The Xbox Series X|S and the PS5 are steamrolling their way towards store shelves this November, and earlier this month, GameSpot became one of the first outlets to produce a retrospective of the generation we’re about to leave behind. Or are we? With cross-platform compatibility more important than ever, and the Switch still going strong, the upcoming generation will probably look a lot like our current one.
Which might explain why GameSpot’s staff made a few unexpected picks for “The Best Current-Gen Games You Need To Play.”
For example, the battle royale genre is well-represented, but you won’t find GameSpot talking about Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
Instead, Jordan Ramée chose to highlight Respawn’s Apex Legends and the “fascinating” way it tells a story: “[U]sing the logistics of a games-as-a-service title to transform your evolving battle royale game into an episodic, narrative-driven game.”
Likewise, Eddie Makuch saw something equally special in Call of Duty: Warzone, explaining why it stands above other battle royale games: “Warzone hooked me the most due in part to its excellent controls, blockbuster action movie-like ‘I-can’t-believe-that-just-happened’ sequences, and an innovative system in the Gulag that eases some of the frustration that can come with battle royale games.”
Further down the alphabetical list, Dave Klein and Ashley Oh locked on to a pair of PS4 exclusives from earlier this year (Final Fantasy VII Remake and Ghost of Tsushima), leaving Sony’s other big 2020 release (The Last of Us Part II) out in the cold.
But it all comes back to those oddball choices, including two games (Grand Theft Auto V/Grand Theft Auto Online and Persona 5 Royal) that originally made their debut during the previous generation, as well as Rare Replay, a massive compilation that was released to celebrate the developer’s 30th anniversary in 2015.
Be sure to visit GameSpot to see more commentary on the rest of the list, which also includes Death Stranding, Quantum Break, Tetris Effect, and more than a dozen other titles (but not the ones you’re expecting).
GameSpot – The Best Current-Gen Games You Need To Play
- Apex Legends
- Bloodborne
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Death Stranding
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Grand Theft Auto V / Grand Theft Auto Online
- Hollow Knight
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Nier: Automata
- Outer Wilds
- Persona 5 Royal
- Quantum Break
- Rare Replay
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Rocket League
- Stardew Valley
- Tetris Effect
- Titanfall 2
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Yakuza 0