Jon Martin is a frequent Game Mess Mornings guest, an occasional YouTuber, and a consummate cool dude.
2025 was a crazy year for video games. There were more game releases than ever before, more high-profile indies than ever before, and more layoffs than ever before. The Switch 2 came out, Silksong was finally released, and an indie game won the most awards in Game Awards history. I was also lucky enough to start contributing to Giant Bomb.
It's been an overwhelming year of incredible game releases, and that's even before my January through March was spent beating Metaphor: ReFantazio from 2024, and Final Fantasy X dominated my April and May.
To start off, I want to list the eight games that I wish I had more time to play this year to consider for my Top 10 list:
Top 8 Games I Wish I Had More Time to Play in 2025
- Blue Prince
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ninja Gaiden 4
- The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-
- Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Before we begin, my name is Jonathan Martin. Most people know me as Jon, but either is fine; I have no preference, really. I love all types of video games, but my genres of choice are RPGs like EarthBound and Final Fantasy, Metroidvanias like Metroid: Zero Mission and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Roguelikes, action games, the list goes on, but enough about that… here is my top 10 list of the games that I played in 2025.
10. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
I had missed the opportunity to get myself and my friends into the original Fantasy Life on the 3DS. I had sunk just over 200 hours into Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and had heard that Fantasy Life was “Animal Crossing with more to do.” Unfortunately, I did not pick up Fantasy Life until the twilight years of Nintendo’s last true dedicated handheld.
Wanting a meatier RPG launch title beyond Street Fighter 6 and Mario Kart World for the Switch 2, I became engrossed in Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. It became my main life… in my off hours, of course. I spent over 50 hours in the first few months with the Switch 2 and can easily see myself doubling that count by the end of 2026.
The Nobuo Uematsu score is great, the art style is cute and inviting, and the grind of learning multiple jobs had a great payoff. All of the job mechanics serve a purpose, have cute minigames or quest lines attached to them, and help you fully see all that the game has to offer. While some are more fun than others, I have had a blast grinding skill points, upgrading my town, and exploring the Breath of the Wild open world for new loot and villagers to add to my town.
Part Animal Crossing, part Final Fantasy XIV, and a dash of Breath of the Wild, Fantasy Life i is far greater than the sum of its parts.
9. Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f was one of my biggest surprises of 2025. The first new traditional survival horror game in the franchise after almost 13 years, I was cautiously optimistic about the announcement of Silent Hill f. Could Konami make a great new entry in a franchise that has been digging for scraps ever since Hideo Kojima’s departure from the company back in 2015?
The answer is yes. Ditching suburban America for 1960s Japan was an inspired choice, as NeoBards Entertainment created a Silent Hill that feels distinctly their own. Shimizu Hinako, a high school student—a first for the franchise—grapples with not only their own identity, but familial abuse and the expectations of gender roles. This is all before kimono-clad demons, weaponized birthing monstrosities, and Taiko Drum Monsters arrive in Silent Hill’s trademark fog.
The combat feels meaningfully clunky, grounding you in the shoes of Hinako as she faces the manifestations of her darkest fears. The puzzle solving was equally stressful as it was satisfying. While I did not return for multiple playthroughs, opting to watch the rest of the endings on YouTube, I am as much impressed with Konami’s as I was horrified by the ending I got. Silent Hill f’s fresh take on the franchise proves that this franchise has more than a couple of tricks up its sleeves.
8. Absolum
Many roguelikes stole much of my time away from the typical AAA game fair this year, but the minds at Guard Crush Games perfected what they set out to do with Streets of Rage 4's MR X DLC with the fantastic roguelike beat-em-up Absolum.
Using a fantastic comic pop art aesthetic, the game is reminiscent of Capcom's high fantasy beat’em up Dungeons and Dragons duology, with Might and Magic classes, branching paths, and progressively leveling up throughout a run, all wrapped into a power trip where even a failed run feels like a successful one.
Absolum is absolutely elevated by the multiplayer experience. I had fun figuring out how to juggle enemies endlessly, completing sidequests, learning how to optimize each of the four character build’s, and debating endlessly how I allocated my resources towards the game’s permanent progression between runs by myself. The ability to play a living comic book with a friend was incredible, as it never felt like there was too much happening on screen.
Constant shouting over which branching paths to take, who gets what gold and boons, while having to take out hordes of orcs, sentient mushrooms, tentacle monsters, and humans alike, Absolum was an absolute blast.
7. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
The thirteenth entry in a franchise that has been going on since 1987, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was was first teased alongside a number of “bigger” Sega franchise revivals at The Game Awards 2023, but it immediately stood out from the pack with its gorgeous hand-drawn 2D animation, breakneck pace, and visceral action across platforming, chase sequences, and enemy encounters.
I was not, however, expecting the heavy Metroidvania elements that enhance best-in-class 2D hack-and-slash combat with a naturally flowing level progression. The game seamlessly stitches together enemy encounters, platforming challenges, and intense, ever-escalating boss fights. You run, jump, and slash your way through 18 levels while simultaneously exploring segmented areas to upgrade key parts of Joe Musashi’s kit.
There are plenty of collectibles and cosmetics to gather, gauntlet enemy encounters to clear, and special and ultimate moves to master. The game is challenging but not overly punishing. I found myself revisiting old levels to ensure I had combed every corner to grow my build for the fights ahead.
With the second-best combat of any game this year, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is another feather in Sega’s cap as they resurrect their classic franchises. Gunstar Heroes next, please!
6. Monster Train 2
Roguelike deckbuilders are becoming a dime a dozen, especially in a post-Balatro world, but there’s still something special about Slay the Spire’s turn-based battles—adding both offensive and defensive tools in the form of cards, all centered around a character’s unique gameplay. I spent around 70 hours in Slay the Spire from November 2024 through the early parts of 2025 alone.
I originally came to Monster Train 2 in the wake of Slay the Spire 2’s much-anticipated delay. I had heard good things about the first game, but I was so preoccupied with Balatro and Slay the Spire that it was hard to justify diving into a third roguelike deckbuilder. Forty-five hours later, it will be a tall task for Slay the Spire 2 to tear me away from Monster Train 2’s superb mix of tower defense, monster collecting, and roguelike elements.
Instead of centering gameplay around individual characters, Monster Train 2 introduces five brand-new clans (relative to the first game), each with a champion at the core of its gameplay and a pool of monsters you can enlist to stop enemies and protect the Pyre powering your train. The five clans alone would have been enough, but Monster Train 2 allows you to add an additional clan’s pool of monsters to supplement your primary choice.
Beyond this, you can power up offensive spells, graft collected armor onto monsters, and use cards that alter each of the three individual floors to maximize your monsters’ effectiveness in thinning the herd of enemies, bosses, and optional challenge runs that add even more replayability.
While I often skip many of the story elements the sequel added, I still have to fight the constant urge to play “just one more run.” I feel like I’m only scratching the surface of the many synergies possible in Monster Train 2. Every run unlocks something new—whether leveling up clans to gain more cards and monsters or experimenting with fresh strategies—and I’ve had an absolute blast doing so.
5. Dispatch
Every time that I had started to connect with a Telltale game, the gameplay would begin to add baggage to a story that I had wanted desperately to connect with. I had enjoyed the branching paths stemming from tough split-second decisions, even if a rogue QTE would derail and often take the narrative out of my control.
I never felt the point and click adventure game elements were engaging enough to get me from choice-to-choice, especially when my experience with those games suffered from debilitating bugs in an archaic engine that erased over an hour of story progress.
Despite the sheer amount of adapted IP I had connected with in other mediums, the games themselves never evolved to meld the gameplay with the narrative in any meaningful way to justify, to me, to keep playing.
My favorite thing about Dispatch is how it nails the ludonarrative dissonance between the narrative and the main dispatch game mechanic. How your workplace relationships grow, any enemies you make, and any saucy choices you make affect the dispatch system side of the game just as much as they push the narrative further.
The cast is made up of your stereotypical superhero and supervillain archetypes, but fantastic performances and great writing can make you fall in love with even the largest asshole of the group, who (quite literally) warms up to you in a really believable way.
Aaron Paul is incredible as Robert Robertson, the Critical Role crew are fantastic as ever, and Jeffrey Wright’s Track Star is easily one of my favorite characters this year.
The story unfolds in some surprising ways, and in true Telltale fashion, outcomes and endings can be vastly different between player to player. While all the episodes are now fully released, the “water cooler” experience of comparing results or choices week to week only made me more excited to see what happened next. There is an incredible foundation with Dispatch, and I am incredibly hopeful that AdHoc Studio can only improve.
4. Hollow Knight: Silksong
The most anticipated game of all time—only behind Bloodborne 2, Half-Life 3, and Grand Theft Auto VI—Hollow Knight: Silksong hit me much harder than the original Hollow Knight.
While the game is just as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as the first, it carries a sense of heart and warmth that I felt the original lacked. The music is incredible, and no matter how powerful you grow, the weary and uneasy tone lingers throughout the entire runtime.
One of the hardest Metroidvanias on the market, Silksong is not a game you can autopilot. Finding a new bench or ability after a long stretch of dodging enemies and tough platforming is one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve had in a game this year.
The most satisfying of all? Defeating a boss you’ve struggled against and died to three, five, even twenty times—through sheer determination and total concentration. The characters and bosses alike are so lively that they feel like rewards in themselves, even through the hardest runbacks.
I did it all for you, Sherma—my beloved.
3. Donkey Kong Bananza
ZEBRA ZEBRA ZEBRA ZEBRA
Donkey Kong Bananza mixes Nintendo’s first-in-class platforming with intricately layered levels, and fully destructible terrain to create a bombastic musical adventure that redefines the DK’s jungle beat for a new generation. Bananza was there for me no matter what I needed. If I wanted an engaging platformer that challenged me to explore every corner, I could do that! If I wanted to shut my brain off and smash my way halfway across the world, I could do that too! Every level is fully destructible, with an incredible physics system that had me invested in understanding how each material reacted to one another, and using that to my advantage while finishing endgame content for 100%.
The introduction and first few levels emphasize using the bare essentials of DK’s toolkit — punching, digging, rolling—and you’re able to bend these levels to your will.
Then the Bananza transformations are introduced, and the next few levels slowly showcase the strengths and shortcomings of each ability. The pace slows down just after the halfway point, around 60–70% of the game. What follows, however, is one of the greatest endings in Nintendo history.
With the end of the game being a monumental celebration of the past, I can’t help but look forward to DK’s bright future. I was not around for the launch of Donkey Kong Country, but I am confident that this new direction for the character won’t take a decade before we see the first Gorilla of Gaming again. Now let's hope we won’t have to wait seven years for a 3D Mario + Donkey Kong game.
2. Hades II
Hades II is a game that always has something to look forward to. Whether it is concocting spells, unlocking new weapons, befriending animals, or getting farther than ever before, there was not a moment I spent with it that felt wasted.
The combat is incredible, managing to one-up its 2020 roguelike predecessor by giving the player more powerful options than ever. There is so much variation in the weapons, which boons you select, and which characters you interact with, that every run feels purposeful. I love the Umbral Rods with Aspect of Eos - I added blitz onto my special button to create an Omega special lightning-cloud spin-to-win strategy that turned me into a demi-godly Beyblade.
Having the option to ascend and descend is yet another way Hades II perfects the formula and one-ups the first game. We get to see so much more of the world and meet so many more characters than before. While I’ve rolled credits on the main campaign, there’s still so much to discover and unlock that I anticipate playing Hades II until one of my new anticipated games arrives: Hades III.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the final game that I finished prior to this list. With multiple distractions throughout the year—both good and bad—I was content to put the game at number three before finishing Act 2. Two weeks ago, I picked the game up again and proceeded to finish Act 2 and 3 in a single weekend.
With an incredible cast of characters, stunning performances, a phenomenal premise and worldbuilding, and turn-based combat that can appeal even to the most vocal critics of the style, I have not stopped thinking about Sandfall Interactive’s debut game for weeks after its ending. I love that, despite moments of levity, Sandfall is fully committed to the oppressive tone of the game. Death, grief, regret, and nihilism are constant forces that plague our protagonists as they persevere forward.
Since the days of the Super Nintendo and PlayStation, many RPGs have felt the need to add content to pad the runtime of a game, just to justify a premium price. Not only is Expedition 33 not a full-priced game—$20 cheaper than its direct comparisons—but its pacing is phenomenal. I finished the game after 41 hours, having played through several optional areas, bosses, and character quests at the end. I personally need more RPGs that aren't afraid to cut the fat.
Like many games on my list, this is one of the best video games of all time. Unlike many others, it’s hard to find much wrong with it. Calling it anything short of a revolution would be an understatement. The game is an inspiring beacon in a time when the gaming industry is hurting more than ever. A product of human heart and touch, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a game that I hope becomes a template for developers, indie to AAAA alike, and I eagerly anticipate Sandfall Interactive’s next project, mon ami.