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.