I played a lot of games in 2025. I started nearly 100 games and saw the credits, or otherwise “finished”, about 70 of those. My rough calculations suggest about a full month of my year was spent playing games. That’s impressive!
I started the year thinking I would play significantly fewer new releases as I wanted to better control my spending. That was proven to be wildly untrue thanks to GamePass, PlayStation Plus, and a bunch of wonderful games releasing under $50.
I will have other year-end wrapup articles to cover new-to-me games I played and some of my favorite replays, but this one will focus solely on the 20 new 2025 releases I spent decent time with in 2025.
My Year in Gaming
My main priority in gaming heading into 2025 was to be more mindful of my spending. I accomplished that by spending way less on new games, buying no “crazy” retro games, and utilizing my GamePass and PlayStation Plus subscriptions more than I had before. The most obvious takeaway from all of this is that I don’t have much desire at all to grab full-priced AAA games on launch day. This will certainly be put to the test with games like Resident Evil 9, Wolverine, 007 First Light, Control 2, Fable, Pragmata, and Saros coming out in 2026. However, I will use 2025 as a guide to having fun with plenty of new games without buying into the $70 releases. I just need to remind myself that they’ll all be on sale by the holidays, at the very least.
Beyond that, I did not intend to buy any hardware going into 2025. I was way off. Convinced that the prices would increase, I grabbed a Switch 2 a couple of months after launch. It’s a really nice piece of hardware, having a gaming system this powerful in handheld mode is a revelation. Which leads me to my second hardware purchase of 2025; the PlayStation Portal. This was partially dictated by certain life circumstances, but I have had a fantastic time with the Portal in the few weeks since my late-2025 purchase. I’ve been able to stream from my PS5 without issue on all types of games and the direct cloud streaming mode is wonderful as well. I’ve played through multiple PS1 games this way, collecting platinum trophies. The Portal is a highly situational device, but it is really great at what it does. In hindsight, a Portal instead of a Switch 2 probably would have been a wise choice.
The Year in Games
It was kind of a weird year in gaming overall. I think every one of these posts and YouTube videos I’ve seen with people discussing their favorite games of 2025 all say “it’s been a great year in gaming.” While I agree with that, I feel like gaming took a less conventional route to get there in 2025.The game awards, pulling the most obvious example, had six Game of the Year nominations and four of them would be considered independent, i.e. not a first party Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo studio. I think that says a lot about the state of the industry. As Nintendo shifted into its next generation, Microsoft delivered a slew of really good, probably not great, games, and Sony had another weak year in their disappointing PS5 lifecycle, shipping only four games (one of which is their yearly sports title).
Given how much heavy lifting the Sony studios have done over the last two decades, it’s sad to see the PS5 generation play out. They release some fantastic games, but large, expensive disasters have turned them into the embodiment of :boy trips his own bicycle with stick.gif:. Naughty Dog, for example, has not released an original game since 2020. Prior to that, their longest gap in games was three years (2017-2020), dating all the way back to the Crash Bandicoot games on PS1. They did announce their new title, but that appears to be at least another year away so from 2021 through 2027 all we will have seen from them is The Last of Us remakes. Wild times.
All of this is to point out that the industry absolutely needs smaller studios and larger studios making smaller games. It seems obviously unsustainable for studios to get 5-7 years per dev cycle, requiring them to sell tens of millions of copies of their game to recoup the costs. Thankfully, 2025 delivered on this front in a big way.
None of the games that made my top 5 below are from major studios. I am not going to get into a discussion about the term “indie” as it relates to a game’s budget. I will leave it at the fact that these were all made by smaller studios, even if one of them is under the Microsoft umbrella. I still count it here because MSFT didn’t even bother to plan a cross-platform release, only getting around to that a year later after the game found success.
A brief aside: Microsoft, for all of their faults, has finally started delivering on the promise of gobbling up all of those studios for years. Those big ticket games only get two honorable mention slots here, but I see those teams finally getting their games out and I’m enjoying them.
Back to the point; 2025 would not have been nearly as successful of a year in gaming if it weren’t for the small studios making fantastic games. My hope is that this teaches Sony and Microsoft a lesson on how they handle their studios, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
The List
Honorable Mentions
- Doom The Dark Ages (PS5, Xbox): Another great entry in the classic FPS series
- Avowed (Xbox): Far from perfect but I had a really great time with this first person RPG
- Dispatch (Everything): A wonderful adventure game with a great story and humor.
- Terminator 2D No Fate (Everything): Great retro movie tie-in run-and-gun game
Great Remasters/Remakes
- Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch): My first time playing this, it is wonderful
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 (Everything): A great remake of 3 and a reworking of 4
- Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles (Everything): Wonderful remake of a classic
- Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater (PS5, Xbox): By-the-books remake with great controls
5. Marvel Cosmic Invasion (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch)
This game is pure, simple retro-inspired beat-em-up goodness. I’m not a massive fan of true retro arcade beat-em-ups, but the modern quality of life flourishes this game adds to the formula have absolutely converted me. Pick a pair of Marvel heroes and start bashing baddies. The variety among the heroes is an instant draw with each feeling unique even if their archetypes and moves sometimes overlap. Finding the perfect mix for yourself is a joy, but there is fun to be had with anybody you choose. The game only lasts a few hours but begs to be replayed to level up all of the heroes, try different difficulty levels, and so on. This game also received a massive boost in my rankings due to its wonderful couch co-op. Grab a friend or family member and have three hours of pure fun, that is an experience that pulls on the nostalgic string as much as any pixel art or gameplay can.
4. South of Midnight (Xbox)
95% of the time I play games, gameplay rules all. It really makes me take notice when another aspect such as story or music stands out as I’m playing a game. South of Midnight is a game that would not have made this list based purely on its 3D action-platforming, with a side of light puzzle solving, gameplay. It is the characters and their narratives, along with some fantastic original music and art style, that tie this game together in a way that elevates it well beyond what the gameplay offers. All of that sounds a bit like I’m trashing the gameplay, but I’m not. The gameplay here is quite fun with a nice mix of incredibly smooth platforming, competent combat, and some fun chase sequences. If the game had lesser gameplay, narrative, music, or visuals I would have dropped this game off my list. The incredible combination of all of those, however, truly elevates this into something I absolutely recommend people experience.
3. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch)
I was not a Ninja Gaiden fan before this game. My favorite Ninja Gaiden game prior to 2025 was actually The Messenger which is, in fact, not actually a Ninja Gaiden game at all. Needless to say then, I was very surprised when Ninja Gaiden Ragebound hit me like a ton of bricks upon release. The game uses a fairly simple moveset to its benefit by forcing you to understand the enemies on screen and choose the proper response to take them out. By the end, each encounter feels like a micro-puzzle you have to solve to move onto the next awesome platforming or combat section. It is a blast of old school action-adventure fun from start to finish and gives players plenty of reasons for replaying to unlock all of its secrets.
2. Shinobi Art of Vengeance (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch)
I could copy and paste most everything I wrote about Ragebound and it would apply here. This is, also, a retro-inspired 2D action-platforming game. It uses a clean, modern art style to stand out and great controls paired with a fun moveset to keep you hooked for the 10-12 hours it will take to beat the first time. What elevates this game is that it has some truly difficult platforming sections, mostly in optional areas. I’m a sucker for a good balance of combat and platforming and Shinobi hits that mark as good as anything outside of the Metroidvania genre has in a long, long time. The game packs on enough replayability to keep players around for a long time, or give them a reason to return on a regular basis. This has set a new benchmark in my book for pure 2D action-platforming games.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (XSX, PS5)
This was the easiest choice on the list. Not taking anything away from the other games, but Expedition 33 is my favorite new game in at least the last four years. I’m a sucker for JRPG games with the interactive “hit a button at the right time” element in their combat (see also: Super Mario RPG, Sea of Stars). Expedition 33 does that in a punishingly difficult way, but it never felt unfair or unbalanced. It is quite possibly my favorite JRPG combat system of all time.
Take the amazing gameplay and throw a wonderful story and striking visuals on top of it and you have something really special. The game hit me immediately and managed to not let up in the 30 hours I spent with it. It’s rare that a new game cracks my all-time favorites list as I have a heavy bias towards longevity, but Expedition 33 is the exception to that rule. I am already planning a replay of this game to see the few things I missed the first time through.
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