This is my toplist:

- Ghost of Yōtei
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
- Death Stranding 2
- Donkey kong Bananza

Thanks for posting! I’m looking for the games you consider to be worthy of GOTY consideration, not the games you think will be the top GOTY vote-getters at the end of the year.

Clair Obscur is an easy frontrunner for me. I'll have to give it some thought, but it's definitely among the top 5 games I've played this generation as a whole.

Updated to this point. Keep 'em coming!

Another one for me -- and this is my front-runner at the moment:

Donkey Kong Bananza (NS2)
An extraordinary action title with snappy controls, fantastic art direction, rewarding exploration, and a dizzying, liberating amount of interactivity with the game world. 
Score: 9/10

There are quite some good entries that are fun, but... Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is so far ahead of the pack that I can't think of another title as GOTY.

Please feel free to list titles that would be GOTY contenders in any other year!

You want a bit more than Clair Obscur in your list, I guess. OK, fine. Mario Kart is Mario Kart - it is always fun to pick it up and get a race in or two. I *love* Balatro, but I guess that was last year, I picked it up now. Yeah, Steam says 2024, last year. Oblivion is still Oblivion and therefore works well. Doom the Dark Ages has a stupid story - but it is Doom, whatever. The game itself feels good, the Slayer has a heavyness implied through sound effects and similar stuff, that makes it feel good. And I can play it as an old man without reflexes. I haven't yet picked up Donkey Kong Banaza, Monster Hunter Wilds and Grounded 2, but I look forward to all three. Still, even with these as wildcards I doubt anyone can dethrone Clair Obscur. It is like Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate respectively, I already knew in the first half of the year that they would get this home.

Final Fantasy Tactics

Donkey Kong Bananza, so far.

It's one of those game where just interacting with its world is so satisfying, it's like if BOTW and Mario Odyssey had a baby.

Runner up is Split Fiction for its variety and cleverness.