2025 Retrospective

 

Here we are again at the end of the year, and what a year it has been!

This was the year when I really pushed my gaming laptop to see how far I could get it to go. My computer was churning hard running Cyberpunk, but I managed to do every questline in that game and get all the endings, so that felt like an accomplishment. Playing No Man's Sky for the first time on PC was a lot of fun as well. I loved getting into expeditions! Eventually, I wore out on the game and got back into MechWarrior 5 (with YAML) right at the end of the year, but I'm glad that I finally ran it on my PC.

The System Shock Remake was such a great game that I had to run through it again this year, and it's probably no surprise that I put in a fair amount of time on HBS BattleTech as well. Definitely a game I keep going back to over and over again. Once I get a better gaming laptop (hopefully in the coming year) I plan to go absolutely hog wild with the mods and run it with RogueTech. Right now, the best I can do with my computer is BattleTech 3062, which is still a fantastic mod set.

Chants of Sennaar was a game I got into because of the aesthetic. It's very Moebius in artistic design and that's what sold me on it. What kept me going was the linguistic and logical puzzles. It has a steep learning curve, and was frustrating at times, but really an enjoyable game overall.

In addition to these games, I put a lot of time into THE LAST STAND: AFTERMATH, which is a great, complex, fun, top-down zombie shooter. Simple in design but deep in content, with that gritty late 2000's zombie apocalypse feel. Definitely a nostalgia piece for me.

I tried Risk of Rain, Breathedge, Wall World, Scars Above, Deep Sky Derelicts, Front Mission and Mechanicus but just couldn't get into them. I made some nostalgia pit stops into System Shock 2, Mad Max, Synergy and SABLE, but as much as I love all four of those games, I've done everything there is to do in them and I end up either rehashing with a new save (boring) or wandering around hoping maybe I missed something (also boring.) 

Two games I played this year were really just not my thing. Anno Mutationen was a silly and exploitive game that forced you to be objectified in the worst way. The main character is a strong, independent woman who don't take no guff, but you can't progress unless you bartend while looking like a play boy bunny. In this game, you are constantly sidelined from your meaningful personal quests to serve the creepy whims of men. Ugh! No thanks!

The other one I couldn't get into was Dungeons of Chaos. I think I got it in a discount bundle and it's clear that the devs put a lot of thought and imagination into it, but like most complex, text-heavy pixel RPGs, it didn't grab me.

This was my year for fun kitbashes!

While I did find the time to play a ton of Five Parsecs and even some BattleTech this year, I think that most of my hobby time again was just painting and growing my mech collection. I got into some wild kitbashes mostly because of Flames of Orion, but also just because the stock mech designs were getting a little boring to me. Need more (periphery) variety!

I also started using cookie and candy tins for my armies. I still have all of the boxes with magnet sheets from prior years, but I just keep painting and painting, so I've moved into alternative storage, haha. As each box on the hobby table gets filled, I set it aside and start filling a new one. Below, you will see some BT: Gothic minis, another box of Word of Blake, my fourth box of Sea Foxes and a box that is a mixture of Raven Alliance and Draconis Combine.

I know AI is a hot button for some folks, so if you're vehemently against it and have no room for discussion about it, totally feel free to skip this paragraph. In the service of fandom and bringing people joy, I've started writing songs inspired by BattleTech, using AI to put them to music. You can hear those over here. No one cares about lyrics (especially fandom lyrics) if they're provided in text form, but put them to music, and suddenly they bring joy. I think that's one of the wonderful things about the time in which we live.

This year I also managed to find the time to write two books and finish one that's been sitting on the back burner for a few years. Click the covers to learn more!

I think my overarching goal for this coming year is the same as it was last year. To play more! This was another year that I spent mostly growing, maturing, fighting and mourning again and after having spent a few years like that, I really am ready for something different. I'm in the process of packing for a move to a new city in a new state with a new job and a new social group, so we'll see what comes of that! I'm optimistic!

Here's to an exciting and fun 2026 for us all!

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