Introduction

With Christmas looming just around the bend, us gamers now realize 2025 is almost at an end. Despite how crazy this year has been, one thing we can all admit is that for the gaming community… 2025 has been incredible! There have been some fabulous games—both triple A and indie—that released this year and I won’t lie, making this list was no small feat. I’ve tried to personally play every major game of the year and I could barely accomplish it! Still, I have definitely played these incredible titles and I’m here to tell you why they deserve to be on our Top 10 Video Games of 2025 list here at SunsetNerdVerse! As per usual, we will have first our honorable mention and then dive in!

Honorable Mention:

Peak

Release Date: June 2025
Genre(s): Action-Adventure

At first glance I remember seeing Peak and thinking this was just another indie game about climbing stuff with friends and would eventually grow tiring. How wrong I was. Peak by developer Aggro Crab/Landfall is a hilariously good climbing adventure that can be played alone or with up to several friends. Your group has become stranded on a strange landmass after your flight has gone down and you need to reach the top of the mountain for a rescue. In your way are strange monsters, dangerous biomes and mountains filled with dead ends and leap-of-faith jumps. With constant updates that change the various maps you’ll climb and the threats you’ll face, Peak consistently offers a fun experience. Even in 2026, I’ll be playing Peak with my friends and cursing them out when they leave me alone to perish on a tree filled with dangerous mushrooms and poisons…

10. Metal Gear Solid Delta: SNAKE EATER

Release Date: August 2025
Genre(s): Action-adventure, Stealth

Despite the original Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater releasing back in 2004—11 years ago can you believe it—Metal Gear Solid Delta: SNAKE EATER reminds us why this was a game that needed the remake love. While still carrying many of the elements of the original, MGS Delta: SNAKE EATER is now fully polished visually, with new gameplay concepts from past games like MGS V: The Phantom Pain and new voice work. We also got back legendary Snake voice actor David Hayter! Honestly, I didn’t think I’d love this remade MGS title but all it took was me booting it up to remember why this was one of the best in the franchise and how even today it is impactful in the gaming world. Plus, the new gameplay tweaks make this feel like an entirely different game!

9. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Release Date: June 2025
System(s): PS5

It seems oddly ironic that another game originally made by creator Hideo Kojima would make our list of the Top 10 Video Games of 2025 and it would also be a sequel to another game. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach follows the very strange but deceptively incredible Death Stranding, which fuses a walking simulator with an action-adventure game. Death Stranding 2 is more or less the same as the first one released back in 2019 but with big improvements that make the game way better visually and mechanically. Honestly, I had a lot of issues with the original Death Stranding—despite how much I did love it—but Death Stranding 2 took those issues that I had, alongside others in the gaming world, and fixed them almost perfectly. Death Stranding 2 looks incredible, plays even better, and is a sequel that shows Kojima wants to only make better and better games.

8. FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves

Release Date: April 2025
System(s): PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S

As a fighting game buff, I remember one of my all-time favorite 2D fighters was Garou: Mark of the Wolves, set in the world of Fatal Fury. Never did I think a remake would release but SNK proved me wrong and in April 2025 FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves released, acting as a remake and rehaul of this 26-year-old classic. With a fresh new visual style, several modern fighting mechanic improvements, and a mix of old/new fighters, City of the Wolves is incredible and truly shows that a franchise can be revived with some love and care. Plus, the OST for FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves is beyond incredible and needs to be heard as soon as possible.

7. The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II

Release Date: February 2025
System(s): PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch

One of my favorite RPG franchises without any doubt is The Legend of Heroes. While I loved the more recent Trails of Cold Steel, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak was epic and the sequel—with only one more entry releasing in 2026—is just as great. A story that rivals some anime franchises, an exciting mix of turn-based and action gameplay, and some stellar visuals make Trails Through Daybreak II a great sequel that is one of the better games I played this year. While I won’t advise playing Daybreak II without previous knowledge of the past games, it’s never too late to jump into the franchise and spend a good amount of hours on one of the best JRPGs of the modern era.

6. Blue Prince

Release Date: April 2025
System(s): PS5, PC, Xbox Series X/S

Off the top of my head I can’t remember the last time I considered a puzzle game one of the best games of a year. Blue Prince earns a spot on our list of the Top 10 Video Games of 2025 without a doubt. Players assume the role of Simon P. Jones whose great uncle just died and left a strange note to him. If Simon, AKA the player, can reach the mansion’s 46th room, they will gain the rights to the mansion’s secrets and inheritance. This might seem simple but Blue Prince tasks the player to best construct various rooms to reach the special room—but there’s a bunch of rules to doing so. Every day you have a set amount of moves you can make and when the day ends your constructions in the mansion change. Blue Prince is fun, thought-provoking, and insanely fun. I only recently have been investing time into Blue Prince but I now see why friends and other gamers said this is one of the best games of 2025!

5. Digimon Story: Time Stranger

Release Date: October 2025
System(s): PS5, Xbox Series, PC

I’ve mentioned this numerous times in various reviews but I will always be a Digimon fan first over Pokémon. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pokémon—I’m replaying Pokémon Colosseum as we speak—but Digimon just hits my childhood with more feels. Digimon Story: Time Stranger had a lot to live up to as the games before it were a mixed bag of good and okay but wow… it strangely went above and beyond. Rather than be just another Digimon Story game, Time Stranger is a beyond competent RPG with numerous Digimon to tame, a rather mature story, and some solid visuals. I even reviewed Digimon Story: Time Stranger on SunsetNerdVerse and gave it a lot of praise. Even if you have no knowledge of Digimon and/or the past games from the series, I highly recommend giving this title a try as I’ve gotten a few friends to play it and now curse me out for how addicted they are to it.

4. Ghost of Yotei

Release Date: October 2025
System(s): PS5

Sucker Punch has never failed to deliver some incredible games but one of their best was 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima. Not only was that game visually a masterpiece but the gameplay was exciting, impactful, and obviously fun. I didn’t think Sucker Punch could capture lightning in a bottle twice but in 2025, they did just that with their standalone sequel, Ghost of Yotei. Despite having to live up to the incredible legacy left by Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei—while not perfect—manages to come very close to reaching the peak that was Tsushima.

Following Atsu, a female mercenary who is on a path of vengeance, Ghost of Yotei is very similar to Tsushima but with a new, more defined fighting system and even better visuals than the 2020 hit. I will say I do love the Shinichiro Watanabe mode which gives the OST a lo-fi setting akin to Samurai Champloo. Ghost of Yotei is an excellent game and well worth playing even if you somehow missed Ghost of Tsushima.

3. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

Release Date: April 2025
System(s): Nintendo Switch, PC

As a Zero Escape series lover and super fan of Danganronpa, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy was going to be a game I would adore but little did I know… I’d actually consider this one of the best games of 2025. One part turn-based grid strategy and one part VN, The Hundred Line has several great reasons to be number 3 on our Top 10 Video Games of 2025 list. For starters, the gameplay is strangely addictive as you take control of a group of students who must protect mankind’s last bastion of hope… an odd school surrounded by flames. Next, the story is quite engaging and filled with twists and turns.

Where The Hundred Line earns the title is there are 100 endings in this game—yes 100—and these aren’t just stupid endings that hit you with a splash screen or stoic text. The 100 various endings are oddly filled with depth and thought, sometimes altering the entire narrative and making you wonder if you really knew what’s going on in this crazy chaotic world that is The Hundred Line. Impressive visuals, fun gameplay, 100 various endings, and a solid OST make The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy a real treat for developer Too Kyo Games and I think it needs more love than it gets!

2. Dispatch

Release Date: October 2025
System(s): PS5, PC

I know many love to say interactive story-themed games shouldn’t be considered games but play Dispatch and then we can talk. Developed by the new AdHoc Studio—formerly developers from Telltale Games—Dispatch takes the concepts of a superhero comic/animation and infuses it with QTE gameplay and strategy. As a former hero now turned dispatcher for former villains, Dispatch tasks you with saving lives by choosing the right “hero” for the right situation. When that is done and your day is over, you’ll be thrown into a romance/drama tale of epic proportions.

Dispatch is a visual and story-immersive treat that gave us eight one-hour episodes with multiple paths, decisions to make, and consequences for said choices. We rated Dispatch a 10 out of 10 here at SunsetNerdVerse for a reason, folks—go and play it so we don’t spoil anything and make more Dispatch fans in the process!

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Release Date: April 2025
System(s): PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Without a doubt this was a no-brainer for me for what took our number 1 spot on our list of the Top 10 Video Games of 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Developed by Sandfall Interactive, Expedition 33 shows that you don’t need hundreds of game developers to make a masterpiece but a team filled with passion, drive, and desire to make an amazing game.

Expedition 33 is a turn-based RPG but that feels like it’s explaining the bare bones of what the game is as a whole. Tweaked with parrying and defensive systems that test your reflexes, a deep story of pain, loss, and drive, as well as a soundtrack that delivers non-stop, Expedition 33 is just a game beyond words. As a gamer for over 30+ years, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 probably now stands as one of my personal favorite games ever made and that isn’t due to overhyped reviews or media coverage but because it is a dang good RPG that needs to be played to be loved. Even if you don’t touch another game on this list—though that would be silly—you need to do yourself a favor and play Expedition 33. You won’t regret it. Well… maybe you will after you invest hundreds of hours and buy the OST after like I did… nah, even then you won’t regret a thing.

Conclusion

Phew… the list has finally been completed and what a ride it has been. There were so many great games this year that some I will still be playing in 2026 and wondering why my real-life responsibilities are beginning to pile up. All jokes aside, 2025 was a phenomenal gaming year that delivered everything I wanted and then some. Whether you loved action, RPGs, indie darlings, and/or just a game with a vision, 2025 made sure your wallet was empty but your gaming hard drives were hitting into the 0 digits. Honestly, gaming this year made a lot of the other world issues a bit easier to handle and I’m happy to be a gamer in times like this.

What game was your favorite and did we handle this list well? Let us know on our various social media platforms! Be sure to also predict what games will be incredible in 2026 as we have some opinions we’d love to share!

—Aaron