Ghost of Tshushima

• Really cool game I'm glad I gave another shot after previously dropping it after a few hours. Not as good as Yotei which is to be expected but still really good
• Main character Jin is also not as cool as main character Atsu in Yotei
• I don't really have the time to write or put much thought into these anymore, not that I ever put much thought into this before, but I don't have much else to say other than this game is tight and the ending was cool 

Spiderman: Miles Morales

• I love these games, damnit. Easily fits into the category of games I refer to as "video game goodness". And no, I'm not going to further explain what "video game goodness" means to me
• Super short but I didn't really care much since I bought this game for 10 bucks. Definitely feels more like a side story prequel before Spiderman 2 than a full game in its own right
• These games can be a little over the top with the positivity but sometimes that can be a nice thing
• Miles is such a nice boy/hijo

Ghost of Yotei

• Thoroughly enjoyed my entire experience with this game. Good story and acting
• Switching between all the weapons in the heat of the battle was a little clumsy
• Beautiful visuals 

God of War (PS2)

• I got this game back when it came out but only got about halfway through. I was 15 and the guy at EB Games explained to my mom the game had nudity. I looked over and told her it was ok (as if she could trust me) and she got me the game. That being said, there is a gratuitous amount of tits in this game. Pretty tight
• Holds up extremely well for a 21 year old game. Game looks great too
• Combat is really fun but I never really found myself using many of the advance combos/weapon power ups you get. I beat the game in less than 7 hours too so I would venture to say you don't really need to use anything aside from the basic combos

Dispatch

• First time playing a Telltale-type game. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to season 2
• Genuinely funny. Great writing. Truly looked like a tv show
• Ended up really enjoying the gameplay portion of the game. I really liked figuring out with my wife which heroes to send to what jobs. UI portion of this section could be frustrating though at times

Crash Bandicoot 2

• I've beaten this game a few times over the years since my childhood but never 100%'d it...until now. Playing the PS1 version. A great evolution from the first Crash. 
• Collecting all the gems and finding all the secrets was thoroughly enjoyable. Just the right amount of challenge
• Never cared for the sewer levels
• Incredibly lame final boss fight, the rest of them were all pretty fun though

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• What a great game. Thoroughly enjoyed my entire time with it and am still playing side quest stuff now
• The battle system is so damn good.Basically every single fight was fun and I'd go searching out random encounters as much as possible which is as high of praise as I can give an RPG
• The parrying system is great and I'm sure this will be incorporated in so many RPGs now
• Genuinely good acting, characters and story. Some really funny moments as well (Francois!)
• Esquie is my best friend

2025 In Review

1. Final Fantasy XVI
2. TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan
3. Batman (Gameboy)
4. Kirby's Dream Land 2
5. Operation C
6. Magical Chase (GBC)
7. Split Fiction
8. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
9. Spider-Man Remastered
10. Mario Kart World
11. THPS 3+4 Remaster
12. Donkey Kong Bananza
13. A Way Out
14. MGS3: Snake Eater (Subsistence version)
15. Ninja Gaiden Ragebound
16. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage
17. Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles 
18. Lego Voyagers
19. Crash Team Racing 

19 total games with a lot of stat padding thanks to some quick Gameboy games early in the year while chilling with my newborn baby. I also read 30 books this year and tended to prefer that or playing games with my wife over single player games. 

Favorite game from 2025 I played would be a toss up between Donkey Kong, FF Tactics remaster or Split Fiction. Favorite overall game was probably FF XVI.

Crash Team Racing

• A game I beat as a boy when it came out but I did absolutely no additional content. Rectifying that wrong this time as I have gotten every relic and CTR token and am working through the final content of the game (93% currently)
• Staggering amount of single-player content. It's gotta be the king of kart racers in terms of that.
• Lot of depth to the racing, once you're triple boosting everywhere the game really opens up. Another thing I didn't do as a kid: learn to boost.
• Great tracks. Some of these were buried deep in my mind (Blizzard Bluff, Hot Air Skyway, Oxide Station to name a few) and playing them again was a fun experience

Lego Voyagers

• Cute lil game. One of those games with no dialogue that succeeds in making you feel emotions
• Only about 4 hours long which was a little disappointing. I don't mind short games one bit, especially since the price on this was 25 bucks, but I would have enjoyed a longer stay
• Puzzles were a lot of fun and felts like there were a lot of different ways to solve them
• Good ending