As artificial intelligence permeates our daily lives, reactions are a mix of acceptance and revulsion. This technology has been used to retouch photos and improve productivity, but it has also threatened jobs and wreaked havoc on the truth.
When it comes to video games, players hate AI. It's related to slop and the flood of games that look good but are cheaply made. That created a hunger for authenticity. Players want games made by human artists using code created in the flesh, and this year's best games reflect that.
This year has been the year of indie games made by small teams compared to the multi-studio efforts of “Call of Duty” and “Assassin's Creed.” These indie games are passion projects, and the care that went into their development shows in the quality of the games.
Here are the top 10 games of 2025:
1. “Claire Obscure: Expedition 33”: Sandfall Interactive is a studio founded by former Ubisoft employees who wanted to create a project inspired by Japanese role-playing games. It led to a memorable and epic story about Gustave, Lune, and the rest of the 33rd Expedition, who work together to stop a painter from eliminating generations of people in the city of Lumière.
The campaign begins with a big shock that draws the player into the unique Belle Époque world. The RPG introduces QuickTime-type elements to turn-based combat, backed by solid mechanics that emphasize skill as well as strategy. Combine this with unforgettable characters and heart-breaking moments and you have the best adventure of 2025.
2. “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach”: This time director Hideo Kojima takes players to Australia, where protagonist Sam Porter Bridges must once again connect the continent to the chiral network. The original was a great but messy project, but the sequel refines and focuses those ideas.
Director Kojima improves the balance of combat, stealth, and exploration while telling a more interesting story as Sam deals with tragedy and finds redemption within the mission. Of course, Kojima's titles aren't complete without a little craziness, but even the more outlandish aspects of the game are more meaningful and thrilling parts of the journey.
3. “Hades 2”: The original version was dormant in 2020, but after recently playing the roguelike, I finished the sequel, which continues the core ideas of the original. This follow-up is great because it adapts the gameplay to a new character, Melinoe, Princess of the Underworld. She grew up in the Crossroads and is desperate to defeat Kronos, the Titan of Time, who overthrew her father Hades and imprisoned the rest of her family.
As Melinoe, players have access to a variety of weapons and movement options such as slow dashes and sprints. She also travels to different locations than the original, delves into the underworld, and also fights above ground. The latter path is more difficult than the former. The fun of this roguelike is strategizing and learning the systems before eventually dying and dying again. Players learn from their mistakes, improve their skills, and progress through an addictive gameplay loop.
4 “Hollow Knight: Silk Song”: Team Cherry came out of nowhere and created a massive indie hit with the original “Hollow Knight,” which pushed the Metroidvania genre in extreme ways. This is a notoriously difficult game in which players take on the role of the title character on an adventure into the insect kingdom of Hallownest.
In the sequel, Silksong, players take control of Hornet, a character from the first game, who finds himself in a new world called Furroom. Much like “Hollow Knight,” the sequel increases the difficulty level by requiring players to learn Hornet's new abilities and master her weapon, the Needle. They also have to adapt to her ability to rely on tools and agility. Silk Song also features a larger map and longer adventure.
5. “Monster Hunter Wild”: Capcom's latest addition to the long-running series takes a lot of risks by making the campaign more open-world and introducing a focus mode that allows players to target body parts and wounds on creatures. All of these changes were great moves the franchise needed to grow, but they also ran into problems for a title that had been building for months and even years since its launch.
“Wilds” needed more meaningful content to satisfy fans and maintain momentum. That's something that can be improved. It was such a great game that players wanted more.
6. “Ghost of Yotei”: Two open-world samurai epics arrived this year. Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed Shadows, a sprawling adventure with familiar sounds, and Sucker Punch Productions released Ghost of Yotei, a more artistic adventure. The latter was a better title because of its narrower focus.
“The Ghost of Yotei'' is a revenge story about Atsu, whose family was killed by a villainous samurai named Lord Saito. Her desire to kill him and his men leads her on an adventure around Japan's northernmost island. Sucker Punch offers players more weapons, equipment, and ways to customize their version of Atsu as he travels through the Ezo region picking off names on a list.
7. Ark Raiders”: Embark Studios has struck gold with its second major project. In this extraction shooter game, players take on the role of a raider who travels to the surface to scavenge for resources in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by robots. In this online game, players not only have to fight against computer-controlled drones and mechs, but also against each other.
Similar to other Extraction Shooters, players adventure across the surface to obtain items that are used to upgrade their equipment. Finding scraps and blueprints is easy, but retaining them is another matter, as players must flee the surface to keep them. This creates tension and new gameplay moments as players create their own stories in an unexplored world.
8. “Donkey Kong Bananza”: Mario Kart World launched on the Nintendo Switch 2, but it wasn't the best game for the system when it launched in the summer. Starring the Japanese company's famous monkey, this adventure introduced new elements to Donkey Kong's 3D adventures while showing off the power of the new system.
The ability to delve into the environment created an inspired world design as Monkey and his sidekick Pauline journey to the center of the world. Each subterranean biome is fun to explore, while also providing challenges that allow world-changing gameplay elements to shine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7IEg0_qNXs
9. “Doom: Dark Ages”: The 2016 Doom reboot offered hints of the Doom Slayer's past in text, and this prequel lets players explore that history through an inventive campaign. The gameplay differs from the high-flying acrobatics of its predecessor, instead focusing on ground games reminiscent of tanks.
A lot of it has to do with shields that can repel attacks, interact with the environment, and brutalize enemies. While the gameplay feels more grounded and horizontal, id Software creates epic moments where the Doom Slayer takes to the skies aboard the Windsorlin or slays building-sized demons in an Atlan mecha. All of this adds up to one of the most intense and visceral experiences of the year.
10. “Ninjagaiden: Ragebound”: Before the late Tomonobu Itagaki reinvented the ninja-focused series, it was an epic 2D side-scroller that thrilled arcade players and pushed the limits of the NES. This retro-style game continues the vision of these chapters, but puts players in control of two main characters: Kenji Mozu and Kumori.
The two are rivals at first, but learn to work together as they fight a demon that has taken over the Black Spider Clan and attacks the Hayabusa Ninja Clan. Although players primarily control Kenji, The Game Kitchen incorporates design elements that incorporate Kumori's abilities. The team creates inventive scenarios that show there's still life in these action side-scrollers, creating gameplay variety and keeping the game fresh.
