Another year, another uncomfortable reminder of just how much time I spend with my face in a screen or buried in a book. But let's call it what it really is: a commitment to the craft of narrative consumption. Or something like that.
Here's what 2025 looked like, quantified.
Games: 677 Hours, 22 Completions
Twenty-two games finished. 677 hours logged. That's 28 days of my life spent pressing buttons, and I regret none of it.
The year started strong with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth consuming 120 hours of my early months, and ended with a fourth replay of The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone. In between, I revisited The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, fell hard for Death Stranding 2, and another play through of one of my favorite sci-fi romps, Mass Effect 2.
Perfect 10s
Seven games earned a perfect score this year:
Books: 12,936 Pages, 35 Completions
Thirty-five books. Nearly 13,000 pages. A solid year for reading, anchored by two major series: The Expanse (which I finally finished) and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (part of my annual re-read).
The Expanse books carried me through the first half of the year—all nine novels plus the novellas. By the time I reached Leviathan Falls, I'd spent months with Holden, Naomi, Amos, and Alex. Saying goodbye to that crew felt like the end of a very long, very satisfying journey. Fortunately I have the TV show and comics to look forward to.
Perfect 10s
Six books earned top marks this year:
Comics: 173 Issues, 15 Series
Marvel's Ultimate line dominated my pull list this year. Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate X-Men all delivered consistently excellent issues. I also kept up with the Absolute universe from DC—though I dropped Absolute Green Lantern and Absolute Flash after a few disappointing issues.
On the indie side, The Power Fantasy and Aliens vs. Avengers were both wildly entertaining. And I'm still making my way through the classic Conan the Barbarian run—26 issues deep and counting.
Complete Lists
All Games Completed in 2025
| Title | Score | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin's Creed | 6.0 | 16h |
| Assassin's Creed II | 9.0 | 20h |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum - Game of the Year Edition | 7.0 | 15h |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | 10.0 | 42h |
| Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty | 10.0 | 132h |
| Death Stranding 2: On The Beach | 10.0 | 76h |
| Dispatch | 9.0 | 8h |
| DuckTales: Remastered | 7.0 | 3h |
| Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Deluxe Edition | 10.0 | 120h |
| Final Fantasy XIII | 7.0 | 32h |
| God of War Ragnarök | 9.0 | 28h |
| Gris | 8 | 3h |
| Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | 8.0 | 12h |
| Lost Judgment | 9.0 | 37h |
| Mafia: Definitive Edition | 6.0 | 20h |
| Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales | 7.0 | 18h |
| Mass Effect 2 | 10.0 | 29h |
| Metroid Fusion | 9.0 | 4h |
| Snatcher | 8.0 | 7h |
| Stellar Blade | 7.0 | 26h |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD | 10.0 | 18h |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone | 10.0 | 12h |
All Books Completed in 2025
| Title | Score | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Annihilation | 7.0 | 195 |
| Auberon | 9.0 | 75 |
| Babylon's Ashes | 8.0 | 541 |
| Caliban's War | 8.0 | 443 |
| Cibola Burn | 8.0 | 581 |
| Count Zero | 8.0 | 352 |
| Death in Her Hands | 6.0 | 259 |
| Dune Messiah | 9.0 | 352 |
| Hyperion | 10.0 | 492 |
| Leviathan Falls | 10.0 | 528 |
| Leviathan Wakes | 10.0 | 621 |
| Mona Lisa Overdrive | 7.0 | 251 |
| Nemesis Games | 9.0 | 532 |
| Neuromancer | 10.0 | 271 |
| Persepolis Rising | 8.0 | 549 |
| Polostan | 8.0 | 320 |
| Q-in-Law | 7.0 | 252 |
| Slapstick | 9.0 | 274 |
| Stories of Your Life and Others | 9.0 | 352 |
| Strange Dogs | 8.0 | 95 |
| Termination Shock | 8.0 | 720 |
| The Assassin's Blade | 6.0 | 195 |
| The Butcher of Anderson Station | 8.0 | 40 |
| The Churn | 9.0 | 75 |
| The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian | 9.0 | 496 |
| The Diamond Age | 7.0 | 536 |
| The Fall of Hyperion | 9.0 | 530 |
| The Fellowship of the Ring | 9.0 | 407 |
| The Great Gatsby | 10.0 | 180 |
| The Return of the King | 10.0 | 406 |
| The Sins of Our Fathers | 8.0 | 64 |
| The System of the World | 9.0 | 912 |
| The Two Towers | 9.0 | 323 |
| Tiamat's Wrath | 8.0 | 544 |
| Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow | 9.0 | 496 |
The Pledge List
Each year I maintain a "pledge list" of backlog games I've been meaning to play. I originally aimed for 10 per year, but with the constant stream of new releases, that proved unsustainable.
2025 Pledge Performance
Out of 10 pledged games, I completed 6, didn't start 3, and dropped 1.
- ✅ Stellar Blade
- ✅ Lost Judgment
- ✅ Gris
- ✅ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- ✅ Assassin's Creed
- ✅ The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
- ⏸️ Bayonetta (did not start)
- ⏸️ Ys I & II Chronicles (did not start)
- ⏸️ Super Castlevania IV (did not start)
- ❌ Bonk's Adventure (dropped)
2026 Pledges
For 2026, I've adjusted to a more realistic goal: 6 games.
- Conan
- Policenauts
- Lost Judgment: The Kaito Files
- Fantasian Neo Dimension
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Assassin's Creed III
Final Thoughts
2025 was a year of finishing things. The Expanse. Lord of the Rings. God of War Ragnarök. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. It felt good to close those loops.
Here's to 2026—and whatever obsessive media spirals await.