The 2021 Backlog Challenge

[DoctorEncore | 3,690]

5 hours ago, Murray said:

 

and what the hell is this?!  I can’t even input this.

The origin of speedrunning.

[spacepup | 2,404]

Woo, I beat Journey to Silius - and I have to say, I’m marginally proud of myself because I found it quite difficult, with the exception of the last stage and final boss which I thought were pretty easy, go figure ha!

I definitely used lots of continues, but that’s ok in my book.

I didn’t really love the game, but the music is great!

I started Super Mario Picross for SNES, which will take me a while.  In the meantime, next on my list is Dynamite Headdy for Genesis.  Never played before, but always wanted to!

[Sumez | 2,933]

Yakuza 4 looking like it's gonna be a chore

 

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Replayed Crystalis last night.

Good but has aged poorly. Can see why people thought it was one of the greats around or shortly after release as an NES Zelda-like game with (pretty fast) diagonal movement and scrolling, good production values, "RPG features," the basics of a plot, etc. Among overhead action-adventures/RPGs past a certain point though, the only thing that made it really stick out (positively) was the emphasis on ranged combat. And the dungeon design here is really bad, as are a lot of the "puzzles", and going into the menu all of the many times you need to change swords is annoying. When you view it as a game in general rather than giving it bonus points for being "impressive for the NES/its time" I don't think it's very special. Probably is a top 100 NES game though, and better than Willow, but definitely not, say, Ys I and II on Turbo CD which actually predates it. Will be interesting to see how the Famicom Ys games stack up compared to this.

[T-Pac | 7,518]

19 hours ago, spacepup said:

Woo, I beat Journey to Silius - and I have to say, I’m marginally proud of myself because I found it quite difficult, with the exception of the last stage and final boss which I thought were pretty easy, go figure ha!

I definitely used lots of continues, but that’s ok in my book.

I didn’t really love the game, but the music is great!

Go post this in the 'Beat Every NES Game Thread' - we still need someone to check Journey to Silius off the list!

I've had a lot of fun with this game, too, but I could never come close to finishing - props on the clear, Spacepup!

-CasualCart

[Brickman | 3,983]

Well first game on my list I am giving up to due to not enjoying it. Played around 5 and half hours of Secret of Mana and I'm done with that game. Terrible story (probably improves but I don't care to find out), sick of the stupid stun lock from enemies, hit detection is awful, bosses are all over the place in difficulty and it's just not a fun game. I'll find a replacement for it if I end up finishing the rest of my list.

[Jeevan | 8,909]

Well, update here.  I almost bricked my Earthbound run and haven't been back........Gonna get back at it soon tho.  Just frustrating having to do the monkey cave thingy over again........Thank Gloves I didn't save after teleporting to winters right off the bat.  Who the heck knew you couldn't teleport back and that there was no way to get across without the monkey to get tessie back.......I would have rage quit had that happened.......

[Gloves | 11,762]

4 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

Well, update here.  I almost bricked my Earthbound run and haven't been back........Gonna get back at it soon tho.  Just frustrating having to do the monkey cave thingy over again........Thank Gloves I didn't save after teleporting to winters right off the bat.  Who the heck knew you couldn't teleport back and that there was no way to get across without the monkey to get tessie back.......I would have rage quit had that happened.......

Point and click adventure games from the 80s and 90s would like a word.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

1 hour ago, Shmup said:

[...]story (probably improves)

Wrong.

[Abelardo | 154]

I finished my first game a few days ago, it was 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, it was very enjoyable at first but after 3 playthroughs (covering every path available until that point) it just got so tedious, every playthough you can fast forward previously read text but you have to do the puzzles again, the puzzles were good the first time you solve them and I really like the point and click gameplay, but forcing you to solve them every playthough? The story starts nice enough and keeps things somewhat interesting, but it all falls apart near the ending, the game is so text heavy that it gave me the same feel you get when you read a novel and the ending is terrible, it felt like a waste of time.

I've started playing Xenogears now and I'm missing so much the good camera controls you get in Zelda 3-D games, let's see how it goes, I should be able to adjust to this limitation.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

3 minutes ago, Abelardo said:

I finished my first game a few days ago, it was 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, it was very enjoyable at first but after 3 playthroughs (covering every path available until that point) it just got so tedious, every playthough you can fast forward previously read text but you have to do the puzzles again, the puzzles were good the first time you solve them and I really like the point and click gameplay, but forcing you to solve them every playthough? The story starts nice enough and keeps things somewhat interesting, but it all falls apart near the ending, the game is so text heavy that it gave me the same feel you get when you read a novel and the ending is terrible, it felt like a waste of time.

I've started playing Xenogears now and I'm missing so much the good camera controls you get in Zelda 3-D games, let's see how it goes, I should be able to adjust to this limitation.

The 999 sequels greatly improve upon this, letting you skip directly to different sections of the game.

[Brickman | 3,983]

20 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Wrong.

haha glad it wasn't just me then.

[Abelardo | 154]

6 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

The 999 sequels greatly improve upon this, letting you skip directly to different sections of the game.

That sounds much nicer, thanks for the heads up, might actually play the sequel one of these days!

[Sumez | 2,933]

3 hours ago, Abelardo said:

but it all falls apart near the ending,

Wait what. Are you sure you got the real ending? The real ending to that game is where everything comes together.
I like Virtue's Last Reward, but the first game in the series is still my clear favourite. Do yourself a favor and just skip Zero Time Dilemma, that one was embarassing.

3 hours ago, Abelardo said:

he game is so text heavy that it gave me the same feel you get when you read a novel

Well it is a visual novel. If you played 999 and didn't expect it to be a novel, someone has been misleading you and I can tell why it must have been disappointing.

[Abelardo | 154]

7 hours ago, Sumez said:

Wait what. Are you sure you got the real ending? The real ending to that game is where everything comes together.
I like Virtue's Last Reward, but the first game in the series is still my clear favourite. Do yourself a favor and just skip Zero Time Dilemma, that one was embarassing.

Well it is a visual novel. If you played 999 and didn't expect it to be a novel, someone has been misleading you and I can tell why it must have been disappointing.

Yes I got the real ending, after the 3rd playthrough I wasn't having it so googled tips on how to approach the game and finally settled to use a flowchart, turns out I was lucky to hit the prerequisite ending in the 3rd playthrough so I just had to do the real ending, I only missed one of the bad endings. I knew it was a visual novel so no surprises there, perhaps a little wordy at times, but the ending had too many twists for my taste and personally felt like a BS ending, some folks might like it but not me.

I'll check out Virtue's Last Reward if I get in the mood for some point and click puzzles, thanks for the warning on Zero Time Dilemma.

[Gloves | 11,762]

5 minutes ago, Abelardo said:

Yes I got the real ending, after the 3rd playthrough I wasn't having it so googled tips on how to approach the game and finally settled to use a flowchart, turns out I was lucky to hit the prerequisite ending in the 3rd playthrough so I just had to do the real ending, I only missed one of the bad endings. I knew it was a visual novel so no surprises there, perhaps a little wordy at times, but the ending had too many twists for my taste and personally felt like a BS ending, some folks might like it but not me.

I'll check out Virtue's Last Reward if I get in the mood for some point and click puzzles, thanks for the warning on Zero Time Dilemma.

Play Danganronpa as well if you've not.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,510]

22 minutes ago, Abelardo said:

Yes I got the real ending, after the 3rd playthrough I wasn't having it so googled tips on how to approach the game and finally settled to use a flowchart, turns out I was lucky to hit the prerequisite ending in the 3rd playthrough so I just had to do the real ending, I only missed one of the bad endings. I knew it was a visual novel so no surprises there, perhaps a little wordy at times, but the ending had too many twists for my taste and personally felt like a BS ending, some folks might like it but not me.

I'll check out Virtue's Last Reward if I get in the mood for some point and click puzzles, thanks for the warning on Zero Time Dilemma.

I'd say do ZTD as well, especially if you want closure, but agree that VLR is the best game

[Abelardo | 154]

31 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'd say do ZTD as well, especially if you want closure, but agree that VLR is the best game

I might play at least the sequel someday, right now I'm a little burned out, besides I'm trying to stick with my backlog (I'm getting used to Xenogears camera by now and beginning to enjoy it). Danganronpa seems nice too, thanks @Gloves, might give it a try as well someday, looks like it would be a good idea to get a Vita to play the series.

[Gloves | 11,762]

3 minutes ago, Abelardo said:

I might play at least the sequel someday, right now I'm a little burned out, besides I'm trying to stick with my backlog (I'm getting used to Xenogears camera by now and beginning to enjoy it). Danganronpa seems nice too, thanks @Gloves, might give it a try as well someday, looks like it would be a good idea to get a Vita to play the series.

Danganronpa Trilogy on PS4 is a good way to play if you have a PS4, else yeah Vita is where they originated. They're also on Steam.

[Brickman | 3,983]

Keio Flying Squadron 2 for the Saturn beat. Such a wacky platformer but was so much fun. I did like the shooting levels as a nod to their SHMUP roots. I’d highly recommend this game, 9/10. 

To beat my list I need to average beating a game in just a little over two weeks. So far I’m on target and I’ve been playing a few RPGs at the same time so I can make progress and swap when I need to take a break from one. Also I need to find a replacement for Secret of Mana.

[Sumez | 2,933]

13 hours ago, Shmup said:

Keio Flying Squadron 2 for the Saturn beat. Such a wacky platformer but was so much fun. I did like the shooting levels as a nod to their SHMUP roots. I’d highly recommend this game, 9/10. 

Maybe I should give that game another chance.

I thought it looked cool and bought an English language copy years ago when it was still cheap. I played through the first few stages and thought it played horribly, and I haven't touched it since  

[fox | 1,665]

mid Jan update:
Beat Extra Fitness mode in Ring Fit Adventure.  I guess I should have put this on my backlog, technically I beat it last year, but I have been working on the New Game+ mode and cleared it.  Main quest took 3 months, I beat the second quest in 2 1/2 months though I feel like I could have beaten it sooner if I didn't get a stringer in my hand/wrist that prevented me from playing much  last month.  Wonder how long it will take me to beat the final quest?

Haven't been feeling much new stuff lately.  Gave Planet Coaster, Crash, and Tony Hawk a try.  Not bad, but sent them back I just didn't see myself finishing any of them.  Been firing up some old NES titles for the beat all the NES game contest on the site, having some fun there.  Also Cyber Shadow is coming out this month so looking forward to that.

Edited January 17, 2021 by fox

[Brickman | 3,983]

38 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Maybe I should give that game another chance.

I thought it looked cool and bought an English language copy years ago when it was still cheap. I played through the first few stages and thought it played horribly, and I haven't touched it since  

I actually had the same feeling, the first two levels were not very interesting but the further I got in the better it got. It’s got a great variety of levels and some very wacky stuff that you’d expect from the Japanese. Give it another go when you get a chance.

[Murray | 2,447]

On 12/22/2020 at 11:27 AM, Jeevan said:

Earthbound -- Never played it but have been obsessed with it since I was a kid.

You beat Giygas yet? 

[Webhead123 | 675]

1 hour ago, Murray said:

You beat Giygas yet? 

I've been thinking about Earthbound again lately. I rented it back when it came out but, as a rental, I was never able to get through the whole game. But even incomplete, I always remember how charming the game was. But something has been stirring in me recently that has me wanting to tackle it all the way to the end. Maybe this year is the year.