For me it is Clair Obscur Expedition 33, hands down.

Super Mario Bros 2, GOTY every year baybeeeee

But probably Death Stranding 2

Hide and seek

Hades 2 is my choice

Deltarune chapter 3+4, for sure

If we aren't allowing "new chapters" as a goty then it'll be either silksong or clair obscur. There hasn't been a lot of amazing stuff released this year, but those 3 titles are definitely standouts

The from this year that I played is silksong but I didn't like it that much.

It doesn't match my skill level, all the resources were too scarce, there aren't enough tools to customize playstyle (either you find them, or you don't) so there aren't really any choices and I didn't like the story.

Blue Prince

And I still haven't beat it. I don't think I'm close.

So when I say I rule out Soulslikes, it's not because they're hard. Silksong is a beautiful game with tight controls. And I'm sure Clair Obscur had something going for it, but I didn't get to play it enough until it turned into Guitar Hero with a blindfold, being asked to play Through the Fire and Flames on Expert, to survive my first real fight on the expedition, or die. I just don't think those games are very fun. To be fair, I didn't like Guitar Hero either. I never liked QTEs — they were fine in Mass Effect when it was inconsequential puzzles to unlock extra loot, but when you hide the prompts and you need to beat them to progress? I just think it's shitty game design.

Every time I "lose" at Blue Prince, I think, that was fun. Maybe I learned something. Maybe not. The gameplay loop is fun. It could be called a Soulslike in the vaguest sense, except there isn't any fighting, and it's never really down to expert timing, either. But you're crashing yourself against this immovable object until you figure out how to advance, and you take that skill and you apply it to the next run. At least as far as puzzles go, it is very similar.

But losing at those other games? It's frustrating because I see what I have to do, and I try to do it, and it doesn't work. A game failing you because you don't understand what to do is fine. But once you figure it out and you're trying to do it, it shouldn't fail you for doing what it wants. Of course, real life is like that at times, but we play games to get away from that frustration. So when a game comes along that can smack you down for not doing something right, and it makes you anticipate the next run with that kind of eagerness... I think that is something that should be recognised.

Tossup between Deltarune and Kirby Air Riders. Deltarune is obvious enough.

It's only day 2 for Air Riders, but after waiting 22 years for this sequel I'm really impressed by how they've taken everything I loved about the original and built on it in ways I never knew I wanted. City Trial was already so good in the original, but they've raised the bar so much higher. And of course, y'know, finally being able to play it online, a childhood dream fulfilled.

Arc Raiders baby

I haven't actually played anything released in 2025.

by playtime it's probably Peak.

This is going to sound like a shitpost, but Strange Jigsaws. It offered a stimulating series of activities at a great price, and I was delighted the whole way through.

I really enjoyed Clair Obscur's and Silent Hill f's stories, but I feel both games suffer greatly from their moment-to-moment gameplay being repetitive to the point of boring. (Especially considering you have to play Silent Hill f five times before you've actually gotten the entire story.) Boss battles for both were fantastic, so I think trimming small encounters down would have improved the overall experience.

I looked up a list to see if I'm forgetting anyone, and I have to mention that I hated Blue Prince. I like what they were trying to do, and I'm glad they tried it, but the final product was not very enjoyable. As a roguelike it's boring, and as a puzzle game the random elements are a frustration. A game like Loop Hero does a better job of combining random elements with puzzling in the form of strategy.

There are quite a lot of games I haven't played yet though.

Animal Well

The only new game I played this year is Sixty-Four, and while it's fun, I gotta think something better came out.

I'm waiting for Unbeatable to come out, might be the one for me

The Outer Worlds 2.

So far, it's all the stuff I liked about New Vegas and all the stuff I liked about Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines in one neat little package with boost jump.