One of my favorite blog posts since I began this site is my yearly blog about upcoming games for the rest of the year. I am always looking at the release calendar. But there is something about the last few months of the year that excites me. For this year’s blog, I had about ten games that I marked down as ones I want to play. As it stands, most of these games release in October, so that month is going to be a busy one.
If you’re unfamiliar with this feature, I’d like to highlight the games I’m looking forward to playing. I tend to focus on four or five games and a few honorable mentions. For this feature, I don’t include any traditional sports games (I do allow racing games). In recent years, I also haven’t talked about any games developed by my employer (Electronic Arts). This year, I am cheating a bit on that one, but for fun.
My last criterion is that I need to have a release date. Games can and have been delayed while preparing my list. However, if there isn’t a public release date for the game by the time I post this blog (September 1), I won’t include it. This year, I can’t include either Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment or Metroid Prime 4. If they had firm dates, I would feature both. Hyrule Warriors may be delayed until 2026, but I don’t see Metroid Prime pushing into next year.
So, without further ado, here are the games I’m looking forward to playing for the rest of 2025
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles – Releases September 30
This year has been a resurgence for me with all things Final Fantasy. After the success of Magic: The Gathering – Final Fantasy, I’ve gotten back into the franchise. I’ve dabbled back in a few of the games I missed out on, and that includes Final Fantasy Tactics. For me, the only FFT game I’ve played is the Game Boy Advance version from 2002. I still own my original copy of that game, and the save files on it are intact. Having never played either the original PSOne or PSP remake, I’m eager to see how the original game has been remade.
I’ve stayed away from the discourse around the game. I’m not here to dwell on the decisions to keep this remake more in line with the PSOne version instead of the PSP remake. I have the PSP version downloaded on my PS Vita, so I can jump into that if I ever want to. For now, I want to focus on this new iteration. Since I’ve enjoyed all SquareEnix’s remakes recently, I’m certain I’ll feel the same way with this one.
Ghost of Yotei – Releases October 2
At the time of writing, I still have not finished Ghost of Tsushima. It’s a game that I’ve gone in and out of for a while now. I bought it around the time of the launch of the PlayStation 5 and was hoping to get absorbed in the game. To be fair, I was enjoying it, but it never grabbed me in the way I thought it would. So, for Ghost of Yotei, I am optimistic.. I expect that it will improve on things that held me back in the first game. I was a little annoyed at some of the combat and enemy AI. The story was fine, but I wasn’t invested in the main character.
At the same time, though, I did find the secondary characters interesting. It’s bad of me that I didn’t give the game more of a chance. Since this game releases next month, I do have a bit of time to get through the first game, if I want to. From everything I read, they are standalone experiences. So, I don’t have to worry about missing any context. 2025 has been a solid year with a few notable ninja-type games. There is a lot of pressure on this one to keep that trend going.
Battlefield 6 – Releases October 10
Yeah, I should not include Battlefield 6 here. But I wanted to share my excitement since I won’t post about it again. To be honest, I have never been a big Battlefield fan outside of the Bad Company series. I prefer single-player, story-based shooters. So, I tend to lean more towards the Call of Duty series and similar FPSs. Right now, other than the teaser stuff, I don’t know what to expect with the single-player campaign for BF6.
But I had a blast playing the Open Beta, so I know this is a game I will pick up as soon as I can. In fact, I recently redownloaded a few of the older BF games to remind myself of the highs of this series. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to play them yet. I know I won’t be good at the multiplayer, but I am hopeful that the single-player will tide me over.
Pokémon Legends Z-A – Releases October 16
It’s crazy that it’s been a few years since we had a full-fledged Pokémon game. I only finally dabbled with Pokémon Scarlet/Violet over the summer. I played for about an hour only to see how it performed on the Nintendo Switch 2. At the same time, I enjoyed most aspects of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, so this follow-up is something I’m keen to try.
Like most Pokémon games, I’ve maintained a media blackout to avoid teasers/spoilers. I don’t know what to expect, and I want to keep it that way until I start playing the game. On top of that, I preordered the Switch version. I don’t know if it’s worth upgrading to the Switch 2 version. I’m a bit disappointed that this one isn’t a free upgrade. It would be nice if this got a free upgrade for Nintendo Switch Online Expansion users.
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake – Releases October 30
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake was one of my favorite games of 2024. So, it should not come as any surprise that I am eager to play the follow-up. I pre-ordered this one as soon as it was possible, and I can’t wait to start playing when I get my hands on it. As with the other games on this list, I’ve stayed away from any preview coverage. I never even sampled the original two games, so I’m going into this with no bias or previous experience.
DQ III HD-2D Remake took me around 35 hours to complete. Based on that timeframe, I’m expecting I & II to take about the same amount of time. If you peek at the How Long to Beat for the originals, it seems fair. DQ I should take around 11 hours, and DQ II is about 18.5 hours. Even if they add a ton new new content, I would not expect the game to balloon in size.
Lumines Arise – Releases November 11
This was a last-minute inclusion. I do remember its announcement earlier in the year, but I didn’t know it was coming out this year. It was only when they announced the timed demo that I learned about the release window. I have such fantastic memories of this series. It was one of the first games I played on my PSP and PS Vita. I also picked up the remaster on Switch.
It’s strange this one isn’t coming on Switch 2, at least not yet. For me, this feels like a game I’ll pick up and play on Steam Deck. I know it’s also for VR, but I haven’t touched my Oculus/Meta Quest in years, and I’m not sure it’s compatible.
Honorable Mentions
I wanted to limit my main list to only five games (excluding BF 6, of course). It was tough deciding which games to feature. The following games are a few others that I’m looking forward to playing at some point. There are a few that I will play at launch, but others might have to wait until next year.
Hollow Knight: Silksong – Releases September 4
I only tried the original game last year, so I’m not a long-time fan. Considering the hype surrounding this game, I have to see how this shapes up.
Ninja Gaiden 4 – Releases October 20
Another Ninja game for 2025. I know I’m not skilled enough for a 3D Ninja Gaiden, but I want to give it a try. I’m not sure if I will pick this up right away, but I’d love it if there were a demo to try.
The Outer Worlds 2 – Releases October 29
One of the first games I wrote about in this blog was the original The Outer Worlds. It’s the only Obsidian game that I finished, so that counts for something. I don’t have Game Pass right now, so I’ll wait to see how this one reviews before giving it a go.
Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road – Releases November 13
As a fan of Level 5’s games and of soccer, a soccer RPG is perfect for me. I played the 3DS version a bit last year. It was slow to start, so I am hoping this one is more approachable.
Demonschool – Releases November 19
I listen to the Insert Credit Podcast, so I’ve heard about Demonschool for a while now. One of the hosts is developing the game. They recently pushed their release date to November. It was to avoid Silksong’s release on the same week. I’ve heard some interesting things about this, so I want to check it out.
Octopath Traveler 0 – Releases December 4
Octopath Traveler 2 was one of my favorite games of 2023. From the early coverage of this game, this is a reworked version of the mobile game. I tried that last year, but it didn’t hook me.
So, there you are! A list of a dozen games that I’m looking forward to for the rest of 2025. When I can, I will do my best to share my thoughts here. In the meantime, please check back weekly as I cover a different game.
