Your GotY so far? [Q2 2025]

What is your favorite game so far this year?


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    370
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doom dark ages for now
i have yet to play clair obscur. it may dethrone doom
if they port death stranding 2 to PC before 2026, that will likely be my GOTY
 
I don't really have anything right now. Holding out hope that Donkey Kong Bananza knocks my socks off.
 
For me it's Expedition 33, but I still need to play Split Fiction from the first half of the year.

From the second half of the year, I'm looking at DK Bananza, Ninja Gaiden 4, Keeper and Borderlands 4. Let's see if any of them will be better, but I think it's unlikely.
 
I haven't played Exp 33 yet, so it's Mario Kart for me now. I tell myself my PS5 backlog is big enough as it is rn, but I really can't keep putting it off, it's got everything I like in a game and everyone loves it.
 
Clair Obscure Expidition 33 for me too. A game that brought back the feeling gaming used to give you. The music, the graphics, the story, the world, the acting, the characters, the gameplay etc were all so complimentary to each other and they joined together in such a fantastic way. Amazing game.

I don't think anything will touch the game for a long long time. As a Silent Hill fan, I don't see "f" getting anywhere near it either. Would love to be wrong in the sense we would have 2 incredible games, but Clair Obscure just seems in a league of its own.
 
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I would pick Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 version easily

...but since that is a re-release I would put these at the top Kingdom Come 2, Doom Dark Ages and Mario Kart World

I expect Death Stranding 2 to top all of these, except Zelda... but I am waiting for the superior PC version there
 
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Clair Obscur for me

I don't see a game by the rest of the year to dislodge it. Metroid Prime 4 maybe? If its peak Retro Metroid Prime.
 
E33 best quality is story and characters.
And both are better or comparable in ds2. But ds2 also got way better gameplay and graphics. E33 is just combat. And I am not a turn based fan. I loved that game despite its combat. Not because of it.

If e33 is to win, it's only on basis of excellent story and surprise release.
 
Doom: The Dark Ages, baby!
austin-powers-mole.gif

Lord Panda Lord Panda It didn't even come out yet but i get what you are saying, it will rock for sure. It looks fantastic.
 
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Im playing now Kingdom Come 2 and im enjoying it even more than Expedition 33, but Expedition 33 is a masterpiece of a game that will clean up this year GOTY awards.
Its a game that everething it does it does very well. Great turn based combat, great OST, great characters, great art direction, overal a great RPG that is a lesson on how traditional JRPGs should have evolved instead of turning them into action games. And not to forget, one of the best writting and story in a modern videogame.
 
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After finishing Clair Obscur I'm still not entirely sold on the combat system, but everything else is just superb and it's my current goty. Kingdom Come 2 is a very solid sequel, but it's not a shocking release like when the first game launched, showing that you can make a different kind of RPG. If there's a chance to reward a new IP and/or a game that's doing something new, then we should definitely take it and appreciate that not everyone's riding on relatively safe sequels.

I would have hard time picking number 3 right now, but there's still a ton of games coming in 2025 now that they don't have to be afraid of GTA6.
 
Clair Obscur, and I don't anticipate playing anything else that I'll enjoy more. I'd love to be wrong though.
 
Lies of P Overture puts all that shit to shame imo…
Followed by Ninja Gaiden 2B & Onimusha2SD. Then DKC Returns for Switch. Bananza bout to kick some ass too!!
 
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Voted OTHER

My choice right now might just be Tainted Grail: The fall of Avalon. It hits all the good spot that make a great open world RPG. I love being rewarded and immersed when exploring a dark fantasy world and it's exactly all of that and more.

It's supposed to get messy and buggy on later act but most of the complains are known and being worked on.
 
As always with these picks it's nice to know what the person actually played and finished this year for context... My current top 5 games:

1. Death Stranding 2
2. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2
3. Clair Obscur/Nightreign tied
4. Split/Fiction

It needs to be said that DS2, KCD2, Clair Obscur and Split/Fiction are all amongst the best games of the generation, the first half of this year was absolutely bananas if you love videogames 👌

Edit: and I'll add I'm surprised MHW and DOOM didn't make it into my top 5. I enjoyed them both but ultimately expected a bit more and the competition is crazy in 2025.
 
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I'm a huge Doom fan so that takes my vote. It made me realize how much I miss these types of games that are just about badassery and being 'totally metal'.

It feels like being at a Manowar concert. With three drummers.
 
Death stranding was beaten by Sekiro that won GOTY.

Death Stranding 2 is going to be beaten by a Sekiro-influenced game that wins GOTY.
 
Does anybody think Clair, given the reception its gotten, could have defeated a 95+ metacritic Gta 6, if that had released this year?
 
Exp 33 would get my vote granted i haven't played death stranding 2 yet and kcd2.

For those who played kcd2 is it any more accessible compared to the 1st one? Felt like playing a game on "hardcore" mode.
 
A gamepass game leading is nuts, some great value on that service in the last few years for me.
Its weird that they have picked multiple suprise break out hits for the service over the last year or two but can't pick winners to actually make themsleves.
 
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Don't really have a definitive winner at the moment but I chose Avowed as it is the one that captured my attention the most this year and its just so well done. That said, I really loved the new Doom and I think it is the most interesting of the new ones - the gameplay is just so juicy and rewarding. That said, I had a really good time with Eternal Strands, Crypt Custodian, Mullet Madjack, South of Midnight, Revenge of the Savage Planet and Atomfall. Need to retry 33 as I couldn't get into it the first time.
 
Waiting for the stuff that haven't released yet like crimson desert or hell of us.

Don't have a strong goty candidate tbh.
 
Only new game I've played this year is Elden Ring: Nightreign and it is definitely worthy of a GotY for me. I imagine Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 and Death Stranding 2 would be compelling challengers to that.
 
Crimson Desert is probably the biggest game of the year, and by biggest I mean the most impressive open world with epic boss fights, graphics and lot of amazing shit that will make TW3 look like an Atari game.

However, Expedition 33 is "something special" that kind of thing that happens once or twice per generation, pretty much like Nier Automata. You rarely see such mix of incredible music, story, gameplay, and worldbuilding.
 
Obscura, but I've not played death stranding 2 yet, and I loved the first.

As others have said, if crimson desert releases in this years season, then it could also take the cake, but we'll see.
 
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