It's that time again and I'm back with my twenty favorite games. I feel like I say this every year but another fantastic year for gaming. I had a bunch of games that I assumed would be in my top twenty but when I actually started making my list and ranking games they missed the cut even though I thought they were fantastic so I will do some honorable mentions but there are still games I really enjoyed that don't make it.

The end of the year was heavier with game releases then previous years so I was not able to get to a few games that I really wanted to play but I had to make choices and most of these had longer gametimes so I will get to them in early 2025. The main one's being: Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood, Steamworld Heist II, and Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake.

Honorable Mentions:
Open Roads (PS5) (as usual the system listed is the system I played it on)
A narrative adventure game (aka walking simulator) following a mother and daughter taking a road trip and hashing out their issues. The story had some nice twists and great voice acting by Kaitlin Dever and Keri Russell.

Indika (PS5)
I really wanted to get this in my top twenty since it is just so bat-shit crazy and very funny in spots but some of the gameplay is really tedious (sometimes intentionally so but doesn't make it any more fun to play). You play as a Russian nun who hears the Devil and see visions and you are sent on a mission to deliver a letter to a priest in another monastery. This was way more puzzle based then I was expecting some genuinely hard enough I had to look up solutions. If you are looking for something different definitely check this out.

Cat Quest III (PS5)
If you played the previous two games in the series then you know what you are getting with the third game but they did add in ship combat which helps it standout from the previous two. The series has really nailed down it's quests and action rpg gameplay so well worth playing for fans of the series or for newcomers. Also nice to have a more bite sized length (took about 10 hours to do everything) with an rpg compared to some of the bloated runtimes usually associated with the genre.

1000xResist (Switch)
A very ambitious narrative game with themes of generational trauma, the lockdown, resisting authority, and religion. In this sci-fi adventure you are Watcher in a world forced underground by aliens after they unleashed a pandemic that eliminated almost all of humanity. I didn't always "get" what they were going for but I was always engaged and intrigued to see where it was going. This like Indika is only going to be for a small subset of gamers but if you are into games as art and can look past the low production values give it a shot.

PowerWash Simulator DLC (PS5)
I'm going to continue to add this every year as long as they continue to update which has now become one of my favorite games of all time. This year alone we got Warhammer, Shrek, and Alice in Wonderland themed content added along with various holiday and story themed levels. Keep them coming!

My gaming took a backseat to reading this year so I'm looking forward to seeing what I missed out on. There's usually one or two on your list I end up buying Questyen but given my lack of gaming this year, that number might be higher.

So thanks Questyen, these lists are always appreciated and look forward to them every year.

20. Tales of Kenzera: Zau (PS5)

A heavily slept on Metroidvania with a story focusing on grief and mourning. We get few games released focused on an African setting and characters so its a shame this sold so poorly since you can feel this was a deeply personal product for the creator. Beautiful visuals, tight controls, and a nice set of powers you unlock. This was a great year for Metroidvanias and if you are a fan of the genre and skipped this one give it another look.

19. Closer the Distance (PS5)

I promise these won't all be games about grief but in Closer the Distance we follow a very small tightknit community dealing with a tragedy. The description I had seen before playing was "a story driven Sims game" and that is pretty accurate. The core gameplay is like The Sims where you switch between characters and they all keep moving and interacting with each other whether you are following them or not. Thankfully it is a pretty small cast and you start out only controlling a few so it eases you in slowly to it's format. In Sims fashion you have to manage various categories like hunger and rest between the characters and it is heavily decision based so you get to choose what you focus on. The mechanics compliment the story well and along with the great voice acting and soundtrack it keeps you wanting to see where these characters end up.

I started playing Open Roads and said “Whoa, that’s Keri Russell!”

This is my favorite time of year.

18. Lil' Guardsman (PS5)

I am a big fan of Papers Please so when I hear about a game that has a similar type of gameplay it piques my interest. Lil' Guardsman puts you in control of a 12 year old girl in charge of a castle entrance in a fantasy world deciding who you trust to let in your city. Besides just asking questions you also are provided with tools like metal detectors, whips, and lie detectors to help you make decisions. At first what seems to be a light hearted comical affair opens up and the game ends up getting kind of dark in places with you basically deciding what political allies you are letting in, taking bribes, and being in charge of who lives or dies. The story goes in a bunch of different directions depending on your choices and you meet a variety of characters and magical creatures. There is more to it then just the Papers Please gameplay with you also exploring the city but the highlight is definitely your control of the gate. This was the first game from this studio and I'm definitely put them on my radar in the future.

17. Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (PS5)

Epic Mickey was a heavily hyped game on the Nintendo Wii that was held back by the limitations of the system and the poor controls so when a remake was announced as a big Disney fan I was excited to play it. Thankfully it more then met my expectations with modern controls and camera along with other QOL additions and greatly updated visuals. The story focused on the rivalry between Mickey and Oswald and was the first time they appeared together since Disney reacquired Oswald in 2006 with an unexpected morality system (although underused) and the creepified versions of Disneyland classics gave this an American McGee's Alice vibe. Going back to 3D platformers from this era is tough due to the advancements in camera controls and movement controls so I wish we would get more remake/remaster updates like this since 3D platformers are one of my favorite genres.

16. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PS5)

With the new Prince of Persia title they decided to go the Metroidvania route which was fine by me since I love the genre. And thankfully they really nailed down the gameplay with tight controls, fun abilities, and great visuals. The level layouts and overall exploration are all fantastic which you need in a good Metroidvania. The ability to make in game screenshots was a great addition and the game has tons of accessibility options. Unfortunately the story and characters are about as boring and uninteresting as they come especially in such a story heavy game which kept it from being higher up on my list.

15. Still Wakes the Deep (PS5)

A narrative cosmic horror game developed by The Chinese Room (developer of one of my favorite games ever Everybody's Gone to the Rapture). You play as an electrician stuck on an oil rig in the middle of the North Sea in the 1970's when it breaks down and creatures start appearing. The voice acting is all done by Scottish actors which fits the tone of the plot and the gameplay revolves around exploration with some stealth and puzzle solving but no combat. The developers were heavily inspired by The Thing & Lovecraft which is pretty obvious when you are playing and they do a fantastic job pulling all the influences into a coherent story.

14. Animal Well (PS5)

It was hard for me to figure out where to place Animal Well. On originally playing the game I loved the aesthetic and vibe of the game but I really dislike games with obscure puzzle solving where you are expected to figure everything out on your own so I played it for a couple hours and dropped it. A month or so after release I went back and played through it with a guide and I loved it enough to get the platinum. The eerie atmosphere, the fun platforming with cool items and abilities, the creatures all came together when I wasn't spending hours trying to figure things out. The creativity involved in this game made by one person is pretty insane. I saw someone use the phrase "metroidbrania" to describe Animal Well and I think it fits. So yeah hard to figure where to put it since if I didn't have the internets help I would have never played it again but if you like a brain work out or like me don't mind using a guide check it out.

13. Luigi's Mansion 2 HD (Switch)

I am a big fan of the Luigi Mansion series yet I barely played 2 (previously subtitled Dark Moon) since I much prefer playing games on home consoles and it was previously stuck on the 3DS. Thankfully Nintendo brought it over to the Switch in a nice remaster. One of the main complaints I saw from original 3DS reviews was complaining about the new mission structure (that wasn't in Luigi's Mansion 1) and people disliking it. I thought I wouldn't care for the mission structure but I ended up liking how you had bite sized sections to handle at a time especially with this game giving you multiple environments to explore. My only complaint is they really needed to add mid-mission saves in this new version. Some of the missions take 20-40 minutes and if you run out of health you start back at the beginning of the mission. After that happening once when I spent 30 minutes on a mission I started to fight ghosts a lot more cautiously. The boss battles were fun and I still felt the same fun of exploration as the original. I found it to be a worthy follow-up to the original although 3 is still my favorite.

Loved Animal Well!

it's too bad this isn't in the "other" forum, because these threads, once a year, should definitely get nominated for thread of the year. it is such a pleasure to read the descriptions as Quest is so detailed in his reviews. sometimes sounds better than the ones online from respected sites. but, it should win at least once, not every year, but i find this thread so damn entertaining and now that i can play any of them it's nice to see such reviews and i get jazzed when i see a game i have. well done Quest, each and every year, well done!

12. Neva (PS5)

I loved Nomada Studio's previous game Gris which to this day is still the best looking game I've ever played so I was very excited to check out their followup. In Neva you play as a young woman trying to save a decaying world with your wolf cub who grows with you along the way. Neva is similar to Gris in that they are both gorgeous looking puzzle platformers but in Neva they added some more complexity in the gameplay with more challenging platforming and combat. The plot has themes of loss, renewal, and friendship and takes you on a rewarding narrative journey over it's fairly short runtime. I still slightly prefer Gris but I will definitely check out anything this studio does in the future.

I’m curious. Has a sports game ever made your top list? Or are you not into them?

I don't care for sports in general other than basketball but even with basketball video games they are heavily focused on online/multiplayer which I have zero interest in and I've played a couple NBA games in the last 10 or so years and didn't care for any of them. The last sports games I really loved were like Tecmo Super NBA Basketball on the SNES and Super Baseball Simulator 1.000. I also still play basketball 8-10 hours a week so after that and watching NBA/WNBA games I get enough basketball in my life.

I had Cat Quest free on Epic so I gave it a whirl. Loving it so far!

11. Fear the Spotlight (PS5)

An indie horror game using a similar graphical style to early PS1 horror games like the original Resident Evil & Silent Hill. You play as a couple of teenagers sneaking into the school library at night to do a seance that goes lets say poorly. The gameplay is puzzle solving, exploration, and stealth with no combat. A genuinely creepy game with two great lead characters and and some nice twists. It was developed by a small 2 person team and then published by Blumhouse Games.

10. Infinity Nikki (PS5)

I didn't know what to expect of this game after the first trailer came out. It looked amazing but then I read it was a long running mobile gacha series and this was their first game going to consoles and I was little more weary. I'm now 40 hours into the game and I'm blown away by how much fun I'm having. The core gameplay reminds me a ton of Super Mario Odyssey with it being a 3D puzzle platformer/action rpg with tons of collectibles, quests, different ability outfits, and minigames. The storyline is way deeper and darker than I expected with some really funny lines mixed in and crazy characters. The visuals especially on the outfits are some of the most detailed I've seen in a PS5 game. The sheer variety of items of clothing you find and create is pretty amazing and the dressing up portion of the game which is used in style battles and other quests makes it stand out from your typical action rpg. The world is also a quite massive place to explore which I was not expecting.

If you are avoiding it because of the gacha elements just know they are all just for cosmetics so there is no need to spend real money (I haven't) and you earn currency (which there are a ton of different types) from doing pretty much everything in the game so you will get tons of "pulls" (which unlock clothing/outfits) just by playing. My only real negative is that there are a ton of different systems to know about in this game almost like a hardcore JRPG and 20+ hours in I was still finding stuff out that I didn't know about. Because this is more on an ongoing game and I haven't finished everything I didn't know where to place it so I put it at 10th but I almost put it quite a bit higher. This really came out of nowhere to be one of my favorite games of the year and while it isn't going to be a game for most of you I am loving it.

That’s 2 I bought bc of you! Can’t wait! They look incredible. Nikki and another on the list that I don’t recall at this moment. I’m so glad I had ps credit to burn and I think I burned them wisely. Thanks again Quest

The other was Fear the Spotlight. And, Nikki is free! Hell yeah!

9. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Switch)

With Echoes of Wisdom we get our first Legend of Zelda game with Zelda as our main protagonist out to rescue Link. With a similar artstyle to the Link's Awakening remake (which brings along the similar poor framerate in the overworld that game had) besides trying to save Link you are also closing rifts that have opened up across Hyrule and collecting echoes which allow you to create duplicates of those items/creatures to use for combat/puzzle solving/traversal. Because of this there is quite a lot of variability in how you play since there are 120+ echoes in the game so lots of variety in how you can approach any enemy or puzzle. Having such a large amount of echoes is cool but also overwhelming and I found myself using the same 10 or so I really liked over and over. The way you choose your echoes which is in this straight line in a menu seems to be the least intuitive way they could have chosen but you get used to it as the game goes along. I enjoyed the story and characters quite a lot and the dungeons were fun and not overwhelming due to all the echoes you have at your disposal. As a big Legend of Zelda fan this was a solid entry but I expected to love it quite a bit more after those first few trailers.