The perfect PS5 video games in 2024

It’s been a little bit of a tough yr for PlayStation exclusives and the studios that make them. Whereas The Last Form was typically lauded as a superb concluding chapter to Future 2’s present story arc, Bungie was confronted with all types of setbacks together with canceled initiatives and layoffs. Elsewhere, Sony’s Firewalk Studios launched Harmony, unlaunched it, then closed completely throughout the area of some months after the hero shooter failed to achieve traction in a glutted market.

That stated, PlayStation nonetheless got here via this yr with a slate of wonderful video games that may hopefully display that there’s an urge for food for extra than simply live-service shooters. 

XDefiant, Foamstars, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, Harmony — 2024 has been suffering from the bones of live-service shooters that got here, went, or are limping together with little fanfare and even fewer gamers. However Helldivers 2 was one thing particular. It might be the sport’s humorous over-the-top tackle political propaganda, the builders at Arrowhead Recreation Studios totally leaning into the bit, or the common content material updates together with the brand new Omens of Tyranny replace that launched in early December. However Helldivers 2 managed to be the one live-service multiplayer shooter this yr (that doesn’t have Name of Responsibility within the title) that has the juice to compete towards the massive eternally video games like Apex Legends and Fortnite. 

FromSoftware has managed to maintain the Elden Ring get together going with the discharge of Shadow of the Erdtree. The DLC is huge, full of ass-beating enemies and a lot scrumptious lore, all going down over a map that’s a lot larger than what director Hidetaka Miyazaki known as “the scale of Limgrave.” Really, Erdtree feels extra like a straight-up sequel to Elden Ring than a mere enlargement of it — which might be what Elden Ring Nightreign is.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard took 10 years and a bunch of strife at BioWare to launch. There was no assure that it will reside as much as the fame the collection has established — nevertheless it did. Veilguard is exemplary of the Dragon Age collection’ strengths: characters you come to take care of and selections that devastate each them and also you. Layered on prime of that may be a critically detailed ability tree with a loot system that feels unusually like a Diablo sport. Veilguard’s fight empowers you to customise your class to a stage of specificity I’ve by no means seen in a Dragon Age sport earlier than, making it an fascinating iteration of the usual warrior, rogue, mage RPG system. There was a priority that Veilguard can be overshadowed by final yr’s Baldur’s Gate 3, and whereas Veilguard doesn’t appear to have that type of runaway success, I’m happy as hell that, in two years, I acquired two great, life-absorbing RPGs.

Last Fantasy VII Rebirth continues Sq. Enix’s try at adapting one of many best RPGs of all time to swimsuit trendy consoles and gaming audiences. This second entry within the nice FFVII trilogy mission takes over because the gang escapes Midgar into the broader world, and rattling what a large world it was. Each side from the unique Last Fantasy VII has been expanded and totally fleshed out, both with extra story or with a flowery new minigame. Talking of minigames, Rebirth is much less in regards to the occasions of FFVII Disk 2 and extra a Queen’s Blood supply system, proving that Sq. Enix is actually only a collectible card sport developer in disguise.

Remaking a traditional sport is all the time a tough factor. A developer wants to try to seize what made the unique so beloved, whereas additionally updating it for brand new audiences. And that battle is particularly fraught whenever you’re coping with a genre-defining sport like Silent Hill 2. However Bloober Group did a surprisingly strong job with this remake, guaranteeing that the idiosyncratic survival horror expertise seemed and felt at residence on trendy platforms, whereas nonetheless retaining a lot of the scares and tone of the unique. The remake is somewhat cleaner than the PS2 sport it’s based mostly on, nevertheless it’s additionally much less irritating to play. And most significantly, it nonetheless largely nails these foggy vibes.

There’s by no means been a sport I’ve immediately clicked with greater than Astro Bot. Going again to my first demo with the sport at Summer season Recreation Fest 2024, I knew this had one thing particular. Astro Bot is a well-crafted platformer that has gamers touring via the galaxy to search out the scattered items of a PS5 spaceship and its stranded crewmates. Although it pays tribute to the video games of PlayStation’s 30-year historical past and options actually neat homages to their gameplay, Astro Bot can also be a love letter to pleasure. Each side of its design — from its music to its sound results to its shiny and cheerful graphics — is a reminder that there’s nonetheless a lot love on the planet that aches to be found. Astro Bot was my sport of the yr from the second I rolled credit, and its GOTY win at this yr’s Recreation Awards was hard-earned.