Hogan Reviews

Last year I’d played so few that-year-released games that I had to put compilations and remakes all over the list, this year I’m happy to say there are no compilations and while entry #10 is two-thirds remaster it does have one-third entirely new game as well, so this is a much better look at games I’ve played in 2025 actually FROM 2025. I’m pretty sure Dynasty Warriors: Origins and Donkey Kong Bananza would’ve made it as well, but the former didn’t immediately appeal (due to going against what I like from DW games) and just hasn’t dropped in price all year and the other is a consequence on me only getting a Switch 2 for Christmas and only have so much free time! With that all said, let’s take a look!

When I reviewed the third Sonic The Hedgehog movie earlier in the year I mentioned that Sonic Adventure 2 is where I’d stopped playing Sonic games, and a few people then and generally a lot over the years have recommended Sonic Generations as the best example of “modern Sonic” so when this remaster was released I thought I’d give it a go, and as a bonus it has an entirely new expansion in Shadow Generations placed alongside it, finally showing us what a new 3D Sonic game might look like in a post-Frontiers world. Overall I enjoyed my time dipping in and out of the game, even if the 2D segments just didn’t play right for this old Mega Drive playing fan… (My review will be coming early next year… I hope…)

Bleach: ReBirth of Souls is a tricky one to talk about, hell when I reviewed it I’d played it so much I gave it a 3/5 because there was so much redundant story to play through that I’d somewhat burnt out on it, but after coming back to the game to play some of the DLC characters I better appreciate the new gameplay ideas on display and definitely the presentation side of it. It’s a fun game, but one that has a weirdly steep learning curve which put on top of a not-super-popular license has made it fade into the background quite quickly, sadly… (My review can be found HERE)

A quick way into my heart is to make a good old fashioned scrolling beat ’em up (emphasis on good…) and adding a license I like on top is the cherry on the cake. Cosmic Invasion does nothing to rewrite the book on the genre (even the ability to switch between two characters doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things) but the presentation and some of the odd lore on display along with the fun and simple gameplay makes for a fun package regardless. (Review coming… at some point…)

When you’re as big as Nintendo is and when you have a instant money printing series like Mario Kart I have to applaud them for actually trying something new instead of just doing Mario Kart 9. World features a vast connected open world and tracks comprised on chunks of the map, and while I feel like that makes the traditional cups feel far less fun the new knockout mode is great and the free roaming is very relaxing with the crazy amount of tunes they’ve packed into the game to listen to. Not the best Mario Kart, but a damn fun game regardless. (My review coming next year!)

After having played through V, X, T and 30 over the past few years it feels like there isn’t much to say about Super Robot Wars Y. There are the odd little differences here and there but they fail in comparison to all the many, many similarities. Luckily I really love those similar things so this was another win, and not having to import it from Asia was definitely a bonus this time round. I haven’t actually finished it yet, I’ve been dipping in and out hoping to catch both lots of DLC as I never end up doing second play throughs of SRW games, but I have no doubt it will end up with a similar score as its predecessors! (My review coming next year!)

While I was put off of Dynasty Warriors Origins and waited (in vein) for a price drop Koei decided to throw me a bone and released a rogue-lite game featuring a good majority of the classic Dynasty Warriors 8/Samurai Warriors 4 era cast and damn fun it was too. Hell still is I should say, as free DLC is still being added here and there and its still good fun just to spend an hour banging out another run with my favourite Warriors, a lot of them I thought I’d never see again thanks to the Origins reset. (My review can be found HERE)

Ignoring the embarrassing “A black Samurai?! How dare they!” bollocks Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a fun open world game with stunning graphics and some very satisfying combat that only gets more varied and fun the more you unlock and play, keeping me happily returning to the world despite the story being on the dull side (with an ending that still annoys me to this day…) It was so fun that I was too burnt out on the era that I didn’t get around to buying Ghost of Yotei, so… yeah. Maybe if I feel like it next year for that one… (My review can be found HERE)

It’s a ninja double as the next entry is the return of the Shinobi franchise, once again brought to life by those who similarly brought Streets of Rage back from the dead. It’s plays similarly to a Mega Man X game in that while it’s not an open map “metroidvania” effort it does have you unlock abilities that you can go back to old levels with and get new upgrades. Beyond that though it’s extremely satisfying combat is what kept me coming back, not to mention its fluid pin-point accurate platforming, making such a satisfying package that I actually 100%’d the campaign mode, extremely challenging bonus levels and all. A very rare thing for me! (My review coming soon etc… why did so many of these games come out at the end of the year?!)

What do you do when you create a game so great that people are desperate for more? Well, you give them more! Hades II doesn’t reinvent the wheel, in fact you could argue it plays it TOO safe with how similar to the first one it is, but given the original not only played great but had top class art, scripting and voice acting it’s hard to argue that more isn’t exactly what you want. I’m currently at the “dying on the stage 2 boss” phase of my run through of the game and I’m already back to loving the world of Hades, its characters and the gorgeous artwork. Lightning has struck twice, which given the game features Zeus is quite apt! (My review coming next year…)

“Boo! Hiss! Boring!” …. Yeah, I know. But when a game is this good, not just from a gameplay perspective but from a presentation, voice acting and definitely storytelling perspective then you can’t NOT give it the number 1 spot. Extremely predictable placement be damned, this game was easily my game of the year and was packed with moments that I’ll still be thinking of for years to come. (My review can be found HERE)