Hello readers, and it’s that time of year again. Awards season is now in full swing, and The Game Awards just announced their nominees for 2025. So, I thought I should pick my top five games for this year. I will present my top five in reverse order, and please note that these are only being chosen from titles I actually got to play this year. This list is pulled from games that I reviewed, talked about in my Fresh Look column, or simply got to play for fun.
So, while I am sure from everything that I’ve read that Hollow Knight: Silksong is amazing, I have not gotten to try it yet, so I left it off this list. Please don’t think that I snubbed it or any other title that you loved this year. These are the best of the best from what I was lucky enough to experience.
Also, I will include links to the GiN coverage of each game mentioned. If you think that one of them sounds good and want to learn more, you can read all about it. Trust me, with these titles, it will be worth your time. So, let’s move on to Fresh Look’s top titles of 2025.
5. Dynasty Warriors: Origins
I am a huge fan of the Dynasty Warriors series and really love playing the tactics iterations. I skipped a few games in the series and grabbed Origins, which came out at the start of the year, for review.
The story was, well, something. All these months later I am still not sure how I feel about the weird take on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms plot. Despite the off-putting story, the graphics during every intense battle is incredible. The scale of some fights felt so much larger than in previous Dynasty Warriors games, that it kind of made my head spin a bit. And running into the final encounter brought back the wanderlust I felt back in 2006 when N3: Ninety-Nine Nights was the battler of choice, and you really worried about being overwhelmed. Today, Dynasty Warriors: Origins fights to the number five spot in my best games of 2025.
4. Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone
This was an adventure that I was unsure of when it was handed to me for review. At the time, I was playing a lot of 7 Days To Die with Save State columnist Vincent Mahoney. My boss here at Game Industry News thought I would like to try another survival title, and he was right about Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone.
While the story was not too impressive and the combat was a bit on the clunky side, it really shined when it came to base building as a part of the survival mechanic. It also has a kind of quirky charm that makes it really interesting and made me want to keep playing. I may try and work back into it whenever I get a chance if longtime favorites like Manor Lords, Palworld, and 7 Days are not taking up all of my time.
3. Tales of Graces f Remastered
Remakes are all the rage these days, and for me, this was one of the best. I have been hoping that Tales of Graces f would get remade for a long time. I actually reviewed the original Tales of Graces f way back in 2012 when I first started working for GiN.
As for the remake, the story is still adorably an anime standard, although it turns out a little too adorable for its own good. The battle system is still amazing and fluid once you learn the nuances. Unlike with Tales of Arise, the battles in Tales of Graces f don’t bog down so that every battle becomes as long as a boss fight. The graphics were much improved in the remaster, and being able to play this one for hours on end helped to make some of the challenges this year a little easier to get through. Tales of Graces f Remastered finds its way into the number three spot.
Columnist Vincent Mahoney was finally able to talk me into playing this long running series, which has always been one of his favorites. And I have to admit after avoiding it for years, Monster Hunter Wilds really hooked me. It probably helped that I was playing with a friend, and the fact that I changed to using a gunlance as my primary weapon. I finally felt like I was actually doing damage to the giant creatures I was hunting. The monster design for creatures such as the Lala Barina and Mizutsune were also top notch. I wouldn’t call myself a Monster Hunter superfan or anything, and I don’t plan on playing all of the older titles in the series that I missed. But I will go hunting in Wilds from time to time, and I look forward to new entries in the Monster Hunter series too.
Monster Hunter Wilds bags a trophy with the number two slot in my countdown.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Anyone who knows me probably knew from the beginning of this article that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was probably going to be number one this year. I talk about it a lot both in my column and when talking with pretty much anyone who will listen.
For me, Clair Obscur was perfect from top to bottom. The story is such a great analogy for the difficulties of processing grief, which is impressive just for that. But the turn-based, parry focused combat adds a really fresh take on the action RPG genre that players really enjoyed. I would not be surprised if this becomes a popular mechanic in many other RPGs or adventure games moving forward.
Everything about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is well done. For example, the music is really perfect, fitting the mood of the title and also for standing alone on its own merits.
I actually have multiple songs from Expedition 33 on my playlists and listen to them often.
There really was not any title, at least according to me, that came close to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 this year. It earns my top pick for 2025, and I hope it wins many more awards to encourage smaller development teams to really strive for greatness just like developer Sandfall Interactive did with this awesome adventure. I can’t wait to see what they do next.