Famitsu asks 191 Japanese developers and celebrities for their game of the year, and lo and behold, J’RPG Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 wins
Famitsu has released its annual poll, which asks the Japanese video game industry for their favorite game of the year, and you’ll never guess who won.
For years, Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has reached out to Japanese game developers to get a consensus on what the game of the year is within the industry. Last year’s winner was Dragon Quest 3: HD-2D Remake, while previous years saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Elden Ring and Death Stranding. And I’ll give you a guess which match won this year (via The player).
As we saw with everyone, Japanese game developers voted Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 as their game of the year. The rest of the top five is Ghost of Yotei – which follows 2020 winner Ghost of Tsushima – the Urban Myth mystery game Demolition Center, which takes third place. Meanwhile, Nintendo has a double representation with – the real GOTY 2025 – Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World taking fourth and fifth places respectively.
While the Famitsu website doesn’t include individual developer picks, these are usually posted online at some point, which is how we discovered hilarious 2024 tidbits like Final Fantasy 14. Naoki Yoshida (Yoshi-P) voting for a single match – Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail – and former Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi voting Castlevania Dominus Collection – a collection of DS Castlevania games that he directed – as number one.
Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33 director admits Sandfall ‘tried’ AI during J’RPG development, but ‘didn’t like it’
