Merry Christmas Eve!
When I started this blogging journey a little over two years ago, I had plenty of reasons for doing so. It helped fulfill a dream, it gave me an outlet for my many gaming takes, and it keeps my writing muscles a bit sharper.
But also, it felt like a great avenue to meet like-minded individuals. I love connecting with people about video games, but I’ve never been able to meet people who love games in the same way that I do.
I’m happy to say that I’ve now met many people whom I view as real friends. These are people I’ve shared both laughs and deep reflections with. While we are bonded by a common interest, I’ve grown to appreciate these people for many other reasons as well.
I feel an extra level of bond with my fellow content creators. I love being able to enjoy their work and, in turn, see what they think about my stuff. These are the people I also feel like I know the best because they all put their hearts out there time and time again when they write or talk about video games. I think that is special.
I’ve read, watched, and listened to many pieces of content from great people this year. In the holiday spirit, I decided that I’d like to highlight some of my favorites from this year. I always slightly hesitate to do something like this because I will inevitably leave someone out. It would be impossible to showcase every single excellent piece of content (and I’d even argue art in many of these cases) that I’ve seen this year. But I also don’t want to pass up the opportunity to give even a small extra light to others that I’ve enjoyed out of fear that someone could get upset or hurt by it. Unfortunately, as a dad and blogger/podcaster, I only have so much time to read and check out everything out there.
With that, here are my eleven favorite pieces of gaming content this year from friends. It’s unranked, which is a very rare thing for me! I hope everyone has fantastic holidays, and maybe in between family and friends, you’ll have a moment to settle in and read/watch some of the excellent stuff here. Articles and videos are linked in each title.
“Digital Devil Saga”- From Boss Fights
Man, I love Paul. He’s just a fucking king in every way. This dude is smart, funny, and extremely driven. Paul was sick of the malaise at his past job and decided to start his own law firm this year. I always admire anyone brave enough to take a big swing like that, and it seems to be paying off for him big time. Outside of that monster task, and being a father and husband, Paul has continued to write about games this year, though not quite as often as I’d like.
My favorite piece from Paul this year was his recent article about getting a Tamagotchi for his daughter. This article perfectly blends everything Paul is great at. More than anything, I love when Paul manages to work his life and the life of a father in with his thoughts about gaming and other media. This piece tackles his own nostalgia for the past, with an attempt to share that past love to connect with his daughter.
However, it doesn’t take long for everything to go horribly awry. Everything about this post perfectly tackles so many elements of parenthood in a hilarious way. And the ending is just chef’s kiss beautiful. I will always read whatever Paul writes about, and this post shows exactly why.
My Personal Top 10 JRPGs *Of All Time*- From DearGamers
Somehow, the vast majority of friends I’ve made online in the past few years despise ranking things. It bothers them in ways I can’t understand. My friend Michaela is one of those people. However, she bravely offered to write an article ranking anything I wanted if I defeated her in our prediction battle over The Game Awards. Naturally, I won that bet because I am literally the greatest ever at Game Awards nomination predictions (of the almost no one who attempts to do so, but that’s another story). It was an easy decision for me to ask her to rank her favorite JRPGs, as that is her favorite genre.
I was excited to dive into the list, as I am with almost any ranking, and sure enough, it’s a great list full of legendary games, as you would expect. But as much as I enjoy Michaela’s writing, I didn’t expect to laugh nearly as much as I did during this one. There are also a lot of fun concepts sprinkled in, like the “recency bias blast zone” that I really enjoyed. If you want a great list with tons of personality in the writing, this is an easy recommend!
Luto Review From Sight-In Games
I love Zack’s reviews because they are always extremely detailed and thoughtful. Zack plays a lot of games, but also watches just as many movies. I think this makes him very well rounded in his critiques, as he can draw from so much different art when he talks about games.
His Luto review is a great example. Luto is a horror game, and Zack uses his extensive knowledge of horror across multiple mediums to put the game into perspective. He also goes in a much more personal direction than usual here, and draws on his own personal experiences in a way I found touching and a bit heartbreaking. I’m not sure if Luto is a game for me, but I’m really glad I got to read Zack’s thoughts on it.
The Best 15 Moments In Gaming For 2025- From Andresplays
OK, it’s a bit self-serving to link to the one article that Andres wrote for BigNerdGaming, but I really did love this list!
First off, it’s almost impossible to pick one piece of content from Andres. The guy is a video game media mogul. He writes tons of reviews, he has news articles he writes, he has the occasional editorial, and he has an excellent podcast (that I have made a few appearances on!).
But man, there’s just something I love about a “best moments” list. Andres is someone who really likes to share how he feels about games in very personal ways. I think every video game list ends up being personal, but a “best moments” list tends to really show who we are. Because if we really connect with a video game moment, there’s probably a life moment that led us to feel that way.
I truly think this list showcases the intense passion Andres has for this medium, and I think you should absolutely read it. And I’m not just saying that for my blog’s traffic numbers!
Does The Gaming Industry Have A Recency Bias Problem?- From CognitiveClips
Jordan probably has my favorite gaming Youtube channel right now. He isn’t always super active, but when inspiration strikes him, he gets to work, and it’s always great.
My favorite video from him this year was one that I consistently thought about when I was doing my “Game Awards” predictions. Jordan deep dived into various “Best Game of All Time” lists and into “The Game Awards” to figure out if the gaming space has a recency bias problem. Spoilers, but it turns out that at least in these specific cases, it actually doesn’t seem to be an issue. I actually do think there is some recency bias when it comes to people recalling games that aren’t considered “the best” of the year or all time, but when it comes to this, he dives into the data and makes a pretty ironclad case against it. He also throws in some great jokes and other bits of personality to keep things from getting too dry. This was entertaining, taught me something, and actively helped me with something I personally worked on. That’s a great trifecta!
The Five Most Ridiculous Moments From Netflix Series La Palma- From Born For Media
Despite the excellent blog name “Born for Media,” Dustin almost exclusively writes about games these days. Of course, I love this, as I’m not as interested in content about other forms of media since I probably won’t be diving into it (maybe in 5 years I’ll start watching movies again when my kids are less work).
Yet, my favorite piece from Dustin was, I think, the only non-gaming thing he really wrote about this year. This was also his first article this year, way back in January (another point for CognitiveClips). In it, he talks about the five most ridiculous moments from the show La Palma, which I’ve never heard of outside of this piece.
This article just made me laugh nonstop. My favorite part is that it just gets more and more ridiculous as the post goes on. In a weird way, it almost made me want to watch the show for all the wrong reasons. That feels like a big win. Also, I want to thank Dustin for embracing the rank and also having some excellent end of year coverage with tons of ranks!
Omelette du Gommage- From The Stage Select
It’s so hard in the gaming content space to come across something that feels like it isn’t being done by anyone else out there. The Stage Select is one of the few that actually pulls this off.
Stage Select is a video game podcast where they really take their time diving into whatever games they are playing. Both Julian and Justin have many astute and well thought out takes on what they are playing and aren’t afraid to go against the grain. They also throw a lot of random bits into the middle of their shows, and while I’m not really the audience for that, they even get some chuckles and laughs out of me occasionally.
I’m highlighting an episode I was on earlier this year, as I think it was the best of the ones I appeared on this year. The episode also has a touching tribute to a v-tuber that Julian was a fan of (I didn’t expect to care about it, but I actually found it to be pretty cool). But you can tune into any episode and find a lot of great conversation and fun sidebars.
Let’s Talk About AI- From 1UP Vault
1UPVault from JM Mendez is one of the coolest blogs out there. He writes reviews, offers smart takes, and delves into the history of games. I think what I like about JM the most is how rational and open minded he always is. He is more than willing to hear takes that he disagrees with and take those into consideration. I always appreciate that.
Right now, AI discourse is an absolute fervor on the internet. There are a lot of strong takes out there, and it’s the kind of topic where people are willing to block and forget anyone with an opposing view.
I’ve been meaning to write about AI, as I have plenty of takes, and I just love wading into dangerous waters. But honestly, if I wrote it, I’m not sure how different it would look from JM’s excellent piece about it. He wrote this back in July, and it holds up just as well today. He tackles the AI discussion in a very nuanced and detailed way. He even notes that he was a bit afraid to write this piece, but I’m glad he found the bravery to do so.
I Played 30 Games In 2025 And Ranked Them Against Each Other!- From The Dan Good Show
Outside of the two “most anticipated games” lists I make each year, I’m very bad at keeping up with upcoming video games for the most part. There is always so much to play, so it’s hard for me to spend the bandwidth to actually look ahead much.
Luckily, I have The Dan Good Show to do that for me. Each month, Dan comes out with a list of video games that he is looking forward to. He tackles the AAA and the indies with an equal amount of love. Also, true to his name, his general kindness and passion for games always shows through. Dan Good seems like a really good guy!
Now, I have to admit, I haven’t had a chance to watch this video yet, as it is very long, and I only watch YouTube when I’m working out and the Pistons aren’t on. But a ranking of 30 games in addition to Dan’s passion means this will be a surefire hit. I guarantee it. I’ll be tuning in soon!
Exploding Barrels Made Me A Better Husband- From The Crossover Appeal
This is easily one of the coolest videos I’ve watched this year. In it, Jordan from Crossover Appeal talks about some of the logic that goes into developing video games and relates it to his own life and his marriage. Specifically, he talks about how thinking about this video game developer logic made him better at understanding why he needed to make sure he was more on top of various chores in his house.
It’s a really personal vlog, and I think it’s really cool how much Jordan put himself out there. I also learned some things about video game development, which is a plus. Additionally, I enjoyed how the video kind of takes you around Jordan’s house, as it made me feel like I was talking to a friend while hanging out at his place. It’s a really creative and well thought out video. Jordan has a lot going on in his life right now, but I hope he eventually finds the time to make more YouTube videos.
The Drifter Is Amazing- From Bassicfun
Chike from Bassicfun might be the best indie game focused content creator out there. While he plays some AAA games, he really dives deep into indies in a way few other creators do. He has lists, playthroughs, and reviews on his channel, and they are all high quality.
It’s tough to pick one video from him, but I’m going with his review of The Drifter. This video sold me hard on this game. I bought it a few days later and ended up really loving it. Reviews like this are exactly why creators like him are so important, as games like this deserve to be highlighted. He also usually does a great end of year ranking list, and I’m really excited to see that from him soon.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you will support these awesome creators!
Coming Friday, my “honorable mentions” for 2025.
Big Nerd Gaming 
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