best of 2025: video games

 A few notes before I begin:

- Because this list is so short, it's in preferential order.

- Not all of these were first released in 2025.

- These were all played on the PS5, but they may be available on other systems as well.

- I only included games I completed.  I just started Persona 3 Reload, and it's great, but I've only played 13 hours of what promises to be a 100 hour plus game, so watch for it on next year's list!

- In addition to these games, I also played The Callisto Protocol (scary as hell and has gorgeous graphics, but it pissed me off too much to include) and Royal Match/Royal Kingdom (fun but they didn't exactly reinvent the match 3 wheel).  Shockingly, after nine years of almost daily play and god knows how many thousands of hours, I finally deleted Hidden City.  It was beginning to feel more like a chore than a hobby, and y'all know how much I hate chores.

- As always, your mileage may vary.

1. Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth:  Protagonist Ichiban Kasuga returns, and this time he's in Hawaii!  He gains a new group of allies, and some familiar faces show up too.  I was expecting gorgeous graphics, wacky side stories, great characters, and exciting combat.  I was NOT expecting a moment that made me gasp.  Holy fuck I loved this game.  LOVED it.

2. Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii:  Why should Ichiban get to have all the fun in Hawaii?  Here comes fan favorite Goro Majima, and he's a modern-day pirate.  To be honest, I wasn't super jazzed with the ship battles, but practically everything else was great.  Not only that, but the after credits scene was amazing.  

3. Resident Evil Village:  When this first came out, I wasn't able to play it because it was first person (frickin' sim sickness), but they released a patch to play in third person too!  So I watched a recap of Resident Evil 7 (still first person only), since it leads straight into REV and has the same protagonist, and then I dove in.  It features Ethan Winters, a man exploring the titular Eastern European village in search of his kidnapped baby girl.  There are no zombies, but there ARE vampires, werewolves, and possessed dolls, among other monstrosities.   The combat is tough but generally fair, it's beautiful to look at, and it features the scariest RE area ever in my opinion.  And the DLC is absolutely terrifying!  I'm glad I finally got a chance to play this.  (By the way, I saw some complaints online that the third person mode was wonky. I didn't experience any issues with it.)