Let us look at some of the best video games 2025 has given us so far….
-Shubhi Agrawal
2025 has been a unique year for video games. While some of the AAA giants fumbled, a wave of smaller studios stunned us with bold ideas and memorable storytelling. This year proves that great games don’t always need billion-dollar budgets — they just need vision and emotional storytelling. Whether you’re into RPGs, story-based games, or pure chaos, this list of the best video games 2025 will guide you to the real standouts.
From long-awaited sequels to indie breakthroughs, here are the must play games 2025 has offered so far.
10. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Release Date: February18, 2025
Developer: DON’T NOD
Publisher: DON’T NOD
Genre: Narrative Adventure
In Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, four friends reunite to uncover a buried teenage secret from 1995. Made by the developers of Life is Strange, this narrative-driven title lets players shape the story through choice-based interactions and emotional consequences. Critics praised Lost Records: Bloom & Rage for its tone and maturity, making it one of the quieter hits among the games released in 2025.
9. Cabernet
Release Date: 20th February 2025
Developer: Party for Introverts
Publisher: Akupara Games
Genre: RPG
Story: Cabernet tells the tale of a young vampire trying to balance between her humanity and her vampire instincts. A choice-heavy 2D game, it focuses on moral decisions, dark settings, and identity crises. Cabernet won over a niche audience and became a hidden gem among the best video games 2025 for fans of gothic storytelling.
8. South of Midnight
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Genre: Action Adventure
South of Midnight follows Hazel, a young woman pulled into a surreal Southern Gothic realm filled with monsters and legends. It mixes combat with eerie exploration in a uniquely animated world. With its striking visual style and bold worldbuilding, South of Midnight earned praise as one of the most original and best video games 2025 has delivered.
7. Avowed
Release Date: February 18, 2025
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Genre: First-Person RPG
Set in a fantasy world, Avowed tells a tale of plague and politics where you need to decide if you will side with nature or imperialism. It features magic-infused combat, branching quests, and dialogue-driven exploration in a vast open world. Although criticized by some due to not being similar to Skyrim, (which they expected) Avowed is considered one of the unique games released in 2025. If you loved Jade Empire and Greedfall, you will definitely love this one, and it will be among the must play games 2025 has delivered!
6. Split Fiction
Release Date: 6 March, 2025
Developer: Iron Tower Collective
Publisher: Iron Tower Collective
Genre: Narrative Co-op RPG
Next on our list of games released in 2025 is Split Fiction. It tells the story of Mio and Zoe, two contrasting writers—one a sci-fi author, the other a fantasy storyteller—who find themselves trapped inside their own fictional worlds after being connected to a machine built to extract and exploit their creative ideas. Designed for two-player co-op, Split Fiction mixes puzzle-solving, memory manipulation, and dual narration — but lacks solo play. Split Fiction was called one of the most creative games and best video games 2025 saw, but it has also been criticized due to being limited by its 2-player restriction.
5. Doom: The Dark Ages
Release Date: June 15, 2025
Developer: id Software
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: FPS / Action
In Doom: The Dark Ages, players control the Doom Slayer during humanity’s medieval war against Hell. Brutal melee combat, a dragon-summoning horn, and a shield-saw weapon refresh the classic DOOM chaos. Doom: The Dark Ages tore through expectations and became one of the most ferocious and polished must play games 2025 had to offer.
4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remake
Release Date: May 30, 2025
Developer: Virtuos & Bethesda
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Genre: Action RPG / Remake
If you loved Skyrim, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remake is definitely one of the must play games 2025 has given us. Oblivion Remake revives the classic fantasy epic where players choose and live their destiny. Featuring updated combat, AI, and environments powered by Unreal Engine 5, it’s faithful yet refreshed. Universally praised as one of the best video games 2025, this remake delivered nostalgia with modern polish.
3. Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Release Date: March 20, 2025
Developer: Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher: Ubisoft
Genre: Open World Action RPG
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you play as both a shinobi and a samurai during feudal Japan’s chaotic Sengoku era. It blends stealth assassinations, large-scale battles, and RPG progression across dynamic seasonal maps. Despite its controversy, Assassin’s Creed Shadows became one of the highest-selling and best video games 2025 on console and PC.
2. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Release Date: February 4th, 2025
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Publisher: Deep Silver
Genre: Historical RPG
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is another one of the games released in 2025 which became a massive hit. It continues after the events of Kingdom Come Deliverance (2017), and follows Henry’s journey through 15th-century Bohemia, filled with politics and realism. Featuring no magic (since it is a pure historical game) and just brutal combat, realistic survival, and immersive dialogue trees. the game has been widely regarded one of the must play games 2025, especially for fans of history and mature storytelling.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Release Date: 24th April, 2025
Developer: Sandfall Interactive
Publisher: Kepler Interactive
Genre: Turn-Based RPG
In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, humanity is slowly being eradicated by a mysterious entity called The Paintress, who erases people from existence. You play as Gustav, who along with his comrades, set off on yet another expedition to stop her. A turn-based JRPG hybrid with real-time dodges, the game has spectacular surreal environments inspired by French art.
Expedition 33 has shocked the entire gaming industry, not just due to its smaller budget, but because it was made by around 30 people or so. Despite that it topped the lists of the best video games 2025, showing the strength of indie studios and how passion and creative storytelling is more important than big budgets.
When two of the top titles—Expedition 33 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II—are from smaller teams, it’s clear: 2025 belongs to the bold indie studios, not just the giants. Will 2025 change the future of gaming? Will AAA studios learn from Expedition 33? Only time will tell!
Do you agree with this list of best video games 2025 gave us so far? If no, let us know why!
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(Shubhi Agrawal has always been drawn to fantasy — the kind filled with magic, mythical creatures, and unforgettable journeys. Whether it’s through games, books, or films, she finds joy in escaping to other worlds and writing about them for Enigmatic Horizon.)
Her LinkedIn: Shubhi Agrawal
