2025 Gaming Roundup

 

So as 2025 finally draws to a close it is time to finally do my yearly roundup for videogames. 

First of all what a year 2025 has been for gaming for me. Not only did we have a bunch of incredible games released (in a year that even I though would be a relatively quiet one) with releases such as Dispatch, Expedition 33, Split Fiction, and Peak but I also finally really dug into my backlog and go to play some amazing games such as Alan Wake, Catherine Full Body and Devil May Cry. 

For me personally this year has very much been a comeback year from a very traumatic 2024. I have managed to not only get back on my feet with a number of personal issues and learnt to be happy with myself again, I also managed to meet someone who to be honest I feel like I always was looking for. So 2025 for me personally is a year to celebrate for both gaming and me personally and I am so grateful about that.

So with that all being said, lets celebrate a wild year of gaming. As I mentioned this a celebration of games I played in 2025 and not just games released in 2025, because of that their will be older games that win and are mentioned.

Okay here is Cuppa's 2025 Gaming Roundup:

Best Music In A Game I played In 2025:

 EA College Football 26

For me personally the best music I heard in a video game in 2025 was EA College Football 26. I am not a American Football fan but I am a big fan of sports videogames so will often give any new sport game a go either with a free trial or the beauty that is GamePass (even though it is getting quite expensive nowadays). So when EA College Football 26 was released and I saw the hype from my favourite Youtuber SnowBikeMike, I decided to finally give it a try. What I didn't expect was the absolute banger of a soundtrack that would come out of this game. God Damn is it absolute fire. The marching band twist on some great pop and rap songs is like sipping warm honey when you have a cold, just pure magic.

DMC1 was also a strong contender for 'the Best Music In A Game I played In 2025' as the music in that game, especially the final boss, was just epic. However when I got my Spotify wrapped and my most listened too album for 2025 was the soundtrack for College Football 26.... not Chappel Roan, or Sabrina Carpenter.... College Football 26. So yeah after seeing that it felt only natural to have be the number one.

Best Voice Acting In A Game I Played In 2025: 

Entire Dispatch Cast

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/11/dispatch-final-review-game-of-year.html?m=1

Okay this is a bit of a cop out answer as I am not selecting a single person but instead an entire game itself… but come on how can you pick a single voice actor out of Dispatch!? They are all absolutely incredible. From the incredible veteran VA talents that are Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, and Erin Yvette to the more newcomers of VA such as Alanah Pearce, Charlie White, Sean McLoughlin, Lance Cantstopolis, as well as all the other VA's in this game (both veterans and newbies), they all give performances that honestly deserve awards. Every single character is so full of life and personality that you can't help but fall in love with them.

The voice acting is more than just great, it is a masterclass, making me laugh, cry, cheer, and yell thanks to the performances of these incredible actors. Yes the writing is the best I have seen in a video game for a very long time but it is all pushed to another level thanks to the amazing performances. So Dispatch cast take a bow, and I am so excited if they all return in the future.

Biggest Surprise In 2025: 

The fact that I didn't like Expedition 33.

I honestly want to slap myself for this. I don't understand why I don't like this game!? The story is absolutely superb, the combat (except parrying) is epic and stunning, the lore is deep and fascinating, the music would be my number 1 if I played more, and the characters are so well VA and are so interesting that I want a biography of all them… but I just don't enjoy playing the game. I cant explain it, maybe I overhyped myself with this game and burned out too quickly? Maybe I just need to wait a while till the Expedition 33 (very much deserved) hype train dies down a bit and then give a try with a fresh mind? Whatever it is I struggled to finish this game and when I did finally finish it I was glad to move on.

This is very obviously a me issue as the game has won multiple awards and I believe it now hold the title of the game with the most wins at the Game Awards (although I do strongly debate that it is not an indie game). I also feel it is a bit harsh to be so critical with them using light AI in development but I do totally agree I don't want any AI making my games so can understand why people are so strict with it. But yeah it seems to be the weird case that I am one of the very few who just can't seem to fall in love with this game. 

My main complaint is the parrying. I have played and beaten Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3, and Bloodbourne, so I am used to dying a thousand times before finding the boss pattern. But for some unknown reason the parrying and boss patterns in Expedition 33 infuriate me to unknown levels. I hate that enemies just hold their attack for what sometimes feel an eternity before hitting you with a 12 attack combo that destroys your whole party. This just drove me so crazy and really made each encounter frustrating for me, I don't why it triggered me so much but it did.

Expedition 33 is an incredible game, and I've very much enjoyed watching streamers play and complete it without me having to stress over the game. I can totally understand why it is so many peoples game of the year but for me I have to admit it is a hit and miss. Sorry Gamers, please don't be too mad at me.

Worst Game I Played in 2025: Devil May Cry 2

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/07/devil-may-cry-2-when-development-story.html?m=1

Nothing has changed from my Half Year Roundup, I still think Devil May Cry 2 is the worst game I played in 2025. I do however really recommend you read my review and the story behind DMC2 as it is actually quite an achievement that the game managed to get released at all as a few months before the planned launch the game was completely unplayable and without a director. Thankfully the absolutely legendary director Hideaki Itsuno coming in and managing to make a playable game out of the complete dumpster fire that was given to him. It really is a case where the story behind the game is way more interesting than the game itself. Plus the franchise bounced back to make some incredible games with DMC3,4, and 5, now it is one of the most loved franchises in gaming.

Best Multiplayer Game I Played In 2025:

 Split Fiction

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/06/split-fiction-best-coop-game-ive-ever.html?m=1

I have to admit this is probably the hardest category for me to choose from because we have had some absolutely phenominal multiple games this year. Repo was hilarious, Rematch was the football game I always wanted, and Peak may possible be one of my favourite multiplayer games of all time.... but Split Fiction is the best multiplayer game I have ever played. Hazelight took their perfect formula and made something special.

When I look back on my playthrough experience of Split Fiction I can't help but smile. I had the perfect coop buddy Alex (the souls gamer of our gaming community so I knew I was in safe hands), I had loads of free time, and I was really in need of some good laughs. Split Fiction was just the perfect game at that time. On a Sunday we would jump on for the afternoon and the hours would quickly disappear. The way the levels would change your complete play style when you go between the sci-fi and fantasy worlds and how you would need to constantly rely on each other but it would always be hilarious if you failed means that this is one of the best gaming experiences you can have with your friends. I honestly compare this to the same amount of fun you can have with the COOP in Portal 2 and for me their is no higher praise.

That all mixed together with very likable characters, stunning levels and graphics, great music, and a surprisingly deep and personal story, makes SplitFiction the best multiplayer game I've ever played. Yes this is a COOP game for gamers and I can't recommend to play it with new Gamers as they will struggle, but if you find a great Gaming buddy to play this then all I can say is strap in and enjoy the ride.

Also that final boss fight was one of the coolest fights I've ever experienced.

Best Story Game I Played In 2025:

1000x Resist

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/07/1000xresist-storytelling-masterpiece.html?m=1

I really struggled between 1000x Resist and Dispatch but after reading both reviews I feel like 1000xResist deserves the crown for Best Story Game. 1000x Resist is more of a interactive story than a game but it was also one of the most amazing stories I have witnessed, not just in videogames but in any form of media. Please if you have never played this game before then don't look into the game at all and just play it. I promise if you love great sci-fi stories or even just stories about humanity then this will become one of your favourite stories, even if you are not a Gamer. 

If you have played then you can totally understand why it is the best story game I played in 2025. This game is nothing short of a masterpiece, so if you have a Sunday free then just sit back with some nice snacks and drink and go on the wild, amazing ride that is 1000x Resist. I ended playing it all in one sitting and I promise you will want too as well as soon as the story grabs you and drags you in.

The Cuppa Game Of 2025:

 Jusant

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/02/jusant-sometimes-you-just-need-to-climb.html?m=1

The Cuppa Game is the game that most affected me personally. It doesn't have to be my favourite game of 2025 but it is the game that has impacted me the most at the time I played it. Now while I was telling everyone (even when they didn't want to listen) about how they must play Catherine Full Body and Dispatch, one game that I literally thank for saving my mental health is Jusant. 

I have spoken about Jusant a lot in both my review of the game and my half year check in, but honestly for me it deserve all the credit I have given it and even more because I can't tell you how much that game helped me switch off from all the stress and to be honest help me deal with how depressed I was feeling. I would go through my day feeling more and more worse but pretending everything is fine, then I would be at home alone in bed and unable to sleep with all the stress I was feeling. So I would boot up xbox cloud streaming and play some Jusant for 30 mins or so, and it would relax me enough to finally be able to sleep. I honestly don't know how I would of coped without that game, so while I can't say the game is my game of the year, I can say it is one I will treasure forever.

So yeah thank you Jusant.

The Best Game I Played In 2025: 

Dispatch

https://www.englishcuppagaming.eu/2025/11/dispatch-final-review-game-of-year.html?m=1

I can't believe the CyberPunk 2077 reign is finally over. I honestly thought it was never going to happen. CyberPunk 2077 is my favourite game of all time but the best game I played in 2025 has to be Dispatch. I think Dispatch is as close as you can get to the perfect story based game.

I love Dispatch. I love the characters. I love the story. I love the music. I love the choices. And most importantly I love Beef. This game felt like the ultimate victory lap from the old Telltale developers of not only can they still make the best story games (now as AdHOC studios) but they also cemented that they are a studio that could reach the same legendary status of Naughty Dog or BioWare if they play their cards right. 

I don't think I laughed and cried due to a video game as much as I did with Dispatch. The game took me on such a journey that for 2 hours every week I would be completely locked into the story and the world. From singing about Robert being a bitch to bringing lamps to a house warming party this game is so expertly written and performed that I do think it is the best written and performance I have experience in video games, that includes Cyberpunk.

I will happily admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the weekly releases of two episodes as well. As a person who still reminiscence about when me and my friends use to meetup every Friday evening to watch the latest episode of a Game of Thrones and excitedly chat about what might happen next week, it really brought back them vibes again which I sorely missed. Me and my friends would often jump into discord after playing that weeks two episodes and chat about what has happened in our playthroughs bringing back them same sort of vibes as when we use to meet every Friday night.

I loved the game so much that I also brought the game for my sister so she could play it. She is become more and more of a gamer lately thanks to her boyfriend and never got the chance to play a Telltale game so I wanted her to have the experience. Fast forward two weeks later when she called me up crying in the middle of the night cause she had just finished the final episode and loved it so much that she wanted to ask me what games she can play that is like it. 

I would honestly recommend Dispatch to anyone. It is a perfect game for both Hardcore Gamers and complete newbies, I even played it like a newbie with quick time events turned off so it was just the complete sit back an relax experience except for the Dispatching (which is great fun) and decision making. I would even go as far as to say I recommend you choose to have Quick Time events turned off so you can just get lost in the story. If you want to get your partner, friend or family into gaming then show them Dispatch, I promise they will become obsessed.

I can't praise this game enough and I really recommend you read my review if you would like to hear me shower it with praise even more (I haven't even mentioned the music which I think will be my most listened too in 2026) but overall it really is not doubt my favourite game of 2025. It is in my top 3 of my favourite games of all time. Dispatch is a love letter to Gamers and I really can't wait to see what AdHOC has to offer in the future.

So that's my yearly roundup ! I hope you enjoyed it and let me know what games you played in 2025!

I hope you all had as great as year as I have and I am very excited to see what 2026 has to offer. Till then I hope you h

ave had a wonderful Christmas and happy new year to you all!

See you next year Gamers!

Cuppa