What Games Are You Playing?
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Donna Allen
Hikikomori
just started playing Black Myth Wukong and feel not very familiar, losing to the black bear boss. But the game is very good, and the game sound effect is great.
Spark_Heal
Dandy Guy, in Space
Finally started Persona 3 Reload after buying it months ago. I have already played a previous version so I have set it to Merciless difficulty. This has led to many defeats and much lost progress but that's mainly because of poor planning, ignoring better equipment that is available and biting off more than I can chew. So far it's been a good time. My next move should probably be focusing on the schoolyard adventures instead of slugging it out against monsters every night.
I played some of Sly Cooper too. The new trophy list is very different. The PS3 set was basically just a checklist rewarding completion. The new trophies are a mix of those goals and challenges in certain levels. Some of them are quite force you to look at a level really differently than normal and find other solutions to platforming. I've only done the first world of levels but it's helped me complete the time trails for the first time ever.
D1tchd1gger
Shinigami
Completed a set of runs with one deck on Balatro. Each deck has a different rule, extra hand or extra discard or extra cash at the start. Each run you complete you can go up a difficulty level which takes things away or puts a status on some jokers like limiting the number of hands it'll work for. Including the first run there's 8 levels to beat.
I’ve now completed both Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Amongst Thieves and platinumed them too. This process took a few extra hours each as there’s a couple of more grind-heavy trophies to obtain. I’d say 3 is my favourite of the trilogy as the maps were less oversized and I enjoyed the new (and returning) character additions. Not sure when I’ll get around to Thieves in Time as I don’t have the space to boot up my PS3 at the moment.
My next title to play is Mafia Definitive Edition for which I’ve played through the first few missions and picked up a handful of collectibles for- so far so good but the driving is clunky and the 30fps cap is more noticeable than I was anticipating.
My next title to play is Mafia Definitive Edition for which I’ve played through the first few missions and picked up a handful of collectibles for- so far so good but the driving is clunky and the 30fps cap is more noticeable than I was anticipating.
Type_VII
Completely Average High School Student
Playing through Donkey Kong Country Returns HD on Switch and Tales of Graces f Remaster on PS5 at the minute. Really loving both.
Played them both first time round on Wii in 2010 and it's really nice revisiting them. Tales especially as Graces has been my favourite in the series since first playing it, and that opinion has only been solidified on playing this remaster.
Played them both first time round on Wii in 2010 and it's really nice revisiting them. Tales especially as Graces has been my favourite in the series since first playing it, and that opinion has only been solidified on playing this remaster.
In case you missed it, I've compiled all of my 2024 completed game write-ups on my blog - Part 1 & Part 2.
Here's my January progress! Two games including their DLC expansions which is a first in a long time since I've decided to cover them. A spoiler for Game #3 but I am working my way through Alan Wake II. Sadly was not able to get the game done in time for January because of the DLC expansions but at least it's got the Platinum trophy covered!
#01 - Alan Wake Remastered (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: June 2023
#02 - Control Ultimate Edition (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: June 2023
My backlog so far:
The 2025 '40' Games Goal:
Here's my January progress! Two games including their DLC expansions which is a first in a long time since I've decided to cover them. A spoiler for Game #3 but I am working my way through Alan Wake II. Sadly was not able to get the game done in time for January because of the DLC expansions but at least it's got the Platinum trophy covered!
#01 - Alan Wake Remastered (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: June 2023
The first game of the year is a revisit to a cult classic psychological thriller that came out back in 2010 for the Xbox 360. Developed by Remedy, the folks behind Max Payne and Control, Alan Wake was a very interesting and different experience with a concept that sounds like it came from a Kingdom Hearts game but placed in a Deadly Premonition/Twin Peaks style scenario.
A few years ago, Remedy remastered Alan Wake for modern platforms and in preparation for my playthroughs for both Control and Alan Wake II, I wanted to return to the world of Bright Falls with this new release. I played the original on Xbox 360 when it first came out and got all of the achievements including its two expansions; The Signal and The Writer, both continuing the story. For this revisit I also aimed to achieve all of the trophies which I managed to do and it was once again a really fun time going back to the game and seeing it with new improvements.
Looking back at comparison videos, there's a lot of changes applied to this remaster. The character models have been upgraded, with Alan Wake's look more consistent for Alan Wake II, and the gameplay is still as good as the original with better performance. The remaster presents the game at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second for the most part, as the cutscenes remain at 30 which I'm perfectly fine with to capture that cinematic look however there were a number of occasions where these segments are pretty choppy and stutter so it's possible the rendering wasn't perfect for the PS5 version. Outside of that, it's an otherwise really good remaster and holds up very well.
Alan Wake's gameplay is really interesting because of how it handles the situations Alan himself lands himself in. You need to use your flashlight to remove the shield that each Taken, the enemies of the game, have on them in order to be able to take them out with your weapons. This is a third-person shooter as well with no melee mechanics but you can ultilise flashguns, flash grenades and a flare to protect yourself in situations where you want to run away or feel overwhelmed by everything around you. The Taken are afraid of the light so its your job to make use of that to not only defeat them but to progress through the game. I love the choice you can make in combat to which you can decide if you wish to fight the Taken in the moment or run away to the next destination so that you can preserve the ammo and weapons for the next encounter.
Outside of Taken you also have poltergeist type enemies who will try to fling themselves onto you and you want to destroy them to avoid awkward scenarios where you could easily end up being trapped because running away doesn't always work in many situations. There are also birds who appear in flocks that want to dive into you just to be a pain. The Taken enemies in general have a distorted sound effect that sounds great to enhance their possessed voices and they say random stuff that can sound comical at times but fits with the character that they used to be.
The story for Alan Wake is divided into episodes to resemble a television series, with our main lead being a novelist inspired by many thriller book writers so there's references and tones that resemble other mediums including Twin Peaks that I had mentioned. The voice actor for Max Payne also makes an appearance which is a nice nod to those games. When you start the next episode you also get a recap of what happened in the previous episode, a great way to help those who took a break from playing the game.
Three difficulty modes are available; Easy, Normal and Nightmare. Now this I would argue is actually a typo. In the original Xbox 360 release, the difficulty modes were Normal, Hard and Nightmare and even the trophy list resembles that so what I did was play through the game on Normal mode which was actually Hard mode, followed by a new playthrough on Nightmare. The two modes are pretty much the same except Alan will take more damage and the enemies will take a bit longer to take down for both flashing the light against them but also shooting them. For newcomers you want to stick to Easy but if you played the original version, Normal mode is good.
In terms of flaws for the actual game, I do think some parts throughout have too much padding just to make the episode feel long but there are great moments throughout. The platforming is also not particularly great but thankfully it's only in small portions of the game, especially with The Writer expansion. Outside of that, as mentioned earlier, the technical issues with the cutscenes for the remaster did feel jarring.
Now let's talk briefly about the expansions; The Signal and The Writer. Both of these are fairly short, about an hour each, that continue the events of the previous game and while they do provide some more context, the ending overall is still a cliffhanger of sorts so I am curious to see how Alan Wake II addresses this.
Overall, Alan Wake Remastered is still a great time and had a blast revisiting the game after 15 years. Playtime was about 8-10 hours for the base game with collectibles and various trophies picked up, followed by 5-6 hours for a Nightmare playthrough and another 2-3 hours going through The Signal and The Writer with all of its trophies. I had to re-attempt The Writer numerous times to get that trophy where you need to complete the episode in one sitting without dying or restarting checkpoints because of the platforming content.
One more thing to mention is that the trophies have a few hiccups. One notable trophy is for Episode 5 where you need to survive a whole chapter without dying and while I achieved this first-time on Normal mode (Hard difficulty), I didn't get the trophy because I paused a few times. So when you attempt the game, don't pause and you should be fine.
A few years ago, Remedy remastered Alan Wake for modern platforms and in preparation for my playthroughs for both Control and Alan Wake II, I wanted to return to the world of Bright Falls with this new release. I played the original on Xbox 360 when it first came out and got all of the achievements including its two expansions; The Signal and The Writer, both continuing the story. For this revisit I also aimed to achieve all of the trophies which I managed to do and it was once again a really fun time going back to the game and seeing it with new improvements.
Looking back at comparison videos, there's a lot of changes applied to this remaster. The character models have been upgraded, with Alan Wake's look more consistent for Alan Wake II, and the gameplay is still as good as the original with better performance. The remaster presents the game at 4K resolution with 60 frames per second for the most part, as the cutscenes remain at 30 which I'm perfectly fine with to capture that cinematic look however there were a number of occasions where these segments are pretty choppy and stutter so it's possible the rendering wasn't perfect for the PS5 version. Outside of that, it's an otherwise really good remaster and holds up very well.
Alan Wake's gameplay is really interesting because of how it handles the situations Alan himself lands himself in. You need to use your flashlight to remove the shield that each Taken, the enemies of the game, have on them in order to be able to take them out with your weapons. This is a third-person shooter as well with no melee mechanics but you can ultilise flashguns, flash grenades and a flare to protect yourself in situations where you want to run away or feel overwhelmed by everything around you. The Taken are afraid of the light so its your job to make use of that to not only defeat them but to progress through the game. I love the choice you can make in combat to which you can decide if you wish to fight the Taken in the moment or run away to the next destination so that you can preserve the ammo and weapons for the next encounter.
Outside of Taken you also have poltergeist type enemies who will try to fling themselves onto you and you want to destroy them to avoid awkward scenarios where you could easily end up being trapped because running away doesn't always work in many situations. There are also birds who appear in flocks that want to dive into you just to be a pain. The Taken enemies in general have a distorted sound effect that sounds great to enhance their possessed voices and they say random stuff that can sound comical at times but fits with the character that they used to be.
The story for Alan Wake is divided into episodes to resemble a television series, with our main lead being a novelist inspired by many thriller book writers so there's references and tones that resemble other mediums including Twin Peaks that I had mentioned. The voice actor for Max Payne also makes an appearance which is a nice nod to those games. When you start the next episode you also get a recap of what happened in the previous episode, a great way to help those who took a break from playing the game.
Three difficulty modes are available; Easy, Normal and Nightmare. Now this I would argue is actually a typo. In the original Xbox 360 release, the difficulty modes were Normal, Hard and Nightmare and even the trophy list resembles that so what I did was play through the game on Normal mode which was actually Hard mode, followed by a new playthrough on Nightmare. The two modes are pretty much the same except Alan will take more damage and the enemies will take a bit longer to take down for both flashing the light against them but also shooting them. For newcomers you want to stick to Easy but if you played the original version, Normal mode is good.
In terms of flaws for the actual game, I do think some parts throughout have too much padding just to make the episode feel long but there are great moments throughout. The platforming is also not particularly great but thankfully it's only in small portions of the game, especially with The Writer expansion. Outside of that, as mentioned earlier, the technical issues with the cutscenes for the remaster did feel jarring.
Now let's talk briefly about the expansions; The Signal and The Writer. Both of these are fairly short, about an hour each, that continue the events of the previous game and while they do provide some more context, the ending overall is still a cliffhanger of sorts so I am curious to see how Alan Wake II addresses this.
Overall, Alan Wake Remastered is still a great time and had a blast revisiting the game after 15 years. Playtime was about 8-10 hours for the base game with collectibles and various trophies picked up, followed by 5-6 hours for a Nightmare playthrough and another 2-3 hours going through The Signal and The Writer with all of its trophies. I had to re-attempt The Writer numerous times to get that trophy where you need to complete the episode in one sitting without dying or restarting checkpoints because of the platforming content.
One more thing to mention is that the trophies have a few hiccups. One notable trophy is for Episode 5 where you need to survive a whole chapter without dying and while I achieved this first-time on Normal mode (Hard difficulty), I didn't get the trophy because I paused a few times. So when you attempt the game, don't pause and you should be fine.
#02 - Control Ultimate Edition (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: June 2023
Keeping the Remedy universe train going, the next game I ventured through is their third-person science fiction shooter Control which is one that I had heard very little of outside of knowing it had ties to Alan Wake.
Originally released for the eighth generation of consoles before being remastered for PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X, I picked up the physical version for PS5 at the same time as Alan Wake Remastered and wanted to revisit that gem before starting this, especially to be in the loop on the world's lore and it was worth the trip. Control is a very fascinating game in terms of both presentation and world-building.
This game is very sci-fi and is also unique with its aesthetic. The design of each layer of content is superb, with regular hallways to big facilities. The best way to describe the look and feel of this game is that it's basically a mix of Dredd and Half-Life together with Remedy's classic gameplay from their previous games, because you're basically in a building that's on lockdown but everything inside is like an experimental gone wrong with enemies of unknown origin spawning in with just your levitating abilities and a shapeshifting gun to fight them off.
Also pretty good were the character models. They went for a realistic look but holds up pretty well, though dialogue and expressions can look a bit odd from time to time. But the best part for me is how they manage to add in live-action content through the usage of lore sprinkled throughout the game. The game explains its story and context through TVs and projected imagery which were fantastic to watch and really engaging, adds another layer to the sci-fi style they were pursuing. I also really liked the cutscenes as they transition from one story mission to another.
The collectibles throughout the game also held value with really intriguing backstories and context for the employees of the Federal Bureau of Control, which is the game's location, and what they have been doing dealing with the supernatural and unknown entities, whether its an object that's possessed or bizarre beings that are trying to kill you. The side missions are optional but some had some interesting ideas, for example you encounter a person who has to stare at a possessed fridge otherwise it would kill them and another where you need to get rid of some deadly mold that tastes like sweets. But for the most part they are pretty much fetch-quests of sorts. There's also some timed alert missions which is just 'take out these group of people' within a time limit and they do appear even during story missions which can be annoying, but you don't need to worry about them.
The story starts off strong and paced pretty well, but as the story missions progress, it does land on a rather sudden end-point. It's like building up to something huge and it decides to simplify it at the last second. In fairness it's not as bad as it sounds because it does wrap up some key moments. The game's lore and concepts were so interesting that I wanted to know more about what was going on, and while the expansions The Foundation and Altered World Events added to that, there's still more that needs to be explored so the game doesn't have any form of proper closure, but thankfully Remedy did confirm Control 2 is in the works so that's a relief.
In terms of combat, this is a third-person shooter where your gun can shape-shift into different modes. It's basically like owning different weapons but they are combined together. You can wield two types of modes at once, and these include a shotgun type, a sniper type or even a grenade launcher of sorts. They can all be upgraded and have attachments to improve its performance. You can also add more abilities for your character to improve your survival during combat. This game doesn't have regenerative health so you'll need to pick up energy from downed enemies to recover, which works well but it's basically saying you shouldn't rush otherwise you will die a lot. You will eventually have levitation and telepathic abilities which is where the game starts to become more fun as you progress but it can be repetitive from time to time. Fortunately the combat felt fast-paced so it wasn't a massive issue for the most part.
In terms of enemy variety they all share the same design but do have different styles to make you run around more during combat and try out different approaches. For example there's enemies that will be in the air and shooting with certain weapons wouldn't work and telepathic abilities don't always land. There's also a random ball of energy that you can't kill but they don't appear often so it's not a major threat.
The difficulty is challenging but doable and you can make your way through the game without too much issue. It is recommended that you upgrade your abilities, weapons and add-on slots as you progress otherwise you will struggle. Especially considering the two expansions will pull all sorts of punches against you if you're not strong enough.
Now let's talk briefly about the expansions. The Foundation is a big area with some interesting ideas, though I felt the pacing was inconsistent with a fair amount of dragged out parts here and there. The new abilities were pretty cool but they only work in this new area. There's a cool retro moment which was neat and one side mission put the emphasis on darkness to a new level which was challenging. This takes place after the events of the main game and it still doesn't conclude the overall story.
Altered World Events is a very cool crossover with Remedy's Alan Wake. This does take place after the events of Alan Wake's expansions so there will be spoilers of that if you've not played that game before here (don't worry I won't talk spoilers here), but the general idea is that this expansion introduces darkness and an enemy that is deadly if you don't stay in the light. A lot of cool ideas and has a mini-game where you can fight hordes of enemies which is cool. This expansion sets up the events of Alan Wake II so I recommend playing this beforehand.
Control Ultimate Edition is a pretty solid package of interesting sci-fi concepts, great gameplay mechanics and intrigue to its lore and world-building. The main game took about 12 hours to complete its story and most of the side content, with an additional 4 hours each for the expansions. All of the trophies were picked up as they were manageable within the timeframe and the Platinum trophy. The reveal trailer was all I needed to get into this game and I recommend going into this pretty blind if I'm honest, adds more to the experience.
Originally released for the eighth generation of consoles before being remastered for PlayStation 5 & Xbox Series X, I picked up the physical version for PS5 at the same time as Alan Wake Remastered and wanted to revisit that gem before starting this, especially to be in the loop on the world's lore and it was worth the trip. Control is a very fascinating game in terms of both presentation and world-building.
This game is very sci-fi and is also unique with its aesthetic. The design of each layer of content is superb, with regular hallways to big facilities. The best way to describe the look and feel of this game is that it's basically a mix of Dredd and Half-Life together with Remedy's classic gameplay from their previous games, because you're basically in a building that's on lockdown but everything inside is like an experimental gone wrong with enemies of unknown origin spawning in with just your levitating abilities and a shapeshifting gun to fight them off.
Also pretty good were the character models. They went for a realistic look but holds up pretty well, though dialogue and expressions can look a bit odd from time to time. But the best part for me is how they manage to add in live-action content through the usage of lore sprinkled throughout the game. The game explains its story and context through TVs and projected imagery which were fantastic to watch and really engaging, adds another layer to the sci-fi style they were pursuing. I also really liked the cutscenes as they transition from one story mission to another.
The collectibles throughout the game also held value with really intriguing backstories and context for the employees of the Federal Bureau of Control, which is the game's location, and what they have been doing dealing with the supernatural and unknown entities, whether its an object that's possessed or bizarre beings that are trying to kill you. The side missions are optional but some had some interesting ideas, for example you encounter a person who has to stare at a possessed fridge otherwise it would kill them and another where you need to get rid of some deadly mold that tastes like sweets. But for the most part they are pretty much fetch-quests of sorts. There's also some timed alert missions which is just 'take out these group of people' within a time limit and they do appear even during story missions which can be annoying, but you don't need to worry about them.
The story starts off strong and paced pretty well, but as the story missions progress, it does land on a rather sudden end-point. It's like building up to something huge and it decides to simplify it at the last second. In fairness it's not as bad as it sounds because it does wrap up some key moments. The game's lore and concepts were so interesting that I wanted to know more about what was going on, and while the expansions The Foundation and Altered World Events added to that, there's still more that needs to be explored so the game doesn't have any form of proper closure, but thankfully Remedy did confirm Control 2 is in the works so that's a relief.
In terms of combat, this is a third-person shooter where your gun can shape-shift into different modes. It's basically like owning different weapons but they are combined together. You can wield two types of modes at once, and these include a shotgun type, a sniper type or even a grenade launcher of sorts. They can all be upgraded and have attachments to improve its performance. You can also add more abilities for your character to improve your survival during combat. This game doesn't have regenerative health so you'll need to pick up energy from downed enemies to recover, which works well but it's basically saying you shouldn't rush otherwise you will die a lot. You will eventually have levitation and telepathic abilities which is where the game starts to become more fun as you progress but it can be repetitive from time to time. Fortunately the combat felt fast-paced so it wasn't a massive issue for the most part.
In terms of enemy variety they all share the same design but do have different styles to make you run around more during combat and try out different approaches. For example there's enemies that will be in the air and shooting with certain weapons wouldn't work and telepathic abilities don't always land. There's also a random ball of energy that you can't kill but they don't appear often so it's not a major threat.
The difficulty is challenging but doable and you can make your way through the game without too much issue. It is recommended that you upgrade your abilities, weapons and add-on slots as you progress otherwise you will struggle. Especially considering the two expansions will pull all sorts of punches against you if you're not strong enough.
Now let's talk briefly about the expansions. The Foundation is a big area with some interesting ideas, though I felt the pacing was inconsistent with a fair amount of dragged out parts here and there. The new abilities were pretty cool but they only work in this new area. There's a cool retro moment which was neat and one side mission put the emphasis on darkness to a new level which was challenging. This takes place after the events of the main game and it still doesn't conclude the overall story.
Altered World Events is a very cool crossover with Remedy's Alan Wake. This does take place after the events of Alan Wake's expansions so there will be spoilers of that if you've not played that game before here (don't worry I won't talk spoilers here), but the general idea is that this expansion introduces darkness and an enemy that is deadly if you don't stay in the light. A lot of cool ideas and has a mini-game where you can fight hordes of enemies which is cool. This expansion sets up the events of Alan Wake II so I recommend playing this beforehand.
Control Ultimate Edition is a pretty solid package of interesting sci-fi concepts, great gameplay mechanics and intrigue to its lore and world-building. The main game took about 12 hours to complete its story and most of the side content, with an additional 4 hours each for the expansions. All of the trophies were picked up as they were manageable within the timeframe and the Platinum trophy. The reveal trailer was all I needed to get into this game and I recommend going into this pretty blind if I'm honest, adds more to the experience.
My backlog so far:
# | PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | Turn-Based RPG |
2 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC | Turn-Based RPG |
# | PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | 3D Dot Game Heroes | Action RPG |
2 | Bleach: Soul Resurrección | Fighting |
3 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow | Action, Hack n Slash |
4 | Catherine | Puzzle |
5 | Drakengard 3 | Action RPG |
6 | Eternal Sonata | Turn-Based RPG |
7 | Folklore | Action RPG |
8 | Gran Turismo 5 Academy Edition | Racing |
9 | inFAMOUS | Action |
10 | inFAMOUS 2 | Action |
11 | Katamari Forever | Puzzle |
12 | MotorStorm | Racing |
13 | Prince of Persia | Action, Platformer |
14 | Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands | Action, Platformer |
15 | Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed | Racing |
16 | Split/Second: Velocity | Racing |
17 | Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
18 | Way of the Samurai 4 | Action |
# | PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
2 | AI: The Somnium Files | Adventure, Visual Novel |
3 | Black Clover: Quartet Knights | Action, Fighting |
4 | Bullet Girls Phantasia | Action, Shooter |
5 | Burnout Paradise Remastered | Racing |
6 | The Caligula Effect: Overdose | Turn-Based RPG |
7 | Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions | Sports |
8 | Catherine Full Body | Puzzle |
9 | Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars | Turn-Based RPG |
10 | CRYSTAR | Action RPG |
11 | Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online | Action RPG |
12 | Danganronpa 1 Reload | Visual Novel |
13 | Danganronpa 2 Reload | Visual Novel |
14 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | Action, Shooter |
15 | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | Visual Novel |
16 | Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (Rio-Reincarnation) | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
17 | Date A Live II: Ars Install (Rio-Reincarnation) | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
18 | Date A Live III: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
19 | Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess | God RPG |
20 | Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory | Turn-Based RPG |
21 | Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories | Adventure, Simulation |
22 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | Arcade, Fighting |
23 | Dragon Quest Heroes II | Action RPG, Musou |
24 | Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition | Turn-Based RPG |
25 | Dragon's Crown Pro | Action RPG |
26 | Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen | Action RPG |
27 | Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends | Musou |
28 | Fairy Tail | Turn-Based RPG |
29 | Fate/Extella Link | Musou |
30 | Final Fantasy IX | Turn-Based RPG |
31 | Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win | Tactical RPG |
32 | Gal*Gun 2 | On-Rails Shooter |
33 | Gintama Rumble | Action, Musou |
34 | GOD EATER 3 | Action Hunter RPG |
35 | Gravity Rush 2 | Action, Platformer |
36 | The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures | Visual Novel |
37 | The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve | Visual Novel |
38 | Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION | Action, Arcade |
39 | Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate | Action RPG |
40 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven | Fighting |
41 | Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa | Puzzle, Visual Novel |
42 | Langrisser | Tactical RPG |
43 | Langrisser II | Tactical RPG |
44 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | Turn-Based RPG |
45 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II | Turn-Based RPG |
46 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | Turn-Based RPG |
47 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV | Turn-Based RPG |
48 | Legend of Mana | Action RPG |
49 | Megadimension Neptunia VII | Turn-Based RPG |
50 | Megadimension Neptunia VIIR | Turn-Based RPG |
51 | MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA | Fighting |
52 | My Hero Academia: One's Justice 2 | Fighting |
53 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm | Action, Fighting |
54 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 | Action, Fighting |
55 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 | Action, Fighting |
56 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto | Action, Fighting |
57 | NEO: The World Ends With You | Action RPG |
58 | Neptunia Virtual Stars | Action |
59 | Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars | Action |
60 | Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered | Turn-Based RPG |
61 | Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | Action RPG |
62 | Nights of Azure | Action RPG |
63 | Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon | Action RPG |
64 | One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 | Action, Musou |
65 | One Piece: World Seeker | Action |
66 | Our World Is Ended | Visual Novel |
67 | Persona 5 Strikers | Action RPG, Musou |
68 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | Visual Novel |
69 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All | Visual Novel |
70 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations | Visual Novel |
71 | Punch Line | Visual Novel |
72 | Raging Loop | Visual Novel |
73 | Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne | Visual Novel |
74 | Robotics;Notes DaSH | Visual Novel |
75 | Robotics;Notes ELITE | Visual Novel |
76 | SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays | Tactical RPG |
77 | SD Gundam G Generation Genesis | Tactical RPG |
78 | Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi | Musou |
79 | Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal | Action |
80 | Shadow of the Colossus | Platformer |
81 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster | Turn-Based RPG |
82 | Star Ocean: First Departure R | Action RPG |
83 | Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster | Action RPG |
84 | Steins;Gate Elite | Visual Novel |
85 | Super Neptunia RPG | Turn-Based RPG |
86 | Super Robot Wars 30 | Tactical RPG |
87 | Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers | Tactical RPG |
88 | Super Robot Wars T | Tactical RPG |
89 | Super Robot Wars X | Tactical RPG |
90 | Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet | Action RPG |
91 | Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions! | Music, Rhythm |
92 | Tales of Berseria | Action RPG |
93 | Tales of Vesperia | Action RPG |
94 | Theatrhythm Final Bar Line | Music, Rhythm |
95 | Trials of Mana | Action RPG |
96 | Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
97 | Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
98 | Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
99 | Utawarerumono: Zan | Action, Musou |
100 | Valkyria Chronicles 4 | Tactical RPG |
101 | Valkyria Revolution | Action RPG |
102 | WipEout Omega Collection | Racing |
103 | The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition | Action RPG |
104 | WORLDEND SYNDROME | Visual Novel |
105 | Yakuza 3 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
106 | Yakuza 4 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
107 | Yakuza 5 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
108 | YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World | Visual Novel |
# | PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Alan Wake II | Action, Survival Horror |
2 | Beyond Good & Evil | Action, Adventure |
4 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion- | Action RPG |
5 | Cyberpunk 2077 | Action |
6 | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles | Fighting |
7 | The DioField Chronicle | Tactical RPG |
8 | DOOM Eternal | Action, Shooter |
| Dynasty Warriors: Origins | Action, Musou | |
9 | FANTAVISION 202X | Puzzle |
10 | Fate/Samurai Remnant | Action RPG, Musou |
11 | Forspoken | Action RPG |
12 | Ghost of Tsushima | Action, Adventure |
13 | Ghostwire: Tokyo | Action, Survival Horror |
14 | Granblue Fantasy Re:link | Action RPG |
15 | Grand Theft Auto III: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
16 | Grand Theft Auto Vice City: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
17 | Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
18 | GrimGrimoire OnceMore | Real-Time Strategy RPG |
19 | Hades | Dungeon Crawler |
20 | HUMANITY | Puzzle |
21 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R | Fighting |
22 | Judgment | Action, Beat em up |
23 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie | Turn-Based RPG |
24 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak | Turn-Based RPG |
25 | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Action, Beat 'em up |
26 | Lost Judgment | Action, Beat em up |
27 | Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy | Action |
28 | MONARK | Tactical RPG |
29 | Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten | Turn-Based RPG |
30 | Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution | Action RPG |
31 | Neptunia ReVerse | Turn-Based RPG |
32 | Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters | Action RPG |
33 | One Piece: Odyssey | Turn-Based RPG |
34 | Pac-Man World Re-Pac | Platformer |
35 | Persona 3 Reload | Turn-Based RPG |
36 | Persona 5 Royal | Turn-Based RPG |
37 | Persona 5 Tactica | Tactical RPG |
38 | Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth | Metroidvania RPG |
39 | Relayer | Tactical RPG |
40 | SD Gundam Battle Alliance | Action RPG |
41 | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | Turn-Based RPG |
42 | Soul Hackers 2 | Turn-Based RPG |
43 | Star Ocean: The Divine Force | Action RPG |
44 | Star Ocean: The Second Story R | Action RPG |
45 | System Shock | First-Person Shooter, Survival Horror |
46 | Tactics Ogre Reborn | Tactical RPG |
47 | Tales of Arise | Action RPG |
| Tales of Graces f Remastered | Action RPG | |
48 | Tomb Raider 1 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
49 | Tomb Raider 2 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
50 | Tomb Raider 3 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
51 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 | Sports |
52 | Unicorn Overlord | Tactical RPG |
53 | Valkyrie Elysium | Action RPG |
54 | Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon | Turn-Based RPG |
55 | Yurukill: The Calumniation Games | Shoot em up, Visual Novel |
# | PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Dino Crisis | Survival Horror |
2 | Kurushi Final: Mental Blocks | Puzzle |
3 | The Legend of Dragoon | Turn-Based RPG |
4 | Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth | Turn-Based RPG |
5 | Wild Arms | Turn-Based RPG |
6 | Wild Arms 2 | Turn-Based RPG |
# | PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Bullet Girls | Action, Shooter |
2 | Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni | Action |
# | Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Advance Wars (Re-Boot Camp) | Tactical RPG |
2 | Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (Re-Boot Camp) | Tactical RPG |
| Animal Well | Metroidvania, Survival Horror | |
3 | Anonymous;Code | Adventure, Visual Novel |
4 | Another Code: Two Memories | Adventure, Puzzle |
5 | Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories | Adventure, Puzzle |
6 | Armored Warriors (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
| Assault Suit Valken Declassified | Action, Arcade, Platformer | |
7 | Avenger (Telenet Shooting Collection) | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
8 | Balatro | Card, Roguelike |
9 | Battle Circuit (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
10 | Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition | Adventure, Point & Click |
11 | Captain Commando (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
12 | Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker | Puzzle, Platformer |
13 | Castle of Shikigami 2 | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
14 | Castlevania (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
15 | Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
16 | Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
17 | Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
18 | Castlevania: The Adventure (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
19 | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
20 | Castlevania: Bloodlines (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
21 | Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
22 | Castlevania: Dracula X (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
23 | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
24 | Chaos;Child | Adventure, Visual Novel |
25 | Chaos;Head Noah | Adventure, Visual Novel |
26 | Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition | Turn-Based RPG |
27 | Clock Tower: Rewind | Adventure, Point & Click, Survival Horror |
28 | Code of Princess EX | Action RPG |
29 | Contra (Anniversary Collection) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
30 | Contra Hard Corps (Anniversary Collection) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
31 | Contra III: The Alien Wars (Anniversary Collection) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
32 | Cosmic Fantasy | Turn-Based RPG |
33 | Cosmic Fantasy II | Turn-Based RPG |
34 | Cruis'n Blast | Racing |
35 | Cursed to Golf | Sports, Platformer |
36 | Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
37 | Cytus Alpha | Music, Rhythm |
38 | Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
39 | Deathsmiles | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
40 | Deathsmiles II | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
41 | Demon's Tilt | Pinball |
42 | Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | Action, Platform |
43 | EXZEUS | Arcade, On-Rails Shooter |
44 | EXZEUS 2 | Arcade, On-Rails Shooter |
45 | Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
46 | Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
47 | Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
48 | Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
49 | Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
50 | Final Fantasy V (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
51 | Final Fantasy VI (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
52 | Final Fight (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
53 | Fire Emblem Warriors | Action, Musou |
54 | Fire Emblem: Engage | Tactical RPG |
55 | Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Tactical RPG |
56 | Gaiares (Telenet Shooting Collection) | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
57 | Getsu Fūma Den | Action RPG |
58 | Getsufumaden: Undying Moon | Action RPG, Metroidvania |
| Glover | Action, Platformer | |
59 | Granada (Telenet Shooting Collection) | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
60 | Grandia (HD Collection) | Turn-Based RPG |
61 | Grandia II (HD Collection) | Turn-Based RPG |
62 | Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S | Puzzle |
63 | The House in Fata Morgana | Visual Novel |
64 | Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
65 | Kid Dracula (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
66 | The King of Dragons (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
67 | Knights of the Round (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
68 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero | Turn-Based RPG |
69 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure | Turn-Based RPG |
70 | The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails | Action RPG |
71 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Action RPG |
72 | The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | Action RPG |
73 | Live A Live | Tactical RPG |
74 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Racing |
75 | Marvel Super Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
76 | Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
77 | Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
78 | Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
79 | Metroid Dread | Metroidvania |
80 | Metroid Prime Remastered | Action, Shooter |
81 | MUSYNX | Music, Rhythm |
82 | New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe | Platformer |
83 | Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
84 | Octopath Traveler | Turn-Based RPG |
85 | Operation C (Anniversary Collection) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
86 | Paper Mario: The Origami King | Turn-Based RPG |
87 | Powerslave Exhumed | Action, Shooter |
88 | Psychic Storm (Telenet Shooting Collection) | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
89 | The Punisher (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
90 | Radiant Silvergun | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
91 | Record of Agarest War | Tactical RPG |
92 | Red Earth (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
93 | Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess (Marl Kingdom Chronicles) | Turn-Based RPG |
94 | Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom (Marl Kingdom Chronicles) | Turn-Based RPG |
95 | River City Girls Zero | Action, Beat 'em ups |
96 | SaGa Frontier | Turn-Based RPG |
97 | Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
98 | Senran Kagura Peach Ball | Pinball |
99 | Senran Kagura Reflexions | Simulation |
100 | Shadow Man Remastered | Action, Adventure |
101 | Signalis | Survival Horror |
| Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster | Action, First-Person Shooter | |
102 | Super Castlevania IV (Anniversary Collection) | Action, Platform |
103 | Super Contra (Anniversary Collection) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
104 | Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (Pocket Fighter) (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
105 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury | Action, Platformer |
106 | Super Mario Galaxy | Action, Platformer |
107 | Super Mario Maker 2 | Action, Platformer |
108 | Super Mario Odyssey | Action, Platformer |
109 | Super Mario Sunshine | Action, Platformer |
110 | Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
111 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Fighting |
112 | Syd of Valis (SD Valis) (Valis Collection 2) | Action, Platformer |
113 | Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
114 | Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE | Turn-Based RPG |
115 | Tokyo Xanadu eX+ | Action RPG |
116 | Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
117 | Triangle Strategy | Tactical RPG |
| Triggerheart Exelica | Arcade, Shoot 'em up | |
118 | Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon | Visual Novel |
119 | Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (Valis Collection 1) | Action, Platformer |
120 | Valis II (Valis Collection 1) | Action, Platformer |
121 | Valis III (Valis Collection 1) | Action, Platformer |
122 | Valis IV (Valis Collection 2) | Action, Platformer |
123 | Vampire Hunter 2: Darkstalkers' Revenge (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
124 | Vampire Savior: The Lord of Vampire (Darkstalkers 3) (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
125 | Vampire Savior 2: The Lord of Vampire (Capcom Fighting Collection) | Fighting |
126 | Warriors of Fate (Capcom Belt Action Collection) | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
127 | Witch on the Holy Night | Visual Novel |
128 | The World Ends With You: Final Remix | Action RPG |
129 | X-Men vs. Street Fighter (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
130 | X-Men: Children of the Atom (Marvel vs Capcom Arcade Classics) | Arcade, Fighting |
131 | Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition | Action RPG |
132 | Xenoblade Chronicles 2 | Action RPG |
133 | Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country | Action RPG |
134 | Yoshi's Crafted World | Action, Platformer |
| No. | Game | Console | Acquired | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alan Wake Remastered (+ The Signal & The Writer Expansions) | PS5 | 2023 | Action, Horror, Third-Person Shooter |
2 | Control Ultimate Edition (+ The Foundation & AWE Expansions) | PS5 | 2023 | Action, Adventure, Third-Person Shooter |
Dai
Dragon Knight
Yikes. I didn't realise Mario got friendzoned that early in the franchise.
Whoa, I just stumbled across this. Congrats!Second game of 2025 completed. Super Mario Bros. 2
Someone once said a special place in hell awaits the level designer
Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, aka The Lost Levels, is one of my favourite Mario games. How did you get on with it? I feel like it gets a lot of very unfair criticism in the modern era.
While I'm here, I'll chip in with what I've been playing lately, and that's a marathon of Mega Man games. I'd always been apprehensive of trying Mega Man because of the difficulty level, but I've been really enjoying it since buying the various Legacy Collection releases for Nintendo Switch last year. In the "classic" series, the most recent game I finished was Mega Man 7, and in the X series I'm up to Mega Man X3. Plenty more still to play.
February has been devoted to playing through the following:
- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney + DLC (Steam)
- Bioshock (NG+ Replay) (PS5)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies + DLC (Steam)
- Bioshock 2 (Replay) (PS5)
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice + DLC (Steam)
- Bioshock Infinite (Replay) (PS5) + Burial at Sea Episodes 1 & 2 DLC (PS5)
SAHO
Thousand Master
Definitely not what I expected I'd say. I know for sure I wouldn't have been able to complete the game or I'd simply give up without a guide for some sections. Difficulty spike and the cheekiness level designs for SMB2 JP caught me out for sure
New Super Mario Bros. (2006) was the last Mario Bros. game I had ever played so I'm pretty much out of touch on this Mario rerun.
My personal favourites hands down is Super Mario World and then Super Mario Bros. 3. SM World was a magical experience, one of my fondest memories as a kid
Here's my February progress! As mentioned previously, we have one game that started its playthrough in January but work getting in the way delayed its completion into February. I also revisited the visual novel genre and may play one more VN before starting a different genre.
#03 - Alan Wake II (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2024
#04 - PUNCH LINE (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: November 2019
#05 - Steins;Gate Elite (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: June 2019
My backlog so far:
The 2025 '40' Games Goal:
#03 - Alan Wake II (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: November 2024
The third game to play was my plan all along to continue the Remedy Connected Universe. Alan Wake was a refresher for this moment and Control provided more context to what's to come, and now Alan Wake II was one of the most interesting and rewarding experiences I've had for a continuation.
Developed by Remedy and published by Epic Games, Alan Wake II shifts things around with their direction, going from a psychological thriller into a survival horror in the same vein and tone as Resident Evil. Not only do you have Alan Wake back in the nightmares, we are also introduced to a new female lead named Saga Anderson who's a great addition to the story and lore. There's also some funky cameos and references throughout with Sam Lake returning in video game form as Alex Casey, who is an FBI agent referencing Max Payne in both appearance and voice, as well as Shawn Ashmore returning by portraying a different character though he's also a reference to Jack Joyce from Quantum Break. Both characters aren't named to what they were before due to licensing and whilst Max Payne and Quantum Break are not part of the shared universe, it's nice to see them being remembered in some shape or form.
The story is a different format to the original Alan Wake, but still keeping the episodic style. We have multiple chapters per character, one focusing on Saga Anderson first then it switches it up to Alan Wake, but you have the option to choose which one you want to focus on at any point early into the game. During the journey you will be thrown into the situation with a lot of asking questions about what is going on, but the game does reveal itself one by one. Saga Anderson's gameplay is more on the lighter side with various dark moments throughout that put you on your knees due to the tense atmosphere, and Alan Wake's gameplay is more on the darker scarier side whilst capturing that noir feel. I enjoyed both campaigns and found the conclusion to be pretty rewarding. It does scream for more, but New Game Plus 'The Final Draft' apparently provided a more conclusive end.
As mentioned, this is now a survival horror. You will be in the dark a fair amount and there's not much ammo to come by this time around. In the original Alan Wake, ammo was pretty much everywhere and you could in theory breeze through the story without an issue, but here it's a different scenario. Ammo, especially for the flashlight, is pretty scarce and the game does force you to be very careful with your actions because every bullet/light counts otherwise you're going to struggle. Whilst I admittedly didn't have too much of an issue for the weapons, it was the flashlight that concerned me the most. The light does not fully heal you like the original does, so you do need to be more aware of your surroundings but at least you don't have to worry about birds this time.
In addition to the dark tone, the enemies are pretty scary in numbers so you want to be pretty prepared before you fight your way through them, and especially in Alan Wake's story because his is more focused on stealth than action. Dying does result in a weird rag doll look to the camera but at least the checkpoints are pretty generous. There are a lot of jump scares throughout which works but also becomes pretty tedious at times, which the characters do take notice. And the boss fights are decent, scary in its atmosphere but like Resident Evil you can just shoot your way through and survive without too much of a problem, though one particular boss fight that's located in a bunch of water was rather annoying in its game design so I had to shoot them to death before they could even start the fight.
This game also features some interesting gameplay mechanics. Saga Anderson has an ability called The Mind Place, which is a little room where she can go through their investigations, use the wall to note photos and figure out what is going on and how to solve the next piece of the jigsaw. You can also view profiles of people you interact to see what they were thinking in the moment, as well as any collectibles like audio, TV and music tapes. Alan Wake has a similar ability, but one where he can rewrite his drafts so that the area around him changes to allow him to progress. One thing that I also found pretty interesting is that the game does not pause in these moments for the characters, basically dialogue can still happen whilst they're in their head and can even be killed by enemies if you're not careful.
In terms of the presentation, I love the darker and serious tone the game is going for, whilst also bringing some comedic light to the mix, especially given the first game was inspired by Twin Peaks. There's also fun references and cameos that I won't spoil but it builds upon the Remedy Connected Universe. I played the game on Performance Mode and it ran really well, and the game does have Graphics and Ray Tracing modes which I didn't bother with, so if you want the best of both modes it's best you play the game on PC or via PlayStation 5 Pro.
The trophies in this game are surprisingly manageable. All you need to do is collect specific items in a majority of Saga Anderson's campaign with some from Alan's and finish the game, so I was able to get the Platinum trophy after 24 hours of playtime. I didn't stop there because I had access to both Night Springs and The Lake House thanks to the Deluxe Edition physical release which has all of them on the disc. Both of these expansions ran for about 2-3 hours each and they share different tones. Night Springs is back to the classic campy feel that the first game had whilst also having a lot of fun and creativity to fit the Twilight Zone style. The Lake House is back to survival horror with some pretty scary and tense moments throughout due to its music and atmosphere. It also offered a really interesting story to it as well and it's worth playing.
Overall, I had a blast playing through Alan Wake II. It's a survival horror game with a great cast of characters, a fascinating story, solid tone and gameplay was pretty solid as a whole. I also want to mention that there are a whole bunch of live-action scenes throughout which blends super well with the game's graphic style, and a certain chapter that went viral that I won't spoil but it was super good.
Developed by Remedy and published by Epic Games, Alan Wake II shifts things around with their direction, going from a psychological thriller into a survival horror in the same vein and tone as Resident Evil. Not only do you have Alan Wake back in the nightmares, we are also introduced to a new female lead named Saga Anderson who's a great addition to the story and lore. There's also some funky cameos and references throughout with Sam Lake returning in video game form as Alex Casey, who is an FBI agent referencing Max Payne in both appearance and voice, as well as Shawn Ashmore returning by portraying a different character though he's also a reference to Jack Joyce from Quantum Break. Both characters aren't named to what they were before due to licensing and whilst Max Payne and Quantum Break are not part of the shared universe, it's nice to see them being remembered in some shape or form.
The story is a different format to the original Alan Wake, but still keeping the episodic style. We have multiple chapters per character, one focusing on Saga Anderson first then it switches it up to Alan Wake, but you have the option to choose which one you want to focus on at any point early into the game. During the journey you will be thrown into the situation with a lot of asking questions about what is going on, but the game does reveal itself one by one. Saga Anderson's gameplay is more on the lighter side with various dark moments throughout that put you on your knees due to the tense atmosphere, and Alan Wake's gameplay is more on the darker scarier side whilst capturing that noir feel. I enjoyed both campaigns and found the conclusion to be pretty rewarding. It does scream for more, but New Game Plus 'The Final Draft' apparently provided a more conclusive end.
As mentioned, this is now a survival horror. You will be in the dark a fair amount and there's not much ammo to come by this time around. In the original Alan Wake, ammo was pretty much everywhere and you could in theory breeze through the story without an issue, but here it's a different scenario. Ammo, especially for the flashlight, is pretty scarce and the game does force you to be very careful with your actions because every bullet/light counts otherwise you're going to struggle. Whilst I admittedly didn't have too much of an issue for the weapons, it was the flashlight that concerned me the most. The light does not fully heal you like the original does, so you do need to be more aware of your surroundings but at least you don't have to worry about birds this time.
In addition to the dark tone, the enemies are pretty scary in numbers so you want to be pretty prepared before you fight your way through them, and especially in Alan Wake's story because his is more focused on stealth than action. Dying does result in a weird rag doll look to the camera but at least the checkpoints are pretty generous. There are a lot of jump scares throughout which works but also becomes pretty tedious at times, which the characters do take notice. And the boss fights are decent, scary in its atmosphere but like Resident Evil you can just shoot your way through and survive without too much of a problem, though one particular boss fight that's located in a bunch of water was rather annoying in its game design so I had to shoot them to death before they could even start the fight.
This game also features some interesting gameplay mechanics. Saga Anderson has an ability called The Mind Place, which is a little room where she can go through their investigations, use the wall to note photos and figure out what is going on and how to solve the next piece of the jigsaw. You can also view profiles of people you interact to see what they were thinking in the moment, as well as any collectibles like audio, TV and music tapes. Alan Wake has a similar ability, but one where he can rewrite his drafts so that the area around him changes to allow him to progress. One thing that I also found pretty interesting is that the game does not pause in these moments for the characters, basically dialogue can still happen whilst they're in their head and can even be killed by enemies if you're not careful.
In terms of the presentation, I love the darker and serious tone the game is going for, whilst also bringing some comedic light to the mix, especially given the first game was inspired by Twin Peaks. There's also fun references and cameos that I won't spoil but it builds upon the Remedy Connected Universe. I played the game on Performance Mode and it ran really well, and the game does have Graphics and Ray Tracing modes which I didn't bother with, so if you want the best of both modes it's best you play the game on PC or via PlayStation 5 Pro.
The trophies in this game are surprisingly manageable. All you need to do is collect specific items in a majority of Saga Anderson's campaign with some from Alan's and finish the game, so I was able to get the Platinum trophy after 24 hours of playtime. I didn't stop there because I had access to both Night Springs and The Lake House thanks to the Deluxe Edition physical release which has all of them on the disc. Both of these expansions ran for about 2-3 hours each and they share different tones. Night Springs is back to the classic campy feel that the first game had whilst also having a lot of fun and creativity to fit the Twilight Zone style. The Lake House is back to survival horror with some pretty scary and tense moments throughout due to its music and atmosphere. It also offered a really interesting story to it as well and it's worth playing.
Overall, I had a blast playing through Alan Wake II. It's a survival horror game with a great cast of characters, a fascinating story, solid tone and gameplay was pretty solid as a whole. I also want to mention that there are a whole bunch of live-action scenes throughout which blends super well with the game's graphic style, and a certain chapter that went viral that I won't spoil but it was super good.
#04 - PUNCH LINE (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: November 2019
In 2015, before they became famous working on dozens of projects at the same time, studio MAPPA produced an original anime series with Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi about a guy who can accidently destroy humanity if he stares at an underwear twice in a row. It's a bizarre concept that threw off a lot of people, but once you bypass that idea and keep going, you end up with a pretty solid story that has its own twists and turns like the visual novel games had done previously.
After the anime aired, Kotaro Uchikoshi and the folks at 5pb., the developers of the Science Adventure series, made a visual novel adaptation of the anime with extra content to help expand the story and add more bits and bobs throughout. Considering how many visual novels based on anime or manga or light novel tend to remain Japan or Asia only, UK publisher PQube picked up the rights to bring the game over to the west and I bought their first print edition release about a year after its 2018 release.
Fast-forward to 2025 and I finally played through the game. Now part of the reason why it had taken this long was because when I last played through a visual novel (Spirit Hunter: NG), my TV ended up with a screen retention i.e. potential burn-in which put me off from playing any more from the genre for a long while. Eventually I had to work my way through them and thankfully from what I have seen there were no issues so far.
PUNCH LINE's video game version is presented in an episodic format like an anime is with its own opening and ending for each chapter. There is a mixture of anime footage and CG anime cutscenes throughout, with voiced dialogue for all of it which is great and the cast themselves is solid. The quality of the game is fairly low budget at times with repeated character animations and expressions throughout, plus the anime cutscene moments does feel edited for moments that are presumably weren't part of the TV series prior. But in terms of the progression it is decent for the most part.
The first twelve chapters is about half of the anime's storyline and there is a mix of story and interactive elements throughout. During the interactive segments you browse the room and have to make a choice to interact with an item to make the characters respond to that moment or create a series of interactions that produce a chain reaction in itself. Now the challenge is that if you are in the wrong position and witness their underwear, a bar will appear which upon reaching its limit will cause humanity to be doomed. That said, the game doesn't give you any game overs, instead sends you back to the previous moment so you can continue without too much issue.
In other words, this game holds your hand a lot and there is no challenge in itself, but it's a visual novel at the end of the day. Saying that, other visual novels do tend to punish you by sending you back to the main menu while here that is not the case. Considering how the story works I can see why the game acts the way it does and it does make the cat character who guides you basically mock you for doing that.
Once you reach the thirteenth chapter, the game starts to become more visual novel story focused and the chapters themselves become shorter. I spent roughly 19 hours going through the entire game including the trophies to get the Platinum. I like what the game was going for, but it's very simple and admittedly I did wish it would have sped up throughout on its pacing. So I think it's best that you stick with the anime instead since you're not missing much from what I can remember. If they do manage to bring the game over to Nintendo Switch I do recommend checking it out when it goes on sale.
After the anime aired, Kotaro Uchikoshi and the folks at 5pb., the developers of the Science Adventure series, made a visual novel adaptation of the anime with extra content to help expand the story and add more bits and bobs throughout. Considering how many visual novels based on anime or manga or light novel tend to remain Japan or Asia only, UK publisher PQube picked up the rights to bring the game over to the west and I bought their first print edition release about a year after its 2018 release.
Fast-forward to 2025 and I finally played through the game. Now part of the reason why it had taken this long was because when I last played through a visual novel (Spirit Hunter: NG), my TV ended up with a screen retention i.e. potential burn-in which put me off from playing any more from the genre for a long while. Eventually I had to work my way through them and thankfully from what I have seen there were no issues so far.
PUNCH LINE's video game version is presented in an episodic format like an anime is with its own opening and ending for each chapter. There is a mixture of anime footage and CG anime cutscenes throughout, with voiced dialogue for all of it which is great and the cast themselves is solid. The quality of the game is fairly low budget at times with repeated character animations and expressions throughout, plus the anime cutscene moments does feel edited for moments that are presumably weren't part of the TV series prior. But in terms of the progression it is decent for the most part.
The first twelve chapters is about half of the anime's storyline and there is a mix of story and interactive elements throughout. During the interactive segments you browse the room and have to make a choice to interact with an item to make the characters respond to that moment or create a series of interactions that produce a chain reaction in itself. Now the challenge is that if you are in the wrong position and witness their underwear, a bar will appear which upon reaching its limit will cause humanity to be doomed. That said, the game doesn't give you any game overs, instead sends you back to the previous moment so you can continue without too much issue.
In other words, this game holds your hand a lot and there is no challenge in itself, but it's a visual novel at the end of the day. Saying that, other visual novels do tend to punish you by sending you back to the main menu while here that is not the case. Considering how the story works I can see why the game acts the way it does and it does make the cat character who guides you basically mock you for doing that.
Once you reach the thirteenth chapter, the game starts to become more visual novel story focused and the chapters themselves become shorter. I spent roughly 19 hours going through the entire game including the trophies to get the Platinum. I like what the game was going for, but it's very simple and admittedly I did wish it would have sped up throughout on its pacing. So I think it's best that you stick with the anime instead since you're not missing much from what I can remember. If they do manage to bring the game over to Nintendo Switch I do recommend checking it out when it goes on sale.
#05 - Steins;Gate Elite (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: June 2019
Next on the visual novel train is a controversial visual novel remake, and another one from the 5pb. line-up. This time the visual novel was published by Spike Chunsoft rather than PQube for the west.
Steins;Gate Elite is a remake of the original Xbox 360 visual novel, beat-by-beat in terms of its story but replaces all of the animation and art style with the anime adaptation's work by studio White Fox. On paper this sounded interesting but in reality it does have a pretty bad execution.
Despite some pacing issues here and there, the story and characters are all very well-written and great to read through, but I don't recommend this remake as the starting point. The main reason is with the way that it presents the anime scenes, because it's not executed well. The animation in various shots is all over the place. There's re-used shots, animation shots that are not drawn very well, and the biggest offender is that there's a ton of banding on screen which puts you away from the experience entirely.
The Elite version also tones down the phone element of the game. In the original, you could check your phone at any point and engage with the messages at various points, but here it shows up in your face at fixed points. It's alright when you consider that its a way to help avoid missable moments but its an overall downgrade to the original visual novel.
In my opinion, what they should have done with this remake is go for a hybrid model of both traditional visual novel for the monologues and the School Days approach with actual cutscenes whenever there's voice-over. I think that would have been a better experience and pace for this remake. I don't know if its just me, but the way the characters speak felt too slow and even when you have the auto-play in place, it was just taking too long to progress. Each chapter can take a few hours and it got to a point where I just decided to skip the voiced dialogue to get the pace rolling. For clarity, I have already read the original and there's nothing new in terms of story content with the Elite version.
In terms of trophies, this game is much easier than the original, thanks to the toned down version of the phone setup but overall I managed to get through all of the endings and true ending route at around 25 hours 37 minutes. Overall, Steins;Gate is still a visual novel classic, but you are better off going for the original visual novel version or the anime adaptation. The challenge you will have is that the visual novel was only released in English for PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita so it's not accessible for modern platforms outside of the Elite remake version.
Steins;Gate Elite is a remake of the original Xbox 360 visual novel, beat-by-beat in terms of its story but replaces all of the animation and art style with the anime adaptation's work by studio White Fox. On paper this sounded interesting but in reality it does have a pretty bad execution.
Despite some pacing issues here and there, the story and characters are all very well-written and great to read through, but I don't recommend this remake as the starting point. The main reason is with the way that it presents the anime scenes, because it's not executed well. The animation in various shots is all over the place. There's re-used shots, animation shots that are not drawn very well, and the biggest offender is that there's a ton of banding on screen which puts you away from the experience entirely.
The Elite version also tones down the phone element of the game. In the original, you could check your phone at any point and engage with the messages at various points, but here it shows up in your face at fixed points. It's alright when you consider that its a way to help avoid missable moments but its an overall downgrade to the original visual novel.
In my opinion, what they should have done with this remake is go for a hybrid model of both traditional visual novel for the monologues and the School Days approach with actual cutscenes whenever there's voice-over. I think that would have been a better experience and pace for this remake. I don't know if its just me, but the way the characters speak felt too slow and even when you have the auto-play in place, it was just taking too long to progress. Each chapter can take a few hours and it got to a point where I just decided to skip the voiced dialogue to get the pace rolling. For clarity, I have already read the original and there's nothing new in terms of story content with the Elite version.
In terms of trophies, this game is much easier than the original, thanks to the toned down version of the phone setup but overall I managed to get through all of the endings and true ending route at around 25 hours 37 minutes. Overall, Steins;Gate is still a visual novel classic, but you are better off going for the original visual novel version or the anime adaptation. The challenge you will have is that the visual novel was only released in English for PC, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita so it's not accessible for modern platforms outside of the Elite remake version.
My backlog so far:
# | PC/Steam Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky | Turn-Based RPG |
2 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC | Turn-Based RPG |
# | PlayStation 3 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | 3D Dot Game Heroes | Action RPG |
2 | Bleach: Soul Resurrección | Fighting |
3 | Castlevania: Lords of Shadow | Action, Hack n Slash |
4 | Catherine | Puzzle |
5 | Drakengard 3 | Action RPG |
6 | Eternal Sonata | Turn-Based RPG |
7 | Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2 | Action, Musou |
8 | Folklore | Action RPG |
9 | Gran Turismo 5 Academy Edition | Racing |
10 | inFAMOUS | Action |
11 | inFAMOUS 2 | Action |
12 | Katamari Forever | Puzzle |
13 | MotorStorm | Racing |
14 | Prince of Persia | Action, Platformer |
15 | Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands | Action, Platformer |
16 | Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed | Racing |
17 | Split/Second: Velocity | Racing |
18 | Tears to Tiara II: Heir of the Overlord | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
19 | Way of the Samurai 4 | Action |
# | PlayStation 4 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
2 | AI: The Somnium Files | Adventure, Visual Novel |
3 | Black Clover: Quartet Knights | Action, Fighting |
4 | Bullet Girls Phantasia | Action, Shooter |
5 | Burnout Paradise Remastered | Racing |
6 | The Caligula Effect: Overdose | Turn-Based RPG |
7 | Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions | Sports |
8 | Catherine Full Body | Puzzle |
9 | Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars | Turn-Based RPG |
10 | CRYSTAR | Action RPG |
11 | Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online | Action RPG |
12 | Danganronpa 1 Reload | Visual Novel |
13 | Danganronpa 2 Reload | Visual Novel |
14 | Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls | Action, Shooter |
15 | Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony | Visual Novel |
16 | Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (Rio-Reincarnation) | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
17 | Date A Live II: Ars Install (Rio-Reincarnation) | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
18 | Date A Live III: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation | Visual Novel, Dating Sim |
19 | Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess | God RPG |
20 | Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory | Turn-Based RPG |
21 | Disaster Report 4: Summer Memories | Adventure, Simulation |
22 | Dissidia Final Fantasy NT | Arcade, Fighting |
23 | Dragon Quest Heroes II | Action RPG, Musou |
24 | Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition | Turn-Based RPG |
25 | Dragon's Crown Pro | Action RPG |
26 | Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen | Action RPG |
27 | Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends | Musou |
28 | Fairy Tail | Turn-Based RPG |
29 | Fate/Extella Link | Musou |
30 | Final Fantasy IX | Turn-Based RPG |
31 | Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win | Tactical RPG |
32 | Gal*Gun 2 | On-Rails Shooter |
33 | Gintama Rumble | Action, Musou |
34 | GOD EATER 3 | Action Hunter RPG |
35 | Gravity Rush 2 | Action, Platformer |
36 | The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures | Visual Novel |
37 | The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve | Visual Novel |
38 | Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION | Action, Arcade |
39 | Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Infinite Combate | Action RPG |
40 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven | Fighting |
41 | Kotodama: The 7 Mysteries of Fujisawa | Puzzle, Visual Novel |
42 | Langrisser | Tactical RPG |
43 | Langrisser II | Tactical RPG |
44 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel | Turn-Based RPG |
45 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II | Turn-Based RPG |
46 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III | Turn-Based RPG |
47 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV | Turn-Based RPG |
48 | Legend of Mana | Action RPG |
49 | Megadimension Neptunia VII | Turn-Based RPG |
50 | Megadimension Neptunia VIIR | Turn-Based RPG |
51 | MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA | Fighting |
52 | My Hero Academia: One's Justice 2 | Fighting |
53 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm | Action, Fighting |
54 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 | Action, Fighting |
55 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 | Action, Fighting |
56 | Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto | Action, Fighting |
57 | NEO: The World Ends With You | Action RPG |
58 | Neptunia Virtual Stars | Action |
59 | Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars | Action |
60 | Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered | Turn-Based RPG |
61 | Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | Action RPG |
62 | Nights of Azure | Action RPG |
63 | Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon | Action RPG |
64 | One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 | Action, Musou |
65 | One Piece: World Seeker | Action |
66 | Our World Is Ended | Visual Novel |
67 | Persona 5 Strikers | Action RPG, Musou |
68 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney | Visual Novel |
69 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All | Visual Novel |
70 | Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations | Visual Novel |
71 | Raging Loop | Visual Novel |
72 | Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne | Visual Novel |
73 | Robotics;Notes DaSH | Visual Novel |
74 | Robotics;Notes ELITE | Visual Novel |
75 | SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays | Tactical RPG |
76 | SD Gundam G Generation Genesis | Tactical RPG |
77 | Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi | Musou |
78 | Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal | Action |
79 | Shadow of the Colossus | Platformer |
80 | Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster | Turn-Based RPG |
81 | Star Ocean: First Departure R | Action RPG |
82 | Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster | Action RPG |
83 | Super Neptunia RPG | Turn-Based RPG |
84 | Super Robot Wars 30 | Tactical RPG |
85 | Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers | Tactical RPG |
86 | Super Robot Wars T | Tactical RPG |
87 | Super Robot Wars X | Tactical RPG |
88 | Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet | Action RPG |
89 | Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions! | Music, Rhythm |
90 | Tales of Berseria | Action RPG |
91 | Tales of Vesperia | Action RPG |
92 | Theatrhythm Final Bar Line | Music, Rhythm |
93 | Trials of Mana | Action RPG |
94 | Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
95 | Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
96 | Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen | Tactical RPG, Visual Novel |
97 | Utawarerumono: Zan | Action, Musou |
98 | Valkyria Chronicles 4 | Tactical RPG |
99 | Valkyria Revolution | Action RPG |
100 | WipEout Omega Collection | Racing |
101 | The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition | Action RPG |
102 | WORLDEND SYNDROME | Visual Novel |
103 | Yakuza 3 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
104 | Yakuza 4 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
105 | Yakuza 5 Remastered | Action, Beat em up |
106 | YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World | Visual Novel |
# | PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Beyond Good & Evil | Action, Adventure |
2 | Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion- | Action RPG |
3 | Cyberpunk 2077 | Action |
4 | Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles | Fighting |
5 | The DioField Chronicle | Tactical RPG |
6 | DOOM Eternal | Action, Shooter |
7 | Dynasty Warriors: Origins | Action, Musou |
8 | FANTAVISION 202X | Puzzle |
9 | Fate/Samurai Remnant | Action RPG, Musou |
10 | Forspoken | Action RPG |
11 | Freedom Wars Remastered | Action, Hack n Slash |
12 | Ghost of Tsushima | Action, Adventure |
13 | Ghostwire: Tokyo | Action, Survival Horror |
14 | Granblue Fantasy Re:link | Action RPG |
15 | Grand Theft Auto III: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
16 | Grand Theft Auto Vice City: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
17 | Grand Theft Auto San Andreas: The Definitive Edition | Action, Adventure, Shooter |
18 | GrimGrimoire OnceMore | Real-Time Strategy RPG |
19 | Hades | Dungeon Crawler |
20 | HUMANITY | Puzzle |
21 | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R | Fighting |
22 | Judgment | Action, Beat em up |
23 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie | Turn-Based RPG |
24 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak | Turn-Based RPG |
25 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II | Turn-Based RPG |
26 | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Action, Beat 'em up |
27 | Lost Judgment | Action, Beat em up |
28 | Master Detective Archives: Rain Code Plus | Adventure |
29 | Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy | Action |
30 | MONARK | Tactical RPG |
31 | Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten | Turn-Based RPG |
32 | Neptunia Game Maker R:Evolution | Action RPG |
33 | Neptunia ReVerse | Turn-Based RPG |
34 | Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters | Action RPG |
35 | One Piece: Odyssey | Turn-Based RPG |
36 | Pac-Man World Re-Pac | Platformer |
37 | Persona 3 Reload | Turn-Based RPG |
38 | Persona 5 Royal | Turn-Based RPG |
39 | Persona 5 Tactica | Tactical RPG |
40 | Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth | Metroidvania RPG |
41 | Relayer | Tactical RPG |
42 | SD Gundam Battle Alliance | Action RPG |
43 | Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance | Turn-Based RPG |
44 | Soul Hackers 2 | Turn-Based RPG |
45 | Star Ocean: The Divine Force | Action RPG |
46 | Star Ocean: The Second Story R | Action RPG |
47 | System Shock | First-Person Shooter, Survival Horror |
48 | Tactics Ogre Reborn | Tactical RPG |
49 | Tales of Arise | Action RPG |
50 | Tales of Graces f Remastered | Action RPG |
51 | Tomb Raider 1 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
52 | Tomb Raider 2 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
53 | Tomb Raider 3 Remastered | Action, Adventure |
54 | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 | Sports |
55 | Unicorn Overlord | Tactical RPG |
56 | Valkyrie Elysium | Action RPG |
57 | Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon | Turn-Based RPG |
58 | Yurukill: The Calumniation Games | Shoot em up, Visual Novel |
# | PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Dino Crisis | Survival Horror |
2 | Kurushi Final: Mental Blocks | Puzzle |
3 | The Legend of Dragoon | Turn-Based RPG |
4 | Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth | Turn-Based RPG |
5 | Wild Arms | Turn-Based RPG |
6 | Wild Arms 2 | Turn-Based RPG |
# | PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Bullet Girls | Action, Shooter |
2 | Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni | Action |
# | Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name: | Genre: |
|---|---|---|
1 | Advance Wars (Re-Boot Camp) | Tactical RPG |
2 | Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising (Re-Boot Camp) | Tactical RPG |
3 | Animal Well | Metroidvania, Survival Horror |
4 | Anonymous;Code | Adventure, Visual Novel |
5 | Another Code: Two Memories | Adventure, Puzzle |
6 | Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories | Adventure, Puzzle |
7 | Assault Suit Valken Declassified | Action, Arcade, Platformer |
8 | Balatro | Card, Roguelike |
9 | Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition | Adventure, Point & Click |
10 | Capcom Belt Action Collection: ~ Final Fight ~ Captain Commando ~ The King of Dragons ~ Knights of the Round ~ Warriors of Fate ~ Armored Warriors ~ Battle Circuit | Arcade, Beat 'em up |
11 | Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker | Puzzle, Platformer |
12 | Castle of Shikigami 2 | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
13 | Castlevania Anniversary Collection: ~ Castlevania (NES) ~ Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (NES) ~ Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (NES) ~ Kid Dracula (Famicom) ~ Castlevania: The Adventure (Game Boy) ~ Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Game Boy) ~ Castlevania: Bloodlines (Mega Drive) ~ Super Castlevania IV (SNES) | Action, Platformer |
14 | Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
15 | Castlevania: Dracula X (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
16 | Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Advance Collection) | Action, Platform |
17 | Chaos;Child | Adventure, Visual Novel |
18 | Chaos;Head Noah | Adventure, Visual Novel |
19 | Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition | Turn-Based RPG |
20 | Clock Tower: Rewind | Adventure, Point & Click, Survival Horror |
21 | Code of Princess EX | Action RPG |
22 | Contra Anniversary Collection: ~ Contra (Arcade) ~ Super Contra (Arcade) ~ Contra (NES) ~ Contra (Famicom) ~ Super C (NES) ~ Contra III: The Alien Wars (SNES) ~ Operation C (Game Boy) ~ Contra Hard Corps (Mega Drive) ~ Super Probotector Alien Rebels (SNES - EU ver.) ~ Probotector (NES - EU ver.) | Side-scrolling Shooter |
23 | Cosmic Fantasy | Turn-Based RPG |
24 | Cosmic Fantasy II | Turn-Based RPG |
25 | Cruis'n Blast | Racing |
26 | Cursed to Golf | Sports, Platformer |
27 | Cytus Alpha | Music, Rhythm |
28 | Deathsmiles | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
29 | Deathsmiles II | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
30 | Demon's Tilt | Pinball |
31 | Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | Action, Platform |
32 | EXZEUS | Arcade, On-Rails Shooter |
33 | EXZEUS 2 | Arcade, On-Rails Shooter |
34 | Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
35 | Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
36 | Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
37 | Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
38 | Final Fantasy IV (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
39 | Final Fantasy V (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
40 | Final Fantasy VI (Pixel Remaster) | Turn-Based RPG |
41 | Fire Emblem Warriors | Action, Musou |
42 | Fire Emblem: Engage | Tactical RPG |
43 | Fire Emblem: Three Houses | Tactical RPG |
44 | Getsu Fūma Den | Action RPG |
45 | Getsufumaden: Undying Moon | Action RPG, Metroidvania |
46 | Glover | Action, Platformer |
47 | Grandia (HD Collection) | Turn-Based RPG |
48 | Grandia II (HD Collection) | Turn-Based RPG |
49 | Hatsune Miku: Logic Paint S | Puzzle |
50 | The House in Fata Morgana | Visual Novel |
51 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero | Turn-Based RPG |
52 | The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure | Turn-Based RPG |
53 | The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails | Action RPG |
54 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Action RPG |
55 | The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | Action RPG |
56 | Live A Live | Tactical RPG |
57 | Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | Racing |
58 | Metroid Dread | Metroidvania |
59 | Metroid Prime Remastered | Action, Shooter |
60 | MUSYNX | Music, Rhythm |
61 | New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe | Platformer |
62 | Octopath Traveler | Turn-Based RPG |
63 | Paper Mario: The Origami King | Turn-Based RPG |
64 | Powerslave Exhumed | Action, Shooter |
65 | Radiant Silvergun | Bullet Hell, Shoot 'em up |
66 | Record of Agarest War | Tactical RPG |
67 | Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess (Marl Kingdom Chronicles) | Turn-Based RPG |
68 | Rhapsody III: Memories of Marl Kingdom (Marl Kingdom Chronicles) | Turn-Based RPG |
69 | River City Girls Zero | Action, Beat 'em ups |
70 | SaGa Frontier | Turn-Based RPG |
71 | Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
72 | Senran Kagura Peach Ball | Pinball |
73 | Senran Kagura Reflexions | Simulation |
74 | Shadow Man Remastered | Action, Adventure |
75 | Signalis | Survival Horror |
76 | Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster | Action, First-Person Shooter |
77 | Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury | Action, Platformer |
78 | Super Mario Galaxy | Action, Platformer |
79 | Super Mario Maker 2 | Action, Platformer |
80 | Super Mario Odyssey | Action, Platformer |
81 | Super Mario Sunshine | Action, Platformer |
82 | Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | Fighting |
83 | Telenet Shooting Collection: ~ Granada (Genesis) ~ Gaiares (Genesis) ~ Avenger (PC Engine) ~ Psychic Storm (PC Engine) | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
84 | Toaplan Arcade Garage: Kyukyoku Tiger-Heli | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
85 | Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE | Turn-Based RPG |
86 | Tokyo Xanadu eX+ | Action RPG |
87 | Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana) | Action RPG |
88 | Triangle Strategy | Tactical RPG |
89 | Triggerheart Exelica | Arcade, Shoot 'em up |
90 | Tsukihime: A Piece of Blue Glass Moon | Visual Novel |
91 | Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection 1: ~ Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (PC Engine) ~ Valis II (PC Engine) ~ Valis III (PC Engine) | Action, Platformer |
92 | Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection 2: ~ Valis IV (PC Engine) ~ Syd of Valis (Mega Drive) ~ Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (Mega Drive) ~ Valis: The Phantasm Soldier (MSX) | Action, Platformer |
93 | Valis: The Fantasm Soldier Collection 3: ~ Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (PC-8801mkIISR) ~ Valis: The Fantasm Soldier (Famicom) ~ Valis: The Fantasm Soldier II (MSX2) ~ Valis III (Mega Drive) ~ Super Valis IV (Super Famicom) | Action, Platformer |
94 | Witch on the Holy Night | Visual Novel |
95 | The World Ends With You: Final Remix | Action RPG |
96 | Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition | Action RPG |
97 | Xenoblade Chronicles 2 | Action RPG |
98 | Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country | Action RPG |
99 | Yoshi's Crafted World | Action, Platformer |
| No. | Game | Console | Acquired | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alan Wake Remastered (+ The Signal & The Writer Expansions) | PS5 | 2023 | Action, Horror, Third-Person Shooter |
2 | Control Ultimate Edition (+ The Foundation & AWE Expansions) | PS5 | 2023 | Action, Adventure, Third-Person Shooter |
3 | Alan Wake II (+ Night Springs & The Lake House Expansions) | PS5 | 2024 | Survival Horror, Third-Person Shooter |
4 | PUNCH LINE | PS4 | 2019 | Visual Novel |
5 | Steins;Gate Elite | PS4 | 2019 | Visual Novel |
Hey, me too! Super Mario World is still an absolute classic in my book.SM World was a magical experience, one of my fondest memories as a kid
Have you ever considered Super Mario Bros. Wonder at all? I reckon it's right up there with Super Mario World in terms of quality and how much fun it is to play.
SAHO
Thousand Master
Sure have! It'll likely be the final title I play to wrap up my Mario Bros. run