While GameCentral's recent Top 20 of 2025 celebrated the year's most flawless titles, its annual awards have taken a different path. Published on December 29, 2025, these accolades shine a light on the unsung heroes of the gaming year: titles that may not be perfect overall but excel in one specific, brilliant area.
Honouring Excellence in Specific Fields
The awards are designed to recognise games that possess one outstanding quality, even if other elements falter. This approach ensures that otherwise flawed games get a chance to shine for their singular achievements in graphics, music, or storytelling. The only exception is the bluntly named 'Worst Game of 2025' category.
Despite the phenomenal success of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which broke records and swept The Game Awards, it does not dominate here. This allows other noteworthy titles to step into the spotlight for their individual merits.
The Award Winners and Standout Performances
Best Visuals was claimed by Keeper, from Psychonauts creator Double Fine. While its gameplay, centred on controlling a sentient lighthouse, was deemed mundane, its unique painterly style was described as "astonishing," making every scene resemble a living fantasy painting. Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream was the runner-up.
Best Innovation went to Drag x Drive for its inspired use of the Nintendo Switch 2's new Joy-Cons. The game uses both controllers as mice to simulate manoeuvring a wheelchair, creating a perfect, if superficial, control system. Donkey Kong Bananza was noted as the runner-up.
In a surprising turn, the Format of the Year award narrowly went to the Nintendo Switch 2. The console was praised as a physical improvement over its predecessor but criticised for not being groundbreaking, with a mixed first-year line-up including the disappointing Metroid Prime 4. The PC was the runner-up.
Remake of the Year was awarded to Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. Described by Square Enix as an 'enhanced remaster', it won praise for its new voice acting and quality-of-life additions that modernised the classic tactical RPG without losing its charm. Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater was the runner-up.
Best Music was, unsurprisingly, secured by Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The soundtrack, featuring standout tracks like Une vie à t’aimer, was a key part of the game's sweeping success. Mario Kart World followed as runner-up.
Best Storytelling was claimed by Silent Hill f. Despite flaws in its combat, the game's narrative, following protagonist Shimizu Hinako in 1960s Japan, was hailed as excellent and respectful, featuring some of the most disturbing sequences in gaming. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the runner-up here.
The Unwanted Honour: Worst Game of 2025
The dubious distinction of Worst Game of 2025 was handed to MindsEye. The big-budget project from famed Grand Theft Auto producer Leslie Benzies was condemned as a horribly old-fashioned third-person shooter with bad combat, a sterile open world, and a silly plot. Plagued by performance issues, it was labelled one of the worst games of the decade. The Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour was named runner-up.
These awards paint a more nuanced picture of the 2025 gaming landscape, proving that even in an imperfect package, moments of genuine brilliance deserve recognition.
