My Top Three Games/Books of 2025

Over the year, I've been keeping track of my favorite games and books from the year, and today, I'm ranking the top three. 

If you’ve read my Google Sheets Tracking post, you should know that I love tracking my media consumption. I track it monthly, but more importantly, I track my media consumption on a yearly basis to see what was the best things I consumed that year, and what absolutely sucked.

That’s the goal for today! I’m gonna look at my completion list (specifically for games and books) and showcase everything that I consumed, from the bangers to the flops. I’m gonna prioritize games and books since those are the things I primarily talk about on this Substack.

Games I’ve Completed in 2025

Shockingly, despite writing so many posts about video games this year, I barely got around to completing anything. I rarely do get a lot of time to finish games in general, but this year was real rough in the gaming department of my brain.

I get in my head a lot about trying to finish my games on time, as if there’s a time limit to the games I play, and frankly, it causes me to stop playing more often than not. So, my goal for next year is to just play the damn games and not worry about a time limit. We’ll see how that affects my completed games list for 2026 when I make my 2026 Game/Book Completion Wrap-Up post next year.

I should mention real quick that these are only games that I deem completable. That generally means a game where I can roll credits to a single player campaign. If a game’s main function is to be a multiplayer game, and there really isn’t a completable single-player campaign (e.g. Among Us, PEAK, etc.), it wouldn’t count. Other games I don’t count are racing games (e.g. MotorStorm, SSX, etc.), party games (e.g. Mario Party), or farming sims/simulation games in general (e.g. Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, etc.). So, while I did spend a hell of a lot of time this year playing SSX On Tour and MotorStorm Arctic Edge, I wouldn’t count those toward this list.

I should also mention that these are games I played this year, not games that released this year. I don’t really get around to playing recent releases that much, especially since I have such a large backlog of older games that paying attention to modern releases would smite me on the spot.

In total, I completed six games this year, with a total of 97 hours of gameplay. Kind of sad comparably to previous years, but I did do a lot of reading comparably. Is it fair to rank six games on a 3rd-1st place basis? Probably not, but I don’t have much to work with here.

Though, a fair thing to note: I’m currently in the middle of playing 999, Metroid Prime 3 (and now 4 :/), and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I feel like these should be mentioned here as games I’ve played in 2025, just not games I’ve finished, because I did spend a good amount of time on them as well. Also, I did play of the Devil this year as well, but since the game itself isn’t done, I can’t really count it as a part of “games I’ve finished.” Though, if I could, it’d 100% be my number 1 game of the year, easily.

My Top Games of 2025

Honest to god, this might be the most f!cked up list out there for top games, simply because I just wasn’t finishing games this year. Truly not in the cards for me, apparently. I got too greedy about being upset at only finishing 10 games last year.

First up, let me get some honorable mentions out of the way. I played and completed Flicky this year, an arcade-y Sega Genesis game which actually made me want to rip my hair out. The physics of this game make no sense, but I absolutely cannot stop thinking about it. It sucks, and you should play it.

My second honorable mention is Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Genuinely a cute game that I’m shocked not a lot of people talked about. It was cute and quick, generally not super high stakes, so definitely worth the time in my eyes. Sure, was the story kinda bland? Maybe, but I always saw it as a similar game in the vein of Link’s Awakening, since it’s using the same engine as the remake, and it nails the same vibes. For what it’s worth, it’s a pretty expansive world to travel around in, and like I found the dungeon-like areas to be quite intuitive, so I appreciated it.

3rd Place

My 3rd Place game of the year is Shadow Generations. Not Sonic x Shadow Generations as a whole, because I never got around to finishing Sonic Generations. But man…what a game. The movement in this game is truly like none other, and honestly, playing Shadow Generations made me want to play the hit PS2 game Shadow the Hedgehog so bad (which, thankfully, I do own and can play, if only I had a functioning PS2).

This was the first game I finished this year, so very funny that it made it this high on the list, but also, it didn’t really have much of a competition. It was a lot of dumb fun, you can sprint through it blisteringly fast and it’s quite easy to get caught up in the challenges the game wants you to complete, instead of actually finishing the level. And with Shadow’s abilities like Chaos Control, there were so many movement options to complete a level, and so many ways to move around the map, that the gameplay truly never got boring. And like, lore-wise, I thought it was pretty sound. I haven’t really finished a lot of Sonic games to like really understand the lore, and like honestly, this game answered so many questions I just didn’t care to look up, so I enjoyed it. Again, I gotta play Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Adventure 2 now.

2nd Place

My 2nd Place game of the year is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Honestly, I wrote up a whole review on this game, so there really isn’t anything new I can add to the conversation here, but I will say that Metroid Prime 2 was exactly the kind of game I needed to play to get me back into gaming after taking a long break in the summer.

Prime games in general are so atmospheric, and are really good at using the world-building and environment to tell the story, while also giving space for you to scan every goddamn item in the game to see what the hell is going on. Aether is such a lived in world, and I can fully see why people love this game. And god, the areas you get to explore in this game are so vastly different from the ones in Prime 1 on Tallon IV, like such an awe-inspiring game, if not quite contrived in certain game mechanics that pissed me off.

1st Place

Finally, my 1st Place game of the year is Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Which, deserved as hell, frankly! This game took me two years to complete, and I did a mini-review of it a couple of weeks back for Sunday Mini Stackin’, but still a banger of a game. Almost didn’t get it done this year, so this is kind of a last minute addition.

Path of Radiance does the core Fire Emblem experience so well, I wish it was more widely available for people to play. And while a lot of people do like to complain about how easy it is, for what it’s worth, I think it makes a phenomenal game to get into the series with (and frankly, a great one to learn how permadeath works). Very memorable characters, very memorable maps, decently memorable story (considering I still remember a good chunk of it after 2 years), and an almost flawless game.

Goals for Next Year

My gaming-related goals for next year is to finish more games outside of the Nintendo sphere. I spent a good chunk of 2025 picking up a bunch of PS3 and Xbox 360 games, so I’ve got quite the backlog to start up. Though, I do have some games that I’m still in the middle of that will take priority (Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, Metroid Prime 3, Other M, Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones), my main goal is to prioritize the PS3 and Xbox 360 games in my collection.

Mostly, I really want to play Final Fantasy IX and X, though not exactly PS3 games, still feasible options for me to play. It’s so funny to me that I have like 4-5 Final Fantasy games, but can also say that I’ve never finished a Final Fantasy game.

Also, I’d like to finish more games in 2026, which I don’t know how feasible that is given that I don’t know what my schedule will look like. But, considering the last 4 months, I think aiming for one game completed each month might be doable. Or, at least, upwards of completing 10 games by this time next year. I’ll probably update on this goal over on my Bluesky and Tumblr, primarily, so check them out sometime!

Book I’ve Finished in 2025

Comparably, I’ve finished quite a few books this year. I figured a system that works really well for me to actually read frequently, which was such a great thing because I used to rarely find the time to read. I got a Kindle at the end of 2024, and because I don’t think it’s financially sound to buy a bunch of ebooks at full price for me, I send over Libby ebooks courtesy of my local library. Then, because the of the Kindle e-ink display, I can pick up my Kindle first thing in the morning and read, instead of blinding myself with a light to read a physical novel.

This system works super well by not only forcing me to not pick up my phone as soon as I wake up in the morning, but I also get to support my local library, which is always a plus. And I mean, the fruit of my labor is shown in the fact that I’ve read 20 books this year, not including manga because I don’t think it’s fair. It takes me a lot less effort to read a manga/comic, so I’m not gonna count it here (plus, it’s hard to rate individual books in a series).

My Top Books of 2025

Firstly, yet again, I’d like to get a couple of honorable mentions out of the way. Compared to my games, I actually have quite the competition here, so these will actually be honorable mentions that just barely missed the mark for me.

I should first mention I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, as that book changed my perspective on Nickelodeon shows as a whole, but introduced how rough being a child actor was. I don’t read a lot of memoirs, it’s definitely not my favorite genre, but this memoir was quite fascinating to read. It was very interesting to see the psychological effects that devout religion has on a person, and the mental gymnastics a child makes to justify their parents actions as “normal,” especially if that child is separated from other children their age. As someone who’s quite interesting in knowing how other people live their lives and how their upbringing warps their brains, this was a phenomenal read.

I want to also mention The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, because I did spend multiple months reading this series, and if I didn’t mention it here, then what would’ve been the point of suffering through this entire series? The Poppy War as a series was rough, dreadful, but The Poppy War (as in the first book in the series) was honestly such a good read, it gave me way too high of hopes for the rest of the series. I love how awful of a character Rin is, and how she struggles to fit in at the academy, and the impending doom of a war looming over the story. The humanity that is lost in war, and everything that Jiang stands for as essentially Rin’s gateway to the gods. The story is really well done in this one, and I highly recommend reading it and none of the other books. While I’m here, I might as well mention Yellowface as well, since R.F. Kuang is just so good at writing the most miserable, hated characters in the world.

Finally, I will also really quickly mention The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. It was a genuinely really well-written book that had me at the edge of my seat, and I adored how the author had sequences of 2nd person point of view (POV) in it, as that is my favorite POV to write in and I wish authors did it more. It’s so interesting. Only real qualm with this book is that it can be kinda slow at parts, and it ended up taking me quite a long time to get through.

3rd Place

My 3rd place book of the year is Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Which, like, I definitely didn’t hear a lot of people talking about. I found this book on my library’s home page on a whim, and it ended up being one of my favorite books this year, so go to your library!! Librarians know what the f'!ck they’re talking about!!

Klara and the Sun is a sci-fi novel, but not a super-intense sci-fi novel like a lot of other books in the genre. It’s close enough to reality that there aren’t a lot of terms that the average reader wouldn’t be able to pick up on. It’s about this future in which some androids are used to help raise children, and it’s told from the perspective of one of these androids named Klara. Klara isn’t chosen to be someone’s android until later in her life, so much so that a newer and better generation of androids take over the store she’s in. She’s eventually chosen by a sick child, and helps take care of the child as she grows sicker, as Klara grows a strange relationship with the sun itself. Without spoiling, this book is a phenomenal and quick read about the passage of time, love, and the break-neck pace that technology is evolving.

2nd Place

My 2nd place book of the year is Morning Star by Pierce Brown, but I will honorably mention the rest of the original Red Rising Trilogy because holy shit, what a phenomenal series. Though, by far, out of all of the books in the series, Morning Star was by far my favorite.

It’s kind of hard to talk about the final book in a trilogy and why I like it without spoiling the book, but if you like more intense sci-fi and spaceship battles, you’ll love the Red Rising series. Morning Star wraps up the trilogy in a breathtaking way, and the ending will genuinely shock you. Everything is wrapped up into a neat little bow, with room to expand. I love the characters in this series, and I can’t wait to dedicate a good chunk of next year to finishing out the second trilogy.

1st Place

Finally, my 1st place book of the year is Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab, and it really isn’t a competition here because god damn. What a book. I feel like I’ve been enlightened, truly, like I need more people to read this book and I’m not joking.

Okay, well, that’s a bit of an overstatement because I know there’s people out there that won’t like this book, and just aren’t the target audience. I, on the other hand, am the exact target audience for this book, and it’s wild how it took me until November to read it.

I think, for what it’s worth, Bury Our Bones is so evocative in it’s storytelling, and the way it’s pieced together with the past and the present keeps you on the edge of your seat as you try to figure out what who Lotte is and what happened to Alice, it’s phenomenally done. I will say that the ending is a little bit strange compared to the rest of the book, like it almost felt rushed, but without spoiling, I definitely did not expect that to happen for sure iykyk. Honest to god, I might write a review on this book in the future sometime, full of spoilers because I don’t know how else to talk about this book without spoiling something. I will say I think I get why I ended like that, but it was certainly a choice. Still a phenomenal read, like I desperately need to buy this physically so I can re-read it and savor every word.

Goals for Next Year

My reading-related goals for next year is to finish more books on my physical TBR list, to be completely honest. I have about 17 books on that list, which is relatively decent, but hard to finish when I have Libby ebooks coming in all the goddamn time. A couple of them are manga and light novels, so they shouldn’t be too hard to pick up and finish in one setting.

If I get off my phone earlier at night, there’s like a good 2 hours there where I can read a physical book without the light of a book light burning my retinas, so it’s feasible.

Also, I really want to re-read The Locked Tomb series, mostly in anticipation for Alecto the Ninth (whenever that releases), but also because my brother read the series not too long ago, and I realized I barely remembered what happens in it. For it being my favorite series, that’s quite embarrassing.

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And that’s about it for 2025! What a strange year for me; I truly thought I’d have something going on the entire time, and yet nothing happened for so many months. I think it was a pretty good year for books, but I’ve definitely had better years for games. Truly, I couldn’t play a game just to play it, like I had to pick games that would be quick plays. I had to play to get it done, like to check a box, instead of actually enjoying myself, and that’s not fun, so we’ll see what 2026 has to offer in the video game department.

Lemme know what you thought of my top books and games of the year! And what three books/games were your absolute favorites?

And as always, see you next week!

Sunday Mini Stackin': Metroid Fusion

 

Recently, I’ve been playing a hell of a lot of Metroid Fusion. As my game of choice for my friend’s Archipelago, I’ve been practicing it constantly and gotten to know it on a fundamental level.

Metroid Fusion is my favorite Metroid game. It’s a game that a lot of people who’ve played it like to complain about it’s linearity, and genuinely, I’ve never had an issue with it. Yes, there are a set number of sectors, and yes, you do have the invisible hand pushing you through the story (albeit, not super invisible), but linearity does not affect the gameplay at all. Fundamentally, the entire story of Fusion depends on you going through all of the sectors in a set order; you’re introduced to that concept at the very beginning, and following each sector isn’t surprising.

 

Metroid Fusion’s main location (BSL) in a simplified map layout (you see this something similar to this in the opening cutscene)

People like to say that you’re told where to go, but that isn’t even true. Sure, you’re given a general location to aim for, but a lot of the time, you have to go in the complete opposite direction to find the Security Room, or pursue further down the main objective path to find the actual boss fight (in the case of Serris). They’re more like hints giving you an idea of where you should be going, which might not be ideal for you if you like being lost, but I also don’t think it invades the story in the way some people make it out to be. There’s a lot less mindless wandering around because of it, which I actually really like.

Plus, returning to the Navigation Room to talk to ADAM might sound egregious and annoying, but I never really found it to be an issue. Frankly, it’s not much different from hitting a roadblock because you don’t have the right upgrade and having to return to a previous fork in the road. That’s essentially how the Navigation Rooms work; you complete everything you physically can at the moment in that sector, so you return to ADAM to see what’s going on in the other sectors and where to go next. And, with later sectors locked off with higher level keycards, it’s not like you can really progress through them anyway. Sure, you could try going through the tunnels between the sectors early, but the enemies in there will be much higher level because the expectation is for you to wait like most other Metroid games.

ADAM never really says anything that’s mind-numbingly obvious. It’s more like gentle nudging in the right direction, or suggestions about what’s happening in the plot (like figuring out that having Metroid DNA means Samus is susceptible to Ice Beam now). It’s not like you’re set up to play an on-rails walking simulator, pushed in the correct direction with yellow paint. There is still so much exploration and uncertainty within this game despite the sectors and perceived linearity. I really don’t like how people make Fusion out to be this shitty linear game that’s super obvious and annoying because it’s so far from the truth.

Also, uncertainty plays such a key role in the game, so it’s not shocking that the game uses it all of the time as a driving force. I truly feel dreadful walking into every new area, simply because I don’t know what will come for me. I love how straight-up and earnest ADAM is about the SA-X and how you should get the f!ck out of Dodge if you ever see her. It fundamentally sets up the anxiety and claustrophobia of Fusion, making it feel like you’re truly never safe.

 

The first SA-X encounter in Sector 2, setting up the theme of isolation

Fusion’s movement is very easy to understand, definitely not the best in the series, but one of the cleanest of the earlier Metroid games. Ledge-grabbing, frankly, is one of the best additions to the Metroid series. Not only can you perform backflips, or grab onto dedicated ledges, but you can climb on ladders! Instead of having to depend always on upwards platforming, you can climb! Sure, sometimes the climbing doesn’t work right, especially if you’re using modern control methods (cough, cough), but it helps with the movement (and difficulty) tremendously, forging new routes to take and thus, more exploration! YES! MORE EXPLORATION!

Plus, the sound-effect is truly peak, like it feels like you’ve smacked a hand against a metal platform, and the game lets you know. Hell, all of the sound effects in Fusion are peak. Take a listen:

Also, the bosses in Fusion are quite memorable. I think, out of every boss in the entire series—including Prime—Nightmare is one of the most memorable bosses ever so sad they f!ck him up in Other M, godDAMN you Other M. There’s something very uncanny about seeing Nightmare float up through the walls for the first time, watching as gravity around you bends to its will, missiles falling to the ground, and seeing its face melt in real time. It’s terrifying! I’m never gonna forget it!

 

Evil little guy that’s not little whatsoever

There’s also Ridley again, which is kinda fun this time around, mostly because you can see Ridley’s corpse in the Subzero Containment room in Sector 1 early on in the game, only to return there later and see his containment unoccupied. Terrifying and dreadful stuff, frankly. It’s also kinda funny because you’re dropped down into a pit with Ridley sitting there, paying homage to Fusion’s predecessor, Super Metroid, only to see a VERY different Ridley sprite appear. It bends your expectations, especially if you’ve played the previous Metroids leading up to this point.

 

Samus v. Ridley in Super Metroid (1994)

 

Samus v. Ridley in Metroid Fusion (2002)

And of course, there’s the SA-X fight, though I don’t want to spoil too much about the boss fights and especially not one so crucial to the plot of the story. Let’s just say, fighting Samus as Samus is incredibly challenging (a truth that Smash players should also understand).

And hey! We actually got a story this time! I love the story in Fusion, I frankly wish more people talked about it. The sad part about Dread existing is that Fusion’s story is tossed to the sideline because Dread builds upon it, but Fusion’s core story is one that’s fundamental to Samus’ character post-Fusion. It’s crucial that we learn that Samus gets infected with the X-Parasite, and the cure being Metroid DNA to set up Dread, yes, but there’s also the stuff with the SA-X, and the general destruction of a Galactic Federation Laboratory, and learning the character of ADAM as he learns to no longer cater to the Galactic Federations rules later on. Truly such a special story, and one I really like (even if the translation is poorly done).

Yes, Samus does monologue quite a bit in this game compared to previous games, but I think it adds more to the silent protagonist type of Samus, rather than hinder it. It’s nice to hear what she’s thinking while exploring the game, since, y’know, she doesn’t say much outside of this. Interesting for introspection reasons.

All in all, a very solid game that I adore. 10/10, no notes. The only flaw, in my mind, is that sometimes Samus will drop from a ledge or ladder if you aren’t looking in the direction you plan to jump before you press the jump button. Kind of annoying, but I haven’t played Fusion on original hardware yet, so maybe it makes more sense on a GBA.

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And that’s about it! Fusion, my beloved, what a spectacular game. There has never quite been a game like it, truly. Honestly, I’d like to do reviews of all of the Metroid games, or at least the remakes, but it’s been a hot minute since I’ve played them, and I can’t really go into an impassioned rant if I barely remember what happened outside of major boss fights.

What do you think about Metroid Fusion? Which Metroid game is your favorite and why? Leave a comment below!

Next SMS post will be up on 1/11 of next year, and will likely be on the Professor Layton crossover with Ace Attorney. Haven’t decided yet. By the way, can you believe we’re at the end of the year? Kinda wild, I haven’t processed it yet. Next week’s main post will be a 2025 wrap-up on the games and books I’ve read over the year, so stay tuned for that!

And as always, see you next week!

The Unique Nature of the Ace Attorney Fandom

I’ve been a fan of Ace Attorney for the last four years. Though, in the grand scheme of Ace Attorney’s life, this is a small percentage total. In fact, Ace Attorney has been around since 2001, though it didn’t come to the US until 2005. Now, I might not have been in the fandom that long, but I’ve been in it long enough to see fandom cycles repeat, and to see a vast increase of fans introduced to the series through the various remakes made in the last two years.

I know what makes this fandom unique compared to the other fandoms I’ve been in.

If you somehow made it to this post without knowing what Ace Attorney is, I’ll give you a brief run-down: it’s a game series where you play as a defense attorney, trying to acquit your clients from getting a guilty verdict. But, as most Ace Attorney fans will tell you, it’s much more than that. There’s interpersonal drama between the characters, an overarching plot that haunts the narrative, struggles of morality and justice, and bonds made that are stronger than familial ones.

Ace Attorney is a series of games that spans over six mainline game and two spin-off duologies for a grand total of ten main games (plus the Layton crossover, but since it’s technically not canon, I’m not gonna add it here). And with that much history behind it, there is, of course, ten times the history within the fandom.

Side note: This is primarily about the English-speaking community, as I don’t speak enough Japanese to know what’s going on in that community comparatively, nor do I know any other languages to know those communities as well.

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A Brief Run-Down of the Ace Attorney Fandom

I, alone, do not have the tools to list out the entire history of the Ace Attorney fandom for what it is, especially during those early years where the internet was mostly for blogging and social media hadn’t really hit it’s stride just yet. But, I’ll try my best!

The Ace Attorney fandom exists all over the internet, from Fanfiction (dot) net to Archive of Our Own (AO3), from Reddit to Twitter to Tumblr to Bluesky to YouTube, Ace Attorney has become quite the prevalent community. Though, that wasn’t always the case.

From my understanding, Ace Attorney used to be a much smaller fandom. It was a prevalent enough game in many people’s childhood, but the fandom was quite small coming out of the 2000s. Some people disliked Ace Attorney 4 when it released, most people liked Ace Attorney 5 when it released, and to be honest, I don’t know what people’s opinions were of Ace Attorney 6. Investigations 2 was notably not available in the US for quite some time, so sometime in 2013 or so, a group of fans got together to create an unofficial fan translation of the game, which is why most of those characters will forever have two names when tagging. The anime released over the span of 2016 to 2019, but it never really gained its footing over the years, and really only had the anime to keep it alive.

The trilogy was remade quite a few times over the years, released on the Wii Shop Channel, then remade as a trilogy on 3DS, then on Switch in 2019, but all of these releases were digital only releases. Hell, until the 4-6 Trilogy, Ace Attorney 5 and 6 were only released on the 3DS eShop and never got physical releases. It seemed as if the community was really truly dying.

Until, that is, 2020. Like most communities, Covid brought a resurgence of fans back into the Ace Attorney community around mid-2020, dousing the flame that was the dying Ace Attorney fandom with oil. More and more people found the community around this time, thriving with the newest Trilogy remake for Switch. Fanfiction and fanart flourished, zines popped up in multitudes, and more and more people started streaming the games than ever.

Now, there’s remakes of all of the ten mainline games, including games that never released outside of Japan. Older remakes like the Switch’s remake of the Trilogy are getting updated with features from the newer remakes, like Story Mode. The series is getting more recognition and collaborations, like with Good Smile Company and the Nendoroid series. And the prospects of an Ace Attorney 7 have never seemed more likely. All of this is to say, the community currently is thriving in ways it hasn’t in a long time, and it’s never been easier to join the community.

What Makes the Fandom Unique?

While this is all fine and dandy, there are a couple of things that are unique to the Ace Attorney fandom that not a lot of other fandoms share. Or rather, share in the same capacity. This includes an actual timeline of events that shares our calendar and constant zines and community events that, ultimately, keep the fandom alive.

Actual Timeline That Shares Our Calendar

Ace Attorney doesn’t have canon birthday, shockingly. There’s a fanon date for Phoenix’s birthday, which is based on his age during certain cases over the course of the six mainline games, but even that hasn’t been confirmed. No, what Ace Attorney has is canon events that have actual dates.

For example, take the infamous case DL-6 that haunts the narrative of AA1. This case started with the death of Gregory Edgeworth, Miles Edgeworth’s dad, which canonically occurred on December 28th, 2001. This is an actual date with an actual year that Ace Attorney fans cling to, celebrating it every time it comes around. This is, of course, in tandem with the “Almost Christmas means it wasn’t Christmas” line that happened on December 24th, along with “Merry Christmas” gunshot meme for Christmas morning. These events, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, are crucial to the Ace Attorney fandom, and continue to be reposted every year.

It’s almost not even celebrating Christmas, but rather, a week-long celebration of DL-6, AKA the event that traumatized Edgeworth and made him *gestures vaguely* him.

If you’ve ever been on the internet around Ace Attorney fans in any capacity around Christmas time, you’ve definitely seen these two images posted together frequently. And perhaps, just as many people annoyed by this event as well.

Or, another infamous event is the day that Edgeworth told Phoenix “Thanks to you, I’m saddled with unnecessary…feelings,” promptly called “Unnecessary Feelings Day.” This, of course, is a very popular event where people recreate the infamous screenshot, and of course, is yet another excuse to post WrightWorth (or NaruMitsu) fanart (because when is it not?).

Since this happens after a case, fans know exactly what day and hour Edgeworth said this line, and can celebrate accordingly (which has passed this year, unfortunately, but is usually on October 20th).

This can occur for almost any major event on the Ace Attorney timeline, which is meticulously kept track of by fans on the Ace Attorney Fandom page (linked for your viewing pleasures). I know, I know, a very miserable website indeed. But, having the full timeline of events across all ten games is incredibly crucial to fanfiction writers and celebrators of these silly holidays. Take a peak at it sometime, it is truly fascinating to see for yourself (you can learn cool things like Simon Blackquill and Maya Fey were born around the same time, and Aura Blackquill and Lana Skye were also born around the same time; very easy to explode your brain to compare the birth dates post-timeskip characters and pre-timeskip characters).

And no, I’m not talking about the official timeline that Capcom released that is just incredibly pointless, like yes Capcom, we’re aware of the timeline of games, it’s pretty straightforward.

Essentially, instead of birthdays, Ace Attorney fans cling to specific dates within Ace Attorney’s canon to celebrate, making community-wide events on seemingly random days to keep the fandom thriving. As far as I’m aware, no other fandom celebrates specific canon events that have actual dates that share our calendar—at least, not to the extent that the Ace Attorney fandom does. Like, with 2026 coming up, we can start to follow the actual events of Ace Attorney 4, now that the seven year gap is over in real life.

Constant Fan Zines and Community Events

Another thing that makes the Ace Attorney fandom unique is a constant stream of zines and community events that keeps the fandom alive. From at least 2020, there has been a significant increase in the amount of zines produced and community events for artists and writers to participate in. In 2022 alone, there were (give or take) 25 fan zines in the works and published, which is more or less a fanzine every other week for a full year. In 2023, there were (give or take) 30 fan zines. With a constant stream of zines like that, fan artists and writers alike gathered together to create a booklet of their art related to Ace Attorney, often completely voluntary and often having any proceeds made go to a charity.

In my personal experience, I have never been a part of a fandom that had that many zines. I don’t know how many fandoms can get together in such great quantities and so frequently to be able to create zines for the community.

Not only that, but there’s also a bunch of other community events that happen frequently enough to keep the fandom alive. From specific weeks dedicated to a particular ship or platonic relationship, to big/minibangs where writers write fanfiction for artists to draw art for, and exchanges where artists and writers create art for one another, there seems to be a never ending stream of fandom events. These events allow writers and artists within the Ace Attorney fandom to interact with one another and create just so much art, sharing it around on various platforms for the fandom to share and celebrate. (zine and event info gathered from this Google Sheet, thank you transtrucy on Tumblr, very cool).

If you’ve been a part of the fandom for a while, and don’t know when events are happening or when zines are being made, a good resource to check out is the AA Fan Calendar, which is a Tumblr account that has been tracking all of those events in a Google Calendar for the last 4 years. I honestly haven’t been able to find a dedicated fandom calendar like the AA Fan Calendar for other fandoms, but it is such a helpful resource if you’re a budding artist or writer who wants to get their work out there and noticed more by the community.

What Keeps the Fandom Alive?

A lot of the things I’ve mentioned above for making the fandom unique are, in fact, also reasons for what keeps the fandom alive. A thriving community built upon theories and speculation, ships and fan culture, is what keeps a fandom alive even after the series’ end, and Ace Attorney (though not over quite yet) shares these facets of community liveliness.

Hell, because the main ten games of the series have been remade, I believe we’ll continue seeing the Ace Attorney fandom thrive for another couple of years or so. And until we get AA7, the fandom will continue to speculate the possibilities of its existence every time a game event happens, putting on their clown makeup each and every time as we hope for news.

Even if the fandom is dispersed across multiple social media platforms, that hasn’t stopped the community from hosting events and sharing zines and creating art. The fandom’s still out there, even if it’s hidden in the corners of the internet.

Remakes of the Main Ten Games

Of course, the fandom is still growing to this day, which keeps the fandom alive. By Capcom remaking the main ten games of the series, this makes the populous more aware of the Ace Attorney games and might even be enough to convince more people to check the series out.

With the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy that was released in 2019, there was a massive shift in the fandom as more and more people gave Ace Attorney a chance. However, now we also have the Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy, which is the first time Ace Attorney 4–6 have been bundled together, and the first time they were available to purchase since the 3DS eShop went down. Hell, it was even the first time that Ace Attorney 5 and 6 specifically were physically released in the US, which makes it a landmark title in the series (despite how angry it makes me that it’s even considered a trilogy).

We also have games released in remake duologies that never made it out of Japan during initial release runs. Games like The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, a duology of games released for the 3DS in Japan only, finally made it out of Japan and even exists on the highest grossing games list, albeit at 107th of 125 games.

The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (2021) has sold a total of 1.20 million units.

It’s still remarkable that it sold so well despite so few English fans being aware of the games (which, frankly, might as well have been marketed as an entirely new game for English fans because that’s essentially what it was).

There’s also the Ace Attorney Investigations duology that was recently released, which released AAI2 for the first time outside of Japan as well. This was a remarkable release as well, because AAI2 spent 14 years without recognition from Capcom, so much so that a full unofficial English translation came out in 2014, and became the defacto translation for character names across the fandom up until the duology’s remake in 2025. Hell, there are still fanfiction writers who refuse to use the new translated names (specifically for Eustace Winner, my poor boy Sebastian Debeste, they did you so dirty).

I feel like rereleasing all of these Ace Attorney games, games that never got physically released or never even made it to the US to begin with, should be a good sign for the Ace Attorney series. For the first time ever, all of the Ace Attorney games are available for the same consoles, which makes it the most accessible it’s ever been in its entire life. And with the original Ace Attorney Trilogy remake from 2019 getting a recent update that gives it the same features as the other updates (primarily Story Mode), this series continues to be supported even by Capcom.

By being so heavily supported, I want to hope that means the series will have more games releasing in the future, as there aren’t anymore games to remake (other than the Professor Layton crossover, which is feasible now that Level 5 is back, but I can’t imagine being easy to just make), which means if they want to profit off of the expanding community, they’d want to get a new game out sometime soon. Hypothetically, hopefully, I’m just guessing here.

Theories of Ace Attorney 7

The possibility of a seventh Ace Attorney game coming soon has been the main focal point of the Ace Attorney fandom for years now. Definitely since AA6, but more recently, since the release of the Ace Attorney trilogy in 2019. Funnily enough, when Triangle Strategy was announced during the February Nintendo Direct in 2021, a lot of Ace Attorney fans saw the scales of justice and believed that it was AA7 until told otherwise.

Triangle Strategy announcement trailer’s first few seconds, with the scales of justice

The fandom continues to speculate each time there’s a new game event, like Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo Directs, hell even The Game Awards, hoping that Ace Attorney 7 will be announced. The more these events happened, and the more the fandom didn’t get news, the more delusional the fandom felt each time one of these events happened, so much so that they often posted the “putting on clown makeup” meme whenever a game event occurred and hoped for AA7. It truly felt like there was absolutely no chance that AA7 was going to be released anytime soon, and yet they continued to hope.

There was even an image that circulated heavily in the fandom around 2021, showcasing the development timeline of then soon-to-be-released games developed by the Ace Attorney teams at Capcom. There’s no real way to discern whether or not it’s true, but it’s an image that a lot of Ace Attorney fans held close to their hearts when speculating about AA7.

A mysteriously uploaded development timeline of Ace Attorney releases, from fiscal year 2019 to fiscal year 2022

This circulated development timeline showcased AA7 getting a release in 2021, around the time of the 20th anniversary of the Ace Attorney series. The projected releases of The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles (DGS) and the speculation of a 4–6 Trilogy getting released might be off, but the timeline starts in the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year of 2019, and we all know what happened in 2020 to slow development down. Though we can’t know for sure if this timeline is still accurate now that Covid pushed development down so drastically, and developers in 2019 couldn’t have known that pandemic was going to slow production down so much, nor could they have known that a new Nintendo console was on the rise, so it isn’t hard to presume that AA7 has been in the works for a long time, and they just haven’t been able to release it because of the timing.

Hell, this timeline doesn’t say anything about the Investigations games getting remade, nor the original Ace Attorney trilogy getting a huge free update, so we can only take it with a grain of salt. It’s still fun to speculate, and it really doesn’t do any harm.

Sure, AA7 still hasn’t been announced, but Ace Attorney hasn’t gone away. With the remakes, it really is only a matter of time until AA7 is the next announcement. There’s nothing else left to remake. Unless Capcom finds some other Ace Attorney game to release, AA7 is the most anticipated release. And with the Switch 2 recently released, I feel like there’s never been a better time to release a new Ace Attorney game.

What is the Future of the Ace Attorney Fandom?

I will say, ever since the Twitter ownership situation in 2022, and subsequent election in 2024, kind of displaced a lot of fandoms, especially Ace Attorney. I left Twitter myself in 2024, and I honestly haven’t really been able to find where the fandom primarily exists anymore. A lot of the fandom who were primarily on Twitter are now on Tumblr and BlueSky, but with such a dispersed fandom as of right now, it’s complicated getting community events and zines in the works.

Honestly, though, with the remakes and updates we have been getting, I don’t think the fandom is going anywhere anytime soon, despite how dispersed the fandom is. If it’s lasted this long with as many followers as it continues to have, I would be shocked if the fandom dies out within the next year.

My hope is that Capcom agrees and we get a new game within the next year. A new game could completely rejuvenate the fandom, essentially jump-starting it back into the common zeitgeist. It doesn’t even have to be Ace Attorney 7, it could be an entirely new series in the Ace Attorney franchise, and I think a lot of people would be on board regardless. Though, a lot of AAA game companies have been afraid of experimenting lately, so I also wouldn’t be shocked if we got another game in a current series (i.e. the Investigations series or Great Ace Attorney series), but it’s a guise for experimentation to get it sold (like the Metroid Prime 4 situation).

Ace Attorney, as a series, has sold a total of 14 million units worldwide, according to Capcom’s own investor relations page. While nowhere near the amount of units sold for Capcom’s most well-known games like Resident Evil or Street Fighter, it’s higher than series like Dragon’s Dogma, Okami, and Marvel vs. Capcom, which might give the series a fighting chance to survive for longer.

 

Ace Attorney as a series has sold 14 million units

Not only that, but the Ace Attorney Trilogy remake is still one of the highest grossing games in Capcom’s catalog, currently positioned at 22nd out of the top 125 best selling games (at least as of September 30th, 2025). And like, I’m not gonna pretend I know anything about sales, but I think that sounds promising.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2019) has sold a total of 4.40 million units

I still have hope for a new game. And I have hope that the fandom will stay alive for the better part of the next few years at least. It’s definitely going to be an interesting time to be an Ace Attorney fan in 2026.

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And that’s about it! As you probably could tell, I simply had to get this post up on the proper day; if the “Almost Christmas means it wasn’t Christmas” day was on my upload schedule, and I already had this post prepared, I had to take advantage of such an opportunity. Merry (early) Christmas to those who celebrate, and Happy Holidays to everyone else!

Next week will be kinda fun; I’m gonna do a full-year wrap up for the games and books I’ve finished this year, to go hand and hand with my previous Google Sheets post earlier in the year. Also, this Sunday, my second Sunday Mini Stackin’ post goes live! It’s about Metroid Fusion, my absolute beloved, and I’ll be so for real with you, I went a little crazy with images and videos, so be sure to check it out!

And as always, see you next week

The Beauty of Older Graphics in Gaming

One thing you should know about me by now is that I collect retro video games. It’s in literally every bio I have as it’s something that’s fundamental to who I am. Stay with me here; a lot of people mostly play the modern games if they game at all, and going back to play older games isn’t super common from what I see, so it’s easier to say “I collect games,” rather than say “there’s an entire backlog of video games I missed out on and it’s my sworn duty in life to catch up.”

All of this is to say: I truly don’t give a f!ck what the graphics of my games look like.

There are way too many think pieces on this topic alone to do a mini-essay on it. Frankly, I’m kinda sick of hearing about what graphics look good, and what graphics look like PS2/GameCube graphics (i.e. ass), and isn’t the hyper-realistic graphics getting boring, and aren’t we tired of 16-bit graphics in the modern era, and on and on and on. Whatever! Who cares! Is the game good though? Does it function? That’s all that matters to me.

It’s like the infamous Zelda debate during the GameCube era, where Nintendo showcased a high-quality tech demo reel with Link and Ganon fighting to showcase the GameCube’s power, which everyone ranted and raved for.

 

The Link v. Ganon fight GameCube tech demo (does this not just look like Melee…?)

But, when Nintendo released their next Zelda game, they released Wind Waker (a cartoon-looking game) instead. People took the piss out of Wind Waker at the time until Nintendo released Twilight Princess, which looked closer to the GameCube demo reel, but it took so long to release that it ended up being a Wii launch title as well as a GameCube game. Now, there isn’t the same amount of support and hype for Twilight Princess comparatively, and it’s Wind Waker that gets the accolades for standing the test of time.

Screen-capture of Wind Waker GC gameplay (2003)

Screen-capture of Twilight Princess GC gameplay (2006)

The fact of the matter is that realistic graphics will forever not look great with time. Sure, we’re at a point now where graphics in gaming look so clean, it looks like you’re watching a movie instead of playing a game, but is that really what we want? Wouldn’t you rather have a good experience playing the game over how pretty the graphics look?

And sure, graphics are a part of the creative artistic vision of the developers. But you can’t seriously think AAA devs are too concerned about the artistic vision. Like, look at Pokémon Scarlet/Violet! Dogshit graphics, truly looks abysmal and plays abysmally. But, shockingly, it sold well, so regardless of complaints, the Pokémon Company isn’t going to change how they make their games. They’re going to keep giving devs a lower and lower budget, with higher and more immoral time constraints, and as long as you can vaguely play the game, then that’s all that matters! Give the game a day one update to fix bugs that make the game unplayable, who gives a shit! People will still buy it because it’s Pokémon.

Pokémon S/V glitch that will drop the player character through the world (while playing casually, mind you!)

Regardless of who you are and what you’re experience is with gaming, there are certain expectations placed on AAA companies to produce a certain look to their games. What works and sells well then gets replicated tenfold until we’re (the consumers) are sick of it, and then some. The graphical quality of modern games ultimately doesn’t matter for AAA companies because what matters is what will sell, especially with brand recognition.

So, what does it matter? Why do we keep debating day in and day out about the same dumbass discourse about games? Why does discourse regress constantly to the same talking point?

The only suggestion I have for this is maybe to not buy the latest and greatest games as soon as they release, or at least don’t pre-order them. I still haven’t bought Scarlet or Violet because I don’t think that game is worth $60 new, let alone $20. Do I want to play it? Yes, but I have so many other games I can play instead.

And that’s ultimately the thing, right? Like, god, there are so many games that release all the time, and there’s hundreds of games that have been out for 5+ years that are still fantastic games to play, and yet, there’s like a common cultural zeitgeist to only play the most recent games. Even among people who are younger, there just isn’t an urge to play things older than 5 years old, other than maybe a handful of games. It’s like if a game hits 5+ years old, no one seems to want to play it anymore, and I don’t get why.

I get not everyone wants to be a game collector, and I get not wanting to catch up with the entire 50 year-long backlog of gaming (that’s not even a task I want to do; respectfully, I refuse to spend money on Atari games), but I wish more people gave older games a chance before subjectively deciding that all older games aren’t worth their time, especially based on how shitty those games look to the modern player. Outside of the popular games from the late 90s to early 00s—games that continue to be mythologized to this day as the best games ever made—there are so many other great games from older generations that went under the radar, and continue to be forgotten gems to this day.

And I think ultimately, the problem with why people aren’t playing these older games that went under the radar is because their publisher, the company that releases the game to the public, refuse to make their older games accessible to a modern audience. Some companies are better than others (squints in Nintendo), but even then, it’s only ever the games that sold incredibly well or had a huge cult following. Rarely do you see the weird in-between games get remade or remastered or just playable in some modern quantity (like Ghost Trick, my beloved).

Maybe it’s not even the graphics—maybe it’s just that buying a GameCube, and a controller, and a memory card, and a game, and maybe even a CRT to get the full experience, is just too much money for most people (especially in this economy). I don’t know! I’m spitballing here!

God. I’ve gone a bit off topic, but nonetheless, the games industry continues to piss me off. And rightfully so! Let’s get back on track:

Not all games that have shitty graphics are bad. A lot of the time, the judgement is just wrong, not even subjectively but objectively. Complaining (unless justified in Pokemon’s case) won’t get you anywhere. And a lot of y’all have forgotten what PS2 games actually look like.

Stylistically, some PS2 games can absolutely rock, despite muddied textures (Psychonauts, 2005)

It’s not always about graphics. Good graphics often doesn’t even equate to a good game, like sometimes there are games that are really good looking, but are bland stories with uninspiring gameplay. So, give games with shitty graphics a chance. Play an old game no one talks about. Laugh at how horrific it looks, and share it around. Or enjoy how pretty it can be in the right lighting. You just might end up finding a new favorite.

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And that’s it! Like I said, this was mostly a rant because I’m tired of seeing the same counterproductive arguments all the time, and frankly, trying to add something new to that conversation is just fanning the flame sometimes.

Lemme know what you think about graphics in gaming, modern or otherwise! Or share some of your favorite games from previous generations, because I know there’s a lot of hidden gems even I don’t know about.

I’ve recently opened up memberships to my blog via Ko-fi! If you like what you’re reading and want to support me, consider checking it out below!

Consider Supporting on Ko-fi!

Next week, I’m posting my Ace Attorney fandom rundown, detailing what makes the fandom unique (which will be posted on the 24th, as to be expected iykyk), so stay tuned for that! I’m super proud of that post, and have been waiting a full month for it’s upload.

Also! I’ve started a mini-review series called “Sunday Mini Stackin’”! You can find those posts under the tab entitled the same on this Substack’s home page. Next Sunday (12/28), my second SMS post goes live, writing about the wonderful game Metroid Fusion. Stay tuned!

And as always, see you next week!

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Sunday Mini Stackin': Fire Emblem Path of Radiance

Starting today, I’m gonna start writing mini-reviews on certain games I’ve played and books I’ve read that I really liked, and don’t really have much to say on the matter. These are gonna be quick, easy reads for people who are interested in the media I bring up, and don’t want to waste hours reading an in-depth expository on that game/book.

If this interests you, and you’d love to read more of my reviews, feel free to subscribe! It’s free, and only requires a Google account. 

Alright, let’s get into it!

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Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (POR for short) is genuinely one of my favorite games. It may seem relatively simple, the core essence of what makes a good Fire Emblem game, but it does everything so right in such an enjoyable manner that I can’t help but be enthralled.

Now, I’m gonna be so honest: this game took me two years to complete. I know, I know, hard to rate something when you completed the earliest chapters two years ago, but there’s enough here to ramble about despite this. Plus, like, it could be worse. It’s taking me five years to get through Awakening, and upwards of nine years to get through Sacred Stones, so much so that I have to restart their respective games. I think the issue with Fire Emblem in this regard is that each chapter takes an easy hour to complete, so like if I can’t dedicate an hour to playing, I won’t be able to play.

Despite this, there’s a lot I still remember about the core gameplay and certain chapters of the story that are remarkable enough to bring up.

Fundamentally, what makes POR good for me is the map design. Holy shit, the map design in this game is peak. There are a lot of chapters that stand out to me for their map design, specifically Chapter 10, which is just straight up evil.

POR Chapter 10 map

It doesn’t look that challenging, with only four enemies on display, but because you’re essentially breaking into a prison, if you get caught by any of the guards, a whole flock of guards will come rushing in and attack you. Which, if you’re low level, could be an immediate death. To round up all of the prisoners and escape, this level took me 33 turns. THIRTY-THREE. That’s not even counting the amount of times I had to reset my GameCube because one of my units died.

This follows straight into Chapter 11, which looks mostly normal, until the Black Knight (one of the main villains in the game) just appears in the corner of the map and will attack if a character is in the area. I ended up losing one of the prisoners I had just spent 33 turns trying to save because of this. Miserable!

POR Chapter 11 map

There was also Chapter 23, where you have to cross a huge bridge, but it only implies that the bridge is dilapidated, and thus your characters will just fall in a hole and be incapacitated for the next round.

POR Chapter 23 map

And the final chapter’s mapping, which is also quite unique and memorable, but I don’t want to spoil too much, so trust me on this. But no matter what, I will never forget these maps and how much they made me suffer. That’s the thing, right? There’s so much to these maps that are incredibly unique that newer Fire Emblem games just lack. None of the maps are even closely similar to other maps, and there’s always some kind of unique quirk to the map that makes it impossible to forget.

Not only that, but the plot of POR is just as fantastic. I will try not to spoil anything too specific, but I think Ike’s character development is one of the best character’s development sequences I’ve seen in a video game, and I think that despite it feeling very obvious, like the changes weren’t subtle at all, it still felt like Ike grew into his role and became the entrusted commander that was expected of him, even if he didn’t think he could do it well. Even Elincia’s character development was quite strong, and you see these almost parallel stories coalesce by the end of the plot. It was very heartwarming to see.

I will be honest though, if you’ve ever consumed any fantasy story, it’s quite a simple story. Competent, but simple. The plot line with the Serenes Forest was probably the most interesting plot line in the game, and the plot line with Mist’s medallion was also very intriguing, but familiar if you’ve played any other Fire Emblem game. It’s not a bad plot line, not even close, but basic for sure. I’ve definitely seen worse plot lines.

I think the only qualm that I had with the game is how you level up characters in-between chapters. Essentially, because there is no physical map to move around and explore, there isn’t a means to challenge enemies to battle for quick and easy levels. Instead, in-between chapters, you are sent to the base camp, where you can give all earned Experience (EXP) to any character you want.

Bonus Experience sharing screen in Path of Radiance’s base

You earn a certain amount of bonus EXP throughout the chapter, not specific to your characters, and then you can just award it to whatever character you want with this specific screen. It’s just menu management to level up a character to their max capacity, and like you’re given a lot of bonus EXP, so it’s not impossible to level up one character to the max level after each chapter. Probably why a lot of people say POR is “too easy.” All of the stats are randomized regardless of how a characters levels up.

Also, a bit nit-picky, but there really isn’t a rank tree like in later Fire Emblems, so there’s not a lot of characterization for each character. Not particularly a bad thing, but also when a character hits level 10, they just automatically can rank up, without needing the specific Seal to do so, which is kinda lame, in my opinion.

But, frankly, I don’t think its simplicity makes this game bad. It makes it a very easy to recommend to others, especially newer fans to the series who’ve never played a Fire Emblem before. And with POR available on NSO, it’s much more accessible to play than other Fire Emblem games (though, granted, emulation is still easier and more accessible). If you have the time, and want to understand what makes this game such a beloved game in the series, I highly recommend giving Path of Radiance a chance.

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And that’s about it! I don’t know if I’ll be doing Sunday Mini Stacks every Sunday like my posts, just because that might be completely unfeasible for me. Like I will definitely run out of things to talk about if I do this weekly as well, so it’ll probably be a biweekly thing compared to my main blogs. I’ll try this format out for a little bit, and let y’all know if I change it up.

Next week’s main post will also be a bit of rant, specifically on graphics in gaming because people love to complain about it, and I’m sick of hearing the same arguments all the time. And I’m sure you are, too! So, stick around for that!