Welcome to the mirror universe blog series companion to our 2025 Game of the Year episode, inspired by one listener’s question over on our very awesome Discord. Read every post in the series via this handy tag!
HoboRob says: “If there was a 2025 AAA-venture Awards, which games would make the top 5? But mostly I’m interested in opinions on Hundred Line Last Defense Academy.”
To which Anders quite sensibly replies: “I feel like all three of the hosts will blanch at the one to two hundred hours needed to finish finish Hundred Line…”
You’re not wrong Anders, but this is a great question nevertheless, so thanks HoboRob for the suggestion! Since our GOTY episode ran to two hours just with indie game chat we didn’t feel like it was right to address this topic on the podcast, but please enjoy our answers in written format as a kind of bonus end-of-year mailbag plus.
Rebecca’s 2025 AAA-venture Highlights
You know, I’ve often felt like the Indieventure host with the least solid connection to indie games as a discrete thing. I’ve always thought of myself more as an agnostic when it comes to AAA vs indie (and all the shades in-between). And while I suppose true agnosticism on the subject meant that this was bound to happen eventually, it’s still come as a bit of a surprise to me to realise that… I didn’t really enjoy many AAA games in 2025. It’s been an indie-heavy year for me, admittedly propped up by a generous interpretation of what you can call Double-A, but still, all of my highlights from the year fall solidly into that category.
Nevertheless, a listener has challenged me to Make A List, which I can never resist, so here’s a quick run-down of my favourite Triple-AAAdjacent games from 2025. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that two of them are actually from 2024; I didn’t technically play half of them; and I haven’t come anywhere close to finishing any of them… but hey, I did say I wasn’t really feeling it this year.
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (Honourable Mention)
Okay here’s the thing. (A) I would absolutely argue that this is AA enough that I could have made the case for its place on the podcast GOTY list, except for the minor fact that (B) it’s so bloody long and I still haven’t 100%-ed Danganronpa yet and there’s Rain Code to play too and argh, I’ve played the first chapter twice but do you know how hard it is to commit to this when there’s so much Kodaka backlog hanging over my head? Still though, this was the game that sparked the whole AAA-venture question in the first place, and I have played enough of it to know that I like it and look forward to getting back around to it… eventually, so it more than deserves a shout-out.
#5. Silent Hill f
Probably the most serious numbered pick on this list, Silent Hill f nevertheless sits in last place because rather than actually playing it myself I’ve so far experienced it through two let’s plays, both of which I sort of abandoned at around the halfway point. I don’t know whether this is because Silent Hill f is the perfect length of game and therefore experiencing the first half twice felt like enough, or because enduring the spectre of systemic gender-based aggression isn’t something I need to do vicariously and certainly not without a break when I need one. It’s a great game but I can tell it’s real Silent Hill because it’s rough going sometimes and I kinda don’t wanna know what happens next.
#4. Two Point Museum
In truth I’ve barely played any of this, but the sheer joy it’s brought to Friend Of The Podcast Mick ever since it was kind enough to launch on his birthday has been enough to transmit some of its GOTY candidacy to me as well. The lad has played 300 hours at the time of writing, while also managing to accompany me through 150 hours of Blue Prince, 50-some hours of Indiana Jones (see below), and… not much else, actually, but can you blame him? Fair to say that the rest of Two Point County is dead to him now, along with (presumably) all the patients at his various hospitals who haven’t seen him in a year.
#3. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
It says a lot about my year in AAA that the best time I’ve personally had with a new big-budget game from a major publisher was the 10 hours I’ve so far carved out with the long-deferred sequel to my peak teenage nostalgia game – a sequel that is widely held to be, at best, a bit disappointing. Is it Bloodlines 1? Not even close. Is it rapidly growing on me on its own merits due to its likeable-enough characters, cool noirish interlude chapters, unexpected resemblance to my beloved Ghostwire: Tokyo, and festively mood-setting if completely incidental Christmastime atmosphere? …Yes, actually.
#2. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Technically a 2025 game on the basis that it was released for PS5 (my platform of choice) in April, after a brief period of Microsoft exclusivity starting last December. Ha! Squeaked it in within the rules. Well, except for the fact that I’m co-piloting FOTP Mick’s playthrough, which some purists might argue doesn’t really count as “playing” a game. Whatever, I’m having a fantastic time. I’ve been helping solve the puzzles and pick up secrets and outsmart bosses and that’s like 90% of the game, so don’t discount its importance to me just because I don’t actually have my hands on the controller. It’s such a messy, beautiful 7/10 – exactly as it should be.
#1. Love and Deepspace
A game that was released in January 2024 and there’s really no arguing around that fact. Except that it has received continuous support and a couple of major updates in 2025, plus the minor point that I only started playing it in April of this year, which I think we can all agree is when the coverage really got good. I would not like to see my play time in this game stacked up against Blue Prince because honestly LaDS might still take home the gold, and I don’t really want to think about that. I’m such a lost cause of a sicko for this stupid otome gacha game and its stupid hot 3D anime men. I actually care about the plot, that’s how far down the rabbit hole I’ve gone. Please don’t try to find me.
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