Top 5 Games (that I played) in 2025
by totalpatoot
I played just over a dozen different games in 2025 and the time I spent with each game ranged from an hour to over 100 hours. There are so many games I wish I could’ve played this year and would likely have ended up on this list if I had, but having a baby transition to a toddler this year and other responsibilities really set the bar low for the breadth of games I experienced this year. I also found myself diving as deep as I could on some games, bordering on obsession. Especially when friends of mine are equally as obsessed, there is no stopping my drive to complete the next quest, finish my next run, or destroy the next boss in front of me during my free time.
I think that's more or less my theme this year: obsession (positive?). In a year that felt wildly inconsistent for reasons political, professional, and personal, having the select few games I played be a constant was a relief for me. They also dropped my two most anticipated games of the last five years in September: Silksong and Hades II, so for me it was a given that I would dedicate myself to these two games for the remainder of 2025. But I obsessed over Blue Prince earlier in the year too, despite coming away from that game feeling 50/50 on it. I think I seek out experiences that I can sink into for short bursts or long stretches that feel hand-crafted. All the games I spent significant time in this year feel lovingly made to me in their attention to detail, quality of game design, and killer art direction, writing, or music.
But before we get to my top games…
My Top Game-Adjacent Things of 2025
I’m gonna keep this section going this year as a lot of the joy I get from games isn’t derived from games themselves much of the time. This has always been true to some extent, but the culture around games and how I engage with that morphs a little from year-to-year in ways that aren’t always permanent, so I wanna document it!
Fantasy Critic
I started this year by forming a Fantasy Critic league with friends from different parts of my life and man, did I have a blast with it. As someone who keeps up with the games industry and new releases despite only playing a handful of them each year, this was the perfect outlet with which I could commit some of that excess energy and excitement over what amounts to pure speculation in most cases. If you don’t know, Fantasy Critic is the maybe the nerdiest version of a fantasy league you can think of–it’s a group of nerds getting together to “draft” upcoming video game releases into a roster that will give each player points on at the end of the year based on how well their games scored critically across several games media outlets. Critically, it has nothing to do with the general audience’s opinion—just how a game reviews with critics. So if you have an idea for how a game might go over with reviewers, among several other factors, you might pick good games. Or, like me, you’ll pick what you think are mostly slam dunks only to land in the middle of the pack.
My league enjoyed jabbing each other based on rough picks and celebrating wins. It was a fun way to keep up with game releases and share that excitement among friends. I even made some superlative awards to celebrate more than just the overall winner that were initially inspired by the goofy superlatives they hand out at the end of a round of CTR. Here’re a few of those awards:
Midwest Gaming Classic
Somehow this was my first games-focused convention I’ve ever attended and it was incredibly fun! I went with my dad and brother-in-law and I think they’d both agree that the one day we spent there was too little time to see everything we wanted to see. MGC is focused on buying and selling retro games of all types, but also had a ton of super unique exhibits that blew my mind. My favorite pickup from a vendor was the Gameboy Player attachment for the GameCube, which I had wanted ever since I modded my childhood GameCube to emulate discs with a FlippyDrive. Aside from the vendors, I have to mention how wild it was that I saw the “Nintendo” Kawaii, AKA the “keychain-sized Nintendo Wii.” They had it set up to demo and showed a few motherboards for Nintendo Wii that had been cut apart to only include the teeny tiny little section that was necessary to run the system. It was wild to see in-person and chat with the creator of it. I desperately want one, but it’ll never be for sale and I’m not savvy enough to build it myself!
Additionally, I played a bit of a modded Halo of LAN, enjoyed an arcade room, and saw Mortal Kombat II actors signing autographs. It was super cool and I can’t wait to go back.
Nintendo Switch 2
Yeah, it’s pretty neat. Works good.
Gifting my original Nintendo Switch
While the Switch 2 is great and all, what was way better for me was getting the opportunity to gift my original Switch to my nephews and niece. I haven’t gotten rid of a single system I’ve picked up in my adulthood, but given the backwards compatibility, this was a no-brainer for me. I’ve played Mario Kart 8 and Smash Bros Ultimate with my nephews most times I’ve seen them over the last 8 years and they were overjoyed to learn the same system was now theirs to have at home! Seeing the joy on their faces (and their dad’s) when they realized some of what was now possible for them to play made me feel a lot of warm fuzzies.
Honorable Mentions
Blue Prince
I love Blue Prince. I also hate Blue Prince. And I recognize that much of my hate is unwarranted and narrow-minded. I’m okay with that. Please enjoy my Bluesky thread of Steve Brule gifs that truly encapsulate my full impressions.
If this game even sounds a little interesting to you, just play it. It’s worth seeing!
Disco Elysium and Citizen Sleeper 2
I’m embarrassed by how little Citizen Sleeper 2 I played this year considering how excited I was for its release. All I can say is that I started and stopped playing for the same reason I started and put down Disco Elysium: this year was hard!! Both of these games’ narratives required more of me emotionally than I had to give to a piece of media this year. Which is ironic considering my number 5 game. Both games are beautifully written and are gorgeous to look at, but handled themes that I couldn’t hang with for the duration; not yet. I plan to finish both of these, but I couldn’t do it in 2025.
Mario Kart World
Now, talk about a game I did make time for! Mario Kart World is awesome and a great next step in the series in a lot of ways. It also sidesteps what has made the series a classic by more or less eliminating the traditional courses for a huge, interconnected map. You can read any number of forum posts or articles on this shift in focus, but in short: while I like the interconnected map, I simply want my regular courses! There are these transition “laps” that are super bland in the cup format that take away from the bespoke courses significantly. So much so in some courses that it feels like you're only on the actual course for the final lap sometimes!
Otherwise the game really is a ton of fun (shoutout the revised Dino Dino Jungle—that track rips), but I think it’s one of those games from Nintendo that will get better as they inevitably tack on new features/races/racers over the next few years. Therefore, it didn’t really hit in some of the ways I’d hoped it would after the triumph that was MK 8 Deluxe.
Lego Party
This one really shocked me despite being both a longtime Lego and Mario Party fan. I kept hearing about it from the duders on the Bombcast and I took their word that it was not only a good Mario Party-like, but perhaps even better than Mario Party’s ever been. High praise!
I picked this up in the last week of the year to play with family and we had an absolute ball with it. All we did was play the mini games, but I was shocked how much fun I was having in each and every game. Usually in any Mario Party there are clunkers that feel super unfair or are just flat out boring, but Lego Party’s minigames just kept hitting. I’m excited to keep playing this one and explore the main game mode soon.
Onto the list!
5. Mouthwashing
Most games that really stick with me need 5-10 or more hours to cement themselves in my memory. Mouthwashing only needed 2.
This is one of the few pieces of horror media that I have willingly consumed in my life. I’m simply not a horror fan, by and large. But given the right combination of other factors and/or the right mood I’ll give something a shot. Mouthwashing was a game I couldn’t stop hearing about in 2024 that I knew I’d have to play someday based on what I heard. Mouthwashing takes place in a scifi setting, which immediately helped its case with me as I gravitate toward scifi horror—something to do with how it’s easier to separate it from reality. But it also has an extreme attention to detail that I kept appreciating more and more as I reflected on my experience with it. The pacing is highly intentional when it shifts from swift to painfully slow in some particularly stressful moments. This game is mostly one that you watch play out rather than engaging much with it, but the moments you are asked to engage are chosen with care (and occasionally cruelty). As a nonlinear narrative, it is jarring in the moment, but the clarity with which they execute the finale is both clear as day and loud as hell.
The themes of power, corruption, and survival are all portrayed masterfully at several points through the character interactions and in a ton of the set dressing. Those are the real stars of Mouthwashing. The characters, while half aren’t likeable in the slightest, make themselves fully known to the player over the course of the game. It’s an ensemble drama with some super authentic characters, for better and worse. Attention to detail in world building is incredible. Between the cheesy corporate propaganda signs posted around the ship and the on-screen prompts that are ever-changing depending on your character’s mood and perspective, I always felt like I immediately understood the world and the motivations of the characters I interacted with (or at least, I thought I did).
Mouthwashing stood out to me as a game that cut straight to the chase, knew what it had to say, and took me on twists and turns I couldn’t have anticipated. All in the runtime of a typical movie. While it's hard to recommend for a number of potentially triggering reasons, if the mood strikes, I can't recommend it enough.
4. Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire
Well, this and the previous game couldn’t be more different, huh? Pokemon Pinball: Ruby and Sapphire was mentioned super briefly by Turboshawn Shawn McDowell on an episode of the Bombcast and that got me thinking: “Should I finally play that game? I bet I can run it on my hacked Nintendo 3DS I’ve barely touched in months…”
And boy howdy, did I get into this one—what a triumph of a game! Building on the original Pokemon Pinball, a game I’ve loved since childhood, the sequel is just better in every possible way, plus it’s got that signature GBA look and appeal. I’m not even a huge pinball guy overall, but I went nuts for this game. Once I realized that I was enjoying my time with the game, I started tracking down how to capture all 201 Pokemon across the two boards. This requires some significant time as you’ve gotta stay alive long enough to capture and evolve Pokemon by meeting various requirements and not drain the ball too quickly. In essence, there are some RNG considerations when seeking out specific Pokemon. On top of that, you have to score super high scores and meet other requirements to even have a shot at one of the “boss” levels multiple times to capture the legendary Pokemon available in the game. It was so satisfying building up my understanding and mastery of the mechanics, shooting for high scores, and capturing all the ‘mon in the PokeDex (which has some WILD entries, y’all).
I got so into this joint that when I saw that you could capture 4 Pokemon that were exclusive to a PHYSICAL, JAPANESE-ONLY “eCard” system back in the 2000s, I immediately sought out the steps to emulate that process digitally and capture the 3 Johto starters and Aerodactyl. Was this required to “complete” the game? Absolutely not. Did I enjoy going sicko mode and spending an inordinate amount of time doing it anyway? ABSOLUTELY.
Okay, one more thing for the nerds before I move on. I was also able to have a surprisingly modern, yet authentically retro experience playing this game on my 3DS. First of all, I played it using “bare metal” emulation, which is to say that I was running the ROM file for Pokemon Pinball Ruby and Sapphire directly on the hardware inside the 3DS itself, rather than through an app on the home menu. This was done through a program called “open_agb_firm,” which allowed me to immediately boot the system into a sub menu and fire up the game almost instantaneously as if I had inserted a cartridge into a GBA. Instant load times are… simply not a thing on the 3DS family of consoles, so to be able to just load up my save and be playing in seconds was great enough. But on top of that, I realized that this game also had an incredible save system on its own: you can open the menu and save the game at ANY second of gameplay. Like, we’re talking it saves exactly where the ball was on the board and how it was moving when you paused the game. So I could just pause, save, and resume with the kind of speed and precision that I barely even expect of some modern games. This kind of functional save was relatively unheard of before the era of autosaves, so that absolutely helped keep my interest going and makes me love this game all the more.
If you like pinball and Pokemon any amount at all, you owe it to yourself to give this game a whirl. It's such a fun take on both.
3. Donkey Kong Bananza
I haven't finished Bananza, but I don't have to to know it is a triumph of a game and we're lucky to have the next 3D Donkey Kong game be this dang good. Can you believe there hasn't been another 3D DK since the N64?? And then they made this? Yeah, me neither.
Admittedly, this is the only game in this list I’ve not completed—in fact, I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere near the end. It’s a game that I started in the weeks leading up to my top 2 games, so it got bumped. That said, it doesn’t take away from how incredible this game is in every way. It is simply a joy to punch, punch, and punch your way through each nearly fully destructible environment. It’s a platformer that is begging you to break it. Break EVERYTHING with your meaty monkey mitts.
It’s a game that, at certain points, doesn’t feel real. On a technical level you can feel how they’re firing on all cylinders in this game. There’s an impossibly detailed minimap that is a simplified 3D model of the entire level that adjusts based on your destructiveness. Donkey Kong controls so tightly and intuitively in ways I could never have imagined a big ape feeling in a video game.
On top of all that, the writing is fun, even funny on a regular basis. On par with a modern animated kids movie, but like, a good one.
Donkey Kong Bananza is the best 3D Donkey Kong game by a landslide. Trust me, I played a ton of DK64 multiplayer, so I would know.
2. Hades II
The Supergiant Games Fanboy has logged on yet again…
It's wild to put this at #2 in my list this year again. I definitely would have guessed it would take #1 no matter what else came out. But, well…
Anyway, let's talk about Hades II first. I put 84 hours into this game before 1.0 was released in September, so I knew I loved this game. The ways in which they tied it all up by the end though has been a joy to experience. I started a brand new save after the full game came out and loved my experience all the way through. Everything I said last year holds up and more! Having spent so much time with the game before some of the end game story and functionality got introduced, I almost see 1.0 as a different game. Early access was really a great way to experience Hades II, whose story centers on the main character toiling and training to defeat the ultimate enemies. And before the full release you could beat those enemies, but you wouldn't make meaningful story progression past a certain point. Despite that I kept going back, so no matter how many times I defeated the end boss of a run, I started again. It kinda felt like I was training as Melinoe, which made some of the story beats hit a little harder than after 1.0.
Even so, the additions to the end game are, again, joyous. The way they pay homage to the first game and develop relationships with all the characters has brought several smiles to my face. I have to admit that I didn't always make time to listen to every character interaction, but I appreciate and admire just how much writing goes into this game. To me, it's still the gold standard in some ways for that visual novel-style storytelling and character development.
Except Eris. We don't talk about Eris.
I'm really glad I got to play Hades II in full this year. Having the next version of my favorite game knock it out of the park in every possible way is so satisfying. I'm still shocked that Supergiant pursued a sequel, which is something they expressly did not do for so many years, but I can confidently say they took it about as seriously as anyone could ever hope for. That said, I'm certainly in the camp that is ready to see their next new game when they're ready to announce it. In the meantime, I've plenty of achievements to wrap up, builds to test, and relationships to tend.
1. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Hype plus an insufferable fan base is an easy formula for killing my interest in a thing. Silksong’s hype had been fomenting for years, so much so that any mention of Silksong online became white noise to me. But, when Team Cherry made the announcement and the game had an actual release date I immediately gave myself over to the hype for a couple short weeks.
What's craziest to me about the announcement is that, as many have compared it to GTA VI, publishers actively pushed their release schedules to avoid drowning in a Sea of Sorrow… Sorry, I’ll show myself out.
But for real, is a $20 game really going to do that much damage to your game’s release? I guess some thought that was the case. Maybe that’s justified considering this breakdown from the Peak devs. Either way, this was a monumental moment in the year for the industry and gamers everywhere whether the devs intended it to be or not. Jason Schreier also wrote an incredibly uplifting interview with Team Cherry about the development process of the game and in a year full of awful news about AI in games and mass layoffs, boy did we need a positive perspective on game development. A standout quote from Ari Gibson in the article reads, “It’s nice to make fun things.” Ari and Team Cherry, by their own admission, are very privileged to be able to make games with such a carefree attitude. I hope the industry can stay healthy enough to support more and more indie developers long enough for them to let such a simple, yet powerful mindset guide their work too.
Anyhow, when the day came and I booted it up, I felt ready to combat my bias and critique the game on its own terms. Certainly I would be making comparisons to the original Hollow Knight, but I wanted to ignore the overwhelming chatter and make my own conclusions. And y’all, it’s simple: game good. The changes in movement, combat, and story are apparent from the jump and they are all substantial improvements. I knew Hornet would feel different, but she feels incredible to control as you leap around the world. While a double jump is held back from your rotation a while, there’s a sprint you receive early on that—I’m just gonna say it—is the best sprint I've ever used?? In any video game??? It’s nice to be able to move more quickly through the world and turn on a dime, but it also gives you more momentum to reach new areas. This feeling is nothing new for a Metroidvania upgrade, but I’m telling you the way it made me feel when I landed on a platform that was only accessible with the longer jump is nothing short of exhilarating.
And maybe I’m generalizing a bit, but nearly every upgrade in Silksong feels this way. Which, again, upgrades in a Metroidvania are explicitly designed to make you feel stronger/faster/more capable, yes. But the finesse on movement and combat the upgrades bring in Silksong is up there with the all-time greats. I have not played every Metroidvania out there (in fact, I should prolly finish a Metroid OR a Castlevania sometime, huh?), but to me that’s what separates this game from the others I’ve played.
It’s not to say I had a pleasant time with every part of the game, but much of what I perceived as frustrating or BS was mostly within my control to continue engaging with. Take the Savage Beastfly in Hunter’s March: a punishing boss in an already punishing zone of the game. I made it to this optional boss early on and railed against and attempted to defeat it over and over for multiple days. Could I have gone anywhere else? Oh yeah. But I kept at it out of spite and to challenge myself. Any time I felt stuck somewhere, I wasn’t really stuck unless it was part of progressing the main story. Even then, I would find myself looking to overcome challenges I could’ve made easier by looking for another tool or upgrade elsewhere. What I mean to say is: a lot of the struggle I had with this game was self-imposed. Sure, Team Cherry also know how to make punishing bosses and platforming challenges, but they are also extremely talented at giving you access to several methods to overcome everything they throw at you.
I think it’s easy to see the storytelling improvements in Silksong and go, “well yeah, sure, they added more of the basics” when you compare it to the first game. But, I think they went beyond just adding quests and actual dialogue with Hornet versus the silent Knight. The ways in which they built out an interconnected world with distinct cultures and improved on atmospheric storytelling cannot be denied. Their style of storytelling isn’t unique to them, but Team Cherry really polished every corner of the world in a way that made me want to pursue every nugget of lore and character interaction I could. Even at the end, when I was more than a little compelled to follow the main quest and finish the final act, I kept making deliveries for the couriers, seeking out the Green Prince to learn more of his story, and playing carnival games with the fleas.
I kept pursuing these things because I wanted to capitalize on my acquired skills while they were sharpest. Future DLC for this game will have me sprinting back to the game to flex my old skills once again, but I’ll inevitably be rusty. So, for anything that required peak skill (lookin’ at you Karmelita), I was determined to see it through. For me, Silksong maintained that fine balancing act of challenging, but fair that some of my favorite games excel at like Elden Ring or Into the Breach.
And that’s what kept me coming back nearly every day for 2+ months straight. I couldn’t stop; I lived and breathed Pharloom air every spare moment I had. Having it portably on Switch was clutch, as it’s a perfect game to pick up, make a little movement or try another boss attempt and put back down when I needed to. The gameplay is super satisfying, story and characters endlessly enriching, and the flexibility of bite-sized or marathon sessions made this a near-perfect game for me in 2025. On top of that, I had my own little community of Silksong fans in close friends who played the game simultaneously with me, which is always such a source of joy for me. I absolutely love comparing notes and giving hints back and forth with my friends when we’re all enjoying a game. See my article on Animal Crossing and Hades in 2020 for more of my thoughts on that. I relish any opportunity to share a single player game by frantically texting my friends updates and scheduling calls to dive deep on our favorite moments and reflect on what made the experience unique for each of us.
Silksong easily lived up to the hype and more for me. It also served as a welcome distraction during a particularly tough season in some ways for me this year. That was a very potent combo. This game challenged me about as far as I think I will ever allow a game to challenge me before putting it down, but the highs of overcoming those challenges were so gratifying. I’m thankful to add this to my list of all-timers.
Sleep well, Hornet. Til the DLC drops, at least.
BONUS: Closing Thoughts
I really don’t have a whole lot else to say. 2025 was the year I played the least amount of games in recent years (maybe ever?). But I really loved that feeling of getting the most juice for the squeeze where I could. Quality over quantity, I guess?
Goals for 2026:
Do pretty good in my Fantasy Critic League
Finally finish a Metroid and/or a Castlevania so I can be a real Metroidvania fan
Thanks for reading. Have a great year, friend.