When don’t I have a bad year? I used to think I was an optimist, but maybe I’m just a secret pessimist. I hope not. 2025 sucked! But even I have to admit it had some stellar games come out. Having said that, everyone should read this piece about The Game Awards that sums up how the year went.
It’d be easy to ignore the pain and suffering of others; we’ve been conditioned to do just that. The pains of capitalism constantly squeezing out every last penny from everyone down the line means that in order to sleep at night, one must have to ignore the suffering of others. I worry not because my friends can sleep but because they might be sleeping too soundly.
Artificial Intelligence? Google suggested Gemini when I was writing an e-mail yesterday. How dumb do you have to be to require artificial intelligence to write an e-mail for you? And yet, we’re being plagued with generative-AI assets that don’t make sense, all kind of look the same, and lack the basic human creativity that makes things interesting.
I’m not asking you to sell your house and live in the woods, just pay attention to what you’re consuming and use a critical eye. You alone taking a stand could have innumerable positives in other people’s lives. Give it a try, you might surprise yourself.
For my top 10 list, I decided to omit any re-released games. Apologies to Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, but too many great games were released this year for me to praise a game that was originally released in the 90s. It’s great that companies are modernizing and rereleasing their old games on modern platforms. They don’t need awards.
10. Absolum
For some reason, I’m very taken when games use the cartoonish, painterly style executed by the art team for Absolum. It’s very clean and beautiful. Playing Absolum with friends was a high point of my year, and I’m glad the team over at Guard Crush was able to make this game. Few joys from childhood persist quite like beat ‘em ups with friends. I hope Mick Gordon got paid this time.
9. Demonschool
If you’re interested in all of my feelings about this novel tactics RPG, I reviewed it for MonsterVine here. What Necrosoft Games managed to pull off here is nothing short of incredible. With hilarious character archetypes, superb writing, and an excellent gameplay loop, Demonschool had me in its clutches immediately. The art style is brilliant and consistent. Everything I wanted from a modern tactics game with barebones life sim elements exists in Demonschool. A must for 2025.
8. Urban Myth Dissolution Center
Another one I reviewed here. Maybe best paired with Demonschool. The atmosphere is a little more oppressive in this one, however. While Demonschool is a little more on the light-hearted side, Urban Myth Dissolution Center takes its subject a little more seriously. Initially disappointed with how linear it was, it brought me back around with its characters and narrative. And oh my god, the art in this game is gorgeous. The vibes are immaculate.
7. Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog
We’re hitting review territory here. I’ll try to review less games in 2026. Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is a love-letter to 80s sci-fi anime. It takes place in space, there are mechs, and we have peace… for now. Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog is a beautiful game with fun characters, an engaging narrative, and it sets the scene for more games in the same universe. As a fairly linear visual novel, I was thoroughly engaged. Looking forward to more from Space Colony Studios.
6. Many Nights a Whisper
Deconstructeam released a game? Let me make room in my GOTY list. Obligatory review link. Many Nights a Whisper has the player take on the role of the Dreamer, a fire slinging wish granter. Every night, I’d sit by the ponytail glory hole and watch as people insert their hair and ask to have their wishes granted. A good amount of what Deconstructeam releases are short narrative pieces that take you away into their worlds, if you let them. Play this game. It’ll change you.
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5. Promise Mascot Agency
It’s unsurprising to me that the team behind Paradise Killer managed to make another game that I struggled to put down. Ex-yakuza with a broom, driving around in his Kei truck, with an adorable severed thumb riding around in the flatbed. Promise Mascot Agency is an open-world narrative adventure, but even if you wanted to skip the narrative (insanity,) you’d probably have a pretty good time just driving around and participating in activities. This game rules. Pinky for prez.
4. BALL x PIT
Yeah, I reviewed it, so what? Maybe the most gameplay-centric game on the list. To say I found BALL x PIT engaging would be an understatement. How Kenny Sun was able to modernize Arkanoid blows my mind because this game is awesome. Brick breaking your way to riches in the pit while restoring the city at the top, what a Nick-coded dream. The art style is incredible, there are tons of buildings and characters to unlock, and each character is novel. So good it almost cracked my top 3.
3. Wednesdays
Wednesdays initially grabbed my attention with its art style and promise of a strong narrative centered around child sexual abuse. A fairly daring narrative in a sea of games that could never touch that subject. And yet, Wednesdays manages to cover the topic with aplomb.
Timothée sits down at his computer and opens up the Orco Park application. Orco Park is a theme park management sim where the player slaps down rides and decorations they’ve unlocked. As Timothée, you’ll place rides that will unlock memories in their childhood. The memories are shaped by the decisions you make in those worlds.
Nothing particularly explicit happens directly in the game, but there is discussion, there are moments leading up to abuse that are evocative, and not just because they’re so well drawn. Wednesdays is an incredibly beautiful game with the goal of raising awareness for child sexual abuse. A noble cause pursued by an incredible experience. Wednesdays is most assuredly one of the best games to come out in 2025.
2. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
I can’t help myself. This game is unbelievably stupid. Goro Majima, the Mad Dog of Shimano, just washed up on the shores of a small Hawaiian island. Despite having like 5 buildings on the island, it’s crawling with criminals.
After being saved by some kid, Majima decides to become a pirate captain and cause all manner of trouble in the area, including in a secret pirate base that hosts an arena for ship battles. Truly, this game is as wacky as the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series gets.
So after all that, I have to say, I had a pretty damn good time playing this game. The ship battles were arcadey enough that with the right ship upgrades, they were easy enough to be fun. Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii seems to be a follow-up to Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. As a follow-up, it does everything that Like a Dragon Gaiden did but better. I’d still prefer a third Judgment game, but if these side-games become standard, I think we’ll be okay.
1. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
Like you didn’t see this coming. The stellar review is right here & here. I don’t know what it is about a coming-of-age story about teenage outcasts that really grips me, but add in some thirty-something adults that are struggling to dissect the best summer they ever had, and I’m butter.
It’s the summer of 1995 in Velvet Cove, Michigan, and Swann, who has been kind of a loner most of her life, has made a few friends. She’s leaving at the end of the summer, so she’s determined to make the best of it. However, life isn’t always great in the 90s, and each kid has their own struggles.
The familiarity of the story helps, but I think the thing that separates Lost Records: Bloom & Rage from the other games on this list, except Wednesdays, is the authenticity of the story. I don’t feel like this is a liberal retelling of a story that people would expect from a 90s kid. No, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage is a genuine story told so well you’ll think you were there that summer. And as unbelievable as the story becomes, with a supernatural bend, I do think that for Swann, this was the best summer ever. And even though I didn’t live it, it’s a summer I’ll always remember.
So yeah, if you struggled to find something other than remasters and remakes in 2025, that was on you. Incredible games are being released every day, and I didn’t even get to all the games I wanted to talk about. Did you play Dispatch or And Roger? Angeline Era? Have you checked out my monthly column about indie games being released this month? I encourage you to look outside the studio system and find a game to play. You don’t have to enable developers who do shitty things to their employees. There are better games out there.
I did play a lot of remakes and remasters this year and, quite frankly, most were very good. Big shout outs to Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles and RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army, both of which were done very well while maintaining a lot of what made the originals great. The SaGa Frontier 2 Remaster made me a SaGa fan, and I’ll be exploring that series more this year, so thanks for that. Get fucked EA, Plants vs. Zombies REPLANTED kinda sucked, and not reaching out to the original team for input is obvious.
As a final goodbye to the year, I wanted to say I’ll be stepping back a bit as far as writing is concerned as I pursue a degree. Going back to school is an opportunity I wasn’t given until recently, and I’d like to focus on that while this industry burns in the background. I hope your 2025 was good, and I hope your 2026 will be even better. I love you all.
