The 2021 Backlog Challenge

[Webhead123 | 675]

On 11/9/2021 at 2:22 PM, Reed Rothchild said:

And then with Castlevania III, I finally made it to the last stage in October, but I again can't quite seal the deal.  I can make it to the third form of Dracula (occasionally), and I can slowly memorize the pattern, but I'm looking at potentially hundreds of attempts.  Or I study videos.  And I just don't like that thought.  I saw the whole game, I saw all of the content.  I don't want to throw in the towel, but I am prepared to punt to the future.

Shinobi III is proving to be in a similar state for me this year. At this point, I can pretty handily get to Round 7 but I always seem to run out of continues in the second half of that final stage. I think the game is demanding better memorization from me and I just haven't been giving it that level of focus. It's such a fantastic game anyway that I'm going to give it at least one more attempt before the year is out...but at this rate, I'm not sure I'll ever see that 100% completion.

Duck Tales has also been obnoxiously off-putting. My problem seems to be that I can get on a perfectly good run and then in the span of 3 minutes, I just fall into a rut and lose all my lives. I don't know if it is the slightly fussy controls or the fact that I don't know the optimal routes through each stage but for such a disarmingly cute and simple game...this one continues to elude me.

On the positive side, I think I am fairly close to being able to close the book on both X-Men 2 and Demon's Crest. Meanwhile, Conker's Bad Fur Day has been a bit of a slog, only because of how hard it is to go back to clunky N64 controls at times. I love the game for its unapologetic humor, I just wish it didn't handle like a tank.

[Webhead123 | 675]

4 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

And it is done.  Planescape Torment - a game I first started nearly 20 years ago - is finally finished.

That's a big accomplishment! Torment is a game I've started multiple times...and I love it to death...but I, too, have never managed to finish it despite nearly 20 years of opportunity. I just really struggle with keeping motivation all the way through RPGs that are longer than about 20 hours these days.

[FireHazard51 | 2,043]

Oh man....I've only complete 3 games on my MASSIVE list of games 

 

Saving grace.....I'm like half way through two games on my list so I can almost double my current completion.

Edited December 7, 2021 by FireHazard51

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

22 hours ago, Gloves said:

Good luck with 11 and 14 huehuehue

 

22 hours ago, Shmup said:

He mustn't know what those games are...we'll let him discover it on his own 

[ThePhleo | 2,185]

Updated my list. I have no free time to play any games for the remainder of the year, so that’s all folks.

I guess I missed two non-RPGs. Foolish of me to even think of adding that many RPGs to begin with. I’m not a teen with no responsibilities anymore.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

5 hours ago, ThePhleo said:

Updated my list. I have no free time to play any games for the remainder of the year, so that’s all folks.

I guess I missed two non-RPGs. Foolish of me to even think of adding that many RPGs to begin with. I’m not a teen with no responsibilities anymore.

It seems that RPGs are the kryptonite of the backlog and we are all learning that same lesson repeatedly. Yet, for some reason, I've decided to focus on RPGs next year. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[Reed Rothchild | 9,533]

36 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

It seems that RPGs are the kryptonite of the backlog and we are all learning that same lesson repeatedly. Yet, for some reason, I've decided to focus on RPGs next year. 

HLTB is everyone's friend.  It's how I know Ys Origin is 11 hours and Ys IX is 40 hours.

[MegaMan52 | 2,445]

Beat Wario Land II (original grey cartridge version from 1998) and got all of the Treasures and Picture Panels:

Getting the final Picture Panel: 

Beating the Really Final Chapter (sorry for the blurry picture; I only had a few seconds to take it):

Game beaten: 

Results: 

All Treasures: 

All Picture Panels: 

I don't care that my time was slow in the final level. My goal was to beat every level, find all of the Treasures, and win all of the Picture Panels.

Edited December 8, 2021 by MegaMan52

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

So the Nintendo compatible RAD2X cable I picked up off of another member came in last weekend and I managed to meet up with my brother to get it yesterday (as he fished it out of the mail when it showed up).  My daughter was rambunctious all day, then my son got home and small children intensified, but a few minutes ago they calmed to near-bedtime levels and politely asked if they could play with the "S4" (my PS4, which my son can say, but my daughter always adorably fouls up, so now everyone considers the "P" silent, lol) and settled in to do their own thing.

Ah!  The perfect opportunity to set up my SNES, bust out A Link to the Past and run quickly through the first world so I could get this knocked out in a day or two!  Did cable maintenance behind the TV, got everything back into place, swapped out my Genesis hooked up to the TV (via a retrotink2X of one sort or another), went to hook up the HDMI cable to the RAD2X and...fuck.  Mini HDMI.

Well, I'm now banished to the world of wearing pants so I can rush off to Best Buy before they close and hopefully grab one of the two mini HDMI to big-boy-pants HDMI adapters their site has on their shelves, hopefully before my kids decide that running around downstairs and/or that whatever I'm doing is more interesting than leaving me be long enough to get entrenched in some gaming of my own.

On the bright(er) side, I do have a "date" for my brother to come over Friday or Saturday for some dedicated computer gaming, so hopefully we can knock out Wasteland, Roadwar 2000, or both.  I've gotten us "stuck" in the sewers under Las Vegas in Wasteland which is kind of a slog, but a necessary one, so I'm hoping the company will help get that over with quickly and tip things toward the endgame.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Well, Best Buy didn't manage to successfully hide from and deny me the adapter I needed, so I made it back to the house and actually got going on A Link to the Past about a quarter after 8 PM and called a halt to it toward 4 AM.  I updated my post on page 2 with far more detail about the evening, but I believe I managed to get through between 1/2 and 2/3 of the game after starting a new save slot.  Barring unforeseen issues, there's high hopes to get back on the horse toward midday tomorrow (today), and hopefully have this one hung up by the evening.

[Splain | 2,570]

I've been playing the games on my backlog, but I haven't been beating them. Turns out that all I really wanted on many of these was to just see what the hubbub was about. I'm going to have hardly any playtime for the rest of the year, or maybe some time after Christmas proper. But for now I'm mostly admitting defeat. Huge props to you all who knocked out so many games.

Castlevania - I played for a couple hours total, got past a couple bosses. The knock-back deaths make the game more frustrating than fun, so I'm not in love with it like the millions who played it as a kid.

Landstalker - I played a few hours on an emulator. I may try to find an actual cart of it and start over in 2022. Not sure.

Mega Man III/IV/V - I've played both Mega Man III and IV up to the last given password, I just need a good chunk of time to sit down and work on the final stretch for both. Maybe after Christmas. Would be great to still beat these this year. These games are really good, both of them better than I and II. I fired up V briefly, and it looks like it keeps the P-Chip system from IV, which is good for people like me, who suck at Mega Man games. I can just grind my way to victory.

FFVII - Nope!!

The Witness - There's more to this game than I thought there was. I played through a chunk of it, got stuck at a puzzle I couldn't solve, went another direction, repeat, etc. I enjoy this game but it's going to be more of a slow-burn game, and time pressure takes away the enjoyment. I'll beat it someday.

Undertale - Sooo, unfortunately this game was spoiled for me already, it was unavoidable. So I tried a pacifist run my very first time through because it seemed to be a thing a lot of internet strangers aspired to. It's neat, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing a lot of the intended experience of playing it "normally" first. I think(??) I'm near the end but this is just gonna be a game I finish next year sometime. I love the the overall atmosphere and humor.

Okami - Haven't touched it. Maybe 2022.

 

The Switch's portability and sleep function are very useful, almost necessary for my new-ish employment situation. So next year's list will probably be short and switchy.

[peg | 371]

I finally took down DonPachi (both loops) after a long, drawn out grinding of runs.  I wasn't sure if I would finish it before the end of the year but it's done, finishing a journey I started back in 2017 when I cleared the first loop for the first time.

 

 

Still going to try and squeeze in Deathsmiles II before the year ends as it's supposed to be piss easy.

Edited December 10, 2021 by peg

[Gloves | 11,779]

1 minute ago, Splain said:

Undertale - Sooo, unfortunately this game was spoiled for me already, it was unavoidable. So I tried a pacifist run my very first time through because it seemed to be a thing a lot of internet strangers aspired to. It's neat, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing a lot of the intended experience of playing it "normally" first. I think(??) I'm near the end but this is just gonna be a game I finish next year sometime. I love the the overall atmosphere and humor.

This was my experience also but I didn't get very far into it before I gave up. It felt pretentious as I played it, though I attribute that largely to the whole "popular game with a twist" phenomena, it really can spoil things like this in the internet age. 

[Splain | 2,570]

41 minutes ago, Gloves said:

This was my experience also but I didn't get very far into it before I gave up. It felt pretentious as I played it, though I attribute that largely to the whole "popular game with a twist" phenomena, it really can spoil things like this in the internet age. 

I totally hear that, I have no desire to check out Deltarune, because I don't suuuuper want to see a version of the game that KNOWS it's popular.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

I beat a thing!  My tally is no longer zero, lol!  I beat A Link to the Past for the first, and probably only time!  Go me!  I'm predicting Conker's for tomorrow, although I may have to go out and see if I can lay my hands on one of those third party controllers that came out in the last couple of years that's more or less shaped like a 360 controller to really enjoy the experience, even though I do have fond memories of collaborating with a friend when he rented it years and years ago.

Edited December 11, 2021 by darkchylde28

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

18 hours ago, Splain said:

The Witness - There's more to this game than I thought there was. I played through a chunk of it, got stuck at a puzzle I couldn't solve, went another direction, repeat, etc. I enjoy this game but it's going to be more of a slow-burn game, and time pressure takes away the enjoyment. I'll beat it someday.

That game is a long, slow burn and is absolutely packed with content. It's probably one of the best puzzle games ever made, but it is extremely tough.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Started Conker's Bad Fur Day and played for 4-5 hours (at least 1 of those dealing with figuring out controller issues).  Had fun with the story, but not so much with the controls due to how bad the camera angles get (and how little control you tend to have over them).  I've not beat the game in the past, so I really don't know how far I've gotten into it at this point, but put a fairly detailed description of my experience with it today in my post on page 2.  Absolutely enjoying my wireless Brawler64 controller after I figured out and resolved its issues.  I picked up a copy of Banjo Kazooie when I got the controller today, as my son seemed very interested in the system when he learned that I had one, so I asked my friend who owns the shop what he'd recommend for him to play.  Who knows, with how much better an experience the modern controller has provided me, I might even end up playing through it with my son, despite my general lack of interest in the N64.

[Brickman | 3,986]

37 minutes ago, darkchylde28 said:

Started Conker's Bad Fur Day and played for 4-5 hours (at least 1 of those dealing with figuring out controller issues).  Had fun with the story, but not so much with the controls due to how bad the camera angles get (and how little control you tend to have over them).  I've not beat the game in the past, so I really don't know how far I've gotten into it at this point, but put a fairly detailed description of my experience with it today in my post on page 2.  Absolutely enjoying my wireless Brawler64 controller after I figured out and resolved its issues.  I picked up a copy of Banjo Kazooie when I got the controller today, as my son seemed very interested in the system when he learned that I had one, so I asked my friend who owns the shop what he'd recommend for him to play.  Who knows, with how much better an experience the modern controller has provided me, I might even end up playing through it with my son, despite my general lack of interest in the N64.

I picked up the brawler64 controller recently too and absolutely love it. It makes such a difference with a lot of games. 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

10 hours ago, Shmup said:

I picked up the brawler64 controller recently too and absolutely love it. It makes such a difference with a lot of games. 

To me, it makes all the difference with all of the games, as I just absolutely, positively cannot stand the original N64 controller.  I hooked up the one in the box with the system I was playing on long enough to determine that an issue that I was experiencing was specific to the wireless Brawler64 (Conker kept walking forward on his own), but was basically ready to throw in the towel and not worry about trying to mark the game off of my list if I had to do it with Nintendo's controller, lol.  The only thing that I'm still disappointed with in general is that it seems like nobody even experimented with replacing the four yellow buttons with another thumb stick.  I don't know if that alteration would actually make it any better/easier to play for someone expecting a "complete" Xbox feel to the controller, but I'd be absolutely willing to give it a shot, even if it only functioned on the four cardinal directions as the original buttons were laid out.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

Progressed some more in Conker's (wrote it up in my post on page 2), then got annoyed enough at the game mechanics to call it quits relatively early for me.  I'll likely approach it again tomorrow with fresher eyes and hopefully sail on through to whatever lies next.

[Sumez | 2,952]

On 12/10/2021 at 10:42 PM, Splain said:

There's more to this game than I thought there was. I played through a chunk of it, got stuck at a puzzle I couldn't solve, went another direction, repeat, etc.

That sums up The Witness pretty well. You don't really want to stick with puzzles that you feel you don't know how to approach. Some times the answer is in your immediate environment, but other times it genuinely requires knowledge or experiences you'll accumulate by solving puzzles elsewhere. And some times you'll just come back with an increased understanding of how the game works, enabling you to pay attention to elements in the environment that you didn't realise the relevance of earlier. It's a pretty fantastic puzzle game.

On 12/10/2021 at 10:42 PM, Splain said:

Castlevania - I played for a couple hours total, got past a couple bosses. The knock-back deaths make the game more frustrating than fun, so I'm not in love with it like the millions who played it as a kid.

I think this implies appreciating Castlevania is more of a nostalgia thing, which is really unfair. The game might not be for you and that's fair, but it's definitely a timeless game design that stands up as well as it always did. I didn't fully get into the original CV1 until many years later.

On 12/10/2021 at 10:42 PM, Splain said:

Undertale - Sooo, unfortunately this game was spoiled for me already, it was unavoidable. So I tried a pacifist run my very first time through because it seemed to be a thing a lot of internet strangers aspired to. It's neat, but I'm pretty sure I'm missing a lot of the intended experience of playing it "normally" first.

I don't really think so. I'm not sure what you got "spoiled" but I don't think there's any single overarching thing you can spoil in Undertale. It's, uh, it's more about the friends you make along the way

I always recommend people going for a pacifist run the first time through, because if you start killing stuff around you, you're just missing out on the best aspects of the game with nothing else replacing them. People who end up missing out on a majority of the interactions due to this are often much more unlikely to even want to go for an additional playthrough. So better make the first one the best.

Edited December 13, 2021 by Sumez

[MegaMan52 | 2,445]

Beat Adventures of Lolo:

Reaching the final floor:

The final room:

Game beaten:

[fox | 1,667]

Spoiler

Man of Medan

[peg | 371]

Cleared Deathsmiles II on the arcade PCB.  It was kind of a joke as I suspected, I went from never having played it to clearing in only a few hours.  Now, my score is absolute dogshit, but it's still a clear.

 

 

[Sumez | 2,952]

You actually have a real DS2? Or by "on arcade PCB" do you mean a hacked up TypeX or something? since IIRC DS2 is just a Windows game.