These Are the Best Games of 2025 You Should Play

2025 was an incredible year for video games.And while it was an even better year for self-inflicted industry drama with lay-offs, genAI (and lack of disclosure for such), platforms playing fast and loose with indie devs, and megacorps imploding, the games, were impeccable. With that in mind, we discuss the best of what the year had to offer. From the obvious such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to the obtuse like Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, we’re joined by special guest (our first!) editor-in-chief of Story Mode, Karan Pradhan to let you know what you should have played. Be it indies like Herdling or jilted-at-The-Game-Awards-but-not-here games like Death Stranding 2, we got you covered.In addition to each of us listing our top five games of 2025, we also point out some honourable mentions to round things off. Eagle-eyed viewers would probably find the nearly hourlong length a concern as we’re usually a lot shorter for most episodes. With that in mind, we’ve kept timestamps for all sections for you to peruse through.00:00 Introduction02:15 Karan’s favourite games of 202511:33 Rahul’s favourite games of 202530:04 Why Dispatch surprised us all32:17 Who did you pick in Dispatch?32:39 Rishi’s favourite games of 202539:47 Karan’s honourable mentions42:15 Rahul’s honourable mentions46:47 Rishi’s honourable mentions50:42 OutroDay Zero is a podcast on video games featuring Rahul Majumdar and Rishi Alwani breaking down the bytes and bits behind the decisions that make and break the world’s greatest entertainment industry.We’d love to hear your objectively good takes — they surely can’t be worse than some of ours. Find us with yours at the handles below:* Twitter/X - @RishiAlwani* Threads - @rishi.alwani* Instagram - @rishi.alwani* Twitter/X - @darthrahul* Threads - @darthrahul* Instagram - @darthrahulYou can also check out our special guest Karan Pradhan right here:* Twitter/X — @karanpradhan_* Instagram — @right_arm_over_ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dayzeromedia.substack.com