Hades II is a fantastic roguelike that sucked me in for weeks.
I got convinced to play Project Zomboid by a couple friends. I get the hype now.
Project Diablo 2 is an excellent revival of LoD with rebalancing, new features, and controller support. So much fun on the deck.
Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii was yet another great addition to the off the rails nonsense that is the Yakuza series.
Yakuza 0 Directors Cut was also a good remaster and English dub. People shit on Yong Yea as Kiryu but I like his performance. Could be because I never played the game in Japanese.
Also spent a lot of time playing Subnautica. An oldie but a goodie, especially with a multiplayer mod.
Yup, this was a good year for gaming.
EDIT: Oh! Can’t forget Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. Pretty fun, challenging but sometimes a bit cheap in the challenges. One optional challenge relied on firing a knife through a narrow gap, but there was no reliable way to line yourself up. And since it was timed and at the very end of the challenge, if you mess up you have to do the whole thing all over again. Other than that, really fun.
(*note some of these were Let’s Play’s I watched instead of played as combat mechanics like Clair/Wukong don’t interest me.)
I also spent a lot of time with an old friend, Heroes of Might and Magic V, Tribes of the East.
Edit/PS: Have to include Tactical Breach Wizards. Hilarious and very different take on the “Xcom-esque” genre. Great characterization and story. Requires a very different style of thinking to master it.
Metroid Dread left such an impression on me after playing earlier this year that I bought and modded an OG GBA with a better screen. It was fun and frustrating all at once! My first time soldering since I was a teen. I proceeded to beat Metroid Fusion for the first time despite having the cartridge for probably as long as it had been since my last time soldering. I’m now playing Prime 4, although I’m not yet sure if that qualifies as a highlight.
Besides that, I also got sucked into Hades 2. I didn’t get the true ending to the first game but I did roll credits on this one! What a game. Pokémon Unbound romhack was also on the list of time sinks, but I gotta get back to beating that.
Attending Combo Breaker is the highlight of my year every year. In 2025 I was able to fit Frosty Faustings into my travel budget too. Managed to place 17th in Mystery Bracket both times, and they were very wild bracket runs. I saw Gyakuten Puzzle Bancho and turned to my opponent to utter a sentence no one wants to hear in Mystery: "I'm sorry, I know how to play this game." Also at CB I was able to make it out of pools in Under Night In-Birth II, and it was a hella stacked bracket so I'm pretty happy with that one.
Been focusing more on my mahjong career, attended Riichi Nomi Open and Philadelphia Riichi Open as my first two tournaments. Didn't do so hot though. But of course, when I win it's because I'm skilled, when I lose it was just bad luck.
New arcade opened up near me with modded Maimai, Wacca, and Chunithm cabinets. I told myself I'm never going back to Round 1 again, though R1 does have the new official international Maimai now so I guess that's something. I also got back into Dance Dance Revolution a little, but I'm still not very good.
As for actual new releases, Deltarune is obvious. Kirby Air Riders is a sequel I waited 22 years for, and it was worth the wait. The original is one of my favorite games of all time and I'm blown away by how much higher they raised the bar. Online City Trial is everything childhood me ever dreamed of. And I have to shout out Rhythm Doctor finally exiting Early Access, the final chapter is a wonderful conclusion that gave me a lot of emotions.
There were many but the one I wanna mention is Dredge - a horror fishing game that is creepy fun. Wasn’t on my radar but popped up on gamepass and I love it.
Even though I did not like it at first because of the (optional) management and (also optional) zoomed out cut-out camera view. I loved Silent Hunter and was hoping for a modern take but the above mentioned features of the game kind of clashed with my expectations. Luckily, there is a captain 1st person only mode and walking through your super detailed boat as the captain while listening to 40s radio stations (through mods) and blasting British freighters with well calculated torpedo shots is a lot of fun.
Skyrim VR ( MadGodsMod)
It is always fun to play Skyrim from time to time, but this version has to be my favourite, and after finally having a PC that is beefy enough for VR makes this ancient game one of my highlights this year.
Abiotic Factor, has been a pearl. Survival in a 90’s science center complex in the middle of Australia. Good mechanics once you get past the water hump. The story has the right amounts of dread and humor, and the stakes /difficulty / rewards ramp up just right for me.
Oh and still playing noita… Finally cleared it this year
Haven’t played Silksong yet, but its release did get me to play Hollow Knight which had been sitting in my library forever.
I’ve gotten partway through Expedition 33, but decided to take a break after spending ~20 hours on act 1 alone (speaking of, I think it’s about time to get back on that soon).
As much as I like single player games, I imagine the most significant amount of my time by far has probably been spent on multiplayer games like cod
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