If you followed the blog last year, you might be aware that we are about to reach PEAK BigNerdGaming season. I am religious about ranking various things all year, and this is when I finally start to release all of that work I have been doing. In the coming weeks, I will have “The Nerdys,” which are my joke gaming awards. I will have “The BigNerdGaming Awards,” which is probably the craziest thing I do. I will be listing my top 20 gaming moments of the year. I will also, of course, have my top 10 games of the year list and an honorable mentions post. Additionally, I’ll be doing my “Way Way Too Early 2026 Game Awards Predictions” and then dropping my 15 most anticipated games for 2026.
So yeah, that’s a lot! Because of that, it’s easy for games I’m playing leading up to and during this stretch to not get the attention they deserve on the blog. This post is my “last call” of sorts in order to get some thoughts in for what I’m playing before chaos ensues.
Here are my thoughts on seven games I’ve been playing over the last several weeks. A few of them are my official “reviews,” and a few are impressions because I haven’t finished them yet. I also have three bonus impressions on games I just started.
We are officially in the calm before the storm. Let’s enjoy the ride.
Ball x Pit
Ball x Pit is a game that kind of took over the indie world for a few weeks. It has brickbreaking gameplay, some Vampire Survivors inspirations, and a citybuilder element. It’s pretty wild! In each run, you have a unique character and fight off foes that continuously travel down the screen. As you play, you can unlock different types of balls to shoot at your foes, as well as various passives in order to make a “build.”
It’s a cool formula, but it has its issues. I think the citybuilding element of the game is somewhat poorly implemented. If you want to build or upgrade buildings, you have to play a minigame where you bounce your characters off of the building. It’s really easy for this to go wrong early on. You also can only launch your characters from one particular area in the city, so the citybuilding involves constantly moving your buildings back and forth. This kind of kills a lot of what makes citybuilding fun. You move buildings around like Tetris pieces and are never actually trying to make anything that looks like a city.
Also, the “build” variety in the game is not all that interesting when you are doing the actual brickbreaking gameplay. While I certainly created a few interesting builds over the course of the game, it wasn’t a common occurrence. For a lot of characters, it felt like there were only a few very specific passives that were truly worthwhile. For example, one character in the game only does damage with balls that do “area of effect” damage. It’s absolutely stupid to do any run with that character without trying to obtain the passive that increases your “AOE” damage. There are several situations like this. Once I started obtaining rerolls for passives, I would spam them constantly because it doesn’t make sense to play this game in a way where you let the build come to you. This is a failing of the game’s builds in my opinion.
There were two or three times I thought hard about setting the game aside. But each time that happened, I would unlock something that would draw me right back into the game. I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s one upgrade in particular that literally changed the entire game for me. There were several characters that I hated using, but after this upgrade, I loved using pretty much every character in the game. Also, while I do think the game has weaknesses with the creativity of its build options, it does not lack creativity with its characters. By the second half of the game, I felt genuine excitement each time I unlocked a new character, as I really had no idea what to expect.
As the game progresses, it’s crazy how different each run can feel, as you change your playstyle pretty dramatically with each character. The game also just feels good to play in short bursts. Knocking down enemies with the various balls is consistently satisfying, and the “survivor” elements of picking up EXP and watching multiple level ups happen in a short period of time is always fun. The game is just relentlessly creative in other ways too. I was always pretty impressed by all of the different boss battles and enemy types that the game has, too.
I never loved Ball x Pit enough to play more than somewhere between 2-4 runs a day (most runs are roughly 15 minutes if you beat them). But I did enjoy playing for those short stretches every day. The game’s ability to keep things fresh and interesting made it so much better than it ever had any right to be. They absolutely went for it in every way, and sometimes they missed, but they also hit on plenty of those big swings as well. If you like the roguelike genre or “survivor-likes,” I’ll say that the hype is mostly for real, and you should give it a go. I’d give Ball x Pit an 8.5/10.
Constance
If I were writing a full review for Constance, the title of that review would have been “Diet Depressed Silksong.” It’s just the easiest way to summarize things. Constance is a Metroidvania that talks about burnout and depression, and it clearly has some Hollow Knight inspirations with its general design, but it’s on a much smaller scale than those games.
I really enjoy a lot of the core gameplay, level design, and boss design with this game. The platforming in particular feels very responsive, and a lot of areas are designed in neat ways that force you to chain together several different platforming moves to get through. In one area, I was bouncing off continuously moving balloons, and then using a move that temporarily erased an obstacle, before air dashing through to get to a new platform. If you don’t like sweaty platforming, this might not appeal to you, but I love this stuff, and it feels great when you pull it off.
I also think the boss designs in the game are pretty dang creative. Most bosses have tough but fair attack patterns. I usually got wrecked in my first few attempts, but I was able to beat almost every boss in the game within 5-10 attempts.
My only real issue with the gameplay is that many of your special platforming moves are tied to a stamina bar of sorts. If you use too many moves, you end up in a “burnout” type of state where you can continue to use moves, but they start to damage you. This is a really clever way to tie together the gameplay with the narrative themes, but it’s also pretty annoying in practice. There were several times when I was dashing through an area that I had already explored and had to slow down because I was going to damage myself if I used any more dashes. There is also one platforming move that I didn’t love, which is a move that lets you ride up walls. It never felt 100% intuitive to me the way all of the other moves in the game did.
My bigger issue with Constance comes with its Metroidvania design. Much like Silksong, this game just does not like standard Metroidvania elements. The map is incredibly vague. It gives you a general idea of where you can go in each of its sections, but it will not reveal every pathway you can find. Fast travel points are also quite sparse. This combination of elements made it so that I didn’t enjoy backtracking all that much in the game. It was a bit too much work for not enough gain. There were also a few pretty annoying runbacks at different points in the game. Much like Silksong, I didn’t think these enhanced the game all that much, but Constance is not nearly as hard as that game, so it wasn’t quite as big of a deal.
In the end, I think Constance is a really well made game. I haven’t even mentioned that both the art and music are lovely. The game also tackles its themes of burnout in some interesting ways. There are minigames after bosses that really help with this part of the storytelling, though I think they could have gone a bit further with it. But given the themes, I actually find it surprising that the game was designed in a way that actively makes exploration more annoying and made “burnout” on the game more likely. Without these Silksong-esque elements, I almost assuredly would have liked this game even more. But I’d still give it an 8/10, as I really did have a blast with the platforming and combat. If you like Silksong for its platforming and combat, I think you’ll find plenty to enjoy here. If you like Silksong for how it handles its Metroidvania elements too, then this is a clear “must play.”
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
I believe I only have a few levels left in Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, and I think I can safely say that for me, this is easily the best “ninja” video game in 2025, a year which has had at least four pretty big releases where you play as a ninja.
Shinobi can probably be best described as a “segmented 2D Metroidvania.” The game is clearly a Metroidvania in pretty much every conceivable way. There are tons of optional paths that aren’t accessible, which you can then go back and explore as you unlock new abilities over the course of the game. Thorough exploration rewards you with various upgrades that make life easier. But the map is not all interconnected. The game is separated into a series of smaller Metroidvania levels.
The highlight of Shinobi is definitely the combat. The game gives you tons of different moves and combos to take on enemies, so you have a lot of freedom to fight in any way you wish. When it comes to combat, I’ve never been big into fighting games, so long combos don’t usually appeal to me as much as slick counters and quick executions do. But Shinobi does a great job of easing you into everything, and even I’m having fun combining moves and destroying my enemies in stylish ways. The game has pretty solid enemy variety that forces you to use all of your arsenal, and it feels undeniably cool.
The level design for the platforming is also a lot of fun. There are some pretty intense scenarios set up that put you to the test with all of the different navigational abilities in the game. The hardest tests are usually optional, so I’d say it’s pretty accessible despite that difficulty.
The one thing holding back Shinobi’s core gameplay is the way the game controls at times. Nothing here is a major sin, but the game isn’t always as responsive as I’d like. There are quite a few platforming abilities in particular that you can’t cancel out of on the fly that keep you locked into a certain move for a bit too long. When there’s tons of chaos on the screen, it feels very limiting to do an air dash or a double jump and realize that you are screwed before the move even ends. Certain platforming sections can also be a bit finicky. Whenever you jump into a wall and are at its corner, it felt like a 50-50 proposition as to whether your character will cling to it or not. The boss fights in the game are also pretty uninspired and mediocre. The strength of the game is the moveset that it gives you as the player, and not the movesets that it gives to its enemies.
While I figured that Shinobi would play well, I was much more skeptical about how well the Metroidvania elements would play out. I ended up being pretty pleased with them overall. I think having the levels separated makes it a bit easier for the game to do more adventurous things in spots. For example, in one level you are on a moving train throughout. It also makes it a lot easier and less overwhelming to think about trying to 100% the game. Shinobi does everything in its power to encourage you to see everything that it has to offer. The maps clearly point out when an area is optional and mark obstacles if you can’t break through them yet. After you complete each level, the level updates with what percentage of that area you’ve explored, which can really motivate you to go back and get those numbers to 100 (alongside the fact that the rewards are pretty useful, as you’d hope).
My only issue with the Metroidvania design is that the game can make it a complete guessing game when you encounter various pits. Most of these pits lead to you taking damage, but there are some that you can go down and actually find secrets in. It’s a very odd design choice. There’s no obvious indicator if a pit will do damage to you or not (though I’d say most of them do). In general, I’ve avoided going down pits unless it’s very obvious that I can proceed, and I have one or two levels where I feel like I should have found everything by now but haven’t. My guess is that the pit issue might be holding me back in spots.
But despite that, Shinobi is a really well made game, with mostly great Metroidvania design and pretty deep combat. This one deserves all of the acclaim it has gotten. I’d give it an 8.5/10 so far, and I don’t see that number moving at this point.
The Outer Worlds 2
I’m in a very strange place with The Outer Worlds 2 right now.
I enjoyed the first game a fair amount, despite its issues. I likely would have given it an 8/10. And thus far, The Outer Worlds 2 seems undeniably improved in some important ways. First off, the combat is way better this time around. It actually feels good to shoot your gun, and everything you do feels impactful. I don’t think I’d put it above Avowed for its combat, but outside of that game, I’d easily say it’s the best combat I’ve seen from an Obsidian or Bethesda game. My only issue so far is that it feels like there are a few pretty stark difficulty spikes, but those haven’t held me back for very long in any case.
I’m also very wowed by the amount of roleplaying there is to do here. In almost every conversation with an NPC, you have multiple conversation options, and then several more based on what skills you have. You’ll also consistently find conversation options depending on if you’ve discovered other info about the character, so The Outer Worlds 2 really rewards you for thorough exploration.
I also think the writing in the game is quite sharp. Obviously, this game is heavy on its capitalism parody, and there are plenty of funny lines and characters surrounding that.
And yet, after completing the first world about a week ago, I haven’t been super motivated to pick it back up since. I think a few things are holding me back. First off, as cool as the roleplaying in the game is, I am someone who likes to spread the wealth a bit when I’m upgrading skills. So it feels like there are so many conversations where I can’t use any of the different options on the screen because I don’t have high enough skills. I think I might have to specialize a bit more than I am right now, but that’s always hard for me to do.
I also am just not that into the story or characters so far. The main villain’s motivations seem incredibly boring to me, and none of my crew members have really inspired me all that much so far. I also think that so many games have tackled the same themes as The Outer Worlds in recent years, that its over the top style doesn’t feel quite as fresh as it did back in 2019. For me, I actually think it’s harder to make any specific or compelling points about a theme when you are this outrageous and goofy about it, but that might just be a personal taste thing.
The few choices in the game so far also haven’t made me sweat at all. At one point, I got pissed off at an important character and wanted to kill him, but the game literally warned me afterward that I might want to reload, as what I did would basically make this faction hate me for the rest of the game. It’s cool that I have that option, but that’s the only decision so far that I struggled with, and the game didn’t exactly make me want to pursue that path.
But in the end, I’m still pretty dang early in the game. I have three more major planets to come, and some smaller ones too, according to Google. The core elements of this game are more than strong enough to hook me in, so I won’t be shocked if I have a play session soon that really gets me on board. I’d give the game a 7/10 right now, but I see plenty of potential for it to reach that 8.5 zone or so.
Very Quick Thoughts
There are plenty of other games I’ve “touched” but that I haven’t played for more than a few hours. Here are some real quick hits on those. Obviously, these thoughts could be quite unfair or I could completely change my mind since I’m so early in all of them.
Absolum
I have played maybe 30 minutes of Absolum so far. I am impressed by how good the game looks and by how deep the combat seems to be compared to the average beat ’em up, though the “deflect” ability and the ability to pick up opponents both don’t feel super intuitive off the jump. I also don’t enjoy the movement in this genre sometimes. The movement is slow and constricting (as you always have to face sideways), and it never feels good to me. This is just how the genre is, and I’ve enjoyed other beat ’em ups in the past, so I think I will get used to it. But I feel relatively confident that this won’t make my top 10 or honorable mentions. Based on the massive amount of hype I’ve seen, I do think this still has plenty of potential once I really sink my teeth into it.
Silent Hill f
I have played maybe 90 minutes to 2 hours of Silent Hill f so far, and I can see why there have been such extreme opinions on this game in both directions. The story is immediately intriguing. There’s great background lore that gets written in your journal and that can occasionally be found in the world. I also love the characters and Japanese voice acting. Konatsu Kato is the first ever non-English speaking role to get a Game Awards nomination, and it feels very deserved.
But playing the game just hasn’t done it for me yet. The devs don’t like this being called a soulslike, but the combat does have that sort of flow. However, it does not feel particularly great like many games in that genre. The counter system is very odd, there isn’t as much impact on each swing of the pipe as I’d hoped (I think Silent Hill 2 Remake did the “impact” way better), and the enemy variety is really boring. I just don’t know if they had the juice to make a full melee combat system, which was a big fear of mine heading into this.
I’ve also done a few of the big puzzles in the game, and while they have some nice moments, there are a few that I don’t quite gel with. Usually, when I fail at a puzzle attempt, I start thinking about what I did wrong. In this game, I’ve actually felt a few times like the “wrong” answer could easily be argued to actually be the correct one, like when the game wants you to decipher facial expressions in one puzzle. Yes, there are some obvious ones, but there are a few where I felt like a facial expression could be viewed in multiple different ways. These aren’t all puzzles where you need to activate a certain number of items, like a lot of survival horror games. Human emotion and various symbols are used, and they can be more open to interpretation sometimes.
I still want to go back and experience this story, and I still hope to do so very soon, because this has the potential to rank high in certain categories in my upcoming Big Nerd Gaming Awards.
Octopath Traveler 0
Octopath Traveler 2 was in my top 10 games a few years ago, so I should have been hyped beyond belief for this game, but I’ve been very nervous about it. The game was built off of a mobile game base. They remade it a bit and expanded on it, but that just never feels like a recipe for success.
But early on, I certainly can’t tell. The combat in this game feels great once again. It has systems in place that encourage you to put some strategy into every fight, even the random ones, which is always a must for me these days with JRPGs. I don’t like JRPGs with tons of pointless button mashing random encounters. Octopath has never been that. I also love the way they let you use various skills on all of the NPCs in town. It makes town exploration significantly more interesting. This is all classic Octopath.
I’m also VERY excited to unlock the city building, as I am always a sucker for that mechanic in JRPGs.
The only thing I’m skeptical about after an hour is the story and characters. While I didn’t love the overall story in Octopath 2, I really adored a lot of the character arcs. This hasn’t felt like it will be on that level so far, but if the gameplay remains this good, I am okay with that. I’m excited to dive deeper into this one.
Thanks for reading as always. Starting next week, I will have something like 6 or 7 posts over the coming weeks with ranks from this past year, and I’ll be looking ahead to 2026 a bit. I hope you’ll check it out!
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