Topic: Non-2025 Game of the Year

@Werehog Yeah, I understand the repulsion to watching just anyone play a game. I did grow up more in the age of YouTube, so I'm more used to the ''let's play'' culture by default, but I've become a lot more picky over time with who I actually want to watch. I'll pop on some funny multiplayer commentary while eating like yourself, but when it comes to actual playthroughs I want someone who is not obnoxiously loud or uncreative in their commentary. I don't know if you know a YouTuber called Many a True Nerd, but he's become my go-to for actual playthroughs of games and is the one that got me interested in the Resident Evil franchise to begin with. With what I know about you, I think you might really enjoy his commentary as well. Give him a shot if ever you see him playing something you're intrigued by!

I was scared I would feel bored or unimpressed by the game because I had largely seen everything before, yeah. I think it speaks a lot to the quality of the product that I was able to hugely enjoy it myself even knowing some of the twists, turns or scenarios. It is why I ended up saving that as well as Village for last, because those were the ones I'd watched him play in full. I still enjoyed my time with them more than 3 Remake or 7 in the end, so I think it didn't affect my enjoyment negatively at all! Solution-wise, it had been long enough that I didn't remember any detailed ways to get through certain areas, so it didn't really help me on that front. The one time where having a rather bad memory comes into good use!

Well, if it's only 2% that's affected due to the vitriol, I'd still say that's a rather objective opinion ultimately! Only logical it would affect your opinion in some small ways, but luckily only in a positive sense here. I'm definitely more inclined to believe you or the podcasts I trust on the quality of the game than any random strangers ascribing their own weird affiliations to it. Glad you were at least able to avoid all that negativity at the time and only had the find out about it more so afterwards. I'll definitely let you know if and when I get to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown! Who knows? Maybe you'd have had a hit on your hands either way you went.

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@Th3solution Glad to hear that you enjoyed the RE4 Remake just as much! I didn't know about your opinions on the original and I haven't played it myself, so the fact that they were able to convert you with the remake is truly impressive. Would you say it was really just the gameplay of the original that let it down for you, or are there more changes made here also narratively or such that elevated it for you?

Happy to hear your friend convinced you to play It Takes Two as well! It really is incredibly entertaining. The whole elephant moment is still one of the best gaming moments of all-time, I'd say. I was laughing like a total maniac at that whole surreal bit, which maybe reflects poorly on me when possibly the intent was more to terrify the player. I just love a good bit of dark comedy, and that hit the spot! I'm honestly so confused by all the different spin-off Final Fantasy 7 titles. I really want to get into that entry's remakes myself sooner rather than later with Remake and Rebirth, but I have no clue what ''Crisis Core'' in particular adds to the lore or if it's in any way a recommended play in-between like you seem to have done. It seems like you don't regret it at least with what you said as well as having it in your top of the year! Would you recommend others to follow your path in playing this between the remakes, or is it something that you couldn't really recommend as a must?

I will also add Doki Doki Literature Club (2017). I played the mobile port all the way through a few days ago. It was spine chilling, mind blowing, and incredible at the exact same time. One of the few pieces of horror media that I actually like.

@Tjuz (Sorry for the delayed response…)
As far as my dislike of the original RE4 goes, I think it was 90% just the dated gameplay — primarily the stiff and awkward controls. I didn’t make it very far into the OG game but the narrative and overall setup of the Remake is very consistent beat-for-beat with what I experienced in the original. I fell off of it shortly after clearing the village and making it past the Lake Monster; I was somewhere around there. But yeah, definitely the clunky controls was the biggest obstacle — having to go into the menu every time to switch weapons was a real chore. The movement was tanky, and you couldn’t move and shoot at the same time. There was no difficulty settings, and ammo was fairly rare (however the knife didn’t break in the original and so you could spam knife attacks, although I think they were weaker). Saving was also not as generous, the Remake added some extra autosaves after major moments in addition to the typewriters.

Of course the Remake looks so much better graphically and sounds better. The campy dialogue is mostly kept intact, but I did notice some small changes in the script to get it up to date, like they omitted the line when Luis meets Ashley and says some cheeky innuendo about her “ballistics.”

I also wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I first tried RE4, since it really ramps up the action combat compared to RE1-3 which are slower and more methodical survival games, and I think it was off-putting for me to have to mow down wave after wave of zombies over and over. It’s not what I had expected from an RE game. But going in the second time through the Remake, not only was the action combat more fluid and comfortable to do with the updated controls, I knew it was going to be an action heavy affair and enjoyed it much more with that foreknowledge.

And yes, as far as the It Takes Two elephant scene… it’s up there with as one of the great gaming moments of the year, if not of the whole generation. We sat with our mouths agape for several moments, not sure what kind of emotion to feel! 😅

And regarding FF7 Crisis Core, yes it’s considered a spinoff when it released on PSP years ago, but with the way the Remake storyline veers, it’s apparently more important than with the original FF7 narrative. Now, I’ve yet to play Rebirth, but many people have told me that it’s highly recommended to play it before Rebirth, although not essential. It’s a good enough game (if you’re a fan of the series) to play on its own merits, so it’s no loss even discounting the extra story bits. But there’s unique CC character background that reportedly will play a role with how the remade story unfolds. Honestly, I think most people who played Rebirth skipped it, but the best approach is to do Remake-CC Reunion-Rebirth, in that order. CC is about 20 hours in length if you mainline things (you can spend much longer if you want to do extra missions), so it’s t all depends on how limited your time is. If you’re short on time then it could still be considered purely optional.

Have you played the original FF7? There’s a camp that feels like you need to play that first, but I disagree. It still holds up though if you really want the absolute full experience though.

@Tjuz Thank you for the YouTube recommendation! If there's ever a game I wanna watch that Penny isn't playing herself, I'll go check out Many a True Nerd, for sure.

I'm glad playing something you'd already watched wasn't a negative experience, and you're right, sometimes the quality of a game is so high, it really doesn't matter. The Resi remakes really do look that gosh darn good, so if there's gonna be a series that could hold up in that way, that'd certainly be a contender. And you made me chuckle with your comment about memory (no offense) because I've often wished for a worse memory, so that I could "re-enjoy" my favourite things after a while! Luckily I don't mind replaying the games I love anyway, but I'd imagine it's not the same.

Best of luck with Prince of Persia and yeah, here's hoping for a win-win either way!

• Ōkamiden - Determined to whittle down my DS backlog (I even think it was a gaming resolution some years back, that predictably I didn't succeed at), I settled on playing this. Considering the limitations of the hardware, I was incredibly impressed at how closely it hewed to the gameplay and style of its PS2 mother. And Chibiterasu is so adorable. 🥰 This time round, the wolf is joined by an array of urchinous trouble children, who alter the powers available to them. Although the world is considerably smaller than the original Ōkami, the game didn't feel short-changed and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it.
• Horace - I bought this quite a while back based on @nessisonett's recommendation. The platforming drove me to near madness towards the end, but the game has such a wonderfully touching, albeit sad story, it even summoned a tear or two. I really liked the gameplay variety and how stuffed full of completely random British pop-culture references it is. Maybe there was a Pat Butcher one in there?
• Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition - A very competent Metroidvania, with a nice aesthetic and story.
• A Short Hike - A bite-sized wonder. You play as a beautiful little bird (initially I thought it was a penguin, but was proved wrong when it started flying), who explores a cute little island to basically reach the top. There's an array of Animal Crossing-esque strange NPCs dotted around and a number of minigames and challenges, proving that it is about the journey, not the destination. The charming PS1-styled lo-fi aesthetic adds a lot to the experience.
• Random replays of old favourites include Ocarina of Time and Portal 1 and 2. It feels a bit cheeky having replays on the list, so I'll add this as an honourable mention. Ocarina of Time is still so wonderful, and I liked playing it with an N64 controller on Switch Online. This method also made me appreciate Super Mario 64 a bit more, as it controlled better and the rewind feature saved my sanity in the vengeful clock level.

@Th3solution It Takes Two is brilliant! Easily my game of 2023, at least I think that was when I played it! I really didn't have a particularly positive view of A Way Out, so was indeed quite surprised by just how good It Take Two turned out to be. And it was a rather meaty package, filled with surprises and delights. I played Split Fiction in the summer, and loved that, too.

@mookysam Glad to see you enjoyed Horace, it’s just such a touching game in so many ways. The platforming really does get difficult though.

@mookysam Indeed, it was. If I had any complaints about It Takes Two, it might be just that it did go on for maybe a little too long. Since it’s a mandatory co-op experience, it might have served better to make it slightly briefer. Finding time with your partner or friend to play it together can be challenging, which is not an obstacle with a single player game.
Still, it was great fun and I look forward to Split Fiction

Well, safe to say, Divinity is my game of the year for games not released in 2025 (upgrades don't count) I think it is the only old game i've played this year, anyway (aprt from finishing an old run of KCD before KCD2 came out) but even if it wasn't it would be the best discovery. It may well even break into my elite all time games list, alongside KCD1/2, The Witcher 3, Baldur's Gate 3, Elden Ring etc. I guess I wish I knew I was such a big a nerd for CRPG's earlier, but we can't change that. They really engage your brain even when you aren't actively playing them, and they are super chill to play outside of the battles so you never really get tired of the adventure and can go at your own pace. And the tactics and builds just give you a freedom to create whatever you envisage as the perfect fantasy line up.

Right now that is a flaming skullfaced glass cannon who rains fire from above, a teleporting rogue who guts and bleeds everyone, a wet bandit of a supoort mage who weilds water, ice and electricity while healing and buffing everyone (apart from the man without a face, as he has to heal himself with poison, but he can himself turn water in to poison! How about that) and a hammer weilding necromancer tank who lives to be bathed in the blood of friend or foe.

It usually takes me a while to get all my spells and skills sorted while experimenting, but I feel like I have a really cool set up now. Saving Gareth was a walk in the park once i'd positioned my mages and snuck my Tank into the arena of battle. And nothing beats blocking paths to protect your mages and create choke points below.

Plenty of ways to go about doing quests. And sometimes experimenting leads to a solution before anyone even knew a solution was needed.

Praise be to Larian

My non-year 2025 GOTY is Divinity Original Sin 2.

Nier Automata, I bought it during the black Friday sales for £17, and my lord the game is a masterpiece, from the incredible story telling to the god tier sound track I literally couldn't put it down till I got platinum, can't believe it never even got nominated at the 2017 game awards (at least it won best sound track). But yes if people still haven't played it I highly recommend it!

Touhou: Artificial Dream In Arcadia & Astrobot are my personal top games of 2025.

Astrobot needs no introduction and despite it's main levels being relatively easy (Those challenge levels are another matter entirely however) it's bursting to the brim with charm like you wouldn't believe. Absolutely stellar and it made me smile from start to end.

Tohou Artificial Dreams In Arcadia meanwhile does need a bit of an intro. It's a fan game (The creator of Touhou is apparently very chill about his characters being used so long as he's credited) that was initially released on pc in 2022 before getting ports to consoles this year.

It's an old school first person dungeon crawler rpg in the style of Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2 and despite me knowing nothing about Touhou beyond seeing some of the character designs on the internet I found it really engaging.

Alisa comes in 3rd. Played this towards the start of the year and it's a fantastic retro survival horror ala classic Resident Evil.

It's a bit difficult at first thanks to having to use your toothwheels (the currency you get upon beating enemies) for saving (1 toothwheel each time you save) but it's a charming game that REALLY captures the PS1 vibes to a T. It was a joy to play. I need to go through it again for the alternate endings~!

4th is Zero Escape: 9 Persons, 9 Hours, 9 Doors. I REALLY enjoyed this. I thought the writing was rather good, captivating and the mystery was genuinely intriguing.

Sadly it's the only game by this director I've played that I thought was particularly good. The sequel 999: Virtue's last reward was... Something. I think it ruined a couple of the returning characters and trying to go bigger only made it worse. The less said about AI: The somnium files the better.

And at number 5 is Touhou Luna Nights. Yes Arcadia was so good it made me look into other games made with this series and Luna Nights is a quaint, fairly short Metroidvania revolving around the maid character Sakuya with her time stop powers and throwing knives.

There's some fun little platforming opportunities that arise from the time stop mechanics and there's some fun attack skills too~!

@HallowMoonshadow I can't wait for Alisa: The parting, hopefully the dev learnt a lot from Alisa and it will be another amazing gaming experience!

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is my winner! Devoted my Saturday & Sunday afternoons to beating it as I don't play games during the week. It was a grind' but a fun one!!!

@Oram77 Glad you ended up getting back to Nier Automata. It really is one of my favorite games. And you’re right, it got kind of buried in the 2017 hoopla of Horizon Zero Dawn vs. Breath of the Wild. If you haven’t yet, you can see some really interesting philosophical breakdown of the game on YouTube. It’s fairly deep and has some fascinating allegory.

This reminds me that I still need to play Nier Replicant.

@Th3solution I actually feel pretty bad for being so late to this masterpiece and singing it's praises lol,
funny enough I did watch a video on the breakdown of the story after I got ending E:

If you have any videos which go more in depth feel free to share 👍

@Oram77 I’m at work so unable to watch the full video you linked, but I might have seen it a few years ago when I played the game.
I did find the link to one of them that I liked:

@Oram77 Is it ever too late to sing the praises of a masterpiece? 😄

@Th3solution No worries on the late response as I'm typing this myself about ten days after you! Been some busy holidays with flights back and forth.

Makes total sense for the controls to have been what held you back on the original. I think it's the main reason I never gave it a shot either. Anything that's going to be praised as setting a new landmark in gaming on a mechanical level like that is quickly going to feel dated, since everything after will do iterate on it and eventually do it better. Seems like I made the right decision to simply wait it out, even if I couldn't have known they'd be remaking all of these games far in the future! Can't say I'd resent the exclusion of a line about "ballistics" either, but I am genuinely glad how campy it remained in the remake. I think the camp of it all is the franchise's greatest strength.

I also totally get that your expectations being in the right place this time around might have helped you enjoy it more. I can't even imagine how Resident Evil fans must have reacted when 4 originally came out. It is so different from the first three from tone to controls to the action focus. I've only ever known 4 as the "universally beloved" entry, but I can imagine there might've been quite a bit of uproar from fans of the original three games back in the day on the changes it made. If there was, it has been rightfully washed away with time I suppose.

I haven't played the original Final Fantasy 7 or any of the games in the franchise for that matter. Well, I did play a little bit of 14 with a friend before I quickly noped out on the MMO quest design. I was lured in by the promises of a fantastic story. I'm aware that people say that only about everything that comes after the first arc, but I do not have the patience or desire to sit through the whole first part of the game to get to the good stuff! I'm aware that there's changes made in the narrative of the remakes. I think that's why you're saying there's a camp who recommends playing the original first? I've heard whispers here and there of subverted expectations. I think when I eventually get to 7 Remake, I'll take up your advice and look into playing Crisis Core inbetween. I am a bit of a completionist with this stuff, so I like the idea of having the full experience. I can always skip it afterwards if it ends up not being for me for any reason! Thank you for elaborating on it!

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@Ravix Who could've seen a too-cool-for-school emo kid ending up with a love for CRPGs? Truly, what an "unexpected" turn of events. 😉

I'd highly recommend looking into Wasteland 3 whenever you're ready to start your next CRPG. I think it's one of the best this renaissance of the genre has to offer. Such a fun time! I'm sure you'll be stuck with D:OS2 for the time being though, so enjoy that while it endlessly lasts! And remember this if one thing only.... do not be nice to Jahan when you meet him. I hate Jahan. He is my worst enemy.

(That's not a spoiler, don't worry. That's a highly personal grudge.)

@Tjuz Yea, there’s definitely subverted expectations regarding FF7 and the remake. Initially I was frustrated by the narrative changes from the original, as the OG FF7 is an all-timer imo. But over time I’ve warmed to the idea of a different narrative trajectory. There’s a place for a beat-for-beat remake process like RE4 got (basically the same story with the same plot and conclusions) but I also have grown to appreciate the approach Sqaure-Enix took to give us a new version of FF7 with the remake where there are clear changes in the plot structure and so it feels both familiar and new. Rumors are that they are remaking FF9, and so I wonder what approach they will take with it. It’s probably the second most beloved in the franchise, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they really put a lot into it.

If you decide to retry the FF franchise then the 7 Remake is a good entry point. Another good starting point would be FF16. It is a very modern and action heavy entry, made to appeal to a wider audience. If you really want the old school turn based type of experience then the original FF9 should still hold up, while we await its remake.

My favorites are FF7 and FF12, with FF10 being probably next. I don’t think that 10 would hold up to a modern audience. They remade 12 for PS4, called The Zodiac Age, and it should hold up ok, but the battle system is quite controversial so it’s not a very good entry point. I personally loved the gambit system though.

Forgot to write about my favourite game of the year, which I played on the Xbox Series X, where it was released at the tail-end of 2024. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

When it was unveiled I was quite sceptical of the first-person perspective. I also struggled with the combat at first and made the mistake of playing it like a stealth game, which was impossible, because you can't see where enemies are when in cover. Nevertheless, I persevered, and once it clicked it really clicked. After realising that the key to combat was blocking and parrying, it was actually quite fun, and I pretty much gave up trying to hide from every enemy and defeat them stealthily. For me the main draw of the game was exploring the expansive levels and finding all the secrets. I spent a ridiculous amount of time on the Vatican level, which is a near 1:1 replica of the real Vatican City and very impressive.
The performances are excellent, too. Troy baker does a rather good Harrison Ford impression, although I think Alessandra Mastronardi as Indy's sidekick Gina Lombardi is the real heart of the game. The attention to detail is impressive, too, with background characters speaking the languages native to each locale, rather than in English. On the whole, the only real downsides are that I found the villain verged a bit towards parody, and the big Mcguffin is little silly, even for Indiana Jones, but these didn't bring the experience down.

Another game that would have certainly made my list–had I finished it–is Alan Wake 2. It's been quite an experience and has genuinely made me jump quite a few times.