2025 Gaming Plans.

[Ghost Of The Year]

The game I'm singly most looking forward to in 2025 is NASCAR 25, tho for some reason I still can't believe that will be the actual title. I just wish NASCAR would get into the habit of releasing their game during Daytona SpeedWeeks rather than the second half of the calendar year.

I still plan on getting a lot of time in on at least MLB The Show 25 and EA CFB 26 but as for non-sports gaming, I'm looking forward to hearing from you guys about what's on the horizon and what to look out for.

[KSUowls]

Great call on Nascar 25. I really hope that it delivers.


2025 is lined up to make up for the lack of big releases in 2024. Still a long way to go to see which games actually hit their expected release date as many of these will likely find their way into 2026. Q1 already has a pretty interesting list though.

I'll have to come up with some attainable goals for the new year, but for now the below is based on my Steam wishlist and other games that I just have on my radar from the various reveals this past year. History has shown that many/most of these will not find their way into my possession, but this is how I currently rank them.


Games I will likely Pre-order:

Quote:

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (3/18/25) - Already pre-ordered. One of my favorite RPG developers Metroid Prime 4: Beyond (2025) - It's Metroid, duh Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines (2025) - I'll believe it when I see it, but when I see it I'm buying it Gears of War: E-Day (2025) - This looks great

Games that I'm really excited about, but I have a hint of hesitancy

Quote:

Wuchang Fallen Feathers (2025) - I may not love Souls-like games, but every trailer on this one looks good Showa American Story (2025) - A post-apocalyptic zombie action adventure game set in America with Japanese culture? It sounds super interesting, but I have so many questions. Fable (2025) - It's Fable, I have high expectations. Tokyo Xtreme Racer (2025) - Loved playing this game on the Dreamcast. I'm curious how it will translate in a modern setting. Nascar 25 (2025) - The way these devs talk about old games like Dirt to Daytona has me really excited. It's been nearly 20 years since I was happy with a Nascar game though. Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (2025) - To be honest this game looks amazing from the minimal information that has been shown. The lack of information is my only hesitation.

Intrigued but wait for a sale (a big one)

Quote:

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (2/4/25) - I expect it to be good, just not in a rush to buy it when I still have a long way to go in the first game. Civilization 7 (2/11/25) - I generally love these games. I have some questions around some of the new mechanics, and I have other similar games that will hold me over. Suikoden I & II HD Remaster (3/6/25) - I'm tired of re-masters, but I would be lying to say that I don't want it. Kingmaker (Q1 25) - Pretty gimmicky, but it's hard to say no to a game that lets you use a tank in the middle ages. Borderlands 4 (2025) - These zany games are usually fun, but I can always wait for a discount

Others on my radar

Quote:

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (2/21/25) - It's funny if nothing else. Kaiserpunk (2/27/25) - An interesting combination between city builder and strategy. Monster Hunter Wilds (2/28/25) - Not the biggest fan of the series, but all of the gameplay does look fun CFB 26 (July 2025) - It's on here by default, but I don't have high hopes Ship of Heroes (Q2 25) - I've been waiting for this City of Heroes successor for YEARS. As a MMO fan there is a good chance that I try it out. Eternal Strands (2025) - I don't really like games with a survival mechanic, but this action rpg has a lot of interesting elements. Lost Soul Aside (2025) - An RPG with modern action combat. It gives off major Final Fantasy vibes Doom: The Dark Ages (2025) - Nothing against Doom, just not a huge FPS guy anymore. This one looks cool though. Ghost of Yotei (2025) - I hope that it's good Crimson Desert (2025) - I wish that combat looked more like BDO, but I'm still interested to see more.

[Picci]

Will I play or get all these? Doubtful, but they're the games on my radar for 2025 or planned for a later date



PS VR2

Arken Age Jan 15 2025

Hitman: World of Assassinations March 27, 2025

Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate

Ghosts of Tabor

Aces of Thunder

Boxing Underdog

The Midnight Walk

Metro: Awakening (carry over 2024)


PS5

Crimson Desert

Grand Theft Auto VI

Kingdom Come 2: Deliverance Feb 4, 2025

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

Little Nightmares 3

Mafia: The Old Country

MLB The Show 25

Jurassic World Evolution 3

Delta Force (console edition)

Phantom Blade Zero

Madden 26

NBA2K 26

Gothic: Remake

Project S Odin

Tennis Elbow 4 (Carry over 2024)

Arma: Reforger (Carry over 2024)



Game Pass / Xbox X

Atom Fall Game Pass March 27, 2025

Football Manager 25 Game Pass March 26, 2025

Fable

Six Days in Fallujah (console edition)/ Game Pass if available

Rematch

NHL 25 Game Pass (Carry over 2024)

[jrnlgrn]

2025 Plans think it's going to be a good year for gaming overall:

Games carrying over from 2024:
AstroBot: Just started playing this yesterday. Initially wasn't going to purchase it but I get the feeling this will be like Ratchet & Clank where I was going to pass it by but end up loving it.

Tekken 8: Another one I just purchased. Was disappoint with MK1 and I really want to get good and put in time with a fighting game. So we'll see if this hits.

Pro Yakyuu Spirits 24-25: Really enjoying Konami's take on baseball. It's 99.9% in Japanese but there are good resources to get around that. Plays great so far and I haven't even touched the most of the modes. Also looks amazing. I think MLB the show might edge it out in some gameplay areas but I've enjoyed playing it. We'll see if that last over the long haul.

Off the Grid: I really enjoy this so far. Between the early testing/early I have around 230 hours put into it and now the early access this game has a lot of potential. This will be my multiplayer game of choice. Hopefully they continue to listen to the right player feedback and this becomes a hit. More looking forward to the campaign mode story that takes place with in the Battle Royal mode written by Neil Blompkamp.

Beat Saber: Thanks VR, video games are exercise!

Non Sports - 2025 Releases (Likely Day 1 Purchases):
Ghost of Yotei
Hell is Us
Spine - This is Gun Fu
GTA VI

Non Sports - 2025 Releases (Not 100% Sold):
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Crimson Desert
Eternal Strands

Sports 2025 Releases:
With the first 3 titles I'll likely wait until they go on sale. I'm getting burned out on paying $70 for marginal upgrades and bugs that don't get sorted for 3 months.

MLB the Show '25: Not sure, might just stick with '24, I have Pro Yakyuu so maybe I can stick with that and The Show '24 this go around.

EA FC '26: I realized I'm largely playing this because there is no other option and play out of habit trying to overlook the increasingly poor teammate and defensive AI. Could just end up continuing to mod eFootball 2021 as it plays the best game of futbol/soccer in recent memory.

College Football '26: I didn't hate the first go around on the comeback but honestly was a bit let down as I felt this should have been way more polished and a leap forward. We'll see how this shakes out. Might end up skipping altogether.

Assetto Corsa Evo: Hopefully this releases for console in 2025 and if it does the time between PC getting new features and console is vastly reduced. ACCompetizione is still behind the PC version and even if they have shortened the update window disparity. It will likely drop for PC but my gaming laptop most likely won't be able to handle it.

Random Games that I Might Pick Up:
Silent Hill 2
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Alone In the Dark
A couple games that I added to my library via PS Plus

In 2025 I want to continue to only have one single player/story heavy game going along with a multiplayer and a few sports titles going at any given time. Also think going to try and focus on smaller AA and indie titles. That's where the real innovation in gaming is happening. The major releases in most cases are just focused on looking pretty and have the we'll just fix it in 6 months (hopefully) mentality. In most cases there really is no reason to buy a game right away anymore as we aren't getting the best version on launch.

[Armor and Sword]

So I definitely have some gaming goals for 2025.

2024 was the year of sports gaming for me. We were able to finish some non sports games but my time was monopolized primarily by MLB The Show 23, CFB 25 and NHL 25

So the plan which of course is always subject to change is this.

Sport’s gaming:

MLB The Show 24 - ATG (40 Man Edit V2) 1990 Blue Jays Season Replay

CFB 25 - Coach Michael Sword Year 6 and beyond

NHL 25 - Panthers Franchise YR1 and beyond

Madden 25 - Classic Roster gameplay

NBA 2K23 - Bird/Magic and Jordan Era

The only sports games I am considering purchasing for 2025 are MLB The Show 25, CFB 26 and NHL 26.

Non sports games for 2025

Planned purchases so far are:

Indiana Jones PS5

14 games I will play and complete in 2025:

Star Wars Outlaws
Baldurs Gate 3
God of War Ragnarok
Hogwarts Legacy
Subnautica
Star Wars Jedi Survivor
Cyberpunk 2077
Horizon Forbidden West
Mafia II
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Dead Island II
Dying Light 2
Civilization VI
Stellaris

[NYJin2011tm]

To not buy any games til Black Friday next year lol. So that I can catch up on my huge backload of games I bought but haven’t played yet.

[Armor and Sword]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYJin2011tm

To not buy any games til Black Friday next year lol. So that I can catch up on my huge backload of games I bought but haven’t played yet.

Lord tell me about it.

[Kramer5150]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYJin2011tm

To not buy any games til Black Friday next year lol. So that I can catch up on my huge backload of games I bought but haven’t played yet.

I always try and take this approach, but it seems like everytime I make this attempt the Microsoft store has some really good buys and I'll add 2-3 more games to my back log...lol