Hi, I’m Johnny Amizich, freelance writer for Hard Drive, The Hard Times, and host of the Culture Dumpster podcast over on patreon.com/culturedumpster. You may recognize me from Hard Drive Presents: A Woke And Gay Charity Stream when Giant Bomb’s own Mike Minotti was forced to play The Lion King for SNES, and helped us raise nearly $13,000 for Trans Lifeline. 2025 has sucked for a lot of reasons, but at least we can still make fools of ourselves on the internet to raise money for good causes. All through the magic and wonder of video games.
Video games: Is there anything they can’t do?
Actually, I’ll tell you what video games can’t do. They can’t rank and sort themselves into arbitrary lists; the technology simply doesn’t exist. But don’t worry, Sam Altman and his crack team of AI wizards are hard at work to bring that technology to life. Coincidentally, it will destroy all natural life in the process of training the model capable of making video games able to rank and sort themselves into arbitrary lists, but I think once you see the results, you’ll agree that making the planet uninhabitable was worth it.
I’m also going to defy convention by declining to rank and sort my list by any metric other than “these are some games I played and loved this year”, can your eggheads at xAI teach Grok to do the same, Elon?
Warning: I will keep things as vague as possible, but there will be some mild spoilers ahead.
Europa Universalis V
I got my first taste of Map Games when the launch of Crusader Kings 3 coincided with the week I had to isolate myself for possibly having Covid in 2020. Turns out, I didn’t have Covid, but I did catch a chronic case of Map Game Fever. Bad. I played CK3 for over 40 hours in less than a week. If I hadn’t been locked in my office with my PC, ignoring my family while trying to conquer England with my budding Irish empire for anything other than valid medical reasons, you could have reasonably accused me of neglect. All that to say: I was unfortunately laid off from my full-time job in November, and after sinking nearly 40hours into EUV right after it launched, I have been avoiding it like the plague because, despite being unemployed,d I have shit to do. Like writing this list.
That being said, Europa Universalis V is simply one of the most impressive video games I have ever played. There are so many systems you can engage with or ignore completely if you so choose, and if you are an oaf like me, there are a myriad of tutorials and explainers out there to help you limp your way to victory or humiliating defeat.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has a side quest where you go to all the fireplaces in a castle to splash them with holy water to expel demons. In the town of Kvatch, if you visit the inn at night, you can participate in, or bear witness to, a group of Kumins beating the ever living fuck out of a group of villagers who made the mistake of being just a bit too racist. If you choose to simply be a bystander, you can follow the Kumins back to their camp, which winds up being a place of significance in the game. There are so many moments like that where, no matter how you arrive at a point, Warhorse seems to have prepared for that eventuality. They keep things moving and adapt to the player’s actions, instead of forcing you to go back to a checkpoint or restarting a sequence.
Despite being set in 1403, as an American, I felt right at home with all the NPCs who believe in witches, cryptids, and love the idea of a supreme dickhead lording over them like a king, and it also goes to show that, despite being separated by centuries of progress and scientific achievement, the world has always been full of idiots.
KCD2 is one of the best RPGs I have ever played, and Bethesda should be embarrassed that a much smaller studio has eaten their lunch when it comes to immersive open worlds that let the player do whatever they want.
Ghost of Yōtei
Climbable surfaces in Ghost of Yōtei are signified by bird-shit-streaked cliffsides, which is very funny, but apparently this has been a theme for Sucker Punch since at least Infamous: Second Son. Either way, gamers absolutely deserve to have to crawl through a little bit of shit to get to their objective.
Oh, and the game is also absolutely gorgeous and improves in just about every way over Ghost of Tsushima. It’s quite good.
Ball X Pit
My favorite thing about Ball X Pit is how it masterfully weaves together elements of base building, deck builders, roguelites, and games like Holedown together into a complex yet approachable game that feels distinct yet familiar.
My least favorite thing is how no one else seems to pronounce the “X” when they talk about it, clearly visible in the title. What’s wrong with you people?
ARC Raiders
Arc Raiders is a game you play with friends who yell at you for saying, “We’re super squishy”, to a group of other raiders before getting lit up like a Christmas tree in springtime by a sniper on a rooftop and his friend with a shotgun on the ground as you’re trying to extract. It’s a lot of fun.
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Why write how I feel about Silksong when Three Days Grace has already written the perfect song for the occasion?
Fallout: New Vegas
New Vegas has been my favorite Fallout game since I played the launch version on the Xbox 360 back in 2010. I’ve switched to playing games primarily on the PC since then, and this was the year I finally took the time to install ALL THE MODS. After following the excellent Viva New Vegas guide, I was able to experience one of my favorite games in a new way that made me appreciate just how much all the great parts of New Vegas outshone the glaring technical issues. Add to that the fact that people have taken the time to continue to improve it for new players over fifteen years since it came out, and it’s easy to understand why it has reached meme status. It’s simply that good.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dan Ryckert is the reason I ever gave Death Stranding a second chance after having much the same reaction he did playing the initial release of the game. I hated it. I didn’t get anything it was trying to do, and on the gaming podcast I was a part of at the time, during our Game of the Year deliberations, I nearly gave myself a coronary after learning about the “Princess Beach” line. Then I heard Dan talk about the Director’s Cut when it came out, and I decided to give it another shot. After all, if the man who didn’t try mustard until he was old enough to rent a car could show a modicum of growth, why couldn’t I?
So I did, and it finally clicked.
- Me after playing Death Stranding: Director’s Cut.
Death Stranding 2 is the game I needed the most this year. There are still things that annoy me, but George Miller is the captain of my submarine, and I have the soul of a grieving father and widower trapped in the body of a doll that shares advice, exposition, or friendly conversation on long deliveries. I love you, Dollman.
But that’s not what I’m talking about when I say it was the game I needed the most this year. The gameplay loop in Death Stranding is a wonderful metaphor for things we should all try to remember when we are trapped in the darkest recesses of our own hearts. All you can do is move forward, and though you may be disconnected from the world for a time, you can find your way back or forge new bonds, or strands, that link to the old ones. There are people who you will never meet or interact with (beyond frantically clicking the touchpad on your controller) who will gladly share what they have for the benefit of everyone who may travel down that same path. A kind stranger might offer you a place out of the rain under their umbrella. Some thoughtful porter may build a private room near the isolated delivery location you find yourself, your stamina low, and your resources lower. Life can chew you up and spit you out like a wad of gum, but there are almost always other people out there who understand your struggle, and would be glad to help.
So when I say it’s the game I needed the most what I’m really saying is despite how hard this year has been for anyone with a functioning heart who lives in America, for my own hardships which I won’t bore you with, and how hard it’s felt just to get out of bed in the morning and face the world, it’s nice to be reminded there are perfect strangers willing to take time out of their day to make yours a little bit better.
Death Stranding 2 is also very silly, and the world could do with far more whimsy.