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It’s officially the Holiday Season, which is always a time to reflect on the year, spend some time with loved ones, and of course, talk about what we’re thankful for. As gamers, we’ve somewhat quietly wound up with a slate of titles in 2025 full of GOTY-worthy nods and plenty of hidden gems in between.
But this is not a GOTY-style conversation today (those will come later). Today, we’re taking the time to sit around the dinner table, holding hands, and discussing the games that just meant a little something extra to us. This is a class participation-style article, so we’ll go around the room and check in with a collection of DualShockers writers so that everyone has their chance to tell you all about something they loved in 2025.
Whether you’re still trying to figure out how to baste a turkey or are deciding if you want to go back for seconds (or thirds) of your meal today, allow us to help spread some positive vibes for the season and gush about the video games that hit us in all the right ways recently. We hope you пожирать it up and have a wonderful Holiday Season, however you may celebrate.
20 As Long As You’re Here
Итан Кригер
The Holidays are a chance for reflection, including upon those that may not be with us anymore. Growing up, every Thanksgiving and Christmas was spent with my large extended family all crammed into my maternal grandparents’ home, sharing meals, stories, and simply precious time with one another.
These days, everyone has grown up and moved away, and my grandparents have since passed. My grandmother suffered from dementia in her later years, which is where this whole anecdote ties into As Long As You’re Here, a first-person perspective indie title where you play as an elderly woman suffering from progressively worsening Alzheimer’s.
With my own memories in my mind the whole time I played As Long As You’re Here, the experience hit me in ways I’d never, ever experienced in a video game before. At the end of the hour-long playthrough, I’d journeyed through something that I’ll always be thankful for moving forward. As Long As You’re Here does an incredible, poignant, emotional job of depicting Alzheimer’s, and I’m so glad it exists.
It also gave me a chance to reminisce about all the little childhood moments I had growing up with my grandma, and it’s something I can’t thank the game enough for. Sometimes, video games just feel важную, and As Long As You’re Here is one such example.
19 Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Steve Hannley
It’s hard to believe that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is 21 years old, but games that are legally old enough to drink now were still advanced and emotionally deep even back then. Perhaps even more shocking is that until Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater released, there had only been one major entry in the series since 2018 with the much-maligned Metal Gear Survive.
While Delta isn’t breaking any major new ground — and it’s the fourth version of the game — it does everything it sets out to accomplish. Which, mainly, is being the version of MGS3 you remember in your head from 2004. There are multiple quality-of-life improvements, the ability to play the game in two different versions, and the return of features such as “Snake vs. Monkey” (albeit in Bomberman form).
2025 has seen many fantastic new releases, but it’s hard not to be thankful for one of the best games of all-time to be revisited and remade to help keep it relevant for years to come.
18 тропы в небе 1-я глава
Мурильо Зербинатто
I try to keep an open mind whenever a sequel or remake significantly changes a JRPG series I play. Perhaps the developers wanted to try something new, and I wanted to too, but I didn’t know until I played it. Still, I must admit that if the company were somehow able to remake a game from scratch, adding novelties, a new visual presentation, and also bringing back everything that made it wonderful at the time of its release, then that would be my favorite take on a remake or sequel.
That’s precisely what happened with Trails in the Sky: First Chapter. Listen, I’m not the biggest Trails fan, so I won’t lie to you here. I’ve been playing JRPGs for as long as I can remember, but I only got into this daunting series this year. I played the first two Trails in the Sky games on Steam and then jumped straight into the remake. It was the best decision I’ve ever made, because it allowed me to see all the additions of this new version, as well as how Falcom honored the original.
Trails in the Sky: First Chapter is, to me, the ideal remake. Narratively speaking, the game is essentially the same. Well, they couldn’t change the story, since all the mainlines follow the same overarching plot, and retcons aren’t really an option. Yet, it’s oddly amusing to see how every dialogue and set piece is identical to the classic game, only now fully 3D and voiced. To please longtime fans, they retained the same turn-based tactical combat while introducing new mechanics here and there. And to cater to modern sensibilities and new players, they also introduced real-time gameplay.
In my humble opinion, one of the biggest marketing fallacies in gaming is when a title proclaims to be «for new and old fans alike,» because, you know, the one that tries to please everyone ends up pleasing no one. However, if there’s one JRPG that came the st to living up to that claim (at least for fans of the genre), it was certainly Trails in the Sky: First Chapter. I’m grateful that this title showed JRPGs can double down on the «J» in the acronym and still mesmerize the world.
17 Бесконечность Никки
Хайме Тугаев
There are games I play to broaden my horizons, see how different genres are evolving, or just to shoot things for fun. That said, this year it was Infinity Nikki that captured my soul and made me feel emotions that I didn’t think I was ever capable of feeling. Behind the cute dress-up façade is a collection of insane plot points, like talking about children burning to death in a casual dialogue, or deep discussions about theology.
I found out about Infinity Nikki while going through a particularly rough patch, where I was looking for something to just do idly on my PS5 when the depression hit. The sheer amount of volume and depth that Nikki offers in terms of story, updates, grinding, clothing, twists and turns, and a wacky community just made my head explode in a trillion pink ribbon sparkles while I speculated on where the plot would go and where Giovanni was.
Infinity Nikki was a quick laugh turned into a year-long obsession. No matter how loud the drama gets online, I still play it daily, as if my life depends on every small task. I may not be as vocal about Infinity Nikki, but it serves as a reminder that sometimes it’s OK to be selfish and enjoy that great game all by yourself.
16 Аид II
Bruce Makki
I’ve always loved hack and slash games that are linked to some mythological story, like Darksiders and God of War. When I first played Hades, I was instantly hooked by the relationship between the gods and Zagreus and how their personalities have been reimagined.
The second Hades 2 was available for purchase in early access, it was in my library, and I started playing it religiously throughout the entire time leading to its release. So much so that when it was officially released, it took me three days to finish the main storyline, and that is a badge that I will forever wear with pride on my chest!
The game is made with love and care, that much is super apparent. And I’m thankful for the dev team being so dedicated to giving us, the players, a game that is truly formidable.
15 Супер Марио
Елена Чапелла
I’m so thankful for all kinds of video games, but if I had to pick one I’m genuinely happy about – «Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened» type – it would actually be Mario.
As much as Silent Hill f and the whole franchise means to me, at the end of the day, I was playing Mario and Minecraft with my siblings. Those memories are among the most treasured I have. Every chance I can play a Mario game with my siblings, even now that we’re all adults, it’s just as fun and magical (and hilarious) as when we were children growing up together. Mario got me and my immigrant family together, and it’s something we play as a whole family whenever we can, because it means that much.
I can only imagine how many other siblings and families were touched by Mario and loved in the same way — and that’s a nostalgia that honestly doesn’t leave. Even when I’m long old and my memories are fading, I hope, rather than the connection I felt to the Silent Hill games, that I at least remember playing Mario with my siblings.
14 Cross Blitz
Joshua Speer
Though there are many games I’ve been thankful for over the years, in the year 2025, there is one that I’m especially thankful for called Cross Blitz. It’s a game I’ve been playing off and on during early access for several years, which is not a trend that usually applies to me. Nor does an obsession for gathering all Steam achievements in a game, but I’ve consistently done that in the EA period as well. And now, the full version of the game is finally out just in time for Thanksgiving!
This isn’t just a colorful and creative deckbuilder. It may be one of the very best I’ve played. And given that I’m an obsessive fan of the genre, that’s actually saying quite a bit.
It features a story mode with several playable characters, a Roguelike mode, and one additional mode with the 1.0 release. Best of all, Cross Blitz is full of great humor and looks like a lost SNES adventure brought to incredible life. It’s also quite complex, with numerous ways to build and iterate on your decks, with each character offering several distinct playstyles for you to play around with, ranging from firing cannonballs, poisoning your opponent, freezing and shattering foes, and even cooking powerful dishes of food.
So if you love games like Yu-Gi-Oh! or Magic the Gathering and are hankering for a digital companion with all that complexity and adventure, I suspect you’ll also be thankful when you play Cross Blitz.
13 Клэр Обскур: Экспедиция 33
Daniel Trock
Perhaps unsurprisingly, my pick is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Not only was it a game that I had no particular expectations for that ended up blowing me away, but I feel like it’s proof positive of the virtues of gaming as a medium. It’s beautiful visually and heartbreaking narratively.
The ending actually upset me, not because I thought it was bad, but because the game made me care enough about the characters that I wanted them to have a happy ending.
It takes a very good piece of fiction to make an ending with true lasting emotional impact, the kind of thing that sparks constant, in-depth debate.
12 World of Warcraft: Mists Of Pandaria Classic
Jake Valentine
Is it weird to be thankful for a game that, while technically released in 2025, originally launched over a decade ago? Perhaps, but the thing about being a Classic WoW player is that it’s much more than just the game. It’s the community, specifically the guild and raid team you play with.
We’ve become something more than just a group of gamers who enjoy playing decade-old content. We’ve become a family, already having met up once a few years back, and we plan to do the same again next year. We share our most intimate details, congratulate each other on life accomplishments, comfort each other in times of need, and are always there for each other.
Even when things feel stale and dry, as they do currently now while we wait for the next raid tier to launch, there’s one constant that keeps us coming back again and again: each other. I’m incredibly thankful for the 24 other friends I play this game with on a weekly basis, and have done so with over the past nearly five years. I can’t think of a better way to spend my Monday and Tuesday nights.
11 Эволюция Юрского периода 3
Maddie Fisher
Jurassic World Evolution 3 speaks to a very distinct set of core memories, as my love of this franchise extends all the way back to movie theater trips with my dad. Since then, the Dino Park simulation genre has been one that I’ve been utterly obsessed with.
Jurassic World Evolution 3 takes everything about the classics of yesteryear like Operation Genesis and has concocted the ultimate prehistoric theme park builder. Frontier Developments’ work on this series has been stellar, and this is easily their best effort yet.
