The best 5 games I played in 2025.
ell, here we are again! The year has ended, which can only mean that the time has come to take a look back at 2025. I've made a list of my favourite games I played each year since 2023. While these posts are not the most read (by far) they are really fun to write. So, I'm keeping this tradition alive with yet another instalment.
As always though, I have to make my disclaimers. I’ve hardly played every game that was released in 2025. Actually, I’ve barely played any 2025 releases. Most games I was interested in came out in the last few weeks, giving me barely any time to play them. This list is mostly filled by older releases, hence the “I played”. This is also my own opinion on these games and no objective ‘this game is better than that game’ list. It’s all about enjoyment here.
With all of that said, it's time to talk about the games I played in 2025 that I enjoyed the most, starting with an honourable, 6th, entry.
I feel that putting a remaster of a game I already played in the actual top 5 itself would be cheating, hence its honorary 6th position. There is no way around it though: the remaster of Horizon Zero Dawn is my most-played game of the year by tens of hours. Horizon is my favourite PlayStation series but it was with Horizon Forbidden West that this love with the series started. I liked Horizon Zero Dawn, but that first playthrough was pretty short and straightforward. The story had its hooks in me but the rest of the game? Not so much.
I missed out on a lot of side content, as I learned in Forbidden West when, for example, Petra showed up. There was so much I missed that a revisit was more than warranted. So yeah, I was stoked when the remaster was announced. It was the perfect opportunity to revisit the game and experience everything I had ignored while enjoying the extra bells and whistles this ‘definitive’ version of the game offered.
After I published my review last year, which I wrote after about 10 hours of gameplay, there was a brief break while I played through some of 2024’s brand-new titles. Once that was done, I went back to it, and that is when this title truly started to shine for me. It became what Pokémon has been for nearly two decades: a true comfort game. A rest and relaxation experience to just wind down with and mess around in, even if it was only for a couple of minutes every weekend.
My goal to experience the content I missed evolved into a 100% run of both the base experience and its DLC, which led me to my first ever Platinum Trophy. I worked my way up to the Ultra Hard difficulty when my growing skill made the game too easy, but I wasn't afraid to drop it back to normal if I wasn't feeling it that day
After ticking more games of my backlog, I fully intend to start up Horizon Forbidden West again, start a new save file, and play it all over again with the goal to 100% it as I did with this remaster.
I missed out on a lot of side content, as I learned in Forbidden West when, for example, Petra showed up. There was so much I missed that a revisit was more than warranted. So yeah, I was stoked when the remaster was announced. It was the perfect opportunity to revisit the game and experience everything I had ignored while enjoying the extra bells and whistles this ‘definitive’ version of the game offered.
After I published my review last year, which I wrote after about 10 hours of gameplay, there was a brief break while I played through some of 2024’s brand-new titles. Once that was done, I went back to it, and that is when this title truly started to shine for me. It became what Pokémon has been for nearly two decades: a true comfort game. A rest and relaxation experience to just wind down with and mess around in, even if it was only for a couple of minutes every weekend.
My goal to experience the content I missed evolved into a 100% run of both the base experience and its DLC, which led me to my first ever Platinum Trophy. I worked my way up to the Ultra Hard difficulty when my growing skill made the game too easy, but I wasn't afraid to drop it back to normal if I wasn't feeling it that day
After ticking more games of my backlog, I fully intend to start up Horizon Forbidden West again, start a new save file, and play it all over again with the goal to 100% it as I did with this remaster.
When I started working on this list, I didn't look up what games I had played and reviewed this year. There are so many criteria to make a 'Top 5' list such as this but what I felt was the right approach this time around was simply to let the games come to me. What are the games that I easily remember and, by extension, have the most fondness for? That is how Storyteller came to mind above many other games: because I remember sitting in my bed 10-15 minutes before the lights needed to go out and play a puzzle or two.
As a puzzle game in which the challenge is to use the tools you are given to tell the story the prompt gives you, it's a game that is right up my alley. It challenged my brain (somewhat; this title is fairly easy overall) while appealing to my 'story-focused' core. It's not an amazing game, it doesn't push its premise all that far and is pretty short, but it is a quaint title with neat art direction that has stuck with me.
I'm actually surprised that when I let my mind wander over all the games that I played this year that Pokémon Legends: Z-A kept popping up. I've gone on record saying that I find this game a step down from what came before, and I stand by that, so why did it find its way on this list? Recency bias? Perhaps, but I think what it boils down to is that, even if it’s no homerun, a game you just keep on playing keeps your attention for a reason.
I put in nearly as much time into this as I did with its predecessor, Legends: Arceus, before the DLC came out. While I find that game better and more 'unique', Z-A is easier to pick up and just play. Catching Pokémon is a lot quicker here as the Pokémon are far less aggressive, and you can just buy Pokéballs instead of crafting them. The Lumiose City Pokédex is easier to complete as there are no 'Space-time Distortions' shenanigans that reduce the availability of certain Pokémon to pure RNG. Completing the Pokédex was an enjoyable endeavour here.
There are also plenty of trainer battles, unlike its predecessor, which gives you some more variety and the real-time battle system is different for a Pokémon game. Not as tactical as the classic turn-based system, but it makes the battles a lot quicker to jump in and out of. This title has too many battles if you ask me with the Infinite Z-A Royale postgame grind, but I digress
My point here is that Legends: Z-A, while not my favourite by far, has grown on me a bit more since publishing my review. It is a very enjoyable game to just boot up and play for a few minutes to wind down and, thanks to its DLC, I've yet to put it down.
I put in nearly as much time into this as I did with its predecessor, Legends: Arceus, before the DLC came out. While I find that game better and more 'unique', Z-A is easier to pick up and just play. Catching Pokémon is a lot quicker here as the Pokémon are far less aggressive, and you can just buy Pokéballs instead of crafting them. The Lumiose City Pokédex is easier to complete as there are no 'Space-time Distortions' shenanigans that reduce the availability of certain Pokémon to pure RNG. Completing the Pokédex was an enjoyable endeavour here.
There are also plenty of trainer battles, unlike its predecessor, which gives you some more variety and the real-time battle system is different for a Pokémon game. Not as tactical as the classic turn-based system, but it makes the battles a lot quicker to jump in and out of. This title has too many battles if you ask me with the Infinite Z-A Royale postgame grind, but I digress
My point here is that Legends: Z-A, while not my favourite by far, has grown on me a bit more since publishing my review. It is a very enjoyable game to just boot up and play for a few minutes to wind down and, thanks to its DLC, I've yet to put it down.
Now that I'm thinking about it, Echoes of Wisdom and Legends: Z-A have an interesting similarity. Both are titles in a long-running series whose entire schtick is that they try something new with a familiar core. Z-A weaves forward with wit what Arceus did, while Echoes of Wisdom takes the original top-down Zelda approach and combines it with elements from the open-world Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom games. Both also do this to somewhat underwhelming results.
At long last, Princess Zelda is in the role of the hero in a proper Zelda game, but the entire 'copy' ability the game is built around feels underdeveloped. It is fun to use but also very clunky and time-consuming. Until the update came out, you had to cycle through the entire list of copies to pick the one you wanted and properly positioning them is a bit difficult to do.
The title also falters in the combat. Zelda can't attack enemies directly. Only by summoning echoes of enemies, or by doing stuff like setting the grass on fire, can she hurt her foes. That makes fighting enemies, who you encounter just as regularly here as in, say, Link's Awakening, more cumbersome than fun.
So yes, Echoes of Wisdom is a flawed but fun game to play. Having Zelda has the playable character is both novel and means that we get to see Hyrule through a different lens. The game looks really pretty, bringing in the more diverse and unique designs of the Gerudo, Zora and more into the series’ 2D style. The classic dungeon design is back and as good as always, with the new playstyle giving way to designs that wouldn't work in the 'classic' Link playstyle. Yes, you can brute force your way through these less intricate puzzles but allowing players to come up with their own solution comes with its own kind of fun and satisfaction.
It scratched that top-down Zelda itch for me and for that, it gets to be on a 'Top 5' list after all.
This year's big 1st party Sony game, Ghost of Yōtei, is an experience I’ve yet to finish. In fact, it's currently on pause as I play through Z-A's DLC: Mega Dimension. I'll pick it back up again once I've finished its story content but that I haven't beaten it doesn't mean this list is without Sony representation. No, we have last year's Sony 1st party and 2024 Game of the Year: Astro Bot taking up a spot!
What can I say? I've developed a taste for colourful platformers that put fun above anything else and Astro Bot fits that bill perfectly. Build off of the free PS5 demo Astro's Playroom, this title that has been compared to Mario's 3D outings, and for good reason.
Astro Bot is a delightful blend of charming visuals, creative level design, and fluid platforming that usually only the Big N achieve. It puts its own spin on that formula by focusing a lot more on difficulty, making more than a few levels quite challenging, and by appealing to speed runners. The latter was done through a series of free, though-as-nails DLC levels all about getting to the finish line as fast as you can. I didn't play these levels as I am not a speed runner myself, but the effort Team Asobi put into them post the game's launch is, in my eyes, a testament to the love and effort the developers put into this title.
I played a lot of Astro Bot late last year and early this year thanks to its excellent platforming, which I summarized above. But there was one other element that kept me playing as well. This game upped the ante with its 'celebration of PlayStation' angle with the dozens of gaming-themed Bots you can collect. From Kratos of God of War to Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. Most of these went right over my head as I don't have the same history with PlayStation as I have with Nintendo but I nonetheless made it a point to gather them all. Why? Collecting them made for a fun walk through gaming history.
Astro Bot is an excellent 3D platformer, but there is another title in that genre that I enjoyed even more…
.... And that game is none other than Donkey Kong Bananza! Mario Kart World might have been the official Switch 2 launch title, but to me, Bananza is the true beginning of that console. Mario Kart World is nice but I lost interest in it quickly. I've never been a bit multiplayer guy and the lack of some much-needed features and slow support for that title disappointed me. It’s a game I bust out when friends are over and not much more. Bananza, meanwhile, is a game that delivers on its promise.
Just like the game above it, this is a very well made, and above all else, fun 3D platformer with some great level design and aesthetics. What puts it above Astro Bot is that, where that game puts a spin on thing, this title innovates. Donkey Kong can use his big fists to smash virtually everything you see. From rocks, to the ground, to even the crystal life forms that live in this underground world you explore (don't worry, they regenerate).
The inclusion of a teenage Pauline was a smart decision. That gives this game a very ''Wreck It Ralph" energy that makes it even more charming. Its 'fixes' the usual lack of story by giving you an endearing co-protagonist who, by the end, your sad to see leave are happy that it means she has a shot to realize her dreams. Said dream to be a singer also adds another dimension to the music of this game with many of the songs you hear being sung, or whistled, by her. That Donkey Kong can transform into a variety of different animals as his powerups, all accompanied by their own music pieces that are ‘sung’ by Pauline, is also just very cool and integrated well into the gameplay loop.
The cherry on top? A grand finale that hit at so many levels that I rewatched it on YouTube, twice, to re-experience it. As a Nintendo fan, this game tickled my fancy like no other this year, which is why it’s my Game of the Year for 2025!
Just like the game above it, this is a very well made, and above all else, fun 3D platformer with some great level design and aesthetics. What puts it above Astro Bot is that, where that game puts a spin on thing, this title innovates. Donkey Kong can use his big fists to smash virtually everything you see. From rocks, to the ground, to even the crystal life forms that live in this underground world you explore (don't worry, they regenerate).
The inclusion of a teenage Pauline was a smart decision. That gives this game a very ''Wreck It Ralph" energy that makes it even more charming. Its 'fixes' the usual lack of story by giving you an endearing co-protagonist who, by the end, your sad to see leave are happy that it means she has a shot to realize her dreams. Said dream to be a singer also adds another dimension to the music of this game with many of the songs you hear being sung, or whistled, by her. That Donkey Kong can transform into a variety of different animals as his powerups, all accompanied by their own music pieces that are ‘sung’ by Pauline, is also just very cool and integrated well into the gameplay loop.
The cherry on top? A grand finale that hit at so many levels that I rewatched it on YouTube, twice, to re-experience it. As a Nintendo fan, this game tickled my fancy like no other this year, which is why it’s my Game of the Year for 2025!
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