5 Games You Can’t Afford to Sleep On: The Definitive Best of 2025

2025 has been a year of beautiful chaos for the gaming world. It was a timeline where titans crumbled, indie darlings soared, and the shooter genre underwent a radical reinvention. With Grand Theft Auto VI pushed back and Black Ops 7 failing to find its footing, a massive power vacuum opened up, and a new class of developers stepped in to deliver generation-defining experiences.

At TechJuice, we don’t just look at hype. We look at the numbers, the technology, and the raw gamer sentiment. After deep analysis of Metacritic scores, SteamDB charts, and community feedback, here are the top 5 games of 2025 that demand your attention.

1. Arc Raiders

• Developer: Embark Studios
• Genre: PvPvE Extraction Shooter
• Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
• Key Standouts: Innovation & Visual Fidelity

If 2025 belongs to anyone, it belongs to Embark Studios. Arc Raiders did the impossible: it made the punishing extraction shooter genre accessible without sacrificing tension.

You drop into a post-apocalyptic world terrorised by machines called ARCs, ruthless, alien-like robots dropping from orbit. The loop is as addictive as they come. You scavenge for loot, fight off AI machines, and then survive the extraction against other players. Yes, you heard that right… AI machines. Crazy clips kept on surfacing now and then, highlighting the interesting combat situations created due to this groundbreaking feature.

ARC enemies are very smart, if you get on top of them they get up high and roll to drop you, if you try to hide in a building they try to find an opening to see you. Generally the best robot enemies I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/jOEz86RZ6U

— Muaxh03 (@muaxh03) November 4, 2025

However, the standout feature of this game is the verticality of the “Stella Montis” map. You aren’t just hiding in bushes… You are ziplining between crumbling skyscrapers while a massive “Matriarch” boss rains fire from above. The game respects your time with a fair “risk-vs-reward” economy, but the adrenaline spike when you are carrying a backpack full of rare loot and hear an enemy squad approaching is unmatched.

The numbers speak for themselves. With a peak of over 400,000 concurrent players on Steam this November, Arc Raiders is statistically the most successful new IP of the year.

2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Developer: Sandfall Interactive
• Genre: Turn-Based RPG
• Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
• Key Standouts: Art Direction & Narrative

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a masterpiece of style and substance. It takes the classic turn-based formula and injects it with adrenaline.

Imagine a world where a mysterious entity known as the “Paintress” wakes up once a year to paint a number on a monolith. Everyone of that age instantly turns to smoke and dies. You play as “Expedition 33”, a desperate team on a suicide mission to destroy her before she paints the number “33”.

The combat is a rhythm game disguised as an RPG. You select commands turn-by-turn, but you must dodge, parry, and counter enemy attacks in real-time. Nailing a perfect parry feels as satisfying as any action game, and the Belle Époque-inspired visuals make every frame look like a painting come to life.

Perfectly parry combos to trigger powerful counterattacks in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

New gameplay details for the upcoming RPG: https://t.co/XtvgWRRSRQ pic.twitter.com/6reTRbGi1K

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) August 29, 2024

This is the “Game of the Year” frontrunner for critics. It holds a staggering 92 on Metacritic, proving that single-player, narrative-driven games are still a dominant force.

3. Battlefield 6

• Developer: Battlefield Studios (EA)
• Genre: First-Person Shooter
• Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S
• Key Standouts: Scale & Destruction

The King has returned. After the stumbling block of 2042, EA went back to basics. Battlefield 6 delivers exactly what fans asked for:

• Massive destruction
• A modern 2027 setting
• A class system that actually works

This time out, the game feels heavy, gritty, and real. The new “Kinesthetic Combat System” changes the flow of infantry fights entirely. You can physically drag wounded squadmates behind cover to revive them, lean around corners to suppress enemies, and mount weapons on shattered walls for stability.

BATTLEFIELD 6 just got a ton of new info, gameplay and impressions from people who played it

Here are all the highlights:

– NOT coming to PS4 & Xbox One

– 9 maps, 6 modes confirmed

– Described as “it’s battlefield!” by players, basically feeling like BF3 & BF4 rather than… pic.twitter.com/qMGrw6hPgV

— Synth Potato🥔 (@SynthPotato) July 31, 2025

The destruction is no longer a gimmick… It is tactical. On maps like “Gibraltar”, you can level entire buildings to remove enemy sniper nests. When triggered, the chaos is deafening. It’s the ultimate military sandbox.

From a business perspective, this game is in a class of its own. Breaking franchise records with 7 million copies sold in just 3 days, Battlefield 6 has reclaimed the FPS throne from Call of Duty this year.

4. Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Developer: Team Cherry
• Genre: Metroidvania
• Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2
• Key Standouts: Level Design & Fluidity

It finally happened. Hollow Knight: Silksong released, and it somehow exceeded the impossible hype. Playing as “Hornet” offers a faster, more acrobatic experience than the original game, focusing on verticality and aggression.

You are Hornet, the princess-protector of “Hallownest”, captured and taken to the kingdom of “Pharloom”. Unlike the “Knight” from the first game, Hornet is vocal, deadly, and fast. The gameplay revolves around the “Silk System”. Instead of passively gaining soul, you must aggressively strike enemies to build up silk, which you can use to heal instantly or unleash devastating special moves.

Hornet unleashes a versatile skillset in Hollow Knight: Silksong, from dashes to spear thrusts pic.twitter.com/bgLMD8JPWv

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 13, 2025

You will spend hours mastering her toolset, from shuriken-like gadgets to the ability to sprint up walls. The world is interconnected in genius ways, rewarding players who explore every nook and cranny of the “Citadel”.

This is the indie game of the decade. Despite a smaller budget than other entries on this list, it delivers 50+ hours of polished content. It is a mandatory play for anyone who owns a controller.

5. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

• Developer: Kojima Productions
• Genre: Action / Strand
• Platforms: PS5 Exclusive
• Key Standouts: Performance & Spectacle

Hideo Kojima continues to operate on a different wavelength. Death Stranding 2 is weird, beautiful, and emotionally exhausting. It pushes facial animation technology to a level that blurs the line between game and film.

When playing Death Stranding 2, you may find yourself asking, “What does it all mean?”

Only way to find out is to keep on keepin’ on 🐋🤔 pic.twitter.com/h37B3azcZH

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) July 20, 2025

“Sam Porter Bridges” is back, but the scale has expanded massively. You are now working with the civilian outfit “Drawbridge” aboard the mobile base “DHV Magellan”. The core loop of delivering cargo remains, but the environment fights back harder than ever.

You will face dynamic floods that wash away your paths, forest fires, and shifting terrain. The new “On The Beach” sequences introduce surreal, horror-like elements that break up the trekking. It challenges the medium to be more than just “fun”… It wants to make you feel the weight of every step.

It’s an artistic powerhouse. Even if you don’t finish it, you need to see it to believe how far graphics technology has come in 2025.

Honourable Mention

We couldn’t fit everything into the top 5, but these titles defined 2025 in their own way.

Where Winds Meet (PC, PS5): The surprise Wuxia hit of the year. Often called the “Chinese Ghost of Tsushima”, it carves its own path with a unique martial arts system that lets you run on water and scale walls effortlessly. The mix of history and mythology offers a refreshing change of pace from Western open worlds.

Monster Hunter Wilds (PC, PS5, Xbox): Released back in February, this was the year’s first mega-hit. It introduced the “Focus Mode” mechanic, allowing hunters to target specific monster wounds with surgical precision. While performance was shaky at launch, it remains the best co-op experience of the year.

Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2 Exclusive): The Switch 2’s first true “system seller” arrived this summer. Nintendo finally gave DK a 3D platformer again, and it is joyous chaos. The fully destructible environments let you smash through walls and floors to find secrets, showcasing the new console’s physics processing power.

Ghost of Yōtei (PS5 Exclusive): Sucker Punch’s follow-up to Ghost of Tsushima is visually stunning. Set in 1603 around “Mount Yōtei”, the introduction of firearms and a companion wolf adds a fresh tactical layer to the samurai combat. And a female protagonist is the cherry on top, literally.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (Switch 2 Exclusive): Literally released today (Dec 4th), “Samus” is finally back. Early impressions suggest it blends the classic isolation of Prime with modern, open-ended level design. It’s already topping the Switch 2 eShop charts.

The Game Awards 2025: Heart vs. Head

As we approach The Game Awards 2025 next week, the industry buzz is deafening. The safe money is on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. It checks every box the jury loves:

• Emotional Storytelling
• Artistic Prestige
• Traditional Design

It is the “absolute cinema” of gaming, and it will likely walk away with the trophy.

However, my personal pick is Arc Raiders.

While Clair Obscur perfected an existing formula, Arc Raiders pushed the industry forward. It took the most difficult genre in gaming, the extraction shooter, and made it a global phenomenon. It is a technical marvel that runs flawlessly on UE5, a social hub, and a masterclass in tension. Clair Obscur made me feel, but Arc Raiders is what I am actually playing every night. In my humble opinion, Arc Raiders deserves the crown.