Alongside our Game of the Year top 10 list and personal picks from the Push Square editorial team, we are recognising the best PS5 games of 2024 in select categories. Today is the turn of the best PS5 RPG of 2024.
Bronze Trophy: Unicorn Overlord
Unicorn Overlord is another banger from the supremely talented developer that is Vanillaware. This strategic RPG is a beautifully crafted experience, all the way from the art direction to the gameplay mechanics. Granted, the story's a little rote, but amassing an entire army of fantastically diverse characters is never dull — and actually finding ways to best utilise those characters is a devilishly addictive process. An immaculate adventure.
Read our Unicorn Overlord PS5 review through the link.
Silver Trophy: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Outside the imposing walls of Midgar, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is allowed to breathe, and fully embraces the grand sense of adventure that was so prevalent in the original PS1 classic. Rebirth expands on so much of what Remake got right, providing a robust RPG that offers up superb combat encounters and great character progression. But perhaps most importantly, there's a clear love for the source material on display here; everything is reimagined in often shockingly impressive detail, and the main cast feel brilliantly realised, without losing what made them so iconic in the first place.
Read our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth PS5 review through the link.
Gold Trophy: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth faced a ludicrously tough task in handling both the stories of Kazuma Kiryu and Ichiban Kasuga in a single, cohesive campaign, and RGG Studio figured it all out like water off a duck's back. Split across three open world maps, you'll at times construct and improve two entirely separate parties, each fighting on a different front. It's a demand most other studios would crumble under, but the Japanese team came out the other side all the better for it.
Piecing all those turn-based fights and party management features together is the exact sort of story you'd expect of a Yakuza title: fascinating, twisting, unexpected, comical, and incredible. With over 80 hours of content to invest in when accounting for all the minigames and side stories, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the quintessential JRPG. It's a best-in-class effort from RGG Studio that proves the series is only ever on an upward trajectory, somehow only ever getting better and better.
Read our Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth PS5 review through the link.
Platinum Trophy: Metaphor: ReFantazio
It may basically be a political take on Persona, but when the other IP from Atlus is already so strong, it would be silly for Metaphor: ReFantazio not to use that basic structure and take it to new heights. There's a slightly more streamlined approach to some things in the JRPG, like the more straightforward Archetype system and removing the need to equip specific monsters to strengthen relationship bonds. This allows you to better focus on the combat and building connections with teammates without the worry of failure, turning Metaphor into a JRPG that allows for so much more experimentation.
The overall party continually grows throughout the 75-hour campaign, and the story remains gripping from the start to the very end. With the stunning visual style of an Atlus title, a great soundtrack, and a truly fantastic cast of characters, Metaphor: ReFantazio delivers absolutely everything you could possibly want out of a turn-based RPG in 2024. This is the subgenre at its new peak.
Read our Metaphor: ReFantazio PS5 review through the link.
Do you agree with our picks for the best PS5 RPG of 2024? Post your thoughts in the comments below and check out more of our Game of the Year coverage through the link.
Comments 46
For me, it'll be Infinite Wealth. I just haven't played the others yet, Rebirth when it's on PC and Metaphor I played the demo but that's it.
Ff7 baybeeeee
Infinite Wealth with a well-deserved Gold 😎 It got my vote since Ryu Ga Gotoku has yet to disappoint (Like a Dragon Gaiden had me tearing up when I beat it recently too)!
So Dragons Dogma is in the top 10 games of the year but not in the top 4 Rpg's of the year? Yet a game (unicorn overlord) is but won't be in the top 10 games of the year 🤔.
Also Final Fantasy 7 ReBirth isn't an option in the poll for some reason.
Nice to see Unicorn Overlord get some praise, it's such a great game
Hey Liam I think you forgot to add Rebirth to the poll unless you are just trolling all of the folks who are upset it was only #7 on the GOTY list
Why is FF7 Rebirth missing from the poll? Sure, I could just write it under "Other" but it definitely should be an option by default
What a year it's been for JRPG's though, with many getting really high metacritic scores. Probably the best year so far for JRPG's, atleast that I can remember.
My personal top 5 are,
1, Final Fantasy 7 ReBirth
2, Trails Through Daybreak
3, Unicorn Overlord
4, Dragons Dogma 2
5, Metaphor Re Fantazio
@Logonogo That’s trolling, and I like it.
FF7 is not even an option, apparently. If it's not an intentional joke, you might as well admit you just don't like the game.
@UltimateOtaku91 2017 was pretty amazing as well with games like Persona 5, Xenoblade Chonicles 2, Tales of Berseria, Nier Automata (if that counts as a JPRG) etc
Removed - inappropriate
I might be the odd one here. I absolutely adore LaD/Yakuza series, but Infinite Wealth might be my least favourite entry. Yeah, both old and new party members are great and new location looks nice. Everything else though... Battle system is nothing but a stat check, poor Ichiban is made into a clown in every single substory, but the worst of all, main plot just sucks. Story starts intriguing but goes nowhere, villains are pathetic, ending falls flat. IMHO this might be the weakest main story in all Yakuza games barring the veri first one, but it gets a pass for being, well, first.
Oh yeah, Metaphor, Unicorn Overlord and Kuro are brilliant.
Genuine question - is Infinite Wealth as utterly disrespectful of the player's time as other Yakuza games? The first few hours of LaD were so slow I thought it was trolling. Also played Zero, 5, 6, and they all took an age to get going.
There's a lot to love about the series, but so far my experiences says the pacing isn't part of that.
@MrPeanutbutterz Infinite Wealth probably had the slowest start in the series history. I liked the game overall but the first 10 hours dragged sooooo bad.
What’s up with push square always leaving Ys out in the cold
@Fartingale That's my fault (kind of). I took on Ys X and just never had time to finish it because of the crazy schedule it launched in. Felt bad about it ever since because I love my Falcom games!
1A. Infinite Wealth
1B. FF7 Rebirth
3. Metaphor Re:Fantazio
4A. Persona 3 Reload
4B. Stellar Blade
This is one of the best gaming years for me in forever. So many surefire hits
I really enjoyed plowing about 40 hours into Unicorn Overlord, but then suddenly just got really bored with it. Yes, you get different units, but the stories rubbish, the characters are dull as dishwater and it’s basically the same thing over and over. Still, it itched an itch at the time!
@MrPeanutbutterz It's among the worst in the franchise honestly. I really am not a huge fan of the new direction for LAD. Between the turn based combat, new plots being generic power of friends stuff and the mini-games getting more absurd, I think I may only end up playing the Judgement games in the future.
Trails Through Daybreak. The Trails series is the greatest RPG series of all time! There is no equal. Play the Trails series to see what I mean.
I'm loving the Dragon Quest HD 2-D remake. The missus is being my mini Medal and monster catching "guide lady" 🤣
As much as I really enjoyed my time with Infinite Wealth and played over 150 hrs the story at mid point and the ending especially were terrible in comparison to previous entries and I do echo the thoughts above, the "power of friendship" anime cliche is really cringe when you consider the general grittiness of the other games Inc Judgement.
1. Infinite Wealth
2. Dragon Age Veilhguard
3. Dragons Dogma 2
4. FF7 Rebirth
5. Hogwarts Legacy
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance is in first place obviously.
Trails through Daybreak is in second place.
Granblue Fantasy Relink is in third place.
Rise of the Ronin is in fourth place.
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven is in fifth place.
Loved LaD:IW and 167 hours later got the plat last night, but do understand where the other commenters are coming from. Played the whole series this year (except Judgement and LJ, still to do those) and still think that 0, 6 & gaiden hit harder.
Well deserved gold medal tho 👍
@Fishysensei Yeah not seeing SMTV in this list is absurd, especially since most of the “winners” this year are remake or unoriginal love letters to old school RPG formulas, or worse, the same Persona copy/paste ad nauseum …
@Unlucky13 Hogwarts did not come out this year
Truly a goated year for JRPGs. Top 3 games would be Rebirth, Infinite Wealth, and Metaphor. But I can't disagree with any order. Love seeing Infinite Wealth getting some love as that game was severely underrated.
@Logonogo Ah, my bad. I played it in January. Forgot exactly when it released.
Just can't rate metaphor #1. It was a step down from Persona 5 and didn't really do anything different. Not that it should rely on graphics but it's no better graphically than P5 on the PS3 either. Rebirth was a masterpiece and so well crafted it's my #1 this year. Infinite Wealth 2nd and metaphor 3rd.
Edit - completely forgot about Dragon Quest 3. That's 3rd
@Dalamar I agree with your general sentiment, though for different reasons. Either way, it was definitely a weaker entry in a series of continually great games.
Infinite Wealth 1st without a doubt.
Metaphor could end up second, I'm playing it right now.
I gotta go with Dragon Age Veilguard. Never got bored with it. Game respected my time. And the main story was very intriguing with a superb 3rd act.
I know very little about the games that made this list because they just didn't appeal to me therefore I really have no opinion to offer. The only rpg I've played this year is dragons dogma 2 and if I'm honest there were more I could have tried but I just didn't want to. I'd been waiting so long for DD2 and I was so anxious to get home from work and install the game that I realised I'm 51 years old and having a bit of a moan because I have to take the dog out for a walk. Even though the game is not perfect it didn't let me down and I've enjoyed myself immensely with it and I'm looking forwards to more play throughs eventually. I think that an awful lot of gamers had too high expectations from DD2 and felt short changed but it was what I expected. I didn't expect super smooth frame rates (good job really) but what I did expect was intuitive controls,ambiguous game structure with no hand holding and an absolute emphasis on exploration and for me it delivered that in spades. It didn't matter that the story was a bit all over the place as I just found the game to be so much fun. There's not that many games I can say that about recently. I just hope there is some kind of dlc akin to bitter black Isle in the works.
Rebirth is so overrated. Technical issues, butchered original story. People are influenced by the massive budget.
@Northern_munkey Most of the hate for DD2 was just over the top, people complain about the story yet the first game didn't have the best story either. Dragons Dogma has always been about the exploration, the fights and unexpected encounters, the lack of hand holding and the pawn system. All of which was still present and improved on in DD2.
There's a reason it's in most publications and game sites game of the year lists.
@Andy22385 Rebirth was NOT a masterpiece. It's annoying how easily people throw that term around lately because they really liked a game.
@JohntheRaptor if they believe it was a masterpiece, then for them it was a masterpiece. Simple as that. Now if the same people would call "masterpiece" every other game, then you'd have a point. We do see that with "G.O.A.T". Apparently everything is the greatest of all time.
@UltimateOtaku91 The problem is that DD2 is too much like DD1. Just like DD1 it feels unfinished. They somehow managed to make a sequel that is basically overall inferior to its predecessor.
Why does it have less enemy variety, an even worse story, less abilities and incredibly unrewarding exploration? Everything you find in chests is worse than something you can just buy from a merchant.
Just because the first game was flawed doesn't mean that the sequel should repeat it. It should've tried to improve and it just didn't, it actually made its flaws even worse in some aspects. Sorry for the rant but from my perspective, the "hate" was justified. It was so disappointing.
@Cloud39472 No need to be sorry, everyone has their own views and opinions, I think for me personally my own enjoyment from the game came from the exploration and combat which kind of made me forget/ignore the flaws. Also it's been 12 years since the first game so it's hard to compare when most of the stuff I've forgot lol and especially even more so for newcomers to the games. I agree with the lack of enemy variety though, I would like to assume they are saving a lot of new stuff for some sort of DLC like the Dark Arisen expansion, if not then it seems like they threw this game together quick time instead of keeping it in development for a few more years to add more stuff.
@UltimateOtaku91 I agree with you. All the games I've enjoyed the most over the past 2 years (lies of p,lords of the fallen,dragons dogma 2 and black myth wukong) all have had the same criticisms levelled at them and it was always poor performance and frame rates that made them unplayable and the amount of times I laughed out loud became too numerous to count. Not one of the afore mentioned titles ever felt unplayable to me. Not once. I'm currently playing warhammer space marine 2 which had a very good review and score but not once did pushsquares review mention the smeary visuals in performance mode..its almost as bad as the original dragons dogma on the ps3 and yet it was barely mentioned but every other game I've mentioned received brutal critiques. DD2 for me is one of the best rpg's I've played. I would love to play Balders gate 3 but I just can't stand turn based games as they just break the immersion for me. I think I'll just have to go and install DD2 and enjoy the piss poor performance again.
@Cloud39472 I can see your point but I don't think "hate" is ever justified. Being able to discuss a games short comings with each other without disrespecting each other is key to understanding others views. Unfortunately the level of vitriol spewed towards DD2 and gamers who enjoyed it and decided to stand by the game and voice their opinions as to why they loved it so much was pretty disgusting to behold. I've had many discussions about DD2 and the others I've mentioned and most people were able to find a common ground where we could agree to disagree but some were just so focused on the game being so bad it was as if the game somehow ruined their lives. Hate can never be acceptable.
@UltimateOtaku91 It definitely still has that Dragons Dogma charm and I would say the game is still fun. There really isn't another game or series that offers what DD does and I love it for that at least. Just wish it was better.
Yeah I'm hoping that a Dark arisen type expansion could improve on what I felt was missing.
@Northern_munkey I agree with you. I put "hate" in quotations as I personally haven't seen "hate" as much I have just straight criticism but maybe I haven't been in the right circles. I've seen plenty of real hate for other games and I agree it's never justified. I think a lot of the time, people don't know how to express how they feel without being aggressive and mean spirited.
@Cloud39472 DD2 could have been better for sure and I was never bothered by any of its little issues. I can understand what disappointed you about it and I can respect your opinion because you didn't present yourself or your views in a way that made me think you were trying to be controversial for the sake of it which unfortunately is how many of the people that commented on DD2 came across. You actually played the game too so your views were valid whereas a lot of commentators didn't appear to have played it but felt they were somehow entitled to critique something they knew nothing of other than what they had read.
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