A Year In Gaming | Completing My Backlog

It's been a year! Well, it’s been more than that at the time of publication, but whatever. Life gets in the way, and these articles take time to write. That being said, I played a lot of games last year, so maybe it’s less about how busy I am and more about how poor I am at managing my time.

Since I was so busy gaming all the time, this article is going to be a long one I’m afraid. Feel free to skip to the parts that seem the most interesting to you. The main reason I am writing this is because I want to get back into the swing of things with this website. 

I used to do monthly backlog reports back in the day, and while I doubt I will be able to get back into that pace, I do want to make an effort. So let's get 2025 out of the way, shall we? There is a lot of variety here, and getting all of this out of my head and into words felt like a whirlwind of a process. Alas, let the deluge commence! 

Into the Remedy-Verse!

I really enjoyed my time with Alan Wake 1, even if I was only playing it so that I could finally try out Alan Wake 2.

My year began with surrealism, horror and comedy all mixed into one package, brought exclusively from the world of Alan Wake. In truth, I originally began this back in September of 2024, but like I have with many other games, I lost track of it. At least it didn’t take me years to get back to it this time!

Nevertheless, Alan Wake 2 was my goal, especially after hearing all the buzz about it, but I knew in order to get there, I had to fully immerse myself into the universe of these games. More specifically, the ‘Remedy-Verse’, named after the company behind all this magic.

The original Alan Wake takes some getting used to in the technical side of things. It feels very dated, which is reasonable given that it is 15 years old. Once I got used to the controls and the gameplay loop, however, what I was left with was an incredibly captivating experience. 

The story is what stays with you (depending on your frustration with the combat, which I didn’t mind). You play as Alan Wake, a writer who has gone on a writer’s retreat to a small town. Not long after arriving, your wife has been kidnapped by an entity known as the “dark presence”. It is up to you to find her while also figuring out the mystery surrounding the town and fighting off the darkness that haunts it.

Those who have played this game will know just how annoying those damn birds are.

It’s a lot more complicated than that but I’m not going to go into too many specifics. I really enjoyed its atmosphere, and I thought the narrative was truly unique, if a little reminiscent of Twin Peaks. I also found the characters very endearing. 

Once I was finished with Alan Wake I moved onto Control, which was a very different experience. Action is pushed to the forefront here, but there’s also a lot more worldbuilding to sift through compared to Alan Wake. 

Here you play as Jesse Faden, a woman with telepathic powers who finds herself at a building known as “The Oldest House” in search of her brother. Upon arriving, she is immediately promoted to director of the Federal Bureau of Control, an organisation that operates inside the building tasked with dealing with strange and supernatural phenomena around the world.   

Yes, that is a night sky, and yes, this entire game does take place inside a building. It is not supposed to make sense but it is cool and mysterious.

Where Alan Wake felt like a love letter to Twin Peaks, Control feels like its own interpretation of SCP, something made all the more apparent when engaging with the game’s worldbuilding. There is a lot to uncover here, and if you are interested in this sort of thing then you could be playing this game for hours.

Personally I didn’t enjoy Control as much as I did Alan Wake. Its gameplay is undeniably more engaging, but eventually I found it quite repetitive. Likewise the environments started to become stale. Given that the whole game takes place inside a building, that does make sense, but the building is implied to be a living entity in itself, so I expected a bit more.

Nevertheless, I still liked it, and I really appreciate it for what it is and what it contributes to the Remedy-Verse. The idea behind the bureau is fantastic in my opinion, and I am still looking forward to the sequel.

After finishing Control and its DLCs, it was time for Alan Wake 2. All I can say is, wow! It was absolutely worth the wait. I have never seen such high production value in a video game before. It felt like playing a big blockbuster film. 

Just seeing pictures like this makes me want to replay this game straight away.

This one leans a lot more into horror compared to Alan Wake 1, and the storytelling and gameplay are absolutely top of the class. I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was experiencing at the time. It doesn’t surprise me that it took a long time for Alan Wake 2 to make a profit because it feels like an expensive production. (around $75 million)

I’m not going to say much about this game, especially because this section is getting too long, but for the love of god, play this masterpiece. It has become one of my favourite games of all time, and even though it’s been a year since I finished it, I still think about it now.

Robots & Assassins

It's a me, Astro Bot! I'm so funny, I know.

To go in a completely new direction, the next game on my list was Astro Bot, who just recently won game of the year at The Game Awards after significantly positive critical acclaim. Sony’s answer to Mario, Astro Bot as a whole is not just an excellent platformer, but a love letter to Sony as a brand.

The whole game feels like a labour of love; a thoughtfully handcrafted experience that comes from the hearts of people whose experience with PlayStation began from childhood. It’s easy to say that it’s a Mario alternative, but its origin and meaning make it so much more important that giving it the game of the year award felt like an obvious choice to basically everyone.

As far as platformers go, it is exceptionally well-made. It feels incredibly smooth to play due to its insane amount of polish, but also feels arcadey at the same time, striking a clean balance between high production and silly fun. As Skillup mentioned in his review for the game, it gives you the same feeling as being a kid and playing with your favourite toys.

Levels are beautiful and unique, and the amount of unlockables is staggering. They all revolve around Sony games, both famous and forgotten by many. There really is something here for everybody; you don’t have to be a Sony fan in order to feel connected to this, and that is what makes it an all time great.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have Assassin’s Creed Shadows. I have a habit of buying an Assassin’s Creed game at launch and wondering why I bought it on launch. It’s a pretty bad habit, and I don’t recommend it. 

One thing you can't fault about Assassin's Creed Shadows: its environments are fantastic.

This one is a tricky one because I do want to get back to it and give it another shot at some point, but I bounced off it so hard that returning to it is going to be difficult for me. In truth, it checks many boxes. It’s beautiful, the world is amazing, the combat is smooth and precise, and the atmosphere is top notch as usual.

But it’s also a Ubisoft game and, once again, that is its ultimate downfall. The pacing of the story is all over the place. The idea that there’s freedom in choosing what order you want to go after targets starts strong, but quickly falls apart when the absence of a coherent narrative begins to deteriorate the whole experience. The “overall” story isn’t there, it just felt like a series of mini stories that I didn’t care enough about.

Ubisoft’s game philosophy is conflicting to me, because there are times I can really enjoy these games for what they are, but the “Ubisoft bloat” is a real problem, and it feels like it’s only getting worse.

A Grand Race, and an Unforgettable Expedition

As a huge Mario Kart fan, I was very calm and collected when Mario Kart World was announced...

When Mario Kart World released last year, it was the first mainline Mario Kart game to be released in 11 years. Unless you count Mario Kart Tour which released in 2019 which, to be fair, you probably should since it has its own merits. Either way, it’s been a long time, so when it was announced in the beginning of 2025, buying a Switch 2 became a done deal for me.

Everybody has their own thoughts on the outcome of Mario Kart World. Some think the idea of an open world Mario Kart game didn’t work because Nintendo didn’t go far enough with their ideas, and others think it’s a breath of fresh air for the series.

I am somewhere in the middle. Overall, I love it. The idea of race tracks all existing in the same, interconnected world is the kind of thing I used to imagine as a kid, and the world really is beautiful. I also recognise Nintendo could have gone all the way by utilising its world more, whether that’s through a campaign or other unique content ideas.

I lied, I was freaking out. Just look at this beautiful game!!!

Regardless, what we got is an exceptional game in my eyes, and I look forward to what future content might bring… there better be more content down the road, otherwise my opinion might become lower in the future.

But then we have Expedition 33. There isn’t much I could say about this game that hasn’t already been said. If you haven’t heard of it then you must be living under a rock. Likewise, if you know it but haven’t played it, it is worth every last bit of hype that it received.

Expedition 33 is a one of a kind game that doesn’t happen very often. The studio’s first ever game, and it wins game of the year, as well as hundreds more, all of which are deserved. The story behind its success is truly inspiring, and for those who like to be doom and gloom about the games industry, Expedition 33 is a beacon in the dark.    

As you can tell from all the corpses, Expedition 33 is a very happy game.

Everything about it is exceptional. Its narrative is fantastic, and it sticks with you long after the credits roll. The gameplay is challenging, rewarding, but also highly accessible to the degree that even if you don’t enjoy turn-based combat, you are bound to enjoy it here. If you haven’t heard the soundtrack, you have no idea what you are missing out on.

Not only was Expedition 33 my game of the year, it has also become one of my favourite games ever. I didn’t follow the trailers or buzz leading up to release, so for me it really did come out of nowhere. To those who say video games aren’t fun anymore, I say shut the hell up.

To New Worlds!

The scale of this game will never cease to amaze me, and I hope we see more like this in the future.

This part of the year was a sci-fi extravaganza for me. It began with finally getting around to Warhammer: Space Marine 2. My knowledge of Warhammer is basically non-existent aside from hearing all kinds of weird stories about it, but I have played the odd Warhammer game and this one looked cool.

After finishing it, I definitely would’ve benefitted from knowing more about the universe, especially the story from the first Space Marine which, I know, that should be a given. Either way, it didn’t stop my enjoyment of the game. 

What impressed me the most was its scale. What you see in those trailers - the massive battles, thousands of enemies in the distance, giant set pieces - is exactly what you get, and it never ceased to impress me. The combat was really fun, and while I do think the amount of content was a bit lacking, I left it having had a good time.

Borderlands 4 was next, and this was a trickier one. I have been a fan of Borderlands since the first game, and while I didn’t think Borderlands 3 was that great, I was still cautiously optimistic about this one. The result was… conflicting.

Claptrap's back, and he's actually quite funny in this one.

I hate the open world. I’m getting that out of the way. The shift to an open world makes no sense to me, and it didn’t work at all. Each location in previous Borderlands games felt special because they all had their own character to them. Turning it all into one seamless open world removes that completely, and instead you’re left with three bland environments that are honestly forgettable.

But on the other hand, the darker tones provided by the story were a welcome change from Borderlands 3. The balance between serious subjects and comedy is excellent this time around, and I really enjoyed the characters. The combat is exceptional as ever, with some of the most entertaining guns the series has seen so far. 

Unfortunately, though, I grew tired of it. The open world was making the whole thing drag, and the performance issues on the PS5 version definitely didn’t help with that. I got to the final mission, and when the enemies jumped 3 levels ahead of me, I got fed up and quit. I’m sure I’ll get back to it, but I’m done for now.

I get the intention behind the open world, but for me it doesn't work. Despite that, it's still a lot of fun.

Mario Kart World wasn’t the only long-awaited racing game to be released in that year. Sonic Racing Crossworlds is something I would have never expected to come into fruition after the mixed reception of Team Sonic Racing. Thank god it did because they knocked it out of the park with this one.

They took everything they did right in their previous instalments and created something that feels truly unique. As the name implies, you travel across worlds, not just race tracks. Where Sonic Racing Transformed had race tracks change as you progress, Crossworlds has you travelling to a new world halfway through the race, and it really plays with this idea.

Yes, that is Joker. This is actually one of the more normal screenshots from this game.

One minute you are racing through a meadow of flowers, the next you are in a prehistoric landscape inhabited by dinosaurs, or driving through a shipwreck trying to avoid a giant octopus. It is the craziest title in the series so far, and it is a boatload of fun.

Unlike Mario Kart World, Crossworlds has a clear post-release plan, with DLC packs providing new characters and race tracks. Playing with the multi-verse theme the game has, these DLC packs bring other franchises into the fold, ranging from Pac-Man to Minecraft. It’s a hell of a good racing game, and while that price tag is nasty, once it’s on sale it is an easy recommendation from me. 

The Final Stretch

Oh look my happy place!

Back in 2022, Coral Island was released into early access. It had been on my radar, even though I don’t normally play this type of game. But I loved the way it looked, and I wanted to try it. It was missing a lot of content, but it had me hooked for a time, and then I lost track of it.

Three years later I finally got back to it, long after its 1.0 release. I proceeded to spend at least 50 hours in the span of a couple months. I would play it nearly every day, with some sessions lasting multiple hours. 

I love this game. It has changed so much since I last played it, but it is by far my favourite farming sim. Everything about it is brilliant to me. The colourful visuals, the incredibly relaxing and wholesome atmosphere, the characters, the wide-branching narrative, the sheer amount of things there are to do, the pro-environment message, and the fact that it is incredibly queer friendly. 

If you want a less pixelated version of Stardew Valley, definitely consider Coral Island!

I still haven’t seen everything this game has to offer. I’m currently on a break, but I still haven’t completed my first year yet. If you are looking for a wholesome game to play, or just something relaxing, please play this because it will easily win you over. I’m looking forward to getting back to it soon and once again being consumed by it.

To finish out the year, the last game I played was Dispatch. A spiritual successor to TellTale and a rather refreshing take on the superhero genre, I had a really good time with this. I started playing after all the episodes were released, so I didn’t have to wait weekly like most did.

The idea of turning a team of former super villains and current delinquents into a force for good was fulfilling to see, and seeing the impact you had on these characters throughout the game felt incredibly meaningful.

That TellTale nostalgia be hitting hard when you see popups like this appear on the screen.

It’s been a while since I have played a choice-based game, and it was a nice change of pace from everything else I had gone through previously. The actual game aspect of it - the dispatching of heroes to events across the city and utilising their strengths to your advantage - felt like a unique idea.

After looking into other outcomes after finishing my playthrough, I was a bit disappointed that there isn’t much in the way of differing choices. The narrative tree doesn’t exactly spread out much. Either way, it was a fun experience, and I am very much looking forward to their next game.