I've wanted to play this one since it first released on the original Xbox, and for a long time it was one of the only titles on the console that appealed to me. While my tastes have diversified a lot since then and I've since become very fond of the console and its surprisingly weird library, I'm still very keen to give it a spin, and don't know why I haven't yet.

I bought this on its European PS2 release many, many years ago, and while I played a lot of it and vaguely enjoyed it, I was in a really bad place at the time and wasn't in the right headspace at the time to really get into it. So I never finished. I'd like to catch up on the Final Fantasy series over the next few years if possible, and this seems like as good a place as any to start given that it's the first one I bought on release and didn't finish.

Have been interested in this since I finished Blue: Legend of Water on PS1 a few years back and went looking for similar stuff. But by the time I actually bought a copy it had all but fallen off my radar. Let's finally give it a go in 2026. By Arika of Street Fighter EX fame, which is pretty interesting given my fond memories of those games.

I finished Air on the Dreamcast in early 2025, and while it was dragged down by quite a lot of filler, I thought it was really haunting and memorable, and still think back on it often. And I have a lot of nostalgia for Key's notable early work thanks to it being everywhere in anime communities in the early 2000s, so I thought I'd try another one in 2026. A lot of folk speak very highly of this one, so let's see. Will be playing on PS2, as Air on a CRT just felt right somehow and I'd like to keep that vibe going.

I absolutely love the original Ecco and have wanted to get into this from the moment it was released on Dreamcast, as it's such a beautiful game with such pretty music. But outside of an hour or so on the PS2 version, I've never really given it proper time for whatever reason. I bought a Dreamcast copy in 2025, and I'm really hyped to finally play through it.

I've wanted to play this for literal decades, but I never got around to burning a copy of it, and it never seemed to pop up at a price I was happy with. Finally found a copy in 2025 though, so time to give it a spin at last. Everything about this looks lovely and delightfully odd, and I am excited.

I bought this right on the back of playing and adoring Moon: Remix RPG Adventure by some of the same folk back in 2014. I've had two playthroughs stall over the years for no real reason, so let's finally finish it in 2026.

This was the first game I rented on PS2 back in the day, and probably one of the first of the generation that I ever played. But because it was only a rental and we still didn't have a memory card at the time, I never made it to the end, and I've never properly gone back to it. I remember quite liking it, and I'm a big fan of both Baldur's Gate and Diablo, which it's essentially a fusion of. So will probably have fun.

I don't really remember why I bought this, but I think I had finished Bully a few years back and was looking into what other lesser known titles Rockstar had worked on. Seems sort of neat, and reviewed well! Suppose I should finally watch the movie as well. Get the full Warriors experience.

I was always too chicken to play this one because I heard it was really hard and I used to be absolutely terrible at 3D action games. But I've played many more in the years since, and feel like I'm maybe up to the challenge now. Seems super-stylish and mechanically quite interesting, and I like the old school Shinobi games a bunch.

I'm really fond of the Dreamcast, and this has been on my radar for ages given that it's one of the console's most impressive titles presentation-wise. Also just seems like a pretty neat game, and the setting appeals. I bought a copy in 2024, so looking forward to finally playing.

I hear the controls in this one have a really steep learning curve. But looks super-cool, and I'm very fond of both Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta, so I'm keen to check out the final part of the Smilebit Xbox-exclusive trio.

Have never played so much as a second of any game in this series despite it always being one that vaguely appealed. I ran through the first Alan Wake three or four years ago as well, which was my introduction to Remedy's work. And thought it was pretty good. So time to finally give scrunched up face man his dues.

I've tried playing this before, but unfortunately the original Japanese version I own is pretty terrible, with none of the tweaks and enhancements that brought it up to a slightly higher (though apparently still not that high) standard for the western release. I probably ought to play the International rerelease in all honesty, which brings over all the enhancements from the western version. But it's also dubbed in English, and I dunno man, playing Japanese games in English just feels weird to me after so many years. So I will give the original version another go in 2026 and see what I make of it. FFVII is an extremely dear game to me for so many reasons, so I'm always keen to jump back into its world if nothing else.

I bought both this and Covenant when I was midway through the first Shadow Hearts, as I was loving the game so much that I felt sure I wanted to play the whole trilogy back to back. But I didn't wind up enjoying Covenant as much as I hoped, and given that the awkward attempts at humour in it were one of my biggest sticking points and this one is meant to be even sillier, it sort of put me off. Still, disappointment aside, Covenant was undeniably a really solid PS2 RPG, and I'm still quite interested to see what they did with the follow up.

One from my wall of shame - I got it for Christmas one year in the 2000s, played a huge chunk of it over my Christmas holidays, and then never went back to it again. It's a shame, too, as it's a series I like and as far as I remember this one is an easy contender for best game in the series. So it's time to finally clear it.

A friend peer pressured me into buying this one. Seems like a cute if simple RPG with some nice tunes, and I'm always down to play more games on the Dreamcast. I own the sequel too, so might play them back to back if I like this one.

I played a lot of this with my brother on PC back when it was new and thought it was so much fun. But I don't think I ever actually finished, and it's been so long now that it's effectively a new game. Decided to buy a copy of the Xbox port and revisit it that way.

Factor 5's Lair was on my 2024 backlog list, and while it was a hugely flawed title, I didn't think it was nearly as bad as I heard at the time (at least with the analogue control patch). So I'm keen to see what one of the developer's more well received games in the same style looks like. Fond of Star Wars too, and it looks so gorgeous for such an early Gamecube game. Think I'll have a good time with this one.

I played and enjoyed Bimini Run on the Mega Drive in early 2024 and found myself really wanting to see a more modern take on a similar formula. And this looks pretty close in many ways! It's also another weird little exclusive for the original Xbox, a platform full of similar weird little exclusives. You love to see it.

The first game in the series was on my list for 2025, and while I thought the combat was incredibly flawed and it was extremely limited in scope, its central gimmick was fantastic, and I thought that visually, musically, and narratively it had a whole lot of charm. So I'm very keen to play the second one, which looks like a bigger adventure with a radically reworked combat system. I'm hopeful it'll fix the bits I didn't like about the first one while building on the bits I did. The sequel also has music by Yasunori Mitsuda, which was what made me interested in playing these games to begin with, as I'm a massive fangirl and will follow Mitsuda wherever he goes. So I'm game just for that.

The developer of this got the gig on the back of Cross Tantei Monogatari, which I played on the Saturn back in about 2015. And while I think it had one extremely nasty plot beat that soured me on the game quite a bit, it was otherwise fantastic, and is still a game I think back to often. So I've been interested in this for a while. And while I've never played a game in the Jinguuji Saburou series before, it's meant to be good, and seemed like a nice place to start.

This one looks like it has such great vibes. And it's gorgeous and seems super-fun. Don't know why I never bought a copy until now given that it's very affordable and reviewed extremely well at the time. Looking forward to it.

This is such a cursed game for me. I had one playthrough in the early 2000s stall near the end, and then a bunch of other attempts over the years drop early on. If I don't add it to one of these lists, I'm fairly sure I'll never actually see it through to the end. And while it's the only game on this list that isn't for a sixth generation console, it's aesthetically very much of that era, and released in 2001 just as the PS2 was starting to get going. So it just about fits.

I played Infection in 2022, Mutation in 2023, Outbreak in 2024, and Quarantine in 2025. I may as well keep this most leisurely of series playthroughs going by stepping into the first game in the sequel trilogy in 2026.

Some little indie game for Dreamcast. From what I've seen I'm not a huge fan of the art style, which feels very early 2000s flash game-y. But it looks quite polished and appealing genre-wise, and I enjoy exploring some of these aftermarket releases on consoles I'm fond of, so I decided to grab a copy in 2025. Let's play in '26.