My Most Anticipated Games of 2025 – Midyear Update
It’s July 1st so we are officially in the second half of the year. It’s been a good one for games so far and I’m happy to say the forecast for the rest of the year looks to continue a great thing.
All of these games are set to release July onwards, in no order except starting with titles with release dates and then moving onto the ones that don’t.
RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business (17/7)
Following on from Terminator Resistance and RoboCop: Rogue City, I was ready for anything this studio put out next. A standalone DLC for RoboCop isn’t what I expected but I’m more than happy to get to play. I know literally nothing about it other than it’s more RoboCop gameplay so that’s enough for me.
Donkey Kong: Bananza (17/7)
A Donkey Kong 3D platformer in this economy? It’s more likely than you think! Echoing the Gamecube that launched with Luigi’s Mansion, Bananza is ticking all the right boxes for what looks to be an amazing 3D platformer. Super Mario Odyssey 2? Nah, DK time.
Mafia: The Old Country (8/8)
Mafia is an underrated franchise, so it's a great pleasure to see that after the misfire of the third game, the series hasn't been put out to die like others might. It's taken a wee little while but The Old Country looks to bring the series back to what it's known for - tight linear storytelling. The Sicily setting isn't the 70's Vegas people wanted but this is perfect for me.
Gears of War: Reloaded (26/8)
While the dreams of a Mastechief collection equivalent for Gears are dashed, I’m not going to complain about getting the first game at least, probably to prep people for E-Day in 2026. I could take or leave the inclusion of Multiplayer but a Gears platinum on Playstation will be a sight to behold.
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (28/8)
It might seem weird to remake the third game of a series, but much like how Silent Hill 2 was remade because it was the most popular and standalone, Snake Eater is the earliest title chronologically and the most popular. I’ve not played a single Metal Gear game so this game is built for newcomers like me.
Hell is Us (4/9)
I’ve purposefully left myself in the dark regarding this game as I’ve liked what I’ve seen and don’t want too much information. Souls esque game in a weird modern/future world with no waymarkers or maps, sounds like an interesting time to me.
Silent Hill f (25/9)
The first major, mainline Silent Hill game (2 Remake, The Short Message and Ascension are remake, side game and disaster respectively) since 2011’s Downpour. Ditching the usual American town for a small Japanese one in the 80’s is an interesting shift for the series with the footage they’ve shown so far being certified Asian Horror. Given how good the 2 Remake was, some more good publicity will do the franchise wonders.
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Directive 8020 (2/10)
Suppose I should change this to Directive 8020: A Dark Pictures Story since the branding seems to be changing. I’ve not played the prior Dark Pictures games but this one seems to be a step up in the gameplay department, being more interactive than the previous point and click style. . I’m a big fan of Lashana Lynch too so that’s a pleasant bonus.
Pokemon Legends Z-A (16/10)
I’ll swallow down whatever GameFreak and Creatures Inc put out but even I had issues with Scarlet and Violet. The community at large are less lenient but Legends Arceus seemed to be a big hit. The formula is being mixed a little for Z-A so we’ll see how it ends up.
The Outer Worlds 2 (29/10)
I enjoyed The Outer Worlds when I played it earlier this year, despite not bothering with either of its DLC (In my defence, there was a time constraint of it being removed from PS+). A bigger and better sequel is always exciting even if the price point is a little rough. I didn’t want to spoil myself by watching the Xbox showcase on the game but maybe I will as a little treat.
Cronos: The New Dawn
Thanks to EA, you aren’t seeing Dead Space 4 or a remake of 2 to follow the first but cast your eyes a bit wider and you’ll see a promising offer from Bloober Team in the form of Cronos: The New Dawn. It’s got different vibe so it doesn’t feel like a carbon copy or too inspired. It’s one to watch, especially after the work on Silent Hill 2 Remake.
Hotel Barcelona
I don’t want to disparage the creative process but I feel like Suda 51’s Romeo is a Dead Man has been made faster than this one. Regardless, Hotel Barcelona has managed to pique the interest of someone who isn’t super into 2D platformers thanks to its premise and style. Here’s hoping it delivers.
Industria 2
Despite it’s decent amount of shortcomings, I quite enjoyed Industria for what it was. That being said, I’m very happy they’re adding actual gameplay mechanics into the sequel, looking like a fully realised version of what the first game wanted to be.
Lego Party and Lego Voyagers
Two different games but both announced at Summer Games Fest and both of them Lego so I’m bundling them both here. The former is a pretty shameless ripoff of Mario party but honestly I don’t see the problem really. Lego seems the perfect medium for this kind of thing. On the other side, Voyagers seems like a really cute co-op experience - something I’m always on the hunt for.
Mixtape
While I wasn’t a massive fan of Beethoven and Dinosaur’s previous game, The Artful Escape, I’m quite looking forward to this next one. While ‘Coming-of-age’ stories set in the 80’s are a dime a dozen, this one has Roxy Music in – and I do like some Roxy music. Beyond that, the vibe here seems different to your run of the mill stories in the genre. I don’t know, something seems special about this one.
Showa American Story
I’m not entirely sure this game is still coming out this year but regardless of whenever it does it’s going to be one to look out for. An alternate world where the United States became a part of Japan and all the zany stupidness that goes with that concept. I can’t wait to get my hand on it.
Yooka Replaylee
The original Yooka Laylee is a well-documented release. The lead up to release and the disappointment afterwards spawned a thousand review pieces on YouTube. The consensus was despite the shortcomings, there was potential. Yooka Replaylee is taking years of advice on board and trying it again. Less a remake, more of a do-over. From what I’ve seen, it might finally be the real deal.
As always, it will be interesting to see how many of these games hit their release targets and how many end up on my Game of the Year list. Of course there’s dozens of other games I have my eye on that didn’t make the cut for the article so we’ll just have to wait and see what the Craig of December decides. I can hardly wait.
