Top Ten Video Games of 2025

Posted by: Edo in Blog December 16, 2025 0

2025 was a banger of a year for video games.

The Nintendo Switch 2 came out. There was a new Donkey Kong game and it was amazing. Indie games are tearing it up and showing everyone how its done. Everyone went crazy over a French RPG. Hades 2 came out. A game about Ecuadorian football was one of the best reviewed games of the year. Valve are going to release a new console. We got two big budget samurai games. Episodic gaming is back. Final Fantasy Tactics is back (and it still rules).

These are my ten favourite games of 2025.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Developer: Sandfall Interactive
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Platform played: Xbox Series X

Every year on the island of Lumiere a godlike entity named the Paintress paints an ever-decreasing number on a rock formation which initiates the ‘gommage’, an event which Thanos-snaps out of existence anyone of that age. Every year the Lumerians send a new expedition to try and prevent the Paintress’ next cull. As the name of the game suggests, Clair Obscur is the story of the 33rd expedition embarking on this journey.

The game itself is a finely crafted turn-based rpg that both generously borrows from some of the most famous JRPGs that inspired its creators but also introduces new timing-based mechanics like parrying, dodging and counter-attacking. Combined with the various skill trees and heavily customizable Ability Points system which allows you to unlock some clever synergies between the playable characters, it is one of the refreshing and entertaining role playing games in recent memory.

If that wasn’t enough, the game has an attractive Belle Epoque setting, a stellar voice-acting cast – including Ben Starr, Jennifer English and Charlie Cox – and a briskly paced narrative that is quick to hook you in and has uncommonly good writing and character development.

That the game was made by a such a small team of developers – a mix of experienced talent who left Ubisoft as well as young newcomers, including a musician who was hired from a Reddit post – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been the underdog developer story which fans have rallied around.

Blue Prince

Developer: Dogubomb
Publisher: Raw Fury
Platform played: Xbox Series X

Upon the passing of your great uncle Herbert S Sinclair, you the player are bequeathed the Mt Holly Estate, a strange and ethereal mansion that changes its interior each time you enter it. Per the instructions in Sinclair’s will, in order to secure the inheritance you are required to find the 46th room in the mansion, which is the only room in the building which has a fixed location.

Building off of this intriguing premise, developer Dogubomb delivers one of the most engaging and delightful puzzle games of the year. I was really hooked by the game’s central mechanic of choosing and building the rooms you enter as you try to reach the 46th room with only a finite number of steps at your disposal.

In the spirit of great indie puzzle titles like The Curse of the Golden Idol, Return of the Obra Dinn and The Witness, you’ll likely find yourself scrawling notes, taking dozens of screenshots and losing hours of time to making ‘just one more run’ as you gradually uncover the game’s many secrets and find this thing goes way, way deeper than its initial premise might suggest.

Depending on your tolerance for the game’s RNG and its more confounding puzzle elements, Blue Prince could be anywhere from a 20hr experience to a 100hr one. Personally I had my fill of it around the 30hr mark and left feeling plenty satisfied with what it had to offer. For those who fully give themselves over to the game, there is plenty more to uncover even beyond the 46th room.

Hades 2

Developer: Supergiant Games
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Platform played: Steam Deck

There are some pretty innovative games in my top ten list year. I don’t even know what genre Donkey Kong Bananza could be categorized as for instance. But sometimes theres something to be said for an iterative sequel. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Hades 2 is exactly that.

Five years after the launch of its smash hit rogue-like Hades, Supergiant Games has released a highly polished and exquisitely designed successor that sticks to the foundations of the original game but gives players a new set of boons to experiment with, not one but two different paths to follow (underworld and surface) and more of the playful banter from the gods which was such a key part of the original title’s appeal.

Be warned that although Hades 2 is functionally very similar to the original, I also found it to be a good deal harder. The slick presentation and smooth onboarding meant I was having plenty of fun straight out the gate but I’d say it wasn’t until around the ten hour mark that I started to get a decent read on what types of synergies were achievable with the new boons and the game really clicked. And then that unlocked my favourite parts of the Hades experience – chaining together a glorious synergy of boons that trivializes the difficulty and lets you annihilate a boss that was previously giving you trouble.

Iterative, not innovative. Hades 2 is still best in class and a worthy follow up for anyone wanting more top tier run-based action rpg entertainment.

Donkey Kong Bananza

Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform played: Nintendo Switch 2

At the long awaited launch of the Switch 2, plenty of Nintendo fans were hoping for a new 3D Mario, just as we were treated to Super Mario Odyssey in the launch year of the original Switch.

Nintendo, who always like to zig when expected to zag, gave us a new 3D Donkey Kong game instead. And instead of a conventional platformer, it made something new entirely.

Although there is platforming involved, DK Bananza is more of a smash ’em up, where punching and destroying the environment is the primary mode of play. It sounds simplistic to the extreme and on paper might sound like an exercise in tedium but Nintendo are able to get incredible mileage out of this idea with its expansive, colourful and creative levels (referred to as ‘layers’) and it places surprisingly few restrictions on where or how much you can smash.

Bananza is a game with a real sense of immediacy in offering fun to the player. The first instruction on the screen – ‘punch’ – appears within the first few seconds of the game. And yet, it is also a game that keeps plenty of cards up its sleeve and doesn’t unlock its most enjoyable power-ups and best levels until the very final home stretch of the game. The very final stage of the game, plus the reveal of the final boss, is an all-timer.

Ball x Pit

Developer: Kenny Sun
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Platform played: Nintendo Switch 2

There are certain genres that have really risen to a place of prominence in the gaming landscape, particularly amongst the indie space. Run-based games, deck builders, Metroidvanias are all very popular and they’re basically a dime a dozen at this stage.

Which leads us to games like Ball x Pit. Kenny Sun’s latest game is a Frankenstein genre mash up. It takes a known beloved quantity – in this case Vampire Survivor’s aesthetic, retro art style and levelling system for its multitude of power ups – and applies it to the ball-bouncing gameplay stylings of Arkanoid, Breakout etc.

It’s very easy to see what inspired Ball x Pit but to its credit, imagining such a creation is one thing, building it is another. And Ball x Pit is a skillfully constructed variant of the Vampire Survivor motif and it manages to capture that same secret sauce, that same satisfying sense of progression and that same ‘one more go’ addictiveness that makes you boot up the game intending to play for half an hour only to find that several hours have just melted away.

A city builder mini-game between stages might prove to be divisive for some players but personally I enjoyed it as a minor distraction before jumping back in the pit for another run.

Dispatch

Developer: AdHoc Studio
Publisher: AdHoc Studio
Platform played: Steam Deck

Dispatch – Adhoc Studio’s debut episodic story-driven superhero game – is not my favourite game of the year. It’s really close. But it’s not number one.

But my personal favourite game of 2025 is notoriously difficult and has rather sadistic level progression that won’t be for everyone. Dispatch on the other hand is a pleasure from the very start until the final credits. It’s a game that anyone can play and enjoy. Which easily makes it my most recommendable game of 2025. If you’re reading this and haven’t played Dispatch, you should stop reading this and start playing Dispatch. Its so, so, so, good.

Players take on the role of Robert Robertson, a former superhero who retires when his mech suit is destroyed in combat. Robertson becomes a call centre dispatcher for a team of ex-villains who are trying to reform their ways. Cat stuck in a tree? People stuck in a burning building? Robertson fields the emergency calls and assigns one of the Z-team to save the day.

In the 2025 media landscape, I’d say it’s virtually impossible to feel innovative within the superhero genre. There isn’t really anything that hasn’t been done before and Dispatch’s wisecracking team of low rent villains trying to make good isn’t exactly fresh material. But where Adhoc’s game shines is in the quality of the writing, the superb animation work and the excellent voice acting.

I found myself invested in the fortunes of Dispatch’s cast of characters quickly. I was bought into the ‘will they/won’t they’ romance that Robertson finds himself in and regularly laughed at the banter between the Z-team. Although the baseline vibe of the game is smart-arse workplace comedy, the writers do occasionally shoot for earnest moments of romance, drama and pathos. And I think it’s a resounding success.

I also feel that Adhoc has made real strides with the episodic game formula popularized by Telltale Studios a decade ago. The dispatch mini-game itself is simple but enjoyable and it’s a type of interactivity that keeps the pacing of the game moving along briskly while still proving to be a useful vehicle for learning about each character and the personality dynamics between them.

I think if Dispatch had been a tv show it would be a breakout hit. The storytelling and writing is that good. As it so happens it’s a video game. It’s sold pretty well but I think it deserves a bigger audience still. Anything to improve our chances of a direct sequel or a new project for Adhoc. So stop reading this and go play Dispatch. You won’t be disappointed.

Despelote

Developer: Julian Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena
Publisher: Panic
Platform played: Steam Deck

Despelote (Latin American slang for ‘hot mess’) is a wonderful slice of life adventure game about creator Julian Cordero’s own memories as an eight year old living in Ecuador during the 2001 South American qualifying campaign for the World Cup. Rank outsiders, Despelote begins with only a handful of games in the campaign remaining but Ecuador still a chance of qualifying thanks to star striker ‘Tin’ Delgado.

We see the world through the eyes of Julian and learn about life in Ecuador through snippets of conversations between his parents and extended family, the schoolyard chitchat amongst Julian’s friends and the general ambient dialogue on the streets of his hometown Quito.

Parts of Julian’s experience are deeply relatable. Playing games in the park with friends and turning anything you find lying around into a makeshift soccer ball. Being bored at a distant relative’s wedding and passing time sitting under a table chatting with other kids. Squabbling with siblings over who gets to the use tv.

There are also moments that are uniquely Ecuadorian in experience. After one game, the national soccer coach is attacked in a hit organized by the former prime minister. One month the local currency collapses and the country switches to using American dollars.

I can’t recall ever playing a game – indie or mainstream – that so successfully captures a sense of time and place the way Despelote does. I felt as drawn in as I would watching an Alfonso Cuaron film about his hometown. Developers Cordero and Valbuena do a terrific job bringing the people, culture and historical milestones of this diminutive little town to a wider audience. It’s an incredible achievement.

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform played: Nintendo Switch 2

Yasumi Matsuno’s seminal work Final Fantasy Tactics (originally released in 1997) is the perfect tactical rpg game. Set in the fictional world of Ivalice, it tells the story of a high-born noble Ramza Beoulve who becomes entangled in the War of the Lions between two rival nations.

First and foremost the game has a rich and intricate job class system which encourages experimentation, finding creative synergies between different units and makes playing each encounter a joy. Tactics also has an incredible soundtrack and beautiful art style that brings the world to life.

The story itself is brimming with political intrigue, satisfying melodrama and explores themes such as class warfare, social inequality, corruption and manipulation of historical truth.

The biggest (and not insignificant) liabilities that Final Fantasy Tactics had was the difficulty in accessing the game (previously only released on PS1 and PSP) and some rather brutal difficulty spikes where it was possible to soft-lock your entire progress if you didn’t adequately prepare for one notoriously difficult boss battle in Act 3. This Ivalice Chronicles remaster fixes all these issues. The game is now available on virtually all modern platforms and some very welcome quality of life improvements sand down the rough edges of the original game with added checkpoints and the ability to opt in and out of random battles. There are other welcome additions like voice acting, which heightens the presentation further still.

Sometimes, a re-release of a beloved video game can diminish the magic of the original. Not so with Ivalice Chronicles. It manages to elevate Final Fantasy Tactics and is a must-play for any fan of tactical rpgs.

Lumines Arise

Developer: Enhance Games
Publisher: Enhance Games
Platform played: Steam Deck

For decades now, Tetsuya Mizuguchi has been one of my favourite game designers with his incredible catalogue of interactive synesthesia experiences including Rez, Lumines and Tetris Effect.

I’d argue that Tetris Effect, with its blend of the classic block-dropping gameplay and Mizuguchi’s presentation which synergizes dance music with vibrant, abstract imagery was his magnum opus. It was my game of the year in 2018 and remains one of my all-time favourite gaming experiences, VR or otherwise.

Lumines Arise takes the gameplay foundation of Tetris Effect – the burst mechanic which allows the players to build up multiple cleared blocks before erasing them all at once for a huge score multiplier – and applies it to his hit PSP game Lumines. The inclusion of a VR mode and journey mode will also feel very familiar to anyone who played Tetris Effect.

In that sense Lumines Arise is more of an iterative fusion of two previous Mizuguchi creations rather than anything radically new or different. But even so, this is a very welcome release and having ‘more Lumines’ and ‘more Tetris Effect style gaming’ is nothing to sniff at.

Bopping your head in time with two chameleons grooving to trance music about the human spirit while dropping coloured blocks to form squares. It’s a form of gaming nirvana.

Hollow Knight: Silk Song

Game of the Year

Developer: Enhance Games
Publisher: Enhance Games
Platform played: Steam Deck

It took a little longer than they originally planned but Team Cherry’s hugely anticipated successor to Hollow Knight finally arrived in 2025.

Hype and anticipation for the game reached fever pitch as it became one of the most wish-listed titles of all time and extraordinarily Silksong brought the online stores for Steam, Xbox and Playstation crashing down at its launch, such was the demand.

It might sound like a level of expectation too great to bear. An impossible standard to meet. And yet, for me at least, Silksong was every bit the game I hoped it would be and then some. I’ll need some more time to pass before making a more definitive statement but I think when its all said and done Silksong will likely end up being one of my favourite games ever.

The basic setup is straightforward enough. You play as Hornet, a secondary character from the original Hollow Knight, who explores the kingdom of Pharloom, whose inhabitants have been afflicted by madness caused by silk.

Silksong does all the things a good sequel should do. Hollow Knight is already an excellent game, with its cavernous stages to explore and pixel perfect controls. Silksong does everything even bigger and better. The combat mechanics have greater depth to them. You have the ability to customize your attacks and hunt down valuable unlockables that improve your health, your damage output and traversal abilities.

Exploring Pharloom is a joy. The world is huge, filled with dozens of interesting and distinct biomes, populated with dozens of weird little bug dudes, some friendly, but mostly foes.

Then there’s the bosses. About 40 of them. Most of them are hard. Brutally hard. And oftentimes the penalty for death is to boot you back to a respawn point that’s all the way over on the other side of the map. Despite knowing that this game would attract a huge new audience of casual players, Team Cherry have made this game unapologetically difficult and at times flaunts that difficulty in the face of the player in a way that few developers would feel comfortable attempting. Bilewater and Hunters March both feel like areas of the map where the devs are at their most sadistic and unforgiving.

But the other side of that difficulty curve is the unrivaled sense of satisfaction that comes from besting the game’s toughest challenges. I’m not normally an animated gamer but Silksong had me fist pumping and hollering at the screen at times. Surviving The Last Judge, scaling the summit of Mount Fay and conquering the Savage Beastfly (for the second time) were all challenges that pushed me to the absolute limits. But with patience and persistence, I conquered these obstacles and felt like an absolute king.

Over time you also come to learn that the game isn’t quite as nihilistic as it first seems and there are moments of genuine levity and camaraderie. That arena full of enemies that attack you in the Choral Chambers? Maybe a goofy little bug friend you made along the way will pay an unannounced visit to give you a helping hand. That flamboyant showbiz loving boss Trobbio? He probably has one of the funniest and over the top death animations I’ve ever seen. Silksong is absolutely filled to the brim with little details that delighted me.

There’s a completely missable sequence where Hornet gets sent to a prison, stripped of all her weapons and she has to bust out like it’s the Great Escape. There’s a tender moment shared with an ally where you sing at a waterfall that I found genuinely moving. And there are some bosses in this game that are works of absolute genius. The concept, design and execution of the Cogwork Dancers boss battle was one such instance. The ebb and flow of the swordfight with Lace was another. There are very, very few developers I can think of that rival what Team Cherry have achieved with Silksong.

Silksong’s best-in-class game design, boss battles and incredible world building make it one of the best games of the year. But it’s the surprising amount of personality and charm that Team Cherry infuse in all the characters that elevate it further still and make it one of the best games of this generation.

Honorable Mentions

Seance at Blake Manor

A supernatural detective mystery set in 1897 Ireland. Great vibes, cool setting and smart puzzle design make this a must play.

Metroid Prime 4

This is probably the nicest looking game Nintendo has ever made. I’ve only played about two hours so far though so I can’t say whether it should be in the top ten.

Consume Me

Cleverly made and thoughtful indie game about a teenager with an eating disorder. Tackles a tricky subject matter with aplomb.

The Alters

A space explorer stuck on an inhospitable planet must clone different versions of himself in order to survive. The next game from the This War of Mine developers.

The Roottrees are Dead

An intriguing puzzle game in which you play the role of an investigator who must fill in the gaps of the Roottree family tree after the family perishes in a plane crash to see who is entitled to the considerable inheritance.

Sektori

A great twin-stick shooter with dynamic stages from ex-Housemarque devs.

Expelled! – an Overboard game

Overboard was an excellent visual novel game in which you play as a woman who murders her husband on a cruise ship and tries to get away with the crime. Expelled is a spiritual successor from the same devs in a new tale where you play the part of a student accused of murder at Miss Mulligatawney’s School for Promising Girls. These games are short, sharp and designed for multiple runs which I thoroughly enjoy.

Best of the Backlog

Half-Life: Alyx

I finally got around to playing Half Life Alyx and it truly is the high point for virtual reality gaming. There are times where it genuinely feels like you’re playing a game from the future. The level named ‘Jeff’ where you explore a vodka distillery is a highlight. The teaser at the end for a potential Half-Life 3 boggles the mind.

Yoshi’s Island

I never played Yoshi’s Island when it released thirty years ago on the SNES because I had migrated over to the Playstation. Its an excellent 2D platformer with some great character and stage designs. I wish modern Yoshi games were like this and not as simplified as they’ve become.

Suikoden

The release of Suikoden I&II as an HD remaster collection from Konami was one of the most welcome releases in 2025. Some minor quality QoL improvements really enhance the experience of playing these JRPG classics. The story and characters remain timeless in their appeal.

Best Platform

Nintendo Switch 2

The Switch 2 has been a long awaited console and thankfully Nintendo made all the right moves to improve the hardware without deviating unnecessarily from what made the original system so popular.

A bigger screen really enhances the handheld experience. The horsepower under the hood seemingly places the console in the realm of PS4 Pro or Xbox Series S in terms of performance and this means it can run a lot of modern triple A games which is very welcome news.

While other platform holders are rapidly moving away from exclusivity for their first party games, Nintendo continue to buck this trend and for now, the only place to play Nintendo games is on Nintendo hardware. Since the Switch ecosystem is already home to most of the great indies as well as an ever improving catalogue of third party releases (Elden Ring, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy Remake are on the way soon), this makes the Switch 2 indispensable for anyone who wants to play a broad range of the most popular games today.

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Top Ten Video Games of 2025

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