Gaming Omnivore – Eat. Sleep. Video Games

Sony launched the PlayStation 5 five years ago on November 12, 2020. Considering everything that has happened – globally, personally and everywhere in between, it feels like it’s been an entire lifetime since the PS5 was first released. In this relatively short amount of time, Sony’s towering console has become an invaluable addition to my favorite hobby in providing countless hours of enjoyment playing games by myself or with others. In honor of the first five years of the PlayStation 5, I’ve made a list of my five favorite PS5 games.

The PlayStation 5 launched with a modest lineup of games, most of them being either “cross-gen” releases such as Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or Sackboy: A Big Adventure, or timed exclusives like Bugsnax or Godfall. The two releases *exclusive* to the PlayStation 5 at launch were Astro’s Playroom and the remake of Demon’s Souls. In the five years following the launch of the PS5, Sony has released a number of games that are available for both the PS4 as well as PS5. They’ve also begun releasing many of their once-exclusive titles on PC, such as God of War, The Last of Us: Part 1, and Horizon Zero Dawn. All of this combined with the fact that *true PS5 exclusives* have been seemingly few and far between has led to the pervasive commentary that “PS5 has no games”, even after five years.

Here’s a quick rundown of the launch titles for the PlayStation 5:

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Astro’s Playroom
Borderlands 3
Bugsnax
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Dead By Daylight
Demon’s Souls(Remake)
Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition
DIRT 5
Fortnite
Godfall
Goonya Fighter
King Oddball
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
NBA 2K21
No Man’s Sky: The Next Generation
Observer: System Redux
Overcooked: All You Can Eat
The Pathless
Planet Coaster: Console Edition
Poker Club
Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Warhammer: Chaosbane Slayer Edition
Watch Dogs Legion
WRC 9

I’ve spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours on my PS5, but I can’t honestly say there’s a ton of genuine exclusives for the console. This truly made composing a list of my five favorites much, much easier than say, my Nintendo Switch. Nevertheless…here are my 5 FAVORITE PS5 GAMES.

Silent Hill 2(Remake)

Starting the list off with something of an asterisk and pointing out that yes, the Silent Hill 2 Remake which was released last year, is a *timed exclusive* for the PS5 and is rumored to be released on PC and Xbox in the near future. Either way, I played the Silent Hill 2 remake this past winter and absolutely loved it. I’ll admit I was a little skeptical when Konami revealed that Bloober Team would be handling the remake. I wasn’t fully convinced they would do justice to an iconic survival horror game such as Silent Hill 2. Those (layers of)fears were unfounded as the game turned out fantastic. The story remains unchanged and any changes to gameplay and the camera felt like an actual improvement. The lighting and sound design, which were already impressive enough in the original, were also revamped and create an amazingly, immersive(and ominous) experience. It is truly the way to experience Silent Hill 2 in the current day…

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Death Stranding 2 was neck and neck with Metroid Prime 4 as being my most anticipated game of 2025. I played Death Stranding back in 2019 and it ended up being my personal game of the year and even after 6 years, I’ve still never been fully able to express what an impact the experience has had on me. Just as the previous game, I played Death Stranding 2: On The Beach the second it was available. DS2 expands on nearly every aspect of the first game and creates an even more inviting experience to both newcomers and players couldn’t quite stomach some of the gameplay elements the first time around. In many ways the game feels almost like a continuation of what Hideo Kojima’s work on Metal Gear Solid V. There’s a lot more focus on gameplay and *even more* freedom to approach your objectives(deliveries) from a multitude of different angles. I don’t feel like the story hit quite the same this time around and some of the horror game elements from the first game feel a bit toned down – understandable given you’ve already been introduced to BTs and other chiral creatures, but given the impeccable polish and flow of the gameplay, it’s hard to consider the game a step backwards. There’s so many individual set pieces that blew me away, and the sheer over-the-top insanity – that you expect, but never truly *ready* for in a Kojima game, contained within the last two hours of the game make it easily one of my contenders for Game of the Year and one of my favorite PS5 games.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Another game that’s *technically* a timed exclusive, but I’m including here anyway – Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, the second installment in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 remake project. I played through FF7: Rebirth a couple months ago, after being initially a bit intimidated by the size and scale of the game. I loved FF7: Remake – it was one of my favorite games of 2020, but hearing so many people describing the amount of side quests, mini-games and general “filler” material contained within the game sounded daunting. I finally decided to just play the game myself and it’s one of my defining experiences of 2025. Yes, the game does expand on a lot of the side stories and quests that already felt a bit tedious(at times) in the previous game, but there’s also moments that I will never forget. The story once again contains that of the original 1997 PlayStation game, but also draws from other FF7 properties like Crisis Core and Advent Children in creating an all-encompassing story. I’ve always felt that Final Fantasy’s strongest aspects are it’s characters and music, which is absolutely on display once again in FF7: Rebirth. The final hour or so of the game honestly made me emotional in a way I’ve only felt once or twice before, and the final boss fights are a spectacle on par with nearly anything I’ve ever played. This is already on my list of favorite JRPGs I’ve played.

Astro Bot

Astro’s Playroom was the very first thing I played when I got my PS5. Even if it was just a tech demo to show off some of the console’s new features, it provided the purest sense of fun and enjoyment I’d experienced in a video game in some time. This past year saw Team Asobo release Astro Bot, a full-fledged 3D platformer built upon the foundation of everything that made Astro’s Playroom so great. As someone who spent their childhood playing a wide range of platformers(side-scrolling as well as 3D), the genre will always be something of a comfort genre. Astro Bot also serves as a visual history of Sony’s history in making games from the original PlayStation all the way to the current gen, with an impressive range of games and characters being represented as you make your way through each area of the game. It truly bothers me when the game itself is dismissed as a simple “nostalgia game” or “Nintendo clone”. There’s so many creative, unique level designs and mechanically, the game plays as well, if not better than any other 3D platformer out there currently. I cannot say enough good things about Astro Bot.

Returnal

When I came up with the idea to make a list of my favorite PlayStation 5 games, the first game that comes to mind was always gonna be Returnal. An amalgamation of roguelite, bullet hell, and third-person shooters presented as an enigmatic story of Astra pilot, Selene’s attempt to escape not only an ever-changing world full of danger, but also her own past trauma. There’s no other game I’ve played that’s felt like Returnal. The easiest answer on this last. My personal favorite PS5 game*

*Returnal was eventually ported to PC, but began as an exclusive title

What are your favorites for the PS5?

Thanks for reading!

Splatterhouse was first released in Japanese arcades in 1988. A side-scrolling beat ‘em up taking heavy inspiration from horror movies of the 70s and 80s such as Friday the 13th and Evil Dead. The game was considered(at the time) to be excessively gory and violent – which Namco used effectively in marketing the game. It went on to become something of a cult classic and has received several ports on both sides of the Pacific, starting with the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine in 1990. This was not the series’ console debut, however…

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti
Nintendo Famicom
Developer: Now Production
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: July 31, 1989

Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti was released on July 31, 1989 for the Nintendo Famicom. The game serves as less of a sequel and instead as a parody of the original arcade release. In contrast to the previous entry’s gory, grindhouse setting, Wanpaku Graffiti features chibi characters and art style which presents the game in a more campy, “unserious” vibe while still referencing an impressive array of horror movies and gags during its (brief)playtime. After spending its first three decades as an enjoyable, yet obscure collectible found only in Japan, it was finally available worldwide after being included in the Namco Museum Archives Vol. 1, which was released in 2020.

The game begins with Rick’s girlfriend, Jennifer, weeping over his grave. In what is almost assuredly a reference to Friday The 13th Part VI, a storm brews and lightning strikes the gravestone, resurrecting Rick. At the same time, lightning also strikes the nearby grave of the evil Pumpkin King(no, Jack. the *other* one) as they are resurrected as well before abducting Jennifer, leading our hockey mask-clad hero to follow in pursuit.On the surface, both Splatterhouse and Wanpaku Graffiti follow the familiar – move left-to-right on screen and pummel anything standing in your way, . The former, however, is heavily action-focused whereas the latter is much more about platforming. Rick is much less imposing in Wanpaku Graffiti, compared to the hulking, jumpsuit-clad mass depicted in arcade version of Splatterhouse as he jumps across obstacles and hazards. This time around, Rick carries an axe(as well as the most adorable little boomstick) to cleave his way through the Pumpkin King’s army of darkness.

The game itself takes only around 60-90 minutes to complete, but manages to insert a number of horror and scifi references. The most glaring reference in any Splatterhouse game is the Friday the 13th movies – jumpsuit/hockey mask combo. There’s also references to films such as ‘The Exorcist’, ‘Poltergeist’ or ‘An American Werewolf In London’. Once you reach the end of the very first level you’re even given a small performance by a vampire and his ghoulish minions as a nod to Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ music video. The game concludes with Rick making his was to the altar of the Pumpkin King and defeating him before being reunited with Jennifer. An off-screen director then yells “CUT!” and the background fades to show the entire ordeal was nothing but a horror film as the credits roll.

Is Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti worth playing in 2025?

I, myself had no knowledge of the game until around 2018, after seeing several retro streamers play the game. I’d been wanting to play the game since then and was pretty excited to finally get a chance to try it out for myself. So, after finishing the game…

Yes. Absolutely.

Wanpaku Graffiti’s strongest element is its blend of charm and humor, which is reason enough for me to recommend to fans of retro or horror games. The gameplay itself is admittedly a little basic, but still plays very smoothly. I actually enjoyed the platforming elements in Wanpaku Graffiti as the movement never felt as “heavy” and at times, restrictive like Castlevania or Mega Man games.

The game is also much more forgiving in terms of difficulty than its predecessor, so if you’re approaching the game expecting a challenge similar to the above mentioned Castlevania or Mega Man, you’re likely to be disappointed. Health is shown as pieces of Halloween candy that can be found by defeating enemies or breaking objects; it’s much more plentiful this time around. The enemies in Wanpaku Graffiti follow much more predictable paths and thus can be taken out much easier than the arcade version. One aspect where “Naughty Graffiti” deviates from the rest of the series is the inclusion of a rudimentary XP system which increases Rick’s health bar after defeating the number of enemies shown at the top of the screen. This makes the game feel even easier when starting from the very beginning, versus using the password system – which was first implemented in Wanpaku Graffiti and included in subsequent releases.

It may not have the iconography of Castlevania or the tough-as-nails reputation of Ghosts ‘n Goblins, but Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti is still definitely worth checking out, if for no other reason than its utterly charming concoction of cozy, retro horror vibes and humor.

Thanks for reading!