Games of the Year 2025

5. For Fans of the Genre - Ender Magnolia and Another Crab’s Treasure
I usually intend for my GOTY lists to go in no order, but this year, it does have an order of sorts. Not necessarily of quality, because all 10 games this year feel like must plays to me, but the order is more of games I would recommend people to play. Ender Lilies and Another Crab’s Treasure both represent games that I really love what they are doing, especially in their respective genres. Ender Magnolia is a great iteration of the Ender Lilies formula (which is in itself an iteration on the Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia game design), and Another Crab’s Treasure is a great version of Dark Souls that retains much of the challenge, but makes it more accessible. Both games are great, but wouldn’t be the first thing I would recommend out the gate unless you already love that genre.

4. Endings that Stay with You - Soul Hackers 2 and Angeline Era 
Video game endings are hard. Even some of the best games just sort of peter out in the end. That is why having a great ending is so impressive. That being said, Soul Hackers 2 Good ending does take a bit of planning, so it can be a bit of a slog to get, but I loved it all the same. Especially that last boss. Angeline Era’s ending is in its own league, and put an already good game rocketing to one of the best games I have played this year. It not only pays off the character development it gives throughout the game, but is almost an entire game onto itself. Imagine playing through an end game boss rush in any other game, and then in between bosses, there is an entire game of the year contender that plays out. It is honestly sort of bonkers. I would say that both games are good on their own, but it is their endings that put them on this list.

3. Best of Narrative Explorations - Despelote and Anthology of the Killer
I always hated the term “walking simulator” as a video game genre. It is cheeky and seems like a put down in a way that feels like punching down. It does highlight something where maybe games where narrative is the focus needs to make sure the player is engaged and a way that goes beyond just walking around an environment. Both Despelote and Anthology of the Killer do an amazing job of making games where you are walking around, but your relationship to the environment is much more than a museum. They are on the opposite sides of how to approach this, so while Despelote has you forming relationships and understanding the personal history of a place, Anthology of the Killer makes you more afraid as the environments become more and more threatening. Both tell personal stories, some more abstract than others, but both leave me happy that I played through them both. 

2. Fan Makers/”Woman do be getting into Trouble” - Half Life Alyx and Misericorde vol. 1
I talked about games that are more for fans of the genre, so these games are the games that instead would make you fans of that genre. Half Life Alyx doesn’t need much introduction, as it may be the best VR game ever made, but Misericorde vol. 1 might need a little more explanation. Misericorde vol. 1 is a murder mystery Visual Novel where you are trying to figure out who killed one of the nuns in a nunnery. This proves much more difficult as volume 1 deals with the main character is an anchoress (a nun that is cut off from all other human contact to study and advise on religion), and with the complex emotional world of some of the most charming characters. Visual Novels I have found can be hard to get into due to their pacing, and aesthetic choices, but Misericorde oozes with style, a fantastic soundtrack, and moments that, even though it is only volume 1, still will stick with me. These are the types of games that turn one from a casual player, to someone dying to play more. 

1. RPGs from France - OFF and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
So I wrote a lot about both games in a previous post, so it is probably safe to say that these are the two games I have thought about the most this year. In that post, I think I might have underplayed how much I enjoyed my time with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I really did love the music and the characters. It has some of the all time best voice performances I have heard in a video game. People are correct to put it on their “best games of all time” list, but in the end, I can’t help but use it as a helpful tool to illustrate how much I love OFF instead. It doesn’t help that I sort of hated the lack of maps in areas, how the first time I was playing it I was distracted by waiting for the other shoe to drop as far as the narrative twist, and how they used GenAI in some of their place holder graphics (GenAI is such a blight on daily life, and I hate it so much). OFF to me is what I wanted Clair Obscur to be, and you would think that would disqualify Clair Obscur from even appearing in this list. If I did a traditional list where I didn’t pair games up, it wouldn’t show up, but as a companion game to OFF, they are in such conversation that I couldn’t help but put them together. Like The Batter and The Judge, or Verso and Maelle, you can’t have one without the other.

Building a Better Trolley Problem: Comparing the Endings of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and OFF

Anytime you have to choose between two different things, it can metaphorically be a trolley problem. The moral quandary of letting a runaway trolley either run over one thing, or another, is compelling because it is something we have to deal with every day. Do we eat the cookie, or be good and eat the apple instead? Do we leave the spider hanging by a thread in the doorway alone, or kill it knowing it is not really doing any harm?

Granted, most of the metaphorical trolley problems we deal with are not a huge deal in the grand scale of things, but they do help determine who we are as people. The most interesting trolley problems then are the ones that bring this in sharp focus and make us realize where our priorities really lie. Uncomfortable truths can be revealed, and maybe make you see yourself in a new light.

If you are then making a video game, and the climax of your video game is making the player choose between two things, the key to making this into a good trolley problem is making the player realize something about themselves. Make the player face who they are as a person as the climax of your game.

Last chance here, I am going to spoil the entirety of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and OFF, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, this is the time to get off the trolley, so to speak.

You still there? I hope so! To discuss the trolley problems both games give you at the end of their narratives, let’s look at the narratives.

Clair Obscur, when boiled down, is about the man who built the gun, and then the man who wants to shoot that gun to destroy the world. Gustav realizes how to use magical devices called Pictos to enhance their battle capabilities, and allows their expedition to prevail against the obstacles that had slain previous parties. Verso then witnesses Gustav’s death, and takes advantage of the situation by planning to lead the party to their total annihilation. Verso, having lived for over 100 years, wants to end his existence and this world, and will do anything to cause this to happen. By the end of the game, he is doing this not just for himself, but for his sister Alicia, which destroying the world will also save her. 

OFF, on the other hand, has the player as the wielder of the gun, and the main character you control, The Batter, is that world destroying gun. The game asks for your real name and pronouns directly through The Judge, a cheshire cat like character that helps you throughout the game. The Batter’s role as destroyer of the world is not quite revealed until the end of the game, though clues are there if you look for them. The biggest clue is that after The Batter purifies an area of ghosts and its guardian, going back to that area will reveal that nothing is left. Only empty buildings and horrifying enemies called Secretaries remain. Even the music is gone, replaced by whispers that you can’t quite make out what they are saying. The reason The Batter is even doing this is up to interpretation, but it is what he was created for. The Batter never wavers, and can not be reasoned with. 

The choice given at the end of both these games is whether you allow Verso, or The Batter, destroy the world they reside in. Do you as the player allow them to finish their mission, or will you side with their opposition?

For Verso, the opposition is Alicia, or more specifically Maelle, which is the version of Alicia that grew up in the world Verso wants to destroy, and wants to save the friends she has grown to love. For The Batter, the opposition is The Judge, who has witnessed The Batter “purify” their world and now needs to stop him before even the memory of their very existence is erased.

In both cases, destroying the world will also destroy them, so it isn’t necessarily only a selfish act. For Verso, the painted world he resides in is a monument of a life he never lived, a person he wears the skin and talks with the voice of, but could never be. The painted world is a creation of the real Verso before he died in a fire, and now he exists as a version of Verso that his family in the real world can visit. It is important to note that, despite the painted world being a fake world, the people that reside in it are as real as you and me. So, if Verso has his way, he will be destroying countless lives, but he would be saving the life of his sister Alicia, whose lifeforce is needed to keep the painting alive, and will die if she continues. 

For The Batter, since he has nothing else other than purification, there is no real convincing him that what he is doing is wrong. You get the impression in Clair Obscur that maybe there was a version of Verso that could allow the painted world to keep going, but there is no version of The Batter in OFF that would allow his world to keep existing. The world of OFF is initially shown as being haunted by ghosts, but the more you learn, the more it becomes clear that the ghosts are merely a symptom of a world diseased at its core. Most residents feel like empty shells, and the cruelty enacted on them to keep the world going is untenable.

Both OFF and Clair Obscur offer worlds that are broken, maybe beyond repair, so the question becomes do you save them, or let them be destroyed?

The choice in OFF is obvious when it is given to you. As the handler of The Batter, do you allow the runaway trolley to destroy the world, or pull the lever and instead choose The Judge and kill The Batter? If you choose The Judge, the fight against The Batter reveals that his mundane image of just a baseball player is a facade, and you see him as The Judge now sees him:  a complete monster. The choice to see the world through someone else's eyes instead of your own reveals the truth that was always there in the background. The ending with choosing The Judge is a melancholy one, but there is something about it that feels fulfilling. You didn’t really save much in the end, but you get to choose how you feel about it. If you instead choose The Batter, you kill The Judge, The Batter flips the switch ending the world of OFF, and only the enveloping darkness of the credits with the song "If You Want the Rainbow" playing in the background to accompany you as the game ends. Whether you are the type of person to resign yourself to the momentum of annihilation, or lash out to save what little is left, is up to you.

The Batter, as perceived by The Judge

This is where Clair Obscur falters a bit. You have the choice of choosing either to go through with Verso’s plan to end the world, or side with Maelle/Alicia and preserve the world. If you choose the Maelle ending, you don’t get to see the ending from their eyes. The ending is still from Verso’s point of view. Because of this, siding with Maelle/Alicia gives you an ending cut like a horror movie ending stinger. Everyone is happy, but for Verso who is seemingly having a panic attack while the impending death of his sister becomes more and more apparent. Pulling the lever to divert Verso’s plan feels like a false choice because we never get to experience it outside of his head. You only get to see his increasing dread, not the joy Alicia would feel seeing her dead friends living again. If you choose Verso’s ending, and allow him to destroy the world, we get to see a family reunited, and a son finally grieved for. 

By trapping both endings with Verso’s point of view, you aren’t really asked a question at all. It feels like less of a trolley problem, and more like a multiple choice question you weren’t prepared for. The Clair Obscur does give you some hints here and there, like with how Monaco tries to revive his friend Noco and is met with a different being in a late game side quest, but it doesn’t feel like a genuine choice. It is more like a “good ending” and a “bad ending” that feels less interesting since it is just whether it was good or bad for Verso, instead of the cast of characters you grew closer to. The game allows the player to choose, but instead we choose what happens to Verso, rather than learn anything about ourselves. It would have been a more honest ending if you made the choice, and then Verso instead took that choice from you, not unlike how Verso is taking agency away from Alicia.

In the end, OFF is a game that I will carry with me and will help me be a better person, while Clair Obscur was a good game with great music, good graphics, and a story with great acting. 

Maybe that isn’t fair, but if there was a runaway trolley, and I had to choose to save Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 or OFF, I would choose OFF every time.

GOTY 2025 Candidates

I play through a lot of video games, so when it comes to writing about them at the end of the year, some really good ones slip through the cracks. To alleviate that, I am going to write a preliminary list of games I completed that I liked. Whether these will be on the GOTY list I usually write at the end of the year is still up in the air. I have written them out here with reasons they will end up there (GOTY) and reasons why it might be left off the list (NOTY).

In any case, it is fun to look back.

Listed somewhat in the order I played them:

Resident Evil 2 Remake
Reasons for GOTY: The urge to play this came out of nowhere early this year, but I’m glad it did because it was a fun romp.
Reasons no NOTY: A good first entry here because it does make me think about the purpose of GOTY list. Is it just like a little journal for me, or should it be something for an audience? Do I list it because it was a very fun, solid experience, or leave it off because people already know this game is good from like 6 years ago? It might not even matter because there are probably at least 10 other games I could list instead anyway, but it was a good time for sure. 

Capcom Fighting game Collection 2
Reasons for GOTY: Capcom vs. SNK 2 is my favorite fighting game, and this has a bunch of other great games, and good netcode
Reasons for NOTY: It is a collection of old games, but it will probably end up on the list somewhere. Especially since it got me to get a lever-less arcade controller this year which is neat and I can write about that. I played through Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics as well this year, and while that is fun, it doesn't compare to Capcom vs. SNK 2 and Project Justice.

Ender Magnolia
Reasons for GOTY: Good Search Action game, maybe some of the best in the genre
Reasons for NOTY: As good as this game is, it sort of wilts in the presence of Silksong. I’ll talk more about Silksong later, but even in the context of its own series, Ender Magnolia is just an improved Ender Lilies, so it is treading a lot of familiar ground. It might make it, but we’ll have to see. 

Another Crab’s Treasure
Reasons for GOTY: Absolutely loved this game. Fun gameplay and some of the best moments of the year for me.
Reasons for NOTY: It was released last year, but the big update was this year, so this is absolutely making it in. 

Ena Dream BBQ
Reasons for GOTY: Surreal and free adventure
Reasons for NOTY: Little short, other indies might beat this out, but this is totally worth playing through.

No One Lives Under the Lighthouse
Reasons for GOTY: Solid horror game with a great retro aesthetic
Reasons for NOTY: Similar to Ena, though this one I sort of fell off in the back end. I missed the true ending by 1 collectable, and I didn’t have the urge to go back. Good game, but probably will be left off. 

Dead Lamb Walking
Reasons for GOTY: Still thinking about it to this day
Reasons for NOTY: It is pretty much the best example of “I really wish I read the trigger warnings” sort of game, and I think the twist here isn’t exactly done with an expert hand, but I’ll never forget it, and for that, it deserves something. I don’t know if that something is GOTY, but maybe. 

Half Life Alyx
Reasons for GOTY: Best VR game ever made?
Reasons for NOTY: I have been spoiled by Resident Evil 8 VR and Resident Evil 4 Remake VR that took a lot from this game, so it didn’t hit me as hard as it did other people, but it is still some of the best VR experiences you can buy. It almost makes up for the fact that the PSVR2 was totally abandoned by Sony, except that they made it compatible with a PC (with a $60 dongle of course). 

Blasphemous
Reasons for GOTY: Solid search action game, the Spanish VA is best in class
Reasons for NOTY: I loved this game, but if I had to choose, Ender Magnolia was the better game.

Orbo’s Odyssey
Reasons for GOTY: Fun platformer
Reasons for NOTY: The best part of this game was not knowing how to play for like 20 minutes, thinking it was broken/too hard, and then having it click. Once I got how the main jumping mechanic worked, it felt amazing. That feeling of frustration, followed by the total bliss of figuring out my mistake was some of the best gaming I had this year. The issue is this: would I have had that feeling if I actually read the tutorial and did the mechanic right the first time? Maybe not. 

Pseudoregalia
Reasons for GOTY: One of the best platformers I have played in years. Imagine that issue I had with Orbo, but actually designed that way, instead of being an accident. Mario 64 levels of platforming genius. 
Reasons for NOTY: I do wonder if I would have liked the game more if, like Mario 64, it gave you all the movement abilities at once, but in any case, it will end up on the GOTY list.

Soul Hackers 2
Reasons for GOTY: A Japanese turned based RPG for adults you say? Well, it took some updates, and a DLC, but they actually achieved the goal of making a compelling monster collecting game without it being in a high school or involving Pokemon/Digimon. 
Reasons for NOTY: The QoL stuff they added later (I remember the game designer Melos Han-Tani remarking QoL actually stands for Quality of Low-swag) really saved the slower beginning parts, and some of the dungeons are really a slog. Having one teleport dungeon is fine, but 3 of them??? I really loved the cast, and things really pick up at the 2nd half of the game, but it isn’t a game I can recommend without caveats. Still, I do think of this game fondly. 

Mario Kart World
Reasons for GOTY: Knockout mode is the Wacky Races game I always wanted. Pure fun and chaos. 
Reasons for NOTY: The single player is a fun chill experience with the open world, and the tracks are good, but it sort of lacks the options and content I expect from a $70 game (granted, I only paid the $50 for it with the Switch 2 bundle). It is a problem I imagine will be eventually solved, but I really want more options for a more traditional Mario Kart Online experience (bring back 3 laps in a course, transitioning from course to course is fun, but I want the option to not have to do that), and just more content in general. For the love of Holy Rosalina, give us a jukebox feature!

Dear Me I Was/And Roger
Reasons for GOTY: Short sweet VN experiences
Reasons for NOTY: Probably not enough on their own, but combined is probably worth writing about. They are similar in gameplay style, and with story. Both deal with loss, finding those you love, and doing what you can to be near them. Dear Me, I Was I thought had the better art and story, but And Roger had the more interesting gameplay stuff. 

Mesericorde Vol 1
Reasons for GOTY: The story of a murder in a nunnery has great pacing, great characters, and big questions.
Reasons for NOTY: Being volume 1, it has big questions, but not a lot of answers. I think it is good enough to make the list, but hopefully it continues this high quality of writing. 

Mouthwashing
Reasons for GOTY: A chilling tale of TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Reasons for NOTY: I actually misunderstood part of the story when I played it, and I didn’t even know until I watched a video about it. My interpretation isn’t technically invalid, but it was probably wrong so I feel like a lot of the mixed feelings I had when I finished it were just based on that mistaken assumption. It will end up on there one way or another, but it is funny how these things can just fly over my head sometimes.

Anthology of the Killer
Reasons for GOTY: One of my favorite video games I have played in a long time.
Reasons for GOTY: This one is for the sickos. For the people sick of traditional narratives, and ready to go into the deep end of what a video game can do. You might not be ready for this one, but it should go down as one of the greats. 

Big Ocean, Wide Jacket/Despolote
Reasons for GOTY: Utterly charming snap shots of life in their respective time periods
Reasons for NOTY: These are short but worth it, I will squeeze them all in.. I might just combine this with Dear Me, I Was, And Roger just so I can list them all. 

OFF
Reasons of GOTY: I am obsessed 
Reasons for NOTY: No chance, this is making it. There are issues people have had with this remake (OST being the big one, though if you have it on PC, there are ways to mod the old one in anyway, so it is now a moot point), but this is the game that struck the biggest chord in me. It also has some interesting links to the next game on the list. 

Clair Obscur Expedition 33
Reasons for GOTY: Beautiful OST, haunting story, some of the best acting in a video game period
Reasons for NOTY: It is ironic that two of the best French turned based RPGs I played this year, and they are now competing with each other. Clair Obscur I have some issues with, but OFF is the perfect game for me, warts and all. Clair Obscur will be on the list, but OFF has my heart.

Games I plan to play, but might not get to finish:

Hollow Knight Silksong: I can get a little hipster-y when games get so popular with the GOTY talk that I stop playing it, even if I know I will like it. I do suspect that is also what is affecting me with OFF vs. Clair Obscur, which I will admit is a personal failing of mine. Who cares what other people think? Well, me, and hoping you too, because why would you be reading this then???

Silent Hill f: It is tough to finish horror games in a rush. I want to be scared, not exhausted.

Donkey Kong Bananza: It is fun to just smash things, but I don’t have a lot of motivation to get back to it before these other games because there is no story I need to keep track of.

Stray Children: This is rough because I should have beat a previous game the studio made, Moon RPG Remix, before I played this, but I am now 2 hours in and I sort of want to continue. Little bit of a rock and a hard place with this one. 

Misericorde Vol. 2: I do want to play through this, but there probably isn’t enough time. These are the other Visual Novels I was hoping to play through at some point, just to illustrate my issue- Stories from SOL, Kemono Teatime, Promise Mascot Agency, Great Ace Attorney, AI Somnium Files, Urban Myth Dissolution Center, Ace Attorney Investigations, Butterfly Soup 2, Coquette Dragoon, Ochistubaki, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, and many more I am forgetting. 

Games I liked, but not sure if I have anything interesting to write about other than “hey this game was good”:

Streets of Rage 4, Poinpy, Castlevania Order of Ecclesia, Curse Crackers, Elephantasy, Man I just wanna go home, A Plumber of All Seasons, Pepper Grinder, and Terry’s Other Games for collecting Don’t Look Back and that cool Flappy Bird inspired game.

Look forward to the GOTY 2025 list later this year or early 2026!
 

OFF Review

OFF is the first game in awhile that gave me nightmares.

I play all kinds of horror games like Resident Evil in VR, Silent Hill, and various indie titles, but they didn't effect me like OFF does. 

Which is weird because it is originally a turned based RPG from 2008, that looks like it has a shoestring budget, because it did. It was originally a free game that the creator Mortis Ghost (real name Martin Georis) and a small team created. 

So how why did it unnerve me so much? The key there is how intense it is. 

The game starts with you controlling a character named The Batter and a Cheshire Cat like creature named The Judge starts asking your real name, and your pronouns. You are then thrust into a battle tutorial, and before you know it, you have to write down numbers to solve a puzzle to move on. 

 OFF isn't a game that you can half pay attention to. You always have to keep aware for clues, and know that writing down numbers, words, and symbols could be the only thing between you and being stuck. The game also follows this same design with its story. Even when things are explained to you, the greater context is something you need to figure out for yourself. One moment you can be talking to some sad office worker, and the next that same office worker could get you into a turn based battle. 

The battle system, as paired down and clean as a turn based RPG it is, is filled with strangeness. The way the game works is that usually the entirety of the game is in a 4:3 window with borders, but the battle scenes are 16:9, and even the resolution and pixel density feels off. Combined with a sudden battle transition from your field view to battle view (this can be modified in the accessibility if it is too much) every battle feels like a mild bonk to the head. You then use attacks ("Competencies" as they are called in game) named things like "Saturated String" and "Run with Dementia" and the whole thing feels like a fever dream.   

The world of OFF is one of misery, strangeness, and metaphor. It is never clear exactly what is happening, and the more you try to scrutinize it, the more it feels like nothing is how it should be. Despite The Batter's purity as shown on the status screen, or the sheer incorruptibility of his purpose, you as the player never feel safe. There is not a moment in OFF that you feel like you have a handle on things. The biggest contributor of this feeling is the amazing soundtrack. With tracks from morusque, Toby Fox, and more, the soundtrack never lets up as it is constantly either weirding you out, hyping you up, or whispering in your ear the emotional truth of this world. 

The truth then becomes that OFF is a meditation. Is is a mediation on purpose, on resolve, on how we gather resources to live, and how long will we put up with the state of things. Are the facades and stories we create worth the pain and suffering? What would you sacrifice, and when you reap what you have sown, are you prepared for the consequences? The game never asks you to really determine how things will proceed, and it doesn't care for your cleverness, or if you could have done things better. It just asks how you feel, and to be honest, I feel uneasy.

In 2025, I can see OFF being, well, off-putting. For me, sure it gave me nightmares, but maybe in an uncaring, pure world, even a nightmare can be a sanctuary.

Soul Hackers 2 Review

Reviewing Soul Hackers 2 is tough because there are so many lenses you can review it through.

I could talk about how the version I played is so much more improved than the version that was released originally, and how things like being able to speed up battles improves the game so much that most reviews you see online might not even put that into account.

I could talk about how the game is a commentary on the Shin Megami Tensei series as a whole and how it priorities your relationships over a Law/Chaos/Neutral system. It postulates that maybe the only difference between Law and Chaos is how you feel about it.

What I landed on is how this game feels much more of the moment in 2025 than it did in 2021. Soul Hackers 2 is set in a future world that seems ready to die. People have lost their passion, and things have just gotten worse. One group called the Phantom Society is looking to end the world, and they almost have all the macguffins to do it. While the game events have you trying to stop them, a lot of the game's narrative, especially early on, is getting to know your team.

You have mainly 4 characters, Ringo, the super advanced techobiological being born from an AI intelligence to save the world, Arrow, the boy scout tough guy himbo, Milady, the evil assassin cynical lady, and Saizo, the cool jazzy goofus freelancer. Whether you like the game will be mostly based on your interest in seeing these four people, and more, into fully realized people.

That is what surprised me the most, I ended up liking all four of these party members in the end, even Arrow, which I pegged as sort of boring at first, but eventually won me over. That is the trick the game pulls. I even started learning the names of the shopkeepers and became interested in their whole deal. The game is at its best when it fights the premise of a world full of apathy, and fills it with vibrant characters. The game wants you to realize that maybe if you got the whole picture, people would make different decisions.

This is what made it resonate so hard for me. 2025 is a time where the US government is using people’s ignorance and apathy to hurt people and let people suffer in order to gain advantage. It makes you wonder if the Phantom Society is somehow in the right for trying to end it all. The game winds up with an answer I wasn’t expecting to affect me so much. I was expecting a game in which I stop the bad guys and save the day, but this isn’t all about that.Yes, stop the bad people, but make sure you are also building your community. Make sure you know the people closest to you, and if they are hurting, because if you don’t, you may end up with a bigger problem than you were fighting in the first place.

The game does have some issues, like I think the dungeon design and the level progression slows the game to a crawl that I needed to just listen to podcasts instead of the game audio for large swaths of it, but the stuff it does right I think outweighs those moments (also I like listening to podcasts, so I did catch up on a bunch of them while playing). I felt the 50 hours of doing most of the sidequests and the DLC was completely worth it.

If you are looking for a turn-based RPG about building a community to save the world, and making sure it stays saved, then Soul Hackers 2 is worth a play through.

Video Game Quarterly Report

 

Games I have played through

Resident Evil 2 Remake

I started this game years ago, and I finally played it through this year. I have watched an old friend play through the original PS1 game in the 90’s, and never actually played it through myself. The Remake ended up being the perfect way to finally get to it. Playing through as Claire first, and then Leon with the PS1 classic costume and the original PS1 music I really enjoyed. One day I’ll play through the game with Leon first and then Claire with the PS1 model, but for now I’ll move on to the Resident Evil 3 Remake.

Lost Your Marbles and Executive Golf

The first Playdate games I have played through. The Playdate I have been mostly playing more on the go, arcade-y games that don’t really have endings, but these were the first ones I played through and got to credits. Honestly, I don't have a ton to say about the games without getting into minutiae about the mechanics, so I’ll just say that I love the form factor and looking to play more! Reminds me a lot of the original Gameboy I played with ages ago.

Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Collection

I don’t have a ton of arcade game experience, but the ones I have are X-Men vs Street Fighter and Marvel vs Capcom. I never got super good at either, but neither did anyone I played with, so I had tons of fun with these back in the day. Playing this collection almost got me thinking maybe I should practice these a bunch and see if I can play online, but not quite. I am more comfortable at just setting the difficulty low and playing through each game. More of a content tourist at this point.

Capcom Beat ‘em up Collection

Big collection year so far. I imagine because this year started off really rough, and I needed some comfort food. Beat ‘em ups are the most comfort food of comfort for me. Nothing really insightful to say other than Warriors of Fate is better than I remember (despite the odd localization) and Battle Circuit was disappointing.

Poinpy

Poinpy is the spiritual successor to Down Well if not only because it was made by the same creator, but now you are going up instead of down. My favorite iOS game, and something I wish I didn’t have to have a Netflix account to play, but what can you do? This will be my 2nd time playing it through and hope that it remains available to play in the future.

Terry’s Other Games

Terry Cavanagh is one of the best game designers living today, and has made some of my favorite games with some of the best video game OSTs. Mainly got this for Don’t Look Back, which is such a brilliant little game. Haven’t played much else yet, but hidden in this collection is the secret best version of Flappy Bird.

Pepper Grinder

I played this mostly because Patrick Klepick of Remap recommended this and I get why. For platformer fans, it is the level design of New Super Mario Brothers with the speed of a Sonic the Hedgehog game. It works for a while, and when it doesn’t, it changes it up. I don’t think it really lives up to its inspirations, but it is fun, and has a killer soundtrack.

Ender Magnolia

I loved the previous game Ender Lilies, so this had a lot to live up to. Luckily, I ended up loving this one just as much, if not more. My first GOTY contender. Love playing a good search action game early in the year.

Streets of Rage 4

If Beat ‘em ups are my comfort food, Streets of Rage 4 is like gourmet hot chocolate, with the perfect amount of sweetness, and maybe even a little booze to really get you in the mood. Honestly the only other game that competes is Streets of Rage 2 as far as satisfyingly beating up people in the street.

Capcom Fighting Collection

Mostly played in anticipation of Collection 2, which I am really looking forward to (Capcom vs SNK 2 is probably my favorite fighting game). I did enjoy finally playing as Hsien-ko in a fighting game after enjoying her character design for so long. I can’t say I really love the Capcom Collection interface for them to keep reusing it, but it is good enough. Really wish these games had some sort of Ending viewer, but I get that with youtube and whatever, the need for that probably is not worth the work.

Angel At Dusk

A bullet hell shooter in the vein of Mushihime-sama Futari, Ikaruga, or whatever game people remember (1943? Does anyone remember these games under the age of 35?) that lured me in with its gory visuals, and made me stay with the surprisingly cheeky and silly UI. One of the best one of these games I have played in a good while.

UFO 50

I put 30 hours in this game, and I haven’t even played all of the titular 50 games. I did manage to get through 5 of them, and this might end up on my GOTY list again.

Games I am playing now

Paper Mario

I beat Mario RPG last year, so I am hoping to finally play through this now.

Zelda Echoes of Wisdom

Maybe it is because everyone was saying it was mid, but I am having a lot of fun with this one. It is all about finding silly solutions to things.

Another Crab’s Treasure

This is the first Dark Souls-like game that has really grabbed me. I love so much of what this game is doing with the story, environments, and skill load out. I think I am nearing the end, and I hope it really closes out good because if so this will end up on the GOTY list for sure.

Suikoden 1+2

Finally going to play through 1 ever since quitting before the final area, and play through 2 which I heard is great.

Super Lesbian Animal RPG

Sort of reminds me of Suikoden 1, but with more lesbians, and more animals.

Assassin Creed Shadows and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

Not sure if I will have the time to get through these games but we’ll see.

Naiad and Toem

Both seem like relaxing games that make good use of the Dual Sense controller. Gotta find quiet times to put on the good headphones and really vibe out with these.

Like 18 Visual Novels

Shout out to Seabed, Misericorde, and Hello Girl. I swear I will at least play more of these!!!

Games of the Year 2024

For this year, I found that not only did I play too many games I liked, but a lot of them paired up in an interesting way, so I am going to have a list with no particular order about pairs of games I thought were worth writing about. Shout outs to games like Shinobi non Grata and Smushi Come Home that I rather enjoyed but didn’t quite fit with this framing.

    Theatrhythm Final Bar Line and Mario Wonder

So these are games I really should have put on my Game of the Year list last year. The way I make these lists is that I take the list of games I got through for the year, highlight the ones I really liked, and then I choose about ten or so for a list. I don’t know how I forgot Theatrhythm. It is not only the best rhythm game I played, but also one of my favorite rhythm games of all time. It has some of the best music, and the charts, especially the hardest Supreme level charts, make you feel less like a rhythm game and more like you are learning some sort of strange, ultra modern instrument. I imagine I just forgot it because I have a bad memory, and use game narrative (which this game has none of) to really remember what I played. As far as Mario Wonder, I just didn’t finish it. One of my rules of these lists is that I have to finish the game to qualify, and Mario Wonder I just wanted to savor. It delivers the promise that the New Mario Bros. series never quite lived up to where it is a sublime 2D platformer with fun art and music to boot. I loved these games, and I look forward to other games like Resistx1000 appearing here next year.

    Drakengard 3 and Astrobot

These two games on the surface really couldn’t be more different. Astrobot is a super polished 3D platformer made for mainstream audiences, while Drakengard 3 is a sequel to a cult hit Playstation 2 beat ‘em up action RPG series that seems to be designed for people to hate it. Astrobot is super smooth, looks great, and wants you to play it more, and Drakengard 3 feels like it wasn’t even made for the system it was created for. It feels like a bad port, despite only having one version in existence. In this way, I couldn’t help making the connection. Astrobot is a game that wants you to love it so much that it comes off as hollow, while Drakengard 3 wants you to hate it so much that I ended up loving it anyway. This video game dyad of my creation was a microcosm of how 2024 went for me. The year wanted to be seen like the happiness and optimism of an Astrobot, but in reality it was the horrible pain and suffering of Drakengard 3. It was not something like Astrobot that could be loved by all, but something like Drakengard 3 where you had to get the backstory and experience the pain of the past to understand why it is all happening. Astrobot is the game I wanted to love and be a part of what made the year great, but Drakengard 3 is the game that resonated with my soul. Astrobot is the fulfillment that is always barrier away or in the past, and Drakengard 3 is the pandora’s box, but instead of hope, it offers only catharsis and pathos. Sometimes bringing your amazing game to a tough year is going to feel like bringing your favorite dance playlist to a funeral. On the other hand, please play the Final Song (Saigo no Uta) from the Drakengard 3 OST at my funeral.

    Anodyne 1 and Anodyne 2

Anodyne 1 and 2 by themselves are good games. Anodyne 1 feels like a take on the classic Legend of Zelda series, while Anodyne 2 takes 3D platforming exploration and combines them with classic 2D dungeon puzzling. By themselves, Anodyne 2 is the better experience, and if you are only going to play one, 2 is the to go with. That being said, something special happens if you play both, a sort of synthesis that comes with sequels being 10 years apart. It is a 10 year conversation that enriches both games, and makes two pretty good games into a narrative that is sort of mind blowing with implications. The things Anodyne 1 leaves out, but is then covered by Anodyne 2 and vice versa isn’t always obvious, but when combined together they really feel like they were always meant to be played together, even if that isn’t super obvious. Sometimes it takes 10 years to make an amazing story that makes it worth experiencing.

    Momodora Moonlit Farewell and Shadow Generations.

Momodora and Shadow Generations are on opposite sides of a trend I had this year where I would play a game, and then play many games in that same series or genre. With Momodora, I played it early in the year, and then proceeded to play through many of the 2D Metroidvania/Search Action games such as Castlevania Symphony of the Night and Hollow Knight. With Shadow Generations, I actually started with Sonic Mania, and I played through all the classic Genesis Sonic games, and ended up with Sonic x Shadow Generations by the end of it. When playing all those Metroidvanias, I actually grew fond of Momodora Moonlit Farewell and appreciate it much more than I did when I played it originally. Shadow Generation then felt like a culmination of what made Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay fun (having the mechanics to speed run through a level) and felt like the developers finally got why this series is fun in the first place. Like Anodyne 1 & 2, I find playing games that are in conversation with each other to be one of the best parts of playing video games as a hobby, and makes all the money and time I invest worth it, so I have these two games to help thank with that.

    If Found… and Milk Outside A Bag Of Milk Outside A Bag

I find it hard to recommend games sometimes, especially the narrative ones I love. Visual Novels in particular feel different to recommend than a book. A book you can just recommend the writing, or the story, but with Visual Novels there is a sort of synthesis with interacting with the game and the story being told that is hard to really articulate at a party or get together. A lot of times a part of me just wants to tell people to just trust me, buy the game, and you won’t be disappointed, but I know that isn’t really the thing that actually gets people to play it. I remember recommending Kentucky Route Zero (which is still one of my favorite games of all time) to people and it sounded more like a desperate plea than a convincing recommendation. Knowing that, If Found… and Milk Outside A Bag Of Milk Outside A Bag are games about the human condition that I think are just required experiences. If Found… especially, as Milk Outside A Bag Of Milk Outside A Bag can be a bit disturbing and weird as it explores mental illness. If Found… is about a youth trying to find themselves and finding it is a bit harder than it should be. As much as I could write about both, seeing as they are mostly about reading and story, it is hard to really go into without spoiling, and so much of the joy of these games is the discovery, so as bad habits go, this is one I will repeat. Please play these games.

    UFO 50 and Resident Evil 4 Remake VR

If I was doing a more traditional Game of the Year list with numbers that indicated best to not as best, UFO 50 and Resident Evil 4 Remake VR would have been my 1 and 2. UFO 50 is the perfect platonic ideal of video games with 50 games to play and discover what they are all about. They are also a great representative of how I got into old video games this year, and loved finding those obscure treasures I would never have found normally. Resident Evil 4 Remake VR (RE4RVR) is the most fun I had with an action game this year, and the VR experience was both beautiful and a perfect way to reimagine this classic game. Both these games are games I will carry with me, and I haven’t even played all of the games in UFO 50, so that might even be eligible for next year. Hell, I could play Resident Evil 4 Remake in flat mode and that could be eligible too. Let’s keep the good games going!

    Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Like I mentioned in the #2 entry, 2024 was a tough year. Medical stuff, moving stuff, life stuff, it was all tough to adjust and get through, and that is why I wanted to leave off with two games that really made me smile. Arzette is a take on the old, bad Zelda CD-i games that were more known for their odd cutscenes than awful gameplay, and Thank Goodness You’re Here is a take on the traditional adventure game, but instead of dialog choices and inventory puzzles, you just are a little man who punches things. Both games take their genre and spin it in a way that just brought me joy. Both games are fun adventures where you get to help a bunch of odd characters have better days. Neither are perfect, Arzette without the cutscenes is just a competent 2D action adventure, and Thank Goodness You’re Here can feel like it is punching down a bit with its humor, but I think what really alleviates them is how they are both about doing good things and building communities. As we go into the darkness and uncertainty of 2025, I think these games allow us both the opportunity to laugh, and maybe instructions on how to survive: sometimes you just gotta help people and hope they say something like Matt Berry in response.