Best Art Direction of 2025 - Article

by Taneli Palola , posted on 19 January 2026 / 2,001 Views

This year's top nominees for Best Art Direction are quite a varied group of games, each with their own clear visual identity that made them stand out amidst a strong field of contenders. From technically astounding realistic worlds to gorgeous hand-drawn vistas, this year's nominees run the gamut of styles, and we are here to pick from the very best.

The Shortlist:

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Ghost of Yōtei

The Runner-up:

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond continued the series' proud tradition of featuring a number of aesthetically diverse locations for players to explore. From the central desert region of Sol Valley, to the industrial Volt Forge, each new area feels entirely distinct from the moment you step in there, and much of that is thanks to the game's sublime art direction. Retro Studios has done amazing work on this front for over two decades now, and Metroid Prime 4 is no exception.

The Winner:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I can't think of any other game that looks quite like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. The Belle Époque period isn't exactly common as a source of inspiration for video games, but that is exactly what gave Clair Obscur its own specific visual identity. Mixing together elements of the aforementioned period's artistic movements - perhaps most notably Art Deco - with a fantasy setting, proved to be a very striking combination, creating a world that is wholly unique and thoroughly memorable.

11 Comments

Zkuq (on 19 January 2026)

I haven't played the game, just like I haven't most of the others on the list... but judging by skimming through several sections of the game in a YouTube longplay, I just don't get what Metroid Prime 4 is doing here. It definitely has its merits as well, but I don't see anything amazing. I can see the merit in Clair Obscur, Silksong, Ghost of Yotei, and probably even Death Stranding 2, but Metroid Prime 4? Nope, just nope. It seems like a nice-looking game but not particularly worthy of recognition.

Maybe it's the prettiest Nintendo game this year and the Nintendo fans voted for it, or maybe it looks much, much better when playing it than in a video? There's also the distinct visual identities explanation that's mentioned in the article, and I don't think I can deny that, but to me, that also doesn't seem huge when none of the environments seem particularly inspiring on their own.

mZuzek Zkuq (on 20 January 2026)

I haven't played the PS exclusives, but from all the games I've played this year, I personally found Metroid Prime 4 to be the most consistently striking visually.

Hades and Silksong are artistically beautiful and you could even say "perfect", but they don't push a lot of boundaries really. Clair Obscur pushes boundaries a lot, and is truly gorgeous in some places, animations are very well done too, but I do find that it has some rough edges - something about the rendering in the game can feel overly sharpened, leading to a grainy image, some areas have pretty generic background assets which the developers themselves admitted to using stock stuff (if not AI stuff) to speed up development, and some areas have very limited colour palettes that just feel a little murky to look at, in my opinion. To me, Prime 4 is significantly prettier, it feels more polished, it is gorgeous no matter where you look, every time I've booted up the game I found myself gawking at the visuals, even if it's technologically less advanced. (edit: And I say this as someone who's having very mixed feelings about Prime 4 as a whole)

I've heard people say Yotei is inconsistent too, with amazing landscapes contrasted by a lot of generic stuff. I can't speak for it though, and neither can I for DS2, which from the outside looks stunning.

Zkuq mZuzek (on 20 January 2026)

I have similar feelings personally as you do about some of the games on the list, but I have no trouble seeing their merit. Based on my constant 'wowing' with Ghost of Yotei, that would probably be my pick this year - and not just because it's pretty, it's actually because of the postcard views the game is full of and which I've rarely seen in any other games. In fact, I've probably been seeing more postcards views in this one game alone than all the other games total I've played in my life, including Ghost of Tsushima. I was constantly amazed at how the game could be visually designed to constantly present postcard views (and looks very, very pretty at most other times as well).

Anyway, I guess that sounds kind of similar to how you feel about Metroid Prime 4. Personally I don't see why, but clearly the game must've done something right to make someone (and probably lots of people) feel that way.

UnderwaterFunktown Zkuq (on 20 January 2026)

It's a good looking game for sure, even on Switch 1 where I'm playing it and it does wonders with camera angles and the like in cutscenes so there's infinitely many shots of Samus looking cool. I don't think I would call it runner-up but it's not out of place on here.

Zkuq UnderwaterFunktown (on 20 January 2026)

Thanks for elaborating! I suppose there are parts that are harder to catch in videos then, at least if you're only skimming through one.

Darashiva (on 21 January 2026)

Personally, I would have pushed Silksong and GoY above Prime 4, but I can't really argue with any of the choices here. E33 was my choice anyway, so I'm happy with its win.

coolbeans (on 20 January 2026)

I mean... Prime 4 on both the shortlist & runner-up? There's no denying its alien architecture (evidenced in these pics) looks evocative and mesmerizing, but it has a pretty big low too. Most of the Federation stuff I've seen (suits, robot) looks uninspired; even if that's a small percentage, I doubt any of the other nominees have such a glaring weak point.

mZuzek coolbeans (on 20 January 2026)

I'd agree the Federation characters and buildings look pretty boring as they have done in every Metroid game, but that is really minor compared to the beauty of everything else. If only the game was as good as its visuals.

BraLoD (on 20 January 2026)

Nothing even comes close to touching Ghost of Yotei in 2025.

Link_knight30 BraLoD (on 21 January 2026)

I feel the same as you, especially about the art, since they even came up with a technology for the leaves on the trees and how everything looks more vivid and beautiful. The art of E33 feels more linear to me, and I don’t feel like it brings anything new to the medium.