Let's get this party started!
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
I know a couple of people here have bounced off this but I absolutely loved it. I think everyone expected this to be an Uncharted clone, and the first-person perspective was certainly a bold choice, but it really paid off. It's got great locations to explore, some really good Indy-style puzzles, and it just feels right in a way I can't explain. Troy Baker's exceptional voice performance really helps, but there's something about the balance of puzzling, exploration and scrappy brawling that feels quintessentially Indiana Jones. I know people complain about the shit combat but that's deliberate I think - if you're starting fist fights with Nazis then sooner or later you are going to lose, you're much better off chucking a bottle at them or braining them with a handy frying pan and getting the hell out of there. And the stealth is so forgiving, with such a wide window of opportunity before you get spotted, that it's hard to see anyone having a real problem with that side of things either.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned elsewhere is that this is a game with excellent side content. Everything you discover seems to lead to something good - an interesting tomb, a fun interaction, a new section of map to explore. The main "fieldwork" side cases are clearly signposted and are as good as anything in the main quest, but the smaller "mysteries" and even the many collectibles are worth pursuing. I'm definitely going to go back and explore some of the things I've missed, there is a mountain of good stuff here.
Anyway, this was great, and it absolutely sticks the landing as well, the ending is great. It's good to see it picking up GOTY awards in a couple of places and I hope you PS5 owners enjoy it as much as I did when it comes to your platform in the Spring.
It's definitely on my wishlist for whenever the heck it comes out on PS5.
Jan 25
Castlevania - save summed the hell out of the last level. But I can't believe it's taken me since 1989 or whenever to finally finish this!
tbf Castlevania has infinite continues so when you get to Dracula you've made it, just farm some hearts and you're good to go. Always feels nice to finally beat that game though, how about that hallway leading up to the Death fight? :D
Do you mean the flying birds dropping the monkeys bit? nightmare!
The medusa heads and knights lol
Oh right, sorry got you yeah. I was initially holding the time stopping power due for that as was finding it so frustrating.
I don't have a NES but I see a copy of this for it whenever I go to CEX in town, or more practically the 'NES Classic' GBA edition if my eyes didn't deceive me. I wouldn't mind owning this physically to try speedrunning/damageless and the GBA version would slip right into my AP, even if it might not be super purist friendly on that version. Main point is: it's a classic.
Wanna' jump into apparently much harder and super hard in general Castlevania 3 with me??? (JP version, which is included in the Anniversary collection by the way, like all the games on there do)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
This was great. Nobody really makes 3D platformers any more and nobody throws money at them like this. Absolutely stellar production values (I played it on the Steam Deck and thought it looked amazing, I can't imagine what it looks like on the PS5), great pacing, fun characters and a huge dollop of silliness. It nails the Saturday morning cartoon vibe like no game I've ever seen.
It's dragged down slightly by the Clank sections (which are dull) and the Glitch sections (which are terrible) and the fact the game lets you skip both of these with the press of a button suggests that the developers knew this too, but everything else is genuinely superb.
I'm nearly finished Ratchet & Clank a Crack in Time and have come away with a similar opinion. It looks great (especially considering it's two generations old), plays well, is genuinely funny and the ratchet combat sections can be a little annoying/long.
They've never really known what to do with Clank, although one of the PS3 games was easily my favourite. Maybe the one after Crack in Time? He had a load of puzzle sections involving recording copies of himself, then working together with previous Clanks you'd recorded.
But yeah these games have always been great fun.
That's Crack in Time, and those bits are still great, but they are over too soon.
I really miss 3D platformers. (I know R&C isn’t quite the same, but it’s close enough). Why doesn’t anyone do them any more? Let’s make 2025 the year of Sly Raccoon or something.
Has anyone played A Hat In Time? It looks like a proper platformer. Although it's eight years old so not exactly current.
Didn't know it had Multiplayer Alastor! Are you on Xbox or does that not matter?
Just completed Crackdown 3.
Ended playing this the last couple of weeks in little blasts. It's so much more fun once you are overpowered.
Just completed Crackdown 3.
Ended playing this the last couple of weeks in little blasts. It's so much more fun once you are overpowered.
The on-foot traversal in Crackdown 3 is a joy. Triple-jumps and air-dashes all over the place.
Crackdown 3 was brilliant. I know luscan worked on it, and (rightfully) got a bit down about everyone slagging it off. But it was a brilliant game that knew exactly what it was.
A worthy successor to Crackdown 1 that was unfairly disregarded for not being 'next gen' enough, whatever the fuck that means in an age of Forspoken and Dead Island 2s.
I think Crackdown 3 was the first game I played on my Xbox Series S. loved it!
Also a big fan of Crackdown 3. A really underrated gem.
And he's on the board…
JANUARY
Good Job! - Very, very fun. Does a far better job than some other games of the same ilk (especially Moving Out), as doing badly in a level doesn't preclude you from moving onto the next one. The joy of doing a level well, but then staying in it when it's over to wreak havoc is palpable. Having to smash stuff to find the hidden collectibles, also fun. Surprised this didn't do better than it did, but then it's a Switch exclusive so… yeah.
Last year was a fairly respectable (for me) 41 games. Let's see if we can beat that…
Batman: Arkham Asylum - I'm not sure if the Xbox 360/PS3 era was the peak of gaming, exactly, but it was definitely the absolute peak of single-player action games. This is a great example. 12-15 hours, perfectly paced, really high production values, all-star cast. No season pass, no expansions, the only DLC is simply more optional challenge rooms for those who enjoy the combat. It's aged superbly and looks surprisingly great for a 2009 game. Definitely glad I revisited this one.
Monster Hunter Rise & Sunbreak
Ys Chronicles 1
Metaphor Refantazio
Whipped through Risebreak again on PS, as you do, in preparation for Wilds. Still great, if not the most challenging or absorbing MH, as it’s more of a Monster Fighter, and I never really had to worry about making armour sets for specific fights, and so on.
Ys I apparently bought years ago, before it dropped off the App Store. Decided I’d try it before moving on to the later entries, as I’m going to try and do them in (original) release order, rather than chronologically, and it worked pretty well, given that the bump combat keeps things pretty simple from a gameplay perspective. I also played on Easy, and let myself consult a guide here and there, partially because of the comparatively archaic design, and partly because touchscreen. Really enjoyed it though; going to try and get through Ys Chronicles 2 too, though I wonder if the slight increase in complexity will make it a bit tricky on the phone.
Metaphor is excellent. Very much felt like Fantasy Persona, especially as it progressed, which might explain why, as with Persona 5, I liked it more and more as it went on. Despite the QoL improvements, I think I preferred P5 overall, though that’s an all-time favourite of mine, so it’s not much of a stick to beat it with. Might try and do another run, now that I better grasp the “rules”, or wait for the inevitable ‘Royal’ version, will see how I get on.
I've rolled credits on Eternal Strands – but I'm determined to get the two remaining achievements (and the third, "unlock all achievements" one), so not quite ready to move on quite yet. Very happy that there's post-game exploration (and another quest!), instead of having to reload a pre-finale save.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black
Despite the rather deceptive naming (Ninja Gaiden Black is the name given to the definitive version of Ninja Gaiden Black) this isn't the definitive version of Ninja Gaiden 2 but rather a better version of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 which was a much worse version of Ninja Gaiden 2 imo. Honestly this is a blast and well worth playing, it's just bottom line not the best version.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (replay)
This run really solidified that this is a good starting point for those wanting to get into this series, it's not really hard but there's a ton of customisation you can do in terms of unit choice and of course the RNG stats on level up basically change how you play anyway somewhat.
Baldur's Gate 3
After 120 hours this is finally done, and it really does feel like a once in a lifetime game. gonna' be a while before I play an RPG with combat that good again. It's basically the game I'd wanted to play since I played Dragon Age: Origins before they took the series down the real time action combat route. DAO, but with a mix of Tears of the Kingdom's approach to experimentation and creativity in problem solving in and out of battle, and I think that's the main thing that makes this go from a good game to a great game and really gives it an insane amount of replayability.
I want to restart a playthrough right now, so many options I want to try and so many outside-the-box strategies to test out, but sadly I have to move on for now. I think beating this the day or so before Monster Hunter Wild released is about as perfect as it gets.
Do big DLCs count for this? I mean, if it's good enough for Geoff Keighley…
Finally went back and finished off Horizon Forbidden West: The Burning Shore. It's mostly just more Horizon, so how much that excites you will depend on your tolerance for the series. I think Forbidden West generally overcomplicated things a bit, adding too many new machines and weapons and damage types and status effects and potions and traps and so on, but The Burning Shore is a little more focused. The last hour or so is some of the best the series has to offer, culminating in a boss sequence that (pretty successfully) blends together basically every part of the game to that point. The villain is fantastically hateable, too, just a real piece of shit.
Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Remember me talking about this like a year ago? Sooner or later I DO come back to these! 
I have a lot of good to say about this, it's not too long, it's kinda unique being a gothic horror based RPG and the 'Judgement Ring' based combat which rewards timing and makes combat feel fun is something I'm surprised hasn't been copied in other games after it (add it to the list with Skies of Arcadia ship combat and something else I've forgotten). I do have gripes, some of the later attack animations are a bit long, it's not that hard, story feels a little bit weaker after the Shangai section (another cool part of this game, the period setting of the european adventure you go on) and not all the characters are super strong, honestly it's all a bit nitpicky really.
Now, Shadow Hearts 2 is almost unanimously said to be a better game even if the gothic horror feel (The enemy designs in this game can be pretty nasty, in a mild sort of way) gets lessened with every game, apparently gameplay only gets better and better. I am obviously going to get to it eventually but I kinda…want..to..play Koudelka first? Yes I kinda' missed the boat by beating SH1 first and it's a pretty slim connection at that apparently (Koudelka is literally in SH1 but whatever) AND the gameplay is supposed to be not great but it's a nice side project to do whilst I play Atelier Sophie and Monster Hunter.
Rolled credits on Avowed. Little bit disappointed there's no post-game stuff to tidy up outstanding quests or to play around in the aftermath of my decisions, but I suppose there are a few ways the game can go and the Living Lands looked very different when I was done with it than it did when I started.
I've kicked off another playthrough, intending see how things go as an unrepentant Aedyran zealot, but it's tough being mean to people when I've spent the last 50 hours trying to help them.
I'm claiming Balatro as a completion - I've finished it on the basic stakes with every deck available, and beaten the next couple of stakes up on one or two of the decks too. There's clearly a vast amount still to do but that feels like a fairly solid point to say, yep, I've got the hang of this one.
It's a great, great game really - it feels weird that it hasn't existed up until now. Like Tetris, it feels like an obvious archetype that someone's unearthed, rather than a new game that someone's invented.
I think I forgot to say anything about Citizen Sleeper when I finished it earlier in the year, but I've just hit the credits on the sequel, which outdoes its predecessor in just about every way.
Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Atelier Sophie: the Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
Finally, and a few days shy of the new Atelier game coming out too! Out of this, Ryza and Marie I think this is my least favourite Atelier game so far, it's still good it just had a bit more friction between me and the Alchemy power fantasy of the other games. I was playing this blind and it actually felt way better playing it this way because of how events can seemingly trigger out of random and you can stumble upon recipes as you toddle about doing what you want (something the game is very generous about) but the closer to the end I got the harder it was to do this, which soured me a bit.
Aside from that, it's still an Atelier game which means comfy vibes off the charts, cutesy cast being cute and doing the anime 'Eeeeeeeeeh?!' noise. I struggled with the Alchemy bit this time as I said though, and I hope that's not an 'Old Atelier' thing because I have more of this series on my Steam Deck waiting to played. Atelier Marie was a remake even if it was the first game in the series, but I just really glided through that game by comparison.
Speaking off, the cast and story were pretty weak here, although Sophie herself was great and distinct from the other series Alchemists, Ryza is a little shit and Marie is a complete girlfailure trying to not be, absolute GOAT for it though.
Ninja Gaiden Black 2
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baldur's Gate 3
Shadow Hearts
Atelier Sophie: the Alchemist of the Mysterious Book
Gunstar Heroes
So playing a bit of Rapid Reload (good game similar to this imo) I decided I wanted to also play this again. I still think the final stage or two can drag a bit, both the non boss rush stage where you running through endless waves of bad guys and the SHMUP part which is fine until it starts to overstay it's welcome a bit, but this is still a Treasure game through and through and just a complete blast to play. The weapon combo system is fun (I used Lightning and Chaser 
) is probably the main feature(?) stops the run and gun from feeling like it's ever getting stale, the bosses are all really cool and I super appreciate that you can just throw them like you can any other random enemy in this game. Speaking of bosses, Seven Force is still one of the all time great gaming boss fights imo.
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii
Another triumph for RGG, whose short side games still manage to be as long as most epics and still somehow come out on an annual schedule. I enjoyed this as much if not more than most of the recent Like a Dragon titles and I thought overall it made better use of the Hawaii setting than Infinite Wealth did. It's a very silly game with a very silly concept but it still hits all of the right notes for a Yakuza game and ends incredibly strongly. Thoroughly recommended.
