Prime video video games of 2025: Clair Obscur tops AP record

It’s been a tough yr for the individuals who create video video games, with layoffs persisting whereas the tech trade tries to pressure us to make use of synthetic intelligence for all the pieces. But nice video games emerged nonetheless — and I can’t think about AI ever with the ability to ship the type of thrilling, rewarding adventures we’ve seen in 2025.

The greatest story this yr was the discharge of Nintendo’s new console, the Switch 2. It’s a terrific piece of {hardware}, nevertheless it doesn’t but have the killer app that makes it important.

The second greatest story was the arrival, seemingly out of nowhere, of 1 marvelous sport that left many people slack-jawed with surprise. It’s as profound an instance of interactive storytelling as I’ve ever seen, and a straightforward alternative for sport of the yr.

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

The debut release from French studio Sandfall Interactive pays tribute to basic turn-based role-playing adventures like Nineties Final Fantasy, with a crew of intrepid fighters on a mission to confront a doubtlessly world-destroying entity. But, man, does it take some shocking twists — I can’t bear in mind a sport had me gasping so usually, both in horror or delight. The graphics and music are beautiful all through, and it’s all anchored by impeccable voice performing that made me care deeply about each single character. Altogether, a landmark achievement.

2. The Outer Worlds 2

California’s Obsidian Entertainment has change into one of many premier studios within the U.S., and this spacefaring romp is its finest sport but. It drops you right into a galactic feud amongst three political philosophies: totalitarianism, hypercapitalism and a math-based faith (consider essentially the most annoying techbro you realize). There’s loads of satisfying fight in opposition to radioactive mutants and renegade robots, however even the grimmest conditions are juiced with wholesome doses of satire as you attempt to navigate the calls for of all three would-be overlords.

3. Silent Hill f

The latest chapter of Konami’s long-running franchise digs into its J-horror roots, shifting the motion from America to Japan within the Sixties. Hinako Shimizu, the teenage protagonist, not solely has to confront the trauma of highschool — she has to struggle off the grotesque monsters which have invaded her small city. What makes Silent Hill f fascinating is the way in which the 2 nightmares appear to be associated. It’s the scariest horror sport in years.

4. Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Another young Japanese woman takes center stage in this sprawling adventure from Ubisoft. Naoe is a artful ninja in feudal Japan who’s out to avenge her father’s homicide. She’s quickly joined by Yasuke, a robust samurai. The mission selection right here is spectacular, letting you turn on the fly between Naoe’s stealthy assaults and Yasuke’s brute pressure. It’s a shining instance of Ubisoft’s do-it-your-way strategy to the open-world format.

5. Donkey Kong Bananza

The best new game on Nintendo’s Switch 2 is right for these instances when all you need to do is punch one thing. The massive ape’s bananas have been stolen and he has to dive into an enormous underworld to retrieve them. Almost the entire environments are destructible, however if you get bored with pounding there are many intelligent puzzles and minigames that usually hark again to DK’s swinging jungle adventures.

6. The Séance of Blake Manor

In this haunting mystery from Ireland’s Spooky Doorway, a bunch of mystics have gathered round Halloween 1897 to commune with the lifeless. You’re known as in to analyze when one of many residing people vanishes. It’s a basic point-and-click puzzle sport during which everybody has one thing to cover. It additionally digs deep into Irish folklore and historical past, including an pressing ingredient of sophistication battle to a really efficient ghost story.

7. Avowed

Speaking of sophistication battle, Obsidian Entertainment’s different big role-playing game of 2025 doesn’t shrink back from politics both. You are an emissary despatched to analyze a lethal plague within the quasi-medieval Living Lands. Problem is, few of the locals are comfortable to see you, and so they’re too busy preventing one another to assist a lot. Again, Obsidian’s mastery of role-playing motion is on full show, this time with swords and spells relatively than lasers.

8. Ghost of Yōtei

Yet one other Japanese lady takes the lead on this revenge drama from Sony’s Sucker Punch Productions. Atsu is a mercenary who returns to rural Japan within the 1600s to seek out her household’s killers, stirring rumors that an “onryō” — a vengeful ghost — is on the free. The narrative is tighter than that in AC Shadows, however it is a actual deal with for followers of basic samurai films — particularly in case you play in black-and-white “Kurosawa mode.”

9. South of Midnight

This fantasy from Canada’s Compulsion Games is a hypnotic evocation of the mythology of the U.S. Deep South. After a hurricane rips via her neighborhood, a girl named Hazel ventures into the bayou. The creatures she meets — a speaking catfish, a large gator, a blues-playing ghoul — are gorgeously rendered in stop-motion-inspired animation. The gameplay is pretty easy, however the artwork and music make for a memorable journey.

10. The Alters

In this survival adventure from Poland’s 11 Bit Studios, you’re a humble engineer left on a hostile planet. Fortunately there’s a movable base close by — however you’ll be able to’t run it alone, so that you’re going to should clone your self. Each clone has completely different character tics, and the result’s an interesting metaphysical brainteaser that can have you ever questioning how lengthy you’d have the ability to put up with half a dozen variations of you.