What Games Are You Playing?

[Geriatric hedgehog]

I recall playing Shattered Memories years back, on whichever playstation it came out on back in the day. Went in very cynical, but absolutely loved how they reimagined the original into a completely different type of story, was highly impressed. Sadly my brother lost that rather valuable copy (purged by mum during a spring-clean no doubt, along with my original Gameboy and playstation, I'm not bitter at all, no sirreee.....). Now I can only hope that GOG can rescue Shattered Memories, like some of the other silent hill game/s I believe they have on there.

Just finished first play through of Townfall, and it's certainly a polished silent hill with an interesting and timely premise on human greed's ability of the few to induce suffering on the many all the whilst deluding themselves into believing they're saviours. But for me it's a bit too on the nose laying out generally unspoken but heavily implied aspects of it's lore as it does. In the end, a good silent hill, but it didn't quite live up to its potential. Also felt a bit short to me. Not a bad effort though, but can't say I'm raring to go finish the other endings as I would've expected to. The remote Scottish island setting is great though for those of us residing on these isles and the retro features are fun.

Of the others, I never did get a chance to acquire and play 4 (have it on gog now if I recall so will get to it eventually), which I always felt looked fascinating, nor downpour. Homecoming was mediocre at best but felt more resident evil than silent hill to me. Also didn't get to play origins. Definitely like Silent Hill 2, but always felt it was a tad bit overrated (don't banish me there as punishment for my heresy plezz, I much prefer to enjoy it across the protection of a screen). Favourites had always been the original and 3, but guess I always loved the first the most for being a truly different type of horror game of its time.

However, last year's Silent Hill F, is arguably a new favourite (until I can play the first again if they do make a remake of that!). That is a stunningly beautiful game in all its horror. I loved the setting and use of the death lilies, with the feminist and arranged marriage themes. Despite being crap with my time management, that one I was hooked on until I finished every single ending. I can appreciate that objectively it's not a 10/10 game by any means, but for me the team and writer, absolutely knocked it out of the park. Okay, that was far too long of not really saying very much on silent hills so I shall stop now.

 

[NormanicGrav]

Game #35 - Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: 2nd October 2026 - Started: 12th October 2026 - Finished: 15th October 2026 (Story)

Spoiler

Did you know there are three types of Aces? I certainly didn't when I started playing this PlayStation 2 classic in the Ace Combat franchise. As mentioned earlier, this remaster could only be made available for those who pre-ordered Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve due to aircraft licensing and it's such an interesting trip having played the newest instalment going into this one.



Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War is the third game released for the PlayStation 2 after Ace Combat 4 & 5 but also the last one before the high definition era of releases (Ace Combat 6). Taking place in the year of 1995 in their version of the world, before the events of the other Ace Combat games, the story was portrayed in a documentary style with live-action cutscenes of various people discussing what happened during the Belkan war and its aftermath. It's a unique take and performances were pretty believable.

When you finish each mission you receive a reputation rank depending on the actions you take. This is in reference to the type of Ace you'll end up becoming by the end of the campaign; Mercenary Ace is someone who relentlessly kills their opponents and ignores their allies in battle (basically Evil), Solider Ace is someone balancing between defenceless and non-defenceless targets (a Neutral rank), and Knight Ace is someone who supports their allies and has mercy towards combatants who are neutralised (basically Good). I ended up being the Knight Ace because I felt I didn't need to take down neutralised enemies during combat and targets that weren't a priority.

The controls are similar to Ace Combat 8 and you have the option to choose between standard and expert if you want better movement and flexibility with your aircraft. Though I don't know if it was me or not but I wasn't able to pull off a quick turn with L2 + R2 like with the other game so perhaps it wasn't a feature until later in the franchise. One difference I did with this game is mainly playing the game in first-person mode which I felt was pretty smooth and added a different vibe to the experience.

The structure of the game is as follows; you have a brief gathering on what you need to do but it's quick and simple compared to the lengthy discussions you have on the newest game. Then you need to pick your aircraft, but you also have the ability to purchase and sell aircraft and special weapons which is something you don't do in Ace Combat 8. My guess is that in this game, because you're playing a mercenary, you have to pick and choose to manage the situation which works though I found a lot of my aircraft were mainly Air-to-Ground than Air-to-Air during the mission path. Another part I want to mention is that despite a map that details where the enemies are located, it's not particularly clear if you should use Air-to-Air or Air-to-Ground special weapons for your aircraft and that led to some awkward or annoying circumstances.



And because this is a classic game, there are no checkpoints at all for any of the missions so you will need to complete the mission without getting shot down. There will be missions where you do have the option to reach the supply line and stock up on ammo (as well as heal your aircraft) but it's not as common. To be fair the missions are fairly short and for a majority of them it's not an issue, but there are some that will test your abilities especially the final two missions.

The music is pretty good especially the main theme song in the final mission as that added to the experience. The visuals honestly hold up really well in this remaster, but it's a bleak template compared to the colourful aesthetic of the newer games which does suit the tone of the game's setting. The cutscenes were a bit blurry but they were designed for smaller TVs and I suspect during their remaster work they didn't have higher resolution quality and it's not as bad as it looks (at least it's not AI upscaled). The audio was perfectly fine.

In terms of progression, the game took me about 6 hours in total to complete my first playthrough which led to me earning the Knight Ace rank. There are 18 missions in total (and I read there's one more available if you do certain criteria) and most of them are fairly short at about 5-10 minutes each at best. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War is designed with the intention of multiple playthroughs in fairness but I'm happy with the one playthrough I got (especially given my backlog).

Considering it was a free pre-order bonus I got my value's worth in this intriguing addition to the Ace Combat franchise. Sadly it's not available on its own for modern platforms but from what I can see the original PlayStation 2 version is still available and the experience should be close to identical as there's no massive upgrades to the gameplay with this remaster (for example there's no checkpoints like in the original and I believe the original also ran at 60 frames per second or at least a stable framerate) so if you don't mind standard definition presentation the original should still be as good to play.

---

35 completed games and we have just over two months left before the year is over. I did consider 50 games as a target but I don't think I'll be able to achieve that unless I played a whole bunch of smaller or shorter games in the backlog, especially the ones on Nintendo Switch. I do think 40 is realistic though.

For next year, I am going to switch it up because a lot of the games in my backlog are pretty lengthy which gets in the way of achieving targets. So what I'm going to do instead in 2027 is focus more on those lengthier games with no target in mind (maybe 10 but we'll see). To give you an idea of what fits that category, it'll be any Fire Emblem game, any The Legend of Heroes games, any Neptunia game, Raging Loop, Shin Megani Tensei V: Vengeance, any Tales of game, Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen, Xenoblade Chronicles and dozens more. Newer games like Final Fantasy VII Revelations, Kingdom Hearts IV and Persona 6 qualify as well when they get released.

As a recap, below is a table of the games I've finished so far and all of the write-ups I've done will be archived on my blog at the end of the year (the individual posts are earlier in this thread if you want to check them now).

Spoiler: Completed Games of 2026 so far

No.​	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Metal Eden	PS5​	2025​	Action, First-Person Shooter
2​	1000xRESIST	PS5​	2025​	Adventure
3​	Dispatch	PS5​	2025​	Adventure
4​	Vanity Fair: The Pursuit	PS5​	2025​	Adventure, Full-Motion Video
5​	Nobody Wants to Die	PS5​	2026​	Adventure
6​	Code Vein II	PS5​	2026​	Action Souls RPG
7​	Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (+ Not a Hero & End of Zoe Expansions)	PS5​	2026​	Survival Horror, First-Person Shooter
8​	Resident Evil Village (+ Shadows of Rose Expansion)	PS5​	2026​	Action, Survival Horror, First-Person Shooter
9​	Resident Evil Requiem	PS5​	2026​	Action, Survival Horror, First/Third-Person Shooter
10​	One Piece World Seeker	PS4​	2023​	Action, Adventure
11​	My Hero Academia: One's Justice 2	PS4​	2024​	Fighting
12​	Nioh 3	PS5​	2026​	Action Souls RPG
13​	Pragmata	PS5​	2026​	Third-Person Action Shooter
14​	Mortal Kombat	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
15​	Mortal Kombat II	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
16​	Mortal Kombat 3	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
17​	Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
18​	Mortal Kombat Trilogy	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
19​	Mortal Kombat 4	Switch 2​	2026​	Arcade, Fighting
20​	Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero	Switch 2​	2026​	Action, Adventure, Beat 'em up
21​	Mortal Kombat: Special Forces	Switch 2​	2026​	Action, Adventure, Beat 'em up
22​	Dead or Alive 6	PS4​	2025​	Fighting
23​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	PS4​	2019​	Action, Hack 'n Slash
24​	Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions	PS4​	2022​	Sports
25​	Heavy Rain	PS4​	2025​	Adventure
26​	inFAMOUS	PS3​	2021​	Action, Adventure
27​	inFAMOUS 2	PS3​	2021​	Action, Adventure
28​	inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood	PS3​	2026​	Action, Adventure
29​	Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls	PS5​	2026​	Fighting
30​	Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3: The Video Game (PSP)	Classics​	PS Plus​	Action, Adventure
31​	Onimusha: Way of the Sword	PS5​	2026​	Action, Adventure, Hack 'n Slash
32​	The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story	PS5​	2026​	Adventure, Visual Novel
33​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- The Prophecy of the Throne	PS4​	2021​	Visual Novel
34​	Ace Combat 8: Wings of Thieve	PS5​	2026​	Combat Flight Shooter
35​	Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War	PS5​	2026​	Combat Flight Shooter

 

[cfx]

Game #35 - Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War (PlayStation 5)
Acquired: 2nd October 2026 - Started: 12th October 2026 - Finished: 15th October 2026 (Story)

I wanted to add a bit of info: The Japanese (which does have English language support) and Asian English physical versions of Ace Combat 8 include a download code card for Ace Combat Zero, so for now, it is still available that way. If those versions get reprinted of course they will no longer contain the code, but for now anything you can find to buy should include the code. I notice on ebay sellers are selling the game for a big markup for that code, which is just taking advantage of people since you can still buy both at Playasia for a normal price, they currently even have the Japanese version in stock.

I can't seem to find it again now, but I watched a youtube video that did some comparisons between the PS5 remaster and the PS2 original. Their conclusion was pretty consistent with what you wrote in that the feeling was the remaster looks quite good but also that it exposed some things that aren't noticeable on the original so it's kind of a tradeoff which might be considered preferable. I actually have the PS2 game, but it's still sealed so I've never looked at it. It's also the Japanese version with of course no English language support back then. I got it as all I had at the time was a Japanese PS2 console and of course region locks were a thing at the time.

 

[NormanicGrav]

I wanted to add a bit of info: The Japanese (which does have English language support) and Asian English physical versions of Ace Combat 8 include a download code card for Ace Combat Zero, so for now, it is still available that way. If those versions get reprinted of course they will no longer contain the code, but for now anything you can find to buy should include the code. I notice on ebay sellers are selling the game for a big markup for that code, which is just taking advantage of people since you can still buy both at Playasia for a normal price, they currently even have the Japanese version in stock.

I can't seem to find it again now, but I watched a youtube video that did some comparisons between the PS5 remaster and the PS2 original. Their conclusion was pretty consistent with what you wrote in that the feeling was the remaster looks quite good but also that it exposed some things that aren't noticeable on the original so it's kind of a tradeoff which might be considered preferable. I actually have the PS2 game, but it's still sealed so I've never looked at it. It's also the Japanese version with of course no English language support back then. I got it as all I had at the time was a Japanese PS2 console and of course region locks were a thing at the time.

Interesting. At least there's some ways to try and get a hold of the remaster. I know with Ace Combat 5, there was a way to get the remaster by downloading the Digital Deluxe Edition for Ace Combat 7 but it was eventually removed once they did the Top Gun Maverick promotion.

I think the way they handled this remaster is similar to Ace Combat 5 where it's basically a port but looks good on the 4KTV. On the plus side the PS2 versions are still accessible including the Ace Combat 6 Xbox 360 game (which is backwards compatible on Series X) so I have options if I want to go down that route.

Ace Combat 3 is the one that I'm most interested in seeing the remaster treatment next due to its unique history.

 

[Dai]

The Japanese (which does have English language support) and Asian English physical versions of Ace Combat 8 include a download code card for Ace Combat Zero, so for now, it is still available that way.

I'd be cautious about going that route. The digital codes for AC0 in the UK had to be redeemed within two weeks of AC8's release date, so it could be the same for the Asian version.

 

[cfx]

I'd be cautious about going that route. The digital codes for AC0 in the UK had to be redeemed within two weeks of AC8's release date, so it could be the same for the Asian version.

I checked images of the game on ebay before I posted the info, and both versions state the code is valid until 1 October 2027 on the sticker on the covers.

I don't think they ever make the code cards expire that quickly; at least none I have ever seen.

The ebay sellers are marking these versions up to about 2X the original cost, and one of the ones I reference earlier has now sold. Could have bought it on Playasia where both are now in stock for half that.