End-of-Year Game Review 2025

The thing about getting older is time goes faster every year! How is it January already? I hope the new year has been treating you well so far! 😊

I had a couple of posts planned for Babygamer, but side projects and an unexpected trip overseas meant they’ve either been put on the backburner or are evolving into something else 👀

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been drafting a post about the games I’ve played this year that are genres I haven’t tried before. But since there aren’t too many of them, I decided to include them in one post about all the games I played in the second half of 2025.

For games I played in the first half, see this post!

MODE: PC (Steam)

TIME: 100hrs

STATUS: Complete (for now)

I’ve talked about this game a lot this year and I thought I’d put way more hours into it than a mere hundred! I also thought I was going to do a big post about it, but I think I can say what I want to say about it in a paragraph…

This is a great game, especially if it’s the only game you’ve got. When it was first released in 2006, that was probably the case for many gamers. The content is endless and I decided in the middle of playing the Shivering Isles DLC (which is great by the way!) That I was ready to put it down for now. I also want to mention that the Dark Brotherhood questline is one of the best I’ve ever played in any game. It kept me up at night thinking about how well written it is and how strangely magnetic Vicente Valtieri is... 😳 I couldn’t actually finish it because of what it asked of me at the end (iykyk…) but I thought it was incredible!

Anyway, great game and I hope I get the opportunity to give the new remaster a go too one day.

MODE: PC (Steam)

TIME: 5hrs

STATUS: Not even close to complete, but I’ve put it down for now

People have talked about how hard this game is so often that I already decided I couldn’t do it 😅

I’m very new to this style of game. The most recent metroidvania-like game I’d played by the time I started Hollow Knight was Disney’s Illusion Island, which in hindsight, was an excellent gateway to the genre and definitely helped me.

Hollow Knight doesn’t tell you what to do, but it’s such a beautiful game. I wanted to stay in that world but unfortunately, I started to feel less like “I’m new here,” and more like “why are you punishing me?” I know it’s good to be challenged, but I found myself constantly thinking about where the nearest save spot is, which to me, isn’t fun, so I’ve put it down for the time being. Perhaps I’ll pick it up again when I feel more confident.

MODE: PC (Steam)

TIME: 10hrs

STATUS: I’ve seen enough for now

My partner is big into city builders. I’ve seen him play countless hours of Factorio and it simply didn’t appeal to me, until I discovered Fabledom.

Its fantasy theme and adorable art style piqued my interest enough for me to grab it in the Steam Summer Sale. However, it was pretty clear that I’m a total noob when I got 2 hours into the game and all my villagers started dying of starvation! Once I realised what I needed to do, I started again and things ran much smoother.

I really enjoyed the little world I was building, as well as the meet-cutes with other nearby rulers. These relationships are integral to the success of your town and you can choose who to befriend or romance or even make an enemy of! 👿

I especially enjoyed the fantastical instances that occur as your town grows. Random, fairytale objects or characters that you can get your “hero” to investigate and unlock more useful items for your inventory. After a while, I found that I hadn’t logged in for a few weeks and didn’t particularly want to, which is a sure sign that I’ve seen enough for now.

MODE: PC (Steam)

TIME: 3hrs

STATUS: Ongoing

Two things I haven’t played before: survival horror and shooters (or shoot em up’s or anything with a gun or first person pistol situation.) I got to tick off both of those with this game!

I entered Left For Dead 2 with trepidation, assuming that since there were zombies, it was going to be scary. But all thoughts went out the window when the initial cut scene started. Why does it have to go so hard? I felt like I was watching a tv series recap rather than a video game intro!

I love this game, you guys! It was so much fun! I laughed, I yelled, and after each co-op session my biceps hurt for some reason? I’ll definitely be jumping back into this from time to time 🧟‍♀️

MODE: PC (Steam)

TIME: 6hrs

STATUS: Complete

Another excellent game from the team that brought us Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture.

Dear Esther is a gentle walking sim set on an isolated, uninhabited island off the east coast of Scotland. As you walk, a voice narrates fragments of letters sent to their deceased wife whose death is revealed as the game goes on. There’s no interaction between the player and the world, but the narrative is so compelling it’s easy to get lost in it.

MODE: Nintendo Switch

TIME: 10hrs

STATUS: Ongoing

Another metroidvania! I’m not very familiar with the world of Lodoss War, but I picked up a physical copy for the Switch on my trip to Japan last year purely because I liked the cover 😅

I’m really enjoying it so far! The art and music are beautiful and the difficulty is fine. It’s challenging in a way that makes me want to get better. I don’t feel stressed. Save points are often right next to bosses, and you don’t lose items when you die, just HP which is easily built up again. It’s got me intrigued to look up the manga and anime it’s based on.

Hades - I’ve been dipping in and out of this game since it first came out and would really like to complete at least one run!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons - I spent about 50 hours in 2025 fixing up my island in preparation for the new update coming in mid January.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent - I only played a few hours of this and had to stop due to the overwhelming nausea I provoked! I persisted for as long as possible as I was really intrigued, but had to stop. If anyone has any advice for reducing motion sickness in games, please let me know!

Every January I think I have a vague idea of what I’m going to play over the next year and it always gets turned on its head 😅 Anyway here’s a little list of things I’m hoping to get to soon…

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition - I started ME1 on the 1st January and I’m intending to get through the whole trilogy in the first half of the new year.

Still Wakes The Deep - As you probably know, I’m a big fan of other games The Chinese Room have released that were written by Dan Pinchbeck (Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, Dear Esther) so I bought this and the DLC Siren’s Rest for myself for my birthday. It looks incredible!

Pillars of the Earth - I read the book last year then discovered this visual novel adventure game based on it. It allows you to change some of the outcomes of the story so I’m very interested in seeing how that goes!

Detroit: Become Human - I bought the Japanese PS4 version of this from a secondhand store in Seoul. It has English so I’m looking forward to giving it a go.

Read Only Memories - I bought 2064: Read Only Memories and its sequel Read Only Memories: Neurodiver in the Steam Winter Sale. They’re cyberpunk visual novels and I can’t wait to dive in!

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you’re hoping to play in 2026! 😊

Ko-fi ☕