3 Best Game Releases In The Past Week From 23rd May 2025 to 1st June 2025

It’s that time again, peeps! Friday has rolled around, and we got the snacks, we got the beverages, so let’s see what the week has to offer us in terms of games to get our teeth stuck into!

It’s been a good week for game releases with the likes of Disney’s Illusion Island for those getting to visit Disneyland this summer, Elden Ring: Nightreign, and Zombie Cure Lab for those discerning survivalists looking to polish off their zombie-bashing skills as the summer rolls in. There have been a lot of Indie releases sprinkled in amongst the big names, and as per the norm, we here at Total Apex intend to give you a run-down of the best of the best so you can spend your hard-earned salary money on something worthwhile. So, without further ado, let’s get stuck in with the three best game releases that have dropped this week.

#1: Elden Ring: Nightreign

This game is probably the biggest drop of last week’s game releases, and the reviews are mixed. While seasoned Elden Ring players have praised the game’s innovative boss fights, the interesting upgrades to the class system and the unique but tight introduction of a gradually shrinking world over a period of three days giving the game a sense of urgency, others have criticised it’s steep learning curves, the unbalanced single player mode and the fact that the wall that encircles the world to make it smaller will cut you off mid dungeon exploration without warning.

The game is visually stunning, as you can expect from an Elden Ring instalment, and, as long as you have that well-established party of three, the gameplay is a lot of fun. The bosses not only offer compelling combat situations, but are also some of the most uniquely designed that the game has offered, all intriguing to look at and hinting at the world’s wider lore.

Speaking of lore, the game itself is a little lighter in the narrative batting department than the usual Elden Ring drops, but that does give the player the opportunity to fill in some blanks and the concept of that world shrinking entirely within three days, leading to a final confrontation with one of eight big bad foes is pretty interesting.

Overall, combat is varied and fluid, but it is worth mentioning that the fights are very much designed for that three-man team, and you do have to know what you’re doing. Not exactly the best instalment to encourage new players to the franchise for the GOATs, this game is probably going to be up there in the legends. Elden Ring: Nightreign released on 30th May 2025 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X/S and One, and PC.

#2: Kabuto Park

Okay, sometimes, you don’t have forty-plus dollars to spend on a brand new game at the end of the week, but that doesn’t stop you from having a ravenous appetite for new game releases. Plus, you want something cute and summery, something to take you away from the slog of the past week and really open you up to the joys of the coming season. Enter Kabuto Park. The game was released on 28th May 2025 for Mac, Linux, and PC for a very humble five dollars and is simply a game about a little girl who wants to collect bugs to use them in a little fighting tournament over summer.

The game has a uniquely cute aesthetic for the human characters as well as the bugs, the mini games to catch the bugs are simple but instantly gratifying in that way we like to see sometimes, and watching your bugs slowly push the opponent’s bugs off of the other side of the tournament table satisfies a bug-based bloodlust none of us knew that we had inside us. It is nice to learn about each bug that you catch, and the game is something that you can play with your kids without them being scarred for life.

A really great pick-up for the price and perfect if you did want something that wasn’t going to completely eclipse your day-to-day life; however, if you did want something a little more substantial, then Kabuto Park is probably a little lacking. Probably also not for you if you still find the little cartoon bugs creepy.

#3: Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

On the whole, like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, Rune Factory games are part of the winner, winner chicken dinner club when it comes to farming simulators, and this is no exception, really. The game brings all the usual obsessive compulsive delights, the farming, the organisation of your own village and the subsequent rewards that you get from expanding your little corner of paradise, but it does also take the combat to the next level and provide a story mode that is a little bit more next level than previous Rune Factory instalments.

One of the coolest new features is the ability to restore dead trees and then harvest things from them using a relic picked up in-game. It is endlessly satisfying to watch these dead plants spring back into sakura-blossom riddled life and then see that little seed packet icon appear when you give the tree a little thank you love tap before going on your merry way. The land planning for your village is adaptable for various playstyles with an overhead view that gives you better spatial access, and once a day, you can use a drum to make a particular crop grow faster. Always good when you’re waiting for that beetroot for your afternoon salad.

Combat in this game is pretty solid, seeing as they’ve finally fixed the issue where you have to open the inventory to switch between weapons. Primary and secondary weapons, the melee and long-ranged weapons respectively, feel very nice to use, and combat is fast-paced, so it doesn’t detract from whatever management Hell your brain is turning over with regards to who in the village you left in charge of picking the turnips. Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma was released on 30th May 2025 for Nintendo Switch and PC.

Heading Into June

With the first true month of summer on our doorstep, it’s nice to see that we have some strong contending game releases to keep us inside and away from those pesky UV rays. Though these are our top three this week, honorable mentions should be given to Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo, To a T, and Jump the Track, which are also fantastic games to get that summer vibe in full flow.

But what do you think have been the best game releases of this past week? Do any of the above qualify for you, or do you think we’re missing out on something special?