This was a hefty year for me and video games. Probably because everything around us is crumbling and terrible and video games were one of the easier disassociation techniques.
Now the "as always disclaimer" is that these are not games that came out in 2025, just games I played in 2025. I don't have the time to stay up to date on all the newest games. (God damned adult job)
28. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2024
I'm not into Metrovanias most the time, so I assumed this game wasn't going to hit all that hard. But it didn't just not hit hard, it barely hit at all, and it was mostly the combat. It just didn't feel good and there's a lot of combat in the game.
27. Dishonored
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2012
Dishonored is one of those games that should be right in my wheelhouse. A stealth sandbox game with collectables, yes please. The story was intriguing and some of the early maps were interesting with all the various paths you could use. However, they kept reusing the same maps over and over, which worked for their other game on this list, but not enough changed from mission to mission in Dishonored. I rolled credits, but the last 2-3 missions were a slog to get through.
Full review here.
26. Marvel Midnight Suns
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2022
The only reason this is so low on the list is it didn't work well with the Steamdeck.
The cinematics looked like garbage and the aspect ratio was all weird. It really took me out of the game. I plan on going back to it, (maybe if I get a Steambox that handles resolution better) but for now, it sits on my digital shelf, installed, but not played.
25. Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2024
I was ready for another Dragon Age, at least I thought I was. The Veilguard had obvious systems that were hot during development but fell out of favor. So there were a lot of systems that seemed half made. The combat was tedious and there was a lot of it.
The thing Veilgaurd had going for it was a pretty decent story. I wanted to see how it progressed and that ultimately is what kept propelling me forward. I finished the game, I briefly thought about cleaning up the last few achievements, but I just couldn't bring myself to go back into the world to do cleanup.
Full review here.
24. Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2024
When the PlayStation came out, we had never moved in a 3D world. So every game felt awkward. You just got used to it after a while.
I can still play all the original Resident Evil games and deke through the zombie hordes. I can still play an action game like Army Men 3D.
I used to be able to do that with Tomb Raider, but alas, I've lost my touch. I was excited to be back in the opening dungeons of Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2, but I could barely navigate the clunky platforming.
And Tomb Raider 3 came out when I had moved on. I had played it maybe once. I couldn't figure out where to go. Even looking up guides, I couldn't figure out where they were telling me to go in the modern day. That first level is a confusing mess.
Still was a fun little nostalgia trip and this is something I will probably boot up every few months just to play and have a dumb smile for a few minutes.
23. Syphon Filter
- Hardware: PS3
- Release Year: 1999
Wow, two PS1 games right next to each other in this list. This is the year I signed back up to PlayStation Plus. Which meant I also all of a sudden had licenses for a bunch of PS1 games I got on my PS3 a decade ago.
To verify those licenses still worked, I loaded up Syphon Filter, the classic action adventure spy thriller. It was meant to be like a 10 minute session and then I looked down and I had beat four levels and was an hour in.
There's definitely quirks to the game. 3D movement and aiming still hadn't been figured out. But ultimately, it works better than it should. And yes, torching someone by holding the taser way too long is still fun.
22. Desktop Survivor '98
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2025
Desktop Survivor is one of the better attempts. It plays on the nostalgia of Windows 98 by using a desktop that looks like it, icons of the era, and sound effects.
It's still no Vampire Survivor and I still find myself going back to VS more than DS, but it's a damn good game.
21. Jurassic World Evolution 2
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2021
I'd always been curious about Jurassic World Evolution 2. A theme park simulator revolving around dinosaurs... yeah that sounds awesome.
The moment it was Steam Deck verified and on sale, I grabbed it.
It's a good game. It works better on the Steam Deck than it should. I started playing it during the depths of a terrible world and depression and I just wasn't ready to learn a bunch of new systems. I will go back to this and it will likely be higher up on the list.
20. Doom
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2019
Yeah, I'm back on my bullshit, Doom lives permanently on my Steam Deck for anytime I want to boot it up.
All of the Dooms got updated recently and now include some additional campaigns including John Romero's 2019 Sigil. Remember that? Sort of dropped during Covid and gave us all hope and something to talk about?
I finally played it. It's brutally hard. I find myself saving about every room I clear, sometimes finding I'm stuck and need to go back a few saves and try to conserve ammo.
It's still fun to play Doom, especially when there's new content coming.
19. Vampire Survivors
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2022
Vampire Survivors has been in my top 10 every year since 2023 I think. (I'm not looking, but it feels right) This is the first year it's dropped out of the top 10, but I think it still speaks to the addiction of this game.
It dropped, mostly because the things I still have to try and unlock and see are multi-step processes where I need to unlock a weapon, find a specific thing in a level, with a specific character and it's been irritating enough to keep me out of the game as much as I normally have been.
18. Hades
- Hardware: Steam Deck
- Release Year: 2020
I put on the "God Mode" that makes it significantly easier and started making progress again. And then it got me in the mood to play Rogue Legacy again and I just never went back to Hades.
I do plan on beating this. I will go back. 2026 will be the year of seeing credits. And maybe it'll be good enough to get me into Hades 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment