As the final hours of 2025 tick away, it's time to look back on a truly remarkable year for interactive entertainment. From stunning independent creations to long-awaited blockbuster sequels, the past twelve months have delivered an embarrassment of riches for players on every platform. Whittling down the countless releases to a definitive list of the very best was no easy feat, but after much deliberation, we present our picks for the 10 best video games of 2025.
Indie Innovators and Genre Revivals
The year was particularly notable for the strength of its independent scene, with several titles not just matching but surpassing their big-budget counterparts. Leading this charge was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 from French developer Sandfall Interactive. This beautiful, painterly turn-based RPG captured hearts with its emotional narrative and one of the slickest combat systems in recent memory, proving itself as 2025's biggest breakout hit.
Similarly, after an eight-year wait, Hollow Knight: Silksong finally arrived and largely justified the immense hype. Team Cherry's Metroidvania masterpiece transported players to the intricate, spiderweb-like world of Pharloom, offering a challenging and deeply rewarding adventure that stands tall in a crowded genre.
Double Fine Productions continued its tradition of poignant madness with Keeper, a game about an anthropomorphic lighthouse guiding a bird home. Beneath its charming surface lay a jamboree of inventive gameplay mechanics and a wildly beautiful art style, making it a standout and the best Xbox-published game of the year.
AAA Excellence and Franchise Triumphs
The major studios also brought their A-game. Ubisoft finally answered a decade of fan requests with Assassin's Creed Shadows, a sweeping adventure set in feudal Japan. The dual protagonists, Naoe and Yasuke, allowed players to approach the quest for revenge as either a stealthy ninja or a brawny samurai, exploring an impeccably presented historical period with unprecedented freedom.
Konami's horror renaissance continued powerfully with Silent Hill f. Moving the iconic terror to a 1960s Japanese setting made the scares feel fresh and unpredictable, while its complex story tackling the impact of abuse added profound depth to the chilling experience.
In the racing genre, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds from Sega provided a genuine challenge to Nintendo's karting crown. By making every second lap a mystery and introducing a clever Rival system, it created unpredictable and intensely competitive Grand Prix events that leaned perfectly into the genre's strengths.
Creative Blends and Surprise Hits
2025 was also a year for inventive genre fusion and delightful surprises. Absolum from Dotemu masterfully merged the classic beat-'em-up with roguelite progression, solving the genre's traditional brevity with multiple routes, various bosses, and deep customisation for its four heroes.
The episodic narrative game made a stunning comeback with Dispatch, a satirical superhero 'workplace comedy' released in the year's final weeks. Across eight gripping episodes, it built a well-rounded world of characters that, much like the classic Telltale games, made players forgive its lighter gameplay elements.
Developer Rebellion delivered a surprise with Atomfall, a post-apocalyptic adventure set in Britain's Lake District. Far more than a simple 'Fallout' pastiche, it wove a gripping nonlinear mystery that rewarded curiosity and knowledge, proving AAA open worlds don't need to hold players' hands.
Finally, The Game Kitchen successfully revived a beloved franchise with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. This pixelated, 2D throwback mixed classic action-platforming with modern ideas like the ingenious 'Guillotine Boost' manoeuvre, evolving the heights that 16-bit inspired games can still reach.
From the emotional depths of Clair Obscur to the breakneck speeds of Sonic Racing, and from the silent horrors of Silent Hill to the quirky warmth of Keeper, 2025 offered a spectacular array of virtual worlds. These ten titles represent the pinnacle of a year that treated every type of player to something truly special, setting a high bar for the years to come.
