The Outerhaven writes: If you thought July 2025 was full of amazing games, I consider it just the warm-up, because August 2025 is packed with lots of must-play releases. The kind of lineup that makes your backlog cry and your wallet sweat.
VGChartz: "All of the franchises that tend to dominate the genre, at least in terms of mass appeal and sales, forwent brand new releases in 2025, which left the field truly wide open for smaller series to come in and stake a claim to the trophy. Crossovers and new entries in dormant franchises were the main themes of this year's shortlist."
VGChartz's Evan Norris: "2025 was a banner year for platformers, particularly action-platformers. Donkey Kong Bananza thrilled fans with its clever traversal and deforming mechanics; Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound elevated nostalgic NES ideas with modern designs and controls; The Rogue Prince of Persia blended 2D parkour with story-driven progression; and Shinobi: Art of Vengeance made a splash thanks to its deep combat framework and fluid movement."
Despite turbulent times in the industry, these nine titles shined through.
Absolum chose a terrible year to release, its such a fun game but massively overshadowed by the big hitters from 2025.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, No Sleep for Kaname Date, Shuten Order, Doom: The Dark Ages and The Outer Worlds 2 are the GOATs.
didn't even realize No Sleep for Kaname Date released last year.... I stumbled on a [console] pre-order for it the other night and immediately placed an order. guess I should check Steam a little more often lol.
Anyway, the two previous AI: The Somnium Files games are excellent so looking forward to another journey. Also a great reminder of why one should step out of their comfort zone from time to time. might love it, enjoy it, hate it or anything in between, but one won't know until they step outside their gaming walls and give something different a try.
That's what The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is for. It's from the creator of Danganronpa and the creator of AI: The Somnium Files. It took me 400 to complete all 22 routes and 100 endings. Best gaming experience I've had since the 80's.
clair obscute definitely made a huge impact on me, such a fantastic game
and Silent Hill f biiiiiitch, it was so good
Maybe Titan Quest 2
Madden 26, I'm out. No need to play a fascist bootlicking simulator.
Also dawn of war "remastered".
Nice month. Lost Soul Aside #1 for sure. Metal Gear and Gears I'm still on the fence. I want them but they are not "new" games so I can wait. I'll get Mafia later too and there is Hellblade 2. I'll wait for that to hit $30 before I bite. September is looking even worse for me lol. Borderlands for sure. Maybe Hell is Us, Silent Hill, and Cronos.
Let's not mention October. We already know one game for sure. Take a good guess. There are 2 or 3 others as well. Then I saw Battlefield....f@¢k!
And wait is Dying Light also this month??? I liked what I've seen so far. Too many games not enough time. My wallet is going to be feelin it.
Metal Gear - thought and expected it to be priced at $39.99 based on it being a remake. Will pickup on black friday.
Lost Soul Aside I’ll get day 1, maybe Hell is us too. I’ll get Titan Quest 2 at some point, not sure day 1 or not but I’ll definitely get it. I’ll get Mafia MGS in fall/winter sometime. Can only play so many games at a time.