The year 7 review of my blog is long overdue, and I must admit I almost forgot about it entirely. While I’m not disappointed with my gaming over the past year, it hasn’t been as strong as year 6, which marked a real turnaround and major improvement on year 5. This past calendar year, particularly from January onwards, has been a difficult one outside of gaming, and it inevitably had a negative impact. There were stretches where I didn’t feel able to play at all, and when I did return, I struggled to properly get back into it. Despite the setbacks, my passion for gaming hasn’t gone away, and I’m determined to build on it again.
Since my last review, I’ve written 14 blog posts, 9 of which focused on new games. I managed to complete 7 games, some of them with friends. That’s fewer than the 11 I finished the year before, but still an achievement I’m happy with. The standout accomplishment was finally completing Final Fantasy IX, which is a huge relief after first starting it back in 2022. I also worked through the atmospheric Metro 2033 Redux and Metro: Last Light Redux, both shorter, linear but very engaging experiences. Completing Front Mission 2: Remake felt satisfying, though if I’m honest it was more about preparing for Front Mission 3: Remake, which I hope will release on PC soon. On the multiplayer side, Jamie, Shadey and I played through Goat Simulator 3, which was every bit as chaotic and random as expected. We also tried The Forest, which was cool, though I have to admit I’ve enjoyed other survival games more. Finally, we wrapped up Dead Island 2, which I thought was excellent and a refreshing change of pace from our usual survival game titles.
This year felt more like a realisation than a lesson. I’ve noticed that when life is difficult outside of gaming, it too easily casts a shadow over my time with games. Going forward, I’d like to keep gaming even during tough periods, using it as a way to switch off and escape, even briefly. In those times, I think it helps to choose smaller, cheerful games that are easy to pick up and put down, leaving the longer and more demanding games for when things are going better.
I’ve also learned how valuable AI tools can be. They’ve been especially useful for checking spelling, punctuation and sentence structure in my blog posts, as well as generating suitable feature images, like the one for this review. I still write the posts and make the final decisions on imagery, but AI has proven itself to be a powerful assistant that makes the process smoother and more creative.
I don’t want to set rigid goals or put unnecessary pressure on myself, but I do want to keep gaming during difficult periods and make better use of AI along the way. I’ve also got a long backlog I’d like to chip away at, with titles such as Sengoku Dynasty, Dune: Awakening, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Streets of Rage 4. At the same time, I’m eagerly awaiting a few upcoming releases, including Front Mission 3: Remake and Terminator: Survivors.
As for the blog itself, I’m still really pleased with how it looks and don’t feel it needs any major development. The only exception is that I am getting spam comments on my most recent blog posts. I will consider what I can do about that in the weeks ahead. My PC, bought in 2019, is beginning to show its age, but for the moment it continues to serve me well. Unless something breaks or struggles to run the games I want to play, I’ll happily stick with it for at least another year.
If you’d like to share any feedback or suggestions about my year 7 review, I’d be delighted to hear from you. You can leave a comment here or get in touch by any other means that suits you.
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