Gaming in 2025 started out a bit slow, but it eventually provided fans of every genre out there with something to play each month. Hack and slash fans got Dynasty Warriors: Origins in January, Monster Hunter Wilds was there for action RPG fans who like co-op, and March had Assassin's Creed Shadows, which fulfilled a longtime wish for series fans. April was a turning point for the year, because Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 broke all boundaries in terms of success, expectations, and critical ratings.
Best Characters In Silksong
Whether they’re in the game for a long time or leave after a quick introduction, these NPCs stand out in Hollow Knight: Silksong.
It didn’t seem like a game could challenge it for Game of the Year potential until September, when, after years of waiting, Hollow Knight: Silksong was finally released. Both games are incredibly different, but they share one thing in common: they became global phenomena. So, which game has found better success in 2025 so far?
Clair Obscur: The Debut Title
Better Than Anyone Expected
Team Cherry made their debut with Hollow Knight in 2017. While it did take a bit more time to get its momentum going, word of mouth spread, and it helped Team Cherry and their game rise to prominence, which then led to Hollow Knight: Silksong being put on a godlike pedestal.
Based on Hollow Knight, fans had high expectations for the sequel, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was a different story. It was Sandfall Interactive’s first major release. For a debut game to review and sell as well as it did is a surprising miracle for the indie RPG community at large.
Silksong: The Launch Was A Big Deal
Everyone Was Playing It
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 launched on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, covering a significant number of major platforms. Plus, it was on Game Pass. Between all of this exposure, it was able to get around more than a console or PC-exclusive game might have done.
Hollow Knight: Silksong’s launch was one of the most memorable in years as it crashed every digital platform under the sun, including Steam, when it was released. It was eventually playable on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on day one, which is a bigger audience size than Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and as such, became a phenomenon more quickly because everyone started playing it all at once.
Clair Obscur: Rejuvenating The Desire For Classic JRPGs
The World’s First FRPG Could Give Japan Some Pointers
Hollow Knight is one of the major indie Metroidvanias that helped rejuvenate interest in the genre, when bigger companies like Nintendo and Konami weren’t paying attention to their Metroidvania franchises. Hollow Knight: Silksong did not increase the desire for Metroidvanias in the same way, as the genre's popularity was already at its peak. However, the gameplay and design of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 were so refined that it helped break through the turn-based stigma that many modern JRPGs have suffered from.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - 7 Hardest Bosses, Ranked
From hand cramps to ridiculous self-healing abilities, the hardest bosses in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 expect mastery from players, and nothing less
The counter system and world map design were two solid design decisions that helped Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 feel different from most modern JRPGs, maybe in part because it was developed in France. Thanks to its success, fans are clamoring to see giant franchises like Final Fantasy return to turn-based gameplay, all because this French game showed that there is still life left in the turn-based JRPG genre.
Silksong: The Raw Sales
Asking To Pay More Is Wild
Both of these games sold a lot of copies based on recent October 2025 data. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has sold about 5 million copies across all platforms, with the details about each console’s specific data being kept a secret. Hollow Knight: Silksong has sold about 6 million copies, which is even more impressive, given that it has only been out for six weeks at the time of writing.
Technically, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 made more money because the standard price of the game was $50, meaning that, at most, it earned $250 million. Hollow Knight: Silksong retailed at $20 a pop, meaning Team Cherry could have made about $120 million, which appears less successful on the surface. Let’s not forget, though, that it only took a month to sell this many copies of Hollow Knight: Silksong, while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has had a lot longer and has sold fewer copies overall.
Clair Obscur: More Time To Shine In 2025’s Sun
An Unfair Advantage
In January, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was given a movie deal, which is wild considering the game wasn’t even out when that deal was signed. It seemed like a bad move then, but months later, after a successful launch and rave reviews, it seems like Story Kitchen, the movie studio, actually made an excellent move.
They made a bet and it paid off, but all is not settled yet because the movie still has to be made. Game-to-movie adaptations can often go poorly, but there is hope. Hollow Knight: Silksong will probably not get a movie deal, but it does have plenty of merchandise already, thanks to places like Fangamer, which is something.
Silksong: Comparing The Scores
How Is This Mathematically Possible?
Both of these games received almost the same review scores across the two biggest aggregate review sites: Metacritic and Open Critic. Both games settled at a whopping 97% on Open Critic, which is obviously very good. Across every platform reviewed, Hollow Knight: Silksong’s average on Metacritic is 91.6, while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also 91.6, without rounding numbers up or down.
8 Strongest Characters In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ranked
From NPCs to party members, these Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 characters can demolish small cities if they want.
It almost seems like the games were destined to hash it out, but there is one other thing to consider. The highest Metacritic score for Hollow Knight: Silksong was the original Switch version at 94, while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 got a high of 93 for the PS5 version. It may be small, but this gives Hollow Knight: Silksong a slight victory on review scores.
Clair Obscur: No Negative Discourse
For The Most Part
Besides the game's launch breaking digital platforms, the other conversation surrounding Hollow Knight: Silksong’s release was the difficulty level. Many fans thought it was a lot harder than Hollow Knight because of the downward strike attack and high damage counters.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is also a hard game, but there are difficulty settings to help with that. Plus, as an RPG, players can level up their party to get out of any situation eventually. This flexibility led to no major negativity around Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s difficulty, nor any real negative discussion about any element of the game. On the other hand, Hollow Knight: Silksong, as financially successful as it is, is still tethered to its difficulty-level controversy.
The Verdict
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Was Unexpected
It’s hard to imagine a Game of the Year list in 2025 without both of these games on it. Who will win the coveted award from numerous publications is anyone’s guess, but both games have helped the industry immensely in 2025.
In the end, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the slightly more successful game, as it sold well, reviewed well, got a movie deal, rejuvenated its genre, and came out of nowhere to find a massive audience and unprecedented success. Hollow Knight: Silksong, as successful as it is, just hasn’t been fully embraced by everyone yet. While it is undoubtedly a fantastic game, given the pedigree of Hollow Knight, that wasn't totally unexpected.
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