For me:
5. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond – I haven't even played it yet, so I'm putting this here as a tentative placement, lol. It will be here by default when I play it, as it'll be the 5th game I fully play through from this year, but I hope I enjoy it enough for it to deserve this spot. Hopefully...
4. Hades II – Nice improvement over the original Hades in many areas, lots of diversity, just great stuff all round, I liked that the story went for bigger stakes but unfortunately the pay-off wasn't there. I was disappointed by the ending and haven't played much since, still a great game.
3. Digimon Story: Time Stranger – Just finished it last night, and maybe I should hesitate to rank it here due to recency bias, but honestly, I can see myself ranking it higher in the future. This game blew me away and had definitely my favorite ending/final boss of this year, and maybe of the past few years. It was a dream come true as a fan of this franchise. Wish I had played it in time to rank it in my Top 50 for this year.
2. Hollow Knight: Silksong – Neck and neck for 1st place here, I'll need more time to see how my feelings evolve over these games. Silksong had a few issues, I don't like it as much as the original Hollow Knight, but it was still absolutely amazing.
1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – This feels maybe like the "least me" game on this list, and that's the main reason why I'm unsure about its placement here. The game is a masterpiece, but it's not one I have any personal bias towards. It feels like I was witness to a great work of art, but not one that spoke to me personally.
