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The best games of 2025 for PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch according to Metacritic

Aaron Hall
By Aaron Hall Gaming Content Writer | Journalist
Last updated: Jan 09, 2026
The best games of 2025 for playstation xbox and switch according to metacritic 2

Best Games of 2025 for PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch According to Metacritic

Metacritic has already dealt with the worst releases of the past year, and now it's time to highlight the best games of 2025. Lists of the twenty highest-rated projects have been compiled for Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo consoles. PC players will have to wait a bit.

Metacritic's lists are based on a couple of criteria: the game's release between January 1 and December 31, 2025, and at least seven reviews from professional critics. Titles are ranked according to their "metascore"—an average final score. If a project was released on two generations of a company's consoles (for example, Xbox One and Xbox Series), the version with more critic reviews was included.

Best Games of 2025 for PlayStation

The top spot on the list of the highest-rated PlayStation games of 2025, according to Metacritic, was taken by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Initially considered a dark horse, by the end of 2025 it began to collect game of the year titles. Also in the top three was a title from Microsoft — Forza Horizon 5. The best result for a Sony exclusive was seventh place, awarded to the sequel Death Stranding.

  1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — 92/100.
  2. Hollow Knight: Silksong — 92/100.
  3. Forza Horizon 5 — 92/100.
  4. Split Fiction — 91/100.
  5. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector — 90/100.
  6. Dispatch — 89/100.
  7. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach — 89/100.
  8. Monster Hunter Wilds — 88/100.
  9. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter — 88/100.
  10. BALL x PIT — 88/100.
  11. Sektori — 88/100.
  12. Sword of the Sea — 88/100.
  13. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles — 88/100.
  14. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — 88/100.
  15. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II — 88/100.
  16. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance — 87/100.
  17. Absolum — 87/100.
  18. Lumines Arise — 87/100.
  19. Ghost of Yōtei — 86/100.
  20. Silent Hill f — 86/100.

Best Games of 2025 for Xbox

In the top 20 highest-rated Xbox games, former console exclusives from a competitor also made an appearance. These include Final Fantasy XVI, the remake Silent Hill 2, and Helldivers 2. The top three spots were taken by multiplatform titles with Split Fiction leading the way.

  1. Split Fiction — 93/100.
  2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — 91/100.
  3. Hollow Knight: Silksong — 90/100.
  4. Blue Prince — 90/100.
  5. Monster Hunter Wilds — 90/100.
  6. ARC Raiders — 88/100.
  7. Final Fantasy XVI — 88/100.
  8. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II — 88/100.
  9. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance — 87/100.
  10. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii — 87/100.
  11. Two Point Museum — 86/100.
  12. Silent Hill 2 — 86/100.
  13. Mullet MadJack — 86/100.
  14. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 — 86/100.
  15. Helldivers 2 — 85/100.
  16. Assassin’s Creed Shadows — 85/100.
  17. DOOM: The Dark Ages — 85/100.
  18. Gears of War: Reloaded — 85/100.
  19. Elden Ring Nightreign — 84/100.
  20. Battlefield 6 — 84/100.

Best Games of 2025 for Nintendo Switch

Nintendo takes its own path, so half of the top twenty games for its consoles do not appear in the previous lists. Firstly, the "Big N" is not in a hurry to port its exclusives to other platforms. Secondly, not all releases have Switch ports—hence, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is missing here. Thirdly, with the launch of Switch 2, some previous years' games received re-releases or native versions for the new console, bypassing the first Switch. Examples include Street Fighter 6, while a first version example is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for the second Switch, which took the top spot.

  1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition — 95/100.
  2. Hades II — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition — 95/100.
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition — 94/100.
  4. Hollow Knight: Silksong — 91/100.
  5. Donkey Kong Bananza — 91/100.
  6. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter — 90/100.
  7. Absolum — 90/100.
  8. BALL x PIT — 89/100.
  9. Split Fiction — 89/100.
  10. Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo — 88/100.
  11. Street Fighter 6 — 87/100.
  12. Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 — 87/100.
  13. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound — 87/100.
  14. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles — 87/100.
  15. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition — 87/100.
  16. Mario Kart World — 86/100.
  17. Heretic + Hexen — 86/100.
  18. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time — 86/100.
  19. Shotgun Cop Man — 86/100.
  20. Deltarune — 86/100.