Hollow Knight: Silksong Is The Final Piece of a Powerful 2025 Trifecta

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This year, 2025, has been exceptional for video game enthusiasts, with numerous highly anticipated sequels and follow-ups gracing our screens. Games like “Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2“, “Monster Hunter Wilds“, and “Donkey Kong Bananza” were released in the first half of the year, followed by “Death Stranding 2 ” and “Deltarune Chapter 3+4“. Now, in September, we have “Hollow Knight: Silksong“, adding to the list of exceptional releases.

After seven years of being worked on, the long-awaited game “Hollow Knight: Silksong” has finally been released for everyone to enjoy. For many fans, this release is like a wish coming true, especially since the sequel enhances its predecessor’s outstanding formula in several notable ways. In terms of its own merits, “Hollow Knight: Silksong” is nothing short of triumphant, and it also signifies the completion of a powerful trilogy set for 2025.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Is The Third Piece of a 2025 Action-Platformer Trifecta

Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound Kicked Off A Summer of Great Action-Platformers

In summer of 2025, the standout action-platformer was “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound,” which marked the middle chapter in what they called the “Year of the Ninja” series. This game, developed by the creators of the acclaimed “Blasphemous” duology, quickly gained significant praise from critics upon its release.

The video game titled “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound” is currently appreciated by critics, boasting an 86 Top Critic Average on OpenCritic. Out of these reviewers, a substantial 93% highly recommend this game. Critics and fans alike have been praising its fast-paced yet thoughtful combat system, the game’s striking pixel art style, and its tough but balanced challenge level. Essentially, they believe “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound” marks a triumphant return for the long-standing franchise in the realm of 2D gaming.

Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Followed a Month Later

Art of Vengeance” rose to the challenge set by “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound”, which had established a lofty standard for both 2D action games and ninja-themed titles. Released only a month following “Ragebound”, “Shinobi: Art of Vengeance” is another high-profile platformer in the action genre, and it continues the revival of an iconic gaming franchise.

In spite of debuting only a month after the strikingly similar game “Ragebound”, “Shinobi: Art of Vengeance” established its unique identity through the employment of a striking hand-drawn aesthetic and incorporating light Metroidvania elements. Remarkably, “Shinobi: Art of Vengeance” boasts a higher rating on OpenCritic than “Ragebound”, holding an 87 Top Critic Average, with 95% of reviewers endorsing it.

Hollow Knight: Silksong Is Here To Complete The Trifecta

Anticipated by fans for nearly a decade, the highly anticipated sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, has surpassed expectations with an even bigger impact than predicted upon its release. A frenzied two-week wait between the announcement of the release date and launch date culminated in fans worldwide rushing to their preferred digital storefronts on September 4 to snatch up Hollow Knight: Silksong as soon as it became available.

The event triggered a temporary crash for approximately 30 minutes across Steam, Nintendo eShop, and Xbox marketplace, showcasing the immense scale of the release of ‘Hollow Knight: Silksong’. Since reviewers didn’t receive early codes and ‘Silksong’ was recently launched, it doesn’t have any OpenCritic scores as of now. However, based on online reactions, it appears that both critics and fans are overall quite pleased with the highly anticipated sequel.

This year is a fantastic one for portable action-platformer games, as titles like “Hollow Knight: Silksong,” “Shinobi: Art of Vengeance,” and “Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound” have all been confirmed to be playable on Steam Deck and are already available on the Nintendo Switch.

2025 has seen an exceptionally powerful year for action-platformer games, and these three leading contenders truly reflect this strength. What’s more, it’s quite remarkable that each of these highly-rated 2025 releases costs less than $30, making it possible for gamers to acquire all three at nearly the same price as a new AAA title.

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2025-09-08 22:09