The Best PlayStation Game of 2025

Superheroes, ronin, insect warriors, and postal work workers. Whatever your phantasy this year, PlayStation could present it. But which PS5 crippled was the best? We astatine IGN person voted and picked retired what we deliberation are the 5 astir worthy of designation from crossed 2025, naming 1 of them the precise champion PlayStation crippled of the year, arsenic good arsenic shouting retired a fewer honourable mentions that were precise adjacent to making the cut.

In an epoch wherever console exclusives are a dying breed, arsenic Sony’s competitor, Microsoft, has shown america much than ever implicit the past fewer months, we’ve made the determination this twelvemonth to subdivision retired and unfastened up the criteria for what tin triumph our platform-specific awards. These aren’t the apical 5 Sony exclusives, but the apical 5 games that were released connected PS5 successful 2025, afloat stop. So, without further ado, let’s get connected with it and crown the champion PlayStation crippled of 2025 earlier we each dice of aged age.

Honorable Mentions

One of the champion games from aboriginal successful the twelvemonth was Hazelight’s Split Fiction, the endlessly inventive co-op enactment platformer that conscionable narrowly missed retired connected a top-five spot. Also conscionable missing retired are a brace of 2025’s breakout indie hits, Blue Prince and Ball X Pit. These 2 couldn’t beryllium much antithetic from each other, though, with the erstwhile brain-bending mansion afloat of puzzles a overmuch calmer matter than the brick-breaking chaos of the latter. And past there’s 2 large shooters that came on astatine the extremity of the year. Battlefield 6’s multiplayer has seen it instrumentality to the glorious, huge-scale carnage that fans wanted, and Arc Raiders has proven a monolithic occurrence acknowledgment to its “just 1 much extraction” nature. Rounding retired connected honourable mentions are a brace of games that similar to bash things a spot otherwise erstwhile it comes to narrative: Atomfall and Silent Hill f. Both make uneasy worlds successful their ain ways, and we respect them for their freeform and steadily revealing approaches to storytelling, respectively.

Runner-Up - Hollow Knight: Silksong

It yet happened. 2025 was the twelvemonth that Hollow Knight: Silksong saw the airy of day, and what a alleviation that we not lone got to play it, but it was besides highly good. Team Cherry’s much-anticipated sequel whitethorn beryllium a full batch much punishing than the original, but it is inactive location to that aforesaid magic, which tin beryllium recovered each implicit its sprawling, bug-sized satellite afloat of concealed nooks and crannies. The platforming pathways to get to those places are choky and challenging, with caller lead, Hornet, showing disconnected a caller batch of skills stemming from her fundamentally game-changing diagonal dart. But it’s successful combat wherever she truly comes into her own, promoting a much assertive benignant of play which lets you instrumentality the combat to Silksong’s bestiary of bosses. These pugnacious creatures of each shapes and sizes with nasty tricks up their sleeves whitethorn person presented immoderate of 2025’s biggest roadblocks, but persevere, and the glory waiting down them leads to 1 of this year’s top games.

Runner-Up - Dispatch

Superhero play Dispatch manages to recapture the magic of those Telltale-esque episodic ocular novels that we each fell successful emotion with a decennary oregon truthful ago. Following the communicative of Robert Robertson, a leader who is thing without his now-destroyed mech suit, it's a heartwarming communicative of redemption that isn’t without its just stock of bite, too. Managing your galore relationships, some idiosyncratic and professional, arsenic they intertangle astatine Robbie’s spot of work, the Superhero Dispatch Network, is key, arsenic is making definite your squad of down-and-out supervillains successfully effort their manus astatine crime-stopping.

This fractional of the crippled adds a real-time sim absorption wrinkle to each chapter, arsenic you boost the skills of your squad and nonstop them retired connected missions that lucifer their skillset. From the hot-head Flambae, to the internet’s caller favourite demon Mommy, Malevola, you’re successful bid of a vibrant and varied clump that each connection a amusive dynamic to each and each country they’re in. But it's extracurricular of the SDN bureau show that Dispatch truly comes to life, arsenic Robertson’s beingness crumbles astir him, and your champion attempts astatine rebuilding it are hidden down dialog choices. What comes of its formed of characters, headlined by Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul arsenic Robbie, and with Laura Bailey’s Invisagal stealing astir scenes, is up to you. One happening that is guaranteed, though, is simply a large time.

Runner-Up - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

In galore ways, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach yet fulfilled the committedness of its flawed predecessor. Creator Hideo Kojima’s 2nd portion of post-apocalypse transportation adventures dialled up the action, echoing his past Metal Gear Solid successes, whilst inactive maintaining that singular, lonely imaginativeness of a disconnected world. Taking Sam Porter Bridges to Australia, On the Beach hands you a overmuch expanded scope of combat options, from silenced sniper rifles to homing rocket mechanical dogs, and permits you to spell astir completing its many, galore postal orders nevertheless you’d like. This state is not conscionable a combat feature, but is reflected successful however you spell astir navigating each of these treacherous transportation routes, too, with caller ways to question implicit stormy deserts and raging rivers, including huge, looming monorail systems and bonkers coffin hoverboards.

But the weirdness is conscionable 1 facet of Death Stranding — and there’s nary shortage of it this clip around, acknowledgment to Troy Baker’s fantabulous instrumentality arsenic villain Higgs — arsenic its themes of emotion and nonaccomplishment yet dominate, nary substance however ample the spectacle connected screen. Lea Seydoux is subtly superb arsenic Fragile, and drives the communicative from commencement to decorativeness arsenic the connections betwixt herself, Sam, and babe Lou are steadily revealed. It’s a fantastic illustration of a imaginativeness travel to life, and easy 1 of the champion PlayStation games to person travel retired successful 2025.

Runner-Up - Ghost of Yotei

Following up connected 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima was ever going to beryllium a challenge, but developer Sucker Punch roseate to it impressively good with Ghost of Yotei. This sword-slashing epic borrows everything that we loved from its predecessor, but improves connected astir each of it successful a multitude of amusive small ways. The pulsating combat opens up further, with caller weapons and skills introduced to deepen its acquainted dodge, block, parry, and plaything system. Among those additions is the highly satisfying disarming mechanic that has your protagonist, Atsu, nonstop her enemies' blades flying from their grasp. But it's this wandering ronin’s communicative that drives Yotei’s momentum, turning a elemental communicative of revenge into thing overmuch much beauteous arsenic you research each country of its humanities Japanese representation and soak successful some the audio and ocular majesty connected show

Winner - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Surprise! Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has won different award. It truly is that good, though, isn’t it? Sandfall Interactive’s ode to Final Fantasy of years gone by takes that age-old look and thrusts it firmly into 2025 with lashings of style, soaring music, and a conflict strategy that melds classical turn-based RPG mechanics with breathtaking real-time elements, making each and each brushwood a thrill. All of that benignant would beryllium thing without substance, though, and portion its combat excites from infinitesimal to moment, it’s Clair Obscur’s poignant communicative and layered formed of characters that marque it unrecorded agelong successful the memory. Jennifer English is pitch-perfect arsenic Maelle astatine the bosom of Expedition 33’s plot, with Ben Starr’s Verso a fantastic foil arsenic its twisted themes of grief and what it is to emotion are untangled. All played retired successful beforehand of a ticking backdrop of the Gommage — a yearly tolling doomsday timepiece for anyone of a definite property — it’s wonderfully cinematic, making it acceptable close successful alongside galore of Sony’s first-party blockbuster offerings.

Taking inspiration from the archetypal PlayStation’s room of Japanese RPGs and bringing those ideas into the future, acknowledgment to an all-timer video crippled communicative supported by a combat strategy arsenic satisfying arsenic it is nuanced, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the wide victor of our grant for Best PlayStation Game of 2025.

What was your favourite PS5 crippled of 2025? Let america cognize successful the comments! For much IGN awards, you tin cheque them each retired successful 1 spot here, including our picks for the champion Xbox and Nintendo games of the year.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.