Author’s note: This posts contains some NSFW content. There are a handful of porn games, and I talk about the sexual content of them. The screenshots are NSFW. The content needs to be expanded to view, but you have been warned.
Another year, another celebration of video games. Specifically, video games I personally played. Here, I share some stats, a screenshot, and some thoughts about each game I played in 2025. I’ve been doing this for over a decade now. If you would like to read through previous years, you can do so here.
I played a lot of games. If you wish to skip around, feel free to use the handy table of contents. Otherwise, enjoy a really long post.
- God of War Ragnarök (PS5)
- Kirby’s Avalanche (SNES)
- God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla (PS5)
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! (SNES)
- Ka-Blooey (SNES)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (SNES)
- Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
- Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
- Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NDS)
- Jurassic Park (GG)
- Soldier Blade (TG16)
- Dear Esther (PC)
- Gunstar Heroes (GEN)
- Golden Axe (GEN)
- Beyond Oasis (GEN)
- Mario Kart 64 (N64)
- Super Mario 64 (N64)
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
- Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
- Milo’s Astro Lanes (N64)
- Titanfall 2 (PC)
- Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PS1)
- Grand Theft Auto (PS1)
- Leap of Faith (PC)
- Satisfactory (PC)
- LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5)
- Fetish Locator (PC)
- Keeper (PC)
- The Elephant Collection (PC)
- Infectonator 3: Apocalypse (PC)
- Bilkins’ Folly (PC)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (PC)
- 2025 Summary
- 2025 Game Releases
Game of the Year
God of War Ragnarök (PS5)
Release date: 11/09/2022
Last played: 03/07/2025
Session hours: 68.00
Gaming sessions: 23
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 36/36 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 154
Acquisition date: 10/05/2024
Acquired from: Gift
Price: $0.00 (List $69.99)
God of War Ragnarök is basically God of War (2018), but with more. The things I loved from the 2018 game are here and better in most cases. Alas, the things I did not like are also here.
The story is one of the good things. Kratos and Atreus must deal with the problems they created in the first Norse game. Thor and Odin are not happy with them. Atreus must explore his lineage. On top of everything, Kratos must deal with some baggage. Ragnarök swings big with emotional moments. Most of these moments involve the complicated relationship between Kratos and Atreus, but the parent and child motif envelopes many of the characters around them. Also, themes about destiny surround the pair. The story gets a bit erratic at parts, but it sticks the landing in the end.
The combat and gameplay are great. The game balances story, combat, and puzzles almost perfectly. When I started sweating from a heavy combat encounter, the game let me breath afterwards with a story or puzzle moment. If I thought too hard on a puzzle, it prescribed me some enemies to kill. It might be a bit formulaic, but it works well. The Leviathan Axe and Blades of Chaos are just as great in Ragnarök as they were in 2018. A new weapon is introduced, and it has a satisfying stab to it. This game features more enemy varieties, and each one requires a bit of thought; there is a right weapon and move for each job.
Not everything is perfect. The game is way too long. The game encouraged me to revisit locations by gatekeeping areas. As I unlocked new abilities, I could backtrack and explore previously gated areas. I quickly grew tired of it. Usually, the paths did not offer story value, but they felt necessary to feed the many RPG systems. I feel like a God of War game should be simpler. Instead, there were combat abilities that could be unlocked and upgraded. I found armor, which could also be upgraded for a price. There were lots of cosmetic items to find as well. I spent a lot of time in the menus just managing this stuff, and it was annoying.
I am nitpicking, because I think Ragnarök is a great game. I should not complain about more fun in a game, but I just would have been happier with a 20-hour game without all the padding.
The Next Tetris? No.
Kirby’s Avalanche (SNES)
Release date: 04/25/1995
Last played: 02/23/2025
Session hours: 4.50
Gaming sessions: 4
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 28/46 (60.87%)
Screenshots taken: 16
Acquisition date: 09/01/2022
Acquired from: DKOldies
Price: $19.99 (List NA)
Kirby’s Avalanche has some intuitive core mechanics. Two colored blobs fell from the top, and I just had to rotate them as they fell. Touching four or more of the same color blob caused them to disappear and gave me points. Chain reactions caused rocks to fall on my opponent’s side, hindering their progress. The same thing could happen to me if they caused a chain reaction. The first one to fill up, loses. It has some Tetris vibes, so I could see a world where I might enjoy Kirby’s Avalanche.
But I hate this game. I played it as a kid and could never get very far. I thought the game might be easier as an adult, but, no, I still suck. The game is easy to learn, but difficult to truly master. The speed of the game escalates too quickly, and it becomes way too fast. Thanks to emulators, I was able to play the game at half speed and make progress. I just wanted to complete the story mode of a game I could never beat as a kid. Even at half speed, the last couple of levels were still brutal.
The game was originally called Super Puyo Puyo, but was rebranded as a Kirby game in the West. It has some cool cutscenes in between rounds. Kirby is frequently sassy as he and his opponents talk smack to each other. The Kirby music sounds great as well.
Overall, I think Kirby’s Avalanche could be a great puzzle game, but the difficulty needs to be tweaked. Multiplayer could be fun, as playing against another human would level the playing field. However, I do not really want to invite some friends over just to play Kirby’s Avalanche.
My Favorite Roguelite
God of War Ragnarök – Valhalla (PS5)
Release date: 11/09/2022
Last played: 03/16/2025
Session hours: 13.75
Gaming sessions: 4
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 12/12 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 27
Acquisition date: 10/05/2024
Acquired from: PlayStation Store
Price: Free (List Free)
God of War Ragnarök doubled down on genres I do not like with a free DLC, Valhalla. Valhalla is a run-based game where you eventually die, but you do get stronger with each run. I do not like these types of games, because they tend to be grindy.
Whereas the base game of Ragnarök has a perfect balance of puzzles, story, and combat, Valhalla is mostly combat. The combat is very satisfying, so this is a good thing. I did not mind hacking my way through forests of enemies over and over again. Surprisingly, the game did allow me to catch my breath with its brief story moments.
With the events of the base game behind him, Kratos must face his greatest foe: himself. Valhalla pushes him to wrestle with his past to make an important decision. The game does an outstanding job of showing this struggle through brief cutscenes and the violence in the gameplay. It is a great story, and I was happy to play a genre I normally do not like.
It helped that Valhalla is on the easy side. I played on the default difficulty, which gave me what I wanted: a balance of story and combat. Increasing the difficulty would give out more temporary resources during runs. These resources can be used to unlock permanent upgrades, so there is some incentive for those who prefer a challenge.
Story beats are sprinkled within each run. Eventually, I would hit a point where I died, and the run would reset. Most of the time I only died because the game required it of me. Otherwise, I almost always died at the final boss. Each run brought new story insights, so death was not too big of a penalty.
I had fun with the game for about five hours. The only story beat missing at this point was to defeat the final boss. This is where Valhalla being a run-based game started to make me mad. Even though I was near the end of the story, the boss was still very powerful, and he would kill be relatively quickly.
I needed more upgrades. At this point, each run took me about 45 minutes; 45 minutes, just to die at the final boss over and over again. I would get some resources to upgrade myself a little bit, and repeat. I stopped having fun. Five to seven hours later, I finally beat him. The ending was almost worth the trouble.
Even though I stopped having fun, I still think Valhalla is worth a play. The story and combat are just too good for a free add-on. If you want more of Kratos’s story, then you should play it.
The Best of Bad Platformers
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! (SNES)
Release date: 11/18/1996
Last played: 04/05/2025
Session hours: 15.00
Gaming sessions: 7
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 65/84 (77.38%)
Screenshots taken: 32
Acquisition date: 09/01/2022
Acquired from: Rock 30 Games
Price: $40.00 (List NA)
I finished up the Donkey Kong Country trilogy with Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! After spending my time with all three of them, I think I am ready to admit that they are fun games, but they are bad platformers.
The Kongs have a weird momentum to them that makes them difficult to control. For example, I would come to a complete stop, but a slight slope would make me fall into a pit. Also, enemy hit boxes feel inconsistent. The Kongs’ hitboxes were also weird which just added to the inconsistencies in the platforming.
Although I feel the platforming is bad, I still had a lot of fun. When the momentum played in my favor, running full bore felt fun. The stages designed for speed just felt good to zip through. However, when I was forced to slow down, the imperfections of the movement really stood out.
Donkey Kong Country 3 is much like its predecessors. The music and graphics are great. Dixie Kong plays the same as the second game. Kiddy Kong plays similar to Donkey Kong Jr., but he can reveal secrets when thrown by Dixie. This game is filled with secrets, and it does a great job at telegraphing where those secrets might be. I never felt like I needed to rely on maps from guides like I did the other two games.
The story is whatever. The regular ending is very lackluster, and the secret ending gave me whiplash. Like the other two games, you don’t really need a story because they are fun to play.
Mr. Torgue Would Be Proud
Ka-Blooey (SNES)
Release date: 08/31/1992
Last played: 04/06/2025
Session hours: 12.25
Gaming sessions: 5
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 130/130 Stages Complete
Screenshots taken: 27
Acquisition date: 09/01/2022
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $6.95 (List NA)
The bones of Ka-Blooey are solid. I played as a blue dude, and walked around disarming bombs. My goal was to explode all the bombs without dying. There were different sizes and types of bombs, as well as some tools to help. There were a handful of enemy types that disrupted my plans.
The execution is not great. For one, there could be a story. Why am I a round, blue dude? Why the destruction? Nobody knows. There is a map, but it is not very helpful because I could not see the entire thing to plan my path through the literal minefield. I destroyed parts of the map, only to discover I ka-blooeyed myself into a corner. Planning is everything in this game, and it was impossible to do on the bigger maps.
There are too many things that require trial and error. Switches are simple, but they threw another trial and error task for me. They made new blocks appear, but I wouldn’t know where until I triggered them. Teleportals presented similar issues since I had no way of knowing where they took me ahead of time. Many times, I teleported onto a square I already blew up.
There are 130 levels in the game. The designers put a lot of care into the design of each level. I was motivated to see every single one. It always felt great to beat them without the help of a guide. The last level is an absolute monster. I had to watch a video of a guy completing it, because I had no idea how anyone could figure it out in the time limit. I finished it with 2000 points left. I have no idea exactly how much time it is, but I calculated about 1000 points = 1 second. I was happy to get my stupid cutscene at the end of the game.
A Ka-blooey remake, sequel, or spiritual successor could be interesting today. If they could make it easier to plan, then the game could be fun. They could even re-use the levels because I don’t think very many people have played this game.
Storytime
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time (SNES)
Release date: 08/15/1992
Last played: 04/06/2025
Session hours: 1.50
Gaming sessions: 1
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 15/30 (50%)
Screenshots taken: 32
Acquisition date: NA
Acquired from: Gift
Price: $0.00 (List NA)
I played a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time as a kid. I am pretty sure the first time I beat Shredder was with a Game Genie. I played it with my brother, as well as with many friends throughout the years. I sold the game to a local game shop, along with all my SNES games, in high school. I regretted doing it.
A few years later, my best friend returned Turtles in Time to me. I know it was my copy, because my name was Sharpied in my 4-year-old scribbling on it. I had another friend who used to work at the local game store; he now worked at the same bank as my best friend. I don’t know if the game store couldn’t sell it because of my Sharpied name, or if he bought it back from the game store, but he wanted me to have it back. I teared up a bit.
Turtles in Time is a short game. The SNES version is an arcade port, so that makes sense. I beat it in under an hour, but I had a lot of fun. This game made me fall in love with beat em’ ups, and I see why. The punches, kicks, and throws all feel good. The sound effects and music are great. The boss fights are tough, but fair… except Shredder; he can eat a dick.
It was great to revisit this classic.
The Best Shortcuts
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA)
Release date: 08/27/2001
Last played: 04/17/2025
Session hours: 12.25
Gaming sessions: 7
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 76/94 (80.85%)
Screenshots taken: 37
Acquisition date: 04/30/2024
Acquired from: Rock 30 Games
Price: $27.00 (List NA)
I had never played Mario Kart: Super Circuit until this year. Super Mario Kart was still somewhat fresh in my mind, and I found Super Circuit an interesting sequel. Technically it is the third game in the series, but it is more akin to the original. Super Circuit looks better than Super Mario Kart, but they had to make a lot of sacrifices to make it work on the Game Boy Advance. The maps are barebones, and the music and sound effects are not as good as its SNES predecessor.
With that said, I think Super Circuit is a little better than Super Mario Kart. Drifting is difficult in Super Circuit, but I actually became better at pulling it off the more I played. The tracks are filled with neat shortcuts that are rewarding to pull off.
I did not like Super Mario Kart, and I do not like Super Circuit either. If you use the break button, the game penalizes you with a lower rank. The game is too long and repetitive. It had me replaying through races over and over to unlock even more levels. This is partially my fault since I wanted RetroAchievements. However, the grind was not fun. I guess I actually learned the tracks, so that is something.
Really, Super Circuit is conflicting to me. I had fun learning the tracks, but I also feel like the RetroAchievements had me spending too much time with the game. It feels good to have this game checked off on my list of Mario Kart games to play. I never want to return to it.
Best Hat Hair
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA)
Release date: 01/10/2005
Last played: 04/23/2025
Session hours: 22.00
Gaming sessions: 8
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 63/67 (94.03%)
Screenshots taken: 87
Acquisition date: 04/06/2024
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $80.00 (List NA)
I remember nothing from my 2007 playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. After replaying it this year, I can see why. It does cool things, but it is mostly just another 2D Zelda game.
I liked the story at least. Zelda is turned into a statue, so Link must save her and the kingdom of Hyrule. He needs to retrieve the Four Elements to restore the only blade that can do so. Link meets Ezlo, who is a talking hat. Ezlo jumps on Link’s head, and the two go on an adventure.
Ezlo can shrink link, which creates two sides to the world similar to the light and dark worlds in A Link to the Past. Being able to shrink adds some clever puzzles to the game. The art is beautiful, and makes Link feel small next to everyday objects.
The town of Hyrule feels like a bustling place. It is populated by people, animals, and the miniature Picori people. Everyone is just living their lives, which makes Hyrule feel lived in. Overall, the world feels very small (ha!), but it is densely packed. Minish Cap gave me a lot of reasons to explore, and I was rewarded for doing so.
The dungeons are cool, but mostly easy. Most are straightforward, but some of them have a cool twist to them. Many of the items are mainstays from previous Zelda titles, but there are a few new ones, like the gust jar, that adds some cool mechanics. This is why Minish Cap feels mostly like a standard 2D Zelda game.
The game looks and sounds great. The world is colorful, and I especially loved Link’s design. He has permanent bedhead and hat hair throughout the game. The art adds a lot of character to the game, making it one of the better looking Zelda games. Most of the music contain familiar melodies from previous games, but there are a few new ones made just for the game. They all sound great, and they had me humming along.
I went after some RetroAchievements that required me to do some grinding. I enjoy getting all the hearts in Zelda games, so I had to grind anyways in Minish Cap. It did put a little bit of damper on my fun, but I still think Minish Cap is a great addition to the series. I think it is better than the Oracle games, and might even be better than A Link to the Past. It just does not take any risks.
Most Gothic
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1)
Release date: 10/02/1997
Last played: 04/30/2025
Session hours: 14.50
Gaming sessions: 7
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 58/106 (54.72%)
Screenshots taken: 56
Acquisition date: 10/05/2010
Acquired from: PlayStation Store
Price: $6.00 (List $6.00 for PS3/PSP)
It seems like I just played Castlevania: Symphony of the Night on the PSP. I wanted to play through Dawn of Sorrow and Aria of Sorrow this year, and I needed to get some RetroAchievements for the PS1 version of Symphony of the Night. It seemed like a good excuse to replay it again.
I am not a fan of search action games, aka “Metroidvanias” because of the backtracking. Symphony birthed the term, but it does not do backtracking well. It probably started my distaste for genre. I found myself mindlessly slicing through enemies of already explored areas just to get to a new area that I somehow unlocked. It feels unnecessary to pad out the experience, and it is boring.
I can look past some of it. The graphics and aesthetic are fantastic. For the most part, the music is perfect with the exception of some grating songs in the second part of the game. The game is atmospheric, capturing the gothic feel of the game. The game is timeless in these aspects.
I spent most of my time exploring the castle. I mainly sliced my way through enemies using weapons I found, and there are a lot of weapons that make numbers go up. The game has a lot of RPG elements that are underutilized and are mostly unnecessary. I only ever cast spells just for fun. It is easy to become over leveled, so it is on the easy side.
I like the story of Symphony of the Night. Alucard is an interesting character, and the game slowly reveals who he is and why he is at the castle. The voice acting is bad, but it has a charm to it.
Despite the dislike of the genre, I do like Symphony of the Night. Even with all of the backtracking, it is not a long game; it does not overstay it’s welcome. The music, graphics, and characters hold the game together for me. I did have fun unlocking RetroAchievements, so that counts for something as well.
Best GBA Music
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
Release date: 05/06/2003
Last played: 04/29/2025
Session hours: 8.75
Gaming sessions: 4
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 29/66 (43.94%)
Screenshots taken: 39
Acquisition date: 05/07/2022
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $18.99 (List NA)
I first played Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow in high school after borrowing it from a friend. I remember liking it enough to buy the sequel, Dawn of Sorrow, but nothing else. RetroAchievements gave me a good excuse to rediscover why.
Aria of Sorrow came out after Symphony of the Night, and it follows the same formula. Being on the GBA, it makes a lot of sacrifices, especially in the graphics department. The game looks very bland. I will give the artists some credit for making all of the areas look unique from one another, but they lack personality.
The map is smaller than its PS1 brother, which I count as a plus; I spent less time backtracking. They even added more teleportals, which is another plus. Navigating the castle felt easier and quicker.
Despite being on the GBA, the audio sounds great. It doesn’t reach the highs of Symphony, but it does stand out from other games on the GBA. I haven’t played a ton of GBA games, but Aria of Sorrow might have the best soundtrack on the console.
The story in Aria brings Castlevania to the future. Also, it doesn’t focus on the Belmonts, which is an interesting choice. It does make some references to the past, including an event in 1999. That event would make for a fun game. Alucard does make an appearance, which is fun. I enjoyed the story in Aria.
The difficulty is very balanced. I think it being a shorter game makes it easier to balance. The soul system is neat and adds some fun abilities to combat. The weapons look badass, and it seems the designers had a lot of fun going wild.
I had fun with Aria of Sorrow. It is just the right length for a Castlevania game.
Best Drawing Game
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (NDS)
Release date: 10/04/2005
Last played: 05/17/2025
Session hours: 15.75
Gaming sessions: 10
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 49/68 (72.06%)
Screenshots taken: 40
Acquisition date: 05/07/2022
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $48.00 (List NA)
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow was the latest Castlevania I played. It is, also, my favorite of the three I played this year.
Dawn of Sorrow is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow. It expands upon the soul system from Aria of Sorrow. Dawn of Sorrow improves upon its predecessor by making it easier to unlock souls. Each soul feels very useful and can be used to upgrade weapons. In Aria, grinding for souls was a very tedious affair, so it felt nice to have a reason in Dawn to grind for them. The weapons look just as cool as Aria‘s.
Dawn of Sorrow is a very good looking game. It feels more anime and less gothic than Symphony, but it pulls off its style well. As with all Castlevania games, the music is fantastic.
I remembered liking the story in high school when I first played it. However, it really fell flat for me now. It is not bad, but it is not great. I enjoyed Symphony’s story more.
Dawn of Sorrow is a little bit too big. There is a lot more backtracking than I prefer. Even so, I was having enough of a good time to unlock some additional RetroAchievements after beating the story. The areas are pretty easy to backtrack through, and there are plenty of teleportals.
Overall, Dawn of Sorrow is a good time. I am glad I replayed all three of these Castlevania games, but it feels good to be done with the series for now.
Most T-Rex Dinosaurs
Jurassic Park (GG)
Release date: 09/01/1993
Last played: 05/17/2025
Session hours: 1.00
Gaming sessions: 1
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 23/48 (47.92%)
Screenshots taken: 18
Acquisition date: NA
Acquired from: Gift
Price: Free (List NA)
I was not good at the Game Gear version of Jurassic Park as a kid. After playing it this year, I was surprised I remembered many of the bosses, but I did not remember beating them. The game allowed me to pick any level, so kid me just jumped around to all the levels.
I am really surprised that I was not good at this game as a kid. The game is not hard. In part one of the stage, I moved a reticle around the screen and defended my Jeep from dinosaurs. In the second part, I just walked around kil… I mean knocking out dinosaurs. There is not a lot happening in each level.
The last level unlocked once I completed the rest of the levels. For some reason, the final boss dinosaur is extremely unfair and difficult in this easy game. It was a weird choice for the developers.
I still think Jurassic Park is a cool game. Afterall, dinosaurs are cool, and this game has a lot of them. It looks pretty good for a Game Gear title. I had fun with it.
Best Shooting
Soldier Blade (TG16)
Release date: 09/01/1992
Last played: 05/18/2025
Session hours: 3.75
Gaming sessions: 3
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 17/24 (70.83%)
Screenshots taken: 21
Acquisition date: 01/14/2007
Acquired from: Nintendo Store
Price: $6.00 (List $6.00 for Wii)
I loved playing the Raiden games in the arcade as a kid. I have played more vertical shooters since, and I found them to be a mixed bag of fun. When I saw Soldier Blade on the Wii virtual console, I decided to give it shot. I did not play it a lot when I first got it, so I was excited to give it a solid chance this year.
I am happy to report that Soldier Blade is one of the good ones. It is snappy, and looks great. The difficulty curve is welcoming to beginners, and it does not ramp up too steeply.
Shooting just feels good. I like all three types of powerups. Collecting three of the same type filled my screen with projectiles. Getting hit meant losing my powerup. This is very tricky for vertical shooters to get right. In some games, losing powerups can make later levels feel impossible. Soldier Blade balances this very well. The game never felt insurmountable after losing my powerups or upgrades.
The game is fair, but it is not easy. Near the end, levels become chaotic. The ship’s hitbox is actually smaller than the sprite, so learning the hitbox is very important to successfully dodging enemies and projectiles.
Soldier Blade is solid, and it is now one of my favorite vertical shooters.
Slowest Walking
Dear Esther (PC)
Release date: 02/14/2012
Last played: 05/18/2025
Session hours: 1.50
Gaming sessions: 1
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: NA
Screenshots taken: 26
Acquisition date: 02/06/2019
Acquired from: Amazon Prime
Price: $0.00 (List $9.99 for Landmark Edition)
Dear Esther is a walking simulator. I like these types of games from time-to-time. I got it for free, but it has been sitting in my backlog for a while. Infinite Backlog had a challenge including this game, so I decided to finally dust it off.
The game is beautiful, which goes a long way with these types of games. It is bleak, but atmospheric. The music ebbs and flows throughout the game, and really adds to the atmosphere. I had a lot of time to stare out to the horizon, and it was pleasant to me.
Sometimes there are puzzles or other gameplay elements in walking simulators; not in Dear Esther. It is purely walking around and listening to a narrator tell stories. The walking is frustratingly slow at times. I recommend mapping forward to a toggle using an external program if you are on PC. My hand began to cramp from holding down “w” for so long.
The narrator does a great job, and the writing is great. I will not spoil anything, but there are a couple of revelations in relation to the stories. Unlike some of these games, it does not leave you hanging with some abstract nonsense; it tells a story and it tells it well. With that said, there were bits of the story left to my own interpretation. I’ll be honest, I kind of shrugged and moved on from them.
Dear Esther is a fine walking simulator. I got it for free, so it was worth the price of admission. If you can get it for a free or even a few bucks, give it a go.
Why’d I Buy This?
Gunstar Heroes (GEN)
Release date: 09/09/1993
Last played: 05/18/2025
Session hours: 1.50
Gaming sessions: 1
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 17/54 (31.48%)
Screenshots taken: 18
Acquisition date: 12/17/2006
Acquired from: Nintendo Store
Price: $8.00 (List $8.00 for Wii)
Gunstar Heroes is like many side-scrolling shooters. It threw respawning enemies at me until I moved right. I might like these types of games more if enemies just did not respawn endlessly.
Gunstar Heroes looks great, and has an interesting artstyle and color palette. It has a bit of a cartoon feel to it, which matches the lighthearted story. The music and sound effects are timeless. The Genesis was capable of some great sounding video games.
Gunstar Heroes does differentiate itself from other side scrollers. At the beginning, I got to pick my character. Each character behaved differently from the others. I chose the one that could run and shoot at the same time. Throughout the game, I picked up weapons, and I was able to hold two at a time. The game allowed me to use the weapons individually, or combine them for some interesting effects. It was a neat mechanic, and I found myself enjoying the machine gun and flamethrower combo.
I do not remember what compelled me to purchase this game for the Wii back in the day. I see the good game here, but Gunstar Heroes just isn’t my type of game.
I Learned Its Dance
Golden Axe (GEN)
Release date: 12/22/1989
Last played: 05/18/2025
Session hours: 1.00
Gaming sessions: 1
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 24/24 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 24
Acquisition date: 06/24/2008
Acquired from: Nintendo Store
Price: $8.00 (List $8.00 for Wii)
I bought Golden Axe on the Wii virtual console because I thought Golden Axe: Beast Rider looked cool. I wanted to see the origins of the series before buying the new (in 2008) game. I ended up playing Golden Axe on the Wii for a little bit, but did not really enjoy it.
I have some different thoughts today. It feels like an old game, because it is an old game… and I kinda like it that way. The combat forced me in close, and I had to dance around in order to not get hit. It is interesting, because the movement is very slow. Getting stunlocked felt bad, but I was able to stunlock enemies in return.
At first, I thought the game was cheating me. I would get stunlocked, get out of it, and then immediately get hit again into a stunned animation. I finally figured out I needed to step away from the enemy after getting unstunned, instead of charging towards them. The game is programmed to attack if you approach the enemy right after getting up, while enemies waited if I just retreated a bit to regroup. Once I learned the dance, I started liking it.
Golden Axe is a neat arcade game. I rode some animals, which is a plus. As with several arcade titles from the 80’s, the final boss is cheap to squeeze quarters from you. The story is also very light. It is a nice, short game.
Why Am I Comparing This to Zelda?
Beyond Oasis (GEN)
Release date: 03/15/1995
Last played: 05/21/2025
Session hours: 8.50
Gaming sessions: 3
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 19/33 (57.58%)
Screenshots taken: 31
Acquisition date: 05/30/2007
Acquired from: Nintendo Store
Price: $8.00 (List $8.00 for Wii)
If I squint, I can see Zelda’s inspiration on Beyond Oasis. It has some technical chops to it. The graphics, animation, and music are all great for a game from the 16bit era. Mechanically, it could use some work.
Beyond Oasis tries some interesting ideas. In combat, I was able to duck and jump. This adds verticality to combat, which was rare for the time period. It is a smart idea, but the isometric view of the game makes it difficult to gauge angles. I found myself missing a lot, and it ended up being more frustrating than fun.
Many weapons in Beyond Oasis have a limited number of uses. There were a large variety of weapons, and I never became too stressed over their limited use. My inventory was small enough that I felt like I needed to use them, so I had space for more. There were a few weapons, like my dagger, that were unlimited use, so there was always a fallback option if I did run out.
There is also a magic system, which involves spirits. After finding a magic spirit, I was able to summon them when I was near specific objects. The spells they cast helped solve puzzles, assisted in combat, and healed me. I found them very handy throughout the game.
The story could use some better writing. I played as Ali, who needed to find a golden amulet. A guy wearing a silver amulet stole it and started corrupting the world. Ali needs to find this dude and get back the golden amulet. The game does the thing where the villain randomly shows up to taunt the player but doesn’t actually try to stop them. It’s bad, and the rest of the story is unmemorable.
Beyond Oasis has some cool ideas, but they never come together to make a fun game. I was happy to be done with the game.
The Most Rubber Bands
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Release date: 02/10/1997
Last played: 05/24/2025
Session hours: 4.75
Gaming sessions: 4
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 46/72 (63.89%)
Screenshots taken: 28
Acquisition date: 05/22/2024
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $48.00 (List NA)
Modern Mario Kart started taking shape with Mario Kart 64. Boosts from drafting and drifting started feeling good. The tracks are simple, but fully 3D. It has much of the good stuff that makes the series great today.
However, there are some bad things in Mario Kart 64. The rubber banding AI is the worst the series has ever seen. I worked harder in 50CC in 64 than I ever did in Super Mario Kart and Super Circuit. Most of the shortcuts are unintended, so I was bummed out by the number of designed shortcuts after Super Circuit. Winning races just felt like a combination of not making any mistakes and luck; not skill.
Mario Kart 64 feels small today. There are only 16 racetracks and four CCs. The tracks are very short. It did not take me long to memorize each one. With that said, the tracks feel great. Nintendo has remade tracks like Moo Moo Farm, Wario Stadium, and 64’s Rainbow Road in later games, and they still feel good to play on the N64 version.
It was fun to revisit this game for some RetroAchievements. The game has some rough edges, but I still think it’s fun to play today. I might have to get some friends together and play some split screen.
Recaptured The Magic
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Release date: 09/29/1996
Last played: 05/26/2025
Session hours: 18.75
Gaming sessions: 9
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 103/114 (90.35%)
Screenshots taken: 36
Acquisition date: 05/22/2024
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $34.99 (List NA)
It had been a while since I played Super Mario 64, so it was about time I replayed it. I remembered a lot from the game, but I was surprised by the things I did not remember. There were a few times where I would enter a level, read the description, and have no idea what I needed to do. These moments recaptured the magic of this game for me. I had to explore the level to figure out what I needed to do.
Super Mario 64 remains an all-time classic. The movement just feels good. Sure, the camera could get in the way, but these instances were very rare. Mario has so many different jumps at his disposal, and it is fun to use them in ways that the developers did not originally intend. It was satisfying to skip sections of a level by performing a backflip jump or a triple jump. I felt like I was rewarded for mastering these moves.
On the same token as movement, the level design shines. Each level contains secrets that are dying to be found. Stars can require tricky platforming, while others are easily attainable. An early course, Whomp’s Fortress, remains one of my favorites. It’s a compact level, but feels good to skip to the top of the level through well timed jumps.
Super Mario 64 is a game I will continue to revisit. I will never get tired of it.
Best Game Ever?
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Release date: 11/23/1998
Last played: 06/14/2025
Session hours: 28.50
Gaming sessions: 16
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 75/97 (77.32%)
Screenshots taken: 115
Acquisition date: 04/11/2024
Acquired from: Rock 30 Games
Price: $50.51 (List NA)
This is my third time playing through The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time; it is the second time playing through the N64 version of the game. Somehow, I forgot how good this game really is.
I love the story. Child Link is just chilling with the Kokiri. A fairy named Navi wakes him up one day and tells him he needs to save Hyrule. As he starts his adventure, he meets kid Princess Zelda, who tells him more details involving Ganon trying to steal Hyrule away from her family. The story is perfectly paced throughout. It eased me into the “save the world” trope by drip feeding smaller objectives. Each turn in the story kept me interested, and I wanted to see what happens next, even though I knew what would happen! The characters are fleshed out with their own personality, which helps. Hyrule is sparsely populated, but feels very lived in.
I emulated Ocarina of Time on a Steam Deck, so it is difficult to say how the controls feel on original hardware. On Steam Deck, the sword felt responsive. There are not a lot of sword moves, so I found myself just mashing the swing button for the most part. Other items can be mapped to the C buttons, which ended up being the right joystick on the Steam Deck. The bow in particular felt really good; it has a satisfying “thwing” noise to it. Overall, the controls felt good on a Steam Deck. I don’t remember how the game felt with the original N64 controller, but I do not see any reason why it would not be good there.
The dungeons were fun to explore, and I loved having “aha” moments when solving puzzles. Most of the dungeons were great, but the Water Temple still sucked the third time around. Other than the Water Temple, there was a good pacing within the dungeons. Combat provided some much needed action, and puzzles provide much needed breaks.
I have a nitpick. My main gripe with the game is the backtracking, mainly across Hyrule Field. Hyrule field was cool the first time I walked into it. It has a day and night cycle, with sunrises and sunsets looking beautiful. However, it is filled with nothing, and it takes a lot of time to cross. After a while, I was over it. I ended up using the emulator’s fast forward function to get across it faster.
Actually, I have other nitpicks with the 64 verison of the game. Inventory management sucks. This is mostly fixed in the 3DS version, since it has a second screen to easily swap among items. The game runs at 20 FPS, which felt okay to me. With that said, the 3DS version runs at a steady 30 FPS and feels better.
Despite the minor flaws of the N64, Ocarina of Time is one of the greatest games ever. The music alone is so iconic. If you have never played it, then you are in for a treat when you finally do.
The Same But Different
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64)
Release date: 10/26/2000
Last played: 06/29/2025
Session hours: 29.00
Gaming sessions: 12
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 80/96 (83.33%)
Screenshots taken: 62
Acquisition date: 04/11/2024
Acquired from: Rock 30 Games
Price: $78.06 (List NA)
I tried to play The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask back in the day, but I dropped it before finishing the first run. I did end up beating the 3DS version later. Despite not initially liking it, I grew to love Majora’s Mask.
Majora’s Mask uses the same assets from Ocarina of Time, but it is a different game. Majora’s Mask ends up being a run-based game. I had three days to finish the game; if I did not, then the world ended. Everything reset, except side quest completion, items, masks, and owls which act as fast travel points. Planning runs is important, but I used a guide; I don’t have enough patience for these types of games otherwise.
Despite using the same assets, Majora’s Mask is darker than Ocarina of Time. It is both darker graphically, but tonally as well. The word is ending, afterall. Dread intertwines with hope throughout the story, which I really dig.
It is tough not to compare it to Ocarina of Time. The world is smaller, but it is a lot denser. The world feels alive. There are so many people with their own personalities and routines. The game required me to get to know them in order to complete side quests. The side quests were a joy, just because of the characters. The side quests even feed into the main quest, making it an even emotional journey.
Part of Majora’s Mask gameplay loop is collecting masks. Each mask has a unique ability. I retained these masks at the end of a run, which was useful for completing quests. They were accessed through the inventory often, which just highlights the sluggishness of the menus in the game. The 3DS version fixes it by having a second screen, but on the N64 it is bad.
There is a world where I could hate Majora’s Mask; at one time I did. However, I think it strikes a good balance. The game world is not too big, time moves at a manageable pace, and items can extend runs. I am glad I gave it another shot all those years ago, and I am happy to have replayed it again this year.
Deceptively Bad
Diddy Kong Racing (N64)
Release date: 11/24/1997
Last played: 07/05/2025
Session hours: 12.50
Gaming sessions: 7
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 91/94 (96.81%)
Screenshots taken: 15
Acquisition date: 05/22/2024
Acquired from: eBay
Price: $24.99 (List NA)
Diddy Kong Racing makes a good first impression. I could drive cars, hover boats, and planes. Each had their strengths and weaknesses. All vehicles felt good to race. There were not a lot of items during races, but they could be upgraded which creates a bit of strategy. There is a ton of variety with bosses, capture-the-flag type races, and more. There are some cool secrets around the hub area and in levels. The first few races slowly ratchet up the difficulty… then things jump off a cliff.
The game gets frustratingly difficult right after the first world. Rubber banding got bad. I started losing races, and I had to turn to the internet. I read the manual, but learned more online. There are so many hidden techniques, and I do not know what the developers were thinking. It took me a long time to begin to master these techniques. Even so, it feels like the later races came down to luck. It was not a good time.
Playing through Diddy Kong Racing again tarnished my memories of it. I loved just driving around the hub world as a kid. Unfortunately, the races suck, which is most of the game.
Boring But Intersting
Milo’s Astro Lanes (N64)
Release date: 11/24/1998
Last played: 07/06/2025
Session hours: 6.25
Gaming sessions: 3
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 36/36 Astrolight Trophies
Screenshots taken: 32
Acquisition date: 05/31/2024
Acquired from: Rock 30 Games
Price: $20.00 (List NA)
On the surface, Milo’s Astro Lanes seems like a basic bowling game. I selected a character and a ball, selected a lane, and started bowling. I could move my character left or right, then when I was ready, I pointed the joystick in the direction I wanted the ball to curve, and let it go. There were no fancy power meters or anything random. I was able to consistently get the same throw over and over.
This would be boring, but Milo’s Astro Lanes has some ideas. Each lane is unique. They do not have gutters. Instead, they have obstacles, bumps, hills, and holes. The game becomes finding the sweet spot to score a strike or spare.
Items mix things up, too. When I bowled, I could pick up items called specials and anti-specials. Specials changed my ball, like spawning additional balls or making it bigger. Anti-specials changed the opponents ball, such as making it smaller or dissolving it all together. For some reason, the AI would not use anti-specials as long as I didn’t. This made for relatively normal games of bowling, albeit with specials for my own ball. After finding the sweet spot on each alley, I found it easy to bowl a perfect game. Initially, I was just going to get silver on all the lanes, but I found getting the best trophy, Astrolight, easy enough.
Overall, Milo’s Astro Lanes is not a great game, but I do appreciate its ideas. I am unsure if the items would make for a fun party game with real people, or if it would just be miserable. Maybe, someday, I’ll find out.
Best Movement; Worst Movement
Titanfall 2 (PC)
Release date: 10/28/2016
Last played: 07/12/2025
Session hours: 7.00
Gaming sessions: 4
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 30/50 (60%)
Screenshots taken: 44
Acquisition date: 12/15/2018
Acquired from: Origin
Price: $8.39 (List $29.99 for Ultimate Edition)
I heard rumblings the campaign for Titanfall 2 was just as good as Half-Life’s. That is high praise. I liked playing the first Titanfall, but was disappointed it did not have a campaign. Since the story in 2 has such high praise, I decided that I must check it out.
The movement is so very good in Titanfall 2. I was encouraged to move around like in Doom, and I was happy to oblige. I ran along walls, double jumped over cover, mantled ledges, and slid towards enemies. Many of the areas were open, and they allowed me to approach combat however I saw best. There were plenty of weapons, but I stuck with shotguns or sniper rifles. Whatever guns you decide to go with, they all feel good to use.
I was disappointed by titan combat. I found loadouts throughout the campaign. They are very diverse, which allows for different playstyles. I enjoyed the Tone loadout. When I hit an enemy three times with the primary weapon, I as able to launch a swarm of homing missiles with its alternative fire. It also had a few other abilities, like laying down a shield. All the loadouts have their uses, and you can find one you like best.
I tended to play aggressively while outside of the titan. However, while inside, I felt forced to play defensively. The titan moves very sluggishly, but they take a lot of agro. Each titan has a defensive ability, but I found them to be lacking. There is not a lot of cover, and I died a lot. Maybe I missed something, but it made for a frustrating time.
The campaign itself is just as amazing as I heard. It starts out as a standard sci-fi shooter, but several levels begin to stand out. In one level, I moved through a factory actively manufacturing homes. It made for fun and chaotic combat with the entire environment constantly shifting. Another level gave me the ability to switch between the present and the past. I could fight enemies in the past and when I got low on health, I could blip to the present, regain health and move towards where enemies were, and then blip back to the past to finish up the enemies. These levels were so much fun.
Titanfall 2 is short, but sweet to play. It is too bad the servers are in such a rough shape, because I could see myself actually playing the multiplayer. I just wish titan combat was better.
Why Don’t I Replay This More Often?
Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PS1)
Release date: 10/31/1998
Last played: 07/25/2025
Session hours: 13.25
Gaming sessions: 8
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 112/112 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 40
Acquisition date: NA
Acquired from: Gift
Price: Free (List NA)
I loved Crash Bandicoot: Warped as a kid. I loved revisiting Warped in the N. Sane Trilogy. I was looking forward to getting some RetroAchievements for the original PlayStation version this year.
Crash Bandicoot: Warped scratches my collection itch perfectly. I was encouraged to get every crate. I gained new abilities from killing bosses, which gave me a good sense of progression. I could go back to stages with my new abilities to find secrets. There were a nice variety of levels, including motorcycles, underwater, tigers, and planes.
The game feels great to play. Crash’s movement is perfect and allows for precision as well as speed. My favorite levels were the ones where I played as Coco riding a tiger. First, I love tigers, but secondly, I loved blasting through those levels as fast as I could.
The game is easy to beat, but completing the game requires skill. I am not a big fan of time trials, but I powered through them to complete the game. For the most part, I had fun. Very rarely did I get frustrated, but save states helped.
Again, I loved playing through Warped. It reminded me I should replay it more often.
The Most Restarts
Grand Theft Auto (PS1)
Release date: 06/30/1998
Last played: 08/06/2025
Session hours: 31.25
Gaming sessions: 13
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 123/128 (96.09%)
Screenshots taken: 22
Acquisition date: NA
Acquired from: Gift
Price: Free (List NA)
I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto as a kid… I know, I wasn’t supposed to. You might assume I spent most of my time running around and killing people, but I didn’t. Mainly, I put in cheat codes, and explored the three cities. I liked finding secret islands, climbing up to the rooftops, and just finding various things off the beaten path. I have fond memories of this game.
Seeing the original Grand Theft Auto without rose tinted glasses is interesting. It is very fun to grab a car and just drive around the cities. Driving physics feel good, and each car has different stats that make them feel unique. Exploring still feels fun today.
I progressed through the game without cheats for the first time. The game carried around a lot of baggage from arcade games of yore. To progress through the game, I had to hit a specific point threshold. Technically, I did not need to play any of the missions, but they provided score multipliers. This made it easier to hit the target score.
The missions started off good and eased me into the game. By the third campaign, I was murdering and causing all sorts of mayhem. Unfortunately, it did not take long to become stale. Later campaigns were longer and made the game overstay its welcome.
The game is mostly a mess. It only saves between campaigns, and each campaign can last a long time. I am thankful for save states with emulation, as I think this is the only way a person with a life can play Grand Theft Auto. When the game ran for a long time, the framerate started to chug. Missions would also start to glitch out; there were several times I had to restart a campaign.
I am happy to be done with Grand Theft Auto. It overstayed its welcome, and now I want nothing more from it. I had planned to play its sequel immediately, but this one burned me out.
My Longest Blurb
Leap of Faith (PC)
Release date: 02/11/2022
Last played: 08/16/2025
Session hours: 35.00
Gaming sessions: 13
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: NA
Screenshots taken: 52
Acquisition date: 08/02/2025
Acquired from: GOG
Price: $0.00 (List $13.98 with Walkthrough)
Image and text NSFW. Click to expand.
Leap of Faith was one of the “Freedom to Buy” games GOG gave away when the credit card companies asked Steam to remove a bunch of them. I guess I wanted to support them by claiming a bunch of free smut games. Most reviews for Leap of Faith are positive, saying the writing is exceptional. I decided to check it out first out of the bundle.
This was my first time playing a visual novel. I generally like more “game” in my game. With that said, Leap of Faith was a good introduction for a virgin like me. It gave me a lot of freedom to move through the scenes at my own pace. I could go backwards to change decisions or to re-read something I missed. I could save and load whenever I wanted. The game encourages multiple playthroughs, and it had options to speed through scenes I had already seen and pause at new scenes to make new choices.
The story and writing are the heart of Leap of Faith. I played as James, but I could rename him if I wanted to. He was recovering from a very bad breakup from two years ago. His best friend, Chris, urged him to put himself back out there. James felt the same way, and goes out to build his harem.
I am being a bit overdramatic. The game has a lot more nuance throughout the story, and James never expects sex. Sex just so happens to fall into his lap. The story is actually very lovely with a lot of ups and downs.
Halfway through the game, I thought, This is well written, but it is still smut. They write a lot about mental health issues, but they treat these serious topics with kid’s gloves. I figured my thoughts would persist through the end of the game.
I was wrong. The game takes a hard turn. I will not spoil anything, but they dive deep into these issues and address them with tact. I laughed, cried, got warm feelings, and felt impending dread all throughout the rest of my playthrough. It’s impressive for “smut.”
I made a ton of choices throughout the game. They basically led me to an ending where I ended up with one or two of the girls. This incentivized multiple playthroughs, and I saw all the endings. I noticed something new with each playthrough. However, there were a few threads left dangling that I would like to see addressed in a future game.
The audio is weird. There is no voice acting. There are not even moans or anything during sex scenes. There is barely any filler audio at all. Leap of Faith relies on music. I thought the music was good. Apparently, the developer had to remove a bunch of music for the final release, and people say that music was better. There is one scene where the developer just put up text, “I don’t the rights to this song, but go to YouTube and search for it and play it during this scene.” It’s a choice I did not pursue.
The developer did a great job with the scenes. Mostly, they are static images, but the developers put in work to create different graphics with subtle changes, like a wink. This creates a good sense of action. The developers put a little more effort into the sex scenes. They have one or two animated sequences each. I thought they were pretty good. The 3D style can give the girls a bit of “dead eye” in some scenes, but the style worked most of the time. I just wish there were a little more variety. The girls looked very similar to one another with similar body types.
I liked Leap of Faith, but I don’t know how to recommend it to other people. The sentence, “If you are looking for a game that will make you sad and horny, then Leap of Faith is for you!” does not inspire confidence. There are better emotional games out there, and there are better porn games out there. Still, the peanut butter and chocolate of this game hit me in the right spot.
Longest Game; Shortest Blurb
Satisfactory (PC)
Release date: 09/10/2024
Last played: 11/02/2025
Session hours: 288.00
Gaming sessions: 87
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 44/44 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 34
Acquisition date: 08/15/2025
Acquired from: Gift
Price: $0.00 (List $39.99)
Minor NSFW. Image has an ASCII penis. Click to expand.
I was going to write more about Satisfactory. I wrote some things about it in this blog post. I do not have much to add. I really did not like the progression of the game, but the game scratched a lot of itches. It is a lot of fun to play. I will most likely revisit it someday; maybe finish up some loose ends in my current save.
Probably Better In Coop
LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5)
Release date: 11/14/2024
Last played: 11/09/2025
Session hours: 21.25
Gaming sessions: 7
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 24/24 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 85
Acquisition date: 10/04/2025
Acquired from: Gift
Price: $0.00 (List $39.99)
LEGO Horizon Adventures was my first LEGO game. They are known for being cooperative games. I did not play Horizon Adventures in coop, but I did play through the entire game by myself.
The story is weird. If I squint, I kinda see the story of Horizon Zero Dawn retold in a more lighthearted way. However, Horizon Adventures really misses the point of the original, and it ends up being a generic “save the world” story. I do think the characters are well done. Some of the voice actors reprise their roles from the original. Ashly Burch has great range and adapts to this more lighthearted game perfectly. They recasted Teersa with Blaire Chandler, who does an outstanding job.
Sylens in Horizon Adventures does not feel like Sylens from the other games. Lance Reddick passed away, so he has been recast with Tim Russ. Lance played Sylens as a very logical and almost robotic person. He was always playing chess and was several moves ahead of his opponent. I did not get any of that personality in Horizon Adventures, but it is mostly because of how Sylens is written. Tim does a fine job with the script, but they really changed his character.
The gameplay is deceptively difficult. I was surprised by how often I died. I thought I could turn off my brain since LEGO games are easy; I was wrong. The enemies could deal a lot of damage; I was one and two shotted many times throughout my playthrough. There was no dodge mechanic, so movement and how I used gadgets became important.
Each character had unique abilities, and I was able to pick up gadgets. They kept combat fresh. Every move felt great; the DualSense controller was used to its fullest potential. Aloy’s bow has a satisfying “thwump” to it.
I only have two gripes with Horizon Adventures. One, the amount of damage machines can deal is too high. And two, the checkpoint system. It sucks. After dying, I reloaded at the beginning of an area. I had to recollect scrap before entering combat again. It was tedious; I would rather it kept the scrap, so I did not have to waste time collecting it again.
I enjoyed collecting everything. It was mostly collecting scrap, and then buying upgrades, costumes, and village pieces. The village, which acts as a hub, is customizable, and it was fun to make it my own cozy home.
Overall, I like the game, even though it is a little weird. I would love to play it with my nephew, if he wants to do such a thing.
Poop Stuff Off Limits
Fetish Locator (PC)
Release date: Week 1 - 07/27/2020
Week 2 - 10/25/2021
Week 3 - 05/24/2023
Last played: Week 1 - 11/11/2025
Week 2 - 11/18/2025
Week 3 - 11/30/2025
Session hours: Week 1 - 7.00
Week 2 - 13.75
Week 3 - 31.00
Gaming sessions: Week 1 - 3
Week 2 - 6
Week 3 - 13
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: NA
Screenshots taken: 50
Acquisition date: Week 1 - 08/02/2025
Week 2 - 11/11/2025
Week 3 - 11/12/2025
Week 3 DLC - 11/22/2025
Acquired from: GOG
Price: Week 1 - $0.00 (List $9.99)
Week 2 - $7.49 (List $14.99)
Week 3 - $20.78 (List $27.98 for game and DLC)
Image and text NSFW. Click to expand.
Fetish Locator is actually three games, spanning Week One, Week Two, and Week Three. I got Week One for free as part of GOG’s “Freedom to Buy” thing. The game does not have the Week One in the title on the store, so I was surprised when it ended on a big cliffhanger. I ended up buying the other two games, and the third game’s story DLC. It is a bit shady, but what do you expect from porn?
Fetish Locator uses the same engine as Leap of Faith. As a result, navigating the scenes is the same, and it has all of the saving, loading, and progression features found in Leap of Faith. There are more animations and variations within each scene in Fetish Locator, which is welcome. Also, it has some filler voice acting, which adds to the scenes.
I played as a dude in college. The college is all abuzz about a new app called “Fetish Locator.” The app has everybody completing sexual challenges and submitting pictures and videos to gain points. Really, it was just an excuse for my character to participate in fetish laden sex scenes.
The game did a great job of letting me opt out of scenes that weren’t my fetish. With that said, I went full completionist and saw every single scene. There were more mild fetishes, like cum and cream pie fetishes. There were edgier fetishes, like watersports and BDSM. In the GOG version, there is some straight up incest going on; the Steam version censors this. Really, there is just a lot of pornography here. It seems like the game has every fetish under the sun, but somehow scat porn is specifically mentioned as being off limits (which I am grateful for).
The story was good enough to get me to buy the other weeks, so that is something. Of course my character was blackmailed. You would think that the game might have something say about revenge porn, but really it just acts as a way to get the main character to do more sex. It did hook me with the mystery of finding out who was behind the blackmailing, but I ended up disliking the big reveal.
I really enjoyed the characters and their relationships. I enjoyed being with most of the girls and seeing their endings. There are about 18 endings, and the ending scenes are one to two hours long, with several sex scenes. The developer did a great job here. Alas, some of my favorite endings are locked behind the story DLC for Week Three, which is a sketchy thing to do.
There are better ways to access pornography than Fetish Locator, but there are also worse ways. I don’t think I need to expound.
Best Art Direction
Keeper (PC)
Release date: 10/17/2025
Last played: 11/10/2025
Session hours: 5.50
Gaming sessions: 2
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 13/13 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 54
Acquisition date: 11/01/2025
Acquired from: Steam
Price: $29.99 (List $29.99)
Keeper is a rare full price buy for me. It is a Double Fine game, and the concept and artwork intrigued me. It is about a lighthouse who sprouts legs. The lighthouse gets a vision to save to save the world, and so it starts its journey. It meets a bird companion along the way, who has lost its flock.
Keeper is a beautiful piece of art. The style blends nicely with the music. The art is dark and grim, but I found the music strangely upbeat while exploring. Frequently, I would pause and take a step back to dwell on the strange dichotomy between the two. Keeper is not a technical showpiece, but the water deserves a mention as it is some of the best water I have seen in a video game. Being a lighthouse, lighting is very important in the game, and it is absolutely phenomenal. Keeper was robbed of “Best Art Direction” at the Game Awards.
I will not spoil anything, but there is a very emotional story here. The relationship between the lighthouse and the bird grows throughout the game. There is not a single bit of dialog in the game, yet a lot is said between these two new friends. The lighthouse is surprisingly emotive. The light acts as its eye. The light moves around, but it does not change shape to emote. Instead, the movement along the lighthouse’s body does the heavy lifting of expressing emotions. I am not sure how Double Fine pulled it off, but they did. The bird is a bit easier to understand, as it has big eyes and a large face to emote. The subtle movements made me feel for these two characters more than any dialog could.
Keeper is being called a walking sim, and that does not sit well with me. It is not a difficult game, but there is a little bit more gameplay than just walking. There are puzzles to solve. The main game mechanic is shining lights at things. The bird can also interact with things. This may sound limiting, but Double Fine found a lot of different ways to use this mechanic. The game did a great job at throwing a puzzle type at me, had me figure it out, let me master it, and then moved on from it to a new type.
Keeper is a masterful piece of art, and I had fun playing it. I think the 5ish hours I played was the perfect length. I am happy that Double Fine is still around making weird games. We do not get enough of them in this world.
A Collection of Flash
The Elephant Collection (PC)
Release date: 11/06/2023
Last played: 11/15/2025
Session hours: 11.25
Gaming sessions: 16
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 35/42 (83.33%)
Screenshots taken: 15
Acquisition date: 11/03/2025
Acquired from: Humble Bundle
Price: $1.63 (List $14.99)
The Elephant Collection is a collection of 14 flash games released on Steam. I used to play a lot of flash games on Armor Games and Kongregate. I always looked forward to games by John, AKA jmtb02. He made several fun games where I played as a blue elephant. This collection has most of those games.
For the most part, I had a fun, nostalgic romp through the games. Figuring out how to beat each level of This is the Only Level games was fun and engaging. As stupid as it sounds today, getting hundreds of “achievements” in the Achievement Unlocked series was satisfying. Elephant Quest and LOOT The Game scratched my “numbers go up” itch. Run, Elephant, Run had a heartwarming story of the elephant trying to get home to its partner, and Elephant Rave had a surprisingly emotional story involving the two.
It was fun revisiting each game, but this collection does not sit right with me. All the games are still available for free on Armor Games. $15 is a bit steep; I got it discounted as part of a bundle, which is better.
The games have been tweaked to work as a standalone app. Some of the flash version of the games required navigating to specific pages in the web browser, so those types of things were changed. The music has been uncompressed, which is a nice touch. The resolution is doubled from the original games, but they are still significantly smaller than modern resolutions. It has Steam achievements, but the developers limited it to three per game.
There is no controller support, which is a shame. I get it; some of the tasks in the games require a full keyboard. Still, it would have been a nice touch to get it working. The games run like trash in full screen mode, so I was forced to used Windowed mode. Again, the windowed resolution is very small on 1440p screens. Even in windowed mode, some of the games would still have stuttering FPS and graphical glitches. I’m sure the games are just running a flash emulator under the hood, but some optimization would go a long way to justify the price they are asking for the games.
The Elephant Collection was a fun trip down memory lane, but I cannot recommend the collection. The price is too steep, and it needs more polish.
All The Zombies
Infectonator 3: Apocalypse (PC)
Release date: 05/10/2018
Last played: 11/16/2025
Session hours: 11.50
Gaming sessions: 3
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 41/41 (100%)
Screenshots taken: 11
Acquisition date: 11/03/2025
Acquired from: Humble Bundle
Price: $1.41 (List $12.99)
I got Infectonator 3: Apocalypse from the same bundle as The Elephant Collection. I had a lot of fun with the first two flash games from the Infectonator series. I was excited to check out Infectonator 3: Apocalypse on Steam.
I liked the simple concept of the game. The world map was Risk-like, and it was separated into continents and regions. When I selected a region, I was transported to a stage with people going about their business. I clicked on a group of people to infect them, and all hell broke loose. Zombies spawned, who were able to create more zombies from the people. Also, I had various tools to help spread the infection. Each level had a minimum infection goal, with bonuses for infecting and killing everyone on a stage. Coins also spawned, allowing me to buy more upgrades and tools.
Each region has several levels. The last level requires a 100% infection rate to defeat. Completing stages increases panic, which increases the difficulty. People start carrying guns, and special forces start patrolling stages. Humans will start creating research stations to find a cure. If the research meter filled up, I lost. My zombies needed to adapt to stay ahead of the humans.
The game was pretty easy once I found a strategy. I could only move to adjacent regions after reaching a milestone in a region; completing a region was not required. I wanted to expand to as many regions as possible, so I could take out research stations as they spawned. Balancing expansion and destroying stations became the main focus of the game while upgrading my minions. It is a fun loop, but once I mastered it, the game became trivial.
I liked the pixelated artwork. There were some cutscenes, which had a neat anime style to them. The writing was very fun. Descriptions, news reports, and the news ticker contain a lot of good one liners and puns. For fucks sake, the boss for Canada was a humanoid beaver named “Justin Beaver!”
Infectonator 3 makes the numbers goes up, which I liked. It is fun for a few hours, but grows boring after a while. I went for all the achievements, which took three or four full playthroughs. It is fine for what it is.
The Goodest of Boys
Bilkins’ Folly (PC)
Release date: 10/02/2023
Last played: 11/23/2025
Session hours: 16.00
Gaming sessions: 5
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 35/36 (97.22%)
Screenshots taken: 32
Acquisition date: 11/03/2025
Acquired from: Humble Bundle
Price: $2.17 (List $19.99)
Bilkins’ Folly is a charming, puzzle adventure game. It proudly wears its Monkey Island inspiration on its sleeve.
I played as Percy Bilkins. Percy and his dog, Drayton, set out on an adventure to search for his missing mom, who had set out on her own adventure to find Percy’s missing grandpa. Percy ends up shipwrecked in the Caribbean. He must find a ship, crew, and discover what happened to his missing family members. Along the way he does a lot of treasure hunting, which is not to be confused with pirating.
The story is lighthearted and fun. The dialog is littered with comedy. There is no real voice acting. Instead, the few voice actors speak in gibberish over dialog boxes. It is a small studio, and this workaround works well here. I felt Percy created actual relationships during his travels with other characters in the game. The ending has a nice emotional punch.
This is a puzzle game, and the main mechanic is digging. Drayton helps a lot with it, but I also had to count steps, rotate drawings, and draw on maps to find out where I should dig. The game never held my hand, and the puzzles can be tough. I had to refer to a guide many times. Most of the puzzles are fair, but there is one in particular I did not like. I had to complete it within a certain amount of time, or else I had to start the puzzle over. After failing a few times, I looked at a guide and discovered there is a sprint button! How did I get halfway through the game without knowing this? Still, the timing on the puzzle was tight. It is so tight the developers put in a way to bypass it. To all the developers, if you have to put in a way to bypass a puzzle because of how frustrating it is, then maybe you should just not put it in your game. With that said, most puzzles were fine, and the game did a good job keeping important clues in my quest log.
Drayton is a cool companion. He leveled up throughout the game, and got new skills to help me with puzzles. The skills were required for later puzzles. To gain XP, I had to pet him; the cooldown seemed to be about one minute. He got XP from dog toys as well. The idea was neat, but it sucked in practice. I did not mind petting my good buddy, but I was forced to do it during every free moment. It became tedious by the end of the game. Even while petting him as much as possible, I still hit some puzzles where I had to grind some XP for him to unlock a skill that was needed.
My main frustration with the game is how slow it was. Finding out the game had a sprint button helped, but did not solve everything. I was able to skip through dialog, which was great since I am a fast reader, but I still sat through drawn out animations after the dialog. The digging animation, which I watched a lot, got old after the dozenth time. It was just annoying.
I love Bilkins’ Folly for its story and characters. The puzzles were not my cup of tea, so I did not enjoy them as much. The game could be a bit speedier for my liking.
Brought Back The Past
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge (PC)
Release date: 06/16/2022
Last played: 12/11/2025
Session hours: 19.50
Gaming sessions: 11
Completion status: Complete
Achievements: 27/30 (90%)
Screenshots taken: 27
Acquisition date: 12/31/2022
Acquired from: Steam
Price: $19.99 (List $24.99)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge acts as a pseudo sequel to Turtles In Time. Shredder’s Revenge has a retro style that looks better than its 16-bit ancestor. Each stage feels like an episode from the old cartoon. The music is very much inspired by the 80’s and 90’s cartoon, and it is tubular.
The game modernizes the beat em’ up genre, which is welcome. The character I picked started out with a basic move set, which allowed me to get acclimated to the combat. As I played, my character leveled up. This unlocked health and extra lives, but it also unlocked new moves. In story mode, stages had challenges that involved these new moves, which encouraged me to try them out. Most of the time, I found good uses for these moves and used them throughout the rest of the game. I also had a power meter that would fill up if I did not get hit. Filling it up let me use a more powerful special move. This was handy for bosses or for large groups of enemies.
The beat em’ genre is a difficult beast to tackle as a developer. Games can easily become repetitive and boring. Shredder’s Revenge is no different, but it is only two to three hours long. I ended up grinding for some achievements, which was a mistake. I got bored with the game.
I did not get a chance to play some real coop. I would like to try it with six friends and see how it is; I bet it would be fun. For single player, a short play through the story is fun.
2025 Summary
Games played: 36*
Session hours: 816.50*
Sessions: 331*
Oldest game played: Golden Axe (GEN) - 12/22/1989
Newest game played: Keeper (PC) - 10/17/2025
Most achievements earned: Grand Theft Auto (PS1) - 123
Favorite game to 100%: Crash Bandicoot: Warped (PS1)
Most hours played: Satisfactory (PC) - 288
Total spent: $625.33
Game of the year: God of War Ragnarök (PS5)
* Summary data only includes games in list. For full data, checkout Royfuss Games.
Every year, I pick a game of the year. It does not have to be released in the past year, but I tend to pick a game that is newer and something I have not played before. This year, I was tempted to pick Ocarina of Time. It is one of the best games I have ever played. Keeper was also in the running. I love me some Double Fine games, and Keeper is no exception. Keeper is a fun game, but I think my game of the year should have a little bit more gameplay to it. So, I went with God of War Ragnarök. It is a good game and deserves it. Despite some of my gripes, I had a lot of fun playing it.
The video game industry is in a weird place. From the consumer side of things, I think it feels mostly healthy. Hardware could be cheaper. Tons of games get released each month, but the problem is finding the ones that you might like. There are tons of ways to find games, like critic reviews, influencers, content creators, and trailers. However, I feel like finding trustworthy sources is becoming more difficult. With more and more video games coming out, more and more people are trying to tell you which games are good.
I think Steam is mostly pro-consumer, which is a great thing. They have a ton of features to help you find games you might like. However, they have a de facto monopoly, which is becoming a problem. This year we saw credit card companies force censorship on Steam. Horses became a big deal because Steam wouldn’t allow the game on the platform, despite removing the troublesome content. There are other storefronts, but if your game is not on Steam, it will likely not sell well to the PC market. Video games are art, and I think this censorship is bad; art should be able to make money.
On the production side of the industry, things feel bleak. Over the years, the industry has consolidated with Embracer acquiring IPs and studios. Microsoft has become the biggest video game publisher in the world by doing the same thing. This year, both companies, along with many others, had massive layoffs. We have seen several long running developers shuttered. It does not feel good.
The AAA space just feels small now. Big publishers are releasing fewer and fewer games each year. Games as a Service have forced studios to make big swings, causing huge losses. This console generation is over half over, and it feels like it has not even started. Of course, console prices going up over the generation is also a bad sign.
The indie game scene is bursting at the seams. However, discoverability is still a huge problem. It is cool to see so many indie games nominated at the Game Awards, but they also feel like big indie games, not the niche indie game.
It feels weird, and I hope things can get better. I’m spending more and more time with older games, racking up RetroAchievements. I try to sprinkle newer games here and there, but it seems like that is happening less and less. We’ll see what the future brings.
2025 Game Releases
Let’s rapidly look at some games that were released in 2025 that interested me.
The Alters – A trailer caught my attention many years ago. The game came out, and it looks like a fun cross between a survival game and a strategy game. The story sounds fun, too.
Ambrosia Sky: Act One – This evokes the magic words, “immersive sim” so I am down to try it. I’m going to wait until all three acts are released before checking it out.
and Roger – This sounds like an emotional and beautiful game. I am going to have to check it out when I am in a mood for something like it.
Atomfall – This looks like a good survival game. I like the look of game. I might check it out someday.
Avowed – If I ever get an itch to play an “action RPG ass action RPG” I’ll pick up this game.
Borderlands 4 – This game sounds like a solid entry in the series. I like the series, so I’ll check it out.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – It has won so many awards this year, and has reviewed well. The fact that the developers took inspiration from Chrono Trigger makes me want to try it out.
Dispatch – Basically the return of Telltale Games. Lots of good voice actors, and it sounds like a fun story. I’ll check it out someday.
Donkey Kong Bananza – I like destroying things in video games. This looks like it combines that with Mario Odyssey so I am sure I’ll have fun with it. I received it as a Christmas present, so I’ll play it soon.
Doom: The Dark Ages – I should really play Eternal. If I do, I’ll check out Dark Ages. Or maybe I’ll skip Eternal and just play The Dark Ages.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered – If I ever get an itch to play Oblivion again, I’ll definitely pick up the Remastered.
Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream – It is a stealth game, in a neat setting. I think I could get into it.
Eternal Strands – This game looks cool, and reviewed well enough. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it sold well. Fortunately, it goes on sale for cheap, and I think I’ll pick it up someday.
Gears of War: Reloaded – They should have done all of the Xbox 360 games. I would have definitely paid full price for it. Instead, it is just the first game, again. I could buy it again to show support for getting all of the games on PC, or I could save my money.
Ghost of Yōtei – I enjoyed Ghost of Tsushima, but it was not my favorite game due to the repetition in the side quests. It looks like Yōtei fixes some of those issues, but I was not in a mood for an open world game when it released.
Hell Is Us – What a depressing looking game. At the same time, I dig it. If I am ever in the mood, I’ll check it out.
Mario Kart World – I bought a Switch 2 and it came bundled with this game. I had no desire to play it right away, but I’ll most likely play it in 2026.
Outer Worlds 2 – I need to play the first game. The sequel sounds like it fixed most of the issues with the first.
Skin Deep – It is an immersive sim. I like those games. I’m going to check it out.
Split Fiction – The story sounds cool, but I need to convince one of my friends to play it with me.
South of Midnight – I like the stopmotion style of this game. The story sounds nice, too. I just didn’t get a chance to play it in 2025. I plan on playing it someday.
Sword of the Sea – It is made from some of the same people as Journey. The art style looks cool, and the movement looks fun. I’ll give a play someday.
Unbeatable – It is getting great reviews. It’s a rhythm game, and it sounds like a good time.
Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks – A good car combat game? Maybe. If I get the itch, I’ll check it out.
Thank you for reading. I hope you play fun games in 2026.