The 2023 Backlog Challenge

[Gloves | 11,801]

If I consider a game beaten because I beat it once long ago, the bulk of my collection would be "beaten" and I'd hardly have any backlog. Basically the exact opposite of my current situation where I have a huge backlog.

[spacepup | 2,405]

@Reed Rothchild I think you need to edumucate people on what backlog means hahaha.

Teasing of course  

[Webhead123 | 684]

3 hours ago, spacepup said:

@Webhead123 I'm several hours into Psychonauts 2 and honestly, I'm loving it.  It still has a lot of charm and humor from the first game, and the world itself is really interesting to explore.  I'm having a blast with it!  I LOVED Psychonauts so much, and Psychonauts 2 has delivered for me so far.

Yeah, I know I'll love it. I actually started playing the first game about 6 months ago but got sidetracked only 2 or 3 stages in and haven't returned to it.

[Gloves | 11,801]

48 minutes ago, spacepup said:

@Reed Rothchild I think you need to edumucate people on what backlog means hahaha.

Teasing of course  

I just made that condition cuz I wanted to prevent myself from buying games I wasn't going to actually play. 

You're not wrong, though. Technically speaking my actual backlog should be quite small since I usually play games when I buy them, and I mostly put off playing the games I've beaten already. So my backlog is primarily games I've beaten before. 

And now I'm talking myself out of my own weird rules lol. 

[Sumez | 2,969]

10 hours ago, Gloves said:

If I consider a game beaten because I beat it once long ago, the bulk of my collection would be "beaten" and I'd hardly have any backlog.

I think it's fair to say that a backlog game is any game you feel that you "owe yourself" to finish, regardless of whether you've done so or not.

Still your preposition is a little crazy, and I'd imagine you're probably the only person in here who can say they've beaten nearly all of your games and have little else to play. I imagine I've probably played through more games than most people out there, and I still feel like there are some vast unexplored areas for me to go.

[Gloves | 11,801]

15 hours ago, Sumez said:

I think it's fair to say that a backlog game is any game you feel that you "owe yourself" to finish, regardless of whether you've done so or not.

Still your preposition is a little crazy, and I'd imagine you're probably the only person in here who can say they've beaten nearly all of your games and have little else to play. I imagine I've probably played through more games than most people out there, and I still feel like there are some vast unexplored areas for me to go.

A game is "beaten" when the credits roll, so it's not a big deal to beat every game I buy, and like I say I do so when I buy them - I don't tend to buy a game unless I intend to sit down and play it pretty well right away. 

[FireHazard51 | 2,047]

On 6/15/2023 at 4:47 PM, Gloves said:

I just made that condition cuz I wanted to prevent myself from buying games I wasn't going to actually play. 

You're not wrong, though. Technically speaking my actual backlog should be quite small since I usually play games when I buy them, and I mostly put off playing the games I've beaten already. So my backlog is primarily games I've beaten before. 

And now I'm talking myself out of my own weird rules lol. 

My own backlog rule is that it can't officially be on the backlog unless I specify the title of the game in the list, AND said game has to be bought in the previous year.  

Next year I think I'm going to change this rule and will name SOME games and then just leave some 'wildcards' games for specific consoles to beat.  My mood for what games I want to play change over time and I have a HUGE potential backlog to pick from so it's hard to pick a realistic number of games that also turn out to be the games I want to play at that future point in time.

[Sumez | 2,969]

22 hours ago, Gloves said:

A game is "beaten" when the credits roll, so it's not a big deal to beat every game I buy

Given an infinite amount of time, sure... 

[Gloves | 11,801]

25 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Given an infinite amount of time, sure... 

Just don't buy infinite games? I never said every game ever, just those I buy. I have maybe 20 games in total that I've never played.

[Sumez | 2,969]

I don't buy infinite games, I just buy the ones I want to play

Why don't you want to play more games?

[Lago | 221]

On 6/18/2023 at 3:46 AM, Gloves said:

Just don't buy infinite games?

This is a novel concept.  I shall experiment with it.  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

Ghost of Tsushima + Iki Island = long game

I'm digging it.  I think the setting and atmosphere go a long way.  I know open world is a dirty phrase nowadays, and people love to complain about walking around a map doing all of the little things, and it certainly does commit some of those sins (how many standoffs do I need to do?).  But I'm thinking it's an 8/10.  

[Sumez | 2,969]

It commits all of those sins, but for what it's worth I think it comes out nicely. Out of recent AAA games following this formula I'd probably rank it 2nd behind Spider-Man. 7/10 maybe?

Game does look beautiful and I think it's commendable how smooth it runs on a stock PS4.

I didn't really buy the samurai theme though. Seems like a generic revolution/freedom fighter story that could easily have been adjusted to fit any setting, rather than the Kurosawa-like perspective on bushido traditions that it appears to want to be. There are times where I felt like I was just watching another game with American soldiers that just happened to wear straw hats. Didn't help that he was doing military hand signals 

[FireHazard51 | 2,047]

2 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Ghost of Tsushima + Iki Island = long game

I'm digging it.  I think the setting and atmosphere go a long way.  I know open world is a dirty phrase nowadays, and people love to complain about walking around a map doing all of the little things, and it certainly does commit some of those sins (how many standoffs do I need to do?).  But I'm thinking it's an 8/10.  

All of them!  You must save those innocent NPCs no matter how many times they are caught by the Mongols or thieves.   When you finish the game I want to know what you decided when it came to your Uncle.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Ghost of Tsushima + Iki Island = long game

I'm digging it.  I think the setting and atmosphere go a long way.  I know open world is a dirty phrase nowadays, and people love to complain about walking around a map doing all of the little things, and it certainly does commit some of those sins (how many standoffs do I need to do?).  But I'm thinking it's an 8/10.  

I had low expectations and the game really surprised me. It's easily one of the best open worlds I've ever experienced. Loved the environmental storytelling and it's just a ridiculously beautiful game. Combat was also superb. My only really criticism is that, despite the individual characters being quite strong, the overall story felt a bit generic.

[Webhead123 | 684]

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet complete.

A cute little indie Metroidvania. I think the visuals are stylish and the various upgrades and their uses are pretty creative. However, the game feels very short even for its own ideas. It also doesn't offer a ton of replay value, at least as far as the base game goes. Still, for the couple bucks I spent on it, it was easily worth the experience and as a game I've been curious about for going on 12 years, I'm glad I finally made myself play it.

I think it earns a 7/10.

[greenthunder | 115]

I got really hooked into Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore and ended up beating today. It's a silly game, but I was in the mood for such silliness and liked it. It reminded me of Stella Glow, another heavily music focused JRPG that I like.

Various nitpicks I feel like complaining about:

- One of those games you can't 100% trophy wise in your first playthrough, which I always find annoying.

- For some reason the game doesn't tell you how many turns are left on certain buffs like Marking. I find this really weird since Atlus games are usually good about telling you your buff/debuff state, so I feel like I must be missing a marker or something somewhere.

- Minor complaint that also vaguely applies to Ryza, but I don't like it when JRPGs make maxing out weapons a super grindy affair instead of just having a couple levels that might need a bit of extra grinding after the story. That's probably a personal taste thing though.

- The Opera of Light is hyped as each character has a part, but then the actual song only has 5 verses and three characters don't have their own verse. I'd accept it being shorter to not drag out the cutscene, but nearly every vocal song but one have short versions in the game and a full version on the soundtrack release. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

But despite my complaints, I enjoyed it overall and I'm definitely gonna pick up the soundtrack when I get the chance. After I finish doing sidequests and whatnot, I'll move on to my next games and maybe consider doing NG+ in the future. I keep saying I'm gonna start Ace Combat: Horizon Legacy+ and it may or may not finally happen. After that, I'm not sure because Ryza 2 and TMS were the games I had the most hype to start and now that I'm done with those, all the games on my list are some form of:

* I heard good things about but can't bring myself to start for whatever reason (the SMTs)

* I have no strong opinions about (the vast majority of my list)

* I have heard mixed to bad things about, which admittedly does influence me more than I'd like to admit

Shortlist right now after Horizon Legacy is Style Savvy: Fashion Forward, Project X Zone, Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionare's Conspiracy and The Legend of Legacy. I may just start letting the RNG pick for me since I'm so indecisive.

[T-Pac | 7,572]

On 6/17/2023 at 12:46 PM, Gloves said:

Just don't buy infinite games?

 

On 6/18/2023 at 11:47 AM, Sumez said:

I don't buy infinite games, I just buy the ones I want to play

[Philosoraptor | 468]

I'm calling the Castlevania gauntlet for now while I still have a hankering to play some Metroid games at some point this year. Here's what I thought (using Reed's rating scale):

• 9.5 - Symphony of the Night - I think this is the best Castlevania game I played. It's got all the action I hoped for without ever really slowing down. I also didn't expect the new area after you get the good ending. I also found Alucard to be the most fun protagonist to play as in any of the games I played. My only gripe is that the bosses are all pretty easy. 
• 9.0 - Rondo of Blood - Tied for second best and easily the best 2D Castlevania. It's incredibly impressive for a game that came out in 1993. This game, on the whole, is much more difficult than any of the other games I played to completion...with Richter. Maria makes the game vastly easier in some ways, but harder in others because she takes fewer hits and doesn't hit as hard as Richter. I played half of the game with each protagonist, and I prefer Maria because she controls more like a normal character and less like a bag of sand with legs. I went back and forth between giving this game a 9 or a 9.5, but I think some of the minor oversights like Richter's physics and not being able to duck under attacks I think you should (and can duck under as Maria), like the axe knight's axes and the stage 3 boss's lance, ultimately make it a 9 for me.
• 9.0 - Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night - I ended up jumping to this game after playing Order of Ecclesia for a bit because I felt the Castlevania fatigue setting in and wanted to see if my opinion of this game had improved after playing the other games. Turns out, it had. For me, this game fixes the easy bosses issue with Symphony of the Night, has more areas and exploration, and implements the shard system better than I thought I would. Miriam is also my second-favorite protagonist to play as behind Alucard. I would call it the best Castlevania-esque game of all time if it wasn't so slow. The crafting system, the cooking system, missions, and farming for drops and shards really slows down the experience. I ended up taking 20 hours to 100% the map and get the good ending, but I think it should have taken closer to 15.
• 8.0 - Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow - The originator of the shard system, I honestly liked how the shards were implemented more in this game than Bloodstained because there was no grinding to level the shards. The game is solid, and Soma is an interesting protagonist to use. However, it's hard to overlook the smaller size of the map, the less responsive controls, and the significant reduction in secrets when SotN came out five years earlier. I also learned while playing this game that the Gamecube's Game Boy Player introduces a very noticeable amount of lag to GBA games, even though it's basically just a GBA. After about 30 minutes of trying it on the GBA player, I played an hour of it on the Retron 5, which has significantly less lag, and the rest of the game on a gen 1 DS, which had the least.
• 8.0 - Super Castlevania IV - I went off the board with this one because I always heard that it's the best 2D Castlevania game. That opinion seems to be changing now that Rondo of Blood is more accessible, but it's still a very solid game. I thought the level design was clever, but the limitations of the hardware let it down when it's trying to be really ambitious. The moving platforms that kill you if they run you into the sides of spikes, the chandeliers, stage 8, and the last platforming stage all could have used a bit more polish. Similarly, the bosses are a mixed bag between brutal and easy, with the last gauntlet being more on the brutal side. This game probably has the hardest Death fight in any of the games I played. However, Simon's whip gimmick really makes this game stand out, and I think he's my second-favorite protagonist to play as in 2D Castlevania games so far, falling just short of Maria in Rondo of Blood.
• 5.0 - Castlevania (N64) - Throwing this one in here, but I played it in January. Not great music aside from the title track, questionable control decisions and hit detection, a camera with a mind of its own, off-camera cheap shots, and obfuscating puzzles. However, I could see this game being significantly better with a remake. Thankfully, it's short at only ten hours. This game does have some cool boss and enemy designs, too, and the movement could honestly be worse.
• N/A - Castlevania (NES) - I popped this one in and played for about an hour, but I didn't beat it. The controls, specifically the jumping, were difficult to get a good handle on. I also felt like if Simon touched anything inanimate in mid air, he just fell out of the sky like a brick. I didn't really mind the knockback much, but the precision required to hit anything in this game is much higher than in all the later games I played. The OST is also a bop. If I were to dole out a preliminary ranking, I'd go somewhere in the 6-7 range.
• N/A - Order of Ecclesia - Another one I stopped after about an hour because I could feel the Metroidvania fatigue setting in and I wanted to get to Bloodstained while I was still enjoying the genre. I didn't get far enough to draw symbols, so no preliminary ranking here.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Philosoraptor

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

Nice.  It's like the one series I've been consistently caught up with, buying all of the DS and GBA games basically at their launches.  That definitely had the benefit of spacing the playthroughs out.

If fatigue is setting in, Ecclesia is the best bet, as I think it mixes the formula up the most.  Unless you want to go with something a lot different, like Curse of the Moon or Lords of Shadow.

[Philosoraptor | 468]

46 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Nice.  It's like the one series I've been consistently caught up with, buying all of the DS and GBA games basically at their launches.  That definitely had the benefit of spacing the playthroughs out.

If fatigue is setting in, Ecclesia is the best bet, as I think it mixes the formula up the most.  Unless you want to go with something a lot different, like Curse of the Moon or Lords of Shadow.

Good suggestions! If I play another Castlevania game this year, It'll be Judgement or Lords of Shadow. I want to save more Castlevania goodness for next year.

In the meantime, I was going to move on to Metroid games, since I haven't really played anything in that series either. I've beat Prime and I've owned the NES Metroid since I was a kid, but I didn't know what I was doing or where I was going. I also haven't really played it in 25 years. I know there's an order to playing them, too. I was thinking:

• Metroid: Zero Mission
• Super Metroid
• Samus Returns/Metroid II: Return of Samus
• ??

[srbossman79 | 25]

@Philosoraptor, I've never played Judgement, but the 1st Lords of Shadow game was a lot of fun.  It gets shit on by many because it takes a lot of liberties with the established Castlevania lore/story, but the gameplay is really tight.  It's like a Castlevania version of the old God of War games.  Don't worry about the 2nd Lords of Shadow though.  That one really is a turd.

 

[Brickman | 4,000]

5 hours ago, Philosoraptor said:

I'm calling the Castlevania gauntlet for now while I still have a hankering to play some Metroid games at some point this year. Here's what I thought (using Reed's rating scale):

• 9.5 - Symphony of the Night - I think this is the best Castlevania game I played. It's got all the action I hoped for without ever really slowing down. I also didn't expect the new area after you get the good ending. I also found Alucard to be the most fun protagonist to play as in any of the games I played. My only gripe is that the bosses are all pretty easy. 
• 9.0 - Rondo of Blood - Tied for second best and easily the best 2D Castlevania. It's incredibly impressive for a game that came out in 1993. This game, on the whole, is much more difficult than any of the other games I played to completion...with Richter. Maria makes the game vastly easier in some ways, but harder in others because she takes fewer hits and doesn't hit as hard as Richter. I played half of the game with each protagonist, and I prefer Maria because she controls more like a normal character and less like a bag of sand with legs. I went back and forth between giving this game a 9 or a 9.5, but I think some of the minor oversights like Richter's physics and not being able to duck under attacks I think you should (and can duck under as Maria), like the axe knight's axes and the stage 3 boss's lance, ultimately make it a 9 for me.
• 9.0 - Bloodstained - Ritual of the Night - I ended up jumping to this game after playing Order of Ecclesia for a bit because I felt the Castlevania fatigue setting in and wanted to see if my opinion of this game had improved after playing the other games. Turns out, it had. For me, this game fixes the easy bosses issue with Symphony of the Night, has more areas and exploration, and implements the shard system better than I thought I would. Miriam is also my second-favorite protagonist to play as behind Alucard. I would call it the best Castlevania-esque game of all time if it wasn't so slow. The crafting system, the cooking system, missions, and farming for drops and shards really slows down the experience. I ended up taking 20 hours to 100% the map and get the good ending, but I think it should have taken closer to 15.
• 8.0 - Castlevania - Aria of Sorrow - The originator of the shard system, I honestly liked how the shards were implemented more in this game than Bloodstained because there was no grinding to level the shards. The game is solid, and Soma is an interesting protagonist to use. However, it's hard to overlook the smaller size of the map, the less responsive controls, and the significant reduction in secrets when SotN came out five years earlier. I also learned while playing this game that the Gamecube's Game Boy Player introduces a very noticeable amount of lag to GBA games, even though it's basically just a GBA. After about 30 minutes of trying it on the GBA player, I played an hour of it on the Retron 5, which has significantly less lag, and the rest of the game on a gen 1 DS, which had the least.
• 8.0 - Super Castlevania IV - I went off the board with this one because I always heard that it's the best 2D Castlevania game. That opinion seems to be changing now that Rondo of Blood is more accessible, but it's still a very solid game. I thought the level design was clever, but the limitations of the hardware let it down when it's trying to be really ambitious. The moving platforms that kill you if they run you into the sides of spikes, the chandeliers, stage 8, and the last platforming stage all could have used a bit more polish. Similarly, the bosses are a mixed bag between brutal and easy, with the last gauntlet being more on the brutal side. This game probably has the hardest Death fight in any of the games I played. However, Simon's whip gimmick really makes this game stand out, and I think he's my second-favorite protagonist to play as in 2D Castlevania games so far, falling just short of Maria in Rondo of Blood.
• 5.0 - Castlevania (N64) - Throwing this one in here, but I played it in January. Not great music aside from the title track, questionable control decisions and hit detection, a camera with a mind of its own, off-camera cheap shots, and obfuscating puzzles. However, I could see this game being significantly better with a remake. Thankfully, it's short at only ten hours. This game does have some cool boss and enemy designs, too, and the movement could honestly be worse.
• N/A - Castlevania (NES) - I popped this one in and played for about an hour, but I didn't beat it. The controls, specifically the jumping, were difficult to get a good handle on. I also felt like if Simon touched anything inanimate in mid air, he just fell out of the sky like a brick. I didn't really mind the knockback much, but the precision required to hit anything in this game is much higher than in all the later games I played. The OST is also a bop. If I were to dole out a preliminary ranking, I'd go somewhere in the 6-7 range.
• N/A - Order of Ecclesia - Another one I stopped after about an hour because I could feel the Metroidvania fatigue setting in and I wanted to get to Bloodstained while I was still enjoying the genre. I didn't get far enough to draw symbols, so no preliminary ranking here.

Great write up and I’m really glad to hear you ended up loving the series  and good idea revisiting Bloodstained, that game is better appreciated as a love letter if you’ve played stuff like SotN.

Lord of Shadows is a great game imo and is more like a God of War type game. I had a lot of fun with it. I haven’t played the second one yet.

As for Metroid. I think going with Metroid Zero Mission is a good choice. I just recently finished that myself and loved the quality of life improvements it made over the original Metroid. You’re in for a fun ride  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,558]

La Pucelle

Yeah, I had a lot more fun with it back on the PS2 when I played through 80% of it (if I realized how close to the end I had been, I would have finished it).

Too many things that hadn't aged very well, and the story was nonsense, so rather than suffer through it again, I basically skippped everything, which probably cut by playthrough down by 10 hours.

I also used the extra characters at the end of the game to make the endgame easier.  I just wasn't willing to grind out levels.

Also, as of right now I'm thinking this is the rough idea of the tracking of every game I've done this year so far.  Non-backlog games in italics:

1. Elden Ring (10/10)
2. Hades (9.5/10)
3. Deathloop (9/10)
4. Baba Is You (9/10)
5. Gradius V (8.5/10)
6. Super Mario 3D World/Bowser's Fury (with the kids) (8.5/10)
7. God of War (8.5/10)
8. Twin Snakes (8.5/10)
9. Sin & Punishment (8/10)
10. Nier Automata (8/10)
11. Dusk (8/10)
12. Into the Breach (8/10)
13. Deus Ex (7.5/10)
14. Xenoblade (7.5/10)
15. Hellblade (7.5/10)
16. Ace Attorney 2 (7.5/10)
17. Uncharted 4 (7.5/10)
18. Eternal Darkness (7.5/10)
19. Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold (7/10)
20. Resident Evil 3 (7/10)
21. Onimusha (7/10)
22. Everblue 2 (6.5/10)
23. Fallen Order (6.5/10)
24. Pilotwings 64 (6.5/10)
25. Contra Shattered Soldier (6/10)
26. Strife (6/10)
27. Mischief Makers (6/10)
28. La Pucelle (5.5/10)
29. Buck Bumble (5.5/10)
30. Indigo Prophecy (5.5/10)
31. Yoshi's Story (4.5/10)
32. Winback (4/10)

TBD:

1. Shenmue (crap)
2. Paper Mario (decent)
3. Ghost of Tsushima (great)
4. Ori 2

Not started

1. Yakuza Kiwami
2. Control
3. Nioh
4. Dark Souls II
5. Resident Evil 2
6. Last of Us Part II
7. Danganronpa
8. Fata Morgana
9. Doom Eternal
10. KotOR 2
11. Trails in the Sky
12. Ion Fury
13. Shadowgate
14. Prey

[Webhead123 | 684]

10 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

1. Shadowgate

The original or the 2014 remake? In either case, I'm curious to know your thoughts once completed as the original (Macintosh version) was a formative title for me in adventure gaming and I have great nostalgia for it and I have the remake in my GOG library but have never loaded it up.