Feature: The 10 Best PS5 Games of 2024 So Far

Here are some interesting stats from the poll:

• Hi Fi Rush (23 votes) and Sea of Thieves (15 votes) got some recognition
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown missed out on the top ten by just three votes
• I think Helldivers 2 (3rd) to Stellar Blade (2nd) is one of the biggest gaps we've ever had in a poll (a difference of over 800 votes)
• Only one person voted for Rise of the Ronin using the 'Other' option on the poll

It'll be interesting to see which upcoming games enter the top ten by the end of the year.
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Even with its content bloat issues, Rebirth is extraordinary. I can only realistically see Astro Bot besting it as my GOTY.

Got it right. Naturally I never get to all the nominees, but I couldn't be happier about Stellar Blade's success and the IP's future. The fear was it could go either way, especially after the silence it endured last year. Super enjoyable game.

And then there's Rebirth. I simply smile when I think of this title. I never played the OG game, and for this to be my first experience with these characters and world, what more can you ask? Can't praise the devs enough for this one

Pretty good list. A lot of great games. I wouldn't have Dragon's Dogma in the list but I know I'm in the minority and a lot of c̶r̶a̶z̶y people enjoy it

Stellar Blade was a superb game. I look forward to any DLC they might make, or, indeed, the sequel.

The only other game that I have played (and thoroughly enjoyed too) was The Last of Us Remastered...

I voted for Rebirth, and like @RBMango I can only see Astro Bot potentially beating it, maybe Wukong if it ends up being incredible.

Only played the 1st 2 and it's how I'd place them. Stellar Blade just needed a better story with way more character moments and interactions and it would have been a harder choice for the top spot. But overall it was fun ride. And Rebirth, aside from the ending, managed to hit close to what I would imagine an FF7 remake to be like. I don't think there was ever a moment where I was even a little bored

Looking forward to playing DD2 now that it's been patched some

I remember a comment saying that they were sure Persona 3 Reload was going to be the February game that would generate the most money because it didn't need the kind of budget games from big companies need these days.

Persona 3 never got a chance vs The Helldivers lol.

Not a lot of votes there. To be honest I'm yet to play any of them.

@voltum3l Blame Chadley.

@Intr1n5ic @RBMango Honestly I'd be really surprised if Astro Bot is anything less than awesome

Wow I honestly did not know Stellar Blade was so popular.
It is clear it has not been the best year in gaming ofc but still big votes to be 2nd with such a margin.
Loved Rebirth and want to try Animal Well, but I know that my GOTY, including all platforms is a certain June DLC which if we could have voted for I think would definitively have made into top 3

Happy for people who genuinely liked Rebirth, but after FFVII "Remake" I'll never play it even if it comes to ps plus. Stellar Blade is stellar though, can't wait for sequel.

Solid list though a basic remaster in TLoUP2 shouldn't count even if the bonus stuff in it was great.

My faith in this community has proved true! This is pretty much my person list.

Not surprised by FF in 1st place, though I've yet to play it. Didn't expect so many people to have jumped on to Stellar Blade, in comparison to 3rd, however.

Ff7 Rebirth
Stellar blade
Like a dragon
Persona 3

For my top games. Crazy like a dragon has a 59.8% completion rate on psn with Stellar and FF7 around 40% for long games with Hi-fi only at 28% for a 10 he game compared to the 30+ and 50+ titles.

I can’t argue with this list. With that said, from a personal standpoint, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is my number 1. I will sing its praises for as long as humanly possible.

It’s a shame that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown didn’t crack the top ten, but that’s okay.

All in all, it’s been a great year for gaming. It may not be as strong as last year, but I haven’t had a moment where I can’t find something to play.

@get2sammyb Stellar Blade Forever! Any word on photo mode yet?

@Kraven

Prince of Persia was amazing and severely underrated just for being an Ubisoft game.

The only PS5 title I actually enjoyed this year is Trails through Daybreak.. I've no interest in any of the other titles listed here, though I can't wait for Astro Bot and Sonic Generations to come out!

Did we, as a society, really deem Stellar Blade as the 2nd best game on PS5 so far this year? Idk I might just be a cynic but it really feels like a lot of people go “that game is a 3rd person action adventure game therefore it is good”. Theres been so much good and inventive stuff this year so its disappointing to see something that’s so blatantly NieR and Sekiro be that high up

I can't wait to see what Shift up does next! I voted for FF7 but if that wasn't there then Stellar blade would be my GOTY

@Dalamar I'm with you. I don't understand the love that Rebirth gets - the combat felt so broken to me in the demo. I didn't like it at all. Stellar Blade is incredible though.

@Deoxyr1bose The execution and the polish on Stellar Blade is what did it for me. You look at a similar game when it comes to mechanics and game loop like Jedi Fallen Order/Survivor, and you can immediately see the difference. The Jedi games were both buggy with some serious performance issues, especially at launch. They also had the benefit of the most well-established science fiction franchise in any form of media to back up the lore and act as a backdrop. Stellar Blade had none of these things. Good performance, lack of serious bugs, and a brand new IP that needed to be established. It hit the ball out of the park as far as I'm concerned.

@IntrepidWombat
100% agree regarding the polish on stellar blade - very little in the way of bugs, near flawless framerate, and good visuals (which most importantly were very clear).

Reminded me a lot of last years (similar) Lies of P - which ultimately I did prefer by a fair margin, but both highly polished games. Both make a mockery of certain supposedly 'AAA' 3rd party games in the last couple of years - jedi (even post patching) being one.

Glad to see the correct game in the top spot.

Rebirth is some game, and I can’t see much topping it. Astro, perhaps? Still can’t believe Push gave it an 8 - it seemed GOTY material from the first 5 hours of playing it…

Wonder where Shadow of The Erdtree would have ranked if we could have voted for it. I don’t care if it’s just a DLC, it’s my GOTY!

I haven't played Stellar Blade or Rebirth yet, deep sale buys those two. DD2 and Infinite Wealth are my fave games played this year.

Personally, I would want to add Granblue fantasy relink to that list

it´s Shadow of the Erdtree for me, despite I still haven´t beaten final boss - like basic game also DLC is just pure art in my eyes and hard to beat souls games FromSoft creating...

Among games released this year, I played demo of Stellar Blade and Prince of Persia and liked them both so definitely on my list of future purchases, and ofc I plan to buy Astrobot for my sons who adore Astro´s Playroom, easily their most played game on ps5

Rebirth is truly one of the best JRPG ever and with its final chapter it's gonna be something else.
My top 3 is:
1- Rebirth
2- Hi-Fi Rush
3- LaD: Infinite Wealth

Played Stellar Blade too but didn't like that much.
Now i'm into Dragon's Dogma 2

My top 3 might be the same, except I'd go with Helldivers in 2nd and Stellar Blade in 3rd
Prince of Persia and Tekken 8 are my other stand outs (haven't gotten to Animal Well yet)

Stellar Blade for me all day long, it's been like a breath of fresh air, plus it's FUN!!

Not a great year for gaming so far. The most original games on this list are indie games. So called AAA gaming is not trying anything new now.

Good List. Infinite Wealth and Stellar Blade are definitely my top two so far.

For me, it’s Infinite Wealth & Rebirth in no order. Then it’s between Stellar Blade and Persona 3 Reload. Those are my top 4 games easy. Such a great year of gaming for me!

@KillerBoy sadly lost in the haze of all the other games surrounding it, Fantastic game though, really get that old jrpg/,tales feel from it

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Stellar Blade are both great games, deserving of top 4 status. I put Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Tekken 8 ahead of them, however.

FF7 Rebirth secures number 1... despite being a bang average game. Says it all really. Here's hoping the second half of the year delivers better games.

Stellar Blade is GOTY for me with Helldivers 2 in at 2nd. I really don’t see anything else dethroning it for the rest of the year. The game is just that solid in my book on so many levels and the release slate for the rest of the year doesn’t hold anything I think I’m going to enjoy more, but you never know. We shall see……

If REBIRTH is the best this year have to offer then gaming is doomed XD

Jokes aside, I've found so many issues with that game (confusing camera, chocobo travelling pain, too low pacing, ridiculous physics, over bloated open world, over bloated mini-games, incessant chatting from NPCs and constant interruptions from Chadley/Mai, incosistent focus on main story.. and many many others), I gave up at 40+ hours.

It's a shame given the hype I had about it, loving the original on PS1 and having liked REMAKE.

@IntrepidWombat Jedi survivor, although fun, became unplayable for me with the blurred graphics, stuttering and frame rate drops. I played order a year or two after it came out when it was polished and had a good time. Got the platinum. Maybe I will go back to survivor eventually but games should be released in the state Stellar Blade was.

@nocdaes average? What are you talking about?!

@DeusX Me personally never really minded the camera or chocobo travel, I don't think there's anything wrong with the pacing really (and I did every side quest) and 100% the world intel.

But I do agree that the game has too many mini-games.

But I get it, if you just wanna play the main story then perhaps it can get annoying that there's a lot of extra content in the game..
And yes there's a lot more content than in Remake, it actually feels a bit more like a Final Fantasy game.
Personally, I think that's a good thing.

I absolutely loved the inclusion of Gilgamesh, and also what they did with chocobo races, it's actually fun this time, way better than in the original game in my opinion.

and yeah while I get that Chadley/Mai can be annoying, I personally never felt that it was anything that bothered me too much.

Navi in Ocarina of Time was way more annoying for me and that's still regarded as one of the best games of all time.

I think Rebirth is indeed a great game, way better than Remake and XVI. One of the best games of all times? Probably not.. But still great

It was between Infinite Wealth and Stellar Blade for top spot, then Rebirth and P3 Reload battling it out for 3rd and 4th. I never finished Nier and couldn't really get into it, so I didn't even mind the story of Stellar Blade, but the combat kept me coming back. I took frequent breaks from Rebirth just to play the boss rush mode and work on the platinum.

Don't get me wrong, Rebirth was good and had a lot of the things I felt were missing from FF16, but then went overboard with them. I had much more fun with IW's side content than Rebirth (even the Segway handled better in IW!). And the last two chapters of Rebirth were a mess. Combat wise, they built off a great system in Remake, but some of the combat simulations and boss battles were just SO tedious. And as much as it seems like I'm hating on the game, I really did enjoy about 85% of it. I think I just had sky high expectations because everyone was giving it universal praise, while the other 3 I had more modest expectations.

@DaniPooo no, not average. Bang average. That's even worse than average!

As someone who grew up with the original FF7, my expectation level for the remake was for, at the very least, the originals charm, originality and creativity to be not only respected but fully utilised and realised.

What they created is at best a complete waste of my time.

I despair when I compare the pure thrill and satisfaction of leveling up materia in the original FF7 compared to... what is it I'm doing in the remake exactly? Seems to play itself... oh and I "find" a shrine and it "levels up" my summon materia... which wasn't spectacularly hidden in the game world but literally handed to me by Chadley... who himself is the most irritating character in videogame history. Who has more dialogue than any of the actual characters! Who just won't go away!! Only beaten by a certain Star Wars Episode 1 character for most irritating in entertainment history!

Again. Waste of my time.

Oh I can't wait to see how they ruin Knights of the Round...

Soulless. Lifeless. As if it was created by people that hadn't played FF7 before.

Oh, and I knew this from the very moment you couldn't go down the Pinball machine lift in 7 Heaven. That was the moment I knew. This remake project was flawed versus what I wanted.

Seriously. Who at Square Enix decided NOT to go down the Pinball machine lift?! It's literally the most absurd decision. It let me know in an instant that this wasn't being done right.

And sure enough... the game is missing all sorts of "moments".

Now the soundtrack... that is spot on. Amazing, lovingly restored classic FF7 tracks mixed with fantastic new music that fits the game perfectly. Although... where is Barret's Theme?! Third game maybe? OK, I'll wait and see...

It looks pretty good too. I know some people complained about it, but I thought it realised the game world quite well.

Good sound. Good visuals. A shame the senior leadership team messed up everything else. And we should be angry about it, too. We'll be in our 70s or 80s before we see any sort of fresh attempt at making the perfect FF7.

Well, I only played 2 games out of this list so far. But I can say it's a solid list. I guess Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth deserved to be on top 3 but there's no doubt that it's the best entry in the series.

@nocdaes You had too high expectations and asked too much out of this game, take a few steps back and look at the game objectively.

Even if you are disappointed that it didn't live up to the standard ok Final Fantasy VII the original you have to admit that it's a damn good game.

I was completely and utterly disappointed with Final Fantasy XVI, but I can at least admit that it's a really good game. Even if it isn't really a Final Fantasy game.