Frezno's Games Of The 2025 Thing!

Well, here we are again, gang. 2025's sunset, and as is tradition, we're going to talk about a bunch of computer video games I played during that time. I haven't gone as crazy with the gaming as I have in past years, but this is nevertheless a delight to do as a yearly wrapup. All the apps get to do it, so why can't I on my big blog? The end of the year is always a party, so let's get the party started and celebrate the year that was... in personal computer video gaming for your old pal Frezno Inferno.

THE UNFINISHED

I did this segment last year, and it probably will become a recurring one given my lack of attention span and the way I just get so far into things before dropping them due to being busy, life getting in the way, or just some other shiny thing distracting me like jingling keys in front of a baby. Despite all that, these games deserve a little love, and so here is that little bit of love.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (Switch)

I know all the digi-nerds were abuzz about Time Stranger this year, but over the summer I got this on sale for 5 bucks and made a decent dent in it. I have a little fondness for Digimon and this seems like a really robust and intriguing game for the price of a pop and chips. It has a little bit of that SMT energy with the recruiting and evolving and fusing, but with this whole cool veneer of diving into digital worlds and what it means when the digital affects the physical. Standard stuff for Digimon, yeah, but it's an enjoyable RPG that had a spike of difficulty here and there for me in my time with it. Neat!

Dragon Quest III HD 2D Remake (Switch)

Once again, a new entry in this was all the rage in 2025 and here's my out of date ass just catching up with the prior hotness. Of course, this is one hell of a prior hotness, given it's a lavish remake of a cornerstone JRPG from the late 80's. I have fond memories of burying myself in the old Game Boy Color port of this back in the 2000s, so to have this souped-up super version of such a formative game is a real treat. It looks great, it plays great, there's a bunch of new shit to make this version worth it, what else can you say? I would love to bury myself in it again for a solid month and just have that RPG comfort food, but we will see what 2026 has in store.

Super Crush KO (Switch)

A recent delight, but a great one. This was a request during the latest Frezmas, my holiday Twitch stream marathon, and my pal Polly asked for this one. What I got was a joyful little combo game in which you punch the shit out of things with various skills. Large swaths of the stream were me silent, just focusing in and trying to get great juggles while doing crowd control. It's fast, frantic, and funny. I didn't finish it on the stream, but I really want to go back and at least clear the main storyline. I don't know if I want to try and perfect it or anything, but the fact that the option is there is really neat.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles (PS5)

Oh look at that, I can play games that were released this year. They just happen to be remasters of PS1 games from 30 years ago. I'm old, what do you want from me? I really buried myself into this one, only stopping because I was dragging my feet over battling that bastard Wiegraf again in that castle. You know the one. The one that stopped me twice back on the PS1 and made me have to restart the whole fucking game over. All that said... Holy fuck the politics of this game are something else. Fighting against corruption on all levels and for the good of the common man against classists, racists, and actual demons. Compelling fucking tactical gameplay and a job system that's like crack. This is the most based Final Fantasy and I love it. Eager to finish it, hopefully when I get the time I will.

BEST GACHA GAME OF 2025

Zenless Zone Zero (PS5)

Well, it had to happen sometime. A gacha game finally got its hooks into me. ZZZ has a little bit of everything: a peak aesthetic, frantic combat, incredibly cute and powerful girls who could kick your ass and incentivize you to pull for them, and a story that builds and builds as you meet and help each faction before culminating in a huge fuckoff boss fight that still manages to tease hooks for the second "season" of game. I do admit that there is a bit of a disconnect for me in regards to all of that, though. This is not your standard game, but a "forever" one which would like some of your free time daily and also would love you to whip out your credit card to do better at it. I can resist that lure, but this sort of game usually doesn't get to me. What did it this time? Astra Yao. I plowed through Season 1 of the storyline (which itself is a varied and wild thrill ride of synchronicities and cool characters) to get to the Astra episode. The Astra episode is why this is on the list. It is a moving and beautiful climax of that theme of solidarity in which the people of this world unite with the power of song to save the day, all sins of the past are forgiven and healed from, and Astra and her bodyguard Evelyn basically declare their love for one another. It is the next natural evolution of Symphogear in my internal landscape. Peak gaming. Except for how they treat Nicole. Justice for Nicole Demara. Perhaps in 2026 we will see more fun in New Eridu, but for now... Astra, y'all. I'm love her.

BEST COLLECTION OF 2025

Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection (Switch)

There weren't any new entries in the Digital Eclipse Gold Master Series since Tetris Forever last November, but that doesn't mean those retro game collection madmen were asleep at the wheel. No, this year's entry into the Digital Eclipse hybrid retro anthology/interactive documentary/virtual coffee table book experience is a collection of vintage Mortal Kombat games. Mortal Kombat has a fascinating history that's given an in-depth look in this: it took me 90 minutes before I was actually playing Mortal Kombat 1. Incredibly comprehensive and fascinating as a story, and it helps you appreciate these games all the more. The act of playing them is a little miserable due to the input reading being on SNK levels, even for the home versions, but I nevertheless remained captivated by how packed this is as a story and game compilation. I bought it as much for those in-depth behind the scenes history features as I did to grab people with Sonya Blade's thunder thighs, and it does both of those things pretty damn well for my tastes.

BEST FOOTBALL GAME OF 2025

Tecmo Super Bowl (NES)

Okay, so this is a weird one. In 2023 on a whim I really got into Tecmo Bowl, and it made the list for that year. Early this year I found myself tinkering with its sequel, which is widely considered to be a pinnacle for arcade style football gaming, I guess. I mean, they keep making yearly ROM hacks of the thing to update it with the modern day NFL roster, so it must be well-liked. Turns out that's for a good reason. Holy fuck this game is so fucking fun. There's just enough evolution from the original Tecmo Bowl to give some more complexity, but not so much that a football newbie is utterly overwhelmed by the minutae. The perfect game to play when you have 20 minutes to kill, and my run through the season mode with the San Francisco 49ers (who are OP at passing as of their 1991 roster in the original) was equal parts nail-biting, frustrating, but rewarding to see through. It actually even made me watch some football right before the Super Bowl, and I understood the real life sports game to some degree. Wow. I continued to watch this season, and that's a testament to what this game did. I went from not knowing what the downs meant, to playing this thing in January, to sitting wide awake and hyped at 12:45 in the goddamn morning last Sunday watching the 49ers play some down to the wire defense against the Bears while they were just 4 points up. A goddamn Nintendo tape with Joe Montana throwing the football very far got me into casually watching a sport. That's a testament to a good game there.

BEST ONE CREDIT CLEAR OF 2025

Sonic CD All Good Futures Visited (Sega CD)

The first half of my 2025 was positively bumping with these 1CCs, and I'm a little sad I didn't get to do more. Maybe that'll be something to try and grind out in 2026, but for now I have to pick one of them to fit the category, and it can only be the first one I got. This was the first game I played in 2025, and even a year removed I can still feel the absolute love that blossomed forth from really sinking into it. I'm no super huge Sonic fan but this is now my favorite. I think it is an incredible Sonic game with immaculate vibes and this real sense of positivity and self-expression in the face of dystopic nightmares, using the time travel mechanic to explore the stages not just for time travel opportunities but ways to express yourself through gameplay. The result is a unique game feel that I've never felt with the Sonic games I've dabbled with before, and I absolutely adore it. It just felt really good to drop a savestate and explore around each level in testing, looking for cool ways to get a time travel runup and use the environment like a playground. Some stages are better about this than others, but that sense of joy and play is what kept me going. That and the fact that doing that is the key to getting a good ending and not playing an ass special stage that you only get like five chances at like every other Sonic game of the era. A masterpiece. It's true what they say: extraordinary things can happen if you believe in yourself.

BEST CONSOLE PURCHASE OF 2025

The Sega Saturn

Speaking of Sega... Alright I fully admit that I'm borrowing this bit from Jessica Jaguar here, but damn if it's not a good bit worth borrowing with full credit. It turns out that she and I both decided to treat ourselves with a retro game investment, and purchase Sega Saturn consoles. Jessica has had a fun journey with hers, and so let me tell you about some of mine. I haven't beaten that many games on my Saturn, but thanks to the further investment of a Saroo flash cart along with it I have the entire library for that sucker at my fingertips. My biggest time investment in it wasn't even a Saturn exclusive, exactly, but the Maria mode in the Saturn port of Symphony Of The Night. This is basically just a powergaming mode of SOTN wherein you explore the castle with a superpowered character and wreck face. I liked doing it with Maria, who herself is already a busted character in Rondo of Blood and continues that trend here. I gather this mode is available in SOTN rereleases, but I had a good time with this on the Saturn. Other fun dabblings I had? Elevator Action Returns is one hell of an intense arcade action game. I played a few hours of Sakura Wars and was charmed by its mix of VN and tactical action, and can see why people went wild for it in Japan. Bulk Slash is a game I never heard of until getting this machine, but it's a stellar example of 3D action and a game I really want to go crazy with. Oh yeah, and Super Gem Fighter is a game I got a 1CC on with my girl Chun-Li. Just... a strange little cutesey Capcom fighting game, basically Capcom's take on Parodius in fighter form? You have SD versions of Capcom fighting mainstays, they turn into weird Capcom game references when they do attacks, and everything is just tongue in cheek. It has a fun gem system where you can level up your special moves, making things a little easier than usual. It's breezy, adorable, and a nice change of pace for a fightin' video game. I think that's all for my Saturn Gameing. Let's see if I hang out in my cool basement again with it in 2026. I'd better, for the amount of money I spent on the thing.

BEST GAME MADE BY PALS IN 2025

The Perils Of Princess Christina (PC)

Once again my good pal Thomas Jetstorm4 has made elven erotica and I am putting it on my list. Actually, you should definitely support my friend here because 2025 saw a whole debacle involving a bunch of busybodies called Collective Shout putting the screws on payment processors and thus causing a whole bunch of cool lewd content on itch dot io to get delisted or otherwise be in jeopardy. This included, for a time, Thom's game Corris: Berserker Knight & the Dragon Lord's Treasure Hoard, and that's really bad. To put it mildly. Support the right of your friends to let their freak flag fly and make games about elven women in peril and getting tied up and shit. To that end, this game. The Perils Of Princess Christina is Corris-adjacent, but still imbued with its own unique identity with just a few tweaks here and there. The specific combination which happened here, for me, was a measured and delicate dance of careful platforming and dealing with very difficult enemies stacked against you. It called to mind elements of cinematic platformers like Prince Of Persia, with the way that the sword swing in this is deliberately a little slow, and the blood sucking mechanic for getting health back balanced by how hard things hit made me think of something like Metroid Fusion. It's a little harder than a Corris game, a little more visceral with its bad ends, but that rougher edge created a really interesting friction to overcome (HEH I SAID "FRICTION" WHILE TALKING ABOUT ANOTHER LEWD THOM GAME). Well done, Thom! May all of your computer games stay online for as long as possible with the ability for us to give you money to see your expert pixel art of cute girls in predicaments. You're a constant inspiration and I salute you.

BEST RPG OF 2025

Ultima: Quest Of The Avatar (NES)

It may not be as full sicko mode as, say, clearing an old 80's RPG on an Apple II, but this year saw me delve right back into a game I've always had a fondness for: the NES conversion of Richard Garriott's Ultima IV. I made the cute little remark about vintage PC RPG gaming, but I really did treat my playthrough of this as something of that vintage: I looked up very little, only using an old Nintendo Power world map to manage my bearings of navigating the surroundings. Beyond that, all I did was write down on physical paper every little clue and remark the NPCs of the world gave me. It turns out that when you do that, it becomes one of the more fair NES adventure games I've played. If you talk to everyone and write down what they say, you will learn every hidden secret to beat this game, and it's all well-communicated unlike your Zeldas or Castlevania 2. It's just a really neat RPG with a solid emotional core all about virtuous vibes and being a good person, and the real fun was discovering all of this on my own with nothing but that Nintendo Power map, the manual, and note paper. I've beaten it before, but never with this level of self-discovery. Some parts grinded and grated, sure, but overall I had an absolute blast with this.

BEST VISUAL NOVELS OF 2025

The Lily Trilogy (Lily's Day Off, Lily's Night Off, Three Wishes) (PC)

Visual novels are the genre I played the most of in 2025, so choosing a winner here is not something done lightly, and expect to see a few more in our And The Rest category. In a bit of cheating, we have a triple header here and all from the same developer. It's my list, I get to fudge things however I want, so let's talk about Kyuppin games. The metaphor I continue to use for these games, as it feels right, is calling them the VN equivalent of Hitchhiker's Guide's Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. They're very quick and breezy games, and they smack you with the full force of multiple VN tropes and scenarios at once. One choice could lead you down a yandere route where you get eviscerated with a chainsaw, while another could be a true whirlwind romance. I cannot express how absolutely madcap and yet charming these games are to play, and I streamed all of them so you can see it if you want. Repeated uses of "WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK?" as you uncover just the most insane gonzo scenarios a creative mind can come up with. This describes the first two Lily games well enough, but it's this year's Three Wishes where things elevate to be something a little more special. This one's a little more meaty, although it seems to follow the same structure of crazy shit happening along quick and varied VN routes. The new headpat mechanic makes it, though, as not only can you just headpat these cute girls anytime you want, but headpatting becomes a key to their character arcs. It gives a level of self-actualization and internal personal growth to the girls as they realize their faults and self-reflect, and you even get to redeem the antagonist who corrupts their wishes into the aforementioned gonzo scenarios on those same headpat grounds. An absolutely delightful set of games, these three, and the most fun I've had with visual novels this year.

BEST MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE OF 2025

Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5)

Yeah, a new Monster Hunter dropped this year! I played the shit out of it (though I have yet to go after the final new monster which they just added. It's been a busy holiday!) and I have thoughts. Well, I mean... It's Monster Hunter. It's fantastic as ever to fight giant fuckoff monsters and defy the odds, but this game's focus is a little different. Its scope is more intimate, only featuring a smallish roster of monsters on launch before adding more. Its real focus this time around is on the journey and the story, on nature vs. nurture and what it means to be free and able to explore and vibe with the lush beauties and nightmarish terrors of this vast world. It manages the mean feat of actually making you empathize with the flagship monster and feel bad about having to kill it in single combat, due to the circumstances of its creation. Pretty impressive for a series literally about killing these fuckers... and there was much of that this year. My girlie with a great sword faced much adversity, but I had help from pals here and there. The crossover battle with Omega Planetes from Final Fantasy XIV remains the single hardest fight I have ever had in playing through these games, a prolonged and nasty affair where you're always on the edge of death against insurmountable odds and need to engage in co-operation and co-ordination among your fellow hunters in order to combine forces and take that metal monstrosity down. We did, though, and I have its great sword because of it. What a wonderful game, and I hope its inevitable major expansion only ups the ante and makes for a thrilling but interesting set of monster hunts. Usually this would be enough to get it GOTY status... but this year there was an even more impactful event for me in the gaming world. Here it comes. The gold medalist

GAME OF THE YEAR 2025

Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Arcade)

If you don't know what happened in September, you are no doubt confused as to why this is my game of the year. A 30 year-old fighting game? What the hell? First of all, it is a shining pinnacle of the 90's arcade fighting game. Much like Tecmo Super Bowl, it is still played and enjoyed today as a beacon of its genre. It is a really solid fightin' video game, one of the best to ever do it... But that alone is not enough to earn GOTY here. To earn that coveted status, there must be something further that resonates with me to be the best experience of the year. It could be a personally moving story, it could be an incredibly deep game mechanically... or it could just be a story of personal growth, like what we have here. So, here's the story. In September of this year, I participated in streamer Dot Lvl's Super SF2 Turbo Beginner's League Tournament. This was a for fun event run over the weekends in September, where a bunch of Vtubers and streamers new to fighting games in general could hang out, have some bouts with each other, and enjoy the thrill of playing fightin' video games together. This was my first major foray into playing fighting games with humans as opposed to trying to outfox cheating CPUs. There was a learning curve, but one where I measurably felt myself adapting and growing stronger. Folks who bodied me easily in week 1 were relatively even matches by week 3. Some hype moments were had, in particular anything that happened during my legendary Chun Li mirror match with a player named Professor Hammer Radd. It was an intense back and forth that led to multiple ridiculous moments like a double perfect on my part, a come from behind victory in one round where I was one hit from losing, and oh yeah the frame perfect counter super move I did on a jump kick in to me. I did quite well in the rankings each week (2-3, 3-2, 3-2), and I love the little community that formed and hope that it endures after the league so that those connections remain. I made a handful of acquaintances from this, and it is an experience that will live with me for ages to come. Playing fighting video games with real people, getting better, and making hype moments and memory. Game Of The Year. What else could you ask for?

...AND THE REST

And so here go a bunch of other experiences from the year that, for whatever reason, don't get a category. Maybe they're runners up from another genre I played, maybe they just don't place well in something by themselves, maybe they're just okay. Even so, they deserve their moment in the spotlight, and so now let us rapid fire through a whole bunch of these.

Snatcher (Sega CD)

I went into 2025 wanting a "cyberpunk era". In practice what this amounted to was the following: watching both Blade Runner movies, almost finishing Bubblegum Crisis, and playing two cyberpunk VNs. The other will be on here shortly, but let's talk about Snatcher for a second. Hideo Kojima's cyberpunk adventure is very clearly Portopia adventure game styled, but there's a unique energy present. You have that cool cyberpunk mood riffing on Blade Runner and The Terminator, wild action beats, absolutely disgusting and shocking visuals, a bit of horny on main energy, and a set of final act twists that play out as a long movie with so many twists and turns. Kojima was on form, even back then. What a video game.

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartending Action (PC)

What the hell, let's talk about the other cyberpunk VN while we're here. If it weren't for how charming the Kyuppin games were, this would be the best VN I played this year. This was a stream game clear, and an absolutely lovely one. It's chill vibes amidst the heart of dystopia, listening to weird cyberpunk strangers vent about their days and speak some wild out of pocket shit. It's full of charm and you get to adore your patrons (DOROTHY AND ALMA MY BELOVEDS), but with a true heart and enough emotion for your bartender protagonist to reflect on her fears and regrets, and to have the chance to bond with others and find something better. A real winner.

Time Gal (Sega CD)

I filled the list last year with every 1CC I got, so this time I'm only picking one. It was a tight list with amazing clears like Gradius 2 on Famicom (which I lost multiple runs of due to hardware crashes doing it on console) or Mega Man 2 done with no deaths or E-Tank usage... but I was just so charmed by Time Gal that I have to give it this spot. Time Gal wears exactly what it is on its sleeve: a very simple 80's Laserdisc arcade game in the vein of Dragon's Lair. Press a direction within a second to not die, you know the drill. There's not a lot of depth, but the presentation of splitting up a 15 minute quicktime event into these time zones with 4 to 8 button presses each helps makes things feel fresh. Some levels, like 1991, even reward observation of the surroundings and let you predict what the next button press is easily, and it makes you feel really good for doing so. It's just really fun for one of these, and I love cute girls who look like they could be the third member of the Lovely Angels. I cleared this on the hardest difficulty without messing up once, and that's an accomplishment. I also just love how they turn the lavish Laserdisc animation into fluid digitized pixel art on the version I played. One day I'll splurge for the HD remaster, but for now? I will cherish this. 

Start Running (PC)

This is another game from my pal beepsalt, and it's an adventure game that is a little tricky but short and sweet. There are some real headscratching puzzles, and you have to consider your actions carefully or you cannot proceed. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and character interactions of the protagonist and his fears and anxieties manifesting in the world closing in around him. Also a cute dog you can pet. Winner. Good work, beep. Hopefully in 2026 I can play another one of yours.

This Magical Girl Is A B*tch (PC)

Since I played so goddamn many VNs, one more for the road. This was an absolutely charming visual novel about a gloomy goth girl becoming a magical girl, and dealing with real problems and feelings in a not so healthy way before learning to overcome that and be better. Delightful, laugh-out-loud hilarious at times, and there's setup for further routes as well in the future. I adored this, and had great fun streaming it.

Iron Meat (Switch)

There's a pal of mine I grew up with who now lives just a few hours away from me. We have a tradition together of playing spiritual successors to Contra, the joke being that he is not all that good at Contralikes and I end up carrying the team while he siphons lives from me over and over. Iron Meat is yet another One Of Those, and a pretty good one as well. It takes its cues from Contra 3 or 4, with dual weapon action and disgusting boss design that mixes organic with tech. Parts felt a little unforgiving, especially in co-op, but we managed to clear it using only one continue on the final level. Practice would likely make that smoother, though. In terms of Contralikes, I rate it above Super Cyborg but below Blazing Chrome. A fun game that I'd love to peck at solo and get better with.

Zippy Race (SG-1000)

Okay, this is an odd one. Zippy Race is a cute little arcade racing game from the 80's that I have memories of playing the Famicom port of via a bootleg NES multicart. It makes it on the list because of the September day when I was testing my old Raspberry Pi, fired this up, and just sort of went into the zone and cleared the first loop of the game. Just a fun, solid, quick 15-20 minutes of arcade action that repeats and speeds up until you lose. Wonderful. I can't believe I managed to clear a loop of it, but the accomplishment goes here.

Batman Returns (Game Gear)

Near the end of the year, a funny thing happened. I spontaneously gained a hyperfixation for the Sega Game Gear, and dabbled in a whole bunch of games for it. There are many I enjoyed, particularly the first Sonic The Hedgehog on it, but this one Batman game is the one I kept coming back to. It's a short and breezy 20 minute action game with Batman using his batarangs and grappling hook in interesting ways to traverse levels, fight off circus clowns, and face Catwoman and the Penguin at the end. There are alternate routes you can choose to make the game harder for some variety, and it's simply a solid little diversion game when you want a quick burst of a cool superhero defending the city. I really like it.

Angels Of Death Chapter 4 (PC)

It looks like I forgot to put my 2024 journey into the world of Angels Of Death on the list. Shame. For those not in the know, these are another Frezmas stream highlight, picked by my pal Kris and done episodically once a year since 2022. 2025 saw us finally finish the story, with a fast-paced and fucked-up climax involving multiple reveals about the protagonist, a tense escape scene, and lots and lots of climactic drama. Look, I'm just linking the Frezmas highlight above for this. You can see how wild the finale to this journey went. Thanks for it, Kris.

Yugioh Early Days Collection (Switch)

Let's close out with a Christmas gift to me for this year, and a welcome one. This is not the most feature-rich or eclectic collection of Yugioh games, focusing entirely on Game Boy and GBA games, but it intrigues me all the same. I'm the absolute sicko who played and loved Dark Duel Stories on the Game Boy Color, and not only is it here in HD glory but so are three more games like it. This collection is a treat specifically for me. I wrote about how I love fucked-up early Yugioh in games like DDS or The Sacred Cards, and both are on here. They also went through the effort of translating all the other GBC games like those, and I had a difficult but interesting time similar to those grinding through Duel Monsters 4: Battle Of Great Duelists. It's by no means on par with a Digital Eclipse collection or anything, but for a thing I didn't have to pay for I am having great fun with it.

And that's the list. I'd like to thank you all for bearing with me here as I gush about games, and I hope your year has been as good as it can be! Let's go into 2026 with a renewed energy: I have so many ideas for blog projects, game streams, and even a few secrets here and there. I hope the high of entering a new year with them lasts for me to finish them, but even if it doesn't the fact that I'm ambitious says a lot. Happy New Year, you stay classy, and Frezno's Raving Rants will see you... in 2026.