JDubYes

I’ve never played a Forza, having not had an XBOX since the 360, but ‘the one in Japan’ does look tempting…

Picross S+
Holedown
Luck Be a Landlord
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Azure Striker Gunvolt
Ball x Pit
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 4
Mariokart World
Alan Wake
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana
Ridge Racer
Rave Racer

Burnout Paradise

My arcade racer fix not apparently sated, I resumed a playthrough of this from years ago, which had left me with just A and Burnout licences to get, which was quite nice.

I am horrified to think how old the original is, and think it coincides with my joining the original Society; I'd ended up in an online game with a bunch of people, probably including Prole and Zombies, and several had 'society.miskie.net' in their profiles, so I ended up going and seeing for myself what that was…

It remains a fabulous game, nonetheless, with a sense of speed few have ever matched. It's not very difficult though, and once credits had rolled I felt like I was probably done for now. I have left in in a state where there's still plenty for me to do if and when I go back, with a Burnout Elite licence to get if I can do every event, and an island still to fully explore. I might've tried for the platinum too, but a few of the trophies are online-focused, and therefore probably gone for good.

I forgot about it and it’s already not playing at my local again, FFS. I mean, I have already watched it this year, but still…

Picross S+
Holedown
Luck Be a Landlord
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
Azure Striker Gunvolt
Ball x Pit
Resident Evil
Resident Evil 4
Mariokart World
Alan Wake
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana
Ridge Racer

Rave Racer

From side game to all-encompassing obsession to possible proudest platinum. The first time you try any of the trickier tracks on the faster speeds you're left wondering how the hell you're supposed to finish them in the allotted time, and then even once you've answered that question you have to do do good runs - 2-3 mistakes and you're likely out, basically - on them one after another in the Time Attack mode…

After hours of practice, trying to work out the best lines and approaches, and figure out the handling model, I finally managed to beat the Advanced track, which I had beaten a few times on its own, on a Time Attack run following good runs on the other two tracks, and it was incredibly satisfying.

Now I can play other games again! Although, possibly not other Ridge Racer games - quickly booting up Ridge Racer and RRT4 immediately afterwards suggests that the Rave Racer driving model has ruined the others for me, at least for the moment. That's fine though, I can just keep playing Rave…

£50 on the PS store, so still a bit less than some AAA games, if not entirely wallet-friendly.