Best PS5 Co-Op Games With Great Stories

Highlights

• PS5 offers a variety of co-op games, some of which have good storytelling despite not prioritizing it.
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora delivers a straightforward narrative with epic action and stunning visuals.
• Gotham Knights may have not met expectations, but its story is quite good, with genuine camaraderie among playable characters.

The PS5 is moving along nicely, and 2023 is shaping up to be the generation’s breakout year. There are already plenty of amazing games to play. The system’s backward compatibility alone grants players access to some of their favorite titles with a serious graphical boost.

There are quite a few great co-op games players can run on their PS5s and play with friends locally or through the internet. Enthralling storylines have never been the domain of these kinds of titles, but it doesn’t mean that good writing has never been successfully incorporated into a co-op game.

Updated December 24, 2023 by Mark Sammut: Although the PS5 is not lacking in co-op games, these releases tend not to prioritize their stories. For instance, Remnant 2 is a fantastic co-op option, but its story is hardly one of its selling points. While they might be quite rare, there are some co-op PS5 games with good-to-great stories.

9 Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora

Metacritic: 78

OK, it might be a stretch to describe Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora‘s story as “great” since it plays things very safe. That said, the game is a spot-on imitation of James Cameron’s movies in this area, delivering a straightforward but sound narrative defined by epic action alongside plenty of opportunities to take in the Western Frontier’s natural beauty. The latter is undoubtedly Frontiers of Pandora‘s main selling point since the open-world is nothing short of gorgeous, along with being as expansive as any other modern Ubisoft project.

Considering the gameplay is not far removed from Far Cry, the fact Frontiers of Pandora handles co-op similarly to that franchise makes sense. Avatar is generally presented as a single-player experience, but a guest can jump in at any moment, and their progress will be saved for their campaigns. Although nothing too special, this system works well and helps extend the game’s staying power.

8 Gotham Knights

Metacritic: 67

Gotham Knights garnered a mixed reception at launch, and that is being kind. In truth, it was among 2022’s most disappointing games, and its reputation has not started to mend. However, nowadays, Gotham Knights is far easier to recommend since it is frequently discounted and can be accessed through subscription services like PS Plus Extra. And, for all the title’s flaws, its story is quite good.

Sure, Gotham Knight‘s plot does not reach the same heights as the Bat Family’s greatest comic storylines nor does it match Rocksteady’s trilogy, but that does not mean it has no value. The playable characters share a camaraderie that feels genuine, and they grow quite a bit throughout the campaign. The central mystery/story is consistently engaging and well-written, even if it can be predictable at times.

7 Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The Lego games are always reliable options when it comes to lighthearted co-op games, and The Skywalker Saga is a contender for the best in the franchise. Covering all nine main movies, the campaign is chock-full of content, Easter eggs, and unlockable characters. Die-hard Star Wars fans should get a kick out of seeing this humorous but still quite authentic adaptation; conversely, people who are not that into the sci-fi property should still find something to enjoy in this gorgeous adventure.

Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga handles local co-op in largely the same way as other Lego games, permitting friends to go along for the ride without impacting much of the story. Online co-op is not supported, so this is just for those looking to take on the Empire from the comfort of a single couch.

6 Returnal

As part of the “Ascension” update, Returnal added co-op, permitting up to two players to combine forces. Only online co-op is supported, and the feature is activated once someone dies for the first time. After that point, that person will be able to host a public or private session from Selene’s crash site; alternatively, they can join a cycle. Co-op does not significantly change the Returnal experience, although the game’s difficulty is ramped up to make up for the fact there are two Selenes.

A rogue-like, Returnal follows a scout who lands on an alien planet and becomes stuck in a time loop. Delivering quite an emotional storyline that complements the premise and gameplay, Housemarque’s title is among the best PS5 co-op games on the market.

5 Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Those who are looking for something a little more relaxing and charming should check out Chicory: A Colorful Tale. It’s a great change of pace, putting players into a world that has seemingly lost its color and tasking them with literally painting things back to life.

It’s a joy to run through with a friend, and the story is heartwarming, to say the least. This is the perfect thing to pop in for a relaxing night on the couch. It’s a great little indie-style gem hidden among the bigger co-op offerings.

4 Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Gearbox’s Borderlands has been delivering fun co-op first-person shooter mayhem for over a decade, and all the entries are a blast in their own right. The first entry to debut directly on the PS5, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a spin-off that builds upon the ideas of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, a Borderlands 2 DLC. Set within the world of a tabletop game, players create a character and then go on a comical adventure to stop the Dragon Lord.

Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands has awesome gunplay, comfortably the best in the series so far. The story does not take itself all that seriously, and while the humor is hit-and-miss, the spin-off is more consistently charming than some of the franchise’s recent main entries. The overall narrative is rather forgettable, but the minute-to-minute writing is generally solid. This is an easy recommendation for fans of Borderlands or anyone looking for a lighthearted FPS set in a fantastical universe.

3 Baldur’s Gate 3

Roughly a month after coming out on PC, Baldur’s Gate 3 made its way to the PS5, and Larian’s project survived the transition in one piece. Based on Dungeons & Dragons, the RPG delivers in nearly every area, be it combat, customization, storytelling, or co-op support. The latter highlights Baldur’s Gate 3‘s tabletop origins since players can set up a co-op campaign save file that they revisit as a group; obviously, this can be quite a commitment, so the game also offers new players the chance to join existing playthroughs.

Set in a vast and complex world, Larian created a deep RPG that emphasizes player choice, particularly in its secondary content. The turn-based combat system can be initially overwhelming if someone is not familiar with the studio’s previous releases, but it is rewarding in the long run. In co-op, players are allowed and even encouraged to do their own thing and decide when they want to come together.

2 The Quarry

If horror is a group’s genre of choice, then they cannot really go wrong when it comes to Supermassive Games. The developer has carved out a niche for itself in the co-op interactive drama market, with Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology chapters all being dependable picks. 2022’s The Quarry serves as another feather in the studio’s cap, and it supports up to 8 players in both local and online co-op.

An ode to 1980s slashers, The Quarry wears its inspiration on its sleeve. As tends to be the case with these sorts of stories, the game finds a group of teenagers heading out to the eponymous location with plans to spend the night. Things quickly go wrong, and one of them might be responsible for the mayhem. Depending on how many people are playing the game, The Quarry could just assign a single character to every player, which will force everyone to decide whether they will prioritize self-preservation over what is good for the collective.

1 It Takes Two

Developed by Hazelight Studios, a company whose primary focus is co-op experiences, It Takes Two is a deeply emotional story of a little girl coping with her parents’ divorce by playing with hand-made rag dolls that resemble her mom and dad. The girl’s tears falling on the dolls trap her parents’ souls inside the toys, and they become the two-player characters.

Players will have to travel through magical realms that are a reflection of the parents’ positive memories of one another. By solving environmental puzzles and completing platforming challenges, they attempt to mend their broken relationship and get back into their own bodies. From the gameplay perspective, it’s a fun, challenging platformer that relies heavily on cooperation between players. However, it is its creative, unique narrative that makes this game a truly essential title to play on the PS5.

MORE: Easy But Fun Co-Op Games Great To Play With Less Experienced Players