Best of 2025: Mayo’s Top 3 Games of the Year
RUNNER-UP: Hollow Knight: Silksong (Played on Switch 2 – Released September 5th)
You know it must have been a banger of a year in video games if the much-anticipated sequel to Hollow Knight didn’t end up in my Top 3…yet here we are. Developer Team Cherry release the OG Hollow Knight back in 2017 to much acclaim and praise – I FINALLY worked my way through that game this year after initially starting it back in 2020, a similar theme for another series that will appear later in this list – and the hype level for Silksong was at a feverish level, but after that initial 2019 announcement….crickets. There were even multiple reddit feeds that kept track daily of when there was last news on Silksong. In late August, we FINALLY got an official trailer and a surprise release date of Sept. 5th. Hollow Knight: Silksong lived up to the years long hype and delivered a challenging, beautiful and fast paced Metroidvania adventure. Varied biome environments, challenging bosses, side quests that you wanted to go on and complete. It had it all. So, why is it outside the Top 3? Simply put, while it does add new gameplay mechanics playing as the versatile Hornet, for me, it didn’t bring anything new per se to the table from what Hollow Knight delivered in 2017. While not a bad thing, it didn’t feel like it did anything particularly fresh for the franchise. It felt more like a beefy expansion as opposed to a true sequel. Not a bad thing, but probably what held it back for me. This is still an amazing game, so I implore you to play it even if you haven’t played the original. It’s a wondrous and imaginative world you should experience.
BRONZE – Shinobi: Art of Vengeance (Played on PS5 – Released August 29th)
Nothing gets me more hyped than playing one last game for the year that ends up being so amazing that it pushes something out of my Top 3. Pure dopamine. When developer Lizardcube (one of the teams behind my GOTY of 2020, Streets of Rage 4) and publisher Sega unveiled their newest entry in the long running Shinobi franchise, I was beyond ecstatic. A beautiful hand drawn 2D action side-scrolling epic that was hitting all the right notes for me. However, in classic ME fashion, I procrastinated and didn’t buy it upon release. In mid-December, I had just finished up Metroid Prime 4 (which was a good game, just not great) and I noticed this was on sale and decided to just buy it and play it nonstop. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is one of the best side-scroller action titles I have played in the past few years. While it does have Metroidvania qualities – backtracking to prior locations after finding upgrades, secrets galore – it is not one single world with different sections but rather broken up into 15 or so individual levels, which allowed the developers to really go nuts on the art and level design and have them each feel like fully independent scenes. As expected, the character animations, artwork, level visuals and boss/enemy designs were all A+. The game was challenging – especially if you wanted to 100% it – but not at the expense of enjoyment, so reasonable in nature. Controls for Joe Mushahi – the protagonist of the franchise – is buttery smooth and ensures any obstacles or deaths you may achieve are purely because you just need to get good. These are the kinds of games that are the reason I still play today, and it made me want to check out the OTHER major ninja franchise that got a new 2D entry in 2025, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is worth the price of admission at any price. It’s 10-15 hours of a good time with gorgeous, vibrant visuals and rock-solid gameplay.
SILVER – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Played on PS5 – Released April 24th)
I confess that I am not the most well-informed RPG player. While I have dabbled with the Final Fantasy franchise on and off since the SNES days, as well as trying my hands at some of the classics of the 16-bit era such as Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana, a lot of well-established RPG staples have eluded my hands up to this day. Dragon Quest, Persona and most Pokémon games have not crossed my fingers. With that known, I was unable to resist the hype that was building up around developer Sandfall Interactives entry into the RPG foray. The early buzz was strong around the parry-based gameplay, the unique French inspired aesthetics and world and the general uniqueness of the story itself. Once I got my hands on it officially and began to work my way through the very bleak and emotional story, I knew I was playing something special. An amazing range of characters – Gustave and Verso are absolute DREAMBOATS – that each have their own specific and heart-wrenching journey to go on (Lune is my personal favorite of the bunch, primarily because she is badass and glides/floats as she traverses the world) is only the tip of what makes this a wholly unique experience. The world itself is inspired by Belle Epoque France and is rich with interesting architecture and varied environments and biomes to visit across the vast landscape. Considering this is from a relatively small independent developer, the scope and depth of the details are on par with major AAA game titles from the major publishers, and it shows the team had a genuine interest and love for every aspect of the story being told. The parry/turn based gameplay is implemented quite brilliantly and works wonderfully, but I do consider it still a gamble to go that route. Considering that the default game difficulty absolutely warrants you getting acclimated to the play style, especially as you venture further into the story and come across more challenging, optional side quests, this could have turned off a good section of the populace (parry-heavy gameplay is still the reason I have not ventured into the From Software epic Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice), but luckily they have a story mode that makes the parry system more manageable and allow everyone to experience the work and sweat that was put into this title. As for the story – of which I will be spoiling nothing here today – let’s just say that it takes twists and turns I was not expecting, especially an Act 1 closer that frankly took me aback somewhat and made me question where this story might go afterwards. The battles were intense, the boss fights were epic and great cappers on each zone you completed, the character designs are all A+, brilliant performances from Charlie Cox and Jennifer English (to name a few) and the gameplay is rather addicting once you get a hold of it. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the exact kind of major gaming milestone we look out for every year. It shows what a smaller studio can accomplish when they have the vision to back it up and a wholly unique story to tell and world to explore. I can’t wait to see what Sandfall Interactive unleashes on the world with their next project.
GOLD – Hades II (Played on Switch 2 – Released September 25th)
Earlier this year, my friend was looking for a game suggestion on her plane ride to Hawaii. I was trying to think of games that would suit her tastes, and I landed on 2020’s Hades. I had played it briefly back in 2020, but for whatever reason, I didn’t get far and put it down. A few weeks passed, and suddenly I got a text from her saying how she got hooked on Hades and was playing it non-stop. She did deep dives on Greek mythology, bought books, the whole nine yards. Suffering from an extreme case of FOMO, I decided to hop back in. Completely enamored. The gameplay was smooth and flawless, beautiful isometric graphical style, brilliant roguelike elements, impeccable voice acting for the vast array of mythological characters. The main character, Zagreus, was a smarmy and charismatic lead that you were totally behind on his epic journey. Fate clearly didn’t want me or my friend to go long without it once we finished the OG Hades, because in late early September, its sequel, Hades II, was finally leaving early access on PC and was getting a Switch 2 release in late September. Could the sequel live up to the brilliance of the original, or would it pale in comparison/be more of the same? Would new main character Melinoe match up to Zagreus from the OG? After about 15 minutes of playing Hades II, all worries were simply tossed out the window. Hades II is the apex of the roguelike genre, one that all other games that have come before or will release after will be judged against. Everything in Hades II takes what worked so well in the original Hades and amps it up to 11. Melinoe and her quest to defeat her evil uncle Chronos takes us across eight different environments such as Erebus, Oceanus, Tartarus, Ephyra and even Mount Olympus itself, all with distinctive art design that makes them clearly different from each other but flow together as a single overall world. The character artwork that accompanies each dialogue exchange as simply marvels of visual panache, each mythological character brought to magnificent life with designs that have completely taken over in my brain as to how these known entities appear to me whenever I think of them. Regarding dialogue, the seemingly endless conversations that evolve and change based on how each of your runs go, story progress you make or seemingly any innocuous decision you make becomes relevant in any random conversation you may have is remarkable. I can’t even begin to imagine the painstaking depths developer Supergiant must have endured to make all this work, but I salute their absolute dedication to the craft. All of the various items to assist you on each run to destroy Chronos in the underworld OR Typhon in Olympus – upgrades, boons, weapons variety, animal familiars – are all extremely useful and form unique combinations that can make every run memorable and puts the pressure on the players to choose the right weapons, upgrades and combinations to make the current run a successful one. The best part of Hades II, however, is the insane music and score. The score is done by Darren Korb, who did scoring duties on Hades OG and outdoes himself in every facet here. The music score is flawless, and he has the vibe of these games nailed down. Special mention, however, must go to Scylla and the Sirens, the final boss of Oceanus. They’re a pop band who bounce between various original songs during their boss battle, and it’s iconic. Scylla’s vocal performance is done by Erin Yvette + Ashley Barrett and Judy Alice Lee (who also voices Melinoe) as bandmates Roxy and Jetty respectively, and, trust me, they deserve ALL the praise for their memorable tunes they wield in this game. Even though I have already reached the credits and have put over 70 hours into this game, I still find myself hoping back in occasionally to try and wrap up the various plot threads still unresolved. It’s just so addictive. This year has been a revelatory year for gaming and has seen the release of so many iconic titles from developers large and, more importantly, small. Hades II is pure gaming goodness, and it’s one of the most purely enjoyable experiences I have had in a long time, all while immersing me in the Greek mythology that no book or text has done so before. Supergiant has delivered a masterpiece of pure gaming perfection.
