Another year is passed and with it, I have accumulated another album of memories I might look back on in old age, experienced yet more personal anecdotes to jade or wizen me. But I’m not here for that. I just like making lists of games. So here they are, the 52 games I beat in 2025, ranked. That’s less than previous years, but still a lot of games.
Skip way down to see just the list or read on for some flavour text.
52. Look Outside, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Francis Coulombe
Huh. The number of poor game design choices here could fill a book of, you know, things not to do when making a game. And there’s a bunch of cool stuff? It’s not cool enough for me to enjoy soaking in this world or to go for a repeat play. That would be self-abuse. And yet, this game is clearly for someone or lots of someones as it enjoys quite a bit of popularity. That’s despite a terrible saving system, getting soft-locked by not finding allies, losing ample progress when an enemy crits you, too much damage being dealt in battles, a kind of annoying weapon breaking system, slow talking repeat events, why would it ask me to eat a cockroach for no real reason, highly inconsistent area lengths, and lots and lots of wasted time.
51. Spyro the Dragon, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2018, Developer: Toys for Bob
First, I was not a PlayStation kid and did not play the original Spyro the Dragon. Now I’ve played and beat the Reignited Trilogy version of the first Spyro game. It’s really basic. In one sense, I get it. Early 3D platformers that tried to do too much were mostly bad. Doing only a bit, but doing that well, is decidedly better. In the nineties, the 3D graphics, movement, and areas themselves would have impressed and simple gameplay would help ease players into controlling a character in a virtual space. The world is somewhat charming, which helps too. Except it’s not that charming. Not impressed here, but I imagine this was a nostalgia kick for some players.
50. Borderlands 3, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2019, Developer: Gearbox
I’ve said before that I don’t know why Borderlands games are as popular as they are and Borderlands 3 reinforces that point. It’s much worse than 2, which is the highlight of the series in my mind. I think I’m done after this one. Borderlands are mainly intended for multiplayer and I ran into multiple issues connecting to friends and then when in-game, keeping our sessions consistent. Player names would disappear randomly. NPCs would freeze, not allowing us to complete quests. During the ending sequence I died during a cutscene and was trapped in a room afterwards until my friends finished watching the ending. Also, the tone in this game is awful. You may like it. That’s fine, but I did not find it funny, almost ever. The basics work though. Explore some areas I don’t care about, shoot the things, numbers go up, abilities are obtained, and guns are gotten.
49. to a T, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2025, Developer: uvula
As a game, to a T is dull and has a terrible camera. As a collection of two great songs and charming, odd characters, it has some redeeming qualities. Still, this is not a good overall package. It is short at least and it is charming in a way that makes you want to love it, but playing past the first couple of chapters unfortunately leads to heartbreak.
48. Gunforce II, Platform: Arcade, Release Year: 1994, Developer: Irem
I seem to keep playing Metal Slug-alikes that are (obviously) not as good as Metal Slug. This is the peak of that trend. It looks so much like Metal Slug. It’s functionally very similar too. And yet, it’s barely okay. I can’t even call this good. Or maybe it sometimes is? The memory of this one is quickly fading, its movie pastiches blending into my amorphous memory of retro games. I do recall dying a lot and not being impressed with the gameplay.
47. Anomaly Agent, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Phew Phew Games
Anyone remember Way of the Passive Fist? This is not that, but it is a sidecrolling action game that features a parry mechanic and a lot of the time, you’d best be parrying. Except when you need to dodge an unblockable (unparryable?) attack. Those are the times I get hit. Parrying and dodging can get you in a flow here, but when it goes badly, it can feel annoying. Anomaly Agent also has a silly story about time cops and time travel, which is fine.
46. Chants of Sennaar, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2023, Developer: Rundisc
It’s certainly clever. Ascend a tower wherein peoples speak different languages and are at odds because of it. Unite them through language. This is the tower of Babylon. It’s also aesthetically rich and this richness is my favourite feature of Chants of Sennaar. The bold yellows, the surreal architecture and the panned vistas are all a visual treat. But actually deciphering language in the puzzle-like way you must here? I did not enjoy it. It’s not for me in the same way many adventure game puzzles are not and of course, it’s an integral part of this experience.
45. GundeadliGne, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2011, Developer: Platine Dispostif
I only scratched the surface here, but I’m good with my short playthrough as one of the two first characters made available. GundeadliGne is a shmup where you play as a much too large anime girl. She has an appropriately small for the genre hitbox, but the sprite is so large that it’s hard to tell where that is. The game is brief, and features some wild enemies, but the wilder enemies appear later in the game when GundeadliGne goes all out on bullets on screen. The enemy fire and your fire have visual priority such that enemy and character sprites are regularly obscured, making it difficult to appreciate what I think were probably interesting enemy designs.
44. Guns of Fury, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Gelato Games
Let’s make Metal Slug into a Metroidvania, this tiny studio said (I’m imagining). And so they did… except it mostly just looks like Metal Slug (to be clear, Guns of Fury gets points here) and it’s functionally a Metroidvania, but lacks grace. Guns of Fury is fine, but not good. I shot so many things, many of them background elements that would collapse or even hurt nearby enemies, but I had to keep tap tap tapping the shoot button, just constantly. Why not let me hold it? There’s this pretty big map and some warp points that are not particularly near places you need to go to. In the late game, you unlock the ability to travel to any save point, of which there are many. Why unlock that so late? Why not even start with this? I unlocked interesting powers like an ice gun that also served as a key in some places, but I had to go into my inventory and swap out my current gun to use it. Why not stack the ice power with existing guns like in Super Metroid? Guns of Fury is littered with sub-optimal design. I don’t think it was ever bad, really, but it could easily have been much better.
43. Parking Garage Rally Circuit, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Wallaber Entertainment
The Sega Saturn aesthetic does feel very good here. Yes, it’s low-poly, but these are boxy cars. It really works, looking both visually appealing and appropriately nostalgic, reminding me particularly of Choro Q. The speed-run gameplay is fun at times, but more often frustrating. The concept here is that you’re drifting to gain boost inside and around of parking garages. You know, those places full of cars. That you will bump into all the time. There’s too much stuff to constantly bump into, easily ending a run when the physics cause an extra wobble this time around. Yeah I know this is all by design, but the design is flawed.
42. Heroes of Hammerwatch, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2018, Developer: Crackshell
The original Hammerwatch scratched a particular itch with its gauntleted fingers. Heroes applies a rogue-like patterning to Hammerwatch without substantially changing much else if memory serves. Go down some dungeons to collect money and experience. Redeem those currencies in town to buy skills, upgrades, run-consumable items. It works pretty well, but Hammerwatch’s gameplay is not quite strong enough to sustain my interest for as long as other rogue-likes. And there is no substantial lore here. I do not rescue NPCs in the dungeon who have any sort of story to them and town residents don’t have anything interesting to say. The world is there only to serve the gameplay.
41. Skyblazer, Platform: SNES, Release Year: 1994, Developer: Ukiyotei
Skyblazer is a really cool action platformer for the SNES that has a weird control quirk. Hero guy sometimes just kind of … moves slightly forward. I’ll land on a platform and 0.4 seconds later, he’ll move! Why does he do this? I tried more than one version of this game to confirm, although I suppose they were both emulations so maybe that’s the issue, but I doubt it. So the controls are not great and yet, I finished it. It’s not that hard, it’s not that long, and the gameplay is compelling. I also enjoyed picking up new powers and fighting just about everything in the game except that mean last boss.
40. Beneath Oresa, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2022, Developer: Broken Spear Inc.
Another deck-builder roguelite, right? Right. It’s good, but I have a hard time parsing the UI, which is not the complaint I expected would demote a game to mid-tier. It matters though. The systems within are fairly complex. You must track various counters, buffs, enemy positions and attributes. It’s not so easy to do, certainly not at a glance. I do think Beneath Oresa looks good, the character designs are interesting, and each journey invokes a strong sense of place without resorting to explicit story-telling.
39. The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates, Platform: SNES, Release Year: 1994, Developer: Sting
This game was also licensed as Yokai Buster in Japan, featuring completely different sprites. I don’t like the Jetsons so the brand here works against the game for me, but only a little. This is an unbalanced, messy platformer that’s rather inventive and fun at the best of times and features spectacular (and also unfair) boss fights. The main mechanic is using a vacuum thing to suck up items and enemies and then launch those enemies. And also to attach to walls and ceilings. It feels weird repeatedly suctioning and letting go of a ceiling while moving right to get over a chasm, but it’s also novel and somewhat exhilarating.
38. The Ninja Kids, Platform: Arcade, Release Year: 1990, Developer: Taito
Blue ninja, red ninja, try not to be a dead ninja. I might be missing something, but why are the ninjas puppets? Eh, whatever. It’s good! It’s a good beat-em-up. From 1990. With loads of weird personality, well drawn sprites, and pretty snappy controls. And it’s as limited as a beat-em-up from 1990 is. Short and quarter hungry.
37. Gal Guardians: Demon Purge, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2023, Developer: Inti Creates
You know when you play a game that feels like it should be your thing, but it’s not? Mind you, I like Gal Guardians. It plays well, features the kind of progression I like. It’s got melee combat, it’s got ranged combat. It’s got slightly perverted anime tropes. And it’s fine. I do like Gal Guardians, really. Just less than I supposed I would. Maybe it’s the large variety of sub weapons? There are probably too many for a game of this length. Or maybe it’s that ranged combat is often times too easy? Or maybe my tastes are changing… probably not. Too old for that.
36. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams, Platform: Gameboy Advance, Release Year: 2001, Developer: Namco
Wahoo! You’ll hear that a lot as Klonoa jumps about in this side-scrolling puzzle platformer. Emphasis goes to puzzles here as the platforming is mainly there to serve the puzzles. I thought this was quite good and fits the handheld format well, where each level usually takes less than ten minutes to complete. Puzzles are almost a room by room affair, although that’s not strictly true and so you play through many mini-challenges that feel like a weaker version of The Lost Viking or such. As the game progresses, new mechanics are introduced that don’t fundamentally change the gameplay, but add just enough to keep it interesting.
35. Frog Hop, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2017, Developer: Tiny Warrior Games
Frog Hop is a more than competent platformer. It has good physics, varied level layouts, secrets, and power-ups. And yet, frog protagonist moves so slow that I spent most of the game with the sonic boots equipped. This isn’t a fault exactly, but the methodical pace of Frog Hop is not my favourite. I enjoyed my single play through well enough and I don’t feel compelled to find the secrets.
34. Wario Land 2, Platform: Gameboy Color, Release Year: 1998, Developer: Nintendo
It’s Waaaah-rio time, 27 years late though. I love me some Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land, but then I did have that game when it was new. Wario Land 2 is a game I appreciate, but did not enjoy playing all that much. Wario’s descent into puzzletown begins here, meaning there are many — usually great — puzzle elements in the guise of a platformer, but not so many challenges that are about pure platforming or action. Secret treasures are still a thing and they are hidden using just the right kind of video game logic I find satisfying. There’s a big issue though, which is that finding the treasure is not enough. You must play a matching mini-game to get the treasure and you must pay to play, and pay more to make the game easier. That mini-game takes so much of the fun out of finding treasures. The mini-game at the end of each level is awful too. I think I would have liked Wario Land 2 a lot more if I played it when it was new, but I suppose it’s not what I’m looking for these days.
33. PEAK, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Team PEAK
It’s fun and funny as that Cat in the Hat says. I believe the Cat’s critique also called out that it’s boring when you die, because you must wait and waiting is boring. Mostly the light nature of PEAK works to its advantage since it’s easy to pick up and play and it creates a lot of moments, of either near success or unexpected catastrophe.
32. Tales of Arise, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2021, Developer: Bandai Namco
Cringe, but good. The protagonist is a walking anime cliche and it can be painful to hear him talk, but talk he does. So damn much. All the characters do actually, but I like most of them so it’s okay, especially Dohalim and Rinwell. Arise has some smooth battles going on. That’s the main appeal. Character designs are also great, but I have a gripe there. I recall playing Tales of Graces f a long time ago and without purchasing DLC, I unlocked a lot of costumes. It seems Arise is not so generous. As for the story, it starts strong, with themes of slavery, caste systems, the like. It ends so badly that it made me a bit angry at the game for leading me on with a seemingly good setup.
31. Cybernator, Platform: SNES, Release Year: 1992, Developer: Masaya
Masaya is onto something here with their mecha game. Basically, it’s really cool as all the Front Mission and Gun Suit Valkens (of which this is one) games are. And like those, it doesn’t play as well as you want it to, but you kind of forgive it, because piloting a bulky mech should be hard. Cybernator is enjoyable, but also hard and unfair. Mainly though? Cybernator is cool.
30. Gradius Interstellar Assault, Platform: Gameboy, Release Year: 1992, Developer: Konami
I played this on Nintendo Switch Online using a little bit of save states, although this is an easy one by Gradius standards. I guess I wasn’t playing it on a blurry Gameboy screen in 1992 though. It’s quite fun and I played it again seeing how far I could get without save states. I could get far it turns out, but not to the credits. This would have been a fun one to have as a kid and I appreciate its directness and brevity.
29. Trials of Mana, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2020, Developer: Xeen
Nom nom nom, this cake may not be nutritious, but it sure tastes good. The Trials of Mana remake has a typical JRPG fantasy story, subpar voice acting, and an obvious lack of polish. And yet, it’s fun. Its real time battles offer just enough friction and variability to keep me engaged. I was constantly leveling up and gaining new abilities, even in the late game. The game also has some interesting politics going on, I think by accident, by virtue of its setting featuring kingdoms that are tropey and different from each other. So you get some racism, lineage debates and lots of locales that altogether make globetrotting exciting here.
28. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2021, Developers: Live Wire, Adglobe
Ender Lilies has got that gameplay that makes me want to fight and explore for about eight hours. It does this really well. You’ve got dodges and parries, various main weapons and sub-skills, air and ground combat. But Ender Lilies is not eight hours. It is twice that length, so the experience loses its sheen. Even as I became weary, I still appreciated the setting, appropriately gothic and dreary. And while I still wish the game was shorter, that ending area has impeccable atmosphere, particularly in its sound design. It’s just unsettling enough to be very noticeable yet not so uninviting that I wish to leave.
27. Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2021, Developer: Capcom
This series has always exhibited cartoonish macabre foes and settings unlike quite anything else, but Resurrection outdoes its predecessors in this regard. The levels are bananas set piece after set piece. At one point you ride what appear to be flying stone dragons and you must hop from one to another while fighting off flying foes. At another point, the border of the level is a all spiked teeth and as this mouth you reside in moves along, you must move as well or get spiked. Checkpoints are actually quite common and there are infinite lives at least on the default setting (I didn’t look for a setting to make it harder), so this is all quite manageable even as Resurrection murders you on repeat. I enjoyed the gameplay here much as I have in most of the series, although not quite as much as in Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts, which felt more fair.
26. The Firemen, Platform: SNES, Release Year: 1994, Developer: Human
Shades of Nakatomi plaza and a small, but vibrant cast give The Firemen the personality it needs to make a real-life job seem interesting as a video game. That and the fire is alive and hates you. It will literally follow you and murder you. So, this normal game about being a fire fighter turns out to be a lot of fun. It’s action packed and has lots of variety in its short run time. I just wish everything was drawn a bit further away so you could see more of the map.
25. Axiom Verge 2, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2021, Developer: Thomas Happ
A tale of parallel worlds, machines and gods, references to Sumerian civilization, make Axiom Verge 2 the stuff of great science fiction. The setting is otherworldly and the excellent music evokes a sense of spiritual wonder. I love that Axiom Verge 2 goes this far away from the mainstream. Its gameplay is less good, although certainly not bad. There is a rather large map and another map overlayed onto the first, with some travel points between. Too often I felt stuck and had to painstakingly look through the map for places I had not traveled to, and most of the time when I ran, jumped, climbed to that place, it was blocked in some way. The combat feels messy, like certain games of old where it’s unreasonable to avoid all enemy attacks and you are granted a large life bar to compensate. Overall it is a very good game, but not so tightly crafted as my favourite Metroidvanias.
24. Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Tribute Games
This is very much the Shredder’s Revenge treatment and it’s good, although I find the Turtles’ adventure to be more enjoyable and more in line with this aesthetic. Cosmic Invasion does feature a lot of playable character variety though and I love some of the less popular inclusions like Cosmic Ghost Rider. This game is very easy. So easy that it doesn’t matter much that there’s a noticeable delay when you press the block button, and so easy that replaying levels just feels like going through the motions. Still, play with some friends and it’s enjoyable as dumb arcade brawlers are.
23. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Platform: Switch, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Nintendo
There’s some good puzzling in this Zelda game. And good Zelda’ing in this Zelda game. You know the discourse on this one. It’s an inventive Zelda game that looks like the Link’s Awakening remake, but has a much larger map, you play as Zelda (oh my), and you summon ‘echoes’ as your main attack. Of course, you can also turn into Link, which tends to be necessary against bosses. The echoes system proves interesting, despite its terrible interface and the likelihood that you’ll use beds or clouds to solve way too many puzzles.
22. River City Girls 2, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2022, Developer: WayForward
I’m here for Misako, Kyoko and that soundtrack. The spritework is well done, the gameplay is pretty fun, yet it gets repetitive and I encountered a number of bugs, including getting soft-locked once. But the dialogue between heroines Misako and Kyoko is genuinely funny, both highly referential and irreverent of its source material. And they put a created-just-for River City Girls 2 soundtrack in the game, with vocals even. It sounds great. As with much of WayForward’s output, this is a charmer. And while it could use some design and bug fix improvements, it mostly plays well too.
21. Crypt Custodian, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Kyle Thompson
This is a pretty darn good Metroidvania that contains a fair bit of whimsy wrapped in a pretty serious story about animal ghosts being put in a sort of ghost prison. But the protagonist Pluto has such big eyes. Pretty cute. And there’s plenty more cuteness, along with a huge map, many secrets, and satisfying combat. The bosses in particular are great. They’re visual treats, featuring massive sprites and they test that ol’ combat skill you’ve been training up.
20. Blasphemous II, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2023, Developer: The Game Kitchen
Blasphemous is a horror game in the way few games are. It’s not trying to scare you. It portrays a deeply unsettling world and you must live there, fulfill a mission given from on high. It’s omnipresent horror vibes. It’s a city of people who welcome pain and despair, because their religion says it is right to do so. There is no counterpoint. Blasphemous 2 has more of the same, but it’s less effective a second time around. To be clear, it is still effective and I can’t describe for instance how you obtain health upgrades, without being graphic and unsettling. The setting is very good. Not immaculate. The gameplay however, is much improved this time around. In this metroidvania, combat is performed with three weapons that can be cycled between and each serves utility functions beyond combat, as all Metroidvania items should. Combat in Blasphemous 2 is quite good and satisfying and sometimes exceedingly difficult.
19. Monster Train 2, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Shiny Shoe
You know, I wasn’t that into it at first. I think I had to get over the ugly art as I had done with the first Monster Train and eventually I was able to. The art is so ugly! But the game is good. Very good indeed. If you have played Monster Train 1, then you know what to expect. This is an expanded version of that featuring many new decks and heroes, the old ones are in there, there are preset levels, daily challenges and the ability to undo anything you’ve done in a turn or restart a battle. That might sound like a bad thing, but the numbers get very big very quickly and it’s harder than most such games to tell how a turn will resolve, even with the damage indicators basically telling you.
18. Wrestle Angels Survivor 2, Platform: PS2, Release Year: 2008, Developer: Success
The best wrestling management sim exclusively features anime girls. The best one I’ve played at least, and it’s damn good! There are other modes, sure, but I don’t care much for actually playing out the wrestling bouts and usually skip them or let the computer control it all. Those are carried out by selecting cards to try to perform moves that have a cost. Cards are split in one of five categories, such as power or submission and each card has a point value. Characters also have a value for each stat. A power card with a number on it gets added to your character’s power stat and the game subtracts the move cost from the combined stat. Both players choose a card at the same time and the higher calculated total usually wins (there are exceptions). Playing out fights is okay. But recruiting wrestlers, setting their training regimens, talking to them to improve morale, selecting venues and setting up matches, setting promotions, partnering with other wrestling companies? These make for a robust management sim that is only a little shameful to play.
17. G.G. Shinobi, Platform: Game Gear, Release Year: 1991, Developer: Sega
Pink ninja, green ninja, never be a rude ninja. This little Shinobi is a delectable experience, featuring coloured ninjas a la Sentai Rangers, each with a unique weapon and skill. Except the base ninja. He just gets a good weapon, good for slashing as he slowly and stoically moves forward. The abilities are cool. Yellow ninja can walk on water like Jesus. Each of four levels is playable in any order and can be completed with any ninja, but if you’ve saved a few friends by the time you take on a level, it’s fun to change as needed throughout to tackle different challenges. The fifth level is an unfair and often tedious gauntlet that is also a maze. Not a great way to end things.
16. Mullet Madjack, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: HAMMER95
Intense by design, but also funny and poignant, for a while at least. Mullet Madjack’s action requires you to constantly act, each level a quick burst of non-stop momentum. It’s pretty good. Yet, Madjack’s best qualities are its aesthetic, followed by its setting. Being denigrated as a retrohuman by a robot billionaire while you’re on a murder gameshow in order to win a pair of sneakers? That’s actually a pretty great satire of the capitalist hellscape we often imagine the future to be. And then the whole thing is infused with an eighties anime aesthetic, which is basically the best aesthetic. By my measure, the story is weak after the half-way point, but picks up again at the end.
15. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors, Platform :PC, Release Year: 2023, Developer: NatsumeAtari
Robot ninja, mecha ninja, never be a … okay I’ll stop. Ninja Saviors operates in a space I like very much and in which few games do. This is the mechanically interesting beat-em-up. Somewhere between Final Fight and a spectacle fighter like Bayonetta, the moves you do in Ninja Saviors highly affect your survival. Block, dodge, position yourself right and combo all the time. Really, it’s much closer to Final Fight, but I still appreciate the depth it has. And the game is gorgeous besides. This is some peak 2D. I admit that a lot of the joy I feel playing and replaying this comes from the visuals. Robots are cool and they rarely look cooler than this.
14. Wario Land 4, Platform: Gameboy Advance, Release Year: 2001, Developer: Nintendo
Just catching up on my Waaaario lands. Not that I hadn’t played this a bit before. I guess don’t start with the forest area, because I played that last this time instead of first, and I had a blast. There are action Warios like Wario the first and there are puzzle Warios like Warios the second and third. Waaaario land 4 is more action, which is to say there are lots of puzzles and exploration, but those are not that hard and hitting things and jumping right matters too. Not to mention, each level ends with an escape sequence which is timed, immediately giving it an action feel since you gotta run run to the entrance. I also love the look of this game with its big expressive sprites and its big ugly Wario.
13. Unicorn Overlord, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Vanillaware
This is hardly my first venture into unit-recruiting, unit-configuration, and sending such units to slowly walk across large maps to do battle. Unicorn Overlord is very close indeed to Ogre Battles. This is good. And it’s a good fit for Vanillaware’s much appreciated art style, even if the designs have been tamped down in recent years. I missed Grand Kingdom and haven’t yet picked up 13 Sentinels, but it seems this is Vanillaware’s genre now. Unicorn Overlord is very long, yet satisfying and rather easy on its default setting. Before committing to any encounter, you can see exactly how it will end, meaning you can adjust before moving a unit in the way of a particular enemy. I don’t think any other like games do this and it’s probably too much. I can see there is deep strategy in unit configurations, choosing which skills to equip, paying attention to initiative, yet it did not matter much, because winning was too easy.
12. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, Platform: Switch, Release Year: 2023, Developer: indieszero
Its rhythm mechanics are just okay. In particular, having to tilt the right stick in a given direction to hit a prompt, feels imprecise. That’s the opposite of what I need to play higher difficulty levels in rhythm games. So mostly, I didn’t. And I had a delightful time, because of the music. Obviously. Final Fantasy music is some of the best there is and there’s so much of it! Like a ridiculous amount. This game features 385 tracks, horrible chibi art, okay gameplay, and I will further emphasize, 385 tracks. I heard many songs I already knew I loved. The biggest surprise for me was Final Fantasy XI. That game has some fantastic songs that I never gave a listen before.
11. Mario Kart World, Platform: Switch 2, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Nintendo
World is as good as it is familiar, which is to say it’s a damn fine Mario Karter that right away felt like I had played it before. This works to its disadvantage somewhat as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is hard to beat without some differentiating feature. That feature of course is the open world and that certainly does not compete with the abundance of tracks Mario Kart 8 accrued over the years. The open world is fine as an extra, but it’s far less fun than circuit races. All told, this is still a great game and I will no doubt break it out for multiplayer sessions for years to come.
10. Metaphor ReFantazio, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Atlus
Damn that’s a good hook. Metaphor is a long, linear JRPG that first provides a sort of introduction to the world and then puts you in a popularity contest to become king. In Personas, social interactions increased the levels of bonds that were somehow magical and granted powers. That happens here too, but social interactions also serve to boost the protagonist’s popularity, which feeds nicely into the narrative. The characters are likeable and the story is fairly good, but the non-gameplay piece I want to really highlight is the world. It’s one that is rife with politics, geographies, and of course, racism. Every review says this, but it is true that the racism present is so apparent that it loses some of the power it has as a world-building and plot device. Combat is mostly good too, but dungeons can be overly long. In all, I liked Metaphor considerably less than its Persona counterparts. Even with the excellent world-building, this is still a familiar fantasy setting with familiar tropes and plots. Persona’s exaggeration of adults vs youths, of the jaded establishment vs hard-working outcasts, that still feels more novel than this.
9. Thirsty Suitors, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Outerloop Games
Protagonist Jala has this jaunty walk animation. It’s bouncy and charming. This is one of myriad small ways in which Thirsty Suitors tries to bold it up. Thirsty Suitors is mostly about reconciling relationships or at least trying to. Unconventionally though, events are told through JRPG style battles, cooking, skating, and a lot of button presses and swirly motions that are more fun and engaging than quick-time events, almost approaching a rhythm game. There’s a lot of dialog too and it just happens in the middle of all these other things, which I so appreciate. Thirsty Suitors goes bold in small ways sure, but it many big ways too, particularly in its battles. Visually, battles represent a kind of mental state for its participants. Animations are over the top. Parts of one’s psyche might manifest as a battle combatant. It’s pretty great. I really loved this one, despite its faults, which unfortunately are quite a few. The skateboarding in particular feels much too loose and I played Bombrush Cyberfunk not long before this, so the comparison is stark.
8. Dragon’s Dogma II, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Capcom
Twenty years ago I was enamored with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I traversed the countryside finding caves, enemies, towns and sights, missions be damned. I created my own stories within the game as a platform. We used to call this emergent storytelling, but I think we stopped doing that at some point. Dragon’s Dogma 2 tries hard to be this sort of platform and it tries at a bunch of other things too. Gotta love that ambition. To be sure, there’s magic here. When I stumbled upon an Elven town during my travels — no quest marker led me there — and the residents spoke only in Elvish, but I could nonetheless purchase items at the shop by navigating a foreign-language menu, that was pure immersion. It’s probably my favourite gaming moment of the year. So I’m glad Dragon’s Dogma 2 took big swings, despite some systems not working well, like NPC friendship levels basically being irrelevant or how when you use a wakestone to revive a NPC, they don’t react as if they just died.
7. Blade Chimera, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Team Ladybug
Team Ladybug is one of a few indie developers that has not missed for me. I might go as far to say that what they do, no one does better. Blade Chimera is a Metroidvania that is lush with details. When protagonist Shin climbs a wall or stays still for a bit and poses, you are witness to detailed, lovely animations and spritework. When he takes a swim and then returns to land, water droplets fall from his body. You will hear the difference when shooting or reloading a different kind of weapon. The details are glorious. The backgrounds too, are some of the best out there. Many rooms are like pixelated dioramas, of subways, old Japanese style houses, arcades, movie theatres. I know I’m gushing about aesthetics, but how does it play? Very well by my estimation. Combat is paced well. Easy segments involving staying back and shooting enemies are followed by difficult segments requiring dodging, perhaps some melee. Sometimes the easy shooting segments go too long. Exploration is also a highlight and Blade Chimera did the obvious good thing of letting you teleport to virtually any tile on the map you have visited before. This is such a nice feature that I hope other games copy.
6. Donkey Kong Bananza, Platform: Switch 2, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Nintendo
Bananza is one of the best takes on destructible terrain gameplay, offering the joy of shaping and destroying your surroundings as well as satisfying and varied platforming. Some of the platforming suffers for the free-form design, notably that DK will let go of a wall or ceiling when you get close to the edge. Still, it’s mostly excellent and just movement itself is fun as with 3D Marios. Level designs also take a hit in order to serve the terrain destruction features. The inclusion of child Pauline though? She’s lovely. The music angle is charming and the animal music sequences are upbeat and lively. They will tap into some primal music-loving part of your brain, forcing you to bob along. And you’ll like it.
5. Wildfrost, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Deadpan Games
I’ve seen this art style before, shades of it in Adventure Time, and a close likeness in other games and media. I like how expressive it is, how colourful and whimsical. Wildfrost is a roguelike deck-builder that has generally, two types of cards. There are cards that perform an action and get discarded. And there are character cards that go on the playing field, have health and a countdown timer to perform attacks or other actions. You always have one hero character that you are not to let die and the enemies do too, but the enemy leader comes out in a later wave. It’s a thoughtful setup and mercifully, one where a player can look at the playing field and actually understand how a turn will resolve. I find myself going back to this one despite other options. Wildfrost is an excellent entry in a genre with many already excellent games.
4. Doom, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Nightdive
This one feels weird to include in 2025. Originally released in 1993 by id software, Doom is a game I played a lot in my youth. This game and its sequel were formative for me, but I hadn’t actually completed them before. Probably. I have now, playing 3 player co-op in 2025 and having a blast going through the 4 available campaigns. Doom just feels right. Doomguy’s movement, the rate of enemy fire, the arrangement of ambushes — these feels are the basis for the PC FPS genre and it’s rarely been done better than here.
3. Doom II, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Nightdive
Initially released in 1994 by id software, Doom II feels like like a level pack for Doom, but crucially, the levels are generally better designed. Doom’s levels were often cramped, featuring narrow corridors and small rooms containing too many monsters. Doom II is open by comparison, still featuring many enclosed structures, but those tend to be comparatively spacious and there are many outdoors areas now too. Doom is a fast game and this revision to its level design does a lot to make the game more enjoyable. The super shotgun is fun too.
2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Platform: Xbox Series X, Release Year: 2025, Developer: Sandfall Interactive
Expedition 33 is a bold, beautiful game. Its story is a high concept mystery, peeled back slowly. Its characters are distinct, developed and emotive people who try their best, despite dire circumstances. Its locales and fashion sense are tres French, which is so refreshing since most games elect the cliche American backdrop. And the gameplay is engaging and challenging, the parry system somewhere between Super Mario RPG and Dark Souls. Not to mention there’s no mini-map in instanced areas, a deliberate choice no doubt, that both frustrated me and forced me to engage more deeply. Expedition 33 takes a lot of swings and mostly it hits. I love its weirdness, its challenging gameplay, and probably most of all, the journey as told by its cast.
1. UFO 50, Platform: PC, Release Year: 2024, Developer: Mossmouth
One angle to UFO 50 is that it’s 50 retro games that are varied, good, have modern saving features, and follow a development progression arc for a fictional studio. This is compelling stuff. The games truly are interesting and varied. Devilition is a stand-out puzzle game featuring bomb-chaining mechanics. Kick Club is a two-player Bubble Bobble-like. Warptank matches the best of them when it comes to the secrets it holds. Mortol II encourages experimentation with disposable (lemmings-like) units. Seaside Drive feels like Outrun meets Contra, somehow being both chill and frantic. I am tempted to go on. There are many unmentioned games I like a lot, but I want to mention the other angle that makes UFO 50 compelling. It’s a virtual treasure box where I find myself in possession of a long-lost console. I must play its games to understand the design standards of the era, the lessons the development team learned as they honed their craft, the innovations that drove the medium forward. UFO 50 is very convincing in delivering this fantasy. It’s magical and hard to believe this even exists. I was happily in its thrall.
~ just the rankings ~
52. Look Outside
51. Spyro the Dragon
50. Borderlands 3
49. to a T
48. Gunforce II
47. Anomaly Agent
46. Chants of Sennaar
45. GundeadliGne
44. Guns of Fury
43. Parking Garage Rally Circuit
42. Heroes of Hammerwatch
41. Skyblazer
40. Beneath Oresa
39. The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates
38. The Ninja Kids
37. Gal Guardians: Demon Purge
36. Klonoa: Empire of Dreams
35. Frog Hop
34. Wario Land 2
33. PEAK
32. Tales of Arise
31. Cybernator
30. Gradius Interstellar Assault
29. Trials of Mana
28. Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
27. Ghosts n’ Goblins Resurrection
26. The Firemen
25. Axiom Verge 2
24. Marvel Cosmic Invasion
23. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
22. River City Girls 2
21. Crypt Custodian
20. Blasphemous 2
19. Monster Train 2
18. Wrestle Angels Survivor 2
17. G.G. Shinobi
16. Mullet Madjack
15. The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors
14. Wario Land 4
13. Unicorn Overlord
12. Theathrythm Final Bar Line
11. Mario Kart World
10. Metaphor ReFantazio
9. Thirsty Suitors
8. Dragon’s Dogma 2
7. Blade Chimera
6. Donkey Kong Bananza
5. Wildfrost
4. Doom
3. Doom II
2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
1. UFO 50