Our wonderful friends at MAINGEAR are here to share some of their picks for 2025's best of the best.
Lou
Ninja Gaiden 4
Ninja Gaiden 4 shows up after years away (13 to be exact) just to remind us these games are still ridiculously hard.Ryu Hayabusa returns, stylish as ever, and immediately makes you feel like you’ve forgotten how to play action games. Newcomer Yakumo joins the story and actually brings some welcome new energy.The plot is classic Ninja Gaiden nonsense, which is exactly what we want. Combat is fast, mean, and always ready to ruin your confidence.
When you pull off a combo, you feel like a legend.When you don’t, you get very familiar with loading screens. It doesn’t change the formula, but it sharpens everything that made the series great. This feels like Team Ninja yelling, “We’re still here!” If this is the comeback, I’m absolutely ready for whatever comes next.
Silent Hill f
I didn’t know a town could make me feel so wrong about everything around me.The 1960s setting makes it all creepier. Every corner I turn, I half-expect something to pop out and usually it does. The fungal horror spreading through the town is disgusting and mesmerizing at the same time. I kept thinking I knew what was coming, but the game always finds a way to mess with me. The tension never really lets up; even safe areas feel dangerous. It’s unsettling in a way that sticks with me long after I’ve put the controller down. I keep wanting to push forward, even when my brain is screaming to run. Silent Hill F isn’t just scary it makes me feel like I live inside its nightmare and is a great installment to KONAMI's Silent Hill franchise.
Jon
The Alters
The Alters presented a unique gameplay mechanic where you're the sole survivor of an expedition, and you create co-workers by cloning yourself. By altering the life path of that clone, the clone takes on a new profession and obtains a new skillset different from your own, allowing you to staff the space station with competent coworkers with diverse skillsets.
Sean
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Hollow Knight: Silksong is not only on my top 10 list of 2025 but just might be in my top 10 of all time. I can not remember the last time I've been so obsessed with a game. I would play late into the night, go to bed, wake up in the morning, and then think about the game all day until I could get home to play it again. The world of Silksong is beautifully animated and Illustrated, the music is perfectly serene or intense exactly when it needs to be, and has some of the best platforming/traversal mechanics ever.
Silksong is a game that can be very difficult at times, but It never feels unfair. First encounters with a new enemies are scary until you learn their attack patterns and they become trivial. There were times where I hit a wall with a boss or platforming section that would prevent me from progressing but that was usually a sign to poke at some of the edges of the map. Poke around enough and maybe you'll find a new ability, health upgrades, alternate paths, extra nuggets of lore, or maybe even some secret bosses.
I'm not usually the kind of person that needs to 100% a game to feel complete inside , but in this case I think I am. Hollow Knight: Silksong is easily my favorite game of the year and one I'll be thinking about for a long time after.
Peak
2025 overall was a pretty terrible year for a lot of reasons, but Peak was a summer surprise that brought some joy back into it. On the surface its just a game about climbing to the top of a mountain without dying, but for me it was a game about going on a hike and hanging out with friends. You can play this game solo but it really shines when you've got a full group of four people working together. You all have to work together to find different routes up the mountain, manage resources, and do the occasional rescue mission. The game does put some pressure on you to keep the group moving up the mountain but there are times when things slow down and you can get back into casual hangout mode. The game is priced great and I've bought multiple copies to play with my kids and friends!
R.E.P.O.
If you've ever asked yourself "What would happen if silly little robots robbed a haunted house?" you should play R.E.P.O. The goal of the game is simple - get loot, avoid the monsters, and get out. The monsters in this game all have different personalities so part of the fun comes from learning how to avoid, what attracts them, and how to escape. The game adds some extra pressure by making all the loot breakable, so if you bang it against a wall multiple times while running away the value will chip away until it breaks completely. There are also item in the game that will affect the player in some way, like making you constantly spin when picked up, making loud noises to attract monsters after holding it for too long, or something as simple as a high pitched voice modulator. This all really comes together hilariously when you're hiding from a monster under a couch, you see your friend run down a hallway screaming with a super high pitched voice followed by a giant clown frog, to only find their exploded robot head alone in a room 5 minutes later.
Brandon
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
As a long time RPG enjoyer, turn based combat has and will always hold a special place in my heart. Expedition 33 hit every single note for me, music , story, visuals & obviously gameplay. The game brough back " Action timing" for dodges and attacks, similar to one of my favorite games of all time Legend of Dragoon for PS1. One of the many memories that stand out was finally going back to the first zone to beat the "Dangerous" Chromatic Abbest optional boss. Easily Expedition 33 was my top for GOTY.
Xavior
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f hit a cord with me out of other games this year due to its approach to its story and bringing the Silent Hill series to a new cultural atmosphere. The tension built in the game is as haunting and the story is an unflinching look at gender inequality in 1960’s Japan. Topped off with amazing performances from the cast and a refreshing approach to New Game plus, Silent Hill f is easily one of my favorite games this year.
Luke
Battlefield 6
The only game that I played this year that also released this year (I tend to be what they call a "patient gamer"). A true return to form for Battlefield in a way that evokes memories of Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 3, which are GOATed in my mind for their balance and fun. Not even the presence of a battle royale could mar what is a tight and well balanced multiplayer with all the destructible environments and vehicles one expects from the franchise. Also, the game rewards teamwork in a way not usually seen in other shooters that it is often compared to by giving points to spotting, capping, suppressing, etc. It is incredibly rewarding to be one of the top scores of the team while not having a ton of kills - as long as you are participating to the ebb and flow of the match you will be rewarded. In an era that is choc full of CoD and CoD clones, Battlefield remains in a much better balance between realism and arcade style play - No Nikki Manaj skins running around, no slide canceling around the map like a Looney Tunes character, and no goofy takedown animations.
Brent
Split Fiction
Split Fiction was one of my favorite co-op adventures to play through with my wife. The constantly changing dynamics between sci-fi and fantasy worlds kept the gameplay feeling fresh without being too thrashing. I'm excited to see what Hazelight Studios whips up next!