What I Played in June 2025

Posted on 2025.07.31

It’s time for another month-in-review! This time, IT’S SWITCH 2 TIME BAYBEEEEEE!!! I went to a store the day before to stand in line for 9 hours for a midnight launch, and I was able to secure my console day 1. Pretty sure 99% of this month’s gaming time was spent with my new Switch 2. I’m loving it so far! So let me tell you all about it…

– Switch 2 –

Mario Kart World

After 11 years of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, we FINALLY get a brand new entry in the series. And after so much anticipation and build up… I… ended up not playing much of it. Don’t get me wrong, the game is fine. I really like the new courses and the open world aspect of the game is pretty cool. But like, nothing in this game really grabbed my attention as I was expecting it to. Not to mention a few problems I have with the game; 24 racers is cool but it can be a little too chaotic, and I really wish intermissions were a supplement to the traditional lap format rather than a replacement. That being said, I don’t think the issues were the whole reason I didn’t play much. I think it just wasn’t the right time and place for me to play it, as I wasn’t super hyped for this game before release and playing it didn’t really increase my excitement for it. I’d like to believe that sometime in the future it’ll be the right time to be sucked into this game.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

As I explained last month, I tried doing a challenge run where I’d rush straight to Hyrule Castle from the Great Plateau with 3 hearts and no armor, and beat the game from there. However, I found myself stumbling too much on the final boss rush, so I decided to give up on the challenge and just get hearty durians. After making like twenty 20-yellow heart meals, I was finally able to beat this game again. I was kinda disappointed at myself for not being able to complete the challenge how I wanted to, but I really didn’t have the stamina in me to fail, learn and grind the fight

When I got the Switch 2, I played its version of BotW following the same route, just like I said I would. Playing BotW at 60fps felt… freaky… It was a very strange sensation. But yeah, the game ran super smooth. And for the record, this save file took me two days to beat. Calamity Ganon still gave me a bit of trouble, so going for the relaxed run with a bunch of hearty meals helped me get through this run rather quickly.

Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics

I booted this game up just to test out the GameShare feature, sharing it locally from my Switch 2 to my old Switch. And yup, it works. A big criticism I have is that there’s this huge border around the screen at all times displaying information about the GameShare session, and there’s no option to turn it off. If GameChat can have multiple screen options, including one to hide the other call participants and have the whole screen to yourself, then there’s no reason for GameShare to not have a fullscreen option.

Tetris 99

One of the first things I did soon after getting my Switch 2 was, of course, to play this game. I tried out the new Joy-Con 2 to play it and they feel really really nice. The bigger form factor and bigger buttons made for a much more comfortable experience. I’m glad there’s now a better option than tiny buttons (Joy-Con 1) or misinput galore (Switch 1 Pro-Controller with its terrible d-pad).

Splatoon 3

As before, I’ve continued to spend my time with this game only with friends. This month saw the drop of a huge surprise update! Thirty new weapon kits and the return of Urchin Underpass. That was quite nice, I really like some of the kits and Urchin is a nice addition (though it absolutely sucks in Clam Blitz LOL). Also a Big Run happened. Fun!

Deltarune

After four long years, Chapters 3 and 4 are here! And they were AMAZING!!! Chapter 3 took me two playthroughs to fully appreciate (I found Tenna uncanny the first time through, for example). The humor was SPECTACULAR all throughout this chapter. I ADORED the minigames; that final boss fight was specifically made to appeal to me as a WarioWare fan. And of course, that final encounter was insane (didn’t think we’d see them so early!) and the chapter ending left me shocked. If Chapter 4 wasn’t released at the same time, I think this would’ve killed the fandom.

And Chapter 4? OH MY GOD!! It was incredible!! If Chapter 3 was to dial up the humor, this one was to dial up the serious part. The amount of important story moments that were revealed here was astounding, and I really did not expect the final boss to be THAT. This soon??? If this is the halfway mark then what the hell is gonna happen next?!?! AND WHAT IS THAT ENDING???!!! If last chapter’s ending didn’t kill me because chapter 4 exists, then this chapter’s ending killed me because chapter 5 doesn’t exist.

There’s so much more I could talk about but I really don’t have the words for it. It’s just too much. All I can say is that I’ve never been more invested in this game, and I absolutely cannot wait for the next chapters and see how this story ends. I believe in the power of Toby Fox’s writing, I really want to see what the hell he could’ve possibly dreamed that he has since dedicated his entire life into making it a reality. I really need to know how it ends, I REALLY NEED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDSSSSS!!!

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

After speeding through BotW on both consoles on new save files, the next step of my plan was to continue TotK from my existing save file, in the hopes of carrying it to 100% completion. I was a bit daunted by the thought of returning to a file with a lot of progress made after two years of not touching it, so to get acustomed to the game and its controls and such, I started a new save file to just play the Great Sky Island. To spice it up a bit, I got all the starter abilities in the reverse intended order (Ascend, Fuse, Ultrahand). But yeah, after clearing the area I went back to my main save file and… it went better than expected honestly. I soon felt right at home and continued making progress from where I left off.

– Non Switch 2 –

Tetris Plus

So, this story is kinda crazy and I thought it deserves its own post. But to give you the TL;DR, I raced this game with friends (inspired by the SimpleFlips races) and I had the best worst experience ever. This game sucks but sometimes the journey is worth more than the destination.

Check out the full story and my thoughts here.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe

During the last few days leading to Mario Kart World, I was invited to play MK8D with a group using a custom item ruleset, as a sort-of farewell to this game. Gotta say, this ruleset was quite interesting! It emphasizes power items (Blue Shells, Star and Lightning), with two other items that play around it. Boos are used to steal and avoid said powerful items, and Piranha Plant serves as the great equalizer to keep things in check. Since the Plant locks you out of using other items for 10 seconds, players must choose to either use it and wait it out, or hope a Boo passes it to someone else. It’s an interesting way to play the game, especially in a lobby with multiple people (doesn’t work as well with CPUs). That was a nice way to send off the game!

New Super Mario Bros.

I played this game while waiting in line for my day-one Switch 2. I played the minigames and the Mario vs Luigi mode a disgusting amount as a kid, but never got far at all in the actual campaign. So I played it and… it’s fine. It’s nothing groundbreaking (at least today, I’m sure it was mindblowing back then). I had a little bit of trouble with the physics and I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that I can’t twirl.

Clone Hero

🎶 So I crave, crave to do it again, all again 🎶

Tetris Effect: Connected

Played more of this game as usual. I’m level 98 now!

Tetris: The Grandmaster 4 -Absolute Eye-

Finally got my first Tetris TGM game! And… I’m not quite so sure this was a great idea. I’m not even talking about the difficulty, I knew what I was signing up for. It’s just that… the game just feels strange? I should’ve listened to the mixed reviews on Steam. It’s hard to explain but there’s this certain level of unpolish that just feels offputting. Maybe I should’ve bought TGM 1 or 2 on Switch…