End of Year Summary - 2025

I am so grateful that 2025 is finally over. After the year I have had, it's been one blow after another. I've had some absolutely dark days this past year and I am still recovering from them.

You're going to see from the stats below how everything plummetted. I had actually hoped that before the end of they year I would have finished my second A to Z run, but it was just not possible. I did at least arrive at Yakuza Kiwami though, so that's something at least. I also did hop onto the Dispatch bandwagon and beat that game this December. It was reminicent of This is the Police but I much prefered the story in the former. And, I was delighted to discover that Command & Conquer: Tiberium Sun actually runs unbelievable well on Steam. If you recall, I had been playing it quite some time back, but had not included it in my A to Z channel because the game took AGES to load up the missions - sometimes close to 20/30 minutes! And then, my hard disk died and I lost all my progress.

I wish I could say that the reason for my game numbers taking a hit was because I was spending more time on games that required longer play times. But, if you've been following what has happened this year... it's been tough. And I haven't even included everything I've been through in my blog posts.

It felt like things kept kicking me down since November 2024 without a break in between. There had been some underlying issues from years before, but things really kicked off big time from then.

I wouldn't say I am in the clear. I would be lying to myself if I believed that. But I have been working hard on personal growth and making amends. Starting a new job has also been a bit of a relief too.

As you can see from the above, my activity kept declining. A lot of the entries that you see are just quick visual novel type games or early access entries which I played mainly to break out of my despair and demotivation. But it was still a massive struggle. Towards the end of the year, it had come to a point where I was struggling to sit down to even THINK of playing a game, because it left me feeling guilty.

When I first started 2025 I had so hoped to see my numbers to at least grow a little. Maybe not reach 2023 numbers but at least match 2024 or bump up a little more. There are definitely some platforms I didn't even touch this year, and good chances are I wouldn't have touched even if things had been ok. Steam is still my strongest platform and that's likely to be the standard every year, no matter what.

Well, here is the comparison of the different genres I played over the year and which I favoured most. And... they all took a hit, except for Visual Novels. Its honestly no surprise to be fair. A lot of the time when I seek comfort, I don't look for games that require quick reflexes or heavy thinking. Visual Novels are my comfort games, because I am mostly interacting with a story.

Not only that, this year I dedicated a lot more time to my writing. Towards the end of 2024, I had started creating scenarios for AI chat bots - NOT your fake girlfriend / boyfriend tropes; but genuine stories. By the end of 2024 I had released 11 scenarios. For 2025, I released a total of 130 unique scenarios and have attained 600+ followers 😱. I need to find my gaming groove again; hopefully as I find balance in my personal life. I also don't want to ignore my writing, as I had given it up for a long time and I have fallen back in love with it. Seeing some of the reviews, especially on my heavy hitting scenarios, has inspired me to keep writing - not to chase fans, but because it reminds me that story telling was always a passion of mine.

Now it's time for the final round up for the year - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

I would say this time round, I did not encounter any titles that were infuriatingly bad, unlike what I encountered in 2024. At least... nothing that I had played this year, because I did write about United Assault: Normandy '44 as an extra entry.

But if I were to pick a game, it would be God of War. The reason I pick it is mostly bias. I remember the previous games too fondly. The pacing; the action; the story... all of it. But this game... it felt slow, and clunky. The story dragged on - I mean you only really encounter a few Norse Gods and some important beings whereas in the other games you pretty much cut through the entire roster of Gods, Heroes and famous mytical beasts through all three games (not including the PSP entries). I reached a point where I just wanted to finish the game quickly and get it over and done with. I didn't even bother with getting all the collectibles because I couldn't take it any more. And for this reason, I probably won't even pick up God of War Ragnarok because it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Now for my top game. Just like last year, I knew this was going to be a touch pick, mainly because I am a picky person. But, there were definitely a couple which I really did enjoy.

I would say it is between these two and its is a really difficult choice. With Dispatch, I absolutely loved the story telling and the animation. It felt like I was watching a TV series with how everything flowed so smoothly. In fact, I want to go back to it, starting from the beginning simply to see how different choices affect the scenes. I also want to try and earn the different endings.

With regards to RoboCop: Rogue City I had completely enjoyed how they made me feel like I was RoboCop. And, I loved how they tied in the first and second movie to the game. In fact, I don't normally reinstall games after I complete them to play released DLCs, but I have been wanting to play this one.

But, if I have to pick only one between the two, I would have to go with Dispatch. The simplicity in the gameplay, the detailed story telling and the strong potential for replayability is what ultimately sells it for me. And so, with this post, I can put 2025 behind me. I do hope that I will have more positive things to write about in 2026 and I can gradually ramp up the completed title numbers. Take care all.