This sure has been a 12 month period from January to December, and there sure have been some video games released in that time. In the festive tradition, let me undertake the task of subjectively ranking my favourite ten and passing that off as objective fact.
As the first of TheGamer’s Game of the Year lists, it’s my duty to remind you that we do things a little differently: all our editors write their own individual lists before we compile a final GOTY list derived from the ancient art of mathematics to bring you a true representation of the site’s opinions. Until then, here’s mine – the morally correct one.
10
Rematch
I’ve been writing these Game of the Year lists at TheGamer since 2021, and I’ve never had a true multiplayer game on my list. Something about my lack of social appetite and general ineptitude in the genres that online communities thrive in has meant few games in the online sphere have stuck.
But Rematch has made it through. Rocket League But Football sounds ridiculous when Rocket League is already Football But Cars, but the lightning fast arcade pace cannot be summed up any other way. With the nostalgia of first man back goalkeeping and screaming for the kid with all the tricks to pass the ball, Rematch held my attention longer than most multiplayer games can hope to, and that makes it worthy of recognition.
9
Date Everything
You can get pegged by a rubber duck in this game. That is all.
8
Hades 2
Like everyone else in the world, I was swept up in Hades hysteria back in 2020. Since then, we’ve seen a tidal wave of roguelikes hit the industry, leaving Hades 2 with the prospect of not only living up to its genre-defining predecessor, but surpassing all the strides the genre has made since then.
It just about does that, even if it needed two bites at the narrative cherry to nail it. With a range of varied weapons and endlessly customisable runs through boons and buffs, Hades 2 can claw out my eyes and drown me to death any time.
7
Dispatch
Is Dispatch actually a game? I’m not really sure. The gameplay element, dispatching heroes to various crimes by assessing which skills will come in handy, is not the memorable portion of the experience. But it is enjoyable in its own right, if a little too light and reliant on narrative gimmicks to feel worthwhile until the later episodes.
But as an entire entity, the acting, animation, and romance make Dispatch a standout release this year. It loses a point here or there for not letting me romance Prism, but Dispatch will still linger long in my memory.
6
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Much like Dispatch, Lost Records was another episodic release in an era where the method has gone out of style. Arriving in two parts, Bloom followed by Rage, it told a compelling story of four outcast teenagers in the ‘90s, and the modern day selves reuniting to reflect on their dark past.
Lost Records is an odd game to evaluate. It tackles topics I’ve never seen a game like this explore, like the social isolation of poverty, the loneliness of an overweight adolescence, and the developmental milestone of a homoerotic codependent teenage friendship. But I’m not sure the structure lets it explore those topics to the fullest. A fantastic game, but one slightly short of its potential.
Honourable Mentions
- Despelote
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
5
PowerWash Simulator 2
Can’t explain this. Hated the first one. Didn’t get it. Get this one. Spent over 50 hours listening to audiobooks and cleaning a virtual roller coaster. A good game? No idea.
4
Ball x Pit
In a year that has been dominated by viral hits springing out of nowhere, Ball x Pit was the one that infected me. A bullet spray roguelike that combines the energy drink chaos of multiball pinball tables with the Lego satisfaction of constantly combining bullets to make everything from vampire lords to disease rays to nuclear bombs, it’s the most ‘one more round’ game in 12 months stuffed full of them.
On a journey that takes you from enchanted forests to Heaven, Hell, and the Moon and back, it even throws in a pretty neat farming sim. What starts as a pretty normal point and shoot gets more complex as you unlock new character abilities and combine them to your heart’s content.
3
Ghost of Yotei
Let’s drop a triple-A bomb on this list, shall we? Ghost of Yotei is exactly what you expect from a prestige Sony release, and that’s just the way I like it. Cutting the fat from Tsushima and adding just the right amount of complexity to its combat, Ghost of Yotei is the most filling game I’ve played all year.
In 90 hours across the isle of Ezo, I climbed mountains, raided hideouts, became a fashion icon, and learned the price of vengeance. While the story can be a little trite, the cinematic influences more than make up for these shortcomings.
2
Dead Letter Dept.
Every year there is an indie game I lock in on and it takes over my mind and conversations for a while. Usually, that game breaks out shortly after to be idolised by the public the way it deserves to be: Balatro, 1000xResist, and Immortality have all been that game previously. This year, it was Dead Letter Dept., which did not enjoy the same ascendancy. But let me make one final appeal on its behalf.
You work in the titular dead letter department, using context clues or deciphering messy handwriting to type out addresses on undelivered mail. But over the course of your shift, you sense a dark presence. You start being asked to type out horrific accounts of grisly deaths, or deal with increasingly erratic scribbles on envelopes. It all rises to a demonic end point that will leave you chilled for days.
1
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii
This pick is reflective of how 2025 has gone for me, gaming wise. I’ve already written about how I don’t think this year has actually been that strong at the top end, but has had a very deep bench. Last year, for personal reasons as much as mechanical ones, a Like a Dragon game was my GOTY as well. This year, it’s GOTY because nothing has come along to take that spot.
In 2024, Infinite Wealth saw off competition from 1000xResist, Astro Bot, Balatro, and Metaphor: ReFantazio to hold onto pole position. All four would have eclipsed Pirate Yakuza. I’d love to write about the surprisingly deep combat, the campy pirate arenas, and the joy of seeing the wacky Yakuza side quests through the eyes of Majima, but the truth is for most of the year I’ve expected this to drop down my list.
I’ve been waiting all of 2025 for my true GOTY to emerge, and it just never has. Maybe one day in the future I’ll unearth it from the depths of my backlog. All I know is 2025 has been an odd year for gaming, one where most people have fallen in love with some hidden gem or another. Mine, evidently, remains hidden. Pirate Yakuza had stolen my crown, but then, isn’t that just what you’d expect a pirate to do?
- Released
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February 21, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
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Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
