The 2023 Backlog Challenge

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

When you beat a level in Baba despite having no idea what was going wrong 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 4/9/2023 at 3:26 PM, Sumez said:

What difficulty did you play on?? The combat in gow4 is pretty involving, and IMO quite challenging at least early on. The game is definitely at least ten times as fun as The Last of Us 

 

On 4/9/2023 at 4:27 PM, Brickman said:

Yeah agree. I find that people who say that GoW combat is simple are probably playing on the easier levels. Play it on the most difficult and try fighting all the Valkyries. 

 

On 4/9/2023 at 5:11 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Well my final thoughts are still TBD, but I'm certainly not doing the "most difficult" setting on any first playthrough.

I played on normal. I did not do a second playthrough on hard, nor did I fight all the Valkyries. I don't usually do those types of time-intensive, combat-heavy side quests unless I'm absolutely in love with a game. I had no desire for more of GoW's combat mechanics. I'm sure combat is more nuanced on a harder difficulty, but that doesn't necessarily make it more fun to me.

I agree that it is better than TLoU, but I wasn't blown away by any particular aspect of the game. The total package is impressive from a technical standpoint and some of the story elements are quite good, but I'll never play it again. All the extra systems and crafting/collecting detract from the experience for me. GoW2 was much more entertaining as a focused brawler, in my opinion.

To each his own, but it was not a GOTY contender for me and certainly not in my favorite games list.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

8 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

When you beat a level in Baba despite having no idea what was going wrong 

This will probably be my next small game on Switch after I finish FFX. I've heard nothing but good things.

I also just started Deathloop on XSX. It's a little disorienting and takes a couple hours to get going, but once it does, it is very cool. I've never played Dishonored, but Deathloop feels like I imagine those games play. The levels are small for a 2023 game, but they are extremely dense in terms of content. There are tons of small details to uncover and environmental interactions to use to your advantage. Plotting your pathway to the next target can be very consuming. I've knocked off two visionaries on separate days, so I've still got a long way to go in terms of puzzling out their movement patterns and finding opportunities for the assassination.

Also still working through Witcher 3 DLC. Started with the Hearts of Stone expansion which has been a bit underwhelming. I appreciate that they made the bosses much tougher and more interesting but I don't care much for the story content. I've heard that the Blood and Wine expansion is amazing, so I'm looking forward to doing that next.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

@DoctorEncore I will say that Deathloop makes it very explicit as to what you need to do.  No plotting guesswork necessary as you work towards the endgame.

I suppose whether that's a good or bad thing is subjective.

People weren't lying about Baba's difficulty either.  I've beat maybe 40-50 levels.  And there's a dozen more where I kinda think I have an idea of what to do.  And a bunch more where I have absolutely no idea.

For example, last night I was working on a level with just two "objects", and only a few parameters.  But you're one short on objects to complete the goal.

So you have to figure out how to gain an object, or bend the parameters.  I spent 30 minutes staring at the screen flabbergasted.

On the bright side I did figure this one out, and I felt like a genius

 

[Foochie776 | 1,057]

Aladdin is coming along. I’ve been able to consistently get to the end of “The Escape” for many years now but that last little jump across the lava always kills me. 
 

To make it more frustrating, I’ve used the level select code and been successful in beating all the other later levels.

[FireHazard51 | 2,047]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

@DoctorEncore I will say that Deathloop makes it very explicit as to what you need to do.  No plotting guesswork necessary as you work towards the endgame.

I suppose whether that's a good or bad thing is subjective.

People weren't lying about Baba's difficulty either.  I've beat maybe 40-50 levels.  And there's a dozen more where I kinda think I have an idea of what to do.  And a bunch more where I have absolutely no idea.

For example, last night I was working on a level with just two "objects", and only a few parameters.  But you're one short on objects to complete the goal.

So you have to figure out how to gain an object, or bend the parameters.  I spent 30 minutes staring at the screen flabbergasted.

On the bright side I did figure this one out, and I felt like a genius

 

You are making me want to try and beat the game again.  I don't think I got very far before I kept bashing my head into the desk because of how frustrated I was.  I rather quit the game than cheat and follow a guide.  When the WHOLE game is a puzzle then finding the solution to the puzzle is basically ruining the game/level.  If it was platforming AND puzzle solving I would look up the solution without much resistance.  

[Sumez | 2,969]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

For example, last night I was working on a level with just two "objects", and only a few parameters.  But you're one short on objects to complete the goal.

These are my favourite puzzles in the game. The ones that are deviously simple, but still seem impossible to do. As opposed to the ones that just overload you with options and make my brain melt! 

Bul ultimately it's hard to truly praise or condemn one specific direction in the game, because there is barely two puzzles that are alike - which is insanely impressive. Looking forward to reading more impressions. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

1 minute ago, Sumez said:

These are my favourite puzzles in the game. The ones that are deviously simple, but still seem impossible to do. As opposed to the ones that just overload you with options and make my brain melt! 

Bul ultimately it's hard to truly praise or condemn one specific direction in the game, because there is barely two puzzles that are alike - which is insanely impressive. Looking forward to reading more impressions. 

Yeah, I entered a level last night that was covered in words, and immediately "noped" out of it.  Brain wasn't ready for that.

[Lago | 221]

Man it has been a minute since I have posted.  Managed to knockout my secret Santa gift this year!  Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers.  Big thanks to @JamesRobot 

This game was a big nostalgia trip for me and just overall a ton of fun.  I was getting my legs under me when my son came darting by the tv with a cartoon like stop and said, “what’s that?!”

 I told him and he immediately wanted to play.  So, we played through the game on co-op.  Made the game even more fun!  
 

It’s funny remembering this game.  Some parts I remembered like the back of my hand and other parts I kept trying to figure out when they put that in there.  

[Lago | 221]

Is it bad when the predictive text says "Not in backlog".  Sheesh.

[rdrunner | 422]

On 4/12/2023 at 2:53 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

Yeah, I entered a level last night that was covered in words, and immediately "noped" out of it.  Brain wasn't ready for that.

Just wanted to say I'm having fun reading your exploits on Baba Is You.  It's on my todo list to try this game as well!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

2 hours ago, rdrunner said:

Just wanted to say I'm having fun reading your exploits on Baba Is You.  It's on my todo list to try this game as well!

Yeah, definitely a game every puzzle fan needs to play.  Tough stuff though.  On Friday night I messed around with these 3 levels for awhile, but couldn't solve any of them.

There's a final step to this one that I cannot seem to figure out.  I have some ideas on how to solve for it, but they all seem impossible.  Which means it's probably something completely new I haven't thought of.

It seems like I can get close.  One square away.  But solving for that also appears impossible, so perhaps my whole methodology is wrong.

This one I have no idea.  You can't transform the box or the belt, so those kinds of options are limited, and yet I can't even begin to formulate what I'm supposed to do.

Anyway, doing the game 100% unassisted, so it may be awhile.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

Dammit! All you goobers talking about Baba is You got me to start it last night too! I've been playing FFX for almost a year and really need to concentrate on that!

So far, Baba is definitely interesting. I appreciate how unique the entire concept is. I'm most of the way through the second world and moving at a decent clip. The early game definitely has a lot of trial and error as you learn the rules of the world.

I don't think it will go down as one of my favorites, but it's certainly worth checking out for puzzle afficionados.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

One square away.  But solving for that also appears impossible, so perhaps my whole methodology is wrong.

Hilarious, I sat here staring at the picture and figured it out.  Now to get home and prove the concept.  Before my brain loses it.

[Sumez | 2,969]

19 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

It seems like I can get close.  One square away.  But solving for that also appears impossible, so perhaps my whole methodology is wrong.

This one stumped me for ages! In general I think the "swap" keyword can really obscure your options.

Turned out the solution I was repeatedly attempting was just thinking in the completely wrong direction, and the puzzle is in fact much simpler (and probably easier) than I was expecting. I think this is a rare case of the stage layout itself providing a massive red herring. The game has surprisingly few of those.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

God of War - I'm through the first parallel realm.  Still enjoying it, but I think I'm sitting at a 9/10 now.  At this rate it's clearly not going to match Elden Ring on my year-end ranking, but it can still hang near the top somewhere.

Mario 3D World - We beat the game, and reached Champions Road (which seems impossible to beat with the kids, maybe I'll do it solo some day), but we're still sitting at 40 shines in Bowser's Fury.  Every time they just want to play the regular game instead.

Baba Is You - (not on my actual backlog list) I think I have 95 clears or so, but my progress has slowed way down.  I might get to 100 and then shelve it for a year.  Seems like a game you can work on for years and always have a good time.

[fox | 1,668]

Mid April Update

I was playing Like A Dragon Ishin quite a bit but kind of fell off on it. Hope to get back into there when there is more of a lull.

I'm currently 2/3 of the way thru Resident Evil 4 remake and should knock that out in the next week.  After that Jedi Survivor is coming out and then Zelda.

Not sure how I am going to handle the pixel remasters now that they are here.  Maybe finally beat the original final fantasy?  That is one I have started a bunch and always end up dropping at some point.

Edited April 18, 2023 by fox

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

@Reed RothchildBruh... Further Fields in Temple Ruins almost made me gouge my eyes out. Took me a couple hours to finally figure that out. I seem to have a knack for making puzzles more difficult than they really are by searching for a convoluted solution instead of an easy one.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

41 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

@Reed RothchildBruh... Further Fields in Temple Ruins almost made me gouge my eyes out. Took me a couple hours to finally figure that out. I seem to have a knack for making puzzles more difficult than they really are by searching for a convoluted solution instead of an easy one.

I'll have to check and see if I solved that one.

I got to 100 clears last night.  But I have a growing number of levels where I'm completely baffled.

[Splain | 2,572]

I started a few games on my shortlist, and I finished a go-through of Dear Esther. That one was recommended to me a while back, but I definitely didn't have the right idea of what it was actually going to be. It turned out to be really quick, it'll definitely be the quickest thing on the backlog, so I guess that's out of the way.

Oh man, I'm no match for Baba Is You. The first time I played it, my nephew was showing it to me, and giving me "easy" levels to learn how to play. Something about being watched maybe? but I just couldn't figure anything out at all. A couple months later I tried it on my own and did a lot better. But I'm far enough in that starting new levels is soul-crushing because there's so much to process and so many boxes to think outside of. I checked out some of the fan-submitted levels, those were absolutely crazy-go-nuts.

[Sumez | 2,969]

I tried out a lot of the top rated fan-submitted levels, and all of them were much harder than anything in the base game, while also relying on a lot of the new features introduced in the official level packs, which means there are often many more esoteric options that you have to consider.

Alternatively they were gimmicky stages that changes the gameplay entirely. Either way I wouldn't judge Baba is You by the user created content, but it's great that they are there, and even better than they were able to support them on consoles as well.

I do think the extra level packs (namely New Adventures!) are absolutely worth checking out. Lots of great and addictive stages in there as well, but save it for after finishing the base game. After the "true ending" that is (there's a fake ending attainable extremely early in the game).

[twiztor | 854]

My brain is kind of done with video games right now. i haven't played one in about a month (outside of some Mario Kart with the wife) because i just can't seem to get interested in them. I had been going through Tomb Raider, and it started to wear on me. Tried switching to a couple different games, but just couldn't find the motivation. Hoping to change that one of these days- i want to complete my 2023 Backlog before i lose my life to Zelda TotK. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

This is my nightmare.

Luckily that level is extremely easy (showcase for the gimmick).

[Sumez | 2,969]

Wtf. Are you plying the level packs now? 

I'll very strongly suggest saving all of those until finishing the main game. 

Edited April 21, 2023 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

27 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Wtf. Are you plying the level packs now? 

I'll very strongly suggest saving all of those until finishing the main game. 

I don't think so...

I'm in the regular game as far as I know.