It’s a time period used to explain an enormous quantity of video games launched yearly, however what does “action-adventure” even imply? It’s a great query. Right here at IGN, we classify any recreation that fuses fight with a real sense of exploration as action-adventure. They typically happen in open worlds, however that’s not a compulsory requirement (see the likes of Uncharted and God of Conflict), and so this versatile format permits for a variety of completely different tasks to make the lower this 12 months, from the tightly crafted co-op platforming motion of Cut up Fiction and the huge, remoted, do-it-yourself environment of Demise Stranding 2, to the adventures of banana-hunting apes and revenge-seeking ronin. So let’s get on with it as swiftly as a Hornet and reveal the runners-up and supreme winner of our award for the Best Action-Adventure Game of 2025.
Runner-Up – Cut up Fiction
Following on from the great It Takes Two, developer Hazelight took issues to the subsequent degree with regards to scale in Cut up Fiction and continued to hone its craft because the modern-day masters of the co-op recreation. A lot of its story is spent platforming and puzzle-solving, however a wholesome quantity can be reserved for fight towards its many various sci-fi and fantasy-laced foes, in addition to exploration of its larger-scale ranges. It by no means as soon as stands nonetheless, continually evolving and switching up its mechanical concepts to match every world’s vibrant set dressing. That sense of thrilling propulsion alongside an ever-changing journey, balanced with areas designed so that you can decelerate a little bit and hunt for secrets and techniques and shocking aspect missions, is what makes Cut up Fiction one of our prime 5 action-adventure video games of the 12 months.
Runner-Up – Ghost of Yotei
Maybe essentially the most conventional “action-adventure” on our record, Ghost of Yotei follows in an extended line of PlayStation Studio exclusives that firmly match that mildew. Telling the story of revenge-seeking wandering Ronin, Atsu, Yotei takes all the things that made individuals fall in love with its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima, and tweaks it for the higher. The place motion is anxious, its slick sword, spear, and kusarigama fight is an actual star of the present, with new-age weaponry equivalent to firearms additionally introduced into the combo to increase this ghost’s arsenal. In phrases of journey, Seventeenth-century Hokkaido performs stage to as lovely a wanting and sounding world as you might step into in 2025, with no scarcity of collectibles, aspect tales, and show-stopping duels to interact with. Sucker Punch’s newest is the Seattle studio’s most completed effort to this point, and one of this 12 months’s perfect action-adventures.
Runner-Up – Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza encourages you to discover its many sandbox ranges, not by cautious investigation, however by smashing each nook of them into tiny items to see what secrets and techniques lurk inside. Nintendo’s trendy 3D reinvention of what its beloved ape may very well be in 2025 rapidly turned the Change 2’s must-have recreation, and for good cause. Bananza is a feast for treasure hunters, with a whole lot of glowing bananas begging to be uncovered by destruction courtesy of DK’s pounding fists and plenty of particular skills. These abilities are on the coronary heart of all of it, with the titular Bananzas powering creative new methods to journey by every of its themed ranges. From the rampaging Kong Bananza that permits you to unleash a monstrous fury succesful of breaking the hardest of terrain, in addition to any enemy’s soon-to-be mud skeleton, to the wing-flapping Ostrich Bananza that enables for brand spanking new heights to be soared to. It’s removed from typical, even by Nintendo 3D platforming requirements, however Donkey Kong Bananza is one of this 12 months’s perfect with regards to action-adventure.
Runner-Up – Demise Stranding 2: On the Seashore
Talking of unconventional, Demise Stranding 2: On the Seashore actually isn’t anxious about obeying style norms. An action-adventure that’s by no means afraid to point out, inform, or have you ever interact with belongings you’ve by no means fairly seen earlier than, Kojima Productions’ newest is the success of a promise made in its predecessor. That’s to not say that there isn’t the acquainted to be discovered right here, with its elevated deal with fight echoing recollections of its creator’s Metallic Gear Stable roots, due to an expanded vary of choices with regards to approaching its stealth-action. It’s in its journey, and the exploration of themes of grief and human connection at its centre, that make every of Sam Porter Bridges’ difficult steps by a post-apocalyptic Australia in Demise Stranding 2 actually sing, although, and one of this 12 months’s perfect action-adventures.
Winner – Hole Knight: Silksong
Not solely is it an enormous aid that Hole Knight: Silksong lastly got here out in 2025, however a fair larger one which it turned out to be so nice. Putting a fair better emphasis on the motion half of “action-adventure” than its predecessor, Staff Cherry delivered a difficult, but extremely rewarding sequel by way of the tip of protagonist Hornet’s needle. That rapier-like blade will get a lot of use, too, with sprawling caverns laden with all method of darting foes and patience-testing bosses possessing all method of assault patterns, which as soon as realized unlock the trail to final satisfaction.
Boss battles are solely half of the, nicely, battle, with regards to Silksong, although, with exploration nonetheless offering the meat of this Metroidvania/Soulslike soup. Breakable partitions conceal worthwhile supplies behind them, and aspect quests encourage cautious investigation into every of its many biomes, whether or not on the hunt for treasured bounties or looking for lacking fleas that have to be reunited with their touring caravan companions. It’s this stability of each motion and journey that has turned the Hole Knight sequence into such a phenomenon, and, in flip, Silksong into the winner of our award for greatest action-adventure recreation of 2025.
Is Silksong your decide for one of the best action-adventure recreation of the 12 months, or would you might have chosen otherwise? Vote to your favorite within the ballot above, or tell us within the feedback beneath.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can primarily be discovered skulking round open world video games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing on the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Comply with him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.