Hope you had a good Christmas, because it’s that time of year again. Time to count down the Top 50 Most Notable Games of the Year!
2025 has been a turbulent year for games. Layoffs have continued into this year, as the AAA industry continues to struggle with inflated budgets and extended production timelines. Meanwhile, this has largely allowed this year to be the domain of indies, many of which became high profile games in the absence of many of the usual big hitters. But we also saw the release of a new console, the Switch 2: Electric Boogaloo, which has been doing fairly well with it being the company’s fastest selling console.
But with all this going on, which games stood above the rest? That’s what we’re here today to find out. For those who are new, this is a roundup of the most celebrated, most talked about and most beloved games of the year. Think of it as a guide to what’s worth catching up on from the last year. This is NOT a personal favourites list. If you want to know which games I specifically loved, you’ll need to go to my YouTube channel on New Year’s Eve where there will a video covering exactly that.
Instead, this is all based on a few different stats:
- Metacritic score, critics and player scores combined average
- Google Trends, games are ranked according to how the trend graphs compared between games
- End of year lists and awards, scores assigned based on rank placement or 5 points each per award nomination (additional 5 for a win)
I added these stats together in a big spreadsheet and took the 50 highest scoring games to produce this list.
I also follow all these rules for eligibility:
- Every game here must have been received its first full release in the UK during 2025. No remasters and no ports.
- Remakes are considered if they offer a substantially different experience to the original game, however. There is no hard and fast rule here, it’s decided on a case-by-case basis.
- Only games with a combined Metacritic score (critics and users) above 70 are eligible. Also, a minimum of 4 critic reviews across all platforms are required (following Metacritic’s rules, albeit allowing for 4+ reviews spread across multiple platforms)
- No Early Access titles, although titles that left Early Access this year are eligible.
So with out the way, let’s look at the games that stole the show in 2025.
50. The Séance of Blake Manor
Raw Fury, Spooky Doorway | PC | October | Metacritic Avg: 89
Narrative Design & Writing Lead: Dave McCabe | Lead Designer: Treasa McCabe | Art Director: Paul Conway | Music: Clement Panchout
Spooky Doorway are a studio that previously made two detective games in the style of classic LucasArts adventures. Darkside Detective and its sequel, A Fumble in the Dark, are excellent games, but they exist more for the humour and storytelling, with the puzzles secondary to the experience. This year, this little Irish studio decided to branch out into a more intricate mystery game in the form of The Séance of Blake Manor.
Set in the late 19th century, this is a deep mystery that’ll have you puzzling over its clues for days, working to outrun the game’s time limit. Underneath it all is a supernaturally tinged detective tale that touches on colonialism and those it hurts. It came out of nowhere towards the end of the year and muscled its way into consideration due to how intricately crafted its puzzles were and how surprisingly effective its story was.
49. Sword of the Sea
Giant Squid | PC, PS5 | August | Metacritic Avg: 85
Creative Director: Matt Nava | Writer: Steven Lerner | Design Director: Timothy Ambrogi | Lead 3D Artist: Bryce Warner | Concept Artist: Cindy Liu | Composer: Austin Wintory
Matt Nava is a former developer on Journey who has since been seeking to emulate that success with other artsy games, games where feeling and visuals are more important than complex lore. Abzu and The Pathless did great work telling a story through specific movement mechanics and Sword of the Sea continues this trend perfectly.
This time around, Giant Squid decided to directly evoke Journey by returning to the desert and allowing you to slide around on the sand. However, this is no longer a gently playful swoop down the dunes as you walk, this time you’ll be shredding your way on a sword-shaped hoverboard. You surf your way through the sands, bringing colour and life back to the barren lands. It’s a game that takes the tone of Giant Squid’s past games (and, again, Journey) but adds the joy of doing kickflips into the mix for good measure.
It’s a beautiful and downright fun experience, one that’s simultaneously a thought-provoking meditation and also a rad game about surfing on a massive sword.
48. Tiny Bookshop
Skystone Games, Neoludic Games | PC, Switch 1 | August | Metacritic Avg: 82
Writing: Charlotte Zapfe | Game Design: David Wildemann | Art/Music: Raven Rusch
With AI being forced into everything, and tech increasingly becoming a source of everything wrong with the world we live in, it’s easy to feel like it would be better to pack it all in and open a portable bookshop by the sea. With Tiny Bookshop, those dreams can be (sort of) realised.
Running a shop out of a converted shed, you manage the day-to-day operations of your little business as passers-by take a look at your wares. It’s not the most taxing of management sims, as this is all about the vibes of what reading by the seaside means to most people. It’s a game aimed squarely at bookworms, with all its books being drawn directly from the real world, so making recommendations to your customers becomes easier if you’ve actually read the books yourself.
It’s a simple, cosy experience that represents a desire to escape to something simple. Something relaxed, community-focused and eager to celebrate the written word.
47. Cronos: The New Dawn
Bloober Team | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S | September | Metacritic Avg: 77
Game Directors: Wojciech Piejko, Jacek Zieba | Lead Writer: Grzegorz Like | Lead Designer: Wojciech Piejko | Art Director: Grzegorz Siemczuk | Lead Artist: Iwo Widulinski | Music Composer: Arkadiusz Reikowski
Bloober Team are quickly becoming one of the most powerful forces to reckon with in horror games. Already a beloved studio through their Layers of Fear series, last year they reinvented Silent Hill 2 and won over even the most sceptical of the studio’s output (myself included). But they clearly aren’t willing to stop, as only a year later they’ve delivered a powerful and unique horror game unlike anything else out there right now.
Playing an agent sent back in time to 1980s Poland to discover answers about an apocalyptic event known as The Change. It’s a slow burn story that draws heavily from a uniquely Eastern European sense of despair and presents a dark sci-fi world to lose yourself in. The time travel elements add an extra dimension allowing the game to experiment with spatial weirdness.
It’s a good time for horror fans, and Cronos: The New Dawn is a stellar argument for why.
46. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
Level-5 | PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox X/S | May | Metacritic Avg: 85
Director: Yugo Nakajima | Art Director: Hiroshi Matsuyama | Music: Nobuo Uematsu, Haruno Ito
In 2013, a 3DS game from Level-5 received minor praise for its unique job system, as in you have to pick a literal job that isn’t just a roving adventurer (although that is an option). This year, Level-5 released a sequel, an expansive reworking of the formula that added time travel and village building.
Fantasy Life i is split between cosy life sim and dungeon crawling adventure. You pick a Life, and spend time doing your job. Be an Angler and spend time catching fish, prepare meals as a Cook or turn the game into Stardew Valley by becoming a Farmer. But watch out, because eventually the world finds you and you find yourself needing to hop around skill sets to navigate the challenges ahead.
It’s a superb little game, and as its name suggests, it’s almost certainly going to take over your life.
45. Atomfall
Rebellion Developments | PC, PlayStation, Xbox | March | Metacritic Avg: 73
Principal Writer: Jonathan Howard | Lead Game Designer: Chinmay Zende | Art Director: Ryan Greene | Composer: Graham Gatheral
For the second year in a row, I must declare a game to be Most British Game This Year, as Thank Goodness You’re Here hands the torch over to Atomfall. If Fallout is the American vision of a post-nuclear society and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is the bleak Eastern European take, Atomfall has been fed on a diet of Yorkshire Tea and John Wyndham novels.
It’s somewhere between an RPG and an immersive sim, as you attempt to escape the Cumbrian exclusion zone. The 1957 Windscale fire has escalated, causing a huge swath of the Lake District to be consumed in radioactive fallout. And now, you must survive against roving bands of wicker man obsessed cults or giant killer plants. References to British pop culture abound, with The Prisoner, The Quartermass Experiment, Day of the Triffids and The Wicker Man making up a significant chunk of its world building. And of course, with Rebellion behind it, more than enough 2000AD references for comic fans.
It’s essentially a video game equivalent of British sci-fi of the 1970s, with all the regional accents and slightly wonky production design that implies. If that sounds up your alley, you owe it to yourself to play Atomfall.
44. Europa Universalis V
Paradox Interactive | PC | November | Metacritic Avg: 85
Director: Johan Andersson | Content Design Lead: Alvaro Sanz | Art Director: David Horler | Composer: Hakan Glante
No roundup published in its release week
The Europa Universalis series is one that rarely attracts a lot of mainstream attention. Its fanbase is almost exclusively the real strategy nerds (complimentary) who can navigate the complexities of its systems with ease. With the fifth entry, it seems that Paradox have recognised this, and instead of attempting to ease in newer players, they doubled down on pleasing the sickos.
As such, Europa Universalis V is an aggressively granular set of systems stacked on other systems, where population simulations go down to individual citizens. Yes, even when your empire has millions of people, the game still knows what each of them ate for breakfast (presumably). As a result, the level of strategy you can employ to keep your empire thriving is huge and is likely to keep you occupied for thousands of hours.
If you’re new to the genre, this is one to skip. But if meticulously micro-managing the population dynamics of your empire is your idea of a relaxing time, then let’s be honest, you’re probably already playing this.
43. Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Koei Tecmo, Omega Force | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | January | Metacritic Avg: 81
Directors: Kazutoshi Sekiguchi, Mitsuhiro Oshima | Lead Scenario Writer: Mari Okamoto | Chief Lead Game Designer: Michio Yamada | Art Director: Shunya Yoshida | Lead Composer: Masato Koike
Much like Europa Universalis, Dynasty Warriors is a series that persists almost exclusively thanks to a small but dedicated audience that love its specific brand of army-chopping action. However, even that audience’s goodwill appeared to be stretched with Dynasty Warriors 9, a lacklustre entry that suggested the series was out of ideas.
In response, Koei Tecmo came back triumphantly with this year’s Dynasty Warriors Origins. A more focused entry, this game presents a single player character, adds in RPG elements and in stripping back how much of Romance of the Three Kingdoms it’s drawing from, it was able to expand on individual events and give them greater weight in the story. It’s still the same formula, but much deeper in its mechanics and with a story that’s a far cry from the days of barely competent actors yelling about people named Cow Cow.
The result is the best game the series has seen for a while, a complete turnaround from the previous game. So if you’re looking for some solid hack and slash fun, you can’t do much better than Dynasty Warriors Origins.
42. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
Nintendo, Retro Studios | Switch | December | Metacritic Avg: 80
Design Director: Bill Vandervoort | Senior Art Director: Jhony Ljungstedt | Composers: Kenji Yamamoto, Minako Hamano
It’s taken a long time to get here, but Metroid Prime 4 is finally real, and you can play it now. The wait for this game has been famously long, with the last Metroid Prime game landing in 2007. And, for the most part, the wait has been worth it.
It’s not been without its tribulations, of course. Retro have added a lot of elements that haven’t always landed with Metroid purists. Reactions to the open world desert have been mixed and the presence of chatty NPCs does feel a little at odds with the isolated nature of the series, but these are evidence of attempts to evolve the games into new directions and expand Samus’ world. The final results may be a little messy, but for the most part it all works. The new motorcycle is a fun time and the psychic powers add a lot of extra variety.
Overall, it’s still Metroid Prime, with all the exploration, gunplay and exciting abilities you’d expect from the series. Plus it’s hard to deny that Samus Aran on a motorcycle is one of the coolest things Nintendo have given us this year.
41. Dune Awakening
Funcom | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | June | Metacritic Avg: 78
Directors: Joel Bylos, Viljar Sommerbakk | Senior Writers: Joshua Alan Doetsch, Wayde Zalken | Lead Game Designer: Leo Welter | Art Director: Bruno Nunes | Main Composer: Knut Avenstroup Haugen
Dune has been having a significant cultural moment lately. And after the success of Denis Villeneuve’s multi-part epic in cinemas, it was only a matter of time before video games jumped in and contributed their own take on the world of Arrakis.
However, Dune Awakening is not a simple retelling of the story of Frank Herbert’s books, nor is it a rehash of Westwood’s Dune II (sorry, RTS fans). Instead, the game comes from the same team who brought us Conan Exiles, so what we have is a survival MMO about a Bene Gesserit undercover agent seeking out the Fremen with the goal of waking “the Sleeper”. It’s an alternate take on the world, one without Paul Atreides and where multiple factions constantly battle for power. And how you interact with those factions shapes the entire experience. It’s a brutal, unforgiving game and you won’t get anywhere without much forward planning.
Dune Awakening is an ambitious and somewhat charmingly janky love letter to Dune, and one that fans of the franchise should absolutely be playing.
40. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Don’t Nod | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | February (Tape 1) / April (Tape 2) | Metacritic Avg: 76
Director: Michel Koch | Original Script Writer: Jean-Luc Cano | Principal Narrative Designer: Nina Freeman | Design Director: Baptiste Moisan | Art Director: Sam Bradley | Composers: Milk & Bone, Ruth Radelet, Nora Kelly
While Don’t Nod have long left the Life is Strange franchise behind them (more recent entries have been handed to Deck Nine), it’s clear that they aren’t entirely ready to abandon that style entirely. 2020 had Tell Me Why, an emotional tale about parental loss, trans identity and small-town ennui, and this year they leaned harder into the formula with Lost Records: Bloom & Rage.
The game is largely told in flashback, as a group of old friends who stopped speaking to each other reunite around a mysterious package. As they reminisce, we play the reality they lived in the summer of 1995, as Swann, Autumn, Nora and Kat formed a band, took over an abandoned cabin in the woods and stumbled on strange supernatural secrets. There’s a similar feeling here to Stephen King’s IT, as a friendship group’s experiences with the supernatural affect them in their teens and in the present day. You mostly focus on Swann, as she develops friendships with the other girls while also filming everything with a VHS camcorder. The latter element adds a fun side activity as you can stitch together Swann’s amateur documentaries from footage you’ve shot.
It’s a slow burn of a game, one that explores teenage friendships and the complications that inevitably arise around them, while tying it all up in a mystery that transcends decades. A solid narrative adventure that shows Don’t Nod still have it.
39. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
Sega, Lizardcube | PC, PlayStation, Switch 1, Xbox | August | Metacritic Avg: 87
Game Director/Story/Art Director: Ben Fiquet | Lead Game Designer: Frederic Vincent | Composer: Tee Lopes
With the Sonic movies doing extremely well and both Yakuza and Persona printing money, Sega have openly expressed a desire to use that cash to revive some of their classic franchises. And after much success licensing out Streets of Rage to developers Lizardcube (and others) in 2020, the next logical step was to hire them directly to give the same treatment to Mega Drive hack and slash Shinobi.
And you know what, it works. It takes the 2D side scrolling Shinobi style, sprinkles in some Metroidvania elements and splashes the whole thing with a gorgeous comic book style. It also carries over the combo focus of Streets of Rage, adding depth to the combat along with a wide range of ninja abilities. Joe Musashi feels the coolest he ever did, as you blend your ninja abilities together in exciting ways. You even get to ride a giant wolf.
In simple terms, Lizardcube did it again, reviving yet another dormant Sega IP, maintaining the delicate balance of old school gameplay conventions with modern style. If this is how Sega want their old IPs to be handled going forward, we’re in for some exciting times.
38. Absolum
Dotemu, Guard Crush, Supamonks | PC, PlayStation, Switch 1 | October | Metacritic Avg: 87
Director/Lead Designer: Gauthier Brunet | Head of Game Design/Original Concept: Jordi Asensio | Writer: Gautier Knittel | Art Director: Maxime Mary | Composer: Gareth Coker (with guest composers Mick Gordon, Yuka Kitamura and Motoi Sakuraba)
Since we just mentioned Streets of Rage 4, let’s talk about the other parties involved in that game. Developer Guard Crush were just as important as Lizardcube in bringing Sega’s old series to life. Publisher Dotemu would then go on to have further successes in the same genre with the likes of TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and this year’s Marvel Cosmic Invasion. But after so long working with other people’s properties, Absolum is them bringing their own original idea to the table.
Set in a fantasy world, four warriors are tasked with leading a rebellion against the Sun King. These include a scrappy dwarf, an elf with a massive sword, a mysterious rogue and a frog wizard. Players can choose any of this team to go through the game with, which is a beat-em-up typical of the publisher, but this time it’s a roguelike and there are side quests and choices to be made like an RPG. The result is a game similar to Capcom’s D&D brawlers from the 90s, with a flashy modern art style and a ton of charm.
Absolum is a unique take on the brawler genre, and one that proves that Dotemu can do more than just revive old franchises from millennial childhoods. I look forward to seeing where else they can take the formula.
37. Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Bandai Namco, Media.Vision | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 80
Director: Yusuke Tomono | Main Screenwriter: Teruhiro Shimogawa | Game Design Director: Takashi Nakahara | Lead Character Artist: Suzuhito Yasuda | Composer: Masafumi Takada
If you told me at the start of the year that a Digimon game, of all things, would show up on this Top 50, I’d have laughed you out of the door. And yet, here we are. Digimon Story: Time Stranger is not just a great Digimon game, it’s also just an excellent RPG.
It’s also managed to outdo its more popular rival, Pokémon Legends Z-A, which failed to qualify for the list due to poor user reviews. Meanwhile, all the things that people like to complain are missing from Pokémon are present in this latest Digimon Story. It has a complex story, deep battle mechanics and with all the weird evolution (sorry, digivolution) options that this franchise offers, there are a ton of options to play around with in building your teams.
Digimon Story: Time Stranger is one of the year’s great JRPGs and any fan of the genre should give it some consideration.
36. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds
Sega, Sonic Team | PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox | September | Metacritic Avg: 82
Director: Shingo Kawakami | Creative Director: Masaru Kohayakawa | Scriptwriter: Ian Flynn | Lead Race Designer: Norio Ishii | Art Directors: Yuji Yamaga, Takeshi Higuchi | Lead Music Composer: Takahiro Kai
Aside from the ongoing question of why Sonic would ever need to get into a car, the Sonic Racing franchise has always been a sneaky contender for Mario’s otherwise insurmountable kart racing crown. Original developer Sumo Digital is no longer on board, with development handled internally at Sonic Team. However, despite their last effort, Team Sonic Racing, proving to be a disappointment, CrossWorlds seems to have learned some lessons.
The main draw of CrossWorlds is its world-hopping mechanic, where the second lap of each race sends drivers to a second location via the Sonic movie series’ teleporting rings. It’s a mechanic that adds so much variety to a race that it’s surprising no one has attempted it before. With a ton of customisation on top of that, plus a sizeable roster of beloved Sonic characters, it managed to hold its own against a certain Switch 2 launch title (we’ll get to that later).
35. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Sega, Ryu ga Gotoku Studio | PC, PlayStation, Xbox | February | Metacritic Avg: 82
Director: Yasuaki Uehara | Story/Script: Tsuyoshi Furuta, Masayoshi Yokoyama | Game Design Supervisor: Takanori Naganuma | Art Supervisors: Yuu Honya, Nobuaki Mitake | Music Director: Saori Yoshida
Sega’s Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise continues to be an unstoppable menace tucked away in its specific corner of the games industry. And with this year’s latest side entry, the team at RGG Studio have decided to fully embrace the sillier side of the series above all else.
Taking place alongside last year’s Infinite Wealth, it stars series regular and fan favourite Goro Majima as he becomes…well, it’s kind of in the title. Washed up on a Hawaiian beach with no memory of his past, Majima becomes a pirate captain and sails around on a galleon battling other pirates with flintlock pistols and cutlasses. And remember, this isn’t an Ishin-style historical tale, this is still undeniably set in modern Hawaii, so you can easily prevent scurvy in your crew by picking up orange juice from a Honolulu convenience store. They also decided that Majima can do air combos now, because already none of this makes sense so let’s roll with it.
Not a serious entry in the series by any means, but simply a way for RGG Studio to let their most ridiculous impulses run rampant. And we’re all better off for it.
34. Ninja Gaiden 4
Xbox Game Studios, Koei Tecmo, Team Ninja, PlatinumGames | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 82
Director: Yuji Nakao | Scenario Writers: Yuji Nakao, Yuya Jin | Lead Game Designer: Takuma Ishikawa | Art Director: Tomoko Nishii | Lead Music Composer: Masahiro Miyauchi
Shinobi made a resurgence this year, but it wasn’t the only classic ninja-based franchise to emerge back out of the shadows. However, Ninja Gaiden wasn’t content with a single strike, instead it was a triple threat. Ninja Gaiden 2 Black emerged early in the year as a remaster of the Xbox 360 classic, and the NES days of the franchise got a throwback in the form of Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound over the summer. But all this was capped off with a followup to the 3D games, so much a throwback to the 360 days that they even got Microsoft to fund it.
There are some differences to what long-term fans might know here, most notably the replacement of series veteran Ryu Hayabusa in favour of new pretty boy Yakumo, with the setting now being a cyberpunk Tokyo. Koei Tecmo also recruited the masters of the character action game, PlatinumGames, whose overindulgent style is dripping from every pore of this game. But this is still very much 3D Ninja Gaiden at its core, right down to its aggressively brutal difficulty.
In an age where Soulslikes have become the most common form of action game, it’s great to see there’s still space for something like Ninja Gaiden, in all its flashiness.
33. Mafia: The Old Country
2K, Hangar 13 | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | August | Metacritic Avg: 73
Director: Alex Cox | Lead Writers: Alex Cox, Matthew Aitken | Gameplay Design Director: Marwin So | Art Director: Steve Noake | Composer: BT
Much like Yakuza, the Mafia series has always been quietly doing its own brand of open world crime drama action off in its own corner of the industry, sometimes to great success, other times to middling results. This year, developer Hangar 13 took the bold step of taking the story back to the start, all the way to the origins of the mafia in early 20th century Sicily.
The result is a slow burn interactive exploration of not only the reasons for the mafia’s existence but the conditions that led many to wish to join such a violent organisation. Playing as Enzo Favara, you’ll endure back-breaking labour and abusive bosses before entering the alluring world of organised crime, where you’ll finally be able to fight back or drive cool cars (for the time).
It’s a more linear experience than the rest of the series, but it makes up for it with a much stronger narrative than ever before. Plus who doesn’t love the opportunity to wander round a lush recreation of the Italian countryside?
32. Date Everything!
Team17, Sassy Chap Games | PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S | June | Metacritic Avg: 79
Game Designer/Lead Writer: Ray Chase | Co-Creative Lead: Robbie Daymond | Art Lead: Erin Wong | Lead Composer: Garrett Williamson
Dating sims come in all shapes and sizes, suited for all tastes and kinks. Some are certainly more serious than others, but this year, the sillier end probably reached its apex with Date Everything, whose title is surprisingly literal.
The premise is that you’re stuck indoors, but with the help of some magical glasses you reveal the personifications of every object in your home. Every item you own, every floor and wall, every single inanimate object within your home is now a dateable character with their own quirks, tastes and appearances. For example, every door in your home is now some variation on Dorian, a steadfast Cockney bouncer (voiced by Ben Starr, of course) who likes people to be upfront.
The game was conceived by a team of voice actors, and it shows, due to the fact that every relatively well-known VA in video games in this game in some form. This, of course, includes a big chunk of the cast of Critical Role but plenty of other beloved names make an appearance.
An utterly bizarre experience, but one that revels in its own silliness at every turn.
31. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Fellow Traveller, Jump Over the Age | PC, PS5, Switch 1, Xbox X/S | January | Metacritic Avg: 87
Designed and Written by Gareth Damian Martin | Character Art: Guillaume Singelin | Music: Amos Roddy
Citizen Sleeper was already a fine game. It asked complex moral choices about our place in the universe through the lens of an android and left everyone who played it with a lot to think about. However, after feeling that too many players viewed the first game purely as a visual novel, director Gareth Damian Martin was determined to enhance the game’s RPG elements with the sequel.
And so, Citizen Sleeper 2 takes everything that was central to the first game and expands it further. No longer confined to a single space station, you’re now exploring an entire asteroid belt. And the game’s tabletop-inspired mechanics are more in-depth. Most notably, a new stress system adds a risk-reward mechanic to your choices and you can gain temporary companions whose unique abilities help in certain situations. This is on top of the already excellent dice-assignment mechanics that made decisions so tricky the first time around.
Still a profound musing on the nature of humanity and still a unique take on how to make an RPG. Citizen Sleeper 2 may be more of an iteration on its predecessor than a wholly new experience, but when the original experience was so good, why change things?
30. Kirby Air Riders
Nintendo, Sora | Switch 2 | November | Metacritic Avg: 80
Director: Masahiro Sakurai | Graphics Supervisors: Kosei Kitamura, Tomoyoshi Yamane, Takayasu Morisawa | Lead Composers: Noriyuki Iwadare, Shogo Sakai
One of the more unusual things to come out of the Switch 2 launch is the reveal that not only has Masahiro Sakurai finally been let out of the Smash mines, but his latest project is a revival of a 20-year-old Gamecube game. Kirby Air Riders is the evolution of 2003’s Kirby Air Ride, now with a whopping two button control scheme (Sakurai is very sorry about the second button).
It’s a chaotic, silly racing game that doesn’t overshadow that other Switch 2 racing game this year, but it does bring a ton of unique character to the table. The customisable crafts. The diverse roster of Kirby favourites. The City Trial mode that will almost certainly take up most of your time. All of it made with joy and passion and the signature flair that Sakurai brings to the Smash Bros series.
If the original was a cult classic, this sequel is almost certainly going to do a lot to bring the series into the wider public consciousness. And if it doesn’t, Kirby fans still got to make ridiculous Chef Kawasaki crafts, so they win either way.
29. Two Point Museum
Sega, Two Point Studios | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S | March | Metacritic Avg: 84
Individual credits unavailable
I don’t think Two Point Studios plan on stopping until every business in existence has a Two Point Location management game made for it. They’ve done hospitals and they’ve done universities, and now it’s time for museums. There were definitely reservations about this one, as Two Point Campus didn’t quite land as well as Two Point Hospital, but Two Point Museum has brought the series back on track.
Perhaps it’s a museum’s status as a tourist attraction and the fact that the DNA of the series can trace its lineage to Bullfrog’s classic Theme Park that makes it work so well. As well as getting the fun of designing your own exhibits, right down to the audience pathways, you also get to send scientists off on expeditions to find more things to put in the museum. There’s a sense of creativity and discovery in the whole process that ties in well with Two Point’s irreverent sense of humour.
The question is, what’s next for Two Point? Two Point Zoo? Two Point Transportation? Two Point Landlord? The possibilities are endless.
28. Umamusume: Pretty Derby
Cygames | PC, Mobile | June | Metacritic Avg: 84
Individual credits unavailable for this game
We missed this one on release
While many attempt to gain success in the gacha market by copying HoYo’s formula, Cygames achieved huge amounts of success by not doing that and instead making a game about horse girls. No, not girls who beg their parents for a pony and make horses their entire personality. I’m talking about anime women who are also real-world racehorses. Weird? Of course. Compelling? Somehow yes.
Admittedly, Umamusume (lit: Horse Girls) has been around in Japan since 2021 but this year it exploded in popularity across the world, leading many grown adults to begin their obsession with their virtual pets that are also anime girls. Train them to be better racers, take care of their needs and build bonds with your squad. Only with proper care and love can your chosen girl go on to achieve her dreams of being the fastest racehorse around.
And the bonds are very real, as it also led to one of the greatest outpourings of grief for the death of a racehorse I have ever seen. All because an anime girl version of it appeared in this game. If that isn’t evidence of this game’s cultural impact, I don’t know what is.
27. The Alters
11 bit Studios | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | June | Metacritic Avg: 85
Director: Tomasz Kisilewicz | Story: Tomasz Kisilewicz, Katarzyna Tybinka | Writer: Magda Gamrot | Lead Designer: Rafal Wlosek | Lead Artist: Tomasz Cygan | Composer: Piotr Musial
The Alters is an absurdly unique concept for a game. It’s a survival game set on an alien planet but it’s also a base building management game but it’s also a complex musing on the nature of identity. As the sole survivor of a spaceship crash, Jan needs help to maintain the empty base he’s found, so he decides to clone himself.
However, these clones aren’t just his identical genetic siblings, instead clones pulled in from alternate universes where Jan made different life choices. This allows them to have different skills and different temperaments that alter which jobs they’re best suited for. Managing these clones is the core of the game, although since this is a game from 11 bit of This War of Mine and Frostpunk fame, do not expect this to be easy. Those different directions in life have led to shifts in Jan’s personality, and needless to say, they don’t all get along.
Ultimately, the real draw of The Alters is the existential dread at the centre of its narrative. Who are you really? How have your life choices defined you? Are you happy with the choices you’ve made? If you don’t walk away from the game questioning your entire life, you didn’t really play it.
26. South of Midnight
Xbox Game Studios, Compulsion Games | PC, Xbox X/S | April | Metacritic Avg: 76
Creative Director: David Sears | Game Director: Jasmin Roy | Writer: Zaire Lanier | Game Design Director: Alexandre Beland-Bernard | Art Director: Whitney Clayton | Composer: Olivier Deriviere
South of Midnight is a game that celebrates the mythology of the American South, from the perspective of its more marginalised inhabitants. Playing as Hazel, a young girl whose life is ripped apart by a hurricane, leading her on a magical journey through the bayou to find her mother. Along the way, she encounters talking catfish, blues-playing ghouls and an assortment of other weirdos, all inspired by Cajun culture.
On top of this, the entire game is a visual treat. The whimsy of its environments are brought to life with a style inspired by stop motion animation, with characters taking on the look of puppets and a jerky low-frame-rate animation style. It gives the whole experience a handmade, personal feeling, enhancing its folksiness. And all this is backed by a bluesy soundtrack performed by locals recruited to add authenticity to the experience.
South of Midnight gives voice to a group that tends to not get much focus in games, and it’s even more surprising that it came from a Microsoft studio.
25. Deltarune (Chapters 3+4)
Toby Fox | PC, PlayStation, Switch | June | Metacritic Avg: 87
Director/Writer/Designer/Composer: Toby Fox | Main Artist: Temmie Chang
Toby Fox is an oddball among developers. Releasing his quirky RPG Undertale to an unsuspecting world in 2015, he followed it up with two chapters of a free spin-off? Sequel? Whatever it is, Deltarune saw its first commercial release this year, bundling the pre-existing Chapters 1 and 2 with the fresh new third and fourth chapters. This unconventional method of release has caused debate over whether I should include it (especially since more chapters are set to come), and also seemingly has led critics to question if they should give it end-of-year awards, but it feels wrong not to include it.
Building on the story told in the first chapters, this is Toby Fox at peak confidence, with his game design abilities improving and his story beats getting more refined. It’s a game with hidden depths beyond its slightly silly exterior, even more so than Undertale.
Universally praised, Deltarune is what happens when a developer makes a lot of money and just goes ahead and makes whatever they feel like. Heartfelt, funny, full of catchy music and full of bizarre ideas, Deltarune is easily one of the year’s best RPGs.
24. Doom: The Dark Ages
Bethesda Softworks, id Software | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | May | Metacritic Avg: 84
Director/Lead Writer: Hugo Martin | Art Director: Emerson Tung | Composers: Finishing Move
Since Doom’s revitalisation in 2016, each entry has tried to do something to move the formula in a new direction. While 2016’s Doom emphasised fast movement and Eternal added parkour and a rock-paper-scissors mechanic designed to add strategy, The Dark Ages takes us back in time. Clearly taking inspiration from other classic id Software stablemates such as Quake and Hexen, this is a more medieval inspired setting where the Doom Slayer is a tanky knight.
The game’s love of brutal shooting mechanics is still here, but melee options have been improved too, with Doom Slayer’s new shield offering a ton of new abilities to get to grips with. There’s a lot more plot in this one, where long cutscenes expand on the Doom Slayer. If you liked 2016’s refusal to engage with any of it, this may be disappointing, but it adds to the grandiose medieval flair.
It may not have captured attention from the wider gaming public in the way its predecessors did, but there’s still a lot of gory action to be found here.
23. The Hundred Line: Last Defence Academy
Aniplex, Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision | PC, Switch 1 | April | Metacritic Avg: 84
Directors/Concept/Scenario: Kazutaka Kodaka, Kotaro Uchikoshi | In-Game Scenario: Kyohei Oyama | Game Design Direction: Akihiro Togawa | Art Design: Rui Komatsuzaki, Shimadoriru | Music: Masafumi Takada
Kazutaka Kodaka and Kotaro Uchikoshi are two developers with reputations for mysterious, often delightfully weird games where ordinary people are put through hell. Through the Danganronpa and Zero Escape series respectively, these two are a force to be reckoned with, so their collaboration this year was a major event in certain circles.
The standard elements of their works are here. A bunch of high school students are forced into a deadly situation. There’s a creepy mascot character leading them on. There’s a deep mystery at the heart of the whole experience. There’s music from Masafumi Takada. But where this differs in the fact it’s a tactical RPG, one where death can be used to your advantage as your troops can be revived between missions. And instead of attempting to kill each other, they’re here to battle enemies that threaten the titular Last Defence Academy, with the goal of surviving 100 days.
Of course, this being a Too Kyo game, twists in the story are inevitable and with a ton of different endings to unlock, there’s a lot to uncover here. Everyone who’s played this one said it deserved a lot more attention, as it’s one of the more expansive, complex and surprising experiences of the year.
22. Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Ubisoft | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | March | Metacritic Avg: 82
Game Director: Charles Benoit | Story: Jonathan Dumont | Narrative Director: Ryan Galletta | Artistic Directors: Thierry Dansereau, Nicolas Rivard | Composers: The Flight
Assassin’s Creed is in a weird place these days. The annual releases and more recent entries becoming incomprehensibly huge time sinks have been creating a steady sense of ennui among long term players. Shadows was the desperate Break Glass In Case of Emergency game, finally taking the series to feudal Japan to play as an Assassin-affiliated ninja. And also a samurai, which they threw in for good measure.
Of course, the decision to reference the mysterious historical figure Yasuke, debated to be the first (and possibly only) black samurai, led certain parts of the internet to lose their collective minds. In the real world, however, it seems to have won people over. It’s the second highest selling entry in the series behind Valhalla and received wide critical praise.
It even managed to win back this sceptic. I’d largely dropped off the series after 3, but dipped back in for Black Flag and Origins but had zero interest in Odyssey or Valhalla. Shadows is a solid return to form, and the use of ninja skills blends so well with the franchise that it’s hard to see why they didn’t come here sooner.
21. The Outer Worlds 2
Xbox Game Studios, Obsidian Entertainment | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 82
Game Director: Brandon Adler | Creative Director/Narrative Design Lead: Leonard Boyarsky | Design Director: Matthew Singh | Art Director: Daniel Alpert | Composers: Oleksa Lozowchuk, Antonio Gradanti
Obsidian have been exceptionally busy this year, with two sprawling RPGs bookending the year. It’s already an impressive feat, made even more impressive by how dynamic The Outer Worlds 2 is.
Drawing from 2019’s original (and this year not releasing alongside a game with a similar title like Outer Wilds) and building on it in significant ways have put this up there with Obsidian’s other greats. The customisation system baking flaws into its design is a particularly smart move, as it avoided any build being the “optimal” way to play the game.
On top of this, the series remains an effective satire of corporate greed and the harm large companies can cause. Honestly, it’s surprising that Microsoft of all companies allowed this one to get through.
20. Monster Hunter Wilds
Capcom | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | February | Metacritic Avg: 89
Director: Yuya Tokuda | Lead Scenario Writer: Shino Okamura | Lead Game Designer: Yugo Togawa | Art Director: Kaname Fujioka | Lead Composer: Miwako Chinone
No roundup published in its release week
Monster Hunter Wilds is the latest game in the endlessly popular Monster Hunter franchise, this time promising a vast open world to play around in. Well, I say endlessly popular, but this entry has attempted to be more welcoming to newcomers and in the process may have turned away some long-term fans.
But this boldness to try and reach a new audience and play with the Monster Hunter formula are what made this entry so notable. It’s also put a bigger emphasis on story, and its cast have proven popular, even with those who had reservations elsewhere. I know I’ve seen a lot of fanart and cosplay of Alma and Gemma, if nothing else.
It remains to be seen where the experiments in this entry lead Capcom to take the series going forward. But for now, it’s still an excellent entry into the series, even if it does need a little extra challenge.
19. Avowed
Xbox Game Studios, Obsidian Entertainment | PC, Xbox X/S | February | Metacritic Avg: 79
Game Director: Carrie Patel | Narrative Design Leads: Kate Dollarhyde, Robert Lo | Gameplay Director: Gabriel Paramo | Art Director: Matt Hansen | Composer: Venus Theory
The other Obsidian RPG released this year, and the earliest of the two, Avowed is a more traditional medieval fantasy RPG, one that’s set in the same universe as their previous Pillars of Eternity games. There’s a focus on nature and the effect that humanity can have on it, and this is played with as much as possible.
That said, it doesn’t do much that’s revolutionary with the genre. It’s simply a solid Western RPG with a range of dialogue and build options, allowing you to play it as you see fit. If you’re someone who cannot stop talking about New Vegas and you want something with a more nature-driven aesthetic, Avowed is absolutely the game for you.
18. Ball X Pit
Devolver Digital, Kenny Sun and Friends | PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 87
Director/Designer: Kenny Sun | Artists: Mohammed Bakir Khawam Khalaf, Lisa Fasol, Sergio Alcelay, Luka Parascandalo | Composer: Amos Roddy
The compulsive indie crack of the year, much like Balatro last year. Ball x Pit is a combination of Arkanoid and a bullet hell, where you damage enemies coming down the screen with a ball you bounce around with a paddle, while Vampire Survivors style powerups help turn the tide in your favour. On top of that, all this action unlocks resources for a city-builder mode, where your lil guy expands the village near the titular pit.
It’s another critical success in Devolver’s persistently good track record in finding interesting indie games to publish, and one that many of its players simply cannot put down.
17. Despelote
Panic, Julian Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena | PC, PlayStation, Switch 1, Xbox | May | Metacritic Avg: 85
Design/Programming: Julian Cordero | Art/Music: Sebastian Valbuena
Despelote is the most charming underdog story of the year. A small autobiographical story elevated to great critical acclaim and now held up as one of the year’s best experiences in the medium this year.
Set in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, you play as eight-year-old Julian Cordero (the same one in the credits above, yes) as the country discovers they have qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. As this small child, you wander the streets engaging with people around you, kicking a football around and generally being a little kid. Along the way you get glimpses into the exuberant mood in the country at the time all through the hazy lens of a half-remembered childhood.
It’s a short exploratory experience that has a lot to say about cultural identity, community spirit, nostalgia and, of course, the joy of football. Not widely played, but the critics adored this one.
16. Battlefield 6
Electronic Arts, Battlefield Studios | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 84
Creative Director: Thomas Andersson | Narrative Directors: Emily Grace Buck, Michael Hartin, Colin Harvey, Adrian Vershinin | Lead Gameplay Directors: Rickard Antroia, Adriaan de Ruyter | Art Director: Darren White | Composer: Henry Jackman
EA CEO Andrew Wilson came across as a little bit silly earlier this year when he boldly proclaimed that Battlefield 6 would sell 10 million copies and would dethrone Call of Duty. Impressively though, he may have been onto something, as it currently stands at 7 million units at the time of writing and has seemingly outsold Black Ops 7 (which also missed out on the Top 50 due to poor review scores).
Battlefield 6 was a massive collective effort to reignite the Battlefield franchise, roping in about four EA studios (DICE, Ripple Effect, Motive, Criterion) to produce the biggest game in the series. Developers pulled in elements from across the series’ most beloved entries and the whole package was spearheaded by Vince Zampella, the head of Respawn (which would tragically turn out to be his final project due to his untimely passing this week).
So I guess I stand corrected. Not only did Battlefield 6 win people back in droves, Call of Duty also shot itself in the foot with weird marketing, AI assets and ballooning file sizes. Normally I don’t feel that you have to hand it to Andrew Wilson, but on this one, he proved himself right.
15. Peak
Aggro Crab, Landfall | PC | June | Metacritic Avg: 82
Developers: Wilhelm Nylund, Cassidy Rashby-Pollock, Erik Skog, Petter Henriksson, Zorro Svardendahl, Nick Kaman
We missed this one originally
It feels like every year now we get a game coming out of nowhere from a small team that becomes the big indie multiplayer hit thanks to an abundance of Twitch streams. We’ve had Lethal Company, Phasmophobia, R.E.P.O. and Content Warning, and now it’s time for Peak, a game about climbing mountains with friends.
Originally developed for a game jam in February, it was quickly expanded into a full release by June and released to an unsuspecting public. It exploded on Twitch, with its various survival systems creating chaotic co-op climbs that generate the perfect amount of comedy for streamers to riff off, and quickly reached a peak (heh) of 145,000 viewers.
Not bad for a hastily cobbled together game jam experiment.
14. Elden Ring: Nightreign
Bandai Namco, FromSoftware | PC, PlayStation, Xbox | May | Metacritic Avg: 80
Director: Junya Ishizaki | Lead Character Artist: Ryo Fujimaki | Composers: Shoi Miyazawa, Tai Tomisawa, Soma Tanizaki, Yoshikazu Takayama, Yuka Kitamura
It hasn’t reached the heights of its predecessor (the most notable game of 2022, if you need a refresher), but this multiplayer spin-off of FromSoftware’s biggest success has managed to find its feet. Elden Ring: Nightreign takes elements from across FromSoft’s catalogue and asks you to team up with your friends to survive. It’s a fundamentally different experience to Elden Ring proper, but that’s a big part of its appeal.
Not to mention, the customisable nature of its cast meant that my social media timelines this summer were full of artwork of a tiny doll woman carrying the largest weapons in the universe. The Revenant isn’t even built for those weapons (she’s a support class), but the comedy value of it has made it an enduring image around the game. Of course, beyond this, the game still features the tough combat FromSoft is known for, only now you can share the pain with your friends.
On paper, Elden Ring: Nightreign is an idea that shouldn’t have worked. But after some initial rocky reception, it’s carved a place for itself and given players a new reason to keep coming back to the land of Limgrave.
13. ARC Raiders
Embark Studios | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | October | Metacritic Avg: 86
No individual credits given
The industry has been desperately trying to make the extraction shooter happen. Every major publisher has been pushing their own take on the genre in the past few years and they’ve immediately died. This year, however, one finally landed, and despite it initially seeming like a scrappy indie taking the title, Embark are a subsidiary of Nexon and therefore still part of a corporate entity. But clearly it succeeded by not looking like it.
It’s a PvPvE game, where players explore a hostile planet in search of resources. Their main opponents are aggressive robots that will attempt to kill players on sight, but players can also turn on each other if they so wish. Although seemingly players are skipping this element entirely in favour of mass cooperation. It’s surprisingly wholesome.
ARC Raiders has been one of the most widely talked about multiplayer shooters of the last few months, and it’s likely to keep going well into the next year. Shame about the AI voices though. Could do without that really.
12. Mario Kart World
Nintendo | Switch 2 | June | Metacritic Avg: 86
Directors: Kenta Sato, Masaaki Ishikawa, Shintaro Jikumaru | Planning Director: Shintaro Jikumaru | Art Director: Masaaki Ishikawa | Music Lead: Atsuko Asahi
Did you know a new console released this year? Nintendo finally recognised how much Switch hardware was beginning to struggle with new games and released its successor, which, as I stated in the intro, is doing rather well for itself. And part of that success is almost certainly down to the simultaneous launch of the inevitable cash cow: Mario Kart.
Mario Kart World is yet another excellent entry in Nintendo’s phenomenally popular racing game franchise. This time, they’ve swiped open world free roaming from Forza Horizon and changed up the racing formula, so players now travel between courses during a race. It’s a feature that hasn’t always landed, but it’s still exciting to see Nintendo play around with Mario Kart. Plus you can now play as a cow, and who doesn’t love that?
It’s a stellar start for Nintendo’s latest system, so let’s hope they maintain the momentum.
11. Dispatch
AdHoc Studio | PC, PS5 | October-November | Metacritic Avg: 89
Directors: Nick Herman, Dennis Lenart | Written by Pierre Shorette | Lead Game Designer: Charles Marcolim | Art Director: Derek Stratton | Music: Andrew Arcadi
The loss of Telltale has been felt across the industry, as the desire for emotional choice-driven stories with high production values was being met by very few games. Life is Strange was keeping the torch lit, but people wanted the original Walking Dead crew back again. This year, their prayers were answered as ex-Telltale devs emerged with a new studio and a workplace comedy about superheroes.
Despite advice to the contrary, its episodic release schedule (two episodes per week) kept it in wider discussions for a long time, with the word of mouth bringing in new players with each release. And it’s easy to see why, when the quality of the writing and animation on show may even surpass Telltale’s work. The internet is awash with fanart and cosplay of its characters, no doubt driven by its all-star cast, including big names like Aaron Paul, voice acting staples like Laura Bailey and even managing to pull excellent performances out of influencers like Alanah Pearce, Jacksepticeye and MoistCr1tiKaL.
Dispatch is proof that when done right, single player narrative experiences still have a significant place in the games industry. AdHoc Studio are almost certainly set for more great things in their future based on this success.
10. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Deep Silver, Warhorse Games | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | February | Metacritic Avg: 88
Director/Lead Writer: Daniel Vavra | Design Director: Viktor Bocan | Art Director: Viktor Hoschl | Composer: Jan Valta
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 has been an interesting beast. It wasn’t much of a critical darling during its release. Sure, it had decent reviews, but it’s not stayed long in the critical conversation. Among players, however, it’s been a fan favourite. This medieval RPG sequel made by a small team of Czechs rallied a loyal fanbase around it, making it one of the year’s more talked about games in general online discussions. Selling two million copies in its first couple of weeks on sale helped.
Much like the first game, this is a medieval peasant simulator where you must survive a civil war. It’s a vast, sprawling and complex RPG with systems upon systems. It’s capable of creating memorable emergent stories and offers the player countless options to get out of tough situations. It’s exactly the kind of meaty RPG experience that players who’ve bought Skyrim five times are desperately craving, so it’s perhaps not surprising that it captured people’s imaginations so strongly.
It may not have taken the top position on this list, but it feels that for some, it’s guaranteed to take the top spot in their heart. If that’s you, remove a zero from this entry’s number and have a great time.
9. Split Fiction
Electronic Arts, Hazelight Studios | PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox X/S | March | Metacritic Avg: 91
Director: Josef Fares | Writers: Sebastian Anonios Johansson, Josef Fares | Lead Designer: Per Stenbeck | Environment Art Director: Karl Lowenberg | Character Art Director: Jacob Larsson | Composers: Gustaf Grefberg, Jonatan Jarpehag
In 2021, Hazelight Studios took away the Game of the Year award for It Takes Two from Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards to the surprise of many. But on reflection, it made perfect sense based on the level of imagination and love on display in the co-op adventure.
This year, Hazelight followed that up with a new co-op game that followed in the same spirit but wasn’t just a sequel. Instead, it’s an entirely new game starring two writers who’ve been recruited by a shifty corporation that wants to place writers into a machine to exploit their works for their own benefit. The analogy to generative AI is pretty blatant and at no point is the game subtle about how evil the corporation is for stealing creative works.
It’s also one of the more creative games you’ll play this year. The game refuses to linger on a single idea for long, constantly throwing you and a friend through a cavalcade of situations where you must work together to overcome a quirky challenge. From motorcycle riding while your friend tries to unlock a phone to a dragon riding collaboration, there is never a dull moment. Right up until its technical marvel of a final chapter that brazenly flexes how good this team truly are, you will be having a great time.
For more, allow me to refer you to this 9/10 review from a source you can trust (it’s me, obviously).
8. Silent Hill f
Konami, NeoBards Entertainment | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | September | Metacritic Avg: 85
Game Director: Al Yang | Writer: Ryukishi07 | Lead Game Designer: Capra Shih | Art Director: Box Shih | Creature and Character Design: Kera | Composers: Akira Yamaoka, Kensuke Inage
While Silent Hill 2 Remake was excellent last year, Konami’s attempted revival of the Silent Hill franchise has gone less well when it comes to releasing new original games. Ascension was roundly mocked and The Short Message felt amateurish and was clearly released for free for a reason. A lot was riding on Silent Hill f, but thankfully it succeeded.
Silent Hill f was led by beloved visual novel writer Ryukishi07, whose When They Cry series has been widely praised for its paranoid sense of horror in a small town. So it’s no surprise that all the elements that made people love that franchise are here too. It focuses on a girl in a small Japanese town stricken by horrors including mannequin versions of her classmates and a strange person in a fox mask who may or may not be trustworthy. Teenage friendships and the role of women in Japanese society are major themes here, and it offers exactly the kind of paranoid, oppressive atmosphere the Silent Hill series thrives on.
Silent Hill f is simultaneously a huge departure and a triumphant return to form for the Silent Hill series. Clearly Ryukishi07 needs to be allowed to make more.
7. Ghost of Yotei
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sucker Punch Productions | PS5 | October | Metacritic Avg: 86
Directors: Nate Fox, Jason Connell | Narrative Lead: Ian Ryan | Art Director: Joanna Wang | Composer: Toma Otawa
Ghost of Tsushima was already an impressive game. Between its cinematic storytelling, unique environmental navigation and fun stealth mechanics, it proved itself to be another stellar PlayStation exclusive. Ghost of Yotei is a sequel that manages to take all that and build on it in significant ways.
It’s three centuries after the events of Tsushima and we’re now in control of Atsu, a mercenary in Ezo who seeks revenge on a group of rogue samurai who killed her whole family. It’s a different kind of story from Tsushima, which asked questions about loyalty and tradition. Now it’s all about revenge and its dangerous effects. However, everything that people loved about the first game is still present.
Where this sequel builds is in its intricate weapons system, where Atsu is capable of wielding almost anything she gets her hands on. She also now has access to some early gun technology and can duel wield katanas. There’s also a greater emphasis on companions, with a wolf being one of the more prominent additions.
In other words, another solid samurai game with top class storytelling and visuals. What more could you need?
6. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Sony Interactive Entertainment, Kojima Productions | PS5 | June | Metacritic Avg: 89
Director/Lead Designer/Lead Writer: Hideo Kojima | Art Director: Yoji Shinkawa | Music: Woodkid, Ludvig Forssell
The original Death Stranding was a divisive game, one that either won you over with its unique take on the apocalypse and its gameplay that replicated the experience of being the most tortured Amazon delivery driver in the world, or it was a tedious, incomprehensible experience that suggests Kojima has finally lost his mind.
It’s unlikely that Death Stranding 2 is likely to win over the latter group (which I why I didn’t play it) but the former group felt it was an even bolder statement of Kojima’s vision. It’s a game that revels in its own weirdness, right down to an entire puppet-based musical number and a pizza chef who karate kicks you for daring to interrupt his art (played by the creator of Ghost in the Shell, of course). What’s more, it reflects heavily on the message of the first game, changing its focus on death to one on new life, and questions just how connected we truly need to be as people.
Regardless of whether or not you’re on-board Kojima’s wild ride, Death Stranding 2 remains a testament to what happens when you give one of the industry’s more creative and quirky designers bags of money to do whatever he wants. And for that it must be celebrated.
5. Donkey Kong Bananza
Nintendo | Switch 2 | July | Metacritic Avg: 91
Directors: Wataru Tanaka, Kazuya Takahashi | Art Director: Daisuke Watanabe | Music Lead: Naoto Kubo
As well as the inevitable Mario Kart, a Nintendo system launch needs a solid platformer to carry it too. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a 3D Mario that Nintendo revealed to take up this mantle, and perhaps daringly decided to hand the reins over to professional ape Donkey Kong. However, with development led by the same team that created the first Switch’s equivalent 3D platformer headliner, Super Mario Odyssey, it’s perhaps not surprising how great Donkey Kong Bananza ended up being.
The result is an intensely inventive platformer where the scenery can be broken apart at will. Nintendo are masters of their craft at the best of times, but level design built entirely around destroying the level is a challenge that the team solved masterfully. It’s also a game oozing in personality, with music playing a huge part in the game’s vibe and the environment taking cues from Rare by giving everything large cartoony eyeballs.
Critics loved this one, with it picking up Critic’s Choice at the Golden Joysticks and making countless Game of the Year lists. Perhaps its connection to new hardware made its public reach a little smaller, but it seems like, right now, it’s the most essential game for the Switch 2.
4. Blue Prince
Raw Fury, Dogubomb | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | April | Metacritic Avg: 89
A game by Tonda Ros | Art Direction: Davide Pellino | Original Score: Trigg & Gusset
Blue Prince is the big indie breakout success of the year. Not the biggest indie game of the year (there are a couple of other contenders coming up for that title), but this is the underdog story of a small, practically one-man team going on to become the obsession of many.
Blue Prince is a unique blend of roguelike mechanics and deep puzzle complexity, with a house that constantly resets itself and is filled with endless secrets that players must unravel steadily over their playthrough. Nothing plays quite like Blue Prince. That said, it has been a divisive game, with it becoming an obsession for some and an infuriating waste of time for others. I am in the latter category, admittedly, but I have to respect what it’s done here. After all, no one seems particularly neutral on it, and inspiring strong reactions either way is exactly what every good game should strive for.
Bringing together some smart puzzle design, some devious tricks and a fascinating premise means that Blue Prince is one of the most unique games of the year. I just wish it was less reliant on RNG.
3. Hades II
Supergiant Games | PC, Switch | September | Metacritic Avg: 96
Director/Writer: Greg Kasavin | Design: Amir Rao, Gavin Simon, Eduardo Gorinstein, Alice Lai | Art: Jen Zee | Music: Darren Korb, Austin Wintory
Hades was a monster of a game in 2020. While Supergiant were already a critical darling for their previous games, it was Hades that really caused their reputation to flourish. And so, this year they released their first sequel, following up directly on the game that gave them so much success.
And it’s even more of what made the first game so celebrated. Its robust gameplay systems that sit at the top of the roguelike genre and its ability to use the die-repeat cycle to tell a compelling story. One with some of the horniest characters in gaming, of course. Hades 2 also took the number in its title to heart, as unlike the first game there are now two distinct runs a player can take, and flip between them on each death as they see fit.
It did receive some flack for its ending, which has since been addressed in further patches, but otherwise Hades 2 is a continuation of Supergiant’s continual streak of excellent games that captured the attention of many.
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Team Cherry | PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox | September | Metacritic Avg: 91
Team Cherry: Ari Gibson, William Pellen | Music: Christopher Larkin
Possibly the most anticipated indie game of all time. Developed quietly over roughly seven years, inspiring endless calls of “Silksong?!” at every major gaming announcement show (and still does from people who deem themselves particularly “hilarious”).
When a release date finally emerged, every other indie dev releasing that week scurried off into October or beyond in fear of being buried. A fear that wasn’t entirely unwarranted as Silksong would then go on to crash every single online storefront the second it became available as demand outpaced server capacity.
And yet, despite all this, it was a game developed with little drama, as its three-man team quietly refined the game to their standards, functioning entirely off profits from the original Hollow Knight.
Hollow Knight: Silksong was always going to be one of the year’s biggest games. The love for the first game is unfathomably huge within the gaming community, and this follow-up was easily going to follow suit. Once again it has a gorgeous art style and hauntingly beautiful soundtrack, but now there’s a nimbler control scheme and an increased challenge. For many, Silksong has been worth the wait.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Kepler Interactive, Sandfall Interactive | PC, PS5, Xbox X/S | April | Metacritic Avg: 91
Director: Guillaume Broche | Lead Writer: Jennifer Svedberg-Yen | Lead Game Designer: Michel Nohra | Art Director: Nicholas Maxson-Francombe | Composer: Lorien Testard
To construct these lists, I collect review scores and trending data as games release. This means that as the months go on, I get to see drastic shifts as new scores come in and games push each other around in the trending ranks. This year has been a messy brawl, with games constantly sliding up and down the scale, which only got worse this month when the end of year accolades started pouring in.
There was exactly one constant though – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soared directly to the top spot upon release in April and refused to leave for the rest of the year. Even its final points score is so aggressively high compared to Silksong that nothing was going to shake it off. 2025 is the year of the J’RPG, and there’s nothing we can do about that.
You’ll hear no argument from me though, as it’s also my personal favourite of the year, which makes it the second year in a row where my personal favourite matches the general consensus.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a love letter to the JRPG genre, but also one that’s unashamedly French in every possible way. A lush soundtrack, painterly visuals that harken to the Belle Epoque period, alternate costumes that feature striped shirts, berets and baguettes, and a large balloon man named Esquie who speaks in a Franglish hybrid, is full of wine and feels like the kind of odd weirdo that only the French could come up with (complimentary).
But it’s also a superb RPG in its own right. The mechanics are cribbed extensively from other games, but slotted together in a new way that always feels satisfying. Yes, even the somewhat controversial dodge and parry system is good, and I won’t hear otherwise. The story is a powerful treatise on grief and loss and how to move forward when all seems hopeless. Plus we have impressive performances from Ben Starr (Final Fantasy XVI) and Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate 3) as major party members, and the powerfully commanding presence of Andy Serkis as a major villain.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an impressive feat. A small team of mostly newcomers managed to defy the odds and become the biggest game of the year. Hopefully it represents the direction of the industry going forward. Laying a trail for those who come after, if you will.
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