The Games We Loved In The First Half Of 2025

If only you had the time, because there are plenty of good games.

We're having a productive year for the gaming industry. According to steamdb, approximately 9700 games have been released on Steam alone from January to mid-July. It's very likely you've missed a few titles, but that's no problem. We'll sort it out right away. We've prepared a list of new games that we loved so much they kept us glued to our screens for tens, maybe even hundreds of hours. Happy reading, and don't forget to hydrate! Outside, it's even worse than on planet Arrakis from Dune: Awakening…

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Recommended by: Silviu Tănase

I could be a supreme hater, as usual, but today I've chosen the good path, so I'm going to talk about a game that, in 2025, impressed me positively, not negatively, as I'd planned. Although it's been a pretty good year for games, at least up to the point of writing this, I want to use this small moment to bring "Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii" back into the spotlight. I'm a huge fan of the Yakuza series and I feel that Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii really managed to refresh the series again, even though it's an IP known for strange spin-offs, like Yakuza Of The Dead, or completely serious spin-offs and games on the same level as the main series, like Judgment. This new entry in the series still feels like a fever dream that throws everything into the pot, without measure, and something very good comes out. Maybe it was luck, or maybe people really wanted to play something that combines the beat 'em up from the original series with an arcade naval shooter and some missions taken from classic JRPGs, all while stepping into the shoes of Goro Majima, that charming outlaw who has captivated and annoyed us in all sorts of ways over time. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii is unmissable in 2025.

Out of Sight

Recommended by: Gabi (Arhiva BD)

Out of Sight is a pleasant gaming surprise for 2025. If you like the idea of a relaxing and captivating puzzle game, then this is the game for you. You step into the shoes of a blind little girl who sees through the eyes of her teddy bear, and your goal is to escape from a house filled with many obstacles, while also avoiding suspicious characters who want to get their hands on you. The game's mechanics are unique and place a lot of emphasis on sound and intuition. It's not a difficult game, but it offers a lot of satisfaction when you manage to overcome certain obstacles in your escape adventure. The adopted graphic style is perfect for this type of story; it's darker in places, but here and there it delights you with an interesting colour palette, and the music and sounds in the game give you an enormous boost to immersion. I recommend it: grab the teddy bear and explore, through its eyes, your escape route from that suspicious house.

Dune: Awakening

Recommended by: Adrian (retro_adr14n)

Dune: Awakening manages to be the most faithful interpretation of Frank Herbert's universe – fans of the books will instantly recognise the gameplay mechanics built around the lore, from melee combat against shielded enemies, to vertical traversal using suspensor belts, to ornithopters, stillsuits, stilltents, windtraps and the importance of water, the ever-present spice, Melange, Arrakis' most precious resource, and especially the threat that Arrakis itself poses, with scorching heat, the famous sandworms that remain a constant danger with every dune crossing, or simply bandits or other players. Finally, we have a fantasy Dune role-play experience like we only dreamed of when reading the books. Survival games generally seem boring and repetitive to me, and I don't really have anyone to play MMOs with, so I tend to avoid them, but despite all that, every day I can't wait to log into Dune Awakening and do something else. Whether it's gathering some resources, developing the base further, or exploring as far as the eye can see, I always find something fun and always get a worthwhile reward. For Dune fans, this game is a must-play. Even as a solo player, you have hundreds of hours of content available to make it worth the purchase price. Dune: Awakening is the game that surprised me the most in 2025 and manages to be an excellent mix of survival, MMORPG, and extraction shooter. The more you play, the more fun and rewarding it becomes. It also manages to be visually as spectacular as the films, but does a better job on the story side.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Remastered

Recommended by: Design Something

I'm a huge fan of The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. I still have my game saves from 2003–2005. When The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion came out in 2006, I was over the moon. Although it doesn't come close to the scope of Morrowind, I absolutely loved the part in Oblivion where you play in The Daedric Realm. I would have liked The Daedric Realm to be included in Skyrim as well, but it wasn't to be.

Now, in 2025, I've started playing Oblivion Remastered again and I can't wait to get back into the Daedric Realm. I'm really curious if I'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was in 2006 and I hope the modern graphics will help with immersion.

And, speaking of Morrowind, I'm eagerly awaiting Skywind.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Recommended by: Ronan

This year, I was surprised by the French game from Sandfall Interactive: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I knew nothing about it, didn't follow it at all, and only started playing it by chance two months after its release. It completely swept me off my feet.

I've just finished it, as we speak, but I haven't unlocked all the achievements, as I usually do; I'll unlock them after my leave.

What impressed me? Well, the way it was built. Yes, the story was good, and the music too, but those things rarely blow me away anymore — especially in 2025 games (I've been playing since 1989, so I've pretty much seen and heard it all).

I'm a technical guy, and Expedition 33 took exactly the best from two legendary titles: The Legend of Dragoon (PS1) and Lost Odyssey (X360). So, indirectly, I also recommend those two rare and exclusive titles.

I played Expedition 33 on PC, without problems, but it's also well optimised on consoles so it doesn't really matter what you play it on.

Is it GOTY material? Yes, absolutely. Play it without worries, you won't be disappointed. And, most importantly: don't rush it. It's not the kind of game to be ticked off and forgotten…

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Recommended by: Zuluf

For me, the blockbuster of 2025 came in the form of the PC port of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, a title that manages the feat of taking Insomniac's characteristic traversal to new heights while you whiz from one mission to another through the expanded web of characters, not just around Peter Parker, but also Miles Morales. Broadly, it's the same recipe the franchise has accustomed us to, but the new enemy types, the numerous abilities each of the two heroes possesses, and epic, God of War-esque set pieces made me realise it would be my game of the summer within the first twenty minutes of gameplay. The wingsuit and new abilities, particle effects, and a villain angry enough at life to make you tremble in your latex undies promise a few tens of hours of back and forth through one of the most visually stunning versions of New York I've seen in any game. Nothing revolutionary, but I foresee it will take me a couple of weekends to clear the map and see the story through to the end.

Avowed

Recommended by: Phillip Silviu Dănăilă

In 2025, my escapism was defined by Avowed. It immediately captivated me with the most enjoyable gameplay loop I've encountered in years. Fluid, versatile combat combined with an exploration system that constantly rewards curiosity. Everything is crafted for the pure pleasure of playing, without feeling overwhelmed or forced.

Blue Prince

Recommended by: Klamath

As the years go by, it seems harder and harder for me to get into current AAA titles. I stay stuck in a corner of the world with my retro games, and the only modern releases that still pique my interest are indies – the ones that come with a new recipe, a strange charm, or at least a retro flavour.

In 2025, only Blue Prince truly captivated me. It's a roguelike-boardlike puzzle mystery adventure like I've never played before. It ate up more of my time than I care to admit, but I can't be mad at it.

It's the kind of game that sparks obsession, that makes you pull out your notebook and jot down every clue, for fear of missing something. It's challenging, mysterious, and has a magnetic, almost hypnotic vibe. An atypical roguelike, with the soul of an adventure and the structure of a boardgame, where nothing is random and every room hides a new question.

For a fan of old-school puzzle adventures with a keen eye and an explorer's soul, Blue Prince is worth discovering step by step.

Zenless Zone Zero

Recommended by: whosyourdaddyMike

Zenless Zone Zero is a free-to-play action RPG released last year by an Asian company, and in 2025, last month, it reached Season 2. After piquing my curiosity with its diverse characters and somewhat catchy futuristic vibe, the game threw me into the world of New Eridu, the only city still inhabited by humans. Here, the player takes on the role and control of the main characters: agents of a mercenary company. Quests involve connecting to a 2.0 universe of the game, where battles also take place. ZZZ features side missions outside of actual combat time, while the developers frequently update it.

I admit that at first I stared at it like a Chinese calendar, with the multitude of buttons and options that overwhelmed my sight. Gradually, I let myself be carried away by the story and everything started to make sense. Since then, I've spent pleasant hours in the company of ZZZ's characters and action, because the game is a relaxing one that doesn't demand more from the player than necessary. I recommend this game for those who want to spend their time with a fast-paced, sometimes humorous, and hassle-free video game, reminiscent of a childhood with Japanese cartoons. Good for a comfortable Sunday evening.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

Recommended by: cioLAN

It wasn't hard at all to choose my favourite game from the first half of 2025. First of all, I haven't played many new releases. A bit of Clair Obscur, a bit more of DOOM The Dark Ages, which is great for boredom, when you feel like killing without too many explanations and justifications, and on my word, I don't remember anything else that caught my eye without being a remake, remaster, or re-release. I didn't get to play STALKER because it runs on Unreal Engine and my graphics card (a 3070) is crippled by Epic's super-optimised engine. So, when Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon fell into my hands, especially since I knew about the boardgame, which I still plan to buy (when I have room for it), I squealed like a schoolboy let loose in a vanilla fornetti warehouse. Tainted Grail ticks all my preferences: an open world with personality, with a distinctive artistic direction and a story that doesn't deliver fantasy tropes on repeat. Sure, it runs on Unity and, in terms of PHOTOREALISM, it's somewhere around 5 – 10 years behind "serious" games, but the artistic direction, as I said above, more than compensates for the limitations of Unity technology.

What I incredibly loved was the exploration and the feeling that you're progressing, that you're becoming a real force, feared by the myriad enemies that populate Tainted Grail's three maps. A feeling that, for example, in the Elder Scrolls series since they introduced level scaling, I don't experience very often. I can't tell you the satisfaction I felt when I knocked down a Wyrdknight, a translucent devil that, after a point, haunts the nights of Avalon and knocks you down with a fart, after I trained for a few hours to an imaginary montage with Eye of The Tiger. If you poke your nose everywhere, it's impossible not to find an almost overpowered weapon, or hardcore armour, and, properly armed, it's wonderful to return to the beast that sent you to the eternal hunting grounds for loot and shorten its head or legs. Also, I won't give spoilers, but there's a semi-secret ending you can only get if you explore thoroughly and discover… but I'll leave the pleasure of finding it to you.

DOOM: The Dark Ages

Recommended by: Aidan

DOOM goes BOOM in 2025 too. Brutal, phenomenal, full of action and perfect weapons for mincing hordes of demons. The new DOOM doesn't know what a break means, and when it seems to slow down, it's actually giving you time to answer the question: what came first? The shield in the demon's teeth or the demon's teeth in the shield?

Last Epoch

Recommended by: Midnight Geek

My passion for ARPGs (Hack&Slash games of yesteryear) is exclusively due to my favourite game: Diablo 2 Lord of Destruction, a game that catapulted the genre into the mainstream and spawned many similar games, dubbed "Diablo clones".

For over 20 years I've been playing ARPGs, and while some are good, others interesting, only recently did I find a game that captivated my imagination and reminded me of the passion with which I played Diablo 2 at the beginning, namely Last Epoch.

Released in 2024, the game has taken the best of the ARPG genre and offers anyone who ventures into Eterra a fascinating journey through the corridors of time (the campaign features time travel), hero customisation methods that make other systems in similar games pale in comparison (each skill has a separate and complex skill tree), and itemisation that almost approaches perfection (every item can matter in the end).

The beauty of this game is that it's simple to understand, anyone can play it and reach the endgame (the ultimate goal of the game), but it has enough complexity to satisfy dedicated ARPG gamers as well.

Near Mage

Recommended by: Marius Ghinea (leftclickghinea)

Honestly, I haven't played much in 2025, quite the opposite in fact. And among those I did play, only one title was released in 2025, for the simple reason that, at current prices, I've gotten used to buying exclusively old games, and those only on sale. The advantage is that, at current graphics card prices, it's a win-win, because I don't need the latest hardware to get a satisfying experience. And the only title released this year that I played was "Near Mage" by the Romanians at Stuck In Attic, from Tîrgu Mureș – and this is a point-and-click adventure with very modest PC configuration requirements. Near Mage impressed me with its fresh and lively, expressive drawing, characteristic of the artists who also gave us "Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure" six years ago, a gem of an adventure itself. However, beyond the exceptional atmosphere and graphic art, Near Mage struck me with the subtlety with which, in an apparently lighthearted plot with positive tones, it manages to reveal dark corners of society and our individuality, satirically masked, but skilfully enough to make me surprisingly reflect on the relationship between my condition as a game critic and that of a player myself, as well as how I relate to myself when writing about a game. Near Mage is certainly a Romanian game that must be played, but definitely after you've also played "Gibbous – A Cthulhu Adventure".

Lies of P: Overture

Recommended de: Tudor Enea

Don't throw throwables at me, it doesn't say anywhere that we're not allowed to recommend a DLC. Especially one as generous as Overture. This addition to the main game is a kind of prequel, showing us Krat before it became the ruin we encounter in the main title. The DLC's story assumes knowledge of the narrative thread from Lies of P, as it clarifies several vague lore elements from the game released in 2023. The battles are just as difficult (but satisfying), we get to meet important figures from Carlo's past, and we can enjoy a superb soundtrack throughout the 12-18 hours the playthrough lasts. The only downside is that to truly understand it, it's advisable to access it only in NG+.

Cyberpunk 2077 (Switch 2)

Recommended by: Vlad Costea

Throughout my adventure in Night City, I managed to identify two valid reasons that have nothing to do with the argument "I only have a Switch 2 and nothing else, so I'll buy the game on this platform".

Firstly, we have the most complete and polished version of Cyberpunk 2077 to date, released in a physical format that you can use to start the adventure just seconds after opening the case. Discs compatible with PlayStation and Xbox require downloading large updates, which can be unpleasant and compromise the possibility of long-term content preservation.

Secondly, thanks to the mouse function via the Joy-Cons, Switch 2 offers the most enjoyable portable experience you can have with Cyberpunk 2077. Let's be serious — the directional sticks, gyroscope function, and touch pad on the Steam Deck will never match the precision of a mouse. And yes, I'm aware that you can connect a mouse via USB ports or Bluetooth to preserve Gabe Newell's Mona Lisa smile.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Recommended by: Leo Luția

This year started strong. We only had a few weeks of respite, and on 4 February we received the first "banger" title: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — and I was hooked. Then, the list of great games continued and it seems it has no intention of stopping anytime soon. From the portfolio so far, I've liked many new titles, perhaps too many for the amount of playtime I've had available, especially considering we also have a magazine to publish, which is only 200+ pages.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Recommended by: Leo Luția

Avowed was the game that kicked off GRIND V, and DOOM: The Dark Ages set the tone for the magazine and was the first title to receive a score of 10 since we started giving scores. But what impressed me the most was Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. I feel awkward having to choose just one name from the several dozen good ones released this year, but I'd feel even more awkward if I didn't put Hideo Kojima's creation at the forefront. To say it's just a "game" doesn't seem right… What the daddy of Metal Gear Solid has done manages to break all norms. It's an experience with a strong emotional charge that makes you fall in love with your PS5 again — the one that, most likely, has been gathering dust on your living room cabinet.

As Tudor also said in the review on grnd.ro, Death Stranding 2 is a masterpiece that every gamer must experience, even if it might seem harder to digest at first.

I'll conclude with another paraphrase, this time from the first issue of GRIND, where Vlad wrote in an editorial: "The Japanese make the best games." We're a little over halfway through the year and we already have a serious list of candidates for Game of the Year 2025. I hope Death Stranding 2: On the Beach receives the recognition it deserves from the industry and that we continue to see masterpieces from Kojima Productions.

These are the titles that impressed us, the GRIND boys, this year. There are still many incredible games in the oven, yet to be released, such as: Donkey Kong Bananza, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater, Silent Hill F, Ghost of Yotei, Mafia: The Old Country, etc.

We're curious what titles impressed you in the first half of 2025?

As Tudor also said in the review on grnd.ro, Death Stranding 2 is a masterpiece that every gamer must experience, even if it might seem harder to digest at first.

We're curious what titles impressed you in the first half of 2025?