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		<title>Late to the party: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/03/late-to-the-party-clair-obscur-expedition-33/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/03/late-to-the-party-clair-obscur-expedition-33/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:21:13 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Clair Obscur: Expedition 33]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PS5]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sandfall interactive]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[xbox series]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11189</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>It&#8217;s easy to be sceptical when a particular piece of media is held up as the saviour of a dead genre &#8211; especially when that &#8220;death&#8221; is an exaggeration in itself. Despite covering a few turn-based RPGs on this website, I don&#8217;t think that I&#8217;m the most avid consumer of the genre; nevertheless, I still [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/03/late-to-the-party-clair-obscur-expedition-33/">Late to the party: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>It&#8217;s easy to be sceptical when a particular piece of media is held up as the saviour of a dead genre &#8211; especially when that &#8220;death&#8221; is an exaggeration in itself. Despite covering a few turn-based RPGs on this website, I don&#8217;t think that I&#8217;m the most avid consumer of the genre; nevertheless, I still raised an eyebrow when <a href="https://www.expedition33.com/">Clair Obscur: Expedition 33</a> was a focal point in conversation that would make you believe that the genre hasn&#8217;t moved forward since Final Fantasy VII. As I&#8217;ll explain later on, there were a lot of things I enjoyed in Sandfall&#8217;s game &#8211; but I think that there have been enough critical success stories through the years to suggest that the genre is doing just fine. The world is subjective, and it&#8217;s genuinely hard to keep track of all of the quality RPGs being released when so many of them command tens of hours of your time &#8211; so I can forgive a certain degree of surface level ennui when people don&#8217;t look much further than trailers and blurb. Personally, I&#8217;m not here to make too many comparisons &#8211; I already try and keep other notable games on my radar and discuss them on their own terms &#8211; so I&#8217;d like to try and do the same for Expedition 33.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Expedition 33 &#8211; L&#8217;histoire</h2>



<p>In a story that follows a group of expeditioners on a mission to slay an entity named The Paintress, Expedition 33 initially feels comfortingly familiar. The game is broadly structured as a series of objectives where you travel an open environment (following waypoints shown on a map) and enter dungeons that have various enemy encounters to overcome and loot to collect. Enroute, there will be light conversations between party members, and each dungeon will typically culminate in a boss battle, a cutscene, or both. What&#8217;s most striking is that so much of Expedition 33 is captivating and engaging &#8211; on the field, regular battle encounters demand your attention as you are tasked with studying attack patterns that can be dodged or parried with real-time button presses. Meanwhile, the main characters in your party are beautifully realised &#8211; they feel like regular people on an extraordinary mission, and not like actors in a dramatic storyline. When you set up camp you regularly have an opportunity to watch a heart-to-heart with the party members (not unlike &#8220;Drink Links&#8221; in Like A Dragon) &#8211; moments that often show an admirably human side to our heroes. Mechanically, these conversations are fairly shallow and it can feel like you&#8217;re going around the camp making sure that all interactions are exhausted &#8211; but they&#8217;re a fun inclusion nonetheless. Sometimes actions speak louder than words, however, as the characters truly shine once they begin a combat encounter. Expedition 33 has some of the most involving and demanding turn-based battles I&#8217;ve experienced in the genre for a while, and this approach to an RPG staple is something that could be very polarising: something that could make players shut the game off in frustration, or stay locked into the experience as they rise to each challenge.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">&#8220;En garde&#8221;</h2>



<p>The battle encounters generally combine turn-based decision making for your party&#8217;s actions, and real-time responses to enemy attack patterns. When it&#8217;s your turn, Expedition 33 feels a lot like other RPGs &#8211; you&#8217;re choosing to heal allies, provide buffs, or cast magic. (There is no mana or MP system in the game &#8211; instead, each special command costs Action Points, which can be replenished with each turn or by performing defensive actions.) However, as the enemy prepares their own action, you&#8217;ll notice that there are still commands that your party can use: a parry, a dodge, a jump. (The parry in particular grants a large counter-attack if you can parry everything in an attack string, but it often carries the most risk.) In a similar vein to <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2024/02/in-pursuit-of-infinite-wealth/">Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth</a> (or various Mario RPGs), you can nullify enemy attacks by reacting with the appropriate button press at the right time. However, this regularly feels like an essential part of your toolkit rather than an excuse to show off &#8211; the vast majority of enemy attacks in the game can outright kill a party member from full health (unless you&#8217;ve put time into increasing party health, have set up defence buffs or are deliberately exploring a low-level area.) </p>



<p></p>



<p>Consequently, mastering the timing of these defensive actions ends up being the primary means of survival. You do end up obtaining certain skills that grant health to allies or revive them, but when you can be wiped out in a single combo then it can feel like you&#8217;re merely postponing the inevitable. There are two things that I took from this design philosophy. Firstly, the encounters are some of the most elaborate rhythm puzzles you&#8217;ve seen in a modern RPG. If you know the timings of the necessary jumps, parries and counters then you no longer have to worry about a particular puzzle. Secondly &#8211; players would have much less patience for this kind of system if not for the fact that, upon death, you can instantly restart the battle (rather than having to return to the title screen or reload a save.) The instant restart is nothing new &#8211; <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2024/10/backwards-dungeon-crawling-how-not-to-play-metaphor/">Metaphor</a> uses it brilliantly when players are attempting its tougher encounters &#8211; but it&#8217;s an essential tool in Expedition 33. (Whilst writing my rough thoughts, I also played devil&#8217;s advocate and considered the alternative &#8211; if the battles weren&#8217;t as punishing as they end up being, I imagine that players would just eat the damage and be less inclined to engage with the defensive systems. So I can kind of see what they&#8217;re going for &#8211; but it&#8217;s a very particular mindset to demand from players.)</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_1.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_1.jpg" alt="A still from a cutscene in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" class="wp-image-11192" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_1.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>Supporting the combat of Expedition 33 is an admirable amount of customisation. Skill trees let characters open up new abilities to use in combat (although each character can only select a maximum of six), whilst Luminas activate bonus perks for characters during encounters &#8211; performing an extra attack in a combo string, for instance, or granting a chance for a status effect on enemies (such as Burn.) There are also more advanced effects that come to fruition through several turns &#8211; one of my favourite skills required a Burn status to be inflicted on an enemy so that a party member could enter a unique &#8220;stance&#8221; that opened up a damage bonus; another skill caused ice damage to enemies whilst automatically healing the party for a number of rounds. The generous freedom you have in customising your party takes a lot of the edge off the brutal battle encounters, as you will often walk away from a defeat wondering if there is a different setup that you could attempt for a given encounter. The aforementioned Action Points system plays into a lot of the skill properties, as some skills can grant AP back to party members, allowing them to re-use costly actions sooner rather than waiting for AP to build over multiple rounds. In addition to health, enemies and allies also have a &#8220;Break&#8221; gauge, and if this is filled then it will stall the subsequent action for one round. This becomes another essential part of the team strategy, as it offers a little more breathing room to build AP. Ultimately, the variety of builds available can inspire players to devise solutions that suit the occasion… but it&#8217;s an experience that you have to be prepared to throw yourself into. If this philosophy &#8211; the thought of going into encounters you aren&#8217;t familiar with, dying, and then building around the encounter &#8211; is something that interests you, there&#8217;s a lot to enjoy here.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Expedition 33 &#8211; Le monde</h2>



<p>Outside of the story and combat, Expedition 33 has a great world to sink into. Environments have an abstract and painterly quality to them, and the music is captivating without being overpowering. The architecture is fairly static and you&#8217;re rarely doing anything more complex than finding objects to shoot or grapple points that zip you across the landscape, but it serves as a game-wide arena for the main attraction: the combat encounters. Exploring the world map can be somewhat quaint as it often feels like a series of waypoints with a handful of curios and roaming encounters, but I always found the destinations more enticing than the journeys. When so many encounters have party members being KO&#8217;d, a lot of the content of Expedition 33 comes from the battles, and it wasn&#8217;t uncommon for me to come away from a session with no progress in the story but more knowledge gained about attack patterns and parry timings. After watching the closing scenes and credits, my final save at the end of the game had just under 53 hours on the clock, and I feel like the merciless battles padded out a lot of that hour count. (The intended destinations of Act 3 in particular felt like a steep rise in difficulty across many areas, after what had otherwise been a gradual increase in challenge, and it gives the impression that the player should take advantage of the sizeable experience rewards you receive at that point.) However, they were compelling enough for me to continue to the game&#8217;s conclusion, and I would recommend Expedition 33 if you have enough patience and a desire for this kind of ruthless experience.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_2.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_2.jpg" alt="Key art for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" class="wp-image-11191" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_2.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/e33_2-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p><em>Disclaimer: it was reported that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 originally contained placeholder assets created with generative AI, and that these were subsequently patched out. Whether this is an excusable practice is something consumers have to decide for themselves. Qazi ended up buying a pre-owned copy of the game for the purposes of playing it and writing this article. (Although to be honest, there&#8217;s hardly anywhere left in his local area where he can buy games new…)</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/03/late-to-the-party-clair-obscur-expedition-33/">Late to the party: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11189</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Home cinema review: Good Fortune</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/02/good-fortune-review/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/02/good-fortune-review/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2026 11:34:33 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV & Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aziz Ansari]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Good Fortune]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Keanu Reeves]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Seth Rogan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV and Film]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11148</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>For more than a decade, Keanu Reeves has been a bit of a long-term fixture in this household. 2014’s John Wick was an incredible action movie and a compelling tale of revenge, and despite that series becoming increasingly silly and high-stakes through the various sequels, it provided an appreciable baseline of entertainment that kept me [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/02/good-fortune-review/">Home cinema review: Good Fortune</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>For more than a decade, Keanu Reeves has been a bit of a long-term fixture in this household. 2014’s John Wick was an incredible action movie and a compelling tale of revenge, and despite that series becoming increasingly silly and high-stakes through the various sequels, it provided an appreciable baseline of entertainment that kept me invested in the overarching story. Even before those films I was a big fan of earlier works such as Speed and The Matrix trilogy (as well as the more recent &#8220;The Matrix Resurrections&#8221;), so I had always enjoyed his on-screen performance – however, I essentially lived through about a decade of seeing Reeves adopt the familiar role of the legendary assassin. It was kind of weird to see adverts for movies that featured him in an entirely different role, but that brings us to Good Fortune. Even before the film was released (in October 2025), the streets around my local area were promoting the film (and its other stars, Seth Rogan and Aziz Ansari) so it was kind of hard to avoid. I’m not a massive cinema-goer &#8211; I&#8217;m terrible at arranging things with people, and generally I&#8217;d prefer to wait and pick up a disc that I can replay as many times as I like &#8211; but I had been keeping Good Fortune in mind as something to pick up when it was released on DVD and Blu-Ray in January of this year. And so I begin Disposable Media’s 2026 content with a tale of divine hijinks between three individuals…</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Good Fortune – the trade</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_1.jpg"><img decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_1.jpg" alt="A still from Good Fortune. Arj and Gabriel are facing each other in front of a Denny's." class="wp-image-11149" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_1.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>Good Fortune follows the life of an angel named Gabriel (played by Reeves) who has a specific job protecting the people of Earth – saving careless individuals from accidents that would potentially be caused by texting while driving. Gabriel finds himself longing to do something more meaningful in his line of work, and is subsequently asked to act as a guardian angel for a down-on-his-luck character named Arj (Ansari). Just like Gabriel, Arj is looking for more from life and struggles to find opportunities to make a living. Gabriel meets Arj and seeks to prove to him that a life of material wealth and easy living doesn’t result in happiness, and that true fulfilment must come from the self. To do this, a trade is proposed – Gabriel swaps Arj’s general lifestyle with that of a man of wealth, Jeff (Rogan) – but the trade doesn’t work out as well as he imagined, with the life lesson failing to be conveyed… In all honesty I didn’t realise that Good Fortune was a body-swap (or &#8220;lifestyle-swap&#8221;) movie, and although it’s not a subgenre I explore a lot in film (unless you want to include things like John Travolta and Nicolas Cage blasting each other in 1997&#8217;s Face/Off) I can appreciate the entertainment value held in such a premise. For most of the runtime, Good Fortune is a robust framework for Arj and Jeff to be placed in various silly scenarios where they must try and adapt to their new lives – and all the while Gabriel is trying to adjust to life on Earth.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Heaven can wait</h2>



<p>The film gets some good mileage out of this premise – we see Jeff (and later Gabriel) having to get used to rough living and sleeping in the car; meanwhile, we&#8217;re transported to scenes of Arj throwing lavish parties and flaunting his newfound wealth and success – and in-between these moments, Gabriel is letting the “pleasures” of Earth distract him from his goal of &#8220;saving&#8221; Arj, as he discovers fast food and the brainrot of online content for the first time. Out of all of the various character arcs, I personally enjoyed the chemistry between Jeff and Gabriel the most – the premise of someone having everything taken away from them whilst accompanied by an incompetent divine being provides a lot of easy material for amusing scenes throughout. Reeves’ other roles have played to the strength of some dry, sauceless line deliveries – <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2911666/">John Wick</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/">Neo</a> (or Thomas Anderson) are rarely allowed to crack a smile in their adventures, as they generally let their actions do most of the talking – but this “vanilla” personality kind of works in Good Fortune’s favour when the character of Gabriel is built around being righteous but naïve as he adapts to his new life. Arj’s full character arc ends up being a little more conventional, as he ultimately completes a journey to (hopefully) discover that boundless wealth, comfort and stability aren’t necessarily a flawless panacea – and whilst I found that Jeff and Gabriel had more &#8220;funny&#8221; scenes between them, all three stars definitely manage to have a lot of fun with their roles.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Good Fortune – life lessons</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_2.jpg" alt="A still from Good Fortune. Jeff and Gabriel are eating fast food together." class="wp-image-11150" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_2.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/goodfortunemovie_2-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>The comedy does take a backseat for some moral messaging towards the conclusion – and the film has been setting up the eventual moralising for a while, so it’s to be expected – but once it happens it feels natural rather than being too heavy-handed. We already live a day-to-day existence where those in power aren’t always making the best decisions, living in a world where those less well-off continue to struggle, but the film manages to find some light humour in both of these lifestyles. For most of the 97 minutes I enjoyed myself with Good Fortune; I don’t think that it was an evening of wall-to-wall side-splitting laughs, but it was still comfortable viewing. I personally enjoyed an opportunity to see Reeves in a more light-hearted tale&#8230; and despite the themes of guardian angels, pretty much everything else going on in the story felt relatively grounded. After Gabriel loses his wings, the audience is watching a film depicting the various (mis)adventures of a regular man with little knowledge of life on Earth. I don’t object to supernatural nonsense in comedy (I own the two Shazam! movies, not to mention Space Jam), but Good Fortune chooses to enjoy comedy through inexperience instead of magic and fantasy &#8211; and in doing so it presents a fun but heartwarming tale, and a pleasant examination of how people of different backgrounds adapt to unexpected circumstances.</p>



<p><em>Good Fortune (15) is available now on DVD and Blu-Ray at all good retailers.</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2026/02/good-fortune-review/">Home cinema review: Good Fortune</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11148</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025 &#8211; Highlights</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Thornton]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 15:48:44 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Art And Literature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV & Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[A Thousand Blows]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Assetto Corsa Rally]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecca Vandal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[F1: The Movie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ghost]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Highlights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maggie Koerner]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephen Wilson Jr]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11123</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Like many people, I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about the content I create and consume over the last 12 months. The constant rise of AI slop, the ethics and costs of various streaming services, and the mental impacts of short-form content and social media have all played a part. Along with pondering the future of [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025 &#8211; Highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>Like many people, I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about the content I create and consume over the last 12 months. The constant rise of AI slop, the ethics and costs of various streaming services, and the mental impacts of short-form content and social media have all played a part.</p>



<p>Along with pondering the future of writing, it&#8217;s one reason I&#8217;ve picked a seemingly odd time to <a href="https://danthornton.net/2025/10/why-im-learning-photography-in-the-age-of-gen-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">start learning photography</a>. I&#8217;ve also watched more than enough Youtube guides to building cheap home servers to run my own personal streaming solution, revived an old cheap record player from my childhood, and continued to stockpile physical media.</p>



<p>But while I continue the entertainment version of doom prepping, there have still been a lot of great new films, TV shows, music, games and more to lift my spiritis.</p>



<p></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025: Watching</h2>



<p>For the first time, I&#8217;ve started logging the films I watch on <a href="https://letterboxd.com/badgergravling/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Letterboxd</a>, to accompany my <a href="https://www.last.fm/user/BadgerGravling" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Last.fm</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6187127?ref=nav_profile_l" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Goodreads</a> tracking. Which definitely makes it easier to pick the highlights from the 60 movies I&#8217;ve watched over the last 12 months.</p>



<p>From the 2025 releases, Death of a Unicorn was enjoyable nonsense, Deep Cover was fun, and Wake Up Dead Man was up to the usual standard of the Knives Out films. But probably the most interesting was F1: The Movie with Brad Pitt. As a lifelong motorsport obsessive, I thought it was OK but spent too much time on cliched movie tropes rather than racing action and details. But my partner rated it as one of the best car films she&#8217;d seen, probably for the same reason.</p>



<p>And yet we both love Rush and Le Mans &#8217;66 (aka Ford vs Ferrari), which both seem to manage the balance better. </p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie-1024x576.jpg" alt="F1: The Movie" class="wp-image-11126" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie-300x169.jpg 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie-768x432.jpg 768w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F1-The-Movie.jpg 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>F1: The Movie</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>Some of the more interesting older releases included The Last Duel, which took a different perspective on medieval chivalry, the aesthetics of both Asteroid City and The Sisters Brothers, the plots of Civil War and The Order, and the achievement of low budget time travel film Lola.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lola.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lola.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-11125" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lola.webp 1024w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lola-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Lola-768x432.webp 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Lola</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>On the smaller screen, Slow Horses and the new related Emma Thomson series Down Cemetry Road didn&#8217;t disappoint. Neither did The Bear, or the latest series of Andor. The last of which persuaded my partner to try a Star Wars TV series for the first time, and was well received by both of us.</p>



<p>Riot Women was righfully a standout of the year, even if it was hard watching the behaviour of pretty much every male character. It helped that the music created by Brighton band ARXX for the series captures some of the best aspects of riot grrrl classics to balance the more horrific and tragic moments, and that the entire cast is amazing.</p>



<p>One new series which might have been slightly overlooked is A Thousand Blows. Stephen Graham rightfully deserved all of the praise and recognition for Adolesence which arrived on Netflix this year, but this Disney+ series is also very much worth watching as it follows the all-female crime syndicate the Forty Elephants, and the world of bare-knuckle boxing in the 1880s East End of London.</p>



<p>Erin Doherty stands out as gang leader Mary Carr, despite the presence of Graham and the central role of Malacki Kirby as Jamaican immigrant Hezekiah Moscow. And the real stories on which the series is based are equally fascinating if you fancy spending some time reading up on the background. With a second series arriving in January, it&#8217;s a good time to catch up on the first.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n2Sj_tic3co?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>One painful thing this year is the loss of Rob Reiner, whose The Princess Bride is an annual New Year&#8217;s tradition in my house. Not to mention Spinal Tap, Stand By Me and so much more.</p>



<p></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025: Listening</h2>



<p>As always, I&#8217;ve spent the year trying to discover new music along with playing my old favourites while I work from home. Apparently I&#8217;ve scrobbled around 9,500 tracks without taking into account physical media, or the standby of Radio 6Music to find new bands (or classic soul tracks I&#8217;ve missed thanks to Craig Charles).</p>



<p>I&#8217;m still working my way through various &#8216;best of 2025&#8217; lists, but some of the standouts for me this year include the absolutely hypnotic &#8216;Oaxaca&#8217; by Maggie Koerner;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vEAHlozXiJ0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>I also really liked new albums &#8216;The Parlour&#8217; by Picture Parlour, &#8216;Glory&#8217; by Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers, and the &#8216;Cruising To Self Soothe&#8217; single by Ecca Vandal.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pccffwLPRSw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>I was late to the Ghost train, but spent a lot of time catching up this year, along with listening to Skelata on repeat. And while I&#8217;ve tried to indoctrinate my teenage son with my favourite artists, he&#8217;s now returned the favour with Sabaton popping up a lot, including their new album Legends.</p>



<p>Speaking of being late to an artist, I also discovered the amazing Stephen Wilson Jr this year, who is around my age and blends country, rock and great lyrics wonderfull in songs like Year to Be Young 1994 and Father&#8217;s Son. And also does one of the only covers of &#8216;Stand By Me&#8217; that is worth knowing.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9kn7E-OauJI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Alongside all of that great new music, I have to acknowledge that we lost several musicians who played a huge part in my life. In the space of just a few weeks we lost Jimmy Cliff, Steve Cropper and Mani from the Stone Roses. All three feature enormously in my love of music, whether it&#8217;s the entire Stax back catalogue, the iconic soundtrack of The Harder They Come, or spending teenage years shuffling on a dancefloor to She Bangs the Drums, I Wanna Be Adored, or I Am the Resurrection.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fjW5f7i5EwE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025: Gaming</h2>



<p>I had a fair bit to look forward to this year. Big name releases including Football Manager 26, Call of Duty Black Ops 7 and Assetto Corsa EVO were all on my wishlist. And all three were more than a little disappointing at launch (although AC EVO has come on a lot since arriving in January).</p>



<p>But the biggest surprising and highlight was actually releated to one of them, with Assetto Corsa Rally announced shortly before launching in early access in November 2025. It&#8217;s the first rally game to include laser-scanned stages, and developers Supernova Games Studios have combined the AC physics engine with what appears to be a massive love and obsession with rallying. I loved it, but even more surprising was that it encouraged by non-sim racing family to have a go behind the wheel.</p>



<p>It also looks and sounds great.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<iframe loading="lazy" class="youtube-player" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5wP847gXMSA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-GB&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent" allowfullscreen="true" style="border:0;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox"></iframe>
</div></figure>



<p>Outside of racing games, which I&#8217;ll cover in far more depth over at <a href="https://www.onlineracedriver.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OnlineRaceDriver</a>, I did dabble a bit with Rematch, although lag issues meant that it didn&#8217;t last long. Instead I did benefit from GamePass as it encouraged me to give Vampire Survivors (2022) and Deep Rock Galactic Survivor (2024) a try, and they both took me back to one of my early gaming memories playing Gauntlet for hours on a Spectrum with a family friend. </p>



<p>I also revisited another classic gaming memory with Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 + 4 which is a great updated version of the series.</p>



<p>Of the big name titles, probably Call of Duty has been the most disappointing. As much as I can still get caught up in the quick action and camo grind, it feels like a cut-and-paste of previous games with all the same problems involving latency, repetitive maps and pointless prestiging. At least <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2024/12/tired-of-call-of-duty-it-might-be-time-to-try-milsim-tactical-shooters/">my switch to milsims</a> means I have Hell Let Loose: Vietnam to look forward to, while the original has had some good recent updates.</p>



<p></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025: Reading</h2>



<p>The one area I&#8217;ve let lapse too much in 2025 has been reading for pleasure rather than work. I&#8217;ve got an ever-growing pile of books to catch up on, and I need to start setting some specific time to relax with the printed word rather than staring at a screen all day.</p>



<p>One thing I have been doing is revisiting classic science fiction, having picked up various SF Masterworks editions. Some are familiar, like The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds by H.G Wells, and others I&#8217;d missed like The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester, but all are fascinating. I suspect I&#8217;ll be trying to work my way through the whole list over the coming years.</p>



<p>And alongside that I have modern scifi to catch up on, along with all the Reacher, Bosch, Wallander and Beck novels I have yet to acquire to complete the various series.</p>



<p></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Looking forward to 2026</h2>



<p>It&#8217;s been a weird year. But amidst the turmoil, there&#8217;s always some great new music, art, literature and gaming, and whatever your highlights have been, it&#8217;s important to recognise and celebrate them when times are tricky. One thing that has been noticeable for me is that many of my highlights involve other people, whether it&#8217;s watching films with my family, gaming with my son and friends, or getting a great recommendation for a book or music online.</p>



<p>For me, 2026 is about building more connections. Whether that&#8217;s meeting up with other, better photographers to learn more, focusing on the more social side of gaming (especially sim racing with my team), or inviting friends round for some movie nights.</p>



<p>Hopefully by the end of the year I&#8217;ll have made more progress on sorting and making my physical media more easily available. And feed some of that back into this website, too.</p>



<p>For a very different but really interesting set of highlights, check out <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/qazis-disposable-2025/?fbclid=IwY2xjawPB_whleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeZWsc5O72SEgmCALxOnUVA4rGAm4YFoVqirlnjGV7XjYwWyLSZxSvnTxD-UU_aem_aEGCKAtlCiVDjrrjvxR3PQ">Qazi&#8217;s picks of the year for 2025</a>. And I&#8217;m really keen to hear what stood out for you this year, so leave a comment witch your favourite discoveries, both new and old.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/">Dan&#8217;s Disposable 2025 &#8211; Highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<title>Qazi’s Disposable 2025 – Highlights</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/qazis-disposable-2025/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 31 Dec 2025 08:43:21 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[TV & Film]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ballerina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dark souls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dark Souls Remastered]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Earthbound]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FFIX]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Final Fantasy IX]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flava D]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lost In Translation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[machinedrum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mitekiss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Phil:osophy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Planet Mu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Royksopp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Shinobi: Art of Vengeance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Naked Gun]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Top Gun: Maverick]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transistor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vodkah]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wanted]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11098</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>When I brought 2024’s entertainment round-up to a close, I told myself that I wouldn’t have a whole lot of bold new plans for the subsequent year – maybe some new hardware would be purchased, but I wasn’t pointing at notable 2025 videogames and films as things that I would be eager to check out. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/qazis-disposable-2025/">Qazi’s Disposable 2025 – Highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>When I brought 2024’s entertainment round-up to a close, I told myself that I wouldn’t have a whole lot of bold new plans for the subsequent year – maybe some new hardware would be purchased, but I wasn’t pointing at notable 2025 videogames and films as things that I would be eager to check out. Subsequently, as I write the inaugural Qazi’s Disposable 2025 draft, I realise that the last twelve months have been as much about tackling my bucket list as they’ve been about following current news – however, I feel like there have still been some notable things worth talking about.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Qazi’s Disposable 2025: Watching</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/wtd.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/wtd.jpg" alt="Qazi’s Disposable 2025" class="wp-image-11100" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/wtd.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/wtd-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>My film-watching time this year has admittedly been taken up with a number of rewatches; my long-standing admiration for the Robocop and Back to The Future films will inevitably make me postpone any “new” viewings to a later date. However, I still managed to make time for some first-time viewings; I watched a TV broadcast of Top Gun: Maverick that delivered on emotive relationships as effectively as it showcased hi-octane dogfights – whilst not the most cerebral movie, it was a fitting follow-up to the original, and impressed me enough to buy the two-film box set about a month later. (It also has a sizeable runtime stretching over two hours, but uses the time well.) Similarly, I watched the recent Naked Gun reboot in late November, and admired the rapid-fire nature of its continuous gags and punchlines. Neeson adopted the role of Drebin better than I could have imagined, and whilst some jokes were a bit weak, the standouts more than made up for any lapse in entertainment. (Five words: “did you get all that?”)</p>



<p>Another first-time viewing that I caught on Prime Video was 2008’s Wanted, or “what happens when a director watches <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0506703/">Jeff Lew</a>’s Killer Bean animations and has access to Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.” It was delightfully absurd but impressive in its spectacle – with bullets deflecting one another and bending around corners, it could have seemed so phony and fantastical. However, the fact that the story plays it straight means that you remain engaged in the nonsense. Elsewhere, perhaps one of the most curious films I watched for the first time was Lost In Translation. Following the lives of two individuals (played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson) who cross paths and slowly develop an unexpected bond, the story is very loose – it could almost be a montage of short films that someone decided to stitch together into a full movie – but it manages to remain touching and bittersweet. Every conversation and chance meeting was interesting, and I enjoyed following the pair; wondering where the events of the day would take them. I totally understand the criticisms of there being “no story”, but I still think that it has compelling characters and emotions that are capable of drawing you in.</p>



<p>(I&#8217;d also like to give an honourable mention to Ballerina – the spin-off movie from the John Wick universe – which I only got around to watching shortly before submitting this article. I had already watched the four main movies in the series with mixed admiration for them, and even though Ballerina cast the spotlight on a new protagonist, it offered a compelling revenge tale that was every bit as engaging as the mainline Wick movies. I’d definitely be keen to see more movies with de Armas as the lead…)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Qazi’s Disposable 2025: Listening</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/han.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="330" height="330" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/han.jpg" alt="Qazi’s Disposable 2025" class="wp-image-11099" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/han.jpg 330w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/han-300x300.jpg 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/han-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 330px) 100vw, 330px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>In 2025 I cancelled my Tidal subscription in an effort to reduce the amount of monthly digital services I’m paying for online, and instead I’ve just been following accounts of artists, DJs and labels on social media – as well as visiting my favourite specialist channels on YouTube. Generally speaking, it hasn’t been a huge loss for me; I guess I miss the high quality output of Tidal in comparison to playing tracks from YouTube, but in terms of discovery I’ve still been able to find lots of new music without being subscribed to a streaming platform. (Also, the better YouTube videos tend to link to Bandcamp and Soundcloud URLs in the description, so it’s not like I’ve had to tolerate YouTube quality and adverts all of the time.) In my round-up for last year I mentioned Vision Radio – the radio show available on the Vision Recordings YouTube channel – and the show has continued to be a great resource for discovering new bass music. The channel for Fokuz Recordings has also offered lots of chilled drum ‘n’ bass music – but I’ll admit that when I’m trying to catch up with all of their uploads in one sitting it can be hard for a single track to really stand out and make an impression.</p>



<p>I listened to a few albums with varying results – Flava D’s Here &amp; Now had plenty of fun vibes with genuinely great vocals on the tracks; in contrast, Royksopp’s True Electric was a bit forgettable – that being said, I listened to way more EPs and singles. In particular, Vodkah and Dr. Khan released some excellent drum ‘n’ bass tunes with After Midnight and Habanera; the combined efforts of Mitekiss, Subten and Charlotte X dropped a gorgeous vocal D&amp;B offering with Golden Hour, and Phil:osophy evoked the Chrono Trigger soundtrack with its dreamy <a href="https://soundcloud.com/drumandbassarena/philosophy-xanadu">Xanadu</a>. I would never have imagined that the forest music from Square’s RPG would complement a D&amp;B rhythm so well, but it’s incredibly effective. And whilst these aren’t technically albums, I’ll offer honourable mentions to a couple of other releases. For one, we had 3RMX82 – this followed the Machinedrum album 3FOR82 and includes brilliant instrumentals of tracks such as Zoom and Rise. (When I think about how desperate I used to be for instrumental versions of those two songs, I’ll consider this a win.) I’ll also give props to Planet Mu 30, a compilation of music from artists on the Planet Mu label, containing various tunes from 1995 to 2025 and releasing on physical media as well as MP3 &#8211; so I was fortunate enough to pick this up on CD. All of my listening has been possible with the same tech I mentioned in my 2024 round-up, but there’s nothing that I really consider old or broken enough to change at the moment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Qazi’s Disposable 2025: Playing</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg" alt="Qazi's Disposable 2025" class="wp-image-11004" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>At the end of 2024, my round-up of the year in gaming covered a few fresh new RPGs as well as some older classics – this year, my main focus has been drawn solely towards the classics. There hasn’t really been a massive hit game from 2025 that has caught my attention (I still struggle with Hades 1 too much to justify considering the sequel, and I have this irrational fear that I just won’t vibe with whatever Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has to offer) – I played Shinobi: Art of Vengeance for a while, but even that got a bit tiresome thanks to some lengthy boss sequences and a move away from the classic linear levels. Instead, I’ve been making up for lost time by getting around to some older hits, and it’s generally helped me to enjoy the year at my own pace. You know, instead of chasing the latest trends at launch day prices so that I can throw meaningless contributions into The Discourse. Ahem.</p>



<p>If nothing else, I’m pleased that I’ve removed a few more games from my lifetime bucket list. I bought Final Fantasy IX in a sale after seeing some excellent retrospectives, and I was immediately captivated by the charming characters, the fantasy setting and the way that equipment can unlock abilities. The difficulty was generally perfect for my own pace, and the music had some standout tracks such as the brash Iifa Tree theme. I finally experienced Earthbound – I’ve wanted to play through this ever since I’ve been able to emulate SNES games, and over June I ultimately faced Giygas and watched the credits. (I honestly found some elements of the game a struggle, such as the inventory limit and a few of the status ailments, but pushing enemies into the instant-kill threshold makes progress smoother.) And in December I managed to squeeze in a first playthrough of Transistor &#8211; it had some tough encounters, but the narration, soundtrack and presentation kept drawing me back.</p>



<p>And of course, there was <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/07/lttp-dark-souls-remastered/">Dark Souls Remastered</a>. This was a game that had been built up by fans for over a decade, and even though I disliked some of the runs from bonfire to boss – that, and I generally prefer the vibe of something like Bloodborne – I’ll admit that there is something to enjoy in this game. I still find the repeat trips through the Undead zones kind of fatiguing at the start of the game, but eventually the pacing and variety improves… even if it does peak early at Anor Londo. It’s telling that I’m already considering yet another playthrough in 2026 – the more you play the game, the more you get to know the boss battles… and so challenges that seemed insurmountable become mere formalities as you enjoy the journey.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bonus content: Streaming in 2025</h2>



<p>With Twitch imposing its 100hr limit for highlights, I haven’t really been keen to stream long games over the year. I know that last year I set up the streaming bit of &#8220;Qazi’s Disposable 2025&#8221; by hinting at ambitious plans &#8211; I wanted to do a full livestream of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, even though I know that the game can be a bit grindy in places – but these were duly cancelled. I have been considering YouTube as a home for streaming, but I would want to set up a dedicated channel rather than stream to an existing one. I’ve also been trying to think of other games that would be short enough to justify streaming, but I haven’t made any definite plans for the moment. (Aside: my streaming setup has generally been well-behaved this year; my bitrate and quality settings have prevented any dropped frame catastrophes, and I’m happy with the current solution for audio offset. Of course, part of the setup will inevitably break for no reason in the future, but I just want to enjoy this while it lasts.)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2026 in entertainment</h2>



<p>With the ceremonies for Qazi’s Disposable 2025 drawing to a close, I have a few things that I’d like to do over the next twelve months. For starters, I want to try and have another relatively cheap year, so I may continue to look at older games and films. I’d like to play some “7 out of 10”s such as Sonic Frontiers and Stranger of Paradise, my usual group of music channels on YouTube will continue to receive regular visits, and I may consider the Blu-Ray releases of the Nobody and M3GAN sequels. At the same time, I’ll still want to follow current news (the more Persona 4 Revival media is revealed, the better) so I hope you’ll join me in celebrating the new and the… slightly old, in 2026. Until then, thanks for any time you’ve spent reading our articles, and make sure that you check out <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/dans-disposable-2025-highlights/">Dan’s Disposable 2025</a> as well.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/12/qazis-disposable-2025/">Qazi’s Disposable 2025 – Highlights</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11098</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>The 1999 of dance music: with Surrender and Rhythm and Stealth</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/10/the-1999-of-dance-music/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/10/the-1999-of-dance-music/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Oct 2025 21:03:59 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chemical brothers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[leftfield]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rhythm & stealth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rhythm and Stealth]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[surrender]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[the chemical brothers]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11070</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>We love to reminisce. Throughout the history of entertainment and culture, we always look back on moments in time that represent significant periods where our lives were moulded by the media we were consuming at the time. Occasionally there are sentiments that can resonate across the internet, but today I want to highlight a fairly [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/10/the-1999-of-dance-music/">The 1999 of dance music: with Surrender and Rhythm and Stealth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>We love to reminisce. Throughout the history of entertainment and culture, we always look back on moments in time that represent significant periods where our lives were moulded by the media we were consuming at the time. Occasionally there are sentiments that can resonate across the internet, but today I want to highlight a fairly short but important journey through a few years of my life enjoying dance music. (<em>A private joke I make to myself today is that my reminiscence of the 90s is no different to me as a 90s kid listening to adults reminisce about the 60s. Cultural impact aside, all generations are as guilty of living in the past as each other &#8211; but I digress&#8230;</em>) This was going to be a broader love-in that started from 1995 and ended at the turn of the millennium &#8211; and rest assured, we’re still going there &#8211; but in my mind I sharpened my focus on two albums that made 1999 the 1999 of dance music.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Preface &#8211; the club era, and Wipeout</h2>



<p>In 1994 I hadn’t yet started secondary school, and I was starting to make my own discoveries in the world of music. We had no streaming media and we didn’t really have the internet as we know it now, so I was listening to the top 40 music chart on the radio every Sunday. Armed with a stereo recorder and cellophane-wrapped blank cassettes, I would record all manner of genres &#8211; but I particularly grew to like dance music, and through much of 1994-1996 I would enjoy bold, brash club hits such as Livin’ Joy’s “Dreamer” or Baby D’s “Let Me Be Your Fantasy”. I was never too selective about my favourite artists through this early period of discovery; I just enjoyed the vibe of the dance scene around that three year period, and so instead of looking for albums I would often look for compilations &#8211; Dance Mania 3, Dance Tip ‘95 and In The Mix ‘96. These releases provided an instant variety selection of &#8211; hopefully &#8211; the best of what the genre had to offer in the year, and so I didn’t have to worry about looking for one artist’s album and realising that the single whose vibe and hook disrupted the UK chart was also the only song of note in the subsequent album.</p>



<p>However, in the late 90s I found myself being introduced to new sounds. The Prodigy would release “Firestarter” and their album “The Fat of The Land” &#8211; an album that presented brooding moments in &#8220;Climbatize&#8221; alongside rap offerings via &#8220;Diesel Power&#8221;. Sony and Psygnosis would release Wipeout 2097, featuring music from The Prodigy, Future Sound of London, Leftfield and The Chemical Brothers. I’d discover electronic music that wasn’t just designed to fill a dancefloor and be easily digestible &#8211; it would explore different moods, tempos and vibes. There was definitely a point where the club music of the mid 90s just wasn’t holding the same appeal for me that it used to, and I was looking for more music like The Fat of the Land, or like the Wipeout OST representatives. (That’s not to say that there weren’t timeless classics amongst those compilation selections; In the Mix ’96 Vol. 3 featured Underworld’s “Born Slippy”, for instance.) At the same time, I was still listening to the radio and following music news on TV, and in the late 90s there were special radio programmes previewing new tracks from those very representatives. I remember making time to set up my stereo in preparation to record exclusive reveals of songs from <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/tag/leftfield/">Leftfield</a>’s “Rhythm and Stealth”, and also “Surrender” by <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/tag/the-chemical-brothers/">The Chemical Brothers</a>. Things were changing in my world &#8211; at home, the mix and dance compilations were being left behind, and even something like “The Fat of the Land” felt like a singular moment of raw punk ethos that few would try to emulate.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The 1999 of dance music &#8211; a psychedelic surrender</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/letforeverbe.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/letforeverbe.jpg" alt="A still from the music video for Let Forever Be, for the article The 1999 of dance music" class="wp-image-11071" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/letforeverbe.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/letforeverbe-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
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<p></p>



<p>Forget the 1998 of gaming; the 1999 of dance music cemented this change in me &#8211; when both “Surrender” and “Rhythm and Stealth” would be released in June and September respectively. At this point in time I still hadn’t listened to Leftism or the earlier albums from The Chemical Brothers &#8211; I was only interested in buying the Brand New Thing I had heard about. However, even without that frame of reference (or perhaps because I lacked the frame of reference), each album opened my ears to new ways of thinking about the dance and electronic genres. “Surrender” still had urgent, energetic tracks such as “Under The Influence” and the timeless single “Hey Boy Hey Girl”, but it also explored other avenues of sonics. “Orange Wedge” was a deliberately slower groove that combined harsh twangs with a reassuring bassline; elsewhere, “Asleep From Day” offered a gorgeous and dreamy vocal track to begin side B of the cassette album – a mood that would return with the closing track, “Dream On”. Even tracks like “The Sunshine Underground” combined a dancefloor-friendly tempo with a euphoric melody that was like nothing else I was listening to in the prior years. This was dance music via psychedelia – grooves and vibes sharing company with bleeps and beats. It didn’t have to be listened to whilst stood up and jumping in a crowd – it was something you could sink into as your headphones closed off the world around you. I remember at first I felt myself stirring impatiently when listening to the album and waiting for the next club banger, but over time those bangers were the ones that I ended up skipping. I find value in all of the tracks, of course, but if I’m curating highlights from albums in my media library, “Orange Wedge” will be my first selection from the album.</p>



<p>(In 2019 The Chemical Brothers would celebrate the 20th anniversary of &#8220;Surrender&#8221; by releasing several new editions of the album. Firstly, a box set for CD or vinyl fans that came with additional remixes, a DVD, art prints, a photo book and more. Additionally, a cheaper edition which included a second CD with remixes curated by The Chemical Brothers. I skipped the box set, but I picked up the 2 CD edition.)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Rhythm and Stealth in the 1999 of dance music</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/afrikashox.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/afrikashox.jpg" alt="A still from the music video for Afrika Shox, for the article The 1999 of dance music" class="wp-image-11072" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/afrikashox.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/afrikashox-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
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<p></p>



<p>Leftfield’s “Rhythm and Stealth” followed a similar template – yes, there were high energy offerings in “Phat Planet” and “Double Flash”, and bold vocal showpieces courtesy of “Afrika Shox”, but this was a different way of enjoying the genre. Slow, complex soundscapes were painted across the likes of “Dub Gussett”, delivering steady rhythm and an almost “industrial” quality to the melody. Meanwhile, “6/8 War” was exactly as it sounded – a rhythmic march to an unconventional beat. One of my favourite tracks on the album, “El Cid”, is beautifully soothing and serene experience that almost feels embarrassed to introduce any rhythm – it already does so much with so little. (As you&#8217;d imagine from my poor student life, I originally bought both albums on cassette and listened to them religiously on my personal stereo, but the digital treatment from CD releases definitely revitalised them.) If “Surrender” from The Chemical Brothers was dance music via psychedelia, I thought of Leftfield’s album as something more meditative; even so, it was still unafraid to be outspoken when it wanted to. If you’re looking for some music that’s going to get people on their feet and busting their moves, you probably won’t be doing it by including “Chant of a Poor Man” in the playlist, but that’s almost the point. My perception of dance music had changed; it wasn’t just about the safe bops; it was about tunes that made you think – that made you <em>feel</em>. The 1999 of dance music has kind of become a distant memory for the moment as my tastes have shifted again (towards drum and bass), but these two albums still activated something inside that was dormant, and I still enjoy more complex, weirder electronica whenever I come across it.</p>



<p>(Unlike &#8220;Surrender&#8221;, there were no special re-releases of &#8220;Rhythm and Stealth&#8221; to coincide with recent anniversaries. However, following the release of their subsequent album &#8220;Alternative Light Source&#8221;, &#8220;Rhythm and Stealth&#8221; was reissued. &#8220;Alternative Light Source&#8221; was released more than a decade after the original release of &#8220;Rhythm and Stealth.&#8221;)</p>



<p>When I first started thinking of ideas for this article, I was going to talk about how the Wipeout series shaped my tastes in dance music&#8230; but the truth was that it merely brought my attention to some names I hadn&#8217;t heard of. It was the exclusive radio plays that did more work than anything else, and that spirit of discovery can still be felt today. Streaming services will try and push personalised playlists to you every week, but curation is performed by specialist podcasts, blogs and YouTube channels. I&#8217;m probably discovering more album releases now than I ever was in 1999, but this article wasn&#8217;t just about media consumption &#8211; it was about the influence on my own interests. Again, this piece could have documented a longer journey through the end of the 90s&#8230; but the more I want to cover, the more that needs to be said, and then the size of this article becomes unreasonable. Besides, I didn&#8217;t want to dilute the impact of a very specific point in time. I think that these two albums serve as fine representatives for a particular moment in the genre&#8217;s history, and I only hope that I’ve done them justice with this personal journey through “the 1999 of dance music”. They’re not necessarily my favourite albums from The Chemical Brothers and Leftfield, but they came around at a time when I still didn’t know what kind of “dance music” was out there. I&#8217;d also like to make it clear that I&#8217;m by no means claiming that these two albums were the only notable releases in 1999, but I only knew so much at the time, through my limited exposure to radio shows and the like. Even today I still wouldn&#8217;t say I know everything, but it&#8217;s moments such as my own 1999 that awaken these kind of discoveries, and I think that&#8217;s something worth celebrating.</p>



<p><em>Rhythm and Stealth was released by Leftfield under the Hard Hands label in 1999; Surrender was released by The Chemical Brothers under the Freestyle Dust label in 1999. Both albums are available to listen to on all good streaming services</em>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/10/the-1999-of-dance-music/">The 1999 of dance music: with Surrender and Rhythm and Stealth</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11070</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Late to the party: Dark Souls Remastered</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/07/lttp-dark-souls-remastered/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/07/lttp-dark-souls-remastered/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Jul 2025 14:56:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dark souls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dark Souls Remastered]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[From Software]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nintendo Switch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PS4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[xbox one]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=11003</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Spoiler warning: this article is an account of my experience with Dark Souls Remastered and may contain references to characters, locations, items and/or concepts from the game. It’s no secret that FromSoftware have made some of the most celebrated action RPGs of recent times, with Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring proving to [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/07/lttp-dark-souls-remastered/">Late to the party: Dark Souls Remastered</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p><em>Spoiler warning: this article is an account of my experience with Dark Souls Remastered and may contain references to characters, locations, items and/or concepts from the game.</em></p>



<p>It’s no secret that FromSoftware have made some of the most celebrated action RPGs of recent times, with Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Elden Ring proving to be particularly popular with fans and critics alike. I’ve made attempts to try some of these games but with varying results. I ended up with two copies of the original Dark Souls for Xbox 360 (the second was a giveaway from Xbox Live) and never really saw anything beyond the Capra Demon. However, I reached the credits of the game’s sequels, earned the platinum in Bloodborne and dedicated nearly 200 hours to completing Elden Ring. With this in mind, Dark Souls Remastered was always something I wanted to pick up, and this year’s Steam Summer Sale provided the perfect opportunity. I particularly wanted to own a PC copy because it’s more likely to remain accessible when compared to the download that’s on an Xbox 360 in an attic somewhere, and I do a lot of browsing and streaming on my PC so it’s often running anyway. Thus, I’ve been pouring tens of hours into Dark Souls Remastered – and I’m delighted to report that the experience has been much more agreeable.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The plan</h2>



<p>Whilst I have written <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2016/03/the-bloodborne-difference/">words</a> about how other From games should be celebrated for their individuality, I can’t pretend that my experiences with those games hasn’t helped me to enjoy this one. However, I can also feel a distinct lack of compromise in Dark Souls Remastered. Dark Souls 3 and Bloodborne were snappier and more varied, and really allowed you to have fun in the environments. Dark Souls 2 was pretty bloated and you could feel a few cut corners, but there were concessions for players – such as limited enemy respawns if you were genuinely struggling in one area. Dark Souls Remastered is slower and more deliberate than Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3, and is less keen on compromising its experience than Dark Souls 2. However, this also made it one of the hardest games for me to get into, because I had to play on the game’s terms and not my own. Well, for a while. You do quickly level up and improve if you can retain your souls, and this helps to mould your character. Soon you can take more hits, carry heavier equipment and benefit more from damage scaling – as long as you can keep a firm grip on the souls you’re carrying. And whilst I’m usually terrible at memorising geography in 3D environments, I will say that the repeated runs through the same areas do help me internalise a map to an extent.</p>



<p>As with most of my other playthroughs of FromSoft’s games, I opted to build a tanky Strength character (my final stats had Endurance and Strength at 33, with Vitality bumped up to 35.) I would sacrifice a fast roll for sturdier armour, give myself the equip load to carry bulkier kit, and sometimes I even embraced the two-handed approach to fighting. My best friends were the Claymore, Zweihander, Man-serpent Greatsword and (once I could finally wield it) the fantastic Great Club, which seemed to be pretty good at flattening most things in its path. I also enjoyed the Elite Knight’s set and Gargoyle’s Shield for a bit, although I was compromising my roll of course. To its credit, Dark Souls Remastered does do a great job of making you feel empowered if you have been putting the work into your upgrades and levels. When you’re making significant dents in a boss health bar because you put the time into saving for those upgrade materials, or when you finally reach the stat requirements for a new weapon, it never stops feeling exciting. It’s like the loop of levelling and improving gear is its own secondary game that runs underneath the adventure.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">The developing journey in Dark Souls Remastered</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg" alt="Dark Souls Remastered promotional image, showing the player character at a bonfire." class="wp-image-11004" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
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<p></p>



<p>And what an adventure. Having finally progressed past the Capra Demon I can see what everyone was raving about, because the experience really does get better and better. The Undead zones at the start are a slog, and Blighttown and Sen’s get frustrating, but Ornstein &amp; Smough was an unbelievable encounter (I discovered that letting Ornstein come to me whilst Smough chilled at the back helped a lot) and I felt like the subsequent zones flew by as I just wanted to see more and more. The likes of Nito and Seath were really nicely-tuned challenges, and the Four Kings saw me start eating Humanity towards the end as I just needed a little more from my items to push me over the finish line. Whilst writing this article I hadn’t quite beaten the game yet, but in the middle of drafting I went back in and dealt with the final boss – albeit in a bit of a haze as it was past midnight. (Said final boss was a bit anticlimactic as I kept getting his pathfinding stuck on a little tree in the arena, and would wait for him to whiff his command grab before punishing.) Looking at the whole experience, one thing that comes to mind is that the middle of the game was so much fun and some effort needs to be made in order to get past the first few zones, but the payoff definitely makes the effort worthwhile. After Ornstein &amp; Smough, the likes of Nito, Seath and Sif were perfectly pitched in terms of challenge and I saw myself making a lot of progress; as if the game is at its most arduous at the beginning, but eventually accelerates towards the finish line. I’m even willing to criticise Bloodborne a bit for the same kind of feeling; those first few hours can be miserable. When you’re still getting used to that game and spending so long in that Central Yharnam map – running past the same bonfire and the same enemies – it can feel more like work than it really needs to. And the Undead zones in Dark Souls Remastered are just as repetitive and uninspiring.</p>



<p>It’s another one of those games where the satisfaction of making progress and switching off for the night battles with the desire to keep going and finding out what’s up next. I would have thought that the entire game would have been spoiled to death by now, but the firsthand experience still held value. The discoveries you don’t know about – a new blacksmith around the corner, a bonfire behind a secret wall – feel great, and even the things you’ve been spoiled on are shaped by your own skill and character building. My tank character can withstand a few blows in a skirmish, but he wasn’t elegantly rolling out of danger in any of the encounters, and any panicked escape from something like a Hellkite Drake&#8217;s fire breath was a comedic sight. On the other hand, my character was lopping chunks off the health bars of Ornstein and Smough, so the investment was worthwhile. I think Bloodborne’s the only game where I’ve really been invested enough to go through it again with different builds, but there’s plenty in Dark Souls Remastered to invite replay too, as long as you’re finding the experience enjoyable and worth the replay.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Enabling easy mode</h2>



<p>And here’s where I make a confession – I’ve been getting a bit of help with my Dark Souls Remastered experience, and making it less of a struggle. I made two decisions pretty early on; one that was kind of tame and something a little spicier that could invite the rage-clicks. My first decision was that I would use the Notes app in Steam’s overlay to write down anything that I may forget after I put the game down. Weapons I need to upgrade, areas I need to explore, even notes on enemy attack patterns. It’s a bit awkward because my shortcut to open the Steam overlay shares keys with some in-game functionality and sometimes has me inadvertently healing my character, but if I open my inventory beforehand I can prevent this erroneous input. I do think that there’s an interesting discussion to be had about games that limit information and knowledge, and players that might not have a brilliant memory – one of the best features of Elden Ring wasn’t just the map you could open, it was the selection of symbols that you could stamp on the map for future reference. The equivalent in Dark Souls Remastered was me writing directions as if I was operating Google Maps. So that was the tame modifier. Next is the spicy decision: I started making backups of my saves. Particularly at a bonfire, or when finishing a play session &#8211; and I did this purely to keep my experience from falling apart. I had heard the horror stories of characters getting cursed and being in one-hit kill thresholds and not having a Lordvessel (allowing players to warp between bonfires), and I sympathised with players losing tens of hours of progress as their only option is to start the game from the beginning again. After playing more of the game I found that the threat of being “soft-locked” does diminish over time as you open up more shortcuts and obtain powerful items, but in the early game it can be brutal. Fans of Dark Souls want to evangelise the experience to newcomers, but if there’s anything that will ensure that a player won’t touch the game again, it’s the feeling of being permanently punished after what has been a large investment of personal time. Generally, however, the notes proved to be more useful than the backups as time went on, and the idea of quitting, copying a backup over, and reloading was so tedious that it quickly became a last resort.</p>



<p><em>(Addendum: whilst drafting this article I did some research and found that making backups in this manner will also protect players from hackers who can supposedly invade a game and start killing NPCs, and this practice of backing up saves was generally encouraged on Steam discussion boards, so even without my personal stipulations it seems to be worth considering if you’re intending to dive into the online experience.)</em></p>



<p>Not that the backups were really needed in the end. During the early game of Dark Souls Remastered you quickly unlock the Female Undead Merchant who sells items for curing curse, and if you have a few of those and a homeward bone or two then you can compensate for the situation. Another instance where I would just about forgive a backup save includes racing towards the next bonfire you can see and being too underpowered for whatever you’ve walked into, but the player has to take a bit of blame for that. It&#8217;s the kind of thing where you still have to be expected to take some responsibility for how you manage your experience with a game – and if a player misuses that responsibility, that’s on them. “<a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/you-cheated-not-only-the-game-but-yourself">You cheated yourself</a>”, etc.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Dark Souls Remastered &#8211; in summary</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img2.jpg" alt="Dark Souls Remastered promotional image, showing a view of Anor Londo" class="wp-image-11005" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img2.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ds1_img2-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>If anyone’s still here after reading such blasphemy, you’re probably keen to know what I thought about the experience as a whole. I feel like this playthrough has been thirteen or fourteen years in the making, and has been one of the largest outstanding items on my hypothetical “gaming bucket list” for a while. Ultimately, I probably liked this more than Dark Souls 2, but would be more willing to replay Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3 because of the way both games provide a challenge whilst also offering enough breadcrumbs to ensure that I remain engaged. (And Elden Ring is almost its own conversation, but it’s still a brilliant entry point and one of the better games.) At the same time, I can see this totally blowing minds if it’s someone’s first introduction to From’s “dark fantasy action RPG” formula. I think that picking favourites is always going to be a matter of personal preference; after all, the appeal of shared experiences is why I’ve published all of this – and why you’ve been reading it.</p>



<p>Also, I feel like any measures a player takes to be able to continue enjoying the game they want to play should be encouraged. Some players create safeguards against the fear of having to restart the entire game; others could spend time running up and down a zone for experience so that their character gets stronger, or they could summon help at every opportunity, or try to perfect a skip so that they can ignore part of a game, or – yes – download external tools and mods to tailor the experience. A conversation with someone who took steps to continue enjoying something is far more interesting than the conversation with someone who only saw a fraction of the experience. Furthermore, if a player isn’t skilled at the base experience, taking these measures will at worst change the experience from “impossible” to “challenging”, rather than “challenging” to “easy”. Anyway, that’s how I stumbled through Dark Souls Remastered, how I completed my adventure with the Dark Souls trilogy, and how I finally got to see everything beyond that Capra Demon who halted my progress more than a decade ago.</p>



<p><em>Dark Souls Remastered is available now for PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch.</em></p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/07/lttp-dark-souls-remastered/">Late to the party: Dark Souls Remastered</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11003</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls announced for PS5 and PC</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/06/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-announced/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/06/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-announced/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Qazimod]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2025 14:12:57 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Arc System Works]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=10985</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>In 2024, Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics reignited a passion for the versus fighter series that many felt had faded away with the aftermath of 2017’s Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. Last year’s compilation saw the dedicated players and casual audiences reunite for these beloved games that had previously been locked away in places [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/06/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-announced/">Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls announced for PS5 and PC</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>In 2024, <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2024/09/origin-story-marvel-vs-capcom-fighting-collection/">Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics</a> reignited a passion for the versus fighter series that many felt had faded away with the aftermath of 2017’s Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite. Last year’s compilation saw the dedicated players and casual audiences reunite for these beloved games that had previously been locked away in places such as Xbox Live Arcade. However, the cause for celebration extended beyond the opportunity to play these games again. If a collection like this exists then it shows that the suits at Marvel are still open to the idea of offering their name to versus fighters. Immediately, the doors were open once more to the possibility of a new numbered title, Marvel vs. Capcom 4. However, Sony’s State of Play presentation on the 4<sup>th</sup> of June revealed something that nobody was ready for. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fbfrV5qqnU">trailer</a> for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls unveiled a new 2D tag fighter starring a roster of Marvel favourites, with none other than Arc System Works at the helm. Disposable Media has experience with ASW’s gorgeous fighting games in the past, and I’ve gushed about <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2018/01/dragonball-fighterz/">Dragonball FighterZ</a> and <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2021/12/persona-4-arena-ultimax-returns-in-2022/">Persona 4 Arena Ultimax</a> across several articles. Combined with the longing for a return to form for <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/tag/mvc-retrospective/">Marvel fighting games</a>, this was one of the most exciting announcements of the State of Play presentation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Brawling for eight</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10986" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon1.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon1-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>With the <a href="https://www.marvel.com/games/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls">new game</a> players will enjoy a roster comprising solely of Marvel characters, echoing vibes of 1995’s CPS-2 game Marvel Super Heroes. As with Dragon Ball FighterZ, the trailer shows off a heavy emphasis on movement and impact – from the players closing in and clashing at the centre of the screen, to Captain America launching Iron Man before super jumping to continue the combo. Team members join the action in a very smooth and swift manner, and the fighting carries plenty of flair with its giant slash effects and bold explosions as characters are punted into cars and debris. In addition to the game’s own trailer, the State of Play showed a behind the scenes segment with short interviews describing how this game came to be – from PlayStation approaching Marvel and Arc System Works to try and make a new tag fighter happen, to Arc System Works being encouraged to put their own identity on these character designs, and the agreement to design the gameplay around a 4v4 format. Generally, recent tag fighters have adopted a 2v2 format (Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite) or 3v3 (Dragonball FighterZ, Marvel vs. Capcom 3), so the team felt like this was the next logical evolution. (People are already speculating about whether this means that each individual character will have a simplified moveset, but this remains to be seen.)</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls &#8211; or, Marvel Super Heroes 2</h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="600" height="337" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-10987" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon2.jpg 600w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/marveltokon2-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></figure>
</div>


<p></p>



<p>Personally, I’m entertained by the idea of this serving as a Marvel Super Heroes sequel, and the beautiful animation and fluidity on display suggests that this is being treated with as much love for the IP as something like Dragonball FighterZ. I may be long past the point of being able to play fighting games with any kind of skill, but I still enjoy the design, the spectacle, and the hype – and I found that the MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls trailer was one of the most exciting announcements to come out of the State of Play presentation. In terms of a release date, the trailer offered nothing more specific than a “Coming 2026” (and logos for PS5, Steam and the Epic Store) but I’ll be happy to wait for something that looks as good as this does. Hopefully we’ll share more thoughts about the game when we know more, and as always let us know what you think of the announcement in the comments.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/06/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-announced/">Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls announced for PS5 and PC</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10985</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Silent Hill 2 2024 Special Vinyl Sets Available To Pre-Order</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/05/silent-hill-2-2024-special-vinyl-sets-available-to-pre-order/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/05/silent-hill-2-2024-special-vinyl-sets-available-to-pre-order/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Thornton]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 May 2025 17:17:26 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Akira Yamaoka]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Limited Edition Vinyl]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silent Hill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Silent Hill 2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videogame Soundtracks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=10979</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>If you&#8217;re a fan of the modern remake of the classic survival horror game, you can now take your fandom to another level with Silent Hill 2 2024 special vinyl sets available to pre-order. The new version of the game brought back Akira Yamaoka, the composer and musician who created music for the Silent Hill [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/05/silent-hill-2-2024-special-vinyl-sets-available-to-pre-order/">Silent Hill 2 2024 Special Vinyl Sets Available To Pre-Order</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>If you&#8217;re a fan of the modern remake of the classic survival horror game, you can now take your fandom to another level with Silent Hill 2 2024 special vinyl sets available to pre-order.</p>



<p>The new version of the game brought back Akira Yamaoka, the composer and musician who created music for the Silent Hill games and films. But while the original was developed by Team Silent, who were part of Konami, this time the game was created by Polish developers Bloober Team, although it&#8217;s still published by the Japanese company.</p>



<p>And to celebrate the positive response from fans and reviewers, there are four vinyl sountrack sets to choose from.  Both the Deluxe Double Vinyl and Exclusive Edition Deluxe Double Vinyl in a milky clear colour feature 27 tracks sequenced by the composer in a widespined out sleeve for £36, with the latter being a Laced Records exclusive.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order-1024x576.webp" alt="Silent Hill 2 2024 Special Vinyl Sets Available To Pre-Order" class="wp-image-10980" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Silent-Hill-2-2024-Special-Vinyl-Sets-Available-To-Pre-Order.webp 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Silent Hill 2 2024 Special Vinyl Sets Available To Pre-Order</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>But the big one is the £125 6LP box set, with a Deluxe version, and the Laced exclusive Limited Edition with opaque brown and red A-side/B-side effect heavyweight LPs and a 32-page art booklet with liner notes written by Yamaoka, also featuring art work by Bloober Team, printed inner sleeves and a handy ribbon pull for the rigid board slipcase.</p>



<p>They feature the complete 93-track soundtrack mastered for vinyl, featuring the reworking of the original by Yamaoka with new and re-recorded cues using trip-hop, industrial rock, dark ambience and musique concrète to create the eerie atmosphere of the town in Maine as you guide James Sutherland on the search for his deceased wife Mary.</p>



<p>Silent Hill 2 composer, Akira Yamaoka, says: <em>“After nearly a quarter of a century, SILENT HILL 2 has been revived. I’ve poured a tremendous amount of thought and passion into this thing called SILENT HILL. Touching it again evoked a special emotion I had never felt before—as if I was touching the breath of God. Writing this music was a personal challenge, but I feel a deep sense of gratitude towards the people around the world who have loved this series for so long.”</em></p>



<p>The expected shipping date is October 2025, and you can view the Silent Hill collection via Laced Records, through the UK and Canada store, <a href="https://prezlymail.com/c/9cbe5c00-ec8f-48bc-89b1-b72e044226dd/c3735e3a/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lacedrecords.com%2Fcollections%2Fsilent-hill" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>, or the rest of the world, <a href="https://www.lacedrecords.co/collections/silent-hill" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/05/silent-hill-2-2024-special-vinyl-sets-available-to-pre-order/">Silent Hill 2 2024 Special Vinyl Sets Available To Pre-Order</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10979</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>New NACON Revolution X Unlimited Controller Is Now Available</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/new-nacon-revolution-x-unlimited-controller-is-now-available/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/new-nacon-revolution-x-unlimited-controller-is-now-available/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Thornton]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Apr 2025 14:38:10 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Game Controllers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joypads]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NACON]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NACON Revolution X Unlimited]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pc]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Xbox Series S|X]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=10964</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>For PC and Xbox Series X&#124;S gamers who have the money to spend and take their games seriously, particularly shooters, the new NACON Revolution X Unlimited controller is now available at a price of £179.90. It&#8217;s a fair amount to spend on a joypad, but there are plenty of features to help justify your investment. [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/new-nacon-revolution-x-unlimited-controller-is-now-available/">New NACON Revolution X Unlimited Controller Is Now Available</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>For PC and Xbox Series X|S gamers who have the money to spend and take their games seriously, particularly shooters, the new NACON Revolution X Unlimited controller is now available at a price of £179.90.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s a fair amount to spend on a joypad, but there are plenty of features to help justify your investment. Most noticeable is an LCD screen which NACON has added to a controller for the first time, giving you info including the game mode, active profile, battery level, connection type and more, with the connection options being radio frequency, wired and Bluetooth. </p>



<p>Also exclusive to the Revolution X Unlimited controller is a PC mode which reduces latency to just 1 millisecond in wired mode, allowing you to assign keyboard keys to buttons or activate the gyroscope function. Plus you can use a dedicated app to set up game profiles and activate different game modes.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available-1024x576.webp" alt="The new NACON Revolution X Unlimited controller is now available" class="wp-image-10965" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/New-NACON-Revolution-X-Unlimited-Controller-Is-Now-Available.webp 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>The new NACON Revolution X Unlimited controller is now available</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<p>The joysticks and triggers used magnetic Hall Effect sensors, to avoid drift, and the triggers also feature Omron micro-switches with directional cross and button locks. There are six programmable shortcut buttons, and the rechargeable battery should be fine for a minimum of 10 hours per charge.</p>



<p>You can also enable the Shooter Pro Mode, which elimimates joystick deadzones for better responsiveness and precision. And if you want to customise the hardware itself, you get six additional weights, six joystick heads, two joystick rings and two directional crosses included, along with a protective hard carry case. The Revolution X Unlimited also works with any Android based device.</p>



<p>It&#8217;s not cheap at £179.90, but the NACON Revolution X Unlimited does offer a pretty long list of features and customisation. </p>



<p>You can order it direct from the <a href="https://www.nacongaming.com/en-GB/revolution-x-unlimited" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">NACON website</a>, and it should be available from various retailers soon. In the meantime, you can always check out the other <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/tag/game-controllers/">game controllers</a> we&#8217;ve featured for various budgets.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/new-nacon-revolution-x-unlimited-controller-is-now-available/">New NACON Revolution X Unlimited Controller Is Now Available</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">10964</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl Pre-Orders Begin</title>
		<link>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/destiny-2-original-soundtrack-volume-1-vinyl-pre-orders-begin/</link>
					<comments>https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/destiny-2-original-soundtrack-volume-1-vinyl-pre-orders-begin/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Dan Thornton]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2025 16:44:05 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bungie]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Destiny 2]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Michael Salvatori]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Videogame Soundtracks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vinyl]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/?p=10955</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>One thing that always separated the Halo and Destiny game series from similar titles was the music. And you&#8217;ll soon be able to enjoy it through your record player as Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 vinyl pre-orders begin. There&#8217;s more than an hour of music over two LP records, and you also get a [&#8230;]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/destiny-2-original-soundtrack-volume-1-vinyl-pre-orders-begin/">Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl Pre-Orders Begin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[
<p>One thing that always separated the Halo and Destiny game series from similar titles was the music. And you&#8217;ll soon be able to enjoy it through your record player as Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 vinyl pre-orders begin.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s more than an hour of music over two LP records, and you also get a gatefold jacket with art inspired by the Light and Dark, a collectible insert card featuring Commander Zavala and Dominus Ghaul, and a code for an exclusive in-game &#8216;Drop the Needle&#8217; emblem.</p>



<p>The compositions featured are from the inaugral Destiny 2 campaign &#8220;The Red War&#8221;, which followed the release of the game in 2017.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin.webp"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="576" src="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin-1024x576.webp" alt="Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl Pre-Orders Begin" class="wp-image-10957" srcset="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin-300x169.webp 300w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin-768x432.webp 768w, https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Destiny-2-Original-Soundtrack-Volume-1-Vinyl-Pre-Orders-Begin.webp 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><em>Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl Pre-Orders Begin</em></figcaption></figure>
</div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Track Listing:</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>A1. Inner Light</li>



<li>A2. Last Rite</li>



<li>A3. Rise</li>



<li>A4. EDZ</li>



<li>A5. Towerfall</li>
</ul>



<p>Side A Timing: 18m54s </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>B1. Lost Light</li>



<li>B2. Forge Ahead</li>



<li>B3. Battle Stations</li>



<li>B4. Utopia Fallen</li>



<li>B5. Lost Sector</li>
</ul>



<p>Side B Timing: 19m30s </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>C1. Journey</li>



<li>C2. View from Orbit</li>



<li>C3. Red Legion</li>



<li>C4. New Dawn</li>



<li>C5. What We Fight For</li>
</ul>



<p>Side C Timing: 18m13s </p>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>D1. Leviathan</li>



<li>D2. The Wilds</li>



<li>D3. Holliday</li>



<li>D4. The Farm</li>



<li>D5. Be Brave</li>
</ul>



<p>Side D Timing: 22m04s</p>



<p>It&#8217;s a little odd to have around 20 minutes of music per side, which means you&#8217;ll going to be getting up regularly to flip the records over. The music for Destiny 2 was composed by Michael Salvatori, Skye Lewin, C Paul Johnson, Rotem Moav, Pieter Schlosser, Kris Dirksen, and Nikola Jeremic. Michael Sechrist joined from the Curse of Osiris onwards, with Josh Mosser being involved from Forsaken to the present day. Since release in 2017, the eighth expansion, The Final Shape, arrived in 2024, ending the initial Light and Darkness saga.</p>



<p>Obviously you can also stream the soundtrack to the game from various places online, but this is definitely more about owning a physical collectible as much as the improvement in audio quality for those with a high-end sound system.</p>



<p>You can order the Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl directly from the <a href="https://bungiestore.com/products/destiny-2-original-soundtrack-vinyl-record/19802902961" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bungie store</a> which shipping dates estimated at &#8216;4-6 months after placing order&#8217;. It&#8217;ll also be available from other retailers. And for more of our <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/category/games/">videogame coverage, click here</a>, or for <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/category/music/">music, go here</a>.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk/2025/04/destiny-2-original-soundtrack-volume-1-vinyl-pre-orders-begin/">Destiny 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 1 Vinyl Pre-Orders Begin</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.disposablemedia.co.uk">Disposable Media</a>.</p>
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