Split Fiction on PlayStation 5

Co-op games are few and far between, and good ones are even more rare. Following It Takes Two’s Game of the Year win in 2021, and now the release of Split Fiction, Hazelight Games has become the master, making by far and away the best co-op games you can hope to play in 2025.

Another Genre Switch

Split Fiction is another genre switch. The studio has tried its hand at prison break drama and emotional kids’ story come to life, but this time you can jump into two worlds: high fantasy and sci-fi action.

The Soulslike genre is one that’s grown exponentially in the past few years, with many successes such as Black Myth Wukong, Lies of P, Sekiro, and most notably – Elden Ring. Each game brings something new to the table, and The First Berserker: Khazan is no different. Khazan stays true to the genre while being more accessible and forgiving than its predecessors.

The story kicks off with Khazan imprisoned and on his way to his exile when suddenly an avalanche wipes out the men transporting him. A phantom notices his power and exploits his weakened state to try and take over his body. Khazan overcomes the phantom and the two strike a deal to help one another on their respective quests.

Atomfall on PS5

The thing that immediately grabbed me about Atomfall was its absolute respect for player choice. Your first minutes inside the bizarre, yet fascinating quarantine zone give you the liberty to either help bandage up a wounded scientist or ignore his injuries completely. The best thing about this moment wasn’t the options, but the fact that the scientist was functionally an essential NPC quest-giver. Right from the get-go my Morrowind senses were tingling, and the game didn’t disappoint when I got my first ending 15 hours later.

Yes, you read that right, it took 15 hours to complete a playthrough of Atomfall, not 100. This doesn’t have the scope and scale of a Fallout title or even The Outer Worlds, but it more than makes up for it in the freedom it allows. I cannot properly express what a delight it is to play a game as compact, dense, and full of meaningful choices as Atomfall in 2025. Just like the classic CRPGs of yesteryear, killing quest-essential NPCs is not just possible here, but viable. Every single NPC in the game can be killed, and unlike more sanitized RPGs like Avowed, they actually react to what you do in the world.

At the time of its review cycle, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has two metaphorical weights on its shoulders. One is its feudal Japan setting. Throughout the hit Ubisoft franchise’s 18-year run, the premise of a secret worldwide league of assassins hiding and striking in the shadows has always seemed like a match made in heaven with the Land of the Rising Sun’s shinobi warriors — stemming a fan demand that has almost as been as long as the series itself. 

The other is the form of Ubisoft’s recent releases and the pressure for Shadows to turn that around. However, I’m pleased to report that despite some caveats, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is more than worth your time and money. It’s established itself as a strong entry in the series by combining its classic stealthy gameplay with a superb setting. 

On the surface, Wanderstop looks like your typical cozy cafe management game with a cute story running through it, but I soon found out it was far more than that. This is a journey of accepting change, listening to the wisdom of others, and taking a moment for yourself.

Wanderstop is a narrative-driven game by Ivy Road that follows Alta as she helps Boro run a tea shop in the middle of a mysterious forest. There’s much of what you would expect from a cozy game: colorful plants, adorable creatures, and eccentric customers in desperate need of a cup of tea. After a while, however, it becomes clear that you are there to experience more than just serving tea.

Sugardew Island on PC

Farming sims have become the quintessential cozy game pastime, and with so many on the market it can be hard to find a new gameplay angle to attract players and encourage them to pick up a hoe. Similar to games like the Harvest Moon franchise, they aim to provide a stress-free environment where you can unwind and become immersed in the simple joys of rural life.

From developer, rokaplay, Sugardew Island tasks you with harvesting crops and tending to livestock, but the new twist is you’ll also need to open your Farm Shop each day to receive Sugardew (the in-game currency) and Harmony – which is needed to repair the mystical Harmony Tree.

The gaming landscape in 2025 is filled with simulation games for just about everything it seems. If you want to design a zoo, you can play Zoo Tycoon. If you’d rather make a theme park, Roller Coaster Tycoon and Planet Coaster are classic options for fulfilling that desire. However, if you wanted to curate a museum, you’d have been fresh out of luck — until now. Finally, Two Point Museum is here to fill that void.

The “museum simulator” segment of the market is a lot quieter than others, so Two Point Museum is entering the landscape when it has the best chance for success. While simulation games can fall into various pitfalls, Two Point Museum manages to avoid those and create a delightful, creative experience.

Monster Hunter Wilds is the highly anticipated open-world take on the iconic Monster Hunter franchise which no other gaming studio has managed to successfully replicate. There’s a unique formula encoded into these games based on the monster-player relationship and intrinsic motivators that drive you to improve as you progress through Monster Hunter Games. After spending 40 hours defeating big beasts and grinding out new gear upgrades, I can confirm that Monster Hunter Wilds is the biggest entry in the series to date.

That claim isn’t just based on the huge amount of interest and hype behind the game, but because Monster Hunter Wilds has made the franchise and its tried and tested formula more accessible than ever. For example, Monster Tracking is gone and you’ll always know the location of where to find your next prey. Additionally, your trusted ride-or-die Seikrat can be set to autopilot to whatever target or waypoint you choose, making traversing around the massive open-world areas a breeze.

Good pirate games are something I’ve craved and are a niche that has been left largely unfulfilled in the modern gaming landscape. Since 2013’s Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, only Sea of Thieves and the rather rough Skull and Bones have really tried to satiate our seafaring cravings. Fortunately, I’m happy to say that Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii manages to give its own very solid and fun spin on the genre. I am here for it, and there are plenty of reasons to get on board this crazy pirate ride.

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is unapologetically a Yakuza game where the shenanigans are turned up to the max every step of the way. Ridiculous enemies, storylines, mini-games, side characters and so much more make up dozens of hours of content.

Lost Records: Bloom & Rage Tape One on PlayStation 5

I’m a big fan of the Life Is Strange games, but I’ve craved a new narrative adventure series from DontNod for a while now. Something original, yet still features the mix of emotion and nostalgia the studio’s games are known for.

Cue the release of the first entry in the Lost Records series, focusing on a group of teenage girls and telling a story that switches back and forth between the summer of 1995 and the modern day. You play as Swann, a socially awkward 16-year-old struggling to meet new friends. She finds it hard to manage both the excitement and stress that comes with trying to make and maintain friendships in your mid-teens.

Known for its unique and signature twists on existing game genres and titles, Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed makes for its most ambitious title yet. While it only feels like yesterday when the Irvine developer was making the best South Park game in the form of The Stick of Truth, or even further back arguably the best Fallout game in New Vegas, Obsidian has been building momentum over the years with newer hits like The Outer Worlds and Pentiment. 

While not without its issues along the way, Avowed is new territory in the form of an immersive first-person fantasy RPG. Thankfully, the game benefits from the studio’s experience and the lessons it’s learned along the way. Avowed is a fantastic culmination of the Obsidian games that came before, even if it’s still imperfect. 

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 on PS5

Being able to immerse yourself in a game world entirely is a selling point that many games purport to have, but perhaps none come as close as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. For the sequel to the 2018 action role-playing epic, Warhorse Studios and Deep Silver have gone several steps further, building on the foundations of a world teeming with potential, and fleshing it out in ways that would make fans of medieval life as satisfied as the aristocracy.

Picking up after the events of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the sequel has been designed so newcomers can jump right in without feeling lost. But for returning players, there are certainly bits and pieces that help reconnect you to Henry’s rise from blacksmith’s son to a worthy warrior, one who will play his role in an unforgiving world of politics, shadowy plans, and the conflicts of the realm.

For my money, there’s no greater malaise in modern gaming than stick drift. After forking out hundreds of dollars for a console and sometimes a similar fee for a top-of-the-line pro controller, seeing one of your thumbsticks jittering or failing to properly respond can be a massive pain. I’ve got very vivid memories of playing Saints Row IV as my controller constantly veered the camera to the right, taking me out of the experience entirely.

It’s an issue that continues to plague current-gen consoles, with Nintendo often facing flak for the Joy-Con’s stick drift and spare DualSenses becoming almost obligatory if you’ve got a PS5. Fortunately, for Xbox and PC players, the Thrustmaster HEART Controller seems to have all but eliminated that issue. Even better, the separate but similar ESWAP Hall module means those who have already invested in a Thrustmaster pad can get in on the upgrade without purchasing an entirely new peripheral.

Getting into a regular, high-quality exercise routine can be daunting at the best of times. For a newcomer, there’s nothing worse than stepping into a gym for the first time, unfamiliar with the equipment and left feeling like there’s an insurmountable hill to climb.

That’s why Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer can be more than just a fun distraction, but a really useful tool for those looking to get into a more regular exercise cadence without diving straight into the deep end. It cleverly gamifies exercise in a way that makes targets achievable and tangible, plus giving you a good workout in the meantime.

Infinity Nikki is an odd game. In a sense, it’s exactly what we need in the industry. There’s a very real risk, if we focus entirely on what sells best, that the only games developed will become carbon copies of each other. Instead, Infinity Nikki is an open-world game with a lot of similarities to things like Breath of the Wild, albeit if wearing the right frilly dress gave Link the ability to float.

Infinity Nikki begins with Nikki and her best friend, a talking cat named Momo, discovering a goddess who sends them on a journey to the land of Mira. There, they need to collect magical outfits to save the world. Combat is as simple as shooting orbs to purify your enemies (or occasionally slamming them from above), so don’t expect some massive challenge.

STALKER 2 is a survival shooter that nails the atmospheric horror and feeling of desolation that it sets out to achieve. You are a lone Stalker pitted against the vast Zone, and against the Zone and the way of life in this unique ecosystem, your existence or lack thereof has no impact. A common theme of the story reiterates how the Zone is both a provider and an oppressor, a cruel mistress of sorts that Stalkers have a love-hate relationship with. And that’s exactly the kind of experience you can expect going in.

Before getting started, I’m going to comment on the biggest issue this game faces, and that is performance issues. Despite playing on a 3070, I was forced to turn the game down to Low for any semblance of consistent playability. That still didn’t fix all the issues, and sometimes the game would start dying after a lengthy session or when you speak to certain NPCs or load into some areas. There’s a massive day 0 patch planned, and I hope it fixes up the major performance issues because, at its best, STALKER 2 looks drop-dead gorgeous.

As a huge Batman fan, the announcement of Batman: Arkham Shadow earlier this year came as a massive surprise. Almost a decade after the last core entry in the series (Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not included), a return to the Batman-centric universe was certainly an appealing prospect. While I was expecting a good time with familiar themes and aesthetics, I didn’t know I was in for the best VR game I’ve ever played.

Set a short while after Batman: Arkham Origins, Shadow takes place across one week in Gotham City, but primarily Blackgate Prison. Gotham is under siege by the Rat King, an underground cult leader preparing for a ‘Day of Wrath’ to overthrow the current governing bodies and give power back to the people.

While a popular genre in the last few years, there is nothing easy about the development of a “life simulator” RPG. Stardew Valley focuses mostly on farming aspects, and Fable tries to take on a bit of everything at once. The new game by Bad Ridge, Mirthwood, is intent on mixing the two together – but promising the player quite a bit of freedom, too. Does Mirthwood accomplish this ambitious idea or does it falter and fall into a ditch? Let’s find out.

The game sees you fill in the shoes of someone thrown out of their war-torn land, ending up in the apparently quiet land of Mirthwood. There, they will have to find out what hides behind a mysterious ancestry and discover the history of the Valdin, an ancient race. It is the trite story of the “chosen one”, destined to restore balance (or not) to the land. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before and, with the narrative beats being very separated by increasingly difficult combat, they won’t be of much interest.

Mario & Luigi Brothership on Nintendo Switch

Mario & Luigi finally set sail on a home console for the first time ever, and my word is it a resounding success. The typical reaction-based combat of the series is back and more refined than ever, with the addition of unpredictable elements like Luigi Logic and some cool super moves with the new Bros. Attacks.

As the title suggests, the duo’s adventure takes them to the high seas using their hub-based ship. Wind Waker fans rejoice, as progression through the game consists of visiting islands and overcoming their unique obstacles. As with previous games in the series, the adventure doesn’t take place within the Mushroom Kingdom but rather in a disconnected land called Concordia. The islands of Concordia have been broken apart, and it’s up to the brothers and their newfound allies Connie and Snoutlet to connect them back together using their ship, ‘Shipshape’. The story behind the shadowy organization behind the island fracture surprised me, but the gameplay elements used to connect the islands back together impressed me just as much.

Movie tie-in games are something of a dying art. During the heyday of the sixth generation of consoles practically every film got a flashy video game adaption, but consistent misfires mean we rarely get to explore our favorite cinematic worlds in interactive forms in the modern era.

As such, I was quietly excited for A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. Rather than a direct movie adaption, it takes place within the first few months of the alien invasion that forms the franchise’s key complicating action. What follows over the next six hours is a taut but predictable stealth horror game, with its inspirations clearly on display, but never quite reaching those heights.