The Best PlayStation Games of 2022

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 3, 2023

Which PS5 and PS4 games impressed professional reviewers the most during the past year? We rank the best-reviewed PlayStation titles released between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion. If a game appears on both PlayStation platforms, only the version receiving the higher quantity of critic reviews (typically the PS5 version) is eligible for inclusion. (All scores listed here are from December 31, 2022.)

10 of 14 photo by Atlus/Sega

91 Persona 5 Royal

(#4) This year's first of four PlayStation games to score above 90 has its origins in the 2016 PlayStation JRPG Persona 5, later expanded and enhanced (and retitled Persona 5 Royal) for PS4 in 2020. This fall, Royal was ported to all current platforms. Part of a long-running Japanese multimedia franchise that has also spawned numerous Shin Megami Tensei titles, P5 Royal is another high school-set, turn-based RPG that finds students interacting with a supernatural world. While this PS5 port offers little new for prior owners of the game (other than high-end visuals and faster load times), it's probably the ultimate version of P5R for newbies willing to pay a premium price.

“If you already own Persona 5 Royal on PS4, then, there might not be enough here to convince you to buy it again. It’s a more pleasant, nicer-looking experience, sure, but beyond that it’s exactly the same game. For newcomers though, it should be a no-brainer. One of the best RPGs of the last decade, perhaps of all-time, now looks and plays better than ever before. And while it hardly transforms the experience, the inclusion of a substantial amount of DLC sweetens the deal.” —GameSpew

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