Though I’m a longtime reader and listener to RPGFan, 2025 was my first year on the other side of the pen and mic. Being among such knowledgeable and talented colleagues has reignited my love of RPGs and gifted me my first forays into many wonderful series: Breath of Fire, Seiken Densetsu, Wild ARMs, Star Ocean, and more. I’m truly blessed to have something like RPGFan to look forward to each day. There has been a gold rush of great new titles this year—too much for one meagre man to play, though plenty I plan on getting to. Among the new stuff I did play, here are my 2025 highlights. Get your tuxedos on, roll out the red carpet, and play the music!
The “How Did I Wait So Long to Play This??” Award: Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
By neither looking nor playing like any of my beloved mainline Final Fantasy games, Tactics pushed me away for many years. I tried playing War of the Lions on a flight here or there, only making it a few hours each time. The Ivalice Chronicles—and my fellow RPGFan staff’s enthusiasm—finally hooked me into a full playthrough, and how incredible it was. The quality-of-life improvements and top-tier voice acting in this remake have made me appreciate the original Tactics’ white-knuckle combat scenario design and painfully human characters and story. This isn’t like any other Final Fantasy—its writing and localization far surpass any title in the series.
The Most Loving Remake Award: Amerzone: The Explorer’s Legacy
Sacre bleu! Are most of my favourite games this year from France?! Amerzone strikes the perfect balance of what a remake should be, faithfully enhancing and modernizing Benoît Sokal’s 1999 adventure classic to match the rose-tinted image in fans’ heads, while adding worthwhile (yet optional) content and replayability. I was thoroughly invested in its methodical and earnest sense of pulpy adventure that truly made me feel as if I were living a novel by Jules Verne or Robert Louis Stevenson.
The “Shhhh! Don’t Tell My Editor This Isn’t In Our Coverage” Award: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Even if you were put off by the walky, talky Death Stranding (or as my wife calls it, “that weird baby game”), Death Stranding 2 cuts right to the gameplay goodness and doesn’t stop piling on mechanics to further liberate how you carry packages from point A to B. Its open-world Australia feels intentionally designed to make every footfall meaningful. Its narrative ideas are bigger and wackier, its cast of famous directors and actors is charming, and its sheer polish in every visual, audio, and tactile field is remarkable. Death Stranding 2 is the grandest accomplishment of an auteur’s vision in all of gaming.
The Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It Award: Hades II
It’s hard to improve something as perfect as the first Hades—so why not tweak and double it?! Hades II packs in not one but two embarkable routes, each with its own bosses and encounterable gods, demigods, and heroes of Greek mythology. There’s practically enough polished content here for a second and third Hades, and new protagonist Melinoë and her witchy spells play just differently enough from Zagreus to refresh even fans with hundreds of runs under their… um, togas. I know what you’re wondering, and don’t worry: all of the characters are still hot.
The Still Broke, Don’t Fix It Award: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
The original Oblivion is one of my favourite, formative Western RPGs for both its massive, liberated scale and its hilarious bugs. Oblivion Remastered has thoughtfully retooled some of its role-playing mechanics and has removed most game-crashing glitches, while keeping in the goofiness that made the nation of Cyrodiil so endearing. It looks gorgeous, and the infamously narrow voice cast has been somewhat beefed up. DLC is included, so armor up your horses and go stumble upon some seriously entertaining side quests.
The Year’s Most Obvious GOTY Award: Clair Obscur Expedition 33
One of my favourite 2025 memories was the hype surrounding Clair Obscur. No other game has ever made more people at RPGFan, at work, or in my personal life approach me to talk about it. Everything about Clair Obscur is sublime. The timing/turn-based combat and all of its stacking combos never ceased to excite me. Lorien Testard’s nine-hour-plus soundtrack continually amazed me with the number of impressive, diverse themes for each situation. The story, though I have hangups about the use of minor characters, was enthralling and emotional on levels few games reach. Clair Obscur is destined to become an all-timer RPG, talked about in the same breath as Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect 2, and Disco Elysium.
The Would-Be GOTY if Clair Obscur Didn’t Come Out Award: Blue Prince
Mapping out the 45-room (read: 46-room) Sinclair mansion in Blue Prince was among the most intriguing puzzles I’ve unraveled. The depth of the enigma and the lore it hides just kept getting deeper as each randomized run through its halls, kitchens, and lounges continually melted my brain and made me feel like a genius (and often, a fool). The unforgettable experiences and sensations in Blue Prince couldn’t be replicated in anything but a game. Blue Prince is not as bombastic or outwardly impressive as some of its 2025 contemporaries, but still, the Mt. Holly Estate quietly rests upon its hill, waiting for players to come to it.
The “I’ll Gladly Pay For More of This” DLC Award: Lies of P: Overture
I only got to this full-game-sized prequel DLC in the final days of 2025 after platinuming 2023’s Lies of P. It could be the Christmas season getting me jolly, but this is one of the best DLCs I’ve ever played, nevermind one of the best Soulslike experiences I’ve had (and I’ve had ‘em all!). The awe-inspiring environments, fun new weapons, polished bosses, and truly emotional story surpass and elevate the base game. I’m sorry if I ever disregarded this as a mere Bloodborne ripoff—Overture establishes Lies of P as a worthy successor to FromSoftware’s catalogue, and in many ways outdoes it.
