Completed Games 2026

[Mera'din 311]

New year, new games beaten. My list from last year:

 

Spoiler

 

1.)  Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

2.)  Vampire Therapist

3.)  Copycat

4.)  Pocket Mirror ~ GoldenerTraum

5.)  Little Orpheus

6.)  Tales of Kenzara: Zau

7.) (PSVR2)  Behind Your Eyes

8.)  Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

9.)  South of Midnight

10.)  Hunter: The Reckoning - The Beast of Glenkildove

11.)  Split/Fiction

12.)  Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

13.)   Dead Take

14.)  Death Stranding 2

15.)  Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2

16.)  Echoes of the End

17.)  Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

18.)  A Plague Tale: Innocence

19.)  Hades 2

20.)  A Plague Tale: Requiem 

 

 

Definitely a much better showing than 2024. Far happier with what I played last year overall.

 

I have a couple already for this year as well.

 

1.)  The Roottrees are Dead

This is one that really took me by surprise. I was reading a list of "Best Indie Games of 2025" type of thing from a game journalist I like/trust the opinion of an noticed this one among a few other titles that seemed interesting and decided to grab it while it was on sale. At face value it's a very simple investigation type of game. A plane crash takes the life of a family tied to a prominent candy company, including the current President of the company. You are hired to investigate the family's genealogy and build out a family tree starting from the founder of the company using internet, magazine, and library searches.
What I thought would be a fun little puzzle game to play on the side while I played other stuff ended up consuming ALL my free time as I got sucked into the narrative and digging into the intrigues of this family. I don't know what it is, but it really scratched an itch I didn't know I had when it comes to investigation style games. And even better, once the family tree is finished, there's an extra bit where you dig up a major family secret and you think you're done AND THEN THE OTHER HALF OF THE GAME BEGINS. It takes the training wheels off, and you REALLY have to pay attention to what you're doing as you start digging into affairs of prominent family members and attempt to find "missing" branches of the family tree. It was an incredibly satisfying experience for something so straight forward.

 

2.)  Immortals of Aveum

In contrast, this game was a bit of a hot mess. I wanted to like it, and it had some honestly impressive world building and background info and a story that was just good enough not to shut it off, but the gameplay was pretty repetitive and a bit annoying and it's like the dialogue was written by someone who had done nothing but watch MCU movies their entire life to the point that it felt almost nothing but strung together sarcastic attempts at witty quips nonstop. Despite that, I actually liked a few of the characters, but the narrative itself was painfully predictable and there were some story moments that were just plain irritating and I may have actually yelled at the TV a couple times in frustration at the choices being made by some of the characters. There was a solid foundation, and there could have been a good game in there somewhere with the right execution, but it definitely fell short in the long run. At least it didn't feel like a total waste of time thanks to the aforementioned enjoyable characters.

[MT 921]

Last year's defeated games

 

 

1.  DOOM: The Dark Ages
2. 📱 Balatro
3.  Diablo IV
4.  Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
5.  Donkey Kong Bananza
6.  Control
7.  Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
8. (Famicom Disk System) The Legend of Zelda
9.  Hades 2 (first time)
10. (Famicom Disk System) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
11. (Famicom Disk System) Metroid
12.  Dispatch
13.  Metroid Prime 4
14.  Metroid Prime 1: Remastered
15.  Hades 2

 

 

1.  Hades 2 (credits + epilogue)

 

Beat this on the 1st, so it counts!

[Vic Boss 612]

Did'em last year but whatevs

 

0) Metroid Prime 4 Beyond (100%ed)

 

It was fine for what it was but undercooked. The free-roam map needed more in it. Another area or two would've felt "full." I wasn't a big fan of the supporting characters, pretty bland tropes, but kinda recognize that Prime has the modern-gaming problem that you need to deliver a story somehow because people don't read the scans (Heck, people didn't read the scans back when Prime 1 was new). The psychic powers were cool, the Akira bike was cool, combat and exploration were still solid.

 

I think the Prime series in general also has this problem where people only remember Prime 1 and forget that Prime 2 was kinda clunky with the light/dark mechanics and Prime 3 had similar "modern shooter" things held against it and think all of them were great. Prime 4 is another good but sorta-flawed sequel to a game none of them can live up to anyways.

 

0) NASCAR 25 (Platinum)

 

Hell yeah, buddy. The new series pared back how complex shit was getting in the previous games and just gave you the ability to drive casually and easily if you wanted to. If I had more time I'd play it more regularly.

 

0) Terminator 2D No Fate (Platinum)

 

2D Contra + Terminator = good time. Wouldn't have platinumed if not for the cheat codes though. Also kinda funny how little Arnold is in it (they got everyone else's likeness but his so the T-800 has very limited screentime). The future levels were the funnest but some of the other levels were pretty creative. 

[Mera'din 311]

3.)  Psychonauts 2

Lovely game. Reminded me of why I loved the original so much and felt like playing more of that but with a more interesting story overall. Great visuals, interesting concepts, etc. Gameplay was serviceable platformer type stuff. Combat was a little awkward at times, but far from deal breaking. Not a whole lot else to say, really. Enjoyed it enough I went ahead and 100%'d it and got the Platinum. Shame it took them so long to be able to finally make it as it seemed like they must have had the basic idea for what this would be already kicking around after the first one.

[Mera'din 311]

4.)  The Séance at Blake Manor
Another interesting investigation game, this time with a gothic horror spin. This was really fun as a story and a mystery. The investigative parts were well put together and the amount of characters and the way they tied together was really interesting. There's a time progression mechanic that I thought was going to hate, but it wasn't overwhelming and applied just the right amount of suspense and sense of urgency to keep things interesting. It wasn't overly difficult to solve stuff either which was a nice change from similar games I've played. Just challenging enough to be interesting, but not so challenging it gets frustrating and turns into a slog. Really happy with it overall. Not a huge fan of the art style, but I got over that pretty quick.

[Mera'din 311]

5.)  Raji: An Ancient Epic

 

Saw a trailer for the sequel to this (Raji: Kaliyuga) and it looked interesting so looked it up and found this game. It was on sale for like $5 on steam so figured I'd give it a shot. Was pretty short, but interesting. Very heavy India and Hindu mythology influence, which was what drew me to it in the first place since you don't see a lot of games that lean heavily into that. The game was originally a timed exclusive for the Switch and it shows in the visuals. The game doesn't look bad, just dated. Cut scenes are animated and done to look like traditional shadow puppets which was kind of neat, but not overly impressive. Gameplay was a little weak. Felt like a toned down/simplified early God of War game. Overall, it felt worth playing through once to hear some interesting Hindu stories I didn't know much about and presumably set the stage for the upcoming game. Probably not worth full price with how short it is, though (took about 4 hours to 100%).

[Mera'din 311]

6.)  Jusant

Really fun climbing/puzzle game. It's one that I had wanted to play a while back and forgot about, then Cairn came out and I remembered it since it was a similar style rock climbing game, just more realistic. Jusant instead has more of a fantasy vibe and seems more puzzle oriented than climbing simulator type thing. Really enjoyed it and it was a pretty chill experience with an interesting mystery about what happened to the world.

 

7.)  Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream

This is basically a puzzle game cosplaying as an isometric stealth game. I had a ton of fun playing it and figuring the levels out. The story was really interesting too, and the gameplay was super solid. I hope they do another game as the world was interesting and I'd like to see more of this style of game.

 

8.)  Indika

I have no idea what the fuck this was. Gameplay was part waling sim, part puzzle game that randomly turns into a platformer. Story was a bizarre almost dark comedy kind of thing at times, while also being "2 deep 4 me" about half the time as well, ending abruptly in an (intentionally, I'm thinking) unsatisfactory way that makes you kind of fill in the meaning with your own perspective. It was really short, but I enjoyed it for what it was. Very "out there" kind of storytelling and style of game overall that makes for a genuinely interesting experience. 

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Fallout New Vegas Ultimate (Platinum/100% Trophies)

 

Saw all four major endings but my "main" playthrough was a Hacking Gunslinger who leaned towards the NCR. Boone was my main companion.

 

Game hasn't aged great, clunky as fuck and VATS is the only thing that makes it mildly playable. The quest system kind of annoyed me, as a completionist and trophy hunter and someone who just likes to do quests for the story, having them be so hard to find, some of them be locked behind hidden mechanics that aren't explained (companion quests especially) and differentiating between named and not-named quests was annoying. I more or less played this with a wikia and trophy guide nearby at all times. I did find it a bit cool that you can kinda see the bones of future WRPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 in this.

 

Rumours of the PS3 version running like garbage were true. I was more or less freezing, restarting or shutting the game off and turning it back on after about 4 or 5 fast travel/room changes by the end of it.

 

I don't like dusty settings and I'm not the biggest fan of post-apocalyptic, so this is the first time I played a Fallout game (a friend's favourite so I went for it this time). I liked the factions and how much thought was put into them. Being dropped into the series later probably helped that, but it help the setting breathe a lot more for me. I usually play the good guy in choice games and only do bad-guy stuff for trophies, but this time felt kinda off, and near the end I caught on to most of the factions being variations or offshoots of American culture. No wonder it felt like it would've been more fun to destabilize it instead

 

ALSO I misread the map. I figured the lower right of the map was going to be more full of Legion stuff because of how full the NCR/New Vegas area was, so I left that for last, and it turned out there was barely anything there, so going Legion or anti-NCR might've been a little more enjoyable just to try to balance all of the factions out. None of the endings were truly all that satisfying, though.

 

My Yes-Man ending was probably the least bleak. The Securiton Army forced out the NCR and the Legion, I'd wiped out the fiends, I hadn't quite done the Powder Gangers (my only miss), so everything was either stable or "got rough for a bit but then stabilized" except the Brotherhood of Apocalypse, which was somehow "THEY'RE OVERWHELMED BY THE VIOLENCE" 

 

Would play the rumoured remaster, and would try some of the others 

 

2) Wonder Boy In Monster Land  :arcade: (100% trophies)

 

Generic, sucked. Had a few more of these kicking around so that removes them from the list

[Vic Boss 612]

1) Fallout New Vegas Ultimate (Platinum/100% Trophies)

2) Wonder Boy In Monster Land  :arcade: (100% trophies)

3) Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing  (Standby Platinum)

 

Still need four online trophies but that will depend on internet randoms ever being interested in doing it.

 

I think I played this on something before. Not as good as Mario Kart Wii or DS at the time but had more options. Couldn't tell if controls were too slippery or if my PS3 controller is just too old and going, but the difficult missions in it was really from whatever that slipperiness was and some iffy hit reactions on walls. Amigo's my guy

[Mera'din 311]

9.)  Hell is Us
Fantastic game. Published by Nacon so I was expecting some hefty euro-jank, but this game was really solid all around. Relatively fun combat, top notch exploration, creepy enemies, intense atmosphere, and a compelling mystery. Ending had an okay twist but was pretty open ended so a little unsatisfying, but overall the game was pretty stellar. The story got super dark at times, though, and I haven't had this much trouble getting through a game since Last of Us 2. Not because it was bad or uninteresting, but because it kept giving me weird, existential dread. It's set in a country with thousands of years of infighting and on and off civil war with the two sides hating each other for a variety of fundamental and religious reasons (the social commentary is not subtle, clearly) and they don't shy away from the worst kind of things that happen in a war. I can only see so many dead kids and what not before I have to take a break for a while. X_x
If you have a tolerance for that kind of thing though, very much recommend. Exploration is very intentionally "anti-hand holding". There's no real map or quest markers. They give your ass a compass and a data pad and go "figure shit out" and it was kind of refreshing. In part because the data pad is doing WORK. It tracks info on essentially everything you find so you have everything logged that you come across, but it's still up to you to remember where that thing is and make connections about how it works. For example, side quest with starving baby. No milk/formula left. Gives you empty bottles. It's on you to remember that you met a farmer with a cow in a different area you had explored previously and if you helped him then you can get some milk from him. Lots of stuff like that.

 

10.)  The Thaumaturge

Interesting little isometric, turn-based RPG set in alternate history Warsaw during the rule of Tzar Nicolas II. So you have magic people who can summon ghosts and manipulate emotions and some other mystical shit and Rasputin is in it. Because of course he is. Overall the game was pretty interesting. Getting a hand on what Thaumaturges actually do and how they work while bumbling around Pre WWI Poland and getting into turn based fights where people are shooting you for 2 damage and then punching you for 5 while you make your giant, nearly featherless ghost-bird peck them on the back of the head or screech in their ear. More games need to be made with this level of silly and just own the hell out of it.
Game felt a little on rails during the first act, but as it neared act 3, choices really started to feel like they would have immediate and meaningful impact for the end. Seems like there's a lot of stuff you can do in it overall. Also, I commissioned a diamond and gold encrusted horse saddle for a horse named Bosephaulus behind the back of an asshole German businessman using his own money while he was laying off staff to save money and the rest went on strike and frankly, I need more games like this.

Not sure how I felt about the game overall. Fights felt very rock-paper-scissors to some degree, though the fights didn't last so long I grew worried. Kind of want to play again sometime and take some other choices . Crank my pride to max and go all in on whatever crazy shit Rasputin has been smoking just to see where it takes me.