As impressive as the teams of developers that create games are, sometimes I am more blown away by the passion of the communities that build up around them, and what comes out of them. As more and more games are being made with software that is more available for general public use, like Unreal Engine, Blender, and Unity, this means that fans are able to try their hand at making custom creations to add into their favorite games, or even full-blown tools that help others do so.
From clever randomizers to giant adjustments to the base game, these are some of the best fan mods and creations released in 2025.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Integrated Randomizer
While the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night randomizer isn't anything new, what modder Mottzilla has managed to do is on another level: It's an integrated randomizer inside the game itself. This randomizer comes with various presets and options to let you customize your randomized experience of SotN, letting you swap around where abilities are, starting items, and more, without having the need to create and download a new seed every time you want to play. As an extra bonus, this mod will also work on original hardware, including PSX and PS2 systems, so long as you have a way to play backups. Enjoy Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in a new way, every time you play with this mod!
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Randomizer
While Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta may be the hot new Snake on the block, that doesn't mean that earlier versions of that classic game haven't gotten some love too this year. Metal Gear Solid 3 in the Master Collection Vol. 1 has received a randomizer mod courtesy of Great0ne. This randomizer shakes up your typical MGS3 playthrough by changing every pickup, including weapons, items, medic supplies, camo, and food, with some other options like random vomit or fake death being possible should you wish. This is a great way to really test those Big Boss skills of yours and whether or not you deserve the title.
Archipelago
Keeping on the randomizer train, one of the more popular ways to play these sorts of mods is via a unique interconnected method known as Archipelago. This multi-world mod/community has developed ways to tether and let people play multiple different games together, where you can pick up items from a completely different game that someone else in your group is playing, and vice versa. As an example, someone could be playing Pokemon Red and get rewarded with the Super Metroid Morph Ball for beating a gym, letting the person playing Super Metroid now have access to the upgrade. With new games being added all the time to the pool of options and larger groups teaming up to tackle games together, 2025 marked the best year yet for Archipelago.
Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite and Beyond
With a passionate team of almost 40 fans and organized by prominent fighting game YouTuber and streamer Maximilian Dood, this massive mod for Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite overhauls the visuals of the 2017 fighter, giving it a gorgeous comic book look, updates movesets, new outfits, new music, and even adds in a brand-new four-player game mode. This passion project is a must-have for any MVC fans.
Route MatriX Randomizer (Mega Man X)
Combining the first three Mega Man X games on the Super Nintendo into a single game, the Route MatriX Randomizer lets you jump between the three to search for armor pieces, weapons, upgrades, and access to new levels. Your goal is to defeat all three versions of Sigma, but first, you will need to discover the keys to his levels. For fans of these classic action platformers, the Route MatriX randomizer is an impressive new way to play.
Final Fantasy Legends + Adventure GB Colorizations
While each mod is its own, this slot is actually four mods in one. Created by theadamrippon, this gives the DX color treatment to the original three Final Fantasy Legend games and Final Fantasy Adventure, which were all released on the original Game Boy back in the early '90s. While labeled Final Fantasy Legend in the West, these were actually the original three SaGa entries, with Adventure being the original Mana game, both of which would go on and grow as their own beloved series over the decades, with new releases still coming out today. These beautiful mods present the original games in color, making them really pop.
Shade's Beast Mastery - Oblivion Remastered
Oblivion's companions are neat and all, but wouldn't it be cooler if you could hang out around Cyrodiil with a bear or one of those annoying mudcrabs? Mod creator Shadedness thinks so, and thus their "Beast Mastery - Tame Beast Pets - Permanent Summons" mod was born for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. With this installed, not only will you have some fuzzy friends tagging along on your adventures, but you will be able to command them to a limited extent, feeding them to gain better buffs with them, and even level them up. Now get out there and get yourself a mountain lion.
Fire Emblem Legacy
Designed around the "legacy" philosophy whose goal is to make the perfect version of a game, TheSmithPlays created this mod to help do just that for Fire Emblem 7: The Blazing Blade. It was the first Fire Emblem game to come to the West, where it was referred to simply as Fire Emblem. Fire Emblem Legacy tweaks stages, weapon effectiveness, characters, and a host of other aspects of the classic title, resulting in a product that feels like how we remember Fire Emblem being when American audiences first met Eliwood, Lynn, and Hector back in 2003.
Final Fantasy IV Job System
The tale of Cecil Harvey's redemption and struggle against Zeromus has made Final Fantasy IV one of the most beloved entries in Square's legendary franchise, but one thing it has always been missing is a job system. Thankfully, modder S34n4e has rectified this omission with the release of Final Fantasy 4 - Job System, a mod that adds 14 discoverable jobs that give you more flexibility with your party. Each job comes complete with a unique sprite, attributes, abilities, and more to make each one feel worthwhile, resulting in a wildly new-feeling FFIV.
Monster Hunter Wilds Overlay
The Monster Hunter series has always opted to hide numbers from players, such as boss health, stat build-up, and more. This year's Monster Hunter Wilds continues that approach, but this overlay mod pulls back the curtain and gives you all the stats and data you want to help you coordinate your hunts and strategies with your friends.
Dragon Ball Sparking Zero - Anime JP Themes and Inserts
The right track can elevate moments from being exciting to legendary, and this mod from BRYN4444 for Dragon Ball Sparking Zero adds in more than 200 tracks from the Japanese release of the anime and films. Now you can hurl beams and clash with your friends to your favorite tunes from the anime. A similar mod is also available that adds tracks from previous DBZ games if that is more your style.
Pokemon Lazarus
Pokemon Lazarus by Nemo622 is a complete overhaul mod of Pokemon Emerald that features a brand-new region based on Greece--the Illos Region--among many other new goodies to discover, such as a hard mode, a day/night system, and minigames. For trainers looking for more Pokemon goodness after finishing ZA, Pokemon Lazarus is a masterclass in Pokemon fan mods.
Silksong Multiplayer Mod
The long-awaited Hollow Knight expansion-turned-sequel, Silksong, finally released this year and has delighted (and infuriated) fans with its tight platforming and tough challenges. In this mod created by XvX, two players can play through the game together, with a cool new revive mechanic that lets you heal your teammate if they go down. Sometimes it's nice to suffer together with a friend.
Elden Ring Nightreign - Seamless Co-op
From Software's souls-likes are great fun when playing with friends, and this year's Elden Ring Nightreign highlights this fact better than any other. Created by a user named Yui, the Seamless Co-op mod allows up to six players to play together (up from the official max of two or three) and see each other in the Roundtable Hold. It can also adjust enemy scaling to make runs easier or more challenging.
Star Wars Genesis - Starfield
Back when Starfield came out in 2023, in our review, we found that despite its satisfying gunplay and some captivating quest lines, it struggled to deliver a memorable RPG that lives up to the studio's pedigree. Leave it to the passion of the Bethesda modding community, though, to put together mind-blowing, awesome mods--enter Star Wars Genesis. This total conversion modlist, which recently got its eleventh update of the year and which we featured on our list of the best Starfield mods, continues to mold Starfield into what could end up being the best Star Wars RPG out there. With custom storylines, bosses, dungeons, armor, weapons, and more, Star Wars Genesis just continues getting better.
Super Metroid: X-Fusion
Super Metroid: X-Fusion from Metaquarium and team feels like an artifact pulled straight out of another reality, one where Metroid Fusion was released on the SNES and was far more difficult. This impressive mod is a total overhaul of Super Metroid, combining aspects of both it and its portable sequel into an all-new retelling of the Fusion story. With cutscenes, new bosses, new areas, and redone Fusion bosses, just to name a few of its features, X-Fusion is an ideal option for Metroid aficionados looking for a challenge.
Europa Versalis IV: Anbennar - The Final Empire
Released back in July, The Final Empire update for Anbennar--a fantasy total-conversion mod for Europa Versalis IV--brought with it a host of new features and goodies. Special to The Final Empire itself are new mission trees, religions, and a custom UI to add even more personality to this project. If the idea of adding elements of the epic fantasy genre into Europa Versalis--including schools of magic, a world rich in its own lore, and races including orcs, elves, and dwarves--then Anbennar is the mod for you.
FFT: Ivalice Chronicle - Dark Knights and Onion Knight
The updated release of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles marks the first time in quite a while that players can easily play this tactical RPG masterpiece, and its debut on PC. Being based on the original PSX release, some things were lost that had been introduced in the PSP remake, including the Dark and Onion Knight jobs. Luckily, those jobs are missing no more thanks to TriggerHappy's mod, bringing them back in, complete with their PSP sprites. This mod also adds a page system to the Job menu, which will hopefully allow for new jobs to get added in down the road. Either way, you will now be able to once again add these powerful professions to your roster of heroes.
Phantasy Star Generation: 1 Fan Translation
Many RPGs used to never be localized for Western markets, one of which was the PS2 remake of Sega's original Phantasy Star. This mod is a full retranslation of the original 2012 translation patch that fixes various errors and updates some terms to be more in line with modern terminology for the series. There is no better time than 2025 for English speakers to venture with Alice and crew into space and unravel the mysteries of Phantasy Star.
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - Unlimited Saving 2
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 from Warhorse Studios is perhaps one of the most immersive and complex RPGs that was released in 2025, but one divisive mechanic was its save system, which Unlimited Saving 2 addresses. Normally, in order to save, players need to craft Savior Schnapps items that would be consumed upon saving. This godsend of a mod by EddieShoe removes the need to spend these items to save, making KCD2 far more welcoming to try out different approaches and gameplay styles without the risk of burning through resources. And, to sweeten the deal even more, using this mod doesn't lock you out from earning achievements, so save to your medieval heart's content!
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