Ever since the debut of this list a few years ago, I wonder when the day will come that there won’t be enough content to fill it. But so far, each time a year has started slow for re-releases and/or expansions, it has well and truly recovered. 2025 was no different; in fact in the end I didn’t even have room for the likes of Ninja Gaiden II Black, System Shock 2 25th Anniversary Remaster, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Yooka-Replaylee, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Avatar FoP: From the Ashes, or Lies of P: Overture. In fact, I barely needed to play them.

The rather different nature of this year’s Game of the Year list means this page is where most of the best JRPG-adjacent content of 2025 lives; it’s also where a good chunk of Switch 2 stuff is eligible, as the industry’s slower and slower development cycles begin to clash with Nintendo’s modern commitment to consistent releases. I also thought about easing off on the policing of that Remake-vs-Reimagining line this year, but I don’t think there were any real examples that challenged it anyway.

Parentheses indicate the version of each slice of gaming goodness that I played.

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VR BEST OF 2025 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. Nobody ever agrees with me 100%. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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RE-RELEASES
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5. Dragon Quest I + II: HD-2D Remake (NS2)

This nice little value package from Square Enix lovingly recreates two pixelated classics in the mould of last year’s Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake – and for virtually the same price as that single game – but I wouldn’t know much about the trailblazing lone-protagonist first entry because, on the recommendation of a few reviews, I’ve exclusively been playing II. And as a complete Dragon Quest scrub for most of my life, I think it might be my favourite of the original trilogy. It’s the only one to feature a full RPG party of pre-formed characters with their own backstories, which have apparently been heavily expanded in the remake, and they all have that warm old-school fantasy charm.

Otherwise, everything that was true about III last year continues to shine: the most colourful iteration of the HD-2D aesthetic to date, plenty of neat quality-of-life tweaks, and a wonderfully orchestrated soundtrack. Only now the Switch 2 (finally) exists, so you can enjoy all those things with the same simplicity yet a crisper resolution on a train ride.

4. Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (PS5)

One of the strangest visual remakes in recent memory, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater applies an absolutely gorgeous coat of graphical paint to an all time classic, replacing every character model and bringing in entirely new lighting systems to frankly stunning results. It also removes the “3” from the original title to better reflect the chronology of the Metal Gear story, but effectively does not touch the original game’s animation framework or voice track (with some tiny exceptions), preserving the exact feel of an all-time videogame classic for better and worse. Modern Konami brass were clearly petrified of overriding Hideo Kojima’s vision in any way save for that iconic title sequence, which results in a very unique product: one that holds up magnificently for the most part. And yet, for some reason (oh hello Unreal Engine 5), the remake’s performance regularly brings even the PS5 Pro to its knees, with judder and frame inconsistency around almost every turn. And that ain’t great.

3. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (NS2)

The original Final Fantasy Tactics is an undisputed classic that brought its namesake genre into the mainstream almost three decades ago, but not even the most diehard fans of its rich progression systems and mature story could have foreseen just how much the game could be improved by the simplest of remaster plays: tidy up the menus, throw in some quality-of-life stuff, then add voice acting. And sure, that UI is crisp and tidy without the kind of soulless overhaul seen in some of Square’s mobile porting efforts, but I cannot stress how much better this verbose, mediaeval-dialect narrative moves along with proper voice acting; heck, the voice direction might be the best I’ve witnessed in a game for years. Everyone – yes, Ben Starr included – is fully committed to selling the backstabs, political intrigue and brutal class struggles at the heart of the story, and that is the number one reason I believe The Ivalice Chronicles is the definitive version of FF Tactics – missing PSP content or not.

2. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (NS)

Because it was overshadowed by the Switch 2 barely three months after its long-awaited release, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that Xenoblade Chronicles X was the best-reviewed Nintendo-published title on the Switch 1 in 2025. My runner-up GOTY upon its initial Wii U appearance 10 years ago has not lost its edge one bit, and in fact is now better than ever: those weird squished face models have been re-done, the unforgiving tutorial curve has been adjusted, the story has been given a much more conclusive ending, and the sheer thrill of carrying an impossibly meaty RPG like this around in your backpack makes its unusually open-ended design absolutely sing. This is also the best example yet of Monolith Soft’s ever-improving Switch engine optimisation – which might be why it hasn’t yet surfaced with a bespoke Switch 2 version. But I sure hope it does get one, lest the game suffer the fate of twilight-year console obscurity twice over.

1. Trails in the Sky: First Chapter (NS2)

It’s difficult to adequately explain why this remarkable remake of a little-known 20-year-old JRPG is such a big deal, without also kind of overselling its low-stakes charm. For the better part of two decades, discerning JRPG players unsatiated by the glacial release output or depth of the Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Pokemon, SMT/Persona, or even “Tales of” series have been on the lookout for the next franchise worth sinking crazy hours into, but Falcom’s thirteen-game “Legend of Heroes” chronology – also known as Kiseki or simply Trails – has proved infamously difficult for newcomers to breach. Even though it’s comprised of multiple sagas that each feature a new cast, every story takes place in the same massive world and the sheer density of interlocking political relationships only gets more dizzying with each (surprisingly rapid) release.

As the series gradually gathered fans and hype over the years, that charming, low-budget first game – the only asterisk-free starting point for the series – only looked more and more out of date. But no longer. Trails in the Sky: First Chapter is quite simply the stuff of videogame anniversary dreams: a magnificent and well-timed engine update decorated with a level of animation quality Falcom has never reached before; a faithful recreation of that original endearing story but with key tweaks to foreshadow the scale to come; an updated hybrid-approach battle system that learns from the later games but is unafraid to punish the player 2004-JRPG style; three separate fully-available soundtrack options, and the unlikely, heart-warming return of that original voice cast packing Mercer, Sheh, Ruff, Valenzuela, and Yong Bosch. Make no mistake: Falcon isn’t suddenly some cashed-up triple-A developer, but the Trails hype train has at long last returned to its first stop; time to get on.

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Honourable Mentions

–Plants vs Zombies Replanted (NS2)

The mouse mode is poorly-tuned and there are some artistic audio choices I don’t love, but I still devoured this game in one weekend as soon as it came out because the original Plants vs Zombies is one of the best games ever made, it looks as crisp as it ever has, there are a couple of fun new additions, and it was already a crime the game was missing from the Switch for so long.

–Star Wars Outlaws (NS2)

In the short three-year history of this list, a port has never made an appearance. But technically there was never any reason why one couldn’t appear, and Star Wars Outlaws‘ Switch 2 edition is so ambitious it almost cracks the main list. It is genuinely stunning to see this game running at any kind of consistent frame-rate with ray-tracing support on a handheld machine when it humbles just about every portable PC out there – and post-launch patches continued to make it even better!

–Raidou Remastered: Mystery of the Soulless Army (NS2)

Though I’m probably always going to view any attempt to water down the strategy of a Shin Megami Tensei spin-off via real-time battle system as inherently lesser, the unexpected revival of one such PS2-era attempt is still pretty decent fun thanks to an intriguing mystery-story period wrapper set in a very distinct era of modern Japanese history.

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DLC/EXPANSIONS
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5. Donkey Kong Bananza: DK Island & Emerald Rush (NS2)

Bearing a structure remarkably similar to last year’s expansion runner-up, Splatoon 3‘s Side Order, the latest piece of platforming goodness from the Super Mario Odyssey team bundles a delightful new environment with a take on the roguelike gameplay loop that is not afraid to get tricky real quick. That environment happens to be a new interpretation of the hub world of my beloved first-ever console videogame, Donkey Kong 64, which continues the surprising reverence for classic Rareware that the base game’s marketing hid so well. Of course that arrives complete with a wonderful arrangement of the DK Isle background theme, so I was always going to look on this package favourably. But even if there was no new locale included, the material-chasing loop of Emerald Rush fits DK Bananza’s insanely satisfying set of destruction mechanics like a shiny green glove.

4. Hitman: World of Assassination – The Monarchique (NS2)

In each of the three iterations of this mini-list, at least one of the main entries has been free, and I’m more than happy to solidify that quirk as a full-on trend with the answer to that obscure far-future trivia question that will almost certainly never be asked: “What was the first ever piece of post-launch DLC to be released on the Nintendo Switch 2?” This unexpected Casino Royale tie-in was timed almost perfectly with the launch of a Nintendo console capable enough to run Hitman: World of Assassination, and it is indeed a magnificent excuse to revisit the game’s beautifully open level design. Mads Mikkelsen surprisingly returns to inhabit his Hollywood breakout role Le Chiffre once more, and some of the ways Agent 47 can take him out are darkly hilarious.

3. Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Star-Crossed World (NS2)

Considering previous category winners Bowser’s Fury and Shadow Generations, the precedent has been well and truly set for the eligibility of expansions packaged inextricably alongside improved videogame re-releases, and it became clear in 2025 that Nintendo’s experience with them was going to prove pretty handy in filling out the first-year release schedule of the Switch 2. Star-Crossed World, the wildly creative batch of level remixes that accompanies the crisp, 60FPS version of 2023’s much-loved Kirby and the Forgotten Land, grants everyone’s favourite overpowered pink blob an expanded set of outlandish transformations designed explicitly for fresh level layouts that re-contextualise, transform or straight-up abandon the base game’s geometry, seamlessly playable alongside the base game if necessary. Dazzling galactic-themed terrain, plenty of additional collectables, and harder boss fights complete the satisfying picture.

2. Indiana Jones & the Great Circle: The Order of Giants (XSX)

Like far too many people last year, I did not have the opportunity to give Machinegames’ unapologetic creative interpretation Indiana Jones and the Great Circle its flowers. The temporary Xbox exclusivity didn’t affect me, but the game simply released far too late in 2024 for me to give it a proper look. So it’s a good thing that expansion The Order of Giants – alongside a wider PS5 release – nudged the game back under the spotlight in 2025, right before the release schedule became truly chaotic. Yes, it turns out that this really is a wonderfully immersive adventure, perfectly exemplified by the intuitive amount of base-game progress you need to unlock Giants. Even lighter on combat and heavier on rewarding puzzles than the main story, the mysterious side tale pushes those talented environmental artists further and gives Troy Baker plenty of opportunity for uncannily dry Ford-esque sarcasm. It’s great.

1. Sea of Stars: Throes of the Watchmaker (XSX)

Oh hey, my favourite game of 2023 came out with my favourite expansion of 2025. What are the odds?

Indeed Sabotage Studio’s penchant for side-stepping their current one-game-per-genre mission statement by releasing substantial, free post-launch content is alive and well. The clockwork-circus-themed Throes of the Watchmaker also thankfully adds to the decade’s growing list of reasonably self-contained JRPG experiences without ludicrous required playtimes, comfortably clearable in under 10 hours despite a firm, satisfying structure with its own little world map, hidden secrets, distinct resource systems, nostalgic music, and thematically relevant playable classes. The classical RPG references are also dialled all the way up, and while the writing still isn’t the reason to engage with this team’s work, everything else is still just so good.

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Honourable Mentions

–Pokemon Legends Z-A: Mega Dimension

An unprecedentedly short turnaround after the launch of the base game and a similar price point to 2024’s much meatier two-part Scarlet / Violet expansion keep Mega Dimension off the main body of this list, but fans of Legends Z-A’s podcast-friendly gameplay loop will find much to enjoy here: more of that immensely fun core cast, more of that out-of-pocket dialogue, and more (insane) new mega evolutions that make me wonder how on earth Game Freak is going to balance competitive tournaments next year.

–Super Mario Party Jamboree – Jamboree TV

The new parts of the Switch 2 Super Mario Party Jamboree re-release are quite easy to separate from the base game, because the devlopers makes the seriously weird choice to separate everything out in a new menu before you get to the separate menus in the base game. Anyway, the camera stuff is fun, if a bit uneven; the 2v2 mouse minigames are the real star of the show.