Love lost oddysey. Best game of all time. The journals idea in E33 came from the memories in lost oddysey 

Death Stranding 2 for graphics of the year so far and production value... no wait, E33 does some crazy good visuals at times too and Yotei is looking stellar. Jesus, it can't even beat E33 for VA but Troy Baker gets up there with that cast, probably the direction and style of writing though, not the VAers fault. Troy Baker in DS2 easily for best performance of the year, what he done here was masterclass, he even made the oddities in Kojimas tone feel authentic and right on point, only feeling out of place cuase he excels so much higher than the rest of the cast. It's a Heath Ledger Joker moment for VA in video games in my opinion, completely captivating. I'll take the damage and the goods, I don't break that easy. 

Get on Clair Obscur if you love games like bravely Default. Like now, straight away, ho to your system and buy it. 

My top three solidified, after letting DS2 settle are.

1. EXPEDITION 33
2. DEATH STEANDING 2
3. KHAZAN

Expedition 33 being beaten is impossible at this point after seeing the Yotei showcase but that game for sure will take graphics if what we see is real footage. 

Dynasty Warriors Origin for now.

If my "Game of the Year" has to be something released this year, then my pick (by default, really) would be The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PC), as it's the only 2025 release I've played so far. That said, I’ll have more to choose from later in the year, as I intend to play Stellar Blade soonish, which was released on PC last month.

On a side note, I'm really enjoying the addition of multi frame generation in these new titles. I hadn't played The Last of Us Part II before, so getting to experience it for the first time with 240fps at native 4k is a treat.

Ok, currently playing E33, already love this game, my GOTY then followed by KCD 2

Still early into Donkey Kong, but I doubt anything this year will be anywhere close. Everything else if fighting for runner up for me.

After finishing the main story in Donkey Kong Bananza, I can say it's easily my GOTY.

I guess Expedition 33. Beautiful audiovisual designs, and they found a way to make turn based combat still feel dynamic and epic. I think there are some gameplay issues people have overlooked (which is why I hesitate a little) but I beat it a few hours ago and I'm still feeling legitimately sad about the ending. Which in a story based game means they did their job at making me feel feelings.

But, it also kind of wins by default cause I honestly can't remember playing anything else this year that was not a remake or remaster of some sort except for Mario Kart. I started DK and it's off to a pretty good start. It's still a little too basic but I'm only a few hours in so we'll see if the mechanics can come together in a satisfying way.

If we count remakes and such though, it's Capcom Fighting Collection 2.