2025 marked another big step forward for the gaming industry. With a slew of big releases this year — and the world of video games set to expand further in 2026 — here are some of the most notable games released over the past 12 months.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Role-playing games have had a significant comeback over the past few years and may have reached peak status with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The game, which takes inspiration from a variety of historic RPGs like the Final Fantasy series, sees players dropped into an alternate French history where magical creatures exist. The player is then sent on a quest to defeat the world’s longstanding arch nemesis.
Clair Obscur features many classic elements of RPGs, such as skill trees and different character builds. The game was critically acclaimed when released. Its “creative turn-based combat system is brilliant,” said IGN, and while some portions of the storyline generated gripes, the “modern RPG classic” has an “earnestness to how it frames mortality, grief and the small moments of joy we find.” (Xbox Series X, Windows, PS5)
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Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
The video game Death Stranding received positive reviews on its 2019 release, and six years later, the sequel, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, garnered similar acclaim. The sequel shifts the setting from the U.S. to Australia, where players must learn to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The game is “beautiful, horrific, nuanced and, crucially, a lot of fun,” said IGN.
Unlike many other video games, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach features an ensemble cast of Hollywood A-listers, with Norman Reedus, Léa Seydoux and Troy Baker reprising their roles from the first game. Joining them are Elle Fanning, George Miller, Guillermo del Toro and more. (PS5)
Ghost of Yotei
Ghost of Tsushima is widely considered one of the best video games of the decade, and fans rejoiced at the sequel’s release this year. Ghost of Yotei continues the story of Japan’s samurai, with some returning elements as well as some all-new features. The game is set more than 300 years after Tsushima and allows the player to control Atsu, a ronin who embarks on a quest for revenge against six samurai.
The free-roaming game allows players to don their katana again as a cunning warrior but also hide in the shadows for stealth gameplay. While generally considered not as good as the first installment, Ghost of Yotei “leans into its young protagonist’s thirst for bloody vengeance,” said The Guardian. (PS5)
Mario Kart World
Let’s a-go and hit the racetrack! Because the iconic Mario Kart franchise is back with its latest installment, Mario Kart World. As a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive — and a launch title for the console — the game is able to tap into all the Switch 2 offers, allowing players to enjoy Mario Kart on the road or at home on their television.
While the game has several notable upgrades, the most remarkable change is the adoption of an open world, which is “exactly like driving in a new country,” said Nintendo Life. Mario Kart World is not “quite a reinvention of Mario Kart or a completely new, innovative racing game. But the freedom, variety, and new modes” make it a worthwhile franchise entry. (Nintendo Switch 2)
Split Fiction
While most of the other games on this list are single-player, Split Fiction is designed as a multiplayer experience. It is best played with another person in the same room, as the game involves a split-screen experience where the players must work together to solve a variety of puzzles.
The game is set in a science fiction-fantasy world, and though Split Fiction is hardly the first multiplayer game, it received rave reviews for how its cooperative elements blend seamlessly. Split Fiction is the “most fun I’ve had with a video game in years,” gaming contributor Erik Kain said for Forbes, calling it a “game bursting with creativity and endless fun that’s at once technically impressive and astonishingly clever at every turn.” (Xbox Series X, PS5, Nintendo Switch 2, Windows)
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