Feels wrong to rate an unfinished game as my top of 2025, but the amount of content it already has and the enjoyment I got out of playing it puts Deltarune at the top of my list regardless. The writing isn't for everyone, but it's right up my alley. Can't wait for the next chapter to come out next year.

Definitely style over substance, but what style! Essentially a playable music video that lasts barely over an hour, it's a short but sweet experience with catchy songs and fantastic visual direction. Plus I'm always a sucker for a tarot motif. Doesn't overstay its welcome, and if you want more, replay for ranks and challenges.

Speaking of tarot... Well, everyone knows Balatro by now. But I knew this game was something special when I found that it took three genres that don't interest me much personally (poker, deck building, and roguelikes), and combined them into a game that had me seriously addicted for months. Great for playing in quick bursts, it just feels so good to watch the numbers shoot up.

I've been a fan of Platinum since MadWorld. This game might have the most content of any of their games so far, and as usual you can expect stylish action, challenging combat, and hype moments. Story has never been their strength, and this game is no different, but it works well enough as an excuse to string the various action set pieces together.

Another unfinished episodic release game, but as a fan of the Youtube videos, this game gave me exactly what I wanted: a playable version of an ENA animation. This first chapter has a surprising amount of content, and great character designs with all kinds of varying art and animation styles. Some of those achievements were bullshit.

As a child, I used to make my own catalogues of fictional creatures, both those from mythology and ones from my own imagination. As such, when I played this, it felt like the kind of game I would have wanted to make as a kid, if I'd only had the knowledge and skill to do so.

The best co-op game I've played with my partner since It Takes Two. The characters are generic and the story is nothing but cliches and quips, one after the other, but the gameplay is great, the environments are varied, and the visuals are gorgeous. It Takes Two edges this one out a bit, but Split Fiction's final act is one of the greatest visual spectacles I've ever seen in a game.

A great game to play in October, Silent Hill f may not feel entirely like a Silent Hill game, but the franchise has been in a rough place for a while, until SH2 Remake last year, so I can still count it as better than about half the games in the series anyway. The story is lacking in subtlety, and has a bit too much focus on combat for my liking, but I like the freshness that comes with a new setting and time period.

It's amazing how these minimal graphics and music can come together to create such an effective spooky atmosphere. The trilogy starts out simple, but gets more ambitious as you go through each game. I'm not even religious, but it's nice to see a game where religion is portrayed positively without subversion. You're just a man of god, trying his best against a great evil.

A fun co-op beat-em-up with charming sprite artwork, a great soundtrack, and a silly story that doesn't take itself too seriously, this feels like a spiritual successor to Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game. (I know, it's part of the River City Ransom series, but I never played those.) A pretty short experience. I gotta play the sequel soon. It's pretty funny that the devs patched in a new ending after the original one was so poorly received, but I'll say it: the new ending DOES make the game better.