What game released this year has the best graphics in your opinion, and what makes them the best?

I had the idea of creating this thread because I'm playing Silent Hill f and I'm stunned with the visuals. Not sure if it's the best of the year since I still have a lot to play though...

Doom the Dark Ages, for running like greased lightning even on Series S while packed with detail

Clair Obscur for marrying gorgeous visual direction with a far above average implementation of the usually problematic UE5

Silent Hill f does look amazing, and one of the few games that visually feel current gen. I'll get it when I'm done with Trails in the Sky. Sucks that they released too close to each other. Death Stranding 2 looks great too.

Probably DS2, especially for how well it runs.

For me the most impressive so far is Death Stranding 2 - to achieve all that, and still without any RT, similar to what Horizon did few years ago, is feat on its own (though I like Horizon's visual art style a lot more). Decima Engine is indeed quite something else.

That said, if I'm going with tech+art combo, Ghost of Yotei seems to be something I would probably vote for.

On the pure art, I would go with Forgotlings (currently, there's only demo, launches in "Fall '25"), for it's "Studio Ghibli" aesthetics.

Death Stranding 2 by far. I don't think it can be beaten on realism until GTA6. It's not just good graphics either, it has a sheen of great artistic style plastered over those hyper realistic graphics, The scenery is designed to vompose itself like a post card and had that GTA5 philosophy
The one thing I dislike is the ammount of HUD, it is needed but it detracts from how beautiful the game is. I think Yotei's scenery at the macroscopic scale will beat it, especially the artstyle of it but up close and in detail it will feel a generation apart asides from a few details like particle effects. It'll be hard to judge these two games because they go for two very different approaches of where the resources are going but I think Yotei may take the edge because of the lack of HUD and the artstyle, colour and all the stuff happening on screen.

I love Expedition 33 to pieces but I don't get people saying the graphics are great, they are good and the art design is phenomenal and with it the vibes but it's good at best and very poor in some areas like the overworlds intense blur or the repeated assets.

"Ghost of Yotei" looks beautiful. Some editors even write that it's one of the most beautiful games of recent years :)
The landscapes, forests, and snowy areas, wow. The love to detail is impressive
There's so much work and hidden details in the flora and fauna in this game, I have much respect for that.

& definitely "Death Stranding 2"!! It's been top-notch since day one.

The in-game physics and weather effects are fantastic. And even the sequences also make my mouth water. Top design.

I don't think I've played any 2025 released PS5 games this year other than the demo for Doom. So Doom kind of wins by default. I've played Mario Kart and Donkey Kong Bananza and thought they both looked fantastic. I'll be getting Ghost of Yotei for Christmas for sure, and I'm sure that will be the best looking game I'll play from 2025.

Yeah. I vote Death Stranding 2.

Death Stranding 2 looks insane really. I want to give it a try when/if it comes to PC.

The problem is... I don't go well with Kojima gameplay. =/

Death Stranding 1 had amazing cinematics, I played it for a couple of hours, but I definitely wasn't enjoying the gameplay at all.