A Surprisingly Stacked Year
I don’t think I’m going out on a limb here by saying that 2025 has been a pretty good year for games. (dragons growling) The GTA VI delay, it stings, not going to pretend it doesn’t, but even without it, this has been a stacked year with a ton of interesting and different, diverse games. To some extent, I’m almost happier GTA is a 2026 game, gives all this other great stuff room to breathe, as well as some room to battle it out in what’s probably the most stacked and crowded Game of the Year contests in recent memory.
What makes this year’s Game of the Year discussion so interesting is that there’s no big, obvious frontrunner. There’s no GTA V or Elden Ring to take the air out of the room. Obviously, everyone’s going to have their own personal favorites, but even among us here in the Game Ranks crew, there’s varying opinions on what could and should win, but even more so just an evaluation of what probably will win. Often there’s a game where we’re all like, “Well, that’s going to win, even if we want it to or not.” We’re not at that point.
And yeah, I get it. It seems like it might be a little early to start this discussion, but keep in mind, ballots for Game of the Year at the Game Awards go out early November, and the actual show airs between December 6th and 12th, depending on the year. In 2025, the show’s airing December 11th. And because the ballots go out so early, games that come out November, December, just aren’t eligible to win.
The Game Awards and What They Mean
Now, obviously, the Game Awards aren’t the definitive Game of the Year. I mean, for the most part, it’s considered the big one, but every website does their own awards, and everybody has their own personal top picks. A lot of the time, you read a certain site or watch a certain person because you agree with them, and then what they put as Game of the Award matters more than the Game Awards to you, but collectively speaking, like the Oscars or the Emmys, the Game Awards are a lightning rod of discussion. It’s the biggest award show in gaming and no matter how much you or I might disagree with them, they’re the big boys.
Let’s Talk Contenders
So hi folks, it’s Zaid and today on Aura Riot, we’re gonna run down the frankly ridiculous slate of games in the running for Game of the Year 2025. We’re not doing it as a list necessarily here, I think this one’s better suited for a more discussion format because some games are going to want to talk more about, some games we’re going to want to talk less about. And before we get going, I just gotta say, if you like what we do we would really appreciate if you’d subscribe to it. But without any further ado, let’s talk about how Game of the Year 2025 is gonna be ridiculous.
So it’s obviously fun to speculate and talk about Game of the Year, who’s going to win, what lived up to the hype, what didn’t, what deserves recognition, what isn’t gonna get it. But of course, if you like a game and you play the game and you enjoy the game, that’s what really matters. This is just fun to speculate about, especially if you’re terminally industry-brained like we all are here.
So before we get into what games we do think will make up the primary nominees for the Game Awards, so let’s just run down how much of an insane year it’s been. So what’s so interesting about 2025, it’s a pretty solid mix of more standard, expected, highly anticipated, hyped, or even overhyped big games, and those sort of out-of-nowhere surprise slam dunks.
Early Standouts and Surprises
There’s been plenty of it, starting with “Kingdom Come: Deliverance II” in February. This game kind of caught us all by surprise, because while the first game is kind of a flawed gem, the sequel is absolutely excellent. It’s got an engaging story, unique, challenging gameplay, a beautiful world to explore, and it was impressively stable compared to how much of a buggy mess the original was. Kingdom Come was an immediate game of the year contender. It really is a huge step up from the first game, and it deserves all the accolades it got.
Later the same month, though, we got another game that everybody pre-released was kind of like, oh, this is probably gonna be a game of the year candidate, but it didn’t really fully live up to the hype. That is, of course, “Monster Hunter Wilds.” Now, we can all have our different opinions on Monster Hunter Wilds, I actually think it’s a logical step. It’s quite a good game. It’s basically what I want. A lot of people thought it’s not as good as Monster Hunter World, but there’s reasons why a more streamlined experience works better for certain people, and there’s reasons why it doesn’t. In no judgment, whichever side of the line you are on that, I think we all know it’s not really in the running, though. There’s also some pretty bad performance issues with it that I’m just gonna say are a serious mark against that game.
The Difficulty Debate
But one of the prevailing conversations this year has been difficulty. Like, the majority of the biggest, most talked about games this year are uniquely demanding challenges. Kingdom Come goes a more simulation route with its difficulty, puts a lot of pressure on new players in a way a lot of open-world RPGs like that don’t. As the player gains skills and learns how the game works, it becomes less difficult, but it takes perseverance to get to that point.
On the flip side, a lot of the complaints about Monster Hunter Wilds is that they made it too easy. People say it removed a lot of the challenge that makes those games so interesting, and that left people disappointed. I’m not sure that’s really what it is, but I get why people are saying that too.
Co-op Excellence and Safe Bets
But “Split Fiction,” that’s a game that doesn’t really fit the difficulty discussion. Came out March 6th, it’s one of those games we all expected to be good, and it was. As a follow-up to “It Takes Two,” it’s an absolute triumph of co-op game design. It’s creative, it’s a whole lot of fun, while being mechanically a little more complex. Sure, the story is fluff, but It Takes Two story is odd, to say the least at some times. And I’m just gonna say this one has a more entertaining story. It seems like almost a prerequisite nomination. I feel like it would basically any other year. And at least early on, I think we all assumed 2025 wasn’t gonna be as stacked as it is. So maybe at the time, seemed like an easy lock for those five slots, but now in September, it’s not an easy pick. Of course, it’s still a great co-op game, and some of those early safety votes are, I mean, that makes… I think Split Fiction’s probably in the running. There’s a lot to talk about, so I’m gonna say I don’t know that this is a guaranteed inclusion. I think it’s fairly safe, but not a lack.
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows” came out March 20th, and it was generally considered a step up for the series. I don’t think these win game of the year anymore. and they’re gonna have to completely reboot the whole thing or make a new one from the ground up, and I don’t think they’re gonna do that.
Puzzle Brutality and Indie Innovation
Getting back on track, I think the next major pick for many, especially at time of release, was “Blueprints,” which came out April 10th. It’s a roguelike puzzle game. It’s difficult to define, hard to pin down. I do think what drove so much of its appeal, especially early on, though, is just that, it’s weird, and it’s a brutally challenging puzzle game that is literally full of surprises. There’s genuinely mind-blowing stuff in this game, but it’s all wrapped up in a semi-random roguelike structure. At first, it feels like the randomness is bullshit, and then you get far enough in, you start understanding that you can control the randomness, and it’s satisfying as hell, and then you get further in, and the randomness starts to feel like bullshit again. It impresses early, and it’s extremely difficult to solve on your own, but in this case, the difficulty of the game is a double-edged sword. Some people love it, some don’t. I think opinions are a little more divisive now than back when it immediately came out, but ultimately, I think it’s another major contender for Game of the Year, even with other more popular games over Shadowgun.
Like “Claire Obscur: Expedition 33,” a game that absolutely dominated the discussion and is in many ways still one of the frontrunners for Game of the Year 2025. I think people were seriously following the game before release. They knew it was going to be something special, but for a lot of us, it really blindsided us. You see this thing without knowing much about it. you assume it’s gonna be maybe a flawed cult classic or a middling JRPG wannabe. Instant Classic was definitely not on my bingo card. I talked about it repeatedly before it came out in upcoming game lists, and I mean, it looked cool to me, but I wasn’t expecting it to, you know, blow my mind or anything. It did, though. Like coming from such a small team being sold for a lower price point, the level of quality is just through the roof. It’s an excellent RPG, a beautiful story, excellent voice acting, incredible music, and an innovative battle system that remains a nostalgic throwback. It is that and a bold step forward at the same time and that’s what makes the game work so well. While certain games have kind of inevitably faded from memory somewhat, the game is still heavily in the conversation. It’s a constant source of debate and discussion. It’s got challenging gameplay, it’s complex, has a somewhat divisive story, and a weird relationship with the RPG genre, given it’s from France and it’s a Japanese RPG. One of those games that’s deliberately old school, but also very modern in a way that speaks to people.
Kojima Returns and Nintendo Gets Weird
It wasn’t until June 26 that we did get another game with the same caliber with “Death Stranding 2,” major games released between, like “Doom: The Dark Ages,” “Mario Kart World,” and the Game of the Year in our hearts, the masterpiece that was “MindsEye.” But none of those games fit the Game of the Year mold that everybody’s expecting, Death Stranding 2 does. It’s a massive game with tons of story full of Hollywood celebrities and cutting-edge technology made by Geoff Keighley’s best friend, Hideo Kojima, and there’s a doll that’s a man, and his name is Dollman, Dollman. It’s the type of thing that the Game Awards was made for. It’s got everything an award show would want, and while it’s in many ways a highlight reel of Kojima’s career, it’s still a fantastic game that irons out some of the flaws of the original, which maybe for some people makes it less of a unique experience compared to the first, but it’s so much fun. It’s weird and dark and goofy and slow and meditative sometimes, and a full-on action-packed thrill ride, others. It’s got everything. If you’re on board with Kojima weirdness, which he leans into this time around, both in seriously dark content and fourth wall breaking absurdity. I mean, it might be the best all-around game from Kojima, not necessarily the best of his games, but the best all-around of his games.
But a game I think maybe, I don’t think a lot of people were expecting us to talk about was “Donkey Kong Bonanza,” which came out in mid-July, looked too many, okay, pre-release. Nothing to get too hyped over. Wanna say, look back at me talking about it. I was like, this is gonna be good. This is gonna be good shit. And it was. Nintendo was really cooking with “Mario Odyssey” and “Red Faction: Guerrilla” as the ingredients. It was the crossover nobody knew they wanted. It’s one of the weirdest, most ambitious Nintendo games yet, and it’s an absolutely just a delight from top to bottom. It’s a game that’s so unusual that it’s actually a little off-putting at first. Like, what the hell is this? What am I playing? The more you play it, though, the more it makes sense, and it’s hard to believe they were able to make a platform where you can basically destroy everything, and the game just works. The ambition is off the charts, and it works. Like, it is a fun ride from start to finish, and that entire ending sequence is completely insane. In a year full of some amazingly hype endings, Bonanza might have the hypest.
Silksong Finally Arrives
But jumping ahead to September 4th, that’s the Megaton Bomb. It is known as “Hollow Knight: Silksong.” It was a meme because it took so long to come out. Most wish-listed game on Steam for many years. It was inevitable that this thing was at least going to be in Game of the Year discussion for whatever year it actually came out on, as long as it, you know, was good. And while Monster Hunter Wilds got decried for being too easy, Silksong has actually had some controversy for being too hard. I think the difficulty of this one caught people by surprise. When it comes to difficult games, you never really know where the pendulum’s gonna swing in terms of overall opinion, but yeah, some extremely challenging games got universal praise like “Elden Ring,” and sometimes difficulty generates a lot of criticism, like Shadow the Erdtree. Opinions about Silksong are pretty hot right now. There’s a lot of back and forth in regards to difficulty, at least within its fan community. I think the gaming press opinions are a lot more generally positive. Back when we gave our first impressions, we weren’t completely sure which way to lean on it, but haven’t been able to fully finish it. I mean, I was crazy positive about the game, even though I was kind of not sure whether to say it was what it needed to be or not. It’s such an excellently designed game. So dense and satisfying. There’s so many little details and secrets and surprises. It’s a game that’s just, it’s so much fun to explore. And there’s sometimes it makes you want to pull your hair out, yes, but it ultimately does play fair. It’s very challenging, but again, I never feel like the game made me die. I feel like I died playing the game not good enough. The challenge is crazy, but it is super satisfying to finally finish off some boss you were initially struggling with. Like, just what you’re getting here is nuts. For just $20, you get 50 hours of content, and that’s not 100%. I mean, it’s not accessible in the way that the original Hollow Knight is, but man, does it deserve a spot among the Game of the Year contenders.
Shoutouts and Upcoming Releases
Another game that deserves a spot is actually last year’s “Indiana Jones: The Great Circle.” It wasn’t eligible last year because it was released in December. I don’t think it’s going to get the attention it deserves because it came out last year and people aren’t going to be thinking about it. Man, is it an excellent game, and it’s probably MachineGame’s best. It’s the best Indiana Jones adventure since the “Last Crusade” by a freaking country mile. The gameplay is like closer to “Dishonored” than an “Uncharted” game. It’s a super satisfying blockbuster of a game that I just wanted to give a shout out here because I don’t think it’s going to get the attention that it deserves.
Other than that, what’s left? And there’s a few upcoming games of potential like “Hades 2” is releasing out of early access, September 25th. “Ghost of Yotei” is coming October 2nd. It’s been a while since we’ve gotten a proper AAA PlayStation Game of the Year. And the first ghost, “Ghost of Tsushima,” still holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts. Right now, it’s kind of hard to say how much attention the follow-up’s gonna get because what is it going to bring to the table that the original didn’t? We’ll see. Is it more of the game? Is that what people want? Is that enough? These are all questions we won’t be able to answer until we’ve actually played the game.
There’s more big games coming out with a few. I mean, “Silent Hill f” is gonna be a big one. “Battlefield 6,” “Black Ops 7,” “Ninja Gaiden 4,” “Vampire: The Masquerade-Bloodlines 2,” “Outer Worlds 2,” “Metroid Prime 4,” but there’s gonna be a few of these that aren’t even eligible. Call of Duty games also just don’t win game of the year. Battlefield games probably foolhardy to expect that as well. Not an indictment of their quality, it’s just they don’t generate the kind of buzz with the voting audience that a game like Silent Hill f, if done right, could. Kind of a wild card could go either way. We’ve been surprised so many times this year, so who knows?
The Likely Nominees
So here, these are the games that I think are likely to be in the running for Game of the Year 2025. Claire Obscur: Expedition 33, Death Stranding 2, Donkey Kong Bonanza, Hollow Knight: Silksong, King to Come Deliverance 2, Split Fiction, Blueprints, and maybe based on what happens when it comes out, what the game is when it comes out, reputation certainly precedes it, but it could be, you know, out of the running based on just being an uninspired follow-up, Ghost of Yotei. Hades 2 is a really good game, and the first one got a lot of buzz and awards, but this is not getting the attention the first one did. Might be wrong, could sweep the awards like the first game did, but at least right now, I’m just not seeing the hype. That’s seven pretty legitimate contenders for the big award, even though we’re leaving out some pretty popular and well-regarded games. I mean, “Mario Kart World” is very high-rated, and “Elden Ring” came out this year, though, and it’s not even in the conversation. It’s been a packed year without question, and that’s not even counting some of the big possible Dark Horse candidates could sweep in out of nowhere.
Dark Horses and Indie Surprises
And to be clear, the games I’m gonna call Dark Horses, I don’t expect any of them to be in the running. Maybe they should be in the running, but I don’t expect it. Like, “Schedule 1,” it’s a standout indie game, but it’s just a little too early access. “Deltarune Chapter 3 and 4” could get some attention. And then there’s the darkest of dark horses, a little indie game called “Look Outside” that has burrowed into my brain, just won’t go away. It’s a relatively crude RPG maker game that somehow manages to be one of the most haunting, legitimately scary, yet also hilarious games I’ve ever played. There’s nothing out there quite like “Look Outside.” The more I think about it, the more I do feel it deserves a serious consideration, at least for nomination for Game of the Year. It’s pretty far from typical game of the year material, but look at the list. It’s eclectic as hell. The gamut runs from most star-studded AAA to some pretty small indies. Blueprints was made by one guy, a solo developer. Silksong was made by three guys. I mean, that’s triple the amount of guys, but very few guys. These kinds of indie games, they would have no chance in hell a few years ago, but like war, things have changed. Indies are, I mean, the idea of an indie game is becoming mainstream. It’s just, you don’t release a game independently and just expect it to be mainstream, but it’s possible now.
Who Will Win?
Probably the most talked about and highly anticipated game of the year is Silksong. So who’s gonna win though? Now that, I have no idea. Last year, the winner was “Astro Bot” and that took some people by surprise. 2024 was kind of in a similar place where there was no clear winner, but I don’t think the quality of the competition was quite the same. Everything’s, like, really good this year. Like, there’s definitely some of the games we’ve mentioned today that are gonna be considered all-time greats. We will remember at least some of these games decades from now.
As good as this year’s roster is, I kind of think Clair Obscur might be the frontrunner. It’s kind of just catnip for the type of person that votes in these things. It’s got the attention, it’s got the hype. It’s also an out-of-nowhere small developer doing something crazy that’s considered big, but that doesn’t mean the outcome’s certain. Sometimes the safest pick is the most controversial pick. I suspect that played a bit of a part in why Astro Bot won. Not to knock that game, but some people were kind of mad because it was just a safe choice. It’s a great game though.
If 2025 has an equivalent, it’s maybe Death Stranding 2 or Split Fiction. Possibly, again, depending on how it is when it comes out, Ghost of Yotei.
Final Thoughts
The big breakaway here is that if you’re into a wide variety of games, this has been a really good year with a lot of interesting stuff to play. And even if you’re only interested in the absolute best of the best that gets awards attention, there’s still a lot to be happy about.
Of course, not every single game on here is going to be everyone’s cup of tea. And sure, the Game Awards is literally just a popularity contest for industry folks. It’s ultimately, you know, what we’re talking about here, because there’s plenty of great games, and I’m not gonna knock a great game. A lot of these games are somebody’s favorite game. These kinds of awards favor a certain kind of game, though, usually single player, generally story-driven, often mechanically demanding or innovative, while still maintaining a level of traditional standards of quality.
So the truth is that whatever wins you’re losing it, it doesn’t really matter. What really matters is your own personal game of the year, your own favorites, your own not-so-favorites. Though it is nice to see something get recognized on a wider stage. I mean, we have to also acknowledge that game of the year sometimes feels a little bit meaningless. I mean, every video game under the sun gets a game of the year edition, no matter how good or bad it actually is. Everybody knows this stuff doesn’t matter, but we can’t help but obsess about it either way.
For this reason, it’s fun to talk about, right? I think so. And I think on that note, we have a comment section that you’re more than welcome to talk about it with us and with others. So leave us a comment. Let us know what you think. And as always, thank you very much for reading this blog. We’ll see you next time, right here on Aura Riot.
