Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Top 5 Games I Played in 2025

 Video games  10 Responses »  Tagged with:
Dec 312025
 

Here we are at the end of 2025, which means I’m ready to take a look back at all the games I played this year – no matter when they came out – and rank the top 5 I enjoyed the most.

I’m breaking my own rules this year. I never include games I haven’t finished yet. This year, one made the list anyway.

So, let’s get started.

Honorable Mentions

Let’s kick things off with three honorable mentions this year. First up is Metaphor: ReFantazio, which didn’t get on last year’s list because I didn’t finish it until early this year. It’s great, and a strong contender, but it didn’t make the final 5. Fate/Stay Night is another strong contender and nearly earned itself a spot on the list, but in the end the other games overshadowed it. Finally, Shuten Order turned out to be a fantastic game that I loved every minute of… just not enough to get into the top 5.

Which games did make the list, then?

5. Trails in the Sky the 3rd

I went back and forth on whether Trails in the Sky the 3rd or Fate/Stay Night should have this 5th spot on the list; in fact, I started to write a paragraph for Fate before I changed my mind and switched it to Trails. Like I mentioned in my review, Trails in the Sky the 3rd is much more character-focused, which makes the main plot feel weaker in comparison. However, it had so many great moments, emotional scenes, and intriguing pieces of setup for future games that I’ve been itching to play Trails from Zero ever since. Some of its scenes made a definite impact on me, enough that I had to give it a spot.

But while Fate might have narrowly missed getting on my list, what about something from the same writer?

4. Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon

Did I really only finish the Tsukihime remake earlier this year? It feels like it was much longer ago… probably because my memories of doing Arcueid’s route last year are so strong. Anyway, Arcueid alone made such an impression on me that it deserves this spot for that alone, never mind all the great moments from Ciel’s route.

Looking forward to hearing news about the remake of the other half of the game. Any minute now. Any… minute… now…

……

3. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Right at the end of the year, I finally finished playing Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, aka Yakuza 8. I haven’t had time to write my full review yet, so you can expect that soon. For now, all I’ll say is that for me, it has one of the weaker main stories of the series, but it makes up for it with emotional character moments, addictive side content, and Yamai.

There were a lot of times while playing it when I thought I wasn’t enjoying myself, but then I’d encounter one of its brilliant moments or spend the whole afternoon on Dondoko Island or see a new Yamai scene, and then it felt like the best thing ever. In short, while I have mixed feelings about it that I’ll discuss in my review, I feel confident giving it the third spot on this list.

2. The House in Fata Morgana: Reincarnation

Yes, you read that right, Reincarnation. The short sequel included with the console version. “But Sam, what happened to Requi–” I haven’t played Requiem yet. I went out of order and played Reincarnation first. That’s why I haven’t reviewed it yet, because I’m waiting to cover it and Requiem together. Now, it’s basically impossible to discuss it without spoilers, so all I’ll say is it’s lighthearted, funny, and so much better than I expected after seeing its divisive reputation online.

If you want me to say anything more than that right now, you’ll have to go play the original The House in Fata Morgana, which is amazing and one of my all-time favorites.

Now, for our last entry on the list, it’s time to break my own long-standing rule.

1. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

As a rule, I never include a game on this end-of-year list unless I’ve actually finished it, no matter how much I’m enjoying it. But I’m going to make an exception for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, because I’ve played it for almost 90 hours and seen 24 endings, and even though I still have 76 endings to go, I feel qualified to declare it to be the best game I’ve played this year. My rule against including unfinished games is because a game could fall flat on its face in the end, but the way this game is structured makes that a little different. If all 76 remaining endings are terrible, that might make me reconsider, but I’ve seen 90 hours and 24 endings of the best game I played this year, so I’m counting it!

I went into The Hundred Line viewing it as basically Not-Danganronpa, and while it definitely has Danganronpa DNA running through it, it’s also its own unique thing.

The characters, humor, gameplay, and even the structure itself have all come together to make it an incredible game for me, and I absolutely intend to see all 100 endings before I finish. Also, “even though I still have 76 endings to go” is an absolutely insane statement and stands as testament to how ambitious the game is.

Does that mean The Hundred Line could qualify for next year’s list too? Heh… we’ll just have to see.

Conclusion

In a year where I didn’t finish as many games as usual, mainly because I picked several gargantuan ones to play, Trails in the Sky the 3rd, Tsukihime, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, The House in Fata Morgana: Reincarnation, and my first 90 hours of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy stood out to me the most!

Strange… every game that made this list has a character who took up permanent residence in my brain, except for Trails in the Sky the 3rd. Maybe I should have given the 5th spot to Fate/Stay Night after all, since I keep having thoughts about a character who shall remain nameless it’s Kirei.

Anyway, what are your favorite games you played this year?

Novect’s Project Code M is in the Latter Half of Development

 Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Dec 292025
 

One of the biggest surprises of 2025 was Aksys announcing during their July showcase that they’re the publisher for the console version of Novect’s Project Code M.

Project Code M was announced back in 2022, so it’s exciting to see it getting closer to release.

It’s a detective game, but one where you play as both the detective and the murderer.

Novect routinely posts about the game’s development on their blog, and the latest entry mentions that “development has firmly entered the latter half of production,” with the scenario being 95% complete. It sounds like it’s still a long way off, but it’s great to know it’s progressing well.

If it’s even half as good as The House in Fata Morgana, it will be well worth the wait.

Are you looking forward to Project Code M?

(Sorry for the short post today; I thought I’d have finished another game by now to review as we head closer and closer to the end of the year, but I didn’t quite get there in time! There’s no way I’m meeting this year’s backlog goal, but I’m still hoping to add a few more to the count before the year ends.)

Mistonia’s Hope: An Otome Game with Highs and Lows

 Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Dec 262025
 

We talked briefly about the otome game Mistonia when it was announced for localization, and it came out earlier this year as Mistonia’s Hope: The Lost Delight.

(The main character’s name was localized as Aprose, so that wasn’t as awkward as I feared.)

I finished Mistonia recently, so how did this otome game turn out?

For me, it’s a mixed bag, with some great high points but also some unfortunate low ones. It’s set in Grand Albion, ruled over by the fae queen. Aprose’s family was murdered on the queen’s orders when she was a child, and now Aprose infiltrates the house of one of the noble families so that she can learn the identities of the people responsible and get her revenge.

Aprose is a fun protagonist. She begins the story with revenge as her sole focus, so it’s enjoyable to watch her start to form bonds with the people around her and think about romance for the first time.

Most of the love interests are connected to the tragedy in one way or another, which sets up conflict right from the start. Not all of the routes take an enemies-to-lovers direction, but a lot have at least some of that flavor.

As is typical, it begins with a common route in which your choices determine whose route you end up on. The common route also has several exploration segments, where you pick rooms in the house to visit and gather information. I loved this on my first time through the common route… and got tired of it after that, because on later playthroughs it became a matter of selecting each room and skipping the read text, over and over, since there was no way to skip through the whole thing.

Once you’re on a character’s route, your choices lead to one of three endings: a good ending (Dawn), a bad ending (Clown), and an ending for picking responses favorable to a different love interest (Astray).

The Astray endings can be entertaining, as they have Aprose get involved in some way with the other love interest instead, which leads to some unique and unexpected scenarios. The Clown endings also stood out to me. Due to the nature of the plot, most of the Clown endings feature Aprose being unable to forgive the love interest and getting her revenge on him in a unique and often unhinged way.

Click for major Mistonia spoilers
These endings include intentionally getting herself executed in front of the love interest, using her powers to warp the love interest’s perception so that he and his men tear each other apart, and sleeping with as many men as possible while making sure the love interest knows about it, among others.

Otome games don’t often have the MC be the one to go off the rails in the bad endings, so I enjoyed Mistonia committing to it (even if some of them were so wild that I was laughing through them).

When it comes to the characters, I mostly enjoyed the cast. Lucas was my favorite, followed unexpected by Ascot and then Linus. The others were also fine, but didn’t stand out to me as much as those three. Still, I enjoyed their routes enough that it was worth playing just for them.

Now, like many otome games, Mistonia also has a Truth Route that unlocks once you’ve finished all the character routes, and… it was just sort of boring. Yes, it resolves a few final unanswered mysteries, but I almost think it would have been better to incorporate those answers into other routes instead and just not have a Truth ending. It was significantly shorter than any other route, and it just didn’t have a compelling story.

Still, despite not enjoying the Truth route, finding the exploration section of the common route tedious on later playthroughs, and only really loving 3 out of the 6 love interests, Mistonia’s Hope: The Lost Delight still gave me a lot to enjoy and I’m glad I played it.

If you’re an otome fan and Mistonia sounds interesting to you, I’d recommend it, especially if you enjoy enemies-to-lovers routes and a heroine who can go a little crazy in bad ends.

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