Hello everyone. Hope you have all had a good week, and if you've been celebrating the holidays, have had a chance to unwind and enjoy. Its the last Sunday of the year so let's use this thread to talk about what games we played in 2025, our favorites, least favorites pleasant surprises etc.
Games I played that released this year:
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Elden Ring: Nightreign: This is probably my GOTY, but I didn't play too many games that released in 2025. Anyway, I think a lot of people were rightfully skeptical about Elden Ring Fortnite edition but it's an incredibly fun co-op game. I haven't tried the Deep of Night Mode or the DLC, but thats something I am thinking of picking up when I return home from my holiday vacation
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The Outer Worlds 2: the gameplay is markedly better than the first game, once again proving any movement system in any video game just needs a double jump. A lot of people complained about the lack of skill points you get from leveling up, but I thought it wasnt that big of an issue. One aspect I think they knocked it out the park was with the in game radio stations, they were absolutely fantastic and once i turned them on i never once turned them off. The one area I think it comes up way short of the first game is the companion characters: they simply do not match the energy of the ones from the first game. I look forward to the promised expansions.
-Becoming Saint: i picked this up because I saw Northernlion play it and I thought it looked interesting, but unfortunately there was little meat on its bones. The game bills itself as a rouge-like but there is very little variation between playthroughs. Also the devs suffered a huge aura loss in my eyes when I checked the steam reviews and they were replying to every single review. I liked the art style though. 5.5/10
Stronghold Crusader Definative Edition: 97 Year Old Game Studio Still Makes Crossbowmen The Old Fashioned Way. Stronghold crusder is one of my favorite childhood games (it taught me how the economy works). I actually didn't even know they were releasing a remaster of it until I saw that you could buy it bundled with Becoming Saint. Its the good kind of remaster: fixes longstanding bugs and actually ads some content to the game. I have worked my way through the co-op trail with my brother the past few months and we are eagerly awaiting fresh missions to be added to it.
Games I played this year that releases prior to 2025:
-Balatro: crack cocaine
-Dark Souls 1 and 3: i replayed 1 for the hell of it but I did a SL1 playthrough of 3. Very challenging, very rewarding
-Fallout 4: I began 2025 with a brutal, soul crushing period of unemployment and job hunting. To keep my spirits as low as possible, I did a playthrough of FO4 on survival difficulty. Extremely brutal in the early game, I ending up immediately siding with the Brotherhood so I could get access to vertibird transport early. Became the perfect mixture of fun and challenge once I got good armor and put in enough perks so I didn't die in 1 bullet
LA Noire: my comfort game tbh, shame they had to burn through hundreds of University graduates to make it
Rome Total War: still whips
Mass Effect 1 and 2: Playing Outer Worlds 2 made me want to play more space games, so I fired up the legendary edition for my second playthrough of the trilogy. My first playthrough I did male paragon shepherd, so this time I'm doing female renegade shepherd. They really tried to make the paragon/renegade dichotomy akin to good cop/loose cannon but full renegade means you swing between asshole and psychopath. The conversation you have with Anderson and Udina at the end of ME1 after letting the council die floored me with the renegade dialogue options; you and Udina basically become Darth Vader and Palpatine. Anyway, I will start ME3 when I get back from vacation
Hope everyone has had at least a tolerable 2025, and here's to maybe a better year in 2026!
Released in 2025:
Silent Hill f - Really enjoyed it, it’s no Silent Hill 2 or anything but it’s good. The actors do a great job, the game’s beautiful and haunting, if you’ve liked Silent Hill games before, you’ll probably like this one.
Hades II - This game is a victim of its predecessor’s success. Hades II is better than Hades in a lot of ways, and yet it just doesn’t hit the same, I guess because Hades was so revolutionary vs Hades II being released into a world where Hades exists and I’ve already played a lot of it.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A - I’m not sure why I’m not obsessed with this game. The real time battle system is really cool, and is basically what I’ve wanted for a decade. But the battle arenas are too small, the city is too small, the plot kinda sucks, the cutscenes are somehow fully motioned and have mouth movements to go with the lines but don’t have voice acting???, and all in all it’s just kinda, “meh”.
Europa Universalis V - It’s really good but also needs a lot of work, in a year or two it’ll be my favorite game. Tech trees need some changing, some things are locked behind unachievable techs that don’t make sense, like to invent the hospital you need feudalism and go invent feudalism you need horses.
Came out before 2025
Silent Hill 3 (2003) - Great game, I think I liked 2 and f better though. Would’ve helped if I realized before beating it that there was an option to turn off tank controls.
Shipwrecked 64 (2024) - Horror game in the style of an N64 platformer like Banjo Kazooie. I think I’m about halfway done with it, if you like analog or mascot horror, you’ll enjoy this game.
Code Vein (2019) - Soulslike but anime vampires. I appreciate that the companions are all generally nice people who want to help those around them. My partner and I have been doing it co-op, the password system is way smoother than any of the Dark Souls games, it’s been a blast.
Pokémon Unbound (2022) - GBA romhack but looks more like a DS game. Incredible quality, honestly significantly higher quality than anything Gamefreak has made in years. It’s an actual challenge, and each gym has a fun gimmick that makes them like puzzles that require some preparation and planning for. If you like old Pokémon, you should try this game.
Grand Theft Auto V (2013) - I played when it came out, my partner never played it. It holds up really well, although it was crazy how bad enhanced edition crashes.
Pacific Drive (2024) - Survival horror RPG about a car. I only just started it, bought it in the winter sale, it’s really good though.
Kingdom Hearts 3 (2019) - It’s alright. Not as good as 1 or 2. Better now that I have it on the hardest difficulty with the attraction moves turned off.
Slay the Spire (2019) - It’s on iOS, great thing to play before bed as I start to nod off.
Victoria III (2022) - Obsessed. Has taken over my life multiple times. I dream about this game. It quickly became my most played game on steam of all time. I’ve put hundreds of hours into it. I love this game. I still haven’t succeeded in having a world communist revolution.