Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feels like a small team swinging far above its weight and landing every hit. The turn-based combat bends familiar rules in smart ways, and the confidence behind its ideas makes big-budget RPGs feel oddly cautious by comparison. It’s the kind of game that doesn’t just impress you in the moment, it quietly rewires what you expect from the genre afterwards. | © Sandfall Interactive
Hollow Knight: Silksong makes it painfully clear that the long wait wasn’t wasted. The world is denser, more expressive, and more demanding, with combat and movement tuned to reward precision rather than forgiveness. Some balance choices can feel punishing if you’re not ready for the challenge, but for fans of the genre, this sits comfortably at the very top. | © Team Cherry
Eternal Strands pulls you in fast and rarely lets go. The world feels rich and inviting, the mechanics stay inventive, and the adventure keeps rewarding curiosity rather than rushing you forward. A few small rough spots keep it from absolute perfection, but taken as a whole, it’s the kind of game that quietly becomes someone’s game of the year. | © Yellow Brick Games
Borderlands 4 knows exactly what fans come here for and still finds room to stretch. Kairos feels fresh and packed with personality, the skill trees are deeper than ever, and the movement finally matches the chaos of the gunplay. It’s louder, smarter, and more confident, the kind of sequel that welcomes new players without forgetting why the series worked in the first place. | © Gearbox Software
Sid Meier’s Civilization VII experiments boldly, even when the results feel slightly uneven. The new age system and city expansion mechanics are genuinely satisfying, watching districts spread across the map brings back that classic “one more turn” pull, and saying goodbye to manual workers feels long overdue. Civilization switching and stripped-out content can break immersion and raise eyebrows, but the core loop still has enough smart ideas to keep strategy fans invested. | © Firaxis Games
Hades II raises the bar in almost every direction that matters. The writing, characters, and art feel sharper and more confident than before, while the new mechanics and expanded structure keep runs feeling fresh far longer than expected. The ending stumbles hard, but the moment-to-moment play is so strong it’s easy to recommend even to people who normally bounce off the genre. | © Supergiant Games
Avowed sneaks up on you and then refuses to let go. The first-person combat feels unusually sharp for an RPG, exploration constantly teases something interesting around the next corner, and the overall sense of freedom recalls why games like Skyrim once felt so special. Writing may not always steal the spotlight, but the confidence of the systems and the sheer joy of discovery make it one of 2025’s defining role-playing experiences. | © Obsidian Entertainment
Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally feels like the series finding its footing again. The dual protagonists are woven together with real care, and feudal Japan isn’t just a backdrop but a setting that actively shapes how stealth, combat, and movement play out. By blending classic Assassin’s Creed DNA with smarter modern systems, it lands as one of the franchise’s most confident and complete entries. | © Ubisoft
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond looks and sounds exactly like the comeback fans waited years for. Combat is tight, boss fights feel fair and satisfying, and the visuals paired with the music do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to atmosphere. Some design choices, like the forced open desert sections and a safer overall structure, blunt the sense of surprise, but the experience is still a strong reminder of why Metroid works at all. | © Nintendo
South of Midnight wins you over first with mood and texture rather than mechanics. The stop-motion look, the music, and the pull of Southern folklore create a world that feels intimate and carefully lived in, even when combat and platforming start to repeat themselves. Those rough edges are hard to ignore at times, but the characters, atmosphere, and sense of place linger long after the controller is down. | © Compulsion Games
DOOM: The Dark Ages feels like a confident reset without losing the series’ teeth. The combat is heavier and more grounded than Eternal, but the gunplay still rips, helped by smart melee mechanics, wild new weapons, and those over-the-top mech and dragon moments. The soundtrack doesn’t hit as hard as before, yet the pacing, spectacle, and sheer fun make it easy to stay locked in from start to finish. | © id Software
Monster Hunter Wilds feels like Capcom finally smoothing out every rough edge the series used to wear with pride. Combat is faster and more readable thanks to Focus Mode, and the added story structure gives newcomers a real way in without watering anything down. Some technical hiccups show up, but once it clicks, it’s the kind of game that quietly eats entire evenings without asking permission. | © Capcom
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach doesn’t just continue the story; it expands the whole idea behind it. The narrative hits harder and stranger, the systems feel more confident and refined, and every delivery, fight, and quiet walk carries real emotional weight. Kojima clearly aimed big here, and the result feels like a game people will still be arguing about, unpacking, and replaying years from now. | © Kojima Productions
Ghost of Yotei understands exactly what worked before and isn’t afraid to push past it. Atsu’s journey feels raw and personal, while the combat adds smarter layers that reward patience and timing rather than brute force. A few late-game beats feel familiar if you know Tsushima well, but the scale, confidence, and sheer craft of the world make it hard to care. | © Sucker Punch Productions
Single-player games in 2025 weren’t playing it safe. Big studios and smaller teams alike pushed deeper stories, stranger mechanics, and worlds that actually trusted players to slow down and get lost. These are the releases that made being alone with a controller feel like the best way to play.
