2026 - Happy New Year & 2025 GOTY is obviously not Clair Obscur.

Play

As Dusk Falls (PS5) - Completed

An interactive "telltale" like game about a family whilst relocating to St. Louis are forced to stop at a motel and chaos ensues.

An enjoyable story with multiple characters that does end on a mild cliffhanger, not sure if the studio Interior Night has any plans to continue the story.

It even has a waterfall scene!

 

Sword of the Sea (PS5) - Completed

A stunningly beautiful game where you ride a hoverboard and help to bring back water to a desert. Who else but Austin Wintory with yet another amazing soundtrack. If you enjoyed Journey you will love this & it has some amazing waterfalls!

 

Clair Obscur - Expeditions 33 (PS5) - Playing

With the extended break from work it was time to start another physical game from my backlog & what else but the darling of award shows and many gamers GOTY, Clair Obscur Expeditions 33.

I can't say anything about the game that you have not already read or listened but yes it lives up to the hype. If not the sountrack then the art style or engrossing story and characters. Maybe it's the turn-based battles with it's parry/dodge mechanic or that each character has a unique fighting style to master.

I was hoping I may be able to complete it before the end of the year but I don't want to rush it and enjoy every beautifully crafted section of the game.

In summary I wish Square Enix are taking notes, this is what the Final Fantasy games should have been.

Oh! and yes it has some beautiful waterfalls!

 

Game of the Year 2025 

Overall I'm happy with my gaming year starting with the juggernaut that is Cyberpunk 2025 & what a game it was! A pleasure to explore Night City and uncover it's many secrets. Without going any further let me just say this is my game of the year! even before I started playing the Phantom Liberty DLC.

I then enjoyed some british humour in Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe before going back to the 80s for Robocop Rogue City. We can ignore Pure Mini Golf a 32p purchase for an easy platinum lol!

Road 96 was the first of many interactive "telltale" like games I would enjoy this year and no year is complete without an RGG game and Like A Dragon Ishin! scratched that itch!

Balatro should come with a warning label, easily the most addictive game I've played in a long time and even now I keep coming back to just to have one more run!

Ghostwire Tokyo was an unexpected surprise that I enjoyed very much including the scary school sequence! Fantasy Life i told me how fragile a human being I am with constant RSI pains due to it's lack of accessbility options for the quicktime events. It also taught me I should always quit playing games if I am not enjoying.

Dredge was a relaxing fishing game with a mysterious story to enjoy & Lost Records Bloom & Rage Tape 1 another interactive game from one of my favourite developers Don't Nod.

Messenger an impressibe acheivement for a short browser based game, The Invincible is a first person sci-fi adventure based on the 1964 novel.

I then found my digital crack in Wordle, Connections & Strands. I still play all three daily but did give up on Spelling Bee & Pips.

Promise Mascot Agency was an enjoyable "Kairosoft" like game with a yakuza backstory, it is also the first game I have purchased in years that I started playing straight away.

Hole.io kep me entertained for a few days gobbling up buildings. Then back to back interactive titles in Lost Records Bloom & Rage Tape 2 & As Dusk Falls. Finishing off the year with Sword of the Sea.

2026 Gaming Resolutions

New year! and some new resolutions that I can break!

1. Purchase no more physical games until I have reduced my backlog to 3 titles (currently at 13!).

2. I did well in 2025 and avoided buying the PS5 Pro and Switch 2, I need to keep that going in 2026, no new hardware purchases except if required PS5 controllers.

3. I have £80 on PSN credit and this all I can use until I reduce my digital backlog to 10 titles (either by playing or dropping, currently at 35 games). No more shopto top up codes!

I will renew PS+ at the essentials tier in November, I don't need the extra tier it just adds more titles to my backlog!

4. I did really well this year with FOMO, I did not go back to Fortnite even with the Simpsons map or the current BTTF skins, I also avoided purchasing Arc Raiders. I don't have the free time for these type of games. Need to avoid the hype and just play what I already own.

 

Backlog

Digital Games (35) - +4 See shopping below

PS+ Subscription (3) - Reduced by 1, Sword of the Sea & As Dusk Falls completed & Planet Coaster 2 added.

PS+ Monthly (19) - Reduced by 1, can't remember what title I dropped?! It was Viewpoint!

Physical Games (13) - added two see shopping below

Total = 70 Games (gone up by three from last month!)

Shopping

Stupid end of year sales! 

Shadow Gambit - Cursed Crew - £8.74 - Backlog
Steamworld Heist 2 - £6.24 - Backlog
Beyond Galaxyland - £7.49 - Backlog
Gears of War Reloaded £15.99 - Physical Backlog
Helldivers 2 £19.99 - Physical Backlog
A Way Out £4.49 - Backlog
The Quarry £8.44 - For Nemo/Sam to enjoy
and Roger £4.29 - First game I have purchased on the switch in a long time!

2025 Total £399.72! 

2026 Target is spend less than £100

 

Want

Quite a few titles I'm interested in from The Game Awards show including

The First Shepherd, Bradley the Badger, Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic, Control Resonant, Gang of Dragon, No Law, Tomb Raider Catalyst & Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, 007 First Light & Pragmata.

Bin

My own weakness for buying more games when I have enough games to enjoy already!

 

Happy New Year! 

May 2025 - Finally completed Cyberpunk 2077!

Play

Phantom Liberty (PS5)

I completed Phantom Liberty and finally waved goodbye to Cyberpunk 2077. After 220 hours of gaming it was finally time to move on from Night City.

Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe (PS5)

I need to take a break from long timesink gaming and returned back to the indie scene and enjoyed and completed The Stanley Parable.

 

Robocop Rogue City (PS5)

Next up I recently started Robocop Rogue City which has an old school shooter feel including janky voice acting & character animation.

Backlog

Shopping

Nothing purchased in April, now that I have finished Cyberpunk I can focus on my backlog and I'm specifically looking at games that can be completed in less than 50 hours. I need to try and avoid timesink games.

 

Want

Great reviews for Clair Obscur Expedition 33 and I hope to enjoy this at some point during the year.

Maybe Oblivion which was shadow dropped, I have never played this game. Skyrim is my only elder scrolls game.

PS+ games for May have been announced and I'm looking forward to playing Balatro. What did I just say about timesinks?

Bin

Games coming off PS Plus subscription service, I wish all additions had at least a year or they clearly show when they are leaving the service so you can decide to start playing or not.

April 2025 - I have finally finished Cyberpunk 2077, well sort of!

Play

Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) 

After exploring every nook and cranny of Night City & enjoying the multiple different endings. I've finally completed Cyberpunk 2077 and got the platinum.

Except ...

Phantom Liberty (PS5)

I have gone straight into playing the the Phantom Liberty DLC.

One annoyance I did have with the game is in place it it very dark and there is no brightness setting or torches in the future?!

Backlog

Shopping

£23 spent on a pre-owned Metaphor ReFantazio

PlayStation Plus (To Play)

Yet another game I want to play in Robocop was added.

Want

I have no interest in the Switch 2 but interesting to see the RRP of games increasing with Mario Kart World (the obvious spiritual successor to Burnout Paradise)

Bin

Lack of time to gaming, I'm always too busy doing something else

March 2025 - Yes I am still playing Cyberpunk 2077!

Play

Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) 

I have gone past the 100 hour mark in this game now, I have fully decked our Gold Tier Cyber Implants and I still tend to default to using hacking skills and stealth combat, usually by hacking a camera and using that to take out nearby enemies preferably by explosive devices. 

I am focusing on increasing my Solo & Shinobi skills so default to Shotgun/Assault Rifle when required, the other skills are nearly all maxed out. Truthfully combat with guns is way too easy with the Smart Assault Rifle. 

I love exploring and finding side quests or an NPC mission, it is a huge open world.

I started the game at the beginning of the year so it is going to take me a long while yet before I complete it! 

It Takes Two (PS5)

My daughter wanted to try this and it's an enjoyable co-op action platformer with some light puzzle sequences. We played for a few hours and hopefully I can convince her to get back to it so we can complete it.

 

Backlog

On the shelf

Annoyingly, I only lasted 5 weeks into the new year before purchasing a game!

Fist of the North Star (£3.99 in a PSN Sale) released by RGG Studio (Now you can understand my weakness!) for that price it was too good an offer to say no & RGG can do not wrong. 

No idea when I am going to play it because Cyberpunk 2077 is eating up all my gaming time & I have not even got to the Phantom Liberty DLC!

PlayStation Plus (To Play)

Star Wars Jedi Survivor & Dragon Age Veilguard was recently added to PS+ so looking forward to enjoying those games.

 

Want

Nothing, nothing at all, I just need more time to enjoy gaming!

 

Bin

Starting a game, one annoying little gripe with Cyberpunk 2077 on the PS5 is having to press continue four times to load the game, I do wish there was a continue feature on the PS5 dashboard like Infinite Wealth that took me straight into the game from my latest save file.  I do miss the Xbox Quick Resume feature.

 

February 2025 - I'm a netrunner baby!

Play

Cyberpunk 2077 (PS5) 

It has taken me a while to understand all the systems at play in the game but I finally have my Netrunner V, going in with Contagion & using Overdrive for Synapse Burnout. If all else fails my trust Tier 5 pistol can headshot for 150% damage!

The star of the game is Night City,  just an amazing city to explore and so much to discover from random gang fights to gigs.

I am currently about 75 hours in but I expect I will be playing this game for all of February and maybe even March!

 

Want

I stayed strong and avoided purchasing Star Wars Outlaw, I just need to focus on enjoying what I own.

I have added a few more titles to my shopping list and currently it is quite long but I won't be buying anything for a long while.

Baldurs Gate 3, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Shadow Gambit Cursed Crew, Star Wars Outlaws, Ghost of Yotei, Metal Gear Solid Delta, Death Stranding 2, Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Mafia The Old Country, The Alters, Clair Obscur Expedition 33, Kriegsfront Tactics, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream & Dispatch.

Bin 

Nothing except maybe my lack of gaming time at the moment being limited to a few hours a week.

 

January 2025 - Happy Cyberpunk 2077 New Year

Play

After completing the Kaito Files DLC for Lost Judgement, I've just been dabbling around trying the odd PS+ title like Forspoken, Nobody Saves the World, My First Gran Turismo etc but nothing really grabbed my attention. 

My daughter is still playing Final Fantasy 7 Remake so the PS5 disc drive slot is full & Spider-Man 2 will have to wait, I purchased Cyberpunk 2077 and the Phantom Liberty DLC in the recent Black Friday sales on digital. The physical release of the game only has a code for the DLC.

Cyberpunk 2077

There are quite a few game mechanics to get your head around and the map opens up very quickly for you to explore. It got me thinking about how a video game introduces a player to the a world and it's mechanics. I think Horizon Zero Dawn did a very good job with only giving the player a small area and introducing each mechanic slowly to ensure the player knew how to control Aloy before opening up the world. Cyberpunk 2077 takes a different approach and throws a lot of mechanics at you almost immediately and opens up the world map for you to explore. Thus I'm taking it a little bit slowly to understand how best to use the hacking skills, combat & all the various different side quests/jobs you can take on before I venture out to explore the world.

Want

I double stacked on PS+ during Black Friday sales so this will be my main source for new titles, I have quite a bit on my backlog that I have purchased either physical or digital & plan to enjoy these before going shopping.

Spider-Man 2 & Shadow Tactics (Physical). Outer Wilds, Empire of the Sin & Front Mission 1st (Digital), Like A Dragon Ishin, Disco Elysium, Sackboy & Bioshock Collection (PS+)

There are quite a few games released (Star Wars Outlaws, Shadow Gambit, Baldurs Gate 3) or coming soon (Like A Dragon Pirate Yakuza) that I want to purchase but nothing that I need now so they can all wait.

Bin

Fortnite - The one game in 2024 that sucked so much of my gaming time.