Going back to it now (through the Master Chief Collection on Xbox Series X) makes me remember why this was such a big deal in 2001.

The levels are monstrously big, with seamless transitions between vast outdoor battlefields and tight indoor spaces. Compared to today some of the open spaces can feel a bit empty, but the addition of vehicles at the time made them feel huge and alive.

I’d never seen anything like the vehicles back then. The way you could bounce around in a warthog complete with a mate on the rear gun and a CPU marine in the passenger seat was unmatched - and then you found out you could pilot the Covenant opponents’ hovering nimble Ghosts as well. Wild. There was just nothing else like it.

The opening level Pillar of Autumn has you fighting legions of covenant enemies in close quarters as they attempt an attack on your home base ship, and leads to some real survive by the skin of your teeth moments. The Silent Cartographer’s mix of wide open areas and claustrophobic spaces complete with vehicles and heaps of allied marines who fight somewhat smartly alongside you is another highlight.

This high bar isn’t maintained the whole way through. In particular I found much of the second half of the game fairly tedious. Lots of repetitive enemy waves in repetitive indoor environments. There are cool story reveals during this time, but the playing of the game itself doesn’t hold up as well.

The final area however is incredibly cool. A final run on the Warthog across the spine of the Pillar of Autumn, against a self-destruct countdown (as so may good sci-fi endings do) keeps the tension high and the spectacle similarly exciting.

Halo remains great fun, and CE was such an enjoyable play that I reckon I might try jumping into Halo 2 soon, one I am almost certain I last played on the original Xbox version (and in an ill-fated co-op Legendary difficulty run that we never quite managed to finish)

I had a bit of a disaster while switching computers at one point where I lost everything and had to start from scratch, but since then I’ve managed to build up a pretty massive collection of music I want to have on hand if someday streamers all die, or the internet falls over, or some other extremely unlikely scenario. Mostly I just like buying and having the music that is important to me. Here’s how I do it.

Ripping from CDs

The bulk of my music library came from ripping CDs I’ve owned over my life. The CD really is the peak physical music format. Bit-perfect rippable to digital, unladen with DRM of any kind, quality that is about as good as the human ear can perceive, and just plain cool. There’s music on this shiny plastic disc! Back in my Windows days I used a mix of Windows Media Player’s ripper, Exact Audio Copy, and finally iTunes disc importer once I became an iPhone person.

These days I do all my computing on a Mac, and have found XLD to be the best option there. I’ve ripped my entire CD collection (and that of my partner for some insight into her music history which was fun) into 44.1KHz 16-bit FLAC files.

Buying from digital stores

I have a bit of a tiered system for where I buy digital music.

From an artist’s own website, if they have one

Not many can manage this, but some artists actually sell their own music from their own stores. Where I can, I do this since it means no other store takes a cut and the artist gets more of the money I give them. Suzi and Ninajirachi’s sites are some examples I can think of that I’ve bought from recently.

Bandcamp

Bandcamp is the goat of music stores. You won’t find every large record label on here, but it’s great for independent artists and some of the bigger ones. I’ve been using Bandcamp since about 2010 and I’ve yet to find a friendlier music buying experience. Buy music and download it in about any format you could care to, re-download it forever even if the album gets delisted from sale and an app to freely stream your purchases. I was worried when they got acquired by Epic Games of all companies a few years ago, but all seems well so far.

Qobuz

If an album I want isn’t on Bandcamp, usually because the album is part of a record deal with one of the bigger record companies, Qobuz is my next port of call. Best known for their high quality streaming service, they also offer a download store with a good range of bigger artists at reasonable prices and with CD-quality downloads (or hi-res files if for whatever reason you want to use up more space and pay extra).

These options cover basically every way I buy digital music. There’s a few other occasional methods like download codes in record sleeves but this covers pretty much every way I directly buy music.

Silent Hill f

I’m so glad a good, new Silent Hill game is possible. f contains some of the most gruesome creatures I’ve seen in games, and is a disgustingly enjoyable journey through the horrors of feminine existence in 1960s Japan. Very keen to play through this a few more times to eke out a bit more understanding of what was going on.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

I technically started playing this one the year before in early access, but it came out proper this year. It’s the game that sold me on the Steam Deck, and a fun exploration of new mechanics in the burgeoning Survivor-esque format. I hope we find a better word for it than Survivor-like.

Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

One of the best remasters I’ve played. The new visual style captures the mid-nineties pre-rendered style of the game’s cover and promo artwork but in real time. They even made a tank-control game work fantastically with analogue movement without ruining the feel of the game.

And Roger…

I felt this one so impactful that it triggered me to blog about it earlier in the year. One of those games that uses mechanics to help you truly feel what a character is going through. Masterful.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

I can’t decide how I feel about the streamlining of mechanics. On one hand it reduces friction, but on the other - friction was kind of the point. Regardless, I love making my way through Kojima penned storylines, and the feeling of connection with people around the world was even more emphasised this time. It feels nice to know that all the roads and structures in the game took people some actual effort, and they went to that effort knowing it would make like easier for other people they will never know playing alongside them.

FAITH: The Unholy Trinity

My friend James put me onto this 2022 collection of episodes, and far out I’m glad he did. Another that inspired me to take to the keyboard, FAITH juxtaposes old computer graphics styles with unsettling moments of rotoscoped horrors amidst a good old Catholic demonic exorcism story. This one rips.

Quantum Break

I’ve loved every Remedy game I’ve played so I’m not sure why it took me so long to get to Quantum Break. You can really see some earlier stages of the game/live action combo the studio went ham with in Alan Wake 2. Ultimately I think it’s one of the weaker entries from the studio but still well worth playing for the sheer Remedy of it all.

Fear The Spotlight

Another James rec, this one’s a survival horror that borrows liberally from the PS1 era in visuals and puzzles. Some genuinely creepy moments and pleasantly cozy (as odd as that sounds to describe a horror game) adventure progression and story.

Dragon Quest XI S

After really enjoying Dragon Quest 3, I resolved to finally play XI. It’s as great as Tim Rogers explained in his lengthy but compelling review years ago. Comfortable RPG times and a bunch of cool friends to hang out with.

Cast Away

A neat little Link’s Awakening-inspired action game where you fight your way through dungeons filled with enemies and puzzles. Short and sweet, and once you’re done it uncovers a rogue-lite tower to run through as well. This one’s a great weekend of game.

So yeah, a bunch of neat games this year! I hope something catches your eye and you find a neat game too!

These are some of the musical works that I found myself listening to over and over this year.

Skeletá - Ghost

I’ve enjoyed Ghost for a long time, absolutely cemented as an all-timer when I saw them perform at a music festival in Paris years ago. They’re just so much fun as a not-too-serious, melodramatic metal act. Skeletá is full of memorable tracks that go from the feeling of hymns in a monstrous Catholic church to songs about one’s ‘love rockets’, to some thoughtful ruminations on death and the impact we have on those around us in life. This album rules.

Even In Arcadia - Sleep Token

2025 was Sleep Token’s year. It seems like they went from bubbling under the surface and deeply loved by fans of long, proggy experimental music to the realm of Popular Music. There was even an episode of Switched On Pop about the album. It probably helped that the band experimented with some more poppy sounds this time around, but it made for an album that is unpredictable the first time through, and continually engaging even as it becomes familiar.

I Love My Computer - Ninajirachi

My discovery of this album is thanks to my good friend Bibby, who mentioned it in an offhand comment during a round of Fortnite. He heard a track from it on Triple J and told me something like “I think you might vibe with this song”. Vibe with it I did. Despite first finding it in August, this album became my most listened to of the entire year. It’s just incredibly good. It’s full of new takes on trance and electronic sounds of the early 2000s and some intensely personal stories about growing up in the digital age. The whole thing is brilliant but Infohazard might be my favourite of all.

Patchwork - Suzi

After making an ill-informed Bluesky post bemoaning the lack of local music These Days, I was set straight by people kindly pointing out that there’s plenty of good local music if I look for it. I encountered Suzi for the first time as a support act for The Wonder Years but she cemented her place as a favourite once I found Patchwork. Folky, intensely personal relatable rock that’s both powerful and catchy. Check out Centrelink Summer and One Way Ticket.

TDJ - TDJ

This year really hit with some early-2000s inspired trance/club music, and TDJ’s self titled was a big reason for that. I think this one popped up for me thanks to a feature on one of the tracks from Hannah Diamond (which is certainly a standout track) but I’m glad to have discovered TDJ as a result. Maybe in a different life I’d have been a club freak.

Some others I couldn’t fail to mention

MAYHEM - Lady Gaga

Gaga falls back onto some reliable Gaga tropes, but they’re reliable for a reason. This one soundtracked my January.

TOY - Dear Seattle

A result of my intentional search for Aussie music, this one has moments that fill a Polar Bear Club shaped hole in my life.

Louder Please - Rose Gray

She featured on a great Kesha track, which led me to this album of London club life.

I’ve loved this year music-wise. It’s been a great mix of nostalgic sounds and a push to explore music more than I had been. I hope you find something to love here!

If you have an hour, a few dollars, and some emotional fortitude to spare - I highly recommend playing and Roger.

It’s a game whose gradual revealing of it’s premise is a huge part of it’s impact so I’m going to be intentionally vague about What’s Going On In It. You wake up as a small girl with a mysterious man in your house. Through fairly simple button clicking and dragging interactions, you experience quite effectively their feelings and challenges they face.

It’s also quite emotionally affecting. There is a warning at the beginning which alerts would-be players that there is going to be some uncomfortable and potentially painful subject matter - and this warning is one well heeded.

I won’t say too much more, aside from if you are interested in game mechanics being used specifically to convey a person’s experience - spending an hour with and Roger is something I can’t recommend more highly.

I played FAITH: The Unholy Trilogy recently based on a hearty recommendation from my friend and tastemaker James.

You play as a priest, one who finds himself embroiled in a plot of a demons and cults. Horror stuff that lives in the theatrical drama of Catholicism often tickles my fancy.

FAITH looks and controls like something I might have been able to play on the family Amstrad CPC in my childhood, though I suspect if I had I’d have been traumatised by the themes and scenes to this day.

In spite of (or maybe as a direct result of) FAITH’s simple look and feel it manages to be utterly unnerving at all times. Tension drips from every pixel. Low resolution characters and environments all but force your mind to fill in the blanks of the game’s unpleasant locales.

FAITH is cool as hell, and if you like incredibly spooky video game short stories you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

I played it on Switch, but it’s also available on PC via Steam or Itch.

I played Home: A Unique Horror Adventure after being somehow reminded of it recently.

A neat little horror mystery that unfolds kind of how you decide it does. You can uncover more or less of the story depending on how thoroughly you explore areas. Ultimately the game asks you to interpret what you’ve found through some yes/no questions which decide how the story actually unfolded.

I played it through a few times, mostly for trophies’ sake, and in doing so found myself interpreting events a little differently the second time with knowledge of how things look later in the game. Stuff like that is a win with me.

Ultimately I wish there was some certainty to be found in the story but I appreciate the experiment with mystery storytelling methods.

Home: A Unique Horror Adventure is available on most platforms, and I played it on PS Vita. Vita Means Life.

Baldur’s Gate 3

I started playing this the year prior, but only hit credits at the start of 2024. What an incredible achievement it is. It’s utterly massive in scope, yet somehow still feels focused in the story it’s telling and grounded in the characters whose stories you become involved in. Every main character’s progression from pretty much detestable to ‘I would die for them’ is interesting to follow, and the sheer freedom of choice to approach combat and world challenges in creative ways blew me away. A standout game of this decade, I feel.

Ys 1, 2 Chronicles and Ys 3: Wanderers from Ys

I was lucky enough to try Ys VIII as a review game years ago. It captivated me in such a way that I have been wanting to play more of the series in case it could cast the same spell.

I played the PSP releases of Ys 1 and 2, and while they are dated as hell and I really needed to follow a guide to avoid wandering aimlessly sometimes wondering what to do next - I had an absolute blast. I’m learning that the ripper music in VIII wasn’t a fluke. Every Ys game I play has a soundtrack of power-metal adjacent bangers that I dig. The bump combat is interesting. It makes for easy grinding and demands a certain technique but is enjoyable once you get the hang of it.

Ys 3 I played the PC Engine CD version and couldn’t get enough. It’s a bit creaky these days but the mix of early CD game audio, extremely of-it’s-time voice actingand some awesome cut scene animation of the era lands this fairly straightforward hack and slash a place in my heart.

Sonic The Hedgehog (Master System)

This game is hugely nostalgic for me. I played it originally at a friend’s house. It’s a game without saves or passwords so it had to be finished in one sitting. Having the stars align to have enough time allowed to do that, and actually manage to play the game well enough to complete it was rare and so that it happened sticks in my memory.

Playing it again as an adult I was struck by the cool way levels progressed from natural world to man-made factories as a minimal method of telling the story of what Robotnik wanted to do with the world. I think I like this more than Sonic 1 on Mega Drive.

Diablo IV (after the Loot Reborn update)

I was so excited for Diablo IV in the lead up to release, only to have the game land with me like a wet fart. I tried so hard to enjoy it, but what I found was a bland grind that mostly resulted in boring gear that never felt noticably better than before.

The Loot Reborn brings back the core mechanic I enjoy about Diablo and that kept me coming back over and over in the past. You actually get decent gear on a regular basis now! I still think the world is a bit dull and the story mostly forgettable, but getting new exciting toys to play with on a regular basis was enough for me to pick up the campaign again and see it through. I don’t think it will ever eclipse III for me, but I’m glad to have finally got a Diablo IV that works for me.

It was an unusually ‘current year’ filled year for me, games wise. Still, it’s always fun to delve into the past - whether it’s recent or long past. There are so many gems to discover.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

This one really came out of nowhere for me. I have a tumultuous relationship with the “Metroidvania” genre (the name sucks and a lot of them really don’t live up to the games that defined it, but I digress) so my expectations for this one were a blank canvas when I booted it up. What I got was world that was compelling to explore and combat that took just enough of the juggly Devil May Cry formula to be fun. It demanded Super Meat Boy style mastery in certain challenge sections with it’s movement abilities, but it felt generally fantastic even just traipsing through the world. It’s probably ridiculously cheap now (I suspect it’s low initial sales were thanks to the way Ubisoft routinely discounts it’s releases super quickly) and apparently runs fantastically even on Switch. It’s real good!

Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore

Arzette is what you get when a team of people sees the promise hidden inside the Zelda CDi games and makes good on it. Everything from the music style, intentionally hammy voice acting to the beautifully lo-fi animation style lovingly resembles the games to which it pays homage. If you’re a weirdo like me who spent far too much of his time watching deranged edits of CDi cut scenes in the past you owe it to yourself to give this a try. It’s even a fantastic game under the delightful stylistic tribute, to boot!

Emio: The Smiling Man

I had no idea what I was in for with Emio. Going purely on the recommendation of my friend James I found my way into maybe the most novel-like visual novel I’ve encountered. There’s not much in the way of decision making or branching story - it’s entirely linear. Emio does however allow you to reason through the mystery and unpack it as you play along. It’s a thrilling mystery that took a few hours to really get going, but really got it’s hooks in me eventually. Reckon I’ll grab the earlier FDC games based on how much I enjoyed this one.

1000xRESIST

Humanity is all but gone, decimated by an illness that literally makes you cry yourself to death. All that remain are a society of women living their life according to a strict dogma. 1000xRESIST really struck me. It’s a game about the things we carry with us and the way we pass things on to the people who are important to us. It’s also got some shockingly good looking scenes, composed with a cinematic eye, that have lingered in my mind ever since. It’s more visual novel than action game, but every chapter left me with something to marinate on - and that’s my kind of shit.

Crow Country

An odd little homage to PS1 era survival horror with visuals that strangely resemble Final Fantasy VII stylistically more than Resident Evil. A neat puzzle box with some fun twists and reveals as the story unfolds.

I was initially a bit apprehensive since it looked like a classic fixed camera game but in fact had full rotational camera control and a 3D environment. It got me on board eventually though. While the camera made the tank controls option basically redundant, it was remarkable how much it resembles something like a pre-rendered FF7 scene when the camera isn’t moving. I enjoyed the grungy noise/compression filter over everything too. Gives it such a ~vibe~ y’know?

Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

I vibed with this game from the word go. A down on his luck, recently divorced duck with a crippling bread addiction called back into the life of detecting that sent him downhill in the first place. It’s a classic detective noir setup - but the main character is a duck.

The mystery is fun to unpack over the course of an afternoon, and while I had some niggles with the specific method you use to deduce the situation, I found Duck Detective a delightful way to while away an afternoon.

Ufouria: The Saga 2

I rented the original Ufouria on NES as a kid. I never got very far, but it was that weird game for me that stuck in my memory but I couldn’t remember the name until recently. Regardless, Ufouria 2 was a delight. It’s visual style is wonderful in how everything has a tangible, material look. It’s a fairly light and breezy exploration centric platformer that I loved breezing through.

Dragon Quest 3: HD-2D Remake

For years I’ve known I’d enjoy Dragon Quest. Watching Tim Rogers’ DQXI review, and knowing several friends who adore the series made me pretty confident it’s something I’d love - but I’d just never gotten around to playing one - until I got this one in as a review. The music, the character and enemy art, the general vibe, the comfortable but challenging JRPG combat system - DQ3 rules and I can’t wait for 1 & 2 to come along.

Astro Bot

Team Asobi have nailed the platforming feel in a way that few aside from Nintendo ever have. From all the little in-level interactions, mechanical gimmicks and delightful little historical nods - Astro put a smile on my face from start to finish.

Mouthwashing

Like 1000xResist, Mouthwashing is about so much. It’s about the effect of capitalism on the people who need to work within it to survive. It’s about how people deal with their absolute lowest moments. It’s about feeding a horrendously disfigured not-quite-corpse painkillers in increasingly uncomfortable scenes. It’s a game that sets out to make you feel unease, and I love it for that.

So many varied and interesting games appeared this year, and so many I won’t even get to play for years to come I’m sure. Much of what I did play was immensely rewarding, especially those outside the AAA space. So many weird little gems out there to enjoy.

This won’t be everything I enjoyed in the year, not by a long shot! I’d be here writing longer than anyone would care to read if I tried to do that. Here are some of my highlights though.

I simply could not have a list of music from 2024 without including brat. The pendulum of Charli swings erratically from coke in the club to vulnerable concerns about missing a chance at parenthood right back to the club, and I think it works precisely thanks to those, dare I say, brattish swings. Brat was life for most of my June and July, and it was a good life.

I loved Charly Bliss’s last album Young Enough, but this one is where I really fell in love with the group’s sound. I couldn’t get enough of their powerpoppy sound this year. Wall to wall singalongs in the car kind of stuff.

I discovered Poppy as she made her first forays into metal. Going back to find the electro artpop Poppy.Computer was my first clue that this artist was capable of hits across genre barriers. Negative Spaces is my favourite Poppy release in some time with its selection of hard hitting rock and metal laced with moments of consideration at the role of entertainers and the impact it has on artists. This one was a daily listen for a while.

Speaking of daily listens, I reckon for a few weeks after GNX surprise dropped in November I was listening to it at least once a day. Kendrick’s been on a roll this year, somehow turning a rap beef into a song-of-the-summer contender with Not Like Us and then dropping an entire album (release? EP? Something) full of great tracks to top off the year. It’s great stuff.

A complete 180 from hard hitting hip-hop and rock, next up is Vitesse X’s latest. Ethereal, ambient techno that speks directly to my electronic enjoying, PS1 demo disc music remembering heart. Chuck this on in the background and you might be surprised at how it becomes the focus of your attention despite it’s ambient sound.

It couldn’t be a Steven music list without a ska release, it just wouldn’t be right. Half Past Two have been simmering in the background of my ska enjoyment for a few years now but really came to the fore with Talk Is Killing Me. The title track is fantastic, but Dominos is the standout for me.

Smile took a while to grow on me. I’ve enjoyed almost everything that porter Robinson has put out in the past and under various projects but for whatever reason this one didn’t land immediately. I came back to it a few months after and it clicked. It’s poppier, it’s personal, and has some of the coolest drops I’ve heard all year. Cheerleader has been on repeat ever since.

There are heaps more releases I loved this year, but I can’t write about them all. I did make a playlist of my faves of the year though, and you can listen to it right here!