I played some great games last year. A mixture of me becoming obsessed with some series and also trying to clear out my backlog a bit. I logged some serious gamer hours, most of which were good. There’s only a handful of bad games on here, and for the most part, I look back on my 2025 gaming journey fondly. Even the bad stuff, I had fun laughing at, except Agents of Mayhem. I hate that game. Speaking of…
#18 – Agents of Mayhem
This game is so butt. Genuinely one of the worst games I’ve ever played. I know Volitions’ fall off these days is typically pointed to the Saints Row reboot, but years before, the signs were clear. This game does have charm and elements that, if the rest of the package were done right, then maybe it would have been solid, but alas, the rest of the package is so mind-numbing and repetitive. Not only did I not enjoy my time with this game, but I wish I never played it. At least I got it for free.
#17 – NBA 2K25
Ive spent such a big chunk of my life playing the 2k franchise. From 2k15-2k24, I was there for the highs and lows. As the years went on, I played less and less, and 24 was looking like it’d be my last year. But I got an itch last year and bought this on a whim to play some Myleague and… yeah, it’s a solid enough 2k. In terms of MyLeague, the offline gameplay and AI, it’s a solid offering. With the one biggest caveat being that I absolutely hate shooting in this game. This is always a hot topic when it comes to this series, so I’ll spare you. I’ll just say this is only the second 2k (first being 21 current gen) that shooting was so frustrating that it made me quit playing what would otherwise be a solid game. I don’t see myself buying the new 2ks anytime soon, so as this was probably my last one, it wasn’t bad.
#16 – The Quarry
Survival horror, interactive drama – Mode(s): Sinlge-Player & Multiplayer – Trailer – Released: 2022
The first half of The Quarry is one of the worst B-movie horror films ever. The second half is a surprisingly very good B-movie film. I love and hate this game at the same time. On one hand, I want to do a bunch of other playthroughs to see different paths, interactions, secrets, and endings. On the other hand, I would rather do anything else than endure the first half of this game again. There is something really good here; it just takes pushing through the cringe to get there.
#15 – The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
What a mess of a series. So much missed potential, this rendition of TWD never even comes close to reaching the heights that the first season reached. For as amazed as I was at the first season, I was equally disappointed/hated the second. Let down by the third season, and whelmed by the fourth. (We don’t talk about Michonne.) Honestly, just play season 1.
#14 – Monster Hunter Wilds
Action role-playing – Mode(s): Single-player, multiplayer – Release Date: February 25th, 2025
Wilds is a fun game that was (at the time I played it) marred by a god-awful story and serious performance issues. Like, very serious. I’ve heard it’s gotten better, but enduring the crashes and stutters while playing through a story that was honestly worse than Agents of Mayhem left a bad taste in my mouth. Which sucks because this game is very fun. Maybe a bit too easy, but I love the weapon changes and monster designs. There’s a great game here. I’ll probably come back to it this year.
#13 – L.A. Noire
A classic, straight-up classic. It’s a shame that we may never get a follow-up or remaster of this, because there is a really great game here that shows its age a lot. The bones of the gameplay loop are really interesting. Inciting incident, going to the crime scene, looking for clues, then questioning, eventually interrogating and solving (or not) the case. The downsides are that this game does show its age in its open world, and some of the cases are way stronger than others. Still, there are really strong elements like the interesting overarching story that really serves as a period piece of post-WW2 America, and the treatment of its vets and citizens, and the way the world was moving. Maybe one day we’ll get more.
#12 – League of Legends
In early 2025, I lost a lot of love for the league. It was my lowest personal point with the game, and I quit for months and months. Later in the year, I picked it up again and had some of the most fun gaming in a while. It was really a mindset thing. I wanted to get better at this game, so I put my best foot forward to get better, and it felt good once that shift happened. I learned to enjoy it for what it was and learned how to learn again, really. League is a fun game if you know what you want out of the game and approach it as such. As I write this, I’ve been having a blast in the new season.
#11 – BioShock 2 Remastered
The black sheep of the franchise. Bioshock 2 surprised me in a lot of ways. A more personal story, better gameplay that improves upon the foundation the first game built. BioShock 2 is fun. It lacks in certain thematic areas that the first and Infinite excel at, but this is still a good game that doesn’t deserve to be as forgotten as it is.
#10 – BioShock Remastered
This is one of the most frustrating games from a gameplay perspective that I’ve ever played, but all of that goes out the window when I think about how strong the characters and themes are. This game would almost be a better book than a video game, but that aside, I have almost nothing but praise for its storytelling. Both direct and indirect. It still holds up to this day, and that’s a testament to its writing and art style. Even though I have Infinite above this, it’s very close and more than any other game in this series; this one belongs in the gaming hall of fame for its story alone.
#9 – Bioshock Infinite
Irrational Games – Platform(s): PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One – Genre(s): Action Shooter First-Person FPS RPG Singleplayer – Mode(s): Single-Player – Trailer – Released: 2013
This was a hard one. Ultimately, I give Infinite the nod over the first game because of the base game. It’s just one of the funnest games I’ve ever played. I can fully understand someone being disappointed in the game completely straying away from its sim roots in favor of a straight-up action fps, but they absolutely nailed that type of gameplay. Then the story and environment are on par, if not better than, the first game in some aspects. Booker, Elizabeth, and Comstock are unforgettable characters. Columbia is on par with Rapture as a city. The only downside to this game is its DLC and how it undermines a lot of what the game did at the end. I think I can mostly overlook that, though. Infite is the best of the series, and it’s a shame that, as of now, this is the last game.
#8 – No I’m Not A Human
What a weird and interesting game. Adjacent to other observation duty type games, but set in this weird apocalyptic Euro-Russian type town. The gameplay loop is addictive. The characters and writing are fantastic. There’s a whole world of mystery and meaning to come from this game, and exploring was a treat.
#7 – Digimon Story: Time Stranger
Digimon is as big a part of my childhood as Pokémon or Transformers. I have and will always have a soft spot for this series. I’ve never gotten around to playing the other Story games, but something about this one called to me. And yeah, this was right up my alley. Not perfect by any means, but it really feels like a love letter to the franchise, and seeing how much detail and quality of life things are here, I can’t help but feel that way. The story ebbs and flows, but the gameplay loop was always fun. I had a blast playing this. It made me feel like a kid again. Hell, this game is the reason why I started collecting Transformers again.
#6 – Minecraft
Every year, there’s the government-mandated Minecraft phase. Last year was fun. A lot of modded runs, messing around with stuff. Minecraft is always just a great time.
#5 – Warframe
Early 2025, before a certain game on here took over my life, I was so back into Warframe. I have known of this game since beta and have played it heavily on and off since 2013-14 ish. It’s just very comfy knowing that it’s always there for me to come back to with new content, cool as frames and weapons. And that’s what I did. I no lifed this for weeks until I got tired, and I’ll do it again probably sometime soon. Warframe is a great game that keeps on adding great content with a surprisingly good story. I’ll always keep coming back.
#4 – Detroit Become Human
Well, well, well. How the turns table. I was so damn ready to clown on this game before I played it, and now look. It’s in the top 5 and genuinely one of the best games I’ve ever played. Especially in this genre of interactive story games. The fact that your choices deeply matter in the short and long term. The three stories told are all uniquely enthralling. The characters are great, the messages can be a bit silly and heavy-handed, but there’s something serious being said. Among all its peers, Detroit is the best of the best.
#3 – Metaphor Re:Fantatzio
This is the evolution of the jrpg genre that I have been waiting for. Atlus games have carved out their own section of the genre with their monster fusion mechanics and social links, but this game actually takes a note from the likes of Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy, where there are now classes/archetypes, and this system alone opens up so much to this game. The story is engaging, and the setting is typical fantasy but done really well. Some of Atlus’ best characters are in this game, and I’ll say it, it’s their best gameplay design as well. I deeply hope this is the beginning of a new franchise that continues to build upon the great foundation this game laid.
#2 – Baldur’s Gate 3
Larian Studios – Platform(s): Windows, Mac, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 – Genre(s): CRpg – Mode(s): Single-Player, Co-op – Release Date:
Aug 3, 2023
One of the best birthday presents I’ve ever gotten for myself. This is an experience. Not a perfect game by any means, but man, does Act 1 (which is the majority of the game) come close to being just that. Just on a pure technical level, the amount of player choice and world reactivity blows my mind. There are secrets and character interactions that I have never seen. Even after over 150 hours of playing this game. I often get the urge to go back and play as a different class and RP a different type of character because I know how much things can change. I have my gripes with some aspects of this game, but there’s no denying that this is one of the funnest games ever, and it made me a big fan of Larian.
#1 – Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
What more could be said about this game that hasn’t already been said? It has garnered widespread critical and fan acclaim and has basically won every award possible, and it has all been deserved. E33 excels at almost everything it does and touches on. Story, characters, gameplay, music, graphics. All amazing. I had high hopes for this game, and they were exceeded within the first hour, and it never let me down from there. It was just as fun as it was heartbreaking. This is not only the game of the year, but also one of my favorite games ever. I could talk about this game for hours, but I yapped enough in my review of it. If you’re even mildly interested, go play it.
