Hello everyone. Hope you have all had a good week, and if you've been celebrating the holidays, have had a chance to unwind and enjoy. Its the last Sunday of the year so let's use this thread to talk about what games we played in 2025, our favorites, least favorites pleasant surprises etc.
Games I played that released this year:
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Elden Ring: Nightreign: This is probably my GOTY, but I didn't play too many games that released in 2025. Anyway, I think a lot of people were rightfully skeptical about Elden Ring Fortnite edition but it's an incredibly fun co-op game. I haven't tried the Deep of Night Mode or the DLC, but thats something I am thinking of picking up when I return home from my holiday vacation
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The Outer Worlds 2: the gameplay is markedly better than the first game, once again proving any movement system in any video game just needs a double jump. A lot of people complained about the lack of skill points you get from leveling up, but I thought it wasnt that big of an issue. One aspect I think they knocked it out the park was with the in game radio stations, they were absolutely fantastic and once i turned them on i never once turned them off. The one area I think it comes up way short of the first game is the companion characters: they simply do not match the energy of the ones from the first game. I look forward to the promised expansions.
-Becoming Saint: i picked this up because I saw Northernlion play it and I thought it looked interesting, but unfortunately there was little meat on its bones. The game bills itself as a rouge-like but there is very little variation between playthroughs. Also the devs suffered a huge aura loss in my eyes when I checked the steam reviews and they were replying to every single review. I liked the art style though. 5.5/10
Stronghold Crusader Definative Edition: 97 Year Old Game Studio Still Makes Crossbowmen The Old Fashioned Way. Stronghold crusder is one of my favorite childhood games (it taught me how the economy works). I actually didn't even know they were releasing a remaster of it until I saw that you could buy it bundled with Becoming Saint. Its the good kind of remaster: fixes longstanding bugs and actually ads some content to the game. I have worked my way through the co-op trail with my brother the past few months and we are eagerly awaiting fresh missions to be added to it.
Games I played this year that releases prior to 2025:
-Balatro: crack cocaine
-Dark Souls 1 and 3: i replayed 1 for the hell of it but I did a SL1 playthrough of 3. Very challenging, very rewarding
-Fallout 4: I began 2025 with a brutal, soul crushing period of unemployment and job hunting. To keep my spirits as low as possible, I did a playthrough of FO4 on survival difficulty. Extremely brutal in the early game, I ending up immediately siding with the Brotherhood so I could get access to vertibird transport early. Became the perfect mixture of fun and challenge once I got good armor and put in enough perks so I didn't die in 1 bullet
LA Noire: my comfort game tbh, shame they had to burn through hundreds of University graduates to make it
Rome Total War: still whips
Mass Effect 1 and 2: Playing Outer Worlds 2 made me want to play more space games, so I fired up the legendary edition for my second playthrough of the trilogy. My first playthrough I did male paragon shepherd, so this time I'm doing female renegade shepherd. They really tried to make the paragon/renegade dichotomy akin to good cop/loose cannon but full renegade means you swing between asshole and psychopath. The conversation you have with Anderson and Udina at the end of ME1 after letting the council die floored me with the renegade dialogue options; you and Udina basically become Darth Vader and Palpatine. Anyway, I will start ME3 when I get back from vacation
Hope everyone has had at least a tolerable 2025, and here's to maybe a better year in 2026!
I played a lot of games this year, but literally none of them matter in comparison to Deltarune. Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 released at some point this year and hijacked my mind like an evil fungus. It was simply incredible. The music is unparalleled, I truly believe that if you don't like a single aspect of Deltarune you will like the music anyway. Listen to the soundtrack if you haven't. Some highlights are Guardian, Ruder Buster and the Third Sanctuary. None of these are my favourite one, but my favourite comes with a very very cool narrative moment and I think its best to go in completely blind. The Third Sanctuary is unlike anything I've ever heard.
I don't want to say too much about the story because if you haven't played Deltarune, and Undertale was of any interest to you whatsoever, you need to play it unspoiled. Suffice to say that Kris might have unseated Asa Mitaka as my favourite character in fiction. I'm obsessed with them. Also they're the most visible nonbinary protagonist that I know of and helped me realise that I was nonbinary back when chapter 2 came out.
Undertale was a generational masterpiece. If you recall ten years ago, a popular discussion among journalists was whether or not video games are art, and people would always point to Undertale as proof of the artistry of video games. It was a paradigm changer. I was utterly obsessed with Undertale, and it was a very obvious 10/10 for me. So when Deltarune was announced, I was pretty cautiously optimistic, because nothing can really live up to Undertale.
But Deltarune is better than Undertale in every single way. Its the easiest 10/10 I've ever seen in my life. I thought it would be impossible to surpass Undertale, but Deltarune goes so far above and beyond. Its an incredible achievement.
Its one of those games where, when the credits roll, you know you've had something permanently changed in your brain chemistry. You'll never be able to relive the feeling of playing this game for the first time. Its like Disco Elysium or Nier: Automata, where the ending credits make me realise I've just witnessed something beautiful. Deltarune made me feel like this, but with the caveat that the game isn't even finished yet, its only halfway there. Seeing the message from the narrator and hearing Neverending Nights still gives me chills.
I'm always aware that the creators I love can fail even when they make something incredible. Tatsuki Fujimoto wrote my favourite manga ever, Chainsaw Man, and unfortunately I think part 2 just isn't as good as part 1. No one is infallible, and I'm always aware of the possibility of disappointment. But Toby Fox might be infallible I'm not gonna lie. Given everything that Undertale and Deltarune have delivered, I can't possibly imagine being disappointed by the final three chapters.
Learning that undertale could be considered the first ever deltarune fanfic is sending me.
Is Deltarune finished ? I plan to play it but I dont wanna wait half a year for a new chapter.
No, 4 out of 7 chapters are currently released, with chapter 5 set to release in 2026