My favorite games of 2025

I’ve said before that this has been a tough year for me, and that’s reflected in the games I chose to play… and the ones I didn’t.

To be blunt, I’m a little disappointed in the lack of variety in my choices this year. I pride myself on playing a wide selection of titles on every platform, but this year’s list contains games from just two consoles.

I mostly played the gaming equivalent of comfort food in 2025. I didn’t stray too far from the sort of games that I know I’d like; a good chunk of the time was spent playing older games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Yakuza 0. I played some great new games this year, sure, but I also spent a lot of time grinding away on more mindless fare.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this; sometimes you need to rely on a sure thing. But, looking back, I can’t help but feel like I could have taken a few more chances to expand my gaming palate.

A reminder of my entirely self-imposed rules for this list:

• It must be a game released this year.
• No remasters; a remake would only count if it was a significant overhaul to gameplay, not just updated visuals. So Oblivion Remastered does not count, but the Final Fantasy VII Remake series would.
• These are of course my personal favorites, not an objective ranking of quality. It’s about the games that connected with me. If I was critically appraising each game, this would be a very different list.
• It goes without saying that, if I didn’t play a game, I can’t put it on the list. (I did not play Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II or Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.)
• The system listed is the one I played it on, not all the platforms it’s available on.

Ten
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
Megagon Industries, PlayStation 5

An expanded version of 2020’s supremely addictive Lonely Mountains: Downhill, for better and for worse. Switching from biking to skiing means the narrow paths of the original are replaced by wider, more open slopes, which can make it harder to figure out where to go. But Snow Riders is just so moreish; it’s so quick and tempting to dive back in for another run to shave off a few more seconds.

Nine
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
AAA Games Studio, Switch 2

I’m not sure why this is the first entry in the Warriors series that’s really stuck with me. Part of it, undoubtedly, is that it was cathartic to mindlessly mow through hundreds of enemies. But I think the element of being a Zelda game with a new (ish) cast of characters set in a totally unexplored part of the series did it. It’s a small thing, but sometimes that’s enough to make the difference.

Eight
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Sandfall Interactive, PlayStation 5

That it’s even on this list at all is testament to the vibes here. To be blunt, I hate playing Expedition 33. I’m baffled by its systems, I find the level design dull and the battles are a slog. But everything else is superb: the original story, the imaginative world, and especially the phenomenal soundtrack. As a game, I struggled to connect with Expedition 33. But I really wanted to, because the vibes are incredible.

Seven
Is This Seat Taken?
Poti Poti Studio, Switch 2

I love how games can take a chore and turn it into a source of fun. Seating charts are one of the worst parts of wedding planning; accommodating everyone is a stressful nightmare. In this game, though, I relish the complications: juggling so many needs and requests to pack bums on seats in a very specific way that pleases everyone is so satisfying. A brilliant concept executed well, this is an utterly charming game.

Six
Mario Kart World
Nintendo EPD, Switch 2

A bold reinvention of the Mario Kart formula, but one that arguably doesn’t go far enough. Turning Mario Kart into an open world game actually works better than I’d hoped, with a huge variety of tracks. But the world feels oddly empty and lacking; there feels like there was room for so much more. Still, it’s Mario Kart, which means it’s supremely playable, and the new Out Run-ish/battle royale-ish Knockout Tour mode is sensational.

Five
Ghost of Yōtei
Sucker Punch, PlayStation 5

A beautiful follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima that retains the superb playability of the original, but perhaps at a cost. The combat is still a lot of fun, the world design is a lot better than Tsushima and I enjoyed Yōtei’s cast of characters, but the open world activities are a bit too nakedly repetitive. Each fox or wolf den plays out in exactly the same way; each sensei requires the same number of missions before they’ll finish training you. On the one hand, my depression appreciated the grind. On the other, I’m not sure I want to do this all over again in a third Ghost game.

Four
Pokémon Legends Z-A
Game Freak, Switch 2

It’s not the game I wanted, but a game I grew to love anyway. The second entry in the Legends sub-series has a totally different focus to the original; where the first game revolutionized how you catch Pokémon, this one overhauled battles. The slow, strategic turn-based battle system of the main Pokémon games has been replaced by action-packed real-time combat. I’m not sure it’s better, but it’s a fun change of pace. Similarly, setting the whole game inside one city was a gamble that didn’t always pay off, but it’s a unique idea and provides the backdrop for one of the best casts of characters in the entire series. These big swings make Legends Z-A a surprisingly bold game that, once you get into the groove, is a lot of fun. (Turning the city at night into a Purge-like free-for-all where Pokémon trainers roam the streets looking to challenge anyone to a battle is completely unhinged and I love it.) Where I feel a bit nervous about a third Ghost game, it’s the opposite here: I can’t wait to see which new direction Game Freak picks for the third Pokémon Legends game.

Three
Despelote
Julián Cordero & Sebastián Valbuena, PlayStation 5

Games have such a unique capability to not just tell stories, but immerse you in their worlds like no other form of media can. Despelote is a prime example. It has all the base trappings of a game — move with a controller, talk to people, freely explore a town — but it uses those to explore a slice-of-life story. It lets you spend a few days in the life of Julián, a football-obsessed boy watching his beloved Ecuador qualify for the World Cup for the first time. It’s less a narrative-based game than one focused on the atmosphere, transporting you to a very particular time and place.

Two
Donkey Kong Bananza
Nintendo EPD, Switch 2

3D platformers have been around for decades. But, from a certain point of view, Donkey Kong Bananza is the first truly 3D platformer.

Bananza’s key hook is smashing up the scenery to dig for bananas, secrets or just make new paths. This isn’t just cosmetic, but essential. And it means that Bananza has a wholly unique feel because it has a different dimension to other platformers: you’re not just looking to navigate over your surroundings, but through it.

The formula can start to wear thin, but the inclusion of a skill tree really helps to give you an incentive to push on and collect more bananas beyond just being a completionist. And just when Bananza starts to sag, you hit the incredible endgame, a send-off that left me with a huge smile on my face.

One
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
RGG Studio, PlayStation 5

Let’s get this out of the way: the title is absurd. This, though, is why I loved this game so much. Pirate Yakuza knows exactly how absurd it is and revels in it.

This is a game starring a yakuza who washes up on an island with amnesia and decides to become a pirate. A game that reimagines the waters off modern-day Hawaii as being full of 1800s galleons blasting cannons at each other. A game with a hidden pirate sanctuary built from wrecked galleons and a captured ocean liner called Madlantis. It is not subtle, nor is it ever trying to be.

The Yakuza/Like a Dragon games have always been delicately balanced between violent crime stories (the main plot) and the most bizarre characters and missions you’ve ever seen (the side stories). Pirate Yakuza is weighted more towards the bizarre, but that’s a good thing; it allows for the game to fully embrace the madness. Beating up thugs with a cutlass? Why not! Ship-to-ship pirate battles? Sure!

Yes, an easy-to-play grind-fest in a year where I was craving that sort of mindless experience isn’t a surprising pick for my game of the year. But that also does Pirate Yakuza a huge disservice. It’s a fun and frequently funny title that goes to some deeply unexpected places, all in the service of a good time. It is, in short, a game that knows it’s a game, and is all the better for it.

All the games I played this year

(Games completed are in bold)

Star Wars Outlaws, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, Oblivion Remastered, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Lushfoil Photography Sim, Despelote, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Mario Kart World, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Switch 2 Edition, Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut, Donkey Kong Bananza, Is This Seat Taken?, Drag x Drive, Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Scarlet, Pokémon Legends Z-A, Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram, Sektori, Ghost of Yōtei, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, F-Zero 99, Cast n Chill.