Weird Vibes Club's "Best Games I've Played in 2025, Regardless of Release Date" awards

All this time away and I'm back once again with my guilty pleasure listicle. Welcome to the 100% official and very much prestigious and sought after "Weird Vibes Club's Best Games I've Played in 2025, Regardless of Release Date" awards!

2025 saw the return of actually using the PS5, and I've played some absolute bangers this year. My poor Steam Deck has mostly been looking on enviously, whilst ye olde Nintendo Switch has been retired to a cupboard upstairs. What a change up. Amusingly though, despite the title, 4 of the 5 games listed here have actually been released in 2025, even if one of them is a remaster of a 1997 PSX classic. Without further ado let's kick off this awards season.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles (Steam Deck - 2025)

Coming in at 5th place is actually my absolute favourite game as a child. I remember originally grabbing it as a CD-R import, complete with the cover art just being FINAL FANTASY TACTICS in permanent marker from the local car boot sale, with the seller legging it shortly after when the police turned up. Ahh those halcyon days of in-person piracy. We only grabbed it because Final Fantasy 7 existed, having no idea what type of game Tactics was even going to be.

The remaster lops off a lot of the charm the original had, I really miss the "engrish" localisation from the 1997 PSX version. "L... i... t... t... l... e... m... o... n... e... y..." and "Blame yourself or God" are both stone-cold classics. I don't know if Final Fantasy Tactics hasn't aged as well as I remember, or if the changes they made have taken the sheen off it a bit, but The Ivalice Chronicles doesn't actually quite hit those same heights that the original had. Still a lovely bit of PSX nostalgia to wrap yourself in if you're old and decrepit (i.e. late 30s) like me.

4. Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5 - 2020)

The only entry released prior to 2025. My 4th or 5th attempt at playing Cyberpunk 2077 and it finally stuck. It's a really great game mainly let down by what it initially promised to be, but that's been drilled into by a million and one people already. It's still a bit janky, the endings are all a bit shit, and I still, controversially, hate Keanu Reeves for no discernible reason, but I don't know, it feels really good absolutely stomping bad dudes in Night City.

3. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5 - 2025)

I originally played this on the Steam Deck via GeForce Now and absolutely hated it. It turns out that a game where timing is really important should never ever be played via lag-inducing game streaming, who knew eh?

This is a stunningly beautiful game on the PS5. I love everything about Expedition 33; the characters are believable and charming and difficult not to love, the environments are beautiful, the music, my god, is just utterly fantastic. People say that it's singlehandedly brought JRPGs back, however I don't know if it even counts as a JRPG with its dodging and timing mechanics - it very much feels like its own thing. It's such a surreal yet human game to get lost in, and by rights should be the top of the list here, but I've somehow played 2 games that left an even bigger mark than this one.

2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (PS5 - 2025)

This was almost going to be my GotY but only just missed out at the last minute. I love the idea of Kojima games, but have never found them enjoyable for some reason. Death Stranding 2 takes all his great ideas and finally makes them into a great game as well.

I never thought I'd actually cry at a game, but having a young daughter really makes this hit differently. As much as I absolutely loved it, and I honestly really did, I thought it was ever so slightly let down by its vast amount of filler missions, when I was just wanting to know what had happened to Lou. The ending is truly one of the most batshit things I have ever experienced though and I'm excited to play through it again, crossing my fingers for DLC or a Director's Cut.

1. Ghost of Yotei (PS5 - 2025)

This is what Assassin's Creed games have always wanted to be. Ghost of Tsushima was a fine game, but the repetitiveness felt stale quite quickly after Act I. Yotei has fine-tuned every single aspect of Tsushima to somehow create the cosiest game possible - yes there's a lot of murdering people here, but it's lovely bucolic murder. This is the first game on the PS5 I have ever Platinumed, and I never felt bored in any way trying to achieve this. I loved exploring everywhere, I loved the climbing to the shrines, I loved the creeping about assassinating Ronin from the tall grasses, I loved the cooking (however I wish there were more). My wife even took great joy in how ridiculous I looked banging the controller to forge my sword.

Ghost of Yotei is a beautiful game in quite literally every single aspect, and well deserves to be the official "Weird Vibes Club's Best Game I've Played in 2025, Regardless of Release Date" winner. Congratulations Sucker Punch, I know that you will be so incredibly proud.