A List of Good Games I Played in 2025

As tempting as it is to do a big thing about the kind of year 2025 was (and what kind of a year 2026 seems to be shaping up to be already) I think I'll set that aside for now. It suffices to say that things are pretty fucking bad, and will continue to be pretty fucking bad, but there's still good out there worth fighting for and also there's still stuff you can enjoy. Here's some of that stuff, in video game form, that I played! I'll mostly be talking about games that actually came out this year but there are one or two games which are maybe a little older. Slightly.

Anyway, let's get started - as always, I'll name a GOTY, but the rest of the list is just in order of release date, more or less.

Game That is Proof of My Own Deteriorating Mental State

It's the Lads

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
I was on vacation for a couple of weeks, flying back to the US to see my family and whatnot, which is a great opportunity to sit on an eight hour long plane ride and try not to lose my mind. This time, I brought my Analogue Pocket with me and, once I'd sat down on the plane, spent roughly from the moment they closed the doors to the first announcement we'd hit cruising altitude getting through the first four levels of this thing. I've already talked about how this game's gotten its hooks into me, and my determination to beat it this year, and I stand by all of it. I can kind of sleepwalk through the first three areas now (saving Splinter, once an impossible goal, is now something I can do in about 30-40 minutes depending on how many times I mess up some of the jumps), and I've gotten past the fourth area enough to start really learning area 5 (where you have to fight the Technodrome). Unfortunately, I have no idea how to beat the Technodrome and usually can't even get to it just yet. It's still a hell of a lot of fun though! Broken and maybe like, objectively not a well put together experience, but that soundtrack still fucking rules.

Game I Wish Had Less Plot

Monster Hunter Wilds
This game was, I thought, a lock for my game of the year. I was convinced! It looked so good, and while I was a little leery about what it seemed like they were doing with the mounts, I assumed I would get used to it. Then the game started playing cutscenes and there were walk and talks where you just ride on your mount (or more accurately, your mount just walks to a destination and you at most try to snag some items with your little net while you go) and I just wanted to curl up and die. I do not care about your plot, Monster Hunter Wilds! I care about hunting monsters and making cool stuff out of the bits I cut off of them in order to better hunt bigger monsters! The game at least does the hunting part pretty well, although I hate the mount auto-running and also it feels like the areas are a little too incoherent in their layouts sometimes (most likely because your mount will just auto-run to where you need to be). Mostly I hate the plot, which is boring. Don't put fucking walk and talk sequences in to Monster Hunter! Stop that shit!

I still had (and still do have, when I fire it up) a fun time when the game got out of its own way and just let me fight monsters. That said, playing Wilds just further convinced me that Rise is the best of the new generation of Monster Hunter games - and the rest of the world agrees with me, if reports of Rise experiencing higher player counts than Wilds are true. Shit, even the multiplayer is overly complicated in Wilds compared to the others, which is... how do you fuck that up so badly, Capcom? Come on, man.

I promise I still like this game enough to put it in my list.

Best Turrón

Look at this dude. Just look at him!

ENA: Dream BBQ
Seeing the trailer for this game made my brain fizz, and resulted in me watching the original web series that the game uses as its basis. A game full of little freaks and delightful music. It is also deeply absurd in the classic sense. I will say no more on this. It's free, so play it and then kick the developer some money so we get more of this. I own multiple ENA-related shirts so I might be biased here, but I love this thing.

Best Tomb Raiding/Nazi Punching Combination

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Yeah, this actually came out last year (and I even mentioned it as good back then) but I am mentioning it again because I had a real good time with it this year (after Noclip's documentary about Machine Games this year I had to fire it up again), and still have a good time playing it e'en now! They put out DLC that I haven't checked out yet, but I started playing it on PC (using the POWER OF GEFORCE NOW) and that is a good looking video game. Machine Games did a great job and I am happy for them.

Most Demons Ripped and/or Torn

Ripping, tearing, the usual things

DOOM: The Dark Ages

Speaking of games I thought were locks for GOTY territory, here we are. This one is a tough one for me. I was so fucking excited and pre-ordered a fancy edition (it came with a big Doomslayer statue) and then Microsoft became a BDS target and I just felt weird talking about the game much at all! I'm putting off ranking it while I wait for the DLC campaign to release so I can properly conduct the Science on it, but here's my mini-thoughts:

It's a pretty good DOOM! They wanted to have the combat feel like it did in DOOM II, and they kind of pull it off! The shield mechanics are pretty enjoyable, the game looks incredible, the music is still pretty mighty in spite of not being Mick Gordon, and yet... I just kind of played through it once and haven't really gone back to it? It just didn't grab me the way DOOM Eternal did, or even DOOM 2016! It just feels like we've Done This Already. I hope id lets DOOM rest and does something else next, because I think they've got all the juice they can get out of this one for now. Still a good time, still gorgeous, just not quite what I was hoping for. It runs on Steam Deck now, but I cannot see a world in which I actually want to play it on there.

Best Tiles with Turtles

The boys are back in town (boys are back in town)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown
I yammered on about this pretty heavily in its own post, but let's restate it here: Strange Scaffolding is on some other shit, and they made a little tactical game with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and I think it fuckin' rules. I kind of love it! The soundtrack is great, the story is fun, and they made Raphael a massive asskicker in a way that few TMNT games have managed to do. You can go crazy with that dude, for real. I love this game! Play this game it is like $20.

Game I Should Play More but I Don't for Some Reason?

Elden Ring: Nightreign
This is a game I absolutely did not think would work for me, but then I played the network test and was horrified to discover that it actually might kinda whip ass? It's a surprisingly good time (even with randos, although I prefer to play with people I know) and I am a big old sucker for any and all Fromsoft things which helps a lot. A good time, except when I get a yen for co-op gaming I am far more likely to fire up Darktide or Helldivers 2. I have to be in a particular mood for Nightreign, is what I am saying. God help me but it's a good time every time I fire it up, though! Even if I mostly just eat shit.

Best Excuse to Play Yakuza 0 Again

Yakuza 0: Director's Cut
Specifically speaking of the Switch 2 version, of course. I bought a Switch 2 while taking advantage of a tax holiday and also a favorable exchange rate while visiting my folks over the summer, and Yakuza 0 was the first thing I picked up for it (not counting the updated versions of BOTW and TOTK, which I got thanks to being a sucker who pays for Nintendo Online). The Yakuza games (those I've played through, which are 0-3 and 7) are universally beloved in my heart and having a version on the Switch 2 rules. I am using this opportunity to just really go heavy into the minigames on this run, something I never did last time. Playing the hell out of this thing, is what I'm saying. It helps that Yakuza 0 whips ass. I haven't picked up the Switch 2 bundle of Kiwami/Kiwami 2, but depending on how Kiwami 2 runs I might end up picking Kiwami 3 up on it when that comes out. There's a lot of witchcraft happening on Switch 2 in terms of making games look good that have no right looking that good, and this is no exception.

Best Game I Played a Lot of on the N64 as a Kid

Heretic + Hexen
I love Nightdive and their remastering ways, and I am beyond delighted that they brought these two games out. I never played a lot of Heretic, but I did play a lot of Hexen co-op on the N64, which is why when this game released whilst I was on vacation this summer I immediately picked it up on the Switch and then my brother and I lost a night playing couch co-op just like the old days. I like these games a lot! Not as much as DOOM, but they're pretty good and a reminder that Raven Software used to make cool stuff instead of being slaves in the Call of Duty mines.

Quietest Hills

A girl and her pipe (and some corpses)

Silent Hill f
Damn, Konami really got their groove back, huh? This is easily the best Silent Hill that isn't Silent Hill 3, to me, and while I do wish the combat was a little less grindy at the end, it's so good that I can forgive it that. There's puzzles, there's spooky shit in a school, there's horrible things happening all around you, and all you have is a trusty pipe and, you know, maybe werewolf powers for a little bit there. The first ending you can get is the result of what I think may be the meanest trick a game ever pulled, and I fully fucking respect it. I'm in the middle of a NG+ run that I haven't found the time to get back to yet but it is on a list of things to do. Probably when the spooky season comes around again? A legitimate masterpiece, here. Just a great experience all around.

Best Reminder That I Take Too Long in Tactical Games

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
Y'all like tiles? Y'all like building a little mercenary company and grinding job levels? Y'all like that Final Fantasy? Boy, are you in luck! They done remade the original and it's really good! I don't have anything else to say about this one, I need to play more of it. I got so excited during the run-up to this game that I dug out my GBA copy of FFTA and booted it up for the first time in like 20 years. Save game was still there, too! The Analogue Pocket is a wonderful machine.

Game I was Eagerly Awaiting for Like a Million Years

Look at them! They are Friends!

Demonschool
I was on board with this game as soon as I first heard about it, and could not fucking wait to get my hands on it. This took forever, or at least that's what it felt like (it did not actually take forever). Another game with tiles in it, kind of, and delicious, delicious Persona 2 vibes. I love Persona 2, and one day I will actually finish Persona 2, just like I will actually finish Demonschool one day! Demonschool has better odds though, because it is on my Nintendo Switch. The writing dances on the edge of annyoing from time to time, but it never crosses the line for me and remains a Good Time. I love protagonists who are like big dumb dogs, and this game's got that in spades.

Oh Wait This is Also a Game I Eagerly Awaited for Like a Million Years

Big mood

Unbeatable
I backed this kickstarter whenever it was that happened, and played the hell out of the released Arcade mode and white label and whatever other builds they put out over the years. It was absolutely worth the wait - this game doesn't just have a good rhythm game, it's also got an enormous amount of heart and style and I need to play more of it. Unfortunately for Unbeatable, or more accurately unfortunately for me, I am terrible at rhythm games so I have to really focus up to play it in a way that I am not always able to do. I still love you Unbeatable, don't worry.

Game That Would Probably Bring Me Out of a Coma

Look at this glorious mess. GOD.

Sektori
Where the fuck did this game come from? This was the question at the top of my mind after I saw Grubb play a little of it on a UPF (I think?) and then there was a noclip_2 video about it and then I owned a copy of it and it devoured me whole. I fucking love Geometry Wars, and all of the numerous Llamasoft games which share its DNA in their bones (although usually with more sheep/llamas/bulls/giraffes), and Sektori is shit fucking hot. The game feels so good to play, and the visuals are overwhelming in a way that sends my brain into a heightened state, and the music is THUMPING, by god. I love this fucking game! I can boot this game up any time and lose several hours as I just chase a higher score, an endless parade of "okay just one more" runs in the classic mode (which is basically just Geometry Wars) or any of the other modes the game has, including its sort of roguelike main campaign. I think I read this is some former Housemarque devs, and I am assuming this is true because it is sick as fucking hell and if Housemarque was known for one thing pre-Returnal it was making shooters that are sick as fucking hell. Hook this game directly to my brain. It will probably kill me but oh, what a way to go.

It's not my game of the year, though, because it had the bad fortune to come out in the same year as...

Game of the Year, aka the "Did You Just See That Sick Combo I Did Bro?" award

Vibes

Absolum
As soon as I saw the first trailer for Absolum, I knew I needed to check it out. As soon as I got hands on the demo, I knew it was going to be a good game. What I was not ready for was for it to become my game of the year and be indirectly responsible for me falling down a fucking rabbit hole of beat 'em ups old and new. What a fucking pleasure this game is - just when I thought I was done with roguelikes, this fucking masterwork hits the scene and makes every neuron in my brain light up like a fuckin' Christmas tree. The game feels so fucking good to play that I went a little crazy playing it, I think I probably dumped a solid 30 hours into it over the course of a couple of weeks, which is a lot for me! I am still playing it pretty frequently, although I'm running out of Stuff to Do in there - I still have a couple minor bits to finish up, of course, but the skill tree is maxed out and so are most of the other upgrades available. I keep going back to it anyway, because it fucking rules. It's the same joy I get from beating TMNT II again, or just running through the first couple levels of Streets of Rage 2, or whatever! Pick a classic beat 'em up and Absolum will probably remind me of it somehow. It helps that I am a sucker for the art style and I think the setting is really interesting - especially because as it turns out you might... be kind of the bad guys? Or at least responsible for things being as bad as they are, anyway. Dark Secrets abound, if you are willing to poke around and find 'em, is what I am saying.

Oh right, and like any good brawler, you've got the option to do co-op. Obviously! It's simple to do, and it makes sure that you are never dragging someone into stuff they haven't seen in the storyline yet - you go with the lower quest progression level when you join, which I like. You just hop on and sure, you might've heard this conversation before, but when the game feels this good to play, who fucking cares? Absolum's story is cool, but it's not why I keep playing it. I keep playing it because the game's the best fuckin' brawler I think I've ever played! Go play this one! It's my game of the year! Sektori almost nudged it out at the last second, but ultimately playing it co-op with my brother this year is some of the most fun I've had playing games in ages, so there was really no choice. Game of the year! It's this one!