Silksong - I had hyped myself up way too much, yet it still delivered. Absolute masterpiece.
Dispatch - I finally understand why people enjoyed Telltale games so much. The writing is great, the characters are interesting, just all around a great experience.
Lies of P - Overture - I finally finished Lies of P & played Overture a few weeks back, after dropping off the game twice in the last years. Wow, that was great! And honestly more emotional than I’d expected.
I’ve heard so many good things about Lies of P that I think I’ve been avoiding it in a similar way to how I was irrationally reluctant to play Hollow Knight. It’s a bit of a moot point at the moment, because I don’t currently have the brain space to get my teeth into a Soulslike, but when I do, I should resist that silly instinct of mine.
I’ve not heard much of Dispatch, I should check it out
Expedition 33, The game came out on my birthday. I never had the time to get around to playing it. I just downloaded it on PlayStation for their black Friday sale. I am currently only six hours into the game, but I fully get behind the hype and the enjoyment of this game. It does have a high level of skill when it comes to combat but slowly, but surely I’m getting it down and I am enjoying it so far.
Despite the high skill level required, I actually found that it was quite forgiving for people who were learning. I barely did any parrying until I was well into Act 3, for example. I like the way that the feedback for dodges work — I started trying to parry more when I realised that I was consistently getting perfect dodges, which meant that if I had parried, it would have been successful.
I also like the way the difficulty works in the open world. It reminds me of games like Fallout: New Vegas, where the enemies aren’t scaled to player level, so you can be dumb/brave and wade into encounters that are way beyond your power level. Sometimes that works out surprisingly well, but often you try fighting a difficult enemy and get pwned so thoroughly that you accept that you’ll have to come back later. In Expedition 33 especially, it is super viable to just go and explore elsewhere and come back with more levels, better weapons and better pictos. The beautiful world also means that exploring is fun even without the mechanical perks.
After years of trying to get into Sekiro and hitting a wall and just quitting, I finally stuck with it and not only did I finish the game, I also got all the achievements.
Nice! I haven’t attempted Sekiro yet, but it’s high up on my list. I am saving it for when I have the brain space to take a proper crack at the game. I remember that my first exposure to Fromsoft games was in 2017, when I attempted Dark Souls 3 during a Summer where I extremely burnt out due to doing a soul-sucking internship. I bounced off of it so hard, and that taught me that I need to be in the right headspace to play certain games.
Most definitely. I’m currently going through some stuff, so my go-to games end up being puzzle games or something else that can be played in short bursts. Currently played “Is this seat take?”
Ravenswatch came out at the end of last year, but it’s an incredibly satisfying multiplayer roguelike. Really scratches that asymmetrical gameplay itch.
Split Fiction is a master class in game design. It creates these awesome storytelling moments that could only be created in this exact way.
UFO 50: holy shit this one came out of nowhere for me. It’s like digging through a retro collection for diamonds in the rough, but there’s more diamond than rough. It has honestly changed the way I approach video games and gaming in general. Also, Party House is so good.
Hades 2 is pretty much exactly what I was hoping it would be. No notes.
I also played Clair Obscur, DK Bananza, Mario Kart World, and Silksong. Those are all good games, but none of them hooked me.
Most of those games are ones I’ve never heard of before, but you’ve really sold me on them, especially Split Fiction and UFO 50
(Mini tangent, but I find it interesting how, in this age of algorithmically driven slip content, I cherish the opportunity to find little snippets of meaningful connection with my fellow humans. Like, I don’t know you, or anything really about your preferences or tastes in games, so what reason is there to put much weight in your recommendations? You’re just a random person on the internet, after all. But no, your recommendations feel meaningful because you’re a person who cared enough about these things to write about them, and matters to me (especially in our current climate))
If I was going to try out Split Fiction and UFO 50, which would you recommend I start with?
I fully understand what you mean. I got turned on to UFO 50 the exact same way, from a stranger’s recommendation online. They referred to it as “a master class in game design”, and I was like, that’s exactly what I was just saying about Split Fiction!
I think how we say things is important to how we connect.
Anyway, Split Fiction requires two players. The whole game is in split screen, even if you play online. But you only need one copy of the game to play online - I think your partner can just download a special version of the game for free. But if you have someone to play with in the same room, I recommend that.
A bit more about UFO 50 if you haven’t already looked it up: it’s a faux-retro game collection from a fictional, defunct 80s game developer called UFOSoft.
Fifty is an insane number of games, and it’s got so much damn content. There are space shooters, side scrollers, a wild west Final-Fantasy-style RPG, a roguelike, a soccer game inspired by Bubble Bobble, at least three golf games, and then whatever the hell Mooncat is. There’s also a dark meta-narrative hidden between the games that describes why the company went under.
So UFO 50 is a deep dive. You may want to start there first, because it’s something you’ll likely bounce off of and come back to. Luckily you have literally 50 games to switch between if you get frustrated.
When it does get frustrating, it’s so rewarding if you power through it. Several of the games are in the style of those ridiculously punishing 80’s arcade games, except it mostly is just a style. If you keep an open mind and look for what the game is trying to show you, you start to see that there are modern design conventions underpinning everything that make the games more fair than they appear. (Except Caramel Caramel. That game is bullshit.)
That’s part of what I meant when I said it changed how I approach games. I realized I can spend so much time on my own expectations that I don’t see what’s in front of me. Learning to approach these games with an open mind has been a defining moment for me.
Drag would like Arkham Origins please and thank you. Drag already played Knight and is curious if the rest of the series is good. It’s one of the few games drag 100%ed
I‘ve sorted my library by release date, and there are five games which have released this year in it that aren‘t just remastered or early access which finally hit 1.0. Of those five I‘ve played three. Also of those five, three are indie games.
Monster Hunter Wilds
Poorly received across „enthusiasts“ as too easy of a MH game. I personally liked it a lot. The wounds mechanic is fun, focus mode is good but too much, performance is absolutely horrendous. One of the things I’ve always hated with MH are those stiff ass animations that made you miss combos by a cm, focus mode helps with that but now you can just 180 during a swing which is overkill IMO. I miss tracking monsters - which made me feel more like I‘m actually hunting game - as well as wallbanging them. The current mounting feels less interesting overall. 150 hrs played and they were a lot of fun with friends.
PEAK
Probably my GOTY (cause I didn‘t play much from this year anyway, see above lol). There‘s only one thing that bums me out: The game should have DLSS/FSR cause it‘s really heavy God knows why and the internal upscaler is meh. Otherwise, the most fun I had in a multiplayer game in a long time. Did ascension 7, unlocked all the stuff, gobble up every update, great fun with friends (also if solo but less so). 110 hrs, amazing game for less than ten bucks. Fuck those sencient tornados.
Mario Kart World
Idk, as the successor to MK8 it‘s kinda mid in comparisson. The feeling of speed, the racing flow, they‘re kinda missing. Lots of uninteresting filler tracks. Idk why this had to be an open world game. Some of its soul died for that. I got gold on all the cups but haven‘t touched it since. Pro tip: If you have trouble at max diff, stop drifting. The game ups the difficulty (read: rubberbanding) PER DRIFT, and it stacks up across the whole cup!
I left gaming. That’s the highlight. I’m yearning to get back tho. But my laptop is kinda struggling to play games so yeah I might be away from them for a long time ig.
This year I unsubscribed from FFXIV. Speaking only for myself, Dawntrail was a massive drop in nearly all aspects after Endwalker. The music and environment were great, I was positively giddy when I reached Solution Nine… but the characters are unlikable, the antagonist is boring and one-dimensional, there is hardly any payoff for setups, one of the most significant conflicts gets resolved with a fucking pep talk, most of the first half of the main story only exists to extol about how much of a chad the current monarch is. Somehow the second half gets even worse with multiple contrived plot points relying on characters being idiots and the player being a passive observer, including the reintroduction of a high profile issue that had been present for the entire DECADE of the game’s existence and resolved in a high profile way in Shadowbringers. Wuk Lamat was fine. Overused and dumb as a pair of boots, but fine.
I got to the final region, got the “I will now genocide the multiverse because my obviously unsustainable economy is running out of resources” monologue, and just stopped playing. Unless 8.0 sees some massive improvements, I have no plans to finish Dawntrail.
On the completely different end of the spectrum, Warframe is in the best place it’s ever been. The last four major updates (1999, Isleweaver, Vallis Undermind, and The Old Peace) have been fucking phenomenal, both in terms of story and gameplay. The Old Peace (released literally a few days ago) also contains the most valid crashout in history. Rap tap tap, little piggy. The new gamemodes are fun, fast-paced, and so far haven’t outstayed their welcome, although like always, I’m worried about their longevity since they’re essentially content islands.
Warframe’s music is exceptional. I’ll always appreciate the works of Keith Power (he gave us We All Lift Together and This Is What You Are), but the current composer Matt Chalmers has elevated the game’s music both in quality and variety. Starting with 1999, there are no songs that I ever want to skip, and that includes the virtual boy band. Even if you have no interest in the game, you shouldn’t skip the music: TennoConcert 2025 (Matt is the eternally chilled out dude who sings From The Stars), Tethra Jahrak, Lullaby of the Manifold, and (potential spoilers) Roses from the Abyss.
In terms of smaller games, I fell off the wagon and had several all-night benders in Factorio. If you’re anywhere near the spectrum, that game is like crack cocaine. I had a lot of fun in Project Wingman and the biggest furball in history, I replayed Star Wars: Republic Commando, and rediscovered my appreciation for games where the player is not the Chosen One. Against all wisdom, I finally played The Mystery Of The Droods. Even knowing what awaited me, I was unprepared for the absolute jank.
On osu!, finally achieved my player goal of achieving 400pp, then saw a drastic fall on my play time exploring other games. Still doing mapping for two different osu tournaments, but maybe i’m not there forever :)
Balatro became really addictive to me. 200 hours in, still haven’t achieved completionist, but I definetly will. Fuck black deck
Marvel Rivals. Really good game overall, my initial expectations were really low considering Marvel has repeatedly fumbled my expectations on their games, but honestly the game felt like I was playing a game par with Overwatch 1 with Marvel characters.
I’ve got hooked into Trackmania very interestingly this year, my previous racing game experience was stuff like Most Wanted/Carbon, but appearently the osu! style “keep the improve grind” games interest me still. Aside from TM2020, I also got Stadium and Turbo, might get Canyon on a future sale to play.
Rhythm Doctor 1.0 came out, the last two chapters blew me away! I would hate to spoil anything, but let’s just say they have used the tricks they did on Act 5 Boss Stage exceptionally well, again.
Last Command B-Side DLC was very enjoyable. Got it the day it came out, the included content was very fun. Story was meh, but again you don’t really follow the story on a bullet hell game. The new stages were really cool.
I wasn’t expecting to play Megabonk at all, but gave it a shot thanks to my Steam Family Library. Honestly it’s a fine game, gives similar vibes to Balatro as a mob slaying game.
Lastly, got into Tetris: The Grand Master 4. It is unbelievably difficult, but have managed to unlock 3.1 on TGM mode, and on standard mode achieved 800 Master. TGM Master still feels way too tough, but I’m seeing improvements here and there.
So your staple games seem to be focused on gameplay (or you’re at the part where the story is done) while the games you think you want to play are story heavy with gameplay locked behind looking at cutscenes and listening intently to dialogue. If the first actual playing happens after only 30 minutes, you might not have the energy to sit through that. Maybe look into indie games that get quickly to the gameplay. You’ll probably find that it’s not that hard to play new games if they’re built for playing instead of mass appeal and story
factorio space age: it’s the best for a reason, but there are a few things that irk me. There is a “pick any of 3 paths to go first but you have to do all 3” kind of choice. And unlike RPGs you don’t really get all that much from each choice, so there isn’t much to optimize in that way, it doesn’t result in different builds. Space age 2.0.X still has a few issues, the UI for the actual space part is pretty bad and while that’s not a space age feature, the way they do logic programming is easy for simple things but takes up too much space and is too difficult to set up for slightly smarter setups, so there is no reward for doing those.
mindustry (purple planet): It does way better spacial puzzles than factorio. In factorio you have “too much” space or it’s too free form. You can pretty much build the way you want. Mindustry has more basic resources you have to mine in specific places, enemies are coming from a distinct direction and you have a lot less space to lay out your factory, so you have to make more choices. I liked that.
hollow knight: I did see a playthrough years ago and was mad that I spoilered myself. Played it, and had forgotten enough that pretty much everything was new again. Great game, 10/10.
hollow knight silksong: also played it, has it’s moments, ultimately I didn’t like it. Writing, mechanics, when stuff is available to find… there are some weird choices and imo regressions from hollow knight. Great soundtrack and it does deserve the goty award it got.
Highly recommend it. Although slight warning, you go to 4 new planets with different mechanics, and one is a “hate it or love it” situation. I loved it, but clearly a significant number of people didn’t.
There are two games I never would have considered if I hadn’t explored new / different genres from what I usually stick with, 1000xResist and Pentiment.
The latter might be my favourite by a slight margin, but either way I’m so glad I went out of my comfort zone and discovered games which aren’t my typical RPGs, action-adventure or shmups.
I’ll keep experimenting next year, I might even put together a list of genres or games I’d like to try.
I play a lot of games every year and nowhere complete anything so whatever I do complete they go into great games I recommend to friends.
Clair obscure expedition 33 was my highlight of the year. Long time since a game made me cry and laugh like this one. Completed chapter 2 but then I had enough but I want to return and look more at this and the next chapter.
No rest for the wicked is in EA but it totally captivated me for a couple of weeks. Had a lot of fun and looking forward to multiplayer and playing with my friends. I love that the devs are following their own vision and doing stuff a little bit different.
Reality Break. This one is a bit odd. I managed to buy the wrong game somehow but this was totally a hidden gem for me. No regrets and they had some big updates after I was done so I plan to return one day.
Metaphor Re Fantazio. My first game like this one and while I never completed it it made a mark.
Heart of the machine will get a small spotlight also. Very different game and something that I really have to visit again when it releases in 1.0.
I guess my 2026 will be a lot of revisits and (hopefully!!) less buying games. Another good overhaul mod of Factorio would save me a lot of money and Guild wars 2 occupies quite a bit of my gaming time.
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