STILL PLAYING

Destiny PS4

Three hundred hours and counting later, we’re no longer at war with the Fallen, Hive, Vex or Cabal, but Bungie. The game’s myriad economies, its infuriating RNG and, in the new raid especially, punitive mission design mean that we’re constantly seeking out new ways to somehow cheat the system. Cheese? Hardly. To us, it feels more like fair reprisal against a cruel, cackling master.

Persona 4: Golden Vita

We load up our year-old, mid-game save file with trepidation. Few games make much sense after that much time away, so surely an arcane JRPG will be impenetrable? Yet reentry proves smooth, and within minutes we’re destroying demons and chatting up classmates like we’ve never been away. As we slip back into the winning blend of stat-heavy dungeon crawler and highschool comedy, we promise it won’t be another 12 months before we return.

Axelay Wii U

All it takes is a pixellated family photo in a locket, and we’re transported to a small bedroom in a terraced house more than two decades ago. Nintendo’s Virtual Console pricing may regularly infuriate, but when we select our ship’s loadout and “Arms installation complete. Good luck!” rings out of the GamePad speaker, we’re back in our carefree youth again, and a fiver for the trip feels like great value.