Away from 2025's biggest and best, here's what we actually played most this year

Date:
Wed, 31 Dec 2025 17:00:00 +0000

Description:
Away from the big ones of 2025, heres what weve actually been playing this year, from older multiplayer games to timeless classics.

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Every year demands that gaming media and fans alike sink hours and hours into the latest and greatest - and with good reason, when you have so many quality releases like 2025 has had.

However, away from all the great games that came out this year, what have we actually played this year?

Enjoying video games isnt always about the biggest releases of each year anyway, despite the cycle of those releases dominating the Zeitgeist; often its preferable, and deeply enjoyable, to go back to a classic or favorite
from the past, catch up on a big game from recent years, or just continue playing your favorite live service game.

Below, the TechRadar Gaming team comes clean on what we've really been playing, focusing on games that aren't just 2025s latest and greatest. Diving back into the wasteland

Whenever I wasnt playing a game for review this year, Ive been busy re-exploring the world of Fallout 76 . The recent PlayStation Wrap-Up confirmed that it was comfortably one of my most played titles over the last 12 months, and given how much has gone on in the game, its not difficult to see why. With the second season of the Fallout TV show on the way, Ive had a craving for more of the series universe, and this live-service instalment is the perfect thing to satiate it.

Sure, it wasnt the best in the series when it arrived back in 2018, but its steadily grown into an expansive MMO experience thats been well worth my
time. The year kicked off with the massive Ghoul Within update, which introduced some cool new quests that let you transform your playable
character into a Ghoul. Ghouls play very differently from humans, with exclusive perks and a unique Feral meter to manage in place of the usual hunger and thirst.

Getting to grips with my new virtual undead life was a lovely little challenge, and this was just the start. The Gone Fission update hit a few months later and added fishing, complete with loads of aquatic creatures to collect, and I still havent managed to find them all. This latest major content addition, Burning Springs, dropped at the start of December too - introducing a whole new area, loads of quests, and even the iconic Ghoul from the show.

Its been a brilliant time, and I know that Im going to keep plugging away at everything it offers in the coming months.

Dashiell Wood, Gaming Editor Trailing the dawn (Image credit: Square Enix)

Yep, pretty unsurprisingly for me, its Final Fantasy 14 Online. Dawntrail , the MMORPGs current expansion, might not be the best when it comes to the
main scenario questline (even though you have to remember its going up
against the generational combo of Shadowbringers and Endwalker on that
front). But its difficult to argue that Warriors of Light havent been eating damn good when it comes to the expansions roster of features and quality-of-life updates.

Large-scale content like Occult Crescent and Cosmic Exploration - this expansions long-form modes for relic weapon and crafting/gathering, respectively - have kept me logging in day after day. Meanwhile, the Arcadion raid series has been perhaps my favorite of any expansion, and is set to explode in Patch 7.4 with a finale with a track penned by Beartooth and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello.

I havent been this enthusiastic about the game in quite some time. When it arrives on December 16, Patch 7.4 will also (finally!) be removing the majority of Glamour restrictions, meaning you can don the appearance of any piece of armor (besides starting race gear) without job or level limitations.

Were on the cusp of Dawntrails twilight, and the next expansion looms with an announcement expected in April 2026 at Final Fantasy 14s North American Fan Fest event. And I cant wait for whatevers next.

Rhys Wood, Hardware Editor A year of demon killing, witchering, and walking (Image credit: id software/Bethesda)

I have played a bunch of 2025s best this year, but have somehow managed to squeeze in some belting experiences around them, from indie revisits to
Actual Indy, from bombastic shooters to DLC add ons, as well as some multiplayer fun. These are where Ive spent most of my time when not in the 2025-release mines.

First up is a big shout-out to full, unadulterated playthroughs of Doom
(2016) and Doom Eternal . Id put these two off for too long anyway, but after attending a preview for Doom: The Dark Ages in March over in Germany, it was finally time to queue up the first two in an attempt to complete a straight playthrough of the triumvirate - which I did. It also gave me excellent,
fresh reference points to compare this years The Dark Ages to, which was interesting.

In short, Doom (2016) is comfortably my favorite of the three, but I do
prefer The Dark Ages and its excellent shield combat over the Mario-style platforming-fest that is Eternal .

I spent a lot of time in Death Stranding: Directors Cut after my Doom-athon, too, and had to bail from a complete playthrough because life got in the way
- pesky life. However, it remains a non-2025 game highlight of the year for me, and I can easily see myself sinking back into that and then meandering into Death Stranding 2: On the Beach afterward, too.

Even in a matter of mere weeks, I have racked up some incredible hours in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt this month (December) with a fresh, long-overdue playthrough - my first basically since it came out in 2015 - as my Christmas or Holiday game. I have absolutely embraced this majestic, genre- and generation-defining game once again and have zero regrets for finally recommitting to it, a 10-year-old game even in the face of 2025s best.

Lastly, to tickle the multiplayer itch, my buddies and I have been
exclusively on older games - we often are, though, to be frank - and have finally sunk hours into finishing Ghost Recon: Breakpoint , then crushing
bugs by the thousand in Aliens Fireteam Elite , before spending a bunch of hours most recently in Payday 3 . Throw in some co-op Diablo 4 and Dying
Light 2 time as well, and its a fine mix of not-2025-game multiplayering.

Rob Dwiar, Managing Editor Hello darkness, my old friend (Image credit:
Hello Games)

As Evergreen Editor at TechRadar Gaming, its my job to stay on top of the biggest and best AAA and live service games throughout the year. Unfortunately, I actually spent hundreds of hours in No Mans Sky once again, and you know what? I regret nothing.

No Mans Sky received its most transformative update earlier this year,
adding Corvette ships, which can be heavily customized and shared with a
group of friends. You even sit down in your ship and can get up and walk around whenever you want, opening up the ability to exit in space and float around in glorious, existential darkness. Skydiving can now also be triggered by leaping from your Corvettes docking bay, and theres even an onboard terminal where you and your friends can take on group missions.

I say this every year, but No Mans Sky is one heck of a game. Thanks to constant updates, I always find myself jumping back in, and 2025 was no different. It even came to Switch 2, allowing me to take the full experience on the go. Couple that with the fact that I picked up a PSVR 2 over Black Friday and, well, Ive spent a lot of time in No Mans Sky lately. Im betting 2026 will be a huge year for the game, and with teases of Hello Games next project, Light No Fire, starting to trickle in, I cant wait to see whats next from one of the best indie studios around.

Jake Green, Evergreen Editor

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/gaming/away-from-2025s-biggest-and-best-heres-what-w e-actually-played-most-this-year


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