Honorable Mentions

Earlier than we run down the video games that made it onto our ultimate shortlist, we’d prefer to recognise a number of different good experiences that we’ve had this 12 months. Hazelight Studios as soon as once more proved that it is the king of co-op with the great Cut up Fiction, a artistic motion platformer that builds atop the successes of 2021’s It Takes Two with some of essentially the most shocking and modern degree design that we’ve seen not simply this 12 months, however this decade. There was some fascinating innovation occurring over at Konami, too. With Silent Hill f, developer NeoBards Leisure took the sequence’ trademark oppressive horror and blended it with a novel method to new sport plus to create a exceptional story that deepens with every replay.

Speaking of replays, that’s the title of the sport for Ball x Pit, the brick-breaking roguelike from Kenny Solar and Devolver Digital, whose livid motion had us coming again for yet one more run time and time once more. As long as our time wasn’t being stolen by Fantasy Life i: The Woman Who Steals Time, of course – Stage-5’s sensible mix of Animal Crossing’s cosy slice-of-life and The Legend of Zelda’s dungeon diving turned out to be an actual consolation sport for us this 12 months. The identical might be mentioned for Ghost of Yotei, too, which rekindled glad reminiscences of 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima, however boosted all of that sport’s good concepts with even deeper mechanics and extra placing landscapes. It’s protected to say that 2025 was fairly good for video games, and we’ve not even mentioned the perfect of them, but.

Runner-Up – Loss of life Stranding 2: On the Seashore

Precisely half of our shortlist for the Best Game of 2025 is made up of sequels that confronted robust challenges. Loss of life Stranding 2: On the Seashore arguably confronted essentially the most troublesome one: how one can flip a divisive “strolling sim” into one thing extra universally beloved, with out betraying its core, admittedly area of interest values? The reply, maybe unsurprisingly for a Kojima Productions challenge, was to look again to Steel Gear Stable and incorporate the liberty of The Phantom Ache into this open-world supply simulator. A consistently rolling conveyor belt of gear, from ladders and boots to coffin hoverboards and weaponised electrical guitars, ensures you all the time have the instruments to deal with Loss of life Stranding 2’s missions by yourself phrases. Whereas that is nonetheless a sport basically about transporting gadgets from location A to location B, no two deliveries really feel the identical. An ever-evolving and adapting world sees journeys that after unfolded on foot upgraded to make use of roads, ziplines, and ultimately monorails, with locations pursued both through your personal pathways or by making use of artistic options designed by different gamers. Such a journey isn’t purely bodily, both; as you journey, your rising staff helps you thru an emotional ordeal that ponders the worth of human connection. All this ensures that On the Seashore lastly fulfills the distinctive promise of the unique Loss of life Stranding.

Runner-Up – Hades 2

The artistic juggernaut that’s Supergiant Video games probably may have merely recreated its 2020 roguelike hit, Hades, with just some mechanical upgrades and nonetheless acquired crucial acclaim. And, on the floor, that’s what Hades 2 seems to be. It takes only a single scratch to disclose the reality about this extremely formidable sequel, although, which well rethinks and remixes many of its predecessor’s fundamentals. Sure, that is nonetheless a sport during which you battle so far as you’ll be able to by way of the branching routes of a dungeon till loss of life forces you to start out over again, however new protagonist Melinoë’s quest to kill Chronos, the Titan of Time, takes place alongside two opposing routes. Each run begins with a selection: ascend Mount Olympus, or descend into Tartarus. Every location gives fully completely different bosses, biomes, storylines, and challenges, which solves the age-old roguelike problem of grinding repetition. Caught on a formidable boss? There’s a complete different world to overcome as a substitute. And conquer you’ll, armed with essentially the most refined set of abilities and upgrades the style has seen. It is a buildcrafter’s dream, even in spite of the random nature of your God-given boons, and every run is a chance to mildew Mel right into a model new variety of magic weapon. With unmatched artwork and music, and one of the tightest fight methods round, Hades 2 is a spectacular triumph.

Runner-Up – Hole Knight: Silksong

The eight-year look ahead to Hole Knight’s sequel did the expectations round Silksong no favours. This wasn’t only one of essentially the most anticipated indie initiatives of all time – many main sequence with many years of historical past would envy this type of consideration. Some would say it’s nothing quick of a miracle that Silksong met (and arguably exceeded) these expectations, however the actuality is anchored in artistic expertise, clear imaginative and prescient, and distinctive artwork. That is one of essentially the most fantastically drawn video video games of the technology, filled with haunting caverns, overgrown dungeons, and myriad extra unmissable vistas. Such areas are usually not simply fairly, however precision-engineered to supply some of the perfect platforming challenges this facet of Celeste and Tremendous Meat Boy. And on the coronary heart of every degree are the exhilarating boss fights which are partially chargeable for Silksong’s fiendish status. Sure, that is an unapologetically difficult journey that stings as fiercely as any of its insectoid characters. However it by no means strikes unfairly, and its elegant Metroidvania map all the time provides another route, ought to a foe show too imposing. In a world the place troublesome video games have maybe turn into one thing of an oversubscribed format, the concept of a problem being really definitely worth the ache has maybe worn a little bit skinny. However in Hole Knight: Silksong, developer Staff Cherry actually has crafted a treasure price preventing for.

Runner-Up – Blue Prince

The roguelite is nothing if not an extremely malleable style. You can also make an motion RPG roguelite, a shooter roguelite, a card sport roguelite, even a puzzle roguelite – though that latter one is definitely rarer than the others. Becoming a member of that small roster of looping head-scratchers is Dogubomb’s Blue Prince, an elegantly crafted labyrinth during which the corridors are all of your selecting. Each new run is, basically, an try to discover a mysterious hidden room inside a sprawling mansion the place each new chamber you enter is chosen from a random choice of blueprints. However that total objective is finally much less essential than the numerous secrets and techniques that await in each contemporary try – room mixtures that unlock clues to additional mysteries, and breathtaking discoveries that deepen the home’s story. Its random nature is the preliminary impediment, as constructing rooms within the right order is all however not possible once you don’t know which blueprints you’ll be dealt. However quickly you realise that the true problem is in logic, sample, and connections. And once you lastly see the high-quality strains that hyperlink its many concepts collectively, it immediately turns into clear how immaculately constructed Blue Prince is.

Runner-Up – Donkey Kong Bananza

When Nintendo launched the unique Swap, it did so with the open world-redefining Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. And so with Swap 2, the stress was on to craft one more ground-breaking launch window sport. Nintendo took on that mission fairly actually with Donkey Kong Bananza, during which your core interplay with the world is to shatter it into tiny chunks. We’ve had video games with destructible environments earlier than, however there’s nothing fairly like Bananza’s full demolition of its ranges, which someway nonetheless handle to take care of their Mario-grade craftsmanship even after having been pummeled to items. That terrain is crammed with buried collectables, and excavating them usually requires the completion of intelligent challenges that really feel satisfying to unravel each single time. The banana on high of this platforming delight, although, is the duo of DK and Pauline, whose pairing shouldn’t be solely charming, but in addition mechanically highly effective: the titular Bananzas, activated through catchy songs, flip you into unstoppable brawling machines that may simply defeat monkey, monster, and mountain. It’s maybe Nintendo’s best-ever energy journey.

Winner – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

There’s one thing undeniably nostalgic about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Its turn-based battles, party-driven story, and linear exploration are distinctly old-school in nature, and undeniably indebted to the RPG greats of yesteryear. There’s maybe no different sport on the market that wears its love for Closing Fantasy as proudly as Expedition 33 does. However with its debut sport, Sandfall Interactive has completed greater than pay homage to the previous – it has demonstrated a scholarly understanding of why these video games succeeded, and the way their concepts will be revitalised.

Inside the framework of a standard, Japanese-style role-playing sport, the younger studio has created a distinctly trendy tackle the style. Breathtaking fight encounters demand each split-second, real-time reactions and cautious turn-by-turn tactical planning. Daunting bosses are overcome by sensible (and typically enjoyably exploitative) use of a deep perks system that empowers you to rework your band of adventurers right into a battalion of unstoppable heroes. And the archetypes used for every celebration member, from elegant fencers to damaging mages, are outlined not simply by weapons, however by bespoke battle mechanics that guarantee every character looks like a definite, distinctive character.

Sandfall’s artistry shouldn’t be restricted to its spectacular fight methods, although. Clair Obscur transports you to a wide ranging world the place each sight and sound feels genuinely contemporary. Its distinctly French, Belle Époque-influenced artwork fashion is not like something within the style, as is its unbelievable music, composed by Lorien Testard, which is destined to play alongside Nobuo Uematsu’s finest work within the online game live shows of the longer term. However it’s Expedition 33’s deeply affecting, emotionally resonating story – and the powerfully drawn characters who reside and undergo by way of it – that leaves the best mark. In a world the place a deity extinguishes swathes of ever-younger folks on an annual foundation, what does it imply to outlive, grieve, and, finally, proceed on? The solutions to these questions modified not simply Clair Obscur’s characters, however its gamers, too. That is indubitably the 12 months’s most talked-about sport, and it comes as no shock that it didn’t simply win IGN’s end-of-year vote, however stole it by a landslide.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is IGN’s Best Game of 2025.

Congratulations to Sandfall Interactive, and in addition to all of the studios whose video games had been nominated and recognised as half of our end-of-year awards. Did we select your favourites, or do you suppose we missed a worthy winner? Tell us within the feedback, and you should definitely take a look at our full listing of awards to see who else we honored in our round-up of the perfect of video games, motion pictures, TV exhibits, and extra from throughout the 12 months. However for now, we hope you had a superb time with the implausible video games of 2025, and we’ll catch you for much more in 2026.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Government Editor of Options.