Every year when we look back at all the games that dropped, trends reveal themselves. For 2025, you might boil it down to a year of innovation. Yes, there were many big, anticipated games that overdelivered. But, from Donkey Kong Bonanza to Death Stranding 2, no two looked alike. The further you go, the more creativity you see. From a co-op storytelling game like no other in Split Fiction to the mysterious and completely unique puzzlers in Blue Prince and Öoo.

It didn’t have to be this way. The industry is wrestling with a lot of forces that, frankly, seem to be set on stifling innovation. From taking shortcuts with AI to the unwieldy dominance of a handful of AAAs (looking at you, Grand Theft Auto), to the painful search for a more sustainable business model, one might expect the quality of games to diminish.

Far from it. In terms of breadth and scope, 2025 is one of the best years of gaming we’ve seen yet. For those who fear the “collapse” of the gaming industry or are doomsaying about video game innovation, just look at these releases, from the wildly innovative remakes and remasters to more boundary-pushing RPGsand sci-fi epics than we could ever fit in one list.

So, of course, we here at Inverse have had our hands full, and when we got to the task of voting on the best of the best, it was shockingly hard to whittle it down to 25. Hell, indie darling Hollow Knight: Silksong didn’t make our list. What better evidence do you need that 2025 was a banner year for games?

25. *Dynasty Warriors: Origins *

The scale of Origin’s battles is truly staggering.

Koei Tecmo

There is a simple kind of joy to a Dynasty Warriors game, a special kind of zen only found by hacking down thousands upon thousands of hapless enemy grunts. There’s a reason this series has stuck around for decades, and Dynasty Warriors: Origins proves that there’s still a lot of life left in the Warriors formula.

Upping the ante to an almost absurd degree,* Origins* has some of the most climactic battles you’ll find in any game, combining elements of strategy and action games into something unique. Origins is repackaged as more of an RPG this time around, following a single protagonist as they become embroiled in the War of the Three Kingdoms. It’s a change that allows for more variety in combat through character builds, and a stronger emotional attachment to the events of the story. For all intents, this is Dynasty Warriors, bigger and better than it’s ever been. — Hayes Madsen

24. *Öoo *

*Öoo *is a masterful minimalist platformer you can play in one session.

NamaTakahashi

Öoo is one of the year’s best puzzle games, built around a simple premise. You play as a caterpillar with two bombs for a body, which you can drop and detonate as you please. While they’re sometimes used to blow up walls, your bombs are more useful for propelling yourself around the game’s pixelated world to reach new areas. Each section of the map brings its own twist to reveal a new way to use your bombs, relying on your own ingenuity instead of tutorials or ability pickups to figure them out. — Robin Bea

23. *Metal Garden *

The starkly beautiful world of Metal Garden is endlessly compelling.

Tinerasoft

Metal Garden is an unassuming first-person shooter that captivated me like nothing else in the genre has for years. Set in a planet-sized, inescapable megastructure, Metal Garden builds a more compelling atmosphere in just a few hours than many games do in 10 times that. With just scraps of explicit story, its melancholy world suggests an entire history as you fight your way through to discover if rumors of a way out are actually true. Metal Garden’s punishing combat is plenty enjoyable, but it’s the stunning vistas of its enclosed world and the true sense of grandeur its glimpses of story bring that have kept it in my mind all year. — Robin Bea

22. *Battlefield 6 *

Battlefield 6 is the game series fans have wanted for more than a decade.

Battlefield Studios

It’s been a long time coming for Battlefield 6. Super fans of the series have been waiting nearly a decade for EA and its many studios to finally get things right, only to be let down over and over again. Thankfully, in 2025, that dark period came to a close.

Battlefield 6 isn’t as revolutionary as most of the other games on this list. For those who’ve been playing for decades, it feels like a modernized version of the franchise’s peak 12 years ago. But when you’re fighting alongside your squad, with players zooming above you in fighter jets, tanks rolling off into the distance, and buildings collapsing all around you, it becomes undeniable that this is some of the most fun you can have in a multiplayer game today. Battlefield 6 fundamentally understands what makes this legendary series tick, and Battlefield Studios’ clarity on the matter gave us 2025’s best multiplayer shooter.* — Trone Dowd*

21. *Blippo+ *

The offbeat *Blippo+ *is one of the funniest games ever.

Panic

Channel-surfing makes for a strange and unique idea for a video game, in this unlikely candidate for best game of the year. Released first on the Playdate handheld, then later on PC and Switch, Blippo+ takes place entirely on the airwaves of an alien planet, its story unfurling across dozens of initially unrelated shows. As you flip through the channels of Blippo+, you’ll learn the story of planet Blip making first contact with another species and the fallout that ensues. And just as importantly, you’ll get to watch several hours worth of hilarious parodies of late-night TV and public access programs, from quizzes and cooking to talk shows and gossip. — Robin Bea

20. *Ninja Gaiden Ragebound *

*Ragebound *isn’t just fun to play; it’s great to look at as well.

Dotemu

Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is a stunning return to form for the 2D side-scrollers, a long-awaited sequel crafted with love and care for the original games, but equally a desire to redefine what a “modern” Ninja Gaiden would look like.

With Ragebound, The Game Kitchen has crafted one of the most superbly satisfying platforming experiences ever seen — a game that quite simply feels good to play for each and every second. Tight platforming, bombastic set pieces, and an incredible soundtrack — Ragebound gets every ingredient of the side-scroller right. But it’s also a game not afraid to experiment with that formula, through two distinct playable characters and a handful of gameplay-altering mechanics. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait as long for the next Ninja Gaiden game. —* Hayes Madsen*

19. The Séance Of Blake Manor

*The Séance of Blake Manor *is a supernatural detective game set in a hotel with a dark history.

Raw Fury

The Séance of Blake Manor is a game for people who like two things: ghost stories and being nosy. Set in the west of Ireland in 1897, The Séance of Blake Manor gives you three days to investigate a woman’s disappearance at a remote hotel, where guests have gathered in an attempt to speak to spirits beyond the grave. Every conversation you have and piece of evidence you examine ticks the clock forward, making time management just as important as your detective skills. The Séance of Blake Manor is a game full of small stories to discover, all wrapped up in not only your main case but the history of the manor itself. — Robin Bea

18. *South Of Midnight *

South of Midnight spins a gothic tale that was one of the year’s freshest and most interesting.

Compulsion Games

In an era where remasters and sequels reign supreme, it’s rare to see bold new adventures, let alone one starring a charismatic, Black female lead. Even cooler, is the fact that Compulsion Games set this modern gothic fairy tale in the American South, one that isn’t afraid to brush up against this country’s dark and inhumane history.

South of Midnight may not have had the mechanical depth that most action games should strive for, but it more than makes up for it with its beautifully arranged, interactive soundtrack, rich story, memorable characters, and visually striking stop-motion style. *South of Midnight *is a transformative eight-hour folktale, seemingly made for players in search of something fresh, and the standard bearer for the kinds of original single-player adventures we should demand more of in this industry. — Trone Dowd

17. *Time Flies *

Silly and moving at once, *Time Flies *explores the bucket list of a fly with seconds to live.

Panic

Time is always running out when your lifespan is measured in seconds. Time Flies is a game about mortality seen through the compound eyes of a housefly, where you have only as many seconds in each run as there are years in your country’s actual average lifespan. With those precious seconds, you’ll flitter through homes, art museums, and sewers, checking items off your bucket list. Despite its focus on mortality, Time Flies is one of the funniest games of the year, full of sight gags, absurd scenes to fly through, and punny interpretations of the tasks on your to-do list. It’s a bit like Untitled Goose Game, if instead of wrecking a gardener’s life, you were just trying to spend more time with friends and appreciate the finer things in life while you still can. — Robin Bea

16. *The Midnight Walk *

The Midnight Walk tells a series of short stories in a gorgeous hand-crafted world.

Fast Travel Games

With characters and environments handmade in clay and 3D scanned into the game, The Midnight Walk is one of the most visually stunning games of the year. The sense of weight and presence in its sculpted world have to be experienced to be fully appreciated, but the effect is magical, especially in its optional VR mode. While its puzzles and stealth-based gameplay can be a bit simplistic, its fully realized world is utterly engrossing. It’s a perfect backdrop for the series of creepy short vignettes its narrative walks you through, exploring how the stories we tell can shape the world around us for better or worse. — Robin Bea

15. *Many Nights A Whisper *

*Many Nights a Whisper *asks how you would change the world if given the chance.

Deconstructeam

Many Nights a Whisper asks a lot of questions, and the game lies in answering the questions for yourself. Your goal is to launch a fireball from a slingshot at a seemingly impossible target in the distance, and the only way to reach it is to grant wishes. With each wish you grant, you add a bit of the wisher’s hair to your sling, making it more powerful in the process. You need to decide for yourself whether to let the wishers erase their worst mistakes or change the world to suit their desires, turning the game into a massive philosophical conundrum for the player. Along the way, you can practice with your slingshot as much as you want, but you only get one chance at the final test before you have to live with the consequences. — Robin Bea

14. *Carimara: Beneath The Forlorn Limbs *

Short, spooky, and surprisingly deep, Carimara has you uncovering a mystery in a bleakly beautiful world.

Critical Reflex

Few games this year have lingered quite as much as Carimara: Beneath the Forlorn Limbs, which condenses a compelling supernatural mystery (why is there a ghost in this old woman’s basement?) into around an hour. It’s an investigation game that leaves everything up to your ability to observe your surroundings and make your own deductions, with an incredible narrative payoff at the end. Set in a single cabin rendered in gorgeously gritty art, Carimara tells a surprisingly heartfelt story that makes for a perfect single-session game. — Robin Bea

13. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

The Hundred Line is one of the very few games that justifies its 200-hour length.

Aniplex

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is one of the most offensively ambitious games that’s ever been created, coming from Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka. A vast visual novel that pushes the genre to its breaking point with a bizarre time travel story that has literally 100 different endings. That sounds overwhelming on paper, but somehow, The Hundred Line pulls it off — creating an entrancing experience that demands you see everything.

The Hundred Line is a game about aliens and official conspiracies, a romance gag manga, a slasher story, and a Danganronpa-esque murder game all at once. And somehow, it all amazingly fits together. The game’s ingenious route system lets its story explore a wide array of tropes and styles, but so often The Hundred Line leans all the way into those ideas to an absurd degree. It’s a maximalist game that revels in playing with your expectations of visual novels, before subverting nearly everything. It’s hard to imagine anything that feels more uniquely suited to the bizarre style of Kodaka than this — it’s his ultimate game. — Hayes Madsen

12.* Wanderstop*

Wanderstop challenges cozy game conventions to tell a story about rage and recovery.

Annapurna Interactive

There’s been a deluge of “cozy” life sims that turn work into play lately, and one of this year’s best games deconstructs that trend. Wanderstop follows a championship fighter named Alta who loses her edge and finds herself in a strange grove she can’t seem to leave, inhabited by an irritatingly cheerful tea maker. Wanderstop examines Alta’s resistance to rest and the drive to be productive as she faces her own demons, questioning what players get out of the work-like structures of typical life sims along the way. — Robin Bea

11. Peak

Multiplayer sensation Peak makes climbing so fun that you won’t mind failing again and again.

Aggro Crab, Landfall

Peak opens up with you waking up on the beach after a plane crash, stranded on a deserted island with a scout troop. There’s one only reasonable thing to do — play some frisbee, talk to your favorite stuffed animal, and force-feed your friend a poisonous mushroom. A harrowing survival situation soon turns into a slapstick playground, making for one of the best multiplayer games of the year. Sure, the goal is to climb to the top of a mountain and escape the island, but its procedurally generated levels and a huge collection of debatably useful tools make it such an unpredictable joy to play that you probably won’t even mind falling to your death due to an exploding mushroom for the 30th time. — Robin Bea

10. Despelote

Despelote has a remarkable visual style that utilizes actual real-life locations.

Panic

Despelote* *is a one-of-a-kind experience — one that’ll sit with you for days, and weeks, after you’ve played it. The bite-sized game is a reflection on childhood and memory, and how the two invariably alter the way we see the world. Part soccer simulator, part narrative experience, Despelote is a game deeply rooted in the culture of Ecuador, and its creators’ lived experience of the country’s big sports win, which was juxtaposed against immense political upheaval.

But Despelote, crucially, is also a game that anyone and everyone can identify with. It’s an experience that’ll take you through your own childhood, and the way you remember it — all before landing an incredible punchline with its ending. If you want to talk about video games as an art form, Despelote simply needs to be a part of the discussion. — Hayes Madsen

9.* Blue Prince*

Even its name is a pun.

Dogubomb/Raw Fury

Not every game deserves a 10/10, but Blue Prince is capable of enveloping you in hours of intrigue. It demands copious notes and even elaborate diagrams, as its puzzles ramp up the difficulty and mystery builds into new mystery. It’s a seemingly short game that holds a lot of depth, and plenty of secrets yet to uncover. Made by a single developer shaping up his unique vision, Blue Prince has nods to older choose-your-own adventure children’s books, and those who enjoy the satisfaction of noodling over a well-worn riddle. — Shannon Liao

8. Death Stranding 2

Death Stranding 2 is a deeply emotional journey that takes the first game’s oddball premise and blows it up tenfold.

Kojima Productions

No game this year was as perfect a combination of heartfelt, breathtakingly gorgeous, and absolutely insane all at once in the way *Death Stranding 2 *was. KojiPro’s sophomore effort sands down the experience of the original significantly. It makes traversing the desolate wild easier than ever with more access to vehicles. Combat is less about survival and more about experimentation. And even boss fights are entirely optional.

Despite making its oddball premise more accessible, it never loses its soul. It is confident in its ideas and, most importantly, has something to say. Even if Hideo Kojima’s schmaltzy writing can be a little heavy-handed at times, there’s an earnestness to DS2 that is regrettably all too rare in modern video games. That alone makes Death Stranding 2 one of 2025’s most original and consistently entertaining experiences. — Trone Dowd

7. Kingdom Come Deliverance II

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II reminds me of the kind of role-playing games Bethesda used to make before it made its titles much more accessible.

Wahorse Studios

When so much of contemporary big-budget gaming feels like a focus-tested, hodgepodge of half-baked game ideas across all genres, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the rare example of a game that knows what it is, and unapologetically commits to the bit. The first five hours or so of Deliverance II kicks dirt in your face repeatedly. It has unforgiving combat. Stealth takes careful consideration. You can’t even save unless you engage with its mandatory and purposefully obtuse alchemy system.

But if you’re willing to meet it on its terms, Deliverance II’s dedication to being a modern take on the old-school, Bethesda-style RPG will reward you like no other game released this year. It helps that this historical adventure through 15th-century Bohemia has you crossing paths with one of the genre’s best ensembles of side companions and villains, brought to life by some of the best voice performances of the year. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is one of the best role-playing games of the decade, and a wonderful reminder of the heights this genre can reach when all of its strengths — even the ugly bits most modern developers shy away from — are embraced. — Trone Dowd

6.* Two Point Museum*

Few things are as satisfying as sitting back and watching your bustling museum run itself.

Sega

Two Point Museum is one of those games where you hear the premise and immediately know it’s going to soak up an unbelievable amount of your time. There are shockingly few games out there that let you curate your own museum, but at this point, it feels unlikely anything will ever be able to rival Two Point Museum.

The humorous management series is a match made in heaven with museums, letting you craft the perfect exhibition — whether that’s plants that turn guests into vampires, or interstellar relics for the Cheese Moonger aliens. The game’s quirky sense of humor gives everything a lightness, even as the management mechanics hold a genuinely surprising amount of depth and variety. It’s a game that brilliantly straddles the line between being approachable and challenging — something for players both new and old. And don’t be surprised when you look at the clocks and realize you’ve been playing for five hours straight. — Hayes Madsen

5. Donkey Kong Bananza

Donkey Kong Bananza’s* *destruction feels genuinely revolutionary.

Nintendo

Donkey Kong Bananza gives the big ape his Mario moment — a breakout game that completely redefines the entire series. And it also happens to be one of the most remarkably inventive games Nintendo has released in years.

Bananza’s open zone design is all about freedom, giving you the ability to dig and punch through virtually anything you want. The environmental destruction is astonishing on just a technical level, but it also shakes up the core design of Nintendo’s platformers. Instead of a single salutation to finding a collectible or getting through a platforming level, the dig mechanics give you a dozen different options. Maybe you jump over platforms to get to a Banandium Gem, or you just head to the other side of the mountain and simply blast your way through.

All of this is fused with a vibrant sense of style and genuinely fun little story that focuses on the importance of supporting your friends, illustrated through the charming relationship between DK and Pauline. Donkey Kong Bananza is simply the first knockout hit that the Nintendo Switch 2 really needed in its launch year. — Hayes Madsen

4. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

*The Ivalice Chronicles *remarkably refines an all-time classic.

Square Enix

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most important games ever made. It’s a foundational text for strategy RPGs, as well as a harrowing story that deftly tackles themes of oppression and social class. Final Fantasy Tactics’ legacy and influence are undeniable, but somehow, Square Enix’s pseudo-remake of the game only makes everything even better.

Pitch-perfect voice acting, expanded story, and some smart gameplay changes make The Ivalice Chronicles feel like the game Final Fantasy Tactics always should have been. This is such a remarkable enhancement that it’s hard to even fathom playing the game in its original form again. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles quite simply feels like the blueprint for how to modernize crucially important games — how to keep their impact and spirit alive while translating it to a whole new generation. — Hayes Madsen

3. Split Fiction

In a year full of fantastic games worthy of playing with friends, Split Fiction represents 2025’s best.

Hazelight Studios

Unlike 15 years ago, few mainstream developers these days are committed to making dedicated co-op games. Thankfully for the gaming community at large, developer Hazelight Studios has embraced this subgenre with open arms for the better part of a decade. Its latest game is the new gold standard for the subgenre.

Every moment of Split Fiction delivers some new, ingenious game mechanic or challenge designed around its co-op concept, from action-packed setpieces like motorcycle chases across a cyberpunk city to the more abstract, like platforming your way through the farm as a flatulent pig. Like It Takes Two before it, Split Fiction seems dead set on eliciting pure joy from its players’ faces, culminating in one of the year’s most spectacular endings. —* Trone Dowd*

2. Silent Hill f

*Silent Hill f *honors the series’ roots while pushing forward in bold new directions.

Konami

Silent Hill f doesn’t just bring the dormant series back from the dead, it startlingly redefines the very identity of what it means to be a Silent Hill game. Thick in atmospheric horror and psychological storytelling, *Silent Hill f *is every bit the equal of the beloved Silent Hill 2.

And that’s largely because Silent Hill f gets what makes the series tick, while being ambitious enough to push and pull that recipe in new directions. The rural Japanese setting works wonders, especially as more mythological elements are woven into the horror. The fragmented approach to storytelling creates a real sense of mystique, driven home by phenomenal writing and exploration of poignant socioeconomic themes. And on top of all that, there’s a strong survival horror experience to boot, with an emphasis on pulse-pounding combat encounters and item management. You simply could not have asked for a bigger, or better, return for the prolific horror franchise. — Hayes Madsen

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Clair Obscur is a staggering and revolutionary role-playing game, inspired by the lynchpins of the genre.

Kepler Interactive

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an exceptional role-playing game in nearly every sense — a gripping story, fantastic performances, and a superb combat system. But what’s really fascinating is how willingly the game wears its inspirations on its sleeves, not making any effort to hide the way Final Fantasy has influenced it. But Expedition 33 isn’t just a homage to Final Fantasy; it’s a forwarding of the design ethos behind that style of RPG, and one that does it masterfully.

Expedition 33 raises questions on the nature of grief, if you can detach the art from the artist, and how loss molds our lives. These are all weighty questions that the game tackles with its ambitious story, taking big swings at multiple points. But even beyond narrative ambitions, Expedition 33 has one of the most compelling combat systems seen in modern RPGs, taking the active turn-based style of games like Lost Odyssey to its next evolution. Like Baldur’s Gate 3 before it, Expedition 33 feels like one of those defining games we’ll be talking about for years to come. — Hayes Madsen