Holiday 2025 gave us a lineup where games don’t just drop, they hit. Sequels that actually evolved, comebacks that felt earned, and new entries that reminded everybody why gaming still moves culture. Whether you’re gifting for a diehard sweat lord, a casual after-work warrior, or someone who just upgraded to next-gen and needs heat to justify it, the releases this year actually have variety and replay value not just hype trailers. This list is comprised of games that we think are hits and that we’ve played, reviewed and or tested this year!
Hades 2
$59.99 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC
Hades 2 moves like the original but hits with more depth. Combat feels smoother, spellcraft builds stack in new ways, and runs push you to mix things up instead of sticking to one comfort build. The characters and lore lean darker, but it never gets lost in dialogue—it keeps you locked in gameplay before anything else. It’s the type of game you can grind daily or pull out when you have twenty minutes before leaving the house.
I played most of it in short runs and it turned into a ritual launch, sprint a run, close it like nothing happened. The new build paths legit force experimentation instead of meta chasing. I have over 200 hours playing this ams that’s due to its accessibility on the Alley Rog and Nintenso Switch. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Battlefield 6
$69.99 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Battlefield 6 finally feels like Battlefield again. Classes matter, vehicles aren’t just highlight reels, and destruction actually shifts how you take objectives—walls drop, cover disappears, routes open mid-match. The pacing pushes teamwork without making solo play useless, and weather systems create moments that look like trailer clips in real time. It’s chaos, but the type that feels controlled when your squad is locked in.
When running Engineer feels like you’re actually impacting the match, not just existing. Squad play hits like old-school BF where wins feel earned, not random. I haven’t had this many cinematic moments in a shooter in a while! Check out the latest deal for it here.
Fatal Fury: City of Wolves
$59.99 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
This reboot brings SNK back loud. Neon palettes, anime-styled shading, graffiti UI, and movement tech that rewards aggression but still respects neutral. Cancels, parries, and pressure strings let players cook, but it never turns into nonsense, you can feel the roots of the series beneath the flash. Rollback is clean, and it’s one of the easier fighting games to hand to a newcomer without scaring them off.
The game gives you tools fast, but mastering them takes time. Online sets feel smooth enough to actually practice without needing locals. Another plus is Season One DLC is free giving you 5 extra characters including some from the popular Street Fighter Franchise. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Geforce Now Ultimate
PC, Mobile, TV, Steam
GeForce Now is an easy win if you are shopping for a gamer that has a solid PC library but not a powerful PC to match. Instead of needing a big rig, they can stream their games straight from Nvidia’s cloud to whatever they already use, whether it is a basic laptop, tablet, phone or a low power desktop. It is basically like gifting them a high end gaming PC they can log into from almost anywhere, with support for ray tracing, high frame rates and smooth performance on supported games.
Nvidia has a few membership tiers, so you can match things based on how serious they are about gaming. The base performance plan gets them priority access, longer play sessions and up to 1440p streaming. If you want to go all out, the Ultimate tier taps into RTX 4080 level servers with higher resolutions up to 4K and super high FPS for competitive titles. It is a flexible digital upgrade that makes their whole setup feel next gen without them having to build or buy new hardware. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Ninja Gaiden 4
$69.99 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
Ninja Gaiden returns with real consequences. Faster movement, harder parries, and bosses that punish panic instead of rewarding spam. The combat leans skill-first, using modern animation without turning into a Souls clone. It respects players who want to actually improve.
The first boss checked me immediately, I thought I knew it all from the previous games. Once the parry timing locked in, fights felt like controlled aggression instead of survival. It’s the type of game you gift when you want someone to sweat. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Death Stranding 2
$69.99 — PS5, PC
More emotional, more visual, more intentional. Traversal is still the core, but now gear actually changes strategy instead of just giving convenience. The world feels heavier, characters hit harder emotionally, and the pacing forces you to sit with it, not skip past it.
I play this one late with headphones and no distractions. It’s cinematic, slow, and weird in a way that sticks with you after putting the controller down. Definitely a niche vibe, but if it hits, it hits deep. Kojima is always making some crazy and edging. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Borderlands 4
$59.99 — PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, PC
Borderlands 4 feels like peak Borderlands in all the right ways. You are dropped onto a new planet called Kairos under the thumb of a ruthless ruler, then turned loose as one of four new Vault Hunters with ridiculous guns, wild abilities and a ton of ways to move around the world like double jumps, slides and grapples. The whole thing is built around that classic “shoot, loot, upgrade, repeat” loop, with a huge open world full of factions, dynamic events and side activities that pull you off the main path in the best possible way.
Co-op is really where this one shines for a gift. Borderlands 4 is designed from the ground up to be played with friends, whether you are running two player split screen on the couch or jumping online with up to four players to tear through missions together. Level scaling and individual difficulty keep everyone on the same page, so even if one person lives in the game and the other just jumps in on weekends, you can still team up, share loot and cause chaos across Kairos without anyone feeling left behind. Check out the latest deal here.
ARC Raiders
Price: $39.99
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
ARC Raiders delivers unpredictable, high-energy gameplay through its blend of PvE and PvP. Enemy players can become instant threats or unexpected allies, which leads to chaotic firefights or big coordinated boss takedowns before everyone rushes to extract. Every session feels fresh.
Performance is strong on PCs and handles great on handhelds like the ROG Ally and Steam Deck. Check out the latest deal here.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicals
$59.99 — PS5, Switch, PC
A true revival, not a lazy remaster. Sprites look crisp, maps play smarter with verticality, and class balance fixes old-school broken strategies. Story pacing is more cinematic without losing that political, grounded tone the original was known for. It’s deep, methodical, and rewarding not the type of game you sprint through.
This is one of my childhood favorite game of all time. It’s the perfect handheld grind too, low pacing, thoughtful turns, and battles you replay just to try different comp strategies. Check out the latest deal for it here.
Holiday 2025 has something for every lane,
quick-run indies, sweaty multiplayer, tactical brain burners, emotional single-player journeys, and games built to stream or squad up. Whether you’re picking up digital codes or full collector’s editions, this year actually rewards people who care about gameplay, not hype cycles. For deeper breakdowns, hands-on tests, and hardware pairings, keep it locked to LVLONE.com.
