Opinion: This Xbox Game Studios Gem Is My Game Of The Year For 2025

There are some fantastic candidates for Xbox GOTY this year, as is typically the case by the time the end of December draws near. Clair Obscur is bringing in the plaudits en masse, Split Fiction is up there with the best that 2025 has to offer, and DOOM: The Dark Ages is a devilishly awesome effort from Bethesda as well. But, having mentioned all of those, my 2025 game of the year comes straight from Xbox Game Studios - as I just can't get South of Midnight out of my head.

You see, racers and shooters are my jam, as you may be aware from half the stuff I post on this site. From sim to arcade racers, military to sci-fi shooters, those are my bread and butter when it comes to video game experiences. I do love a good story adventure when the mood strikes though - and when it does, narrative takes precedent above all, and I get hooked into whatever story's playing out in front of me. And, when I played and reviewed South of Midnight for Pure Xbox earlier this year, I couldn't get enough of Hazel's deep-south adventure from minute one to when the credits rolled. It's still the most memorable experience I've had on Xbox in 2025.

As noted in that review up above, South of Midnight does have a few shortcomings. Combat just isn't as engaging as the game's traversal and story elements, and some repetition does set in by journey's end. But none of that really dampened my experience; after all, I still scored it a 9/10. From the game's charming characters to its gorgeous environments and surprisingly heartfelt story, South of Midnight has everything I want from the sort of game I play to take a break from racers, shooters and whatever other online games I'm dabbling with throughout the year. South of Midnight's best elements are so very good that any other nitpicks fall by the wayside.

And so, I just want to give SoM some love this year to be honest. I fully expect this one to get forgotten by many; it was a fairly under-the-radar Xbox release that is yet to expand to other console platforms for a start. It's also got some seriously stiff competition from the three titles I mentioned up at the top and lots more besides, especially when you start factoring in Nintendo and Sony releases as well. But for my money, South of Midnight is pound-for-pound one of the best single-player story games to release this year, and for that, it's my Xbox game of the year for 2025.

Look out for the official Pure Xbox Game of the Year roundup on Christmas Day!