Editor note: some of the games mentioned are rated Teen or Mature. Please use discretion if you choose to play or view them.
This year’s Game of the Year (GOTY) award is particularly special – notably because of how strong all of its contenders are. The utter quality on some of the games that have been released this year is unfathomable – and these games will certainly hold a lasting impact on the gaming industry for years to come. This ranking is very subjective, so don’t take anything too seriously – these are just some top picks that will likely fit the judge’s criteria!
5. Donkey Kong Bananza
A huge hit from Nintendo. With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo released Donkey Kong Bananza – A 3D, semi-open-world platformer in the Donkey Kong franchise that hits all the Nintendo checkboxes – Smooth animation, bright colors, and fast-paced gameplay. Unlike a game in the Mario franchise, Donkey Kong Bananza manages to have all of the great charm of a 3D Nintendo platformer, without Mario being the star of the show – Which, since Mario is such an icon already, it wouldn’t make much sense for a game in said franchise to win over the judge. However, with the recent release of Donkey Kong Bananza’s DLC, Emerald Rush, the game’s reputation has plummeted – Emerald Rush is clearly cut content from the original game that Nintendo sneakily decided to sell separately for an extra pretty penny. With how much backlash that decision gave Nintendo, it’s unlikely that Donkey Kong Bananza will win GOTY.
4. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Hideo Kojima somehow manages to almost never miss when he produces a game. Death Stranding 2 is a science fiction action adventure game that hits all the marks for recieving Game of the Year – It has incredible graphics, a great story, and an enormous scale. If your dad plays video games, he’s probably entirely excited to play Death Stranding 2. It will likely find itself with remarkably high ratings, and it’s a sure contender for Game of the Year, guaranteed. But, with it being a sequel, judges may take the game for granted and lose interest quickly. It largely depends on how the game turns out in the end – which only time will tell!
3. Hades 2
Hades 2 is the highest rated game of the year so far, with astonishing reviews from Metacritic and Opencritic when it exited early access. With its predecessor, Hades, barely losing to The Last of Us: Part 2 in 2020, the judges may be interested in righting their perceived wrongs with the sequel. Unfortunately for Hades 2 though, it is an action-roguelike: a genre GOTY judges aren’t the most keen on. Additionally, being a sequel, its excellence may be taken for granted, and it may be put next to the other contenders with a gold star sticker that says “Good job,” with the award being handed to a different game.
2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Expidition 33 is the picture-perfect game that GOTY judges look for. It is a storytelling RPG with pristine graphics and an incredibly moving plot. Many critics are certain that Expidition 33 will win Game of the Year for how high-quality it is. But unfortunately, Expedition 33 lacks one characteristic that other games here have – momentum. Enough people, particularly critics have to play Expidition 33 for it to be considered for Game of the Year – and with it not making nearly as big of a splash as other games on this list, it’s possible that it won’t quite make it to the throne of the best game of 2025. Regardless, it’s a close contender.
1. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Fans have waited a whopping 8 years for Silksong to come out. And when it did, they were surprised the game only took as long as it did. Silksong is a metroidvania platformer with incredible quality, and is pristinely polished. It is a masterpiece, only rivaled by a few other video games throughout history. Unlike Expidition 33, Silksong made such a big splash upon release that every single digital game store was overrun with internet traffic to the breaking point for at least three hours. Even the highly anticipated chapters three and four of the Deltarune series only crashed digital game store platforms for a few minutes – Silksong shattered them, notably Steam, which had even allocated the servers of the online games that they own such as Team Fortress 2 to help revive the game store. Hollow Knight was a masterpiece in itself – but Silksong one-upped it three times over. But there’s one thing that might hold it back from winning Game of the Year, giving other games a chance – Its difficulty. Silksong is a very hard game, and with how much larger of an audience it reached than expected, many critics became immensely frustrated by the difficulty, unknowing of what they were getting themselves into. This simple factor may hinder it greatly – but with how much pressure is resting on the judges, it’s clear that if the Game of the Year award was determined by sheer democracy in numbers, Hollow Knight: Silksong would take the cake.
Thank you for reading. Again, remember that these picks are entirely subjective – these are just predictions based on current trends and engagement. It’s possible that the next Red Dead Redemption 2 or Outer Wilds shadow-drops tomorrow – only time will tell what works of art game developers will make over the course of the remainder of the year!
ELLIOT DOUGLAS
- ELLIOT DOUGLAS
