Published on November 24, 2025

What’s the theme, dude?

2025 has been a bit of a strange year for video games. In years past when I’m looking at how to gauge what games are going to make it onto my GOTY list, there are often a few standouts and themes that accompany those games. 2024 felt like an indie game smorgasbord with things like 1000xRESIST, Balatro and my beloved Shapez 2. 2023 offered huge returning heavy hitters that delivered on their promise with games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Octopath Traveler 2 and Super Mario Wonder. However, in 2025 the field feels more open, like there isn’t a clear frontrunner. To me that speaks to a theme that has been simmering the whole year, and that is whether a game’s sequel is iterating or evolving.

But isn’t evolution better?

In general, I think evolution in game design is the more interesting approach. You take a game, look at what worked about it, and change up the formula enough that it feels like something else entirely. You could see the move from Forza Motorsport to Forza Horizon being exactly this. Is Horizon still a racing game? Absolutely! But you’d be hard pressed to call that and Motorsport the same game at its core. Of course, this comes with the risk that you might whiff it. I doubt anyone would knock Zelda 2 for its lack of originality in its mechanics, but it sure didn’t hit right as a follow-up to one of the best games on the NES.

In other situations, a more iterative approach makes sense. You saw a lot of games in the PS2 era take this idea and run with it. Is a game like Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 dramatically different from one another? I’d argue no, but the iteration that went on between 1 and 2 made KH2 shine as bright as it could. This is true for series like Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank, God of War and a number of other series. It is the safer bet but one that could lead to a perfection of a formula that had not yet reached the heights it could. This comes with the caveat that you might wear out the audience. Into the Aether calls this the “A2 Problem”, in reference to the fact that Final Fantasy Tactics iterated on the formula it had been building on for years, put out one of the best entries in the series and then promptly stopped making Final Fantasy Tactics games, leaving players with hindsight to question why that title was received with so much indifference at the time.

If we’re looking at more recent years, 2024 felt like a great year for evolving video games. 2023 felt closer to an iterative year. 2025, though, feels more mixed and with more varied results.

How about some examples?

Mario Kart World released alongside the Switch 2 and as a follow-up to what is currently the 5th best selling game of all time, Mario Kart 8. I’d argue this game was an evolution of the Mario Kart formula. It has an open world for you to explore, it has different race modes that feel novel, and even the beloved Grand Prix mode has some changes in it that I know did not hit right for a lot of fans. The general consensus I got from the folks I talked to about this game landed around an enthusiastic shrug. Not bad but currently it does not fill the shoes of its predecessor.

On the other end of the success in evolving a series, let’s take a look at Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. I know it may seem strange to mark this game down as an evolution given that it is a remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, but if you play those two games you will know what I am talking about. Is the story nearly identical? Yes definitely. However, the mechanics of the remake have been rebuilt from the foundation, the visuals are completely reworked and the dialog is now spoken by an amazing cast. I love what this remake has done to a game that was already good, but in spots it did feel a bit stale.

In regards to sequels that have iterated, consider Death Stranding 2. A follow-up to a game that I loved, it has brought over a lot of what made that game great, but also has iterated and sanded off some of the edges. The combat is less clunky and more focused on action, you are put into the main loop of the game much earlier than in the previous entry, and much of the friction that was present in DS1 is not here. I would expect that to make for a better game but something about it does not quite work. It is possible that part of the special sauce of DS1 was that it was unforgiving and allowed the player to feel vulnerable. You are a squishy man trying his best to overcome the environment. In DS2, you feel closer to Solid Snake than you do a UPS driver, which is certainly an iteration but one that I do not think served the game.

In contrast to DS2, consider Monster Train 2. The additions in this sequel are much more tangible. There are more clans, there are more cards, and more enemies. It is decidedly not an evolution. That said, I sure have not stopped playing it since the moment it released. It is a game that has captured my attention and my love to the point where I have nearly beaten the game with every clan combination (180 combinations for those keeping track at home). It was a much safer bet but one that I think paid off for Monster Train 2.

Alright so what’s the takeaway?

This might not be groundbreaking but 2025, to me, is evidence that not every game needs to be reinvented for it to be good, but also that you run the risk of iterating out of what made the original entry in a series magic in the first place. There are a few games that I think manage to be both an iteration and an evolution but I have to keep those cards a little closer to my chest lest Video Game Podtimism’s GOTY episode be totally devoid of surprises. That said, I am curious if this framework holds for you. Did your favorite game feel like a totally original bolt of lightning or was it more of a few additions to a series you already loved? Think about it!