Best Games of 2025: Yvonne's Choice

With 2025 on the way out, it’s time to look at what has been and what my Best Games were. 2025 hasn’t always been an easy year, as I’ve already reflected on in my last YvoCaro Plays. But when it comes to gaming, it was another excellent one: with unexpected titles, titles that were highly anticipated but still weren’t as I had hoped, and an old, reinvented classic!

Let’s look at the games that made 2025 a good gaming year for me!

Old Classic, Reinvented and Just as Addictive

Years ago I played Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar on my DS, and you know how memories can be funny things? You’ll vaguely remember a time in your life, and then specifically remember one moment during that time. Maybe it’s a smell, maybe it’s a song or a sound you hear; they can all bring such special moments to mind with great clarity. During a holiday in Florida that I don’t know all the specifics for anymore, I distinctly remember sitting on the sofa, feet propped up and playing Grand Bazaar. It wasn’t available in Europe at that time, and I was so happy I was able to buy it over there!

And this year, Story of Seasons: Grand Bazaar came to the Switch. And not just a remake, new things were added, and the game was made so much better while reworking it. Like in all Story of Seasons, you tend your farm, and you get to make all sorts of dishes and products with your crops. But the goal is to sell them once a week at the Bazaar, trying to maximise your profit and the Bazaar’s level. Which, of course, progresses the game.

Managing your products to have a weekly smashing bazaar is addictive and presents you with a great game loop. At times, the game is frantic, but it’s always fun to prepare for the upcoming market to have the best products to sell. All the other elements of a good farming sim are there, even socialising feels more fleshed out than in the DS game.

A True Competitor for Animal Crossing

You probably know I’m a big fan of Animal Crossing games. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been my faithful companion since its release in 2020. And though long stretches of time go by that I don’t play at all, I still love wandering its quiet beaches and talking to my villagers like it’s day one. I work on island projects when inspiration strikes, or I dive into the game when real life compels me to seek comfort in my virtual world.

But in 2025, another cosy island came calling: Hello Kitty Island Adventure. In the game, you join Hello Kitty and her friends on a tropical vacation, and while players of Animal Crossing sometimes complain there isn’t enough to do, they won’t have that complaint in Island Adventure. There are quests flying in left and right, being renewed daily or weekly, with an overarching story quest as well. There are tons of things to collect, and Sanrio has been giving us plenty of expansions to keep us busy.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is cute, colourful and fun, and will keep you busy for a long, long time. There is so much to do that it can be overwhelming, but I do see that this is the kind of action people are waiting for in their sim gaming.

Two Atelier Games in One Year!

As a fan of the Atelier series, I’ve been lucky this year. We got two new games, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land at the beginning of the year, and Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist and the White Guardian that reached us in September. What riches!

Both games were very different. Atelier Yumia is the first of a new trilogy after the huge success of Atelier Ryza. Surprisingly, Gust took another approach to Yumia, and I’m not sure I really like it. The game features an open-world design, the largest in the series to date and entirely overhauled synthesis, combat, and exploration systems. The exploration is good, though I had a bit of trouble finding my way. The combat is even more action-based than Ryza already was, and felt too much like button-mashing to me. But the biggest letdown for me was the synthesis system. It just wasn’t very deep or intricate. For me, part of the fun is in playing around with the alchemy and the recipes. And I just wasn’t feeling it in Atelier Yumia.

What a lovely surprise that Gust decided to release Atelier Resleriana as well: turn-based fighting is back, the synthesis system is a bit more beefy, and the more linear map is back. And that’s not all. I found the game presented a good depth of the characters and NPCs, and even added some romance into the mix. There are a lot of returning characters from older games to meet. The management parts of the gameplay, featuring the Fairies and their hard work, are really great. To me, it was the better Atelier game of the year, but I expect Gust will ultimately continue along the lines of Atelier Yumia. After all, Atelier Resleriana felt very much like a special gift for longtime friends, and I loved it.

Sim Adventures Done Differently

I love a good simulation game that combines exploration, farming and crafting and adds a little extra. 2025 was a good year for that, as I found several to get lost in. One that blew me away was when I played it this year was Luma Island, made by Dutch indie studio Feel Free Games. They took such a novel and different approach to the farming sim adventures, and Luma Island keeps surprising you with out-of-the-ordinary additions and has excellent quality of life elements. But as the game was released in 2024, it can’t count on my Best of 2025.

Another adventure sim that surprised me was Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings™ Game. Now I know the opinions on that are very varied, aside from the initial bugs. People had such high expectations from the game from Wêta Workshop, the people behind the amazing Hobbit movies, but they found that their vision of a Hobbit adventure didn’t fit with what it eventually turned out to be.

For me, working with Goldilocks (that’s what my protagonist was named) on all the requests and tasks the Hobbits of Bywater set her was huge fun. Cooking and sharing meals were the key elements, which is what makes this adventure sim so special and different. I also thought the gardening, fishing and foraging were implemented well, as well as decorating your little Hobbit hole. Maybe I didn’t have a clear picture in my mind of how the game would be, but I really liked what they created.

Rune Factory, but Different

Anticipation was high for this new Rune Factory game. Especially since Rune Factory 5 wasn’t exactly mind-blowing. With Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Marvelous totally changed direction, and I can say I loved it. They kept the essence of farming, exploring, and romance and put a new twist on all of it. You don’t exactly do a lot of farming yourself, but instead focus on managing your villages and workers to do the work for you. The fighting is more difficult, as I’m never a big fan of action fighting, but it’s once again a great component of Guardians of Azuma.

There are quests, loads of exploration and crafting, a good storyline, and you get to ride a dragon…what’s not to like?

And Some More I Must Mention!

It’s really hard to pick the best ones. I’ve compiled a list of all that I have played, and with each one I can find a reason why it should be mentioned. So I couldn’t resist giving a shout-out to some more delightful games!

I wonder if I’ve ever played a more quirky game than Doronko Wanko! Who thinks up something like that? A delightfully silly game that ditches deep quests for mud-splattered fun. You have to be in the mood to embrace carefree chaos, playful messes, and heartwarming sillines though!

I’ve always been a big fan of Chibi Robo, that pint-sized robot that is so good at keeping the house of the family Sanderson. Misc. A Tiny Tale reminded me strongly of that, and it feels like a hopeful continuation of Chibi Robo’s legacy. And it’s not just a nostalgic nod, it’s a lovingly crafted adventure in its own right, with a modern polish and a heartfelt message.

Unpetrified: Echoes of Nature is an indie game that deserves all the attention it can get. It is a game that’s not about challenge; it’s about connection, restoration, and wonder. A great game to slow down with: you’ll enjoy the surroundings, feel the emotions of the Golem and get to solve the world’s puzzles.

And finally, As Long As You’re Here, a game that does an excellent job of letting us see and feel what a person who has Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia is feeling. Also, it went into the viewpoint of the children and their struggle to raise their own kids, and meanwhile, take care of their elderly parents. But the main focus is on the protagonist Annie, not explaining her condition directly in the game, but letting you feel it yourself.