Underrated PS5 Games That May Have Flown Under Players’ Radars

The PS5 is rapidly approaching its 5th year on the market, and it’s got quite a substantial library of games to prove it. But while a lot of attention is usually paid to the best-selling or most critically acclaimed games in the system’s library, there are plenty of lesser-known, hidden gem titles on the PS5 that arguably deserve a wider audience. To those that resonate with them, several of the more underrated games on the PS5 could very well rank as some of their favorite experiences on the console, and many of these same games regularly go on sale to make taking the plunge on them a less risky proposition.

• Release Date — December 2, 2022
• Developer — Firaxis Games
• Publisher — 2K
• Genre — Turn-Based Tactics, Social Sim
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)

After reinvigorating the classic X-COM turn-based strategy series as the turn-based tactics XCOM games, Jake Solomon and Firaxis got the chance to make a tactics game based on Marvel Comics. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is still a tactics game at heart, but it swaps the traditional Action Point system and merging of movement and combat with a system built around momentum and using the environment to your advantage. Also, all attacks and abilities are represented by cards. It’s not a Deckbuilder in the traditional sense, but fans who were expecting “Marvel XCOM” wound up slightly turned off by Midnight Suns. It’s a shame, because while the other parts of Midnight Suns (namely, the between-mission social-sim elements) are take-it-or-leave-it, its combat is some of the best in the genre.

• Release Date — January 18, 2024
• Developer — Ubisoft Montpellier
• Publisher — Ubisoft
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)

It’s not that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown was without its praise from both critics and players alike. Instead, it’s that The Lost Crown is such a phenomenal Metroidvania that it deserved more recognition than it got. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown takes all the elements that you’d expect from a top-tier Metroidvania — fast and fluid combat, a massive map littered with secrets, incredibly satisfying and speedy platforming — and melds them with a genuinely compelling story set within the Prince of Persia universe. We continue to get one excellent Metroidvania after another as part of the genre’s ongoing renaissance, and The Lost Crown is undoubtedly one of the best in recent years that deserves more success.

• Release Date — March 18, 2022
• Developer — Team Ninja
• Publisher — Square Enix
• Genre — Action RPG, Soulslike
• Review Aggregate Score — 72% (Mixed or Average)

Team Ninja’s unique approach to the Soulslike genre has yielded some incredible games, with Nioh and Nioh 2 arguably leading the pack, but Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin is the best of them all in my book. Players’ initial knee-jerk reaction to Stranger of Paradise was understandable given all the hilarious “Chaos” memes and the somewhat ham-fisted dialogue in the demo, but digging deeper into the game reveals it to have one of the most surprisingly complex and rewarding combat systems of any Soulslike, not to mention an incredible story that recontextualizes the first Final Fantasy. Stranger of Paradise might be the best game you’ve never played.

• Release Date — June 18, 2024
• Developer — The Chinese Room
• Publisher — Secret Mode
• Genre — Adventure, Horror
• Review Aggregate Score — 74% (Mixed or Average)

The Chinese Room is a studio with a proven track record of developing some psychologically stirring horror games (Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture), and its latest title is perhaps its best yet. Still Wakes The Deep is essentially John Carpenter’s The Thing set on a Scottish oil rig instead of Antarctica, and it ticks all the right cosmic and psychological horror boxes while also being a well-done walking simulator/adventure game. There are some stealth elements and some surprisingly great platforming for a first-person title, and the recent release of its one and only story expansion makes it worth diving in for the first time to experience what’s one of the best and most underrated horror games of the last decade.

• Release Date — November 2, 2023
• Developer — Teyon
• Publisher — Nacon
• Genre — FPS
• Review Aggregate Score — 72% (Mixed or Average)

Teyon followed up the surprisingly great Terminator: Resistance with another incredibly solid take on an iconic 1980s sci-fi property, RoboCop: Rogue City. Rogue City ostensibly takes place after the events of RoboCop 2, erasing the mess that was the film version of RoboCop 3 and doing a much better job at continuing the thought-provoking sci-fi and biting social commentary of the first two films. Plus, it’s just an incredibly solid shooter that taps into the power fantasy of being a cyborg. RoboCop: Rogue City is also surprisingly long, given that it’s a single-player FPS, and it even incorporates some light RPG elements like dialogue trees, questing, and character progression.

• Release Date — December 3, 2020
• Developer — Ubisoft Quebec
• Publisher — Ubisoft
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Open-World
• Review Aggregate Score — 77% (Generally Favorable)

After the thrill of the PS5’s best launch games had worn off, there was a bit of a drought in terms of new titles for the console. One of the best games to help relieve this issue was Ubisoft’s Immortals: Fenyx Rising, which is essentially Assassin’s Creed Odyssey meets Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Fenyx Rising is way better than it has any right to be, and it was unfairly overshadowed by the bloated and bland Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (which was the first game in the series to release on the PS5). If you can get Immortals: Fenyx Rising on a discount, take the plunge and prepare to be surprised at how great both its story and gameplay are.

• Release Date — September 21, 2021
• Developer — Ember Lab
• Publisher — Ember Lab
• Genre — Action-Adventure
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)

Another of the earlier hidden gems in the PS5 library is Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Despite getting plenty of critical praise and recognition for its striking visuals (seriously, this game is still one of the more visually impressive titles on the console), Kena seemed to come and go without much fanfare from mainstream audiences but has since maintained a solid cult following. And though Kena might give off the impression of being a kid-friendly action-adventure game from its Pixar-like visuals, it’s surprisingly tough and actually shares a bit of DNA with FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games.

• Release Date — March 22, 2024
• Developer — Team Ninja
• Publisher — Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Genre — Action RPG, Open-World
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)

Team Ninja may have been the studio behind Rise of the Ronin‘s development, but it’s easy to forget that it’s a first-party Sony-published game. As such, Rise of the Ronin might be the most underrated of the first-party PS5 games, and it’s a shame considering how great its combat is. While Rise of the Ronin‘s open world may be a little formulaic and familiar, it’s visually stunning and more committed to historical accuracy than a lot of other games set during the Meiji Restoration. Plus, Rise of the Ronin‘s parry and deflection-heavy combat is second-to-none, only outdone by the likes of FromSoftware’s Sekiro.

• Release Date — October 25, 2024
• Developer — Nihon Falcom
• Publisher — NIS America
• Genre — Action RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 80% (Generally Favorable)

When it comes to hack-and-slash action RPGs, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better collection of games than the Ys series, and Ys X is yet another fantastic game in the franchise that continues to be largely overlooked by general audiences. While longtime Ys players know to expect in a new game, those who have yet to break into the series might be intimidated by having the 10th entry be their first game. Fortunately, each new entry in the Ys series is largely self-contained, so you’re not missing out on any story or context by diving in with Ys X, and it’s another great game in the franchise alongside both Ys VIII and IX.

• Release Date — May 21, 2024
• Developer — Nightdive Studios
• Publisher — Prime Matter
• Genre — FPS, Immersive Sim
• Review Aggregate Score — 76% (Generally Favorable)

Remakes of beloved games have been incredibly common this generation, but one that’s mysteriously gone under the radar is the excellent System Shock remake from Nightdive Studios. A forebear of the immersive sim genre, the original System Shock is an important game that hasn’t aged all that well, and the System Shock remake is both faithful to the original while also injecting plenty of quality-of-life improvements and modern updates that players would expect. Anyone who is a fan of games like BioShock, Dishonored, or Deus Ex absolutely needs to check out System Shock, and it should be more regularly talked about as one of the better modern video game remakes.