Gaming Recap 2025

When it comes to gaming, this year was pretty wild. I went through lots of different phases which can be seen throughout the year, a look at the cadence of videogame reviews on this blog will give you an idea.

Earlier in the year I remember being out and about on vacation, which means that I carried some of my consoles and got to play quite a bit of portable games. However, February was even crazier, it was the height of PSP season in my favorite podcast, which means that I was also into a bit of a PSP frenzy myself. I played a lot of games such as God of War Chains of Olympus or Brave Story New Traveler.

At the same time as my PSP, I did a lot of PC gaming. I even platinum’d TOEM, a really neat and cozy photo-taking exploration game that I really enjoyed, but never got around writing a review for it. I tried other titles on my laptop like UFO 50 and Dredge, but in the end stuck with PSP and Switch titles for the most part.

March was when I realized I was playing too many JRPGs at once and wrote about games I should replay, I even told the story of my first console ever, as my favorite game of all time turned 30 years old. That month I reached credits on Super Mario Bros Wonder, and returned to Hollow Knight and got my first Hades victory!

In April one of the highlights has to be Craftmine, a Minecraft snapshot for April Fools that converted the game into a roguelike with lots of meta-progression and the like. I also had some thoughts to share about the Switch 2, which are probably pretty out of date by now. Stil haven’t bought one.

May saw a lot of progress in a lot of games. I almost reached the ending of a couple games and made more progress on lots of ongoing games. I also started a mini-series about videogame franchises and how my experience with them.

By June I managed to complete three different games. It was a crazy month where I stayed home alone for a bit and got to enjoy my evenings gaming as I pleased. I completed Ys: The Oath in Felghana and absolutely loved it, I also finished Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, which let me appreciate the influence of the vania side of the genre, and also got to experience one of my favorite games of the year in a matter of days, 1000xRESIST, which was an experience like nothing else before.

When July came about, I decided to return to some favorites such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where I made a lot of progression after not playing it for a whole year. Hades and Hollow Knight saw some love too. The highlight however has to be on The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, a game that I played for 40+ hours in two weeks, reaching credits on it, and opening the way for the extra content with 100+ endings to unlock, truly crazy stuff.

During August I made way too many blogposts. Including two reviews for two videogames I completed. One of them was long overdue, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, and the other, a newcomer that immediately captivated me, Jet Lancer. Finally, I completed, if not fully, Hollow Knight. All of this right on time to finally post my Top 25 Games of All Time, and some honorable mentions

And then came September, and then came Hollow Knight: Silksong. I was there, trying to buy it on day one while at my workplace, trying to download it once I got home, and playing it for more than 40 hours. The only menace for such a game is a roguelike I now carry everywhere: Slice & Dice took over my free time at work, and does to this day. Two heavy-hitters rocking my world in a month. I even forgot Ys I & II Chronicles exists.

October was another nice season to complete some videogames. First with another that was long overdue, Hyper Light Drifter, a game I’ve been chipping at for a year now, and then an almost forgotten wonder of my childhood, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, which was a delight to play even 20+ years after I saw it for the first time. I also begun a playthrough of CrossCode with some friends, which is still ongoing.

And now that the end of the year approaches, November saw some more varied activities. With some family visits and kids around, I thought it’d be fun to play some multiplayer beat’em ups like Streets of Rage 4, which we comploeted in one sitting, and TMNT Shredder’s Revenge. I also stuck with Hundred Line and CrossCode, and I must admit, got into a bit of a purchasing frenzy.

December saw a proper return to Silksong, where I reached the final boss and defeated it, although there’s still a lot of game to unpack. There was a return to Nintendo Switch Sports as well, since my friends got into bowling and golf. But the new king of my weekends has to be Vampire Survivors, and unexpected surprise that has taken over my friend group.

All in all, a crazy year filled with lots of games and posts about games. I am surprised I didn’t really buy any new consoles or handhelds, but it’s all right, I explored a lot of titles on multiple platforms, and I can’t really complain much. What a year!

Without further to do, here’s some data for you all.

• Some stats
  • Most played games
• Games I finished in 2025
  • On the Switch
  • On other platforms
• Games I started in 2025
  • Switch Games
  • Other platforms
• Games still in progress in 2025
  • Switch Games
  • PC Games
  • PSP Games
  • Retro Games
• Games I purchased in 2025
• Finishing thoughts

Some stats

Backloggd is a website I use that has provided me with some super cool stats on a recap page.

While this website is awesome and so are the stats, I’m going to copy-paste some of those numbers here for posterity.

• 68 games were played
• 262 days of playtime logged
• 850 hours of playtime logged
• 70 hours average per month
• 15 games finished this year
• 33 games started this year

Most played games

These stats are based on days, not hours.

• Slice & Dice - 38 days
• Hollow Knight: Silksong - 36 days
• Dragon Quest XI - 30 days
• Ys: The Oath in Felghana - 25 Days
• Hollow Knight - 23 Days
• The Hundred Line - 23 Days

Games I finished in 2025

Last year was pretty set on the kinds of games I played, mostly Metroidvanias, including both GBA Metroids and The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. However, this time was very, very varied. From life simulators in I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, physics-based puzzles such as World of Goo and aerial combat shooters like Jet Lancer, to life-changing sci-fi stories such as 1000XRESIST, the mix of tactics RPGs visual novel narratives in The Hundred Line and of course, instant masterpieces in the shape of Hollow Knight: Silksong.

So many options, so many started games, just a few were completed, whatever, it is how it is.

sGames with warning emoji (⚠️) are those where I reached credits or have played them for so much I decided to count them, I’ll probably keep playing Silksong and Hundred Line though, and Slice & Dice is infinite, so.

On the Switch

• I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
• World of Goo
• Super Mario Bros Wonder
• 1000XRESIST
• Jet Lancer
• Hollow Knight
• Hyper Light Drifter
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
• Streets of Rage 4
• ⚠️ Hollow Knight: Silksong
• ⚠️ The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

On other platforms

• TOEM (PC)
• Ridge Racer (PSP)
• God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
• Ys: The Oath in Felghana (GBA)
• Castlevania Aria of Sorrow (GBA)
• Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (GBA)
• ⚠️ Slice & Dice (Android)

Games I started in 2025

These are games that I begun this year, but for one reason or another, haven’t really completed them.

Switch Games

• Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is very, very cool, I started the first five hours and I was really enjoying it, but it was a very impulsive choice to start it at the same time I was in a Breath of the Wild AND a Dragon Quest XI frenzy, playing hours of each as well. I decided to shelve it until I finish one of those two.
• Full Metal Furies has been the serious multiplayer choice when the right friends align on a weekend and we start blasting through the different levels here, building up our characters and trying to complete this game together. It’s a matter of time.
• Portal 2 was something I started in multiplayer, but we drifted off and I think I’d rather start with the first game first.
• CrossCode is a game I’m playing with friends! but having to juggle between it and my completion of Silksong has been a mess.
• Vampire Survivors became a new favorite for local co-op, we are simply playing through it at our own pace and I bought it recently.
• Metroid Zero Mission I started because I liked some goodies I could get with Platinum Points after playing a bit of it on Switch, but it’s fun and may continue anyway.
• Runbow

Other platforms

• Ys I & II Chronicles became abandoned because I simply preferred to play Ridge Racer whenever I picked up my PSP.
• Dungeon Antiqua is a dungeon crawler with a retro style, I should return to it.
• Ridge Racer 2 is just the same as the original but more.
• Idle Slayer is an idle game for Android that seems interesting and apparently has some story.
• Apotris is the perfect Tetris-style game, with lots of modes and customization options!
• Streets of Rage just for fun on a weekend.
• Streets of Rage 2 for the same reason.

Games still in progress in 2025

I already wrote a list earlier last month, because I forgot it could have been part of my gaming recap, but well, it’s here. I’ll split it by platform here and just list the games in case that’s all you want. I’ll skip the games that I started this year, these are games that I have already been playing for even longer.

Switch Games

• Nintendo Switch Sports
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
• Mario Party 3
• Worms W.M.D
• Super Smash Bros Ultimate
• Fortnite
• Ultimate Chicken Horse
• TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge
• Ember Knights
• Portal 2
• Triangle Strategy
• Spelunky
• Monster Hunter Rise
• Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
• Hades
• Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age
• The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild

PC Games

• Minecraft
• Axiom Verge
• Faster than Light
• UFO 50
• Dredge

PSP Games

• Ys I & II Chronicles
• The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky FC
• Final Fantasy IV

Retro Games

• Advance Wars
• Final Fantasy VI
• Final Fantasy VII
• Solomon’s Club
• Astro Boy Omega Factor
• Mario vs Donkey Kong

Games I purchased in 2025

Starting the year I had decided to avoid purchases. I set some limits and tried to gamify it, but in all honesty things went downhill pretty fast due to different things.

In the end though, I managed to buy less than half the games I bought last year for my Nintendo Switch.

I had a subscription to Humble Choice going on for a couple of months which inflated the total beyond last year’s limits, although the price was pretty low for what I got so I don’t really count them as much as the physical games I got. I tagged them with emojis, and sorted by name.

• 🌐 = Digital Switch games
• 🎮 = Physical Switch games
• 🖥️ = PC games
• 📱 = Mobile games

Here’s the list of everything I purchased for myself!

These are the games I got in the bundles, they inflate the list a bit, and the price was pretty much inconsequential, so I just listed them here.

Finishing thoughts

All in all, a crazy year for my gaming habits. Lots of games were started, only some were completed. Lots of written blogposts about many aspects of gaming in my life were done, reviews, overviews, listicles and memories were shared.

What can I say? In the end it’s just another hobby I like to write about, something I enjoy experiencing and enjoying for myself. Sometimes I even wish I didn’t write about it as much so I would have more time to play, but it’s just so fun! I hope I get to complete more games in 2025.

So many games are left, I want to avoid purchasing games yet again, focus on my backlog and get working on it. I am amazed I didn’t fall for the Nintendo Switch 2, and that I didn’t get any hardware of any kind either, other than a NitroDeck that was gifted to me, which was cool.

Anyway, this recap is definitely the longest one I’ll do, and I am actually going to write a Games of the Year post soon as well, so look forward to that!

This is day 1 of #100DaysToOffload