The Best Games Released on PlayStation 4 & PlayStation 5 in 2022

Almost a decade after the release of the PlayStation 4 and a little over 2 years since the PlayStation 5 launched, Sony’s lineup of consoles has continued to present some of the gaming industry’s finest titles. Between its massive blockbuster-scale adventures and small independent endeavors, the number of fantastic games to play on PlayStation platforms will seemingly never stop growing. Every year, Goomba Stomp gathers its staff to decide our site’s own game of the year, including console-specific picks. From Stray and Tunic to God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Forbidden West, this is Goomba Stomp’s staff picks for the best PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 games of 2022!

Editor’s Note: While we do not include ports in our list for Game of the Year, we do include games that have come to a platform for the first time on our individual best console games lists. For that reason, games that have made the jump to a PlayStation platform for the first time ever this year are included on this list.

22. Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep was such a special and memorable experience in 2014 that, as with many beloved games, the question of whether a follow-up or sequel is necessary or even welcome tends to be asked. The near-perfect tale of a grieving teenager distracting herself from the pain and misery of loss through the medium of board games and silly fun left such an impact that to this day it’s considered one of the best DLC expansions in gaming. How could there be another story worth telling when one of the most meaningful and emotional Borderlands stories had already been told?

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands answers this question not by trying to be better than Assault on Dragon Keep, but rather by being itself. It’s a story about having fun with friends and doing things your own way. Behind all the goofy fun and hilarity lies an adventure with a heart and soul, and it’s obvious that this was a passion project for the developers. Certain small moments and story twists gave a tangible sense of excitement, wonder, and even heart-wrenching emotion at times. Wonderlands is excellent by itself, but also retrospectively enhances the experience of Assault on Dragon Keep with its meaningful additions to the lore. (James Cook)

21. Infernax

What do you get when you combine the relentless difficulty of the original Castlevania with the rock-and-roll attitude and explosive gore of Doom? Probably something along the lines of Infernax, a retro-inspired sidescroller that is deceptively deep and endlessly rewarding. The tough (but fair!) action may serve as a hurdle to overcome, but players who persevere will feel incredible satisfaction at meeting the difficult challenges in store. Infernax also makes clear nods to Zelda II and Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest by including map-spanning side quests without being overly cutesy or referential. For fans of fast-paced action who enjoy overcoming difficult bosses, Infernax is just what the clergyman ordered. (Cameron Daxon)

20. Trek to Yomi

Samurais have always been “cool” in pop culture, but there haven’t been many great representations of them in the video game space. Enter Trek to Yomi, a jaw-dropping cinematic adventure that manages to perfectly blend tight swordplay with film-like story and presentation values. Inspired by 1950s-1960s Japanese cinema, the art direction of Trek to Yomi is its most striking feature. A distinct film grain filter and greyscale color pallet evoke the classic samurai films that defined the genre for decades. Though usually villainized in modern gaming, the fixed camera angles here add to the cinematic nature of the presentation and never impede on exploration or combat. What results is an art direction that’s incredibly clean, well-realized, and stylish.

Outside of its beauty, Trek to Yomi succeeds as both a memorable adventure and a diligent homage to the peak of samurai cinema. Dialogue is consistently strong from both a writing and performance perspective, and the swordplay is tactile and fluid with countless unlockable combos and finishers for players to learn and master. Add in a near-perfect parry system and a unique atmospheric shift in the second half, and Trek to Yomi stands tall as an achievement in action-adventure design. (Brent Middleton)

19. The Quarry

Supermassive Games is back with a cinematic thriller that incorporates several different genres of horror, as well as plenty of twists and jump scares to keep players at the edge of their seats until the very end. Published in collaboration with 2K, the creators took the bold move of explicitly labeling it as the spiritual successor to Until Dawn – going so far as recruiting big stars such as David Arquette, Ted Raimi, Lance Henriksen, Justice Smith, and Lin Shaye— and like Until Dawn, The Quarry will please fans of slashers movies and choice-based narratives. And if this is your first foray into their games, The Quarry is an excellent jumping-in point thanks to the simple gameplay that never involves pressing more than one button at a time.

Equal parts clever and suspenseful, The Quarry earns its ten-hour runtime thanks to the standout performances, sharp writing, and gorgeous cinematic presentation. And with no less than 186 different endings, it’s great to know that no two players’ experiences will be the same. (Ricky D)

18. Ghostwire Tokyo

Ghostwire: Tokyo does the important things right. The main story and side missions are well-written and often genuinely funny, a credit to the localization team. It looks truly spectacular, even in cutscenes with simple dialogue between two characters. Players can pet dogs and cats they find on the street, an extremely wholesome addition to the genre. For those tired of the vastness of recent open world titles, they will revel in the density of Tokyo.

Ghostwire: Tokyo, a gorgeous first-person action game from Tango Gameworks that seeks to redefine what supernatural thrillers can look like and feel like. While the game is mostly concerned with placing the player in high-octane battles against various ghosts using elemental magic, Ghostwire: Tokyo also offers a surprisingly robust education in traditional Japanese folklore and horror. As an open-world experience, the game is not without its flaws. But for the curious who are fortunate enough to own a PlayStation 5, Ghostwire‘s unique storytelling and setting raise it to instant cult classic status. (Cameron Daxon)

17. Return to Monkey Island

Return to Monkey Island is for everyone. From the genre diehard who reveres Ron Gilbert to the newly-indoctrinated point-and-click fan, there is always something to latch onto. Whether it’s the witty romantic banter between Guybrush and Elaine or a withering remark from a sneering pirate rival, the writing always feels fresh. The accessibility options, the hint book in particular, are a revelation, something that every adventure game developer should consider. But best of all is the developer’s note that appears in the scrapbook upon finishing the game. Heartfelt and honest, Gilbert and Grossman provide the player a rare peek behind the scenes and into the minds of veteran developers. This touching tribute to the Monkey Island series serves as a “thank you” to fans, and is a celebration of what makes adventure games great. (Cameron Daxon)

16. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the definitive LEGO Star Wars game, and should also preferably be the only one of its kind attempted on this scale. On one hand, The Skywalker Saga provides a gorgeous and meticulously designed reimagining of one of the most influential movie franchises in existence, packed with humor that both children and adults can laugh at as well as fun and engaging levels that help shake up the traditional LEGO game formula. On the other hand, however, The Skywalker Saga is a collectathon game that pushes itself arguably too far in the direction of filler side content and repetitive open-world gameplay, with a bloated 80-hour runtime for completionists that overstays its welcome.

Fans of Traveller’s Tales’ previous work and of the Star Wars franchise will likely adore The Skywalker Saga and sing its praises for years to come. Its cutscenes and story will seldom leave players with straight faces and the game oozes a level of charm that is rarely seen in the LEGO game franchise given how stale some of its entries have been in the past few years. In every meaningful way, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is three LEGO games in one, and when enjoyed through this lens it quickly becomes one of the most entertaining and memorable games of the year. (James Cook)

15. Cult of the Lamb

There’s just something so delightfully madcap about a game like Cult of the Lamb. For all intents and purposes, cults shouldn’t be cute or funny. However, that’s exactly what makes this game such a total joy to experience. Everything can be adorable when framed through the lens of cuddly forest animals, and the juxtaposition in this particular situation is just all the more amusing. Of course, that wouldn’t be worth a damn if Cult of the Lamb wasn’t also a really fun rogue-lite dungeon crawler and farming/town sim. Couple the addictive gameplay loop that this indie gem sets you on with all of its lovable charm and wit, and you’ve got yourself an absolute winner in just about every category and one of the best games of the year as a result. (Mike Worby)

14. Vampire Survivors

There is no game that has had the same kind of momentum that Vampire Survivors has enjoyed over the course of 2022. After a lengthy early access period, Vampire Survivors recently had its 1.0 debut to record-smashing success. A survival-focused auto-battler that throws literal thousands of enemies at the player as they attempt to defeat as many denizens of the night as possible before eventually becoming overwhelmed, Vampire Survivors is one of this year’s most unique indies. The art style is simple, but evocative, a fun twist on character designs from Castlevania and Ghosts ‘N Goblins. A steady stream of free updates and a seemingly never-ending menu of unlockable items and player characters provide Vampire Survivors with a ton of longevity. It is a timesuck, but proudly so; if it ever comes to the Nintendo Switch, say goodbye to your free time. (Cameron Daxon)

13. Weird West

Raphaël Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios (Arx Fatalis, Dishonored, and Prey) started Wolf Eye Studios along with Executive Producer, Julien Roby. Their first outing is a trip to the old west, steeped in fantasy and the occult, where gunslingers cross paths with old magic and ghoulish, stygian nightmares. All in an immersive-sim package. Weird West’s story follows five unique characters in a world that reacts and adapts to every choice. The difficult task of writing a satisfying narrative that adjusts to a player’s every whim is handled with deft expertise and written in a tongue that is familiar yet weird.

Fans of the genre will revel in the freedom of this macabre, sandbox wasteland. Banks and shops can be scouted and lifted of keys in the day to be robbed at night, while a more noble drifter can take bounties dead or alive. Settlements can be massacred and turned to ghost towns. Enemy hideouts can be stealthily infiltrated, slinging ropes down chimneys and abusing flaws in security perimeters, or assaulted head-on with hired help. Trifling with gangs will lead to vendettas and ambushes while journeying across the land. This is all backed by a haunting and visceral score that sounds like music birthed from the land itself. It’s a rare title with love infused into every corner and should not be missed. If this is just the start of this team’s efforts then the future of Wolf Eye Studios looks like a bright one that won’t just set in the west. (Geordi Ferguson)

12. OlliOlli World

Don’t let the charming cartoon aesthetic and lo-fi soundtrack of OlliOlli World fool you—this is a deviously difficult skateboarding game. Many of the later levels require extreme precision from your jumps and grinds, and optional challenges often necessitate mastery of the game’s trick system. But try not to let that scare you off—OlliOlli World does an exceptional job at slowly introducing its myriad mechanics to the player, to the point where optional challenges never ask you to perform techniques that the game did not explicitly teach up to that point.

This combined with the campaign’s carefully designed difficulty curve ensures that players never feel underequipped to tackle any given level or objective. And players will definitely want to complete them, as the quality on display in OlliOlli World’s levels is staggering. Grind rails, walls, and other stage elements are deliberately placed to allow for that perfect flow state, which always feels great to achieve partially due to the game’s exaggerated sense of momentum. And because the trick system is so deep, even seemingly flawless runs will always have room for improvement, which is perfect for a game that places so much emphasis on player expression.

Content-rich, mechanically complex games like OlliOlli World do not come around often, and that makes it feel all the more special. (Daniel Pinheiro)

11. SIGNALIS

An absolutely incredible survival horror experience reinvigorating the genre, Signalis crafts an emotional cosmic journey through a future where humanity seems to have uncovered something great, dark, and terrible. You take control of a technician android known as a ‘Replika’ named Elster, waking up on your ship and attempting to piece together exactly what has happened. There are swarms of terrifying creatures finding unique ground somewhere between Lovecraft and Masahiro Ito, along with a host of friendly characters you briefly run into, but this feeling of loneliness and dread hangs over every interaction.

Signalis utilizes real numbers stations alongside mind-bending cryptic imagery, the experience itself feels so full and exciting whilst keeping up this heavy atmosphere all the way through. Coupled with clever classic survival horror gameplay and a collection of fresh and varied puzzles, Signalis is a joy to play. When the perspective shifts, and we get segments in a 3D first-person environment, the spooks get taken up another notch. Elster’s journey, searching for her lost partner through her ship, a government facility, and the grotesque depths of the underground, got its hooks into me instantly and never let up until the last minute. Signalis is truly a special game, reinvigorating the genre and putting together this addictive mystery that the player unravels with the character. (Shane Dover)

10. Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

This is the story of a game called The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe.

The Stanley Parable was an independent adventure title created only for computers all the way back in 2013. From the mainstream outlets like Destructoid and IGN to the big YouTubers and Steam player base, The Stanley Parable was an acclaimed hit paraded for being a self-aware masterpiece like no other. Last month, as the game approached its ten-year anniversary, publisher Crows Crows Crows decided to shadow-drop an announcement: a brand new version of the game, The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, would be coming to consoles and Steam. Everyone at Goomba Stomp jumped for joy… and so should every PlayStation player!

It’s been almost a decade since The Stanley Parable first hit the digital marketplace, and the game has not aged a day–Davey Wreden and William Pugh’s moral commentary is arguably more relevant now than it was during 2013. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is no dishonorable excuse to keep a classic’s legacy alive for another generation via a simple port to modern hardware; it legitimately justifies its existence by meticulously cramming a small sequel inside of itself. Whether you are a player looking for laughs or someone searching for a serious interactive analysis of a subject, there are so few reasons why anyone should not experience The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. (Marc Kaliroff)

9. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

For decades, the beat ‘em up was, at best, a relic of a bygone era of gaming: a stalwart of coin-hungry arcade galleries, the simple high-score-driven gameplay loop of the beat ‘em up genre was left by the wayside as home console gaming became more ambitious and more prominent. Yet over the past few years, the genre has enjoyed a veritable renaissance, with titles like River City Girls, Young Souls, and Streets of Rage IV bringing it back to the forefront. With Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, DotEmu and Tribute Games have delivered what might be the genre’s best showing this generation.

Shredder’s Revenge carries on the TMNT franchise’s legacy of excellent action games with an old-school-style adventure. Whether you’re playing solo or with a group of up to four players in local or online co-op, Shredder’s Revenge recaptures the addictive magic that made the series’ entries back on the Super Nintendo so compelling. It’s unabashedly simple—each level boils down to “walk to the right, punch anything that moves”—but it’s the moment-to-moment gameplay, the satisfying mechanics, the expressive character animations, and boisterous personality that make the game so hard to put down. With a varied roster of playable characters and fearsome foes drawn from the series’ golden era in the 80s and 90s, Shredder’s Revenge is like a playable episode of the cartoon in all the best ways. Whether you grew up with the classics or hopped on board with the series’ latest iterations, there’s plenty to love about Shredder’s Revenge. (Campbell Gill)

8. Sifu

Sifu is the ultimate tribute to the kung-fu films and games of yesteryear. A tale of revenge with all the stylings, yet it carries an undercurrent of heart rarely pulled off in the genre by focusing on martial morality and Confucian values. Sifu manages the difficult task of being unbelievably cinematic while still having an intricate combat system, giving it the best of both worlds. It’s backed by arcade sensibilities that elevate its martial arts basis of repetition equals mastery. Excellence is pure habit and Sifu demands it making every encounter down to nameless goons a formidable opponent.

The five masters on the protagonist’s hit list are deadly, fascinating, and varied, as are their hideouts, each reminiscent of a sub-genre of kung-fu fiction with incredible art design and exquisite attention to detail. It’s a visceral and rewarding journey of mastery that can only be pulled off in this medium. This perfect merging of gameplay and story makes Sifu a martial arts masterpiece that should not be missed. (Geordi Ferguson)

7. Horizon Forbidden West

Five years after Aloy became one of PlayStation’s modern icons, Guerilla Games continued to fire off on all cylinders as they set their brave young hunter’s sights on the dangerous west side of America. Horizon Forbidden West is a fantastic sequel to 2017’s ambitious Horizon Zero Dawn, even if it offers more or less the same experience with a larger emphasis on scale. While it still carries over some of the same problems Zero Dawn fell victim to, Forbidden West is a careful follow-up to Aloy’s original story that visually and technically always flaunts its shambled world that breeds together the ways of the future and the past.

Perhaps its spectacle can get in the way of exploring new ideas, but its efforts to build upon the already entertaining gameplay foundation of Zero Dawn never fails to please. Between the thrill of the hunt and the need to continue her heroic quest to save what remains of the world, Horizon Forbidden West pushes Aloy into a fulfilling direction that will only leave players wanting more. By the time the player reaches Aloy’s final confrontation with her newest foe, they will only be in awe over the story’s direction and how the Horizon series has continued to take extraordinary routes to isolate itself from the rest of PlayStation’s impressive first-party lineup of narrative-driven rollercoasters. (Marc Kaliroff)

6. Neon White

Neon White is a glorious gift from Donut County creator Ben Esposito and his one-time get-together development team, Angel Matrix. Once a player steps into this unholy iteration of heaven and pulls their first trigger, they will be locked tightly into the game’s premise of exterminating every demon inside its stylistic octane bloodbath. While Neon White may not be revolutionary in terms of providing new ideas to its genre, the way the game has refined and combined its runner, first-person, and role-playing elements together is absolutely gratifying. There is an addicting replay value to Neon White that not many other games in its genre can share.

Between the time challenges, discoverable gifts, standard missions, and side conversations to explore, more than enough content has been elegantly stuffed into Neon White to keep players engaged right up until they see the game’s two credits roll. Even if mission levels are supposed to take less than a minute to complete, it is so easy for players to find themselves replaying each a dozen times before moving on. Ben Esposito may have been aiming to please a niche audience with Neon White, but there is no doubt that this absolute knockout will likely find an audience far beyond the cult following target Angel Matrix was going for. Neon White will keep players running until they reach the finish line of White’s story. (Marc Kaliroff)

5. Stray

Few games released with more hype than Stray, a platforming adventure game set in a stunning cyberpunk dystopia starring an adorable orange cat. There is much to love about Stray: the worldbuilding is clear and prescient, painting a future that is uncomfortably close to reality. The game looks incredible from tip to tail, proving that in a year packed with massive AAA releases, a densely packed city block can be just as intriguing as a sprawling map.

But the draw is the player character, a curious feline that is so realistically animated that upon the game’s release an entire cottage industry sprung up overnight of social media users recording their own cats reacting to Stray. The cat and their backpack instantly won the hearts of the internet. For a studio’s first effort, Stray is a magnificent example of a game that focuses on doing a few things extremely well. Its success is evidence that a more focused approach can yield an experience that is both adorable and instantly memorable. (Cameron Daxon)

4. Tunic

Sometimes a novel hook is its own reward. Tunic thrives on this principle by dropping you into a world where you don’t know what’s going on and forcing you to experiment to learn what’s even possible for you to do in the game. In essence, it’s just a Zelda clone with some souls-like energy grafted onto it, but the ripped-out pages of the manual that you find throughout change so much of how you experience the game that it becomes this odd little mystery box where it feels like anything can happen.

Games like Tunic are just as tough on your mind as they are on your reflexes, and with its hundreds of hidden little secrets, tricks, and messages, the game is something so special at the same time as it is just so obtuse. Still, that’s Tunic‘s charm in the end, that you will feel compelled to push past all of the confusion and frustration just to spend more time in its incredible little world. (Mike Worby)

3. Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

Cuphead was already a remarkably impressive work of art back when it was first released in 2017, but the release of The Delicious Last Course DLC expansion managed to make it that much better. This is not to say that The Delicious Last Course serves as some grand innovation of the Cuphead formula; at its core, this expansion simply adds a few extra bosses and a new playable character for veterans wanting a bit more meat to the base game. Fortunately, Studio MDHR more than delivered with this extra content, proving that Cuphead has not lost an ounce of its allure after nearly five years. 

The developers went all out with the new bosses here, producing some spectacular encounters that are immensely enjoyable to replay again and again. All of them boast challenging, intricately designed attack patterns that constantly keep players on the move, and despite how overwhelming they can be, they rarely, if ever, feel unfair. Although none of these bosses fundamentally change the core gameplay, the developers were not afraid to have them push Cuphead’s mechanics in interesting, creative ways. The base game was already known for being a visual marvel, but the new bosses still manage to raise the bar in terms of animation quality. In particular, the final boss has what are probably some of the most mind-blowing pieces of animation to ever grace a video game. 

The cherry on top of this immaculate sundae is the addition of Ms. Chalice, a character that offers an engaging, more forgiving new playstyle that never outright nullifies the challenge that Cuphead is known for. The Delicious Last Course may not be a big meal, but every bite is worth savoring. (Daniel Pinheiro)

2. God of War Ragnarök

It is hard to overstate just how much of an achievement God of War Ragnarök is. The follow-up to the highly acclaimed 2018 revival of the God of War series, Ragnarök takes incredible leaps in both storytelling and gameplay. The game pays off story threads established over a decade ago, anchored by a stunning ensemble performance cast. Combat is endlessly enjoyable, varied and difficult but with enough accessibility options to allow players to progress in any way they see fit. Though Ragnarök is available on the PlayStation 4, it looks stunning on the PlayStation 5. The art direction is impeccable, and the score is Game Awards-worthy. But perhaps the greatest achievement of God of War Ragnarök is in how it handles its quiet moments.

When faced with the inevitable, Kratos and Atreus choose to fight against their fate. But though Ragnarök is filled with spectacle and bombast, it is laced with subtle character moments and well-written favors that show the developers had goals beyond pushing Sony’s hardware to its limit. Rather than a bloody tale of vengeance, Ragnarök instead focuses on what it means to accept your past and create your own future. If this ends up being the last time players see Kratos, it is a worthy sendoff to a venerable character. (Cameron Daxon)

1. Elden Ring

FromSoftware’s latest evolution of the legendary Dark Souls formula is by far their most ambitious yet, and the colossal open world of the Lands Between stuns not only with its beauty but with the hundreds of secrets waiting to be discovered. Delivering a near-unprecedented level of player freedom, Elden Ring thrusts its Tarnished warriors into a desolate kingdom to fight for fame and glory with a core gameplay loop that doesn’t reinvent the FromSoftware action-RPG formula but instead ramps up every aspect.

Each region of the Lands Between is a small game in itself, and the map continues to expand no matter how many dozens of hours are spent scouring its every corner for loot. The diversity of weapons, spells, and player builds begs for multiple playthroughs to experiment with the vast array of collectible items. Boss encounters are more terrifying than ever, sporting agile and diverse movesets that test players to their limit in true FromSoftware fashion, but a new spirit ash summon system levels the playing field by opening up countless new opportunities to summon powerful NPC allies in times of need, making Elden Ring the friendliest Souls-like experience for newcomers while maintaining a challenge for those who seek it.

Elden Ring is a rare breed of game that provides a unique experience to every player. Regions can broadly be tackled in any order and by any available means, coalescing in a grand journey of conquest and discovery that dwarfs any of the Dark Souls games before it in scope. The sheer flexibility of Elden Ring is its core strength, and the overall consistency of its quality is a breathtaking achievement. It is the culmination of a decade of innovative game design that prioritizes the player’s journey over its own narrative, and the result is an unforgettable game that will be talked about for years to come. (James Cook)