AllTheDinos' Favorite Games of 2025

This is my seventh user Game of the Year list, and during that time it's become cliché to begin by cursing the year that just was. But unless you're a mewling fascist pig or a literal toddler, 2025 will go down as one of the worst years of recent history. My calling card around these parts has become a catalogue of Hot Messes in the last few years, and even in limiting your view to the video games industry, 2025 was a doozy. With Microsoft hurling its gaming brand into supreme irrelevance, it was also the year I began actively divesting from the Xbox ecosystem. While I wish I could say it was a principled objection in solidarity with the BDS movement, in truth it came down to their fealty to generative Artificial Intelligence. Perhaps I just pay more attention than I used to, but I've never seen a product tank itself this hard and transparently since G/O Media took over Deadspin and The AV Club. Couple that with grabbing a Switch 2 on launch day, and Xbox was the least relevant it's been to my household since my new console was a Playstation 2.

Beyond that, I, like many others amidst a greater crackdown against employee rights, lost the ability to work remotely except in emergencies. As a result, my backlog of videos on this here website has exploded in volume. The timing of this also coincided with the previous owner of Giant Bomb nearly letting the doomsday clock hit midnight, only to do the right thing in a way absolutely nobody anticipated. Now my favorite website is independent, and every penny (the discontinued coin, not the fictitious dog) goes towards keeping it and the lovely people that staff it afloat. At least 2025 was good for something.

There is so much more to say about the year that was, but I feel like you, dear reader, already know it and are tired of thinking about it. But since you are reading, you must not yet be tired of thinking about the video games of 2025. I usually do my Honorable Mentions at the end, but there is such a stacked list of games that ended up outside my top 10 that I feel like that wouldn't do them justice. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (#19) was a delirious side story with one of my all-time favorite FMV sequences in gaming; seriously, check out a YouTube compilation of "Masaru's Love Journey". BALL x PIT (#17) took a little while to wrap my head around, but its addictive loop has made it one of my go-to games when I can't decide what to play. PowerWash Simulator 2 (#15) was more PowerWash Simulator, and thank goodness for that. South of Midnight (#14) is a fun game that had an amazing setting and so much promise for a sequel that will almost certainly never get greenlit. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (#13) is a game that made me say "damn..." under my breath every 20 minutes. Roadcraft (#12) is a honkin' good time, where I can watch self-made disasters unfold based on my more reckless decisions. Transporting a bunch of sand has never been so interesting. And Donkey Kong Bananza (#11) is an instant classic that let me and my daughter expand Fractone asses to enormous proportions. I didn't even get around to games like Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Once Upon A Katamari, or Heartworm; any of them could have potentially made this list. Even the only two games I would have ordinarily given Dishonorable Mentions, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Atomfall, are objectively good-to-great games that I just did not enjoy playing at all. In the end, whatever game you loved this year? That's a quality-ass video game, my friend.

Reviewing my own top 10, it's hard to pick out a theme. There are AAA releases, there are some of the indies you expect, and one off-the-board pick that in hindsight you should have expected from someone with my username. Personally, I think this is my best top 10 ever, which is why I've taken so long to consider, write, and post it. I'm incredibly grateful that there is a site to post it to still, and for anyone who reads these.

Previous GOTY Blogs: 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019

10. Avowed (Xbox Series X)

When I first saw this game's reveal trailer, I assumed it would be Obsidian's take on Skyrim. As someone who happens to still like Skyrim a whole lot, that would have been enough for me. But Avowed is different on a fundamental level, with its parkour, dodging, and smaller biomes separated by loading screens. The game, fortunately, has a lot more to say about imperialism / colonialism than Bethesda's offerings, and it accentuates these themes with a series of big choices. The more apt point of comparison is a fantasy Mass Effect, or perhaps the game Dragon Age: The Veilguard should have been. I had a blast using an arquebus to draw enemies into range, at which point I would cover them in a storm of spells. The spellcasting, speaking thereof, is the best any of these kinds of games have done. Equipping a book in addition to your chosen skills provides much-needed variety, or you can use those spellbooks to strengthen your skills and make a smaller spell list pack a bigger punch. I still need to try my old Elder Scrolls standby, the sword-and-board approach, but given how weighty those melee attacks feel in this game, I think I'll enjoy it just fine. Since I'm publishing this list abysmally late, I can even throw in the imminent Playstation release that also includes more playable races. If that isn't an excuse to dip back into a great RPG, I don't know what is.

9. Sid Meier's Civilization VII (PC)

I've been playing Civ games for nearly 30 years now, and it would be insane to stop now. There was a lot of negative fan sentiment around this game after launch. A lot of it was justifiably centered around the pricing model ($30 DLC with only two leaders and four era-specific nations), but I still don't understand the reaction against this game's format. In case you're unfamiliar (since very few people have talked about this game post-release), each game is fundamentally divided into three eras. At the end of the first two, you enter a series of crises and begin a countdown timer; before that timer hits zero, you want to reach milestones with the four victory paths. Doing so can strengthen you in the next era, and in the third you pursue one final victory condition. To me, this format succeeded where games like Humankind and Ara failed, because it had the feel of a Legacy board game. Limiting the era changes to three also made each feel more impactful. Often, there's no "straight scientific" path from start to finish, which requires you to adapt your playstyle to your new nation's strengths. And of course, leaders could be paired with any nation, providing flexibility and some interesting combinations. My playstyle in Civ 6 had long since devolved into starting a game, reaching the nation's apex, and quitting. The final era could stand to be a little more fleshed out (there are still too many sit-and-wait moments for my taste), but I'm finishing nearly every game I start. Another version of the Civ 5 format would have been truly disappointing, and I'm very glad Firaxis went for something different. As a final note, I found the performance on my low-range PC to be surprisingly good (after a long initial load). Too often in these games, an outdated PC means checking your phone for a couple minutes after hitting "end turn". Civ 7 avoided this by optimizing the computer player turns, and it's little touches like that which helped its cause for my rankings. I hope Firaxis plans to release a couple of expansions still, they always knock those out of the park.

8. The Outer Worlds 2 (Xbox Series X)

My original plan while writing about this game was to lump it together with Avowed as some 9/10 chimera. But the more I played, the more I realized that The Outer Worlds 2 stands apart. So many quality of life improvements were implemented to the extremely Fallout-esque The Outer Worlds, including the death of carry weight. The game's story has its Mass Effect 2 moments for sure, but the best lesson it took from that game is the streamlining of its skill system without making it feel like less of an RPG. If anything, the streamlining accentuated those elements, as every choice I've made in perks, flaws, and poking around where I shouldn't be pops up in dialogue eventually. The Bethesda-likes have never felt more personalized to my style of play, and this game has set a very high bar for the next one of those. But what really spurred me to bump this game to the #8 spot was a major story beat that the game allowed me to discover organically. I won't spoil it, because it was a very fun realization, but I broke quest sequences just by exploring the map and stumbling into a secret one of the major factions was not yet ready to unveil. The game could have easily gated this behind a quest, but it laid out all the tools for me to stumble upon it like the exploration-first ignoramus that I am. When that plot development did drop, I felt like I had an edge against one of my foes, even though nothing had materially changed in the game. That thoughtfulness of game design is why Obsidian is one of my favorite developers, and why The Outer Worlds 2 bumped so many games out of contention despite getting little year-end love. And sadly, Obsidian has announced that this is likely the end of this series thanks to disappointing sales. Hopefully people discover it in the years to come, and it gets its own New Vegas-style following.

7. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Nintendo Switch 2)

The Nintendo cartridges and consoles around my house are littered with unfinished playthroughs of Pokémon games. I joke that after obtaining the third gym badge, I lose interest in the game (as has been the case for me with Crystal, Emerald, and Shield in recent years). So it is with some astonishment that I rolled credits in Legends: Z-A, the first time I've done so in a Pokémon game since Gold back in the early aughts. It's a great game to have for those mornings where the kids are up but I'm not yet ready to really start the day, and as I noted in my children's GOTY blog, they are both super into Pokémon now. Perhaps it's just my severely reduced expectations with The Pokémon Company, but the wallpaper building façades and antiquated models didn't bother me at all. The relative lack of movement amongst city dwellers, and the notable lack of moving vehicles, is bizarre when you compare it to the Yakuza / Like A Dragon series. But the catching and battling feel so goddamn incredible in this game that it helps wash away all the minor quibbles I would otherwise have. I was skeptical of real-time battling, but it made me actually consider which moves I was equipping and using in the heat of battle. Remember Leer? You can actually use it to great effect for a change! A well-timed Protect can parry a super effective attack, often to my chagrin; it led me to poke enemies with a weaker attack to goad that move out of them. The "catch window" mechanic, which gives you a chance to nab a Pokémon you knocked out, has to be in all future games in the series to make them worth playing. I think this game nails exactly what the Legends series should be moving forward, and if they iterate it so it gets better each time, we will get some truly special Pokémon games. If nothing else, it's the most excited I've been about the series in more than two decades.

6. Silent Hill f (Xbox Series X)

Last year, I noted that I tend to be a survival horror weenie unless they hand me a gun. Historically, my favorite survival horror games have provided a point where it becomes more action than horror, such as in Dino Crisis 2 and Resident Evil 4. While this game does skew more towards action than most, the restriction to melee makes it so much more visceral and terrifying. Coupled with an intriguing setting free from the weight of decades of series lore, Silent Hill f was the perfect game to get me back into this series for the first time since the PS2 era. The dream world sequence in the late-middle section of the game had my jaw hanging open, even thinking it wasn't "really" happening. The story is well written in a way few horror games carry through the ending, leaving a lot up to personal interpretation. And as for that action, every swing and lunge felt weighty in a way most games can only imagine pulling off. The axe you get later in the game in particular felt like a calculated risk to use against tough foes, and Hinako's desperation to escape this nightmare fueled every blow. It's kind of unbelievable that a brand-new Silent Hill game is this great, considering the series' and publisher's recent history. I hope more Silent Hill games are allowed to go this far into left field, and in the meantime I'll see about getting some of those other endings to this one.

5. Jurassic World Evolution 3 (PC)

Up until a month from release, I had written this game off. Not only has Frontier disappointed me with each of their titles launched after the great Planet Zoo back in 2019, but the prior two Jurassic World Evolution games were released in very frustrating states. The second game in particular had a core gameplay loop that made me consider it for the top of my list, but issues with its economy, bugginess, and general imbalance pushed me away. When I returned a year later, it had been improved enough to complete, but I could have just waited for a sale and been happier overall with the game. I saw pretty good reviews for this game and took the plunge, and boy am I glad I did. That gameplay loop of the second game I mentioned earlier, where you research dinosaurs through excavations, incubate them, release them, take care of their needs, then watch your funds grow, is still terrific. The addition of nesting and babies is an enormous boon, both for the visuals (which are top notch up close) and for making sweet, sweet cash. Every facet of the game is meaningfully improved from JWE2, which would land it on this list on its own. The real kicker is that the campaign is fun for a change! Gone are the glorified tutorials; instead, you hop around the globe improving sites to a certain threshold, then move on as the story demands. Each site can then be completed to a 5-star rating, and the game explicitly tells you how to meet that condition in a refreshing change. This became the ultimate cozy game for me, even when I forgot to give the Utahraptor juveniles food and they broke out and slaughtered dozens of guests and - you know what, that's not important. You know what is important? Feathers on dinosaurs! Watching herds of herbivores intermingle from a classic JP Jeep! Hoping that Carnotaur doesn't think your gyroscope looks delicious! If you like park simulators and/or dinosaurs, this is one of the best games to scratch both of those itches in a very long time.

4. Hades II (PC & Nintendo Switch 2)

There are a few sequels I was sure could make my GOTY list prior to 2025. After playing Citizen Sleeper 2 (see above) and Monster Hunter: Wilds (sigh), I concluded that it's incredibly difficult to pull off the same trick twice. To some extent, that is still true for Hades II, a game that surpasses its predecessor on paper in nearly every way. But what elevates this game is that it, like Elden Ring, is secretly multiple games in the same package. The two paths allowed for some really interesting experimentation, and the start of every run felt more meaningful when faced with this fork in the road. Going down to slay Chronos could be the easier path, but going up had so many tantalizing rewards in the metagame. Adding a mana bar was the best improvement to the first game that I never knew I needed. Despite all six weapons being new (and none cleanly mapping to the first game's set), that intricate balance never felt disrupted. I like using all six, though the axe definitely came out as my favorite. Finally, the soundtrack is incredible, surpassing all of my lofty expectations for Darren Korb. If I have a major complaint, it's that each run took an unsustainably long time for a parent. I eventually enabled God Mode just to be able to play around the kids and finish the story in the insanely crowded Fall release season. Ultimately, Hades II will go down as one of the greatest action games of all time, and considering how great the first game was, that's saying something. Now Supergiant, since you appear to be open to making sequels, let's talk about a little game called Pyre...

3. The Séance of Blake Manor (PC)

For a game that I found exceedingly frustrating at times, it's funny how often I like to frame something as "the next Obra Dinn". Fortunately, I have a new point of comparison for mystery games, as The Séance of Blake Manor is quite possibly my favorite. The game is absolutely dripping in Irishness, and every interaction with a character / suspect immediately carries the weight of history behind it. Spending minutes as currency is one of the most inspired moves in a mystery game, and it also leads to funny situations where I spend 10 minutes walking around without time passing in the game, but burn through 15 game-minutes in a single conversation. The game forces you to make meaningful use of a packed itinerary in the same way Pentiment did, leading to me skipping a dinner where I might have acquired critical information for the sake of pursuing a more esoteric mystery before the end of the night. The fact that the manor is legitimately haunted also adds much-needed variety to your exploration, where a red ghost might flash before your eyes or a piece of luggage might nearly fall on you. For much of my run, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to do everything I needed to in order to obtain a "good" ending, but things fell into place pretty quickly on the final day. By then, I felt like I knew the cast of dozens quite well, a testament to how great the character work and writing is in the game. There's even a "where are they now" style segment after you finish a playthrough! The game is truly special, and anyone who even kind of likes mystery games owes it to themselves to check it out.

2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Xbox Series X & PC)

When it comes to buying into the hype of a game based on trailers and spotlights, I have a mixed track record at best. The two games I followed most intently before their release were Fallout 4 and Mass Effect: Andromeda, games I consider profound disappointments. So I guess it makes sense that a game I figured would strongly appeal to me and other PS2 RPG sickos would not just surpass expectations but take the entire world by storm. A game with a plot like a My Chemical Romance album (complimentary), turn-based combat, RPG elements that were as straightforward or complex as you wanted them, and the best parry mechanic since Sekiro? An experience jam-packed with style, down to freeze-frame victory screens? A gigantic friendly bozo full of wine?!? This game is an unreal accomplishment, one that deserves just about every award it earned. Hell, if the only legacy this game has in 10 years is that it shook Square-Enix out of its Final Fantasy torpor, it's an unqualified success. This deserves to be more of a 1B selection than a true #2, but I will confess to sliding off the Act 3 material quickly after I finished the story. I did eventually return, and I enjoyed myself, but it's hard not to feel like the narrative was the biggest hook, as good as the gameplay is. All I know is that this game will be tempting me with a replay all year long, and for many years to come, and damn it: who am I to deny it?

1. Blue Prince (PC)

The United States of America is in a state of permanent decline.

That's the sentence I wrote in my head for this entry back when I decided nothing would dethrone Blue Prince as my GOTY, sometime late in the summer. Since that point, we've seen accelerating nightmares, including secret police whisking children to concentration camps in other states and public executions. So that first sentence felt like it needed an explanation six months ago, but now? It almost feels too rote to type. Among the many mysteries of Blue Prince is the world at large, particularly the nation in which the game is set: Fenn Aries. There are many early hints about the authoritarian and censorious government that controls the country, including the threat of a secret policeman following your steps (thanks for the nightmares, Alzara). Through unlocking books and rooms, you find that the previous regime of Orinda Aries was overthrown after enough atrocities were committed by its monarchical government, over 100 years before the events of the game. At the risk of minor spoilers, your character's mother (Mary) fought against the current regime in the name of the old one, since she could trace some portion of her lineage back to the old nobility, then disappeared.

Much is made of the colors associated with each nation, with red being that of Fenn Aries, and black representing the old country of Orinda Aries. Mary envisions a different future for her son, as the original draft of Red Prince shows, where he ascends as the titular Blue Prince. This is where the brilliance of this portion of the story is revealed, as the glorious new future that will cast aside the shackles of Fenn Aries is disturbingly similar to the old one with a new coat of paint and a modern sneer. Much of the feckless resistance from America's opposition party can be seen in the same light. In fact, it feels like a statement on our last two Democratic administrations. The historical patterns of these kinds of conservative governance function a lot like the mansion of Blue Prince: familiar pieces slot into place in different configurations. A country obsessed with ruminating on "glory days" that were never all that glorious, given who suffered during them. A game between elites whose interests become increasingly esoteric. All alongside invisible staff, who reset the mansion at some indeterminate hour of the night with the aid of a force nobody understands. This game, intentionally or otherwise, is a game about America in 2025. It is the most America-in-2025 game that could exist. As soon as this became clear to me, there was simply no other choice for this spot on my list.

Beyond it being perfectly suited to represent the year in which it was released, Blue Prince happens to be fun as hell. A roguelike puzzler that worships Riven turned out to be the perfect game for my partner and I to enjoy together. We've been chasing that dragon ever since, but Blue Prince stands alone. We eventually saw just about all there is to see (for now), and while the game is far from perfect, I wouldn't change a thing about it. Here's hoping the next thing from Dogubomb is as tremendously layered and also impossible to put down.