Branching Path: Kite Stenbuck's Top 10 Games of 2025

2025 marked a major turning point in my gaming life. I used to be a PlayStation enthusiast since the PS1 era, but after seeing SIE gradually making numerous decisions that alienate Japanese game creators and players alike, I finally had enough and completely canceled my PlayStation Plus subscription as I moved on to formally embrace the PC platform.

Around the beginning of the year, I had just enough savings to procure a complete set of PC parts. With an RTX 4070 Ti Super, a Ryzen 9800X3D processor, and a motherboard with four M.2 slots, I felt so ready to take on numerous games at maximum settings with over 60 fps at 1440p. Going forward, this PC shall be my primary go-to place for pretty much every game that is not exclusive to Nintendo's consoles. (By the way, I have also gotten hold of a Switch 2 myself.)

This also meant I mostly spent the year checking my backlog of games purchased via Steam sales and revisiting the older games that I had played on a PlayStation with this PC (especially Ace Combat 7, now that the hype squadron for Ace Combat 8 is in full flight towards 2026). I also had a newfound interest in the Automation genre, with games like Dyson Sphere Program and The Colonists managing to capture my attention from among the backlog.

For this article, though, I will only list the single-purchase (non-F2P) new games and remasters that had their full releases in 2025. Unless otherwise specified, I played most of these games on the new PC. I finally had played enough new games to make a full Top 10 list this time around. But first, let's start with the games that missed the top 10 but are still worth a side mention.

Side Mentions

Tokyo Xtreme Racer

The classic Japanese car racing game series is back after almost 20 years of hiatus. After first appearing via Early Access early in January, it finally had a full release in September. The game lets you roam around a good part of Tokyo's real expressways and race pretty much any vehicle you see across from bona-fide rival cars, taxis, to even trucks.

By the way, even though this game made it into the nominations for Steam Awards' best soundtrack award, I actually mostly turn up my playlist of Eurobeat songs that have been officially featured in Initial D and MF Ghost—just like in pretty much every car racing game I play. And as a new season of the MF Ghost anime started airing just recently, this playlist will surely get updated with even more songs.

Super Robot Wars Y

A new Super Robot Wars console game release is already a good thing by itself. The new SRW entry Y particularly came with a massive engine shift to Unity, which also brought a rather major change to its interface. The game itself still plays mostly the same as prior entries, and I particuarly like how I can check the attack ranges of each unit straight from the attack list.

But apart from the historic global release debut of Macross Delta, the launch roster felt rather underwhelming since all the returning titles are from the recent localized entries and the SRW DD mobile game, and the other debutants were also closely related to the recently featured titles.

And the fact that Bandai Namco also employed similar DLC packs that add more titles in-game like SRW 30 completely spoiled the story experience for me. So far I'm still limiting myself to the early stages, and I will only continue the game to its completion once the rest of the Season Pass content has come out.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny Remastered

Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny was one of the games I played a lot during the PlayStation Vita era. So to see Bandai Namco bringing back this gem to current platforms was a very pleasant surprise to me.

The base systems still mostly play the same like the original PSV release with a new interface design and improved graphics. But even though I am mostly a single-player person, the decision to completely eliminating multiplayer while still retaining a "CPU VS" mode still seems rather questionable.

However, releasing this remaster in 2025 with pretty much the same content as the original release left quite a lot to be desired... especially since people nowadays would mostly talk about the Gundam SEED Freedom movie. The timing also means it missed the newer side stories like Gundam SEED Eclipse and Astray: Princess of the Sky. However, this remaster also rejogged my memories that the best SEED waifu Shiho Hahnenfuss did not appear in the original PS Vita release either.

10) Dynasty Warriors Origins

You may be wondering here: I have been long associated with the Dynasty Warriors series, but why am I putting its latest entry so low in my ranking? Simply put, I am part of the series' fanbase that ended up getting disappointed with Dynasty Warriors Origins' direction on a very specific aspect.

I'd say this game is still very good on its own if you're new or have had a hiatus, though. DW Origins indeed did very well on the gameplay system and the battle presentations, so if you care more about the gameplay challenges, then this reboot is right up your alley.

However, as someone who has been long following the series, I had also invested much of my time with the characters and settings behind Romance of the Three Kingdoms. And my biggest issue with Origins is that the team made more than necessary omissions of returning characters that end up damaging parts of the game's narratives. The absence of Lu Xun despite the addition of Sun Ce's siege battle against the former's kinsmen already left a gaping hole in the whole Sun clan's interactions. But what I find even more unacceptable are the complete retcons of Cao Ren as the attacking leader in the Battle of Xinye and Man Chong for Cao Cao's eventual recruitment of Xu Huang.

I am still looking forward to the upcoming Visions of Four Heroes expansion DLC, since it will address one of my lesser issues regarding support towards factions other than the main three. But if the existing factions' storylines do not get any additions, then my main issue will still stand.

By the way, DW Origins was also one of the reasons for me to leave the PlayStation platform. For whatever reason, Sony and Koei Tecmo separated the Chinese language support to its own build on the PS5, so it becomes impossible to enjoy the game with English subtitles and Chinese voiceovers there; it is instead supported on the PC version (as well as Xbox).

9) Monster Hunter Wilds

The new mainline Monster Hunter entry formed another reason for me to build this new PC. The earlier PC I have could barely maintain 60 fps on the benchmark with its i9-10900 processor. Once this new PC got completed, it actually lived up to my expectations by never going below the minimum 60 fps threshold, even at the toughest processing point on the plains panorama.

But once I actually got into the full release of MH Wilds... I had mixed feelings on how Capcom drastically changed the Lance's moveset in this new entry. The camera focus mode does let me attack specific body parts with a more pinpointed precision. But having mained the Lance since my entry in Monster Hunter 3, the changes they made to the basic combos felt rather jarring to me.

I also rather like how our own avatar can actually speak in the more story-driven cutscenes here. However, the complete disappearance of the Monster Hunter Language voiceover option is a rather big sad news as a long-time veteran. So I end up playing with German voiceovers as I think they sound the closest to the original language.

8) Freedom Wars Remastered

Freedom Wars was one of the games I enjoyed a lot during the period when Japanese companies raced to make their own Monster Hunter clones. So when Bandai Namco and Dimps released a remaster of this game, it really felt like a blast into the past for me.

Unlike the aforementioned remaster of Gundam SEED: Battle Destiny, Freedom Wars did not have any major story bits added elsewhere in the between, so I did not fuss about the same content volume here. The rates for specific enemy part drops are still as sketchy as ever, though.

Also, by playing this remaster on PC, I can even enjoy it with multiple control schemes, where I can use the mouse & keyboard when I want to focus on the shooting segment, and the PlayStation controller for the more general movements and melee attacks.

7) Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

I have to say, out of the new Warriors/Musou games that came out in 2025, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment was the one that I genuinely enjoyed much more. Unlike the aforementioned Dynasty Warriors, I do not have any prior knowledge of this game's story (just like how Age of Calamity tried to expand further on Breath of the Wild's past), so I could completely enjoy following the new storyline.

In addition, as the first Switch 2-exclusive game I actually played, I also totally expected how Age of Imprisonment can pull out 60 fps when docked, but I'm particularly impressed at how it can also reach this smooth framerate while undocked as well.

As a side note, I also checked out how the preceding Age of Calamity performed on Switch 2 beforehand, and it appeared to be completely locked into 30 fps, even when docked. I just wish it could have a Switch 2 Edition or an update patch that could bring it up to 60 fps on the new console.

6) Juufuutei Raden's Guide for Pixel Museum

I have also been enjoying Picross/Nonogram puzzle games during some of my pastime. But while most other games simply showed the resulting images, this new game starring the Hololive Vtuber Juufuutei Raden went far beyond that.

Juufuutei Raden's Guide for Pixel Museum notably had most of the puzzles based on actual works of art like paintings, statues, and handicraft, as well as staple rakugo stories. But the imageries did not end there, as the result screen also came with in-depth commentary by Raden herself. I really like it when a game has additional insights on historical elements like these!

5) JDM: Japanese Drift Master

There were two racing games that caught my attention in 2025, but I felt like I could only include one of them in the top 10. After a rather lengthy deliberation, I decided that JDM: Japanese Drift Master is the one to fill this spot.

This game is actually not made in Japan—it's from a Polish group, which also explained the protagonist's nationality, yet it felt a lot like a love letter to all fans of Japanese racing games, anime, and manga. Initial D especially comes to my mind. In fact, the game also has a radio channel dedicated to the Eurobeat genre, which includes both J-Euro songs and Eurobeats with English lyrics.

A very recent update patch that came out last December even added the very unexpected things in some of the actual Initial D Eurobeat songs like Running in the 90's, Chemical Love, and The Top. That's it, the love letter is finally completed for real.

4) Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition

Here's another one of my confessions: I never owned a Wii U. So I had been looking forward to see Xenoblade X ported to the Switch. And in what has been a forthcoming one, it finally received one.

The actual fun of this game really begins once the party members can pilot the Skell mechs. Imagine exploring an open world map and fighting monsters while piloting the mechs. And on top of that, the game's soundtrack was composed by Sawano Hiroyuki, who is best known for Gundam Unicorn, Narrative, and most recently the Hathaway's Flash movies.

I'll never cease finding it amusing though that getting a game over in a Xenoblade entry does not have any punishments for your characters and instead even rewards a few achievements to boot... yet this game still has some sort of punishment for wrecking a Skell if you somehow screw the eject sequence QTE. It's as if parts for the large mechs are far more precious than the humans' spare bodies.

3) Winning Post 10 2025

The global release of Umamusume did spark a new widespread interest for horse racing in general to many people, including myself. But the game having not only mares but also stallions depicted as girls (instead of stallions becoming guys) means it's not really my cup of tea. So after a bit of wandering, I decided it's high time I checked Koei Tecmo's Winning Post series.

To summarize this game, it places you as a racehorse owner and breeder. You primarily manage the horses' race schedules and tactics along with special training sessions, while appointing jockies to ride your horses during races and trainers for the more general training regimes. During the mid-year breeding season, you can also determine which horses should breed with each other to produce foals with ideal genes.

I ended up getting hooked with the game's flow. As the years go by, you don't only raise the horses but also even your human family. You can get married and even raise children, most of whom can also be raised to have jobs related to horse racing. In addition, the game featured not only races in Japan but also major races worldwide from North America and Europe to even Australia and the Middle East. Once you have made enough progress, you can even run horse ranches in not only Japan but also the US and a European country.

While Winning Post is also available on PC, the Steam release is region-locked to Japan only, so that's why I played this on the Switch instead. Despite the global rise in horse racing interest, I find it perplexing that Koei Tecmo is still keeping the series locked to Japan, even though the games also feature famous horses and races from all around the world... and the next annual release of Winning Post 10 2026 does not seem to rectify that either, so I wonder if we'll have to wait until a new major iteration like Winning Post 11 is coming out, hopefully while the global racehorse hype is still lit.

2) Once Upon A Katamari

The King of All Cosmos has finally returned with his whole extended family. After a couple of teases with the remasters of the first two Katamari Damacy entries, Bandai Namco has finally released a brand-new console game in Once Upon A Katamari.

This new game distinguished itself from all past entries (including the recent Apple Arcade release of Rolling Live) by having its stages take place in older historical periods, yet the series' usual zaniness is still kept intact, such as having some of the people wear dinosaur costumes in the Jurassic era stages.

The soundtrack also included awesome songs as always. The climactic world stage feels so exciting with Matsuzaki Shigeru's new song Power of Katamari Damacy, but Suisei Biyori also sounds very gorgeous. And what I like the most here is that we can make our own new cousin, so that we can be part of the extended family too.

If there are several criticisms I could throw around, I wish the team brought back features from the PS3 game Katamari Forever/Tribute like jumping, and that the Eternal mode should be available for more stages. But those aside, Once Upon A Katamari still shaped up to be one of the games I enjoyed the most last year.

1) Digimon Story: Time Stranger

Digimon Story has been one of my top favorite game series, both in the Digimon franchise and the overall RPG genre. Ever since the DS games, I've been liking the general gameplay flow of scanning wild Digimon data to generate playable versions of them, and after raising them we can choose what kinds of Digimon they'll evolve into.

The Cyber Sleuth sub-series further raised the bar by having such an immersive network world-themed setting and storyline. So when Time Stranger was revealed and eventually released as a new entry in the series, I already had high expectation levels. And the new game has certainly met most of that.

Time Stranger practically went back to a story flow that's more typical of a Digimon title, where the Digital World the Digimon originated from gets prominently featured. Nevertheless, it still had a strong narrative to me, especially after the time skip at the middle point. I also liked the tweaks made to the gameplay system, such as how the non-fixed Skills now appear as Attachments, so that we can more easily customize a Digimon's skill list to our liking.

But if there's just one low point for me to bring up here, I felt like Takada-san's soundtrack here wasn't as strong as how he did the Cyber Sleuths—whereas the previous ones had overall hits, Time Stranger had a few misses despite a number of bullseyes, with the regular battle themes being examples of the former. While I managed to get the Cyber Sleuth music DLC pack, it somehow did not include every track from the previous sub-series either.

It is yet to be known whether Digimon Story: Time Stranger will be my most impactful Game of the Decade just like how the Cyber Sleuth sub-series did for the 2010s, but so far it did definitely get my top spotlight for the year 2025.