Image: Blizzard / YCJY Games / Wabbaboy
Spring is almost here. I can practically feel it quietly blossoming between the 25-degree overnight lows and the desperate last flurry of snowflakes coating my driveway this week. Until then, we’re feasting on 2025's early bounty of games ahead of some heavy hitters that will be rounding out the winter.
Today, we got a better look at what people were playing last month. As has been something of a running theme, it was mostly old stuff, though it was also the season for it. I wasn’t the only one spending more time on my backlog than new releases, it turns out. Circana’s sales data for January 2025 showed that Donkey Kong Country Returns was the only new game to break into the top 2o, and that one is technically a port of a 2010 Wii game.
Elsewhere, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth got a big boost from its PC release on Steam, as did Spider-Man 2, despite an initial rough period before optimization patches were released. Perhaps most notably, last month saw a big drop in purchases of new gaming hardware. As Circana’s Mat Piscatella pointed out, that’s likely due to the Switch being old as heck and the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S both being past their “cyclical peaks.” The Switch 2 and Grand Theft Auto 6 will probably help with that.
In the meantime, there are plenty of games keeping us busy ahead of Monster Hunter Wilds at the end of this month and Assassin’s Creed Shadows in March. Here are the old and new games we’re playing, including some new indie recommendations you probably missed!
Image: Epic Games
Play it on: Just about anything
Current goal: Check out the new season
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and others have said it much better than I ever will): Fortnite will never again reach the heights of its incredible first year before it was riddled with bots, before its story went from mostly wordless suggestions to concrete “lore,” before a constant parade of corporate IPs overshadowed the game’s own identity. But sometimes there’s still enough beauty and strangeness to its world and enough details that are distinctly Fortnite to keep me coming back, and because of that, one of the most exciting times for me is the start of a new season. I love to hop in and see what’s new—how the map has changed and how the season’s theme manifests in new goals, opportunities, or gameplay flourishes. Some seasons land for me better than others. I played last season—with its tranquil spots inhabited by nature sprites, hovering samurai bosses, and wild Godzilla crossover—pretty much every day, while the season prior to that, with its Marvel focus, left me cold. This weekend, I’ll find out if this season seduces me, and just how much Fortnite there might be in my future. — Carolyn Petit
Screenshot: YCJY Games
Play it on: PC (Steam)
Current goal: Uh…well, to keep driving
I love a good road trip. Driving for hours and hours in a car, seeing the world as it speeds by, and listening to random radio stations that slowly fade into new ones is just the best. And I love it when games let me live out my road trip fantasies without having to spend money on gas.
So, of course, I was excited to play the recently released Keep Driving on PC. It’s a roguelike road trip RPG set in the late 90s. Instead of fighting monsters, you combat potholes and running low on gas or snacks. At first, I was disappointed by how little variety I encountered, but after an hour or so the game went from fine to great, and now all I want to do is keep driving. — Zack Zwiezen
Image: Blizzard
Play it on: PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch
Current goal: Keep playing with perks
Overwatch 2 is in its glow-up era, and I’m not sure if it’s enough to win me back yet. Blizzard rolled out Perks, which allow you to upgrade and tweak your hero’s abilities in the middle of the match like a MOBA. It’s an interesting spin on a nearly 10-year-old format. Overwatch 2 has needed a shake-up for a while, especially after it’s broken nearly every promise Blizzard made since revealing the sequel in 2019. The game is stale, and this is the kind of change that can make playing it interesting again, so I’ve been playing around with these for the past week. I sometimes feel myself hankering to boot up Marvel Rivals, but for now, I’m trying to balance both games. I’ve spent over 1000 hours playing Overwatch. I figure I can at least give it a chance to bring me back. — Kenneth Shepard
Image: Obsidian
Play it on: (And on and on and on and on and on) PC
Current goal: Defeat tyranny
I’ve been playing Avowed for weeks now, meticulously mining it for every single crumb of story and quest and conversation and surprise and impromptu battle and, you know, stuff. And I’ve been doing it on a PC build that—unlike everyone else I know playing it on PC—crashes every couple of hours. There’s no clue when it’ll happen, and because it took me until literally today to discover there’s a quicksave button (F5), I have now got over 230 save games. (No, it crashed before I had 230 save games. It seems fine with that.) But I love it so much that, if anything, these CTDs have been the only reason I’ve gone to bed any night for the past couple of weeks.
I’m still not done! I’m threateningly close to done, the story is hinting, which is making me worry, because if I finish it, then it won’t be unfinished anymore. There’s a reason I’ve never seen the ending of Baldur’s Gate 3 or Original Sin 2. I think I have a problem, don’t I? But I’m determined to finish Avowed, even if it means my life feels bereft as a result. I could maybe go finish Baldur’s Gate 3 right after! — John Walker
Screenshot: Wabbaboy
Play it on: PC
Current goal: Slay Lunamoth
FlyKnight is a lo-fi, first-person RPG with Souls-like influences. Think King’s Field with insects. The currency of the realm is stamina. Every weapon swing is slow, weighty, and burns through your energy. Every item you pick up increases the costs of taking actions. Managing inventory becomes as important as managing the plodding pace of combat. It’s a game that hits way above what its PS1 looks might otherwise suggest.
Developer Wabbaboy’s game world is inviting but brutal, ready to punish you for any mistakes. Stick with it, though, and the whole thing can be completed in just four hours. There’s even a co-op where you can use the buddy system to navigate FlyKnight’s mysteries and boss fights with greater ease. It’s a slick game in a small package at the right price (just $6 on Steam). Play it because the world needs FlyKnight 2. — Ethan Gach
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