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Cyberpunk 2077
Neon lights, cybernetic upgrades, and Capitalism on steroids. CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 is a game that knows how to tell a good story.
The launch disaster is over. Everyone is finally playing Cyberpunk the way it’s meant to be played. With fewer bugs and glitches, we can finally enjoy Night City.
Its world is riddled with complex human issues made worse by corporate greed. It’s really as dystopian as it could get. It could go from helping a friend process being a victim of human trafficking. To crucifying a death row inmate for a TV network’s clout.
It’s a go-to game if you want to immerse yourself in its mature setting. It’s also the type of game to play if you just want to mess around a la Grand Theft Auto. But that’s beside the point.
There are layers upon layers of storytelling scattered underneath the blinding neon lights. Cyberpunk 2077 peels it all apart for you, right down to its wicked center.
Do you want stories that will leave a lasting impression? Here are our picks for the best PS5 games with Unforgettable Stories.
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt
If Cyberpunk 2077 takes you to a far future, The Witcher III takes you back to the medieval ages. Except with attractive magicians, monsters and mutated monster hunters with two swords.
The Wild Hunt is the last chapter to Geralt Of Rivia’s adventures. After recovering from amnesia in The Witcher, Geralt turns to the future in this third entry. To find the love of his life as well as searching his long lost adopted daughter.
It’s a deeply personal story set in a world brimming with evil. If you’re not hunting ghouls, you’re being torn between complex quests that test your morality. I personally enjoyed the quest where you help a Baron find his missing wife and daughter. Only to find, SPOILER ALERT, that he’s an abusive drunk that pushed them away.
Geralt Of Rivia is the protagonist, but you make the choices for him. The way the story unfolds will depend on your choices. Good or bad.
Final Fantasy VII: Remake / Rebirth
There’s a reason why gamers and critics alike consider Final Fantasy VII as the best of the franchise. And no it’s not because of the Tifa, Aerith and Cloud love triangle.
Final Fantasy VII is a timeless story about the environment and mental health. Cloud and his buddies set off to stop an evil company from draining their planet’s energy, all while dealing with their own mental struggles.
You can still play the OG, But Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth enhances the narrative by fleshing out the stories of each character.
Apart from its important message of saving the planet, it's still a classic JRPG. And JRPGs do best with characters you can connect with. With the fleshed-out storyline, we find out that they aren't just eye candy, they have their own struggles too.
As you progress through the game, you can actually see them grow closer. Like real friends, they open up, work together, and solve each other's problems.
Remake and Rebirth essentially gives us more of Final Fantasy VII to fall in love with. From its characters, to its storylines. You can almost forget Sephiroth altogether and focus on these merry band of heroes staving off the end of the world...at each other's side.
Baldur’s Gate 3
It would be a disservice to exclude Baldur’s Gate 3 from this list. Larian Studios’ award-winning RPG is a storybook of multiple possibilities.
Baldur’s Gate 3 didn’t win awards just because it has Karlach or Astarion. It won awards because it’s a well-written adventure with RPG mechanics like no other.
There are no straight paths to take. You can choose to make your own character or select from its main cast.
The game provides you with decision upon decision, leaving all the choices to player agency.
You might see other players raze an entire Goblin Camp just because they feel like it. Or use diplomacy to worm their way out of it. There’s a plethora of decisions to fulfill a quest. And all that barely scratches the surface of its three massive acts.
This entirely ambitious structure is a result of Larian’s passion. Pair it with its developers’ love for the community, and you get a fantastic game that lets you do anything you want.
Larian brought the pen and paper format into this compelling interactive experience, giving life to a world you hardly want to go without. All you have to do is roll your d6s and d12s to shape it however you want.
Persona 5 Royal / Persona 3 Reload
ATLUS’ Persona games have stood the test of time. Turn-based JRPGs and visual novels s aren't exactly everyone's cup of tea. But even with its old school mechanics, Persona reaches out to a wide variety of players.
Since Persona 3, the Persona series eased up the barrier of entry for traditional JRPGs. ATLUS transformed an intimidating hallway simulator into a vibrant anime story.
Its heavy themes about death and justice are exaggerations of real-world problems. Yet ATLUS never downplays how they affect its characters.
Persona 3, 4, and 5 capture the naivete of teenagers. Granted special powers to help the world, they offer up their lives to service.
Their Personas are mere tools to the story.
There’s something magical about how their characters bond through shared trauma. Their powerful masks wear off and they go back to being teenage friends, with such distinct personalities they feel almost real.
Sometimes, they might not be enough to save the world. But you know what they say, it’s the friends we make along the way.
The Last Of Us Part I / Last of Us Part II
Back when we turned to video games for an escape from reality, Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us flipped the script with a story so real and poignant that we still feel its ripples to this day.
The Last Of Us feels like a movie, but it's the gameplay that connects us to the characters. Guiding Ellie and Joel through their journey, facing off with zombies and clickers, and seeing them interact throughout. It's in these gameplay sections that you see how they grow closer and closer.
In a world overrun by zombies, The Last Of Us maintains the essence of humanity as its central goal. It is not about killing the final boss and being done with it. Instead it asks, what happens to people when they’ve done everything to survive? And when morality is at its weakest, whose side will you choose?
It's these lessons on empathy that's balanced expertly throughout both parts.
No matter the outrage online, with questions that stay with us long after the credits roll, there's no wonder why we still talk The Last Of Us to this day.
Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
Everyone knows Spiderman as the friendly neighborhood superhero. But what is a superhero game, with its one-note good vs bad stories, doing in this list?
In this web-slinging adventure, Insomniac masterfully breaks down what it means to be a hero. Spider-Man isn’t just about saving the world yadda-yadda. It’s about himself dealing with the responsibilities of being a hero. Just like what Uncle Ben said in that first Raimi movie.
You can’t save everyone and that’s why Insomniac’s first Spider Man game is my personal favorite of the trilogy. There’s a struggle inside Peter Parker's mind that not even Spider-Man could help. Only by the end of the game does our hero realize that he’s not two people in a suit, he’s just one man.
The second and third game didn’t quite capture the magic of the first game, but that’s just me. Let me know below if you agree.
Horizon Zero Dawn / Horizon Forbidden West
Post-apocalyptic games always have one thing in common: Life finding a way. And in the Horizon series, life does find a way of moving forward after the world has fallen apart.
The remnants of a bygone era of America are mere shadows of the past. Aloy has a quest to find answers in this once thriving world that takes her to familiar locations.
Horizon’s vast open-world games can get overwhelming, I’ll admit. But the story! The story is what keeps you hooked. It doesn’t matter if I’m walking from Utah to California, you’re always driven to find answers. I needed answers! We needed answers.
What happened to the old world? Why am I fighting robots? Why is Aloy a redhead? Only by the end do you get these questions answered, providing a satisfying conclusion to an intriguing narrative that keeps you invested every step of the way. s some pretty big names, it might've even flown under your radar.
Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding is a cerebral experience. But underneath its oddness lies a touching story.
As Norman Reedus, or Sam, and his funky little fetus, you travel across America to basically reconnect everyone’s Wi-Fi. Essentially, you're a high-tech delivery guy, trekking across land and bunkers like a futuristic FedEx
.Things only get weirder from there as you encounter Lovecraftian nightmares, and Mads Mikkelsen smoking a cigarette.
The horrors are just bumps in the road for Sam and his baby companion, Lou. Each delivery brings the two closer and closer, culminating in a payoff you wouldn’t want to miss.
Kojima takes the mundane traversal mechanics we take for granted and elevates it into a story about reconnecting humanity.
Death Stranding can be a tough sell. But if you can't get past the "walking simulator" label, you might miss out on its unique charm.
Ghost Of Tsushima
Among the thousands of Samurai games, Ghost of Tsushima is something else.
Just like Peter Parker's dilemma, except without the webshooting, Jin Sakai battles with himself. Throughout the game, we witness his inner turmoil about what it means to be a Samurai.
There's this constant push and pull between right and wrong. Ghost Of Tsushima portrays this glaring weakness in a Samurai’s honor code. As Mass Effect’s Javik would say, “[Video Here]” And our protagonist simply can’t ignore the atrocities of the invading Mongol horde.
That’s why Ghost Of Tsushima is a great game. Apart from its satisfying gameplay and gorgeous open world, it’s a story about a man struggling to find what honor means for him.
If you loved Ghost of Tsuhima, you'll love the rest of the games in our Shogun-inspired list. Check it for the best games set in Japan’s Sengoku era.
God Of War / God of War: Ragnarok
Kratos’ character development over the years took an impressive turn. Anyone familiar with the old games knew Kratos as a maniacal warrior trapped in the cycle of vengeance. We’ve seen him tear Helios’ head and use it as a flashlight. Jesus.
In this new Reboot series, we see a different side to Kratos. Moving on from his Greek Origins, Kratos seemingly paves his own path to “rehabilitation” in the Norse Realms.
He’s no longer the warmongering fool we knew him as. Here, he plays a father to Atreus, his son, whose radiating goodness seems to rub off on the troubled Demigod. But fatherhood has its own battles.
We see the clash of their contrasting personalities, and we see bursts of Kratos anger. But even in a world that’s out to get them, bot even Norse’s deadly pantheon stood chance.
Ragnarok sees the end to the war. Not just of the pantheon of gods, but also the one that’s been brewing inside Kratos’ head..and it will forever remain as one of gaming’s best redemption arcs.