Metacritic has released its ranking of the highest-rated games for the first half of 2025, based on Metascore ratings as of June 25, 2025.
The selection criteria for games included:
- At least 7 professional critic reviews
- For multi-platform games, only the version with the most reviews was considered (usually the PS5 version)
- Excluded categories:
- Re-releases of previous games on new platforms (unless significantly enhanced, such as HD remasters with new content)
- Expansion packs/DLC
- Mobile games
- Collections or remasters
- “Ultimate” or annual editions
Here are the top 20 games ranked by Metascore:
- ENDER MAGNOLIA: Bloom in the Mist (PC) – 84
- Keep Driving (PC) – 84
- Two Point Museum (PC) – 84
- The Alters (PC) – 85
- The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (Switch) – 85
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector (PC) – 86
- Mario Kart World (Switch 2) – 86
- Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (PC) – 86
- Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (PC) – 87
- StarVaders (PC) – 87
- The Roottrees are Dead (PC) – 87
- Monster Train 2 (PC) – 88
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (PC) – 88
- Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5) – 88
- The Talos Principle: Reawakened (PC) – 89
- despelote (PC) – 89
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach (PS5) – 90
- Split Fiction (PS5) – 91
- Blue Prince (PC) – 92
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (PS5) – 93
This list highlights the most critically acclaimed games so far in 2025, with “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” taking the top spot with an impressive Metascore of 93 on PS5.
