Hello everyone, and welcome to the final part in my series of my favorite games I played in 2025. There are six games I have to talk about here and conclude what was a wonderful year of video games. So, without further ado, here are my favorite games I played in 2025.
Starting things off at number 6 is Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Okay, quick explanation. This entry should have gone in part 2. However, as I was making this list, I had not completed Scarlet and Violet, so didn't want to do a write up of it until I had done so. I was confident it would slot in at number 6 on my ranking, and I am here to report that yes indeed, this was my sixth favorite game I played this year. Let's talk about it.
I actually have played Scarlet and Violet before, I started it in 2023, where it placed last on my ranking of my favorite games that year. That was because after the first 5ish hours with it, I grew bored and gave up on it. However, my lovely brother pushed me to give it another go, and I'm very glad he did, because I came to really love this game.
Scarlet and Violet felt like what I always wanted a successor to Pokemon Gold & Silver to be. Gold and Silver remains one of my favorite entries in the series, and the major reason for that is Kanto. Returning to Kanto doubles the length of the game, leading to players needing to grab 16 badges instead of the usual 8 to clear the game. But what's really great about Kanto is how open it is. The badges in Kanto were the only main objectives in the Pokemon series that you did not have to get in a specific order. You could explore Kanto and conquer its challenges in any way you choose. This made for an unforgettable experience, and I've always wondered: Wouldn't it be cool if Game Freak returned to this idea, creating a world full of 15+ badges that players could grab in any order they liked? Wouldn't it be even cooler if not every objective was beating a gym leader, but instead had varied objectives, such as fighting huge Totem Pokemon like in Sun and Moon, or raiding the bases of the world's evil team?
That is exactly what Scarlet and Violet does! It takes the philosophy of Kanto and turns it up to 11. This isn't like Sword and Shield where there are a couple open areas but you're still sticking to a linear progression through the world, or Legends Arceus where even though areas are open, you unlock them in a linear order. Once the journey begins, you can literally go anywhere.
Such massive freedom given to the player allows for an unforgettable experience as you explore the wonderful world of Paldea. However, freedom isn't enough, the world must also be fun to explore, and I am happy to report that once I got into a rhythm, it was hard to stop playing this game. Unlike Legends Arceus, where I found it's gameplay of mostly catching Pokemon boring after a while, the return of Trainers to regularly battle did much for making Scarlet and Violet enjoyable. The fun of training and managing a team that I so sorely missed returned, and it helped that getting around in Scarlet and Violet could be relatively easy.
A big moment where Scarlet and Violet clicked with me was when I achieved the first traversal power up, realizing that they existed. Each of the three main objectives: gym badges, totem Pokemon, and base raids, gives a different type of reward. Badges let you catch and train Pokemon of higher levels, necessary for confronting stronger Pokemon and trainers, while base raids reward you with butt loads of TMs, a nice boost for anyone struggling with team building. But the reward for defeating totem Pokemon is an exploration boost for your riding Pokemon.
I like this a lot because it emphasizes that unlike previous Pokemon games, in Scarlet and Violet you are doing more than catching and training Pokemon, and battling trainers. You are also exploring, and this new component made the core gameplay Pokemon loop feel new and fresh. I especially liked how Pokemon centres act as your safe teleport points, giving you some direction as you explore this open space, but also making certain parts of the map easier or harder to explore. The farther you got from a Pokemon centre, the more careful you'd have to be with battling Pokemon. It was also satisfying to come to an area, find it too difficult to explore, but then, after getting some badges and getting stronger, or getting a new exploration ability, being able to return and successfully explore this difficult area. In general, it was a fun world to explore.
What really sealed Scarlet and Violet as special however, and one of my favorite Pokemon games, was the story. The 3 main objectives you conquer, through the gym badges, totem pokemon, and base raids, all feature reoccurring characters that you come to learn more about as you explore. Getting to understand and befriend these characters was a delight, but what made it even greater was the school. The school, at the centre of the map, is where the many professors of the school stay. You can take their classes throughout the adventure, but also get to know and befriend them, and the writing for all of them is excellent.
One of my favorite things about the Pokemon games is its utilization of reoccurring characters. The rival characters are the best example, I love frequently running into characters throughout a story. It makes for a satisfying progression as you come to know them better, but it also provides a special satisfaction in seeing them change and develop alongside you on your shared journey. I loved how many of these were in Scarlet and Violet, they all proved to be great characters. In particular, I would shout out the base raid storyline as being my favorite, and the conclusion with its two main characters was perhaps my favorite moment of the game.
I love it when a game ends on a high note, I think of Black and White and Sun and Moon with my favorite endings to a Pokemon game, and I would put Scarlet and Violet up there with them. The way you have a climactic battle with all the main characters at the end, and all their stories converge to form the final chapter, was awesome. It was like something you'd see in the Octopath Traveler games, and worked wonderfully in finishing on a high note.
In the end, I came to love Scarlet and Violet more than I ever imagined. Coming off of Sword and Shield and Legends Arceus, my least favorite Pokemon games, I am still utterly shocked to say that Scarlet and Violet might be one of my favorite Pokemon titles. I had an incredible time exploring its world, getting to know its Pokemon, and coming to understand its many characters. I cannot recommend it enough. It's great to feel like a big Pokemon fan again.
With that out of the way we can get to my four favorite games of the year, starting with the myth, the legend, the one and only: Hollow Knight Silksong. So much has been said about this game, about how it took the entire games industry by storm, and as a bystander, it was incredible to witness. It's amazing that a game made by only 3 people in Australia could have such global impact, but it was that massive splash, that shake up, that got me to first notice these games and want to play Hollow Knight and Silksong, and I'm so glad I did.
Silksong, like its predecessor, is an incredible game. Team Cherry has crafted a beautiful world full of diverse environments and locations that are incredibly fun to explore, based on simple hacking and jumping gameplay that make battling enemies and platforming satisfying. The story and writing are fantastic at sucking you in, the gameplay is nonstop fun, and it nails everything you'd expect from a top tier Metroidvania.
Silksong does everything Hollow Knight did to make it great, but bigger and better. The world is larger, with far more environments to get lost in and atmospheres to be in awe at, there are far more play styles and ways to customize how you battle and navigate this complex world, the story is more ambitious and full of more notable characters and cutscenes, and there are far more bosses and enemies to battle and learn as you explore the world of Pharloom. I can vouch for this, my final play time in Silksong was 71 hours, nearly double my play time of 37 hours in Hollow Knight.
Yet, I would be remiss to not the mention the elephant in the room, the thing that spurred most discussion about this game post release: the difficulty. Silksong gives players more abilities and means of customizing and maximizing their play compared to the first game, and to compensate, Team Cherry made the game harder, a lot harder. Where most bosses in Hollow Knight only took me a couple tries to beat, in Silksong it was more common for bosses to take me many many tries, not to mention all the enemy gauntlet rooms, which could be just as hard as a boss. Silksong is a very difficult game, and as much I as loved everything about it, as much as I think it improves on the first game, this higher difficulty made for a more frustrating experience, and is why ultimately, I am putting it below Hollow Knight.
Yet, it is also right below Hollow Knight, for while Silksong has lower lows than its predecessor, I also found it to have higher highs that more than made up for the difficulty. The environments are breathtaking, and generally leave a stronger impression than the first game. The soundtrack is incredible, I actually went on to listen to much of it after completing the game, which I rarely did with Hollow Knight's soundtrack. The story also did a better job of grabbing me. Where I found Hollow Knight's story a confusing mess to only understand after the fact, and, don't get me wrong, Silksong's story is just as vague and confusing. Yet, I was able to at least grasp it a bit better, which made pushing through it all the more satisfying.
My favorite thing about Silksong though, and this is major spoilers, so if you have yet to complete Silksong, please stop here, is the final act. One of my favorite things about Silksong and Hollow Knight is discovery, that feeling of finding a tiny seemingly inconsequential secret, and then following it and discovering a brand new area, with an amazing look and feel that leaves you in awe. Silksong has many amazing moments like this, it was such an incredibly fun world to explore that I couldn't stop, but the ultimate prize, the ultimate thing I discovered through exploration, was its final act.
Silksong, you see, is a three act game. However, players might not know this when starting, I certainly didn't. By the end of the second act, I had played an incredibly satisfying game, felt happy with my time, enjoyed this game that was already much larger than its predecessor, and was preparing to stop. But then, as I went about completing all the fun sidequests, I stumbled upon something. I talked to an NPC, and they mentioned something about a new ending, a true ending. Curious, I thought this might be the finale then, the true final battle like in Hollow Knight, and after beating the true final boss, the game would be end, in a nice satisfying manner.
But to my utter shock and delight, this was not in the fact the end, but instead the beginning of the true finale of Silksong. One of my favorite feelings in video games is when you think you're at the end, feel satisfied, only to discover you have so much more to do, and experiencing this in Silksong was truly magical. It took me back to playing Pokemon Gold and Silver for the first time, believing I was done, only to discover that I had a second huge region to explore in Kanto, and that the game was far from over. Learning that Silksong had an entire third Act, and that there was still much I had to explore and uncover, was such an incredible feeling that I'll never forget. It was magical, and the entire final act, with all its references to Hollow Knight, perfectly capped off what was an incredible game.
I thoroughly enjoyed Silksong, and while I would have preferred less time spent battling and more time spent exploring, there's so much amazing and satisfying gameplay to be had in Pharloom that I can't leave this game with anything but a smile. I feel thoroughly blessed that I had the privilege of playing both Hollow Knight and Silksong for the first time, back to back, this year. It made 2025 a special year in gaming.
Speaking of, number three on this list is the legendary indie title from 2017: Hollow Knight. Hollow Knight had been on my radar for a while, I'd heard whispers of it here and there, but I never thought to try it out until 2025. This was because none of my friends were into it and pushed me to do so, and I thought it would be out of my comfort zone. But, in 2025, I decided to go out of my comfort zone and play Hollow Knight for the first time, and it reminded me of the magic and wonder that comes from stepping out of your comfort zone, and discovering something that blows you away.
I don't know why I never considered Metroidvanias as a genre of games I might love. Perhaps because they are 2D, because they can be difficult or easy to get stuck in, or because my only experience to them was through Metroid, a series I've never been a huge fan of, but for whatever reason, I'd long avoided the genre. Yet, when all the commotion around Silksong came in 2025, I grew curious, and especially after learning how affordable both it and Hollow Knight were, I decided to give them a try, and installed Hollow Knight on both my Switch and PC.
The thing that makes Hollow Knight so special, and so much better than most Metroidvanias, is how difficult it is to get stuck. Team Cherry are brilliant level designers, understanding that the best way to stop players from getting stuck in an exploration game, is to provide multiple avenues of progression. This is what makes Hollow Knight's world of Hallownest so satisfying to explore. Sure there are key power ups that are necessary to explore and uncover every secret, but there's less of a strict set order of getting them compared to other Metroidvanias, and there are multiple ways to get some power ups, and even ways to get around certain barriers, creating a world that has fun to find no matter which direction you go in.
My personal favorite moment of these, and what I will remember the most from my playthrough, is the unique path I took into deepnest. When you unlock the third key power up in the game, the mantis claw, players are supposed to then go to the city of tears, where the game massively opens up. However, I chose instead to explore the third area, the fungal wastes, and discovered the Mantis Lords boss. I beat my head against it, but eventually won, unlocking a path into deepnest. Deepnest was unlike anything I had seen in the game, the music was terrifying, it was dark and scary, just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.
But I didn't want this discovery to lead nowhere, so I pushed ahead, terrified of where I was, but pushing on. I was on edge, jumping at the scary things I found, but kept exploring, hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel. After trudging through, I discovered something that I deemed good enough, turned around, and left. It was the tram pass. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but I remembered from exploring the first area: the forgotten crossroads, that there was a tram car there. So I went all the way back, hoping that my exploring and critical thinking would be rewarded, and was absolutely delighted to find that it was! Using this method, I was able to access the Resting Grounds before I ever entered the City of Tears, which, from watching and talking to others, is very uncommon for first time players!
It's that openness of Hollow Knight that makes it so fun to explore and discuss with others. No one will have the same journey through its world, and few if any players will discover every secret the world has on their first playthrough. This personalization added to my fondness, because I didn't play through Hollow Knight alone. My brother, bless his soul, decided to replay the game with me, and it was so fun sharing our progress every few days, being in awe at the wildly different ways we explored its world and battled bosses. I had discovered the tram pass first, but then he found the double jump ability long before I would ever stumble upon it. I found the Isma's tear ability much earlier than he did, but then he discovered the Hive, which I wouldn't find until the very end of the game. It was so fun to play it alongside someone else, as it showed just how open the game is, and how fun it is to explore and learn about, especially with a friend.
We did the same with Silksong, and it was equally satisfying, as we took very different paths to Bellhart, with him skipping a major boss as a result. I was able to make up for my loss in Hollow Knight by discovering the double jump before him in Silksong, and altogether, playing these games together made them much more special, especially when at the end, when we were both beaten, we motivated each other to not give up, and try our best to beat the final boss, until one night, we beat it at nearly the same time. It was the perfect ending to our journey, and I highly recommend playing these games with a buddy if possible.
Back to Hollow Knight, I love exploration games, and Team Cherry has shown that they are phenomenal when it comes to constructing worlds to explore. That feeling of just stumbling upon a brand new area and being in awe at it is my favorite thing about their games. They reward exploration in a way few games do, and they do such a great job at making every area feel distinct. What I especially love about this, is that not only do all the areas have unique music and aesthetics to them, but even mechanically, they vary wildly. It would have been so easy to reuse enemies or mechanics, but Team Cherry went above and beyond with both games, giving every single area unique enemies to learn and defeat, unique platforming challenges like walls you can ride in the Crystal Peaks, platforms that fall when stepped on in the Queen's Gardens, mushrooms to bounce on in the fungal wastes, or the large vertical design of the Kingdom's Edge, contrasting the many horizontally designed areas of the game. Taken together, these make every area of the world unique and memorable.
One of my favorite things about Hollow Knight and Silksong is how well they teach you about their worlds. Just the simple act of navigating each area, coming to get a feel for them and how to traverse them, does a great job at helping you to remember and love them. Unlike every other player I've seen and spoken with about these games, I intentionally never used the compass in both Hollow Knight and Silksong. This was both a challenge, but a reward in and of itself. Because not having the compass meant I had to really learn how to read the map, as well really getting a feel for every area, their layout, mechanics, and how they function and connect with one another. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't love it, and it was incredibly satisfying whenever I stumbled upon a new area, anxiously wandered around, and slowly came to understand, master, and love this part of the world.
Hollow Knight and Silksong have two of my favorite worlds to explore in all of video games. They are jammed pack with secrets to find, great lore and characters, ambient and effective music, a distinct and memorable art style, and are just a heck of a lot of fun to play. If you ever want to get lost in a beautiful and enchanting video game world, then I highly recommend you try out Hollow Knight. It did not take long for me to understand why this game was such a hit, grew a massive fanbase, and led to such intense anticipation of its sequel. Hollow Knight truly is a special game, a masterpiece of its own, and the more games like it, the better.
For my number two game of the year I am going to, once again, cheat a little, sorry about that, by having two games: Kirby Air Riders and Mario Kart World. I am doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I didn't get to play both for very long, I only played them for 5-10 hours during my Christmas vacation with the family. Second, they are both Nintendo made racing games, so have much in common. But third, they are both Switch 2 games, and symbolize one of the most important things that happened this year in gaming: the release of the Nintendo Switch 2.
It has been eight years since Nintendo released the Switch, their most successful console ever. But finally, after much anticipation, the Switch 2 is here, and while I don't have one, it has been wonderful to see another successful Nintendo launch. Yet, the Switch 2 didn't have the best launch, especially if you frequented the internet. Nintendo faced lots of backlash over the high prices of the system and its games, and many of their big releases received criticism. Many Nintendo fans questioned if they could remain loyal to the company. As a long time Nintendo fan, as a true Nintendo fan, I was not one of these, but I did wonder of the quality of the games. Were the Switch 2 games of Nintendo quality, and is Nintendo still worth loving in this difficult year?
Nothing reminded me why I love Nintendo more, and why they mean so much to me, then getting to finally play the Switch 2 through Mario Kart World and Kirby Air Riders this Christmas. Let's start with Kirby. Kirby's Air Ride is one of my favorite video games ever. I have put god knows how many hours into it, well into the hundreds, and have spent so many nights making treasured memories with friends and family through it. It has become one of my family's favorite games, and I look forward to playing it with my siblings every Christmas. However, given its divisive reception, its acceptable but not amazing sales, I never in my years of gaming imagined it would get a sequel. There was just no way, when I imagined my dream Nintendo announcements, I didn't even consider it, because there was just no way it would happen.
It is silly to say, but the announcement of Kirby Air Riders during the Switch 2 direct made me so unfathomably happy, so euphoric, that it gave me hope in these dark times. As the US president seems hellbent on making the world a worse place for so many people and the price of everything is going up, it can be hard to keep going and stay positive. You need little things to hold onto, and I don't care how dumb it is, Kirby Air Riders will get me through the next few decades. Because I don't think a video game announcement ever shocked me so much, and caused so much emotion to well up in me. I don't know if an announcement ever made me cry so much, I couldn't watch the reveal trailer without crying for like, a month after it. And I wasn't alone. Watching reactions to the trailer, I've never seen a game announcement make so many people cry. Kirby's Air Ride means so much to so many people, and we'd all lost hope that it would ever return. So seeing it get a sequel was so unbelievably cathartic, and by golly, this is why I love Nintendo.
Nintendo cares, that game that meant a lot to you, that song you love, that character you connected with, they won't all return, but there's a good chance that at some point, you will run into it again, because Nintendo remembers and respects its history in a way no game company does. They know we love their games, and every now and then, surprise us by reminding us how much they care about all their games. No matter how good the final product turned out to be, just having a sequel to Kirby's Air Ride exist is incredible. Sometimes I still can't believe it's real, and have to pinch myself. Getting to play it with my brother this Christmas was so incredibly fun, and it's a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life.
....but how is the game actually? Well, as a massive fan of the original that played it all the time, and from only playing it for 5-10 hours, it's...good!...but I would be lying to say I didn't feel a teensy bit disappointed by it. Sakurai went all out in adding tons of features, characters, machines, and fun ways to customize them all and have fun, and these are cool. I like getting to customize the stars and having multiple characters, and having a special attack now is neat. But I must admit, what I loved about Air Ride was the gameplay, the core gameplay, especially of City Trial, that was what made Air Ride so special. Air Riders' core gameplay is equally great and special...but doesn't really expand on Air Ride at all.
This baffles me, it has been over 20 years since the original. So much could have been done to change up the gameplay; a new mode could have been added in addition to Air Ride, Top Ride, and City Trial, one that doesn't just combine them all. There could have been multiple city maps to really change up City Trial and give it more longevity. New control schemes for Top Ride could be added for more depth and variety, so there are not only two control schemes. But none of this was added. Instead the main focus of the game were all the new playable characters and customization. These are cool, but they don't really change up the core gameplay. It makes Air Riders as a whole feel more like Air Ride 1.5, like Air Ride again with a bunch of neat new trinkets, but nothing major to really make it feel like a sequel.
This isn't a bad thing, I imagine for most people who never played Air Ride, or hadn't played it in over 10 years, this was fine. But as someone that still plays Air Ride regularly, I was a bit disappointed that Air Riders didn't differentiate itself more from the original. Nonetheless, I loved my time with it, I cannot wait to buy it and a Switch 2 myself, and hey, I never touched the new single player mode, it's possible that will change my mind on the whole thing. However, both my brother and I were shocked to find that, as much love as we have for Air Ride and as much fun as we had playing Air Riders together, we both found ourselves having more fun with Mario Kart World.
Mario Kart World is such an incredible game, even now, I am at a loss for words. I like Mario Kart, but I haven't loved it since the DS and Wii days. It's fun to play with friends, but that's about it. If it wanted to grab me again, it would have to truly wow me, and my god, did Mario Kart World wow me.
I knew that the big addition to World was its open world, a free roam mode in which players could wander around its tracks however they wanted. But I didn't realize what this meant for racing. You see, because you don't only race on tracks, but also race to the tracks through new intermission tracks, and because so many of the tracks connect to others in different ways around the world, there are just, so many tracks in this game, it is absurd. The game has 32 Grand Prix tracks, 48 tracks in the brand new and amazing Knockout Tour mode, and 200 intermission tracks that connect all of these tracks together. This is so much content, but more importantly, means that the tracks will take much longer than in other games to feel familiar. What I used to do with Mario Kart is play all the new tracks a couple times, have fun, and then stop. But World has so many tracks, and so many different ways to play them depending on how you route the tracks, that the replay value is endless. It is nuts.
But what really makes racing special, what was my favorite part of this game, is the track design. Mario Kart World you see, does something incredibly unique. Previous Mario Karts would either have brand new tracks to race on, or they would bring back old tracks, either remaking them 1 for 1 in the new engine, or adding some new changes here and there, but nothing major. However, the new and old tracks always remained separate.
Mario Kart World does something I never expected, and fuses parts of old tracks with new tracks to create unforgettable races. You will be going through a race, only to have something twitch in the back of your head, that the music, or the aesthetic, or the track design seems vaguely familiar, like you've played this before. But it won't last for long, World doesn't simply remake old tracks, it takes parts of them, and then remixes them into something new. Just as you've realized what this track is and that you've played it before, it surprises you by going in a new direction, or transitions into a new track. The game takes bits and pieces from every previous Mario Kart, sprinkling them throughout the world, but not relying on them, and isn't afraid to remix them and make them feel new again.
I did not know that Mario Kart World was a celebration of all previous Mario Karts. Every previous entry has parts of tracks in this game, and there are remixes from every previous Mario Kart in this game. It is a celebration of the series and its long history, representing the best of Nintendo, and if you have any history playing Mario Kart, you will have a moment where you feel those nostalgia strings tugging, as you relive those tracks you know and love.
But what's so good about World is that unlike Air Riders, which simply brings back old content unchanged, World messes with the old content. It remixes and flips it on its head, taking old tracks, characters, and items and fundamentally changing them, creating a Mario Kart that feels brand new and different from anything that came before.
There is so much here to make World feel brand new. Having tracks connect radically changes the way you race, as it's less going through laps of the same course over and over, and more following a linear path, that sometimes goes in circles for a couple of times. What this means is that you'll never know quite where you're going next, creating unbelievable novelty. Additionally, you can now grind on rails, flip off of them, and jump off of walls, which totally changes up how you approach courses. What's more, there are now 24 racers, which creates so much chaos and results in courses being larger than ever, but also full of even more obstacles than ever. As if that wasn't enough, there are brand new items like Kamek and the hammer, that can totally change up how you navigate certain races. There are amazing quality of life improvements, like how limited time items now display a bar showing how much time they have left, and my god, don't get me started on what they did with the characters.
There are so many characters in this game, and more then that, there are costumes! I don't think a Mario game has ever given its main characters so many outfits, I can only think of Mario Party 2 as having done it before. These give players an additional objective to chase aside from clearing all the races, which is awesome, and are a surprisingly very satisfying collectible to go for, as the many costumes look brilliant. Add in rich and detailed animations and movements for every character, and the Mario cast has never felt more alive.
Then the soundtrack, oh my god the soundtrack. When I think of the best soundtracks Nintendo has ever produced, I think of Super Smash Bros. They have hundreds and hundreds of amazing songs that reference Nintendo's rich history, and they are incredible to listen to. I have never thought that another Nintendo series might try to rival its magic, but Mario Kart World actually does. There are over 300 songs in this game, with amazing new tracks, incredible remixes from every previous Mario Kart, and unbelievable remixes from so many mainline Mario games. It is absurd, there are remixes of songs from Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy that never received remixes until now!
All of this, the unbelievable soundtrack full of songs that constantly got me emotional, the incredible outfits, animations, and charm that gives the Mario characters so much personality, the perfection of Mario Kart gameplay with brand new moves and items to play with, the introduction of knockout tour and intermission tracks, which might be the biggest change in the series' history, and most importantly, the most innovative and brilliant track design I have ever seen in the series, all of this made playing Mario Kart World a magical experience. It is both a celebration of everything Mario Kart has done, and a bold leap forward into a new kind of kart racing. Every time I played this with my brother I had the brightest smile on my face, and I don't know how they did it, but Nintendo crafted another masterpiece.
I was not planning to buy Mario Kart World when I bought a Switch 2, but now, I definitely am. Any Mario Kart, Mario, or Nintendo fan needs to experience the magic of this game. It truly feels like a new era of Nintendo, Switch 2 Nintendo, that celebrates everything that came before while boldly stepping forward. I am beyond excited to see all the amazing games on the Switch 2 in this new era of Nintendo, and playing this reminded me why I have been, am, and will always be a massive Nintendo fan. Thank you so much for everything Nintendo, truly, I owe you more than I could possibly imagine.
And yet, despite all the glowing praise I gave to the number 2 games, they are not my game of the year. My 2025 game of the year is none other than Toby Fox's second masterpiece: Deltarune.
Deltarune is the sequel to Undertale, one of the most successful indie games ever, and has proven to be just as incredible as its predecessor. Toby Fox is so good at creating worlds, characters, and mechanics that are fun and meaningful to interact with. If Hollow Knight and Silksong are examples of the magic of exploration games, than Undertale and Deltarune are examples of the magic of linear games. Since the game is linear, there is so much variety in the environments you venture into, the characters you interact with, and tons of callbacks and references to earlier content that make the game endlessly fun.
All of these elements are visible in Chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune, so let's talk about them, starting with my favorite of the two:
Chapter 3 was an incredible experience. The TV world that dominates the chapter is incredibly fun to progress through, full of a variety of different types of gameplay, minigames, puzzles, and more that will keep you on your toes. In a game full of surprises at every corner, Chapter 3 in particular feels packed with secrets and charming moments to get players smiling. I was constantly on the edge of my seat during my first play, wondering what fun twist or discovery lied around every corner of TV world. It was an absolute joy to play.
Then there was Tenna, a character I went into with incredibly low expectations, who by the end became my favorite video game character of 2025. Tenna is a TV that wants to entertain, and spends the whole chapter trying to create a fun experience for you and the main cast. It is slowly revealed that there might be nefarious motives behind his desire to give you a fun time, but by the end, when his motivations reveal themselves, it made for an incredibly poignant character. Tenna is not just any TV, but one that has not been used in a long time, and thus, he is nostalgic for the past, sad about the present, and dealing with abandonment issues. This painted a surprisingly complex and sympathetic character, and as someone in his mid 30s getting up their in age, it was hard to not connect with the guy. The last thing I expected out of a character that was a TV dressed in a suit was one of the most realistic characters Toby has written, but wow, I was in complete awe.
I loved the way the reveal of his motivations explains everything about his desire to entertain you. He doesn't want to be abandoned again, he doesn't want to be forgotten, which is why, even after you turn on him, he still tries to give you a fun time, with one of the most mechanically engaging boss battles I've ever seen. But despite his strong desire, he is old, of the past, and thus lacks knowledge on more current issues and events, references things younger people wouldn't understand, and in some ways, is stuck in the past, and needs to come to terms with how things have changed. It made for a meaningful character who's conclusion left me emotionally in awe.
As if this incredible characterization wasn't enough, Chapter 3 also holds two amazing secrets. The first is the ending, featuring one of the most shocking and coolest reveals and battles in the game thus far. The second is the secret path, for behind this happy TV world where all is fun and games, there is a darker side, lurking in the shadows. Toby could make an incredible horror game, because the entire sequence through the back rooms made for some of the most unnerving, thought provoking, and memorable time I spent with a game this year. All in all, it made for an incredible chapter.
Chapter 4 would, somehow, continue the very high quality set with Chapter 3, albeit in a different way. Right from the start it was clear this was a different chapter. Rather than leaving a run through of the town and its fun residents for the end as a nice epilogue to the journey, Chapter 4 began with time spent exploring the town. It carried great moments of characterization for the three main heroes, while also introducing us to darker elements of the real world that had otherwise been nonexistent: we learn more of Asgore and his struggling situation, see Alphys struggling from our previous actions, see sides of Toriel that change how we perceive her, and meet Noelle's mother, arguably the most intimidating character in the game. The world was changing, and the truths in the dark were beginning to come to light.
Then there was the dark world, and my gosh, what a dark world. Chapter 4's dark world was a much needed tonal shift from the previous two, being dark, moody, and thoughtful. The first moment you enter the dark world, with the music swelling, mirages of singing creatures fading in and out, and the lighting going from totally bright to totally dark, was a magical moment I will never forget. Dare I say, it was my favorite moment playing video games this year. I was so moved by the music, effects, and lighting that I actually began to shed tears, and I can tell you, it is very rare for a video game to make me cry like that. But that's what so great about this game, in a linear game like Deltarune, you can expertly plan the music, aesthetics, and mechanics to all come together and create unforgettable set pieces for players.
On top of this, Chapter 4 featured my favorite boss in the game thus far, at least from a mechanical perspective. It was so creative to have a boss in which, rather than dodging bullets, you are tasked with navigating mini mazes, all being sure not to take too long, because if you are taking too long, well...as sans would say, you're gonna have a bad time. It was paradoxically terrifying, but also hilarious in that Toby sense of humor way, and it was utterly brilliant. I am amazed at how creative these games continue to be, despite how long Toby has been making games like them.
As you explore its dark world, Chapter 4 reveals much about the lore of the game, while forcing our heroes to confront uncomfortable truths about themselves, their relationships, and their future. It was awesome, and with the chapter concluding with an incredibly cinematic finale, it made for an excellent conclusion to these two wonderful chapters. It was so satisfying to play both back to back, in what might be the only time that happens. 2025 was a significant year for the game, both Chapters 1 and 2 released years apart, and there's a good chance Chapters 5, 6, and 7 will release in separate years, making this the only time we get two Deltarune chapters at once.
But that was not all that made 2025 a special year. 2025 was also the 10 year anniversary of Undertale, leading to a fantastic 10th anniversary stream, and a general celebration of everything Toby Fox has done. Tons of streamers and content creators played both Undertale and Deltarune for the first time, and it was incredibly fun to relive my love of both games through them and take part in the community.
This was what I really loved about playing Deltarune this year. After the release of chapters 3 and 4, which effectively doubled the length of the whole game, in addition to Undertale's celebration, it created a massive influx of new fans, leading to a community explosion. It was bustling with fantastic fan art, remixes, tributes, memes, and tons and tons of theories and speculation over what the future chapters would feature. I watched so many videos analyzing the game's story, characters, and general design, listened to great remixes of the soundtrack, found amazing fan art, and even shared my own theories in discussions surrounding the game. This is uncommon for me, but I was just so invested in this beautiful world Toby Fox had crafted and the wonderful community around it, that I couldn't get enough of it.
All of this is why, ultimately, Deltarune is my 2025 game of the year. Chapters 3 and 4 had so many incredible moments that left me in awe, my second favorite soundtrack of the year (shout outs to Mario Kart World), and it gave me so much online discourse to partake in, immersing myself in this wonderful world and the many beautiful fan creations people had made. These are magical games, and I feel so fortunate I got to play them.
This concludes my list, so some final thoughts. 2025 was a really great year for me and video games. The last two years were lacking in some respects, and I worried I might be growing too old for the medium. But 2025 reminded me why I love it, as I played so many incredible games this year. Indie titles like Deltarune, Hollow Knight, and Silksong, Nintendo classics like Mario Kart, Kirby, Pokemon, Zelda, and Fire Emblem, and even some special gacha games like Uma Musume, all made for fun experiences that I will cherish. I cannot wait for 2026, there are so many video games I wasn't able to play that I want to, and there are many upcoming releases I am excited to play. While the world gets worse, here's to video games continuing to be awesome and help us get through these tough times.
Thank you so much for reading this, best wishes, and happy days.
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