The PlayStation 4's launch day has come and gone, and following a bit of PSN-related drama that kept players from connecting early on Friday things have been going very smoothly (for everyone but Battlefield 4 players, at least.) But with Sony's suite of first-party games largely disappointing critics, which titles have become the must-have games for the system? 

We've played just about all of them, and while it'll take a while for all of our reviews to make it out, take this list as our official recommendation if you're getting Sony's new console this holiday season. These are the five best launch games on the PlayStation 4.

(Again, we're not counting Battlefield 4 here yet because the game is all but broken. Once its issues are sorted out it promises to be the best shooter available for PS4, so consider this a vague recommendation if you're buying after the server issues are sorted out.)

5. Contrast

Contrast has a striking look to it, but it's not just the unique, vaudevillian art style that makes this charming indie puzzler stand apart. In Contrast, shadows are your friends. Your character, a lithe acrobat named Dawn who may or may not be a figment of the young Lilly's imagination, can meld with the shadows to become one herself, traversing them as platforms to reach new areas of the real world. This leads to a lot of light-based puzzle solving and a lot of carefully-timed platforming as you use the shadows of moving people as ramps and elevators to scale the game's gorgeous environments.

The physics of the platforming can get a little wonky at times, which is why Contrast didn't score higher up on our list. But its unique world and startlingly macabre storyline, coupled with its unique core mechanic, make Contrast an engaging experience unlike any other on the platform. And, best of all, it's free for PlayStation Plus subscribers!

4. Need for Speed: Rivals

Despite being the work of new developer Ghost Games, Need for Speed: Rivals feels like the natural continuation of the work that Criterion Games did on NFS: Hot Pursuit and last year's Most Wanted. There's still an engaging cops-vs-racers mechanic at the heart of Rivals, but this year's game cranks the antagonism up to 11 with an always-online world in which your opponents could at any time be real players. The engaging risk/reward mechanics at the heart of Rivals encourage you to push your racing skills (and the boundaries of the law) to the limit by banking XP between events - but you can only cash in that XP if you return to a safehouse without being taken down by cops.

It's exhilerating to know that your massive XP streak could end at any time, and at the hands of another player at that. And without DriveClube to fall back on, racing fans who've hitched their ride to Sony's console will be pleasantly surprised by the weighty car physics that drive this thrill of a racing game.

3. Resogun

Resogun is the latest in the Geometry Wars-inspired "neon shooter" genre that now seems to pop up at every major console launch, and it certainly scratches that itch with aplomb. But where Geometry Wars and Housemarque's own Super Stardust merely asked players to survive, Resogun has them rescuing trapped humans from sinister aliens before taking down massive bosses on a cylincdrical plane. So while many of the same elements that made Stardust before it great are present in Resogun, the game superficially has more in common with classics like Defender. 

The added objectives create an even higher skill ceiling, one that you'll be pushed to by the game's punishing difficulty. If ever there was a game that demanded you be "in the zone," it's this. Luckily, the trance-inducing visuals and pumping suondtrack are highly conducive to that state of mind, and before you know it you will have whiled away an hour on this highly replayable shooter.

Again, this one's free for PlayStation Plus members, so you have no excuse to miss it.

2. LEGO Marvel Superheroes

Perhaps the most unassuming PS4 launch title, LEGO Marvel Superheroes is also one of the most charming and fun games to hit shelves over the last month. The whole Marvel cast comes together for this frankly epic adventure that mixes action and LEGO's trademark cheesy humor to great effect. Mixing and matching heroes in the game's action-packed story levels is a blast, but it's the hub city of New York that really impresses with its numerous side missions and nods to Marvel lore. Whether you're a comic fan or you just like fun games, you'll find lots to love in the most polished LEGO adventure yet.

1. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin's Creed IV might be a cross-generational title, but nobody seems to have told Ubisoft that. The game's sprawling open world and beautiful visuals run best on the PS4, where the game hits a native 1080p and a solid 60fps at all times. Additionally, the slow pacing and po-faced characters that turned some people off of AC III are nowhere to be found in this game. Newcomer Edward Kenway is a loveable rogue of a protagonist, and he inhabits a world that feels new and vibrant in a way that the last game's colonial America could never match. 

By all accounts a vast improvement over last year's game and possibly the best Assassin's Creed yet, Black Flag is the best game money can buy on a PS4.