2026 is around the corner! What's your favorite game you played in 2025?
Spent some time thinking about this and I think I will probably give it to two games this year: In Stars and Time and I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
In Stars and Time is so freaking good man. I knew about the premise of being able to loop back in time but I was NOT expecting to feel so attached to all of the characters. Seeing Siffrin's mental state decline as the game goes on is genuinely worrying and I really get to *feel* for him. His friends/family he protects so much to the point he rather die hundreds of times to assure that he can save them. Mirabelle was a lovely surprise in seeing an aroace character in...well anything. Odile is the collective Mother of the group and she is super sweet under her stern expressions. Bonnie reminds of a friend I used to know when I was younger that was FULL of energy and childhood whimsy...I wish I still had that. Finally, Isabeau was so fucking handsome, charming, supportive, and comfortable to be around. His relationship with Siffrin makes me DESPERATELY want a kind of comfort that they have. Loop is great too but I like him for another reason and that sadly is spoilers >:)
Without spoiling too much, the game is a wonderful RPG with great writing while using time as its premise balances well with you feeling attached to the protagonist and seeing the world crumble through his eyes. If you have a couple of hours to spare, I highly recommend it!!!
Now with I Was A Teenage Exocolonist it's a bit...different why I enjoy this as much as I do. The game is primarily a visual novel with a card minigame added for challenges and that is not something I'm not unfamiliar with. (take potionomics for example) What intentionally drew me into this game was its lore. You would be surprised to know that there are almost 30 DIFFERENT ENDINGS in the game. They are full of world building that makes me invested into all of the people living on the planet. Seeing them get older and having to relive the life over and over again is kind of....surreal. It's hard to describe why I enjoy this game so much but it's probably the amount of *passion* that was put into this to explain this sci-fi world. It makes me want to write more about the experiences and interactions of all the characters in the story my favorite being the scientist Tangent who tries to push her physical limits through the act of science. Her story is...quite tragic and seeing how she starts to go through a downward spiral is so fucked up but also fascinating to see. To preface, I got most of the endings (say for maybe a few) and I'm quite surprised of how much I enjoyed this game. I dunno if I would recommend to everyone but if you're into indepth sci-fi lore and commentaries about famine, genocide, colonialism, climate change, and mental health check it out!
I hope this helps! I really want to play more games next year and not just settle for reading visual novels and rpgs. Hopefully I achieve that but no promises.
