My 2025 Favorites [List]

It is very exciting to get to the end of the year and see how many nice games were released this year and how many I've had the opportunity to play. And by opportunity, I mean, the (not so much...) disposable income that I've spent on it all. Still, it was a great time.

When I created this website, I've thought of it as a place to share game reviews, screenshots, and some game lists. Finally, here it is: the first list of the blog! So let's get to it. The best of 25!

It was a smaller game that I've played just recently that, for me, was one of the most fun I had with friends on a game released this year: Peak.

The recipe is really simple: up to 4 people are stranded in an island and must climb to the peak and be rescued. The art is simple and fun, with little details everywhere that makes spending time with people feel natural.

Affordable and approachable, it is a game that everyone can play and have a blast. The items are wacky and nice to experiment as the maps themselves, with daunting and difficult scenarios that makes every moment matter while climbing. The proximity chat works super well, and makes everything hilarious while also making it easier to find where the friends are.

I'm having a blast with it and I couldn't recommend it enough.

Other game that I had a blast this year playing with other people was Monster Hunter: Wilds. Although not as good as the previous generation starter with "Worlds" for me, it is still a very, very good boss battle simulator.

The monsters are always incredible and the scenarios where they're at are also very fun and diverse. A bit too safe on anything novel, Wilds feel like I'm having the same great meal again. It is great, even if samey.

A good time to have with everyone that can actually run the game. While on consoles the situation is less felt, Wilds optimization on PC was far from being great, and I know many people that stopped playing the game because of how it ran.

Still, it is as good as Monster Hunter will always be.

I can't stop thinking about... horse girls. I can explain.

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby was released this year for mobile devices and PC through emulation on Steam. Yeah, a gacha... actually reached my best of the year. It features a bad monetization model and some designs are too much, with a story that wasn't that engaging for me.

But the gameplay loop, man... It is very good. The career mode is very fun and makes the time flies: we play as a trainer that is the main coach for a Horse Girl and tries to make her a success on three years of races.

It is a stamina management game where each training can be more or less tiresome for the girl, and as coaches, finding the balance between all the stats, the timed objectives and optional races makes each run always be fun and even unexpected. It reminds me of "Princess Maker 2", and it makes me happy to see something new in this genre of games.

This year was PACKED with RPGs! One of the biggest surprises for me was Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. Although it isn't one of the most innovative games I've played, the overall story and character progress is extremely well done.

One of those games that it is immense but surprisingly approachable after understanding the kinks of the combat and stealth. I can't stress enough, though, it is with the "quest-to-quest" narrative and loop that this really shines.

I won't forget the events of this game and I'm very excited to see where it is going. KCD2 was one of the best this year.

One of the prettiest, fastest and fun games I've played this year was Shinobi: Art of Vengeance. Pristine 2D action with gorgeous stages and sooo many enemy types, I had a great time from the start to the end of the game.

Because it is not a Metroidvania, Art of Vengeance manages to be its own thing in a landscape full of similar games, mostly because of its brilliant stage design and boss fights.

I didn't care much about the story, but otherwise, a great time, one of the best action games of this generation.

I'm always up for some scares. Videogame scares, I mean. Silent Hill f was, indeed, scary, but much, much more. A very intimate and personal game, we go through the struggles of a teenage girl in 60s rural Japan, and all the expectations that society has for her.

Silent Hill f was, first and foremost, a very good character study and it really made me feel the protagonist's suffering. The difficulty can be sometimes irritating and it is one of those games that the campaign needs to be played multiple times to really understand it, but it is worth it and I really recommend.

It is spooky though so be aware.

Yeah the new Kojima game is great. Because Death Stranding 1 did so much legwork to establish this twisted world rules and tone, I find that Death Stranding 2: On The Beach finally could tell a good story with interesting characters and mechanics.

DS2 made me feel like a kid, when I opened games like "Banjo-Kazooie" just to walk around. Seeing how different systems interact and using them to traverse the world is really nice, and it is satisfying to see the world evolving as I played through.

Also I can't stress enough how much better the story on this one is. All cast is better handled than in the first game, and the new people is as good. Finally it features a cohesive and emotional story. The worst part is having to play the first one to understand it fully.

There was one of those games this year... One of those games that it features some action... And some adventuring. I don't really think that calling something "action-adventure" makes sense anymore, but if it does, it would be tied to Ghost of Yotei.

Not only it is the prettiest game this year, but it has one of the best main characters that I've ever seen in a game. Atsu is amazing, and while the beginning of her adventure felt a bit generic, as the game progressed, I was completely in love with her. A great character arc, featuring amazing performances overall.

And the game? Very well polished action and adventuring through idyllic places in northern Japan. One of the best of 2025 for sure.

Looking back at 2025, it was a strong year for gaming and great writing wasn't small part of it.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took the world by storm by mixing together many gameplay inspirations with tight and punishing turn based battles that requires reflexes and wit.

Although it took awhile for me to love the story, when it clicked, it really clicked. E33 requires a bit more from the player, be it with the slow story or the punishing gameplay, but it is worth from the middle of the game onward, to then become one of those to be remembered.

This year I purchased a VR headset for the PlayStation 5. It was meant to be, as Hitman: World of Assassination was released for the PSVR2 this year.

And what a fantastic game.

Although a bit lost in its menus and presentation, World of Assassination is stealth perfection with innovative and well done scripted gameplay that only makes sense while playing it.

The VR mode for it, oh my god. It is a killer app. Although I have only finished the main campaign of the game, I intend to return to play the absurdly high amount of packed in content. All of it also available in VR. If you have a PSVR2, this is a no-brainer.

The grandaddy of roleplaying games. Dragon Quest 1&2 HD-2D Remake is not only nostalgic fun, but proof that there are some things that are, indeed, timeless.

Being the conclusion of a trilogy, it actually excels in making it so rewarding to see how the world progressed throughout generations, as shown in the games. With gorgeous music and art and delightful voice acting, Dragon Quest is digital fun and if you've never played one, you're missing out.

DQ7 Reimagined is one of my 2026 most anticipated games. Let's go!

It is impossible to stop smiling while playing Donkey Kong Bananza. Be it with the snappy controls and chaotic destruction or the interesting challenges and activities, Bananza is always interesting and fun to play.

It is not the most challenging, nor the most expansive platformer that Nintendo has ever created. It sometimes even felt a bit safe. Overall, though, the "modern Nintendo" is present here, with "Breath of the Wild"-like exploration wrapped in a very polished and 'premium' experience.

It is good. As good as Mario Odyssey? No, of course not. Still, pretty good and Nintendo's best release this year.

Thank you for reading!

I wish a great 2026 for all of us!!

Cheers. Bye!

Alex.