Welcome to Play Save Repeat's first Game of the Year. Like everyone's list, it's subjective and that's the great thing about this industry, there's something for everyone.

In 2025, I've finished over fifty video games and tried a many others, which you can see in the video version. Although, as one person, I've been unable to get to every interesting title. Unfortunately, this is why Hades 2 isn't on the list as I haven't been able to give it enough time. But from those I've completed, I've chosen my top 15 Games with the power to emotionally impact and demonstrate factors of artistic excellence.

Feature: Top 15 Games of the Year 2025

But before continuing on with the inventive games that made 2025 another amazing year, it's important to acknowledge the other side of the industry coin. 2025 has been another year of questionable company purchases and massive industry layoffs, rife with shareholders who think they can generative fill their employment void with a magic AI button - to replace the creative minds they've thrown away, when nuanced discussions about technological advancements in toolsets and implementations are needed.

However, my list celebrates the triumph of creativity that made it to release - a celebration of the understanding that video games aren't just tech. They're art. Where human creativity merges with technology to make us feel something - an emotional connection to interactive works of art that can inspire and entertain people in a way other art forms can't compete.

15. GHOST TOWN

Sibling bonds. Friendships. Regrets. Ghosts of the past.

Ghost Town is an emotive and well-written puzzle game that's taken to the next level by the immediacy of virtual reality.

So many times, I've played VR titles expecting there to be some sacrifice to an aspect of the game's design, whether due to the budget or hardware limitations brought by hitting the high frame rates needed to make vr a pleasant viewing experience. But Fireproof Games, the creators of the award-winning The Room series of puzzle games, have used their expertise in the puzzle genre and merged them with an entertaining narrative. But it isn't just the story and puzzles that hit; the graphics are some of the best in VR outside of the high-budget Half-Life Alyx type games of the world, and every technical aspect is synchronous to the overall creative vision.

If there's one VR game I'd recommend playing this year, it's the spooky puzzler Ghost Town. It's a reminder of what VR can be, and with the upcoming Steam Frame being released in 2026, I hope further investment is put into the platform.

14. GHOST OF YOTEI

Image: Ghost of Yotei - Sucker Punch Productions

Sequels are a funny business. Some want total reinvention; others want skillful iteration. Ghost of Yotei is more of the latter. Sucker Punch Productions refined every gameplay mechanic inside a new broader form of exploration. It might not be true freedom of choice, but there's enough narrative selection in the first section to instil further player agency, like how Dispatch mastered the illusion of choice later in the year.

But what made Ghost of Yotei work for me, is the very aspect that didn't work for others: the story. It isn't the strongest or most original tale, but it shows a great respect for the revenge genre. As a big fan of the genre, it's clear to see influences from across every medium, from Hamlet to contemporary Korean cinema. But Sucker Punch's love for cinema doesn't end there. Everything from the direction, art, music and pacing are influenced by the samurai and western movies that came before it. And the strong through line of tragedy in these stories never loses its power.

Although, it didn't revolutionise what came before, it refined already great gameplay systems and created a big budget AAA game that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish.

13. THE ROOTTREES ARE DEAD

Image: The Roottrees are Dead - Evil Trout Inc

Puzzle deduction video games are few and far between. But truly great and memorable ones are even rarer. For puzzle game fans, we're fortunate to have been blessed with some greats over recent years, such as The Golden Idol series, and Return of the Obra Dinn.

Luckily, developer Evil Trout Inc saw an opportunity to bring a remake of the itch.io game, The Roottrees are Dead to the masses. Despite a strong puzzle mechanic at it's core that sees players become a detective with a talent for examining complex documents and filling in family trees to find legitimate members of the bloodline, the remaster improves every other area of the game.

The Roottrees are Dead is a rare game that gives a player agency to search evidence and untangle complex information, to solve a puzzle at their own pace and in the order of their discoveries. It makes the game feel like a personal experience. Only improved further by strong writing and the core mystery, The Roottrees are Dead is a puzzle game I hope more people try. As not since Return of the Obra Dinn have I felt that eureka moment when a story fits together in your head. The puzzle mechanic is that good, it's already inspired the indie release, A Case of Fraud, and I can't wait to see what other developers are inspired by it.

12. SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT

Image: South of Midnight - Compulsion Games

Having grown up playing Playstation 2 era action-adventure games, South of Midnight's simplistic but competent combat and platforming was very nostalgic. Although the gameplay is less expensive compared to other modern games, it worked for me. I enjoyed exploring the fictionalised American Deep South, even the arena based combat was fine as everything else in the game was great enough to keep me wanting to see what happened next.

Developer Compulsion Games lovingly crafted a Southern Gothic tale about Hazel Flood, a magical Weaver, who can mend broken bonds and spirits. The beautiful clay stop-motion animation work is reminiscent of the Into the Spiderverse movies, and gives every character and Southern American folklore creature an expressiveness not often seen in video games.

Equalling the quality of the story, is the traditional American South soundtrack that isn't just ambience to the game, it's a full on storytelling device during levels and boss fights. If you haven't already, I'd recommend a playthrough and to at least listen to the Two-Toed Tom song.

11. REMATCH

When Sloclap first announced Rematch, like Sifu fans around the world, I was a little underwhelmed, as Sifu's combat gameplay is such a good mechanic to abandon. But I quickly saw Sloclap's talent for gameplay mechanics carried over to Rematch.

With a similar cartoon visual design to Sifu, Rematch rivals the frenetic and addictive arcade action of Rocket League and makes you always want one more game.

For years, EA FC has been the dominant force in the football space, and still is, but Sloclap have successfully carved out their own audience that want a different experience. And when competing in ranked mode, there's nothing quite like combining with your teammates and successfully scoring to win the match. Even goalkeeping is fun.

Rematch is the only competitive multiplayer game that made my list, which says a lot about how fun it is to play with friends and strangers. Whether you're a football fan or not, it's one of the most entertaining, multiplayer games of the year.

10. FOOLISH MORTALS

Image: Foolish Mortals - Inklingwood Studios

A spooky and wonderfully written point and click adventure game from Inklingwood Studios, Foolish Mortals takes the number 10 spot on my list for many reasons. Firstly, it's simply a well-designed adventure game that takes influences in pacing and puzzle structure from some of the greats in the genre. From the moment you start playing, you're struck by the visuals that are reminiscent of Broken Sword, and the puzzle structures and humour that feel like something that could be placed into a sequel of the Monkey Island series.

But mainly, Foolish Mortals hits everything I like in a point and click game. Clearly developed by massive fans who revere the genre, every minutiae is accounted for. The game made me feel like I was back in the days where I would spend an afternoon playing Grim Fandango, immersing myself in the world and completing the game through trial and error, without a guide. Foolish Mortals recreated this experience, but also made it welcoming to newcomers with an incredibly well-designed hint system. If you like comedic, ghoulish mysteries and logical puzzles, you can't get much better than Foolish Mortals.

9. THE DRIFTER

The second point and click adventure game on the list, is a vastly different experience to Foolish Mortals. The Drifter is a gritty, sci-fi with a smattering of dry-humour and horror. Presented in a skilfully rendered pixel art style, that's enhanced by some exquisite lighting effects.

Despite the pixel visuals, The Drifter is a more modernised entry in the genre. Finely tuned for controllers or mouse, The Drifter has intuitive interactions and more propulsive puzzle design, that more often than not, keeps the narrative moving forward at speed. It's exceptionally clever game design, to make a genre that is known for being on the slower side, into a cinematic adventure.

That's without mentioning the phenomenal voice acting that gives emotion to The Drifter's well-drawn cast. It's through these characters and a great soundtrack, that the John Carpenter-esque tone is strengthened. And like Foolish Mortals, both developers have done a great job of making the point and click genre approachable to more people, and I hope it gets more people playing them.

8. SILENT HILL F

Silent Hill's familiar eerie fog rolls in on the unfamiliar setting of 1960's Showa era Japan, in the rural town, Ebisugoaka. A horror series that slowly reveals its many thematical layers to tell the latest story of Hinako - on her struggle for identity in a mysogynstic society with intense gender expectations. A story that unpeels its intense layers the more you play, and even more, if you continue to get further endings.

It feels like an important story, mirroring the timeless loss of childhood innocence, to the sudden and scary changes to adulthood. As always, Silent Hill f uses the protagonist's struggle to survive to mirror the theme of battling for agency in life. Every little detail connects the gameplay to the game's strong narrative. Like all good art, it's a special piece of horror that has plenty to say.

But away from the game, after previously helping to develop two mediocre Resident Evil online games, it was one of the nicest surprises of the year to see NeoBards Entertainment receive rave reviews for their own single-player title.

7. BLUE PRINCE

With Blue Prince, my interest was piqued from the reveal trailer. From studio Dogubomb and talented creator, Tonda Ros, who masterfully drafted the game's concept with near perfect execution. A genius idea to use randomised emergent puzzle gameplay as you plot a path through an ever-changing manor to arrive at a specific room and earn the protagonist's inheritance. Learning the patterns and puzzles in each room is highly addictive - a rare game that encourages the use of a notepad and pen.

Even after dozens of runs and reaching your destination, Blue Prince still has so much left to uncover. Every time you think you've finished, it pulls you back in for more. One of most ingenious puzzle games I've played since The Witness.

6. SPLIT FICTION

I've been an ardent follower of Hazelight Studios ever since they released their first game, A Way Out. Especially when I saw that movie and game director Josef Fares is the lead of the studio. As anyone who played through Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons can attest, Josef and his team made a uniquely emotional tale.

This trademark link between emotion driven gameplay and story continued in A Way Out's impactful final mission, but what made Hazelight Studios stand out more was their initiative to introduce new cooperative gameplay mechanics each level that lasted only until the end of each mission. Hazelight continued this mantra into the Nintendo calibre It Takes Two which won game of the year at Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards.

So by the time Split Fiction released, expectations were through the roof. Personally, I found both the whimsical nature of It Takes Two and Split Fiction's hook of transporting you into the two protagonists' creative writing equally enjoyable. Despite the insane variety already in It Takes Two, Hazelight somehow continued to raise the bar with Split Fiction whilst refining visuals, voice acting and creating another unforgettable final mission, technically more inventive than a lot of games try to achieve.

Imaginative ideas seem to be on tap at Hazelight Studios, and long may it continue.

5. DISPATCH

Years after the superhero boom and the original Telltale Games faded, both became overexposed and less effective, like eating your favourite candy every day. Personally, I still enjoyed Telltale Games near the end, but it was clear things needed to change.

But when Dispatch was announced last year, as a long time fan of interactive narrative games, the expensive animation, top quality voice cast and gameplay hook all looked impressive. And the promise of the trailer didn't disappoint.

Dispatch puts a nice spin on the superhero genre by introducing a fun superhero dispatcher gameplay mechanic that gives more player agency than a Telltale game. With every element combined, Dispatch is easily one of the strongest all-round games of the year.

4. HOLLOW KNIGHT SILKSONG

Image: Hollow Knight SIlksong - Team Cherry

A true indie marvel. The small team at Team Cherry released the much anticipated Hollow Knight Silksong, that lets us enter the world of Pharloom as Hornet.

Hollow Knight Silksong is one of the best Metroidvanias I've played: the combat variety is excellent, the movement is fluid and frenetic, the visuals perfectly fit every frame, the narrative is layered and full of lore, and the soundtrack and character sounds are exceptional. Even if it's more challenging than some games, I'd still recommend it to anyone.

Like everyone else who finished Hollow Knight Silksong, I eagerly anticipate returning to the world again, or anything else Team Cherry decide to do.

3. DEATH STRANDING 2: ON THE BEACH

Image: Death Stranding 2 - Kojima Productions

Like a lot of gamers, I've been playing Hideo Kojima games and following his career since I could hold a controller. From Snatcher to his unceremonious departure from Konami, to forming his own studio, Kojima Productions.

This year, Kojima brought us the sequel to his Norman Reedus led delivery game, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. It must've been obvious from its conception that it would be a more divisive game than the traditional espionage shooter, Metal Gear Solid. But with the sequel to Death Stranding, Kojima hasn't just iterated on the original, he's listened to player feedback and integrated Metal Gear Solid style combat encounters at a higher frequency, if the player chooses, without the drastic consequences of the first game. Although I mostly avoided combat to deliver my packages as Sam Porter Bridges, the option was always there.

Also, with a continued reliance on the game's community features and the cinematic storytelling Kojima is known for, Death Stranding 2 didn't disappoint. As even if you don't gel with every aspect of a Kojima game, they always attempt something new and unique, and that should be celebrated.

2. CLAIR OBSCUR EXPEDITION 33

Image: Expedition 33 - Sandfall Interactive

Clair Obscur Expedition 33 wears its inspirations with pride. Influenced by the games of the legendary Hironobu Sakaguchi, and every turn-based RPG since their Inception, staff at Sandfall Interactive, like every other Final Fantasy fan, adored the single-player three-dimensional turn-based entries from Final Fantasy 7 through to 12. It's obvious that Sandfall have a soft spot for Final Fantasy 10. But instead of waiting for someone else to make the next great turn-based RPG, they set out to make it themselves.

With a small in-house team supported by countless talented outsourced staff, Sandfall infused what made turn-based games so good with the sensibilities and culture of their nation, France, into the art and everything in-between. Partner this with one of the strongest soundtracks in recent memory, and a very enjoyable story and world, and you have one of the best turn-based RPGs in years.

GAME OF THE YEAR 2025 - KINGDOM COME DELIVERANCE 2

Image: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - Warhorse Studios

Totally refined and improved, Henry of Skalitz returns to his continued adventures through the Kingdom of Bohemia. In Kingdom Come 2: Deliverance - a first-person RPG that is part immersive role-playing sim, part medieval simulator. A living, breathing medieval toybox, where everyone has lives and routines - a world that encourages you to forge a life within the game's broad framework.

Whether you want to be a notorious robber, become a master blacksmith, or simply live out your dreams of becoming a wandering knight. Kingdom Come 2 goes beyond the sim elements of a Bethesda Game Studios game and encourages freedom of player immersion with emergent side quests during exploration.

But it's not just the freedom of choice where Kingdom Come 2 excels, at times, the graphics are jaw-droppingly beautiful and the main story contains entertaining multi-step quests, where your decisions actually impact the mission and overall narrative.

Obviously, detailed roleplaying and in depth systems isn't going to be for everyone, but as an immersive sim and rpg fan, Kingdom Come 2 Deliverance was the best time I had with a video game all year.

Congratulations to every developer that released a video game in 2025, and from the looks of it, 2026 is going to be another year of interesting and creative games.

So, if you've enjoyed any of the videos from Play Save Repeat so far, please keep at eye on the website for new reviews in the new year and subscribe to the YouTube channel to us grow.