moakley

I appreciate your perspective.

I'll do you one better and say that a lot of times it comes from chronically online Americans who got their opinion from said Europeans. And at least some of the time it's from third world bots whose marching orders are to spread any and every kind of anti-American sentiment.

Lately I just prefer to put the opposing idea out into the aether rather than try to dig into a whole online argument.. thing.

There are large sections of the US that don't have consistent access to great food, so crappy fast food is what they get.

Then there are other parts of the US where the fast food is amazing. Also the other food.

It's ok to just not be that into gaming anymore. But if you are looking for a game to get into, they're out there.

Pretty positive you're just not seeing it, because 2025 has been awesome.

Hades 2. Silksong. Split Fiction.

If a Donkey Kong or a Mario Kart had come out in 1998, it'd be in this picture.

And then I didn't play Death Stranding 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, or Blue Prince, but the word of mouth is excellent.

Also Outer Worlds 2.

Fair enough. Still not exactly a masterpiece.

My favorite part about 2007 for video games was how close it was to 2008, the actual best year in gaming.

That's when indie games started getting a foothold on consoles, including Braid and Castle Crashers. Plus Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour, and the Wii hitting its stride with Wii Fit, Mario Kart, and a Smash Bros. Not to mention mainstream fare like CoD: World at War, MGS 4, and GTA 4.

Depends what you mean by "greatest". Most revolutionary? Biggest leaps forward? Possibly.

But most of those games don't hold up today.

We're also getting a strong cheerleader effect on this picture. Mario Party 3? Turok?

I fully understand what you mean. I got turned on to UFO 50 the exact same way, from a stranger's recommendation online. They referred to it as "a master class in game design", and I was like, that's exactly what I was just saying about Split Fiction!

I think how we say things is important to how we connect.

Anyway, Split Fiction requires two players. The whole game is in split screen, even if you play online. But you only need one copy of the game to play online - I think your partner can just download a special version of the game for free. But if you have someone to play with in the same room, I recommend that.

A bit more about UFO 50 if you haven't already looked it up: it's a faux-retro game collection from a fictional, defunct 80s game developer called UFOSoft.

Fifty is an insane number of games, and it's got so much damn content. There are space shooters, side scrollers, a wild west Final-Fantasy-style RPG, a roguelike, a soccer game inspired by Bubble Bobble, at least three golf games, and then whatever the hell Mooncat is. There's also a dark meta-narrative hidden between the games that describes why the company went under.

So UFO 50 is a deep dive. You may want to start there first, because it's something you'll likely bounce off of and come back to. Luckily you have literally 50 games to switch between if you get frustrated.

When it does get frustrating, it's so rewarding if you power through it. Several of the games are in the style of those ridiculously punishing 80's arcade games, except it mostly is just a style. If you keep an open mind and look for what the game is trying to show you, you start to see that there are modern design conventions underpinning everything that make the games more fair than they appear. (Except Caramel Caramel. That game is bullshit.)

That's part of what I meant when I said it changed how I approach games. I realized I can spend so much time on my own expectations that I don't see what's in front of me. Learning to approach these games with an open mind has been a defining moment for me.

2025 was such a good year for gaming.

Games worth mentioning for me personally:

• Ravenswatch came out at the end of last year, but it's an incredibly satisfying multiplayer roguelike. Really scratches that asymmetrical gameplay itch.

• Split Fiction is a master class in game design. It creates these awesome storytelling moments that could only be created in this exact way.

• UFO 50: holy shit this one came out of nowhere for me. It's like digging through a retro collection for diamonds in the rough, but there's more diamond than rough. It has honestly changed the way I approach video games and gaming in general. Also, Party House is so good.

• Hades 2 is pretty much exactly what I was hoping it would be. No notes.

I also played Clair Obscur, DK Bananza, Mario Kart World, and Silksong. Those are all good games, but none of them hooked me.

I've played Magic against him a couple times. Great dude.

Fun fact: when birds have sex it's called a cloacal kiss.

Stranger in a Strange Land. I was told I'd like it because it was critical of religion, but it turns out it was only critical of organized religion. Too specific for my tastes.