Death Stranding 2: On the Beach shocked the gaming world as the latest to top the list of best-rated games on PlayStation Store, leaving Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 behind. It gives both a first great milestone for highly rated releases into an interesting mix of the race for Game of the Year in 2025.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which was released in April of 2025, instantly generated massive hype for its innovative turn-based combat and intriguing story. Its success saw its epic reception climb all the way to a jaw-dropping 9.7 Metacritic user score on more than 17,200 reviews as the number one users’ ranked game. Although its critic rating of 93 was narrowly surpassed by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (96), Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is still the best-rated 2025 game on Metacritic. On the PlayStation Store, its rating was standing tall at 4.91.
The recent release of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, however, a week ago from making the following observations, has shifted the leaderboard. Hideo Kojima’s new game currently has a 4.93 rating on the PlayStation store, backed up by more than 11,000 user reviews, with an impressive 97% of them being five-star reviews. This PlayStation Store triumph aside, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 tops Metacritic with a 93 critic score, three points in front of Death Stranding 2’s 90.
The competition between the two titles is fierce and ignites hype for the 2025 Game of the Year award. They are both well-placed to be among the favorites, as well as other major releases and upcoming releases that will further open up the selection pool, such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and Hollow Knight: Silksong.
