Games of 2025 – Donkey Kong Bananza is pure joy in video game form

After another year full of brilliant launches, the time has come to remember some of the moments that had the greatest impact over these 12 months of entertainment and art in the form of video games. As we did in previous years, we asked you to share your favorite games with us, so I’m here to share my favorite games.

The year 2025 was especially exciting because since childhood, Japanese experiences have stood out as the main source of support for fueling this passion. If 2024 was marked by the prominence achieved by Korean and Chinese producers, 2025 was the year of returning to some of my most beloved names, with experiences that I will remember with special affection, long after finishing them.

From experiences that reminded me how exciting it is to cooperate with other players, adventure titles whose gameplay reminded me of childhood times when fun was the only thing that really mattered, and of course, Hideo Kojima. It was this Japanese master who made me look at video games as something more than mere “toys” and so many years later, he hasn’t lost his touch.

On this page, I present my choices, Bruno Galvão, with emphasis on Donkey Kong Bananza, a game that won me over for the way it enhances pure fun. There are several games that I would like to highlight and with which I had a spectacular time in 2025, even some games that simply made me smile or disconnect from the world, but forced to choose three titles, these are:

Donkey Kong Bananza

Thanks to Hideo Kojima and Metal Gear Solid, I started to look at video games as more than just toys, pastimes for fun. Through his bold and cinematic vision, I began to see video games as art, with the ability to feed the soul, but despite the large number of works that make me feel all pseudo-intellectual, feeling that I am special for navigating the sea of ​​video games, it is the experiences focused purely on fun that end up winning me over. That’s precisely what Nintendo did with Donkey Kong Bananza.

The arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2 is undoubtedly the biggest moment of 2025, but it’s games like Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza that really made me fall in love with the console. Playing Donkey Kong Bananza is about enjoying a very simple platforming and adventure experience, but methodically tuned to capture the spirit of previous golden decades. By focusing purely on fun, accompanied by a colorful aesthetic and a lot of good humor, the highly destructive gameplay of the scenarios becomes irresistible.

In addition to this choice for Game of the Year, we also present honorable mentions, titles that also dazzled each member of the team. Passion has a lot to say in the choices and experiences throughout each individual’s life, it is the mirror of the individualization of these choices, so see this as a reflection of who we are:

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach – Playing Hideo Kojima’s latest and most memorable creative effort, 17 years after the first (Metal Gear Solid) is an absolutely fascinating experience. Death Stranding 2 boasts everything that left me dazzled by MGS, from the cinematic execution, approach to audio, plot, characters, emotional hooks, and by bringing the gameplay closer to what he did in MGS5, Kojima makes the sequel a superior game to the original, in which it exchanges the melancholy feeling of isolation for a greater tone of action and adrenaline. Kojima is everything I think he is, no matter how acclaimed he is, it’s bizarre to feel like he isn’t acclaimed enough.
• Monster Hunter Wilds – After a wait of more than 7 years, Capcom has finally brought a new evolution to the main Monster Hunter formula. With adjustments made to reduce friction and reward the player more quickly, Wilds is incredibly fun without requiring as much grinding time as World and reminded me how satisfying it is to cooperate with other players in online experiences.