PC Gamer's highest review scores of 2025

A screencap of Hollow Knight: Silksong's opening cutscene. A close-up shot of protagonist Hornet moments before she breaks out of a metal cage. Her curved white mask and red cloak are lit up as a glowing strand of silk surrounds her.

(Image credit: Team Cherry)

The most notable thing about this year's list of PC Gamer's highest review scores is what doesn't appear on it. Many of the games that are in the running for one of our Game of the Year awards aren't represented, including Elden Ring Nightreign, Battlefield 6, Europa Universalis 5, Arc Raiders, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Those games all received favorable scores by our standards, just not quite favorable enough to pass the bar I've set here, which is 89%-and-up. Clair Obscur received what was probably our most controversial score of the year at 70%—still a recommendation for the French RPG, though not the shining praise it got elsewhere. (Including from some of PCG's other writers.)

Reviews aren't a measure of popularity or an attempt to arrive at the average opinion, so I don't consider these notable absences a bug. There's a lot to appreciate about the two most-played new games right now, Battlefield 6 (82%) and Arc Raiders (86%), but to get a really high score, a game has to inspire an individual reviewer to go out on a limb and champion it, perhaps even pushing back on editors whose responsibility it is to ask, "OK, but is it actually a 92%?"

As 2025 draws to a close, the overall impression I'm left with is one of quiet competence. There were boundary-pushing games this year, but games like Battlefield 6, Silksong, Avowed, Europa Universalis 5, and Hades 2 strike me as the result of people who know how to make good games just doing their thing with admirable focus. Excelling at the fundamentals can take you a long way, although out of those examples, only Silksong made it to this list.

89%

Shiren the Wanderer art — (Image credit: Spike Chunsoft)

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island: "Flexible, fun, and ferocious too, this roguelike has more than enough dungeon diving for everyone."
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders: "Both blissful and demanding, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders is one of the most beautiful skiing games on PC."

90%

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 bandits — (Image credit: Warhorse Studios)

Halls of Torment*: "Halls of Torment assembles the Frankenstein parts of Diablo and Vampire Survivors into something brilliantly all its own."
Thank Goodness You're Here!*: "A gleefully anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits, TGYH is the funniest game I've played."
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2: "Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a big, bold, unutterably weird thing, and it's a new RPG classic."
Keep Driving: "Great characters, challenging resource management, and impeccable road trip vibes."
The Alters: "Wildly unpredictable but always enjoyable, The Alters is a masterclass in high-tension gaming."
Hollow Knight: Silksong: "Silksong can be ruthless, but it's hard to pry yourself away from its haunted little world that never seems to end."
Silent Hill f: "Silent Hill f is an excellent next step for this accomplished horror series, proving that the horrors of Silent Hill aren't and shouldn't be restricted to the iconic American mountain town."
Keeper: "Keeper is a gorgeous little package of tightly designed puzzles and cerebral platforming that showcases what makes Double Fine's games so uniquely special."

91%

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles — (Image credit: Square Enix)

Monster Train 2: "An all-time great deckbuilder gets a sequel worth risking God’s wrath for."
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles: "This is an extraordinary remaster of an essential RPG, and as unmissable today as ever."

92%

A young man wearing a backpack in a darkened room — (Image credit: Raw Fury)

Nine Sols*: "A masterful metroidvania that builds on Sekiro-style combat and tells a great sci-fi story too. Unmissable."
Blue Prince: "This elaborate and elegant strategy adventure is one of the best puzzle games in years."
Abiotic Factor: "Abiotic Factor is an unforgettable interdimensional odyssey with you and your closest friends."

94%

Promise Mascot Agency art — (Image credit: Kaizen Game Works)

Promise Mascot Agency: "The least amicable city council meeting you've ever attended and probably the best game you'll play this year."

*Released in 2024, but reviewed in 2025.

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

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