Sort of, it’s top ten time. Prior to breaking things out and tackling the last group individually, we have one last group of five, bringing our list down from ten to six. However, what kinds of games will this small group play? If only by alliteration, there is a AAA option here, and there may be a “quadruple-A” game that truly means it. However, in at number 10 first.
10 – Citizen Sleeper 2 Starward Vector
PS5, XSX|S, NSW, PC – 31st January 2025
With a series of tools to help you traverse its complex narrative, Citizen Sleeper 2, the sequel to one of the most praised independent games of 2022, aims to use the same style for its tabletop RPG tale. New skills, a revamped dice system, and—above all—a ship and crew that you may personalise for every Cycle as you take on assignments in the star system are all included.
Citizen Sleeper 2, which is still situated in the Helion system, allows you to board your ship, choose a group of characters to accompany you, and then set out to explore the Belt while working and earning money. In an attempt to break free from your past, when you were controlled by a local criminal organisation, you are rewriting the code of your body, which causes problems and forces you to run with a price on your head and no memories.
9 – Avowed
XSX|S, PC – 18th February 2025
Are you going to end the planet or preserve it? That is the decision that permeates Avowed as you become increasingly powerful while serving as an Aedyr Empire envoy entrusted with looking into a spiritual plague that poses a threat to the entire globe.
Similar to Obsidian’s other Pillars of Eternity games, Avowed transports us to the Living Lands, a set of enigmatic islands in the mythical realm of Eora. However, Avowed is returning to one of Obsidian’s specialities: first-person action RPG adventuring, whereas both titles were both top-down CRPGs and contributed to the genre’s resurgence during the previous ten years. Although Avowed is not a completely open world game, it does feature a number of sizable open spaces that you can explore; in this sense, it may be similar to The Outer Worlds, another of Obsidian’s highly regarded games.
Xbox chose to postpone Avowed’s launch during a busy release window in order to try to find some breathing room in early 2025. The game was originally scheduled for release at the end of 2024. That hasn’t necessarily panned out, but this is definitely worth watching as it has more time to be polished and has the potential to be a first-party Xbox game.
8 – Atomfall
PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC – 27th March 2025
We can have a good old-fashioned meltdown with the best of them in old Britain, even though Chornobyl and Three Mile may be the most notorious nuclear plant mishaps in history. Alright, so the Windscale Fire wasn’t a meltdown, but it was fairly close given that it raged for several days, spread radioactive material over the UK and the continent, and was a part of a government cover-up.
But honestly, what were they hiding? Atomfall transports us to a different timeline in which the neighbourhood was quickly placed under lockdown, residents were supervised and kept in line by the military organisation Protocol, and sophisticated retro-futuristic technology was the norm. Can you solve the puzzle?
Although it may appear to be a very English Fallout, this is a very different kind of game, with a greater emphasis on exploring the plot and fighting roving bands of bandits dressed like Morris dancers while resource scarcity forces you into melee.
7 – Assassin’s Creed Shadows
PS5, XSX|S, PC – 20th March 2025
Even though Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been enmeshed in an unavoidably disappointing amount of online debate, fans have been demanding an Assassin’s Creed set in Japan since 2007. This is largely because the game features a black immigrant samurai as one of its two playable characters. Ubisoft has occasionally had trouble effectively communicating that to players and fans worldwide.
The main characters of Assassin’s Creed Shadows are a man samurai and a female ninja, transporting us to the Azuchi-Momoyama period of 16th-century Japan. That man is a historical figure who was modelled after Yasuke, an African-born man who served Oda Nobunaga and was one of the few immigrants to Japan. In order to fight all those obnoxious Templars, the female ninja from Iga Province, named Naoe, is accepted into the local Assassin’s organisation. Because both characters have distinct skills—Yasuke for direct combat, Naoe for stealth—their storylines will be interwoven, allowing you to develop complementary playstyles. The two protagonists that we have occasionally seen in the Assassin’s Creed series will be presented in a novel way in this game.
6 – GTA 6
PS5, XSX|S, PC – Late 2025
The fact that GTA 6 isn’t at the top of our most-wanted list may almost seem sacrilegious, but here we are. Although GTA 6 is undoubtedly going to be another landmark cultural event for the world’s gamers, much like GTA 5 was in 2013, it doesn’t quite excite us in the same manner as the titles that have made it into the top 5. We’re eager to see that second trailer, though.
With Lucia, the first female lead in the series, breaking out of prison at the beginning of the game following some “bad luck,” Grand Theft Auto VI transports us all back to Vice City for another crime thriller. The fictionalised state of Leonida serves as the scene for Vice City, a modern-day drama that draws heavily from the diversity of American culture in the South East, particularly in Florida.
Take Two has set a release date for the latter part of 2025, but considering the scope and ambition of these titles, it wouldn’t be shocking if this date were moved to early 2026, slipping into the same fiscal year.
Although we’ve already gone through all of our Most Wanted 2025 lists, I believe it’s time for a little respite. We’ll wrap this up next week and see you on Monday for #5.