Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2 asks more of you than anything else on this list, and it does not apologize for it. The passive skill tree looks like a subway map for a city that does not exist. Free to play, genuinely so. No paywalled power, just cosmetics, worth noting given how many live-service RPGs stack the deck. Playing with a party online, someone always ends up the de facto expert explaining the trading economy to everyone else, and that person becomes essential fast. I do not have the hours some of my friends put into this game, and it shows every time we compare gear. If your group has one person willing to do the theorycrafting, this is one of the deepest loot chases on PS5.

I put an absurd number of hours into the original Path of Exile, so Path of Exile 2 was an automatic install the day it hit crossplay across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. The buildcraft is as deep as ever, and squad runs with friends on other platforms connect without fuss. It just did not surprise me the way I wanted it to. A few sessions in, it started feeling like more of the same systems in a shinier coat, which is fine but not the leap forward I was hoping for. If you want a heavier, more technical loot grind than Diablo IV and don't mind a steep learning curve, this earns a real look.

Full transparency here: I have already sunk a lot of hours into Path of Exile 2, so I am not objective. What I can tell you is that the author note attached to this game says the same thing, which probably tells you everything. It is a dark fantasy action RPG that does not hold your hand through its build systems, and that is the whole appeal. The skill tree is enormous. Loot decisions matter. Dying to a boss you underestimated and then figuring out why is half the game. Worth noting it is still technically in early access as of this writing, which means the content is not yet complete. What is there is already one of the deepest free ARPGs on PS5.

Path of Exile 2 has the most complex passive skill tree I have ever tried to understand in a co-op session. My friend and I spent the first hour in character creation debating builds we did not yet have the context to evaluate. That is either a selling point or a warning, depending on your group. For dedicated ARPG players who want to theorycraft between sessions and bring coordinated builds into co-op runs, this is the deepest option on the list. It is still in early access and the PS5 version has occasional rough edges to reflect that. Patience required, but the RPG depth is genuinely among the best in the genre.