The 2023 Backlog Challenge

[Jeevan | 8,911]

15 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I think that counts as a backlog 

Fine, put me down for 74 N64 games and at least 1 ps3 game, prolly brutal legends......

@FireHazard51 sent me some cincy love and a ps3 for a SS we did in another discord.........

If i get some n64 knocked out fire, i will try to see if i can play all 3 you sent!

Edit:  @Splain get ready to knock out, hopefully, 74 n64 games on the beat them all list

[Gaia Gensouki | 1,073]

COUNTER: 11/305

So I thought about participating here as well even if there's no charm to be won. The problem I usually have, when it comes to playing or beating games, is that I have so much shit lying around, that I can't even decide what to play. It's pure choice paralysis! Even worse, a bunch of my games are on digital platforms and I tend to forget which games I even own, because I kinda hate going forth between Steam, Epic, Gog and certain other, smaller platforms.

Therefore I'm using this challenge to basically pick out the games that I really want to play in the near future. The list still ended up being very long, but I'm not expecting to do this in just a single year anyway. My plan is to play a bunch of PS 1 and 2 games that I haven't played or beaten yet and maybe to sprinkle in some shorter games, like (S)NES games or modern indie games. So I'll be sorting my list by consoles and putting the lists in spoilers to avoid spamming this thread too much.

NES/FC

Spoiler

Might and Magic
Predator
Section Z
Silkworm
Starship Hector
Strider
Life Force
Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds
Wizardry: Proving Grounds
Jaws
Shadow of the Ninja
Puss 'N Boots
Felix the Cat
Back to the Future
Little Samson
Rockin' Kats
Gargoyle's Quest
Faria: A World of Mystery & Danger
Magic of Scheherazade
Battle of Olympus
Ys I
Ys II
Ys III

SNES/SFC

Spoiler

Adventure Island II
Alcahest
Beasts & Blades
Bahamut Lagoon
Bazuu! Mahou Sekai
Brain Lord
Brandish
Breath of Fire II
Bushi Seiryuuden
Daikaijuu Monogatari
Daikaijuu Monogatari II
Dark Half
Dark Kingdom
Dragon Quest I & II
Dragon Quest III
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest VI
Elnard
Energy Breaker
Final Fight 2
Fuurai no Shiren
Ganbare Goemon
Ganbare Goemon 2
Ganbare Goemon 3
Ganbare Goemon 4
Great Battle
Great Battle II
Great Battle III
Great Battle IV
Hiouden
Juutei Senki
Laplace no Ma
Last Bible III
Lufia
Lufia II
Mahoujin Guruguru
Mahoujin Guruguru 2
Majuuou
Maten Densetsu
Melfand Stories
Monstania
Mujintou Monogatari
Mystic Ark
Popful Mail
Psycho Dream
Rudora no Hihou
Song Master
Soul Blader
Toruneko no Daibouken
Treasure Hunter G
Trinea
Wizzap
Wozz
Ys IV
Ys V
Ys V Expert

GB

Spoiler

Final Fantasy Legend (Challenge Run?)
Final Fantasy Legend II (Finish or restart?)
Final Fantasy Legend III
Last Bible
Last Bible II

PS1

Spoiler

Alundra
Alundra II
Baroque
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Chrono Cross
Disney's Tarzan
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest VII
Final Fantasy Anthology
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Final Fantasy Origins
Final Fantasy IX
Galerians
Gran Turismo 2
Grandia
Jade Cocoon
Koudelka
Legend of Legaia
Legend of Mana
Prism Land
Rayman 2
Ridge Racer Revolution
Ridge Racer Type 4
Ronin Blade
Saga Frontier
Saga Frontier II
Star Wars - Rebel Assault II
Striker 1945 II
Swing
Wild Arms
Wild Arms II

PS2

Spoiler

Ar Tonelico
Ar Tonelico 2
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
Baroque
Breath of Fire V
Capcom vs. SNK 2
Champions of Norrath
Champions: Return to Arms
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Dark Chronicle
Dark Cloud
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest VIII
Drakengard I
Drakengard II
Grandia II
Jade Cocoon 2
Legaia 2
Obscure
Project Zero
Puzzle Quest
Romancing Saga
Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts 2
Shadow Hearts 3
Silent Hill 2
Silent Hill 3
Silent Hill 4
The Suffering
Timesplitters
Timesplitters 2
Warriors of Might and Magic
Romancing Saga
Wild Arms III
XIII
Ys III
Ys V
Zone of the Enders
Zone of the Enders 2

PS3

Spoiler

Drakengard 3
Lightning Returns (Plat)
Nier
Resident Evil 5
Resident Evil 6

PS4

Spoiler

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Azure Striker Gunvolt: Striker Pack
Battle Chasers: Nightwar
Blaster Master Trilogy
Children of Morta
Cotton Fantasy
Cotton Reboot
Dariusburst Ex
Darius HD
Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth
Demon Gaze II (Finish)
Dragon Quest XI
Final Fanasy VIII Remastered
Granblue Fantasy: Versus
Hades
Hollow Knight
Langrisser I&II
Mega Man 11
Pocky & Rocky Reshrined
Resident Evil 3 (Finish)
Resident Evil 7
Shin Megami Tensei 3 HD (Plat)
Spyro: Reignited Trilogy
Super Meat Boy
The Alliance Alive HD Remastered
The Princess Guide
Umihara Kawase: Bazooka!
Until Dawn
Wonder Boy Collection
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
Yomi wo Saku Hana
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Ys Origins
Ys VIII (Plat)

PC

Spoiler

Steam:

8-Bit Adventures 1
AVGN Adventures
AVGN Adventures II
Artifact Adventure
Artifact Adventure Gaiden
Artifact Adventure Gaiden DX
Bastion
Cat Quest
Chantelise
Chasm
Cosmic Star Heroine
Dungreed
Evoland
Evoland 2
Fortune Summoners
Fury Unleashed
Huntdown
Iconoclasts
Ittle Dew
Ittle Dew+
Lisa
Minoria
One Step From Eden
Pony Island
Portal
Portal 2
Rakuen
Recettear
Rogue Legacy
Undertale

Epic:

Cave Story+
Celeste
Costume Quest
Costume Quest 2
Loop Hero
Minit
Quake
The Messenger
Transistor
Yoku's Island Express

GOG et. al.:

Brandish
Brandish II
Brandish III
Into the Breach
Quake II
Ys
Ys II

Other Nintendo Stuff

Spoiler

Wii:

Donkey Kong Country Returns
New Super Mario Bros. Wii
Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy 2

Wii U:

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker
New Super Mario Bros. U
Pikmin 3
Super Mario 3D World
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE
Twilight Princess HD
Wind Waker HD
Xenoblade Chronicles X

Switch:

Astral Chain
Live a Live
Metroid Dread
Monster Hunter Stories 2
Octopath Traveler (Finish)
Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu (Finish)
Pokemon: Shield
Pokemon: Shining Pearl
Shin Megami Tensei V
Skyward Sword HD
Super Mario Odyssey (Finish)
Triangle Strategy
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 -Torna
Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Nintendo DS

Spoiler

7th Dragon
Archaic Sealed Heat
Avalon Code
Away: Shuffle Dungeon
Blood Bahamut
Chocobo to Mahou no Ehon
Destiny Links
Dragon Quest 9
Dragon Quest Monsters Joker
Dungeons & Dam
Etrian Odyssey III
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Final Fantasy: The 4 heroes of Light (Finish)
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Fire Emblem: Shin Monshou no Nazo
Fuurai no Shiren 4
Fuurai no Shiren DS
Fuurai no Shiren DS 2
Golden Sun:  Dark Dawn
Lost in Blue
Lost in Blue 3
Mario & Luigi RPG 2
Mario & Luigi RPG 3
New Super Mario Bros.
Okamiden
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
SaGa 2
SaGa 3
Slime Morimori 2
Ys DS
Ys II DS

Overall it's only 270 games. Easy peasy.  But in all seriousness, I beat 73 NES games this year and a bunch of other longer games such as Darkest Dungeon or Persona 5 Royal. So I'm expecting to beat maybe around 80 games.

(And I didn't even include GBC, GBA, 3DS, PSP, Saturn or PC Engine games ...)

Edit: Added some DS games. So it's 305 games in total.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Gaia Gensouki

[Jicsan | 589]

Alright, I'm keeping the list super simple for 2023.  Just putting on one game, and when I finish it I may add another.  I'm going to finish Dragon Quest XI.  It was already on my backlog challenge list in 2021, so I've failed this game before lol.

This year should be better for my gaming time, but there is also so much new stuff I want to play in 2023.

1.  Dragon Quest XI (PS4) Finished on 11/14/2023

Spoiler

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Jicsan

[HANSOLOOOOOOOO | 3]

I have a bunch of games just sitting on my shelf and its time that I actually get my money's worth from them. My gaming experience has been very diverse and spans multiple consoles; however, I plan to primarily focus on the Nintendo consoles for this backlog challenge.

 

• 1. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (DS) - Beaten! (1/31)
• 2. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - Not Started
• 3. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) - Not Started
• 4. Mega Man: Dr Wiley's Revenge (Gameboy) - Beaten! (12/30)
• 5. Mega Man 2 (Gameboy) - Not Started
• 6. Mega Man 3 (Gameboy) - Not Started
• 7. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (Gameboy Advance) - Started and loving it
• 8. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow (Gameboy Advance) - Not Started
• 9. Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage (PS1) - Not Started
• 10. Metroid 2: Return of Samus (Gameboy) - Not Started
• 11. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers (NES) - Not Started
• 12. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - Beaten! (1/25)
• 13. Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) - Not Started
• 14. Dragon Warrior (NES) - Not Started
• 15. Legend of Zelda 2: Adventure of Link (NES) - Not Started
• 16. Fallout 4, Far Harbor DLC (Xbox 1) - Not Started (I know its just the DLC, but its been on my backlog so its up here)
• 17. Ori and the Blind Forest (Nintendo Switch) - Not Started
• 18. Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U) - Not Started
• 19. Final Fantasy Legend (Gameboy) - Not Started
• 20. Drilldozer (Gameboy Advance) - Not Started

These are the 20 top games on my backlog currently and the ones I plan on focusing at the start. We will see where things go from here. This list doesn't have many of the longer games I want to play, nor many of the RPGs... so those will be added in time (if this gets significant progress).

Edited January 31, 2023 by HANSOLOOOOOOOO

[greenthunder | 115]

Guess I'll throw my hat into the ring here. I'd like to knock out a bunch of my 3DS backlog since a bunch of them have been sitting on my shelves for years and I found this year I ended up mostly just buying + immediately playing Switch stuff instead of playing stuff I already had (not that I regret it though). I'll leave a bit of free space for random Switch releases I get/more 3DS stuff I pick up/the very few DS games I still want to get/play. Series wise, I'd like to knock out more of the Shin Megami Tensei games I have, but we'll see if I get around to those. Also going for a mix of short/long games since I like JRPGs and they tend to run long.

3DS

* Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux - new neutral route done

* Rhythm Heaven Megamix - Done with main "story", just slowly grabbing collectibles every once in a while

* Shin Megami Tensei IV - not started - 43hr expected

* Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked - not started - 43hr expected

* The Legend of Legacy - not started - 31hr expected

* Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionare's Conspiracy - not started - 18.5hr expected

* Style Savvy: Fashion Forward - not started - 20hr? expected

* Ace Combat: Assault Horizon Legacy+ - Story missions done

* Fragrant Story - not started - 1hr? (I recall the dev saying he was gonna release an update with 8 hours or so of content, not sure if that's happened yet and may continue holding off if it hasn't)

* Project X Zone - story done

* Boxboy Collection - not started - 5hr expected each, so 15hr total

* Etrian Mystery Dungeon - Done with main story

* Bit. Trip Saga - not started - 17hr? expected. Most of the games have very low confidence times on HowLongToBeat and I might struggle with them anyway lol

 

DS

* Inazuma Eleven 2 - I don't even own this yet, but making some space to remember to pick it up - 21hr expected

 

Switch

* Octopath Traveller - not started - 60hr expected

* Collection of Mana - not started - 40hr? expected (not playing Trials of Mana since I have the remake as well)

* Disgaea 4 Complete+ - not started - 36hr expected

* Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy - done with story

Cheating and adding the last two games in my Switch backlog because might as well

* Tokyo Mirage Sessions: #FE Encore - Story done

* Trials of Mana - not started - 20.5hr expected

Edited August 12, 2023 by greenthunder

[nesmaster14 | 435]

In no particular order, but there are a few games that are high on my backlog.

1. DOOM (1993) - Probably a game that's been on my backlog the longest, next to mario sunshine.
   • Beaten 3/3/2023  - Played through version 0.99 (original release, Shareware) on DOS, using original control scheme.   First time playing DOOM past the first level.  Wasn't disappointed.  
     • 
2. Yoku's Island Express (PC, 2018) - I'm about 20% currently.
   • Beaten 1/6/23  Awesome game.  Excellent and creative gameplay and storytelling.  Highly recommended especially if you like something fresh, with pinball elements.  Really fun and original.
   • 
3. Super High Pinball: Pinball Platformer (PC, 2020) - I've beat the demo (tough!) but enjoyed it a ton, going to try all 56 levels of the full game.
   •  Beaten 1/1/23 Turns out there's 25 levels to roll credits on normal mode. The others are a variation of the same levels for a new mode.  Review: Cleverly crafted levels with intuitive pinball physics and solid controls.  It's a good game to play casually/multitask.  Challenging but engaging. A few levels took me like an hour to beat first try.
   • 
4. Any Ghosts 'n' Goblins game (including Ghouls 'n' Ghosts, remasters)
5. Robotron 2084 (Arcade, 1982) - Get 1 million points on cabinet.
6. G-Darius (1997) at local arcade, a port, or HD remaster.
   • Preliminary Clear 1/6/23
   • 
   • Got the HD remaster, awesome release.  Going to work on it some more and see if I can get a 1CC.
7. Any point-n-click adventure, contenders:  The Dig, Secret of Monkey Island, or Loom.
   • Loom - Beaten 2/14/23 -
     • 
     • Played the original EGA version.  Gorgeous game, cool yet intuitive musical interface, great humor but also deep and interesting, and doesn't overstay its welcome.  Good stuff.
8. Metroid (NES) - Started 2/11/23 - Probably my 3rd longest outstanding backlog game.
   • Beaten 2/12/23! -
     • 
     • Glad to finally beat this one.  Great challenge, immersive gameplay, legendary atmosphere, a classic for sure!
9. Typing of the Dead (Dreamcast) - I got to the final boss once but never beat it.  Fun game though would like to try again.
   • Beaten 4/30/23! - 
     • 
       • Finally knocked this one down, just in time before the month ended.    What a fun game!  Long live Sega. Be cool to see more games of this style made, whether by Sega or fans. Sure, a product of its time, but also remains an intense and ripe gameplay experience.
          
10. Super Mario Sunshine (Gamecube) - I still have a BK figurine from when the game launched haha, never owned a GC in the day but this game always intrigued me.

• Bonus - Beat more modern games/indie titles.  

Edited April 30, 2023 by nesmaster14

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Slow day at the office...

1. Trails of Cold Steel - 60 hours
2. Elden Ring - 53 hours
3. Xenoblade - 50.5 hours
4. Dark Souls 2 - 44 hours
5. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold - 43 hours
6. Nioh - 35.5 hours
7. La Pucelle - 33.5 hours
8. Knights of the Old Republic II - 30.5 hours
9. House of Fata Morgana - 29.5 hours
10. Danganronpa - 25 hours
11. Ghost of Tsushima - 25 hours

I played like maybe 8 hours of DLC and everything else was the main game without any online multiplayer hours.  MAYBE throw in 15 hours of the game being paused for some reason like dinner breaks.  And this is why I stop playing RPG games or games that average 50+ hours and that's not even completing the game but average play time.  If it's a good game I'll take my time and put a ton of hours into it.

[PekoponTAS | 171]

I decided against buying the M rated games, so I've now finalized my list. I don't think I'll have enough time for the 100% revisits, so I took those off the list. I also changed my goal for Wii Fit U to focus more on seeing everything in the game, and I added Angry Birds Star Wars to the list. Once Angry Birds arrives I'll be sitting at a nice even thirty Wii U games, which is where I'm going to stop collecting for the system.

I'm planning to start off the challenge with Tokyo Mirage Sessions, as it looks right up my ally. I haven't watched anime in about thirteen years now, but that doesn't mean I'm not fond of it anymore. Anime humour has always been really funny to me, and I don't care how lame that makes me.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

1 hour ago, PekoponTAS said:

I decided against buying the M rated games

Shoulda done it.  Lady Gaga would approve

 

[PekoponTAS | 171]

Lady Gaga convinced me to buy Just Dance 2015 by having the best song in the game. I don't listen to music groups at all, so I heard Bad Romance for the first time in 2022.

I also never heard "What does the Fox Say?" until I played this.

[Sumez | 2,950]

12 hours ago, FireHazard51 said:

 

How? Seriously - h-o-w???

I did every single thing you could do on the entire map of Ghost of Tsushima, and the DLC island, and I spent 71 hours on it in total! Goes without saying that at that point the game has gotten super repetitive, what on earth are you spending the remaining 160 hours on?

Throughout my entire life of playing video games, there's like only very very few games I've actually spent more than 100 hours on, it really takes something to stretch a game that far! Seeing people spending over 200 hours on one game really boggles my mind! Especially when it's not something like an arcade game, designed to be played over and over.

EDIT: Oh, Tsushima was just 94 hours. I read the picture wrong. Thank god!   Still 20 hours unaccounted for, but whatever

Edited December 30, 2022 by Sumez

[Splain | 2,569]

22 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

So just 2.1 hours a day.  No big deal.  Maybe I'll start with Yoshi's Story for the moral victory 

Having 2.1 hours in a single day is a unicorn for me lol. That list is a good idea though. Mine adds up to about 80 hours, which shouldn't be a problem if I stay on top of it.

@Sumez Frog Fractions I'm thrilled to see that on your list.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

9 minutes ago, Splain said:

Having 2.1 hours in a single day is a unicorn for me lol. That list is a good idea though. Mine adds up to about 80 hours, which shouldn't be a problem if I stay on top of it.

@Sumez Frog Fractions I'm thrilled to see that on your list.

Frog Fractions?

*reads Wikipedia article*

Okay I'm in.

[Sumez | 2,950]

My total time is a lot lower than Reed's, I think I've been better at picking shorter games this time around. But I also really want to be able to get the time to get through those longer games. Either way I did put two Trails games on this year, which alone take up like a quarter of the total playtime of the list - if I'm able to keep it up with two Trails games a year, I'll be caught up with the series in just six years!

Edited December 30, 2022 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

7 minutes ago, Sumez said:

My total time is a lot lower than Reed's, I think I've been better at picking shorter games this time around. But I also really want to be able to get the time to get through those longer games. Either way I did put two Trails games on this year, which alone take up like a quarter of the total playtime of the list - if I'm able to keep it up with two Trails games a year, I'll be caught up with the series in just six years!

My backlog includes every Trails game and every Yakuza game.  Jesus wept...

[Sumez | 2,950]

Any reason you're starting with Cold Steel then? That's jumping six games into the timeline. I heard it spoils stuff from the older arcs, so I started with Trails in the Sky. Which I'm happy with, too, because that first game is brilliant (at least in terms of storytelling, I could do without the brainless combat).

I just checked out your full list, you got some really good stuff on there! And a lot of crossovers between my list and yours, too. I was thinking of cutting my list off before Sin & Punishment, but now I'll leave it in.

Edited December 30, 2022 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

Probably because I'm afraid to open my copy of TitS 

@spacepup

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

I guess I could research it too.  Especially since Zero just came out

[Brickman | 3,983]

6 hours ago, Sumez said:

Any reason you're starting with Cold Steel then? That's jumping six games into the timeline. I heard it spoils stuff from the older arcs, so I started with Trails in the Sky. Which I'm happy with, too, because that first game is brilliant (at least in terms of storytelling, I could do without the brainless combat).

I just checked out your full list, you got some really good stuff on there! And a lot of crossovers between my list and yours, too. I was thinking of cutting my list off before Sin & Punishment, but now I'll leave it in.

I played Trails of Cold Steel for my first backlog challenge, it was my first Trails game, and I didn’t notice any spoilers for past games. Or if there were spoilers, they definitely went over my head haha.

It’s an absolutely fantastic game and has probably moved into my top JRPGs. I want to play 2 but the games are super long even by JRPG standards. However, all this trails talk has made me want to play it now haha.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

I'm still only on the third Trails in the Sky game but I've heard things.

My understanding is that Cold Steel 1 was meant as a decent starting point for people not caught up on five games of continuity and isn't that bad about spoilers for the older games but that over the course of the Cold Steel games (and especially in 3 and 4) they significantly ramp up the reappearances of older characters and while the games remain comprehensible to newer fans, you're still spoiling older games/seeing the continuations of some old arcs and missing a lot of context that undermines the experience a bit. Especially if you end up trying the older games at some later point.

This is especially the case when a lot of this series' special appeal lies in all of the extensive worldbuilding and continuity. So I don't think there's a particularly good case for not at least giving the first Trails in the Sky a chance before going to Cold Steel. Some people have issues with it; it starts pretty slow, doesn't really have a strong plot hook early on, and the combat is generally not brilliant. But there are reasons why it spawned so many sequels that have such a devoted fanbase. And it's not like I haven't come across bitching about Cold Steel 1 too.

Also the first Trails in the Sky game is currently on sale on Steam for $9.99. You could play that instead and keep your physical copy at maximum value!

[Brickman | 3,983]

7 hours ago, MagusSmurf said:

I'm still only on the third Trails in the Sky game but I've heard things.

My understanding is that Cold Steel 1 was meant as a decent starting point for people not caught up on five games of continuity and isn't that bad about spoilers for the older games but that over the course of the Cold Steel games (and especially in 3 and 4) they significantly ramp up the reappearances of older characters and while the games remain comprehensible to newer fans, you're still spoiling older games/seeing the continuations of some old arcs and missing a lot of context that undermines the experience a bit. Especially if you end up trying the older games at some later point.

This is especially the case when a lot of this series' special appeal lies in all of the extensive worldbuilding and continuity. So I don't think there's a particularly good case for not at least giving the first Trails in the Sky a chance before going to Cold Steel. Some people have issues with it; it starts pretty slow, doesn't really have a strong plot hook early on, and the combat is generally not brilliant. But there are reasons why it spawned so many sequels that have such a devoted fanbase. And it's not like I haven't come across bitching about Cold Steel 1 too.

Also the first Trails in the Sky game is currently on sale on Steam for $9.99. You could play that instead and keep your physical copy at maximum value!

Thanks for the write up, I’ll shift to trails in the sky before continuing on with cold steel then.

[Sumez | 2,950]

I hear the two Crossbell arc games are really good too, some of the best of the Trails games, apparently, so I'm aiming to play those before tackling Cold Steel, too. The next one will be out in English long before I get that far.

[Webhead123 | 675]

On 12/3/2022 at 5:06 PM, MagusSmurf said:

1. Doom - Yeah, the 1993 original. I have NEVER  played this game. Was too young when the old Doom games were fresh, never got into proper FPS games in general, I didn't really like Wolfenstein 3D, and due to that I never put much priority on playing Wolfenstein 3D Spear of Destiny but felt I should play it before moving onto Doom. Decided this was getting absurd, finally just moved the latter onto my "never gonna get to it" list, and here we are.

If you're going to dive in, I suggest the best way is to use one of the available source ports on PC rather than any of the console ports or playing the original through DOSBox. If you want a more "authentic" experience to the original but with mouse & keyboard control support, I suggest Chocolate Doom. If you want all the bells and whistles and the prettiest visuals imaginable, go with GZDoom. I will play both versions depending on my mood but I generally prefer Chocolate Doom because it keeps the original light mapping system intact, which is a big part of what makes Doom so atmospheric and visually distinct. GZDoom obviously has the benefits of being able to apply ultra high resolutions, dynamic lighting effects, customizable HUD elements, support for hundreds of fan community mods, etc. etc. but in doing so, the game starts to look less like itself. That's fine and an awesome environment to explore if you've already played Doom a few times but if you want to really experience Doom itself, I think Chocolate Doom is the better place to start.

[Webhead123 | 675]

Updated my list for next year. Was inspired by a few different sources to tackle some long-time lurkers on my NES and Steam radar, combined with a smattering of other titles I'm trying to put to bed.

[Webhead123 | 675]

21 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Frog Fractions?

*reads Wikipedia article*

Okay I'm in.

Frog Fractions was a fantastic experience but the thing everyone should know is that you want to go in blind. DO NOT RESEARCH THE GAME IF YOU WANT THE FULL EXPERIENCE! The best way to play Frog Fractions is to have no idea what it is when you start. The less you know, the better.

I never did play all the way to the end. I should go remedy that.

Edited December 31, 2022 by Webhead123