Games of the Year 2025

5. For Fans of the Genre - Ender Magnolia and Another Crab’s Treasure
I usually intend for my GOTY lists to go in no order, but this year, it does have an order of sorts. Not necessarily of quality, because all 10 games this year feel like must plays to me, but the order is more of games I would recommend people to play. Ender Lilies and Another Crab’s Treasure both represent games that I really love what they are doing, especially in their respective genres. Ender Magnolia is a great iteration of the Ender Lilies formula (which is in itself an iteration on the Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia game design), and Another Crab’s Treasure is a great version of Dark Souls that retains much of the challenge, but makes it more accessible. Both games are great, but wouldn’t be the first thing I would recommend out the gate unless you already love that genre.

4. Endings that Stay with You - Soul Hackers 2 and Angeline Era 
Video game endings are hard. Even some of the best games just sort of peter out in the end. That is why having a great ending is so impressive. That being said, Soul Hackers 2 Good ending does take a bit of planning, so it can be a bit of a slog to get, but I loved it all the same. Especially that last boss. Angeline Era’s ending is in its own league, and put an already good game rocketing to one of the best games I have played this year. It not only pays off the character development it gives throughout the game, but is almost an entire game onto itself. Imagine playing through an end game boss rush in any other game, and then in between bosses, there is an entire game of the year contender that plays out. It is honestly sort of bonkers. I would say that both games are good on their own, but it is their endings that put them on this list.

3. Best of Narrative Explorations - Despelote and Anthology of the Killer
I always hated the term “walking simulator” as a video game genre. It is cheeky and seems like a put down in a way that feels like punching down. It does highlight something where maybe games where narrative is the focus needs to make sure the player is engaged and a way that goes beyond just walking around an environment. Both Despelote and Anthology of the Killer do an amazing job of making games where you are walking around, but your relationship to the environment is much more than a museum. They are on the opposite sides of how to approach this, so while Despelote has you forming relationships and understanding the personal history of a place, Anthology of the Killer makes you more afraid as the environments become more and more threatening. Both tell personal stories, some more abstract than others, but both leave me happy that I played through them both. 

2. Fan Makers/”Woman do be getting into Trouble” - Half Life Alyx and Misericorde vol. 1
I talked about games that are more for fans of the genre, so these games are the games that instead would make you fans of that genre. Half Life Alyx doesn’t need much introduction, as it may be the best VR game ever made, but Misericorde vol. 1 might need a little more explanation. Misericorde vol. 1 is a murder mystery Visual Novel where you are trying to figure out who killed one of the nuns in a nunnery. This proves much more difficult as volume 1 deals with the main character is an anchoress (a nun that is cut off from all other human contact to study and advise on religion), and with the complex emotional world of some of the most charming characters. Visual Novels I have found can be hard to get into due to their pacing, and aesthetic choices, but Misericorde oozes with style, a fantastic soundtrack, and moments that, even though it is only volume 1, still will stick with me. These are the types of games that turn one from a casual player, to someone dying to play more. 

1. RPGs from France - OFF and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
So I wrote a lot about both games in a previous post, so it is probably safe to say that these are the two games I have thought about the most this year. In that post, I think I might have underplayed how much I enjoyed my time with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I really did love the music and the characters. It has some of the all time best voice performances I have heard in a video game. People are correct to put it on their “best games of all time” list, but in the end, I can’t help but use it as a helpful tool to illustrate how much I love OFF instead. It doesn’t help that I sort of hated the lack of maps in areas, how the first time I was playing it I was distracted by waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as the narrative twist, and how they used GenAI in some of their place holder graphics (GenAI is such a blight on daily life, and I hate it so much). OFF to me is what I wanted Clair Obscur to be, and you would think that would disqualify Clair Obscur from even appearing in this list. If I did a traditional list where I didn’t pair games up, it wouldn’t show up, but as a companion game to OFF, they are in such conversation that I couldn’t help but put them together. Like The Batter and The Judge, or Verso and Maelle, you can’t have one without the other.