Branching Path: Josh Torres’ Prime 10 Video games of 2025

My favourite video games of 2025 caught me a bit off-guard. There have been a handful of releases I assumed I’d find yourself loving, however they missed the mark for me in sudden methods. The sport that really exemplified this for me was Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Version as a result of I liked the unique launch on Wii U, but the Definitive Version disenchanted me after I put over 120 hours into it. Different releases that I had excessive hopes for, corresponding to Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii and Monster Hunter Wilds, didn’t shake out nicely for me both.

As a substitute, there have been many new video games that weren’t from a longtime IP and/or sequence I wasn’t aware of that I found in 2025. I’ve all the time liked the sensation of randomly going right into a sport with an unbiased, untainted perspective with no preconceptions or expectations for it and ending up loving it. It’s why I strive to not feverishly search up others’ opinions for a lot of video games I need to play. Possibly this isn’t the place I ought to be sharing that.

As all the time, I’ve grown more and more egocentric with these private finish of the 12 months wrap-ups. Listed here are just a few Honorable Mentions that I need to shout out earlier than entering into my high 10; the Honorable Mentions don’t have any ranked order to them.

Honorable Mentions

• Pricey me, I used to be… – Taisuke Kanasaki’s latest sport is a brief, however significant expertise that tells an emotional story with no voicelines. It’s capable of convey a message on a common scale by the lifetime of a lady and her relation to artwork.
   
• Earthion – Yuzo Koshiro passionately talked concerning the growth of this sport for a very long time, and I felt like I’d be betraying that man if I didn’t get it. Fortunately, Historical’s latest shmup is great, responsive, and exquisite.
   
• Trails within the Sky 1st Chapter – I’m a bit cautious of Nihon Falcom’s prior remake efforts with the Trails sequence through the Evolution remakes years in the past. 1st Chapter is a a lot, significantly better remake comparatively, although the subpar localization in comparison with its authentic model does injury the legacy of its preliminary English launch a bit. Nonetheless, I can’t wait to see how Trails within the Sky 2nd Chapter will depict many scenes and crossing my fingers that Trails within the Sky the third will get a full remake as nicely.
   
• Destiny/hole ataraxia Remastered – Completely thrilled that one in every of my favourite Sort-Moon visible novels lastly obtained an official English launch. I even want it over Destiny/keep night time, however totally ending that title is required to understand what Destiny/hole ataraxia does as a sequel. This was so cool to see this 12 months.
   
• Tremendous Robotic Wars Y – Whereas I proceed to not be the largest fan of the general visible course of the fashionable Tremendous Robotic Wars video games, the animation updates to Wing Gundam Zero (Infinite Waltz model) to have fun Gundam Wing’s thirtieth anniversary had been completely stellar on this title. There have been plenty of different components I appreciated that made SRW Y a stable entry total.
   
• Duet Night time Abyss – This launched on the finish of October and I’m fairly positive I virtually have 300 hours sunk into it. I hope this ultimately turns into a greater sport; I can’t suggest it in good religion except your mind is wired in a really particular method. I’d write about this sport ultimately, however I’m nonetheless questioning how imply I need to be in it.
   
• Kara no Shoujo / The Shell trilogy (consists of The Shell Half I: Inferno, The Shell Half II: Purgatorio, & The Shell Half III: Paradiso) – This visible novel trilogy by Harmless Gray has been really useful to me for a lot of, a few years. I lastly began them originally of December, and am at the moment studying Half III. I can see why individuals name it a masterpiece, although I’ll warn you with intensive content material warnings that these video games are stuffed with excessive content material since you examine grotesque, graphic crime scenes usually and lots of sequences that eloquently element how the assassin carried out their deed to the sufferer. It’s purposeful and doesn’t lavish within the extremity of its content material; I finally need to do an in depth write-up of my expertise as a result of there’s a lot I need to discuss.

10) Highway to Empress I

I’m all the time down for an entertaining FMV sport, particularly when it’s equally as enjoyable to undergo with spectators. I gave Highway to Empress I a whirl when it launched, and was instantly hooked after I found the quantity of lifeless dangerous ends I’d be incessantly working into. There’s a sure artistry to Highway to Empress I that I recognize. The ensemble manages to strike a becoming tonal steadiness in how severe or light-hearted their efficiency ought to be on any given scene. FMV video games generally incessantly take me out of the expertise due to their proverbial wink and nod to the participant; in the meantime, Highway to Empress I actually immersed my buddies and I all through my playthrough. Additionally, the manufacturing worth within the excessive constancy of its outfits and stage designs had been excellent; I can’t look ahead to the sequel in just a few months.

9) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

You’ve in all probability learn concerning the execs and cons of this sport to dying many occasions over all through 2025. There’s not a lot I can meaningfully add, however I do need to posit an optimistic perspective on the ripples that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 could trigger for many individuals. I perceive the frustration of seeing conversations between less-versed people that actually haven’t dabbled in turn-based RPGs and them expressing how this sport “solved” / “fastened” / and so on. the style for them.

My optimistic hope is that Expedition 33 opens the door for individuals to offer different turn-based RPGs a whirl. There will probably be issues about their expertise with Expedition 33 that they favored and disliked; I’m optimistic that vitality from enjoying Expedition 33, whether or not they accomplished it or not, will depart them curious to check out different video games. If you happen to come throughout this, earnestly hear them out and make the most of their momentary willingness to suggest them one thing that hopefully resonates with them positively. 

8) Digimon Story: Time Stranger

The Digimon franchise made an actual comeback for me in 2025. Digimon Story: Time Stranger had a reasonably prolonged growth cycle, however the wait ended up being price it. There are such a lot of charming features about Time Stranger that make it paying homage to a PlayStation 2 period sport throughout its JRPG golden period. In fact, it’s not with out its flaws however its versatile Digivolution mechanics and vibrant, full of life rendition of the Digital World: Iliad made it a blast to play by.

It additionally reinvigorated my curiosity in Digimon, so I gave that new Digimon Beatbreak TV anime a shot and it’s been an absolute pleasure to observe weekly. I’ve been watching it with a buddy who has by no means interacted with the Digimon sequence previous to Beatbreak and so they’ve been having fun with all of it the identical. Digimon actually had been the champions of 2025.

7) Sektori

Sektori is the one sport on my favourite 2025 sport lineup that has the superpower of creating me lock-in from 0 to 10 in a matter of seconds. This sport calls for your full consideration if you wish to achieve success, since trying away for even a break up second may spell your demise. You will have heard it described as a mixture between Geometry Wars with a Gradius-esque power-up system. 

My appreciation for this sport didn’t fairly click on into place till I discovered it was from former Housemarque developer Kimmo Lahtinen. I used to be completely in love with Tremendous Stardust HD again within the day, and Lahtinen even served as programming lead over its PSP port Tremendous Stardust Moveable. Additionally they labored on Resogun as nicely, which was stellar. I believe that lineage linked plenty of dots of why Sektori clicked so arduous for me.

6) Absolum

If you happen to’ve adopted me for a bit, that I worth management responsiveness quite a bit with regards to video games – irrespective of the style. Absolum was one of many strongest beat ‘em up video games this 12 months, and I attribute a lot of my love for it to how chic it felt to play. Its punchy sound design in fight and freeform combo system additionally issue into my appreciation of Absolum. Plus, all its playable characters are a ton of enjoyable to experiment with.

I also can simply go on and on about its unbelievable animation all-around, attractive backgrounds, great tunes, and a myriad of different small particulars. My solely vital criticism was that it wrapped up too shortly, although it appears there’ll be a future content material replace coming to it. I’m able to dive again in as soon as it has extra stuff to do.

5) Inazuma Eleven: Victory Highway

I beforehand did an in depth write-up summarizing this sport’s grueling growth cycle, and the way it truly ended up being well worth the lengthy wait. Whereas I used to be conscious of the Inazuma Eleven sequence, I by no means performed one in every of them till Victory Highway. The only-player Story Mode has among the finest moments in video video games this 12 months. There’s additionally an in depth Chronicle Mode that gives an abridged retelling of each single Inazuma Eleven sport and anime, which might take many, many hours to get by.

Stage-5 continues to be frequently including extra to it over the subsequent few months, together with an absolute plethora of patches addressing bugfixes and participant suggestions. By way of scope and sheer scale of its whole challenge lifespan, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Highway is arguably probably the most formidable challenge on this listing. I think about there have been numerous miracles behind-the-scenes that led to the place the sport is now.

4) Ball x Pit

An unconventionally unholy amalgamation of Breakout-ish mechanics and Vampire Survivors-esque development. Ball x Pit is a title that appears like a nightmare on paper, but someway it comes collectively fairly harmoniously. I noticed the builders share the evolution of this sport’s growth and the quite a few prototypes it went by; sport growth is an unbelievable factor to see unfold.

It took just a few hours for Ball x Pit to click on with me however as soon as it did, pricey god was I hooked. The quite a few unlockable characters and power-ups actually assist preserve the expertise recent. There was even a personality that made the complete sport turn-based and whereas that will not have been probably the most thrilling expertise to me, I appreciated that it was included, nonetheless. I love the arrogance that Ball x Pit exudes.

3) Popucom

A buddy and I sometimes search out new video games that require co-op to play by. There have been just a few in 2025 that we checked out, corresponding to Cut up Fiction and Lego Voyagers. We performed Popucom after these, and we had been each blown away at what we skilled. Popucom comes from Arknights studio Hypergryph; I’m shocked that Popucom wasn’t extra widespread this 12 months. It’s simply some of the fascinating, revolutionary co-op video games I’ve ever performed.

You and one other participant undergo quite a few linear phases, and every participant is assigned two colours that they will swap between instantaneously. Enemies, and different stage mechanics, are sometimes related to a colour, so the designated participant with the matching colour are the one ones that may both injury the opponent or have interaction with the stage mechanic. As an illustration, a rotating pillar that has yellow lasers spewing out of it could solely be blocked with a participant’s yellow barrier instrument.

Regardless of its cartoony aesthetic, Popucom has among the most fleshed out co-op interactions that creatively intertwine each gamers’ co-dependency on each other. Its bosses are very cool as nicely, as a result of enemies work on match-3 Puzzle Bobble guidelines. Many bosses are structured like a balloon artist’s creation, and their animations dynamically change as totally different components of them pop through gamers’ assaults. I strongly urge extra individuals to play this sport as quickly as potential.

2) Fantasy Life i: The Lady Who Steals Time

One other Stage-5 sport that I extensively wrote up about by myself. Though its growth historical past wasn’t so long as Inazuma Eleven: Victory Highway’s journey, it nonetheless suffered by its personal share of challenges. I went into Fantasy Life i: The Lady Who Steals Time underneath comparable circumstances to Victory Highway; I knew of the Fantasy Life video games, however I by no means obtained round to enjoying them.

This was an ideal sport to chill out to, after I began to really feel a bit burnt out from quite a few different obligations all year long. It’s a sport that’s mechanically easy, but deep sufficient to spend numerous hours on thoughtlessly. Fantasy Life i is a little bit of a harmful sport if in case you have different urgent issues to take care of, because it’s simple to fireside it up and burn 6-7+ hours within the blink of an eye fixed. I sadly carry the “Like to Grind A number of Interconnected Job Courses” gene, so Fantasy Life i scratched that itch arduous. It lately obtained an enormous free content material replace that I ought to try someday.

1) Dynasty Warriors: Origins

The Dynasty Warriors sequence is close to and pricey to my coronary heart. I’ve been a lifelong fan ever since I booted up the PlayStation 2 disc that had the Dynasty Warriors 3 demo on it. In fact, the sequence has been up and down over time however it was trying very dire after the disastrous launch of Dynasty Warriors 9; many followers and I believed that Dynasty Warriors was crossing the River Styx after that entry. Omega Drive and Koei Tecmo had been pretty silent on the Dynasty Warriors sequence in recent times as they launched into producing Musou spinoffs for different franchises.

Lo and behold, Omega Drive dared to let me, and the complete Dynasty Warriors fanbase, dream once more. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is an unbelievable reimagining of the sequence because it restructured the sport to ship a extra narratively intimate story expertise. I can perceive the frustration from those who needed a extra conventional Dynasty Warriors expertise, particularly the extreme playable character roster cuts and lack of Free Mode that made prior mainline entries extra decide up and play pleasant.

I see Origins as a brand new separate basis other than the mainline sequence; it seeks a brand new, recent starting with a baseline that really feels prefer it was designed for this technology’s {hardware} in thoughts. The ocean of our bodies on-screen in Origins is totally mind-blowing at occasions and the reworked weapon movesets/skills enable for various weapon varieties to hold their very own mechanical gimmick. If this sport failed, I actually suppose that the Dynasty Warriors sequence would’ve met its demise, so Origins’ success is one thing which means quite a bit to me.

This new reinvigoration of the sequence has an fascinating wave of momentum going into 2026; Origins will probably be receiving a considerable DLC growth that carry “what-if” marketing campaign eventualities from different factions except for the first Wei, Wu, and Shu camps. Plus, Dynasty Warriors 3 Full Version Remastered is remaking a universally beloved entry and I’m crossing my fingers very arduous that they don’t mess up one in every of my favourite video games of all time. It’s a very good time to be a Dynasty Warriors fan and I’ll by no means go up the chance to reward it when it’s rightfully deserved.