The year is ending, and I’m finding time to make an article. A long post about games I played this year. Of course, any of those games should have their own review. Dice’n Goblins took most of my mind on the first half of the year and it took me a while before I could palate harsher games. The shadows are growing longer on the world and in our era. As a result, I sometimes feels silly to spend my time playing. I must not forget to entertain myself and others, and keep my heart light.

This post is a bit long, so you can skip or come back later. I won’t be covering all the games I touched or even finished this year, just a few, and not necessary the best ones. I just want to touch a word about those. In many ways this a low effort post. If you feel strongly about it you can email me at trash@tsukumogami.software .

Throne and Liberty

When the year was still young, I played Throne and Liberty, a Korean MMO, initially developed as the successor of Lineage 3. Game have a messy development history and it’s surprises me it was not cancelled definitively. It’s a well made MMO, with especially beautiful Vistas. The game focus, like it’s parent, is PvP, but there is plenty of PvE content as well. It plays easily, and the diverse system of grind are fun and well made. The progression, after your initial level, like most of this game, is through gear, which you can drop of course, but that’s only half the battle, since you have to upgrade it.

When you take a ride in a theme park, you don’t hit conversation with your neighbour, and that’s how a lot MMO feels. TL (Throne and Liberty) force you to go to dangerous zones where you need to group with strangers to progress (unless you have a nice guild or group of friends). Of course, people get quiet after farming, but at least, it forces interaction on the field and I think we can salute that.

Once grouped, you bash mobs until your bags are full, with plenty of satisfying VFX and SFX, as it should be. At night, the zones enabled PvP, which makes it more dangerous and exciting. At regular intervals you have events around the world, often, sort of hunting competitions, but also boss that everyone can hit. Sadly those are not very funny, as they die quickly because there is so many people. I found the competition and occasional PvP events to be much more exciting. Weather come and goes, varying the enemies and materials found in a particular field. Night, Weather and Event have all been done in other games, but they mix well in TL to give you the feel that time is passing.

There was an extension dropped in the first months as those things goes nowadays, which added some hunting grounds and challenges. You don’t need to pay to access content, but of course people who do will become stronger faster. There is many opportunities to pay, and you feel like they try to cash out the game as fast as possible. Between currencies for the auction house, 2 or 3 battle passes at once, some bundles of objects and cosmetic, you quickly feel harassed by their ever promoting stance. As the grind for acceding content went harsher, I dropped the game, because I felt I’ve seen what I wanted.

Moderation, is something that will come back in this blog post, but I think it’s true for MMOs. More than becoming a “no-life”, the thought of becoming someone who would leave a bad review on a Korean MMO, after 2000h, because “It’s a Korean MMO” pushed me toward stopping when I still have fun.

VNs

I played a bunch of VN this year and they were lovely. I play VN mostly when I am tired, and I am not in the mood for something more involved.

Paranormasight

Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo is a ghost type mystery published by Square Enix. You get around 10h of content that will leave you hungry for more, but it’s because they are really well made, with nice musics, character design and a fun murder mystery that often breaks the 4th wall (or be “Meta” like we say nowadays). I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story

This one, also by Square Enix, is filmed and acted by real actors. I have trouble categorising it as a FMV game, because it felt more like a full Japanese Drama, with light interaction, rather than a game. I don’t say this as a negative point, I really enjoyed it. The story and dialogues are sometimes a bit on the nose, but every actor plays well. I would recommend it also to language learners since everyone is speaking very clearly, it’s easy to follow, and you can rewind!

The gameplay part has interesting idea, forcing you to assemble ideas together, to get new ideas or arguments. However in practice, it’s not always clear why 2 pieces of informations assemble and what they will give (often, misdirections). To palliate this, each idea is marked and you have to find its pair. Simple! But now, you have just to match many many pairs for the rest of the game and get a little (3D rendered) cutscene every time you do, which makes it a chore.

It’s a nice mystery drama, and an okay game.

Tsukihime Remake

I also played Tsukihime Remake on the Switch, which was my first experience with Tsukihime. I played Arceuid story a few years ago, when it was fan translated and was waiting for the second route. But then, Type Moon released an official translated version, so I picked it up. I had great fun with that, with many CGs and animations, and a nice story. There is a couple passage that requires a bit of stomach to read, but they were well made and not tacky. I understood while playing it, that I should have played the original before, because rather than a remake, it’s two new routes that we are reading, and a lot of things are hinted as throwback to the original one. It’s very nice to read, although it won’t stay with me as much as Witch of the Holy Night.

Sea Bed

I also played Sea Bed, a yuri visual novel which left me a deep impression. The writing is very elegant and I find hard to talk about it without spoilers. I had a great joy guessing and wandering about the mysteries of this one, and the romance aspect were grounded and relatable. Overall, a very elegant VN and perhaps my personal best of this year. I don’t wanna talk about it, it’s better experienced.

Umineko

Before Christmas, as my end of the year treat, I went through the question arc of Umineko. I played using 7th Mod which add PS3 voice acting and sprites. Don’t pass on the voice acting, it’s stellar.

I read Higurashi some years ago, and wrote about it here around the same date and liked it. But I was frustrated sometimes with Ryukishi07 ways of writing mysteries. By Higurashi answers arc, I understood that I had to let go and buckle up in this ride. I approached Umineko with the same mindset, but I’m happy that Umineko main plot and narrative devices, answers my grievances against Higurashi. I went in with the expectation of unplugging my brain, and just enjoy whatever bullshit the madman would throw at me. But you’re actually required to think and remember! You can’t just go “Oh he will summon an unknown super virus or aliens so why bother”. A part of the plot is about discussing exactly this. It’s really cathartic and fun.

Ryukishi07 is still a master of anticipation, making some passage so slow, to make you yearn. I really like it. I ponder to jump immediately on the answer Arc or perhaps wait until next year Christmas. (By the time I published this article, I ended up eating half of the Answer Arc ^^' )

Square Enix

I should have put Paranormasight and Centenial case in there. But they were sitting well with the VNs. I’m surprised at the doom and gloom about Square Enix in gamer discourse, given the quality of their catalogue. I find very strange that people starts to adopt investor speak, to talk down about the company and their output (comparing sales figures with other giants, estimating ROI). It’s not limited to Square Enix, but if you thread upon the Steam Forum of Dungeon Encounters for example, you can see that something is heinous. I have a hard time feeling bad for this huge corporation, but I’m surprised at this sort of hooligan behaviour from fans and antis. But let’s delve on the good games.

FF16

This year and the last I played a lot of Square Enix games. Following last year FF8, I played FF16 and FF7Remake, continuing big productions. FF16 was a pleasant action game, a more approachable game than Stranger of Paradise, with a weak story and quests. Talking about the flaws of the game, feels like beating a dead horse. A certain part of gamers discourse glee at the idea of a Square Enix fall and I won’t entertain that kind of discourse. I’m surprised at the presentation of the story. Some plot elements and world building, are hidden in the middle of a menu that serves to recapitulate the story. 99% of that menu is inane reminders of stuff plainly explained to your eyes, only useful if you played the game completely stone, or perhaps if you have memories issues. I wonder what happened during production, for it to be delivered this way. As a result, the world feel smaller than what it ought to be, which is a shame, because clearly lot of thought was given to it.

FF7 Remake

FF7 Remake was a really fun experience. I have nearly no experience with FF7, trying it several time younger, and always giving it up fast, since it was CLEARLY inferior to FF8. At the time. The pacing of the remake, the production value and the gameplay made it really worth it. There is a lot of moment that will bring a “kakoiii” from your lips, instead of a usual “cool”. (As we all know, saying cool is never uncool, even in 2025). The game is very obvious about being an alternate retelling of the original, even if you know nothing about it, with heavy nods and allusions to events I am not familiar with. Far from turning me off, it made me curious of the original, and I wonder if I should pick it up before going to Rebirth.

I enjoyed the gameplay a great lot, I think it’s one of the best mix of turn based and real time I experienced yet. I usually don’t like waiting to attack and occasionally use skills (if I want to do that, I will play a MMO), but FF7 Remake managed to keep you invested by making all your attacks very slow and pretty. So attacking, feels like “taking time”. Choosing to use a skill instead of attacking feels like a choice. There is probably some secret sauce going on there that I didn’t fully analysed. The game is obviously a looker and I would stop and take pictures quite often. I’ll definitely do the DLC then Rebirth when I feel like it.

Dragon Quest XI

I started playing Dragon Quest XI in Japanese. It’s my first Dragon Quest, and it’s my first game I’m playing in Japanese. I didn’t give enough time to the game, but it’s probably one of the best games to play to learn Japanese, with how careful it is to never make you lost, and always make obvious what you have to do. It has a really comfy feeling and it’s something I enjoy coming back to.

Romancing Saga: Revenge of the Seven Remake

I also played and cleared Romancing Saga Revenge of the Seven Remake. I also enjoyed it a lot. You are an emperor of a vast kingdom and assemble your team to face the threat of the 7th Heroes. During this you will make several choices, from who you help, to people you lose. When you die or grow old, you take the control of a new Emperor in a future period, seeing the results of your actions. It’s combat system is revolve around weaknesses and unlockable skills and works like clockwork.

It’s one of those solo games that are strangely social. Instead of talking about your builds, you talk about your emperors and in which order you seen stuff, the decisions you made.

A high note of this remake, more than the QoL, the models or animations was all the dungeons and cities which were very lovely. So lovely in fact, that I would open Blender and try to reproduce some of it (with much less success of course).

I’m amazed of how old JRPG, can make you feel like you’re travelling an immense world, through several little maps. The content in the end, is far less than any big production today, but the width of the experience is often much greater. I’m convinced that the QoL of the remake made my journey through it, much easier than what the original was like. Not that I mind. Probably one of the best game I played in 2025.

Wizardry Proving Ground

I finally cleared this elder amongst RPG. An elder? Maybe a patriarch!

I played the SNES version, which have the loveliest sprites (as we all know, and if you don’t agree, you’re wrong). My biggest surprise with this title, was how playable and addictive it is. Armed with only the manual, and a loyal pen and piece of paper, I dived in the dungeon, with a bunch of adventurers named amongst people I know. Of course, most of them died, and it was a bit before I could understand the pacing the game asked of me.

The game force you to make quick delves, grabbing the loot you can, some experience and go back to town. The feel of dread during the trip back, is something you want to come back for more. Extraction games like Tarkov or Quasimorph didn’t invent this, but rediscovered it. It was there, all along, inside one of the most known game of all times. The game loop is pristine even today. The only archaism is perhaps the UI, which is a bit of pain to navigate sometimes.

The game is brutal, and for a modern audience, I would recommend you to maybe have a savestate or two and use the camp function of the Snes version. However don’t abuse it! Get lost, grief for a strong character turned to ashes, seethe because you met a Greater Demon. Using save states without thinking, using automaps, will definitely cheapen the experience. Moderation, like a lot of things in life, is key to appreciate Wizardry.

RPG Maker and other games

I don’t think I played a single H-Game this year which is sad and tells a lot about my state of mind, and the state of the world. However, as I introduced at the start of the article, it’s not good delving on bad things. Let’s rejoice, because this year, I played a lot of amazing games. Any of this games would be owed its own article, so I will only go briefly(Reducing the length of this article. If you’ve read this far, thank you! Only a little more! You can do it.).

Hat World: New Testament

First game of the Year was Hat World: New Testament, a free RPG Maker by enu. Heavily customised you won’t even be able to tell it’s your good old RPG Maker. Saga like, it leads you through several worlds led by girls with hats that gives them magical powers. There is numerous routes to take, but I only cleared Shiki the owner of the Hat of Time. The world is full of secrets to find, with many side characters with interesting design and stories. Gameplay is very open ended and yours to break. You discover attacks by glimpse and equipments and abilities are very strong and significant. I will come back for more for sure, as it’s made for replays.

Ruina

I started Ruina, a venerable RPG Maker Game that had a huge following in Asia. Unlike most rpg maker, this one aims to emulate a ttrpg session the most. Time pass, you can combine or use items in different manners and information is as valuable or more, than a few levels or a good sword. Enemies are often little puzzle to solves and I had great fun playing it, even though the challenge can stomp me. In fact, I paused the game but I will also come back for more later this year, and then write a full article about it and it’s cool appeal. A remake has been teased as well.

Void Stranger

Talking about Void Stranger, like FF16 feels like beating a dead horse. I will be brief. I usually have a strong dislike about sokobans, and other sliding puzzles. I feel constrained, dancing in the palm of the designer, only doing the set of moves I’m allowed. But Void Stranger is very gentle to introduce you to its puzzles, its mechanics and its secrets. It shed them slowly, one by one, always making you want to see more. You catch yourself solving puzzles you didn’t know you were able to solve and writing on a notebook. As someone making games, it might be the title I learnt the most from this year.

Zaku Zaku Actors

ZakuZaku Actor was maybe the game I was the most vocal about this year. The english translation is available thanks to Rusty Cradle. A big free game, we all love to play, with silly characters and plotline giving you sucker punches. This one ought to be it’s own article, but I will try to give an introduction. The game follows Delichi, a small kid with magical power and a big heart. She’s an Hagure, a being transported to the world of the game mysteriously. Hagure are often victimised in this world, being strong and being seen as invaders. She aims to have a kingdom that will serve as a refuge for Hagure of all kind. In her travels, she meets plenty of colourful characters assembling a really menagerie of a cast.

And you need manpower! With a 8 man (OR MORE) combat system, you better have bodies and magic to throw against the many enemies of the game. Never too tough, you can form very different parties synergising well with each other. You find your typical HP and Mana, but also TP who regenerates upon damage or during the combat. You’re incentivised to finish the combat as fast as possible against little enemies and be strategic against bosses. The systems is really fun and it’s hard to fall upon a routine, with how varied the cast is, and how many options there is.

When you’re not fighting, you’re managing your kingdom, and talking to your companion. You decide what to invest in, developing your kingdoms and unlocking more interactions with your companions. As you go through the game, other options are offered to you. A University to unlock skills! A boutique of souvenirs! Every option unlock new events, with little illustrations! But it doesn’t stop there. A parallel part of the game is the Dimensional Tower. At first you’re ought to believe it’s a tower to farm stuff, purely optional. But as the first levels are weirdly shaped and uninteresting to traverse, they quickly become full of content, little events, optional enemies. They soon have their own little storyline and then full systems up to rebuilding a kingdom.

The tone of the game is light and fun. You could call it playful, but I would call it loving. The love of the author for you, as he wants to have you a good time. I don’t feel like he’s there to impress. Just to make you have a good time. Of course, it is my interpretation. I actually have no idea about the author, since I am not in Japanese free game circles or wherever he’s present. But I will chose to think this, I will chose to feel this from the game, and you cannot stop me. The main story is long with over 60h and the post game is said to be even more. I will be definitely going back to Delichi and her friends.

Conclusion

I was about to finish this blog, about games I did not finish in 2025 and games I plan to finish in 2026. But I don’t want to spur negativity with the former, and don’t want to make promises with the latter. The end of another tough year! But what a year it has been. I released my first game with relative success, which have been encouraging and disappointing. I then experienced a bit of a creative block resulting from that. I’m slowly getting back to my Mojo. I think playing a bunch of great games this year helped me get back to it. Playing a bunch of very ambitious free games also shows me that you can do a lot with few things, and that being bold pays. I need to not forget that.

See you next year, I hope it will be a fun year, for you and for me!