52 Games In
1. Ak-xolotl: Together
Ok. Well It's currently April 13th and I'm inputing my first entry into the 2025 list. Although I've now spent numerous hours reconstructing the site, it's safe to say that there's a very small chance that the challenge gets beaten this year. Regardless, we will try. Ak-Xolotl: Together is a top down, twin stick rogue like shooter that has every ingredient of a game that I love. It's similarity to Gungeon, at least in my opinion, is nothing but a good thing to help fill the void that game has left now so many years ago. It ticks every box in terms of the rogue lite experience - upgradeable guns during the run, little buddies you hatch that give you special passive abilities, unlockable areas, the list honestly goes on forever. I read in the Steam comments that this game was once in a terrible, almost unplayable state so they must have done some serious development to bring it to the very playable game it is today. One knock on it, perhaps, but good for me, is that it only took 4-5 runs to beat the game and see the credits on the highest difficulty - at least the highest difficulty unlocked at the time. The same Steam comments I referenced earlier suggested a brutal difficulty so I'm imaging that's something that was patched. This is a game I would have seriously sank my teeth into in years past, but that's a luxury I can't afford these days. Overall, awesome experience and it kicks the year off with a banger 8.
2. Destiny: The Edge of Fate
This is probably the most painful description I've ever had to write up. As such, I'll keep it relatively brief as every keystroke pains my heart. Destiny 2 is my favorite game of all time, let's make no mistake about it. The story, the lore, the graphics, and most importantly of all the core gunplay and ability mechanics are second to none (and honestly arguably still are). I won't even get into the abysmal end game progression and the complete lack of transparency and sense from the team at Bungie while writing this review. I'll focus solely on the campaign experience but everything else surrounding that is undoubtedly tainting it - I'm only human. Destiny had a slight dip with Lightfall (although this was still fine) but then came back with an absolute banger in The Final Shape. The fact that we're here from the last moments of The Final Shape is almost unimaginable. I'll start off with the good - the story ain't awful. The new NPC is ok and how we're starting to blend the Destiny universe with our real world (JFK assassination) is kinda cool. They've definitely lost some of the woke cringey dialogue they had with Lightfall but...well that's most of the good I can say. What's crazy is this campaign had potential. The brand new mechanics of turning into a ball of light or using various tools to shape shift the environment could be so amazing with the right dev team. Instead, most missions break down to - damage boss, turn into a ball, find some tiny hole to go through, blow up a reactor with ball, and then rinse and repeat. It feels soleless, devoid of any real care or attention to detail and frankly a waste of what could be awesome. The Armor 3.0 system also seems like a massive opportunity missed as it forces us out of all our hard farmed armor into these sets which only get someone could at upper tiers which are a pain to grind for. I'm not sure the standalone campaign does deserve a 4, probably a 6 or 7, but given the context of how great Destiny was (and still could be) and the surrounding bullshit that I just can't ignore, this is what it gets. I pray something magnificent and revolutionary happens over at Bungie because sadly, and for the first time in a very long time, I think I'll be putting down Destiny for the forseeable future. RIP.
3. Gravity Circuit
This will be a short write up. This is mainly due to the fact that I beat this game months and months ago while GWD was in a bit of a lull and didn't get around to the write up at the time which means I kinda forget. But what I do remember is that this is a spiritual successor to the Megaman series that hits on every single level. A love letter so to speak. So much so it may borderline on some sort of copywrite infringement but who cares. This is a fantastic 2D platformer that has the same core mechanics as the aforementioned beloved series, allowing you to attack any level in any order and the powerups from a beaten level can help you with subsequent ones. After playing some difficult Megaman games, the difficulty of Gravity Circuit is quite low. This isn't a bad thing, however, as it still offers a fun challenge and the old Megaman series could be at a difficulty level which borderlines tedium given the limited design choices at the time. Upgrades, powerups, swift movement, tight platforming, boss pattern memorization - it's all here in it's true glory. I wish I had written this write up soon after beating it so I could say more - but what I do remember is this was a fantastic experience.
4. Hollow Knight: Silksong
Well, it's arrived. After a tumultuous relationship with Destiny 2, I've been needing something to fill the void. Silksong, albeit quite temporarily, has done this. This game had a lot to live up to as a sequel to one of the most beloved masterpieces of all time, and boy did it deliver. Silksong follows the story of Needle, a prominent NPC in the first game that is friend and foe and eventually friend again along the journey. The game takes place some time after the first one, in the far off land of Pharloom which although is similar in style and artistic nature to the first game, introduces completely new areas and biomes that is a refreshing yet familiar experience. Needle comes with her own, flashy and quick silky moveset that turns every fight into a difficult yet rewarding dance. The introduction of the 'tool' system allows players to utilize a variety of customizable ranged weapons, for example, which can be of particular use to mix in with blade attacks in most boss fights and gauntlet sections. I've read a lot online about the unfair difficulty about this game, but as a veteran platformer I didn't really see it. Yes, the bosses were as a whole more difficult than the first game but with enough pattern memorization and attention to detail they were more than fair. I will say, however, much in line with GWD.com rules I played until I saw the ending credits to mark this as completed. I am aware there is much more to explore in Pharloom and perhaps the 'unfair' difficulty may rear it's head in that context. I have heard of brutal runbacks that admittedly wouldn't be fun, but as I didn't experience that personally it's not going to affect my perfect rating of this game. The exploration of Pharloom, the signature artwork, the incredible 2D platforming, the combat, the depth of build customization all made this to be an unforettable experience. Although I will move on to the next game in the spirit of the challenge, I think I'll keep this game around to hop in and do some exploring every once in a while and maybe challenge myself to best the more difficult boss fights in the game that remain.
5. The Supper
Ok I think I should take a second to point out how ratings work on GWD.com. The Supper is approximately a 30 minute point and click horror game. Now, the previously rated game, Silksong, is a 60+ hour masterpiece. Are there really only 3 points of separation between this free, 30 minute game and the masterpiece that is Silksong? Well no, of course not. Ratings here need to be in somewhat of a vacuum - I am rating the game in the context of itself and what it's trying to accomplish. For example, there could be a hundred dollar AAA graphically intensive, combat intensive, billion lines of code first person shooter which scores less than a 7 (see Edge of Fate) because big budget does not equal good gameplay. Based on 'context' it is perfectly legimitiate to give The Supper a 7 and Edge of Fate of 7. Edge of Fate is horrible in it's own context and the Supper is a great, tasty little treat in it's respective context. This 30 minute game has you controlling an old, parpalegic woman who runs a diner in an eerie, dystopian, Lovecraftian setting. The game involves incredibly simple point and click puzzle solving but still does require some brain power, albeit minimal. The story, graphics, dialogue and twists all give this fun point and click narrative it's deserved rating. Had it been longer and a more developed, polished point and click adventure, this could easily climb the ranks because the building blocks along with it's atmosphere are there. A 30 minute solid experience is exactly what the doctor ordered for a very, very behind 2025 challenge.
6. Islets
Sometimes before or after a game I'll check on Steam to see what the consensus is. This, of course, does not affect my rating whatsoever but I'm always curious to see my thoughts versus public opinion. Islets appears to be one of those games where I'm not quite aligned with the overwhelmingly positive reviews that this game has on Steam. Don't get me wrong, Islets is solid and 6 is a solid score. Also, undoubtedly, this is a metroidvania coming directly off the heels of Silksong...this is a bit unfair but it is what it is. Islets is a relatively short, charming and movement fluid Metroidvania. It definitely loses points on the plot, artwork and music which all are mediocre at best. You play as Iko, a young warrior looking to prove himself by saving the world. He accomplishes this by uniting islnds that have drifted apart and returning them to some sort of pangaea state. The story feels rather disconnected and rushed, before I knew it I was facing the final boss and had no idea how I got there or what the build up was. As mentioned this is a metroidvania but the game tries to employ a roguelike mechanic where you find permanent upgrades around the map that are presented as a choice of one of three. It turns out that the progression is fairly linear, however, as the same choices continue to pop up as you ignore them which forces you to eventually accept them. A more open, random build like system would be much more appealing. Where this game definitely gains points and solidifies itself as a solid experience is the core gameplay, ability progression and boss fights. While starting fairly limited in your movement, you're eventually double jumping, teleporting, creating disappearing platforms and running up vertical walls. There is an incredible amount of freedom of movement. The dodge with generous iframes is also always a nice touch. While the boss fights initially start out rather simple and boring, they quickly ramp up with the later bosses presenting a solid challenge. I burned through the second half of the game fairly quickly and I'm sure I was fairly underleveled, but even then there is a hard option for this game which undoubtedly would have made these bosses a real test even properly levelled. All in all, this was a solid experience. I disagree with Steam rating this as seemingly one of the greatest Metroidvanias out there, but it was a nice 6 deserving playthrough.