Pop Culture Happy Hour: 2025 Best Video Games

Podcast: Pop Culture Happy Hour (NPR)
Air Date: December 30, 2025
Host: Linda Holmes
Guests: James Mastro Marino (NPR Here & Now, games editor), Vincent Nacovino (All Things Considered, video game coverage)

Episode Overview

This episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour dives into the standout video games of 2025, featuring recommendations from NPR’s annual staff roundup. The discussion covers innovative narratives, impactful art direction, old-school influences, and the rich variety of genres that defined gaming this year. The hosts and guests explore both blockbuster hits and indie gems, highlighting why 2025 was another exceptional year for gamers of all stripes—whether you’re looking for avant-garde adventures, psychological horror, darkly comedic throwbacks, or intricate puzzle mysteries.

Key Discussions & Insights

[04:01] – Introduction to the 2025 Best Games Roundup

• Linda Holmes describes NPR's extensive staff recommendations for games, which span both video and tabletop varieties, emphasizing the ability to filter picks by genre and platform.
• The curated guide is intended to showcase the diversity in gaming, from cozy to challenging experiences.

[04:32] – James's Pick #1: Clair Obscure: Expedition 33

• Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox
• Summary:
  • A turn-based RPG blending French New Wave cinema aesthetics and existentialist storytelling with 90s RPG design.
  • Set in a post-apocalyptic world where citizens are fated to die at progressively younger ages; protagonists are all turning 33, the new cut-off.
• Notable Features:
  • Surreal, moving narrative with unexpected plot twists.
  • Distinctive art style (monsters like paintbrush people made of wood).
  • Award-winning performances and visuals.
• Notable Quote:
  • “It just swept at the Game Awards, largely deservedly, because this thing is kind of like what you would get if you cross a French New Wave film with an existentialist novel with kind of a throwback 1990s role playing game design.” – James [04:38]
• Memorable Moment:
  • Linda jokes about the consequences of lowering age limits:
    • “So by the end of this, you're like fighting babies.” – Linda [05:36]
    • James quips in reply: “I can neither confirm nor deny if there is baby fighting.” [06:27]

[06:42] – Vincent's Pick #1: Silent Hill F

• Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox
• Summary:
  • The beloved horror franchise returns, set in 1960s Japan.
  • Protagonist Hanako is caught between family pressure and eldritch threats; monsters and environments reflect the character’s psychological state.
  • Leans into psychological horror and narrative depth over cheap jump scares.
• Notable Features:
  • Deeply researched and immersive sense of place and social history.
  • Multiple endings, relatively short playthrough, rewarding replayability.
  • Layered puzzle mechanics catering to completionists and casual players.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “...the monsters and the locations...reflect the inner turmoil of your character. And so it's a lot more psychological horror than it is kind of jump scare horror.” – Vincent [06:53]
  • “It's like one of the most remarkable storytelling experiences I've had this year...you get what you want to take from it.” – Vincent [09:41]
  • “There is no shortage of puzzles in the Silent Hill series. And including in Silent Hill F, it's not just whacking monsters.” – James [09:55]
• Discussion Points:
  • Replay incentivized by secret endings and incremental changes.
  • Accessibility to both horror fans and narrative-driven players.

[11:10] – James's Pick #2: Hades II

• Platform: Switch, Switch 2, PC
• Summary:
  • Sequel to the 2020 roguelike sensation, expanding the mythological action, cast of Greek gods, and player choices.
  • Deep, procedurally generated narrative; “drip-fed” story progression ensures strong replay value.
• Notable Features:
  • Vastly expanded world and mechanics.
  • Inclusive romance (“a lot of Greek gods you can befriend or even smooch”).
  • Ideal for both roguelike veterans and newcomers.
• Personal Anecdote:
  • James relates his own experience of playing Hades II during late-night newborn care:
    • “I've spent many nights, long nights and long mornings with my Steam deck with a baby on chest, rocking it to sleep as I just have to go to the depths of the underworld…” [11:19]
• Notable Insights:
  • Hades II is more complex and ambitious, but Hades I remains more accessible.
• Memorable Moment:
  • Linda quips about James’s baby: “It's gonna be a baby with some interesting sense memories.” [12:25]

[13:46] – Vincent’s Pick #2: Butcher’s Creek

• Platform: PC
• Summary:
  • Lo-fi, indie horror from David Szymanski, known for retro horror stylings.
  • Protagonist battles a cult making snuff films, combining grisly horror with unexpected dark comedy.
• Notable Features:
  • Self-aware, humorous twist on classic survival horror tropes (mocking “bad diaries” like Resident Evil’s infamous “itchy, tasty”).
  • Designed almost entirely by one person.
  • Delivers big narrative ideas with minimalistic visuals and gameplay.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “...in video games there's often this way of telling stories where it's slowly revealed to you by these text documents... and in early horror games, especially Resident Evil, they're so poorly written that they're like unintentionally funny.... Butcher's Creek takes stuff like that... and turns them into jokes.” – Vincent [14:34]
  • “It does so much with so little, but the narrative is actually really effective, really funny.” – James [15:57]
• Discussion Points:
  • Effective use of genre to empower auteur creators.
  • Ideal for retro game fans and those with a taste for black humor.

[17:08] – Linda's Pick: The Root Trees Are Dead

• Platform: PC
• Summary:
  • Detective puzzle game centering on reconstructing a dead wealthy family’s tree for inheritance purposes.
  • Players sift through illustrated documents, letters, and fake Internet searches to uncover connections.
• Notable Features:
  • Swapped out controversial AI-generated art for compelling hand-drawn illustrations after player feedback.
  • Focus on satisfying puzzles and an adaptive hint system.
• Linda’s Perspective:
  • Praises the hint system for balancing guidance without spoiling solutions entirely.
  • Appreciates the emphasis on research, deduction, and (importantly) low frustration for non-action gamers.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “A game like this...has often a hint structure, and much depends on how good is the hint structure, by which I mean, will the hint structure actually solve your frustration. And in this game, I would say the answer is yes.” – Linda [18:59]
  • “It's a combination of different kinds of things that I like, but I think this is what I like about a feature like the one that you guys worked on is that it will remind you…there's lots of different stuff out there for lots of different people.” – Linda [20:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On "Clair Obscure: Expedition 33":

  • “[It's] kind of like what you would get if you cross a French New Wave film with an existentialist novel with kind of a throwback 1990s role playing game design.” – James [04:38]

• On "Silent Hill F" and replaying for endings:

  • “If you're going to play a horror game, Silent Hill isn't a bad choice, because you have this narrative richness.” – Vincent [08:53]
  • “If you want to go back and try new things and, you know, discover new things, you can.” – Linda [10:55]

• On "Hades II" and gaming as a new parent:

  • “It's been just what my brain has needed in this kind of new parenthood phase of my life. So I have just about extracted every morsel, like every drop that I can possibly get out of this thing after maybe 80 hours.” – James [11:24]

• On "Butcher’s Creek" and horror games as fertile creative ground:

  • “I often find that in video games, horror is sort of a genre, just like in movies, where auteurs are kind of able to take big risks in kind of a genre that allows for it.” – Vincent [16:13]

• On the breadth of gaming in 2025:

  • “If you didn't know there was a video game that you can play where you run a bookshop, now you know. And if you didn't know there was one where you just basically do research in the archives about a family of dead rich people, now you know, you know.” – Linda [20:44]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:32] — Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 (James)
• [06:42] — Silent Hill F (Vincent)
• [11:10] — Hades II (James)
• [13:46] — Butcher’s Creek (Vincent)
• [17:08] — The Root Trees Are Dead (Linda)

Concluding Thoughts

This episode celebrates how the best games of 2025 reflect the ever-expanding diversity of themes, storylines, and player experiences in video gaming. From psychological horror and quirky indie titles to rich, old-school RPGs and innovative puzzle games, the hosts and guests encourage listeners to explore widely and embrace the game that suits their style. As Linda reminds us, “there's lots of different stuff out there for lots of different people.”

Connect

Share your picks: Find the hosts at facebook.com/PCHH to chime in with your favorite games of the year.