Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer<\/p>\n
The end of 2025 is fast approaching, so I’ve found myself going back to some of this year’s releases to see which games might make their way into my top five. It was perhaps a mistake to boot up The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy<\/a>, however, as those who have played it will know what an absolute monster it is. Maybe I’ll put a few hours into it before moving on to something else, we’ll see…<\/p>\n I’ve also recently gone back to The Evil Within<\/a> on the PS5. I can’t believe it’s over ten years old already! I do really love it though, even if it doesn’t quite reach the lofty heights of Resident Evil 4<\/a>. Jim Norman, Staff Writer<\/p>\n The tap, tap, tap of 2026 on my door has kicked me into gear to finally finish Clair Obscur: Expedition 33<\/a>. I am about 15-20 hours in, and boy, do I feel pain. It’s a lot \u2014 like, a lot \u2014 but I haven’t been this all-consumed by a game in a long old time.<\/p>\n I’m breaking up my Lumi\u00e8re sad times with the odd run of Absolum<\/a>, which has also proven to be right up my street. Karl has been my go-to for longer runs so far, but I am becoming increasingly attached to my beloved frog wizard, Brome, and his adorable little animations. Let’s hope I can get at least one run wrapped up before a certain space bounty hunter zooms into view next month.<\/p>\n Gavin Lane, Editor<\/p>\n With GOTY approaching, I’m in catch-up mode. This weekend, I’ll be carrying on with Shinobi<\/a>, and hopefully returning to Star Wars Outlaws<\/a> and UFO 50<\/a>. Non-2025, I’ve also dipped back into GRID<\/a> recently. How I wish Nintendo would put analogue triggers back in their controllers!<\/p>\n Not ‘playing’, but game-related, I’m eager to catch up with the movie-length NES 40th anniversary Portland Retro Gaming Expo panel<\/a> which went up earlier in November. And news of Rebecca Heineman’s passing had me looking back over 40+ years of her work, so the 3DO port of Doom and Burgertime videos<\/a> are calling. F cancer, indeed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gon\u00e7alo Lopes, Contributor<\/p>\n A couple of Steam releases caught my eye this weekend, and I do hope to see them both on consoles down the line. Cleared Hot<\/a> and Sektori<\/a> are the spiritual sequels you never knew you needed to Desert Strike<\/a> and Geometry Wars<\/a>, respectively. Princess woes continue with both Zelda and Melino\u00eb still at odds with Ganon and Chronos (and Typhon, I guess) in Hades II<\/a> (now in physical cartridge glory, hurrah!) and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment<\/a>. I do hope I get to tackle more of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road<\/a>, it is one of the biggest surprises of the year IMO. In the middle of all this, I feel a lot of folks are overlooking a stellar Switch release that was nearly my game of the week if not for a certain pink ball: Neon Inferno<\/a>. I have been eagerly waiting for this one for some time now, and it is delivering on every front.<\/p>\n Game of the week is, without surprise, Kirby Air Riders. I know the original GameCube title (which is on my shelf) didn\u2019t really raise many eyebrows back in 2003, but I am hopeful a lot more people get to slide around with it this time. It is another finely crafted SORA masterpiece that will certainly keep yours truly occupied until December arrives.<\/p>\n Kate Gray, Contributor<\/p>\n I found a very neat game on Steam called Astro Prospector<\/a>. It’s about \u00a35. Maybe less. And it’s brilliant \u2014 this little snack-sized incremental game that’s all about shooting asteroids and dodging bullets. Think Cobalt Core<\/a> meets Vampire Survivors<\/a> with coffee theming.<\/p>\n Other than that, still plugging away at Hades II! I stopped for a while to let the ending get patched and to help judge an indie game competition (which is where I discovered Astro Prospector), but now both of those are done, I’m back on the grind. I’m not rushing towards the ending just yet, as I’m having more fun trying out silly builds and unlocking new weapons, and after that, I might move on to The Outer Worlds 2<\/a>, since I’m hearing good buzz about it (and the new Monster Factory<\/strong> episodes have me wanting to play Fallout<\/strong>-type games again).<\/p>\n Well, that’s what we have planned for this weekend, but what about you? Let us know your picks in the following poll.<\/p>\n
Happy gaming, folks!<\/p>\n\n