Multiplat Favorite Games of 2025

[BoxingFan653]

Well... somebody needed to make this thread lol. I figure it would be a waste to go through an awesome year and not have us share our favorite games of the year.

You can list as many as you want just make sure the game released between Jan 1 of 2025 to the last day of December.

I played many games this year but I'll just list the five that were my favorites from that large group.

5. Absolum - A game that I've always wanted to play. Grew up playing Capcom's Dungeons and Dragons beat'em up with my brother in the arcades and this is a spiritual succesor to those games with a roguelike twist. Really addicted gameplay loop. I dropped everything the moment this drop and wasn't able to put it down until I got the platinum.

4. The First Berserker Khazan - Underrated game that didn't meet sales target. Also got snubbed at The Game Awards for best action game. It's more of a Nioh-like than a Soulslike in the way that the hub area is used as a portal to take you to other stages in the game and at the end of each stage is a boss fight. I found the combat extremely satisfying. I love games that actually have impact when you hit stuff. You get to choose from three weapons but they all have a lot of different skills that make each playthrough feel unique. This was my most played game of 2025.

3. Shinobi : Art of Vengeance - A great action platformer with metroidvania elements. Super solid in every aspect. Great combat, music, hand-drawn 2D artwork, platforming, etc. Only minor complaint is some levels went on too long that I didn't really feel like going back to them to get S rank. Would feel way too stressful so I got to 100% completion and called it a day until DLC releases.

2 - Silent Hill f - Feels strange rating this number 2 because it was the exact same spot that I gave Silent Hill 2 Remake to last year. This franchise is quickly becoming one of my favorites because they do horror the way I love it. It doesn't shy away from making you feel uncomfortable and this game in particular has a really interesting narrative in how it explains more and more in each subsequent playthrough. The first playthrough is just one layer of the story and as you progress to new game plus there are new cutscenes and new items and notes to pick up. The sound design and grotesque imagery makes it very immersive.

1 - Expedition 33 - I don't need to say much here. Even though I had some issues with Act 3 I can't deny that I was completely engrossed with the story to the point that I'd force my self to wake up early before work to get some time in. That's how you know something is special.

Great list especially putting Shinobi and Absolum as I felt both games were overlooked. I am surprised you put silent hill f so high though however 2025 was a terrible year for games imho

 

[HereticBD]

I played E33 with keyboard and mouse. Is it way more enjoyable with a pad?!

I hated the repetition in fights.

I don't see what the big difference would be. I can see your point about "repetitiveness" in fights, but all JRPG's are like that. The grind is the grind. Sounds like it's just not for you.

Personally, I think if you are a JRPG fan, it made some big strides to not make it as repetitive and/or monotonous as most others, where you're just clicking on menus the whole time. The parry system really made every fight feel interactive and challenging, and there some really good synergies you could work with to make it all come together.

Ultimately, it doesn't work without the incredible story and well written characters. That's the main star of the game.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

2025 wasn’t a very active year for gaming for me. Put about 70 hours into Nightreign and about one hour into Doom the Dark Ages and that’s about it.

Oh, and about 15-20 hours into the Heretic + Hexen remaster.

Nightreign is good but part of the reason why I even have that many hours in it is because my two best friends only ever want to play that. It’s fun, and I am enjoying the new DLC, but until this DLC came out I had sort of had my fill by about the 45 hours mark back in say late October but haven’t been able to convince my friends to play something else.

So I’m dumb, I completely forgot about all the time I put into Diablo III and IV from February to April when I made this post. It wasn’t till I looked at my PSN year in review thingy that I realized my omission.

 

[NadaRekowski]

I don't see what the big difference would be. I can see your point about "repetitiveness" in fights, but all JRPG's are like that. The grind is the grind. Sounds like it's just not for you.

Personally, I think if you are a JRPG fan, it made some big strides to not make it as repetitive and/or monotonous as most others, where you're just clicking on menus the whole time. The parry system really made every fight feel interactive and challenging, and there some really good synergies you could work with to make it all come together.

Ultimately, it doesn't work without the incredible story and well written characters. That's the main star of the game.

I played it till the end of act 2 and I agree, story, characters and atmosphere are truly amazing. It just lost its joy for me with the grind and ultra long boss fights.

 

[Zazen]

Great list especially putting Shinobi and Absolum as I felt both games were overlooked. I am surprised you put silent hill f so high though however 2025 was a terrible year for games imho

Terrible is probably too strong of a word at least for me. It's been a fantastic year for retro inspired games. I really enjoyed Earthion, Neon Inferno, Terminator 2D No Fate, Shinobi, Absolum, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Probably missing a couple but you get my point. I will agree that on the AAA side I was pretty disappointed with 2025. A lot of games I was looking forward to kind of failed to interest me. Ghost of Yotei was Tsushima 1.5. Didn't do enough to be different and I got very bored by the end. Monster Hunter Wilds had an abysmal story and equally awful end-game content. Doom The Dark Ages had open-field levels that took forever to go back and forth on if you tried collecting everything. I should never ever feel bored in a Doom game. Metroid 4 which I just finished up was kind of a letdown. Exploration wasn't there like past games and there are annoying side characters which kill the immersion that the franchise is known for.

I am convinced that 2026 won't disappoint with the bigger games. Many AAA games that appeal to me more release this year like the Capcom games (RE9, Pragmata, Onimusha, and even Monster Hunter Stories 3 getting a huge glowup), Saros, Wolverine, Phantom Blade Zero, Control 2 , Tides of Annihilation are just some that are on the top of my list. More hyped for them than I was most games coming into last year.