This has been the definition of difficult year, and I’m happy that I had some great games along the way to ease the struggle just a bit. There’ve been some good sequels, funny moments, some great co-op, great remakes, and big surprises. Of course, I am here to tell you my thoughts on the best games of the year.
Time to get to the games! Potential Spoilers ahead!
Best Moment: Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (Death Stranding 2)
Okay, so it’s probably surprising to see Death Stranding 2 on any list of mine given my feelings about Kojima games, but I will give this game some big kudos. It legitimately has some extremely good moments in the game, and this one ended up being my favorite of the batch. It’s such a cute moment with Rainy and Tomorrow singing “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” and then Sam pops in to contribute in the most awkward way possible. It’s a great bit of characterization for Sam, and I remember Jared and I both laughing a lot at this part. It’s so, so good.
Best Otome: Bustafellows 2
I am a huge fan of Bustafellows, and now both the first game and the sequel are in my top 10 otome games as of writing. Otome sequels can really be hit or miss, but Bustafellows 2 was able to build on the found family narratives of the first game and the fantastic relationships (mostly) that were built in the first game. There is also an interesting narrative of the struggle that Teuta has with the implications of what happens when she uses her time travel ability. It’s incredible to have THREE best boys in an otome game, but Limbo, Shu, and Crow are easily some of the best love interests in otome games ever.
Jared and AL co-op: Split Fiction
I really have a blast playing Hazelight games with Jared, and this one was no different. I’ll talk more about this game in depth in my top 10 list, but just know that Jared and I had a blast working together and also maybe trolling each other a bit. Plus, look at this scene where the levels mash together!
Sequel to a Game that We Actually Really Needed: Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club TOKIMEKI Roadmap to the Future
We NEEDED this. After the untimely demise of Love Live! School Idol Festival All Stars, we never really got satisfactory closure for the storylines that they built in the game (which are not 1 to 1 in the anime). This game was able to correct that issue. It uses assets from All Stars, it is a direct sequel to the narrative of AS, and it gave us more incredible moments with the fantastic Nijigasaki gals. I had a blast playing through this, and if you were a fan of All Stars, you really need to play this game!
Best Old Game: Fantasian Neo Dimension
I originally played Fantasian when it came out on Apple Arcade. How could I not?? JRPG by Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker with music by Nobuo Uemtasu (and potentially one of his last full OSTs) and beautiful diorama environments! SIGN ME UP!! The problem is that I never got to finish it on Apple Arcade. It was not great to play it on the Apple TV, and the difficulty in part 2 was absolutely bonkers. Fantasian Neo Dimension corrected both of those issues, and it also added voice acting! I’m so glad I was finally able to play this game in its entirety, and it absolutely did not disappoint.
Best Enemies that I Loved Yelling Nicknames at When They Scared Me: Silent Hill f
LADY! LEGS! SPEEDY! This game definitely spooked me quite a bit, and apparently my only method of dealing with being scared is just to yell weird nicknames at the enemy as they attack. Maybe if I shame them enough, they’ll stop being buttheads toward me. (Even though I wasn’t even actually playing it lmao)
Best fishing in a video game: Gone Fishing
Okay, so this game looks bananas. The characters are so bizarre, it’s like a weird horror co-op fishing game, and there are also just dudes running around to try and scare you. Thing is, I had such a fun time playing this game with my best bud Jared, even if I just kept getting attacked by a bat boy and Jared just got to be chill and fish. Hopefully I get to play more of this so we can dive more into what the heck is going on, but it’s definitely funny to just go to sleep holding a fish.
10.) Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Majima as an amnesiac pirate building up a crew to do sea battles? Sign me UP. This game was overall a ton of fun to watch, it had fun characters new and old, and it was genuinely interesting to see how Majima handled his amnesia and the bigger implications of the future of the old crew of LAD. I was hoping for some more emotional impact with the story, but I was overall really happy with what we got. I also love that you can just absolutely make Majima and his ship look completely crazy, as it always should be.
9.) Donkey Kong Bananza
I am really destructive in games when I am given the ability to be that way. I was not expecting to be able to destroy nearly everything in the environments in Donkey Kong Bananza. When I initially booted up this game, the tutorial was telling me how to destroy sections of the map, and I am pretty sure I spent several hours just destroying everything I could. It RULED. I had a lot of fun playing this game, it was super cute, and I liked the twist at the end. It was an awesome first exclusive for Switch 2 for me, and I am happy to see the return of DK.
8.) No Sleep for Kaname Date from AI: The Somnium Files
Hey, do you like Zero Escape? Well, do I have the game for you!! Again, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this game, but in the first level with Iris, as soon as you got the sound effects and “Seek a way out!” splash, I was like…oh, this is just the 4th Zero Escape game with an AI: The Somnium FIles skin. That’s not entirely true since it definitely follows the canon of AI and has Somnium levels, but it absolutely is a love letter to Uchikoshi’s games. I really enjoyed my time with this, even if the twists weren’t quite as wild as I am used to and the musical number didn’t really hit. Just being able to do escape rooms again and spend more time with these characters made this game entirely worth it.
7.) Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II
So this is a weird game. It’s a very weird Trails game. The time loops were extremely unexpected, and sometimes they dragged on a bit. All that being said, I think there is a lot good here, and not just because they finally added fishing into Daybreak (and it’s very good). I loved getting more of Swin and Nadia’s stories, I loved getting to know more about how much of a dangerous little gremlin Shizuna is, Quatre’s resolutions were extremely well done and an interesting addition to the series, and I can never say no to more of Aaron Wei. There is also just a beach interlude, which is funny. The gameplay is a blast, and the characters are all really fun. I am hoping that Horizon really takes what worked here and improves on it even further with more traditional Trails-like storytelling.
6.) Trails in the Sky First Chapter
Trails in the Sky First Chapter is a great game. I played the PS Vita version of it several years ago, and I really enjoyed the characters, the build up to the Trails series that I had grown to know and love, and I got to know a lot of really significant backstory from playing it. With this remake, not only do we get all of that again, but we also get it with more modernized gameplay and graphics, which makes it more widely accessible. This game is beautiful, the combat is a blast, and it really does preserve a lot of the charm of the original games. I cannot recommend these games enough, and I am glad that the ideal starting point of the series is finally out in a way that more people can play and enjoy. Hell yeah Bestelle.
5.) Split Fiction
As I mentioned in the co-op award, this game is incredible. I played it with Jared, and I cannot emphasize enough how impressive technically this game is while also being extremely fun to play. I included the video earlier of the mashing together of sci-fi and fantasy, and genuinely that moment was so cool to play and go through. I really enjoyed the varied levels, the characters were super fun, and honestly, how many other games throw you into a meat grinder and turn you into hot dogs? How can you not love it?? It’s incredibly charming and really great to play, and I am always thrilled when we get more of these games.
4.) Once Upon a Katamari
This game came out exactly when I really needed it. I needed a game that was just head empty, roll things up, enjoy the weird quirky stuff type of game, and Katamari never disappoints. I loved the time travel aspect of this game, it had a lot of really clever and fun stages to roll through, and the King of All Cosmos continues to be an absolute menace. I loved being able to find the cousins and see their weird designs, and it was also neat that you’re able to make your own cousin design! I was able to platinum this game while I was going through some stuff, and I will probably always be grateful for Once Upon a Katamari for being such a great distraction for my brain.
3.) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
I saw the initial trailer for this game a bit ago, and I was SO excited to play it. It looked interesting, it was turn-based, there was an over world map…it just felt very classic. Plus, BEN STARR. Once it finally came out, it was even better than I had ever hoped for. The turn-based gameplay is fun, and it’s enhanced by the dodge/parry techniques and the pictos/luminas that help build your characters. It’s unapologetically French, which is a fun time and not something I often see in games. I also really loved the characters and the story. The twists and turns in the story were unexpected and fun (and sad!!), and as anybody who knows me well knows, I am a sucker for video game narratives about grief. Plus, Esquie exists and is best boy. It’s exciting to see a turn-based RPG shake the industry a bit, even if it is a little disheartening that so many good JRPGs haven’t gotten the same love in recent years.
2.) Powerwash Simulator 2
MORE POWERWASHING PLEASE. Jared and I got this day 1, and with the extremely welcome addition of shared campaign progress, we were able to play through it together and teamwork to get all the things very, very clean. If you liked the original Powerwash Simulator, this is that but better. There are a lot of really fun levels, additions of levels that evolve as you clean things, and new tools of the trade. Plus, you get to pet the cats. What’s not to love??? My only complaint is that the final level wasn’t quite as cool and silly as the previous game, but I am very much looking forward to the DLC levels and powerwashing more things and seeking my dopamine hits with my dings.
1.) Dynasty Warriors: Origins
Again, if you’ve listened to the podcast or know me pretty well, you know how much I love musou games. I’ve been a huge fan of the Dynasty Warriors series since DW3, but there have definitely been some missteps in recent years with the series (except for the crazy horse GPS in Dynasty Warriors 9 because that rules). Dynasty Warriors: Origins absolutely changes the game. It truly is able to capture the feeling of 1 vs 1000 that musou has always tried to be. The game genuinely is super fun to play, I love being able to switch my weapon types and hang out with the historical characters (who are all now inexplicably pretty which rules), and destroying so many guys on the battlefield is just satisfying as hell. It’s also incredible how in the bonding scenes, all of the characters you know and love from previous games absolutely want to bone you.
That being said, it was extremely exciting to me to see some of my favorite battles play out in this game from different faction viewpoints, and to see them in such a beautiful format. This really feels like what Dynasty Warriors was always meant to be, and I cannot wait to play more of it.
And that’s it! I hope next year is a better year for all of us, and I hope that we continue to get creative games like we did this year. We get multiple new Trails games next year, more Like a Dragon, more Dynasty Warriors DLC, and more otome. There is a lot of opportunity for some incredible stuff in 2026, and I can only hope that that’s the case!
Here is the link if you’d like ton read Jared’s write up for his GOTY list.
Here is the podcast link to hear us chat about it and induct our newest SAC OVA Hall of Fame game.