Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFor a list of the best video games released in 2025 so far, the fairest cutoff is June 30, 2025. These ten picks span puzzles, role-playing, racing, co-op adventure, football storytelling, monster hunting and downhill skiing; the selection weighs critical reception alongside variety and the kind of player each game suits. The order is an editorial guide, not a shared industry ranking.
How this midyear list is framed
Metacritic’s June 27, 2025 midyear ranking covers games released from January 1 through June 30, using scores available June 25 and requiring at least seven professional critic reviews. It ranks aggregated critic scores, uses the platform version with the most reviews when a game has multiple versions, and excludes most older-game ports, expansions and DLC, mobile games, compilations, and definitive or GOTY editions. Metacritic’s midyear list and methodology provide one useful measure, but an aggregate score cannot tell every player what they will enjoy.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
DOG MAN: Misson Impawsible - PlayStation 5 | $23.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
WWE 2K25 - PlayStation 5 | $19.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business – PlayStation 5 | $28.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
VGC: The 2025 Guide to Video Games: The 2025 Guide to Video Games | $14.93 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2025 | $6.48 | Buy on Amazon |
The Guardian’s June 12 feature, modified July 10, is a separate editorial selection of games from the preceding six months. Its descriptions help distinguish what makes each game memorable. The list below combines that qualitative lens with critic reception, genre variety, platform access, and suitability for different players. It is not presented as Metacritic’s top ten or as a universal consensus.
The 10 best video games of 2025 so far
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
This fantasy role-playing game follows a doomed expedition through a world of surreal monsters, balancing fatalism and melodrama with hope. Its distinctive setting and story make it a strong choice for players who want a substantial narrative adventure rather than a conventional fantasy quest.
#1 Best Overall
- 50 Exciting Levels: Explore iconic locations from the Dog Man universe, including the City Hall, Giant Marshmallow Factory, and the Police Station. Each location offers platforming and puzzle-solving challenges.
- Teamwork: Switch between Dog Man and his Supa Buddies, each with their own special abilities, to overcome obstacles and defeat bosses. o Dog Man: Digs underground and glides through the air. o Li’l Petey: Hacks gadgets and fits into small spaces. o 80-HD: Pushes heavy objects and jumps long distances.
- Fun Gadgets: Unlock new gadgets and abilities as you progress, like a grappling hook, rocket boots and power gloves to navigate through the levels. Puzzles and Bosses: Use your brain to solve puzzles and defeat unique bosses. Each boss fight requires clever use of your team’s abilities.
- Humor and Action: Enjoy funny dialogue, amusing interactions, and non-stop action that keeps you engaged in Dog Man’s world. Rewards and Collectibles: Revisit levels with new gadgets to find secret areas, and rescue the missing Comic Club members.
- Art Style: Great animations inspired by the books, with comic-style sound effects that add a fun, cartoonish touch to the action.
Best for: story-focused RPG players. Why it stands out: an unusually memorable blend of dark subject matter and expressive fantasy.
2. Blue Prince
Blue Prince turns a mysterious mansion into a puzzle space that changes as you explore. You choose room blueprints, build a mental or drawn map, and rely on logic and memory to make progress. Its appeal comes from discovery and deduction, not simply solving isolated riddles.
Best for: patient puzzle fans who enjoy mapping and experimentation. Why it stands out: the shifting rooms make exploration itself part of the puzzle.
3. Split Fiction
Built exclusively for two players working together, Split Fiction sends its protagonists through contrasting fantasy and science-fiction stories. Its cooperative premise makes it a natural pick for a pair looking for a shared action-adventure rather than a solo campaign.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Rank #2
- RULE BEYOND THE RING: In a franchise first, step outside the ropes and onto The Island for Xbox Series X|S/PlayStation 5—an immersive, WWE-themed world filled with epic arenas, challenges, and live events. Fight to join the Bloodline with “The Original Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns, as you upgrade and customize your MySUPERSTAR through multiple storyline chapters.
- 2K SHOWCASE: THE BLOODLINE'S DYNASTY: The all-new Showcase, hosted by “The Wiseman” Paul Heyman, celebrates one of the most historic family dynasties in wrestling. Relive legendary showdowns or dream matches between The Bloodline and WWE Superstars and Legends.
- EXPANDED GAMEPLAY - Intergender wrestling makes its long-awaited debut in the WWE 2K franchise Additional features include the return of chain wrestling, Underground and Bloodline Rules match types, barricade diving, and more.
- MyGM GOES WORLDWIDE - Take your show on the road with MyGM, now featuring online multiplayer. Draft WWE Superstars and Legends to your show’s roster and lead your brand through multi-week seasons.
GameSpot awarded it 10/10 in its 2025 roundup and lists versions for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. That is an individual outlet score, not a Metacritic aggregate or a guarantee that every player will rate it the same way. GameSpot’s 2025 games roundup includes its review and platform listing.
Best for: two players ready to cooperate. Why it stands out: its two-player design is central to the experience, not an optional extra.
4. Monster Hunter Wilds
For players who want combat and a hunt to plan around, Monster Hunter Wilds offers large creatures, expansive environments, and hunts that can be tackled solo or with a squad. It provides a markedly different rhythm from the story-first RPGs and puzzle games elsewhere on this list.
Best for: action players who enjoy preparing for challenging creature fights, alone or with others. Why it stands out: the hunt itself is the focus, from facing imposing monsters to taking on the challenge with a group.
Recommended Free Tools
Rank #3
- ROBOCOP IS BACK ON DUTY TO SETTLE UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Experience an all-new scenario set in a tower in chaos. OmniTower.
- FIGHT YOUR WAY TO THE TOP FLOOR: Following RoboCop's decisive victory over Detroit's gangs, a new chapter unfolds in this standalone extension set after the events of RoboCop: Rogue City.
- FACE A DEADLIER CLASS OF CRIMINALS: Prepare to take on a new breed of enemies. OmniTower is packed with high-tech threats - explosive drones, mercenaries in jet packs, androids armed with katanas and more.
- RESTORE ORDER WITH JUSTICE SERVED COLD: When it’s too late to shout "freeze", you can rely on RoboCop’s arsenal to to cool down enemies' ambitions. Choose from a wide range of powerful weapons to serve Justice, including the iconic Auto-9 or the all-new Cryo Cannon. Or destroy mercenaries in hand-to-hand combat with spectacular finishing moves.
- PLAY AS ALEX MURPHY: Experience unique missions with familiar faces which reveal more of the storyline of Unfinished Business. Gameplay blends nervous action and investigation, where your choices can decide the fate of citizens.
5. Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World pairs familiar competitive racing with a connected continent to explore. Its colorful, accessible multiplayer makes it an easy recommendation for groups, while the broader world gives the racing a more exploratory frame than a collection of isolated tracks.
Best for: friends and families looking for lively competitive play. Why it stands out: it combines pick-up-and-play racing with a connected world.
6. Despelote
Set in Ecuador as the country tries to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, Despelote tells a personal story about childhood and football fandom. It is not a conventional FIFA-style football simulation; its appeal is the perspective and setting around the sport.
Best for: players interested in personal, place-specific stories and football culture. Why it stands out: it approaches football through memory and everyday life rather than match simulation.
7. Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
This downhill skiing game contrasts calm-looking scenery with precise, demanding descents. Its progression loop gives players a reason to return and improve, while the challenge comes from navigating the mountain carefully rather than overpowering opponents.
Best for: players who enjoy skill-based sports games and repeating a run to get it right. Why it stands out: the serene presentation sits alongside unforgiving control and precision.
8. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Metacritic’s midyear ranking provides a wider field beyond the Guardian’s seven named picks. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is among the qualifying first-half releases to consider for players who want a grounded, historically inflected role-playing adventure. Check the listing and platform version that matches your system before choosing it; the ranking’s aggregate is a critic measure, not a personalized recommendation.
Best for: players seeking a more grounded RPG. Why it stands out: it offers a different tone from the surreal fantasy of Expedition 33.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Best Value
9. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
For a return to a large fantasy role-playing world, Oblivion Remastered is another first-half candidate in Metacritic’s qualifying pool. It is a different proposition from a new setting: the draw is revisiting a familiar RPG in a remastered release. As Metacritic excludes most ports and definitive editions, its inclusion in that ranking should be checked against the specific listing and edition.
Best for: players looking for a sprawling fantasy RPG and those interested in revisiting an earlier game. Why it stands out: it brings a remastered release into a year otherwise rich in new worlds and concepts.
10. DOOM: The Dark Ages
DOOM: The Dark Ages rounds out the selection with a contrasting action-focused option from the first half of 2025. It suits players more interested in forceful combat and momentum than in a slow-burn puzzle or a character-driven RPG. Consult the platform-specific entry in Metacritic’s midyear list for its critic-score context.
Best for: action fans who want a combat-led game. Why it stands out: it broadens the list beyond exploration, sports, and story-heavy adventures.
Choose by the kind of play you want
| What you want | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A story-led fantasy RPG | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | A doomed expedition, surreal world, and dramatic narrative. |
| Puzzles and exploration | Blue Prince | Changing rooms turn mapping and deduction into the core loop. |
| A game for exactly two players | Split Fiction | Designed exclusively around two-player cooperation. |
| Monster hunts solo or with a squad | Monster Hunter Wilds | Large creatures and combat-focused hunts. |
| Competitive multiplayer racing | Mario Kart World | Accessible racing paired with a connected world. |
| A personal football story | Despelote | Childhood and fandom in Ecuador, not a football simulation. |
| Precision downhill sport | Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders | Careful descents and a progression loop. |
| A grounded or remastered RPG, or combat-led action | Kingdom Come: Deliverance II; The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered; DOOM: The Dark Ages | Three distinct alternatives from the broader first-half field. |
What later 2025 hindsight says
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 became an especially strong retrospective pick. The Associated Press placed it first on its year-end top-games list, highlighting its story, visuals, music, and voice acting. The AP’s year-end list is a later judgment, not evidence that was available at midyear.
The Game Awards’ official 2025 results report says Expedition 33 won Game of the Year, along with awards including Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, Best Performance, Best Independent Game, Best Debut Indie Game, and Best RPG. The Game Awards results reinforce its standing in hindsight, but do not change this list’s June 30 cutoff.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
