The race for #1 was very tight this year. Ultimately, I went with Donkey Kong Bananza simply because it was a joy to play from beginning to end. Some of the bananas were a little annoying to find, but otherwise it was a fun and rewarding adventure with tons of variety.

While it's a 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong, this game certainly isn't Donkey Kong 64. There are a lot of collectibles, but instead of using the different Kongs to find them, you have various power-ups that you unlock throughout the game. The terrain is almost completely destructible and that plays a HUGE part in some of the puzzles / challenges in the game. It did kinda feel like maybe they stumbled upon the idea through a tech demo or something since it's kinda gimmicky, but it's still a very fun mechanic!

I spent right around 40 hours with this one and I did almost everything the game had to offer. I tapped out towards the end since some of the marathon challenges were just too frustrating for me. I can't complain too much though since it's optional post-game content and I got a lot of mileage out of the game. Highly recommended if you enjoy 3D platformers and my favorite Switch 2 game so far!

I always tend to have games on my list that took me (literally) decades to complete and Resident Evil 4 is certainly one of them. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to play through this game over the years! For whatever reason, I really struggle with the opening section of the game where you have to survive in the village. The difficulty was always off-putting to me, especially since I knew it was a fairly lengthy game for Resident Evil standards.

I decided to give it another go on modern consoles (Xbox One version on Xbox Series X) and wow, it plays soooo much smoother now! I mean, obviously, right? I still had a hard time in the beginning, but I was able to find my footing fairly quickly. After that, this game turned into a terrific survival horror action game and I finally see why it's been so heavily praised for all these years.

This game ushers in a major change to the Resident Evil formula. The first three games (and Code: Veronica) were relatively slow-paced action games with a huge amount of adventure and survival elements. The fourth game essentially flip-flops things around and is a fast-paced action game with a small amount of adventure and survival elements. Sure, you still have to worry about ammo reserves and sometimes it's better to avoid enemies, but for the most part, you can just mow everything down. The game throws A LOT more enemies at you and some of the "normal" enemies can actually be quite challenging compared to the original games that were filled with mostly slow-moving zombies.

I really have to give credit to Capcom for shaking things up here. I'm sure it wasn't an easy choice to tinker with a winning formula, but they definitely knocked it out of the park. I know the series (supposedly) hits a rough patch after this with Resident Evil 5 and 6, but now that I have 4 in the books, perhaps I'll give those a go!

Yep, that's right, I've FINALLY finished this game! I got really far around 10 years ago or so, but life got in the way and I never went back to it. RPGs have obviously evolved since Chrono Trigger first debuted, but it absolutely still holds up.

The battle system is fairly simple, especially by today's standards, and not as expansive as, say, the job system in Final Fantasy V. But it's tuned to perfection and requires ZERO grinding as long as you fight most enemies along the way. The normal battles do start to wear out their welcome, but the bosses offer a much stiffer challenge and keep you on your toes.

Where the game really shines though is with its characters, storytelling, and world-building. It was a joy to visit the different towns throughout the different time periods to see how they changed and such. The world isn't huge, but each time period is in some ways a different world to explore, even if certain elements are the same (or very similar). I didn't play this game in 1995 when it was released, but I know I would've been blown away by the scope.

Chrono Trigger is widely regarded as one of the best RPGs ever made and it's easy to see why. If you're like me and have managed to go three decades without playing it, now is the time!

Stellar Blade was a bit of a surprise for me. I was only vaguely aware of it until it came out and received some solid reviews. For those unaware, it's a sci-fi action-adventure / hack-and-slash game that reminded me of Nier: Automata and to some degree, the Soulsborne games.

The game offers multiple hub-like areas that have sorta open world sections, as well as tighter / linear areas where the majority of the story progression occurs. The world is pretty fun to explore and there are a TON of optional nooks filled with challenges / puzzles to keep you occupied in between missions. I ended up spending over 35 hours in the game and a good chunk of that was side content...and I still didn't finish it all! It started to turn into a bit of a slog and I started getting antsy, but there's plenty of stuff to do, if you're willing.

The story was okay, though it seemed like typical sci-fi to me. The main character, Eve, was fairly interesting, but I had a hard time growing attached to any of the side characters. They weren't necessarily bad, but I had a pretty "meh" feeling overall. So yeah, the story is okay, but certainly not the reason I kept playing.

The reason for that was simply that the hack-and-slash combat was AWESOME! It felt really good and with the aforementioned exploration, I had a lot of fun just roaming around, slicing up enemies. Some of those enemies were actually rather annoying, especially in later areas, and I hated the respawn rate, but it was still pretty fun overall. I mentioned Soulslike before and I felt that way because some required you to time your attacks, parry their attacks, etc.

If you like hack-and-slash games, be sure to put Stellar Blade on your list. It's filled with content and most of it is extremely fun to plow through.

After finishing Mega Man Legends and The Misadventures of Tron Bonne in 2019 and 2020, respectively, I had my sights set on Mega Man Legends 2. I had planned to play it in 2021 to keep the streak alive, but...that didn't happen. In any case, I finally wrapped back around to it in 2025 and it delivered the goods!

While fairly similar to the first game, Mega Man Legends 2 feels like a more polished version. Much like the original, if you don't like the idea of the Blue Bomber moving into the third dimension, then there won't be much for you here. The dungeons are (mostly) fun to explore, there are lots of enemies to fight, and the light RPG mechanics help fill out the experience a bit.

My favorite in the trilogy is still The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, partially due to how charming the titular character is, but also how it really went for something different. But both Mega Man Legends games are a lot of fun and all three are worth playing. It's a shame we'll likely never get Mega Man Legends 3, but the series rode out on a high note, in my opinion.

This game was a pleasant surprise! I knew very little about it going in, but I was hooked (no pun intended) on this Lovecraftian fishing game. Despite the unsettling atmosphere and brooding horror, Dredge is actually kinda chill most of the time.

The general idea is you sail your boat around the world, solve problems for various folks, catch all sorts of weird "fish", earn money to buy upgrades and, oh yeah, try to avoid being munched on by the horrors of the deep. Everything is centered around fishing and it's presented in a simple, but addictive mini-game. My main issue with the game is that it features some miss-able / fail-able quests and I always find those annoying.

Aside from that, Dredge was a delight and even if you're normally averse to fishing games, it might be one to check out!

After enjoying my time with the first game and its expansion, I decided to hop back in and take down Call of Duty 2. I don't have a whole lot to say here as this game is very similar to the first one, though the gameplay is so solid that I don't really mind.

As with the first one, you play out a series of missions in World War II from several different perspectives. The graphics still looked great for a 20 year old game and the game is loaded with sticky situations that are fun to get out of.

Pilotwings 64 is another game that I've tried playing throughout the years, but I could never manage to finish it. The biggest problem I have with this game is that the combination of a spotty frame-rate and touchy N64 controls caused me more frustration than I'd care to admit. But both of those problems were negated as I opted to play on Nintendo Switch Online!

Once I was past those hurdles, I had a lot of fun with this game. I thought it held up surprisingly well, especially when many early 3D games have not. If you've never played a Pilotwings game before, it's a flight sim of sorts where you control aircraft (more like contraptions) and have to complete various objectives. A lot of the time you're flying through the air, aiming for targets / rings, which is more difficult than it might sound. Of course, once you complete your objectives, you have to land on the ground and that can be a tricky endeavor.

Unless you're going to perfect scores, you can roll through this one in a few hours...it took me about 4.5 hours, including the bonus levels. It definitely has a "one more try" pull to it and if you get hooked, it's a nice short burst kinda game.

Metaphor: ReFantazio is one of those games that probably got knocked down a few spots simply because it's TOO LONG! I completed all quests and maxed out every bond and it took about 85 hours. Sure, I could've skipped some stuff, but it would've probably still been 70+ hours long.

The story was okay, but boy did it move at a glacial pace...at least, most of the time it did. The characters were fun and interesting, but they were all long-winded. A lot of dialogue was spent on fluff and each character just had get a word in, even if it added nothing. I mean, sure, some of this dialogue is for showcasing their personalities and whatnot, but you reach a point where it's just not necessary anymore.

ANYWAYS, aside from the way-too-long story and absurdly long cutscenes, Metaphor: ReFantazio is a lot of fun. The battle system is superb with a lot of customization and a fair bit of challenge at times, especially if you aren't paying attention. The dungeons were generally pretty fun to explore and as I mentioned before, there's a lot of side content to keep you busy in between story bits.

While I'm not likely to ever replay this game due to its length, it was a great game to experience once. It was easy to get sucked into the gameplay loop and if you don't mind the yappy characters, you'll be glued to your screen for hours on end.

Rune Factory is a series I wish I could spend more time with. I've only finished one other game in the series (Rune Factory 4 Special, which was my #7 game in 2020), but I've enjoyed both of them immensely.'

It felt like Marvelous really tried to branch out with this entry and pull in more gamers. The scope seems larger, there's a whole town-building thing, and combat seemed to be even more of a focus. I got the sense that they shot for the stars and they mostly connected.

The core gameplay is incredibly addictive here. I lost many hours just walking around the various towns, cultivating crops, chopping wood, talking to characters (to increase their relationship meter), and completing side quests. It was very easy to lose track of the main objectives because there was just so much other stuff to keep me occupied.

But, much like Metaphor: ReFantazio, the biggest issue I had here is that the characters just talk toooooo muuuuuuuch! I had to start skipping cutscenes at some point because I was bored to tears. It was especially aggravating since the farming / fighting was so much fun! Oh well, it was still a fun game and one that's easy to recommend for fans of the series.