The 10 Most Overlooked PS5 Single Player Games

10 Most Overlooked PS5 Single Player Games

Welcome to MojoPlays and even though the PS5 is barely into the middle of its lifecycle, there are still plenty of games that have somehow managed to go almost completely overlooked by most gamers.

“Rise of the Ronin” (2024)

Upon its first reveal, many wrote Rise of the Ronin off as a Ghost of Tsushima clone, but in truth, the game has much more in common with Assassin’s Creed than Sucker Punch’s masterpiece. Set during the early 1900s in Japan, players are given a massive open world to explore, and their choices can affect the outcome of the narrative and their relationships with the many real-life historical figures they meet. The game’s combat is where the game truly shines, offering players various weapons to suit their playstyle and a plethora of satisfying finishing moves. The game does suffer from the traditional Ubisoft formula with an excess of map icons, but the world itself is fun to explore full of varied traversal mechanics. Assassin’s Creed fans who have been longing for the series to finally go to Japan or those anxiously awaiting the next Ghost game from Sucker Punch shouldn’t ignore Rise of the Ronin.

“Marvel’s Midnight Suns” (2022)

We’ll be the first to admit we were a little skeptical about this one when it was first announced. A card-battle-game set in the Marvel universe from the developers of X-Com? Seemed like a stretch. The use of randomized cards in turn-based battles was also a major hangup for us and seemingly quite a few others given the game’s lukewarm sales. However, what easily could have been a microtransaction heavy gacha game turned out to be surprisingly fleshed out and added additional strategic depth to battles. Getting to know the many familiar heroes in between combat encounters and using the growth of those relationships to unlock further combat abilities makes the time between battles just as important and thankfully all our favorite heroes are well written and fleshed out. Would we have preferred an X-Com style Marvel adventure? Absolutely. But if Midnight Suns clicks with you, it's one of the best superhero outings in years.

“Trepang2” (2023)

We’ll be featuring a lot of throwback games to scratch that nostalgic itch on this list so just be prepared for that. Not every first-person shooter wants to be the next Call of Duty, and Trepang2 takes more inspiration from the F.E.A.R series than anything else and honestly, we’re here for it. The use of slo-mo during gunfights is top notch with all the classic bullets and blood exploding in gloriously gratuitous fashion that fills us with childish glee for the days before everything was hyper-realistic. The plot is as forgettable as you could imagine but that's not what you’re playing this game for. The real draw is the ballet of bullets and the devs clearly had fun creating every single enemy encounter and given the game’s lightning-fast pace and the enemy’s surprisingly competent AI, each playthrough can end up feeling like a brand-new experience.

“Pacific Drive” (2024)

There is no greater bond than between a driver, the road, and their vehicle, and no game embodies this idea more than Pacific Drive. Set against the backdrop of supernatural shenanigans in the pacific northwest, players need to traverse the many dangers of the “Exclusion Zone” and gather resources to upgrade their station wagon to go further into the Zone for even better equipment and gear. The survival mechanics are deeply woven into the gameplay and with your home base on wheels needing constant maintenance in addition to experiencing supernatural events that give the car a mind of its own, every trip into the Zone is a new experience turning this extraction survival sim into more of a rogue like. The background narrative revolving around the events that led to Zone are wonderfully incorporated into the world itself and the deeper players go, the more they learn about the world.

“Still Wakes the Deep” (2024)

There is truly no shortage of horror exploration games out there but few if any are as immersive as Still Wakes the Deep. Set on an oil rig in the 1970s, everything about the rig is recreated with such impressive detail, you’d swear the developers had lived this life themselves. Full of interesting side characters, simply exploring the rig and getting to know your crew members is an experience itself. However, once the horror kicks in, it really kicks in. Drawing inspiration from Lovecraftian lore, the creatures the player attempts to escape from are truly spawned from the deepest nightmares. The isolation and claustrophobia of being trapped in the middle of the ocean is palpable and is arguably a terrifying experience all on its own. It’s rare when all the elements of a horror experience come together this perfectly, and the game’s relatively short length makes surviving this nightmare easily digestible in a single playthrough.

"Robocop: Rogue City” (2023)

Robocop has been around long enough that much of its “future” technology are now modern-day conveniences, but Robocop remains a timeless icon much like the Terminator and has finally received a game deserving of his status. Putting players in the cybernetic boots of the one-man police squad, players will need to clean up the streets of Old Detroit and the decisions they make during the game’s many missions can affect the overall outcome of the story, giving players far more agency over what easily could have been a traditional licensed shooter experience. Rogue City perfectly nails the aesthetic of the classic Robocop films and even got many series regulars to reprise their roles including Robocop himself Peter Wellers. Fans of the films or even just a good old first-person shooter experience owe it themselves to give this one a shot.

“Evil West” (2022)

With every game these days chasing the uncanny valley, sometimes you just want a game focused on nothing more than the power fantasy of letting you loose to have a good time. A throwback to the PS2 era of 3rd person shooters, Evil West sets players on a quest to quell a supernatural uprising and gives you an obscene amount of steampunk and Tesla inspired equipment to do it. A ridiculous premise, full of clunky dialogue, (in the best ways), solid, impactful and bloody combat, and some truly grotesque monster designs, Evil West knows exactly what it wants to be and wants nothing more than its players to have fun. Full of old school combos and finishing moves and a nice lean and linear campaign, Evil West is Blockbuster weekend rental of video games and the perfect nostalgic binge for players longing for the old school days of gaming.

“A Plague Tale: Requiem” (2022)

A Plague Tale Innocence enraptured players in the emotional journey of Amicia and her brother Hugo as they navigated the black plague and the endless streams of highly infected and deadly rats. The sequel managed to build on this premise in every way imaginable. The stakes and the world were much bigger, the number of rats and dangers the pair encounter are somehow even more insurmountable, and the emotional bond between brother and sister remains core to the journey as Amecia learns to deal not only with Hugo’s condition but the rage building inside her. The gorgeous world remains both tragically beautiful and horrific as they travel the French countryside running from both the rats and the Inquisition and combat has been greatly improved providing players with more options during encounters as well as more options to approach the game stealthily. The entire series deserves far more recognition than it has received.

“Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” (2024)

The Prince of Persia franchise has been dormant for the better part of a decade now and the planned remake of The Sands of Time’s future ended up needing a rewind itself, but in the meantime, Ubisoft took a break from the Assassin’s Creed machine to give players probably one of the best and most innovative Metroidvanias of the generation. While the game might be Prince of Persia in name alone, the puzzles, combat and world are all wonderfully designed and crafted with their own unique visual style and aesthetic. Over the course of the game, the player will acquire numerous time bending abilities that are well implemented into the gameplay and combat encounters along with some truly impressive boss encounters. The game arguably should have been a major hit with Metroidvania fans, but for whatever reason, the game disappeared from most players’ radar as the year of major releases carried on.

“Returnal” (2021)

It’s not often a critically acclaimed Sony first party game gets lost in the shuffle but barely a year into the PS5, and Returnal kind of just came and went. Developed by bullet hell maestros Housemarque, the team adapted their perfected style of gameplay to the 3D space and wrapped it all together in a twisting mind-bending time loop narrative that would have had Christopher Nolan checking the game’s Wiki for answers. Admittedly the game’s difficulty as well as the fact there was no way to save mid-run at launch was a strict barrier for entry, but that’s honestly also the game’s biggest draw. Not completing the game in a single playthrough, that was ridiculous. The Souls-Like difficulty mixed with rogue-like elements keeps those dedicated enough coming back for just one more run and the game’s surprisingly deep and emotional narrative is more than enough for the rest to push through the game’s difficulty spikes.

Which PS5 game do you feel deserves more attention from gamers? Share your picks in the comments.