I know, I know. There are a lot of games that I didn’t include in my top 10 list of 2025, but that is mostly because my experience is very limited—I don’t have enough time and attention in the world to play more than what I did in 2025.
Still, I got a few more games that I played which I want to mention as “must-trys.” These games didn’t make the cut in the top 10 either because there can only be 10, I found that replayability is not that much of a factor in these, or just because there are a few more parts in them which I disliked compared to the ones in my first list.
Regardless, here are my honorable mentions of 2025!
Alfenwylm’s Honorable Mentions of 2025
10. Hell is Us
Hell is Us isn’t the first one I mentioned because it’s the “worst” one out of all the games on this list. It is the first on the list because I truly wanted to include it in my top 10 games of 2025.
Hell is Us is a cosmic horror story properly told with its grim and gritty tone, coupled with Soulslike combat. Your enemies are faceless horrors, almost similar to Hollows in the Japanese Manga Bleach. Aside from combat, exploration is pretty vast with 11 semi-open regions to explore.
Hell is Us’s combat isn’t that unique, but it does fit how the narrative plays out—well, mostly. Aside from the standard parry mechanic, you have a drone that assists you in combat and an activatable regeneration ability, where the amount healed depends on how many times you’ve successfully dodged, parried, and attacked without getting hit.
That said, the combat is honestly nothing special to highlight, and it’s better to focus on the game’s presentation, world design, and story progression. I don’t have the right art term to describe how Hell is Us presents itself, but “surreal” feels like the closest fit.
Finally, the music is also very well-done, with a couple even being catchy while maintaining an eerie vibe. There’s one track in particular with a repetitive sound that really reminds me of Hans Zimmer’s scores.
9. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
If you want a darker version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, then Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon might be for you.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon is a dark fantasy action-adventure RPG made by Questline and published by Awaken Realms, where your character sets out to uncover the secrets of an otherworldly power tied to a twisted version of the legends of King Arthur. I know, I wrote that pretty messily—but that’s honestly the gist of the game.
I haven’t played it to the fullest, as I’m dealing with a bit of open-world fatigue right now, but the game is incredibly well-made and immediately felt familiar in terms of its controls and progression.
Skill progression is handled through unlocking abilities in a skill tree, but you aren’t entirely reliant on what the game directly provides in terms of spells and abilities.
Granted, the skills, spells, and abilities the game offers are pretty wide and comprehensive, giving you a variety of build options. That said, the game can be cheesed here and there—just like in Bethesda titles. lreliant on what the game provides you in terms of spells and abilities.
The story is pretty neat, with lots of mysteries and different takes on the Arthurian legends. The characters I’ve encountered so far are a mixed bunch of serious and goofy misfits, along with more stoic individuals that are all unique and well-written. There are various monsters as well, some being familiar and others being fresh new faces.
I should also mention that Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon isn’t the first game made by Questline and Awaken Realms. There’s another game set in the same universe called Tainted Grail: Conquest, which is pretty awesome as well.
8. The First Berserker: Khazan
Another Soulslike and another game where Ben Starr voices the main character—which is fine, ’cause he is a very cool dude. Anyway, The First Berserker: Khazan is an anime-looking Soulslike that seemingly went under the radar.
While there is a devout following that came after the game’s release, it feels like the hype and fame it got never really reached its peak. The First Berserker: Khazan is a game that stands out among the copies and copies of Dark Souls.
But it’s not really that much of a Soulslike and is instead a little bit more like a beat-’em-up at times. For the most part, it is hard and requires you to dodge, parry, time your attacks, and manage your resources, but its exploration is pretty linear and the “world” progression is level-based.
The First Berserker: Khazan features a plethora of characters found throughout its multitude of levels. Levels are grouped by locations, and locations are grouped by regions. Each region is a new chapter in the game and a flagpole in the journey of Ben Sta— I mean, Khazan.
There is a surprisingly high skill ceiling in the game, with a lot of abilities to unlock and choose from. Aside from abilities, players can also choose from three— I might be wrong, I can’t remember completely—weapon types, and each has its own unique playstyle.
This game is a blast if you’re itching for some serious parrying addiction.
7. Absolum
A coop for a change! Absolum was one of the latecomers this year, and I only became aware of it because it looked cute! Serendipitously, my partner and I were actively looking for a coop game to play since we hadn’t played one in a long time, so this was perfect.
I first played the demo and truly enjoyed it. The movement and combat are 2D and play like Legend of Mana. There are two starting characters to choose from: a dark elf and a dwarf. As you play further into the game, you will unlock more characters, and each one of them has their own unique playstyle and abilities to use.
Abilities and perks for these characters have to be unlocked, though, and it is a bit of a grind since it is somewhat a roguelite. Multiple runs are needed, and each run gives you more money and other resources to spend on rewards.
Progression, since it is a roguelite that requires multiple runs, can be repetitive and boring. However, what made me like this game despite this “boring” design is that the game looks beautiful, and I like the branching path system it has—similar to Cult of the Lamb, where there are levels that need to be cleared before moving forward, and you eventually choose between two or three paths. Different paths also lead to different locations with different enemies.
All in all, it is a pretty fun and neat coop game.
6. Where Winds Meet
This pick might be a bit controversial, but only because people hate on it since it is made by Chinese developers. Where Winds Meet is an amazing multiplayer RPG that lets you experience that floaty martial arts combat you see in Chinese action movies.
While Where Winds Meet has tons of cosmetics and microtransactions, they are not required at all to progress or enjoy the game. It is an actual RPG experience that is on par with, or even better than, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The open-world experience is extremely fun, with beautiful environments and tons of enemies spread out across the map.
Not only are there regular mobs, but elite enemies and mini-bosses can also be found in patrols or camps, which may surprise you if you’re not very aware of your surroundings—like me.
There are many ways to play the game and build your character, with multiple weapons that all do different things.
The main story and its characters are surprisingly serious and well-written. If you have the time and energy to pay attention to everything, you will appreciate what the writers have done in weaving their own story with certain historical references.
There are, however, many things to criticize about the game, such as its multiple tabs and windows used to access different “progression” systems. It’s really just too cluttered and messy, it is so hard to navigate and find stuff.
5. Dying Light: The Beast
I have always loved parkour in Assassin’s Creed, and being able to do it in first person is extremely exhilarating for me. Dying Light: The Beast is the first game in the franchise that I have played, so I know I’m a bit late to the party, but that should not take away from how fun this game is.
Now, based on conversations with my friends, the map in Dying Light: The Beast seems to be smaller than in the other games. To me, though, it was more than enough to spend hours just exploring and looting whatever I could find.
I didn’t find that many secrets or easter eggs, but there are definitely quite a few—like Minecraft easter eggs or just funny little things placed by the devs.
Anyway, exploration was pretty fun and the parkour aspect is really rewarding. However, areas outside the city don’t really have that many vertical objects to parkour from one place to another, so that might be frustrating for some.
Combat is pretty basic; I’ve played Dead Island 1, Riptide, and 2. There’s nothing really unique about it other than the protagonist having some “rage” moments. You have to unlock abilities, and there are four branches, all of which can be acquired once you reach around level 20. My biggest annoyance here, though, is the fact that you need to unlock the sneaking ability to, well, sneak up on zombies and kill them silently.
Exploring and fighting at night is a whole other experience. It’s so dark and scary that I genuinely don’t understand how people explore at night. There are benefits and rewards to doing so, like encountering unique enemies that drop loot and finding volatile nests that provide certain rewards. Other than that, you’re really just putting yourself out there as food for Volatiles, and there are tons of them lurking once the sun sets.
2. Doom: The Dark Ages
I won’t take long on this one, since the game didn’t.
Doom: The Dark Ages is a fast-paced first-person shooter which is a prequel to Doom (2016). It is pretty well-made and optimized, responsive, and mind-numbingly fun, which I totally love.
The progression is pretty straightforward and linear, with around 20 levels to complete. Maps vary from fully linear to semi-open regions where you need to capture three or more points on the map.
The game features some pretty grotesque animations and designs, which are normal for the franchise, and they’re insanely cool. The enemy designs, boss cutscenes, and even the protagonist just exude— as kids say nowadays— aura.
To really make you cringe, there are a lot of aura-farming moments in the game set up to hype you up, and they deliver these hype moments pretty well.
All you really need to do is search for gameplay online and watch just a couple of minutes, and that’s pretty much the entire game.
1. Wordatro!
Think of Scrabble or Hangaroo (yes, I am that old), then add some quirky perks and you’ve got Wordatro!
Its name is pretty similar to Balatro, but I have never played Balatro at all to say that it took inspiration from it—though I think it probably did.
The goal of the game is to reach a certain score by making words from a limited number of pieces, like in a Scrabble round. Each letter has a certain value, and each “slot” where letters can be placed has score multipliers. Letters can also be special letters that either add a score multiplier or make the score get added twice, or something similar.
The devs describe Wordatro! as a roguelite, and I’ll give it to them—it does have roguelite elements. The game is also pretty cute-looking and easy on the eyes.
You don’t need to think that hard when playing this game, so if you need something where you can sit back and take your time—while still tickling your brain just for the sake of it—get Wordatro!.
There are probably a few more that I failed to mention but these are the games I’ve played that didn’t make my top 10 in 2025. If you want to know which games I am most disappointed at in 2025, read below!
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