Game Awards of 2025

2025 was one of the hardest years to pick ten games from a wealth of absolute contenders. While Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a powerhouse this year, taking home multiple categories across countless award shows and GOTY lists, this year still produced several amazing examples of some of the industry’s best. The following is not only our personal top ten games of the year, but a voted discussion of our many categories.

Analog Stick Gaming 2025 Game Awards

Each of our categories see us submit 5 titles and then those titles are weighed with 1st place taking 5 points, 2nd place with 4 points, and 5th place taking 1 point, etc. In the result of a tie, we discuss, and even bargain for other awards, and we also have a tiebreaker which was decided during our predictions of the Video Game Awards.

Without further delay, here are the Analog Stick Gaming Awards of 2025!

Best Indie/Small Studio Game:

  • Tails of Iron II

  • Hades 2

  • Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree

  • Ball x Pit

  • Absolum

  • Dispatch

  • Blue Prince

  • Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road

Best Narrative:

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Trails in the Sky: First Chapter

  • South of Midnight

  • Dispatch

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Mafia: The Old Country

Best JRPG/RPG:

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Trails in the Sky: First Chapter

  • Echoes of the End

  • The Outer Worlds 2

  • Trails Through Daybreak 2

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

  • Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

  • Avowed

  • Ocotpath Traveller 0

Best Soundtrack/Original Score:

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of the Imprisonment

  • Absolum

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Hades 2

  • Metroid Prime 4

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • South of Midnight

Best Art Direction:

  • Metroid Prime 4

  • Chronus The New Dawn

  • Clair Obsur: Expedition 33

  • Arc Raiders

  • Absolum

  • Dispatch

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • South of Midnight

Best Action Adventure:

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Echoes of the End

  • Monster Hunter Wilds

  • Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Ghost of Yotei

  • Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

  • Absolum

Best Action:

  • Ninja Gaiden 4

  • First Berserker: Khazan

  • Metal Eden

  • Arc Raiders

  • Shinobi: Art of Vengeance

  • Metal Gear Solid: Delta

  • Mafia: The Old Country

  • Borderlands 4

  • Battlefield 6

Best Licensed Game:

  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • Robocop Rogue City Unfinished Business

  • Nicktoons Dice of Destiny

Best 2025 Game you didn’t play:

  • Ghost of Yotei

  • Path of Exile 2

  • Vampire Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

  • Donkey Kong Bananza (Jordan)

  • Digimon Story: Time Stranger

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Trails in the Sky: First Chapter

  • Ninja Gaiden 4

Best 2025 Game you didn’t finish:

  • Ninja Gaiden 4

  • Mafia: The Old Country

  • First Berserker: Khazan (Jordan)

  • Sword of the Sea

  • Silent Hill f

  • Octopath Traveller 0

  • Hollow Knight: Silk Song

Best Sports/Racing:

  • Sonic Racing: Crossworlds

  • WWE 2K25

  • Mario Kart World

  • Hot Wheels: Let's Race Ultimate Speed

  • Fast and Furious: Arcade Edition

  • EA FC 26

  • PGA TOUR 2k25

Best Handheld Game:

  • Hades 2

  • Maiden Cops

  • Neon Inferno

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment 

  • Ball x Pit

  • Blue Prince

  • Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road

  • Mario Kart World 

  • Dispatch

Best DLC/Expansion/Update:

  • Emma Frost - Marvel Rivals

  • Echoes of the End - Complete Rework

  • Lies of P: Overture 

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II: Mysteria Ecclesiae DLC

Best Beat’em Up/Fighting Game:

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • Absolum

  • Neon Inferno

  • Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

  • Maiden Cops

Best Sequel/Prequel:

  • Hades 2

  • Borderlands 4

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Tails of Iron 2

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

  • Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

  • Battlefield 6

  • Ghost of Yotei

Best Remake/Remaster:

  • Trails into the Sky: First Chapter.

  • Lunar Remastered Collection

  • Yooka Replaylee

  • Metal Gear Solid: Delta

  • Elder Scrolls: Oblivion

  • Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4

  • Dragon Quest 1&2 HD-2D

Best Studio Debut:

  • Embark - Arc Raiders

  • Sandfall Interactive - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • AdHoc Studio - Dispatch

Best Family Game:

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Split Fiction

  • Mario Kart World

  • Sonic Racing: Crossworlds

Best New IP:

  • Arc Raiders

  • Wuchang Fallen Feathers

  • Maiden Cops

  • Chronus The New Dawn

  • Absolum

  • Clair Obscur Expedition 33

  • Dispatch

Best Ongoing Game: Marvel Rivals

  • Arc Raiders

  • Marvel Rivals

  • Helldivers 2

  • Fortnite

  • Fragpunk

  • No Man’s Sky

Best Spin-Off: First Berserker: Khazan

  • Elden Ring Nightreign

  • First Berserker: Khazan

Best Surprise of the Year:

  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Ball X Pit

  • Arc Raiders

  • Absolum

Best Multiplayer: Arc Raiders

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • Arc Raiders

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Absolum

  • Borderlands 4

  • Battlefield 6

  • Elden Ring: Nightreign

Best Podcast Game:

  • Borderlands 4

  • 33 Immortals

  • Ball X Pit

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

  • Keeper

  • Blue Prince

  • Monsters are Coming: Rock and Road

Best Female Performance:

  • Jennifer English - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Lea Seydoux - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Adriyan Rae - South of Midnight

  • Masumi Tsunoda - Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

  • Aldis Amah Hamilton - Echoes of the End

  • Laura Bailey - Dispatch

  • Kirsty Rider - Clair Obsur: Expedition 33

Best Male Performance:

  • Charlie Cox - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Tom McKay - Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

  • Johnny Santiago - Mafia: The Old Country

  • Ben Starr - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Aaron Paul - Dispatch

  • Troy Baker - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Norman Reedus - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Best Standout Character:

  • Gustave - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Traveler - Chronus The New Dawn

  • Naoe - Assassin’s Creed: Shadows

  • Gemma - Monster Hunter Wilds

  • Maelle - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

  • Robert Robertson - Dispatch

  • Higgs - Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

  • Invisigal - Dispatch

Best Accessibility:

  • Absolum

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • South of Midnight

  • Doom: The Dark Ages

  • EA FC 26

  • Keeper

  • F1 2025

Best Early Access Game:

  • 33 Immortals

  • Towerborne

  • Grounded 2

  • Skate

  • The Last Caretaker

Best Streamer/Content Creator:

Most Disappointing Game:

  • Pokémon Legends AZ

  • Sacred 2: Fallen Angel Remastered

  • Chained Echoes: Ashes of 1 Elrant

  • Doom: The Dark Ages

  • Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

  • Mindseye

  • The Outer Worlds 2

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Worst Game of the Year:

  • Chickenhare: Treasure of Spiking Beard

  • Mindseye

That is it for this year! Comment below what you agreed with or disagreed with, as well as your picks for the categories, and of course, your Game of the Year for 2025!

See you next year!