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98: There Were No Ramekins
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October – Shopping Spree!!

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A Plague Tale - Innocence (Completed)

Released in 2019, this game tells the story of Amicia and her younger brother Hugo and set in 14th century France during the Black Death.

I love playing games that are heavy on story-telling and have a great cast of characters with quality voice-acting and A Plague Tale ticks that box.

 

 

A Plague Tale - Requiem (Currently playing)

I was unsure on what to start next, with just over a month left before my PS+ subscription runs out it was either Alan Wake 2, Metro Games or A Plague Tale Requiem, I decided I needed to see where the story went with Amicia and Hugo

Hitwicket (Currently playing)

I'm still enjoying this and finally have a full set of either 3-star Blue or 4-star Purple ranked players (this is far better than the 2-star green).


2026 Gaming Resolutions

1. Purchase no more physical games, yes this resolution is even tougher now!

Yeah this resolution got exploded! I've purchased a ridiculous number of physical titles. All in

2. Focus on PS+ Extra Backlog

Realistically I probably only have time to complete another game after A Plague Tale Requiem & that will probably be Alan Wake 2.

3. No more PSN Credit!

I have stuck with this and purchased no further credit.


Backlog 

Up by 38 to 111 games now thanks to my physical shopping spree!

Only one more month of PS+ to go before I can start on the backlog with 007 First Light being the game I will enjoy over xmas. 


Total = (73) + 38 =111 Games


Want

Wish list is currently 13 physical titles & 40 digital


Bin

Forever annoyed at Sony for the death of physical media!

Mega-lo-Mania: passing Hernia

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I bought Mega-lo-Mania on the Mega Drive second hand from the Computer Leisure Centre in Orpington High Street. The screenshots on the back of the box looked a bit like Populous, which I had enjoyed playing previously, and the funky boxart was appealing. The thing is, I bought it at the same time as another game, and being a bit less immediate and fast-paced, Mega-lo-Mania lost out on my teenage attention span. I cannot remember wat the other game was – it might have been Ristar – but despite not spending hours at a time on Mega-lo-Mania it seeped into my memory, and I have played it many times since.

But I’m not very good at it, again because it seems to inhibit my attention span. Levels either fail very quickly, or it takes a long time to win through attrition. I’m sure there are things I could do to win quicker – not worrying about researching every technology, for example – but that just feels wrong. By the time I’ve played a couple of levels, I fancy playing something else instead, and Mega-lo-Mania gets shelved for another six months.

I have decided to rectify this, bolstered by my completion of Populous the Beginning, and so over the last few days I have been playing through the opening levels, making sure I remember appropriate strategies. I’ve decided to play the Mega Drive version, because the PC version (via DOSbox) was misbehaving a bit, and I’m used to the controller which has done a great job of adapting the mouse control. The A button jumps between playing areas on the screen; the d-pad moves the cursor but only to defined locations rather than a fluid movement. There is only one frustration, when trying to select the turrets on a factory to place defenders, which don’t sit on the expected grid.

It doesn’t look that exciting, but since I play it at full speed it can get a bit frantic

The levels are named in alphabetical order, starting at Aloha and Bazooka, and I’ve just passed Hernia, with only a couple of levels needing more than one attempt. I am trying to complete all levels starting with at most 25 people, so trying to keep back some stocks for later levels, though there was one level where I had to throw 30 people at it to avoid being defeated almost immediately.

September – Game Completion Megaton!

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It has been a great month with 4 games completed, I don't think I have ever done that before! I have been focused on enjoying PS+ titles before my subscription expires at the end of the year.

The Thaumaturge (PS5) - Completed 

Fool's Theory have obviously been busy working on the Witcher 3 remaster.

Their previous game The Thaumaturge is a turn-based RPG set in Warsaw where you play as Wiktor Szulski a detective with supernatural abilities to control salutors that give him an edge in combat.

You have some great mysteries to investigate and a great cast of side characters. 

Ball x Pit (PS5) - Completed

Oh my! This is some additive sh*t!

Once I started playing, I could not put it down.

Each level offers different challenges and when you collect the tokens you can unlock a new character, who will then give you a unique ability to try for the next run.

You can also collect various balls that when fully levelled can be fused, evolved into a more powerful ball & then the chaos begins!

There is a simple city building element which allows you to mainly increase your various stats.

Tunic (PS5) - Completed

This has been on my PS+ backlog for a very long time, a Zelda lite but zero, ZERO hand-holding. You play as a fox, awaken on a shore and slowly explore the land to reveal it's secrets.

 

The Exit 8 (PS5) - Completed

Possibly the fastest I have ever completed a game, just over 8 minutes, this is a game of spot the difference and you work your way to the Exit, you can keep replaying the game to unlock some of the other differences.

My gaming session below

Hitwicket (Android)

I mainly tend to enjoy quick "five minute" gaming sessions on mobile thus usually end up playing puzzle or word-type games. Hitwicket is obviously a cricket game and allows you to unlock players to build your team and challenge in tour or ranked matches.

You unlock various equipment along the way and can slowly level up your players to make them stronger. I will probably get bored in a month and move on to something else.


2026 Gaming Resolutions

1. Purchase no more physical games, yes this resolution is even tougher now!

Again nothing purchased, I will need to be strong for Black Friday in November


2. Focus on PS+ Extra Backlog

A very good month with completing 4 PS+ titles.


3. No more PSN Credit!

Pretty easy challenge, no further credit purchased.


Backlog

PS+ (15) - Merged the monthly/extra lists together, I am never going to complete all 15 titles before my subscription expires but I will focus on main titles I do want to enjoy like Alan Wake 2, Cocoon, A Plague Tale & Metro Games.

Digital Games (48) - Added Mr Driller Drill Land, Moonglow Bay & The Artful Escape

Physical Games (10) - Hopefully I can make it to the end of the year without purchasing any more, I don't expect to be playing any of these though until 2027!

Total = 73 Games


Shopping

2026 Target is spend less than £100 - Total spent £66.00  

Purchased some digital games but these all came from existing PSN credit.

The Artful Escape £3.99, Mr Driller Drill Land £1.59 & Moonglow Bay £3.99

 

Want

Added Lego Skylines, No Law, Rainbow 6 Tactics, The Expanse & Exodus to my wishlist. This is now 65 games, I will not be buying all of these!


Bin

Still annoyed at Sony for the death of physical media!

Ignoble (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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When is an incremental game not an incremental game? When it’s a roguelite fighting platformer! Only… it’s still an incremental game.

You do fight enemies, mainly by standing close to them. Which you have to do a lot because you lose health if you aren’t standing near anyone. Kill baddies, and you get currency. When you inevitably die, which you will do a lot, you spend your money improving your skills, like more HP or doing more damage, or making exploding enemies damage other enemies, or (later) enabling special moves that do, well, special things.

You also unlock cards that you can equip to augment your skills further, and unlock more equip slots to allow several to be used at once.

Naturally, there’s a huge skill tree to unlock and fill up, and as you get further into the game on each run it gets harder and there are bosses and you eventually learn why you exist and, well, spoilers.

Ignoble is very slick, a bit slow to get into, but once you’ve powered up enough it becomes one of those “I’m a walking tank” games where early stages and whizz by in seconds and the screen explodes in flashes and blood and collectables. Not a very long game, but certainly an enjoyable one.

Scritchy Scratchy (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

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Yes, another incremental number-go-up game to suck my time. Just like Diggin and Loot Loop and Shelldiver and Unboxathon. This one, however, is based around the exciting world of lottery scratch cards. Buy a card! Scratch it off! Possibly win money! Wash some plates if you run out of money! Buy more tickets with your money! Earn enough to buy more expensive tickets with greater rewards! Unlock the skill tree to tilt luck in your favour and increase your possibly winnings! Repeat it over and over again!

But why do this? Because numbers go up. There’s something that tickles the brain just right. Scritchy Scratchy manages to do it for long enough, and progresses in a pleasing way with little of the “grind for ages” sticking points that some such games sometimes have. And when you unlock the various automations, it really takes off.

Perhaps the graphics on the cards could have been a bit better, but other than that – a fine example of the genre.