PWB Jan 26 & Overview 25

We didn't really do a end of year thread, so I'm just bundling that in here too.

Played '25
2025 was all about playing my favourite ever videogames. I started the year playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition, it's janky in places but it's still great. Then I replayed all of Celeste (erm, except for some of the crazy difficult bonus levels) and I think it has to be the best videogame ever made. Then I closed off the year getting absolutely engrossed with Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I had played BotW before but I didn't finish it, it is now one of my all-time favourites.

I did play a few other bits and pieces, but not a lot. Paper Mario Origami King was way better than it needed to be. Citizen Sleeper was pretty special.

Play '26
I'm almost finished playing Ocarina of Time 3DS. I've been enjoying it but mostly for nostalgia and curiosity - I wouldn't call it "good". It is interesting to see how much of it was reimagined in BotW.

I will be jumping into Tears of the Kingdom and Majora's Mask at some point soon.

I think Persona 4 is next to play.

Want & Bin
Please can 2026 be less stupid and far less fascist than 2025?

Played 2025

Like you I spent a lot of 2025 catching up on, or replaying, older stuff. I spent about three months on Tears of the Kingdom and it was absolutely superb; I also replayed Resident Evil 2 and Arkham Asylum and went back to the Final Fantasy 7 remake having previously abandoned it about halfway through. Also the Mario Galaxy re-releases on Switch. So some good solid games to revisit there and I'm glad I did.

In terms of new stuff, it was a quieter year - I adored Monster Train 2, had a laugh with Doom: The Dark Ages, enjoyed the first half of Avowed (but not so much the second half) and was impressed by South of Midnight. I was really looking forward to both Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders and Power Wash Simulator 2 but neither of them have grabbed me like their predecessors did - maybe it's just too much of the same thing. I really admired Clair Obscur but did bounce off it and I should probably go back and play it on easy mode one day.

For all the problems that Xbox undoubtedly has at the moment, Game Pass still constitutes about 90% of my gaming time. I think it's inevitably going to die a death at some point and I will really miss it when it goes.

Play 2026

I'm on the final chapter of the FF7 Remake so that will probably be my first completion of the year. I'm also enjoying Deep Rock Galactic Survivor for a bit of simple blasting time.

Want

I have no idea what's coming out this year so I'm just going to take it as it comes. However I have a few games in my backlog I want to get to, most notably the Resident Evil 4 remake, Lost Judgement and Metafor: ReFantazio. So I've got plenty to play.

Bin

I've tried the second scenario in the RE2 remake and it's just a super-hard remix of the first run really - I'm running around with no ammo, about three times as many zombies and Mr X chasing me down relentlessly at double the speed he went before, and I'm not having a great time. I think I might just move to something else.

Played 2025
I seem to have missed most of the big hitters from the year - didn't play Clair Obscur, haven't got GamePass, and don't own a Switch. Most of what I've done (aside from semi-regular jaunts on the Sea of Thieves) is flying revisits - Elite Dangerous, Forza Horizon 5 (on PS5), and latterly the Tomb Raiders.

Play 2026
I'm only a few levels from the end of Tomb Raider II (Floating Islands can do one). I won't be too sorry to see the back of it - despite remembering this as a bit of a favourite in the series, it's a bit of a chore, with far too much combat and not nearly the same sense of exploration of the original. I have almost no memory of III, so that'll be interesting.

The Expanse: A Telltale Series was very cheap in a sale, so I picked that up. The character models are extremely uncanny, but it's good to hear Cara Gee's Drummer yelling at people again.

I've made a little progress in the Star Wars Outlaws DLC, but as ever got sidetracked with open-world nonsense. It's a pretty great rendition of the galaxy to get lost in, though.

Want
The upcoming Tomb Raiders, Legacy of Atlantis and Catalyst, are probably at the top of the list. Maybe also the Tomb Raider Anniversary remaster? I've played it before, and Legacy of Atlantis might render it somewhat redundant, but I'm feeling weirdly completionist about my Tomb Raider of late. I'm sure it'll pass.

There's a game I saw somewhere called People of Note that's a proper turn-based rhythm RPG, and might be more like what I wanted from Stray Gods.

Warren Spector's upcoming Dishonored-style PvPvE burglary game, Thick as Thieves, has been on my wishlist since it was announced, but I have no idea when it's supposed to be out.

I'd really like Sucker Punch to pack in the Ghost of… stuff and make (or remaster?) some inFamous, but that's real pie-in-the-sky stuff.

Bin
Anything that uses "generative" "AI". I've steadfastly refused to buy ARC Raiders because of its AI-generated voice work, and even Clair Obscur dropped off the wishlist after that was de-awarded for using it, too (and yes, I know it was patched out). It might be a futile stance to take, and I'm one very tiny drop in an extremely large ocean, but what use is a principle otherwise?

Played 2025
Clair Obscur is a game I think is also deserving of the almost comical praise it got and I think the E33 haters are more annoying the E33 glazers it has to be said, not saying you can't hate it but some people clearly have a chip on their shoulder over it being the sacred cow right now. I also played BG3 last year and I think it's one of the best games I've ever played.

Strange as it seems, emulation was a big part of my year, partly because I have like 8 or so devices at this point but also, I can't take my Switch 2 or Steam Deck into work, but I can take my RP Mini or Odin 2 Mini into work and play Gamecube games during my work break, through this alone I've beaten the entire Shadow Hearts Tetralogy(Quadrilogy? Yes Koudelka counts fight me) in commutes/work and they're full on PS2 RPGs, as well as Fire Emblem on the Gamecube.

Nintendo adding Gamecube to the NSO and with good titles is a great sign though, the more availability rises, the less I need to do it. They added Soul Calibur 2 too late for me, but Sony DID add Soul Calibur 3 to PSN and I've abruptly stopped my playthrough on the O2M to just play that version, availability is cool!

Play 2026
Need to get back to Atelier Yumia but I think I still want to rejoin Samus on a few more adventures. I am in dire need of another commute game so I think I'll get back to We Love Katamari which I think is the sequel.

Also I would really like get back to reading my Visual Novels on the steam deck, other than that I am trying to play Ys 1 as much as I can without a guide and I got way further than I thought, it's actually not that confusing pre-Darm Tower, it's also a little gem of a game in my opinion, it's just not all that newbie friendly.

Want
Trails Beyond the Horizon is out this very month, the 13th game in the series, I'm obviously really excited for it (Rean is back ) but I'm even more excited for the Trails 2nd Chapter remake, which is my favourite of the entire series, the first game remake released late last year and as far as remakes go it's one of my favourites, up there with Resi 2.