Ethan’s Top Games of 2025
Can you believe 2025 has already come and gone? It feels like only yesterday when I was arguing on this very site between Astro Bot and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for the best game I played in 2024. Despite having gone back and forth between the two (Astro Bot was robbed and I should have put it at #1…), I still hold 2024 in rather high regard twelve months on. It was a year of fewer, impactful games, but it honestly does not hold a candle to the volume of high quality games we’ve had in 2025.
I’ve played 22 brand new games this year, which is a hell of a lot of games to be playing when balancing a full time job, social life and an enthusiast media outlet to boot. We even had a new Nintendo console this year, and that feels like more of a footnote than a highlight! Regardless, I’ve had a blast seeing what gaming in 2025 has had to offer, but if I have one resolution for 2026 it's to ironically play less games. I love this hobby but I can’t help but feel it loses its luster when it takes a massive chunk out of your daily life. I’ve indulged too much in 2025, and I’m hoping 2026 is a year of fewer, but meaningful gaming experiences.
In the spirit of the overindulgence that was 2025, I’m again bucking the trend and extending my list to the top 10 games I’ve played this year. Let’s take a look at the games that resonated with me the most in this wonderful gaming year.
10: Pokemon Legends ZA
Image Credit: Game Freak, Nintendo
Pokemon Legends Arceus is my favorite game Pokemon has put out in the past decade, so you can imagine I was rather looking forward to a sequel set in one of my favourite Pokemon locales: Kalos. Setting aside my disappointment that the game was set in the present day instead of the historic settings of Arceus, I was still excited to experience this new take on a beloved era of the franchise. The final product was a tad disappointing, but I still enjoyed my time with it regardless!
Pokemon Legends ZA takes a bold new swing with its combat systems that for the most part works rather well. It has an excellent cast of characters who bounce off each other well, and the narrative works as a satisfying sequel to generation six, but man the city and its gameplay left a lot to be desired. The magic of exploration from Arceus was gone, replaced with pitiful wild zones and a small open world that got repetitive after the first few hours. I don’t dislike the game in the slightest, but I certainly felt like the magic was lost a little this time around. Glad I played it though, and I look forward to more Legends games in the future!
9: Ghost of Yotei
Image Credit: Suckerpunch Productions, Playstation
Ghost of Yotei is a very well made game. Its visuals are stunning, soundtrack inspiring and the areas surrounding mount Yotei are extremely fun to explore. So I still don’t quite understand why this franchise just doesn’t really work for me. It could be the lack of an interesting narrative, or the fact that the combat tends to get stale after the first few hours, but I came away from Yotei wanting just a little bit more. I really loved the Lo-Fi toggles, switching my brain off and exploring the world, but I can’t really say the game or its narrative did anything to truly wow me.
If you are a fan of Tsushima I feel like you really cannot go wrong with Yotei. It's an extremely safe but well made sequel, and I enjoyed my time as Atsu far more than I did that with Jin. I can’t help but praise it for sticking to its vision and executing it well, but I think two Ghost games is enough to satiate my appetite for this genre for a long time.
8: Peak
Image Credit: AggroCrab, Landfall
I hate the term “friendslop” with a passion, but man do I love peak with every fibre of my being. Every year or so there comes a multiplayer game that I can’t help but love to play, and Peak was the right game at the right time for myself and my friends. I’ve only played around 25 hours of Peak, but there’s honestly no better time than climbing this randomly generated mountain with your buddies. Peak is a simple game with a simple premise that is executed flawlessly. Its mix of comical controls, proximity chat and chaotic level design make a game that's extremely hard to put down.
If you have a set of friends who are willing to climb with you in the name of bingbong, I really cannot recommend Peak enough. It's been the home to a countless number of laughs and in-jokes this year for me, and it’s a game I hope to return to for many months to come.
7: Donkey Kong Bananza
Image Credit: Nintendo
Didn’t expect this so high did ya? Does it hurt even more knowing this is the only Switch 2 exclusive on the list? Yeah even I didn’t see this coming…
Donkey Kong Bananza is another excellent 3D platformer from Nintendo. I love the new designs of DK and Pauline, and the first few worlds of this game are a masterclass in platforming design and gameplay. The soundtrack is one of the best of the year, and I absolutely adore the fact that Nintendo decided to give DK his rightful time in the spotlight. It just unfortunately doesn’t have the same magic as Mario Odyssey had as a launch era title.
The middle third of Donkey Kong Bananza is rough, filled with repetitive gameplay concepts and boring world designs that leave a lot to be desired. The final third does get the ball rolling again and is fantastic, but by that point I was honestly burnt out of the core gameplay loop and ready for the journey to be over. I loved the bananza abilities and the dozens of side areas the game has to explore, and I do not regret buying the game in the slightest.
In any other year this would be a top 3 game of the year for me, but unfortunately for Donkey Kong Bananza there were just so many good games this year that it ended up rather low. It was a close call between this and the next entry though!
6: Split Fiction
Image Credit: Hazelight, EA
Josef Fares you’ve done it again. I played Split Fiction with Hunter when the game first came out, and man has this game been stuck in my head ever since. I think the defining factor that put Split Fiction ahead of Donkey Kong for me was just its sheer commitment to never reusing a gameplay concept. From flying dragons in one level to motorbike chases in the next, to farting pigs ending up on a bbq, there was always an interesting idea that kept me on my toes throughout. Now not all of them were hits, but I’m still just impressed that the team at Hazelight managed to cram so many concepts into such a short runtime.
The final hour of this game still feels like witchcraft to me and was a joy to experience, and playing the whole thing with a friend made the experience even more memorable. Hazelight as a studio are masters of co-op platforming / adventure games, and I cannot wait to see what crazy concept they come up with next.
5: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Image Credit: Kojima Productions, Playstation
Another shocker on the Game of the Year list?! Who would have guessed?!
Many of you may know Death Stranding was my game of the year in 2019. I absolutely adore the original game and the journey Sam went on across the UCA. I can also happily say that I equally adored the second adventure as well! Death Stranding 2 is fantastic, and is in many ways far superior to the original entry, but it just didn’t have the same bite the second time around.
In taking out some of the tedium and smoothing off many of its edges, Death Stranding 2 ends up losing a bit of its charm. I never had any difficulty in DS2. Heck, I don’t ever recall dying over my 100 hour playtime. Linking up Australia is a far easier process and in retrospect, I feel like it takes away a small amount of the magic found in the original experience.
That being said I still adore the game to pieces. The narrative focus on grief and new beginnings feels as potent as ever in this day and age, and some of the performances here are some of the best you will see in games. How Troy Baker didn’t get a nomination as Higgs I have no idea, and the narrative itself weaves a mystery that I feel is simpler to digest but even more poignant than the original. If you loved the original you will love DS2. Heck you’ll probably love it more if you didn’t!
4: Dispatch
Image Credit: Adhoc Studios
Dispatch, Dispatch, Dispatch… Your community might be up there with Danganronpa with how toxic it has become, but I love you all the same. There was no chance in hell I wasn’t going to enjoy a narrative adventure game from the guys who made Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us, but man I didn’t think this game would be as good as it is!
Dispatch shows that it’s still possible to make an episode narrative adventure game that works in 2025. Its weekly release structure and engaging narrative led to a whirlwind of love and support for Adhoc’s first release, and it couldn’t be any more deserved. It has some of the best writing and performances I have seen from the genre (shout out to Aaron Paul for absolutely crushing it!), its dispatch gameplay is engaging and tactical, and there are actual narrative consequences for how you engage in both dialogue and dispatch choices. A choice based game with actual consequences… Who would have thought?!
I adored my time with Dispatch, from its quirky cast of characters to its fun take on the superhero genre. Here’s hoping for a second season that’s just as strong as the first!
3. Hades 2
Image Credit: Supergiant Games
Hades 2 is one of the best roguelites ever made. I was a huge fan of the original entry when I finally got around to playing it in 2021, and I’m happy to report that Hades 2 somehow manages to eclipse it in almost every way. I adore Melinoe as a protagonist, the soundtrack is sublime and the refinements to the original combat systems make Hades feel like a tech demo by comparison.
From its incredible cast of characters to its larger than life narrative, I adored almost every addition this game makes. The only real criticism I have is its original ending, which has thankfully been expanded upon in recent updates.
I’m positive Hunter will be giving this game plenty of flowers next week, so I’ll leave the gushing to him. Just know I adore Hades 2 and Supergiant deserves all the love and praise they have received. Death to Chronos!
2. Blue Prince
Image Credit: Dogubomb
What. A. Game.
Blue Prince is a very rare game for me. Upon first playing it I didn’t give it a fair shake and fell off rather quickly, but after giving it a second chance a few months later I’m happy to say that Blue Prince might be one of, if not the best puzzle game I’ve ever played. The initial hook of getting to the mysterious room 46 is just enough to push you through its halls and learn its rogue-like mechanics, but once you start seeing this game for what it truly is, the game really has the magic that I’ve rarely seen in games to date.
It feels cliche to say, but there really is something hidden everywhere you look in Blue Prince. You may make absolutely 0 progress towards your main goal in countless runs, but despite that I never felt like my journeys through mount Holly were wasted. From hidden narrative beats to puzzles within puzzles, I can’t help but admire the sheer amount there is to find and discover in the game.
Blue Prince is a game I have a feeling I will be coming back to for years to come. Its mixture of rogue-lite elements, puzzle solving, excellent soundtrack and engrossing atmosphere left me with an experience I shall not be forgetting any time soon. Thank you Tonda Ros, you’ve made an absolute gem.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Image Credit: Sandfall Interactive
In any other year Blue Prince would be an easy number 1. But every so often a game comes out that connects with me so deeply, it instantly becomes one of my favorites of all time. The game has received nothing but praise all year, but I cannot convey how fantastic Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 truly is.
Expedition 33 is that rare gem of a game that connected with me on a fundamental level. I love the world of Lumiere and the paintress, with Maelle and the party being one of my favorite casts of characters I have ever played as. Its mixture of Persona-like turn-based combat with Paper Mario QTEs and Sekiro parries is a match made in heaven, and I honestly could not put this game down from start to finish.
The narrative and performances in this game are just something else man. From the end of Act 1 to the final choice I had laughed, cried and felt almost every emotion in between. Both Ben Starr and Jenifer English deserve all their flowers, alongside Andy Serkis who may play one of my favorite villains in videogame history. Accompany all of this with quite possibly one of the best RPG soundtracks of all time, and yeah you can see why this game has resonated with so many people.
The fact that this game was made by a small but passionate team has sent shockwaves through the industry. Expedition 33 proves that you do not need a team in the hundreds and a budget in the tens of millions to create an impactful and successful experience. I adore Expedition 33, and my hope is that from the strong reception of this, Hades 2, Blue Prince and Silksong comes a new surge of passionate developers wanting to make their passion projects real. What a year for gaming!
And with that there is my game of the year list for 2025. Join us next week as Hunter counts down his favorites of the year, and be sure to check out our own awards on the podcast later this month!