The Impact Factor's Top 10 Games of 2025

 

  The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2025

Hello void. You thought I would stop making these after we hit our 10th anniversary last year? Hah! Think again. Does this list mean less than ever based on the way I have been playing games? Also yes! Still, it is always a nice snapshot of my life in games. So let's get into it.

For the past several years, I have let you all know that I play fewer and fewer new games. This is even more true in 2025. For the first time, I feel like I have completely escaped from the "gameosphere" or zeitgeist or whatever you want to call it. I no longer follow games news, read reviews or editorial content. Hell, I don't even listen to podcasts -- the one anchor I still had in 2024. Working from home will do that to your podcast listening time. For that reason, I felt almost zero compulsion to play the newest-latest-best. This Top 10 list will feature 10 games, but speaking frankly, I only played 10 games that came out this year. Not really a big sample size.

So where has all that game energy gone? Well, let's summarize:

• I still play my daily grind fixtures Genshin Impact and Marvel Snap. I enjoy both quite a bit, but I would be lying if I said that it was their strongest year of content. 
• The latter, Snap, is on the bubble. What has been my monthly grind to achieve the top rank (Infinite) has slipped away. It's not that the game has gotten any worse, but I spent 50% of 2025 devoting that card game energy elsewhere....
• That elsewhere? Magic: The Gathering. With the June release of Final Fantasy: MTG through the rest of the year I was hooked. The Commander format was where I spent the majority of my time. Across my wife and I, we built 8 decks. We play 1-2X / week with our friends. I did sealed, draft, standard. For those of you that know me, my love of Magic: The Gathering goes as far back as my love for video games. Perhaps even further, as my parents seemed more amenable to me playing a physical game than being lost in the digital worlds of Super Nintendo.
• Magic: The Gathering remains one of the best games ever made. It so totally absorbed me from June-December, video games fell to the background. I am so excited to continue playing Magic in 2026 with friends and family. 

A selection of some of our favorite commanders

Anyway. I still play games! And love them! Going into 2026 I suspect I will play even fewer new releases. However, I have been getting re-hooked into classic or classic-styled turn-based JRPGs. So expect several of those to populate next year's list, even if they didn't come out in 2026. I suspect that is the change I must make to this thing to keep it alive. Without further ado, let's get into my Top 10 list.

10. Scarlet Hollow

I am not sure this one even counts, but I assume they released a new episode this year? Early access alpha stuff gets wonky. Regardless, Scarlet Hollow is a narrative adventure game my wife loved and finally convinced me to play. I'm only ~1.5 episodes into this dark Appalachian horror mystery but I am excited to see where it goes next. There are some genuinely creepy, tense moments and I expect it will only get better.

9. Marvel: Cosmic Invasion

A fun, breezy retro-styled side scrolling beat 'em up featuring an eclectic mix of Marvel superheroes. I had a blast playing this in 4-player local co-op on Christmas. We played, and completed, the whole thing in 2-3 days. It is a short experience without much depth, but it is hard to top a silly chaotic ride through the multiverse of Marvel with a great group of people. Nova / Storm is the best combo btw.

8. Sword of the Sea

Old Impact Factor would have loved this quiet, thrilling and beautiful indie exploration adventure through a desolate land, to return the ocean to a desolate world. All while surfing on a hover-sword. Modern me? Eh. I liked it, and the game is gorgeous. It never fully hooked me, though. Getting through its 5 hour runtime took longer than I would like to admit. Still, in its best moments I was completely enthralled by the high velocity sand surfing and rich beauty, earning its spot on this list.

7. Split Fiction

From the team behind Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and It Takes Two comes another two-player couch co-op experience bursting at the seams with creativity and fun. Split Fiction feels like an improvement in almost every way compared to It Takes Two, which ranked very high on my past list. For one -- I don't hate the characters. Whoo! Split Fiction constantly reinvents itself throughout. My wife and I didn't get to finish this one, as we got distracted elsewhere, but I am excited to put a bow on this in 2026. I suspect it may have been higher on this list had we rolled credits.

6. Mario Kart World

What a whirlwind of a month this game was. For me, this is the best a Mario Kart has been. Fun tracks, great driving, new mechanics to give you the edge (grinding, wall riding, etc.), plus all our favorite Mushroom Kingdom guys, gals, and everything in between! This is another fun, frantic 4-player local experience this year. My wife and I were transfixed on getting max stars on every cup. Mario Kart World is simple, fun, easy to pick up and almost impossible to master. What else do you need?

5. Dispatch

Dispatch was a fun surprise! Telltale-styled narrative adventure games were a longtime fixture of our household gaming (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, Tales from the Borderlands, etc). Dispatch tells the story of hero turned superhero dispatcher in charge of a ragtag bunch of former villain ne'er-do-wells trying to find a better way. The dispatching gameplay itself is serviceable, but where the game really shines is the writing, dialogue, and performances. It was a blast to return to this world every week for a month to see where the story went. Hoping for a Dispatch 2!

4. Borderlands 4

It is more Borderlands. Perhaps this is unhelpful to share, but that is just about all I need. My wife and I love this world, the frantic gunplay, the loot loop. All of it. Borderlands 4 is the strongest entry since our favorite, BL2. For the first time we were able to play not split screen (her on PC, me on PS5) and it was a game changer. I had such a phenomenal time and wish we would hop back in to play more. It is still installed, hoping for some new expansion to ship us back to Kairos. 

3. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

As someone who never really got into Metal Gear Solid, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed the first Death Stranding. From a gameplay and mechanical perspective, Death Stranding 2 (On the Beach) is better in every way. It is so satisfying building delivery routes: highways for open areas, ziplines for treacherous terrain, launch points for gliding across snowy mountains. The world was bigger and better than ever in this sequel. The plot did not quite work for me, but that almost did not matter when the act of playing was so fun.

2. Monster Hunter Wilds

Another year, another seemingly controversial Capcom pick for a high ranking entry on my list. Many in the Monster Hunter community view Wilds as a failure -- a weak base offering with little room to grow. I did not see it that way. Sure, I was not as hooked as I was for Monster Hunter Worlds, but I still put close to 100 hours into this within 1-2 months. That's a LOT for me. I woke up thinking about builds, pushed myself to hunt increasingly difficult beasts, and even engaged with true endgame farming for the first time. Maybe this is grading on a curve, but any game that compels me to play it every day until I "beat it" earns a high ranking for me.

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

From its earliest showing, Expedition 33 looked like something tailor made to appeal to my tastes. A high-fidelity, dark fantasy turn-based RPG from a new studio? Sign me up. I am so happy to report that this far exceeded my expectations. Expedition 33 has crunchy, satisfying turn-based combat that rewards timing-based prompts (parry, dodge, QTE for damage bonuses) and hyper granular character builds. I loved the sad, dark painted world steeped in grief and whimsy. Expedition 33 had best-in class performances from its main cast, which made the twists and turns of the plot hit even harder. The game also knew how to not overstay its welcome -- I managed to complete this is less than 50 hours, including optional endgame challenges. I was completely enthralled with Expedition 33. It was one of the few games this year I could put down until I completed everything. Congrats Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 -- you're my Game of the Year!

The Impact Factor's Top 10 Games of 2024

  The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2024

Hey! It's the 10th anniversary of this silly GOTY list. And I almost didn't make it. I have no good reason as to why. I still love games, and I still rank them throughout the year. Maybe I'll work through that in 2025. A LOT happened in 2024. Major life changes -- most good, some very challenging. But we're here. Let's get into my Top 10 list.

10. Nine Sols

This 2D search action "metroidvania" game combines elements from some of my favorite genres and games. Hints of the Souls series and Sekiro echo throughout. Nine Sols starts slow, but then builds upon itself to deliver a combat-rich and mysterious adventure that got its hooks into me.

9. Animal Well

Speaking of mystery, let's talk about Animal Well. This delightful and thoughtfully paced pixel art search action game is a puzzle box wrapped in a puzzle. Light on combat but overflowing with creative exploration and rewarding puzzles, Animal Well is a game that respects your intelligence and curiosity and rewards it over and over again.

8. Super Mario Party Jamboree

I can say without hesitation that this is the best, most feature complete Mario Party game that has ever been made. Mini games match the series best. Jamboree provides tons of ways to play, while maintaining the chaotic (and often rage inducing) board game experience. For the first time, Mario Party added rules to remove some of that randomness, likely to appease even the most steadfast Mario Party hater. Jamboree rules, and I had a blast playing it at every game night.

7. Persona 3 Reload

If you have followed me for any period of time, you know how much I adore JRPGs and the Persona franchise. P3 Reload is my first experience with what is commonly regarded as the first of the modern Persona era. P3 Reload is everything I wanted it to be. Fun characters, an engaging world and central conflict, and some good-as-heck dungeon crawling. P3 shows a bit of its age when compared to Persona 5, with a little too much empty space in the calendar system, but my nitpicks are just that. The ending hit me like a ton of bricks. 

6. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

JRPG number two. FF7 Rebirth is a gargantuan game. It took me -- and this is not an exaggeration -- about 5 months of play to complete. Rebirth features some of the best "Final Fantasy" that I have ever experienced. Fantastic characters, an amazing world, and what is still one of the best JRPG combat systems out there. If you were to take just the best parts, FF7 Rebirth would probably be in my Top 3. Unfortunately there is just SO MUCH game there, and a lot of it isn't great. This might just be a me problem, but I struggled to maintain momentum while playing. Still. It was a heck of a good time, overall.

5. Marvel Rivals

Marvel Rivals is a shockingly good time. Sure it's just Marvel Overwatch, but it's also... not? I may still have my rose tinted glasses on, but Rivals seems to have learned about what worked, and what didn't, with Overwatch and took all the good while ditching the bad. Roles are more fluid, team ups allow new strategies and compositions, and character kits (with the exception of a few) are all fun. Above all, this is something my wife and I got to play together. And play a lot. It has been a blast, and I cannot wait to play more.

4. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Yet another JRPG! Infinite Wealth is fantastic. Characters, combat, melodrama. Above all, it has an almost intangible "life" to it that no other game on this list is able to match. It is silly in all the best ways. It has that content overload like I discussed with FF7 Rebirth but... does it better? I couldn't wait to train more miscreants for Pokemon-inspired battles, or build my Dondoco Island resort. Ichiban Kasuga is so fun to inhabit. I did not finish this one, but I am thrilled to get back to it ASAP in 2025.

3. Dragon's Dogma 2

Perhaps my most controversial pick and placement on this list. General public and Dragon's Dogma fans alike bemoaned the slog, lack of enemy variety -- some even citing that this was a step down from the original game. Not for me. I was immediately hooked into DD2's signature combat and survival-inspired exploration. I wanted to know everything about this weird fantasy world, and uncovering secrets and quests was more rewarding here than in any other game on this list. DD2 demands you approach it on its own terms and I deeply respect it. It feels like a true, fantasy adventure. Once I started, I did not stop until I rolled credits.

2. Astro Bot

This was my game of the year right up until...well.. I wrote this list. Astro Bot is a perfect video game. It is an experience, a joy, that can only be provided by a video game. Bright, colorful, responsive and immersive, Astro Bot has it all. It is my favorite 2D platformer of all time. It takes everything that works in Mario and just... does it a little more simply and efficiently? Astro Bot is filled to the brim with novel gameplay mechanics and fun ideas. The speedrun levels are just a delight. Every time a new level dropped, I was there. I'm still hoping for an expansion. Just a fantastic, game that deserves all the accolades it received.

1. Metaphor: ReFantazio

Yeah. This one is special. What if take all of the goodness of Persona but place it in perhaps one of the most interesting fantasy worlds I have experienced in a long time? Heck yeah. It takes everything that has worked in the calendar-based dungeon crawler genre and trims the fat. Metaphor has a flow, a feel, that hooks you and continuously compels you to play more. This alone could earn it game of the year -- but what really pushed it over the edge was the story and characters. A fantasy world experiencing democracy for the first time is a wild concept, and one that was executed with a surprising amount of thoughtfulness and intrigue. Taken as a whole, this is my favorite JRPG party of all time. Heismay is the best character of 2024. Loved loved loved this one. 90+ hours played as a sprint, my wife and I could not stop playing. Congrats Metaphor: ReFantazio -- you're my Game of the Year!

The Impact Factor's Top 10 Games of 2023

 The Impact Factor’s Top 10 Games of 2023

Let’s keep this short and sweet this time around, yeah? 2023 was a phenomenal year for game releases. If you’ve read any of the past couple year’s posts, you would know that I have been trending more towards lifestyle games. Games that are easier to pick up and put down, and feel better when played in short bursts. The caliber of 2023 releases was so great, however, that it pushed me more towards my old ways. That’s awesome! The games were too good to be overlooked.

Most important to me — this year was huge for playing together with my wife. The back half of the year was spent almost exclusively sitting side by side, controllers in hand. It’s something I am always going to remember. 

2023 was also a year of HUGE releases when looking at playtime. I played three games for over 100 hours (one of those being Genshin Impact again, heh), and several others for 50+. With that in mind, I barely played more than 10 new release games. So while I stand by this list, keep in mind that its more an ordered list of games I played rather than a definitive representation of everything that released this year. 

Anyway, onto the list. See you all next year for the tenth anniversary of making these silly things!

10. Rogue Legacy 2

The classic “does this count since it came out on other platforms prior to 2023 but only came to Playstation this year?” Oh well. Rogue Legacy 2 is a blast, improving basically everything from the first game. Extremely satisfying 2D platforming, fun roguelike procedural generation, and enough run-to-run progress to always feel like you are one step closer seeing the credits roll. I played this at the same time as Final Fantasy XVI (a deeply disappointing game that will not make this list), and found myself booting this up 9 times out of 10. Super fun!

9. Sea of Stars

A beautiful pixel-art RPG that plays into some of my biggest nostalgia — the JRPGs of the Super Nintendo generation. More than a little inspired by Chrono Trigger, but unique enough to chart its own path, Sea of Stars has been so fun to play. RPGs like this are definitely a comfort food for me. It has, so far, been a simple experience, but simple is good. It feels so deeply refined that each moment has been a joy. Full disclosure — I have not beaten it yet. I’ll get there.

8. Dead Space (Remake)

What a year for new era remakes of classic survival horror games. Dead Space was an instant classic of its time, and still playable (and fantastic!) in its original form. But the remake went above an beyond. It’s one of those perfect remakes where it keeps everything that worked & makes it prettier (gorier?) while adding new quality of life changes and content that feel natural. The seamless exploration of the USS Ishimura changed the experience meaningfully. I played this front to back as soon as it released, and I keep itching to play it again. 

7. Lies of P

One of the best Soulslike games not made by From Software. Lies of P has a silly premise; it’s a dark Victorian horror game about Pinocchio killing robots and zombies with a great sword. Yep. But the gameplay was super smooth, with a smart and highly customizable weapon assembly system, and creative boss fights. It’s one of the easier Soulslike games I've played, and there is room for improvement with level design and enemy variety, but the fact that this game came out of nowhere and is almost at the quality of a From Software game is a huge accomplishment. 

6. Street Fighter VI

A return to form for Capcom fighters and one of, if not THE, best Street Fighter game ever released? Everything about this game is fun and fluid. Modern controls and more lenient target combos lower the skill floor, which makes it so much easier to feel like you’re good. Like you’re actually doing something. The art and character designs are at the series best (Luke turkey forearms included). Not everything worked in the Yakuza-inspired single player, but I loved the ambition and liked what they did manage to achieve. It felt great feeling out the characters, hitting the lab to master my approach and combos, and climbing the ranked ladder. Without realizing, I played this for nearly 70 hours. I’m more spectator than player now, but after EVO 2023, I know the future of Street Fighter VI is bright.

5. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

I love Spider-Man, I love Insomniac Games, and I loved both prior Spider-Man games. So I was primed to love this. And I did! It was the best of the bunch (of all categories I listed). Spider-Man 2 has modest ambitions, but at what it is trying to do (open world exploration, fun comic book moments and characters, fast-paced third person combat) it is unrivaled. Spider-Man 2 is a page turner of a game, one that I did not want to put down until I finished. And 100%’d. And platinumed. I cannot wait for more of this franchise, and future Marvel games from this studio. 

4. Resident Evil 4 Remake

As I get older, I am fairly convinced that Resident Evil might be my favorite video game franchise. Like, top one. RE4 has been in and out of my top 10 games of all time, and when it first released, it pushed me towards a greater appreciation of video games as a medium. I love everything about this scary, silly game. Leon’s one liners (Where are they all going, bingo?!) to mine cart chases, to giant monster fish and everything in between. Similar to what I wrote above with Dead Space is true here. What a phenomenal remake, what a phenomenal game, and what I phenomenal time I had playing this with my wife watching. 

3. Diablo IV

There is little more satisfying in games than casting a frost nova on 50 skeletons and watching as they explode into a symphony of ricocheting ice shards that clear an entire screen of demons and ghouls and giant spiders. Diablo IV is just…fun. I played this from the very beginning with my wife — we had been awaiting this release for years after how much fun we had with Diablo III. And in my opinion, Diablo IV is better in pretty much every way than its predecessor. We played this together on our eternal characters and hopped right into the first season to roll two new toons. We even got to play this with my brother and sister in law, and had a regularly scheduling gaming night across coasts! I loved loved loved my time with Diablo IV this year. This is one of the 3 100+ hours games (final 2023 hours: 110).

2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

If you all remember, I really liked Breath of the Wild. Even rated it as my number two game from 2017! But for as much as I liked it, I appreciated it more. The distinction is important here. There was so much about Breath of the Wild that didn’t click with me: the survival elements, the cooking for health restoration, the small stamina meter, weapon degradation, small “classic” Zelda dungeons, etc. So I was worried going into Tears of the Kingdom. Would I not like what is almost certain to be one of the most universally acclaimed games of the year? Of all time? Well, I’m happy to say that was not the case. Tears of the Kingdom was an improvement in almost every way. A remarkable, head scratchingly huge and complex game with player expressivity at its heart. The new powers (fusion, ascension, record/reverse) gave so much agency to the player to explore their own way. Adding the sky and underground layers made the world feel so much more expansive and intimidating. Larger dungeons allowed for bigger and better set piece moments (the master sword scene, uhm, hello???). The design of Tears of the Kingdom is a marvel. In most other years, this would be my clear number 1 spot. I do think I still appreciate more than enjoy Tears of the Kingdom (survival elements and moment-to-moment gameplay don’t 100% click with me), but alas, one of the best games ever made got released this year. And it is number 1.

1. Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the best games ever made. It was almost instantly in my top 10 games ever, and the more I play the more I like it. Baldur’s Gate 3 has almost everything I would want from a game: a well designed co-op experience, an expansive world intricately crafted in which player agency feels deeply respected, well written characters, challenging combat… I don’t know. The list goes on and on and I do not even feel like I’m scratching the surface. I cannot fathom how Baldur’s Gate 3 was made. It remembers everything, every choice matters, the world and characters respond to you. Baldur’s Gate 3 is an epic adventure that feels like the best D&D session with the best DM that you could possibly imagine. My wife and I have not put this down since early September. Our game clock is at nearly 200 hours and counting, with much more playing planned. I just. I. This game is a marvel and one of the best experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. With a piece of media or art. The fact that I could share all of that with my soulmate made this unquestionably the Game of the Year for 2023!