2023 was one of the greatest gaming years of my life. I felt like I played more amazing games that year than perhaps any other year in my life. I was very pessimistic about 2024 surpassing it. Then, 2024 came in and did surpass it for me by a hair. I thought 2023 was a byproduct of a lot of covid delayed games that finally came out. 2024 had me questioning this.
Now, as I look ahead to 2025, I feel very strongly that this could easily top those two years. I have 15 games listed here, and I could have listed many more. I don’t even have any smaller indie games on this list, because their release windows don’t tend to be publicized quite as early as other games (they also do Early Access way more which can make it hard to track what is actually coming out in a given year). If you add in the many indie games that I will surely love this year, this year is going to be insane. Perhaps a few of these will get delayed, but that might even be a relief.
I honestly think something is happening in the gaming industry right now. Yes, there is a lot of turmoil with layoffs and other things, but it also seems like a lot of developers are really getting a handle on how to make games more fun. Developers are better at refining their sequels than almost any time that I have ever seen. We also have the tech now that seems to allow more developers to actually reach the visions they have. Gaming has also been around long enough now, where we seem to get at least a few amazing reboots of older games each and every year.
As much bad stuff is going on in the industry, there is some amazing stuff happening, too. Buckle up for what could be one of the most loaded gaming years of our lives. Here are the fifteen games I am most hyped for this year.
15. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
The original Kingdom Come Deliverance was one of my most anticipated games in 2018. It had some interesting ideas in terms of creating an open world RPG that tried to actually put you in the shoes of a “normal” person. And when I played the game, I was in awe for a while at how immersive it felt. I really felt transported into the past, and it wasn’t quite like anything else on the market.
However, the more I played, the more frustrated I got with the game. It is an incredibly clunky experience in so many ways when you aren’t just walking around a town and talking to people. So I am hesitant when it comes to Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, but I also feel like I have some room for optimism. With 7 years of time and better technology out there, I have to imagine KCD2 will be even more immersive than last time. The strengths will be even better.
The question for me is, will the weaknesses be addressed? I have no idea, and frankly, the clips I’ve seen don’t give me tons of confidence there. But if the gameplay is even a bit more refined, this would have a real chance of being one of my top 10 of 2025. That potential has me excited, even if I’m cautious about it as well.
14. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was also in my most anticipated for 2024. Welcome back!
Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite games of all time. I tried to play Metal Gear Solid 3 when it came out, but the gameplay changes felt clunky to me at the time. I really regret that I didn’t try harder to get into it, as it probably has the most impactful story of any of the games in the series from what I’ve seen. This remake seems like my chance to try again. We have seen developers do some incredible things with remakes the past few years with Final Fantasy 7, Silent Hill 2, and Resident Evil 4. This gives me a lot of faith that this will be the MGS3 experience that I’ve dreamed of. I can’t wait to experience this story in full!
13. Avowed
We have another returning champion here! Avowed was also in my most anticipated games of 2023. This is further down the list than last time, but I’m still quite excited about this. This feels like a nice Skyrim-lite type game. While it might not have the scope of that game, it feels like it will at least have more refined combat.
But in the end, it’s Obsidian. I like big open world RPGs, and they pretty much never miss with at least giving me an 8/10 type game. I have complete confidence that this will be a strong outing.
12. Mafia: The Old Country
I have only ever played the first Mafia game, and I jumped off of it pretty quickly. I just wasn’t vibing with the general open world elements of that game.
This trailer got me very on board with giving the series another shot. This looks incredibly cinematic and intense. Perhaps even better, according to press releases, the game seems to be going a more linear route instead of messing with the open world again. That could benefit this game greatly. Going with a fun linear story instead of trying to mimic GTA and coming short seems like a smart business decision when this could drop the same year that GTA6 does. I’m excited to take a look.
11. Ghost of Yotei
I really enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima, but I feel like a hater sometimes because I have it closer to an 8/10 than one of the best games of all time. I thought the combat felt great, but the lack of depth made it get less interesting the further I played. While the open world is one of the most beautiful in gaming history, the actual open world activities were kind of mediocre. The story has some incredible moments, but there also just isn’t that much going on for a good chunk of the game.
Regardless, I understand why people love it. And I do have a fair bit of optimism for this one. I recall enjoying Infamous 2 significantly more than Infamous 1, which was also a Sucker Punch creation. The core tools are all there to create a truly fantastic game, and I expect to see Yotei take several leaps over what Tsushima did.
10. Outer Worlds 2
I really enjoyed Outer Worlds. It was a nice Fallout-lite type game for me. I ended up giving it around an 8/10. But the recent trailer for the game put my hype on another level.
The trailer promises a game that is about two times bigger, which rules, as Outer Worlds was a bit smaller than I had hoped for. The trailer also makes note of how good Obsidian tends to be at a sequel. The brief glimpses of combat also seem a fair bit better than the first game.
From a personal perspective, I almost always prefer sci-fi over fantasy, so Obsidian doing sci-fi is a bit more exciting than the fantasy world of Avowed for me. I am a bit pessimistic about this coming out in 2025. But if it does, I think it’s going to be a large step up from the first game.
9. Crimson Desert
I completely dismissed this game when it was first announced. I knew this was from the same developer as the Black Desert MMO, so I, of course, assumed it was an MMO. I thought it looked cool, but it didn’t matter.
Then, I randomly found out that this is, in fact, a single-player game. All of a sudden, things changed fast for me. This looks like a stunning open world RPG. The combat and the graphics look excellent so far. There are videos online of people playing this game for an hour, and almost everything looked pretty damn appealing to me.
Of course, I still have a little hesitance since this developer was doing MMOs before, but FF16 turned out damn good and that was the same situation, so I don’t have any reason to doubt this from what I’ve seen.
8. Dispatch
I really enjoyed Telltale games in their heyday. The first Walking Dead game was a classic. So was The Wolf Among Us, but like many, I think a few too many of these games were released, and I just kind of fell off on them.
Upon watching the trailer for Dispatch, I felt very ready to jump back in. Dispatch is a new IP being built by many former employees from Telltale, and it looks fantastic.
The art style is very cool. The idea of being a police dispatcher of sorts except for superheroes is really neat and feels like it could be a fun gameplay hook to go with the more standard narrative game elements. The plot hooks in the trailer had me interested, and this has a seriously star-studded cast. I think this is going more under the radar than it should, as this looks absolutely phenomenal to me.
7. Grand Theft Auto 6
I originally had this game lower, but as I reflected on it, I know I will start getting very hyped for this once we get a few weeks away from it.
In the end, I expect one of the most detailed open worlds possible. I also expect top-tier storytelling and overall production values. Grand Theft Auto games are more than just any big release. They are events that we just don’t see almost ever these days. Your friend that never plays single-player games might very well jump into this one. That alone is pretty cool. And I have no doubt Rockstar will deliver on what they do best.
Now, will the gameplay hold up? I’m not as confident there. We’ve seen some incredible open world games in recent years with tons of depth, and I have pessimism that this game will be on that level. However, it should still hopefully be something special.
6. Split Fiction
It’s crazy how there are almost no AA or AAA games on the market that do what Hazelight Studios does. We just don’t see many games these days built from the ground up for co-op like this.
Admittedly, these types of games didn’t used to work for me. I desperately wanted to play It Takes Two when it came out, but I couldn’t find anyone to play with. I’m fortunate to now have lots of cool gaming friends thanks to this blog. So I’m very amped to be able to jump into this immediately.
I absolutely love the concept here. The game features authors who get trapped in their own worlds and have to escape. One is a science fiction author, and the other is a fantasy author. So the levels will alternate between genres, which means there should be tons of variety here. I just started playing It Takes Two with a friend in anticipation, and it is a lovely time. There’s no reason why this won’t be an absolute banger.
5. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
I’m absolutely shocked that I have this game so high. At this point, Like a Dragon feels like a must-play series for me going forward. I really enjoyed Infinite Wealth, and I’m down for exploring these worlds and playing these minigames anytime there is a new release now.
But when Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was announced, I kind of rolled my eyes. I get that this is a side story, but it just seemed a little too goofy and over the top for me, even for a franchise known for that.
The recent gameplay reveals changed my tune fast. First off, I am excited for a return to the action gameplay to change things up. I fought a whole lot of battles with the Infinite Wealth turn based system last year. It’s definitely a good system, but I’m also very interested in a break from it.
The bigger thing is that this ship combat looks incredible. This legitimately looks like the series take on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Both the actual gameplay and the ship/crew building elements looked very deep and very easy to get lost in for hours. This looks significantly more ambitious than I expected, and I can’t wait to see what RGG has up its sleeves here.
4. Doom: The Dark Ages
For whatever reason, I passed on DOOM in 2016, and thus, I also passed on DOOM Eternal in 2020.
After watching this awesome trailer, I felt compelled to try DOOM (2016), and I was won over almost immediately. The combat in that game feels amazing, and all the systems work together in such cool and cohesive ways.
I just started DOOM Eternal a few days ago and was equally blown away. I’m especially impressed by how much the game changes up the formula from the first game, despite how successful it was.
DOOM: The Dark Ages looks set to also change some mechanics up in big ways. The shield the game has looks really cool. I love how it gives you a real defensive option (though, of course, it is also an offensive weapon as well). Some of the new guns also look really neat. There is almost no way that this game won’t be fantastic.
3. Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
I’ve seen a lot of pessimism regarding this game because of the delays, but I remain hyped.
First off, the three open world Assassin Creed games so far were all excellent. I loved Origins. I thought Odyssey was an all-timer. And I really enjoyed Valhalla until it just became a bit too daunting for me.
I expect a massive world, a cool setting, and fun combat and stealth. Next-gen hardware should lower the very long load times that I experienced playing Valhalla on an Xbox One. I think having a black samurai and female ninja as lead characters in this era will lead to some interesting interactions and story elements. And once again, I really think the core gameplay is going to be strong. I’m hopeful that Ubisoft learned a lot from some of Valhalla’s issues. I’m also hopeful that these extra few months will lead to a more polished experience. I am the number one Ubisoft believer these days, apparently!
2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
To be honest, ranks 3-15 here all feel very fluid. I think my given mood on any day could move almost any of those games to any rank within that range.
But when it comes to the top two, I’m not messing around. These are my clear, most anticipated games of 2025.
I finally dove into the original Death Stranding earlier last year, and after pushing through a somewhat jarring introduction from both a gameplay and story perspective, I was hooked. Now, I can’t wait to see what Kojima cooks up this time. The early trailers already look phenomenal (and are what inspired me to give the original game a look in the first place).
The nice thing about this game is that it should be a lot easier to walk into than the first one. Some of that learning curve will be gone. The early trailers also imply a slightly heavier action focus, which I think could pay off as well. No matter what, I will be there.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
I do feel a bit of sympathy sometimes for those who really wish that Final Fantasy was turn-based again. Yes, there are tons of other turn-based games out there, but almost none of those games are on the cinematic level of a Final Fantasy game. They don’t tend to have the combination of the graphics, the music, and the grandeur.
Well, say hello to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This truly seems like a best of all worlds situation. The battles are turn-based but also have the most action elements within a turn-based system that I think I have ever seen. The art direction looks absolutely incredible. The voice acting talent is top-tier, including Ben Starr, who was the star of Final Fantasy XVI. The story hook involving everyone of a certain age dying at a certain time is also really interesting. This is from a new studio, so there is always risk there, but I just find a hard time believing that this will miss. I can’t wait for this game. Last year, my top 2 most anticipated games ended up being my top 2 games of the year. I won’t be shocked at all if that happens again here.
Well, I’m officially done with lists… for at least a few weeks. I’m hoping to have reviews of Closer the Distance and Indiana Jones next week. See you then!
Also, if you want a whole lot more of my video game takes, I spent nearly 5 hours on Stage Select debating the top 10 games of 2024. Available on any podcast platform! Spotify link is here. Please check it out!
Big Nerd Gaming 
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