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Welcome to something a bit different. Rather than a traditional Game of the Year style list where I choose my favorites, I’ve instead decided to just take a look back at the various games I played and reviewed on this site alongside a few highlights. My work for GF this year has mostly been these reviews with the occasional preview and news article. Speaking of news, one of the biggest things to happen was the Nintendo Switch 2 and while I probably won’t be getting one for a while, it’s already seen a ton of coverage and support. I’ve covered the news surrounding it a few times and what I’ve seen of it has looked pretty good. It does mean however, that support for Switch 1(at least from first-party developers) is nearing its end. But it's been great to do reviews on my Switch for as long as I have. Cheers Nintendo. I got a few more memories with you this year at least.
Okami HD(Score: 5/5)
Okami is a name familiar to a lot of gamers. Full disclaimer: I didn’t grow up with PlayStation so I don’t have the same nostalgia for games like Crash Bandicoot and the like. So Okami dashed past me for a while. But then, a sequel was announced last year. So I took the opportunity to finally play it and it was a fun time. It took me back to the days of the GameCube and hours spent playing Wind Waker. The Japanese artstyle visuals were gorgeous and the brush mechanics remain some of the most unique in all of gaming. I understand why Amaterasu garners so much love and nostalgia now. Okami is a real gem and worth trying out. On a side note, I loved doing haiku for the headers on this one. Those were a blast.
Nikoderiko Interview!
One major highlight for me this year was getting to spearhead an interview with Dmitry Smirnov, the Game Director for Nikoderiko. My colleague reviewed the game itself a few months earlier. Coming up with questions, listening to feedback from my fellow staff, and seeing it all come together was a lot of fun and very rewarding. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity and for Dmitry taking the time to answer questions and share some behind the scenes concept art and insight. I’d love to do more interviews in the future if the opportunity comes.
Animals in Ace Attorney?
Yes I wrote an article on animals in the Ace Attorney games(there’s more to work with there than you’d think). What possible inspiration could I have had for such a thing? Well, I was in a bit of a mood for mysteries so I got myself the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection. I had long been curious about those games and didn’t get an opportunity to ever play them until that point. I’ve loved the Ace Attorney franchise ever since I played the Phoenix Wright Trilogy on my 3DS so I was excited to step into Edgeworths shoes. From that, it was just a matter of research, refreshing myself, watching a playthrough of a case from a game I didn’t have and balancing all of that with life stuff. It’s a zany but still solid read.
On Your Tail(Score 4/5)
Speaking of mysteries, here’s a game I was excited for and ultimately disappointed by. On Your Tail originally caught my eye when it was talked about in 2024’s Wholesome Direct(I covered the highlights from both that year and this year as well) and I found it interesting. It was released on Steam at the end of 2024, with the Switch release not coming until March of this year. I stand by my score on it despite feeling a bit mixed. I like the concept and the characters. Borgo Marina and its inhabitants are wonderful. But glitches, lengthy load times and an overall rough experience really bummed me. Even though its been updated and is a little better, it’s still hard to get past that initial impression. A shame, because I enjoyed a lot of the puzzles and the overall mystery.
Cassette Beasts(Score 5/5)
One genre of games that I love to play are Monster Tamers. We’ll be seeing more of these as we go along but the first stop was Bytten Studios Cassette Beasts. Admittedly Cassette Beasts had been out for a while but recently it received an anniversary update. Now, I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll say it again: My first experience with Cassette Beasts was watching Uncivil Gamers play it years ago. I thought it looked cool and I was excited to try it for myself. I wasn’t disappointed. The sprite based graphical style looked great and Cassette Beasts remains a very unique take on its genre today. If you ever wondered what Pokémon meets Undertale would look like, here you go.
Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo(Score 5/5)
Sometimes the most interesting games are the most unexpected. I hadn’t planned on covering Pipistrello but I’m glad that I did. This game managed to be a love letter to beloved classics while doing its own thing. Yoyovania is a new term and one I hope sticks around. The premise of Pipistrello needing to save his family in order to fund his yoyo career is a funny and unique one. I had a good time practicing yoyo tricks and exploring the city.
RAIDOU Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army(Score 4/5)
Ah Raidou. I was very intrigued by this game when I saw it announced. Was it because I never played an Atlus game and was interested from all the Persona talk? Or was it because I recently watched gameplay for the acclaimed Metaphor ReFantazio? Regardless of which is the answer, I gave Raidou a try. The action oriented gameplay admittedly caught me by surprise since I had expected the turn based rpg style of its siblings. Nonetheless it was fun and many of the demons had creative designs. The detective aspect was a bit lacking though. Outside of side quests, there wasn’t much that required actual thinking as the game led you where you needed to go. Still, it was worth the wait.
A New Era of Elestrals
Something that I was particularly excited for was Elestrals Clash! Elestrals Clash had a kickstarter last October that was highly successful. Earlier this year, it entered early access. And, ignoring some technical flaws at the time, Elestrals is actually a pretty fun card game. I enjoyed my time with Clash and want to play it some more. But we’re not done with the Kickstarters because an RPG version known as Elestrals Awakened also went up on Kickstarter just a couple of months ago and received MASSIVE support, quickly becoming the number 1 funded video game on the platform. I covered both and you can still late pledge to the Awakened kickstarter if you want.
Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar(Score 5/5)
Another series I hadn’t had a chance to play before. I was very pleasantly surprised when I was given the opportunity to play and review this very chill game. The Story of Seasons(Formerly Harvest Moon) franchise is known for being pretty laid back and Grand Bazaar was no exception. Cute aesthetics, an engaging market/farm system that demanded one pay close attention, and likable characters made for an exceedingly charming experience. I’ll remember Zephyr Town fondly.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus (Score 4/5) & Z-A (Score 4-5)
Now to conclude with one of my favorite franchises. I’ve talked about Pokémon many times on GF and will probably continue to do so. One thing I was pretty excited for was an “unofficial” duology of reviews involving both Legends games. I had gotten Arceus not long following its release after seeing gameplay and I was immensely excited for Z-A in the months leading up to it. Despite both sharing a moniker, they were pretty different. Arceus delved deep into Pokémon lore and bridged the gap in open world gameplay between Sword & Shield and Scarlet & Violet. It was a game that focused on exploration and Pokédex completion. Z-A maintained a story oriented focus but this time, the biggest changes came with the battle system. For the first time in series history, Pokémon battles weren’t turn-based but instead real time action based. With the emphasis on the Z-A Royale, it was clear that Z-A wanted to be more about battling and getting to know the characters. It was rather refreshing in a way and the story isn’t over since DLC is right around the corner. They were a look back and a look forward.
So, GOTY?
It’s been a heck of a year at GF. There’s a lot I didn’t mention on here, from Dragon Detectives to Digimon. It was fun and interesting looking back on it all. I’m proud of the work I’ve done this year and I’m very excited to see what future years hold. But I can’t end off this year without giving my personal Game of Year and…keeping it to just the ones I’ve played(Otherwise Dispatch and Clair Obscur would be battling to the death over it), I’d have to go with Grand Bazaar. I’ve had the best experience with that and truly think it's a wonderful game. That said, Legends Z-A is a very close second. What were some highlights for y’all this year? What GF articles did you enjoy the most? Let us know in the comments and thanks always for reading.
