Story games are the reason a lot of us still own a PlayStation. Sony’s own studios built their name on them, and the PS5 now has the deepest library of narrative games on any console. That’s also the problem: there are too many to pick from, and most “best story games PS5” lists haven’t been touched since 2023.
So we rebuilt ours from scratch. These are the 20 story games PS5 owners should play in 2026: the ones we’d actually tell a friend about, including this year’s big releases. We judged them on four things: the writing, the characters, the pacing, and whether the ending stays with you. Every entry is spoiler-free beyond the opening premise.
Jump to: Quick picks · At a glance · New in 2025–26 · Cinematic epics · Choices that matter · RPGs · Horror · Short games · FAQ
Quick picks
Short on time? These are the story games we’d start with.
- Best overall: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Best cinematic story: The Last of Us Part I & Part II
- Best for choices: Baldur’s Gate 3
- Best new release: Control Resonant
- Best short story game: Mixtape
Story games PS5 at a glance: the full list
Hours are the approximate time to finish the main story. For detailed breakdowns, including completionist times, check HowLongToBeat.
| Game | Genre | Main story | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control Resonant | Action-adventure | 25–30 hrs | Weird, mind-bending stories |
| The Blood of Dawnwalker | Action RPG | 25–30 hrs | Witcher 3 fans |
| Pragmata | Sci-fi action | 10–12 hrs | A tight, heartfelt campaign |
| Ghost of Yōtei | Open-world action | ~25 hrs | Revenge stories |
| Death Stranding 2 | Action-adventure | ~40 hrs | Something truly different |
| The Last of Us Part I & II | Action-adventure | ~15 + ~24 hrs | Emotional gut punches |
| God of War Ragnarök | Action-adventure | ~26 hrs | Father-son drama |
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Open-world action | ~18 hrs | Superhero blockbusters |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | Open-world western | ~50 hrs | Slow-burn character arcs |
| Baldur’s Gate 3 | RPG | ~75 hrs | Choices that change everything |
| Disco Elysium – The Final Cut | Narrative RPG | ~22 hrs | Brilliant writing |
| Cyberpunk 2077 + Phantom Liberty | Open-world RPG | ~25 + ~12 hrs | Sci-fi noir |
| Dispatch | Choice-based adventure | ~9 hrs | Telltale fans |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Turn-based RPG | ~30 hrs | A modern classic |
| Final Fantasy VII Rebirth | Action RPG | ~45 hrs | Big ensemble casts |
| Persona 5 Royal | JRPG | ~100 hrs | Living a second life |
| Alan Wake 2 | Survival horror | ~18 hrs | Psychological horror |
| Silent Hill 2 | Survival horror | ~15 hrs | Grief and dread |
| Mixtape | Narrative adventure | 3–4 hrs | One evening |
| Stray | Adventure | ~5 hrs | A cosy weekend |
New story games on PS5 (2025–26)
The last 12 months have been unusually strong for story games. These are the newer story games PS5 players should try first.
1. Control Resonant
Remedy’s sequel hands the lead to Dylan Faden, Jesse’s brother from the first game. A paranatural force has torn into Manhattan, and Dylan is searching the wreckage for his missing sister. It’s the strangest big-budget game of the year, and that’s a compliment. The city bends and folds around you, and the story keeps finding new ways to unsettle you. Underneath the spectacle sits a surprisingly tender sibling story.
Combat can get repetitive in the back half, which critics noted too. It still landed an 84 on Metacritic, and Remedy has detailed its PS5 features on the PlayStation Blog.
Remedy Entertainment · PS5 release: Sep 24, 2026 · Main story: 25–30 hours
2. The Blood of Dawnwalker
Rebel Wolves was founded by The Witcher 3’s director, and you can feel it. You play Coen, a peasant who becomes a Dawnwalker: human by day, vampire by night. A vampire lord has taken his family, and you have 30 in-game days to get them back. That timer shapes everything. You can’t do it all, so every quest you pick is a choice about what matters.
There are five endings, and the writing is the standout. Critics compared it to The Witcher 3 more than once.
Rebel Wolves · PS5 release: Sep 3, 2026 · Main story: 25–30 hours
3. Pragmata
Capcom’s long-delayed sci-fi game turned out to be worth the wait. Astronaut Hugh Williams wakes up on a lunar research station run by a rogue AI. His only ally is Diana, an android who looks like a little girl. The bond between them is the heart of the game, and it works. Their quiet moments hit harder than the big set pieces.
At 10–12 hours, it’s a tight campaign with no filler. Over 2.5 million players had picked it up by July.
Capcom · PS5 release: Apr 17, 2026 · Main story: 10–12 hours
4. Ghost of Yōtei
Sucker Punch moved the Ghost series to 1603 Hokkaido and gave it a new lead. Atsu is a mercenary hunting the six people who murdered her family 16 years earlier. It’s a simple revenge story told with real care. Each of the Yōtei Six gets a story arc of their own, and Atsu changes along the way.
Some side quests feel dated, but the main story is gripping. The Complete Edition arrives on October 1, 2026, so now is a good time to jump in.
Sucker Punch Productions · PS5 release: Oct 2, 2025 · Main story: ~25 hours
5. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Hideo Kojima’s sequel sends Sam Porter Bridges across Mexico and Australia to extend the Chiral Network. Nobody else makes games like this. It’s a story about connection, loss and parenthood, wrapped in some of the oddest ideas you’ll see on a console.
It plays better than the first game, with more ways to fight and travel. If the first one bounced off you, give this one a try.
Kojima Productions · PS5 release: Jun 26, 2025 · Main story: ~40 hours
Cinematic story epics
These are the big, movie-like story games PlayStation built its name on. If you want story games PS5 does better than any other console, start here.
6. The Last of Us Part I & Part II Remastered
If you only play one story on PS5, make it this one. Part I follows Joel as he smuggles Ellie across a ruined America. Part II picks up years later and turns into a brutal story about revenge and what it costs. Together they’re the high point of the genre.
Play them in order and don’t read anything about Part II first. The PS5 versions are the best way to experience both.
Naughty Dog · PS5 release: 2022 / 2024 · Main story: ~15 + ~24 hours
7. God of War Ragnarök
Kratos and Atreus head into the end of the Norse world. The fights with gods are huge, but the real story is a father learning to let his son grow up. The supporting cast is excellent, and Atreus gets a lot more to do this time.
Play God of War (2018) first if you haven’t. The free Valhalla mode is a great epilogue for Kratos.
Santa Monica Studio · PS5 release: 2022 · Main story: ~26 hours
8. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Peter Parker and Miles Morales share the lead as Kraven and Venom tear through New York. It’s a superhero blockbuster with a real emotional core, especially in Peter’s story. Swinging through the city still feels amazing, and the pacing rarely drags.
Insomniac Games · PS5 release: 2023 · Main story: ~18 hours
9. Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur Morgan rides with the Van der Linde gang as the Wild West closes in on them. It’s slow, and that’s the point. You live with these people for 50 hours and watch the gang fall apart from the inside. Arthur’s arc is one of the best in gaming.
It’s a PS4 game, but it runs well on PS5 through backward compatibility.
Rockstar Games · Released: 2018 (PS4) · Main story: ~50 hours
Choice-based story games on PS5 where your decisions matter
In these story games, you don’t just watch what happens. You shape it.
10. Baldur’s Gate 3
A mind flayer puts a parasite in your head, and things get weirder from there. Baldur’s Gate 3 reacts to almost everything you do. Companions leave, stories branch, and whole areas change based on your choices. No two playthroughs look the same.
It’s long and the turn-based combat takes time to learn. The payoff is the most reactive story on the console. It also supports split-screen co-op.
Larian Studios · PS5 release: 2023 · Main story: ~75 hours
11. Disco Elysium – The Final Cut
You wake up as a detective with no memory, a terrible hangover and a murder to solve. There’s almost no combat. Instead, you talk, think and argue with the voices in your own head. The writing is the best on this list, funny and sad in the same line.
The Final Cut adds full voice acting. Its team’s next game, Zero Parades, comes to PS5 on November 3.
ZA/UM · PS5 release: 2021 · Main story: ~22 hours
12. Cyberpunk 2077 + Phantom Liberty
Cyberpunk’s launch is a distant memory. Today it’s a great sci-fi noir about V, a mercenary with a dead rock star (Keanu Reeves) living in their head. The side stories are some of the best-written quests in any open world. The Phantom Liberty expansion is a tight spy thriller that adds a new ending.
CD Projekt Red · PS5 release: 2022 / 2023 · Main story: ~25 + ~12 hours
13. Dispatch
Made by former Telltale developers, Dispatch is the comeback that genre needed. Robert Robertson III is a superhero without his suit, so he takes a desk job dispatching a team of reformed villains. It’s very funny, with sharp dialogue and choices that really change who sticks around.
It’s short, sold over 4 million copies and won Outstanding Story-Rich Game at The Steam Awards 2025, according to its Wikipedia entry.
AdHoc Studio · PS5 release: Oct 22, 2025 · Main story: ~9 hours
Story-rich RPGs
These are the longest story games on this list, with big casts you’ll spend dozens of hours with.
14. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Every year, the Paintress paints a number, and everyone of that age disappears. This year it’s 33. Gustave and his expedition set out to kill her before their own time runs out. It’s a story about grief and letting go, with a cast you’ll get very attached to.
The turn-based combat uses timed dodges and parries, so it never feels slow. It won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025, and it earned it.
Sandfall Interactive · PS5 release: Apr 24, 2025 · Main story: ~30 hours
15. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
The second part of the FFVII remake trilogy takes Cloud and his friends out of Midgar and across the world. The cast is the star. Their banter, side stories and dates at the Gold Saucer make the long journey fly by.
Play Final Fantasy VII Remake first. Rebirth assumes you know what happened.
Square Enix · PS5 release: 2024 · Main story: ~45 hours
16. Persona 5 Royal
By day you’re a high-school transfer student in Tokyo. By night you’re a Phantom Thief, breaking into corrupt adults’ minds to change their hearts. Persona 5 Royal is huge, stylish and surprisingly personal. You’ll spend a full school year with these characters, and saying goodbye is hard.
Atlus · PS5 release: 2022 · Main story: ~100 hours
Horror games with a great story
Not every story game is comfortable to play. These two use fear to tell stories about guilt, grief and losing your grip on reality.
17. Alan Wake 2
FBI agent Saga Anderson investigates ritual murders in a small town. Meanwhile, writer Alan Wake is trapped in a nightmare world, trying to write his way out. Their stories twist together in ways that are hard to explain and great to play. It’s Remedy at its most ambitious.
Remedy Entertainment · PS5 release: 2023 · Main story: ~18 hours
18. Silent Hill 2
James Sunderland gets a letter from his wife, who died three years ago. She’s waiting for him in Silent Hill. Bloober Team’s remake keeps the original’s story about guilt and grief intact and makes the town scarier than ever. It’s a slow, heavy story that stays with you.
Bloober Team · PS5 release: 2024 · Main story: ~15 hours
Short story games you can finish in a weekend
Short on time? These story games on PS5 take an evening or a weekend, not a month.
19. Mixtape
Three best friends spend one last night together before life pulls them apart. Stacey is making a mixtape for the occasion, and each track sets the mood for a new memory. With songs from Devo, the Smashing Pumpkins and Joy Division, it feels like a ’90s coming-of-age movie you can play.
There’s not much challenge here, and some players call it an interactive film. Go in for the story and you’ll love it.
Beethoven & Dinosaur · PS5 release: May 7, 2026 · Main story: 3–4 hours
20. Stray
You’re a stray cat, lost in a walled city full of robots. You’ll knock things off shelves and help a small drone recover its memories. It’s short, gentle and more moving than it has any right to be.
BlueTwelve Studio · PS5 release: 2022 · Main story: ~5 hours
Coming soon to PS5
- Zero Parades: For Dead Spies (Nov 3, 2026): an espionage RPG from the Disco Elysium team, arriving on PS5 as a Director’s Cut.
- Grand Theft Auto VI (Nov 19, 2026): Jason and Lucia’s story in Vice City. See the PlayStation Blog’s 2026 release list for more.
We’ll add them to this list once we’ve played them.
Honorable mentions
- Marvel’s Wolverine: a focused 12-hour campaign with a strong Logan, though critics split on the story.
- Final Fantasy XVI: a dark fantasy war story with a great lead in Clive.
- Silent Hill f: a beautiful, disturbing horror story set in 1960s Japan.
- Detroit: Become Human: android drama with more branches than almost any game.
- What Remains of Edith Finch: a two-hour story about one family’s strange history.
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows: two leads in feudal Japan.
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: a pulpy adventure that nails the films.
FAQ
What is the best story game on PS5?
For most players, the best of all the story games on PS5 is The Last of Us Part I and Part II. If you like RPGs, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the best newer pick.
Can you play PS4 story games on PS5?
Yes. Almost every PS4 game runs on PS5, and many run better. That includes Red Dead Redemption 2, Detroit: Become Human and What Remains of Edith Finch.
Are any of these story games on PS Plus?
Several have been in the PS Plus Extra catalog, but games come and go each month. Check the PlayStation Store before you buy.
What’s a good short story game for PS5?
Mixtape is one of the shortest story games on PS5 at 3–4 hours, and Stray takes about 5. Dispatch and Pragmata are both around 10 hours.
Which PS5 story games have multiple endings?
Among the story games PS5 owners can play today, Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Detroit: Become Human and Dispatch all have endings shaped by your choices. The Blood of Dawnwalker has five.
Final verdict
There’s no single best story game on PS5, because there’s no single way to tell a story. Want to cry? Play The Last of Us. Want your choices to matter? Play Baldur’s Gate 3. Want something new? Control Resonant and The Blood of Dawnwalker are 2026’s best. And if you only have an evening, put on Mixtape.
For more, browse our story-driven action and adventure coverage. We update this list of story games PS5 players should try every few months, as new releases arrive.