Best of the Backlogs: Older Games I Played in 2025

I rolled credits on 30 games in 2025, and most them them were new releases. However, I did play some older titles, and this is where I tell you to check out some hidden gems I discovered.

The Talos Principle II

If you ask me what the single most underrated game of all time is, I’d say 2014’s The Talos Principle. A first-person puzzle game about robots, it was always doomed to walk in Portal‘s shadow. It’s also not funny, being more concerned with unraveling questions of philosophy and humanity than making potato battery jokes. I used to call it Sophie’s World: the Game.

However, whereas Portal 2 has said all that ever really needs to be said by that series, The Talos Principle II, released in 2023, actually expands the original’s horizons in amazing ways. You wake up as the last robot prophesized to complete a mechanical utopia. Just as you head to the ceremony celebrating your birth and the achievement of The Goal, a projection of the titan Prometheus delivers a warning and directions to a hidden island full of puzzles that threatens to upend the entire robot culture.

It’s a deep, deep game that draws on everything from classical mythology to Disney’s Gargoyles to help set up this floundering race of robots desperate to not make our mistakes on Earth again. At times it’s too dense (50 hours for a puzzle game!?) and proud of its musings, but it’s never boring. Developer Croteam also seems conscious of how obtuse the secret puzzles were in the first game and went to great lengths to make sure the true ending was more easily accessible this time around. Don’t sleep on this series.

Jusant

Another game released in 2023 is Jusant, from Dont Nod. The game is a radical departure from both the adventure games they are known for and more action-centered titles like Vampyr and Remember Me. Instead, Jusant follows a young child and their pet sprite as they climb a truly gargantuan mountain.

It’s a beautiful and contemplative game that is rarely hard except when you feel like you’re fighting the controls. Climbing is accomplished by pushing the shoulder buttons in a way that usually mimics slowly crawling along a crag wall, though there were many times I found myself yelling at the screen to just grab the handhold it’s right there!

Those moments aside, Don’t Nod created an engaging world centered around vertical movement rather than horizontal. Exploring the abandoned civilization of the mountain is as fascinating as finding the next path up. And that ending! I’ve rarely felt more satisfied finishing a game.

Rollerdrome

Arena shooter is one of those phrases that usually shuts down the interest centers of my brain, but something stood out in 2022’s Rollerdrome. Set in a dystopian future, you play as a competitor in a kill-or-be-killed combination of roller derby and just-shoot-that-guy. Playing through the levels (including one set in a Houston mall!) unlocks better weapons, but also tougher enemies.

I played about half of the game on normal before switching on settings to make things easier. The difficulty spikes are brutal. However, when you’ve got things in hand, the combat is some of the best I’ve ever played. Flying up a wall, nailing a trick to reload, then nailing some goons on the way down makes you feel superhuman.

It’s also gorgeous in the way Mirror’s Edge is gorgeous, reveling in minimalist lines and colors so that you can focus on combat. Shout out to a game having a canonically non-binary lead as well! I only wish we got more access to the story about the world of Rollerdrome.

Shadow of the Colossus

I’m not here to tell you anything new about one of the greatest games of all time, but I do want to talk a bit about how I finally finished it.

I have been trying to play Shadow of the Colossus since the PS3 days. Every time a remaster game out, I gave it another go and failed. The controls were clunky, the terrain too confusing, and the stamina bar infuriating. I knew the game was great; too many people had said it was for it to not be. The problem must be me.

And then one day, I tried it again and the whole thing clicked. The mechanical language stopped being tactile gibberish. I was climbing mountain-sized monsters and slaying them. Almost 14 years later, I finally got the game.

So if you ever find yourself feeling bad for not loving a game everyone else does, wait awhile. Maybe the version of you meant to beat it hasn’t shown up yet.

The Shady Part of Me

I love me a dreario. Give me a sad sidescroller with themes of madness, grief, and death, and I am a happy camper.

While The Shady Part of Me has a little too much talking and plot to be a true dreario, it’s a delightful romp through mental illness using a clever switching mechanic between the main character and her shadow. The puzzles are simple but engaging, and they tie well into the weird world of the game.

Games of this nature tend to be getting grimmer and darker, with Re-Animal looking like a playable Cronenberg film. It was nice to step back and play something more light-hearted and hopeful even when it was sad.

This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.