Elden Ring
| Release date: | 2022-02-25 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | FromSoftware |
Coming from FromSoftware, Elden Ring is an RPG for people who like Dark Souls, but wished for an open-world version of that.
ER is set in the Lands Between, a large (but not unmanageably so) region torn and twisted by the conflicts between demigods and monsters. And you, ye Tarnished, are returning from exile and hoping to gather the Great Runes and become an Elden Lord.
Despite its open-world nature, Elden Ring pulls no punches, and its combat is every bit as challenging as expected from the studio. There are powerful foes to slay, a massive build potential to explore, and several endings, some of which rely on somewhat esoteric solutions which might not be quite as obvious, as choosing the correct dialogue option. It’s a game which will last you a LONG time.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
| Release date: | 2015-05-18 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | CD PROJEKT RED |
The Witcher 3 came like a wrecking ball, and for a long time after its release it was the main topic of conversation.
It’s not difficult to see why. It has a beautiful explorable open world inspired largely by Medieval central and Eastern Europe, adds cool monsters to fight, and, most importantly, has a gripping story about a professional hunter who will do anything to help his adopted daughter.
It’s a lengthy journey across several distinct regions, amid war and political turmoil, filled with grim, tense, and funny side-stories alike. If you grab the Complete Edition, you’ll also get fantastic Hearts of Stone as well as Blood and Wine expansions, bringing new stories, regions, and even brand new mechanics, such as runes or enhanced mutations.
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Persona 5 Royal
| Release date: | 2022-10-21 |
| Genre: | jRPG |
| Developer: | ATLUS |
Persona 5 Royal is completely different from the previous games on the list, except, maybe, Yakuza Like a Dragon.
The game focuses on a group of teens with psychics powers, who dub themselves Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Their modus operandi is trying to steal evil from adults’ hearts to fix the world somewhat. It’s a difficult task, especially since the teens still have their regular lives to live.
Between their daily chores and relationships, the Thieves, led by a kid named Joker, delve into a psychic metaverse to explore mind dungeons and wage turn-based battles against psyche manifestations therein. If it sounds weird, that’s because it is, but that’s an advantage. Persona 5 Royal is an excellent, complex, and engaging RPG with narrative and mechanical depth to spare.
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Unicorn Overlord
| Release date: | 2024-03-08 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Vanillaware |
Let’s stay a bit with publisher Atlus, because in March 2023 they launched Unicorn Overlords, by studio Vanillaware.
It deserves a shout-out, because there’s nowhere near enough buzz about this game. It doesn’t have GPU-scorching graphics, but it looks very charming and pleasantly old-school, with pre-rendered map and nicely animated sprites evoking the style of Octopath Traveller series.
UO is a story about war, and you’re going to build your own army as a fellow named Alain, an exiled prince of Cornia, who survived a military coup as a child and is now returning to claim his birthright. Unicorn Overlords features an interesting, two-phase combat system, which blends overland strategic movements and small-scale clashes between small units in (pausable) real time. It’s quite fun.
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Baldur’s Gate 3
| Release date: | 2020-10-06 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Larian Studios |
Baldur’s Gate 3, the runaway RPG hit of 2023 settled quite cozily into PlayStation 5, including a full adaptation of its original PC-oriented control scheme.
Which is nice, because BG3 is not just one of the best video games based on Dungeons & Dragons, but also one of the best games in the genre, with incredible degree of reactivity, vibrant characters, and great tactical turn based combat.
Whether you create your own original character or pick from several playable pre-made Origins (whom you can also recruit as companions) you have an epic story ahead of you. Devils to slay and parlay, monsters to defeat, war to avert, romance to pursue or eschew, and alliances to forge and break. This game has it all, and if you love the genre, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t play it.
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The choice is very much yours
Hopefully now you have a couple compelling answers to your “What RPG should I play on PS5” question, with diverse enough options to appeal to many different tastes, from action to tactics, fantasy to real world.
Perhaps you’re even already checking out the prices of all these things. If you find the listed retail prices too high, do check our Marketplace, we have many attractive digital offers which might be better for your budget and terrible for your free time in the best possible way.