I think joining RGT back in August lit some sort of weird creative fire under me. 2025 saw me start to use, and improve my skills at using, various image editing software. One thing I really like to do is use a template I made from a My Little Pony game to showcase a different game that I have recently finished. I would also start to write a few more reviews here and there, exercising my creative muscles a bit more and joining the RGT Writer's Guild.
For whatever reason, I cannot sleep tonight. To keep myself busy, I figured I would go back and make the same template for other games I finished this year and give them a mini-review while I'm at it. Well, as best as I can remember, and have evidence for, these are the main games I finished in 2025:
Honourable mentions (I hit the image limit) as well to:
Robocop Rogue City
Costume Quest
Donut County
For whatever reason, I cannot sleep tonight. To keep myself busy, I figured I would go back and make the same template for other games I finished this year and give them a mini-review while I'm at it. Well, as best as I can remember, and have evidence for, these are the main games I finished in 2025:
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Kind of a return to form for Yakuza, this entry brought back the 3D brawling/beat 'em up formula of the traditional mainline games, which had switched to turn-based party-focused RPGs since Yakuza 7 in 2020. Throw in fan favourite character Goro Majima as the playable protagonist, with pro wrestler Samoa Joe as a one of the main antagonists, and you have my interest piqued. While still fun, I did think the story was a little lacklustre and predictable. People might also call this a spiritual successor to Assassin's creed IV: Black Flag due to them both having ship combat, but I will say that ACIV felt like it had way more depth to its ship combat. I don't know. I still really liked this game. It's just more difficult to see past some of its flaws when compared to other Yakuza games.Cyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Online
Where Yakuza had shifted from real-time combat to turn-based RPG, this spin-off of Hyperdimension Neptunia did the opposite, going from turn-based to real-time hack and slash gameplay. Neptunia as a franchise has gotten a bit off-track in the last decade or so, in the sense that they only really seem to make non-canon spin-off games or remakes. They haven't made a new mainline game since 2015. That being said, they do still usually make for a fun time. Even if they feel a bit "cookie cutter" by design. The concept is typically meta, with the main characters getting together to play an MMO, which is the actual game you, the player, are playing.Neptunia Riders VS Dogoos
This is probably the best example of Neptunia getting "off-track", and that pun was intended because this is a... I guess it is a racing spin-off game, but not a conventional one. You and a CPU-controlled teammate must race against another team and gather up more creatures called "dogoos" than them before time runs out. This... wasn't great. The whole thing clocked in at just over 5 hours for the platinum trophy and didn't really have a strong story. It's short, mostly boring and not really what I expect from the franchise.Deadly Premonition
There's not a whole lot I can say other than I really adore this game. Due in part because a lot of this game is spoilable and best experienced for yourself. Like, this is a definite top 5-10 game of all time for me. I love so many of its strengths that I can excuse the flaws that are definitely there. I love the characters and their interactions, the story, the way all the named characters have their own 24-hour cycle and it's implemented really well. The soundtrack is also amazing! This is actually my 3rd playthrough, as I've previously played it on Switch and PS3, with this most recent one being the Xbox 360 version. I'd recommend more people to try it out, but the PC version is somehow the most un-optimised version, despite being the most easily accessible version via Steam & GOG. There are fan patches, but even then the PC version seems borked.Ever Forward
I'm not sure what to say about this one. It's a 2-3 hour long indie puzzle game. The visuals are nice enough, and remind me of the Nier series. The puzzles can be pretty satisfying to solve, but something about it felt off. I kinda got what it was going for with the story. That sort of less is more visual storytelling. I just didn't feel it though when it came time for the big emotional payoff at the end. Plus, not spelling things out does leave dummies like me confused sometimes and that can kill my investment. I wouldn't call it a bad game though. I honestly just think I didn't really get it.Maneater
This game is by no means perfect, but it is a hell of a lot of fun. Just the idea of turning the food chain into a semi-open world action-RPG, where you play a shark who grows in size as you level up by eating humans and other sea creatures. It's framed like a nature documentary, complete with Chris Parnell as a narrator, but quickly devolves into glorious b-movie schlock.Summer in Mara
I cannot get over how much I enjoyed this game. It's a mix between a farming/life sim and something like Wind Waker. You live on your own island where you plant fruits, vegetables, flowers etc, and take your boat to the main island to sell them or fill requests for the mainlanders. You can also use your boat to explore surrounding islands and find new characters to interact with or new stuff for you to grow back on your island. This is a very cozy game with a beautiful art style reminiscent of something like Steven Universe, or Lilo & Stitch. A drawback might be that sailing back and forth to and from your island can feel somewhat repetitive by the end.D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
For as much as I love this game, it also makes me sad. It's an episodic adventure game, in a similar vein to TellTale or old LucasArts games, where you play as a detective trying to solve the murder of your wife. This game was directed by the same person who directed Deadly Premonition and similarly has great writing, characters and interactions between them. So why does this game make me sad? Well, it was cancelled on a cliffhanger ending before they could finish the planned "season two". I would still say check it out if it's on sale. It being unfinished doesn't mean there isn't stuff worth experiencing. Heck, I played through this game like 4 times this year to unlock stuff and see more of the optional/missable dialogue.Nexomon
I'm not super keen on the big N these days. I still buy some games for my Switch, but not as many as I used to. Mostly third-party games. I do still love the Pokemon games though. Despite that love, however, I am always looking for good alternatives to the creature catching juggernaut. Nexomon is a pretty fun throwback to the GBA era of Pokemon, with their own twist on its formula and hundreds of its own unique creatures to catch. It also has its own flaws and drawbacks, like it could be better balanced in terms of combat, but maybe the flaws were improved upon in the sequel? I haven't played the sequel yet, but I'm looking forward to it.New Super Lucky's Tale
I should further stress that these are games I played in 2025, including games I've played before. New Super Lucky's Tale is a game I've played through before. I've actually 100%-ed it twice now. I just love it to bits though. It's such a simple, but well executed 3D collect-a-thon platformer. It really takes me back to playing Sly Raccoon, Mario Sunshine and the OG Spyro trilogy as a kid. The only shame is that for as good as I think this game is, and for as many times as they've remade and rereleased it, it still hasn't gotten a sequel. Lucky Swiftail could be a great modern platforming mascot, and there's still a bunch of story and lore that can be explored in a future game. It's a great game from what could be a franchise if they tapped into its potential.Hello Kitty and Friends: Happiness Parade
I've already written quite an extensive article on this game, so I'll try to keep it brief. This game is a rhythm-action roguelite party-based RPG. You form a party of Sanrio characters and move along a path to the beat of the chosen song, but everything is to the beat. Avoiding enemies and obstacles, switching characters and activating their unique abilities, and gathering collectables to level up your characters are all done to the beat of the song. Happiness Parade really surprised me with the quality of music in its licensed soundtrack, the amount of content with no DLC whatsoever and the challenge of unlocking all the characters. Great game! Easy to pick up and get lost in for an hour or five. I would like them to put out a rhythm game with music from Sanrio's history though. Anime themes, promotional character songs etc.Hello Kitty: Island Adventure
I'm thinking this might be my 2025 game of the year, although it's been out for a few years on Apple and Switch. I played the PS5 version though, which did come out in 2025. Take the Animal Crossing formula, mix it with the characters of Sanrio and you have the makings of a cozy classic. You make your own custom character, essentially a Sanrio OC, and explore Friendship Island; gathering materials and crafting items, solving puzzles and interact with/do quests for various Sanrio characters such as Hello Kitty, Kuromi & My Melody. My big complaint would be that only being able to so much each real-time day can be frustrating when you just want to progress the story, but that's more of a problem with these sorts of games than Island Adventure itself.Fairy Tail 2
I do enjoy shonen anime. Stuff like Naruto, One Piece and even Fairy Tail. The problem kinda comes with trying to keep up with them, because they usually have hundreds upon hundreds of episodes. So, I usually just keep up by playing various video game adaptations, and Fairy Tail is no different. The previous Fairy Tail game came out in 2020 and was a decently fun turn-based RPG, although it didn't do you any favours if you weren't already familiar with the anime's story. The same can mostly be said for Fairy Tail 2, although its gameplay is more of a real-time & turn-based combat hybrid. You attack in real-time, but you have a cooldown on how often you can attack. Again, decent fun but the story is set around 300 episodes deep into the anime. It has a glossary of terms you can read up on, but it's not gonna catch you up. The story will just kind of happen and assumes you're already caught up on most of the important stuff. Also, Erza is my favourite character.Yakuza 0
A prequel to the original Yakuza game, Yakuza 0 serves as almost a reboot of the franchise and is a good entry point for newcomers. Being another game I replayed this year, I love how well Yakuza do their crime drama narratives. I don't think I'll ever 100% this game, but I do come back to it now and again for a refresher on the story, as well as a chance to play as Majima. There's a "Director's Cut" version that has come out, but it doesn't seem to be different enough to warrant the inflated price tag when compared to the original version.Yakuza 6: the Song of Life
I need to replay more Yakuza games to be sure but, my god, this might be in the top 5 for me. Of course, that could also just be recency bias coupled with the fact that I finally got the platinum trophy after nearly 7 years. I personally love the trope of the strong silent manly man being vulnerable with, and responsible for, their family. It confounds me a little when I see that people hate Yakuza 3, 6 or Gaiden, because, to me, they focus on Kiryu at his most human. They give him so much more depth and heart beyond just the one-liner spitting action hero trope. Not that those people are wrong for not enjoying it or having a different opinion to me. It's just where I feel Yakuza is at its best. The over-the-top action scenes are just a bonus for me. Also, super big extra bonus points for the crossover with New Japan Pro Wrestling. Having actual pro wrestlers as side quest boss battles blew my mind when this game originally came out. This is another one I can, and do, come back to now and again.Honourable mentions (I hit the image limit) as well to:
Robocop Rogue City
Costume Quest
Donut County
