Pages on Mike's Musings

Rating Scales

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

When considering whether or not to start reviewing individual games on this blog, I was conflicted about the nature of assigning a score to a creative work and about what scale to even use. For a long time game reviews focused on the workmanship involved, a sort of aggregate of all the component parts – how good are the graphics? Is the sound design immersive? How well does it control and feel to play? Is it objectively fun?

It’s this sort of “Consumer Reports” type of approach that has frequently rubbed me the wrong way. Sure, it was fine during the industry’s formative years when games were more seen as distractions for kids and/or consumer products, but the past few decades have seen an explosion of games that can legitimately be evaluated as works of art just as any book, movie, or TV show can. Further complicating this, however, is the fact that interactive works of art can be inherently even more subjective, given the array of different types of skills you might need to play and fully engage with any given game (and that’s not even addressing a game’s narrative hits or misses). Something I personally enjoyed a lot might not (or perhaps definitely won’t) be most other peoples’ cup of tea.

So, ironically, I settled on using not just one but two rating scales. The first is a 0 to 100 rating scale but purely based on my own subjective enjoyment of the work. The second is a 0 to 3 star rating based on how readily I’d recommend it to others. Here’s the full breakdown:

Rating #1 – My personal rating

90 – 100 : An all-time favorite. I find games that land in this tier are exemplary in their genre, or are so novel and compelling that I believe they will inspire other developers to imitate or iterate on them. A score of 95 or higher puts this into the pantheon of the best games I’ve ever played.

80 – 89 : An excellent game. Any flaws that are present are minor enough to be looked past, and I find games in this range to be well-designed, enthralling, and quite possibly have something interesting to say through its narrative or express through mechanics.

70 – 79 : Solid and fun. I find that some of the more interesting works land here; games that have a novel concept or take a big swing but are rough around the edges or don’t quite meet their full potential. Very much still worth consideration.

60 – 69 : Fairly good. Enjoyable but with some notable flaws or elements that didn’t quite work for me. Games here are ones I likely still finished even if I had issues with them. This is probably the zone for games I respect but don’t quite grok (can we still use that word? Is it ruined?).

50 – 59 : Just OK. The game has obvious flaws or technical issues or otherwise didn’t quite work for me in other ways. Games in this range may be DNFs (did not finish).

0 - 49 : Yikes. Serious technical issues, poor game design, or baffling narrative choices seriously hampered my enjoyment of this game and I probably didn’t finish it for one of those reasons. I tend to be picky about what I spend my time playing (and I don’t particularly enjoy being negative about creative works), so seeing something in this range should be rare.

★ : Recommended. I’d recommend it to fans of the genre, or with a few caveats.

★ ★ : Highly recommended. I think most players would enjoy this. If I met you at a party and knew you were a gamer, I’d tell you about it.

★ ★ ★ : A must-play. I’m disheveled and sleep-deprived on a street corner, with a cardboard sign and megaphone begging people to play it.

Review Index

Sun, 18 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

All games played and rated by me are below. An explanation of my rating scale can be found here. Best viewed in a desktop browser.

Title	Personal Rating	Recommendation	Article
Death Howl	91	★ ★	Review : Death Howl [2025]
Consume Me	88	★ ★	January 2026 Roundup
The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy	84	★	Review : The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy [2025]
Clair Obscur : Expedition 33	96	★ ★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
Hollow Knight : Silksong	96	★	Games of the Year - 2025
The Alters	93	★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
Dispatch	90	★ ★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
ARC Raiders	85	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Hades II	87	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Blue Prince	92	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Keep Driving	90	★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
Mars First Logistics	85	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle	82	★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
Citizen Sleeper 2 : Starward Vector	84	★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
Baby Steps	79	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Beyond Citadel	81	★	Games of the Year - 2025
Arctic Eggs	77	★ ★	Games of the Year - 2025
A Space for the Unbound	76	★
Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles	82	★
Thank Goodness You're Here!	76	★
Hyper Demon	74	★
s.p.l.i.t	77	★
The House in Fata Morgana	91	★
Critters For Sale	58
Blasphemous	82	★
The Stanley Parable : Ultra Deluxe	77	★ ★
The Last Spell	94	★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Final Fantasy XVI	78	★
IXION	75	★
:THE LONGING:	95	★ ★
BATTLETECH	95	★ ★
Satisfactory	96	★
Outer Wilds	97	★ ★ ★
NieR : Automata	97	★ ★ ★
Void Stranger	94	★ ★
Control	93	★ ★ ★
Hades	93	★ ★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Signalis	92	★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Tunic	91	★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Citizen Sleeper	94	★ ★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Metaphor : ReFantazio	92	★
Helldivers II	91	★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Baba Is You	90	★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Balatro	90	★ ★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Inscryption	88	★ ★
Dragon's Dogma II	86	★
It Takes Two	84	★ ★ ★
Romancing SaGa 2 : Revenge of the Seven	83	★
Animal Well	86	★
Star Renegades	83	★ ★
Lies of P	91	★ ★
Mouthwashing	81	★
1000x Resist	84	★ ★
Armored Core VI : Fires of Rubicon	92	★
Lethal Company	86	★ ★
Hi-Fi Rush	85	★ ★
Alan Wake II	84	★ ★
Who's Lila?	80	★
Fear & Hunger 2 : Termina	79	★
Fear & Hunger	68
Returnal	85	★
Dave the Diver	84	★ ★ ★
Blasphemous II	86	★ ★
Slay the Princess	84	★ ★
Star Wars : Jedi Survivor	85	★ ★
Chants of Sennaar	83	★ ★
Hypnospace Outlaw	77	★ ★
Breakout 13	76	★
Against the Storm	85	★ ★
Cocoon	84	★ ★ ★
Cryptmaster	73	★
Never Forgotten	74	★
Skald : Against the Black Priory	76	★
Remnant II	72	★
Mechwarrior 5 : Clans	66
Home Safety Hotline	72	★
Elden Ring	88	★ ★
Immortality	89	★ ★ ★
Infernax	81	★
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy	85	★ ★
Norco	80	★
Hardspace : Shipbreaker	81	★
Trombone Champ	77	★ ★
Promise Mascot Agency	82	★ ★	January 2026 Roundup
Nubby's Number Factory	80	★ ★	January 2026 Roundup
Without a Dawn	70	★
Beat Saber	91	★ ★ ★	Top 20 of the Decade - Part 1
Mage Arena	76	★ ★
and Roger	78	★ ★
Horizon : Zero Dawn	84	★ ★
Shin Megami Tensei V	83	★
Haven	78	★ ★
Until You Fall	78	★
Everhood	79	★
Hollow Knight	86	★ ★
Monster Hunter : World	82	★ ★
Endless Legend	85	★ ★
Devil Daggers	81	★
Celeste	91	★
Everspace	84	★
Lucah : Born of a Dream	81	★
CrossCode	86	★ ★
Dragon Quest XI : Echoes of an Elusive Age	87	★
SOMA	81	★
Yuppie Psycho	71
XCOM : Enemy Unknown	88	★ ★
We Know the Devil	78	★
Undertale	88	★ ★
LISA : The Painful	85	★
FrostPunk	81	★
Deus Ex	92	★
Portal	90	★ ★
Portal 2	93	★ ★ ★
999 : Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors	88	★ ★
Virtue's Last Reward	90	★ ★
Zero Time Dilemma	77	★
Darkest Dungeon	80	★
Tactics Ogre : Reborn	74	★
Triangle Strategy	67
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139	91	★ ★
dotAGE	86	★ ★
The Quarry	82	★ ★
PARANORMASIGHT : The Seven Mysteries of Honjo	76	★
DREDGE	77	★
Cuphead	90	★ ★
The Invincible	75	★
Doki Doki Literature Club	82	★
Pony Island	86	★ ★
The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED]	61
Demon Lord Reincarnation	62
Q-UP	65		January 2026 Roundup
Star Control II : The Ur-Quan Masters	95	★ ★
Wanderstop	77	★ ★	February 2026 Roundup
Love Eternal	79	★	February 2026 Roundup
Cairn	93	★ ★	March 2026 Roundup
Öoo	83	★ ★	March 2026 Roundup
Super Battle Golf	86	★ ★	March 2026 Roundup
Many Nights a Whisper	76	★	March 2026 Roundup
Nine Sols	91	★ ★	April 2026 Roundup
Pragmata	85	★ ★	April 2026 Roundup
Rhythm Doctor	68	★	April 2026 Roundup
Unbeatable	72		Review : Unbeatable [2025]
Gambonanza	82	★ ★	May 2026 Roundup
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster	90	★ ★	May 2026 Roundup
Mixtape	87	★ ★	May 2026 Roundup
The Metronomicon	77	★ ★
Cave Story	93	★ ★
Final Fantasy IV	93	★ ★
Final Fantasy VI	95	★ ★
Pulsar : Lost Colony	75	★
BioShock Infinite	76	★
Hotline Miami	84	★
Hotline Miami 2 : Wrong Number	71
Pizza Tower	69	★
Der Langrisser	85	★
The Dig	67	★
Hacknet	84	★ ★
Deus Ex : Human Revolution	82	★ ★
Dark Souls	94	★
Demon's Souls	86	★
Shin Megami Tensei III : Nocturne	89	★
Shin Megami Tensei : Digital Devil Saga	83	★
Shin Megami Tensei : Digital Devil Saga 2	90	★
Shadow of the Colossus	92	★ ★
Mirror's Edge	90	★ ★
Alan Wake	71	★
BattleBit Remastered	80
Prey	87	★ ★
The Hex	82	★ ★
Warcraft : Orcs and Humans	78	★
Warcraft II : Tides of Darkness & Beyond the Dark Portal	90	★ ★
Warcraft III : Reign of Chaos & The Frozen Throne	93	★ ★
Risk of Rain 2	84	★ ★
Baldur's Gate II : Shadows of Amn	95	★ ★
Baldur's Gate	78	★
Star Control III	65
Pistol Whip	84	★ ★
Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake	83	★ ★	Review : Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake [2025]
007 First Light	89	★ ★	June 2026 Roundup
Still Wakes the Deep	76	★	June 2026 Roundup
Sayonara Wild Hearts	77	★	July 2026 Roundup
Sekiro : Shadows Die Twice	94	★	July 2026 Roundup
Desktop Explorer	90	★ ★	July 2026 Roundup
Forbidden Solitaire	85	★ ★	July 2026 Roundup
Meccha Chameleon	82	★ ★	July 2026 Roundup
Big Walk	93	★ ★ ★	August 2026 Roundup
Sovereign Tower	91	★ ★	August 2026 Roundup
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog	81	★ ★	August 2026 Roundup
ElecHead	84	★ ★	August 2026 Roundup
A Plague Tale - Innocence	64	★
VVVVVV	88	★ ★

About

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Hello and thanks for stopping by! I created this site as a repository for my yearly game of the year lists and plan to expand it from there. I’ve always enjoyed writing and journaling as a way to explore and deepen my understanding of art. I’ve been gaming since the age of 5 or so, and currently live and work in the Midwest as a software developer. I enjoy strategy games, narrative-focused games, and difficult platformers and soulslike games.

All writing and opinions expressed here are my own. I’m proud to say that no AI tools have been used in the production of any text or asset on this site. Profile picture drawn by Skippy of Winnow Wings.

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Search

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000