Happy new year!
If you haven’t found a good new game to play this past year or
at least a remaster it might be time to look for another hobby, haha.
So many old and new interesting games and as usual this is my list
of beaten games with ranking at the bottom.
With 67 beaten games it’s a pretty average year, haha.
The year started very strong, my summer was pretty full of distractions
not to mention that Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War
took forever and about 10% of the year…
And then there was the Silksong fixation costing another 200+ hours too!
Skautfold Into the Fray
Part of the very odd Skautfold series where every entry has some
traces of RPG but still switches style or genre every game.
This time it is a shooter seen from above, each game is like playing
Dark Souls for the first time, impossible at first but they all grow on you!
Pankapu
A nice and colorful little platform adventure, it’s good!
Skautfold Moonless Knight
Part of the very odd Skautfold series where every entry has some
traces of RPG but still switches style or genre every game.
This time it is a bit of an open world or metroidvania where you find
new abilites to progress and can do it in a few different ways.
I really enjoyed it!
Gurumin A Monstrous Adventure
Ys meets Zelda in a cute platform adventure,
more than the RPG I thought it would be but still nice.
Inmost
This INSTANTLY made it into my top 100 list and like
I wrote there, just play it if you like games and stories,
I was not prepared for the content and neither should you.
Skautfold Knight’s End
Part of the very odd Skautfold series where every entry has some
traces of RPG but still switches style or genre every game.
The final part and it goes out with a nice turn based RPG,
but with the usual Skautfold twists and mechanics,
looking forward to the next game the developer is working on.
Evil Tonight
The second game from the creators of the amazing Viviette,
both of them horror games but this time with more of a
Resident Evil feel with combat and resource management.
Both games are great and look even greater with their pixels!
Aeterna Noctis
Another great metroidvania to the pile with that good level
of challenge that I always search for!
Unicorn Overlord
I was a bit skeptical about this but people kept praising it and
when I finally played it I found pure joy!
It is all about the amazing RTS RPG combat combo,
the world also feels open and breakable in the same way as
Octopath. Not to mention the classic Vanillaware style.
Dragons Dogma II
It is mostly the same game as the first BUT
that is still a great thing, one of the best open worlds ever,
just the right size and amount of things to do.
Some of the best looking environments I have seen too.
Afterimage
This was a big surprise and also in the upper range of
metroidvanias, I ended up doing everything and the story
and varied environments kept me interested all the way!
Legend of Heroes Trails Through Daybreak II
How to keep it short! Some of the problems from the first game
is gone, some remain and gets even worse!
It still have terrible villains, the pointless action combat,
not the best translation or relevance to the series as a whole.
But seeing some old friends again, the NPCs and tiny
relevant story pieces are all great! Luckily they
toned down the repetitive humor from the first game.
Heroes of Hammerwatch II
More heroes of Hammerwatch! “Rogue lite” done right for once!
It’s just sad that local co-op still isn’t an option…
Legend of Heroes Song of the Ocean
I started this in 2023, haha. The game isn’t that long, I just play
very little handheld games. Not as strong as a conclusion as I had
hoped for the series but still good and there are payoffs for sure!
Suikoden HD remaster
Oh my! Never thought I would see this in 2025, as a whole a worthy
remaster and easy to recommend new players and a fast way for old
fans to relive it. The new translation is the most important thing to
note as an upgrade, turbo is nice to have but environments is
a bit more mixed, some look and work better than others.
Suikoden II HD remaster
Oh my! Never thought I would see this in 2025, as a whole a worthy
remaster and easy to recommend new players and a fast way for old
fans to relive it. The new translation is the most important thing to
note as an upgrade, turbo is nice to have but environments is
a bit more mixed, some look and work better than others.
My beloved castle, I could just move in there for good.
Still one of the very best games!
Xenoblade X DE
We finally got a modern version of this, and with a new bonus
chapter… that mostly makes it worse and no more complete, haha!
This is the better version to play for sure even if the Wii U pad had
a lot of charm with the map system. Exploring Mira in your skell
is as amazing as ever and the new final area is something I really
wanted to see more of in the game.
Snufkin Mumindalens Melodi
Always fun to play in Swedish, aimed at a younger audience
of course but still cozy for anyone who grew up with Mumin.
The Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom
Best of the modern Zelda games, just a shame that you can
just stick to the same strategy for most puzzles.
Xenosaga Pied Piper
Tears of joy! I wasn’t sure I would ever get to play this at all,
2025 the year when dedicated fans finally managed to save and
preserve this old mobile game once and for all!
I’m so grateful!
Xenosaga Pied Piper fan remake
A crazy coincidence that we managed to get the original
before this fan remake but that just made the remake better
having full access and improving upon it, a lot more playable
and with better soundtrack and side content. Not to mention
it is available in English!
Lunar Remaster
Year of PS1 remasters! It is Lunar, turbo and the cleaned up anime
cutscenes are great but the original pixels and voices will always
have their charm too! As every great remaster should this includes
the “original” versions of the game, or at least the PS1 version
it is based on. The translation is also based on the working
designs one but with some things toned down, no random
commercials for candy or calling your friend a fatso now, haha.
Lunar 2 Remaster
Year of PS1 remasters! It is Lunar, turbo and the cleaned up anime
cutscenes are great but the original pixels and voices will always
have their charm too! As every great remaster should this includes
the “original” versions of the game, or at least the PS1 version
it is based on.
Still one of the best!
Clair Obscur Expedition 33
What more to add to this, I was tired of the discussions before I even
played it, and it has only gotten worse, haha.
The game is great overall and do a lot right but it is still missing a few
things I want in a RPG. Battles are unbalanced whether you are good or
bad at the game, music is great but apparently it is possible to have too
much variation and in the end I only remember about five tracks.
It can be said for a lot of my favorite games too but story just feels
complicated to be complicated.
The game does look great, but I’m not a fan of the abstract
environments that starts to blend together pretty soon.
And lastly this must be the game that made the indie label completely
meaningless with a publisher and budget enough to hire
hundreds of people. Great game, I just bought two copies, haha.
Jusant
A cozy game about climbing, such a nice art style and journey it is
but also a lot of missed potential for a bigger game.
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
I was skeptical when it turned out to be “run based” but ended
up really liking it and the very quick runs!
Nine Sols
Often compared to Sekiro so I planned to skip it but glad I gave
it a chance, aside from two or three silly hard bosses a great
game and story! Be sure to play on easy.
Dungeons of Hinterberg
I had heard good things about it but it was far beyond any
expectations! a great balance of combat and Zelda dungeons
sprinkled with persona NPCs and a truly unique art style!
Blue Prince
I’m not a big fan of actually playing this but I beat it and love
parts of it! The unique combo of random runs and puzzles
is both the big weakness and selling point making it a big
failure in my eyes. Mixed feelings but be sure to give it a try if
you like puzzles!
Still Wakes the Deep
Horror that starts on top but sadly has a steady curve downwards.
50% of the main characters dialogue is saying Jesus over and over.
I always wanted a game on an oil platform and finally got it at least!
Sand Land
This RPG will surely be called a hidden gem in the future,
I wasn’t interested in this at first but if I had seen the second
half in the marketing I would have bought it day one!
Being Akira Toriyamas last game will also add to the status later.
Blasphemous 2
More and also more polished Blasphemous! I can’t believe how
great they are at pixel art and design, so good.
Harvestella
Another RPG where marketing worked against it.
The harvest part is about 10% of the game or as much as you
want to spend but it is a full fledged and very ambitious RPG
with clear inspirations from things like Chrono Cross and
Xenoblade, don’t miss it!
Grime
There was a time where metroidvanias where rare and I played
every one on release but at this point you could even miss a
great one like this!
Light Fantasy
Auto translated from what I understand but a weak SNES RPG
either way. We’ll see if the second in the series gets a
translation later!
Kessen! Dokapon Oukoku IV: Densetsu no Yuusha-tachi
Gah, another of the boardgame RPGs, oh well, pretty short.
Dragon Ball Z: Super Gokuden Totsugeki-Hen
It should follow the manga pretty well and I can’t believe it
is written by grown men and ever became popular, haha.
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
I would call it 95% identical to the first game, even less fighting
for me this time, almost beat it all with just trading around the
world. It actually does a good job of capturing how big the world is!
SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered
I was dreading ever having to play this again but the remaster adds
turbo and a great tutorial menu and some other details making it
much more playable than the original! Years of experience might
also have helped but it keeps its place on the top 100 for sure!
Ultima VII Black Gate
I used a guide to avoid some of the completely pointless caves
that would add many many hours. But having beaten another
Ultima game before, this was not that bad!
Metroid X Fusion
It has been a while since I played a hack. This one is really
impressive and calling it a hack is a bit underwhelming,
the amount of work put into this would have been much
better spent on just doing it from scratch!
Very impressive, and pretty good.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
My globb, this game might be the longest I have ever played,
hard to say with no clock and a lot of distractions during the
summer, I played it for 40 days. I love the setup of the story
and the game in theory but the permanent death just ruins it for me,
the amount of reloading just make it into a terrible game, so sad.
Sword World SFC
It has SFC in the title, it must be good! Well, interesting at least but
it is more quest based rather than focus on a main story.
Ender Magnolia
Just like the first game, great but also in the mid tier of
metroidvanias for me, so many others who stand out more to me!
Hollow Knight Silksong
Weeell, I mention this as most wanted every year but here it is on the
beaten list!! I beat the game the day after release and had some traces
of disappointment and at that point ranked it much lower than
the first game. BUT after the journey to the true ending I can only say
that they did it again, two of the 100 best games are made by the
same little studio and now after beating it 14 times and doing all kinds
of challenges it will rank just as high as the first game!
Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Just when we are almost caught up to Japan we start over again!
Aside from the stupid Daybreak combat a mostly fantastic remake
that truly reminds why I fell in love with the series to begin with!
Returning to Liberl and seeing it in full 3D was a true joy and
I can’t wait for part 2 in fall!
Final Fantasy Tactics the Ivalice Chronicles
The last of the PS1 remasters I played this year and another great
one, maybe the best even! All the new features are great, especially
skipping the random encounters and hearing the amazing story voiced!
Shrine’s Legacy
Co-op action RPG, the magical combo! Sadly I haven’t tried it in co-op
yet but for now it is decent, it could use or might even have gotten
some more polish since I played it on release.
Astrobot
A bit late but I finally played it! As expected one of the best 3D platform
games, pure fun!
Elohim Eternal The Babel Code
Strongly inspired by Xenogears with plans for six main games and
even more side games! Interesting for sure and I’m looking forward to
see where it leads! A big focus on religious themes.
Split Fiction
Co-op instant fun! But I doubt they will ever come close
to Brothers again.
Shattered: Tale of the Forgotten King
A very ambitious and odd game, a mix of “souls”, shadow of the colossus
and platforming. I liked it but the end was a bit sudden and forces you to
play it all again to get more pieces of the story.
Elohim Eternal II Son of Man
Part two of the six!
Ikenfell
Pixel hogwarts where everyone is gay, haha.
Pretty nice turn based RPG!
Elohim Eternal Prologue
The first side game taking place before the first main game.
Elohim Eternal Exodus
The second side game taking place long before the main series.
Look Outside
This might have been the biggest surprise this year, never heard of
it before, an amazing horror RPG! Truly disturbing and horrifying
even with the low resolution pixels. Lots of replay value too!
Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge
I thought this would be a stroll in the park after the five other games
but a lot of systems and details had changed! In the end all of them
to the better and it might be the most playable of the SNES entries.
Ultima Savage Empire
Aside from a few really cryptic parts a nice and shorter side game in
the series where you do quests to unite some prehistoric tribes
against the threat of giant ants, haha.
Fire Emblem Thracia 776
I planned to play this as the very last SNES game after the pain with
the last game but decided to do it now. Some tricky battles for sure
but much shorter and easier than Genealogy of the Holy War,
mostly thanks to the inventory management and arenas where you
can get max level early. Love how it connects and expands the story
from the holy war too!
Stray
I finally got around to this, even better than expected thanks to
unexpected amounts of NPCs and great environments!
The Plucky Squire
Aimed at a younger audience and with some
untapped potential but still a nice game!
Metroid Prime 4 Beyond
To think it finally released! The great parts live up to
the Prime name, the bad parts cement it as worst in the series.
Dungeon Master
This game laughs at the silly people calling 30fps unplayable
and gives you two of them if you are nice, haha.
So much inventory management but with this
Might of Magic III is my final SNES obstacle!
Anno Mutationem
A nice mix of genres and styles! Pixels, 3D, platform, RPG.
I liked it!
Resident Evil 4 remake
I missed the original, tried the remaster but felt sick if I played it
more than 5 minutes but thankfully the remake didn’t have that
problem, in fact it was a pleasure to look at! As expected a great
game but I also don’t find it more amazing than any other of the
big games where you shoot things in the head over and over.
Just like the first game in the series the highlight was the
level design with constant little loops etc.
Tails of Iron
2D souls-like with rats VS frogs. The first hour or so was very hard
for me but after that it kept a pretty even and good balance with
some nice tricky bosses. Great style too!
This is where I rank things but doing it this year just feels silly, haha
There is still a pile of games I haven’t played yet but I have bought
Quartet, Kingdoms of the dump and Octopath 0
which all should rank high!
1: Xenosaga Pied Piper fan remake
2: Suikoden II HD Remaster
3: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter
Two remakes and a remaster, best games of the year!
Silksong just have to be mentioned either way seeing how much joy
it brought and with DLC coming it is going to be on the next list too
for sure! That, Trails in the Sky SC and Trails beyond the horizon is
already enough to guarantee another great year!
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