Topic: New to PS5

Hello everyone!

I have just returned to the PlayStation fold after many years after getting a PS5 Slim with disc drive. I was last with Sony during the PS2 generation, when it was my main system until 2009. I have a lot of catching up to do!

I am fortunate enough to now own all three current consoles, so my question to you all is: what have I missed? With access to both PS4 and PS5 games, what exclusives should I be on the look out for?

As I have been an Xbox player since 2012 I’m sticking with the Series X for cross platform games, unless there is a significant reason to go for the Sony version such as additional features or price.

I’m not one for online play, so I am after single player titles that are exclusive to PS4 or PS5. I’m particularly fond of shooters, platformers, action and adventure titles. Blood and guts, bad language or controversial stories don’t bother me (I’m a big Resident Evil/Doom/Wolfenstein fan). I’m not a huge fan of ‘rogue-likes’ or ‘get good slog-a-thons’, though I will admit I haven’t tried anything like Dark Souls. I also really like more family friendly games as well, so Astrolab has been a great surprise with it’s similarity to Nintendo titles. As an old school PS2 player I’m also familiar with some legacy series as well, so if there are any sequels to old IP that are any good I’d love to hear about them.

Welcome, friend! Excellent handle too. You’ll eat well if your stated genres are anything to go by. PlayStation is stacked with plenty of action adventure, until recently it was their bread and butter. A few to get you going would be:

God of War and it’s sequel Ragnarok
The Last of Us Part 1 and 2
Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West note these are pretty huge games and require a bit of time
Uncharted Remastered Collection and Legacy of Thieves Collection
Bloodborne A From Soft ps exclusive that fans have been foaming at the mouth for a PS5 upgrade, a superb experience nonetheless and one I haven’t bested…yet.

Happy gaming and welcome to the fold 👍

@PeaceSalad thanks for the recommendation. A few of those were in my mind already. Given that it is going for a song now God of War is probably going to be my first pick up.

I’m interested in Last of Us, but the recent remaster is still pretty expensive. I’m not sure if it’s just worth going for the PS4 remaster instead, as it is much more reasonably priced. I already know the story and the division among fans with part 2, but I’m just in it for zombie slaying mayhem!

@Gamecuber The remaster is an excellent presentation of an already great game. Part One is obviously a ground up remake so you’re getting modern visuals and haptics and other faff but the story and the gameplay is the selling point for any version you choose. I personally was blown away by Part 2 but I’m aware of the ‘controversy’ though to me it all seemed completely absurd.

God of War will be a great start, it even has performance improvements on PS5. One of the more surprising experiences I’ve had in recent times as it didn’t seem like my kind of thing but excels in so many ways.

In a fairly similar boat myself, had a PS2, been Xbox since the 360, but got a PS5 recently for the exclusives... played/playing these, and loving them:

Astro Bot (and Astro's Playroom, in-built in your console)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

@Gamecuber You should have a look at Days Gone, looks stunning on PS5. GOW:Ragnorak is on PS Plus in the coming month too. What about Heavy Rain, Detroit etc? Not sure they are all on XBOX if at all, not everyones cup of tea, but if they are you'll love them.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I’ve gone for God of War, as it was a reasonable price and I had a gift card lying around. Won’t be here for a few days so Astro’s Playroom will have to keep me going until then…

“ I’m particularly fond of shooters, platformers, action and adventure titles”

You missed out on the PS3 then. The PS3 arguably is the reason the PS4 and PS5 had easy success & laid the foundation with its exclusives and library that caters the most to your type

@nomither6 Don’t worry, I was well served with the Xbox 360 at the time. I stuck with Microsoft as my main as I have large library of games, but had the opportunity to get a PS5 for peanuts with some game trade ins. Now I’m looking to explore the exclusives that were unavailable to me previously.

@Gamecuber oh , well in that case astrobot & ratchet are some platformers it has; GoW reboot seems to be popular & more loved than the originals. Days Gone seems to be having a redemption arc among gamers these days, Returnal is probably underrated (i haven’t played it yet myself, but want to). There’s also Uncharted 4, TLOU series, Infamous Second Son & Spiderman .

@Gamecuber I’m a little late to reply, but this is one of my favorite topics because it prompts me to take an enjoyable sentimental journey back through my PS3-PS5 memories. It’s also exciting to see new players get to enjoy a treasure trove of games that are all new to them.

I’m not as familiar with shooters and platformers, but as @PeaceSalad said, PlayStation is home to the best in action-adventure.

To start, I’m going to say that you may want to subscribe to PS+ Extra. I know that subscription services are felt by some (especially in the PlayStation community) to be a blight upon the industry. So if you have personal opposition or a moral objection to subs, then ignore this, but as far as getting the ‘most bang for your buck’ (as we say in the states), you’re the ideal audience for PS+ Extra and will get enormous value. A year subscription is around $140. It’s the monetary equivalent to buying around 4-6 games, depending.

The following are some highly recommended PlayStation exclusives which are all available on PS+ Extra (roughly listed in order of preference and consideration):

• TLoU Part I Remake
• Shadow of Colossus Remake
• The Last Guardian
• Spider-Man Miles Morales
• God of War (2018) and GoW: Ragnarok
• Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut (has a sequel coming out this year)
• Uncharted 4/Lost Legacy - The Legacy of Thieves Collection, PS5 Remakes (Although I definitely recommend playing UC 1-3 first, which are not on the service)
• R&C Rift Apart (Might want to play the Ratchet & Clank PS4 reboot first if you’re not familiar with the IP)
• Days Gone
• Death Stranding Director’s Cut (has a sequel coming out this year)
• Detroit Become Human
• Final Fantasy 7 Remake (sequel Rebirth is a recent release)
• Infamous Second Son and Infamous First Light
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure
• Gravity Rush 2
• Until Dawn (PS4 version, but the PS5 remake isn’t worth the upgrade according to reviews)
• Concrete Genie

Also here’s a few which fall within the ‘get-good-a-thons’ PS+ also has, if you feel daring:

• Demon’s Souls Remake
• Returnal
• Bloodborne

Add to that the large number of multi-platform games also on there like Witcher 3, Hollow Knight, Doom Eternal, Celeste, a bunch or Assassins Creed games, etc. and you have more than you can ever get to within a years time.

As far as games to also look at which are not in the PS+ Extra catalogue:

• Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection (which includes UC1-3)
• TLoU Part 2 (obviously only after playing Part I)
• Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2
• Ratchet & Clank (2016)
• Gran Turismo 7
• Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West
• Heavy Rain (if you end up liking Detroit Become Human, a similar game by the same studio)
• The Order 1886

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If you want to be more up-to-date, the hottest console exclusives over the last year are: Stellar Blade, Helldivers 2, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy XVI, Rise of the Ronin, Astro Bot, and Black Myth: Wu Kong. But you have such an enormous back catalogue to choose from, you can probably spend the next couple years catching up and getting older games for cheaper. But if any of those catch your eye and you have $70 to spare, you can keep up with the latest. Personally I think it would be good to play some of the back catalogue first, and perhaps target Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding early on, and that way you’re ready to jump into the fray with their respective sequels this year, if you’re the kind of person who likes to be in the current discussions.

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As an aside, if you’re strapped for cash, there’s quite a library of Free-to-play games on PS5, some of which are console exclusive such as:
Infinity Nikki, Zenless Zone Zero, Wuthering Waves, and Honkai Star Rail. The PlayStation fandom love these games. I can’t speak from experience about any of them though.

Regardless of your approach, you’ve got a wonderful journey ahead of you! Happy gaming and if you want further clarification on anything feel free to ask!