My Year in Gaming 2025
I started journaling at the tail end of 2024. I would write a little review, print a screenshot and keep a list of any game that I hit the credits in (There's one game here that doesn't really have credits but I think I played a sufficient amount of it.)
I'm not really one for announcing a game of the year and I haven't played that many games that released in 2025. I really entered this year with a goal in mind and, while I'm not sure that I did succeed, I definitely had a much more unique and exciting year of gaming than I have had in recent years.
That goal was to try to move away from playing hundreds of hours of endless games like DOTA 2, World of Warcraft and Destiny 2 to an extent. I just felt like I had fallen into a cycle of just brainlessly clicking next game. I wasn't getting much from these ongoing games anymore so I tried to branch out as much as I could into different genres this year.
Have I fallen back into those games occasionally? Absolutely. One thing I learned is that Destiny 2 is a great way for me to socialise with friends so it's important that I don't just dismiss it because I've played it so much already. World Of Warcraft has been a great way to calm my nerves, hunting old transmogs and mounts is very relaxing for me and I think the game can be helpful for me if I avoid the more high-pressure raids and dungeons that I used to crave. DOTA 2 is bad for me and I'd like to get off that train.
I saw credits in 23 games of all different types this year. Now that they're not as fresh in my mind, here are some thoughts reflecting on each set of credits I watched in 2025.
Black Myth Wukong
I loved the aesthetic and the challenge of this one. It's a really cool souls-like that took me a long time to overcome. It definitely achieves that feeling of you improving exponentially as the game goes on and I liked that I could change up my skills on the fly to try to tackle difficult bosses like a puzzle.
Portal
It had probably been over 10 years since I'd played this originally. It's just so clever and quick. Such a nice way to spend an evening and the end-credits are so iconic. Hopefully Portal 2 can make it onto my 2026 list.
Assassin's Creed Mirage
On paper I was so excited for a back-to-basics Assassin's Creed game. I am still so reluctant to take on Valhalla or Shadows after the all-consuming time-sink of Odyssey (a game I do really like!). It's fine, it's just nothing special really.
Pokémon Violet
I loved the idea of this game but it is easily the worst performing game on this list which is crazy considering there are multiple rom hacks here! I had such trouble with frame drops and crashing that it sullied what was a really promising game. It still has that same formula that I really enjoyed but I think if I waited to play this on Switch 2 in a few years I would have walked away more positively.
Astro Bot
I dare you to play this game and not hum the theme song for weeks on end. Such a fun platformer and the challenge levels really brought it all together in such an intense way. Obviously, a game that celebrates the history of Playstation is VERY appealing to me so maybe it's pandering but I don't care. Super fun and deservedly won a host of awards.
Resident Evil 4: Separate Ways
At the time that RE4 Remake was coming out it felt like the first new release in a while that I was really anticipating. RE4 is super dumb but it's just such a special game. Separate Ways was a fun way to dive back in but I remember feeling a little bit out of rhythm as you get thrown straight in and it is probably slightly more difficult than the main game. I think I would have liked this to be scattered within the main game instead but I would never complain about getting more RE4.
Gears of War Ultimate
Playing this just highlighted how much I want the Coalition to release a Gears 2 or 3 Ultimate. The original Gears is still excellent and this version has all the additional content that was originally only on the Windows release. You can never go wrong playing any of these games, especially with a friend, but I think I've had enough of the original game getting re-released over and over.
Battlefield Hardline
I went into this game expecting campaign focused on drug busts and chasing criminals. It does start off really interesting but it just devolves into another military shooter. There is a mission where you're in a tank...
Balatro
BALATRO IS ONE OF THE GREATEST GAMES EVER MADE. I'm not even going to add to this debate. Everyone has already sung its praises. I did meet Ben Starr today who plays Jimbo in the commercials. He signed one of my cards from the playing card set and wrote "NOPE" on the back which I loved. He was such a great guy and it was so nice to gush about Balatro with him.
There is a clip of Little Mix doing accents and one of them, when trying to do a Jamaican accent, shouts Baledge(?). This is what we call Balatro at home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkEbn6fagCk
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
In August of 2005 my uncle bought me this game for my birthday. It's a fun action game that has a good amount of content to it. It's surprisingly difficult as well. My uncle isn't around anymore but it's nice that I have that memory of going to the Smyths in Tallaght and him telling me to pick any game I'd like for my birthday. Those couple of years of Star Wars game releases in the early 2000s was really a great time to be a kid.
Pokemon Red DX
My first dip into rom hacked Pokémon games was an absolute revelation. Red DX is just a harder version of the original Red, with level scaling and a few extra tricks up its sleeve. My understanding is that there aren't as many rom hacks of Game Boy/Game Boy Colour games, it's just easier to play around with the GBA releases. Honestly I was so obsessed with this game. I modded my childhood gameboy colour, giving it a new backlit screen and a beautiful custom shell. I must have poured 50 hours into this and the pride I felt after defeating the Elite Four was immeasurable.
Pokémon Gold/Silver Chronicles
Pokémon Silver was a seminal game for me. I was 5 years old when it released so I first picked it up slightly late to the party. Obviously I loved, and still have my original copy of Pokémon Blue, but the way that Silver expanded on everything was just incredible. Adding to that, Pokémon like Quagsire, Lugia and Meganium are some of my favourite creatures in the entire series. While I did really enjoy it, the existence of HeartGold and Soulsilver, made this feel a little bit stale. Additionally this is currently unfinished and has been in development since 2010 so I'm not sure if it will ever fully make good on all of its promises.
Avowed
Avowed hasn't really stuck with me very much but I do remember enjoying it in the moment. Using the world of Pillars of Eternity made this lore feel very established, I loved the pace of the game and the animations were so smooth. It felt like I was playing an old E3 cinematic with how slick and colourful the whole experience was. Obsidian are just really consistent with their releases, you're not going to walk away feeling it was a waste of your time.
Pokémon Fire Red: Team Rocket Edition
If Red DX blew me away with its intense challenge, Team Rocket edition blew me away with its story and unique mechanics. I loved the story they told, expanding on the world of the original games, and adding all of these interesting mechanics that completely mix up the rhythm of a normal Pokémon game.
Elder Scrolls Oblivion Remastered
The intense desperation I had for this to be real in the lead-up to its surprise launch was crazy. When I got my Xbox 360 for Christmas in 2008 the first handful of games turned out to all be huge influences on my gaming preferences. Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, Halo 3 and Oblivion.
Oblivion is still such a great game and this remaster looks incredible. At times I experienced bugs that were more game-breaking that I ever saw in the original release and some slowdown which was frustrating but it didn't stop me from sinking almost 100 hours into this once again.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright
I really love a good turn-based tactics game and Fire Emblem is one of the most consistently enjoyable series of this style. I enjoyed Birthright quite a bit, it's got a cool aesthetic to it and some great character design. I'm not sure if breaking these games down into Pokémon style double releases is a great idea as it's very easy to feel like you're missing out on chunks of the story. Additional the final campaign is simply not available anymore without hacking your 3DS or paying a lot of money for the special edition cart.
Regardless I really enjoyed this one and hope to progress to Engage or Awakening in the New Year.
Death Stranding
I'd like to write more about Death Stranding in the future as I think it's very special and I could talk about it for hours. Here, I'd just like to highlight how incredible the licensed soundtrack is - this is where I discovered Chvrches who are just incredible.
Here are some of my favourite tracks from the list - Don’t Be So Serious – Low Roar *Asylums for the Feeling – Silent Poets (feat. Leila Adu) *Death Stranding – CHVRCHES *I’ll Keep Coming – Low Roar
Vampire Survivors
Poncle just seem to be an exceptional studio. Vampire Survivors is so full of content, it's so easy to get into but so deceptively deep. The Ode to Castlevania DLC is such a great celebration of an iconic series. I'm so excited for the future of this studio.
Robocop: Rogue City
Robocop is very fun. It's an 80s movie come to life and doesn't overstay it's welcome or bog you down with 100s of different systems. It's one of those game that if you find it on sale it offers really great value for money. If you're a fan of over-the-top 80s action this is definitely worth a look.
Plants Vs. Zombies: Replanted
The original PvZ was one of the few mobile games that really grabbed me over the years. It was good fun to play this again. Shame about the weird AI concept art for a game that already existed. I don't think this is the definitive version of the game but I do still enjoy the basic DNA of this series and it was nice to play it on Switch.
GTA IV
"Niko, cousin, do you want to go bowling?" GTA IV is a game that always stood in the shadow of San Andreas for me in my teens. Coming back to it this year, I really appreciated the story and characters a lot more. It's a very compelling game and I had a lot of fun. The only thing that still stands out negatively is that at times Liberty City can feel a little empty, when you're getting all those phone calls from friends it can become a bit repetitive if you say yes to them too often. It's made worse that you feel incentivised to say yes because it pushes you further away from their respective friendship bonuses. Sometimes I felt like I just wanted to get on with the story since I was enjoying it so much!
Destiny 2: Renegades
Adding Star Wars to Destiny immediately feels like the last dying gasp of a faltering live-service game. In practice, the way that they have integrated Star Wars into a world that was already heavily inspired by Star Wars is really quite cool.
I remember back in 2014 reading interviews with Bungie developers talking about how Destiny is going to be the next Star Wars. We really have come full circle.
The Renegades campaign and Equilibrium dungeon are both excellent. Very fun, full of variety and plenty of little references. I don't think that Bungie are going to have a single release that suddenly catapults Destiny 2 back into the zeitgeist but I do believe that if they can consistently release this kind of quality and if they can try to show goodwill by reintegrating vaulted content they can slowly gain traction. Destiny will always mean a lot to me so it was really nice to just have fun with the game again - plus lightsabers are siq bro
Dispatch *"I'm a bitch, my name's Robert Such a bitch, whose name is Robert I'm a bitch, yeah, I'm a bitch I'm such a fucking bitch I have no hopes, I have no dreams And a tiny little peen"
Dispatch is essentially a Telltale game that actually runs well. I love the characters, the visuals and the gameplay is quite fun. I'm very excited for the future of this studio.
Final Thoughts I really did play a little bit of everything this year. I'll post a gallery of my notebook for the year separate to this and I'll definitely keep another notebook updated going into 2026. I'm looking forward to some more new experiences next year and am hoping to explore more Rom hacks and roguelikes in particular.
There are even some new releases that I'm interested in with Resident Evil Requiem seeing the return of Leon S. Kennedy, 007 First Light looking very interesting, Vampire Crawlers from Poncle and a new Fire Emblem if I manage to get a Switch 2 in 2026.
Here's to another year of adventure.