Author Archives: kayjoon

About kayjoon

Forty-something geek on the south coast of England. Think I'm sort of smart, but I might just be fooling myself. Player of games, reader, feminist, humanist. One of two podcast hosts called Chris Smith at maximumpowerup.com

January Games

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Well the Games to play in 2026 list is off to a great start, I’ve made a start on three from the list already.

Games completed this month

Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me – PS5

After completing Split Fiction, we decided to push on and finish this too. I think we were both mostly looking forward to trying something else. These Dark Pictures Anthology games have been a bit of a mixed bag, we’ve had fun with them all, but none of them quite reached the heights of Until Dawn.

Games played during January

Octopath Traveler 0 – PS5

This firmly has me in its grasp now as I’m approaching 50 hours in. It’s excellent, and I love the changes to the formula and the returning characters from earlier (later) in the series.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2

Well the Switch 2 patch arrived, alongside a new content update, and did not disappoint. Very much enjoying the new stuff and the improved quality of life bits. I was also quite happy to pay the £4 to have the improved resolution, it looks lovely.

Sektori – Steam Deck

Since Octopath took over my PS5, Sektori on there hasn’t had a look-in. Not to worry though, I’ve still found time for a few runs on the Steam Deck. This, and the other Steam Deck games I’ve been playing this month have all benefited from my new earphones below.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion – PS5

Managed to have a good evening on this at a friends house, as suspected, it’s superb in co-op and probably the best of this kind of thing. My preferred combo of Beta Ray Bill & Cosmic Ghost Rider is very satisfying. Just annoyed that it didn’t give me any trophies despite signing into my PlayStation account. Humbug.

Cast N Chill – Steam Deck

Now my Steam Deck is getting more regular use again, I’ve got over the disappointment that I didn’t get this on Switch instead. It’s just as described, a relaxing fishing game.

Static Dread: The Lighthouse – Steam Deck

A pick up from last month, I didn’t think I’d play it on the Steam Deck so was saving it for the big screen. However, with earphones it’s perfect / creepy for playing in bed before sleep. Very much enjoying running a lighthouse and keeping the horrors at bay. Although with how my 2026 is going, the horrors very much persist.

The Quarry – PS5

After wrapping up The Devil in Me, we were ready to finally make a start on The Quarry. We’re not far in yet, but it’s already feeling closer to Until Dawn as an experience. More concerned about what we’re going to play after. The next Dark Pictures game is sci-fi, so my partner has already wielded her veto.

January Pickups

Vertical Grip – Switch 2

I had the FlipGrip for my original Switch and loved it. I have been holding out for the creator to release the promised Switch 2 edition, but I heard about this Vertical Grip from Etsy. To be honest I now prefer it to the original. I paid the extra for the Ergo grip, and I’m very happy with it.

Xenotilt Hostile Pinball Action - January Games

Xenotilt – Nintendo Switch

When I found the above vertical grip, I decided it was time to double dip on this so I could play it properly. I think I prefer the theming of Demon’s Tilt, but this is still a superb pinball table.

Moondrop CHU II Earphones

My friend Kevin recommended these as a generally good bit of kit, and probably better than my Anker Bluetooth ones that I use everyday. While I’m not yet ready to give up the convenience of wireless when out and about, I had been thinking about something wired for my handhelds. Until now I had been using my PS5 Pulse 3D headset with the optional cable when gaming on my SteamDeck, and while the sound is great, it’s not the most subtle for a bit of gaming in bed. These in-ear phones have a good sound though, and are much less intrusive. Think they’ll help me spend more time with both the SteamDeck and my Evercade Super Pocket.

Piko Collection 4 – Evercade

After another bad day in January, I needed a pick-me-up. This cart wasn’t really on my radar until I discovered the Zero Tolerance game on it is effectively unreleased levels, and I have such fond memories of the Mega Drive game that I wanted to check them out. I’m also a bit of a Street Racer apologist so it felt worth a punt. I’m quite pleased with it so far, except I’m much worse at Street Racer than I remember being, I suspect it’s from a different platform than I played first time round.

Games pre-ordered in January

Turrican Collection – Evercade

Aside from the Codemasters Collection, which is now legacy and prohibitively expensive, I now own all the Evercade cartridges I want. This will hopefully make it sustainable going forward as I cherry pick and pre-order the new releases. Next up is this gem in February. I’ve always passively enjoyed the Turrican series, but the only one I’ve spent a lot of time with is Mega Turrican. Delighted to be getting the directors cut of that one, along with a bunch of other console entries from the series.

*There are no links to Amazon in this post and probably won’t be going forward. When I can be bothered I’m going to remove the old ones and burn my affiliates account.

2026 in Games

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Usual annual post. What did I play last year, were they on the list? What do I think I’ll play this year. For the top 5 I’ve just included games I completed in 2025, since otherwise I’d have to include games I had already finished but was still playing from the previous year…

Did a great job last year manifesting Silksong, so we should count that as a success too.

Top 5 played in 2025

1. Sektori – PlayStation 5 / SteamDeck

This kind of came out of nowhere to take my game of the year crown, but what a superb game it is. When Housemarque moved away from arcade games to focus on Returnal etc. I had no idea where the next great twin stick shmup would come from. Enter Sektori, and from a former Housemarque developer no less. It’s very much a Housemarque does Geometry Wars deal, with bosses and some gameplay conventions straight out of Super Stardust, an upgrade system out of Gradius, and a bit of light deckbuilding (because that’s mandatory for indie games apparently). So good I bought it twice, to play on both PS5 and my SteamDeck. Anyway, Sektori is a masterpiece and you should play it.

2. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Xbox Series X

Up until November, I was certain this was going to be my GOTY. Easily one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. I expect it to feature if I get round to updating my Top 5 JRPG list again. It’s a great looking game, with some of the best combat I’ve enjoyed in this kind of RPG. Also really enjoyed the story, and looking forward to more things set in this world.

3. Dredge: The Iron Rig – Xbox Series X

Granted Dredge and it’s first DLC was in my top 5 from 2024 as well, but I loved this expansion. I’m a bit sad we don’t seem to be getting a sequel or anything, I can but hope for a Dredge 2.

4. Split Fiction – Xbox Series X

Another from the planned list, Split Fiction completely lived up to the high expectations set by their previous games, A Way Out and It Takes Two. For my money, these games keep getting better, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

5. Pinball Spire – Nintendo Switch

A bit of a surprise entry, but genuinely one of the most fun games I played last year. I want more pinball in my games dammit. I’d like another Pinball Spire or a sequel to the superb Yoku’s Island Express now.

Also mention:

Ball X Pitt – Xbox Series X

Another game that seemed to come from nowhere. Simply a “what if vampire survivors but breakout/arkanoid”. It didn’t quite break into my Top 5, because once I’d finished it, I was left wondering what I’d been doing with my time. Incredibly addictive and satisfying while progressing. Not sure if I actually want any more of it though.

Just the stats ma’am

10 games for 2026

Usual vague attempt to line up games to play this year. I managed to play and finish four titles from this list last year, of which three made it onto my Top 5 above. I started three more, I’m still playing The Devil in Me, but abandoned both Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn and The Sinking City.

I’ve rolled over The Quarry from last year, as I think it’s likely to get played during 2026. The others are fresh to the list though.

1. The Quarry – PS5

As we’re approaching the end of The Devil in Me, we’ll hopefully get to this in the first half of 2026. Looking forward to it, I didn’t look at any trailers or reviews when it came out, so we’ll be going in cold.

2. Alien vs Predator – Xbox 360

This is just one I spotted in my backlog that was installed on my Series X. I’m sure I heard good things about it, but never got round to trying. Given the couple of excellent Predator movies that we’ve had recently, I’m in the mood to give it a try.

3. Chip’s Challenge – Evercade

After my friend was kind enough to give me his spare Atari Lynx Collection 2 cart, I definitely want to play this properly. I played it quite a bit on my Lynx, but even more on Windows 95 when it was part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack. I’m certain I’ve never finished it though, so I’m going to attempt to tackle all 148 puzzles on my Super Pocket. Maybe.

4. Octopath Traveler 0 – PS5

I loved the first two games, and was excited when they announced a new one. I’ve already made a start on this in December, picking it up during some downtime between Christmas and the New Year. Feels a safe bet that I’ll get to the end.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

5. Hollow Knight: Silksong – Nintendo Switch 2

I did make a start on this last year, and it is very much what I wanted from a Hollow Knight sequel. However, I had far too much ‘life’ going on at the same time and was struggling to commit the effort to continuing to progress. Hoping to find a more suitable period this year to get into it properly.

6. SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash – Nintendo Switch

Another classic that I’ve never properly played. I picked up the Neo Geo Pocket Color port for the Switch, so this might be the next RPG I play after Octopath. Unless I pick up Suikoden I & II first.

7. Static Dread: The Lighthouse – SteamDeck

This just ticked all my boxes. Well, the two boxes that like Lighthouses and Lovecraftian horror. I don’t know a lot about it, but it seems to have been well received and it’s supposed to run well on the SteamDeck. We’ll see.

8. XenoCrisis – Evercade

Probably the most ambitious game on the list. This crossover of Smash TV & Aliens has intriguied me since it first came out. Developed as a Mega Drive game and ported to pretty much everything, it is very polished. I did play it a bit during the brief period it was on Xbox GamePass, but the Evercade feels like a perfect home for it. Now I’d love to be able to complete it, but I’m also conscious of the crushing difficultly level.

9. Forza Horizon 6 – Xbox Series X (Probably)

My favourite racing game series, I’m obviously looking forward to this one, and will be playing it to death again as soon as it’s out. The only question mark on it though is whether I still get it for the Xbox. Microsoft’s recent moves have been making me fall out of love with the Xbox. Granted they’ll get my money whatever platform I end up getting it for, so we’ll see. I just remain open to maybe getting it on PS5 instead.

10. Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement – PS5

Another that’s hopefully out this year, I really liked the previous “Ritual of the Night” game, one of very few games I have played through more than once. I think I’m most likely to play it on PS5 as I don’t think it’s coming to Switch 2. However I would prefer to play it on Switch 2 so will wait and see.

December Games

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Finishing the year strong, with completions and new games and all that.

Games completed this month

Split / Fiction – Xbox Series X

I think this is the best of these co-operative experiences so far. We had a great time playing through this, and very much enjoyed being able to chose protagonists by our preferred genres. The final level in particular is a masterpiece, and there are some great ideas along the way. Wondering what they’ll do next now.

Puzzle Bobble – Evercade

My first completion on one of the Evercade systems, this is built into the Taito Super Pocket. Almost a 1CC completion, but I did use save states to ‘suspend’ gameplay when I was turning the device off. Owning the Super Pocket means I can’t justify any of the current 3 Taito collections on cartridge as most of those games are just duplicating what is built in. I’m hoping further collections could appear with ideally the PlayStation version of Puzzle Bobble 2, and ports of Rainbow Islands and Parasol Stars.

Games played during December

Sektori – SteamDeck & PS5

This wasn’t really on my radar until a week or so before release. My friend Jake pointed it out, and just from the trailer footage I was interested. It launched to great reviews, and once I had confirmation that it was working on SteamDeck and also discovered that the dev was a former Housemarque employee, I jumped in. I soon after double dipped with the PS5 version, as not only was I enjoying the convenience of playing handheld, I really wanted to get it on the big screen, and the dock for my SteamDeck is somewhere in storage. Started making much more rapid progress on the PS5 version, and I almost included it in my completions list above as I’ve now achieved a 1cc on the normal difficulty.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2

Much has been played mostly in preparation for the new content in January, but also making a concentrated effort on collecting the winter recipes. Still not enjoying trying to make perfect snowmen, but we’re getting there.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion – Xbox Series X

This is superb, I have been very much enjoying the resurgence of the “go right have a fight” genre (thanks Virtvic) and this is easily the best so far. A great roster of characters, and being able to switch between two during a level is a nice touch. At the moment I’ve only played single player on GamePass, but hoping to play some local co-op soon. I might pick it up on Switch or PS5 though, since I’m in the processing of running down my GamePass subscription.

Dark Pictures: The Devil in Me – PS5

We managed to find a bit of time to play some more of this. I think we might be nearing the end, although I was lost in a forest for a little while going round in circles. I am keen to finish this one so we can make a start on The Quarry next.

Octopath Traveler 0 – PS5

This was technically a December pickup, but since I’m already 12 hours in I figure it counts as a game played. Spent the last few days of the year unwell and stuck on the sofa, so a new JRPG was just what was required. Really enjoying it so far. I went for the PS5 version over Switch 2 as I figure not much will get a look in on the Switch when the Animal Crossing update arrives mid-January.

December Pickups

Worms Collection 1 – Evercade

I’ve been a bit aggressive picking up the cartridges I want for my Evercade systems, and this was very much a no-brainer. The worms series has some of my favourite multiplayer games, and this cartridge contains some real series highlights. Pairing it with the Team 17 cart I picked up last month in my Evercade-VS console unlocks Worms Directors Cut, my most played version of the original game, and Worms Armageddon contains the super sheep training mode that I spent hours on first time round. Time will tell if I actually get to play any multiplayer with it, but in the mean time I’m enjoying the nostalgia and finally putting a bit of time into Worms Blast.

Toapan Collection 3 – Evercade

Still cherry picking the games I want, I skipped Toaplan’s collection 2 (and 4 for that matter). Batsugun is one of my favourite shmups though, and as much as I love Truxton (Tatsujin) I’d never played the sequel, so I decided I did need this one.

Atary Lynx Collection 2 – Evercade

A friend sent me his spare loose copy of the Atari Lynx Collection 2 cart. As a legacy cartridge this one can be pretty expensive to purchase so I was very grateful for his generosity. Pleasingly I was able to get a replacement case for it from Funstock and printed myself a cover. Looking forward to getting stuck into Chip’s Challenge again.

Cast N Chill – SteamDeck

This is very much my kinda thing, a lightweight fishing game, not unlike the fishing modes I’ve enjoyed in other games. My biggest issue with it is that when it first appeared, there seemed to be no plans to bring it to the Switch where I would have preferred to play. However, almost as soon as I gave in and purchased on Steam, it sure enough showed up on the eshop. Humbug. I’m not going to double dip though so at least it runs well on the SteamDeck.

Static Dread: The Lighthouse – SteamDeck

Lovecraftian horrors and Lighthouses are a particular venn diagram of interests for me, so this was always going to appeal. Was cheap in the sale so I grabbed it. Not sure if I’ll get to it on the SteamDeck, or if it’ll have to wait till I have a PC Gaming setup again.

Renovation Games 1 – Evercade

This, and the below controller were both Christmas gifts from my sisters. I mostly wanted it for Dino Land, a great video pinball game. Most of the other games in the collection are new to me, but Sol-Deace & Gaiares are classics too.

8bitdo Ultimate 2C Pad

I wanted this to use with my Evercade VS. The pad it comes with is fine, but it’s wired and only has a single d-pad for movement. This isn’t quite as good as the Ultimate 2 I got for my Switch 2, but it is a great controller. I was hoping it might be possible to use the twin sticks for Xeno Crisis and Llamatron on the VS, but that seems to be a step to far. It is still a huge improvement to play them with this over the default pad anyway. I understand some of the Tomb Raider games at least support twin-sticks so it might get some use for those too.

Games retired in December

Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition – PS5

Well, as I was starting to suspect last month, I couldn’t be bothered to stick with the DLC. I think if I’d had it when I first finished the base game I would have gone through it, but it’s just not interesting enough. Picking up Octopath was definitely the nail in its coffin. I can’t see me coming back to it, but who knows.

*There are no links to Amazon in this post and probably won’t be going forward. When I can be bothered I’m going to remove the old ones and burn my affiliates account.

November Games

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Bought a few bits, and finally the payoff from picking up my Evercade machines, the arrival of the Llamasoft Collection. Also a new shmup, Sektori, has taken over my life.

Games completed this month

Ball X Pit – Xbox Series X

Counting the second completion of this, as I have now gone on to 100% all the achievements. I wonder if this is going to gain the same sort of volume of addon content that Vampire Survivors experienced. Depending on price I’d probably be up for more. A great game, but by the time I was ticking off the last few achievements I was pretty much done.

Games played during November

Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition – PS5

I’ve made a start! Took a hour or so to get back into the feel of this one, but I think I’m there. I’m kind of button mashing some of the fights atm. I only just scraped through the first proper boss fight though so I may need to look at the actual strategy again soon. Have been mostly enjoying myself but I’m not sure if it’s been too long, don’t know if I’ll finish it.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2

Decided I could talk about this again now, as I finally managed to get the last art piece for my museum from Redd. Also with the news of the big update coming in January, everyone else is talking about it again too. Spent the best part of a day (with my partner’s help) getting rid of all the flowers that were covering 90% of my island.

November Pickups

Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. – PS5

I’d have probably let this pass me by for the full launch price of £16, as I already own various previous editions. However, it was only £7.99 on PS5 and with the promise of plenty of single player content, I decided to jump back in.

Llamasoft Collection Evercade

Everything I’d hoped for, haven’t played much yet but I have dabbled with Sheep in Space and Llamatron obviously. I now need to find a good twin-stick controller for my Evercade VS console, so I can play Llamatron properly on the big screen, and it’d be handy for Xenocrisis too.

Team 17 Collection 1 – Evercade

Granted the main reason for ordering this was to qualify for free shipping on the Llamasoft cart. It did mean that I’ve had to wait for them both to ship together though. Some of these games are likely to not quite be as good as I remember, but I’m keen for the nostalgia anyway.

Tempest 4000 – Nintendo Switch

Think this is the fourth time I’ve bought this, fifth if we count the original TxK on the PSVita. However, for £3 in a recent sale, it’s nice to have on my Switch 2 as well.

Lumines Remastered – Nintendo Switch

In the same sale I spotted this for £4. I’ve never been a Lumines guy, having bounced off a couple of times in the past. However, I’m very interested in the new Lumines Arise, so figured this was a cheap way of giving the gameplay another try before I spend £30+ on that one. Having played a couple of hours, I do like it, but it’s no Tetris.

Sektori – SteamDeck & PS5

This wasn’t really on my radar until a week or so before release. My friend Jake pointed it out, and just from the trailer footage I was interested. It launched to great reviews, and once I had confirmation that it was working on SteamDeck and also discovered that the dev was a former Housemarque employee, I jumped in. I soon after double dipped with the PS5 version, as not only was I enjoying the convenience of playing handheld, I really wanted to get it on the big screen, and the dock for my SteamDeck is somewhere in storage. Started making much more rapid progress on the PS5 version so will probably stick with that.

Cotton Fantasy – Nintendo Switch

This, and the next title are firmly in the “purchased because silly cheap on sale” categories. I haven’t played it yet, but the reviews looked good for this particular version. Worth a punt for £3.

Zool Redimensioned – PS5

We’d been talking about this on the Electronic Eggs podcast, and it popped up on sale for 97p. I’ll take that.

Games retired in November

Vampire Survivors: Ante Chamber – Xbox Series X

No sooner did I finish Ball x Pitt, than a huge new update for Vampire Survivors drops. I did immediately jump in and start hoovering up the new achievements for an hour or two. I think I’ve kind of lost track of which characters are for which content and what I actually need to do though. I think it’s time to put it on the shelf, at least until they add content from another IP I’m interested in.

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission if you buy something

October Games

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A month very much dominated by one game which kind of appeared from nowhere, completed it too, which is nice for my stats. Also I still played Animal Crossing everyday, but I refuse to include it anymore until Redd sells me the last museum statue I need for my collection.

Games completed this month

Ball X Pit – Xbox Series X

The game that took over my life this month in much the same way Vampire Survivors did when that appeared. I have managed to now roll credits. Think I’ll stick with it and see about getting 100% achievements.

Games played during October

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong – Nintendo Switch 2

Still chipping away at this. I had a good run of making progress but I’m stuck on a boss fight that needs me to sit down with the intention of playing for more than half an hour. Picking it up for a couple of tries at a time is not doing it.

Earthion – Nintendo Switch 2

Picked this up in September but forgot to include it in the blog post, I’ve only had one proper go on it. It’s a great game, but I want to play with an arcade stick, so it’s pretty much on hold until I get my Switch stick out of storage.

Sonic Origins Plus – Nintendo Switch 2

As with Earthion this was a September pick up. Although I have all the games on other systems, including solid ports on the Xbox, I fancied this collection for my Switch library. It’s nice that it has all the game gear roms as well. I’ve played a bit of Sonic 1 this month, but also started the new ‘campaign’ mode, which claims to just be all the games played through in order. Might try to make my way through that.

Miscellaneous wipEout Games – SteamDeck

As research/refresher for the wipEout episode of the Electronic Eggs podcast, I loaded a bunch of the games on my SteamDeck. Ended up mostly playing wipEout pulse on the PSP emulator though.

Ridge Racer 64 – Nintendo Switch Online

A pleasant surprise while we were discussing wipEout, I hadn’t realised this had been released as part of the included games in the Nintendo Switch Online program. This is one of the very few games I really liked on the N64, and I have enjoyed dipping back into it.

October Pickups

Wipeout Omega Collection – PS4/5

I originally owned this physically, but think I must have traded it in when it came to PS Plus, either that or it’s in my storage unit. When I went to play it for the podcast episode above, I discovered my PS Plus had expired, and when I looked through all the games in my library that needed it, this was the only game I was really missing out on. Well unless I get a sudden urge to play Street Fighter 5 anyway. It went on sale for £12, so I just grabbed it instead of renewing PS Plus. Winner.

Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn Edition – PS5

One from the 2025 list! Had been waiting for a decent sale on this, as I sold my copy of the game after I got the platinum trophy, and had been resisting having to buy it again to play the DLC. It dropped to £16 for this complete edition, which is much less than I sold the original game for, so that will do. Hopefully I’ll get to playing this before the end of the year now.

SNK Vs Capcom: Card Fighters’ Clash – Nintendo Switch

Wanted to pick this up for ages, and it’s the only game I actually want from the Neogeo Pocket volume 2 collection. I decided to stop being cheap and gave up waiting for a sale. It was only £7 and doesn’t appear to have ever been less than that. You can all thank me when it’s inevitably 50% off next month…

Games abandoned this month

Quilts and Cats of Calico – Xbox Series X

Still really like this port, but I don’t think I’ll get round to finishing the single player story / puzzle mode.

Mario Kart World – Nintendo Switch 2

Obviously I’ll keep dipping into this, especially once I get chance to play some local multiplayer. I don’t think I can be bothered to go through all the cups etc. though. The driving between the actual courses just isn’t fun. Will wait and see if it gets any changes in updates or DLC. Otherwise I think I need to pick up the new Sonic racing game.

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission if you buy something

September Games

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Nothing completed, and I spent too much money. I recognise this guy.

Games played during September

Animal Crossing – Nintendo Switch 2

Definitely haven’t been back to the Happy Home Paradise, but I now only need one art item, and one sea creature to finish the museum. I also finally crafted the giant robot, which I’ve wanted to do since I first got the recipe right back in the beginning.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Hollow Knight: Silksong – Nintendo Switch 2

I did buy this in September too, but I’ve played so much it needs to be in this section. It also led to another of the purchases below too. So far it’s everything I wanted from a Hollow Knight sequel. I need to find more regular time to put into it though. This is out on GamePass, but I knew I’d appreciate being able to play a mix of handheld and on TV, and I still don’t have many games that make use of the Switch 2 hardware.

Heretic & Hexen Remastered – Xbox Series X

I’ve only done the first level, but I did jump on and play a bit of Heretic after finishing the quake expansion last month. They are just as polished as I’d hoped.

September Pickups

Pinball VR – Quest 2

Possibly a slightly ill-informed purchase. I picked this up as I really missed playing the PSVR version. Then I realised I hadn’t got round to actually playing anything on the headset anyway and it was taking up space in the flat. It’s now moved into the storage unit for a bit, so won’t be playing anytime soon either. At least it’s easy to go and get next time the VR urge takes me.

8bitdo Ultimate 2 Controller – Switch 2

I rapidly discovered that the d-pad on my 8bitdo Pro2 controller I was using on my Switch 2 was not cutting it for Silksong. I couldn’t bring myself to pay the mighty amount for an official Nintendo Pro 2 controller so this new Ultimate 2 from 8bitdo* was the next best choice. It is superb though, and has fancy TMR sticks (which should mean no dreaded drift) and as much as I usually turn RGB stuff off, I like that the thumb sticks light up with the Switch colours.

Vaporwave Pinball – SteamDeck

Had my eye on this one for a while and it went on sale, very chilled game of pinball, and perfect on the SteamDeck.

Toaplan Arcade Collection 1 – Evercade

I knew the Evercade was going to be a rabbit hole, oh well. There aren’t loads of carts that I want, but I definitely wanted to grab some to get me started. This one has Zero Wing and Truxton on, both favourites that I can’t play while my mega drive & arcade machine are in storage.

XenoCrisis & Tanglewood – Evercade

Went for this as I remember it being a bit of an event when it first came out on Evercade, I did play a bit of XenoCrisis at the time on something, probably Steam or GamePass. They seems like perfect games to give a proper go of on this hardware.

Evercade VS-R & Tomb Raider Collection 1

Well that didn’t take long. I love my Super Pocket, but felt the need to be able to play these games on the TV too. I also really like that the VS system takes two carts at once, and it’s also a neat touch that with two carts in, the menu puts all the games from both onto one list. The Evercade is definitely scratching my retro itch. Oh and I got it with the Tomb Raider collection because it was a bargain for the VS-R bundle on funstock, and I was curious about how well they ran on Evercade. Amusingly I think I like playing these games best on the Super Pocket, and the two carts above on the TV.

Games abandoned this month

Bravely Default HD: Flying Fairy – Nintendo Switch 2

Think I need to accept that this has been retired again. I do own it physical but I don’t think I’ll trade it in yet, in case I’m inclined to pick it back up again, but for now it’s back on the shelf.

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission if you buy something

August Games

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A couple of completions for August, including going back to a Quake expansion I started forever ago.

Games completed this month

Quake: Dissolution of Eternity – Xbox Series X

With the surprise release of new Heretic & Hexen remakes on all consoles (and GamePass) I was reminded I never finished playing through the content on the Quake 1 & 2 releases. These updates to 90s FPS games are superb. I finished off Dissolution, which is the second of 2 official expansions that were released back in the day, really enjoyed it, including the surprise dragon. Now onto the modern expansions. Unless I get distracted and decide to play Heretic’s campaign first.

Herdling – Xbox Series X

Another game that appeared on GamePass from day one, this is from the team that made FAR: Lone Sails and FAR: Changing Tides. Both games that I loved, so I was looking forward to this. It’s a similar length game, only around 3 hours long, and while it is another enjoyable journey, it isn’t as much fun in the moment as the FAR games were. Enjoyed it, but glad I played it on GamePass rather than spending money on it.

Games played during August

Animal Crossing: NH: Happy Home Paradise – Nintendo Switch 2

Not sure if I’ve done much more on the Happy Home Paradise front, but playing Animal Crossing everyday continues. At this point I just want them to announce a new game, but I am so close to completing my museum now.

The Devil in Me – PS5

We’ve still been ticking along with this, but haven’t made as much progress as I’d expect. Hopefully get back to it in September properly.

Xenotilt Hostile Pinball Action - August Games

Xenotilt – SteamDeck

I was dabbling with my SteamDeck for something unrelated, and spotted this in my library that I had forgotten buying. Very pleasant surprise, so I dabbled with it for a bit. It does run well on the SteamDeck but it mostly made me miss playing pinball on a vertical screen.

August Pickups

Castlevania Requium – PS5

While I have been trying to pick up all the Castlevania collections on the Nintendo Switch, this compilation of two of the best Castlevania games, Symphony of the Night and Rondo of Blood, is exclusive to PS4/5. I think this is down to them being ports of the PSP versions of the games, and Sony probably have the rights to the emulator that is running them. It popped up on sale for £3.99 and I couldn’t resist. I have started to replay Symphony, but the surprise announcement that Silksong is coming the first week of September means I’ll probably drop that.

Earth Atlantis – Nintendo Switch

I hadn’t heard of this, but watching one of the ‘games coming soon’ presentations recently I saw Earth: Atlantis 2 which looked great. Discovered the first game available for next to nothing, and jumped in. I’ve had a quick play, it’s good fun but feels a bit more of a boss rush than a traditional shmup. I love the graphics too, sort of hand drawn original game boy vibes..

META Quest 2 VR Headset

Not sure I needed this, but my friend did me a deal and I have been wanting to play a bit of VR and all my other stuff is in storage. When I get my gaming pc back out, it should be able to stream my existing VR library to this headset. In the meantime, I’ve just picked up MYST from the Quest store so I can play that for the thousandth time and I might grab some pinball.

Hyper Mega Tech Super Pocket Taito Edition

Just squeezed in at the end of the month, and with a name worthy of a 90s Capcom fighting game, is this delightful little handheld games console. I’ve had my eye on these in the past, but always resisted as I have the games on the arcade cabinet, and although these are also fully compatible with the Evercade games library, I’ve never seen the need for one of those either. All that changed though with the announcement of a Llamasoft collection for the Evercade. Suddenly I had to have a way to play that.

Haven’t done any sponsored links for a while, but I did end up buying this from Amazon – despite my better judgement. Super Pocket Taito Edition*

Preordered this month

Llamasoft Collection – Evercade

No surprises given the above, but after buying my Taito system, I did preorder the Llamasoft Collection from Funstock.

*Links to Amazon are affiliate links and may earn me a small commission if you buy something

July Games

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Recorded my first completion on the Switch 2, which was nice.

Games completed this month

Pinball Spire – Nintendo Switch 2

This is a pretty short game, but a lot of fun. I did only buy this in July, but since I already finished it I didn’t bother including it in the pickups. Reminded me a lot of Sonic Spinball and now I have the urge to play that, might fire it up on the Nintendo Switch Online Mega Drive. Very much hoping Pinball Spire gets a sequel too.

Games played during July

Animal Crossing: NH: Happy Home Paradise – Nintendo Switch 2

Realised I now have access to this DLC since I got the family Nintendo Online with Expansion Pass for me and my partner when I bought my Switch 2. We’re still playing Animal Crossing everyday, and I’m occasionally making progress with this expansion content too.

Mario Kart World – Nintendo Switch 2

Still enjoying this, but the niggles are keeping me from playing it as much as I’d expect. Once a few more of my friends get the console I imagine I’ll start playing the online modes.

Split Fiction – Xbox Series X

This continues to be great, but progress has slowed down as we’ve started the game in the pickups collection below.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD – Nintendo Switch 2

Slightly concerned I may be going to bounce off this again, I’m a couple of chapters in at a boss fight. I’m getting a little frustrated with some of the difficulty though. Taking a bit of a break now and I think when I pick it back up I’m going to do some of the side quests to build up the other ‘jobs’ and a bit of xp.

July Pickups

The Devil in Me – PS5

Despite loving the first two Dark Pictures games, we found the third one to be a slog and gave up. This one had a much more promising synopsis though so I had been keeping an eye on it. Popped up on sale recently so we jumped in. We’ve only played the first hour or two but it’s great so far.

Brotato: Abyssal Terrors DLC – Xbox Series X

Got suckered into this with it being a Lovecraftian expansion, Brotato is always fun though, if not quite as good as Vampire Survivors. I’ve had a couple of goes on it and managed one clear, so at least it counts as bought & played…

Games retired this month

Monster Train 2 – PC GamePass

As suspected, I think I’m done with this now.

June Games

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June accidently became a very spendy month, but there was lots of gaming and even a completion.

Games completed this month

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Xbox Series X

So after last month, I did manage to go on and roll credits on this. Loads of post-game I could still do, but I was ready to move on for now. I was still struggling with The Paintress and in danger of abandoning the game altogether in favour of my new toy (spoiler) so I dropped the difficulty down to story mode for the remainder of the game. It’s a fantastic game, and if I don’t come back to do the extra stuff off my own back, I almost certainly will if they drop an expansion.

Games played during June

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2

Very much back on this one now. Another year of comedy timing where I didn’t play in March / April so I still can’t catch a spider crab, the only sea creature I’m missing. Chipping away at collecting the art for the museum though. Mostly I’m waiting for Nintendo to announce a new Animal Crossing.

Mario Kart World – Nintendo Switch 2

Yes, I got on board for day one (as below) and this game is mostly as good as they say. I don’t really like the open world stuff, which is broadly invisible anyway, but the weird driving between courses counting as laps of the race is odd. It’s generally great fun to play though so hopefully we’ll get some improvement via patch as it goes on.

Split Fiction – Xbox Series X

I picked this up as now I’ve moved in with my partner and things are settling down, we were ready for something new to play together. Split Fiction is superb, a worthy follow-up to It Takes Two. I’d assume we’re about half way through but not really sure.

Monster Train 2 – PC GamePass

I have played a little bit more of this, but it’s not really sticking. I’ll be surprised if I complete a run before this gets retired.

June Pickups

Orb Tower – SteamDeck

I’ve had my eye on this for a bit, as the premise of a roguelike Puzzle Bobble game was very appealing. Thanks to a sale and steam credit from the weird gift card things, I managed to get it for 22p. I completed one run on it, and it is really good fun, but unfortunately you can only aim with the mouse, which restricts you to the track pads on the SteamDeck. This feels clunky and sadly means I’m unlikely to stick with it.

Orbital Bullet – SteamDeck

Kind of broke my commitment to only buy games I’m going to immediately play, as I’ve picked it up and not touched it yet. However it was only £1 so not going to worry about it too much.

Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World

Despite talking myself out of pre-ordering the console, and mostly being convinced I didn’t need one, I do find myself owning a Nintendo Switch 2. I had decided I’d get one later when the hype had died down and they were readily available. Then I was thinking about a future Animal Crossing game and how we’ll need two consoles once that appears, and obviously it’s more sensible to spread that purchase and buy one sooner, and the next one when Animal Crossing comes out… Next thing I know, it’s Switch 2 launch day, a friend mentions Argos have day one stock available. I had a quick look online at my local store, and had one delivered by the end of the day. Oops.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD – Nintendo Switch 2

While I did bounce off the original version of this on the 3DS (for more on why, see my JRPG post) I am interested to give it another go. Mostly because of how much I enjoyed Bravely Default 2 and the two Octopath Traveller games which use the same Brave/Default system of gameplay. After finishing Clair Obscur I’m ready for a new JRPG on my new console. I was deciding between this and the Suikoden 1 & 2 remaster, and decided on Bravely Default as it’s exclusive to the console and Suikoden is on other platforms (and could even turn up on GamePass). It also didn’t hurt that it was only £33 brand new for the physical ‘Game Keycard’ release, which I’ll be able to resell if I end up hating it.

Mortal Kombat 1: Definitive Edition – Xbox Series X

As usual with these big fighting games, I like to wait until there is an edition that collects all the DLC characters for less than £20 total. I managed to get a key for this one for £17. I don’t think it’s as good as MK X or MK 11, but it’s fun enough. I’ll play through the story content and occasionally beat up my friends as Conan the Barbarian.

May Games

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A pretty light month while I was moving out of my flat, played a bit but didn’t finish anything sadly.

Games played during May

Vampire Survivors: Emerald Diorama – Xbox Series X

Played quite a bit more of this, I have finished some of the content, but still achievements and unlocks to go after. They have added a cross save function, which might see me also playing it on the SteamDeck now I can link my progress. We’ll see.

Quilts and Cats of Calico – Xbox Series X

Still haven’t played this as a local multiplayer game, but I have done a bit more of the solo content. There is a deceptively challenging puzzle game in there too.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Xbox Series X

This is pretty much where all my gaming time went this month. A phenomenal game that feels very much like Lost Odyssey (from my top 5 RPG list fame) but French. I had hoped I might even complete it in time for this post, but I am currently stuck on the boss at the end of Act 2. Really enjoying my time with it though and hopefully will go on and finish it.

Monster Train 2 – PC GamePass

Didn’t even realise this was coming, but it was a nice surprise as I’ve only recently been playing the first game. Initial impressions are that it’s more of the same – time will tell if I like the changes or not though.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch

Yeah. Sue me.

What’s been on the arcade?

As predicted, the arcade has gone to live in a new home until my fiancé and I get our own house with room for it.

Games retired in May

Monster Train – PC GamePass

Only really stopped playing this because the new one came straight to GamePass. It hasn’t gripped me quite the same, but it has taken me off this one.