games / Columns
The Top 8 Most Anticipated Games of 2025

Welcome all to another edition of The 8 Ball! We’re starting this year right with a look forward to all the games, hopefully, coming out this year. I have two omissions on here, notably, Grand Theft Auto 6 and Metroid Prime 4. I just don’t think either game will come out this year, but hey, it’d be nice to be proven wrong. To answer a few games I didn’t have my GOTY last column: Space Marine 2 is fun, but the side-missions are awful with the different character classes. And I actively dislike, if not hate, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. I love Metroidvania’s, don’t get me wrong, but a Metroidvania where you have the same weapons all the time, and the map is generally bereft of collectibles, is not one that interests me. With that said, let’s begin:
#8: Sniper Elite: Resistance
I’ll admit, I pretty much know what this game is going to be already. A bunch of skulking around various WW2 towns and settings, killing Nazis from far away with your sniper rifle and seeing their heads and bodies blow apart in spectacular fashion. So, a good time to be had by all, really. The only reason it’s low on this list is because it is such a known quantity but that doesn’t make it bad, by any means. I look forward to this playing this with my co-op friend, if I can ever get him to play a video game again.
#7: Assassin’s Creed Shadows
To say this game has fans worried is a huge understatement. There is a LOT riding on this game and some of it looks good, some of it looks bad, honestly. It’s low on my list for those reasons, sure, but I’m not even sure if this game is going to come out this year or not. That’s how dicey of a proposition this game is, and how precarious Ubisoft is, as a company right now. I actually don’t care about almost any of the social issues going on with the game, at present. My big worry with Shadows is two-fold. One is, it’s a bit late to the party. Fans have been begging Ubisoft for a ninja/samurai Assassin’s Creed game for over a decade, and other, likely better, games like Tshusima, Sekiro, Rise of the Ronin, Wukong, etc. Most of these games have already eaten Shadows lunch. The other problem is, I have negative faith that they are going to do anything worthwhile with the present day stuff. In fact, I can speak with 140% certainty that they are going to mess it up, drastically. So, at least I have that to look forward to, in a few months…hopefully.
#6: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Its pirates and Yakuza, what more could you want. (Note: I’m never going to willingly call this series “Like a Dragon”) This is the “brawler” game, unlike the Ichiban offshoot. That means you’ll directly control Goro as he beats up thugs and such. I actually really applaud Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for how quickly they pump these games out, but how they introduce clever twists on various mechanics within game. However, there is still enough of the traditional stuff to keep the old fans interested as well. It’s economical that way, and that means you don’t have to wait for a decade between game releases. This should be a fun romp of a game and it’ll likely be the best pirate game of the year.
#5: Ghost of Yotei
What needs to be said about this one? Tsushima was great and this will likely be on the same level of greatness, or even reach higher. I just want a big area to explore, plenty of cool ninja tools to use, and even more amounts of hapless guys to kill with said tools. I don’t remember a lot from the first game, other that you kill the Mongol guy, then eventually you have to battle your uncle, so I’m hoping the story in this one sticks with me a bit more. This is another, largely “known” quantity of a game, but it still interests me.
#4: Sid Meier’s Civilization 7
All I can say is, one of the civilizations/factions you can control better be “Midgar” with Rufus Shinra as the leader. Kidding aside, this game looks pretty alright. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Civ 6, so I’m hoping this one might jive with me a bit more. I still think the highlight is Civilization 5, simply because it seems like the most flexible of the recent Civ games. I really just want another good 4X game and most of the recent ones tend to focus on only one or two of the X’s and not all four.
#3: Lunar: Remastered Collection
This collection, and another game on my list, have some of my all-time favorite games, period. The problem with both collections is that I’ll buy them digitally but also shell out likely $150 for each collectors edition that Limited Run puts out, or whatever boutique label ends up putting this stuff out there. Rats. Still, Lunar 1 and 2 are some real formative games for me. I never played the original Sega CD versions but loved the PS1 editions, and still have them, along with my Ghaleon puppet, to this day. I probably enjoy Lunar 1 over Lunar 2, but that’s just my take on it.
#2: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Expedition 33 interests me a fair amount. It looks like a turn-based RPG, but it has interactive battle elements, like Mario RPG, or Vagrant Story. I’m not sure what’ll happen in the story, but the overall look of the characters is solid and reminds me a bit of Shadow Hearts: Covenant. This is the first game from Sandfall Interactive and I just hope that they can knock it out of the park.
#1: Suikoden 1 and 2 HD Remaster
This is the other collection, from what I said above, in which I know I’m going to buy some dumb, overly-expensive collectors edition on. But if they include a rune replica, or steelbook, I know I’ll be all there. I’ve actually never played Suikoden 1, despite owning a copy. So that’ll be a new experience for me. Suikoden 2, on the other hand, remains one of my all-time favorite games. It has a rich story, the battle system is enjoyable, it has a lot of side stuff for you to do, characters for you to collect and so on. I really hope this release can reignite the Suikoden interest within the gaming world.
For comments, list which games you’re looking forward to in 2025 and why.
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Top 8 Games Locked to a single console