This is probably my second favorite post I do every year. As great as it is talking about the characteristics of different video games, there’s something extra special about diving deep and exploring individual moments from those games.
If someone tells me their favorite video games from a year, I think there are things I can learn about them. But there’s nothing more personal than a “moments” list. Inevitably, you will truly give yourself away if you talk about the moments that really made you feel something in a given year. Because odds are, you relate to those moments in some way, and there’s a reason they touched you.
I’m not sure exactly what this list says about me, but more than anything, I hope it displays how much I love video games. 2025 was a magical year for them, and pretty much every moment in the top 5 could have been #1 in some past years.
I tried to create this list in a way where you can scroll through and not be spoiled on anything, so you can pick and choose what you want to read safely. I hope you enjoy!
20. Ecuador Makes The World Cup In Despelote
Consistent readers of the blog may be surprised to see Despelote here, as I did not enjoy the game for the most part. But the way the game handles its big moment is something I still think about, as it was so interesting and unlike anything I’ve seen in other video games.
Despelote is mostly about immersing yourself in Ecuador in 2002 as they are on their quest to make the World Cup for the first time ever. When the game finally gets to the big moment, it does something quite unexpected. As you walk around, but the actual developer of the game ends up narrating in the background. He talks about what Ecuador was like on the day the qualification happened, and he also talks about behind the scenes elements of the game’s development. He talks about going back to Ecuador to record certain sounds for the game, and he goes into detail about how they struggled to make the moment that was about to happen hit as hard as they wanted it to.
Eventually, the developer says that they decided the only way to make this moment work was to just play a clip of Ecuador scoring the winning goal that got them to qualification, but he also says the only clip they could find was one where a commercial was actually playing during live game action, so you can see the goal, but can’t hear the audio leading up to it.
From there, they play the clip, and while the commercial definitely hurts some of the intensity of the moment, the audio flips to the crowd immediately after the goal, and it’s amazing. It’s a moment I’ve seen many times in my life as a sports fan. Thousands of people are screaming at the top of their lungs with pure joy. And all of the build up within the game makes it much more special than if I had just watched this clip on YouTube.
So this had both an epic sports moment and some interesting behind the scenes commentary. Admittedly, I think this moment also exposed some of the storytelling flaws in the game, but this was a very bold and unique decision, and it has stuck with me.
19. Wanderstop’s Ending
Wanderstop is a game about burnout and healing. Throughout the game, the fierce warrior Alta is forced to learn how to rest and not continuously push her body past its limits. She is forced to learn this because her strength is fading from all the battles she has been through without ever taking a breather. She is learning this important lesson while working with the affable and wise Boro.
After a relaxing adventure with a few twists along the way, Alta finally reaches the point where she is able to move on from the tea shop and go back to her past life. After one last conversation with Boro, he asks if she is ready to leave or if she wants to take a few more minutes to relax before heading out. I thought it made more sense to take in the beautiful sights of the tea shop one last time. After more lovely visuals and music, the credits then roll, and you sit there and continue to take everything in with Boro. It’s a simple ending, but it fits the themes of the game well. I also quickly grew very attached to Boro, so leaving him behind was kind of emotional in some ways. I also enjoyed how the credits played during this period of introspection. It just felt like a nice way to fit them in. This ending was simple, but a great way to cap off what was an excellent experience.
18. Ghost of Yotei’s Kitsune Arc
Throughout the first third of Ghost of Yotei, I did not find myself terribly invested in the story. This seemed like a by the book tale of revenge. Atsu was going to cut down one extremely evil person after another, and realize that revenge did not give her happiness, and that would be that.
Then, the Kitsune arc changed everything for me. There are some hints, but it is eventually revealed that your new ally, Oyuki, was the Kitsune at the time Atsu’s parents were killed. It’s also revealed that this incident is what led Oyuki to leave Saito, and she tried to protect Atsu during the incident. There isn’t necessarily one moment here that blew my mind, which is why this is lower, but it’s an incredibly well told arc that managed to surprise me and got me to engage with the story on a much deeper level. This arc is the start of Atsu truly transforming her mindset, and I think it makes her a more well rounded character. It is an incredibly compelling arc, and it continued to pay dividends for the rest of the game. Without this arc, I’m not sure if I would have finished Ghost of Yotei. There is a lot of very special storytelling here.
17. Mafia: The Old Country- Chapter 11
The beauty of a great story is sometimes you know exactly what is going to happen, but it’s still just as exciting as if it were a complete surprise. I think anyone playing The Old Country knew exactly what was going to happen at the meetup between the Torrisi and the Spadaro families in chapter 11, but it still hits extremely hard.
First off, I think the buildup is perfect. I feel like Hangar 13 was aware that most people would know that this meetup was going to turn into a disaster, so they really drew out the start of the meeting to build up the tension. There’s a bit of a drive to the destination (if you aren’t a loser who skips the drives), and even when you arrive, it’s a pretty long walk until you get to the actual meeting point. Finally, the meetup happens, there’s a betrayal, and then it’s non stop action from there. You get a big gunfight and a big set piece shootout in a car. It then ends with Luca’s death, who was easily the most likable character in the game up to that point. This death sets Enzo on a path that will lead to his end. This was just incredibly cinematic and exciting in every way.
16. Split Fiction’s Final Chapter
It’s worth noting that before playing Split Fiction, I had also just played It Takes Two from the same studio. So I had seen 20+ hours of what Hazelight Studios had to offer with co-op gameplay by the time I reached the end of this game. I can’t say I went into the final chapter expecting to be surprised at all, especially since It Takes Two’s final act wasn’t anything way beyond what the rest of the game had done.
But Split Fiction somehow managed to do it. Generally, when you play these games, it’s a split screen. Even if you are playing online, you see the split screen, as seeing what your partner is doing can be important sometimes and help with puzzle solving. In the final act of the game, Hazelight throws away the general split screen rules, and designs levels in which your characters can actually go between each side of the screen. It then has tons of creative scenarios built around this. It absolutely wowed me, and in a game that had delighted me in almost every way to that point, it managed to truly amaze me one last time in a way I didn’t expect. It was the perfect way to end what is probably the greatest co-op specific game of all time.
15. The Party Scene in Dispatch
The “correct” Dispatch moment to have on this list is probably the final fight. I actually did have it on here, but the more I reflected on it, I just didn’t think it was right. The final fight is awesome, and I enjoyed the end of it, but it wasn’t actually one of my top 20 moments this year.
The moment that stuck with me most is one that is a little more chill and less noteworthy, but the party in episode 6 encapsulated everything that I loved about this game. Dispatch almost always put a smile on my face, and no scene did so more than this one.
Essentially, the whole team ends up going to Robert’s house to surprise him with an impromptu party. They do a great job of showcasing the personalities of all the characters here. There are tons of awesome animations, and you get a bit of flirty dancing with whoever you are trying to romance. This scene also has what is probably my favorite non-Expedition 33 or Death Stranding 2 song this year with “Radio” by Bershy, which is an absolute banger. I have listened to that song way too many times this year, and it is the highlight of an awesome fun-filled sequence.
14. Every Near Death Completion in Hades 2
The best moment in any roguelike is when you somehow manage to win a run with almost no health left. In most roguelikes, it takes 30-45 minutes of work to get to the final boss, so there is a lot of tension at that point. Hades 2 is no exception. While one of the beauties of this game is that no run ever feels wasted, it can still be tough to reach the end and not gain that final victory.
I think one of my favorite parts about Hades 2 (and the original) is how well balanced they are. Despite having some builds that felt absolutely broken, I still had to at least sweat a little bit through most of the final boss fights. So there were many times when I was in a spot where I could only take a few more hits before dying at the end of a run.
Every time I came out victorious, it felt like a big deal. And during those times I lost, it really wasn’t as frustrating as it might be in some other games. All it meant was that I could now upgrade my character, as there were always ways to do so after a deep run. The game is also so damn fun that I was always ready to start from the beginning all over again. Hades 2 fucking rips.
13. The Twist in The Seance of Blake Manor
Throughout your time playing The Seance of Blake Manor, you slowly meet everyone in the mansion. But there is one person who remains elusive throughout almost the entire game, and that is Walter Blake, the son of Jonathan Blake.
You see him in family portraits, he is mentioned a few times, and there’s one scene where the detective looks up and seems to see him staring out at the manor grounds. You just know that when you finally see him, something big is going to happen.
Finally, near the very end of the game, you reach the part of the manor where he is hiding. It turns out that this section of the manor is in total disrepair. After a masterful buildup to the big encounter, it turns out that Walter Blake doesn’t actually exist. The real villain of the game tricked Jonathan Blake into thinking he existed via some supernatural methods and by expertly painting him into photos of Jonathan with his late wife. It might sound convoluted, but within the context of the game, the twist works really well. I doubt I’d ever replay this game, as it’s kind of tough for me to get into a mystery game I already beat once, but this one twist would make it kind of fascinating to play through the game again to try and pick up the hints that were there. This was an awesome experience.
12. Ghost of Yotei Finale
Man, there’s a whole lot going on with this one. But I think my favorite part about everything here is that after this giant quest for vengeance throughout the game, Atsu is able to let go of her desire for revenge, and do so in a believable way thanks to all of the work the game did leading up to this point.
But despite Atsu no longer living for revenge, you still get to kill Saito and get the revenge that both Atsu and the player want. In some ways, it feels like “trying to have your cake and eat it too,” but the subtleties make it work. Atsu is killing Saito for her and her new family’s safety, not to quench a thirst for blood.
After an epic battle and the tragic death of her brother Jubei, we see Atsu living her new life with Oyuki and Kiku, and it is lovely. Everything comes full circle, and they somehow made a stereotypical ending feel very special. The ending encapsulates exactly what I like so much about Yotei’s story. It’s not necessarily doing anything new, but there’s just enough nuance and care that I still felt something. It was a great way to cap off a fantastic narrative.
11. The Naoe and Junjiro Revelation in Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
“Will you forgive me?”
“I already did.”
Before this moment, you had gotten to know Junjiro a fair bit as a character, but in a very shocking twist, it turns out that your character, Naoe, actually killed Junjiro’s father earlier in the game during her quest for vengeance. Despite this, Junjiro helped nurse Naoe back to health for injuries she had and became a real friend to her, even though it was very hard for him at first.
Junjiro tells Naoe this right as she is about to kill Yasuke for the things Yasuke had done in the past. This forces Naoe to confront that she has been no better than Yasuke and had also hurt others, just as she has been hurt. This leads to an alliance and a very touching moment with young Junjiro.
While I found much of Shadows‘ storytelling to be rather clumsy, this was a moment that genuinely surprised me and moved me.
10. Hans in Trouble in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
I do my best to get immersed in whatever game I’m playing, but there are definitely times when a game makes it look like a major character is going to die, and I just can’t even be bothered to worry about it, because I know it’s not happening. KCD2 pulled off the impossible and had me on the edge of my seat for a character that I knew for a fact wasn’t going to die (because I knew he was romanceable).
Essentially, Hans is about to be executed due to a series of misunderstandings. Once you get to the actual execution, a cutscene starts, and it is remarkable. It very slowly builds up, showing clips of the town and then Hans in prison. The camera follows Hans as he walks from that prison to the hanging spot, and the music playing is epic. You see tons of people watching, and then your efforts as Henry to save him completely fail. Right as Hans is about to be killed, the lord of the town arrives, epic music hits, and he stops it.
Once again, that was always going to happen, but the amount of effort put into this cutscene really had me wondering if Hans was about to die, and that made the big save at the end absolutely epic. There was so much buildup that I really felt like it might happen for a moment. This was incredibly well done, and talking about it almost makes me wish I had actually finished this game!
9. Making a Game Winning Play in Overtime in Rematch
When I make these lists, I really don’t like to include generic moments like this (and the Hades 2 moment earlier). If it’s not a very specific moment, it often feels forced to me. When this happens, it seems like the moment in question was just added because the author wanted to make sure a certain game was mentioned. This is why Rematch was not on my list when I was originally ready to finalize it.
But just last week, I realized that I couldn’t leave Rematch off this list. You see, I have been sneaking in a game or two every few nights in the past few weeks now that I’ve finally called it quits on trying to play new games for my upcoming Big Nerd Gaming Awards. In one match, it was a very fun and evenly matched game, and even though I was solo-queueing, I actually had a few friendly chatters on my team.
About 3 minutes into OT, I ended up on a breakaway all by myself. I lined up my shot and scored the game winning goal into the top right corner. The placement was perfect. I stood up, pumped my fist, and had a huge smile on my face.
This is definitely not my favorite moment playing Rematch. I’ve had hundreds of awesome moments with friends playing it where something cool, chaotic, or hilarious happened. There’s no game this year where I had more “moments” occur. And I guess that’s partially why I don’t have one “big” one to share. When this game is cooking, it’s like nothing else out there. My soul felt much more at ease the second I placed Rematch on this list. It belongs here, damn it!
8. The First Lace Boss Fight in Hollow Knight: Silksong
Up until this fight, I was enjoying Silksong (despite also kind of hating it), but I wasn’t fully on board yet. This is the fight that made me realize that I needed to see this game through to the end, no matter what.
The Lace fight has so much style to it. I love the animations, I love how she taunts you sometimes, and I love how relentless this fight is. Lace is always throwing attacks at you and has counterattacks that you have to look out for.
Despite its intensity, and even though it can seem almost impossible after the first attempt, it really isn’t. Within a few attempts, I had many of the attack patterns down. Once I finally mastered avoiding her counterattack, I had it. And after I took her down, I was all in on this game.
I fought many great boss fights throughout Silksong, but the first Lace one is still the fight I remember the most fondly.
7. Split Fiction Pig Side Story
It really is a testament to how powerful the moments above this are that this isn’t higher. I genuinely can’t recall anything in recent history making me laugh as hard as this moment did.
This is just a beautiful mix of shock value and absurdity. In this side mission, you play as a pig (with rainbow farts), and it’s a very pleasant and fun little side quest. The scenery is lovely, and it has peaceful and pleasant vibes.
And then, at the end, as you are going down a slide, you suddenly get crushed into oblivion… and then turned into a hot dog. That alone was a pretty hilarious shock twist, but it’s not done yet! From there, you spend the last few minutes of the mission playing as a freaking hot dog. You have to jump on a grill to cook yourself, and jump on some ketchup and mustard to squirt it on yourself. You then jump into buns and get devoured. It was truly an unbelievable experience. I couldn’t believe it, and I laughed for over a minute straight. There are a lot of awesome side stories in Split Fiction, but this was easily the best one for me.
6. The Campfire Bonds in Expedition 33
Look, I know this one is cheap, but I can’t go through this list without mentioning the campfire bonds in Expedition 33. I also can’t just list one because they almost all range from fantastic to amazing. Some are simply fun and entertaining, but then some go very deep and really cut to the core in different ways.
There are three in particular that have continued to sit with me.
First off, the moment between Sciel and Esquie, where Sciel discovers that it was Esquie who saved her from her suicide attempt. The game drops some great hints about this early, so it’s an excellent “aha!” moment. Of course, Sciel’s backstory is also one of the best in the entire game. It’s beyond tragic and really puts into context how harrowing the concept of parenthood could be in this deadly world.
Then, perhaps the biggest bond moment in the game occurs when Maelle asks Verso if he could have saved Gustave from death if he had wished to. This bond presents a choice, which was stunning, as the game hadn’t had any real meaningful moments of choice until then. That moment also reveals that Verso let Gustave die, which you could probably assume but hadn’t really crossed my mind. The moment of forgiveness if you decide to tell the truth is also very beautiful.
But there’s one moment that I haven’t been able to let go, and it’s one I never see anyone talk about. It’s the last campfire bond between Esquie and Verso. In it, Verso tells Esquie that he notices that he never talks about the “real” Verso with him. This leads to a touching talk where Esquie tells Verso that he is his own person and valuable to him. But the question, and his reaction to the answer, revealed some of Verso’s deepest insecurities to me. And after the ending, I immediately recalled this conversation. The campfire bonds are technically optional in this game, but if you didn’t do them, you basically didn’t experience the full force of the plot.
5. The End of Act 1 in Expedition 33
How crazy is it that this is probably the closest modern equivalent we’ve had to Aerith’s death in Final Fantasy VII, yet it only sits at #5 on this list and was only my #3 moment for Expedition 33.
This was genuinely stunning. It was so stunning that it took me several minutes to accept that it was real. I thought there was no way that they had actually just killed off the main character of the game. After thinking Gustave was a bit flat early on, I thought he gained his bearings and was a really powerful character in a lot of ways. I was starting to really like him. And right as I reached that point, he was taken away.
It was sad because I was excited to see what kind of developments Gustave would continue to make over the course of the journey. It was sad because the other characters, to whom I was also growing attached, were forced to mourn him.
Yet, it also set the tone that anything could happen on this journey. This also leads to the reveal of Verso, who I found incredibly compelling in many other ways. There must be some years where this moment would be #1 if Expedition 33 weirdly ended at this point. I really can’t believe I have it at #5, but it truly belongs there for me. That doesn’t take away from how stunning and brilliant it was.
4. Episode 11 in Death Stranding 2
Phew. This one was incredible from start to finish, both from a gameplay and a story perspective.
First off, I wasn’t a huge fan of the early Neil Vana fight sequences, much like I didn’t care for the Cliff Unger ones in the first game, but this one finally made it all worth it. Somehow, Death Stranding managed to deliver a sequence worthy of Uncharted here, with an absolutely chaotic set piece filled with fighting while running through trains that are falling apart. This is one of the main parts of Death Stranding 2 where I really enjoyed some of the gameplay upgrades they made.
It’s too tough to try and summarize the story elements here, but this also had some serious surprises with the Neil Vana storyline that I was into as well. This episode delivered in all regards, and the game needed some big moments like this at this point in the plot, because I thought it had been dragging for a while. This was a thrill ride.
3. The End of Act 2 in Expedition 33
Once again, I really didn’t expect anything from this game to top Gustave’s death, but Act 2 does that and then some.
There are too many revelations here for me to talk about them all, but the easiest way to sum things up is that this is the point in the story where the crew realizes that the Paintress is actually trying to save them and that completing the expedition will kill everyone. It’s a stunning moment. The game also takes you into the “real” world, which had me in awe throughout, as you start to piece together what this world really is.
Additionally, as a parent, the very end of the act was another moment that damn near broke me, as the game shows you how the “painted” parents of Maelle react to her being born. They tell her that she will never know them, but that she will be loved. It was devastating. This had incredible plot twists, emotional moments, and created a “multiverse” situation that didn’t make me immediately stop caring about everything (which is how those types of things usually go for me). This is an all-timer type of moment… and yet it’s only #3.
2. The Last Hour of Death Stranding 2
I wrote a bit about this already here, but to summarize, the last hour of Death Stranding 2 is the closest I’ve ever come to crying during a video game. The game wraps up pretty much every open story thread in rapid fire fashion, it has an emotional death, and then the final revelation comes that Tomorrow is Sam’s daughter and that sher emembers their journey together in the first game.
There’s a lot more, but it’s all pretty mind-blowing and beautiful. As much as the game frustrated me with its plot pacing at times, the ending hour or two pretty much made up for it.
I wouldn’t call it the best video game ending ever (as, obviously, it’s at #2), but I think it might be the craziest continuous 1-2 hour stretch that I have ever experienced in a video game. It was a wonderful way to wrap things up. I would generally think that Kojima shouldn’t do a third one and should move on after this, but the game also throws in a hint for a Death Stranding 3 that actually has me on board with it now. What an achievement!
1. Both Endings in Expedition 33
For well over a decade now, the ending to The Last of Us has been the big hot button video game ending debate out there. When the HBO show came out a few years ago, that debate restarted all over again. It was an iconic video game moment, and it has rightfully taken its place as one of the best video game endings of all time.
But finally, I think we have a game that has created an even better ending discussion. And this one actually lets you make that choice, and they somehow both make equal amounts of sense.
I wrote all about the ending extensively here, so I’m not going to go crazy writing about it again, but this was pretty easily my #1 moment this year, and at the very least is likely in my top 5 ever (that’s another list for another day).
The one thing I’ll say is that I love the kinds of conversations this ending can pull out of people. If you dive deep enough into it with someone, you can usually discover why they feel one way or another about it. The way a person interacts with the art they experience, if that person has dealt with extreme grief, and for me, the way that someone thinks about both life and death can drastically alter their perspectives. As cool as The Last of Us ending was for discussion, it mostly created a much more direct and one-dimensional conversation. Expedition 33’s ending invites dozens of conversations. And as much as I was in awe during my entire time watching both endings, those conversations after the fact have solidified it as something truly special. I think this is a truly fitting #1.
Next week is a massive one for the blog. I’ll be posting The Big Nerd Gaming Awards, my top 10 games of the year, and a new episode of The Big Nerd Gaming Podcast! I hope you’ll tune in!
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