9th - Bayonetta 3 (Switch) - 5/10
13th - Silent Hill 2 Remake (PS5) - 8/10
18th - Forza Horizon 4 (Series X) - 9/10
19th - Forza Horizon 4: Fortune Island (Series X) - 7/10
19th - Forza Horizon 4: LEGO Speed Championship (Series X) - 7/10
21st - Teleforum (PC) - 6/10
22nd - Grand Theft Auto III: Definitive Edition (Series X) - 4/10
23rd - Mouthwashing (PC) - 8/10

I bought the ultimate edition of Forza Horizon 4 before it was delisted and decided to "finish" what was left from when I played it a few years back. There isn't a clear definition of finishing Horizon 4 like there is with 5, at least as far as I made out, so I managed to clean up the base game plus the two expansions in 3-4 day window.

I also heard the GTA Definitive Edition trilogy got a big patch that answered the majority of complaints people had with it a few years ago, so I thought it would be worth checking out now. I'm sure VC & SA are still going to be fun revisiting, but 3 was an absolute slog that was unpleasant to play for most of its runtime.

Currently trying to pick a short game or two to finish before Indiana Jones releases next week.

09/07 - Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) - 7/10
13/07 - Robocop: Rogue City (Series X) - 7/10
14/07 - Deep Beyond (Steam Deck) - 4/10
17/07 - Travis Strikes Again (PS5) - 4/10
18/07 - All Our Asias (Deck) - 3/10
20/07 - Bramble: The Mountain King (Deck) - 5/10
20/07 - CLICKOLDING (Deck) - 5/10
23/07 - Kena: Bridge of Sprits (PS5) - 6/10
27/07 - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5) - 7/10
29/07 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (Series X) - 6/10
31/07 - Gears 5 (Series X) - 6/10

Maybe the worst month of gaming in my life (just a tad dramatic)? Either that or I’ve become a lot more critical about what I play.

Currently just about to finish Rise of the Tomb Raider on my steam deck.

05 - Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (PS5) - 10/10 BEST
10 - Buckshot Roulette (Steam Deck) - 6/10
17 - God of War: Ragnarok (PS5) - 8/10
17 - Venba (Series X) - 6/10 WORST
19 - Still Wakes the Deep (Series X) - 9/10
21 - OlliOlli World (Deck) - 8/10
24 - Uncharted 4 (Legacy of Thieves) (PS5) - 9/10
26 - En Garde! (Deck) - 6/10

I ended up buying a PS5 this right at the end of May; there are now enough exclusives (I don’t have a pc that can run the ports) released and upcoming that this felt like an okay purchase. I also bought Helldivers 2 but forgot I’d need to pay to play online so I have not checked that out yet.

I’m currently about 4 hours into Metroid Prime Remastered on Switch and very much enjoying my time so far. Hopefully remasters of 2 and 3 are not too far off.

19/03 - Kirby and the Forgotten Land (Switch) - 8/10
23/03 - Condemned 2: Bloodshot (360 Emulation on Steam Deck) - 5/10
27/03 - The Saboteur (Steam Deck) - 7/10
28/03 - Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter (Series X) - 6/10

I don’t think Condemned ever stood a chance. After literal years of trying different emulation methods on different hardware, and considering even buying a PS3 just to play this (plus a few other exclusives, I’m not that mad), I eventually got it working in an acceptable state with an Xbox 360 emulator on my Steam Deck. Even without the hype, I think this game is incredibly underwhelming, especially when considering the strength of the first entry. If only there was an easier way to play this nowadays.
Speaking of 360/PS3 exclusives I couldn’t play, I was very surprised to see The Saboteur being relisted on Steam out of nowhere. This was one of my favourite games when I was younger and I’m glad more games are being preserved like this.

I’ll take Fahrenheit if it’s still on offer :)

I have a couple codes for games in this months humble bundle choice I’m not interested in:

Red Lantern 0XLLP-4HXWK-I2A6Z
Rouge Book 0XJ77-CRTV2-P988C

DM me to let me know if you’ve redeemed one so I can cross it off :)

03 - The Quarry (Steam Deck) - 7/10
Nice little narrative horror game to play over Halloween, if a bit predictable. I got this as part of Humble Choice.

04 - Alan Wake 2 (Series X) - 8/10
A massive improvement in my opinion to Alan Wake 1 in narrative and presentation, but I think it’s a step back in terms of gameplay when compared to Control.

04-05 - Frog Detective 1-3 (Series X) - 5/10
Not really for me, but they were quick and on Game Pass so no harm done.

07 - Parappa the Rapper 2 (PS2 Emulated) - 6/10
A fun little rhythm game. I couldn’t get the first to run properly via emulation as there was too much input delay. A bit easy for me as a rhythm game fan but that’s besides the point.

10 - Bayonetta 2 (Switch) - 8/10
I’m not very good at these types of games, but the insane spectacle throughout is worth the price of entry, even if I did have to play on button-mashy baby mode.

12 - Jusant (Series X) - 7/10
A short, almost meditative experience slightly pared down by some janky climbing mechanics. Played through Game Pass.

16 - Klonoa 1 - Phantasy Reverie Series (Deck) - 6/10
I think I prefer the PlayStation original, but I also found that quite grating towards the end. I’ve heard better things about the second game so I’m looking forward to trying that out.

25 - The Last of Us Part 2 (PS4) - 8/10
This is a hard one for me to formalise my opinions about. I really was not having fun at the beginning, but stuck with it and started to enjoy it more once I reached the halfway point. The story is a bit dodgy in parts but nowhere near as poorly written as some would lead you to believe.

28 - El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron (PS3 Emulated) - 6/10
A very strange game. Almost non-existent gameplay taking place in incredibly beautiful locations. I wouldn’t say this is an essential play, but worth checking out.

Retired:
Parappa the Rappa (PS1) - Too much input lag to play, making a rhythm game essentially unplayable.
Trepang2 (Deck) - It was okay, but I don’t think it was worth what I paid so I refunded it. I’ll probably try it again once it’s cheaper.
Luigi’s Mansion 2 (3DS) - Too janky for me and ended up getting frustrated with the controls.

03 - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (Series X) - 9/10
03 - Halo 3 (Steam Deck) - 9/10
06 - Resident Evil 4 Remake: Separate Ways (Series X) - 8/10
07 - Halo 3: ODST (Deck) - 8/10
17 - Halo: Reach (Deck) - 10/10
20 - Doom 2016 (Series X) - 7/10
25 - Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (Series X) - 7/10
26 - Halo 4 (Deck) - 5/10

I think I'm all Halo'd out for the time being. I was planning on replaying all of them but replaying Halo 4 and having a worse time than I remember previously having with it, I think I'll just call it with the games in the MCC. I'm currently playing Alan Wake 2 on my Series X and The Quarry on my Steam Deck - I'm enjoying both so far and both fit the spooky halloween vibe. I probably should touch some of my other consoles too at some point as its been Xbox or Steam Deck entirely for the last couple months.

11 - Dave the Diver (Steam Deck) - 7/10
18 - Starfield (Series X) - 8/10
20 - Prodeus (Series X) - 8/10
20 - Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Steam Deck) - 7/10
22 - The Callisto Protocol (Series X) - 5/10
27 - Halo 2 Anniversary (Steam Deck) - 8/10

I'm currently playing through each Halo again in release date order, currently through the MCC, and Halo 3: ODST is up next. I'm also about 30 mins into Resi4: Separate Ways, and I think once that's done I'll finally have a break from current releases after Starfield and Phantom Liberty to catch up on some of the backlog - I've got two months now worth of Humble Choice games to try out on my Steam Deck so I should probably start with those!

12 - Steamworld Dig 2 (Switch) - 7/10
14 - Nier: Automata (Series X) - 6/10
15 - Aperture Desk Job (Steam Deck) - 6/10
17 - Binary Domain (Steam Deck) - 6/10
20 - We Love Katamari + Royal Reverie (Switch) - 10/10
23 - Deathspank (Steam Deck) - 7/10
26 - Ghostwire: Tokyo (Series X) - 7/10
29 - Spec Ops: The Line (Steam Deck) - 10/10

I finally caved and bought a Steam Deck this month, so I’ve managed to make a small dent in my PC backlog that seems to keep growing despite my laptop that I used for gaming barely holding it together. However, I think a bulk of my time spent with the deck has been dedicated to messing around and tinkering with emulation and the like, despite not really trying any of it out just yet. I’m very glad I did buy one though, especially as I am not planning on using it for current-gen AAA games - why play a flawed version when I have a Series X already.

I’m currently about 25% through Pandoras Star by Peter F. Hamilton. It probably wasn’t the best idea to start this after just finishing The Way of Kings, another 1000+ page book, but I am very much enjoying what I have read so far. It’s rare to see any kind of media with such scope on a universal scale (the latter half of the Three Body trilogy comes to mind) and I’m looking forward to what comes next.

01 - Crysis 3 (Series X) - 5/10
05 - XIII (PC) - 6/10
10 - No More Heroes (Switch) - 8/10
12 - Terminator: Resistance (Series X) - 7/10
14 - Dying Light 2 (Series X) - 7/10
17 - Destiny 2: The Witch Queen (Series X) - 7/10
29 - Cult of the Lamb (Series X) - 7/10
30 - Destiny 2: Lightfall (Series X) - 7/10

Retired:
Half Life (PC)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)

I'm currently making my way through Tears of the Kingdom. I'm not enjoying it as much as BotW so far, as for the most part it just feels like playing the same game again, but I'll continue to slowly chip away at it.

I’ve started getting Edge magazine and Retro Gamer monthly as an attempt to drag myself away from electronics for a bit. I also think it’s good to support gaming print media before it completely goes under.

Bookwise, I’ve been thinking of getting back into the Stormlight series by Brandon Sanderson. I read books 1&2 ~10 years ago now so I’m thinking I should start from scratch (especially cause they’re all so massive)

I'm back again for another round. Go ahead and pick a game from my backlog.

I’ll recommend Soma for something short and Witcher 2 if you fancy something longer (I don’t think you particularly need to play the Witcher series in order, I certainly didn’t)

05 - Split/Second: Velocity (Xbox 360) - 6/10
09 - Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Switch) - 7/10
16 - Resident Evil 4 2023 (Series X) - 10/10
17 - Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk (PC) - 6/10
18 - The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog (PC) - 6/10
22 - Fatum Betula (Switch) - 5/10
22 - Valiant Hearts: Coming Home (iOS) - 6/10
23 - Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment (Series X) - 8/10
25 - Stranglehold (PC) - 7/10

07/03 - Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Series X) - 8/10
10/03 - Ryse: Son of Rome (Series X) - 7/10
14/10 - God of War 2 (PS Vita) - 8/10
17/03 - Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS) - 5/10
20/03 - Freedom Fighters (PC) - 6/10
28/03 - Hypnospace Outlaw (Switch) - 6/10

A bit of a random assortment of consoles and genres this month. I’m always happy when I have an excuse to use my neglected handhelds. I heard that playing GoW 2 on the HD vita collection was a bit rough but I had no issues.

07/01 - Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (Switch) - 8/10
09/01 - Limbo (Switch) - 7/10
11/01 - Steamworld Dig (Switch) - 7/10
13/01 - Resident Evil: Village - Shadows of Rose (Series X) - 6/10
13/01 - Emily is Away (PC) - 7/10
14/01 - Iron Lung (Switch) - 8/10
14/01 - Before Your Eyes (Mobile) - 8/10
14/01 - How Fish is Made (PC) - 5/10
15/01 - The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe (Series X) - 7/10
20/01 - Dragon Age: Origins (Xbox 360) - 8/10
23/01 - Papers Please (PC) - 7/10
25/01 - Singularity (PC) - 7/10
31/01 - Hi-Fi Rush (Series X) - 9/10

I think saying How Fish is Made is the worst playthrough of the month is a bit harsh, as it was free and like 15 minutes long. I was definitely most disappointed with the Shadows of Rose DLC for RE: Village. It felt like a very cheap asset flip and certainly not the price.

If you’re worried about running out of time to finish it, I’d go with botw. This took me the least amount of time out of the three (~50hrs). I also think you might also get a bit burnt out trying to finish P5 in a month. But they are three of my favourite games of all time so any choice is gonna be great :)

03 - Coffee Talk (Series X) - 7/10
05 - Toree 3D (Switch) - 6/10
07 - Pentiment (Series X) - 9/10
12 - NORCO (Series X) - 7/10
19 - Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury (Switch) - 6/10 for 3D World, 8/10 for Bowsers Fury
20 - Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze (Switch) - 8/10
21 - Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Series X) - 6/10
27 - Chop Goblins (PC) - 6/10
27 - Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk (PC) - 6/10

Highlight of the month is absolutely Pentiment, and while it probably wasnt the worst I played this month, the most disappointing was Super Mario 3D World. I’m quite tired of the repeated Mario formula at this point unless it’s an entry that actually attempts to spice it up like Galaxy or Odyssey.
Im also currently about halfway through the first Danganronpa as I have some time off over Christmas and I’m enjoying it quite a lot.

Not including any replays, my top 5 completions this year were:

1. Elden Ring - One of the most gorgeous and epic open world games I have ever played. An almost perfect experience that consistently kept me hooked for 80+ hours.
2. Cyberpunk 2077 - After holding off completely until the next gen update earlier this year, I’m glad to know that the game under the bugs was very enjoyable and well written. It’s not often nowadays that I have enough time or patience to 100% an open world game after completion.
3. Ghost of Tsushima - Essentially the generic Ubisoft sandbox model perfected with a beautiful backdrop and unique setting. The combat also never got old and was always fun to just wonder and see what turns up.
4. Pentiment - Admittedly not for everyone, but I loved this. Beautiful artwork and an intelligently written world and story kept me heavily invested in even the smallest of side characters throughout.
5. Disco Elysium - Another entry with incredible writing, even if it was a bit too high-brow for me in some places. This, alongside Elden Ring and Pentiment, are great examples of “games as an art”.

Likewise, my least favourite were:

1. Kentucky Route Zero - Pretentious drivel that did absolutely nothing for me.
2. Mafia 2: Definitive Edition - Specifically the PS4 version. This ran terribly on my base model, which is no excuse for a 10+ year old game, and entirely soured my experience with it. It’s a shame as I remember this being very enjoyable when I played it back on the 360.
3. Call of Duty: Ghosts - An unavoidable effect of trying to play every CoD game is having to eventually deal with the lesser entries in the franchise.
4. The Artful Escape - One of the most boring games I played this year. Considering the scope of the plot, this should’ve been much more enjoyable.
5. Resident Evil: Revelations - Felt exactly like what you’d expect a port of a 3DS game to play like on a home console. This is incredibly clunky, which I can excuse in older RE games, but couldn’t for some reason with this.

01 - Paratopic (Switch) - 5/10
02 - The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile (PC) - 6/10
04 - Killzone: Mercenary (Vita) - 6/10
04 - Full Throttle Remastered (Series X) - 6/10
07 - Jazzpunk (PC) - 7/10
08 - The Hex (PC) - 7/10
13 - LocoRoco (PSP) - 6/10
18 - Tearaway (Vita) - 8/10
19 - Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (360) - 7/10
21 - Shovel Knight (Series X) - 9/10
22 - Call of Duty 3 (360) - 6/10
24 - Entropy Zero (PC) - 5/10
30 - Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - 7/10

Absolutely blazed through my backlog by sorting it by shortest to beat. I think the longest game I played was like 4 hours lol. I am a bit worried though that I've now wiped out all the short games and I'll be demotivated to finish the rest of my backlog when I see they're all 20+ hours. I'm glad I got to play my vita a lot this month too, as I've not really touched it since getting it earlier this year.

02 - Call of Duty: United Offensive (PC) - 6/10
15 - Deathloop (Series X) - 7/10
17 - Scorn (Series X) - 7/10
27 - A Plague Tale: Requiem (Series X) - 7/10

Big month for game pass launches, but nothing that particularly stood out for me. I was especially disappointed with Plague Tale, it felt a lot more bloated than the first entry.
Also failed my attempt to play every CoD campaign before MW2 came out. I only have a handful left, so I'll still try and complete this ridiculous challenge.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty 3
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Cult of the Lamb
Terminator Resistance
Resident Evil 0
Duke Nukem 3D Anniversary

I'm trying to finish every Call of Duty released so far after realising I'd done most of them anyway. Not sure why I'm doing this cause they're a bit crap on the whole but oh well. I've also been meaning to get Alba for quite some time now on Switch cause it seems like a perfect handheld game, but I've never seen it come down in price, so I ended up just getting it on Xbox instead.

02 - Touch My Katamari (Vita) - 7/10
02 - Call of Duty: Ghosts (Series X) - 5/10
06 - Attack of the Friday Monsters! (3DS) - 7/10
09 - Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Series X) - 6/10
10 - Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Series X) - 7/10
10 - Kirby 64 (Switch) - 6/10
14 - Stray (PS4) - 8/10
19 - Ghost of Tsushima (PS4) - 10/10
20 - Spider Man: Miles Morales (PS4) - 8/10
22 - Mafia: Definitive Edition (PS4) - 8/10
24 - Heavy Rain (PS4) - 7/10
25 - Infamous: First Light (PS4) - 7/10
27 - Mafia 2: Definitive Edition - 4/10
28 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360) - 6/10
30 - South Park: The Stick of Truth (Series X) - 9/10

Had a bit of a mad one this month. I got a month of the PS+ game pass thingy and wanted to smash out all the games I wanted to play off it before the month ended, hence two weeks of nothing but PS4 completions. I think it's safe to say I got my moneys worth from it lol. I also tried a new setup of having two games on the go at once: one on a handheld (switch, 3ds, vita) and one on anything I'd have to sit at a desk to play. Hopefully this means I get more handheld completions cause I really wanna use those consoles more. Obviously getting PS+ kinda ruined that plan but I'm gonna try again now. I've just started Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story on my 3DS so we'll see if this plan sticks.

04/04 - Spyro the Dragon 1 (Reignited) - Switch - 8/10
10/04 - Guardians of the Galaxy - Series X - 8/10
12/04 - Devil May Cry 1 (HD) - Series X - 7/10
17/04 - God of War - PS2 - 8/10
18/04 - Kirby: Planet Robobot - 3DS - 8/10
19/04 - Kentucky Route Zero - Series X - 4/10
20/04 - Kane & Lynch 2 - 360 - 5/10
26/04 - Kingdom Hearts 2 Final Mix - PS4 - 8/10
27/04 - Resident Evil 3 - Series X - 7/10
30/04 - Fallout 3 - 360 - 9/10

Retired:
Far Cry 6 - I realised pretty early in that these Ubisoft games aren't for me anymore, and I thought there was no point making myself carry on just for the sake of completing it
Resident Evil: Revelations - I couldnt get to grips with the 3DS controls. Might try this again sometime with the HD port
The Suffering - I was really enjoying this, but the PC version kept crashing for me even with patches installed. I might try this again but using PCSX2 and see if that is any more stable