Since its April release,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33has somewhat taken the gaming community by storm, coming in as the highest-ranking game on Metacritic for the first half of 2025. Unfortunately, however, that placement has recently changed following the Switch 2’s release and not in the way you might think.
Rather than being replaced at the top by the Switch 2’s big new release,Mario Kart World,Clair Obscurhas been dethroned on Metacriticby two Nintendo games that are now years old. Sensibly, this has now led to some debate about whetherClair Obscurshould still be considered the highest-ranking game of 2025, regardless of it being pushed to third place on the platform.
TOTK & BOTW On Switch 2 Are Now Rated Higher On Metacritic Than Clair Obscur
BOTW & TOTK Upgrades Have Pushed These Old Games To The Top Of 2025’s List
With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2, severalgames from the Switch have received upgrade packs, includingThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the WildandThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.These upgrade packs are designed to bring the previous experience of the game up to a new level, showing off what the Switch 2 is capable of, for an additional cost. Since these upgrade packs are almost like a remaster for these games on the Switch 2,all of these upgraded games are now being treated as new releases for 2025.
Unfortunately, that has resulted in both of these iconic releases taking the top two spots onMetacritic’s Best Games This Year page for 2025. While there’s no denying that these twoZeldareleases were incredible games that have only since been made better through their Switch 2 upgrade packs, it does bring into question whether these should be considered 2025 releases.
Re-Releases Shouldn’t Really Count As New Games
Remakes, Remasters, & Re-Releases Happen Every Year, But Do They Belong In The Same Category As New Games?
Lately, it seems like every year, more and more remakes, remasters, and re-releases are hitting the gaming market. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as it helps old franchises reach a modern audience and is great for overall game preservation, it alsocreates conflict with original stories that are released the same year. To make things even more complicated, none of these mean the same thing, making it even harder to discern what should qualify as a new game for the year.
If we take a look at the Game Awards for the past few years, we can see that each year’sGOTY nominees included some questionable games. For 2024, two of the nominees wereFinal Fantasy VII Rebirth, a remake, andElden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, a DLC. As for 2023,Resident Evil 4, a remake of the original 2005 release, was also nominated. While there’s no denying that all of these titles were incredible, do they deserve to potentially take the spot from a genuine new release?
For remakes likeFF7 Rebirththat rebuild things from the ground up while retelling a story, the answer is likely yes, as it’s hard to say that the team doesn’t deserve to be recognized for what is almost entirely a new game in every aspect other than the story. Although there are still some debatable aspects to this, like nostalgia offering an edge over games that are otherwise brand-new,true remakes are sensible enough to include in the best games of any given year.
On the other hand, re-releases and remasters where a game remains mostly the same, aside from a few small changes that improve overall quality and adapt it for modern consoles, aren’t as deserving. While additional work and new features contribute to the experience,the game is still overall incredibly similar to its original form, which doesn’t justify it getting a second chance to outrank other games of that year. The best solution would be to separate these titles into an exclusive category, so they’re still recognized, but don’t affect other releases for the year.
Clair Obscur Should Still Be Considered The Highest-Rated Game Of 2025 (For Now)
2025 Still Has More Releases To Come, But Clair Obscur Deserves To Keep Its Spot For Now
With its complex blend of turn-based battles and real-time mechanics, thesteampunk-style French RPGClair Obscurcurrently holds a Metascore of 93, the same as theZelda: BOTWupgrade pack, and is recognized as a Metacritic Must-Play game. Since there’s no telling how the public will respond to the rest of 2025’s releases,Clair Obscur: Expedition 33deserves to be recognizedas the best game of the year for now, since the game has genuinely earned it.
If nothing comes in aboveClair Obscurfor the rest of 2025, this would then mean thatZelda: TOTKcould be recognized as Metacritic’s Best Game of the Year for a year it didn’t officially release in, while the first game on the list that did release in 2025 would come in third.
The rest of2025 is stacked with releasesthat have the potential to claim the top spot for the year, includingDeath Stranding 2,Pokémon Legends: Z-A,Borderlands 4, andSilent Hill f,to name a few. Should one of those take the top spot, it would be an acceptable replacement, given that these are all, by definition, genuine new releases. However, if that meansClair Obscur: Expedition 33has the potential to be bumped out of the top 10 completely, sinceBOTWandTOTKare taking up two spots above it, that would only further prove that re-releases should not be included in Metacritic’s Best Games of the Year.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
In the dark fantasy realm of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, players lead a daring team to confront the enigmatic Paintress, whose annual cursed paintings erase citizens of a specific age. Combining turn-based combat with real-time elements like quick-time events, the game offers a dynamic experience. Set against a Belle Époque-inspired backdrop, it features voice talents such as Charlie Cox and Andy Serkis.
