The 2021 Backlog Challenge

[Webhead123 | 675]

Just now, Gloves said:

Have you played A Link Between Worlds? I loooooved it.

I have it on my shelf. I've played the first few minutes of it but not much beyond that. It does look quite good, though.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

2 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

plans for game-time on the PS4) has slowed to a crawl, as the PS4 has now been moved into my son's room.

Hah, I know that struggle.  At my last house the PS3 was our bedroom blu ray player.  It took me months to scrounge up the playtime to get through The Last of Us.

[Webhead123 | 675]

12 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Hah, I know that struggle.  At my last house the PS3 was our bedroom blu ray player.  It took me months to scrounge up the playtime to get through The Last of Us.

How bad is it that I've contemplated buying a second PS4 just so that I could have access to it again? 

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

29 minutes ago, Webhead123 said:

How bad is it that I've contemplated buying a second PS4 just so that I could have access to it again? 

I mean, you have to, right?

Actually, you need a PS5. Future proof.

Edited September 22, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[Webhead123 | 675]

14 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I mean, you have to, right?

Actually, you need a PS5. Future proof.

Yes. Now, if only I could find one for MSRP...

[Sumez | 2,930]

16 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

I have it on my shelf. I've played the first few minutes of it but not much beyond that. It does look quite good, though.

Link Between Worlds is one of those good games that you kinda begrudge aren't better than it is, because it feels like it easily could have been.

Reusing the LTTP overworld(s) made the whole game a lot less interesting to me, because I already knew the general layout of the world even though the places you need to go had changed somewhat. It really took away a lot of the sense of exploration which is a big part of these games (and something Link's Awakening really excels at). And to be honest, I don't think making a brand new overworld would have been much more work for them.

I was really hoping that they would make a new handheld Zelda game based on the same basic engine, because it really worked flawlessly, but instead they made that Triforce Heroes thing, and I guess now the ship has sailed.

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

Knocked out two more. One on-list and one off-list.

Streets of Rage 4 - 7/10

I enjoyed this one, but I wasn't blown away. The movement feels a little too slow for a modern game. I felt like I needed to use characters with dash attacks just to have some proper mobility (Cherry and Adam). I really like the art style and the animations are nice and smooth. The combat system is quite good too; moves hit hard and combos are fun. Still, it's tough to be a 2D brawler in 2021 and I was ready to be done after only one playthrough. I will give props to the developers for some nice difficulty balancing. Levels feel tough the first time, but are very doable on repeat plays. I actually thought the last level was a bit too difficult my first attempt and I almost used the "cheats" to give myself an extra life after dying on the final boss. On my second attempt, I finished with two lives to spare. I'd rate this one a solid 7/10, but I actually enjoyed the new Battletoads a bit more due to the variety and humor. And I'm sure it's a lot more fun with friends, of course.

It Takes Two - 8/10

Now here is a truly interesting game. It has beautiful visuals, great controls, and tons of variety. The story is both serious and silly, although sometimes it really struggles to find the right balance of the two. The characters are generally strong and the voice acting for the adults is stellar (not so much for the little one). I enjoyed every single stage except the ice level and the finale is fantastic. I love how the gameplay mechanics change with every world. Highly recommended and probably one of the best purely co-op games ever made. It's one of my favorites of the year, landing just behind Psychonauts 2 and Doom Eternal.

I'm still working on SM64, but hope to start up Dead Space and RE2 Remake for Halloween. I'm also going to jump into Horizon Zero Dawn on PS5 to enjoy that buttery 60fps update.

Edited September 24, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[Brickman | 3,978]

@Reed Rothchild Persona Q2 done. Absolutely loved it even more than the first. Heads up, keep a huge chunk of time available for the final boss.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

36 minutes ago, Shmup said:

@Reed Rothchild Persona Q2 done. Absolutely loved it even more than the first. Heads up, keep a huge chunk of time available for the final boss.

Dang, well done.  I'm on the boss of 3. I basically have one month to wrap it up, because my SNES stuff is now quite overdue.

[Sumez | 2,930]

Got a bad ending 1CC for Fantasy Zone II today.

I'm really mostly in the mood for arcade stuff these days, and regrettably I put almost none of that on my list, so this is the one that came the closest.
The game is harder than I remembered, but if you're playing strategically, a bad ending clear is relatively easy to get because you can access the store multiple times per stage. The biggest issue is the damn last spider right before the final boss, I'm not sure there's a consistent way to just get that skillfully. I just played like a scrub and died there to buy a new weapon from the store, like I've previously described in the strategic suicide thread.

[Sumez | 2,930]

Played the first few full stages of God Hand. Based on its reputation it's basically exactly what I'd have expected. Though the game does drag on quite a bit, and feels like it would benefit from a more tightly flowing arcade-like structure. Of course that wouldn't fly well in 2006. I think that mentality is also responsible for the absurd amount of customization and upgrade shopping forced into the game. I'd much rather just have a number of different characters balanced around different playstyles. And the whole casino thing is dreadfully boring, it's better to just ignore it.

Overall, it feels like a pretty low budget game with very limited ambition that still manages to stretch itself a bit too far. So many great ideas in the combat system makes it regrettable that they never really expanded on the idea, because there's a really good foundation here. We'll see how my opinion changes as I progress though...

[MegaMan52 | 2,439]

Beat Yoshi's Crafted World: 

[Jeevan | 8,909]

8 minutes ago, MegaMan52 said:

Beat Yoshi's Crafted World: 

Been playing some Mario's Picross and some picross DS myself lately   Sorry Reed

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

37 minutes ago, MegaMan52 said:

Beat Yoshi's Crafted World: 

What did you think? Did you test out multiplayer? This is on my backlog list and I was considering playing it with my 5-year old son.

[MegaMan52 | 2,439]

1 hour ago, DoctorEncore said:

What did you think? Did you test out multiplayer? This is on my backlog list and I was considering playing it with my 5-year old son.

I played it alone. Very fun game, love the visual style. My only complaint is that the music is lacking. What's there is nice, but a lot of the levels have the same music and none of the music tracks are as catchy as Woolly World's music. But the actual game is great with lots of variety (finding Poochy Pups, riding trains, hiding in shadows, etc.), and I'm sure it would be even more fun with a second player. Definitely play it when you get a chance.

Edited September 29, 2021 by MegaMan52

[Sumez | 2,930]

5 hours ago, Jeevan said:

  

5 hours ago, MegaMan52 said:

Beat Yoshi's Crafted World: 

Been playing some Mario's Picross and some picross DS myself lately   Sorry Reed

Let's see how many times we can repeat the same three images from Yoshi's Crafted World for no reason  

[MegaMan52 | 2,439]

Like the Japanese version of Luigi's Mansion this wasn't on my list originally, but I decided to beat Super Mario 64 because it's the N64's 25th Anniversary: 

I have both Japanese versions of Super Mario 64, but decided to playthrough the 1996 version on the left because it is the original.

Edited September 30, 2021 by MegaMan52

[Aguy | 771]

I finished Immortals: Fenyx Rising on the Switch tonight. It's described as a BotW clone, and that's exactly what it is. I didn't enjoy the puzzles and platforming as much as BotW but I thought the combat was much more dynamic. It took just under 31 hours, including a couple extra hours worth of grinding.

[Jeevan | 8,909]

On 9/22/2021 at 12:27 PM, Webhead123 said:

I have it on my shelf. I've played the first few minutes of it but not much beyond that. It does look quite good, though.

Bought it and am playing it right now.  Reccomend it so if you get a hankering to play something I suggest giving it another whirl.  Very ALTTP vibe going on right from the get go!  Dare I say top 2?

[acromite53 | 337]

Sweet. Just beat Boogerman (Genesis) for the first time. This knocks another game off my list! I never played past the intro level before now. It's actually a pretty fun game. I'm not a fan of the theme at all, but the smooth animation is appealing. I may want to give Aladdin (Genesis) a serious effort now.  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

@Shmup Ugh, now 0/3 on the Dungeon 4 boss.  Bastard wiped out my entire back row with an Insta-Death just a few minutes ago, wasting an entire attempt.

[Brickman | 3,978]

2 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

@Shmup Ugh, now 0/3 on the Dungeon 4 boss.  Bastard wiped out my entire back row with an Insta-Death just a few minutes ago, wasting an entire attempt.

That boss was a pain! It can be so luck based as well. I died the first time the same way when I was almost done. I went and grinded a few levels and came back and only got one instant death on a character.

The last boss is easier so at least you have that to look forward to

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

23 hours ago, Shmup said:

That boss was a pain! It can be so luck based as well. I died the first time the same way when I was almost done. I went and grinded a few levels and came back and only got one instant death on a character.

The last boss is easier so at least you have that to look forward to

Attempt #4.  A single mamudo again ruins the attempt 

...oh shit, don't call it a comeback...

[Brickman | 3,978]

17 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Attempt #4.  A single mamudo again ruins the attempt 

...oh shit, don't call it a comeback...

haha you can do it!

Interesting you went with a full P5 lineup. Mine was P5 MC, Aigis, Makoto front row, Ann & Naoto backrow. I did use Ryuji up until I got Aigis though.

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,509]

25 minutes ago, Shmup said:

haha you can do it!

Interesting you went with a full P5 lineup. Mine was P5 MC, Aigis, Makoto front row, Ann & Naoto backrow. I did use Ryuji up until I got Aigis though.

92 turns.  92 TURNS!

JESUS. CHRIST. 

Anyways, got him.  And I just did the P5 cast cause they were the starters.  Did the P3 cast for the first game.