Summary
- The best PS5 RPGs contain well-written narratives that immerse players in different worlds.
- Games like Elden Ring, Persona 5 Royal, and Cyberpunk 2077 offer deeply engaging stories on PS5.
- RPGs like The Witcher 3, Disco Elysium, and Baldur's Gate 3 provide some of the best narratives in gaming.
RPGs are known for immersing players in a wide variety of adventures, often featuring strong character rosters, well-executed worldbuilding, and memorable villains. Whether through the complex themes these games explore, such as moral dilemmas faced by the protagonists, or through the way the narratives are crafted, what defines a good RPG plot is its ability to create a meaningful connection with those experiencing it.
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The best PS5 RPGs find ways to push the console to its limits, providing players with an engrossing experience unlike anything else that came before.
So, the PlayStation 5 RPGs with the best stories are those titles that offer a great focus on their plot, letting players experience different worlds in each one. These games feature a well-written narrative, character development that makes sense, and stories that keep players engaged until the final moments, standing out for those who value the narrative as the main part of the experience.
10 Elden Ring
A Fragmented Narrative That Rewards Player Curiosity
Elden Ring
- Released
- February 25, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
Renowned for its indirect storytelling, Elden Ring invites players to uncover its lore through environmental clues, enigmatic dialogues, and hidden item descriptions. Rather than following a linear protagonist, the story unfolds through the ruins left after the Elden Ring's destruction, exploring decay, ambition, and corruption. This fragmented structure enhances the emotional weight of every discovery.
Figures such as Melina, who offers cryptic guidance, and Malenia, marked by the Scarlet Rot, embody the sorrow rooted in the Lands Between. Their stories, shaped in part by George R.R. Martin’s worldbuilding, add depth to the setting. Each boss fight, location, or item becomes a piece of the overarching puzzle, making Elden Ring a masterclass in subtle, immersive narrative design.
9 Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
One of The Best Medieval Stories On PS5
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Released
- February 4, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Action-Adventure, Open-World
Just like its first game, but with an even more ambitious setting, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 aims to offer players an adventure grounded in historical realism. At the same time, the journey of Henry of Skalitz becomes one of the best stories in an RPG available on PlayStation 5, largely because of how the game handles many aspects of the period, such as politics and the hierarchy of 15th-century Bohemia.
The main story is centered around Henry’s desire for vengeance, while also exploring the war between King Sigismund and Wenceslaus. But the strongest point of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 lies in its characters. Not only is Henry a well-developed protagonist, but also Hans Capon, who reflects much of how the nobility behaved at the time. Making the interactions between him and Henry truly believable.
8 Persona 5 Royal
Atlus Delivers One Of The Best JRPG Narratives On Playstation 5
Persona 5 Royal
- Released
- March 31, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Drug Reference, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- JRPG
For players who manage to get past the slowburn beginning of Persona 5 Royal, which takes hours to introduce the universe's basic concepts, the JRPG offers one of the most enjoyable narratives found in any PlayStation 5 game. It presents a stylized critique of power abuse and societal pressures, especially in modern cultures like Japan, while also questioning the nature of justice.
Additionally, thanks to its social mechanics, allowing the protagonist to interact with numerous NPCs and build bonds during the story, Persona 5 Royal becomes a mix of superhero adventure, life simulator, and societal critique. This blend of themes, combined with the game’s fun mechanics, makes it an exceptional experience.
7 Cyberpunk 2077 And Phantom Liberty
This Sci-Fi RPG Have A Great Narrative
Cyberpunk 2077
- Released
- December 10, 2020
WHERE TO PLAY
Despite the main plot of Cyberpunk 2077 already being one of the best narratives among sci-fi games, its DLC Phantom Liberty elevates the experience, making the complete version one of the most compelling stories available on PlayStation 5. This RPG takes players to the dystopian future of Night City, where they control the mercenary known as V in a race against time to save himself while sharing his body with the engram of Johnny Silverhand.
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Through a narrative filled with difficult choices and a wide range of endings, none of which can be described as truly happy, Cyberpunk 2077 delivers emotional gut punches whenever the story turns introspective. With the Phantom Liberty expansion, the tone shifts toward espionage, but it maintains the same high quality and narrative pillars that made the base game so powerful, even influencing the possible outcomes for the protagonist.
6 Metaphor: ReFantazio
JRPG Features One Of The Best Villains Developed By Atlus
Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Released
- October 11, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
Even with a high fantasy aesthetic, Metaphor: ReFantazio tells a dense story focused on the political aspects surrounding the kingdom of Euchronia, where the king is assassinated and a tournament begins for popular acclamation to the throne. As players travel across the continent during this dispute, the narrative introduces its main themes, such as social inequality and especially the prejudices suffered by minorities.
What makes the narrative of Metaphor: ReFantazio one of the best among PlayStation 5 RPGs is the quality of the main characters, who accompany the protagonist with their own motivations, and also its villain. Louis is a well-developed antagonist, offering more than enough reasons for players to hate him, helping make the entire adventure even more impactful.
5 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
RPG Have A Very Good Narrative
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 93 /100 Critics Rec: 95%
- Released
- May 19, 2015
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Publisher(s)
- CD Projekt Red
WHERE TO PLAY
One thing that makes the story of The Witcher 3 so engaging is how the world and its characters are presented to players, where each new region visited by Geralt during his journey to reunite with Ciri feels like it has its own story to tell. That way, even the simplest quests along the way offer something interesting to discover or serve as foreshadowing for events that will unfold later in the main campaign.
Fortunately, this isn’t limited to the base game, as the DLCs released for The Witcher 3 also feature the same level of care in the new settings Geralt explores in these additional chapters of his journey. This attention to even the smallest details makes the narrative of this RPG not only one of the best stories available on PlayStation 5 but also a landmark in the genre.
4 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
A New Take On A Well-Known JRPG For Playstation Fans
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- Released
- February 29, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Although some choices made by Square Enix during the development of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth have made the game somewhat polarizing among players, many of the changes are for the better, turning it into one of the best JRPG stories available on PlayStation 5. One of its strengths is that the narrative works both for newcomers to the franchise and for veterans, who can view the events with a fresh perspective.
So, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth delivers a well-developed narrative that successfully recontextualizes many of the original game’s key plot points, especially the iconic moment when Sephiroth confronts Aerith in the Forgotten Capital. The game also uses these changes to give more development to secondary characters, making names like Barret, Yuffie, Tifa, and Red XIII even more engaging and essential to the main story.
3 Disco Elysium
A Narrative Revolution In RPGs
Disco Elysium
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 92 /100 Critics Rec: 96%
- Released
- October 15, 2019
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Developer(s)
- ZA/UM
- Publisher(s)
- ZA/UM
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- RPG
With a revolutionary style that replaces traditional combat with intense psychological conflicts and complex dialogues, Disco Elysium – The Final Cut deeply explores the psyche of its amnesiac protagonist through internal struggles. The game uses personified mental skills to build a dense plot, addressing themes like political failure, trauma, and ideology in an exceptionally engaging manner. This combination turns the decaying city of Revachol into a powerful emotional experience.
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Even more remarkable is the dynamic built between the protagonist and his partner, Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, whose patient and upright personality contrasts perfectly with the main character’s internal chaos. The friendship that can develop between them is genuine and well-written, delivering some of the most memorable moments in the RPG. These elements together cement Disco Elysium as an essential and innovative narrative within the genre.
2 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
It Is One Of The Most Surprising RPGs Ever Made
Disco Elysium
- Released
- October 15, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ due to Blood, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 offers one of the boldest narratives ever created for an RPG, embracing dark themes such as mortality, sacrifice, and existential dread. Players take control of Expedition 33, a group of individuals marked for death by a mysterious ritual known as the Gommach, with the mission to reach the Paintress before she can erase them from existence. How the game develops these events is one of its strongest aspects.
While the main narrative is already compelling, what makes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 an even better experience is its cast of characters. From the shocking arrival on the continent to a major loss that occurs at the end of Act 1, the game constantly surprises players with plot twists that carry emotional weight. The mature and complex characters further elevate the story, making it one of the most memorable in recent RPGs.
1 Baldur's Gate 3
RPG Delivers One Of The Best Narratives On Playstation 5
Baldur's Gate 3
- Released
- August 3, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
- Genre(s)
- RPG
What makes the story of Baldur’s Gate 3 one of the best ever made for a game is that it represents the peak of what an RPG should be, offering every player a personal narrative to follow. From the very beginning of Act 1, when the protagonist must choose whether to help the druids or side with the goblins to destroy them, the game demonstrates just how open-ended its plot can be.
Moreover, the story of Baldur’s Gate 3 scales in meaningful ways, placing players against enemies whose defeat can shape the future of the entire Forgotten Realms. At the same time, despite the grandeur of the main narrative, the game also presents personal choices that form the most compelling part of the journey. With one of the best stories ever crafted for an RPG, this game developed by Larian stands as a true milestone in the genre.
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