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There are plenty of 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 April 20, 2022 by Mark Sammut: Co-op can help a good game achieve greatness or make a terrible one easier to digest. It might be a bit of a cliche, but most things really are better with friends. These types of multiplayer games are not traditionally known for their storylines; in fact, quite a few barely have plots to speak of. However, there are a few exceptions, especially since it is not uncommon for story-driven single-player games to implement co-op. This article has been expanded to include a few more of the best ps5 co-op games with great stories.
13 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.
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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.
12 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.
11 Demon’s Souls
Those looking for a little “Dark Souls” co-op action can snag Demon’s Souls on the PS5 and cruise through the dark and gritty storyline with a friend. This original release has been remade for the modern age, including some fine-tuned gameplay and some immense visual upgrades. Demon’s Souls on the PS5 is a story-based hard-as-nails release that everyone should experience.
Although it’s a blast to run through no matter what, the fun is always amplified when bringing a friend along. This process involves summoning up to two other players as phantoms, who will stick around until a boss is defeated.
Elden Ring is also awesome and supports co-op.
10 Destiny 2
Although Destiny 2 is classified as an MMO, it doesn’t mean players can’t treat it like a Co-Op game. There is so much to see and do in this expansive release from Bungie and the upgrade to PS5 means players and their friends can run through beautifully-crafted Raids, PVP matches, and an open PvE world brimming with enemies and loot.
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Players that are curious about Destiny 2 can try it out for free, as Bungie is giving away access to the base game. It’s a great way to see if the looter shooter is a fit for gamers and their Co-Op partners.
9 Chicory: A Colorful Tale
Those that 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 in. It’s a great little indie-style gem hidden among the bigger Co-Op offerings.
8 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.
7 The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope has promptly been classified as an “interactive drama”, which is an accurate description of what players should expect when going into these games. Masterfully directed and with the Hollywood actor Will Poulter assuming one of the main roles, It truly feels like a movie, but one where the players have agency over the characters’ movements and actions. At its best, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope plays like a spiritual successor to survival horror classics like Silent Hill or Alone In The Dark.
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The two-player co-op mode is the intended way to experience the game’s story that follows four students and their professor as they explore the spooky, abandoned town of Little Hope, where they ended up because of an unfortunate bus accident. Interestingly, the developers have also included a “Movie Night” couch co-op mode, where up to five players can enjoy the game at once, controlling all of the on-screen characters. On average, this game takes about 4-5 hours to beat, meaning that players can get through it in one sitting.
6 Diablo 3
Those preferring a more action-focused approach will surely appreciate the ability to play Diablo 3 in crisp 4K and 60 frames-per-second on their brand new PS5. The third entry to Blizzard’s legendary action-RPG franchise is also the first one to introduce couch co-op on consoles, allowing players to explore Sanctuary together, from the comfort of their own living room.
The lore of Diablois extremely rich and full of interesting intricacies. Diablo 3 is set 20 years after the events of Diablo II, and the players are tasked with defeating the Lord of Destruction once again, this time to prevent an apocalyptic prophecy discovered in ancient texts from coming true. The plot is full of all the major dark fantasy tropes, so fans of the genre will feel right at home playing through this game, even if they have never experienced the older titles from the series.
5 Godfall
As one of the very few PS5 titles available at launch, Godfall does not reinvent the wheel with its gear-focused, slasher-type gameplay. However, with a heavy focus on online co-op play, it doesn’t really have to be innovative for players to enjoy everything it has to offer. The game is set in a high fantasy world, and the players are tasked with saving the realms of Earth, Water, and Air from an imminent apocalypse.
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While the main campaign borrows heavily from high fantasy classics, the story holds up quite well, especially when played with friends. As a PS5 title, it makes use of the DualSense’s haptic feedback mechanisms, increasing the immersion and turning the rather generic slash-loot-repeat gameplay loop into something truly unique.
4 Resident Evil 6
Back when it first came out in 2012, Resident Evil 6 was met with a flood of quite unfavorable reviews, with players and game critics claiming that the series has steered too far away from its survival horror roots and took up a more action-centric approach. As time went by, however, many players have come around to appreciate the title for what it was: a fast-paced zombie shooter with horror elements, best enjoyed in couch co-op mode.
With the refreshed look and improved framerate on the PS5, grabbing a friend and playing through four Resident Evil 6 campaigns is definitely worth doing, especially for Resident Evilfans who are yearning for a return to the third-person format. The campaigns follow four characters (Chris Redfield, Leon Kennedy, Jake Muller, and Ada Wong), who all play a part in the overarching plot revolving around a global bio-terrorist attack.
All of these separate stories converge at one point or another, revealing how the plot of one storyline affects all of the others, making the narrative all the more exciting, even to players who aren’t familiar with the franchise’s complex lore.
3 It Takes Two
Developed by Hazelight Studios, game developers whose primary focus are 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 traps her parents’ souls inside the toys, and they become the two player characters.
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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.
2 Outriders
Produced by People Can Fly, a studio that, like no other, loves to play around with and redesign the gameplay mechanics in popular genres, Outriders is meant to be a fresh take on looter-shooters that have proved to be incredibly popular in recent years. Whether it achieves that goal or not is up to the players to decide, but it doesn’t change the fact that Outriders is a high-quality game that’s a blast to play.
The game is focused on co-op play, and while it can be enjoyed solo, exploring Enoch with a three-person squad is definitely the superior option. The story revolves around the colonization of a new planet that goes horribly wrong and plunges the last remaining humans into a 30-year-long civil war. The engaging narrative is definitely a breath of fresh air for looter-shooter fans who have had to endure the lackluster plotlines of games like Destinyor The Divisionfor far too long.
1 A Way Out
Developed by Hazelight Studios, the creators of It Takes Two, A Way Out is a movie-like co-op experience centered around two fugitives who are out to get revenge on the same drug lord. The title’s unique approach towards storytelling through cooperative gameplay has not gone without recognition, and the title was awarded the British Academy Games Award for Multiplayer.
If not for A Way Out, Hazelight Studios would not have gone on to develop It Takes Two, which took their creative ideas for co-op play to a whole new level. Players who love gritty crime thrillers will be doing themselves a favor by picking up this title.
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