The Highest Reviewed Games of 2025 (So Far)

We're fast-approaching the midpoint of 2025, which also means that the major summer gaming showcases and reveals to help determine the slate of game releases for the rest of the year are right around the corner. Accordingly, it seems like an apropos time to take a look back at what are, according to reviewers, the best games to release so far in 2025. There have been several high-profile marquee releases in just the first few months of 2025, including the latest games in long-running franchises like Monster Hunter and Assassin's Creed, as well as plenty of lesser-known indie games that have immediately stood out thanks to unique premises, settings, gameplay, atmospheres, or all of the above. If there's one thing the best-reviewed games of 2025 show, it's that gamers' tastes are as diverse as ever.

Updated May 12, 2025:

We've gone back and updated this piece to include the excellent Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Doom: The Dark Ages, both of which sit higher than many of the other games on this list. While Blue Prince was originally the highest-rated game of 2025, that honor now belongs to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

• Release Date — April 18, 2025
• Developer — Game Arts, Ashibi
• Publisher — Gung Ho Online Entertainment America
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 81% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 87% (Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

We've already been flush with JRPG remakes and remasters over the last year, and 2025 is already shaping up to continue that trend with the already released Tales of Graces f Remastered and Suikoden I & II HD Collection, the upcoming remakes of Dragon Quest I & II, as well as the recently released (today, in fact) Lunar: Remastered Collection. The Lunar games, to those who grew up playing them, are two of the most beloved JRPGs of the 5th generation, and they're now finally available on modern hardware after years spent languishing in relative obscurity (as well as sub-par ports to mobile devices). While these aren't quite full HD-2D remakes in the same style as Square Enix's recent reimaginings of the Erdrick Trilogy from Dragon Quest, they're still a noticeable upgrade over the originals and retain the series' iconic and charming pixel art.

• Release Date — January 16, 2025
• Developer — Tose
• Publisher — Bandai Namco
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 88% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

The Tales of... series is a great line of action JRPGs with real-time combat and more franchise entries than you can shake a stick at, which makes the prospect of getting into these games a bit daunting for newcomers. Thankfully, there are plenty of rankings out there that give players a good idea of where the best place to start with the series is, and that Tales of Graces f ranks near the top of many of those lists comes as no surprise thanks to its charming characters, predictable-but-heartfelt story, and some of the best combat of any Tales game. The recently released remaster of Tales of Graces f is, unsurprisingly, one of the higher-rated JRPGs to release this year, and a reminder of how great it is as a stepping stone into the series.

• Release Date — March 4, 2025
• Developer — Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca
• Publisher — Foreign Gnomes
• Genre — ARPG, Music/Rhythm
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 75% (Mostly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

Part action-adventure, part rhythm/music game, and part RPG, the first Everhood was a surprise indie darling that garnered plenty of positive praise for its unique blend of genres, and Everhood 2 seems to be doing the same. In the month or so since its release, the title has engendered a "Mostly Positive" user rating on Steam, but a quick scan through the reviews shows that, for those who Everhood 2 lands, its addictive rhythm game battle system makes it hard to put down. While it's technically a sequel to the first Everhood, Everhood 2 does take some liberties when it comes to how it innovates over its predecessor, and it opts to tell a sort of alternate take on the original game's events rather than a continuation.

• Release Date — March 20, 2025
• Developer — Digital Sun
• Publisher — Hooded Horse
• Genre — Strategy, RTS, Base-Building, Tower Defense
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 91% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Real-time strategy and tower defense hybrid Cataclismo is the type of game practically tailor-made to be a major hit on PC. Sure enough, its user review scores on Steam far outshine its critical aggregate, with an impressive 91% "Very Positive" score that reflects how much fun Cataclismo's unique building system is. Developer Digital Sun was primarily influenced by the modular nature of LEGO when designing Cataclismo, adopting several of those elements in how players can mix and match more than 100 different building pieces to construct a fortress capable of withstanding even the most dire eldritch onslaught. Given that Digital Sun was also behind the excellent Moonlighter, Cataclismo's critical praise and positive fan response should come as no surprise.

• Release Date — March 12, 2025
• Developer — inkle
• Publisher — inkle
• Genre — Adventure, Mystery/Detective, Visual Novel
• Review Aggregate Score — 82% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 96% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch

Visual novel-style games (especially those with a mystery at their center driving the player forward) have become increasingly popular over the last few years, and inkle's Expelled! is already being talked about as one of the best in the genre. As a student at an all-girls school, it's up to you to solve the mystery of a prefect's wrongful death, lest you face the titular expulsion hanging over your head. I love a good detective/mystery game with adventure elements, and Expelled! is one that has been high on my list since it was initially revealed. If both the review scores and player impressions are any indication, it's one of 2025's can't-miss titles.

• Release Date — March 21, 2025
• Developer — Francis Coulombe
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — Survival Horror, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 98% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

User and critic scores don't always align, but sometimes that discrepancy is a net positive rather than a negative. In the case of Look Outside, which has a strong critical aggregate score of 83% positive reviews but currently sits at a staggering 98% "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam, its ability to resonate more strongly with players rather than reviewers has led to the title being one of the most talked about indies of 2025, and for good reason. Part RPG and part survival horror game, Look Outside does a great job at lulling the player into a false sense of security in-between scares only to pull the rug out from underneath them time and time again, which is only made all the more impactful by some truly creepy and disturbing character and creature design rendered in gorgeous pixel art.

• Release Date — April 1, 2025
• Developer — Studio Tolima
• Publisher — Don't Nod
• Genre — Adventure, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Don't Nod has made a name for itself as a studio that specializes in delivering narrative-forward games, and its publishing arm is now taking on projects with a similar vibe, one of which is this year's Koira. Released at the beginning of April and coming from Studio Tolima, Koira is a charming game about helping to rescue a puppy and protect it from danger. In terms of how that plays out within the gameplay, players will spend most of their time in Koira adventuring, playing different mini-games, and even engaging in some light stealth. We've seen quite a few indie adventure games over the last year that tell heartwarming (and, sometimes, heartbreaking) tales of companionship between humans and animals, and Koira is right up there with last year's Neva as one of the better modern games to do so.

• Release Date — February 13, 2025
• Developer — Darenn Keller
• Publisher — Astra Logical
• Genre — City-Builder, Strategy, Roguelike
• Review Aggregate Score — 83% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

The concept of a roguelike city-builder is one that has already been proven to be a successful combination, thanks to titles like Against the Storm, and this year's Dawnfolk is another title that attempts to blend the two genres. Unlike Against the Storm, though, Dawnfolk is all about both its minimalist presentation (utilizing some very aesthetically pleasing pixel art visuals) and its "back to basics" approach to the city-building mechanics. The developer, Darenn Keller, describes Dawnfolk as both a "minimalist city-builder" and the game he's "dreamt about making", and it's apparent just from the demo how much passion and thought have gone into making Dawnfolk one of 2025's standout indie games.

• Release Date — January 22, 2025
• Developer — Adglobe, Live Wire
• Publisher — Binary Haze Interactive
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 95% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

The Metroidvania renaissance, spurred on by Hollow Knight and its success, has led to a slew of excellent new genre entries, with Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights at or near the top of the best. So it should come as no surprise to see its sequel, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, end up as one of 2025's best-reviewed games so far, with its Early Access period ending this January. Part of what has helped Ender Magnolia achieve such widespread critical acclaim is the devs' attention paid to considerable fan feedback during that Early Access period, which resulted in Ender Magnolia not only having plenty of new content at launch, but also arriving incredibly polished and improving on nearly every mechanic carried over from its predecessor.

• Release Date — February 6, 2025
• Developer — YCJY Games
• Publisher — YCJY Games
• Genre — Adventure, RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Last year's critically-acclaimed Pacific Drive proved that players are very interested in car-centric adventures, and 2025's Keep Driving is here to pick up the proverbial pace with yet another adventure/RPG hybrid that takes place entirely from behind the wheel of a car. Whereas Pacific Drive was all about its atmosphere and vibes, though, Keep Driving has earned plenty of praise from both critics and players alike thanks to its well-written narrative that weaves in a rich tapestry of human stories collected along the highway. It doesn't hurt that Keep Driving also features some excellent pixel art visuals and one heck of a soundtrack featuring plenty of great, introspective tunes.

• Release Date — March 4, 2025
• Developer — Two Point Studios
• Publisher — Sega
• Genre — Simulation, Strategy
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Anyone who has played the previous Two Point games knows exactly what to expect going into this year's Two Point Museum, and the game's critical and user scores only serve to highlight that it's yet another excellent, and hilarious, management sim with accessible mechanics and a steady progression curve that doesn't overwhelm the player. Both Two Point Hospital and Two Point University were almost instant-classics in the simulation genre, and it's no surprise at all to see Two Point Museum earn top marks as one of the year's best-reviewed games. For anyone who's ever watched the ridiculous Night at the Museum movies and thought, "Hey, that looks fun!", Two Point Museum is probably right up your alley.

• Release Date — January 31, 2025
• Developer — Jump Over The Age
• Publisher — Fellow Traveler
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 84% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S

RPGs typically blend both strong narrative elements and a compelling combat system to take players on a journey with real thematic stakes, but recent award-winning RPGs like Disco Elysium and the first Citizen Sleeper eschew any notion of traditional RPG combat in favor of deep and meaningful player choice and freedom of expression that open up near-limitless possibilities in terms of true role-playing. Citizen Sleeper was a massive hit because of this novel approach (as was Disco Elysium), and Citizen Sleeper 2 is perhaps an even more tightly-paced and well-written RPG story with some excellent dice-based choice-making and branching pathways that will continually have you second-guessing even the most innocuous decisions.

• Release Date — May 14, 2025
• Developer — id Software
• Publisher — Bethesda Softworks
• Genre — FPS
• Review Aggregate Score — 85% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

While it hasn't been released for the general gaming public yet, early critical response to Doom: The Dark Ages is already very positive, which you'd likely expect given the series' excellent modern reboot and groundbreaking 2020 sequel, Doom Eternal. But unlike the first two newer Doom games, which increasingly emphasized speed and movement while expanding the Doom Slayer's tool kit, Doom: The Dark Ages is more about standing your ground and mastering the new shield, which apparently gives the title its own unique gameplay flow and is incredibly satisfying to use. As a bonus, Doom: The Dark Ages is meant to fill in the story gaps that lead to Doom Eternal, giving us some crucial backstory on the Makers and the Slayer himself.

• Release Date — April 17, 2025
• Developer — Psychoflow Studio, Mureena Oy
• Publisher — Kepler Interactive
• Genre — Platformer, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 97% (Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5

Despite having just been released, atmospheric puzzle platformer Bionic Bay is quickly rising up the ranks to be one of 2025's best-reviewed games. The unique twist in Bionic Bay is the player's ability to manipulate both time and the environment, which creates some interesting opportunities for tackling the many challenges that the game throws at the player. Puzzle and precision platformers have had a bit of a resurgence over the last few years, and Bionic Bay is one whose production values and unique premise position it to be one of the best genre titles of the year.

• Release Date — March 20, 2025
• Developer — Monolith Soft
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Genre — ARPG, Open-World
• Review Aggregate Score — 86% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — N/A
• Platforms — Nintendo Switch

To absolutely no one's surprise, the long-awaited Switch port of one of the best Wii U exclusives, Xenoblade Chronicles X, has finally arrived to considerable critical acclaim. The only missing piece of the Xenoblade Chronicles safa on the Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles X is surprisingly quite different from the mainline games, swapping the series' JRPG mechanics for an open-world action RPG where you get to pilot a mech (dubbed a "Skell") around one of the most beautiful and immersive sandboxes of the era. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition looks and runs phenomenally on the Switch, and it's arguably an essential pick-up that will carry over nicely to the backward-compatible Switch 2.

• Release Date — January 15, 2025
• Developer — Robin Ward
• Publisher — Evil Trout
• Genre — Adventure, Mystery/Detective, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 87% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC

There have been a few well-reviewed and award-winning/nominated analog horror/mystery games in the last two years (with Home Safety Hotline immediately coming to mind as one of the better games in that subgenre), and this year's The Roottrees Are Dead is quickly climbing the ladder to be talked about as one of the very best analog horror games in that quickly-growing space. Like the title implies, The Roottrees Are Dead tasks the player with solving an increasingly engrossing murder mystery to discover the fate of the Roottree family, using era-appropriate investigative tools (including a painstakingly recreated 1998 internet experience) to uncover the sordid details behind their fate and the mysterious corporation under their control.

• Release Date — February 28, 2025
• Developer — Capcom
• Publisher — Capcom
• Genre — Action, ARPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 63% (Mixed)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

The best-selling game of 2025 is also one of its best-reviewed, with Monster Hunter Wilds a certified phenomenon and a major win for Capcom. Not only is the title the fastest-selling game in the Monster Hunter series (proving that the franchise has officially broken through to the mainstream), it's also the fastest-selling game in Capcom's history, period. Even more than a month out from its release, Monster Hunter Wilds is still boasting impressive player counts on Steam, and Capcom's intent to continue supporting the title for years to come bodes well for its excellent and finely-tuned evolution of the Monster Hunter series. As it stands, I've already put roughly 70 hours into Wilds playing in both solo and co-op, and I can easily see myself investing a hundred more.

• Release Date — February 4, 2025
• Developer — Warhorse Studios
• Publisher — Deep Silver
• Genre — RPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 88% (Generally Favorable)
• Steam User Score — 93% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

The world's most historically accurate RPG franchise made a triumphant return this year with the highly anticipated Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. And from what just about everyone is saying, it's one of 2025's most essential games and quite possibly one of the best RPGs to release in quite some time. Not nearly as large or expansive as an Elder Scrolls game, Kingdom Come Deliverance II prides itself on densely packed, intricately researched spaces that feel like real, lived-in places for players to role-play as an up-and-coming knight in 15th-century Bohemia, and it excels as a unique and immersive RPG experience as a result. Even better, most of the issues players took with combat have been mostly ironed out in the sequel, making Kingdom Come: Deliverance II feel like the true realization of Warhorse Studios' original vision.

• Release Date — April 10, 2025
• Developer — Croteam
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — Adventure, Puzzle
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 88% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

The original Talos Principle was an excellent and critically-acclaimed first-person puzzle adventure game from (surprisingly) the team behind Serious Sam, and this year's ground-up visual overhaul is following suit as one of 2025's best-reviewed games. The Talos Principle: Reawakened packages together both the base game and the deviously hard DLC that the original received, but it enhances the experience for modern hardware through a complete visual overhaul courtesy of Unreal Engine 5, resulting in Reawakened being one of the best-looking puzzle games on the market.

• Release Date — March 6, 2025
• Developer — Hazelight Studios
• Publisher — Electronic Arts
• Genre — Action-Adventure, Co-Op
• Review Aggregate Score — 91% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 97% (Overwhelmingly Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, Xbox Series X/S

An early Game of the Year front-runner, Hazelight Studios' Split Fiction is following closely in the footsteps of the studio's last game (2022's Game of the Year winner, It Takes Two) as a co-op-focused action-adventure game with so many unique setpiece moments and gameplay mechanics that it's almost dizzying. But, like It Takes Two, Split Fiction manages to pack in an impressive amount of quality into each of its gameplay vignettes (which, separately, could each easily be their own critically-acclaimed game), and it honestly makes you wonder what Hazelight Studios could possibly do next given the impressive amount of creativity on display.

• Release Date — April 10, 2025
• Developer — Dogubomb
• Publisher — Raw Fury
• Genre — Adventure, Puzzle, Mystery, Roguelike
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 82% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC

Coming out of left field to be the best-reviewed game of 2025 is this month's Blue Prince. It seems like just about everyone can't stop talking about Blue Prince (or "blueprints"), and for good reason. This first-person puzzle platformer is a game that, like an onion, only continues to reveal more and more layers as players attempt to unravel its mystery, gradually pushing their way through a mansion with an ever-changing layout in an effort to find the elusive 46th room and claim what lies within.

You could describe Blue Prince as a mix between Myst and a roguelike, but doing so would be reductive and fail to grasp what makes the game so special, with some players continuing to uncover new mechanics and rooms after nearly 100 hours spent scouring the mansion. Blue Prince is a puzzle game for the ages, and it has the review scores to back that sentiment up.

• Release Date — April 24, 2025
• Developer — Sandfall Interactive
• Publisher — Kepler Interactive
• Genre — JRPG
• Review Aggregate Score — 92% (Universal Acclaim)
• Steam User Score — 94% (Very Positive)
• Platforms — PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

To be perfectly blunt, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is already the clear front-runner for Game of the Year and is one of those "game of a generation"-type experiences that only come around every so often. It's that good. While it would delve into spoiler territory to truly examine the minutiae of what makes Clair Obscur so special, it can easily be summed up as "a JRPG fan's JRPG", trimming all the unnecessary or annoying parts of a typical turn-based role-playing game and delivering an experience that fires on all cylinders when it comes to its visuals, art direction, story, combat, and just about everything else. If Clair Obscur ends up sweeping several categories at The Game Awards this year, it will be well-deserved.