Clint’s 2025: A Few Notable Experiences

This is my third restart at writing this year’s reflection and list. 

The first was titled “Buyer’s Remorse” and quickly (albeit predictably) became a sad meditation on my deepest regrets in terms of video games in 2025, from purchasing the prettiest but least artsy version of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater to celebrating Expedition 33: Clair Obscur only to find out about the extent of Sandfall Interactive’s GenAI use (I was always an Act 3 hater — but now I feel more justified).

The second was an ode to fellow Punished Backlog writer Gary Wilson and his contagious evangelism for certain series. Confession: This one was weird. Some of this version survives below in my “Favorite Backlog Experience,” but I will preface this: My 2025 backlog would not have been as rich without Gary’s recommendations and encouragement. 

So what did I settle on? A bit of a hodgepodge. You will find my take on Game of the Year below, but you’ll mostly find moments that brought me joy. Many are shared moments where I felt connected to someone, a community, or myself. I have also provided a “runner-up” experience for each category. Lowkey, these are gaming experiences that I wanted to write about but didn’t want to create additional categories to accommodate.

2025 was a long, difficult year with some bright spots. I started going to the gym again, read more books (not related to research) than I have in a long time, and saw plenty of films in a theater (recommendations on the latter two below). I also found some love for a few new games and my ever growing backlog in the process. This is me putting a few favorite moments down on the page. 

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Favorite Remake/Remaster: Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles 

I loved Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (2003) as a pre-teen, but I had always felt like I missed the boat entirely with the original Final Fantasy Tactics (1997). I tried to return to it throughout my teens and twenties only to find myself going back to the mainline Final Fantasy games. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (2025) finally provided the desired experience. The story of a seventh-grade gym-class legend was finally approachable in the way I always wanted it to be. Whether you play the Enhanced or Classic version, Final Fantasy Tactics lives up to the hype and gracefully returns players to Ivalice. 

Furthermore, in a year of political chaos and turmoil, The Ivalice Chronicles does not pull its punches. No one really had any footing in claims about Final Fantasy being apolitical, but Tactics leaves no room for this argument. 

Runner-Up: Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster (2025)

I really enjoyed the original 2012 release on the 3DS and have longed to return to the Final Fantasy-inspired world of Luxendarc. Pairing this with 2021’s Fantasian made for a lovely year of Square Enix-published RPGs on the Switch 2.  

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Favorite VR Experience: Deadpool VR

I spent Thanksgiving weekend playing Deadpool VR (2025) with my brother-in-law. Outside of the occasional Fortnite trailer, my engagement with “new” licensed video games has been pretty minimal. In comparison, I spent other portions of the year replaying older licensed games, including The Simpsons: The Movie: The Game and Beowulf. 

Deadpool VR is a fun time, made better when playing alongside a loved one with a similar critical eye and sense of humor. The game offers critiques of certain video game tropes (like fetch quests) while being a bit self-indulgent with filler and references to last summer’s Deadpool and Wolverine film.

I wasn’t sold on seeing a VR world through Deadpool’s eyes, but playing the Ghost Rider and Mephisto level with my brother-in-law may have been the most memorable single-level experience of 2025. Also, where’s our Ghost Rider game?  

Runner-Up: Metro: Awakening (2024)

Yes, this one technically came out last fall, but I didn’t get to it until early this year. The game is terrifying in sections and really stands out as a horror sci-fi experience. Come for the horror vibes; stay for the chilling narrative. Oh, if you have arachnophobia, this recommendation is not for you. 

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Favorite Nephew Experience: Mario Kart World

The launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 was pretty smooth. I really enjoyed revisiting some old favorites and have taken advantage of the extra power to play some post-Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo titles (like Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Princess Peach Showtime, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remaster). 

None of these experiences holds a candle to playing Mario Kart World online with my five-year-old nephew. The evenings spent racing him remain amongst my favorite memories of Summer 2025, and while I never let him win, watching him get notably better with each race was magical. 

Runner-Up: Soulcalibur II on Nintendo Switch Online

He thought I let him beat me. I did not. He is ridiculously good at fighting games — I think I’ll introduce him to Street Fighter and Tekken in 2026. 

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Favorite Backlog Experience: Yakuza Series

Oh Yakuza! Oh Kiryu! Oh Majima! My life was so much less rich without you all, and I had no idea. There are few moments in life when playing a game for the first time that you know this is the best experience that you’ll have within a particular genre. Yakuza 0 (2015) is truly a masterpiece, and I recommend that everyone play it. 

Following Yakuza 0, I played five additional Yakuza games, and they will live on my Steam Deck indefinitely. None of them quite live up to Yakuza 0, but they don’t have to. Simply existing a little longer in this world with these characters is enough for me. Anytime I need a little pick-me-up or to just sit in my feels, there’s a Yakuza experience waiting for me. 

And, this is all fellow writer Gary’s fault. As a result, I feel like I have become a more patient and compassionate gamer. The Yakuza series has broken me of my “completionist” habits. I do not have the time to see every little thing that each Yakuza game has to offer; as a result, I have been more selective with how I spend my time within the world of the franchise and in other games. 

Thanks to Yakuza, my backlog games are no longer checklists, but experiences to be cherished and enjoyed. 

Runner-Up: Chrono Trigger (1995)

Widely considered one of the best games ever made. I get it now. One of my best friends introduced Chrono Trigger to his son this year. The kid is obsessed, and a part of me envies that excitement. Nothing made me feel more like a child than experiencing Chrono Trigger.

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Favorite Books and Movies

Okay, not games, but these great stories in print and on the big screen shaped my year as well. I’ve picked 10 of my favorites.

I highly recommend reading the following, listed in order of my recommendation:

1. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
2. The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong
3. One Day, Everyone Will Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
4. Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson
5. Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
6. The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar
7. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennet 
8. Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams
9. Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed el-Kurd
10. Sunrise of the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

On the silver screen, I went to see more films at the Austin Alamo Drafthouses than I care to think about. But I saw a few standouts — if you haven’t seen them already, make time to watch them in the theaters or at home (listed in order of how I encourage you to prioritize them!):

1. Sinners
2. Sentimental Value
3. Secret Agent
4. Sorry, Baby
5. The Legend of Ochi
6. The Long Walk
7. Predator: Badlands
8. Frankenstein
9. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
10. Weapons

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My Game of the Year: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Were you expecting Silent Hill f? Honestly, so was I! Death Stranding 2: On the Beach can only be called horror in the broadest use of the genre’s definition.  Sure, there are moments that are scary, eerie, or downright strange. But calling it horror, even with my loose definition, is a bit of a stretch.

Still, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was my favorite gaming experience released in 2025. I found comfort in its familiarity. I loved the first Death Stranding in 2019 even as the world reflected this piece of art after March 2020. The first game spoke to a moment of immense isolation, if only by accident; The second game speaks across time and politics. 

Within Death Stranding 2, the game balances allegory with contemporary issues. The closest comparison in Hideo Kojima’s oeuvre might be Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The game also speaks to and across Hideo Kojima’s career with sprinklings of subtle and outrageous callbacks to former projects. Further, the game’s final chapter presents the player with pure spectacle. 

The performances (namely those of Elle Fanning and Léa Seydoux), the predictable twists, and the Australian landscapes have enamored me long after the credits rolled. I continue to return to the world when I need just fifteen minutes of peace. I have deliveries to complete.

This latest project feels like a capstone project for this chapter of Kojima’s career. 

Runner-up: Hollow Knight: Silksong

I cried during the opening ten minutes of Silksong. The gameplay feels like a natural evolution of Hollow Knight, and the level design is unmatched in 2025.It is devastating that there continue to be so many bugs in this game after such a buggy launch (that is the last time I’ll make this specific joke). 

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Closing Thoughts

I slipped, dear reader. Or should I say: the digitally rendered Norman Reedus slipped and slid down the snowcapped mountain. I thought I could make it.  The batteries on my truck died, but I thought I could get this cargo over the peak on foot, gently walking it down to its delivery destination. Fate and my hubris destroyed the entirety of this order. 

This common occurrence in my favorite game of 2025 is a strange metaphor to close a post celebrating my favorite experiences of the year. However, it does nicely serve as an analogy for my life this last year. I overcommitted, I slipped, and I lost something each time.

I also chose to get back up, often with the help of friends like Gary Wilson or Amanda Tien and my amazing partner. I am thankful for my support network, The Punished Backlog, and good books. 

Here’s hoping that we all slip a little less in 2026, either due to less hubris or more kind fates.