The Drifter's Top 10 Video Games of 2025

The best of the best of 2025.

What a year for awesome video games, huh? The sheer amount of quality games you can play right now that 2025 is over is crazy. Such a dearth of amazing titles!

Well, we made it, ya’ll. Another year in the books.

As the calendar turns, and we enter the pages of a new year and a new season, so too must we close the chapters of last year’s weathered tome. I look back at the games I played last year as a sort of passage of time for me, with each game serving as a demarcation point in my seasons of life. Each entry in my personal journal, cataloguing the games I play throughout a given year, brings reflection and introspection as the year turns to another. I had such a blast playing video games last year, and I finished more games last year than in any previous year. It felt like I made a ton of progress in how I processed the act of seeking out and playing video games.

I enjoyed the ritual of finding a game that interested me, playing through a selected title, and then finally ruminating on how I felt upon finishing it. Then I would sometimes write about said game or record a podcast on my thoughts about it. It was damn fun to set up the ‘pins’ and knock them down. I have ADHD, and in the past, it was hard to focus on just one thing when it came to playing video games. So a lot of times, I would find myself starting and half-finishing games I found interesting, until inevitably, I found something newer and shinier that would capture my attention.

The thing that changed last year is that I started keeping myself more accountable and decided to play one or two things at a time, instead of keeping five to six plates spinning at any point. The results were positive: I was burnt out less, I enjoyed things more, I spent more time with the things I played, and I finished far more things than I didn’t last year. All in all, it was a very successful year for me when it came to playing video games in a more structured way. I am so glad I decided to make a change and focus on the things I thought were important to finish last year. Playing a few things at a time was so much easier than trying to fit in every game that I wanted to check out.

So! I try to keep these short and sweet because I have games to talk about, but talking about my process maybe will give you some insight into how my top 10 games of 2025 shook out. I spent a long time figuring out which games would make it here, what to cut from this list, which games didn’t end up making it (Wanderstop, I love you so much… I’m so sorry, please forgive me), and ultimately, what order the games I finished would be ranked in. Now, another thing I wanted to do was I wanted to make this list about two things: the first thing is that I wanted it to be full of games I had finished, and the second is that I wanted to rank them in order of what I believe is the best. From 10 to 1. Every game I rank here is set in a certain way because I believe they each belong there, and that each game of a higher rank is better than the one before it. I spent hours figuring this out… Maybe too long, even. But I feel like it was worth it. Even if you don’t agree, just know each of these games is awesome, and you should play them all!

Without any more hubbub, let’s go!!

The Drifter’s Top 10 Games of 2025:

10. Baby Steps (Played on PlayStation 5)

    

    I resent the “One Piece” slander in this game, but given that this is a learning experience, I’ll allow it… just this once!
    
    Where to even start with this one? For me, this game kind of came out of nowhere. I didn’t even have this on my radar, even upon hearing about it. I think the first time I saw it was in a Sony State of Play?? I remember thinking how bad it looked (visually, that is), and that it was another Bennett Foddy game: the guy who made Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy— maybe the most famous of the ‘QWOP'-like’ games on Steam (sort of in keeping with the viral, ambulatory physics-fuckery type of games that do well on there like: Going Up or Chained Together), and I swiftly dismissed it out of hand. I had never been into these sorts of games previously, and I didn’t expect to. The closest I got to liking one was with Mount Your Friends on XBLA back in the day, but since then, nothing has really interested me in that sort of ‘fumbly-tumbly’ movement sim milieu.
    
    I think the thing that got me to try it (well, the two things that convinced me were): 1.) it was discounted at launch on PSN, and 2.) I had been listening to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb on their podcast yak about how much fun he was having playing it. He kept bringing it up time after time, too, in the sort of impassioned, feverish way where you try to convince someone that the thing in question is: “surprisingly good, actually.” Even with my misgivings (I did the meme of the girl in the beanie going: “What the hell, sure,”), I bought it, basically sight unseen, other than hearing about it. To my surprise, what I found (like most things), Jeff Grubb was right.
    
    Baby Steps is awesome. The visuals, also? Kinda charming! I like how shitty it looks sometimes. It adds to the flavor of it not being your usual video game. It’s Lynchian in its themes (Twin Peaks’ pale white horse isn’t here necessarily, but there are lots of donkeys instead, so the spirit is there perhaps), it’s elegant in its messaging (the story about self reliance to the point of detriment, and the pitfalls of that thinking hit home with me especially), and it’s frequently a hilarious and fantastic time moving about a space in a video game.
    
    The hook of Baby Steps is simple. You are a slovenly mid-30s loser named “Nate” who lounges around lazily in a nasty, unwashed gray onesie in your parents’ basement, watching anime all day. Also, your legs don’t work too ‘good’, either. Like at all, even. The fun of the game is the simple (or frustratingly complex) mechanics of moving through a space with a character that seems hellbent on completely collapsing at any given moment. If you can stomach a few gutpunches on the regular (I fell down soooo many fucking hills and mountains), what you’ll find in here is a game that actually has something to say about growth, navigating social circles, and the meaning of having goals in life.
    
    It’s number 10 because I think it’s one of the best games I played last year, and I really got something out of it by the time I wrapped it up. It felt like I went on a journey. Every step you take feels like a small mountain you are climbing, and I loved how the game challenged me in the minutiae of its mechanics, even if it could be a frustrating ask, from time to time. Every time you crest a hill or arrive at a point of interest, the game constantly rewards you with some funny dialogue and amusing scenes of comedy involving wacky and oddball characters. I love the small helpings of levity they dish out as you move along the paths the game sets before you. It’s a really fun time. Baby Steps is a weird game... Really weird. But hell, I think I need more of that in my life. Not everything has to make sense, you know??
    
    9. Dispatch (Played on PlayStation 5)

    

    The best superhero stories are those in which the characters are rendered believably, the dialogue is modern and genuine, and there are real consequences to every situation shown throughout the story. Dispatch does all this and much, much more.
    
    I’ve heard that Dispatch is just Twilight for cis-het males. Is that true? Does this play at all for those reading??? For me, I suppose this is the case, anyway.
    
    Dispatch works on every level. It has the writing chops to deliver its larger-than-life superhero themes, has whip-smart, snappy dialogue that never becomes too “Whedon-esque” to annoy, and shows realistic depictions of its characters, all of whom are people who have their own ideas of the world they reside in, and have a firm grasp of themselves as individuals. It can be sexy when it wants to be and also extremely sincere while not being overly saccharine; it conveys the dynamics of its cast better than most team-centric superhero media I can remember.
    
    It’s adult in every way, and not only due to its content or themes. It’s adult in the right ways, where it deals with real adult issues maturely and deftly. It’s the best ‘one of these’ I have played. They outdo the old Telltale Games (which is fitting given that some of the developers come from those previous professional bona fides), and I think AdHoc Studio is a name to watch going forward for any new project they spin up, given the success of this game. It’s really good. It all works so well, too. It’s a digital feast for all five senses.
    
    The thing that brings the characters to life is the voice acting, and Dispatch has the right stuff there as well. A who’s who of television stars are here lending their voice talents, such as Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul playing the main character Robert, or (one of my personal favorite actors), Jeffrey Wright from Westworld and The Batman fame, playing the role of Chase as the reliable comic relief. (Sidebar… The best scene of the game has got to be Chase’s “Keep Up” moment. Absolutely crushed me. A character so heroic that, despite his misgivings about who he was saving, he did so anyway because it was the right thing to do. Incredible storytelling.) It’s impressive that these big actors are so good at this, which shouldn’t surprise me, but it still does. Not every actor translates well to voice work (looking at you, Michael Biehn).
    
    Besides the heavy hitters, you have veteran voice talents mainstays like Matthew Mercer, Laura Bailey, and Travis Willingham, lauded voice actors known primarily for the show Critical Role, (the TTRPG giant who was also heavily involved with the voice acting production of Dispatch), and also a promising crop of rookie voice talent, primarily populated by ‘internet folk’ such as, Alanah Pearce, Jacksepticeye, Joel Haver, and Moist Cr1TiKaL. It’s a fascinating melting pot of personalities and voices, but all these elements work in the game’s favor rather than distract or detract from the final product. All the voice acting is great, and it’s exciting to see new, talented performers get their first big break with such a big game.
    
    The ‘game’ part of Dispatch is super fun too, playing out like a superhero management sim full of light, breezy elements that all work really well. Need a cat out of a tree? Maybe call in a hero who can fly. Got some politicking to do at the local county building? Maybe enlist someone with the gift of gab for the job. All these light elements come together supremely well in the ‘dispatching’ portions of the game.
    
    Thematically, and mechanically, Dispatch works remarkably well, and by the time the 8 episodes rolled by, I felt the urge to take the ride again to see what other things I could’ve done and other choices I could’ve made instead of what I chose on my canon playthrough. I get the criticisms of “it’s more of a movie or a tv show, than a game”, but even with its light decision-making and sim mechanics, it definitely still qualifies as a game, and a great one at that. It’s my number 9 and absolutely deserves to be on this list for my favorite games of 2025.
    
    8. The Outer Worlds 2 (Played on PlayStation 5)

    

    Damn shame this didn’t sell well… Looks like we won’t be getting another one. Which is a huge bummer. They figured it out in this entry.
    
    Obsidian only knows how to make good games, it seems. Everything that the developer puts out is a banger. From big sequels like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and Fallout: New Vegas, to smaller or more niche RPG offerings like the fantastic Pentiment, and the hardcore CRPG series Pillars of Eternity, they can do little wrong in my eyes. In recent years, it’s been even better with its surprise survival sim hit Grounded (and its sequel Grounded 2), and a return to the Bethesda-styled RPG type affairs similar to New Vegas, like last year’s Avowed (also part of the Pillars of Eternity series) and the first The Outer Worlds. Obsidian has been doing the Lord’s work, of late. They are a team that ships. They make games according to a schedule, they keep to it, and they send their stuff out into the world, promptly. They rarely overscope their games, and they are self-assured in their creative efforts. There is a rare confidence to their games that is just that: rare. They’re good at this whole making games thinging.
    
    I loved the first Outer Worlds game. I came to it, actually, late last year in anticipation of its sequel. What I found in the first game was all the stuff I had been missing in the Bethesda-style RPGs I so dearly love. Even the large-scale efforts like Starfield and Fallout 4 from Bethesda Game Studios didn’t feel the same in comparison. Those games are missing something that I still can’t quite put my finger on. I am not even sure what it is… The last couple of games from Bethesda have just felt lacking, to me. Not sure why. To be fair, it is a tough act to follow the likes of both Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim— even if you’re the company that made them.
    
    But felt like in some ways Obsidian “out-Bethesda’d Bethesda”, with the first Outer Worlds. It was everything I could’ve wanted and more. Great dialogue, decent to good characters (Parvati is one of the great RPG characters of the last few years, in my opinion), and solid combat paired with crunchy RPG systems to round out the affair. That first game is sweet. Even sweeter is the second game: The Outer Worlds 2, which is all that, a bag of chips, and some “Purpleberry Crunch”.
    
    It’s The Outer Worlds on steroids. Bigger, more expensive, with stronger writing, a more fleshed-out story, and a far better cast of characters than the first (except for Saza, who is terrible and should be ignored). It’s basically a double-decker helping of The Outer Worlds, just way better in every way. Technologically, stylistically, artistically— all of it and more. It’s awesome. The combat has been revamped, retooled, and redone. The same goes for the RPG systems, which allow for more options and afford you more tools to tinker around with the dynamics of the galaxy you are running around in. It’s just so much better than the first, and for that, it makes this list.
    
    Lastly… I gotta talk about my boy: Tristan Rao. The Chad. The man himself. One of the very best companions I can remember in these types of RPGs. He’s on the level of a Garrus Vakarian from Mass Effect, Astarion from Baldur’s Gate 3, or Heismay from Metaphor: Re Fantazio. He’s that good. Tristan Rao is an incredible character. He is worth playing this game for his performance and story alone. I don’t even wanna spoil it, I love that guy so much. Just a space judge with a big-ass hammer, who suffers no fools. Unique, specific, and all his own, Tristan Rao captures what makes this game so special. (Reminds me, I’ve been meaning to yap about my favorite companions in RPGs one day. It’ll happen, I’m sure!)
    
    A huge improvement over the first is this game’s cast of companions, and their individual loyalty missions (akin to the Mass Effect series), which allow you to dive deeper into each person’s stories alongside the main narrative. The factions, the side quests, and the random events that bring color to the world of The Outer Worlds 2 are all so well done. It’s just a beautiful game. To look at, to listen to (they even added a Fallout-style in-universe radio full of songs made for the game), and to play.
    
    The Outer Worlds 2 is what you get when a big company trusts a talented and consistent developer to make a game and gives them the means to accomplish it. It feels like Obsidian finally got to make a game with no limits. It’s what you dream of as a developer, I’m told. It earns my number 8 spot, no question. I will return to it one day, I’m sure, to finish all there is to do in it. I'd better enjoy it, though. They won’t make another one, sadly.
    

    Fuck Capitalism— go home. (Shout-out to Austin Walker.)
    
    7. Silent Hill f (Played on PlayStation 5)

    

The Chad, Hinako

Rarely do I play games that feel like they suffocate me; that cause me to worry, and dread. But then again, there aren’t many games like Silent Hill f. I wasn’t scared, per se— but I was pretty shook by pretty much everything about the game. It’s the familiar, well-worn Silent Hill franchise trope of the rural, sleepy little regional town, overcome by fog and populated by horrors beyond your comprehension, but with the added twist of a period-era small Japanese locale rather than the usual settings of a rundown American burg that the series usually trades in. This change allows the developer NeoBards Entertainment (which, up until this game, had only done porting work and remastering for various companies in the games industry) to inject fresh ideas into the Silent Hill series. As a first effort, it’s magnificent.

The hook of this game is the story. Ryukishi07 of Higarashi: When They Cry fame worked on this game, and it shows. The visual novel aspects are here in Silent Hill f, with novel branches to the narrative and different endings that give more clarity to the story. It’s a really good tale too, heightened by brilliant writing full of pathos and existential dread. They go for it here, too. There are scenes of harsh trauma and unflinching brutality, the likes of which I can’t say I have seen in many games of its type, or even in the series. Usually, the games in the franchise haven’t been known as gore-fests or “torture porn”, for lack of better terms, but Silent Hill f manages to toe the line of shock-value and gratuity relatively deftly, even if some would argue they may go too far in their depictions of both harrowing, pain-staking violence, and self-mutilation. There is a wild cutscene in this game I haven’t seen done before in a triple-A video game, and the audacity of it alone took me back. It’s extremely gnarly and fucked up, but I do think including it is a necessary plot device to successfully convey the narrative they are attempting to depict. Viewer discretion advised, most certainly.

It wasn’t just the brutality of these scenes that shook me; it was the creeping dread and constant toxicity of Hinako’s relationships and social circles that kept me on tilt until I reached the end. It’s like ‘walking on eggshells’, the game, thematically. I always felt nervous when Hinako was talking to a character, because they would always say one thing, while their eyes said another. It looks fantastic, to boot, so you get a lot out of the motion capture in the actors’ conveyance of both the dialogue and physical performances for a scene. The performances and visuals are not quite as good as 2024’s Silent Hill 2 by Bloober Team, but they get damn close. You can’t trust anyone in this game. Not even your own family. The atmosphere is so toxic and so suffocating, yet oddly, all of these add to the experience. Its tone is so defined. As the game progressed, I sorta felt like I was Hinako in some way, seeing what she sees and slowly losing grip on my own sanity as a result of her trauma. It’s really, really distressing to play through. I love it for that, though, strangely enough…

The story is both Silent Hill’s biggest strength and its unfortunate Achilles heel, for me. There is a novel idea here: you need repeat playthroughs to see the whole story, and each subsequent playthrough affords more insight into the proceedings as a whole. Each route you take requires certain items, or paths to be taken to access said content, and while these ideas are cool and well-implemented in the game’s narrative, the reality is, I just don’t have time to play through games multiple times these days. It’s a big ask to replay something, once, let alone three or four times, if you want to see the various endings that add to the story.

It’s a nice idea, but has the time for that? I sure don’t… I appreciate it academically because it’s a nice idea to incentivize repeat playthroughs for your single-player game. It adds content without it becoming stale, and I get that, but realistically, most people (if they finished it) look up the other content and different endings on YouTube. That’s basically how it went for me, too. It’s a bummer I probably won’t see the new stuff they added (every ending has a distinct, final boss to encounter besides the new content), and it’s nice they streamlined the repeated playthroughs with some quality-of-life skipping functions and truncations, but I think the idea is flawed at its core for the way I play games. I just don’t replay that many things.

Finally, perhaps the most divisive thing about this game is the discourse regarding Silent Hill’s combat. I personally like it, but I can see why some people think it’s a bit clunky and unwieldy sometimes, too. I think thematically it works; it makes sense to me that Hinako just isn’t trained for combat, and the way the combat mechanics feel adds to that idea, for me. Not everyone thinks this, which is fine, and I can see the argument positing that I am just excusing how the combat feels, because I think it fits narratively, and it gets away with it because of that. I don’t agree, but I can see someone arguing that. The gameplay does change up about midway through, however, and becomes more of a hack-and-slash romp (at least for part of the game), and I think that does more than freshen up the mechanics as it progresses.

Turns out I had a lot to say about this one… It’s a cerebral game that encourages a lot of talk about its themes, setting, and story. I think it all works together marvellously for the most part, and the minor issues I have with seeing the whole narrative with the new content are alleviated by a quick YouTube search. It’s unfortunate, but life goes on.

Silent Hill f is one of the best entries in the series, and a novel spin on an established formula for the franchise. It’s beautiful, bold, and executed extremely well. I applaud NeoBards for their first effort here and am excited to see what else they are capable of after this. It’s my number 7, and I am happy that it made my top 10. It’s one of the best games of the year, turns out!

6. Donkey Kong Bananza (Played on Nintendo Switch 2)

What an absolute joy to play. Definitely my favorite platformer since Super Mario Odyssey.

Donkey Kong Bananza, at its core, is a reflection of the company that made it. Both for good and bad, but mostly for good. It’s a game filled with both monumental, exhilarating highs and drastic, disappointing lows. In some ways, it encapsulates the modern state of Nintendo as a company is in, better than most games in their stable. It’s a game filled with frequent brilliance and baffling design decisions. Its proverbial ‘mind’ is in the right place, even if sometimes the ‘body’ doesn’t follow or execute the way it should. It can be frustrating because of its inconsistencies. But on the flipside, these inconsistencies make for so many fun moments that it's hard not to have one without the other, here. The game and its mechanics tend to wash over me a little bit more than I’d prefer, but I like that I can turn my brain off and go ape-shit when molding the terrain to my every whim. It’s great fun.

In many ways, Bananza is a messy game; in visual design, especially. It’s not a bad-looking game. It looks great most of the time! The fidelity of the game itself on Switch 2 is impressive. It’s very shiny, and there are a lot of particles floating around. But if you start squinting, the game is made up also of low-resolution textures for the environment and terrain, has some low-quality character models for the NPCs, and Bananza also hosts some shoddy level design between its layers, too. But when it all comes together… and the game lets you run free across these landscapes, vistas, above and below —you won’t end up caring that much in the long run.

That’s the thing about it: you can’t think too much. Be like a monkey. You see, you do, you smash. If you stop to smell the flowers, the game won’t hold up to scrutiny more often than not, but as long as you are chunk-jumping, smashing terrain, and barrel-blasting across its open zones, you just won’t care the way you would in a more precise, cultivated platformer experience like that of your typical Mario game.

In some ways, I prefer this style of free-form monkey business to the specificity of a 3D Mario adventure. It isn’t as curated, but that’s kind of its biggest strength. It can make hunting for collectibles a bit of a blur, I will admit, but it’s all still great fun to do, even if there aren’t as many bespoke encounters to get Banandium Gems. It isn’t as interesting to engage with in the endgame because of this fact, though. Some of the collecting can feel aimless at times, and some gems just seemed dropped in a spot because they needed to put something there, oddly enough. You don’t have a ton of purposeful exploration like that of a Mario title, and that is a bit disappointing. But it isn’t bad, per se. It’s just the truth. I do get burned out collecting things after a while. Smashing things just wears on me after a bit… I am not sure why. Perhaps because the screen is too busy, and there is a lot of stimuli in the endgame collection? Not sure, really, but I think that could be it.

While it isn’t as good or refined as other Nintendo games, it’s a testament to the developer’s endless creativity and playground sensibilities that the whole affair feels fresh, distinct, and all around ‘new’ feeling for the genre. There is truly nothing like Donkey Kong Bananza, and I expect there won’t be many imitators to the concept, either. What they pull off technically here on the Switch 2 is frankly incredible, even if at times, it can really drag in terms of framerate and processing speed when things get a bit hairy on the destruction front. The camera is also better than it has any right to be, given just how many compromising positions it is frequently asked to be in. In far less able hands, this game could’ve been a disaster on multiple fronts, but Nintendo proves more than capable of pulling off this type of new effort. It’s a remarkable achievement, if you ask me.

Donkey Kong Bananza is so good consistently that it had to make my list, but not good enough to reach past this spot. I’ll admit this is the lowest I have ranked it all year until now, but having thought about it, given its flaws as well as its successes, it’s perfect right here. It’s my number 6 because it’s polarizing for me. That’s okay, though, because most of the time, I was having too much fun to notice.

5. Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter (Played on PlayStation 5)

I can see why everyone loves this entry now. One of the best RPGs I have played in a fair bit.

I tried to play the original Trails in the Sky entry on PSP in recent years, and bounced off of it. Not because it was bad, it was pretty good! I think I put it down because I heard this was coming out, maybe? Let’s go with that. I am glad I played and finished this version of the game, though. What a treat!

This game is the pinnacle for me of what I deem to be a “cozy RPG experience”. Every bit of it, from the lovely soundtrack, the beautifully written cast of characters, to the ambience of the country of Liberl and the rural townships that make up its setting, all lend themselves to the immaculate vibes of the game. It’s just so damn warm and inviting.

It took me around 45 hours to see this through, and I loved just about every part of my time with it. The best thing about the adventuring has gotta be the sidequests, for me. In the game, you play as primarily Estelle and Joshua Bright, childhood best friends who grow up to become ‘Bracers’, regional freelancers who do odd jobs for anyone and everyone, regardless of reward. This narrative theming allows for the side missions to almost feel required to play through, given the main character’s roles. I love that about it. Everything feels essential to do.

You feel narratively incentivized to help everyone who asks, and that feeling carries throughout each chapter as you go along. You go from region to region, solving disputes, finding missing villagers, and locating lost items, and none of it feels tacked on or boring. It feels important because it is important. Having the side content feel fully integrated into the narrative makes the entire adventure feel worth doing. I did all 73 quests in the game, and I had a blast doing so. It feels right to help people! It’s by far the thing I’ll remember about it the most.

I also love that the story is a smaller-scale affair than other RPGs. There is no biohazardous muck to clean up, or eldritch horrors to contend with. You are solving local issues for regular folks, mostly. Even if by the end, the politics of the world at large begin to creep into the picture, you never feel like saving the world is the point. You make more of a difference to your community as a Bracer than in any other way. You aren’t trying to save the planet. But in a way, you are trying to do your part to assist with that. Cats need to be saved from trees sometimes, and someone has gotta be there to do it!

The thing that kept me returning to it was the gameplay. If not for another impressive RPG combat system this year, this would be my very favorite from the games on this top 10. It’s fantastic. You have the option to both hack and slash mobs in the zones between regions, or engage in turn-based fights with just the push of a button. If you wear down an opponent in the world to the point of staggering them, you will gain a tactical advantage once you change the encounter into a turn-based fight. But enemies can also do this in kind, putting you at a disadvantage. The push-pull of these styles in the battles keeps it interesting and satisfying all the way through the main story, and the side content as well. The thing that keeps the battles fresh in the game over time is the addition and subtraction of various party members who join you at select intervals throughout each chapter. Each character is good at their ‘thing’, and digging into each of their movesets and capabilities offers up a lot of depth in the gameplay, many hours in. It’s so much fun to play.

For more impatient gamers, the game affords the ability to toggle on a faster speed for regular gameplay. It makes the game run quicker, allowing for faster traversal between towns and cities, and speeds up quick battles if you are looking to grind levels in between missions, and dialogue if you wanna cut to the chase. It’s a nice thing to have, especially as the hours continue to mount, and you’re looking to grind out experience points for later encounters. I enjoy having the option there, should I need it. I think a lot of long RPGs could do with this function in their games, too, and it’d be nice to have the option there as well. Here’s to hoping that other companies take this mechanic. It’s useful!

I adored my time with Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter. It looks amazing, plays even better, and absolutely is worth your time if you’re debating on trying it. I can see why people hold this game and this series in such high esteem. The end of this game has a teaser for the second entry, too, once you finish the main story, and I’m stoked to check that out once they finish development. It’s almost a perfect RPG. The reason it’s my number 5 only is simply this: this is a remake of an existing game. I am trying to reward newer games and experiences on the top half of this list, this year, but if I wasn’t, this damn near would be in my top 3. It’s that good. Play this game.

4. Hades II (Played on Nintendo Switch 2)

“Death to Cronos.”

I’ve started to come around on ‘rogue-style’ games, be they ‘roguelikes’ or ‘roguelites’. I wrote here on this site that I wasn’t a huge fan of the genre, but with time passing and me playing some good ones, I think I am amending this opinion slightly. The best of these perfect the loops of gameplay and iterate constantly on established methods of engagement. Hades II doesn’t just succeed at this; hell, it blows past every metric qualify as perfection in every sense of the word. This is a perfect video game. It’s not my favorite of the year (I will admit this was my number 1 game for a very long time), but in terms of execution? I don’t think there is better crafted video game I played this year than this. On every front.

The only issue I think I have with Hades II is just that it’s more Hades. That’s not bad! But I have played this before! It’s all very familiar, and that’s great, but I don’t think it elevates an already good game that much. It iterates stupendously, but as for what’s new, there is a very samey feel to this game. Again, having more ice cream isn’t a bad thing. I like ice cream. But more of it can also be a slight criticism. What else would it be if not for a sequel to the first, anyway? I dunno, but still. It’s the most minor of quibbles I have with any game this year. It’s great, but in some way, I have done this sorta exercise already.

Picking nits aside, this is the most fun I had playing a video game this past year. Purely on the gameplay front. There are so many ways to beat this game, and every tool you get on a run helps with that. You can beat this game with literally any combination you can imagine. It’s that balance that makes this game so good. Supergiant is a master of this genre, but they allow you to break their game in fun ways too. I had one combination of boons, weapons, and perks that was so broken I beat a run to Olympus without dying once. When you beat a run… It’s the best feeling ever. I chased that exhilaration all year, after the fact, and no game quite got there in the end.

Hades II is a perfect game. In almost every way. The story is great (ending too), the combat is incredible, the music is god-tier, and the art design is impeccable (Jen Zee, the woman that you are…). The only reason this is my number 4… is that I have played Hades 1. Maybe that’s a dumb reason not to shower this game with the top prize, but it’s enough for me to keep it here and not in my top 3. Makes sense to me. If it doesn’t work for you, I totally get it. If I had to return to any of these games casually, I would 100 percent play this one first. It’s just so fucking fun to play.

3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Played on PlayStation 5)

I wish French people were real. Merde…

What could I possibly say about this game that hasn’t already been said??
It’s as good as people say it is, man. If you doubt this game, or don’t like it because it’s popular, I am here to tell you that you are wrong. It’s okay to be wrong, but I’m gonna judge you for it.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the best game of the year. Most people who played it agree about this, I think, right? I am speaking qualitatively, purely, here. Per capita, the people who finished this gave it their top prize, so it seems. Kinda makes me an outlier here... I think quality-wise, it may be the “Best Videogame of 2025”. It’s all killer and zero filler. But that can be the truth, and I can also enjoy, let’s say… a couple of other games more than it. Both can be true, I say. I think that it is truly a one-of-a-kind video game experience, and it deserves all the praise and bouquets thrown its way. I just liked some other games more.

I wrote about it here, so read my review. In short, I think it’s just a wonderful game, has the best soundtrack of the year, and tells an emotional, well-rendered story about grief and how we process it through art. It’s a special, special game. It also has the very best turn-based combat I’ve ever played. It’s truly astounding how good this game is, given that it’s the studio Sandfall’s first effort. Truly spectacular.

2. Hollow Knight: Silksong (Played on Nintendo Switch 2)

A true masterpiece, this is maybe the best Metroidvania/search-action game I’ve ever played. It’s close, and time will tell… But I am pretty bullish about that. A truly can’t-miss video game.

Hollow Knight: Silksong and another game coming up on this list are how I define my year with the Switch 2. I spent so much time playing games handheld this year, but very few games captured me completely in 2025 as Silksong did. It’s a revelatory experience, and perhaps the pinnacle of its genre. It’s a watershed moment in independent games development, in my opinion, and completely delivered on all expectations set for it. It’s the rare game that meets the hype.

It’s wild just how mainstream this game is, too. It’s very difficult. It’s ball-bustingly hard at times, even. It’s a real pain to get through just casually. It seems like the antithesis of a mainstream product in some ways, because it is so anti-player in key aspects of its design. It feels in step with the From Software way of doing things, in that the hardest trials allow for the greatest exhilaration upon conquering them.

There were many times that I simply put the game down in frustration for long stretches in my weeks playing it. It rattled me quite a bit, I will admit. But I persevered, and despite constant roadblocks and the frustration I had with the difficulty, I finished it. The hardest part of the main game for me was by far the arduous gauntlet the devs throw at you on the doorstep of the final boss. Absolutely brutal, brutal sequence there. It took me hours to conquer that portion of the game, and if you’ve beaten it, you know damn well what part I mean.

The bosses and enemies you engage with are spectacular and awe-inspiring, and their animations are gorgeously drawn and animated. It’s a huge step above even the first Hollow Knight, and that was amazing to start with. Team Cherry has grown and matured since the release of the first entry, and their attention to detail and execution on the art alone is to be commended. It’s an absolutely gorgeous game. I love the artstyle especially, which can be, oddly, a sticking point for some people. It’s got a look and feel all its own. It’s absolutely mind-boggling how a team of this size (primarily two developers with assistance) could pull off a game of this size and scope.

Christopher Larkin returns from the first game, and his music is the lifeblood of the adventure. Beautifully composed, the wispy violins and the plinking of lonely pianos give this score a solitary, isolated feel to the atmosphere. You feel like you are underground and in a strange place. But when it gets time to fight a big baddie, the music meets the challenge, bringing forth all the bombast and epic scores you expect from the last game. There is a boss fight about midway through that is choreographed along with the music that is straight up an all-timer. It’s an incredible fight, too, but it’s made more memorable because of the gimmick. I think back on that segment very fondly.

It looks so good… It sounds just so otherworldly and ethereal in its music and its sound design… But the best part of Silksong? It’s gameplay. This game plays like an absolute dream. I don’t think there is a better feeling search-action game than this. 2024’s Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an amazing game, and might have been the previous champion in the gameplay department. Silksong is just better. In every way. You have so many ways to play it, with so many permutations and styles to engage in, too. It’s brilliantly designed. Every time you have face off against a foe, you have the right tools for the job, and every time you hit a button to attack, it comes out flawlessly and looks awesome doing so. It’s so well made, this game. I have almost no criticisms about the way it plays.

The story is surprisingly interesting here, and the best part of it is the interactions you have with the various bugs and underground denizens of Pharloom. There are so many memorable bug characters you talk to here. My favorite is Sherma, by far. Such a cute little idiot. He is just trying his best! There are more personalities and interesting characters in Silksong than in any other game of its type. There is just so much heart to this assortment of quirky bugs. I love the way they react to Hornet as she makes her way through the world, and I especially love how she talks to them throughout the journey.

Hornet is direct, brooks no fools, and is to the point, always, every time. There is an economy of words with Hornet as the main character, with every word she utters feeling purposeful and valuable. It’s almost currency to her. She says just as much as she needs to, as directly as she needs to say it. Her characterization is perfect for the game, and having a voice (or speaking role) makes her a vast improvement over the silent Vessel you played in the first game. There is way more color and vibrancy to the world and characters here than in the first Hollow Knight. I applaud Team Cherry for evolving their games in this way. It makes it feel like a bigger and more complex world full of realized characters, rather than just NPCs with flavor text.

I adore Silksong. It’s damn near perfect. I don’t share the same criticism about it that I do for Hades II, because I think it is just vastly superior to the first game in every way. Hades II is great because it is iterative and executes on all fronts, but it is ultimately a few more building blocks on an established idea. I also never felt challenged in Hades II as I did here. Silksong transcends its first outing in every conceivable way. It makes the first one feel like child’s play. The only reason it is not my top game is that I was occasionally frustrated by it. It’s very tough. Despite the difficulty, nearly every aspect of this game works for me. Since we are picking nits, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it. Breaks my heart not to give it top billing, I will admit, though.

1. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (Played on PlayStation 5)

This is one of the best games I have ever played. I will remember it fondly for years to come. Kojima does it again. Cue the thunderous applause!

This wins because I think it’s one of the best games I have ever played. That’s really it. It’s more than a video game to me. It’s a digital messiah. These are lofty things to say for sure, but hopefully you catch my drift (wink…).

Death Stranding 2 transcends video games. It is one of the most singular experiences I’ve had with any piece of media. There is no better-looking, sounding, or playing video game that Kojima has made than this, in my opinion. Nothing has surpassed what Kojima Productions has done here. I mentioned this in my review of DS2, but I see Kojima as an auteur, a proverbial David Lynch of his medium. A force to be reckoned with. He possesses the same goofy tones, sexy provocation, and emotional resonance in his art that Lynch used to, and I think this comparison I make between the two endears Kojima just that much more to me.

I loved the first Death Stranding, and even with its faults, I think the first game is a modern classic. I think back on my time with it fondly. Death Stranding 2 is better and more bombastic in every way. It has a better more coherent story, has amazing characters brought to life by incredible performances, and keeps the Kojima tradition alive of predicting the future, where the creators comment on the real world in the narrative. Kojima is just Nostradamus.

I think the specificity of the cutscenes is what makes the narrative shine most especially. It feels cinematic in the proper sense, where Kojima is directing the story like an actual film. It’s filled with dynamic camera techniques, specific character direction, and filmic gravitas that you see in modern movies, and that quality elevates everything about the story they tell here. Every character in the game is awesome. Even Higgs (played by Troy Baker, who turns in an astounding performance) is much improved upon from his first outing and given a larger purpose and presence here than ever before. The acting is out of this world good, and the music, oh my god— if I could only drop the whole OST here I would. Ludwig Forssell and Woodkid created an outstanding soundtrack that pumps the story full of ethereal feeling. DS2 transcends video games because when I describe it, I am also describing how well it executes on its other disciplines. It’s gobsmacking how good this game is at everything it does.

The package delivery is also better than ever, and even though it’s easier to engage with than ever before, all the new quirky systems and gadgets you get as you trek across new continents make the whole journey feel varied and full of options, as you select just how you wish to set out completing your tasks. The ‘strand’ portions of this game are better, too, with all the social elements of the asynchronous multiplayer working better than before. There is so much to interact with and do in DS2, just finding out how everything works is a pleasure and a joy.

The combat is way better here as well. In the first game, it was a very bad idea to shoot someone with a weapon, for narrative reasons. In this game, if you have a gun, it’s non-lethal most of the time, freeing up the narrative parts of the mechanics to allow for a more free-form combat style once you have to fight someone. In some ways, it feels more akin to the openness of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. You have so many tools at your disposal, and so many interesting mechanics to use to your advantage, constantly. It’s a game about systems, and you feel consistently challenged and rewarded for interacting with them.

I had so much fun with this game. The ending hours of Death Stranding 2 are a mindfuck. I don’t think I have ever seen anything as narratively audacious or downright bold in my life. It’s worth seeing how this game wraps up. It’s actually crazy that Kojima got money to put some of that stuff in here. It’s amazing. I cannot describe just how nutty the end of this game gets. It’s an incredible ride, and something I cannot see topped for me in quite a while. I think it's Kojima’s best game, and it’s not close. Every element here is perfect, every story choice is bold and out of this world insane, and the game itself is so much fun. Who knew being a mailman could be this much fun??

Death Stranding 2 is not only one of the greatest sequels ever, it’s also one of the best video games of all time. If you don’t play this game, I will think less of you. Does that clear it up? I think it’s essential reading, and I will remember it so fondly for many years to come. An absolute masterpiece from start to finish. It’s my game of the year, and from the second I finished it, it was my top pick. I toyed around with some other stuff in its place, sure, but deep in my heart, it was always the right choice. I am eager to see what else this man and his team can do. I’m blown the fuck away.

There you have it! My Top 10 games of 2025! Thanks for reading this, if you did, and if you like my stuff, please share it and subscribe to me for more of it. I had an awesome year playing these games, and I hope you played some of them too. Here’s to more great video games in 2026.

As Dave Dameshek says, “It’s been a little slice of heaven.”