The release of God of War Ragnarok means that Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 console has a new highest-rated first party release. The PlayStation 5 launched a couple of years ago, and it has enjoyed a steady stream of first-party games since then. Some of these are pure exclusives, like Returnal and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, but others are cross-gen releases that launched for both PS4 and PS5. God of War Ragnarok falls into the latter category.
God of War Ragnarok is a cross-gen game that doesn't require a PlayStation 5 to play, but those that pick it up on Sony's new console will undoubtedly have the superior experience. God of War Ragnarok on PS5 should run better than its PS4 counterpart, and it also takes full advantage of the PS5's unique features, like the DualSense controller's haptic feedback. There have been reports that PS4s are loud when running God of War Ragnarok, so that's another inconvenience those playing the PS5 version shouldn't have to worry about.
Regardless, God of War Ragnarok reviews have been overwhelmingly positive, with the game earning enough scores to land itself at a respectable 94 overall critic rating on review aggregate sites like Metacritic and OpenCritic. This ties God of War Ragnarok with the 2018 God of War game, which also has a 94 overall rating. It also makes God of War Ragnarok the highest-rated first-party PS5 game to date, pushing Demon's Souls out of the top position.
First-Party PS5 Games Published by PlayStation
- God of War Ragnarok - 94
- Demon's Souls - 92
- The Last of Us: Part 1 - 88
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - 88
- Horizon Forbidden West - 88
- Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut - 87
- Gran Turismo 7 - 87
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection - 87
- Returnal - 86
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales - 85
- Astro's Playroom - 83
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure - 79
- MLB The Show 21 - 78
- MLB The Show 22 - 77
- Destruction AllStars - 62
At the time of this writing, God of War Ragnarok and the Demon's Souls remake are the only two PS5 games with a 90 or above rating. The Last of Us: Part 1, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Horizon Forbidden West all come close with 88 ratings. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut, Gran Turismo 7, and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection all have 87, while Returnal has 86, Spider-Man: Miles Morales has 85, and Astro's Playroom has 83. Other first-party PlayStation games on PS5 have earned less than an 80 overall rating, but may still be worth a look, like Sackboy: A Big Adventure and the MLB The Show games.
Out of the games with an 80 or above, the pure PS5 exclusives are Demon's Souls, The Last of Us: Part 1, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Returnal, and Astro's Playroom. And out of those, only three are completely original releases, as Demon's Souls and The Last of Us: Part 1 are both remakes. Even so, Sony has built a decent selection of PS5 games since launching the console two years ago, especially when taking the cross-gen releases into account.
