The post is a the latest iteration of the Xbox Excellence Awards, which was created last year to celebrate how players engaged with various releases on Xbox. The Store Rating category lists 2025 games with the best ratings on the Microsoft Store, with an added requirement of the title having at least 500 ratings. Player Engagements is about the average number of hours spent on a game by each player within the first six weeks of a game’s release. Daily Active Users celebrates titles, expansions or updates with the highest single-day active users throughout the year. And finally Units Sold is fairly self-explanatory.

Going down the lists, you’ll find many of the biggest releases of the year, from ARC Raiders and Battlefield 6, as well as award-winning RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Indie titles have also been well-represented, with games like Crime Scene Cleaner and Satisfactory making it into the lists. There also doesn’t seem to have been a singular genre to dominate the lists, since everything from sports games like EA Sports Madden NFL 26, to fantasy adventure life sims like Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time, and even fighting games like Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics are well represented.

Curiously, none of the games was present in all four of the categories. At most, we got to see titles like Borderlands 4 being able to make it on to three of them: Player Engagement, Daily Active Users and Units Sold. Even ARC Raiders, which has seen quite a bit of success, is only on the Units Sold and Daily Active Users lists.

Microsoft has also emphasized that the lists represent a diverse collection of games developed by studios of varying sizes. All in all, it represents 48 unique developers based out of 13 countries, with 24 publishers having had a hand in their release. 19 of the games were self-published. “Taken as a whole, it’s an encapsulation of development on Xbox – we want gaming to reach you wherever you are, and for the teams making those games to find you from wherever they are,” wrote the company.

Full list of games:

Store Rating:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Crime Scene Cleaner
• Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dreamcore
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Lies of P: Overture
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• Little Nightmares III
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Minami Lane
• Mullet MadJack
• Poppy Playtime Chapter 4
• Satisfactory
• Silent Hill 2
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Player Engagement:

• Borderlands 4
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• Dynasty Warriors: Origins
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time
• Farm Together 2
• Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles
• Helldivers 2
• Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• NHL 26
• Rust
• Satisfactory
• The First Berserker: Khazan

Daily Active Users:

• Arc Raiders
• Avowed
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• DOOM: The Dark Ages
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Fortnite
• Forza Horizon 5
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Grounded 2
• Helldivers 2
• Marvel Rivals
• Minecraft
• NBA 2K26
• Rematch
• Roblox
• Rocket League
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

Units Sold:

• Arc Raiders
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Battlefield 6
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• EA Sports Madden NFL 26
• EA Sports College Football 26
• EA Sports FC 26
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Helldivers 2
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• MLB The Show 25
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• NBA 2K26
• PGA Tour 2K25
• Ready or Not
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• WWE 2K25

We’ve played them all, and picked our favorites to give you a few choices for the holidays and beyond as we wait for a new batch of great games from 2026. As it stands, our nominees for the best PC games of 2025 are:

1. INAZUMA ELEVEN: Victory Road

Intense football RPG action with a layer of anime polish can be quite appealing to either an anime or a football fan, but this one is more than that. It offers an almost endless amount of playable content thanks to a massive roster of characters, and a lot of replay value thanks to its single and multiplayer modes. There’s a lot to enjoy here, and a very rewarding journey along the way.

2. Dispatch

Joining Robert Robinson III on this charming and often hilarious take on superheroes is sure to have you very invested in its story and mechanics right off the bat. Dispatch hits all the right notes and brings a charming cast to the stage, while a riveting narrative weaves their lives together with the SDN acting as a binding thread. It captures your attention and manages to hold it long enough for this one to become endearing.

3. Hades 2

We always knew the long wait for this one was going to be worth it. Hades 2 is an absolute blast with its roguelike action-RPG gameplay loop, blending very well with its story and unique art style. Its potent combination of style, substance, and satire is sublime, while the combat does come with enough challenge to keep you on your toes. Look no further than this one for hours of quality fun.

4. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

If you haven’t gotten around to this one after playing the first game, or perhaps coming to the franchise after the live-action shows, this one is definitely going to have you invested. The remaster does a brilliant job of improving on the strengths of the original release, making it the best possible way to experience the adventure that awaits. For those of you already familiar with how it all ends, another playthrough is always on the cards anyway.

5. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

Every hour you sink into this action-packed JRPG is going to be worth it, with its story, characters, combat, and general allure drawing you in and leaving you with so much to do in its world. It’s also very replayable, which is a great way to keep the story going and your characters’ stories playing out on increasingly harder difficulties. This one does its genre justice and is a world that calls to you at every turn.

6. Absolum

With a combat system worthy of a chef’s kiss, accompanied by a roguelike gameplay loop that’s very addictive indeed, Talamh is a place you might find pretty hard to leave. The battle against the Crimson Order and Azra is the perfect excuse for some good old beat ‘em up action, and this one is excellent on that front. Between all the character archetypes on offer, it’s probably going to keep you busy for a while.

7. Clair Obscur Expedition

This one’s already winning quite a few awards and nominations, and with good reason. The Continent and Expedition’s beloved cast of characters are reason enough to fall in love with The Paintress’s world. But all of the adversity and loss they have overcome have you invested in the entire journey. It’s almost as if you’re a part of the expedition too, and the one who decides its fate. It’s an experience that comes along every once in a while to show you what a great game can do.

8. Hollow Knight: Silksong

This one’s release was among the year’s most pleasant surprises, and taking over a new adventure as Hornet was an absolute treat. The combat was familiar yet fresh, while the explorable world’s size and scope were overwhelming at first, and simply delightful as we kept losing ourselves in its confines. Add a very enticing art style and excellent level designs, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

9. Blue Prince

This is among the more unique ones on this list. Helping Simon secure his inheritance of the Mt. Holly Estate might not be the most action-packed game on this list, but it certainly stretches your mental faculties in your quest to locate the mansion’s hidden room. No two days are alike, and you’re soon going to be thinking about this one even when you’re not in your gaming chair.

10. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Oh, what an RPG this one turned out to be. With a massive map full of quirky folks, mysteries, intrigue, and some good old adventures to be had along the road, it was a sequel that stayed true to its roots while building out the franchise in a number of meaningful ways. The story is top-shelf, while an abundance of things to do is going to keep you quite busy as you play it all.

11. ARC Raiders

This extraction shooter has been among the few games we’ve visited almost daily, not because we had to, but because we wanted to. It’s been the perfect choice for a quick session where we kick back, and set out to meet other players in a world where the community has now made identifying friends from foes a part of the fun. Its design lends itself to the chaos that such decisions can cause, and you’re going to have a lot of unpredictably fun moments with this one.

12. Assassin’s Creed Shadows

With a perfect blend of the samurai and shinobi’s ways, and a massive recreation of feudal Japan to let those two archetypes loose in, Shadows is a great addition to the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Naoe and Yasuke are great characters, their skillsets lending themselves to some very interesting ways to achieve your goals. A stunning world and protagonists whose blades could strike from the shadows or the light is certainly an adventure worth having.

13. Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth

Cloud Strife’s fight against the Shinra is the perfect backdrop for an explosive story, combined with some incredible gameplay mechanics that make this one’s long-awaited PC version worth playing even if you’re not a fan of Final Fantasy. We’d recommend hooking up a DualSense to your PC for this one to get the most out of its haptic integration, while enjoying all of the visual bells and whistles that it has to offer. It’s the best of both worlds, really.

14. Monster Hunter Wilds

Beautiful biomes, a wide variety of impeccably designed monsters to hunt, and a plethora of quests to keep you travelling across the Forbidden Lands make this one a fine choice for those of you looking for a meaty RPG. Excellent build variety and deep combat mechanics, along with a charming world full of things to pique your curiosity, are more reasons to jump in and enjoy yourself thoroughly.

15. Lumines Arise

Simple mechanics can often lead to complex gameplay loops, and Lumines Ares is a great example of that. No two rounds of this puzzle game are the same, and it takes the concept of Tetris to a whole new level with a very unique visual design and audio design that weaves itself into the game’s DNA quite creatively. This one’s impressive and addictive, which is quite a potent combo.

16. Battlefield 6

Among the year’s best looking shooters, Battlefield 6 might have drawn a bit of flak for its campaign, but that does not take away from the fact that its shooting mechanics are very much on point. If you’re looking for a multiplayer shooter that shows off what your PC can do while also being a great option for those extended gaming sessions, this one has everything you need and more.

17. The Alters

If a game that has you creating alternate versions of yourself to progress further in its story sounds cool to you, you’re in luck. Jan Dolski’s story might seem quirky on the surface, but there’s a surprising amount of depth on offer here, and your choices carry a lot of weight in the bargain. This one’s among the most creative titles we’ve played this year, and is going to remain among the most unique ones we’ve encountered over the years.

18. The First Berserker: Khazan

Khazan’s revenge-fuelled rampage is a stylish, well-designed game that puts its combat front and center and challenges you to play it on its terms before it gives you the satisfaction you crave from a title of its calibre. With an interesting story and characters backing up the action, along with a distinct visual style to sell it all, this one is going to have you white knuckled as you take on its many threats.

19. Bionic Bay

Atmospheric, immersive, and mentally challenging, Bionic Bay makes excellent use of a solid premise to give you an experience that’s going to have you wanting more. It’s a test of your patience just as much as it’s a test of your ability to get creative with solutions to the problem in front of you. It’s exhilarating when you get it right, while the way it all comes together is a reward on its own with this one.

20. Jurassic World Evolution 3

With Jeff Goldblum coming back to the fold as Dr. Ian Malcolm, and a very encouraging approach to setting you up for success as you manage your dinosaurs and facilities, this one gets you locked in pretty quickly. We still go back to our parks for some routine maintenance from time to time, watching the dinosaurs we’ve helped bring to life thrive. It’s quite relaxing and a lot of fun until Extinction Now rears its ugly head.

And there you have it. These are the PC games from 2025 we think deserve your attention. But there has to be a winner, right? We’ve an inkling you already know what’s coming.

The winner of the best PC game in 2025 is

Clair Obscur: Expedition

Clair Obscur: Expedition , a game that has surpassed expectations and goes above and beyond to enthrall its players.

Its visual style lends it realism while leaving room for artistic flourishes. Its cast of characters sells its material so well that you find yourself even rooting for its antagonist. You’re going to be humming its soundtrack and maybe even listening to it in the gym. Its story is going to take you to places you might not be ready to visit. Its combat might fool you into thinking it’s an easy experience with no challenge involved. In short, it’s everything a great game should be, and is one that’s going to remain close to our hearts in the years to come.

And that’s a wrap on the best PC games of 2025! We’re looking forward to doing it all over again next year, and to keep bringing more of gaming’s best to your screens.

Mario Kart World

The best Mario Kart in the series? Your mileage (pun fully intended) may vary, but it is by far the most feature-packed. Free Roam in an open world with P-Switch challenges and cosmetics to gather; new moves like hopping and wall-riding for a higher skill ceiling; brand new tracks that seamlessly link together; and new modes are just some of the things long-time fans can look forward to, and it all works well.

Kirby Air Riders

21 playable characters and 22 machines, each with unique abilities and stats respectively; brand new tracks and remasters from the first game; the return of Top Ride and City Trial, with the latter turned into a faux battle royale mode of sorts; boss fights; and a full-fledged story mode. But even if you want to hop on for a simple race or two, it’s pure unfiltered fun – just like the original.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A

While there’s plenty of criticism to be had for its visuals, Game Freak’s latest mainline Pokémon title manages to capture that same monster-collecting magic. Lumiose City is full of unique sights, sounds and Pokémon to collect, and new elements like the Z-A Royale and Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon, alongside simple delights like traversing the rooftops, make it stand out.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Catacomb-like levels, progressively unlocking new abilities and backtracking to uncover new areas, that expectation of something incredible around every corner – even after all these years, Retro Studios still knows how to capture that feeling. The new additions in Beyond, like Vi-O-La, also seamlessly slot in, and wouldn’t you know it, even the NPC companions, despite concerns pre-launch, aren’t terrible. More importantly, experiencing it with such fidelity, complete with mouse controls, elevates it to a new whole level.

Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2

Technically not a native Switch 2 release, experiencing two of the greatest platformers of all time in 4K is hard to resist. The new Storybook Chapters offer a bit of new content, but really, it’s all about scouring the galaxies once more, reliving the wonder of each planet and the discoveries they hold.

Donkey Kong Bananza

It almost seemed impossible that Jumpman’s worst nightmare would get his own starring role once more, but Bananza delivers on that and then some. Excellent platforming and bombastic visuals were a given – this is from the Super Mario Odyssey team after all – but the destruction elements work so well in tandem, resulting in a 3D platformer that’s more than worthy to stand side by side with Mario’s greatest adventures.

Hades 2

Supergiant follows up one of the best rogue-likes in years with – surprise, surprise – an incredible sequel. Between the sheer amount of stuff to do, whether you’re venturing into the Underworld or ascending into Olympus, the challenging and unique boss fights, or the sheer depth that each new weapon offers, Hades 2 feels like a massive step forward in every single way.

Split Fiction

Hazelight’s latest is one of the best co-op experiences of the year (and many before it), and feels tailor-made for Switch 2. Even if it’s not the most fully-featured port, being able to GameShare with local players or engage in cross-play, alongside the Friend’s Pass (which means not having to buy an extra copy), is still great.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

You wouldn’t believe this took more than nine years and multiple delays to release, but that seems to be a theme for 2025. Regardless, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road isn’t the most realistic adaptation of football so much as the best adaptation of the anime, complete with MAPPA’s cutscenes and over 5,400 recruitable characters. It’s truly unlike anything else out there and a blast once you get into it.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Team Cherry’s long-awaited sequel is infuriating, frustrating, and challenging, but it’s also mesmerizing, addictive, and oh-so-good to control. The gameplay loop remains as finely crafted as ever, enhanced all the more with Hornet’s movement abilities, and the sheer attention to detail in areas, from their art to their secrets, will keep you coming back long after. It’s a tough bug to love, but Silksong is a stellar game.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

The prospect of Cyberpunk 2077 running on the original Switch was laughable years ago, and yet, here we are more than five years later, experiencing it on the Switch 2 in all its glory. From the excellent base game to the stellar Phantom Liberty, this is still one of the best RPG experiences, and the addition of touch screen gestures for the UI and gyro aiming makes it feel that much better on the Switch 2. Also, shipping the entire package on an actual cart instead of a Game-Key Card? Chef’s kiss.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Truth be told, the new features – like the phone maps and QR codes for sharing Zonai machines – weren’t the most game-changing for Nintendo’s masterpiece. Nevertheless, it’s still a masterpiece, and being able to play it in 1440p/60 FPS with improved fidelity and faster loading is what we’ve always wanted. For that reason alone, it’s worth picking up.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Switch 2 Edition + Star Crossed World

For those who didn’t get their fill from Air Riders, the Switch 2 version of Kirby’s acclaimed 2022 adventure is well worth diving into. Star Crossed World offers a brand new storyline with new sections in old stages alongside new abilities, Mouthful modes and enemies to tussle with as you investigate a mysterious meteor. And of course, it’s a significant upgrade over the original’s already gorgeous visuals.

Cronos: The New Dawn

Bloober Team made a big impact with last year’s Silent Hill 2 remake, but its newest title channelled an altogether different survival horror vibe. A post-apocalyptic future with mutating monstrosities, time-traveling, a more enigmatic pace and protagonist, and more kept Cronos from feeling like a Dead Space rip-off. Even in handheld mode on the Switch 2, it’s a tense, terrifying ordeal.

Star Wars Outlaws

Ignored at launch, Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars scoundrel had a quiet but notable redemption this year, aided by its Switch 2 port. How the development team (in collaboration with Red Lynx) managed to deliver such great performance and ray tracing while retaining image quality, even with DLSS, is fascinating to behold. The fact that the game itself still looks so gorgeous while playing better than ever also doesn’t hurt.

And the Best Switch 2 title of 2025 goes to…

Donkey Kong Bananza

Did you really expect anything else, especially when a Donkey Kong game lets you rip chunks out of the environment to toss at enemies or surf on them with utter abandon? Bananza is more than just the Mario Odyssey formula, but with more destruction and a different protagonist. It’s a masterclass in pacing, deftly balancing the collect-a-thon aspects and real-time destruction with superb level design. Donkey Kong controls like a dream; the new Bananza Powers are as ridiculous as they are fun; and there isn’t an ounce of filler or unnecessary padding. For that reason, and many more that we could spend all day listing, it’s our pick for the best Switch 2 game of 2025.

Elsewhere, a student required help tracking down a kraken, a mysterious ghost-like being that would speed away as soon as I approached, taking me on a merry chase across South Cirrus, where the game is based. The story mode puts you in the shoes of Destin Billows, a young boy who seems to despise football at the outset. In fact, it’s the reason he chose to study at South Cirrus Junior High, a school with a non-existent football club, thanks to a past incident that tarnished the school’s reputation.

Destin quickly finds himself embroiled in the lives of his fellow schoolmates, with a few of them joining him on a mission to revive the football club and take it to the very top of the school’s social order. However, that’s no easy feat, and you’re tasked with helping the fledgling team manage its reputation in a story that’s largely predictable but charming and fun nonetheless.

It’s in the way everything is presented to you. There’s a light-hearted vibe to it all, and gorgeously rendered environments help sell the experience to a large extent. Coupled with a soundtrack that’s pretty well done, exploring the school and engaging with your fellow students is a breeze. While the lack of any graphical options is a bummer, the game runs pretty smoothly for the most part.

With that being said, I did notice dropped frames and slight stuttering on my PS5 during a few cutscenes, and a weird shimmering effect around shadows with HDR turned on (it’s off by default). They didn’t really mar the experience in the slightest, but they’re there, and it’s worth pointing out.

However, those are minor issues that don’t take away from the fact that this is a very good-looking game. I only wish that its pacing in Story Mode was better, as it takes quite a while before Destin, Cedric, and Briar Bloomhurst even get to take to the field. For the most part, the game’s opening hours have you going from objective to objective while picking up collectibles, petting cats, and indulging in some very entertaining rock-paper-scissors-based combat with your fellow students or Cirrus’s citizens.

"There’s a light-hearted vibe to it all, and gorgeously rendered environments help sell the experience to a large extent."

It’s a fairly simple system that’s quite easy to pick up, and racking up wins wasn’t overly challenging. That might sound like it gets boring pretty quickly, and I wouldn’t blame you for thinking about it. You would be wrong, however, as it’s all done with so much heart and earnest simplicity that it just clicks, pulling you in without you being any the wiser. It’s easy to get distracted as you walk around town, although the number of activities you get to do is fairly limited.

Each character you meet has their own motivations, which are strong enough to keep them interesting as the story progresses. The English voice acting is serviceable, although I would recommend going with subs over dubs for this one. The character models are another highlight, and Briar’s smoldering energy was a personal highlight. Destin, as a protagonist, is quite compelling, and his love for football pushes him to contribute to the sport in any way he can, despite not being able to play it himself.

This sets the stage for some interesting team-building mechanics once you manage to gather a few recruits for your fledgling football club. Scouting out new talent and forming bonds with them is an important part of the gameplay loop, underlining Destin’s role as a manager extraordinaire who isn’t afraid to think outside of the box. Special training sessions often open up as a result of your recruitment efforts. They bring quirky yet interesting twists to the Focus Squabble system, or could be on-field simulations that train you in the game’s important mechanics.

A social system is in place and does add a layer of immersion to the entire experience, with texts coming in from your buddies and a few limited options that you can send back in reply. You get notified when new messages come in and can check them out at your leisure via the Inacord tab on your in-game menu. It isn’t anything groundbreaking, but it’s nice that it’s there.

"It’s all done with so much heart and earnest simplicity that it just clicks, pulling you in without you being any the wiser"

Harper Evans forms the other part of the story, with the weight of his father’s legacy weighing on him despite his prodigious skill on the field. Other characters are largely forgettable but do enough in the moment to justify their presence in the game’s cast. Overall, the Story Mode was where I spent most of my time with this game, although I suspect fans of the anime might prefer the Chronicle Mode and its random character pack-based team collection mechanic that brings a frankly overwhelming number of characters in packs of twelve to pick up and build teams with.

The extra modes didn’t feel as compelling as the Story Mode, but I can see die-hard fans losing themselves in Chronicle Mode and its unique proposition of reliving events in the Inazuma Eleven universe. I was tempted to jump in, but found myself wondering what Destin and his fellow team members would get up to next too often to make the other modes interesting. The Kizuna Station mode was the one I visited least, as I found its city-building activity too drab in comparison to the rest of the game, but I do think it’s going to have its takers.

A competitive mode lets you take on the CPU or online opponents, while a smattering of other options gives you more than enough to do in the game to keep you occupied for a while. But it’s the football that’s going to draw in the most players for Inazuma Eleven Victory Road.

And on that front, the game delivers, although there are minor gripes. For starters, the controls don’t feel smooth enough to support the mechanics that are given to you. Achieving breakthroughs in Focus Battles on the pitch needed a bit of trial and error until I could get used to the game’s controls. Executing more complex moves and strategies is similarly held back by the controls, which can get quite hard to remember in the heat of the moment. Not only that, the game’s fast pace doesn’t let you take a minute to familiarize yourself with them without pausing the action, which defeats its purpose.

" The Kizuna Station mode was the one I visited least, as I found its city-building activity too drab in comparison to the rest of the game."

However, that’s only a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things, thanks to how each match is exciting and unpredictable. The game isn’t afraid to come at you hard, and I was hard-pressed to find openings where I could sneak past my opponent’s defenses. The anime-inspired touches that come with the territory in a game like this one feel well-thought-out and do well to bring interesting twists to the table.

They form a gameplay loop in which you weave between opponents, execute passes to teammates, and use your innate abilities to pull off offensive and defensive moves that wear their inspirations on their sleeve. It’s a superb balance between offense and defense that makes each match a test of skill, just as a football game in an anime world should be.

I just wish it hadn’t taken so very long for the Story Mode to begin introducing all of the mechanics on offer, as I felt that trying out other modes without familiarizing myself with the game’s controls wouldn’t be advisable. If that sounds like you, know that you’re going to be locked into the story for a while before you finally get to a training session that lets you learn the basics as well as a few advanced mechanics to use on the pitch.

It might have been better to simply implement a tutorial similar to the one in Chronicle Mode at the outset and perhaps dive into more complex mechanics at a later point, but it is what it is. I’m just glad that things are fun and challenging once you get on the pitch, with the enemy AI putting up quite a good fight even in easier battles. You’re going to be repeating more than a few encounters thanks to sometimes not being able to meet the objectives required to progress to the next one.

"You’re going to be repeating more than a few encounters thanks to not being able to meet the objectives required to progress to the next one."

Overall, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road is a lot of fun to play. It’s done so well and is so charming that you’re automatically willing to forgive its flaws, while it offers up quite a lot to be a game that’s very easy to recommend. LEVEL 5 has done well to bring the original anime’s vibe and tone to life in this one. It’s a great choice for some football fun over the holidays, and might even give you aficionados an impressive show.

This one’s definitely worth its price tag if you like football, anime, or a combination of the two. If you were a fan of the anime, you’re going to have a lot of fun with this new adventure. Just give it the time it needs to get started, and you’re golden.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

Of Ash and Steel

An open-world third-person action RPG developed on Unreal Engine 4, that too from a relatively unknown studio? That’s Of Ash and Steel, set in the Kingdom of the Seven, and promising an old-school approach to exploration. Essentially, you need to find your own footing in the world with no markers or quest guidance, and there are plenty of secrets to discover alongside enemies to smack around. Of Ash and Steel is available on November 24th, exclusively for PC.

Lumines Arise

Lumines but somehow even trippier, from the team that brought you surrealist and trippy Tetris. Launching on November 11th for PS5 and PC (with VR support for both), Lumines Arise offers its own Journey Mode, complete with a gorgeous soundscape and visuals, before shuffling you into the real game: Survival. And that’s before creating playlists of stages, completing challenges and playing online, all while ascending to a brand new plane.

Possessor(s)

After the underwhelming Hyper Light Breaker, Heart Machine returns to its 2D roots with Possessor(s), a side-scroller with fighting game-like combos. Players venture through the remains of Sanzu City as Luca, possessed by the mysterious Rhem, using anything and everything to fight off monstrosities. With non-linear exploration, other tragic characters to unravel, and a gorgeous art style, it’s one to keep an eye on ahead of its November 11th release on PS5 and PC.

Where Winds Meet

Everstone Studios’ stunning open-world action RPG has made some seriously strong impressions in China. Its global release is slated for November 14th on PS5 and PC, and thus far, the Wuxia fantasy and depiction of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms still looks as stunning as the combat and traversal. With more than 150 hours of gameplay and co-op-exclusive activities, we can’t wait to unpack it all.

Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road

Announced in 2016, renamed several times, and delayed several times more, Inazuma Eleven is seemingly set to launch, at last, on November 13th for Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. Level-5 Games boasts more than 5,400 characters in a brand new story with, of all things, time-travelling, and anime cutscenes by none other than MAPPA. Whether it lives up to expectations or not, the sheer scope and spectacle are intriguing enough.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Something something Raul Menendez is alive, and only David Mason and his team can stop the spread of fear, something. The story of Black Ops 7 doesn’t inspire much hope, but the prospect of four-player campaign co-op is intriguing, especially the 32-player end-game. But except for new maps and modes in multiplayer, a new Wall-Bounce mechanic, and a fresh Zombies experience, this is about as Call of Duty as you’d expect in this day and age. It’s out on November 14th for Xbox and PlayStation consoles alongside PC.

Escape from Tarkov

Numerous years and controversies later, Battlestate Games’ Escape from Tarkov Version 1.0 is finally launching on November 15th for PC. As a hardcore extraction shooter experience, it’s received extensive praise for its survival elements (including a realistic injury and treatment system) and realistic gunplay. It’s no Escape From Duckov, but with 11 maps and a PvE mode, its official launch could either be game-changing or grounds for even more controversies.

Syberia Remastered

A full remaster of the title that started it all, Syberia Remastered offers improved visuals, transforming classic locations while retaining their atmosphere. It also offers more refined puzzles, better controls, and an updated UI to make experiencing Kate Walker’s journey through the real and fantastical that much smoother. Syberia Remastered launches on November 6th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.

Kirby Air Riders

If more than 105 minutes of footage meticulously laying out features across two Directs wasn’t enough to sell you on Kirby Air Riders before its November 20th release, then nothing will. Between a new Story Mode featuring the Fountain of Dreams and Nova, the return of Top Ride, all the classic tracks from the original, and everything in between, Kirby could once again be a dark horse among Switch 2 releases this year.

Project Motor Racing

It’s not quite Project CARS 4, but with some of the talent from Slightly Made and the backing of Giants Software, Project Motor Racing could be the next best thing. It packs more than 70 cars and 27 meticulously recreated tracks with dynamic weather, a day/night cycle, a Career Mode, multiplayer and events. All this, complete with realistic physics and sound design. What more could you want? We’ll find out when Motor Racing launches on November 25th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Terminator 2D: No Fate

Bitmap Bureau revisits the legendary action film, but through the lens of a retro-style 2D side-scrolling shooter. After several delays, Terminator 2D: No Fate is finally launching on November 26th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch, and if its visuals and action weren’t enough, you can also explore alternate scenarios based on decisions, resulting in completely different endings.

Football Manager 26

After cancelling last year’s edition, Sports Interactive is set to deliver Football Manager 26 on November 4th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. While numerous leagues and tons of players are a given, it’s all the other changes that have us excited, including an overhauled manager creation system, extensively reworked UI, and – for the first time – a partnership with FIFA.

Rennsport

What if RoboCop: Rogue City developer Teyon offered a racing sim? You get Rennsport, which releases out of early access on November 13th for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S. Developed alongside Competition Company, it offers a range of different vehicle classes, iconic tracks like Daytona and Spa-Francorchamps, and multiplayer. Early access impressions aren’t the most positive, but maybe Version 1.0 will turn things around.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PS5)

Exactly one year later, GSC Game World’s survival sandbox has grown a lot, not to mention improved by leaps and bounds on a technical level. On PS5, it offers even more, from DualSense support to gyroscope aiming on top of PS5 Pro support. And while it may sound gimmicky, hearing the radio through the microphone or playing the guitar with the touchpad feels right. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl arrives on PS5 just in time to celebrate its first anniversary – November 20th.

Constance

Looking for a less strenuous side-scroller after Silksong? Constance could very well be it with a beautiful hand-drawn style and surreal mindscape created by its protagonist. Even if several of the basics look familiar, combat offers unique mechanics, from dispelling darkness to transforming into paint to climb up walls. Launching on November 24th, Constance will be available on PC, with console releases to follow in 2026.