Welcome to SUPERJUMP's annual Games of the Year celebration.As always, I like to introduce these awards by expressing gratitude for the year gone by.

Thank you game developers.
You are creating marvels of art and science - important cultural artifacts - under increasingly difficult circumstances. Whether you work for a large studio or you're a solo developer: thank you. We continue to live in an increasingly turbulent and intolerant world; your creative talents not only give many of us a brief escape from this reality, but importantly, you remind us of the importance of human creativity and connection.

Thank you SUPERJUMP team.
It is truly the honour of my life to work with so many extremely talented people who, aside from being brilliant creative minds, are also truly outstanding human beings. Our organisation is fuelled by talent, passion, and love: love for video games, love for the people who make them, and love for each other as friends and colleagues.

Thank you special guests.
We are joined every year by special guests from across the games industry - whether game development/publishing or media - who give up their time to craft GOTY reflections to share with our audience.

Thank you to our Backers.
Our ability to create that authors' coop environment is heavily influenced by our incredible Backers. Thanks to you, we are able to pay authors every single month. And thanks to you, we have avoided any need to gate our work behind pesky paywalls. On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank you for believing in us and supporting our hard work.

Thank you to our Editors.
Without our brilliant Editors, I couldn't keep this publication humming so smoothly. They also contribute an enormous amount of their time to edit this unbelievably large Games of the Year feature every single year. Thank you to Bryan, Rachel, Briana, and Cat. You are true superstars!

Finally, I'd like to make one final point, just in case there is any doubt: at SUPERJUMP, we believe video games are for everyone. Everyone. Everybody deserves dignity, respect, and - above all - safety. No exceptions. Nobody left behind.

And now, on with the show. Please enjoy this extraordinary and comprehensive celebration of 2025's best video games. And if you like what we're doing, how about buying us a coffee?

James Burns
Founder and Editor in Chief

2025 GAMES OF THE YEAR

We have very deliberately titled this feature 2025 Games of the Year. The plural matters. As per our tradition, SUPERJUMP does not award an overall “Game of the Year” trophy to any single game.

Rather, each contributor can select up to three of their favourite games released in 2025 to discuss. Naturally, some games have more contributions than others (so, if you like, you could deduce a “winner” on that basis).

In order for a game to be considered for this piece, it must have been released in 2025. This is a slightly rubbery criterion that also includes:

• Games as a service experiences that have seen substantial updates in 2025.
• Games that originally released in a previous year but were ported to a new platform this year or saw some form of new release.

SPECIAL GUESTS

This is our fifth Games of the Year feature, and as has become tradition, we've invited several special guests to join us. As always, our guests are people we love and admire from around the games industry. We're honoured that they took the time to join us in celebrating the best games of 2025.

Daryl Baxter

Naomi Jackson

James O'Connor

Amy Potter-Jarman

Nate Shearer

Jörg Tittel

Daryl Baxter is a writer, author, and podcaster. He is the author of three books (The Making of Tomb Raider, 50 Years of Boss Fights, and The Making of Tomb Raider: 1997 - 2000), and is a prolific tech and gaming journalist.

Naomi Jackson is a video editor and online presenter/community builder. In addition to editing national and international stories for the ABC Australia network desk, Naomi is a producer/podcast host at SIFTER and a video editor here at SUPERJUMP.

James O'Connor is a multi-award-winning author and narrative designer. His contributions to video game journalism are extensive (including a wide range of print publications from Edge and Hyper to IGN, GameSpot, and Game Informer among many others). James has also contributed to multiple video games as script editor, narrative lead, and narrative designer (including Power Rangers Mighty Force, Ava's Manor, and Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo). James' latest book project is about the making of Untitled Goose Game (check it out here).

Amy Potter-Jarman is the Director of Marketing at Synty Studios. She is the creative force behind Frosty Games Fest (a digital showcase of games made in Australia and Aotearoa, NZ), buzzbang.co (a boutique marketing service supporting ANZ indie game makers), and Pixel Explorers Club (a digital community for curious, short indie game lovers).

Nate Shearer is a video game journalist. He is a regular contributor to Qualbert (specialising in a wide range of game reviews) and NextPlay (crafting diverse stories from news and interviews to reviews and special features).

Jörg Tittel is a director, writer, producer, and publisher working across video games and film. He is the Founder and Creative Director of RapidEyeMovers, the studio behind the Golden Joystick-nominated C-Smash VRS. He is also the creative mind behind The Last Worker, and Skew.

THE GAMES

Presented in alphabetical order (this is not a ranking).

"9 Kings isn’t merely a good example of a burgeoning sub-genre —it’s something much closer to Slay the Spire, pushing out into brand new territory."

9 Kings

By Sad Socket

Andrew Johnston

On a personal level, I’ll say this about 9 Kings: This is the first time I've followed a game throughout its Early Access period, putting each individual update through its paces. It was worth the effort.

9 Kings is a simple concept at heart, but one that provides a diverse wealth of content. With its hour-long, city builder meets turn-based tactics mechanics, it’s a game riding the quick strategy trend. However, while most of those games are rigidly recreating 4X gameplay in a smaller package, 9 Kings offers a gameplay loop designed from the ground up with the busy strategy fan in mind. As such, it outmaneuvers its competition and stands out by a clear mile.

9 Kings isn’t merely a good example of a burgeoning sub-genre —it’s something much closer to Slay the Spire, pushing out into brand new territory. It’s an ever-evolving game full of little surprises and details, and a must-have for anyone with an interest in strategy.

"The game's sense of grief feels very real, and its cartoony rendering of Jakarta is lovely."

Afterlove EP

By Pikselnesia

James O'Connor

I've decided to use my submissions in this list to point towards some games that have, in my mind, been underrepresented on end-of-year round-up lists, and Afterlove EP is a game that I have a deep fondness for. It follows a young man, Rama, who lost his girlfriend Cinta a year ago.

As the game opens, he starts to figure out how to pick up the pieces of his life and carry on. He needs to reunite with his band, attend therapy sessions, and decide whether or not he's ready to date again. How the game ends will depend on your actions and choices. It's a lovely and heartfelt experience that was created in the wake of the team's own loss: creative director Mohammad Fahmi died in the middle of development.

The game's sense of grief feels very real, and its cartoony rendering of Jakarta is lovely. It's not a perfectly tight experience, but in some ways that makes it more endearing.

"But for what it's worth, I feel like I'm part of an active, living community, something I haven't felt since Elden Ring."

ARC Raiders

by Embark Studios

Ignas Vieversys

I know my populist choice for 2025 GOTY might send me straight into SUPERJUMP's purgatory (where game writers like myself are strapped in for the video game equivalent of Clockwork Orange's chair sequence, with footage of Indie Game: The Movie beamed right into our retinas), but I have to go for Arc Raiders, AI-related discourse be damned.

This is an extraction shooter that has my favorite bits of Hunt: Showdown, including sound design, that crunchy gun feeling, and an infinite pool of adrenaline. It shares the post-apocalyptic horror/tension of The Last of Us (played out in real-time, no script!), with enough No Country for Old Men bullets-whizzing-past-your-head moments (while being chased for dear life) to sustain Coen-heads like myself through this cold winter.

However, no matter how good the mechanics and those ray-traced sunsets in Buried City are, the real star of Arc Raiders is the proximity chat. You can talk your way out of being turned into Swiss cheese or thank a random stranger for deciding to revive you after shooting you from a mile away (and turning you into their pet monkey). You can trash-talk a team of three when being cornered while knowing the chances of survival are Prosciutto-slice slim.

Listen, I played a lot of great games in 2025 – Silksong, Total Chaos, Clair Obscur, Baby Steps – but none of them felt as refreshing as this cyberpunk-dystopian extraction shooter where people either team up against deadly robots or shoot each other Wild West style for a lemon or two and a dog leash. Sure, Arc Raiders doesn't exactly shovel a great deal of matter into the tube marked "Evidence for Video Games’ Potential as capital-A art." But for what it's worth, I feel like I'm part of an active, living community, something I haven't felt since Elden Ring. And for that alone, this game gets my GOTY lemon.

"And Roger is an unmissable example of the power of video games."

And Roger

by TearyHand Studio

Amy Potter-Jarman

One thing about me is I love a one-sitting game experience. This is a game I strongly believe is best played with as little prior knowledge as possible, so I will keep this brief. If you’re interested in an emotionally resonant game, with a beautiful two-tone, hand-drawn aesthetic, that packs an enormous narrative punch into its short 1 hour runtime, And Roger is an unmissable example of the power of video games.

"The dialogue and sound are hilarious - it’s all so wonderfully cruel and strangely affecting - there’s simply no other game like it..."

Baby Steps

by Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo, and Maxi Boch

Jörg Tittel

Developed by indie greats Bennett Foddy (QWOP, Getting Over It) Gabe Cuzzillo (Ape Out) and friends, I like to describe Baby Steps as Daft Stranding.

In this game, all you have to do is control a hapless loser’s legs and feet and make it up a sprawling mountain full of increasingly insane challenges.

The dialogue and sound are hilarious - it’s all so wonderfully cruel and strangely affecting - there’s simply no other game like it and the less I spoil here, the better.

Just keep on your pajamas and clamber.

"I became absolutely addicted..."

Balatro

By LocalThunk

Cat Webling

Though the game came out in 2024, the community has absolutely exploded in 2025, unveiling collaborations with other popular titles like Don't Starve, Among Us, Stardew Valley, and even The Witcher 3! I became absolutely addicted; I now have the game on three different platforms, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

"BallisticNG feels like both a love letter and a fully realised game in its own right."

BallisticNG (1.4 Update)

By Neognosis

Ben Rowan

In 2025, BallisticNG finally hit “feature complete” with its last major update, version 1.4. The update delivered a rebuilt physics mode, new ships and tracks, refreshed menus and UI, plus a stack of quality-of-life improvements including stronger modding tools and plenty of under-the-hood polish. More importantly, it marked the game’s final form and cemented it as one of 2025’s standout indies.

Boiled down, BallisticNG is the closest thing we have to a modern re-imagining of the classic PS1-era Wipeout series. It’s an anti-gravity racer that understands what made those original games so special: bold iconography, angular ship design, ridiculous speed, intense combat, razor-thin racing lines, and super satisfying airbrakes that let you carve through twisting hairpins and chicanes.

I still love Wipeout 3: Special Edition on the PS1, and I’ll drop back in anytime I need that hit of nostalgia and adrenaline. BallisticNG is the modern, fan-made follow-up to those late-90s classics that defined the genre. It nails the floaty rhythm that feels like surfing on magnets, where every mistake gets punished and you’ll lap a track so many times your left thumb starts to hurt.

First released in 2018 and refined over the past seven years, there’s a huge amount of accumulated content on offer too. Most ridiculous is the sheer number of tracks, with the quality matching the quantity. They’re gorgeous and varied, packed with smart lines, cheeky shortcuts and weapon placement that keeps every lap feeling fresh.

And when the speed classes get truly unhinged, the game stays smooth and responsive, letting you lock into the music and hit that tunnel-vision flow state. With the 2025 update putting the final polish on the whole package, BallisticNG feels like both a love letter and a fully realised game in its own right. It is easily one of this year’s best racers.

"The game is a nesting doll of mysteries. You think you figure things out, at first, and then something surprises you on the next run."

Blue Prince

By Dogubomb

Naomi Jackson

The subtle double meaning behind the name of this game captures its charm perfectly. In 2025 this game had me intrigued, entranced and utterly, hopelessly absorbed.

The simple controls, muted colours and faint, elegant music rightfully allow Blue Prince's spectacular story to take precedence as the mystery of Mt Holly and its previous inhabitants worms its way into my brain where it re-emerges long after I step away, beckoning me back to explore its halls once more.

Nate Shearer

After raving about this incredible puzzle game I was reviewing early last year, I somehow managed to convince my partner to play it. After sitting down next to her and talking her through the basics of the game, I went completely hands off, not wanting to spoil the experience. It was magical to see the things that sparked so much joy in me a month prior were also beginning to electrify her mind in the same exact way.

The game is so subtly moreish and well designed that I don’t share a love of video games with Chloe, so to see her get home from work each day and practically jump right back into my world was so important to me. For weeks on end, I got to share the thing I love most in the world with the person I love most in the world. Blue Prince was my GOTY for 2025 not only because of what the game was, but what it gave me.

Rachel Alm

I used to love puzzle game growing up. Nancy Drew was my go-to, and recently I've taken a keener interest in low-key games that I can play in a few sessions or generally just pick up and put down.

Blue Prince is not that game. I found myself up far too late or playing for far too many hours trying to unlock all of the mysteries of the darned maze-like manor house.

Blue Prince does not, typically, test my patience, as some puzzle games might (and certainly have). It is curious enough in its slipping of secrets to you that I felt like a cat pawing at a new toy. All I wanted to do was figure it out. I've taken a great deal longer to do that than expected, because my tendency to rush the game meant I didn't linger in its many rooms or search for any deeper clues; but as I played, I realized I had to play more thoughtfully.

The game is a nesting doll of mysteries. You think you figure things out, at first, and then something surprises you on the next run. It is a rogue-like, a genre I've only really experienced through Hades, but it is delightfully different in how "just one more" feels too much like I'm in a gambling house.

The number of times I'd say that to myself – "just one more day" – and I'd inevitably wind up playing through 4 more. Each new potential door feels like it might be the one you need, and I don't know how it manages it, but Blue Prince's randomization mechanics and execution of item dispersal and acquisition (being that they reset everyday) makes it more compelling to play.

"Clair Obscur is, to put it simply, a very important game."

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

By Sandfall Interactive

Rachel Alm

Enough will be said about this game this year by many people, but it really is that fantastic. I'm usually story-aspected when it comes to games, but Clair Obscur's gameplay was one of the reasons I kept coming back. The entire system of timing parries, dodges, and jumps combined elements of action and turn-based gameplay that I, personally, hadn't seen before. I'm often lazy when it comes to games that require "grinding", something I tend to more so associate with turn-based RPGs, but Clair's combat cycle and enemy variation make its battles addictively repayable.

Clair Obscur excels, likewise, in its art direction; its expansive world and general commitment to its core aesthetics create a beautiful, cohesive visual narrative that really is unlike anything out today. Maybe Bioshock? It fills rich, florid environments with sketchpad creations against a haunting backdrop of pseudo-Victorian/Regency iconography. It is breathlessly artful throughout the entire run. There are some levels, such as the musical desert of Sirene, that are so achingly lovely I spent the entire time immersed in the music and the setting to the point of not wanting to progress past it. Sirene, siren: it certainly became its name.

The story, usually my make-or-break when it comes to enjoyment of a game, is lovingly melancholic. The color scheme betrays its mood – dark black, bright gold, deep red – and we are left to start the game on an opening scene that treats tragedy as a surety, nonetheless worth celebration. We play in the beginning as a character – however briefly, just a walk down a crowded, flower-strewn street – who is dead by the end of its opening scene. Clair Obscur is, to put it simply, a very important game.

"Since finishing it, I’ve found myself enjoying this hobby of gaming again."

Consume Me

by Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder

Nate Shearer

Finishing Consume Me has been one of the most important gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time. Outside of the game’s clever, gamified design of everyday tasks and quirky art, I fell in love with the message of Consume Me. As someone that constantly puts too much on their plate, the game’s depictions of anxiety, societal pressures, and growing into oneself resonated with me on such a deep level.

Consume Me made me introspect more than I had done with any other piece of media last year, smacking me in the face with an ending that had me pondering the futility of stretching myself thin to the point of collapse. Since finishing it, I’ve found myself enjoying this hobby of gaming again. When I find myself beginning to slip, I know I can always revisit that tear-welling ending and reground myself.

"I adore the gorgeous 2D animation."

Contract Rush DX

By Team Ficus

Priya Sridhar

It was a delight to play Contract Rush DX this year. You get the joy of a shooting game with a fun story and boss battles that keep you on your toes. Or on the ledge, depending on which contract you have decided to complete. I do wonder how we can be discreet when at least one target has a huge ceremony to attend on television. But discreet we have to be, or our characters don't get paid.

Contract Rush's premise is simple. Times are hard; how do you pay bills when the coffee shop has so few customers? Simple: you assassinate! Use coffee and other cafe items to keep you energized. And you'll need the firepower – portals to hell open up at the wrong time, or you might fail to get the right power-up just when the boss has appeared. Time to load up, hope for the best, and try again if needed. Just watch out for monsters and unwanted witnesses.

Contract Rush DX makes sure to balance a high difficulty level with plenty of alternative strategies and ample ways to practice in the tutorial. It helps that you get multiple lives and checkpoints, so you don't have to go all the way back to the beginning each time a bad fall ends in spikes. Not being penalized makes a huge difference in the fun factor of the play experience.

I adore the gorgeous 2D animation. The game is hand-drawn, and the developers show a unique style that lends well to the gameplay. I fell in love with this world - even through the tutorial level - which decides to get demonic while showing us the ropes.

"Death Stranding 2 asserts its divisive and impressive storytelling regiment, reminding us that creativity is still possible in gaming's most expensive spaces."

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

By Kojima Productions

Brandon Chinn

There was a particular moment in Death Stranding 2, as I directed Sam Porter Bridges up a slope in Mexico. The overlarge moon was hanging like a luminescent disc over my destination, my sight artistically directed toward an unfamiliar bunker perched at the top of the ridge. The star-speckled sky oppressed the mountain ridge while Dancing Ghosts by Hania Rani played, and I thought, 'I'm home again.'

Death Stranding 2 accomplished what often seems artistically and mechanically impossible: Death Stranding is an incomparable experience, and somehow the sequel feels both immediately familiar and foreign, a tribute to both technical and creative expertise. Between the forest fires and the monorails and the endless trek through Australia, Death Stranding 2 asserts its divisive and impressive storytelling regiment, reminding us that creativity is still possible in gaming's most expensive spaces. Death Stranding, as a series, continues to not only be an outlet for Kojima's self-indulgence, but irrefutable proof that creative design and cohesive team-oriented development create spectacular experiences that cannot be replicated in any other form of media. Keep on keepin' on.

Daryl Baxter

I never understood the first Death Stranding, despite it being a perfect fit during COVID, due to its delivery system and isolation. But with On the Beach, Kojima sprinkled some action into the mix, complete with a bunch of MGS references, especially at the end. Having become a dad in 2023, several moments hit me hard, which made me understand Sam Porter Bridges' motivations far more than the previous game. It's also a great showcase of the PS5's power, with fantastic landscapes and moments.

James Burns

Why aren't more big budget games set in Australia? Sure, Death Stranding 2 isn't exactly an accurate depiction of my home country (although to be fair, it's set in a post-apocalyptic future, so it's not attempting any contemporary accuracy), but nevertheless, I think it does capture something about what makes this continent so magical and unique. From the vivid red soil of the outback to the strange liminality of massive pieces of infrastructure ferrying industrial cargo through empty deserts; there's something truly awe-inspiring about Death Stranding 2's depiction of Australia.

But even more importantly - and as Brandon said above - Death Stranding 2 really accomplishes something I didn't think possible: it brings back so many loveable elements from the first game while still ambitiously crafting its own identity that is truly compelling on its own terms. Yes, the emphasis has shifted: Death Stranding 2 assumes you've played the first game, resulting in a gameplay baseline that provides a platform for further expansion. This means there's less emphasis on finding your footing from moment to moment. Now you're delving into far more complex logistics management with much larger payloads and a significantly greater inclusion of combat (which feels so engaging and rewarding in and of itself).

In a world so focused on nostalgia, sequels, and risk aversion, Death Stranding 2 feels like something that really shouldn't exist in the current era (a big budget experience that is unapologetically weird on almost every level and doesn't rely on frequent callbacks from decades ago). But I'm so very glad it does exist. The art form of video games is all the better thanks to this series.

"I finished the game and immediately wanted to dive in again and see how my choices might play out differently for every character, which really made Dispatch a standout of the year for me."

Dispatch

By AdHoc Studio

Amy Potter-Jarman

This game reminded me how much I love the interactive narrative genre, as a worthy spiritual successor to the Telltale Games.

Half the game is dialogue-led story, and half is management style gameplay where you’re assigning a team of superhero misfits to a variety of jobs across an LA-like city. I found myself equally invested in the narrative cut scenes as I was in the management gameplay. I can’t believe how invested I was in playing what was ultimately call center work, but I really had a blast clocking gleefully in for each episode and learning the quirks of each character. And what a cast of ethically questionable super hero characters they are, thanks to the brilliant writing and incredible voice acting!

I’ve been burned by “choices matter” games in the past where decisions that should have been impactful were made to feel inconsequential, and vice versa. But in Dispatch I truly felt like I was building my own version of the protagonist. My choices were clearly played out in crucial narrative arcs, but also in minor interactions. I finished the game and immediately wanted to dive in again and see how my choices might play out differently for every character, which really made Dispatch a standout of the year for me.

CJ Wilson

As someone who loves games with branching stories that provide choices which can affect your relationships with other characters, I was cautiously optimistic about Dispatch. While I was confident in AdHoc Studio based on their seasoned pedigree, where many of the developers used to work at Telltale, I didn’t know what to expect from the story and gameplay. The idea of a superhero workplace comedy was intriguing to me, even though I wasn’t sure how I felt about the management-sim mechanics, where you choose which hero can compete a given task, like saving people's life's from a natural disaster or stopping a villain.

I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed playing through Dispatch. It even ran well on my Steam Deck with no issues. This game had some of the funniest dialogue that I have heard in a video game, which made me burst out laughing multiple times. The voice cast was outstanding, with each performer given the chance to shine through compelling delivery. Playing as Robert, a disgraced superhero who had to manage a team of former supervillains, was interesting to see. Many of the choices I made felt like I was bonding with my team, as they became friends in my eyes, while I tried to steer them toward heroism and having fun with them as well.

While I have yet to replay Dispatch, I can’t wait to start a new playthrough and see what new decisions I make that could get me to a new ending.

"If you haven't played Donkey Kong Bananza and you have even a passing interest in 3D platformers, you are absolutely missing out. It's a must-play experience."

Donkey Kong Bananza

By Nintendo

James Burns

As much as I love me some nostalgia, I'm a firm believer that we're currently living through Nintendo's most bold and creative era. The Switch/Switch 2 period has been remarkable in terms of Nintendo's willingness to innovate and push its core franchises much further than ever before.

Donkey Kong Bananza is the latest - and perhaps the best - example of Nintendo's unflinching boldness at the moment. Although nowhere near as commercially successful as Mario in the modern era, Donkey Kong remains Nintendo's original breakout mascot. And with Donkey Kong Bananza, Nintendo didn't just give him a shiny 2020s facelift; they cast aside much of his gameplay history in order to unleash entirely new possibilities. The result is an experience that doesn't feel like an iteration on past Donkey Kong games. It is, rather, a surprising and clever new 3D platformer that dramatically reinterprets the entire genre. Its simple core premise (the ability to almost completely destroy entire levels with DK's fists) is the anchor for an array of cohesive and lovingly-crafted systems that intuitively stack on top of each other in ways that will keep a smile permanently plastered on your face.

If you haven't played Donkey Kong Bananza and you have even a passing interest in 3D platformers, you are absolutely missing out. It's a must-play experience. Donkey Kong - and Pauline in her vibrant and loveable new form - is far from a call to nostalgia here. These characters are now, again, ambassadors of the truly cutting edge as befits their legendary status.

"Flaws aside, Doom: The Dark Ages’ combat experiment largely succeeds, with the defensive shield confidently rewriting the rules of engagement in a 30-year-old franchise."

Doom: The Dark Ages

By id Software

Antony Terence

This year’s Doom keeps its kills bloody and its firearms ultra-violent. While rapid movement has been a pillar of its predecessors, there’s a different rhythm at play in Doom: The Dark Ages.

One key addition shifts its pacing: the Shield Saw. While Doom: Eternal had you evade enemy projectiles, you now block and parry them. The shield isn’t just a defensive tool; you can throw it to pin large enemies or tear through small ones.

A shield slam lets aggressive players zip toward enemies at incredible speeds. At this distance, crunchy melee weapons tempt you to go Whac-A-Mole on some poor demons. The slower combat loop works remarkably well in The Dark Ages’ larger battlegrounds, which are packed with environmental puzzles and high-density hordes.

Having a shield means you’re pelted with even more bullets, but with a well-timed parry, green projectiles are returned to their senders. Parrying in quick succession felt like boxing bouts more than cross-dimensional demon hunting.

Stepping out of combat is when The Dark Ages’ power fantasy cracks. Tame fistfights with a 30-foot-tall mech and hovering on a dragon to dodge fire from stationary turrets made for dull digressions. Flaws aside, Doom: The Dark Ages’ combat experiment largely succeeds, with the defensive shield confidently rewriting the rules of engagement in a 30-year-old franchise.

"Gaming studios should be reminded that interesting multiplayer experiences can continue to happen, should companies be brave enough to create something new."

Elden Ring Nightreign

By FromSoftware Inc.

Brandon Chinn

Multiplayer gaming experiences feel fewer and farther between these days for gamers who are not interested in firing a motley of guns or building temporary structures. While FromSoftware has proven itself again and again, there was momentary doubt that the Elden Ring format could be so easily transferred over to a multiplayer, rogue-lite experience.

Endless hiccups and continual updates have marginally improved an experience that, while flawed, has become more than a bonding ritual for my siblings and I throughout 2025. Frustrating, difficult, and sometimes confusing, Nightreign might be a strange pick for Game of the Year, but after spending 200 hours in the game and playing it nearly every evening for months, the ritual has grown into something precious, the sort of experience that we have been woefully unable to find for nearly a decade. Gaming studios should be reminded that interesting multiplayer experiences can continue to happen, should companies be brave enough to create something new.

What do we think? Just one more run?

"There are a lot of games built on good and evil, but not many on naughtiness in the way Expelled! is. It's a real delight."

Expelled! An Overboard Game

By Inkle Studios

James O'Connor

There is perhaps no cooler narrative game studio than Inkle – in terms of both the games they make and the tools they've made available so that other people can also create narrative games. Expelled! is both a continuation and expansion of their previous "Overboard" concept, a reverse who-dunnit where each play session is focused on shifting blame and hiding your actions. It has a series of wicked, extremely fun twists hidden within, and the clockwork nature of the world they've built is truly a joy to poke at. There are a lot of games built on good and evil, but not many on naughtiness in the way Expelled! is. It's a real delight.

"The performances delivered within are continuously impressive, and made me feel like I was experiencing this well-trodden road for the first time again."

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

By Square Enix

Brandon Chinn

Does a thirty-year-old game deserve a spot on anyone's Game of the Year list? After seeing Final Fantasy Tactics make NPR's list of best games in 2025, it cemented for me what FFT has been for decades: the defining game of its genre.

It would be somewhat strange in any other genre for one game to completely dominate and dictate the good and bad for three decades, but Final Fantasy Tactics has continued to do just that, and with the many impeccable quality of life updates brought upon by the Ivalice Chronicles, it will be the defining version of the game from here on out. Not only is FFT: TIC responsible for bringing new players to this immaculate role-playing game, but it has again reminded gamers young and old that the life of a game is not beholden to launch cycles and updates and popularity contests. Final Fantasy Tactics has something to say, and as Yasumi Matsuno reminded us: "The will to resist is in our hands."

PJ Walerysiak

I imagine there existed a rather large club of Final Fantasy fans who trudged through less-than-ideal ways to play Final Fantasy Tactics over the years simply because we love that game. Playing it on an original PlayStation is great, but its aged complexion becomes noticeable, as we’ve grown accustomed to certain quality-of-life standards over time. The mobile version is fine. It works, it’s portable, but my hands and eyes would ache. It works well on a PlayStation 1 emulator, allowing for save states and the ability to fast-forward, but still, a void lingered.

Enter Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, its final Pokemon-esque evolution. The wait was worth it. This game, existing somewhere between a remaster and remake, is just SO damn good. Within its hearty stew of improvements, one ingredient rises to the top: the addition of voice acting. This new creative avenue adds incredible depth to every character, and thus enhances the game's overall storytelling. All the voice actors absolutely crushed their performances. I’ve played FFT a dozen or more times over the years, but only now do I find myself reevaluating characters, including ones I previously wrote off as one-dimensional assholes. I can even empathize with their positions, and more deeply care about characters that I felt were ancillary to the story.

I could sing the praises of the many other improvements all day. It all blends together to create an experience that feels and plays great. Yet I cannot say enough about the voice acting. So many elements contribute towards a game’s narrative design, and the original Final Fantasy Tactics already did a wonderful job with what it had. The performances delivered within are continuously impressive, and made me feel like I was experiencing this well-trodden road for the first time again.

"I love everything I’ve played from Supergiant Games. You can feel their dedication, passion, and joy for the craft come through in their games."

Hades 2

By Supergiant Games

PJ Walerysiak

Back in the original Hades days, I thoroughly devoured every bit of content the game had to offer. Months later I started anew and did it all over again. I wanted more Hades, even though it already provided a veritable smorgasbord of content and replayability. Thankfully, Supergiant felt the same!

There was zero doubt in my mind that Hades 2 would be an incredible game. Supergiant Games knows what they’re doing, and simply does not miss. As I expected, Hades 2 consumed a majority of my gaming hours from the moment of release to the moment I rolled credits.

Hades 2 gives you more, the flavor never fading over the many accrued hours and runs. Instead, it changes and develops as you continue to enjoy it. It makes me think of the everlasting gobstopper from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; You can likely enjoy this game for just as long! Each run feels unique thanks to the mindbogglingly intricate web of reactive dialogue, and the creative weapons, aspects, and customizations you can give Melinoe. One run can make you laugh, while another may stoke grim determination. One can frustrate you, while another results in you finishing triumphant and glowing with satisfaction.

The writing is phenomenal (of course), and so is the soundtrack (of course). I can give the same exact praise to every single aspect of this game, each with their own “(of course)”. I love everything I’ve played from Supergiant Games. You can feel their dedication, passion, and joy for the craft come through in their games. Some arcane spellwork of ethereal osmosis transmits that love and passion for their games into us, the players.

"...I feel it to be worthy of a mention here due to how uniquely special it set out to be."

Hell Is Us

By Rogue Factor

Charlotte Huston

There were a few games that had the unfortunate fate of releasing within the same window as Hollow Knight: Silksong. Hell Is Us was one of them, though as a AA game, it fared better than others. Nonetheless, while I believe there were better games in 2025, I feel it to be worthy of a mention here due to how uniquely special it set out to be.

Hell Is Us does not live in one genre alone. At heart, it is an immersive sim. There's no hand-holding in its semi-open world. You are thrown into the fictional nation of Hadea, a war-torn country based on Balkan culture. The atmosphere is bleak, the soundtrack liminal, the energy brooding like a constantly brewing storm on a hot summer day. It is held up by combat that is Souls-ish in style, though it refrains from falling into too many of the Souls genre's pitfalls. There are no RPG systems, really; it uses combat as a means to an end, keeping the game rather well-paced.

At times, it is also a puzzle game. Never a truly difficult one, mind you, but with puzzles along the lines of "comfortable" if nothing else. This works into my biggest lasting memory of Hell Is Us – the tone. The game is gritty and does not avoid the horrors of war when you're exploring. Some towns you'll visit are still burning, while another is still occupied, its civilians hauntingly gone as if vanished into thin air. Creative Director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête was a former Art Director on the Deus Ex series and that influence shines across the board here in what is one of the biggest hidden gems of 2025.

"Silksong is my top game of 2025."

Hollow Knight: Silksong

By Team Cherry

Naomi Jackson

A fantastically challenging, frame-perfect test of technique, this Aussie-made sequel to the popular Hollow Knight has the polish you would expect from a game seven years in the making.

The springy, fast-paced yet methodical nature of the combat will delight and entice you to give it 'just one more try'. This game weaves a web in more ways than one — the intelligent way areas of the deceptive map are hidden adds to the fun of untangling this game's story as if it were a really tight silk knot, while tools and map resources can only be purchased with hard-to-come-by currency that is easy to lose, cleverly forcing hoarders like me to accept and surrender.

My love/hate relationship with this haunted kingdom that's a dream to unlock, but a nightmare as I try to unlock it, grows more and more affectionate every day I dare to play it.

PJ Walerysiak

Silksong is my top game of 2025. There’s little I can write that I haven’t already written about its game design. Instead, I offer my experience within the realm of Pharloom, and what it made me feel.

Hope: For breaking free of imprisonment to discover a new world. For seeing a respected game studio deliver on an ancient promise, and having fun doing it.

Sorrow and anger: For the countless lives churned through in service to a flailing would-be god. For those downtrodden and brainwashed masses serving in pursuit of an artificial enlightenment that demands complete servitude. And seeing the real world reflected therein.

Wonder and an adventurous spirit: For the map that continued to grow in size and magic beyond all expectations. It turns out that repeatedly finding whole new biomes through hidden walls is one of my love languages.

Grief: For relationships, both budding and blossomed, that were suddenly demolished by brutal turns in a story, and for knowing that loss intimately.

Admiration and empathy: For the rebellion of community amidst despair, and persisting in a world rife with danger, religious manipulation, and disguised cruelty. And for those with a unique song in their hearts, shared only when a welcoming tune is played.

Silksong’s story is divided into acts, but the story I experienced felt like movements in a symphony. Slow and somber beats mingle with playful, curious notes peeking throughout the measures. Rapid blasts of danger and excitement. A steady, building rhythm leading to an emotional crescendo. Pace and feeling tied together, pulling the listener into adventure, summoned from string and wind. I can tell you what beats happened in each act, but those alone are hollow when compared against what they came together to create.

"It makes me appreciate the art that can only be told through a medium such as video games."

How To Walk Out The Door

by amptomp

Nate Shearer

Stumbling upon this right before the end of last year was a gift. How To Walk Out The Door delivers a succinct and poignant narrative in a game that lasts less than half a minute; one of love lost and how those bonds break easier every time we try and walk away.

It’s a testament to the beauty of the creative mind and what it can achieve despite the limitations that can be placed on it. It makes me appreciate the art that can only be told through a medium such as video games.

"Overall, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is my game of the year because it surprised me as a musou game, having an endearing story with peaceful undertones, charming characters, and satisfying combat."

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment

By Koei Tecmo

Philip Adrian

I often identify with the character designs, personalities, stories, and powers of supporting characters in media. This even includes designated damsels of distress like Zelda and their ironically elusive magical powers. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment shines a light on the supporting characters within the Zelda: Breath of the Wild world. Kicking ass with a Korok, Zora Warriors, Zelda, and more, never felt so refreshing.

Zelda is woken up in a field by Rauru and Sonia, the king and queen of Hyrule. The group is then attacked, and Zelda holds her own using her explosive light magic. That alone got an astounding "YES, THIS IS WHAT I WANT" from me. The kingdom takes her in and teaches her how to hone her powers to help find her way back home.

Hyrule is later attacked by Ganon, creating a war throughout the continent. Zelda and company make allies from multiple tribes who have lost important people in their lives during battle. Rauru's approach to fighting for peace is to be cordial with other factions, even if there was recent tension. I found this premise to be quite inspirational, considering real-world current events.

Age of Imprisonment includes a cast of diverse and stylish characters. Raphica is a Rico who attacks with airborne spinning kicks and volleys of arrows, and his pompadour is amazing! Lago is a Zora warrior whose swift sword slashes kind of reminded me of fencing, and he mixes in whirlpools with his combos. Characters can even perform flashy team-up attacks to inflict more damage.

Overall, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is my game of the year because it surprised me as a musou game, having an endearing story with peaceful undertones, charming characters, and satisfying combat.

"Into the Emberlands becomes empowering when dealing with a darkness that you can face and survive while helping those who have been lost for so long."

Into the Emberlands

By Tiny Roar

Priya Sridhar

Into the Emberlands asks an allegorical question and makes it literal: how do we guide those who are lost out of the darkness? The answer: With a lot of patience, memory, and careful resource management.

When Miasma invaded the Emberlands, they deprived the Lightbringers of their magic and villages of their residents. Those lost in the Miasma fell to the darkness, unable to return home or travel to find others. When you enter a village in need of renovations, you are the first Lightbringer who hasn't gotten lost in ages. That means you can find everyone who wandered past the boundary and slowly rebuild people's homes and businesses. The trick is to know when your lantern will go out, or you will become lost as well. You also have an incomplete map (so, no pressure) as the Miasma lurks around you. With the right navigation, you can find tools to extend your lantern's light and carve paths back to the village.

A game about finding those struck by disaster and getting them to safety sure feels familiar. No one could predict the Miasma in Emberlands or the sheer cruelty in ours. It hits close to home to those suffering from similar nonsense, where you can't blame the evil on a purple fog. And yet, in here, you don't have to let it overwhelm you.

Into the Emberlands becomes empowering when dealing with a darkness that you can face and survive while helping those who have been lost for so long. The way back feels warm and comforting, while the way forward is mysterious and foreboding. Still, you have to go forward, or you will be mired in safety without knowing who else needs you.

"I love the cute little-shape characters and the simple yet challenging organization, as well as the convenience of being able to play it on my Switch 2 wherever I go."

Is This Seat Taken?

By Poti Poti Studio

Cat Webling

This cute and quirky puzzle game is exactly the kind of relaxing, thoughtful, but not overthinking experience that people look for when the world is too stressful, and we need to feel in control of something. I love the cute little-shape characters and the simple yet challenging organization, as well as the convenience of being able to play it on my Switch 2 wherever I go.

"...the point here is that there's a certain beauty to what Keeper provides, and how it speaks to why gaming as a medium is so meaningful."

Keeper

By Double Fine

Charlotte Huston

When it comes to artistic vision in gaming, one of the games that I felt was most representative of that in 2025 was Keeper, a little game from the studio Double Fine. It was released in an awkward spot, between major releases from other members of the Big Three – Sony's Ghost of Yōtei and Pokémon Legends Z-A. Unfortunately, this caused Keeper to get brushed under the rug to a certain extent, and I was shocked to find it wasn't even nominated for Best Art Direction at The Game Awards. Though, the point here is that there's a certain beauty to what Keeper provides, and how it speaks to why gaming as a medium is so meaningful. Keeper is so blatantly different than those aforementioned games, yet they all coexist within the same medium.

Keeper is essentially a walking sim mixed with a puzzler. Though there are some light platforming segments, a majority of the gameplay involves the player in control of a living lighthouse, with a bird companion sitting atop it. There is no dialogue whatsoever, and any semblance of story must be assumed or taken from the player's own perspective. Lee Petty is the Creative Director, and he was an Art Director for games such as Broken Age. They use a Tim Burton-like art style here that strums the line of Grimbright and Noblebright in tone. At times it is dark and melancholic, while at others it is bright and hopeful. I'd love to delve into it further, but out of respect for Lee Petty's artistic vision, I would rather you experience Keeper for yourself. Petty himself even said as much, intending for players to preserve "some of the mystery for others wherever possible." May you always experience art on your own volition and terms.

"Star-Crossed World contains a multitude of beautiful additions to the already lovely levels contained in this forgotten land."

Kirby and the Forgotten Land + Star-Crossed World DLC

by Nintendo

Naomi Jackson

A stunning, sparkling wonderland awaits in this 2025 DLC. Star-Crossed World contains a multitude of beautiful additions to the already lovely levels contained in this forgotten land.

I inhaled the new small details and lore clues as if I were the pink blob himself and thoroughly enjoyed his new forms and the mechanics that came with them.

Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders

by Megagon Industries

Jörg Tittel

The game that saw my son and I through the pandemic was Berlin based Megagon Industries’ Lonely Mountains: Downhill.

Published by Thunderful, the hyper stylised mountain biker was hard as nails but the instant resets, beautiful visuals and sound - and the almost endless shortcuts and hidden corners made it a game we kept coming back to - and still do to this day.

For Snow Riders, Megagon have gone without a publisher but that hasn’t made them any less ambitious. This one’s about skiing and while it dons an equally great single player mode, Snow Riders shines in (crossplatform) multiplayer.

Now my daughter’s into the game, too, and we’ve all been competing against each other - crossplatform multiplayer with a super simple code system enabling play between PS5, a Steam Deck etc...

A recent update also added a chase camera (as opposed to the largely isometric semi-fixed cameras of Downhill) which has become my new default.

"The unmistakable sights and sounds of coastal Australia fill this cozy, beautiful world which invites you to explore and become part of the community."

Letters to Arralla

by Little Pink Clouds

Amy Potter-Jarman

I’m being very self indulgent with my list of titles submitted for this, so there was no way I couldn’t include the cutest, coziest, juiciest ANZ-made game of 2025 (in my humble opinion).

On the surface, sure, this is a game about delivering mail in a new-to-you city, but on a deeper level this is a game about the impact one person can have if they are just the right amount of nosy… I mean curious. As you deliver (and open) the mail and meet the vegetable townsfolk, you learn what makes Arralla special, and you become a force for connection.

The unmistakable sights and sounds of coastal Australia fill this cozy, beautiful world which invites you to explore and become part of the community. ‘Letters to Arralla’ is a snack-size, wholesome experience which delivers many moments of humour, whimsy, and calm. Plus, you can take photos, which is what really matters to me in a game, let's be honest!

"My daughter and I love a good Vs Grand Prix, and it's safe to say I don't go easy on her, but I can see she enjoys the challenge. Either way, my daughter is obsessed with the game, and she especially loves playing with me and the time we spend together."

Mario Kart World

By Nintendo

Mike Wilson

2025 was not the best year of gaming for me. I spent most of my time playing catch-up with my already large backlog, but there is one shining light for me from this past year.

Christmas of 2024 saw my daughter get her very own Switch Lite, and since then, she's been hooked. Her playing time was mostly dominated by Pokémon. A few months later, Nintendo unveiled the Switch 2, and the very thing that caught her eye was Mario Kart World. Instantly, she told me she wanted to play Mario Kart. She was already hooked on Mario Kart 8, but she would not stop begging. After every advert she'd see for it, there'd be a "Dad, can we get Mario Kart World?!"

Safe to say that June 5th was quite the wait. Eventually, the Switch 2 and the game launched, and for the first time, I had to share my new console with someone else.

Now I'm not saying Mario Kart World is a perfect game; in fact, it's far from it. It's made some serious changes over the insanely popular Mario Kart 8, and sadly, most changes have brought their detractors; I still haven’t gotten used to the wall jumps yet. But they tried something new, something different, and that’s sometimes all you can ask for.

My daughter and I love a good Vs Grand Prix, and it's safe to say I don't go easy on her, but I can see she enjoys the challenge. Either way, my daughter is obsessed with the game, and she especially loves playing with me and the time we spend together.

Gaming was always my thing, now it’s ours.

"A true classic."

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

By Virtuous

Daryl Baxter

MGS returns, but as a way of reintroducing itself in 2025. Instead of reinventing the wheel, it was remaking it, with incredible graphics and a UI that helped cut down on that rare monotony of changing stolen gear and weapons. The crucial scenes still hit as they did when MGS3 came out in 2004, complete with the original voices. A true classic.

"Combat is fluid and punchy, and the open world is gorgeous to explore."

Monster Hunter Wilds

By Capcom

Lawrence Adkins

Looking through my Backloggd, it's easy to see that while I did a fair amount of gaming throughout the year, I didn't play very much that actually released this year. Observing everything new that I played, very few of those games compelled me to sink my teeth into them until the very end. One of those games was Monster Hunter Wilds.

I was bitten by the Monster Hunter bug ages ago, starting with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on the Wii U, then diving deep into 4 Ultimate on my Nintendo 3DS. Since then, I've enjoyed a little bit of everything the series has had to offer, and Wilds sits as a near-favorite entry in the series, right behind Rise. While design decisions have pushed Monster Hunter to become more about getting to hunt large monsters as opposed to the slower emphasis on Man vs Nature those earlier entries highlight, I can't help but sing its praises when talking about Wilds. The character customization Capcom continues to offer ever since Street Fighter VI is robust, amplified only further by the riddance of gender-locked cosmetics. Combat is fluid and punchy, and the open world is gorgeous to explore. I often find myself thinking about the developer showcases where one of the developers was fishing and birding instead of joining in on the hunt.

It's been a while since I booted up the game, admittedly. Once I rolled credits, I explored some of the Artian weapons and postgame hunts, but never took the time to explore all the subsequent updates. With the announcement that the final update to the base game will arrive in February, I'm stoked to go back and revisit the game to see all the content that's been piling up.

"The dungeon-crawling, shopkeeping-sim mashup formula is back, but the pixel-art graphics have been replaced with a gorgeous 3D glow-up, and the experience is so much better for it."

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault

By Digital Sun Games

Bryan Finck

Seven years on from the original, getting Moonlighter 2 in Early Access was a wonderful treat as 2025 came to a close. The dungeon-crawling, shopkeeping-sim mashup formula is back, but the pixel-art graphics have been replaced with a gorgeous 3D glow-up, and the experience is so much better for it.

The switch to 3D allows for the existence of stages with multiple levels, and the sheer amount of stuff going on immediately elevates it above the flat design of the original’s dungeons. The second biome, known as The Gallery, features a background of moving cubes filled with artifacts, some of them living creatures. And the third biome, a Grecian-inspired level of floating islands, sees you zip-lining up and across the area to reach the next piece of land, where you’ll battle your foes.

The graphical glow-up extends to the characters and enemies themselves. You can see Will’s backpack bounce along as he swings his sword, watch the expressions on the faces of your enemies as they attack and perish, and see the grass waving lazily in the breeze as sparks and explosions cascade across the screen. It’s a level of detail simply not possible with sprites, and it gives the sequel a level of personality that was sorely missing from the original.

More interesting levels and enemies help make the combat more interesting, too, and the devs have done a great job of taking advantage of the extra dimension this time around. Rolling away from one attack to immediately execute a lunging attack on a ground enemy, then firing off your pistol to take out an airborne enemy, all while avoiding fireballs and lobbed grenades, makes for a smooth and exhilarating gameplay loop. I’m extremely excited to get my hands on the rest of the game once Moonlighter 2 leaves Early Access.

"Everything has changed since the first build of OFF hit the web, but the tale of the Batter is as impactful as it ever was — maybe even more so."

OFF

By Mortis Ghost

Andrew Johnston

The debt of gratitude that both indie developers and indie fans owe to people like Mortis Ghost is hard to wrap your head around.

OFF is, at its core, a very simple game, yet without simple games like this one, we wouldn’t have the landscape of games currently available. So yes, nearly every indie RPG is in the lineage of OFF, but with its formal release onto Steam, we can see that it’s also a brilliant little game. Where most RPG Maker titles of this era have aged in the worst of ways, OFF is every bit as elemental and engaging as it ever was.

Many developers have tried to imitate this cryptic, intentionally opaque style and fallen short, but the strange mystery at the heart of OFF is truly evergreen. Everything has changed since the first build of OFF hit the web, but the tale of the Batter is as impactful as it ever was — maybe even more so.

"I have a simple rule: if Wadjet Eye Games makes a new game, I play it."

Old Skies

By Wadjet Eye Games

James O'Connor

I have a simple rule: if Wadjet Eye Games makes a new game, I play it. Old Skies is the latest title from director Dave Gilbert, and follows time-travelling agent Fia Quinn as she escorts wealthy clients to different eras as an agent of the ChronoZen agency. All the while, unbeknownst to most of the population, the present radically shifts based on their actions. Wadjet Eye Games has always celebrated and streamlined the classic point-and-click experience, and Old Skies is perhaps their most celebratory take on the medium yet. It's not just a lovely story in and of itself, but an ode to the kind of lovely stories you can tell within this genre space.

"Pac-Man on Atari 2600 is still a fascinating artefact and surprisingly still fun and playable, while the newly commissioned Atari 7800 port is a fine piece of retro engineering that captures the magic of Pac-Mania."

Pac-Man: Double Feature

By Atari & Namco

Jahan Khan

The Atari x Namco collaboration in 2025 has just been a real dream-come-true for retro gamers. It gave fans more than just cool merchandise; it created an excellent Namco DLC pack for Atari 50, Pac-Man-themed Atari consoles, and an exclusive new Pac-Man release for Atari + platforms.

Pac-Man: Double Feature feels like an ultimate collector's edition for any retro and Pac-Man enthusiast. It brings together the highly controversial Atari 2600 port of Pac-Man with an all-new Atari 7800 port, all in one tasty cartridge featuring throwback 80s artwork. Pac-Man on Atari 2600 is still a fascinating artefact and surprisingly still fun and playable, while the newly commissioned Atari 7800 port is a fine piece of retro engineering that captures the magic of Pac-Mania.

"It has that same goofy yet uplifting vibe that the most recent Like A Dragon games have, and that's the kind of wholesome-ish gaming I can get behind."

Promise Mascot Agency

by Kaizen Game Works

Lucas Di Quinzio

It’s a great credit to Promise Mascot Agency developer Kaizen Game Works that not only have they managed to create one of the year’s most memorable characters, but that character is a mascot shaped like a dismembered pinky finger. Pinky is the fiercely loyal and fiercely funny sidekick to Michi, a disgraced Yakuza member sent away to a dying town, tasked with resurrecting a failing mascot agency. As you can see, this game is quite a big mishmash of things. It’s part management game, part open-world game, part vehicle-based platformer, with a story that’s full of humour and heart and political commentary.

It all comes together as a cohesive whole, with a compelling gameplay loop of upgrades to your agency or your trusty, beat-up truck, which allows you to uncover a new story beat, meet a new mascot, or get more jobs from a local business. Then there are the constant problems arising during jobs that are a constant source of gags – your perpetually crying tofu black is stuck in a door, your goth jelly baby is getting attacked by teenagers, Pinky is running for Mayor and keeps threatening violence.

It has that same goofy yet uplifting vibe that the most recent Like A Dragon games have, and that's the kind of wholesome-ish gaming I can get behind.

"Ratatan isn’t the game I spent the most time with in 2025, but it’s the one I’ll remember in years and maybe decades to come."

Ratatan

By Ratata Arts

Andrew Johnston

Before Ratatan was announced, I really thought that the world had forgotten the rhythm/strategy hybrid game Patapon — an absolute shame, as it’s one of the most charming video games ever made. I wouldn’t have even dreamed that such a strange, wild, beautiful, innovative title would come back.

Yet here we are, looking at the independent successor that Patapon always deserved. I’ve shown you a lot of music-focused games, but with Ratatan, we have a game where the mechanics and the sound can’t be separated. What you hear, what you see, what you do — it’s all one free-flowing current that doesn’t resemble anything on the market, including its predecessor.

Ratatan isn’t the game I spent the most time with in 2025, but it’s the one I’ll remember in years and maybe decades to come. Like Patapon before it, it’s about the art and emotion of the package, and nothing else felt the same way.

"Rogue Craft DX is a deceptively simple yet addictive roguelike RPG, using an isometric viewpoint to make its chess-like exploration engaging right from the get-go."

Roguecraft DX (Evercade)

By badger punch games

Jahan Khan

In 2025, Evercade went from compiling lost IPs to scoring major exclusives, and Rogue Craft DX was an enhanced edition of a homebrew Amiga game. The Amiga, as a vintage PC platform, continues to be a fascination for the British gaming scene. There's still a dedicated print magazine for it, while the Evercade platform itself captures the very vibe of retro gaming in the UK.

Rogue Craft DX is a deceptively simple yet addictive roguelike RPG, using an isometric viewpoint to make its chess-like exploration engaging right from the get-go. Plus, it has the meanest chickens ever seen in a video game since The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

"I have died a gazillion times in this game - the most I’ve failed in a game since Celeste perhaps - and like in Maddy Thorson’s classic, I can’t stop coming back for more."

Sektori

by Kimmo Lathtinen and Tommi Lahtinen

Jörg Tittel

Released in mid November, Sektori may have come in under most people recap radars, but it quickly garnered a dedicated fan base and much deserved rave reviews.

Developed solo over five years by former Housemarque veteran Kimmo Lahtinen, the twin stick shooter is the work of a master at the top of his game. I lied, Kimmo did not compose the banging electronic soundtrack - the tunes are by his brother, Tommy Baynen, and it matches the game in intensity and ingenuity.

At first glance, Sektori most closely resembles Bizarre Creation’s Geometry Wars, but very quickly you realise that it’s much much more than that. The game moves - and makes you move - in the most kinetic ways and it’s been ages since a game has put me into a trance state, where your survival instincts fade into your subconscious and you just…flow.

A Gradius-style upgrade system coupled with rogue-like perks adds an infinite amount of possibilities - sure, luck is involved, but ultimately when you fail it’s only down to you. And fail you shall. I have died a gazillion times in this game - the most I’ve failed in a game since Celeste perhaps - and like in Maddy Thorson’s classic, I can’t stop coming back for more.

"They had an artistic vision when creating Silent Hill f, and it deserves to be experienced firsthand."

Silent Hill f

By NeoBards Entertainment

Charlotte Huston

The return of the Silent Hill series arrived in the form of Silent Hill f, a brand-new mainline entry. It was one of the most unexpected surprises of the year in terms of storytelling. There are not enough games that dare to be different, to be so potently resonant with their themes that they have a lasting impact months later upon their player. Silent Hill f strives to bring the identity of the series back to something very imbued with Japanese culture, shunning the more Americanized approach. It does not pull its punches, and it shows that the concept of "Silent Hill" is much more than a town alone – it is a phenomenon, an occurrence that can happen anywhere.

While that is a great implication on its own, it is the psychological aspect of Silent Hill f that cuts so deeply. This is a game that is unafraid to tackle the themes the industry seems so afraid to handle in its storytelling. Going against the grain to this extent is very valuable to women, who the themes of this game represent in their entirety.

Spelling out what these themes are would be an absolute disservice to the creators of this game. They had an artistic vision when creating Silent Hill f, and it deserves to be experienced firsthand. In terms of 2025 releases, I believe Silent Hill f is the most important of them all, for how bold it intends to be, and for how willing it is to make its players uncomfortable.

"It has this great lo-fi, psychedelic aesthetic that still manages to be very readable, and a soundtrack to match."

Skate Story

By Sam Eng

Lucas Di Quinzio

I’m glad SUPERJUMP’s GOTY piece is published in January, because there is no fallow period for good games these days. December releases probably get the short shrift among the end-of-year lists and awards, so in a year where a bunch of great indie titles were competing for my top three, I’ve decided to give some props for the best game released this December.

Skate Story has a hell of an elevator pitch, figuratively and otherwise. You play as a demon who has one goal: they want to eat the Moon. The Devil gives you a skateboard to help you reach the Moon, but in exchange, turns you into a glass. You are going to skate through the underworld, and you are going to eat the Moon. If I was giving out specific awards, I would give this the Absolute Coolest Shit In A Game award. It has this great lo-fi, psychedelic aesthetic that still manages to be very readable, and a soundtrack to match. And there’s a streak of dry, absurdist humour throughout the game.

This is not to mention the skating itself, which is rock-solid. Well, not really, because your character shatters in a million pieces when you wipe out – but even that lends itself to the overwhelming style of Skate Story.

"I love how the music flows throughout the game, crescendoing into vocal songs that explain the various bosses’ backstories, one of the many things that makes the game so engaging to play."

South of Midnight

By Complulsion Games

CJ Wilson

I feel like South of Midnight is a game that’s going to be overlooked by many people. I always enjoy a good story-driven adventure game with smooth platforming sections and a compelling narrative, but I didn’t think I was going to embrace the Southern Gothic aesthetic that this game gives out in spades. I love the handcrafted nature that the developers at Compulsion Games created, which makes South of Midnight one of the most visually appealing games of 2025. While I would have wanted an expansive combat system with multiple branching trees to spend my skill points on, I’m glad that the gameplay didn’t become overly complex, as I wanted to find collectibles that could improve the abilities that were present to me.

I love how the music flows throughout the game, crescendoing into vocal songs that explain the various bosses’ backstories, one of the many things that makes the game so engaging to play. I found it fascinating that you use your weaver powers to unravel enemies to heal the world instead of killing them outright. I’m glad I got to play it via Xbox Game Pass, as I would easily recommend it to someone who wants to play something that isn’t a traditional single-player adventure game.

"The entire game is a testament to that wonder of creation – kernels of greatness nestled in half-finished ideas, some stories that might benefit from a rewrite, or old lullabies we sort of just sing to ourselves."

Split Fiction

By Hazelight Studios

Rachel Alm

My fiancé and I eagerly played Split Fiction together, pretty quickly after release. We'd blown through It Takes Two, and Split Fiction was more of the same couch co-op we'd loved.

It also starred two authors, and as an aspiring one – and one existing in the world of AI – the game's themes of corporate and computational thievery rang unfortunately close to home. But beyond that tagline – the idea that our core memories manifest and help us build the stories we tell – Split Fiction's true shining achievement is in the tremendous variety of its level design. It has fantastic gameplay, requiring you to flip-flop through two very different genre trappings: science fiction and fantasy. Both are speculative arts, but drawing from often different foundational tones.

Our two protagonists have their own inner battles that unfold through the narrative, and they're well-done stories that take time to tell themselves. One story, or "chapter", might tackle identity, another loss. There are even side stories that you encounter throughout the game, which boil down to racing, platforming, or snowboarding mini-games, and they are all executed (and mapped on the controllers) wonderfully. None of these swaps of gameplay styles feels jarring. There was one particular level involving magic and general witchery, where you could transform yourself into yarn and fly on broomsticks. It was as joyful as opening a toy box. The entire game is a testament to that wonder of creation – kernels of greatness nestled in half-finished ideas, some stories that might benefit from a rewrite, or old lullabies we sort of just sing to ourselves. Split Fiction is a paean to creatives, and it's a damn fun time.

CJ Wilson

This game easily provided me with one of the most enjoyable co-op experiences that I've had in a long time. Each new level was creative and exciting to play through, where I never knew what would happen next. While I would have preferred to play with another player by my side in person, I enjoyed my time with my fellow SUPERJUMP editor, Bryan Finck, who was along for the ride as we constantly commented on what we saw on our screens, making jokes and helping each other out along the way. One moment, I was riding a futuristic bike in a cyberpunk city, and the next, I was playing as a yeti in a fantasy world.

It constantly switched between the fantasy and science fiction genres to mix up the gameplay, which I greatly appreciated. Even some of the side missions that I found gave me some laugh-out-loud moments that I still think about to this day. I became attached to the stories of Mio and Zoe as aspiring writers who needed to process their issues by helping each other as the narrative progressed. Split Fiction is easily one of the most beautiful games that I played this year, running on Unreal Engine 5, where I didn’t notice any slowdown or glitches whatsoever. I knew that Hazelight was going to put out another excellent game after It Takes Two, but I never expected to have such a fantastic time with Split Fiction.

Lucas Di Quinzio

Split Fiction can be described in many ways – bold, endlessly creative, bursting with brilliant set pieces; a best-in-class co-operative experience. What the game, and its developer Hazelight Studios, can’t be called is subtle. The studio is led by Josef Fares, perhaps best known for shouting ‘fuck the Oscars’ at The Game Awards, among other outlandish quotes (my favourite is telling a journalist they can break his legs if they don’t like A Way Out), but he can keep saying goofy stuff if he and Hazelight can keep walking the walk so emphatically.

Split Fiction is a game that you have to play with another person, about a tech magnate trying to suck up all the story ideas from authors' minds, under the guise of testing out supposedly revolutionary new technology. The villain of the piece may as well be called Sham Shaltman from ShenAI. Not subtle, but maybe this is not the time for subtlety.

The hook of the game, in which the imagined worlds of a fantasy and a sci-fi author intertwine, allows for a constant stream of new ideas. Every level provides something new and impressive, whether it be a fresh twist on the central puzzle-platforming, a fun, breezy side-level, or an impressive boss fight (or all of the above). And it all feels so carefully crafted, by people who have, you know, spent years honing their skills by working on this particular kind of game. Skills and experience you cannot generate out of thin air, or rather, ones you cannot generate from litres of water evaporated into thin air to cool a room full of pointless computers.

Bryan Finck

Split Fiction was a truly sublime experience and is easily my favorite of 2025. Hazelight Studios was already well-known for its co-op formula, following the excellent It Takes Two, but their latest title quickly became their most acclaimed and best-selling release.

Every level brings a new delight from a gameplay standpoint, with different perspectives, mechanics, mini-games, and hidden side-stories around every corner. With the game itself so good, the story didn't need to be the star of the show, but I found it to be my favorite part of the experience. Protagonists Mio and Zoe grow together as they work to escape their predicament, from a pair of feuding individuals into a true team that supports each other. Some truly excellent moments bring emotional weight to the story, elevating the entire game.

By the time you've worked your way through each incredible level, especially the final act where things get turned up to 11, you feel like you've been part of a true AAA title. Hazelight may not be the biggest studio, but they continue to punch well above their weight and have legions of fans, myself included, waiting impatiently for their next amazing adventure.

"With its broader console release this year, it’s easy to recommend to basically anyone who likes action roguelites, shmups, or anything that rewards clean movement and smart builds, and it’s absolutely worth a nod on any end-of-year tier list."

Star of Providence

By Team D-13

Ben Rowan

In 2025, Star of Providence (originally called Monolith) finally broke out of its PC cult-classic bubble with a proper console release, including on Switch, and this gem absolutely deserves a place in the spotlight. The premise is simple: you’re a tiny ship climbing a mysterious tower, floor by floor, trying to reach the top. It’s twin-stick shooting meets bullet hell in a roguelite package, so you’re constantly moving, dodging, and threading the needle through dense patterns of enemy fire.

The movement feels great, and it’s backed up by a surprisingly deep loot and build system. Your starter weapon is fine, but you’ll quickly start finding guns with different firing styles, bullet sizes, ammo limits, and other quirks. On top of that, weapons can roll random modifiers that change their behaviour even more, so two runs with the same gun can feel completely different. Because secondary weapons have limited ammo and break when they’re empty, you’re constantly making decisions about what to carry and when to use it. Between floors, you’ll grab passive upgrades, stumble onto random modifiers, and choose buffs that slowly turn your tiny ship into something ridiculous. Then you hit the boss at the end of the floor, and that’s where this bullet hell really shows its teeth.

Since landing in 2017, Star of Providence has steadily grown into a much bigger beast, adding new enemies, room layouts, weapons, meaner endgame content, and an ascension-style difficulty ladder for anyone who wants the challenge to keep escalating. With its broader console release this year, it’s easy to recommend to basically anyone who likes action roguelites, shmups, or anything that rewards clean movement and smart builds, and it’s absolutely worth a nod on any end-of-year tier list.

"It’s super fun and impressively polished for an indie release, both in how it plays and how it looks."

Star Racer

By Whatnot Games

Ben Rowan

Some games you buy after rewatching the trailer, reading a couple of reviews, and letting them sit on your wishlist for a while. Star Racer wasn’t one of those. I saw a few seconds of it pop up on YouTube, loved the retro sci-fi vibe and pixelated look, and thought, “Yep, this’ll be mine.” Five minutes later, it was downloading on Steam.

Even better, the game lived up to those first impressions. It’s super fun and impressively polished for an indie release, both in how it plays and how it looks. During races, you’ve got a mix of SNES-style 16-bit sprites, with environments leaning into a chunkier 3D look that feels very much like Star Fox 64. On top of that, the comic-book art style really brings the characters and cut scenes to life.

The gameplay itself is really fun too. Air brakes on the shoulder buttons let you strafe through corners, and the whole combat-racing loop is built on continual trade-offs. You can burn shield energy to boost and hold the lead, or play it safe and risk getting nailed by the pack. Every lap is high stakes, with even the best races coming unstuck at the final bend.

It’s not just pure racing either. You’ve got weapons, including the ability to bash rivals into walls, and even fire lasers during flying sections. There are airborne segments that crank up the Star Fox vibe even more, and they’re not just for show either. Flying drains your shields, so if you run dry mid-air, that’s it. Race over. You’re constantly balancing speed, aggression, and survival.

Plus, there are unlockable vehicles, a track editor for tinkerers, and four-player local split-screen, which is always a win. I still reckon it would be perfect on Switch, but even on Steam, it's firmly earned its place on my Top-Of-2025 list.

"In what may be the most ambitious visual novel of all time, Kodaka and his co-authors have created a game with 100 different endings."

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

By TooKyo games

Benjamin Macready

The Hundred Line comes straight from the twisted imagination of Kazutaka Kodaka, the writer of the despair-inducing Danganronpa franchise. In what may be the most ambitious visual novel of all time, Kodaka and his co-authors have created a game with 100 different endings. Some of these endings are comedic, some are tragic, and some are downright disturbing. It just wouldn’t be a Kodaka game if it didn’t make you feel deeply uncomfortable by some of its twists.

Whatever else this sprawling hydra of a story might be, it’s upheld by its lovably flawed cast and its ability to masterfully flip between the grim and the absurd.

"Tiger-Heli is a tough shooter with thrilling progression and great use of contrasting colours."

Tiger-Heli 40th Anniversary Edition

By TATSUJIN Co.

Jahan Khan

A brand new exclusive port for the Atari 7800 by a Japanese developer? Crazier things have happened in gaming, but for Toaplan to commission a new port for its seminal Tiger-Heli shoot 'em up in 2025 to commemorate its 40-year anniversary, it doesn't get crazier than this.

It's a marvelous release too; the arcade shooting classic translates perfectly to the Atari 7800's hardware specifications, and the experience is completely different from the NES port from way back. Tiger-Heli is a tough shooter with thrilling progression and great use of contrasting colours. The World War II energy here is like Capcom's 1942 turned up to 11.

"But of course, the standout here is Angel of Darkness..."

Tomb Raider IV-VI: Remastered

By Aspyr

Daryl Baxter

It's no secret that Tomb Raider IV-V were made under pressure, and by a (mostly) new team. But of course, the standout here is Angel of Darkness, a game that floundered at its foundations, due to huge bugs, a strange RPG system that's now a meme, and mostly away from Tombs.

It's my GOTY because the collection is an example of how a series strays away from what made it so good in the first place, despite good intentions from the team.

"The mechanics were simple to follow, and the map was fun to explore; though there were a few moments of confusion, I never felt frustrated enough to put the game down."

Winter Burrow

By Pine Creek Games

Cat Webling

This game blew me away with how adorably deep and thoroughly cozy it was! It was a relatively short experience, but I never felt rushed; beautiful scenery, sweet characters, and charming music made me comfortable vibing for long play sessions.

The mechanics were simple to follow, and the map was fun to explore; though there were a few moments of confusion, I never felt frustrated enough to put the game down. I was thrilled to be able to play shortly after launch, and even moreso for the chance to chat with the devs directly!

While the Super Famicom in Japan was home to several tactical RPGs that rank among the most influential, acclaimed, and successful of all time, most titles in the genre were never released internationally. In subsequent console generations, tactical RPGs became especially prominent on portable platforms: their fully turn-based gameplay loop (movement and actions), small-scale maps, and stage-based progression proved well suited to systems with limited hardware capabilities, small (sometimes touch-sensitive) screens, and less ergonomic control design with fewer buttons.

In this SUPERJUMP series, we will present an overview of the history of tactical RPGs on portable consoles, from the original Game Boy to the current Switch Lite. We will show how the evolution of portable hardware went hand in hand with the development of tactical RPG mechanics, resulting in a diverse body of titles within this hybrid genre.

Two criteria are being used to include a video game in this chapter:

1. The title was released for early Game Boy models (GB) or Game Boy Color (GBC) between 1989 and 2003.
2. The title is a turn-based RPG whose main gameplay sessions are in grid-based scenarios, in which the player can move the units of a party or battalion. Although in some cases the player can control a single unit, combat primarily takes place against a coordinated party or battalion, not monsters that spawn or inhabit the world with relative independence. This is not a universal definition for tactical RPGs, but rather a functional definition of the genre for the Game Boy line of handheld consoles.

See the essay Origins of the Strategy RPG (1982-1995) (SUPERJUMP, 2022) for historical details on the definition of the tactical RPG genre.

I. Hardware Features

Announced in 1989, the Game Boy was conceived by Nintendo’s R&D1 team under Gunpei Yokoi as a portable gaming system that prioritized affordability, durability, and long battery life over cutting-edge specifications. It used low-power technology and debuted with a greenish dot-matrix screen and a simple control layout derived from the NES controller. The system’s early success was amplified by bundling the iconic Tetris with the hardware, a strategy that helped establish the Game Boy as a defining platform in portable gaming. The Pokémon series, of course, was also largely responsible for the success of this handheld console. Games like Tetris and Pokémon used Game Link cables for local co-op or multiplayer.

Core Technical Characteristics (Shared Architecture)

• CPU: Sharp LR35902 (8-bit hybrid of Z80 and Intel 8080)
• Base Clock Speed: ~4.19 MHz
• Display Resolution: 160 × 144 pixels
• Graphics Model: Tile-based backgrounds (8 × 8 tiles) with hardware sprites
• Sprite Limits: Up to 40 sprites on screen; 8 × 8 or 8 × 16 pixels per sprite
• Input: Digital D-pad; A / B buttons; Start / Select
• Cartridge-Based Storage: Banked ROM and RAM via Memory Bank Controllers (MBCs)

The Game Boy and its direct evolutions (Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, and Game Boy Color) sold approximately 118.69 million units worldwide; the family is currently the fourth best-selling video game platform of all time. However, while turn-based RPGs flourished on the system, tactical RPGs were scarce on that platform. The two most important tactical RPGs in the Game Boy line are Super Robot Taisen, which is the first in one of the most classic and prolific tactical RPG series, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster GB, which laid the groundwork for a spin-off sub-series in the Yu-Gi-Oh! video game franchise.

Despite their severe technical limitations, the Game Boy models offered a basic ground for tactical role-playing games. Their low-resolution grid-based displays, turn-based input model, and modest processing capabilities aligned with the requirements of small-scale tactical gameplay. Tactical RPGs developed for these handhelds often featured concise and episodic narratives, succinct dialogue, few simultaneous units, discreet movement with few variations, small top-down grid-based environments lacking verticality, few objects, menu-driven combat, and interfaces that simplified and sometimes omitted specific information (such as the chance to dodge or block an attack). Furthermore, the portable format encouraged short and intermittent gaming sessions. The Game Boy's D-pad is ideal for top-down grid movement, and the A / B buttons on this handheld are used to select a playable unit and its turn-based action.

Games often favored a top-down view for clear readability of the grid, and possible routes of movement were often shown by making unreachable tiles darker or by adding a mark like Little Master’s dark dot to indicate where players could take the currently selected unit. Simple cursors highlighting the current tile the player was interacting with were already a staple, letting players move units and check areas on the map. Cancelling movement wasn’t present on the first Super Robot Taisen, but other titles, like Little Master, had this function.

For battles, the most popular format was to use transitions from the map grid to a separate screen that showed the attacker and defender in action, in a similar fashion to Fire Emblem, but often with simpler movement animations. One exception was Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule GB, which represented attacks as hit animations directly on the map.

The video below offers a sample of the audiovisuals of a tactical RPG on the Game Boy. In the subsequent subtopics, we present, in general terms, updates to the original Game Boy that impacted the experience of playing a tactical RPG.

I.i. Game Boy (DMG-01, 1989)

• Display: 160 × 144 pixels; 4 grayscale tones (2-bit)
• RAM: 8 KB system RAM; 8 KB video RAM
• Sound: 4 audio channels (2 square wave, 1 wave table, 1 noise)
• Power: 4 × AA batteries

High-contrast monochrome screens favor symbolic iconography and grid-based design, the basis for tactical maps, RPG interfaces, and menus.

The console's non-backlit LCD screen features a greenish background.

I.ii. Game Boy Pocket (1996)

• Display: Improved passive-matrix LCD with higher contrast; still monochrome (4 grayscale tones)
• Form Factor: Smaller and lighter chassis
• Power: 2 × AAA batteries;

The Pocket introduced significantly improved screen clarity, indirectly enhancing the readability of tactical interfaces and small map tiles.

The Game Boy Pocket also uses a monochrome four-shade palette, but with true grayscale tones.

I.iii. Game Boy Light (1998, Japan-only)

• Core Hardware: Equivalent to Game Boy Pocket
• Display: Monochrome LCD with electroluminescent backlight
• Power: 2 × AA batteries

The backlit screen greatly improved visibility in low-light conditions.

On the Game Boy Light, when the backlight is turned off, the display appears identical to that of the Game Boy Pocket.

I.iv. Game Boy Color (CGB-001, 1998)

• CPU: Enhanced LR35902
• Clock Speed: 4.19 MHz (DMG compatibility mode); ~8.38 MHz (native CGB mode)
• Color Capability: 32,768-color master palette; up to 56 colors on screen simultaneously, without advanced tricks
• RAM: 32 KB system RAM; 16 KB VRAM (two banks)
• Backward Compatibility: Full support for all original Game Boy titles

Color palettes enabled clearer unit differentiation, terrain encoding, and status signaling, while increased RAM and clock speed supported more complex AI routines and larger battlefields.

For GBC-exclusive games, the hardware supports a 15-bit RGB palette, but color usage is strictly palette-based: each background tile references a 4-color palette, with up to 8 background palettes and 8 sprite palettes available per frame. For sprites, one color is always transparent, resulting in a practical maximum of 56 on-screen colors (32 from backgrounds and 24 from sprites). When running original Game Boy games, the four grayscale tones of the monochrome game are mapped to predefined color palettes, either automatically selected based on the cartridge header or manually chosen by the player via button combinations at boot, preserving the original light–dark relationships while adding hue.

II. Major Tactical Role-Playing Games

We say that a tactical RPG (TRPG) is "major" when it satisfies at least one of the following criteria:

1. The title has an average score of 35/40 or higher on some review aggregator (EGM or Famitsu)
2. The title sold more than 100,000 copies
3. The title is part of a main series
4. The title is the first in a subseries
5. The title was significantly influential in the development of later major titles.

If a spin-off surpasses the original series in sales and critical acclaim, we say that it has become a main series. By that definition, Super Robot Wars and Tactics Ogre are main series, while Final Fantasy Tactics and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor are not.

In chronological order, this topic presents all the major tactical RPGs from the Game Boy line, including narrative introduction, gameplay, and critical and commercial reception. Each game is accompanied by cover art plus up to 6 screenshots from the game:

1. Tactical battle grid;
2. In-game dialogue (if any);
3. Transition to combat (if any);
4. World map (if any);
5. Exploration (if any);
6. Cutscene without in-game graphics (if any).

II.i. Super Robot Taisen (GB, 1991)

After having done a similar crossover project called Compati Hero back in 1990, Bandai’s subsidiary Banpresto decided to create a project to mix multiple mecha series into a single game. This gave birth to Super Robot Taisen, a tactical RPG that let players move various giant robot units through grid-based battlefields.

When starting the game, players have to choose which series they’d like to comprise their army. The choices include Mobile Suit Gundam, Mazinger, and Getter Robo, and the main unit can be selected as the player’s favorite from the list, allowing players to add extra points to their attack, HP, speed, or charisma. As the player progresses through the maps, it is possible to obtain more allies using a chance-based persuasion system.

Also known as Super Robot Wars in the West, the series would become very prolific, with over 70 releases across multiple systems, including Super Famicom, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, and all PlayStation consoles and handhelds. Most titles remain available only in Japanese, but all games since Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers (2016), have been released in English.

The first game sold 190,000 units and was a best-seller in the first years of Game Boy in Japan. While reviews from back in the day are hard to find online, back in 2020, Famitsu commented on how the title already introduced some of the appeal of the crossover franchise, even if, compared to later releases, it is noticeably limited:

“The story is unique, and the appeal of the series lies in how it skillfully blends together works with completely different settings into a single narrative. While it's common to read the story with excitement, wondering how your favorite works will connect, the adventure section of the first game was quite simple. [...] Due to hardware limitations, the battle animations in this game were simple, with missiles flying about, giving the game a feel similar to that of early command-based RPGs. However, with the background music from each game playing and the robots on both sides being depicted, it's interesting to see a glimpse of the powerful battles of today.”

Full text (Famitsu’s retrospective of the game’s launch date): https://www.famitsu.com/news/202004/20196852.html

II.ii. Little Master (GB, JP: 1991)

Tokuma Shoten’s Little Master: Raikuban no Densetsu was another game starting a brand-new series on the GameBoy. The title would eventually span a sequel on the same platform in 1992 and another on the SNES in 1995. An English translation was planned, and the title would have been released as Doomsayer: A Hero’s Crusade, but this Western version was ultimately cancelled back in the day.

In Little Master, players control Raikuban and the kingdom’s troops, which include anthropomorphic animals. Land effects on the characters were presented right before each combat, which happened in a separate screen like the Fire Emblem series. Attack animations were considerably more detailed than Super Robot Taisen of the same year, with each individual moving towards the enemy to unleash an attack, and the battle background depicting which terrain they were on. It was also possible to fuse units to create even stronger allies.

Sales data or reviews from back in the day are hard to find, and the game remains an obscure gem from the Game Boy, which is also the case for its sequels. Nonetheless, in 2018, Zatos Hacks released an English fan translation of the game, pointing out some of its qualities:

“Little Master is the first game in the Little Master trilogy. This game and the series as a whole are quite terrific! The game is a strategy RPG which features great gameplay and music. Levels are varied to keep the gameplay fresh. The game also features a unity system, where you can combine troops to form more powerful ones! A standout game for the Game Boy!”

Romhacking.net Description: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3647/

II.iii. Little Master 2 (GB, JP: 1992)

Coming a little less than a year after the first game, Little Master 2 is a straight sequel that keeps much of its structure. Even visually, the game is very similar, reusing units and some maps but expanding the game to have more than double the number of missions and adjusting the balance so that some units aren’t too strong and there’s more of a challenge overall.

As far as major additions to the genre, the game doesn’t truly bring anything major to the table, focusing on presenting what’s mostly a revamped, improved version of what Little Master offered. One of its few significant additions was introducing a healer unit to the team that can transform into a different fighter afterward.

Like its predecessor, there’s a lack of data on its sales and reviews available online. However, the series would continue with a third game, called Little Master: Nijiiro no Maseki on the Super Famicom, which would bring further gameplay improvements. Unfortunately, Little Master 2 is still only available in Japanese, not even receiving any English fan translations.

One of the only online reviews for the game comes from a user on the gaming site GameFAQs, commenting on how the game is now improved:

“Released less than a year after its predecessor, Little Master comes back to the Game Boy. Despite being, at first glance, almost the same exact game, this second entry is bigger and better in nearly every aspect. [...] But all in all, Little Master 2 is a compelling TRPG that deserves to be played. Although technically a sequel to the first game, it is not mandatory to play it before jumping into this one. Whether you’re looking for a great game to play on your original Game Boy or looking for a tactical RPG to satisfy your gray matter cravings, you can’t go wrong with Little Master 2: Knight of Lightning. A definite must.”

Full retrospective review: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/569771-little-master-2-raikou-no-kishi/reviews/160203

II.iv. Yugioh Capsule Monster GB (GBC, JP: 2000)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule GB was developed and published by Konami for the Game Boy Color and released exclusively in Japan as part of the expansion of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. The game is directly inspired by the “Monster World” and “Capsule Monsters” story arcs from the original manga, offering a self-contained adventure outside the traditional card-duel format that came to dominate the series. In the narrative, the iconic Yugi Muto confronts the antagonist Seto Kaiba, whose possession by the Millennium Ring precipitates a tournament-based journey through the “Monster World” in order to rescue friends and family.

In terms of gameplay, Monster Capsule GB employs a turn-based tactical RPG system in which players deploy and move “capsules” (each representing a monster) across square battlefields, exploiting movement ranges, unit-specific abilities, and terrain effects to defeat opponents. The system distinguishes itself from other portable tactical RPGs of the period by integrating traditional RPG progression with rigid spatial positioning and mechanics derived directly from the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, resulting in a hybrid experience situated between board game design, role-playing progression, and tactical combat.

Battles take place on a 6x6 field, where each square represents a field. You can position up to four Monster Capsules (MCs), and on each turn, you move and attack a monster. If there are no more MCs on the field, you lose. Dice rolls determine the success of an attack; If the result is less than the hit rate, the attack is a hit. Hit rate and power can also be increased by field energy sources or support effects, such as enemies being within the attack range of other allies. Excepting battles, everything else, including route selection, is decided by dice.

Commercially, Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule GB achieved a modest performance in the Japanese market, with cumulative sales of approximately 129,095 units (Wiki/GameDataLibrary/Famitsu). The title peaked at over 36,000 units sold in its first week (yugiohdata), securing prominent positions in domestic sales rankings throughout 2000. There is scarce information about reviews from the 2000s, but subsequently,in Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Capsule GB has been praised in comparison to other titles in the franchise on the same platform.

“Although the subject matter differs, this title surpasses other GB Yu-Gi-Oh! games in quality and is definitely in the category of a good character game.”

[ 題材としているゲームが違うとはいえ、他のGBの遊戯王のゲームを上回る出来であり、キャラゲーとしても間違いなく良作の部類に入る。]

Full retrospective review: ゲームカタログ@Wiki,

II.v. From TV Animation One Piece: Yume no Luffy Kaizokudan Tanjou (GBC, JP: 2001)

With licenses to some anime at their disposal, Banpresto invested in creating an RPG adapting One Piece’s early events. As with all the other tactical RPGs for the handheld system, it was only released in Japan.

Gameplay has a structure very similar to the traditional command-based, turn-based games. Outside of battles, players can explore the world in a top-down perspective, moving around to reach specific points in the map to trigger dialogues with characters. When moving around specific areas, it’s possible to trigger random battles, which will take the player to grid-based, tactical combat. At first, the player starts only with the protagonist Luffy, though more characters join the team as the story progresses, and it’s possible to change the order of events compared to the original manga/anime.

From TV Animation One Piece: Yume no Luffy Kaizokudan Tanjou sold approximately 375,962 units (Video Game Sales Wiki). On release, Famitsu reviewed the game with a 23/40 (Wiki/Famitsu No. 646). When it comes to the game's qualities, Yuki Ogata points out the scenario variations as one of its big draws:

"You can create a pirate crew with your favorite characters and progress through the story however you like. It's a game where you can enjoy 'what if' One Piece scenarios, such as putting 'Sanji' and 'Gin' or 'Zoro' and 'Helmeppo' in the same party."

[自分の好きなキャラを集めた海賊団を作り、自分が好きなようにストーリーを進める。「サンジ」と「ギン」や、「ゾロ」と「ヘルメッポ」を同じパーティにするなど“もしも”のワンピースが楽しめるゲームだったのだ。]

Full retrospective review: Futabanet Manga plus

III. Minor Tactical Role-Playing Games

Not all tactical RPGs released for the Game Boy line were prominent in their time, but all deserve their place in the chronology. Below, we present the minor tactical RPGs released for the Game Boy line.

Dai-2-ji Super Robot Taisen G (GB, JP: 1995)

Dai-2-ji Super Robot Taisen G (or “2nd Super Robot Wars G” in an English name translation effort) is a remake of  Dai-2-Ji Super Robot Taisen, originally released for the Family Computer (Famicom). The game’s mostly similar to the first one in structure, though it offers a much denser narrative with pilots having a notable presence in dialogue (this would become the norm for later games in the series). Battle animations were also improved to better reflect damage. Upon release, Famitsu magazine (then known as Famicom Tsushin) reviewed the GB edition of Dai-2-ji Super Robot Taisen with a 28/40 (Wiki/Famitsu No. 342). In its release week, the game sold 57.163 units (Game Data Library).

Another Bible (GB, JP: 1995)

Another Bible was developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus, exclusively in Japan, as a spin-off of the Megami Tensei series. While less philosophical than the mainline Megami Tensei titles, Another Bible preserves the series’ thematic interest in fate, moral conflict, and the ambiguity of divine authority. Unlike traditional tactical RPGs, the game integrates simplified demon management mechanics reminiscent of Megami Tensei. Another Bible was a niche release with scarce reviews, and there are no reliable sources for its sales.

Senkai Ibunroku Juntei Taisen (GBC, JP: 2000)

Another tactical RPG developed by Banpresto was Senkai Ibunroku Juntei Taisen, which was also based on an anime IP, in this case, Hoshin Engi. Like other games in this list, it was only released in Japan. The game was generally structured like the Super Robot Taisen games, with the interesting element of being able to spend a turn to recharge the energy gauge needed to activate special attacks with longer range, as well as having the ability to equip different skills to each ally unit. This is another obscure game with scarce reviews. In its release week, Senkai Ibunroku Juntei Taisen sold only 15,699 units (Game Data Library).

IV. Cronology

V. Honorable Mentions

We begin this timeline with the Game Boy, but there are handheld consoles released before the Game Boy line (Wiki) that don't have tactical RPGs in their libraries:

• Microvision
• Entex Select-A-Game
• Entex Adventure Vision
• Palmtex Portable Videogame System
• Digi Casse
• Epoch Game Pocket Computer
• Etch A Sketch Animator 2000

The list below includes titles released for the Game Boy line between 1989 and 2003 that do not strictly fit the definition of a tactical RPG, but are close to or share important affinities with it.

• SD Gundam: SD Sengokuden – Kuni Nusiri Monogatari (GB, JP: 1990)
• Fushigi no Dungeon: Furai no Shiren GB2: Sabaku no Majou (GBC, JP: 2001)
• Azure Dreams (GBC, JP: 1997, NA: 1998, EU: 1998)
• Sakura Taisen GB (GBC, JP: 2000)
• Sakura Taisen GB2 (GBC, JP: 2001)

Curiously, even though the Sakura Taisen franchise is composed of tactical RPG titles in its mainline, the GameBoy entries discard the grid, and instead, battles play in a traditional gridless turn-based structure. For the first game, battles are adapted to work within the LIP's choice frame, letting players pick an action like in a text adventure. Meanwhile, the second game is akin to traditional Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy, with the player choosing commands in the menu once a unit’s turn comes around.

When one defines tactical RPGs to include those with turn-based grid movement and combat, it’s also important to highlight the Mystery Dungeon format of roguelikes. While not commonly associated with the genre due to not having organized enemy troops, they also share the grid structure in the exploration of the randomly generated dungeons. Three major examples of the genre were available on the GB and GBC: two Shiren entries and Azure Dreams, which is the only officially translated game in this whole retrospective of the handheld.

Finally, the SD Gundam: SD Sengokuden trilogy on Game Boy mixes the tactical format with action combat. Players move the units around a grid-based structure and then must directly control their robots to fight against the enemies in an action format. The game is closer to a mix of tactical strategy and action, seemingly not bringing significant RPG elements to the table.

VI. Generation shift

By the early 2000s, the Game Boy Color remained in production even after the arrival of its generational successor, the Game Boy Advance (GBA) in 2001, but both original and Color models were finally discontinued by March 2003. Even after nearly a decade and a half on the market, the Game Boy line never released any tactical RPGs with an official English translation, unlike its rival handheld consoles, such as the Neo Geo Pocket. In Part 2 of our series, we will discuss the history of tactical RPGs on the rival handhelds of the Game Boy family (i.e., the Game Boy line along with the Game Boy Advance line).

Running mobile applications and games should be a smooth experience, but many devices cannot offer flawless performance. Users are generally unable to access apps and games at their convenience due to low storage capacity, outdated hardware, or compatibility problems. 

These disruptions eventually transform basic entertainment into a frustrating experience. Even high-end smartphones are not immune, and with every update, modern apps and games are becoming more memory-intensive and requiring more processing power. This is where the cloud-based access transforms everything. 

Cloud technology allows you to stream the apps instead of using your device to install and use them. In this way, you can use your favorite applications and games immediately on any device, without having to worry about storage and performance constraints. 

This story will discuss how mobile apps and games can be accessed in a seamless way, instantly available, and used flexibly when they are cloud-based.

1. Immediate Browser-based Access Without Installation

The most evident benefit of cloud-based access is the possibility of opening apps and games immediately. Instead of downloading files or updating, one just opens a browser and proceeds to use the app. 

This can be done through platforms like CloudMoon. Users have the ability to run mobile apps and games online via CloudMoon, which executes them on the cloud instead of on local devices. Since the processing occurs remotely, the users can use high-performance games and popular mobile applications directly in a browser without installations and storage issues.

Consequently, even large games like Roblox mini games can be launched in a few seconds, and social media applications such as TikTok can open without consuming local memory. It will save time on waiting and make your device clean and responsive.

2. Smoothly Play High-Performance Games

Mobile high-performance games tend to use sophisticated hardware, restricting access to a large number of users. Cloud-based access can eliminate this problem by rendering and processing graphics remotely. 

As a result, your machine only transmits the visuals, which makes it possible to play even resource-intensive games without issues despite the local hardware constraints. This arrangement is particularly useful when it comes to games that may include complicated environments and real-time interactions. 

Using cloud-based execution, the gameplay is stable and responsive, even on devices that would otherwise have been problematic. Consequently, you get to have a stable performance without having to fear overheating, crashing, or lower frame rates.

3. Easy Access to Social Media Apps on All Browsers

The use of cloud-based access is not restricted to gaming. Browser-based execution is also useful in social media apps. 

It is possible to open apps like TikTok in a web browser and still have all its features and responsiveness. This flexibility is quite convenient, particularly in cases of switching devices or working with a standard system. 

The app experience is identical across platforms because the app environment is hosted in the cloud. Besides, you will not have to log in multiple times, update regularly, and use storage unnecessarily, which makes social interaction easier and more efficient.

4. Cross-Platform Flexibility and Device Independence

A major benefit of cloud-based access is that it is not device-dependent. Irrespective of whether you are using a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, you only require a compatible browser. 

This eliminates the restrictions of a platform and enables you to use the same applications and games across various devices without the need to install any of them. Moreover, this flexibility allows for continuous use.

You are able to work on one device and resume the work on another. Because everything operates in the cloud, your experience will adapt to your lifestyle rather than you having to conform to device restrictions in work, travel, and everyday life.

5. Less Storage Usage and Better Device Health

Storage limitation is still among the most prevalent issues among mobile users. Applications, stored information, and updates take over the available space, slowing down devices over time. 

Cloud-based access avoids this problem by storing all the app data in the cloud. Consequently, your device is more effective, has a higher battery life, and is more responsive. 

You do not have to delete photos, videos, or apps to create space in order to add anything new. Rather, you get what you require, as and when required, without any long-term storage obligation.

6. Entertainment and Everyday Use: Balanced Experience

Cloud-based access provides a leveled environment where both entertainment and daily use of apps are in harmony. You are able to play Roblox mini games, visit social networking sites, and try new apps without cluttering your device. 

This approach encourages exploration without risk, allowing you to try apps freely and move on without consequences. Furthermore, browser-based access supports productivity by reducing setup time. 

Whether for casual use or extended sessions, cloud execution ensures reliability and convenience across all app categories for users seeking flexibility and efficiency simultaneously.

Bringing It All Together

Cloud-based access to mobile apps and games represents a meaningful shift in how digital experiences are delivered and consumed. By removing downloads, reducing hardware dependency, and enabling instant browser-based usage, this approach addresses many of the frustrations users face today. 

From running high-performance Roblox mini-games to accessing social platforms like TikTok, cloud technology ensures smooth performance, flexibility, and efficiency. It allows you to focus on the experience rather than technical limitations. 

As cloud infrastructure continues to evolve, browser-based access will increasingly define how apps and games are used across devices. By embracing this model, you gain greater control, improved accessibility, and a cleaner digital environment that adapts seamlessly to your needs.

Kyoto-based developer 17-BIT has released a fresh demo for their upcoming physics-fueled co-op brawler AWAYSIS as part of Steam Next Fest. The game, which was featured in Day of the Devs – The Game Awards Edition 2025, promises a chaotic blend of momentum-based movement and slippery melee combat that’s bound to test friendships.

Players take control of a group of small critters on a mission to save the floating paradise of Awaysis from encroaching darkness. The gameplay combines momentum-based movement with both melee combat and ranged magic attacks, creating what the developers describe as inherent slapstick comedy. Battles against the Dark Lord’s “Grimlins” form the core of the adventure, which spans environments from lush grasslands to lava-filled underground caves.

The Steam Next Fest demo includes the first three campaign missions, giving players a taste of what’s to come when the full game launches with 24 levels. Beyond the main campaign, AWAYSIS offers various multiplayer modes including competitive minigames like King of the Hill and the football-inspired Brawly Ball. The game supports both local and Remote Play co-op, with online multiplayer modes also planned for the complete release.

AWAYSIS is heading to PC via Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, though no specific release date has been announced yet. The full game will support nine languages including English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Portuguese, and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese, though the current demo is English-only.

More information about AWAYSIS and 17-BIT can be found on the developer’s official website, with updates available through their social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

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ProbablyMonsters has revealed Crimson Moon, a Gothic High Renaissance action-RPG that casts players as a powerful half-angel warrior fighting to save a fallen city. Set for release in 2026, the game promises intense combat and replayable missions as players take on the role of a Nephilim, a being caught between human and angelic nature, sworn to protect humanity as a Knight of the Crimson Moon.

The game’s story centres around reclaiming the city of Gildenarch from the Infernal Legion, battling through districts filled with demons, vampires, and undead gods. Players can tackle this challenge alone or team up with a friend in optional co-operative play, unlocking devastating combination attacks that make the most of both players’ divine abilities. The combat system emphasises precision and timing, blending brutal melee combat with explosive celestial transformations that promise to make each battle feel suitably epic.

What sets Crimson Moon apart is its focus on replayability through dynamic level design and evolving enemy compositions. No two runs through the city will play out identically, and difficulty modifiers allow players to increase the challenge in exchange for better rewards. Between missions, players will return to the War Table hub to upgrade their angelic powers, craft new equipment, and plan their next assault on the demon-occupied districts.

The game made its debut during PlayStation’s State of Play showcase, giving viewers their first glimpse of its dark fantasy world. Mark Subotnick, Head of Studios at ProbablyMonsters, highlighted the unique power fantasy of wielding both angelic abilities and powerful weaponry in the fight for Gildenarch. As players progress, they’ll uncover the truth behind the city’s fall and discover a destiny that only they can fulfil.

Crimson Moon will launch in 2026 for PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, carrying an M for Mature rating. Those interested can follow the game’s development through its official website and social media channels, or join the ProbablyMonsters Discord community for updates.

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Indie developer Chashu Entertainment has announced that their post-apocalyptic Soulslike adventure Sands of Aura will launch on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on 26th February 2026. The game transports players to the devastated world of Talamhel, where ancient wars have buried civilisation beneath endless sandseas, leaving only mountaintop refuges for humanity’s last survivors.

Players take on the role of a newly inducted member of the Order of the Remnant Knights, humanity’s final line of defence against both the harsh elements and hordes of undead that roam the sandy wastes. The game promises exploration across this desolate landscape aboard a vessel called a grainwake, as players uncover secrets that might hold the key to restoring their dying world. Combat features seven distinct fighting styles alongside an extensive crafting system that lets players create weapons and armour with magical enhancements.

The open world of Talamhel offers freedom to explore at your own pace, with side quests and optional challenges scattered throughout the sandseas. A central hub called the Starspire serves as both sanctuary and base of operations, where players can build communities, unlock story elements, and gain access to unique services and perks through their leadership choices.

This console release includes all the improvements and updates from the original PC version, plus console-specific enhancements such as a new targeting assist system and reworked exploration interface. The developers have also tweaked combat mechanics and the in-game economy specifically for the console experience.

Sands of Aura is available to wishlist now on all console platforms ahead of its 26th February 2026 release date.

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Note: This is an in-progress review after one week of playtime. I’m still discovering online multiplayer dynamics and will continue to update as I spend more time in the arena.

Growing up, my little brother (and my mates) used to play Speedball 2 on the Amiga absolutely religiously. They’d gather around the screen for hours, screaming at each other as they battered through matches with the kind of intensity usually reserved for actual sports. That game was legendary, and honestly, after a run of attempts (Speedball Tournament, Speedball 2100 and even Speedball 2 HD which was just weird), I never thought we’d see a proper return to the arena. HOWEVER… Speedball has arrived, and it’s doing something genuinely promising.

The Soul Is Still There

Speedball’s return isn’t some diluted modern interpretation. This is brutal, uncompromising, and unapologetically violent. Two cybernetically enhanced teams clash in enclosed arenas packed with hazards, traps, and environmental chaos. The crowd roars, mega-corporations run the show, and victory is earned through speed, precision, and raw aggression.

From a top-down perspective reminiscent of the original, you’re immediately thrust into fast-paced matches where split-second decisions matter. Passing, tackling, shooting, dodging—it all feels responsive on the controller. That “flow state” moment where you’re chaining hits, ricocheting the ball off multipliers, and steamrolling toward the goal is satisfying in the way only Speedball can be.

The visual style updates the franchise for modern hardware whilst keeping the industrial, sci-fi brutality that made the original special. It’s loud, relentless, and designed to keep your heart rate elevated from kickoff to final buzzer. There is a certain Fortnite influence here in the character style.

Multiple Ways To Play

There’s genuine variety here. League Mode lets you tackle a full season against AI opponents. Online multiplayer pits you against other players worldwide. Prefer the classic approach? Couch multiplayer is here for settling scores the traditional way, with local co-operative options as well. For a game launching at £24.99, the range of modes is impressive.

The tactical layer sits beneath the arcade action. Team composition matters. Player traits matter. Whether you build an aggressive wrecking crew or a disciplined defensive unit impacts how you’ll perform. Each player has strengths and weaknesses based on their cybernetic augmentations. Understanding your squad and exploiting opponent weaknesses creates strategic depth that transcends the immediate chaos.

The Early Access Reality

Here’s where complete honesty is essential: Speedball is still evolving. The game launched following a lengthy Early Access period on PC, and whilst Rebellion has clearly listened to community feedback, there’s still content coming. Arena variety is somewhat limited currently, which can make matches feel repetitive after extended sessions. The level of team customisation will expand further in future updates.

This isn’t a criticism, more an observation. Rebellion has committed to ongoing development, gradually introducing new features, improved progression systems, and expanded content. Early adopters literally watch the game evolve as it develops, which is either genuinely exciting or frustrating depending on your patience for “works in progress.”

The community has been integral to development. Rebellion set up a dedicated Discord server where players share ideas, report bugs, and contribute to shaping the game. That collaborative approach avoided previous Speedball revival missteps. This time, it genuinely feels like the developers are listening.

What Currently Shines

The core gameplay is absolutely solid. Matches are short, chaotic bursts of action that demand your full attention. The control scheme is intuitive enough that you can dive straight in without excessive tutorials. The “Slam Cam” slow-motion moments capturing bone-rattling hits, crunching tackles, and medical bots carting off injured players add theatrical brutality that celebrates impact.

Online multiplayer latency has been smooth in my early sessions. Arena hazards like flamethrowers, ice shotguns, grind rails, and environmental traps keep matches unpredictable. No two games play out identically, which is crucial for long-term engagement.

The soundtrack and sound design capture the industrial sci-fi atmosphere perfectly. The crowd noise, the crunch of impacts, the roaring intensity—it all reinforces that you’re in a corporate-controlled future sport where violence is entertainment.

Some Growing Pains

With only a week of playtime under my belt, I’m still learning matchmaking nuances and online dynamics. Initial matchmaking can occasionally feel imbalanced, pairing new players against experienced ones, though this may settle as the playerbase stabilises. The limited arena variety is noticeable but not gamebreaking at this stage.

Learning the optimal team compositions and player positioning requires more time than I’ve had. Some mechanics still feel like they need explanation—the instruction manual could be more comprehensive for newcomers unfamiliar with the original series.

Visually, the game is solid without being stunning. Character models are clear and functional, arenas are detailed enough, but it’s not pushing graphical boundaries. That’s absolutely fine for a sports game where clarity matters more than cinematic fidelity.

A Genuine Revival With Potential

After years of failed Speedball revivals, Speedball 2100’s awkwardness, and various half-hearted attempts, this feels different. Rebellion has treated the franchise with respect, understanding what made the original special whilst delivering the speed and spectacle modern players expect.

This isn’t a nostalgia cash-grab. It’s a confident revival that recognises the original’s legacy whilst building something that works today. The commitment to ongoing development based on community feedback is genuinely encouraging.

First Thoughts (not Final)

My early verdict is that Speedball is a promising return to the arena that captures the brutal essence of its heritage. The core gameplay is solid, the multiple play modes offer genuine variety, and the commitment to ongoing development feels authentic. Yes, it’s still evolving. Yes, there’s limited arena variety currently. But what’s here is genuinely fun, and the trajectory is heading in the right direction. I’m continuing to play daily, and I’ll likely revisit this review after more online multiplayer time.

For fans of the original, this is a genuine homecoming. For newcomers, it’s an excellent entry point into a unique brand of brutal, fast-paced sports action. At £24.99, it’s reasonably priced for the content on offer, especially considering Xbox Play Anywhere means you’re getting console and PC versions.

Whether you’re reliving old rivalries or stepping into the arena for the first time, Speedball hits hard. I’m genuinely excited to see where it goes.

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There’s something instantly appealing about the promise of running your own tavern. That age-old fantasy of starting in a run-down establishment and building it into a thriving hub for adventurers and townsfolk? Tavern Manager Simulator delivers exactly that. It’s a cosy management sim wrapped in fantasy charm, and despite some minor rough edges, it’s a genuinely satisfying experience that captures the essence of hospitality work without the actual exhaustion.

The Charm Is Immediate

Tavern Manager (we’ll drop the “Simulator” part, as it feels somewhat bolted on) starts you in a crumbling shack that you’ll need to clean and restore. The visual style is whimsical and vibrant, reminiscent of classic fantasy illustrations. Everything has a hand-crafted quality that makes the world feel lived-in and inviting. The developers have leaned into fantasy aesthetics brilliantly, creating an atmosphere where you actually want to spend time.

The game respects your time by letting you set the pace. You can open your tavern when you’re ready, work at your own speed, and close up whenever you’ve had enough. There’s no Kitchen Nightmares-style pressure where you’re failing if you’re not constantly busy. This flexibility is genuinely refreshing.

The Management Loop Actually Works

The core gameplay revolves around multitasking. You’ll be cooking meals, pouring ale, serving customers, maintaining cleanliness, ordering stock, and managing your finances. Each task is represented by a minigame with varying complexity. Some are simple point-and-click actions, whilst others feature moving-target gauges that reward precision with higher quality items and better tips.

Pouring ale is a perfect example. You hold a tankard beneath a keg, turn the handle, and stop in the sweet spot. Get it right, and you’ll have a beautifully crafted pint with a perfect golden body and frothy head. Get it wrong, and you’ll either have an underfilled glass or an overflowing mess. These minigames are satisfying enough that you won’t mind repeating them dozens of times, and there’s a genuine skill element that keeps things engaging.

As your tavern grows, you hire adorable fairy assistants who gradually improve their skills at assigned tasks. This is brilliantly designed because the fairies retain their expertise even when reassigned to different duties. Early on you’re doing everything yourself, which teaches you all the systems. Once fairies arrive, you can choose your playstyle. Do you want to focus on cooking whilst fairies handle service? Or would you prefer to work the floor, greeting customers and building relationships?

The Simulation Has Real Substance

Customer satisfaction matters. Greet guests warmly, seat them promptly, and anticipate their needs. Conversations with patrons earn polite customer points and build your reputation. Your tavern’s cleanliness and decoration directly impact customer satisfaction. A filthy establishment with cobwebs and scattered crates won’t attract quality clientele, whilst a well-maintained tavern with thoughtful décor becomes a destination.

Stock management adds strategic depth. Run out of ingredients mid-service, and customers will leave unhappy. Overstocking ties up capital you could use for upgrades. There’s a balance to strike between preparation and financial efficiency.

The narrative unfolds gradually through quests and interactions with quirky characters. It’s a slow burn, but that suits the game’s pacing. You’re uncovering the tavern’s history, forging alliances, and building a reputation that genuinely matters within the game world.

Some Minor Roughness

Tavern Manager isn’t without its issues. Some aspects can feel repetitive after extended play sessions. The lack of energy consumption mechanics, whilst allowing for seamless night-time preparation, does feel slightly at odds with the “simulator” branding. You can prep through entire nights without fatigue, which is convenient but not particularly realistic.

Visually, there’s some jankiness. The delivery cart sometimes drifts into position oddly, and conversation text could be significantly larger within its oversized text box. These are minor presentation issues rather than gameplay problems, but they’re noticeable.

The sound design, whilst mostly excellent with satisfying audio for pouring drinks and sweeping floors, does have one repeating element that becomes mildly annoying. The whirling cogs of the well, when you’re grinding through water collection, can feel tedious after the hundredth time.

The Hospitality Authenticity

Having worked various hospitality jobs from university bars to proper establishments, Tavern Manager captures something genuine about the work. It’s the rhythm of service: prep during quiet periods, execute when customers arrive, clean and reset afterwards. That cycle of building a station, delivering service, then breaking it down for the next shift is authentically represented.

It’s satisfying in a way that real hospitality work often isn’t. You get all the satisfaction of managing a busy service without the actual aching feet, stress-induced headaches, or genuinely rude customers. The game removes the suffering whilst keeping the accomplishment.

Creative Freedom and Replayability

You can decorate and expand your tavern however you wish. Place tables at multiple angles, buy decorations that reflect your personality, and shape the aesthetic to match your vision. Experiment with different management styles, prioritise different aspects of the business, and create a truly unique establishment. The depth here ensures no two playthroughs feel identical.

Worth a Pint!

Tavern Manager Simulator is a charming, engaging management experience that delivers genuine satisfaction through its well-designed systems and cosy atmosphere. The minigames are satisfying, the progression feels meaningful, and the flexibility to play at your own pace is genuinely refreshing. Yes, it has minor rough edges and some aspects can feel repetitive, but these don’t significantly diminish what is fundamentally a delightful game. If you’re drawn to management sims, fantasy settings, or simply enjoy the idea of building something meaningful, Tavern Manager deserves your attention. It’s a warm, inviting experience that respects your time and rewards your effort.

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Valentine’s Day is nearly here, and if your other half would rather save the world than sit through a candlelit dinner, we’ve got you covered. Whether they’re a casual player or a hardcore completionist, here are some cracking gift ideas that’ll earn you serious bonus points.

A Co-Op Game You Can Play Together

Nothing says romance quite like teaming up to solve puzzles, survive the apocalypse, or argue about who’s pulling their weight. It Takes Two remains the gold standard for couples gaming, it won Game of the Year for good reason, and Hazelight Studios’ follow-up Split Fiction is another brilliant shout. Both are designed specifically for two players and offer hours of entertainment you can share from the same sofa. If your partner has Game Pass, there’s a good chance one or both are already waiting to be downloaded, too.

A Voucher For Uninterrupted Game Time

Sometimes the greatest gift isn’t something you can wrap, it’s permission. Write up a proper voucher (or get fancy and print one) promising your gamer an evening of completely uninterrupted game time. No asking them to put the bins out. No “are you still playing that?” Just pure, guilt-free gaming. It costs absolutely nothing and yet it might be the most appreciated gift on this entire list.

A Displate of Their Favourite Game

If your gamer has a favourite title they never shut up about, a Displate metal poster is a fantastic way to bring it into the real world. These magnetic metal prints look brilliant on a wall and come in hundreds of gaming designs from The Legend of Zelda to Dark Souls and everything in between. They’re easy to mount without drilling holes, which is a bonus if you’re renting. A subtle, stylish nod to what they love.

A Custom Keyboard

For the PC gamer in your life, a custom mechanical keyboard from Cherry is a gift that’s both practical and personal. Choose their favourite colours, pick the switch type that suits their style, and you’ve got something they’ll use every single day. It’s the kind of thing most gamers would love but would never buy for themselves. That’s what makes it a perfect Valentine’s gift.

A Game Character Phone/Controller Stand

These little device holders shaped like game characters from EXGPro are genuinely useful and look great on a desk. You can find stands featuring characters from Minecraft, Sonic, Pokémon, Halo, and dozens of other franchises. They hold phones and controllers alike, and they double as a mini figurine. Practical, fun, and surprisingly affordable.

A Game Time Hamper

Put together a hamper filled with everything your gamer needs for the ultimate session. Think their favourite snacks, a few cans of their go-to drink, a comfy pair of gaming socks, maybe a cap from their favourite franchise, and perhaps a gift card for their platform of choice. Present it all in a nice box or basket and you’ve got something that feels properly thoughtful without breaking the bank. Bonus points if you include a handwritten note promising to leave them alone while they enjoy it.

Gamer Clothing

Gaming fashion has come a long way from oversized novelty t-shirts. Brands like Qlutch (qlutch.cc) offer stylish, subtle clothing that nods to gaming culture without screaming it. Hoodies, tees, and accessories that your gamer can actually wear out in public and feel good about. It’s streetwear with a gaming twist, perfect for someone who wants to represent their hobby without looking like a walking advert.

A Sandwich Toaster

Stay with us on this one. A sandwich toaster might not scream “romance,” but any gamer will tell you that a perfectly toasted cheese sandwich during a late-night session is one of life’s great pleasures. Chuck in some steak, add a bit of onion, go wild. It’s quick, it’s easy, and it means they don’t have to pause the game to cook a proper meal. Honestly, this might be the most underrated gift on the list.

Gaming Figurines

A quality figurine of their favourite character makes for a brilliant display piece. Sites like Hobby Figures (hobbyfigures.co.uk) stock a huge range of gaming collectibles, from detailed statues to more affordable options. Whether they’re into Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, The Witcher, or something else entirely, there’s almost certainly a figure out there that’ll make them light up. Just make sure you know which character is their favourite, getting it wrong could be worse than no gift at all.

Perfume or Aftershave

Let’s be honest: long gaming sessions don’t always lead to the freshest of environments. A nice bottle of perfume or aftershave is a classic Valentine’s gift for a reason, and it works just as well for gamers as anyone else. It doesn’t need to be gaming-themed (please, no Axe body spray). Just pick something they’ll enjoy wearing. Think of it as a gentle, fragrant reminder that personal hygiene and gaming can coexist.

A Retro Console or Handheld

If your gamer has a nostalgic streak, a retro mini console or handheld could be the perfect shout. The Analogue Pocket is a premium option for someone who loves their Game Boy-era classics, while the various mini consoles from Nintendo, Sega, and others offer a plug-and-play trip down memory lane. Even something like a Powkiddy or Anbernic handheld can open up an entire library of retro games for under £50. Great for playing together in bed, too, if that’s not romantic, what is?

A Gaming Cookbook

Yes, these exist, and some of them are genuinely excellent. Official cookbooks inspired by The Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, Street Fighter, and Destiny let your gamer recreate dishes from their favourite worlds. Even if they’re not the most confident cook, following a recipe for Sweetrolls or Ignis’s favourite dish from Final Fantasy XV is a fun activity you can do together. Dinner and gaming, sorted.

A Pair of Gaming Glasses

If your gamer spends hours staring at screens (and let’s face it, they do), a pair of blue-light filtering glasses from a brand like GUNNAR can make a genuine difference. They reduce eye strain, help with headaches, and some of them actually look quite stylish. It’s a thoughtful gift that says “I care about your wellbeing” rather than “I think you play too much”, and that distinction matters.

Whatever you choose, the best Valentine’s gift for a gamer is one that shows you understand what they love. You don’t have to be a gamer yourself to get it right, you just have to pay attention. Happy Valentine’s Day!

The post Valentine’s Gifts For Your Gamer appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

Sci-fi survival fans have a new challenge heading their way next month, as ICARUS: Console Edition prepares to land on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles on 26th February. The game, originally created by Dean Hall (known for DayZ and Kitten Space Agency), throws up to four players onto the hostile alien world of Icarus, where they’ll need to extract valuable resources whilst battling the planet’s deadly wildlife and harsh environments.

The console version comes packed with content, including both the original base game and the New Frontiers Expansion right from launch. This means players get access to a massive 128km² of alien terrain to explore, spanning two different maps. The New Frontiers content adds the dangerous Prometheus region, complete with three new biomes, mutated apex predators, and over 100 craftable items to help players survive the unforgiving conditions.

One interesting twist is the animal companion system, where players can tame creatures that were left behind from Earth’s failed terraforming attempt. These animals, including wolves and boars, provide useful buffs like health regeneration or reduced oxygen consumption. Pre-order customers will receive the Pet Companion Pack DLC, which adds 11 additional domesticated animals including cats, dogs, and horses, each with their own progression system and care requirements.

The game promises a challenging PvE experience where every element of the planet actively works against human presence. Players start with basic equipment and gradually advance to more sophisticated technology, forging permanent upgrades using exotic matter they collect during their expeditions. The New Frontiers Expansion also includes six story-driven missions that reveal more about the planet’s mysterious secrets.

Pre-orders for ICARUS: Console Edition are now live across both PlayStation and Xbox platforms. Publisher GRIP Studios has released a new trailer showcasing the console version, which can be viewed on their official channels.

The post ICARUS Console Edition appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

The Carmageddon franchise is making a comeback with Rogue Shift, a new post-apocalyptic combat racer set for release on 6th February 2026. Developer Stainless Games is promising a refined take on the series’ signature vehicular mayhem, combining the classic destruction derby formula with modern roguelite mechanics and an extensive progression system.

Set in 2050, players will navigate a world overrun by zombie-like creatures called the Wasted. By day, racers compete in deadly Carmageddon events for parts and upgrades, but when night falls, the streets become hunting grounds for nightmare creatures. The ultimate prize is a chance to reach the last remaining spaceport and escape the dying planet. Players start with basic rust bucket vehicles and scavenged weapons, gradually building their arsenal through successful races.

The game features 15 upgradeable vehicles ranging from heavy tanks to nimble hot rods, each with distinct handling characteristics across front, rear, and all-wheel drive configurations. Combat comes courtesy of 13 weapon classes including shotguns, missile racks, lasers, and railguns, all fully customisable. An ambitious perk system offers over 80 different upgrades that can be combined to create devastating synergies for maximum destruction.

Rogue Shift incorporates dynamic weather and day-night cycles that directly impact gameplay, with rain creating treacherous driving conditions and fog providing cover for ambushes. The roguelite campaign structure means each playthrough offers branching event maps and dynamic challenges, whilst permanent progression allows players to spend earned “Beatcoins” on new vehicles, weapons, and perks between runs. Elite boss battles will pit racers against corrupted enforcers, mutated creatures, and massive war machines.

More information about Carmageddon: Rogue Shift is expected to be revealed in the coming months ahead of its February 2026 release date.

The post Carmageddon: Rogue Shift appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

Mountain biking enthusiasts can finally hit the trails on console as MAVRIX launches today on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The open-world mountain biking game, created by professional rider and Red Bull athlete Matt Jones, promises to deliver an authentic riding experience shaped by real-world expertise.

MAVRIX offers players a massive 100km² open world to explore, packed with downhill racing, freeride exploration, competitive events, and creative trick-based riding. The console launch introduces Slopestyle Mode, a new discipline focused on big air tricks and stylish riding, alongside fresh trails, expanded freeride areas, and improved bike physics that aim to capture the true feel of mountain biking.

The game’s authenticity credentials are impressive, with every aspect from suspension behaviour to trick execution developed by professional riders who compete at the highest level. Players can experience what it’s like to be a Red Bull sponsored athlete, complete with unique rewards and real-world brand integration. The career-style progression system mirrors the journey of professional mountain bikers, giving players a taste of life on two wheels.

Priced at £30, MAVRIX arrives on console with all previously released PC content, including the MAVRIX Cup competitive event series. The game supports six languages and will continue evolving through regular updates based on community feedback during its Early Access and Game Preview phases.

MAVRIX is available now digitally via the PlayStation Store and Xbox Store, as well as on PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store.

The post MAVRIX | Authentic Mountain Biking Action appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

A mysterious new metroidvania has landed across all major platforms, promising players a haunting journey through the depths of a derelict spaceship. MIO: Memories in Orbit, developed by Douze Dixièmes (the studio behind Shady Part of Me), is now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, PC, and day one on Xbox Game Pass.

Players take on the role of MIO, a nimble android who awakens alone aboard the Vessel, a massive abandoned spacecraft drifting through space. The ship’s corridors have been overrun by vegetation, whilst malfunctioning machines pose constant threats. According to the developers, the game combines precise platforming with dynamic combat, challenging players to master an evolving arsenal of abilities whilst uncovering the ship’s dark secrets.

The visual design draws inspiration from graphic novels, classic sci-fi films, and anime, creating what the studio describes as an atmosphere that’s “as beautiful as it is unsettling.” Supporting this striking art direction is a 75-track soundtrack composed by Nicolas Gueguen, featuring ambient melodies, layered synths, and live choir recordings. The complete soundtrack will be available on major music platforms from 20th January.

Sarah Hourcade, Co-founder of Douze Dixièmes, explained the team’s vision: “We wanted to create an experience that brings together everything we love: a genre we’re passionate about with challenging mechanics, a mysterious sci-fi world, and a strong visual identity made possible by our own custom engine.” After five years in development, the studio is eager to see how players respond to their handcrafted adventure.

MIO: Memories in Orbit is priced at £19.99 with a 10% launch discount available across all platforms (PlayStation 5 discount requires PS Plus membership). The game is fully compatible with Steam Deck, and Nintendo Switch owners will receive a free upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 version when available.

The post MIO: Memories in Orbit appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

Coffee Talk Tokyo, the highly anticipated standalone sequel in the beloved café simulation series, has been pushed back to 21st May 2026. Developer Toge Productions announced the delay during their anniversary showcase, explaining that whilst the core game is complete, they want extra time to perfect the final details and ensure the cosy atmosphere fans expect.

The new entry takes players to a late-night Tokyo café where they’ll serve as barista to both humans and fantastical creatures. Like previous games in the series, the drinks you craft will influence conversations and shape branching storylines with an entirely new cast of characters. This time around, players can experiment with hot and cold beverages, create latte art using sprinkle stencils, and explore “Tomodachill”, an in-game social media feed that reveals hidden insights about customers.

Andrew “AJ” Jeremy returns to compose the soundtrack, promising a fresh collection of lo-fi tracks inspired by Tokyo’s summer nights and urban atmosphere. The game will launch simultaneously on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, with full localisation across ten languages including English, Japanese, Korean, and several European languages.

A Deluxe Edition will include bonus content such as a 10-track City Pop album, a Seattle Prologue chapter, and a digital artbook. The development team has confirmed this is the final release date, with no further delays expected.

The post Coffee Talk Tokyo Delayed appeared first on Gaming Debugged | Gaming Site Covering Xbox, Indies, News, Features and Gaming Tech.

We’ve officially made it through January, which means it’s time to look ahead to February — the shortest month of the year, the month of love, and one that’s still packed with exciting indie releases. Rather than getting caught up in what that might mean philosophically, we’re focusing on what matters most: the games.

To help you plan your month, we’ve rounded up some of the most interesting indie titles launching in February that are well worth keeping on your radar.

MENACE – 5th February

MENACE delivers deep, turn-based tactical RPG action in a gritty sci-fi setting from the developers behind Battle Brothers. You command a strike force of marines, mercenaries, and specialists as you respond to distress calls across a chaotic frontier system. Along the way, you’ll tackle a mysterious alien threat. Expect detailed squad management, diverse battlefields, and strategic decisions that will keep you thinking.

Mewgenics – 10th February

Mewgenics comes from the indie minds behind The Binding of Isaac. Here, you’re tasked with breeding the ultimate army of cats. Things will get weird, grim, and a little grotesque, but the gameplay promises to be a lot of fun. Its roguelike, turn-based tactics structure offers plenty of memorable moments and space to experiment with powerful builds.

ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN – 11th February

ROMEO IS A DEAD MAN is all about fast, flashy, and unapologetically violent action. You play as Romeo Stargazer, fighting for survival across space and time. With a variety of devastating weapons and abilities at your disposal, you’ll need to stay on your toes. This one’s intense and made for players who love action turned all the way up.

High On Life 2 – 13th February

High On Life 2 returns with the chaotic, comedic action that made the first game a cult hit. A mysterious threat puts you in danger, sending you across the stars to uncover a sinister conspiracy. You’ll blast your way through vibrant worlds while using a skateboard for fast, fluid traversal. Its hyperactive combat and offbeat style make it a must‑play for fans of irreverent shooters.

Astrobotanica – 16th February

Astrobotanica takes a more relaxed approach. You play as an alien exploring Earth as it existed three hundred thousand years ago. You’ll scan and explore, build a base, grow crops, and brew tonics to survive. With its charming visuals and slower pace, it’s perfect for players who enjoy a calm survival experience.

Dead in Antares – 19th February

Dead in Antares puts you in charge of a group of survivors stranded on an alien planet. With Earth facing collapse, your goal is to determine if humanity can survive elsewhere. You’ll manage resources, mental health, and relationships. Tough decisions and emotional moments await at every turn.

Demon Tides – 19th February

Demon Tides is a vibrant open-world platformer where you explore vast oceans and transform between forms to uncover hidden secrets. Its smooth movement, striking visuals, and open-ended exploration give it the feel of a high-quality indie take on a classic platforming formula.

The post Indie Video Games Round-Up – February 2026 appeared first on Green Man Gaming Blog.

Let me begin by saying I'm really looking forward to Marathon and its March 5 launch. I genuinely hope the game is a success, and I think it has a good chance to be.

That being said, it's an extraction shooter. This means it's PvPvE and fully multiplayer at all times, similarly to a game like ARC Raiders or Escape From Tarkov. And while I'm aware that this isn't a hot take, I can't shake the feeling that this exhilarating sci-fi world would be better suited to almost any other genre.

As an extraction shooter, Marathon is limited in how it can deliver its worldbuilding and story—via things like quests, in-game items, potential cutscenes, and lore drops like short stories or animations outside of the game. I have faith that Bungie can do this well, especially after the studio improved over time in how it was done in Destiny, but every new, exciting piece of media that comes out about this new game makes me wish it was delivered in any other genre.

Marathon is dripping with aura and stylishness. I am in love with its themes and concepts, its colorful and varied environments. But in order to enjoy it, I need to queue up and get ready to get my day absolutely ruined by losing all of my loot to an exfil camper, someone who's just plain better than me, or at worst, a cheater.

A singleplayer experience or a co-op shooter experience would be way more digestible than an extraction shooter. This genre has proven to be not for everyone, by a long shot, especially considering how intent Bungie seems to be on leaning into the PvP aspect of it. Where ARC Raiders has fostered a sort of "safe space" for PvE-only players thanks to its spin on engagement-based matchmaking, Marathon looks like it's going to throw everyone into the fire.

Bungie's environmental art, atmosphere, music, and gunplay are always solid. Even asDestiny 2 has taken multiple different paths, that's never really changed. A new Developer Insights video highlighting the game's composer and soundtrack dropped today, and I'm stoked about its vibe and the four songs released thus far. But in it, they talk about how they needed to craft the OST around the game not having one particular main character, and so the songs will be another way in which the story is supplied.

The original Marathon games from decades ago featured a unique and interesting sci-fi story. This new title will carry on that legacy, albeit in a much, much different way. I hope that the lore is delivered in fun ways but that it's still accessible to people, even if they're not the best at PvP.

Then again, Bungie's insistence that this is a PvP-first game may mean that this is just not the game for a good number of gamers. And I just hope that won't derail the game's chances at success, especially considering how make-or-break it feels for both Bungie and PlayStation.

The post I’m excited for Marathon, but I can’t help feel that its vibrant world would be better-suited for a different genre appeared first on Destructoid.

The Elder Scrolls 6, announced in 2018, is probably Bethesda's most anticipated game of all time. It would be a return to form for the company, which has spent a lot of the last seven years on Fallout and Starfield, among other projects, slowly but surely chipping away at its original franchise away from the spotlight.

In a recent interview with Kinda Funny Games, Bethesda creative director Todd Howard said the studio is going to return to its "classic style," for which the company has become known. The Elder Scrolls is the poster child of Bethesda Game Studios, while the other games it has worked on, i.e., Fallout 76 and Starfield, were "creative detours," Howard believes.

That classic style is characterized by Bethesda's recognizable approach to fantasy RPG elements and, naturally, the use of the Creation Engine (a new version, of course). Though it'll stay true to what fans expect, a lot of "innovation" will come as well.

And this brings me to the meat of this featurette: Bethesda has a ton to innovate on if it's to make The Elder Scrolls feel great again.

As time progressed, Bethesda increasingly embraced a shallower, more approachable, and less complex RPG style that favors quantity over quality and believes that so long as players have things to "do" in a game, that should be enough. Because of that, we got Skyrim, which ditched stats and any kind of build complexity in favor of a streamlined set of categories aimed at removing a proper class system.

That game also had countless fetch quests, shallow "go there and do that" types of assignments, stories that rarely overlap, side missions that don't make sense in the grand narrative of the game, as well as faction quest chains that don't take your character into account, allowing them to become contradictory as well (becoming a member of multiple factions at once, for example).

The game almost completely did away with roles to be played, remaining an RPG in name only.

Skyrim isn't the worst offender, however, as Bethesda's subsequent titles had even more of these flaws. But, then again, it seems Howard considers these "creative detours," so I'll refer to their last TES game instead.

Though it pains me to accept the Creation Engine at all, I think it could be overlooked so long as Bethesda did away with these "classic" aspects of its design philosophy, not to mention the jank and the bugs the company has come to be associated with.

The post Todd Howard says Bethesda is going back to its ‘classic style’ with Elder Scrolls 6—so please get rid of the endless fetch quests and the shallow stories appeared first on Destructoid.

There are very few things the vast majority of humanity can agree on: food is one of them. We all eat, and we all enjoy good food. And then there's music. We all hear or feel it, and we all enjoy it to some degree.

Everything about the upcoming RPG People of Note is influenced by music and how it brings people together. The names, the gameplay, the storyline, just about everything you could imagine is themed around music or just a fun music pun. The turn-based combat features musical instruments as weapons, and it's even rhythm-based (think Expedition 33-like QTEs when it comes to dealing max damage on attacks) in its very nature.

The game's locations are all themed around music (like Durandis, the city of rock and roll, pictured above), and it's all so incredibly tongue-in-cheek and dripping with whimsy. The game is an ode to the art form of music itself, and "music is the DNA" of the whole game, according to what creative director Jason Wishnov told me in a group interview presentation earlier this month.

People of Note stars a young woman named Cadence, a pop music singer who's out to make a name for herself as a musician and win a contest to earn fame and fortune... but she needs a band. She's eventually joined by a classic rocker named Fret (yes, EVERYTHING is a music pun) on their journey of creating a band that's a mash-up of genres to create something special and new. The group eventually fills out with EDM DJ Synthia and rapper Vox, and they all combine their different music styles to work together throughout People of Note's events.

Exploring Durandis in an early-access hands-on demo, I quickly came to see how this game truly was crafted by bona fide music nerds. There's a shop called 3 Stores Down (a la the band 3 Doors Down), I found an armor piece called Tom Petticoat (no Heartbreakers were found), and even pet an elongated corgi called, you guessed it, an accorgion (like an accordion). And that's just record-scratching the surface.

On their journey, Cadence and crew will visit themed locations and regions for genres like the aforementioned rock, plus EDM, rap, and K-pop, with each region featuring its own fitting battle theme. The combat is classic JRPG style. As Wishnov said, the game is heavily inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy 9 and 10, Chrono Cross, and even The World Ends With You, but it's still musical throughout. The turns are called Stanzas, visually represented at the bottom of the screen during combat so you can plan your attack.

And as mentioned before, the active rhythm-based combat, where you must time a button press with a visual circle closing on itself (this is optional and can be turned off if you so choose), is reminiscent of the hugely popular Expedition 33. But this game has been in development way before last year's game of the year launched.

The combat gameplay is supplemented with puzzles, with several in the demo themed around directing lasers to bounce across a room to reach an endpoint to move on to the next objective, but I think a lot of the fun will be based on combining different abilities and genre mashups to min-max battle success.

Wishnov said that People of Note has been in development for "five to seven years," with a maximum of 15 people working on it at any given time. It definitely has the vibe and feel of a passion project by people who truly love music and everything about it.

The demo I played featured one really cool musical cutscene between Cadence and Fret, but the majority of the dialogue is delivered Hades-style with static animations speaking back and forth, and silent chat bubbles with NPCs you meet around town. The fully 3D animated scenes are meant for special, "emotional climax" moments, but Wishnov said that there are "several" throughout the full experience.

To bring home these important moments, People of Note's voice cast is quite impressive, with some characters having both a voice actor and a singing actor (Cadence's voice is Heather Gonzalez, while her singing is done by an artist named LEXXE, for example), with several notable actors on board. The list includes Jason Charles Miller, Erika Ishii, Debra Wilson, and more.

The demo I played will be available in Steam Next Fest starting on Feb. 23, so I encourage everyone to try it out if they're a fan of music, JRPGs, or games in general. It launches on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 on April 7.

The post People of Note is a musical, party-based, turn-based RPG that I think fans of the genre need to hear more about appeared first on Destructoid.

Ever since the GTA series became the biggest game franchise in the world with GTA 3, many have tried to one-up it. No game has succeeded, but many of its challengers have remarkable development stories, so let's remember the fallen.

Driv3r

The first two Driver games are staples of the original PlayStation and legendary car-chase titles. Driv3r, the game meant to beat GTA 3 with its experience in the 3D realm, achieved legendary status, but only for the worst reasons.

Driv3r's development became so troubled that it was delayed to the point of competing not with GTA 3 or GTA Vice City, but with GTA San Andreas, a game lightyears ahead of everything else. And it gets worse.

Driv3r is responsible for "Driv3rgate," a huge scandal that hit when people suspected publisher Atari was cozying up to big gaming outlets of its time in exchange for ridiculously high scores that overlooked all of the game's technical issues. Never heard about Driv3rgate? Well, that might be because Atari then allegedly spent big bucks on a campaign to delete all negative press about Driv3r and replace it with positive reactions from fake accounts. Seems bad, but you gotta give them credit for pulling off this level of crap before AI was a thing.

So, if we're to end on a positive note, as far as criminal simulators go, Driv3r actually outdoes GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, because its development reportedly featured actual unlawful activity! Here's hoping that joke doesn't age poorly very, very fast.

JAK 2

Jak 2 isn't the game most would think of as a GTA competitor, but they'd be wrong.

The original Jak and Daxter was a cool platformer, one that combined the action of the Crash Bandicoot series that Naughty Dog was known for, with much more open play areas. The natural evolution of that alone should've gotten Naughty Dog enough praise and sales to keep the series alive, but then something changed everything.

GTA 3's release deeply shook the entire gaming landscape, and Naughty Dog admitted the Jak and Daxter sequel was heavily inspired by it, and that’s why you now have guns, cars, and a huge megacity-like play world. Even the name was changed to a three-letter name followed by a number. Jak 2 is a good game, but it's too far away from the original, and definitely still not the game that would appeal to the more mature GTA-loving audience.

Mafia

If we overlook Mafia 3's considerable technical issues because a dangerous-looking dude told us to, we can say the Mafia series is pretty great overall. It did, however, make a big mistake in its clinging to realism. The original Mafia takes place over the 1930s, some of the greatest years of organized crime, I've been told, and also a time that feels completely separate from the '90s and '80s of most GTA games up until then. Sadly, however, the developers seemingly didn't conduct much research into the cars of that time, a big part of making a GTA competitor. The good news is that cars were, indeed, already a thing back in the '30s, but they were slow as hell and thus not fun for either chasing other bad guys or getting away from the police.

Interestingly, there's one mission in the original Mafia where the cars can actually achieve decent speeds—the racing minigame, naturally—but that's actually gone down in history as one of the worst missions in this kind of game, since the cars are nearly uncontrollable. Mafia is a good game, but beating GTA 3 would have taken so much more than just that.

True Crime: Streets of LA

To anyone growing up in the '90s and Y2K times, everything about True Crime: Streets of LA read like "GTA but BETTER." It had you join the "good" guys, starred a wild number of Hollywood A-listers, and even added cool martial arts and Matrix- inspired shooting shenanigans. How are we not suffering acutely while waiting for True Crime 6 right now? Well, turns out there's such a thing as a jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

Though the idea of putting a greater focus on combat was the right one, the game suffered from a bunch of technical hiccups, like bad camera and clipping that left the gameplay feeling too unpolished to measure up to GTA 3 or Vice City. Weirdly, True Crime's weaker technical side would only get worse with its sequel, True Crime: New York City, and the martial arts GTA-like would only resurface a decade later with Sleeping Dogs.

The Getaway

The Getaway is one of the most expensive games ever made, and it shows. The developers at Team Soho literally cloned a large part of London and put it in a game with some of the best visuals of its time. The Getaway was as real as a game could get up until that point—and that proved a problem. See the sky in the image above? It's grey just like the London sky tends to be, but that just isn't as fun as sunny Vice City, sorry, Londoners.

The same focus on realism over fun is seen in many other parts of the game, like the minimalistic or null HUD, a very realistic and immersive choice that absolutely works with games meant for hardcore players like Escape From Tarkov, but that tend not to work on games aimed at mass market appeal. The Getaway was still a technical marvel, but not a marvelously fun game.

The post Many games have tried to take away GTA’s crown, so here are the failures worthy of looking back on and reminiscing what could have been appeared first on Destructoid.

A reader puts the blame for Xbox’s current problems squarely on Microsoft, blaming management failures, a lack of vision, and unwillingness to take risks.

It was November 2001 when Microsoft entered the gaming console arena. The green, cyberpunk style dashboard was dazzling, and it had one true game-changer: Halo: Combat Evolved. Players could battle grunting aliens across vast landscapes and drive amazing vehicles. Not only did this elevate the game to new heights, but it also drew huge crowds to the console.

In 2004, Microsoft dropped the price of the Xbox to an affordable £149. Sales increased, and Microsoft had established itself as a major player in the industry.

The Xbox 360 followed and held a firm grip on the market, even with the infamous Red Ring of Death incidents. It seemed Microsoft was poised to do for gaming what it had done for operating systems and office software – but that changed. You could blame Nintendo or PlayStation for focusing solely on consoles, rather than trying to turn them into all-singing, all-dancing media hubs.

In 2017, Microsoft launched Game Pass, positioning it as the ‘Netflix of gaming’. But Netflix does not release brand new, unproven films on the platform immediately after production. How can a studio make real profit that way?

Instead, Microsoft thought it clever to release major games like Starfield on Game Pass on day one, rather than waiting at least eight months to a year. With over 10 million players engaging with these titles but only an estimated 1 to 2 million Xbox users purchasing the actual product, out of a 34 million strong userbase, this represents a major shortfall.

Microsoft is not destroying its Xbox base through a lack of games, but through a lack of foresight. Day one releases should not exist on any gaming streaming service. Xbox titles should launch traditionally, for at least eight months to a year before being added to Game Pass.

Xbox is being suffocated by Microsoft, kept afloat only by PlayStation and PC purchases – and perhaps soon by the Nintendo Switch 2 platform. It is sad to see. Within five years, I believe the Xbox platform may cease to exist – not because of its fanbase, but because its owner has never truly learned how to compete in the gaming space.

Look at Sony and Nintendo: gaming consoles are not PCs. Streaming should give players choice, but it should not starve production studios of the glory – and profitability – of successful launches. You may disagree with this article, but you will likely agree that Microsoft is losing with Xbox; not because of the fanbase, but because Microsoft itself is no longer a fan of the Xbox.

Maybe I sound harsh, but I remember the original Xbox. Microsoft promised a multiplayer experience. One example was a game called Brute Force, a brilliant title where you control four characters on a mission. It had four-player local support, but everyone was waiting for the Xbox Live add-on. Microsoft again underdelivered, not realising that adding this component would have boosted sales and expanded its catalogue of exclusive titles. Instead, they prioritised the Halo explosion.

Look at Nintendo and Sony: they protect exclusives because good products sell consoles. Consider No Man’s Sky – not exclusive to any platform – but the studio persisted despite a rough launch. Their belief in the project created growth in a small but talented production team. I mention this because Microsoft has repeatedly given up on gaming projects, stifling the growth of Xbox exclusives.

Perfect Dark was cancelled – a perfect example of Microsoft destroying its own platform. With over a million units sold on the original Xbox, cancelling a sequel makes little sense. A return on DLC and season passes could have bolstered profits and helped sell the Xbox Series X in solid numbers.

Microsoft owns Activision, which promised exclusive games for Xbox, but instead the company cancelled titles as the new owner. Did you know Microsoft lost $300 million putting Call of Duty on Game Pass? Someone should have been held accountable for that decision.

Microsoft is destroying the Xbox – not because it can, but because it lacks vision. Leaders like Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, Elon Musk (yes, I said it), and Bill Gates understood customer needs and delivered great products that were also profitable. Xbox, unfortunately, will fade because no one at Microsoft is taking bold enough risks.

Goodbye, Xbox. It’s sad to see the Chief Master lose the fight.

By reader S.D.E Wilson

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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