iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 03/10/2026

Ah man, I've never played the 3DS version (the thought of playing a Warriors game on a DS terrifies me) but I absolutely adored the Wii U version. Combat felt fluid, the game looked great, the soundtrack was phenomenal. Absolutely one of the best of the licensed Warriors games. An excellent choice!

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 03/10/2026

This week for #RandomGameSaturday I present Dragon Quest Heroes. The first collaboration between Square Enix and Koei Tecmo, it's a licensed Warriors-style spin-off like you'd expect, but with more emphasis placed on Tower Defense elements such as waves of mobs and defending locations.

PAL box art for Dragon Quest Heroes on the PlayStation 4.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 30/09/2026

Please make sure Pippin gets an extra big hug from me. 😍💜🐶

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 30/09/2026

And that's The Dog Island finished. This story is happy end! I'll admit it: I was crying. Absolutely easy recommend for dog lovers and fans of cosy little adventure games. Probably my favourite game I've played this year. Oh, and if you have pets: cherish them.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 29/09/2026

Day 2 of The Dog Island: My doggy sister is so ill that she struggles to eat food. As an aside, I hate that I know exactly how that feels... So of course I go and fish for her favourite food. She sends me a Sunflower in return that I now proudly wear. I'm telling you, this game is all the feels.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 28/09/2026

I booted up The Dog Island on PS2. I was not expecting to get hit in the feels like that. I think all pet owners understand the trauma of seeing a loved one in pain. So yeah, if a game offers a journey to get a magical medicine to save a sickly sibling, you better believe I'm emotionally invested.

Zonerunner the schnauzer, the bravest and goodest boi going on a perilous adventure to find a cure for his sickly sister.

Even my mum and sister are sending me letters wishing me well on my journey. How can I not see this through?

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 28/09/2026

I was playing the demo for the Dynasty Warriors 3 remaster and enjoyed myself so much that I booted up the PS2 original. It really struck me just how much technology has progressed over the last 25 years. I'd say they've done a good job of updating the classic while still respecting the original.

A screenshot from the Dynasty Warriors 3 remastered demo, taken on a PlayStation 5 Pro.

A screenshot of the same area in Dynasty Warriors 3, taken with the PCSX2 emulator.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 28/09/2026

Thanks for sharing your review, it was an entertaining read! I think you hit the nail on the head: It's bleak but not depressing, janky but not unfair (besides a few checkpoint starved sections...) and an art direction all of its own. I'm as surprised as you that the recent remake isn't one of 2.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 26/09/2026

Yeah, it's a bit of a weird one. It was developed around the same time as Lost Planet 3, and as you can see the two couldn't be more different in tone!

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 26/09/2026

I completed Rayman 2 for the first time earlier this year (and it was the Dreamcast version). I don't know why I bounced off the game previously but I have to admit, I was genuinely surprised at how much I ended up enjoying it. I would like to apologise to Rayman 2, I was unfamiliar with your game.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 26/09/2026

Ikaruga is one of my favourite shmup's. The mechanics are easy to explain and understand, but in true Treasure fashion it expects you to master those mechanics. It makes for a game that is incredibly difficult but always feels fair. I suck at it, but I respect the hell out of it.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 26/09/2026

In this week's selection for #RandomGameSaturday I humbly submit E.X. Troopers. A spinoff of the Lost Planet franchise that uses recycled assets from the cancelled Mega Man Legends 3. A real curio. I hear there's a fan translation available for this nowadays, I really need to check it out.

Japanese box art for E.X. Troopers on the PlayStation 3.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 25/09/2026

You know, I got incredibly depressed yesterday over the big news in the Phantasy Star Online scene, a vibe coded browser implementation of PSO and just how many people in the community were defending the use of AI slop in projects like this. I'll stick to my GameCube, thanks.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/09/2026

Huh. Just saw that at some point I crept into the top 1% of users on RetroAchievements and only just noticed. It's a weird feeling, as it wasn't a goal I was actively seeking - quite frankly I'm too old to be chasing competition - but there is a certain sense of pride in achieving it nonetheless.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 19/09/2026

Oh yeah, absolutely. It's far from perfect, but in an era when most publishers would have westernised the more Japanese elements, they largely tried to be faithful to the source material. This is before Sega acquired Atlus too, where that translation style is the norm.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 19/09/2026

Good morning #RandomGameSaturday peeps, today my choice is Yakuza. Released in Europe 20 years ago, the English dub is infamously crass with its liberal use of swearing. Still, a lot of effort has clearly gone into the localisation, showing remarkable confidence in the series' chances in the West.

PAL box art for Yakuza on the PlayStation 2.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 14/09/2026

On a somewhat related note, I was playing The Adventures of Lomax earlier today and was struck by the simplicity of the password system. 8 spaces, 4 possible choices each. It struck me how we've lost the elegance of designing simple password systems in the era of save games.

A screenshot from The Adventures of Lomax showing the password for the upcoming level. The password contains the current level and number of lives and continues the player has.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 14/09/2026

Well, that's a core memory unlocked. I seem to recall using a two letter notation system for recording my passwords as a kid - one letter for colour, one for object. I don't recall ever getting particularly far in the game, so that should tell you how well that system worked.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

I'll always appreciate what Midas did. Yeah, they released a lot of dreck, but their business model of cheaply localising budget Japanese games introduced me to entire series and subgenres that I wouldn't have known about or had access to had they not been around.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

Wow, is that signed by one of the devs? That's really cool! I really enjoyed the VR mode in 7. Yeah, the technology meant the fidelity was somewhat limited, but that sensation of pulling off corkscrews and looking up to see the ground above you while hurtling at high speeds was *exhilarating*.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

To be fair, it's hard not to think of characters from the Soul series and immediately think of Voldo, even if I've never actually known anyone who mained the character! Clearly someone at Namco knew who the *real* series mascot was going to be.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

We've had 8-bit and 16-bit retro revivals, I'm awaiting the chunky polygons on a warm, glowing, fuzzy CRT aesthetic to make its glorious return.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

Hahaha, well if it's any consolation to the young Sega fanboy in you, I think it's fair to say that Soul Blade crawled so that Soul Calibur could fly! It's an utterly fantastic series, definitely one of my favourite fighting franchises.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 12/09/2026

For today's #RandomGameSaturday the hand has chosen Soul Blade. The Namco fighter that wasn't Tekken, it's a humble start to a series that wouldn't find its footing until the sequel. Putting the series' resident gimp Voldo front and centre of the European cover was an incredibly bold choice...

PAL box art for Soul Blade on the PlayStation.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 05/09/2026

Not always but I have been known to do so, especially with me focusing more on retro stuff this year. Sometimes I pick something that I forgot I owned, which is always fun to go back and reminisce over!

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 05/09/2026

Today in #RandomGameSaturday we have Gotcha Force. A cute little arcade arena battler that definitely derives a lot of its DNA from the Capcom developed Gundam Versus games, the usage of small toy robots as playable characters also brings to mind the Virtual-ON series.

PAL box art for Gotcha Force on the Nintendo GameCube.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 01/09/2026

I appreciate the sentiment, and I know it's realistically out of their hands. But as a collector I'm not buying a game for the feelies. Steelbooks, art books, soundtracks and figures are all cool, but at the end of the day I'm buying a game because I want a copy on a disc/cart that I can play.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 30/08/2026

Just got my 300th platinum trophy with Shin Megami Tensei III. It was my first MegaTen game back in the day and it's still my favourite now. I know the remaster isn't without its issues (the FMV's are *shockingly* compressed) but it's good to be able to play a classic again with modern conveniences.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 29/08/2026

I'd like to dedicate my #RandomGameSaturday this week to the late Tim Curry with Brütal Legend. The last game I played starring Tim before his retirement, he provided a memorably hammy performance that stole every scene he was in. A truly great talent and the world is lesser for his absence.

PAL box art of Brütal Legend for the PlayStation 3.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 24/08/2026

I still have my VHS copy somewhere. As a big Panzer Dragoon fan, I was ecstatic to pick it up back in the day and watch the adaptation. After watching it... uhhh, yeah, I was less enthusiastic about it. The fan in me is glad I own this little weird ancillary project into a world I adore though.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

Dark Cloud was definitely one of the first PS2 games I picked up. I seem to recall I picked this up and the first Jak & Daxter at the same time. That was a good week.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

All my homies love Dark Cloud.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

Agreed, fantastic soundtrack. Very atmospheric. That main theme with the acoustic strings has always stuck with me.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

I must admit that while the second game is a fantastic title in its own right, it added so many mechanics on top of the original's systems that I struggle to remember the game as well as I do the first one. Sometimes it's the simple but solid gameplay loops that stick with you the most, you know?

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

No bad thing if you ask me. I wouldn't mind playing through it again myself at some point!

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/08/2026

It did! I've always liked that rogue-like randomly generated dungeon aesthetic. I'm a big fan of Phantasy Star Online which did something similar, albeit in a more limited fashion.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 22/08/2026

For #RandomGameSaturday this week I've got Dark Cloud. Level-5's debut title is a game that plays like a Zelda, with some light RPG mechanics and even a town building mode. It lacks the graphical prowess of later Level-5 titles, but it has far more heart than any of their recent developments.

PAL box art for Dark Cloud on the PlayStation 2.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 15/08/2026

Well, it took until the game coming to an end to finally do it, but I finally worked up the motivation to solo flawless the Grasp of Avarice dungeon in Destiny 2. Sure, it's not the hardest dungeon in the game and it's been power crept pretty hard, but it feels nice to have finally done it.

Screenshot from Destiny 2 acknowledging my solo flawless completion of the Grasp of Avarice dungeon.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 15/08/2026

It's #RandomGameSaturday time and this week my hand has sought out Samurai Warriors 3. Despite being a big musou fan and owning this since it was released, I only played it for the first time this year. There's a lot of that old school Koei charm here, but the game runs terribly for an exclusive...

PAL box art for Samurai Warriors 3 on the Nintendo Wii.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 08/08/2026

I finally decided to start working on my PS3 backlog, so this week's pick for #RandomGameSaturday goes to Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force. Booting it up and seeing the franchise's 10th anniversary logo kind of made me feel horribly old some nearly 14 years after its release...

PAL box art for Ratchet & Clank: Q-Force on the PlayStation 3.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 01/08/2026

A bit of an odd one for today's #RandomGameSaturday with Blazing Beaks. My copy is unusual in that it came with a doodle drawn by one of the developers. As you can see, they've taken the opportunity to craft an intricate narrative that recontextualises the entire conceit of ducks shooting mutants.

PAL box art for Blazing Beaks on the PlayStation 4. A developer on the game has doodled a couple of speech bubbles onto the cover, where one of the playable ducks declares to a nearby mutant that "You are CUTE!", and the local fauna responds negatively.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 25/07/2026

We're returning to nature for this week's #RandomGameSaturday with the OG farming life simulator, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. It's not my favourite game in the series, but the muted colour palette and more grounded, melancholic storyline certainly makes it one of the more memorable.

PAL front cover of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life on the GameCube.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 23/07/2026

The Queenswalk encounter theme from Destiny 2 popped up into my YouTube feed and I wasn't prepared for just how it made me feel. The memories of me and 5 mates completing a new raid and knowing I'll likely never experience anything like it again is... disquieting in a way I didn't realise I felt.

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Shell of What Was (Queenswalk High Action) - Destiny 2: Forsaken OST

YouTube video by Destiny Music Archive

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 18/07/2026

My pick for #RandomGameSaturday this week is Eternal Ring, a fantasy action RPG made by From Software and released on PlayStation platforms. Not to be confused with Elden Ring, a fantasy action RPG made by From Software and released on PlayStation platforms.

PAL front cover for Eternal Ring on the PlayStation 2.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 17/07/2026

Things I learned today: the developer of Ape Escape P is SIMS Co., Ltd. A name that may not be familiar to most, unless you're like me and grew up playing a whole bunch of Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Game Gear. Looks like they're still around too, which is heartening to see.

Screenshot from the credits of Ape Escape P showing the developer of the game, SIMS Co., Ltd.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 11/07/2026

I had no idea Arkane helped with level design! That's so cool, I always liked how each level felt like a self contained little episode with a new story to tell. That set piece where Sofia floods the area and you're left to wander through the now eerily silent level has always stuck with me.

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Zonerunner @zonerunner.co.uk · 11/07/2026

Some lazy #RandomGameSaturday afternoon vibes with Bioshock 2. I was thinking about Bioshock 2 and Infinite earlier this week. They both tackle similar themes of paternity, but Infinite is more cynical while 2 is more idealistic. I don't think it's a coincidence that 2 is my preferred sequel.

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