We’ve put together a list of games that come with fantastic melee systems built to test your reflexes and ability to think on your feet as you take on either hordes of enemies or go head to head with deadly enemies who are just as skilled as you are.

It’s time to dive in! 

1. Lies of P

Neowiz’s take on the story of Pinocchio is nothing short of a masterpiece when it comes to how its combat systems convey a sense of danger while also making you feel powerful enough to take them down.

Although the action isn’t as fast-paced as some of the other titles on this list, the game necessitates a methodical approach to its madness. That’s not to say that things don’t heat up with a few bosses that up the ante with unrelenting, vicious combos that can push you to the limits of your skills.

However, a wide selection of weapons, skills, and the ability to mix and match between various weapons and handles can be a great way to get the upper hand. Finding a combination of weapons and skills that works for you is a feeling that other titles find hard to replicate. And that’s not to mention Legion Arms, each of which adds a new wrinkle to your playstyle.

Give this one a try for its story and intense gameplay.

2. The First Berserker Khazan

Neople’s take on the Dungeon and Fighter series blends a unique visual style with a combat loop that quickly becomes quite addictive despite a learning curve that can dissuade even the most determined of players.

Despite a limited selection of weapons, the game’s emphasis on raw aggression makes each fight a flurry of dodges, blocks, parries, and attacks that can quickly let you garner enough Spirit Points to unleash your most devastating skills while The Blade Phantom brings another layer of strategy to the table, allowing Khazan to harness the power of fallen warriors with some interesting effects.

This is a game that can test your patience but reels you in with its revenge-based story and well-designed encounters, aside from bringing a lot of replay value thanks to multiple endings for you to uncover.

3. Thymesia

If we were to complain about anything in Thymesia, its relatively short length is the only thing that comes to mind. Like Khazan, it’s a title that rewards aggression, with Corvus preferring to keep the pressure on his opponents at every instance. The ability to use your enemy’s own weapons against them while channelling your innate abilities to unleash some very cool moves comes together to present a combat experience that can be a challenge to master but is very rewarding to pull off.

When it’s played right, Thymesia is an absolute treat for players looking for a combat experience that lets them take on increasingly deadly threats with brutal efficiency and flashy style.

4. Sifu

This beat ‘em up action game from developer Sloclap is arguably the best martial arts title to be released in recent times. Aside from bringing the best of kung fu to every attack animation and enemies that ensure that those moves are put to good use, Sifu comes with a unique twist on resurrection after you’re taken down in battle.

This mechanic sees your character’s age go up every time they respawn, improving their attack power while lowering their defences. This could mean that even death becomes a strategic component, allowing you to take on increasingly difficult foes at the cost of a lower health bar.

It’s the perfect way to encourage players to constantly improve their skills while strategically using the game’s mechanics to give themselves a much-needed boost when things get out of hand. Its story may not be as interesting as Lies of P, but it’s nothing to scoff at either, making this a title that’s definitely worth your time.

5. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Wo Long is a refined take on the excellent combat mechanics that the studio established with its Nioh franchise. An obscure narrative and fairly linear world make this a game in which combat quickly becomes the star of the show.

Parrying flurries of attacks from enemies while building up your Spirit Gauge to cause some devastation of your own makes each fight a desperate battle for control, with even lowly grunts capable of taking you out with just a few hits.

 With each level in the game coming with a Morale System that requires you to defeat enemies in order to be capable to take on mini-bosses and bosses later down the line, Wo Long’s combat systems are a tug of war with your enemies as capable of summarily sending you back to the nearest save point as you are capable of sending them on their way to the next life.

6. Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut

The complete Ghost of Tsushima experience brings a poignant and riveting story, a beautifully crafted open world, and a sublime combat system that has a lot of depth to its mechanics. As a samurai forced to find new ways to take the fight to an invading Mongol army, Jin Sakai’s fight to defend his home sees him pull off some very flashy moves, assisted by your precision and sense of timing in every fight.

Leaping of your horse to challenge Mongol patrols to a standoff still feels as thrilling as it did five years ago, while flowing from stance to stance as we wield the Sakai clan’s katana and tanto against vicious enemies is an absolute treat for players who like to fight with style and flair.

Just be ready to have your heartstrings tugged on as you go further into this epic adventure.

7. Ghostrunner 2

For fans of first-person action, Ghostrunner 2 is quite easy to recommend, considering how its challenge lies in using Jack’s abilities with full awareness of what’s happening around him in any given situation. While his trusty sword is indeed a reliable killing tool, using it in tandem with all the other cool weapons he unlocks is paramount to victory.

His impressive parkour skills are as valuable to the game’s combat loop as the electrified Shurikens that eventually became an invaluable part of how we approached every encounter we had in the game. The cyber ninjas of Dharma Tower can be very deadly enemies, but for those of you who use every tool in your arsenal, they can quickly melt away in the face of your onslaught.

8. Hi-Fi RUSH

Hi-Fi Rush follows Chai, a young man who volunteers for Vandelay Technologies’ Project Armstrong in hopes of receiving a limb replacement. However, things quickly spiral out of control as he finds himself on the run from security forces, with a robotic arm and a target on his back. The game’s biggest hook lies in its rhythmic melee combat. Attacks and player actions are all synced to the beat, rewarding those who time their moves just right with extra damage and stylish combos.

9. Shadow Labyrinth

Bandai Namco’s dark and gritty reimagining of Pac-Man brings a combat loop that is a far cry from the character’s earliest appearances. Swordsman #8 might come with a limited set of skills and a distinct lack of options to heal himself while fending off enemies, but those limitations only serve to encourage a more strategic approach to the task at hand.

With exquisitely designed bosses and levels that are full of danger, this is an adventure that blends brains and brawn into a very attractive package that can keep you occupied for hours on end.

10. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black

If disabling your enemies in combat is more your style, Ryu’s adventures in this Unreal Engine 5 remake of Ninja Gaiden 2 is going to be quite a treat. However, your enemies could decide to cause as much damage as they can before their inevitable death, making this game’s combat an experience in which you are in danger of dying just as much as your opponents are.

With an emphasis on completing encounters while sustaining as little damage as possible, this game is one in which you need to be on your toes at any point in a fight and come out all the more powerful for it. However, using Ryu’s Ultimate Techniques and a host of other useful additions can ensure that you come out on top while managing to minimize the damage he takes while tearing through enemy ranks.

Bonus: Bloodborne

This list of titles with great melee combat experiences feels incomplete without mentioning Bloodborne, the FromSoftware masterpiece that shook up the studio’s combat formula back in 2015. Yes, it was originally a PS4 title and runs only via backward compatibility on PS5s at 30fps.

However, for those of you who can overlook that factor, its brutal combat and a selection of extremely cool weapons can quickly make you find yourself coming back for another bout against deadly bosses and enemies who can push you to the limit of your patience and skill.

It continues to be a unique and distinct take on the FromSoft formula, requiring lightning-quick reflexes and a very aggressive approach to take down its many threats. Approach this one with caution, and you’re sure to find many reasons to spend another hour in the streets of Yharnam.

And that’s a wrap on our favorite melee games that you can play on the PS5. We hope that you enjoy playing them just as much as we did!

1. Mass Effect 3’s Endings

The biggest innovation the Mass Effect trilogy gave to the industry was its consequential choices affecting the events of its sequels. You could kill off beloved characters, and even have access to exclusive quests tied to specific choices. But all of that brilliant branching narrative comes crashing down when Shepard activates the Crucible to destroy the Reapers at the finale of Mass Effect 3.

Players are presented with three endings, all color-coded and nearly identical to each other. Sure, the outcomes of the endings are different, but the scenes that accompany them show the same dramatic sequence with some very slight alterations. Mass Effect 3’s illusion of choice is presented to you by the Star Child character, a shoehorned projection that pops up out of nowhere. The endings of Mass Effect 3 feel so cheap and inconsequential that many fans refuse to play through the trilogy again because of them, despite how excellent the games themselves are.

Armored Core 6 

FromSoftware has done an excellent job with Armored Core 6 and made this entry a glorious comeback for the long-running series. Taking place on the planet of Rubicon 3, Armored Core 6 tasks players to partake in increasingly tough battles against different kinds of mechs. There’s just a distinct sense of power fantasy that comes from controlling a heavily armed mech, and the developer’s signature difficulty makes sure that this power fantasy always feels earned.

Street Fighter 6 

Street Fighter 6 adds plenty of new elements to this long-running fighting franchise including but not limited to a full-fledged open-world, and it gets all the better for it. The core fighting mechanics are extremely solid, and it’s a lot of fun to experiment with different characters and find out what catches your fancy. Street Fighter 6 has a really high skill ceiling, and it makes climbing to the top ranks really fun with its selection of diverse game modes.

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 

Mortal Kombat 1 2023 is an excellent new fighter that’s easy to pick up but difficult to master. There’s just a vast list of combos available for each of the dozens of characters, and mastering each of these moves lists one by one is a consistently enjoyable experience. The combat really kicks into high gear on higher difficulties, where you must study your opponent’s moves and quickly devise a strategy to defeat them all in a matter of seconds – and that is something that will keep you coming back for more.

Dead Space Remake

Dead Space Remake is a faithful recreation of the 2008 horror classic, and developer EA Motive has done a job of cleaning up its many rough edges. What we get as a result is a modern first-person shooter that’s every bit as addictive as it is scary. Sure, the encounters are not as frequent as other action horror games – but Dead Space Remake offers plenty of player freedom with its selection of different weapons, abilities, and dismemberment mechanics which makes it all so endearing in the first place.

Hi-Fi Rush 

Tango Gameworks surprised us all with the recently released Hi-Fi Rush, which is easily one of the most well-designed games in recent memory. The entirety of the game world moves to the beat, and you must keep in time with the rhythm as you dish out damage to your foes. It’s a simple gameplay loop that manages to be extremely satisfying due to its rhythmic nature, and it’s made all the better through the use of catchy tunes among others.

Final Fantasy 16 

Final Fantasy 16 features over-the-top, fast-paced, hack-and-slash combat, which makes the resulting experience nothing short of extraordinary. The combat feels extremely polished and fast-paced, and using your abilities and weapons in creative ways not only looks really flashy but also provides a distinct sense of power fantasy. Add to that some amazing Eikon fights, and Final Fantasy 16 becomes a really addictive game.

Batman Arkham Knight

Batman Arkham Knight might just be the end of the Arkham games as we know, and it wouldn’t be an understatement that Batman went down in style. There are a few rough edges here and there, but Arkham Knight nails the rhythmic combat that the series is known for. The parry timings are generously large, the moves really flow into one another, and there are plenty of combat challenges for players to test their mettle.

Ghostrunner 2 

Ghostrunner 2 excellently builds upon what came before in new and interesting ways, and what we get is a sequel that is bigger and better than the original in almost every conceivable way. The one-hit one-kill mechanic is utilized to the fullest extent, and players are expected to do a meticulous ballet of wall slides, slashes, and slides to clear out large rooms of enemies. Ghostrunner 2 has a really high skill ceiling, which is what motivates you to go back and do it all over again – and that is what makes it all so intrinsically addictive in the first place.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

MachineGames’ delivered an excellent shooter with Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, which smartly marries the chaotic shooting of 90s first-person-shooters with modern gameplay conveniences and open-ended design. The New Colossus really embraces the chaos with dozens upon dozens of enemies filling the arena at any given point and the ability to dual wield any weapon type, and that makes the experience really fun and replayable.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is an excellent sequel that does a fantastic job of taking what worked in the original and ramping it up to eleven. Everything from the traversal to the story and the combat has been improved in significant ways, which makes it all the more addictive. Parker and Miles both have different movesets and special abilities and chaining them together to create a flurry of hard-hitting combos delivers a power fantasy like no other. Add to that plenty of combat challenges, and Spider-Man 2 becomes a really fun action game. 

Soulstice 

Soulstice is in many ways a glorious throwback to hack-and-slash classics like Onimusha, and it does a really good job of simulating that flashy combat design that made those games so great in the first place. Soulstice’s unique mechanic of controlling two conjoined characters also adds a fresh twist to the experience.

Lies of P

Lies of P tells the story of Pinocchio in a rather unique fashion thanks to its dark fantasy setting, but it’s an experience that has plenty to love as well. The combat draws heavy influence from Bloodborne, so it naturally revolves around striking a careful balance between aggressive strikes and calculative dodges. It also infuses some of its own mechanics like attachable prosthetic tools and customizable weapons into the mix, which makes it feel unique in a way. It obviously has a learning curve to it, but once you really get to grips with the systems – Lies of P becomes a really captivating experience.

Elden Ring

FromSoftware knocked it out of the park with Elden Ring, and it truly feels like an amalgamation of the developer’s best works to date. The combat system is still about managing stamina and carefully dishing out damage to your opponents, but what makes it so addictive is the sheer variety of weapons on offer. You can be a master sorcerer with a buffet of spells under your belt or you could be tank dual-wielding heavy swords. The challenging enemies and compelling NG+ options make it really difficult for players, which is what makes Elden Ring so much more addictive. 

Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts might have looked like a Monster Hunter ripoff at first glance, but the game was able to legitimize its existence upon launch with its fun gameplay and unique set of crafting ideas. The Kemono battles offer a diverse set of challenges to overcome, and you can use your knowledge of the Karakuri technology to craft interesting solutions to these challenges. The progression loop and the general smooth-flowing gameplay loop makes it all really addictive, and fans of Monster Hunter should definitely check this one out.

Gears 5

Gears 5 puts players in the shoes of Kait Diaz as she embarks on a grand quest to find the origin of the Locusts, and it’s a journey that’s punctuated with some really amazing firefights. The cover-based third-person shooting has been refined to an immaculate sheen and everything from the feedback to the balance and intensity are on point – which makes it all such an amazing experience. 

Please note that this list is an unordered one, so the order in which these games are ranked has nothing to do with their respective qualities. Also for the sake of uniqueness, we have limited entries to one per franchise. 

With that out of the way, let’s begin:

Assassin’s Creed Unity

The Assassin’s Creed series of games is home to a number of excellent open-world experiences, although most would agree that Unity stands tall as one of the best stealth-oriented Assassin’s Creed games to date. Sure, the game suffered from a rocky launch – but now that its technical inefficiencies have been sorted out, fans can truly appreciate all that Unity did right. The densely packed and visually striking environments of the 18th-century palace house a wide array of techniques and opportunities to silently take down foes, and the fluid animation-driven parkour system is easily the best in the series. Furthermore, the game’s key assassination missions build on top of these mechanics by constructing open-ended missions with plenty of ways to go about taking down your targets.

Please note that there are major story spoilers for all the games listed below.

Halo: Combat Evolved – Just Getting Started

Halo: Combat Evolved ends with the protagonist Master Chief and his sidekick AI Cortana making a last-ditch escape from the titular Halo ring. After successfully making it out alive, Cortana reassures Chief that it’s finally over – to which Chief says, “No, I think we’re just getting started.” And of course, Master Chief was right – there were more Halos to discover and enemies to fight and meet. Halo: Combat Evolved might just be the most important game for Microsoft, and without its existence, Xbox wouldn’t exist today. It was also a pretty risky game for its time, so when the Chief said that it was just getting started – fans across the globe were elated that this was just a strong beginning to what would go on to become a system-selling juggernaut in the near future.

Uncharted 2 – Zoran Lazarević

Uncharted 2 is considered to be one of the finest games of the PS3 generation, although its final boss does leave a sour taste in most players’ mouths. The fight against Zoran Lazarevic isn’t the toughest, but it requires players to be almost perfect with their moves and sustain that momentum for a considerable amount of time. Lazarevic cannot be killed by traditional means, and players have to strategically make him chase you around the arena so as to be able to shoot the blue resin whenever he’s near. He takes a lot of hits to go down, although it would only require a couple of his grenade shots for you to lose this battle.

In the months leading up to the PS5’s price and release date reveal, many wondered about backwards compatibility with PS4 titles. Sony sort of addressed this with the announcement of the PlayStation Plus Collection. Essentially, if you own PlayStation Plus on PS5, you’ll have access to a curated library of PS4 titles for the console.

Said titles include Monster Hunter World, Persona 5, God of War, Bloodborne, Ratchet and Clank, Batman Arkham Knight, Days Gone, The Last of Us Remastered and much more. This is noted as being an “added benefit” in addition to other PlayStation Plus perks and won’t cost extra. Of course, this approach raises a lot of other questions.

What about other PS4 titles like The Last of Us Part 2 or Ghost of Tsushima? Will there be more games added to the PlayStation Plus Collection and if so, how long will it take? Can we expect kinds of backwards compatibility? There are more questions than answers, for sure.

Regardless, the PS5 finally has a release date and price. It’s out on November 12th in the US for $499 ($399 for the digital edition) and November 19th for the rest of the world.

METRO EXODUS

At the time of its release, every single Metro game has boasted phenomenal visuals, to the extent that even 2010’s Metro 2033 still looks great, and last year’s Metro Exodus upheld that proud tradition. Requiring a GeForce GTX 1070 or an RTX 2060 or an AMD RX VEGA 56 for the highest possible settings, and with full-blown support for ray tracing, Metro Exodus is by far one of the best looking games you can play on PC right now.

Obviously, there will be spoilers ahead.

THE ILLUSIVE MAN (MASS EFFECT 3)

The Illusive Man is perhaps the best villain in the entire Mass Effect series – and when you consider that the likes of Saren, Sovereign, and Harbinger are all Mass Effect villains as well, you know that that isn’t light praise. Mass Effect 3 specifically builds him up as one of your ultimate foes, so the fact that you never actually get to fight him is all the more disappointing. Indoctrinated as he was, going up against a much more powerful Illusive Man would have made for an excellent battle. And though the dialogue exchange between him, Shepard, and Anderson is intense, it’s still a bit deflating that you never actually get to fight him.