Red Pages Podcast
Red Pages Podcast Games of the Year 2025
2025 settled into a "maybe this is the new normal" when it came to industry layoffs and contractions. On the consumer side, changes in trade policy and artificial intelligence mania drove up the price of hardware, making things less affordable and squeezing players. Despite these challenges, creative people continued to put out great work, and as is annual tradition, we shall acknowledge their efforts:
Horses
Now famous as "The game that Valve and Epic don't want you to play," Horses is an Art Game with clear influences from Pasolini's Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975). Though not as sickening as that film, the world of the game, where humans are enslaved and treated as livestock as punishment for deviant behavior, has some queasy moments of its own. As a young man whose summer job places him in the role of farmhand, working under one of the farmers that perpetuate the system of enslavement, your increasing awareness of and complicity within the system of torture and abuse may make you want to quit and play something else - but the game does have worthwhile things to say about how fascism induces moral collapse among all whom it touches. The game, presented in the style of a black-and-white silent Italian film, blends FMV footage and low-poly 3D environments to create its surreal, cruel world. Horses isn't for everybody, but it's the sort of game that more studios should be willing to experiment with - that is to say, games that have a strong viewpoint and are unafraid to express it.
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f is perhaps the most narratively impressive game I played in 2025, which is shocking coming from a major development house like Konami. Placing narrative veteran Ryukishi07 at the helm and unabashedly taking aim at Big Targets paid off. Series purists may gripe that this game isn't set in the titular town, or might disparagingly refer to the combat as "souls-y," but the aesthetic presentation, vocal performances, writing and narrative design and mechanics all blend together in a clear, intentional way. With sights set on the inherent misogyny of Japanese society in the 1960s (and today), it didn't surprise me that this game has flown under the radar relative to its strength. The story demands three playthroughs to see it all - a big ask, but one that is so thoroughly rewarded that I urge any skeptics to push through to the emotional climax. The way that nearly every line of dialogue was written to hold two meanings, with the second only apparent upon second viewing, blew me away and sets a high bar for this kind of game. Yes, I liked the narrative and storytelling significantly better than Silent Hill 2. Great work.
Runners-Up & Miscellaneous Awards
Most Undeservedly Disparaged Award: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
- Outrage over this game not being free arose out of a fundamental misunderstanding about what this game was. The English-language title would suggest this is an intro to the console, much like Sony's Astro's Playroom or Nintendo's prior Wii Sports or Nintendo Land. That would be wrong. This is a game for perverts. The Japanese title, Nintendo Switch 2 のひみつ展, approximately translates to "Nintendo Switch 2 Secrets Exhibition" which is much more accurate. If you ever wanted to know about the exact nanometre thickness of the silicon wafers in the joycons, or about how programming for multi-touch screens works, this game is for you. If you are a normal person who does not care about hardcore deep-dive electrical engineering, maybe skip this. It does, however, let you play Super Mario Bros. 1-1 in 4K where the entire level fits on the screen at once, so that's something.
Best Music Award: Clair Obscure: Expedition 33
- I didn't find much to enjoy here despite this apparently being gaming's new messiah, but the music composed by Lorien Testard knocks it out of the park. He continues the Red Pages Podcast tradition of finding excellent music in popular games that we hate. Berets off to you, monsieur.
Most Aesthetic Award: Baby Steps
- Two decades of intensive scientific research into breast physics has resulted in this game, where a man's rear end jiggles hypnotically as he strolls across the land. The word "aesthetic" is used broadly here.
Most Satisfying Smash Award: Donkey Kong Bananza
- I don't know if this is the best Donkey Kong game, but I could certainly see the argument. It is inherently satisfying to smash up the entire world while digging for treasures. The game cares far less about dictating how you play and far more about giving you tools to solve puzzles the way you like. In some ways, it feels directly inspired more by recent Legend of Zelda titles than anything. I now believe in DK. Also the Zebra music is excellent.
Best Soup Award: Osmanthus Soup (Road To Empress)
- Your aunt makes the world's most delicious soup.
Not From 2025 Award: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024)
- Sometimes a game comes out so late in 2024 that it can't reasonably be judged. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle's December 9th, 2024 release placed it in this category. This is the first game associated with Bethesda that I have enjoyed (yes, I know they're primarily the publishers). I was a huge skeptic about this one, and I'm thrilled to have been so wrong. This nails everything about Indiana Jones - the locales, the humor, the endless stream of fascists to punch (now in new Italian flavor). If this had come out this year, it would have easily been a contender for GOTY outright in the AAA slot. Easily the best Indiana Jones anything since the original trilogy of films. A+ and I hungrily await a sequel.
Audience Choice Award: TO BE ANNOUNCED
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