Subject: "2025 - My Year In Gaming"
This year has been rough. I haven't played a lot of newer games due to time constraints. I moved up to 11th grade and so came the responsibilities that entailed it. I've been studying a metric ton more than I did last year since the syllabus is so voluminous, and yet, I guess I'm happy that I've been able to complete some games. Even with what little free time I have.
Continuing on, this shift has lead me to start playing shorter and leaner games. Those are the only type I can realistically play in smaller bursts. I ended up playing loads of games that were under 10 hours in size. Some were good and some of them were boring. Some had multiplayer and others didn't. Regardless, I'll go through some of my highlights this year that you definitely have to check out.
1. Persona 5 Royal
Let's start with the first game I completed, and ironically the biggest one, Persona 5 Royal. I put in roughly 120 hours into this and still didn't get the chance to explore every single thing it had on offer. I played through this game slowly since I had my board exams in-between so I had to squeeze it in whenever I wasn't studying. I started this game in the June of 2024 and wrapped it up in February of 2025.
The game itself is fantastic but I don't think it is meant for everybody. I downloaded the game on a whim but ended up staying for the well-written characters and awesome art-style. I was mainly expecting boring repetitive gameplay but that is not the case. I felt that there isn't really much grinding to do in this game more so than you should focus on time management. This is definitely a game everybody should check out.
2. Doom: The Dark Ages
I never really played the modern Doom games that came before this. I've played the OG Doom games before and those were fun but shallow experiences. So moving into the newer games, it was something new for me. In my opinion, this is the best FPS game that came out this year.
I think some levels were a bit of a slog, such as the ones where you were riding the dragon but the mech fights and regular combat was really enjoyable. I loved how each parry with the shield felt so satisfying. It made me feel like a badass, especially with the soundtrack. The game reminded me a lot of Titanfall 2 but without the parkour.
3. Katana Zero
I was pretty glamoured by the pixel art of this game and got suckered into buying it. I wouldn't call this game 'difficult' because it is actually very merciful. It's just really fast-paced and sometimes you can get stuck. I quite enjoyed the game because of the amount of satisfaction you get after beating a hard level is literally unmatched.
My only qualms with this game is that the story had one too many plot holes. I think by the end, it felt incomplete to me. As a result, the game is really short - only about 5 hours in length. I have a sneaking suspicion some content was cut for the upcoming DLC expansion (although it is free).
4. Doki Doki Literature Club
So this was a game I didn't really expect to blow me away but something about it kind of resonated with me. It is a visual novel so of course, there isn't really much to talk about gameplay-wise but the story kind of hurt me in a way.
This game IS the definition of unsettling. I think it mainly stems from you just sitting back and watching everything in-game fall apart before your eyes. I think the game being a visual novel made it more perfect because it removed a sense of agency we would have in other games.
To me, Sayori's story hit the hardest because sometimes, I could genuinely relate to her. The game just made me feel mad by the end because I felt like I could have genuinely changed something even though in reality the whole point of the game is to tell you that you don't have control.
An Awful lot of Shooters
I didn't really want to write a whole lot about these games so I decided to truncate them all into one small section. I played a reasonable number of FPS games this year. This one is focused on singleplayer.
I played through some of the Modern Warfare Reboot games. MW1 was really good. I think it was a much needed reboot and I would say it took the franchise in a new direction. Each character had depth to them and some moments in game, it felt like you made a genuine and thoughtful decision. The game wasn't just bland shooting and it had some essence to it.
MW2 was fine. It wasn't bad but it didn't really feel to me like a Call Of Duty game. The game emphasised stealth a little bit too much and it would be fine but there's just no action in it. There was no player agency, no shock moments making it feel neutered. As for MW3, I didn't bother downloading it because the reviews suggested I don't and my SSD space was already becoming quite full.
Oh, and how could I skip over the Battlefield 6 campaign? I'll be putting up a review on it soon but in the crux of it, it's not as bad as people say it is. It serves its job as a 'Battlefield' title well by giving you all the action and explosions you would typically expect from an entry so I was pretty satisfied with it.
Multiplayer Bonanza
I played a lot of multiplayer games despite them typically being out of my comfort zone. The biggest one being R6 Siege. I'm not terribly great at it because I just don't have the time to play ranked. The game is pretty novel and there's just nothing like it. They made the game free now so you can definitely give it a try.
I also decided to give Payday 3 a try, and I had lots of fun with it. They fixed a lot of the server issues and bugs by the time I played it so everything went very smoothly. I haven't played Payday 2 so I can't really judge much about it compared to predecessors but I had a grand old time with friends.
Tried out Valorant as well because my friends forced me. It was fine. I guess I was actually half-decent at this because it favours pure aim more compared to strategy. It is pretty much like Counter Strike with a fresh coat of paint. I had fun with it I guess. It's free so as I said before, you can pass judgment on it yourself.
Sins & Conclusions
So this year, I downloaded lots of games only to drop them out of disinterest at the time. I'm sure I could potentially enjoy those games but they just didn't captivate me enough at the time to warrant a play through. I've added those to my backlog and I'll eventually get through them. Therefore, I earned the badge of 'Gluttony' this year.
I think most of the games I played through this year were good. I didn't really hate any of them or found them trash. The worst game I could have played this year would have just been mediocre. I spent good use of my free time and I hope that can continue into next year.