What Games Are You Playing?

[Dai]

Paranormasight
An excellent supernatural murder-mystery visual novel with an intriguing story, lots of interesting characters, and an atmospheric soundtrack. The visuals have a desaturated yellow/green palette and heavy use of film grain that I'm pretty sure was influenced by Boogiepop Phantom.

The first hour can feel a bit jarring, as you may feel an awkward disconnect from the protagonist's actions, but it all makes sense by the end. There's a mild point-and-click element to the gameplay, though the bulk of the game is just picking the order to ask questions rather than being able to choose different decisions. There are a handful of times when you can influence events though, and practically all of those are inventive and memorable.

Highly recommended.

 

[HWR]

Played through Spider-Man 2 and enjoyed it quite a bit - it’s certainly the strongest of the three games from a gameplay perspective, and the fast travel system was a game-changer. I felt the 30-hour game length was fine as well- sometimes it’s nice not to spend a month and over 100 hours completing a title.

 

[Lordhippos]

I've decided to play concurrently:

Octopath 2
FF7 Remake Intergrade
Cocoon

Cocoon is really short, so should finish it soonish, FF7 remake is prep for the new one coming out in Feb, it's been a long time since I played remake part 1.

I'm liking the extra stuff they've added to Octopath 2, it still feels very much like 1, but I don't think 1 had side jobs, or day/night cycles, which this does have, so it's kind of like 1++

 

[João Gomes]

Yeah, I’m also thinking on what to play next after Alan Wake 2, which I should wrap up today or tomorrow.

I’ve got Jusant, Cocoon and World of Horror sitting on my PS store cart but maybe I’ll hold on for a few days longer because I also want to finish Octopath II and Armored Core 6 and I haven’t even touched my switch this year apart from finishing Paranormasight earlier in the year and making solid progress on Wonderful 101.

 

[Lordhippos]

Cocoon is on Xbox Game pass if you can play it on that, PC or Xbox, it's not totally free there but you can usually get trials or whatever, I can invite new members for 14 days free on PC game pass, but doesn't work on existing accounts/subscriptions or probably people that have used it before.

Edit - Jusant is as well!

My general strategy is that I try and do the stuff in my owned games unless I'm just not that into it at the time, or something new comes along that I really want to play then and there, putting other games on pause.

2-3 games tops at once or I get confused about controls between them as I get used to which buttons to press!

 

[João Gomes]

My PC is less useful than a broken toaster (it’s like 10 years old) and I still haven’t figured out how to buy an Xbox without risking divorce so I have no access to games pass

Still, those three I’ll get before the year is over, that’s for sure.

I’m like you, I’ll play two games simultaneously, at most. I tried it the other way and it didn’t work out for me lol

 

[Gemsy-chan]

Completed Tales of Arise: Beyond the Dawn dlc. A nice addition to the game.

 

[Gemsy-chan]

Completed Claude's route in Star Ocean The Second Story R

 

[Aeon]

Rather strangely for this time of year, I haven't been playing that many games, with that said I'm hoping to finally finish Skyrim's main quest now after, hold on.... 12 years; crikey it's been that long and I still haven't finished it, I guess that happens when you try playing a game where the side content is a million times better than the main quest but here we are.

 

[Dai]

Robocop: Rogue City
Far from being a simple FPS, this is a fleshed out Robocop simulator. Yes, you spend a lot of time stomping around, blasting creeps to pieces, but you spend as much time stomping around investigating crime scenes and patrolling a small hub area to crack down on crimes ranging from parking violations and graffiti up to bank robbery and murder. It plays like one of the later Deus Ex games, albeit without stealth options (for obvious reasons). You interact with several characters repeatedly over the course of the game, with Bioware-esque dialogue options that affect your relationships with them. Likewise your actions can have broader impact, such as influencing public opinion and the outcome of a mayoral election. It's all surprisingly ambitious for a game clearly made on a AA budget.

As one of the first wave of Unreal Engine 5 games, its budget limitation doesn't hold it back as much as you might think. The raw technical power of the engine puts it level or above some recent AAA games in some ways. The budget jank only really shows in some limited character animation and a distracting macroblocking glitch when the camera angle changes during cutscenes. Aside from that it's released in a more polished state than many AAA headliners, given the caveat that framerate is a lot more stable in quality mode than performance mode on PS5. 30fps is fine for the weighty pace of the title character though, so it's not a major problem.

Combat is pretty good, with Robo's signature Auto-9 being effective and satisfying throughout the game, though you can pick up dropped enemy weapons too. The central story is serviceable, but nothing special. It nails the warped sense of humour of the movies, but doesn't reach for the deeper social satire. Most of the enjoyment comes from just being able to live as Robocop in such a fully-featured way. This isn't an accessible place to jump into the franchise, since it assumes familiarity with the events of the first two movies, but if you have any nostalgia for those movies, you really need to play this.

 

[Lordhippos]

Rather strangely for this time of year, I haven't been playing that many games, with that said I'm hoping to finally finish Skyrim's main quest now after, hold on.... 12 years; crikey it's been that long and I still haven't finished it, I guess that happens when you try playing a game where the side content is a million times better than the main quest but here we are.

One day you will finish it I'm sure! I can't even remember if I did or not, but I hated the way you levelled up in Skyrim.

Much prefer getting XP for killing stuff or doing quests, in Skyrim as I recall, you get XP for doing stuff.

Robocop: Rogue City

This actually looked like a pretty fun game, one I'll look into getting at some point for sure.

From the Steam sales, I grabbed AC: Valhalla, it was relatively cheap at £12.50, and so far seems to run pretty well, very similar to Odyssey in a lot of ways still.

 

[awadama]

I started playing Disney Speedstorm and I've absolutely LOVING it.

For a free to play game, it's very impressive and easily one of the best kart racers I've ever played. Honestly, it's not far behind Mario Kart.

Frozen characters and tracks are coming in a few days, so I'm very excited about that!

 

[Lucky_Deity]

Final Fantasy XVI (PS5)

This was a masterpiece for me personally, loved almost every second of it. The gameplay, characters, world, music, all of it. My new favourite FF just beating out FF7R though once the trilogy / quadrilogy (I include Crisis Core as I feel it will be important going forward and I love it as well) finishes that could always change. The weakest part is that it would be nice to have some more playable characters and not all the side quests are mind blowing but considering how much they add to the world building I really appreciate them and quite looked forward to most of them. There are some which I feel are vital to give more context and character arcs to the story overall though so I would definitely recommend not skipping them all completely. And considering there has been a lot of debate about this, I'll put my two cents in, this IS a Final Fantasy game through and through, there are things which are different and new but that makes it stand out from the rest IMO and gives the game its identity. Not everyone will enjoy the game which is fair but saying this isn't a FF game I feel is wrong personally.

EDIT: I completely forgot to mention my favourite part of the game, the bosses, the Eikon bosses specifically. The set pieces for these were exhilarating and a marvel to experience, definitely a number of bosses are some of my new favourite bosses of all time in video games now. I was a fan of the 1 on 1 human boss fights as well, they were super fun in a different way to the larger than life ones.

Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster) (PS4)

From the latest game right back to the first, this was a joy to play. For context I used the increased EXP and Gil boosts as well as made use of the turn on / off encounters and auto-battle as grinding isn't fun in almost any game and I wanna enjoy myself. Was great to see how the series began and what elements which started here carried on and evolved throughout the series. Though a simple game I did enjoy the world it presented and the gameplay which though also simple works real well still IMO and didn't feel to archaic (though the QoL features I used probably helped in that regard). I did end up getting the Platinum Trophy as well which I don't do often as I found the game so enjoyable and wasn't a hard one to achieve either. I ended up maxing out my characters levels and gil at that as well, I truly 100% the game which I didn't think I'd ever do in an old school RPG. But overall, a fantastic start for the legendary series, look forward to checking out the other classic titles in the Pixel Remaster collection.

 

[João Gomes]

The only thing that betrayed XVI and has made it my number 2 GOTY as opposed to number 1 is that the team didn’t have the know-how to design interesting quests and/or the courage to fully commit to just designing an action game, or have more substantial level design with true exploration and greater freedom of movement.

If it had been an action game, yes, side characters would have suffered and yes, “fans” would have complained even harder but the pacing of the game would have improved dramatically. Gone would be the “do three things to advance the story” time-wasters and we would instead go from hype fight to hype fight, bathed in superb presentation all the way to the ending. Integrate a couple of the more important side-quest story beats into the story and that’s it. And to be sure, when this game is hype, it’s like AAAAA, it’s insane

Anyway… finished Armored Core 6 (3 times back to back for all 3 endings) and I was so happy to find out how good it is and how incredible it feels to play. I thought it would be a bit sluggish, but the better you get, the more fun it is and you’re pulling off cool **** all the time.

Also beat Separate Ways, the DLC for RE4 and I really enjoyed that after having been away for a while. Basically all the stuff that was from the original game but didn’t make it into the remake is here and it makes things so much more interesting. Just a stupidly strong package between main game and DLC. Spoiler alert, RE4 is my GoTY.

 

[Aeon]

One day you will finish it I'm sure! I can't even remember if I did or not, but I hated the way you levelled up in Skyrim.

Much prefer getting XP for killing stuff or doing quests, in Skyrim as I recall, you get XP for doing stuff.

It’ll probably be a long time before I finish the game as I’m probably gonna move on to finishing up a few of my PS5 games so that I can uninstall them with a clean conscience when Christmas comes about and I need the extra space, I tend to lose interest in Skyrim after a while, although I personally like the level up system as it makes me use all of it’s mechanics, but I can see why it’s not for everyone.

 

[Lordhippos]

It’ll probably be a long time before I finish the game as I’m probably gonna move on to finishing up a few of my PS5 games so that I can uninstall them with a clean conscience when Christmas comes about and I need the extra space, I tend to lose interest in Skyrim after a while, although I personally like the level up system as it makes me use all of it’s mechanics, but I can see why it’s not for everyone.

I prefer the way Cyberpunk does it, you get XP for killing things/doing quests and there is a separate pool for XP and skills that you get for doing stuff like hacking, crafting etc.

Good mix of both types of systems and means you can naturally progress as you go along.

 

[Lucky_Deity]

Final Fantasy II (Pixel Remaster) (PS4)

So this was an interesting title, mainly with how its levelling system works. I'd heard it was different but hadn't looked into how exactly until I played it. It definitely took a little bit to get my head around but once I understood it, I quite appreciated it for what it is. Basically your character doesn't have levels and instead you are levelling up your stats, weapons and magic with different way of levelling up each stat, some in unconventional ways. I don't feel I can explain it well but if you know, you know. As with the original game I did make use of all the QoL features which definitely helped with my enjoyment of the game as I could see this game being quite frustrating otherwise in certain aspects. This is also the game we get more of a character driven story, no more nameless heroes like the original. It actually had quite some similarities to FF16 plot wise and feel it may had taken some inspiration from this title. I was quite immersed with the world and enjoyed my time with it, both plot wise and the game as a whole. Though I found the gameplay system interesting and appreciate it, I'm glad they didn't carry on with it but for this title alone, I'm fine with it and makes this game stand apart from the original. I also got the Platinum Trophy for this as well. Next up is FF3, I have either the Pixel Remaster or DS remake to go with for this title but I'm sticking with the Pixel Remasters atm and will go through the remake of 3 (and eventually 4) down the line. So far though out of all the mainline and mainline adjacent titles I've played, I've throughly enjoyed them all.

For context I have played and beaten FF1, FF2, Crisis Core, FF7 Remake, FF15 and FF16 as well as played a good chunk of FF14 (been a while since I've booted up the game, adore it though).

 

[Lucky_Deity]

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch)

I've been playing this semi-regulary since launch and I finally finished every song in the game and got the end credits as well as finished all the DLC. As with the original and Curtain Call on 3DS, I love these games, especially being a big rhythm game fan and that combined with the wonderful music FF has with a light RPG system thrown in as well makes for the perfect recipe.

The amount of content, song-wise is amazing, which is why it has taken so long to get through, though (and not to sound like I'm complaining much) I do wish there were some more characters as I feel some games are lacking with their selection, for example, FF10 is missing Wakka and Lulu among others and for FF7, Cid and Cait Sith are the only party members not available though FF7 does get the most love but would had liked to had seen Cid and Cait Sith still regardless as well as the likes of say Angeal from Crisis Core. This extends more with the DLC, I would had loved to have seen 2B from Nier Automata or Neku from The World Ends With You when it came to their respective games DLC packs. The last pack which contained FF16 music tracks I really wish got a bit more even if none of the others did, adding a new Series Quest in for that game as well as playable Clive, Torgal, Jill etc. would had been really appreciated.

But as I said, I don't wanna complain much and I don't rate the game any lower for not including the specifics I want as this is a very content-full game with tons of music which any FF fan will appreciate greatly and I know I'll be coming back to this game for years on end like I did the previous titles.

Now I hope they do a new DQ entry or port the 3DS original as I'm still bummed we never got that, even imported it but don't have a Japanese 3DS to play it.

 

[NormanicGrav]

I finally re-read the One Piece manga and caught up to Vol. 90 to allow me to start going through the games, though I only went through two of the four that I had available.

I'm not going to hit the 40 games target at this point, but what I might do for December is play through those classic PS1 games I have in the backlog for a fun short experience.

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#20 - One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: February 2020

Spoiler

One Piece has always been a favourite of mine even when I first started getting into anime. While I don't watch the television series due to its large length, controversial pacing and due to late UK legal accessibility, the manga was how I read through its story. And over the years the franchise has had a number of games and one of my favourites was actually the Koei Tecmo Musou titles.

Since then we have had four Dynasty Warrior Musou spin-off games, and I've played the first two back on the PlayStation 3 but I didn't play the third one until recently because it covered the Dressrosa story arc so I didn't want to be spoiled because of the game. Granted the game didn't adapt the entire arc but it did provide enough that it would spoil some surprises.

One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is an intriguing game in a sense that each story arc is pretty much condensed into one mission. The East Blue saga had the most content but from there each major saga was summarised in a mission or two which felt rushed but at the same time does work with how the Musou gameplay works.

In each mission the goal is to get to a specific point and then eventually defeat the big boss of the map. The other Musou games normally ask for you to take control of each individual base and while this is still there throughout each level it's not a major goal and doesn't have an impact on the overall objectives which is a surprise. You do get situations like don't get an individual reaching a certain point or a time limit to get to another part of the map but a lot of elements are still intact including the bar that allows you to perform a special move and making sure your teammates don't run away or get killed from the level.

The level up system is in place where you can build your character, add skills and use coins to improve your stats. The coins you earn can also be shared with other characters which is handy to avoid balancing issues. You can also use money to level up characters as well which is also handy. I have played around with each character and most of them work really well, but I would say it depends on the map of choice because some missions would cause more problems than others.

Alongside your main sessions you also have surprise sub-missions where you or a specific character of its choosing needs to perform a specific task which unlocks an extra cutscene that adds more story content. This is pretty cool and adds more replay value to the game. There's also rewards for sorting those missions out as well.

The main story took roughly 16 hours I believe which is a solid length and it's one big campaign than multiple sub campaigns like Sengoku Basara or Gundam for example. Alongside the main story mode is a Dream Log where you can play as any character and take on various missions to build their stats and unlock more characters to use in this mode. It's a nice little addition to the game for those who want tons of playtime hours whilst waiting for the next game.

Overall One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 is a fun musou title. I do feel a bit disappointed that the game rushes through the story arcs but I suppose it's for pacing reasons. The characters each have their own skills and the content is solid enough for replayability.

---

#21 - One Piece: Burning Blood (PlayStation 4)
Acquired: September 2022

Spoiler

Straight after finishing Pirate Warriors 3 I started playing One Piece: Burning Blood, a fighting game that has a fair amount of skill needed to win. This is the first One Piece game developed solely for PlayStation 4 after the previous ones had PlayStation 3 versions, but is available on other platforms as well within that same generation.

Burning Blood's storyline is focused exclusively on the Marineford/Paramount War arc and has four different perspectives that you follow; Luffy, Whitebeard, Akainu and Ace. Each character has battles against other foes that they face throughout the story arc and the cutscenes looked pretty good in general.

The combat I found to be pretty fun and challenging in general for each character. You have your regular attack and heavy attacks as well as a special attack when you fill up your bar, plus there's the added Haki/Devil Fruit abilities to help you against foes who have similar abilities that would be a problem when you are trying to hit them. The game's biggest flaw in my opinion is how it handles defense because it felt inconsistent for each indvidual and AI difficulty as you progress throughout the campaign. Sometimes you can get a good combo against them but then at other times their defence refuses to break. The AI is ruthless at the end portions of the campaign and will slap you around without giving you another chance.

There's also mini requirements that will unlock additional fights that you can try to win which rewards you with more character unlocks. I found these to be the most tedious because the AI difficulty is a lot harder but I managed to get through all of them.

Once you have finished the story you can take on additional side content and also online multiplayer. The Platinum trophy I have heard is pretty easy to get but because it requires online I wasn't able to find a Ranked match so I decided not to pursue it.

Overall I found Burning Blood to be a challenging short game and would have been a lot more fun had I played this back when the game just got released because of the player base. The main story mode took about 6 hours 30 minutes to beat.

---

My backlog so far:

Spoiler

#​	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​	Prince of Persia	Action, Platformer
13​	Puppeteer	Platformer
14​	SEGA Rally	Racing
15​	Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time	Action, Platformer
16​	Split/Second: Velocity	Racing
17​	Stranglehold	Action, Shooter
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​	Chaos;Child	Visual Novel
10​	Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars	Turn-Based RPG
11​	CRYSTAR	Action RPG
12​	Cyberdimension Neptunia: Four Goddesses Online	Action RPG
13​	Danganronpa 1 Reload	Visual Novel
14​	Danganronpa 2 Reload	Visual Novel
15​	Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls	Action, Shooter
16​	Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony	Visual Novel
17​	Date A Live: Rinne Utopia (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
18​	Date A Live II: Ars Install (Rio-Reincarnation)	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
19​	Date A Live III: Twin Edition: Rio Reincarnation	Visual Novel, Dating Sim
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​	Fairy Tail	Turn-Based RPG
27​	Fate/Extella Link	Musou
28​	Final Fantasy IX	Turn-Based RPG
29​	Final Fantasy VIII Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
30​	Full Metal Panic! Fight! Who Dares Win	Tactical RPG
31​	Gal*Gun 2	On-Rails Shooter
32​	Gintama Rumble	Action, Musou
33​	GOD EATER 3	Action Hunter RPG
34​	Gravity Rush 2	Action, Platformer
35​	The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures	Visual Novel
36​	The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve	Visual Novel
37​	Gundam Breaker 3 BREAK EDITION	Action, Arcade
38​	The Hong Kong Massacre	Top-Down Shooter
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​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm	Action, Fighting
53​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2	Action, Fighting
54​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 3	Action, Fighting
55​	Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4: Road to Boruto	Action, Fighting
56​	NEO: The World Ends With You	Action RPG
57​	Neptunia Virtual Stars	Action
58​	Neptunia x Senran Kagura: Ninja Wars	Action
59​	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered	Turn-Based RPG
60​	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Action RPG
61​	Nights of Azure	Action RPG
62​	Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon	Action RPG
63​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4	Action, Musou
64​	One Piece: Unlimited World Red	Action
65​	One Piece: World Seeker	Action
66​	Our World Is Ended	Visual Novel
67​	Persona 5 Royal	Turn-Based RPG
68​	Persona 5 Strikers	Action RPG, Musou
69​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney	Visual Novel
70​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All	Visual Novel
71​	Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations	Visual Novel
72​	Punch Line	Visual Novel
73​	Raging Loop	Visual Novel
74​	Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-: Prophecy of the Throne	Visual Novel
75​	Robotics;Notes DaSH	Visual Novel
76​	Robotics;Notes ELITE	Visual Novel
77​	RUINER	Action, Shooter
78​	SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays	Tactical RPG
79​	SD Gundam G Generation Genesis	Tactical RPG
80​	Secret of Mana	Action RPG
81​	Sengoku Basara 4: Sumeragi	Musou
82​	Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal	Action
83​	Shadow of the Colossus	Platformer
84​	Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster	Turn-Based RPG
85​	Star Ocean: First Departure R	Action RPG
86​	Star Ocean: The Last Hope HD Remaster	Action RPG
87​	Steins;Gate Elite	Visual Novel
88​	Super Neptunia RPG	Turn-Based RPG
89​	Super Robot Wars 30	Tactical RPG
90​	Super Robot Wars OG: The Moon Dwellers	Tactical RPG
91​	Super Robot Wars T	Tactical RPG
92​	Super Robot Wars X	Tactical RPG
93​	Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet	Action RPG
94​	Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum Sessions!	Music, Rhythm
95​	Tales of Berseria	Action RPG
96​	Tales of Vesperia	Action RPG
97​	Theatrhythm Final Bar Line	Music, Rhythm
98​	Tokyo Xanadu eX+	Action RPG
99​	Trials of Mana	Action RPG
100​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
101​	Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
102​	Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen	Tactical RPG, Visual Novel
103​	Utawarerumono: Zan	Action, Musou
104​	Valkyria Chronicles 4	Tactical RPG
105​	Valkyria Revolution	Action RPG
106​	WipEout Omega Collection	Racing
107​	The Witch and the Hundred Knight Revival Edition	Action RPG
108​	WORLDEND SYNDROME	Visual Novel
109​	Yakuza 3 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
110​	Yakuza 4 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
111​	Yakuza 5 Remastered	Action, Beat em up
112​	YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World	Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation 5 Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Alan Wake Remastered	Action, Shooter
2​	CONTROL Ultimate Edition	Action, Shooter
3​	Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII -Reunion-	Action RPG
4​	Cyberpunk 2077	Action
5​	Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles	Fighting
6​	The DioField Chronicle	Tactical RPG
7​	DOOM Eternal	Action, Shooter
8​	Forspoken	Action RPG
9​	Ghostwire: Tokyo	Action, Survival Horror
10​	GrimGrimoire OnceMore	Real-Time Strategy RPG
11​	Hades	Dungeon Crawler
12​	JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle R	Fighting
13​	Judgment	Action, Beat em up
14​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie	Turn-Based RPG
15​	Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name	Action, Beat 'em up
16​	Lost Judgment	Action, Beat em up
17​	Mobile Suit Gundam BATTLE OPERATION Code Fairy	Action
18​	MONARK	Tactical RPG
19​	Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten	Turn-Based RPG
20​	Neptunia ReVerse	Turn-Based RPG
21​	Neptunia: Sisters vs Sisters	Action RPG
22​	Nioh 2	Action Souls RPG
23​	One Piece: Odyssey	Turn-Based RPG
24​	Pac-Man World Re-Pac	Platformer
25​	Quake	Action, Shooter
26​	Quake II	Action, Shooter
27​	Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit of Wonder Labyrinth	Metroidvania RPG
28​	Relayer	Tactical RPG
29​	SD Gundam Battle Alliance	Action RPG
30​	Star Ocean: The Divine Force	Action RPG
31​	Star Ocean: The Second Story R	Action RPG
32​	Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin	Action Souls RPG
33​	Tactics Ogre Reborn	Tactical RPG
34​	Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2	Sports
35​	Valkyrie Elysium	Action RPG
36​	Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon	Turn-Based RPG
37​	Ys IX: Monstrum Nox	Action RPG
38​	Yurukill: The Calumniation Games	Shoot em up, Visual Novel

#​	PlayStation Classics (via PS5) Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Ape Escape	Platformer
2​	Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue	Platformer
3​	Everybody's Golf	Sports
4​	Everybody's Golf 2	Sports
5​	Grandia	Turn-Based RPG
6​	Jet Moto	Racing
7​	Jumping Flash!	Platformer
8​	Kurushi	Puzzle
9​	Kurushi Final: Mental Blocks	Puzzle
10​	The Legend of Dragoon	Turn-Based RPG
11​	Syphon Filter	Action, Shooter
12​	Syphon Filter 2	Action, Shooter
13​	Syphon Filter 3	Action, Shooter
14​	Twisted Metal	Action, Racing
15​	Twisted Metal 2	Action, Racing
16​	Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth	Turn-Based RPG
17​	Wild Arms	Turn-Based RPG
18​	Wild Arms 2	Turn-Based RPG

#​	PlayStation Vita Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Bullet Girls	Action, Shooter
2​	Freedom Wars	Action
3​	Valkyrie Drive Bhikkhuni	Action

#​	Nintendo Switch Backlog - Game Name:	Genre:
1​	Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition	Adventure, Point & Click
2​	Castlevania (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
3​	Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
4​	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
5​	Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
6​	Castlevania: The Adventure (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
7​	Castlevania: Bloodlines (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
8​	Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
9​	Contra Hard Corps (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
10​	Contra III: The Alien Wars (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
11​	Cytus Alpha	Music, Rhythm
12​	Final Fantasy	Turn-Based RPG
13​	Final Fantasy Adventure (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
14​	Final Fantasy II	Turn-Based RPG
15​	Final Fantasy III	Turn-Based RPG
16​	Final Fantasy IV	Turn-Based RPG
17​	Final Fantasy V	Turn-Based RPG
18​	Final Fantasy VI	Turn-Based RPG
19​	Fire Emblem: Three Houses	Tactical RPG
20​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero	Turn-Based RPG
21​	The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure	Turn-Based RPG
22​	The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails	Action RPG
23​	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Action RPG
24​	Live A Live	Tactical RPG
25​	Mario Kart 8 Deluxe	Racing
26​	Metroid Dread	Metroidvania
27​	Metroid Prime Remastered	Action, Shooter
28​	Mushihimesama	Bullet Hell, Shoot em up
29​	MUSYNX	Music, Rhythm
30​	New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe	Platformer
31​	Operation C (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
32​	Powerslave Exhumed	Action, Shooter
33​	Secret of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
34​	Senran Kagura Peach Ball	Pinball
35​	Senran Kagura Reflexions	Simulation
36​	Shadow Man Remastered	Action, Adventure
37​	Super Castlevania IV (Anniversary Collection)	Action, Platform
38​	Super Contra (Anniversary Collection)	Side-scrolling Shooter
39​	Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury	Action, Platformer
40​	Super Mario Galaxy	Action, Platformer
41​	Super Mario Sunshine	Action, Platformer
42​	Super Smash Bros. Ultimate	Fighting
43​	Syd of Valis (SD Valis)	Action, Platformer
44​	Trials of Mana (Collection of Mana)	Action RPG
45​	Valis: The Fantasm Soldier	Action, Platformer
46​	Valis II	Action, Platformer
47​	Valis III	Action, Platformer
48​	Valis IV	Action, Platformer
49​	Witch on the Holy Night	Visual Novel
50​	Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition	Action RPG
51​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2	Action RPG
52​	Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna - The Golden Country	Action RPG

The 2023 '40' Games Goal:

Spoiler

No.	Game	Console​	Acquired​	Genre
1​	Shining Resonance Refrain	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
2​	Wing of Darkness	PS4​	2022​	Action, Arcade
3​	Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania	PS4​	2022​	Puzzle
4​	Tales of Zestiria	PS4​	2018​	Action RPG
5​	RESIDENT EVIL 4	PS5​	2023​	Action, Survival Horror
6​	RESIDENT EVIL 2	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
7​	RESIDENT EVIL 3	PS5​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
8​	Resident Evil Revelations	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
9​	Resident Evil Revelations 2	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
10​	Resident Evil 6	PS4​	2022​	Action, Survival Horror
11​	Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart	Vita​	2018​	Tactical RPG
12​	FINAL FANTASY XVI	PS5​	2023​	Action RPG
13​	Hyperdimension Neptunia U: Action Unleashed	Vita​	2018​	Action, Musou
14​	MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune VS Zombies	Vita​	2018​	Action, Musou
15​	Superdimension Neptunia VS SEGA Hard Girls	Vita​	2018​	Turn-Based RPG
16​	Hot Wheels Unleashed	PS5​	2023​	Arcade Racing
17​	DoDonPachi Resurrection	Switch​	2023​	Bullet Hell, Shoot em up
18​	Espgaluda II	Switch​	2023​	Bullet Hell, Shoot em up
19​	Marvel's Spider-Man 2	PS5​	2023​	Action, Adventure
20​	One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3	PS4​	2020​	Action, Musou
21​	One Piece: Burning Blood	PS4​	2022​	Fighting

 

[Dai]

Resident Evil Village
This game had more demos than any other I can recall. I played them repeatedly and kept coming away with the feeling that I wouldn't enjoy this game as much as the RE remakes, hence why it took me so long to buy it. The main strikes against it were that the weapons lacked the visceral weightiness of the remakes, I'm tired of persistent stalker-type enemies, and I prefer 3rd person for this series. Having now completed it, the combat remained a step behind the remakes, but the stalkers weren't overplayed, so they didn't become annoying. Indeed, the stalker sequence in the demo was probably the most annoying one in the game, due to her ambushing the player in a space where it's difficult to evade her. Also the 1st person gameplay won me over to the point that I didn't bother with the 3rd person option added to the gold edition.

Village does a good job of mixing up the pace and adding gameplay twists to keep things fresh. It only falters in the factory, which lacks the atmosphere of the better locations and drags on too long. Speaking of atmosphere, I'm glad Village focuses on that instead of the cheap gore that RE7 leant on. It's also not a particularly scary game, aside from one encounter with a 10ft-long demon baby that freaked me out.

I enjoyed Village a lot more than I expected from the demos. I wouldn't quite rank it up alongside the remakes, but it's much better than RE7.

Resident Evil Village: Shadows of Rose
Playing this expansion right after the main game was probably a mistake. It's made up almost entirely of locations and assets recycled from the main game, giving it a tiresome sense of deja vu that I probably wouldn't have had if I'd waiting a while before trying it. Movement feels more sluggish than in the main game, though that might just be from the switch to 3rd person. Where Village had action-heavy gameplay similar to RE4, SoR is more old-school survival horror. It does add some more gameplay twists, including some memorable sequences, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the main game.