Every website I’ve ever worked at, even the scrappy upstart freelance sites, have eventually been blanked. Vanished. All my work, gone, deleted and unable to be retrieved. But since now I co-own this website, nobody gets to destroy my game of the year top ten lists but me!
For now, I have to re-do them from scratch, and I don’t care if the order isn’t the same as it was back in the day. This is 2025 me making these, not 2019 me! I’m sure there are things I forgot about, indies lost in the shuffle, honorable mentions not mentioned, but I’m only human. I’m just a mere mortal — a man dedicated to chronicling what I deem to be the best games of each chunk of twelve months.
You can read the first entry in this series here, from 2022-2024.
2021
Honorable Mentions: “Solar Ash,” “Gunfire Reborn,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury,” “Curse of the Dead Gods,” “Sable,” and “Far Cry 6”
10. “Back 4 Blood” – Is this game that good? Not really. But it’s a good enough watered down “Left 4 Dead” that I got to play with my friends, and it’s a rare cooperative game in a world of multiplayer-only battle royale titles. Plus it had a lot of gun options and a deck builder, which I love (as you could tell based on my list).
9. “Death’s Door” – Isometric Soulslikes are a dime-a-dozen, but this one stood out in a crowded field. On paper, the details and the vibe could sound super dull, but none of it feels like its done to death. Pun intended. This is a superb little action adventure that I really would like a sequel to, or at least more in this vein.
8. “Hitman 3” – This counts as being the entire trilogy, because it has the first two game’s levels in it. So when I played “Hitman 3” I got to experience the first two as well, and it fucking ruled. What a fun stealth game, it’s hard to pull that off, but man did this nail it. What dumb fun you can have when painting a deathly serious glossy veneer of a premise (assassinating rich folk around the world) over a tongue-in-cheek sensibility. IO better pull off James Bond.
7. “Psychonauts 2” – I love me a good platformer, one with super powers is even better (like “Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy”), and even more with a unique art style. Of course Double Fine are the masters of this, and making very funny games, which makes them one of the most rare in the entire industry. If they produce something, just play it, no questions asked.
6. “Inscryption” – I’m not a fan of the end of this game, when it gets really different gameplay wise. But what I do appreciate is that first and second section, where you’re peeling layers off a mystery you’re stuck in while playing a (rigged) roguelike deck builder with puzzles sprinkled around. The less you know about this one the better, if you somehow missed every games press member and media figurehead gushing with praise when this came out.
5. “Metroid Dread” – This isn’t as good as the best of the series, neither 2D standouts “Super Metroid” or “Fusion” or “Zero Mission.” Nor is it as good as “Metroid Prime,” but it’s still real good. Better than most in the same genre, and I would love more of this direction. Maybe some better ways to fast travel around to find every bit of the map, maybe less reliance on the robot miniboss fights, but this was still a real good time from start to finish.
4. “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart” – I have played every single game in this series except maybe that PSP one “Agent Clank.” But the mainline ones, since the beginning, and I fear this is maybe the last one of these I’ll ever get, as Insomniac moves onto making Marvel games for the rest of time. But this is still maybe the only PS5 exclusive to actually prove why we needed this console gen, as it looks impossibly good and has no loading screens when you warp around the levels.
3. “Halo Infinite” – 343 finally made their first good Halo game! But it might be too little too late. They couldn’t hit any deadlines, for anything, but eventually it became a complete game. The open world campaign was fine, just a rough draft for something better next time, but the multiplayer was good and I’ll defend that game even today. Good to introduce the concept of purchasing a battle pass that never expires, which means you’re guaranteed to get everything in it.
2. “Deathloop” – Listen, I’m not gonna lie, this is more about the principle of the pick than the actual game being picked. I really liked this, but it’s more of an homage to a dying genre, a last gasp for first-person immersive experiences. The thing that fooled everyone was not being able to complete the needed kills in any order or in any way you want, it was more linear than that. But everything else about “Deathloop” fucking rocked, and I loved most of the parts more than the sum of them in totality.
1. “Resident Evil 8: Village” – It’s no secret that I love Resident Evil games, and this is one of the better ones. Nay, one of the best. The spoke-and-wheel level design, the mixture of pure horror and action, the characters, those horny, HORNY vampires, and that infamous doll house. House Beneviento, the “P.T.” we never got, but now with a big unbirthed baby screaming for its father. Unless repeating hallways, where you turn the corner in terror. This game is the chef’s kiss of scary games, an improved sequel to “RE7” which I didn’t think could be done. Man am I excited for “RE9.”
2020
Honorable Mentions: “Fall Guys,” “Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time,” “Ori and the Will of the Wisps,” “Nioh 2,” “Doom Eternal,” “Half-Life Alyx,” “Spider-Man Miles Morales,” “COD BLOPS Cold War,” “Clubhouse Games 51,” “Ghost of Tsushima,” “Risk of Rain 2,” “and “Paper Mario: Origami King”
10. “Immortals: Fenyx Rising” – Somehow, this is the only attempt to directly rip off “Breath of the Wild,” and it sold poorly and we never got a follow-up? Sounds about right, because the world is unjust and full of evil people making evil decisions. I appreciated the effort, and the very good puzzles as well, which nobody quite can pull off anymore besides Nintendo.
9. “Pikmin 3 Deluxe” – As a recent Pikmin believer (see the above entry on “Pikmin 4”) this game was a revelation to me. I liked the first, really liked the second, but this third one was totally different and the best for co-op by far (even over the fourth one). Pikmin rules, why has nobody tried to implement RTS-style elements into action or adventure games…………….oh wait now I remember the turn “Brutal Legend” took. Yeah nevermind.
8. “Gears Tactics” – Speaking of real-time strategy games, this was a good one! Especially for a console player like myself. The modern day Gears games are incredibly underrated, and so are both “Halo Wars.” But for such big franchises, these went under the radar and no one talks about them anymore, which is a shame.
7. “Cyberpunk 2077” – Out of everything this game delivered, it was the story and characters that got my attention the most. Not the open world, not the driving, or the shooting. It was building relationships and talking to Judy and Panam, and of course, Johnny. It definitely received a glow-up with successive years of patches, which makes it look better than it did on release. But I didn’t have that many technical glitches or errors when I played, so I guess I’m just lucky.
6. “Resident Evil 3” – Why does everybody consider this one to be the “bad one?” It’s really good! Great flow, great action, great fun, great level design, very replayable, and you get all those unlocks on every replay. I’m not sure if it was the COVID-era blues but I was not disappointed at all with my time in Raccoon City. Or with Jill Valentine. Bring her back, please, retcon what happened in “RE5” for the love of all that is holy.
5. “Tony Hawk 1+2” – It’s Tony Hawk, remastered. It has the same levels and music, it feels perfect. Nothing more needs to be said, these are the best sports games ever made. “3+4” is coming soon and that will rank even higher on my 2025 list, for sure.
4. “Bugsnax” – It has been years since we all heard that catchy theme song, and here I am still talkin’ ’bout Bugs that are also Snacks. For such a silly video game, it’s also deeply human, telling stories about broken people who band together under weird circumstances. And by the end, boy oh boy are those a real kick in the balls. One of the most jaw-dropping twist endings I have ever experienced, just a thrill ride of an ending after so many stupid laughs catching adorable critters. Tasty, delicious, parasitic critters.
3. “Astro’s Playroom” – The PlayStation 5 launched with quite the one-two punch of a launch line-up. This came packed in for free, and is maybe the best game included with a console ever? It’s way better than it has any right to be, a slice of PlayStation lineage fit inside of the PS5 with all of the cameos you’d expect. You can read my previous entry on “Astrobot” because that is just more of this, and this was a sensational building block to base an entire game on (that wasn’t VR).
2. “Demon’s Souls” – It’s GameSpot’s 2009 Game of the Year winner! But playable. And it controls better. It’s the easiest of the Souls games, but just as good. Actually, it’s better than “DS2” but that’s not a very hard hill to climb these days. Also how is this like still the only legit PS5 exclusive worth a damn so far? This, the new Ratchet & Clank, and “Death Stranding 2.” Everything else came to PS4!
1. “Hades” – There’s a silver lining that I get to recreate this top ten list five years later: I’ve played “Hades 2” and I don’t think it’s as good as the first. Not that it doesn’t capture the magic, it has its own in spades, but “Hades” is a perfect entity unto itself. The weapons hit harder, the gods are more interesting, the difficulty balance is perfect, the core loop is paced wonderfully, and it just feels special while you’re going through it. There’s maybe no better roguelike ever made, unless you’re a “Binding of Isaac” sicko like me, and this deserved to win every award over “The Last of Us Part II.”
2019
Honorable Mentions: “Wargroove,” “Blasphemous,” “Crackdown 3,” “Baba is You,” “Boxboy + Boxgirl,” “Superliminal,” “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3,” “Remnant: From the Ashes,” “What the Golf?” and “New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe”
10. “Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story” – I forgot that this came out this year, I forgot that the 3DS existed at all, that I played this, but I will never forget that this is by far the best in this franchise by a mile and it isn’t close. Playing as Bowser fucking ruled, the writing was sharp as a tack, and I like the slight shift in art style (but still acknowledge the original holds up too and most people prefer it). When will they port this to the Switch 2? My magic eight ball says “not likely.”
9. “The Outer Worlds” – As of the time of this writing, we are a few months out from the sequel to this coming out. I’m very excited to see how they improved on the original, which turned out to be a great game once all of it was said and done. The DLCs, the fixes to major glitches, etc. But it’s way better than “Starfield” and irons out all of the annoying planet hopping or spaceship flying that bogs down open world games set in outer space. Fantastic writing, infinite possibilities with your actions and the consequences that come from them, and good weapons (maybe Bethesda should take notes).
8. “Control” – This used to be the best thing Remedy ever made. Until they topped it with “Alan Wake 2.” But this was close to perfection, almost a masterpiece if they could have smoothed some of the rough edges off the empty level design, the floaty controls, and the oddities you’d run into every now and again. But I’ll always remember this game as being the place and time they reintroduced Alan Wake into the story again and got my hopes up for years on a sequel. Thank god they delivered.
7. “Gears 5” – The fourth and fifth Gears games are better than two and three. Yeah I said it, I’m a lifer with the street cred to be able to say that, and I mean it. The newer ones are legit great, and I love the new approach to level design, narrative, and co-op. Plus, they went with such a batshit crazy ending cliffhanger choice they’ll never be able to follow it up, which is why they’re making “E-Day” as a prequel to avoid that, hahahahahahahahaha. We will never get closure, will we?
6. “Untitled Goose Game” – Goose game! It’s a goose game. You play as a goose. You honk, ha ha. I love silly goose.
5. “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” – Konami will never give us another Castlevania game ever again. The closest they’ll come is by allowing other companies and studios to use their IP, either as a popular Netflix anime that they won’t capitalize on, or as cool DLC for other indie titles. Franchise savior Koji Igarashi made the only successful Kickstarter game that I can remember (I mostly remember the failures) and this game kicks some serious ass. It takes all of the good parts of the Metroidvania genre, steals as much liberally as it can from its stolen source material, and adds a ton on top. Not all of the new mechanics and systems work, but what a fun time that I was NOT expecting whatsoever.
4. “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order” – Soulslikes, everybody was doing them! Except this year when From Software went in a different direction (that’s the next game on the list). I liked how closely Respawn stuck to the formula, this definitely was a hardcore Soulslike compared to its sequel brethren, which opted to go much more accessible and action/adventure oriented. But while I like the heavier, more deadly combat of this first game, I think the second one is better (the story especially) so they’re both great, but slightly different flavors.
3. “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” – We’ll never see a follow-up to this, and that’s a damn shame, because anything and everything with a sword will be compared to Sekiro. And Sekiro will come out on top, because it’s probably the peak experience anyone can get to by interacting with a controller to simulate slicing and dicing. The difficulty curve is rough early, since there’s no power leveling or cheesing or using different builds, but once you figure out that you can spam certain moves or spam the block/parry button, you can get through this easily enough. A gorgeous journey, some epic trolling, memorable boss battles, and a very outside of the box art style from Miyazaki and co. we aren’t likely to see replicated (Activision published, which means Microsoft might have some say in a sequel).
2. “Slay the Spire” – The only things holding this back from being the all-time best roguelike, and my Game of the Year, is the bad art (which I hate) and the impossible difficulty curve. I still don’t think this is a balanced or fair game, but other than those two complaints this is brilliant on every level. Why more games don’t rip this off shamelessly is beyond me. Downloading mods only makes me want the sequel more, and I cannot wait to ravenously dig my teeth into that one and then bounce 200 hours later after getting no closer to the end than I was at the start.
“Slay the Spire II” needs to come out in early access ASAP or else I will die. Until then, I’ll just play the board game (which is excellent if you’re into board game adaptations of video games).
1. “Resident Evil 2” – If you told me this was the best RE game of all time, I would not disagree with you. I wouldn’t say that myself, but I wouldn’t like argue. It’s perfect, it’s the epitome of what the early games are, of what the franchise was, and of the third-person perspective. It’s a replayable, bountiful, stupendous work of art that should be the first thing anybody touches if they want to dive into survival horror for the first time. This is the go to, it’s that god damn good.
Image credit: “Resident Evil Village,” Capcom
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