The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

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jfissel
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The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by jfissel »

Nothing really coming out this week. Next week is Valkyria Chronicles 4.

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Added to Backlog: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

Current Backlog: 30 games

I'm 24.5 hours into Dragon Quest XI, pretty good for a week and a half of playing. The story is moving along nicely and I've been exploring all corners of the world!
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Phaseknox wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 12:48 am I don't find all games repetitive, some just have more repetitive design structures than others. The Yakuza series (at least the ones that I've played) take place in one or two somewhat small open areas for their entire duration, and you spend a lot of time going back and forth throughout them primarily engaging in fighting. Sure there are a lot of side activities to do, but very few of them really interest me so I primarily focus on the story content.
I see. For me (from what I've played of the series), The open areas are small, but feel so dense. I feel like I'm never without something interesting to do. (I'm glad the batting cages are still there from the first. I love those. I also enjoyed the bowling and darts so far. The dancing was a bit meh for me though.) Yes the activities (including combat) aren't all super deep, although I find them engaging, but it's more about the way everything comes together into a whole that I enjoy. It feels like you're living a virtual life - the life of a (dancing :P ) Yakuza! It's one of those situations where the sum is more than the parts, for me at least. And I'm absolutely loving my time with it so far. I got an S rank in the beginner batting cages, and I know I'll be tempted to S rank them all. I'm sure they get pretty tough though.

I also dabbled in Q*bert Rebooted. I really loved Q*bert as a youngster, but unfortunately the original outshines the reboot. I was hoping they'd do something really interesting like Pac-man championship edition, but it was not to be. But I still love playing the original arcade game.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Played last week: Stardew Valley

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 35 (13 PS4, 9 Vita, 6 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)

Another week of not being able to put down Stardew Valley. I'm nearing the end of my first year in Pelican Town... made a ton of progress, ready for spring of year two.
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argyle
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by argyle »

Games added: Darkest Dungeon, Devious Dungeon (swear I didn't plan that :P), Aaero, Ace of Seafood & Observer - basically a bunch of Play-Asia & LRG games I had ordered a while back finally showed up

Last week: Spidy

This week: Just finished Spidy, so it's back to DQXI! :D

Just saw the credits roll on Spidy. A friend of mine texted me tonight & said "Best Games of 2018: 1) God of War 2) Spider-Man". From what I've played so far, he's probably right. Sony is killing it this year. From the looks of it, they won't be letting up next year either.

Also, I'm SO happy to see an Insomniac game get the sales & recognition it deserves after so long.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by jfissel »

argyle wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:03 pm Just saw the credits roll on Spidy. A friend of mine texted me tonight & said "Best Games of 2018: 1) God of War 2) Spider-Man". From what I've played so far, he's probably right. Sony is killing it this year. From the looks of it, they won't be letting up next year either.

Also, I'm SO happy to see an Insomniac game get the sales & recognition it deserves after so long.
Awesome, can't wait to play it at some point.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

Played: Little Nightmares

Finished: Inside

Playing: Little Nightmares

I've been playing Little Nightmares here and there and it's a good platform puzzle game, but it's not really the type of game that sucks me in for hours at a time. It also doesn't help that I haven't been in the mood to play video games too much lately.
isthatallyougot wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 7:07 pmFor me (from what I've played of the series), The open areas are small, but feel so dense. I feel like I'm never without something interesting to do. (I'm glad the batting cages are still there from the first. I love those. I also enjoyed the bowling and darts so far. The dancing was a bit meh for me though.) Yes the activities (including combat) aren't all super deep, although I find them engaging, but it's more about the way everything comes together into a whole that I enjoy. It feels like you're living a virtual life - the life of a (dancing :P ) Yakuza! It's one of those situations where the sum is more than the parts, for me at least.
I get what you're saying, and if you like most of the optional side stuff then you're going to enjoy the games even more. But everything is too arcade-y and segmented for it to feel like a virtual life for me. The Shenmue games pulled that off a lot better IMO. The Yakuza games (for me) feel like story/character driven beat-em-ups with optional arcade-y side stuff.
canedaddy wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 9:53 pmAnother week of not being able to put down Stardew Valley. I'm nearing the end of my first year in Pelican Town... made a ton of progress, ready for spring of year two.
It sounds as addicting as Harvest Moon, I look forward to playing it when the mood strikes me.
argyle wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:03 pmJust saw the credits roll on Spidy. A friend of mine texted me tonight & said "Best Games of 2018: 1) God of War 2) Spider-Man". From what I've played so far, he's probably right.
God of War is definitely one of the best games of the year, and I have no doubt that Spider-Man is as well. But I think that I'm going to enjoy games like Dragon Quest XI, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider even more. We'll see.
argyle wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 11:03 pmSony is killing it this year. From the looks of it, they won't be letting up next year either.
I have yet to play a Sony published game this gen that hasn't really impressed me, and I don't expect that to change. They've definitely been delivering great games.
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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Phaseknox wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:36 pm I get what you're saying, and if you like most of the optional side stuff then you're going to enjoy the games even more. But everything is too arcade-y and segmented for it to feel like a virtual life for me. The Shenmue games pulled that off a lot better IMO. The Yakuza games (for me) feel like story/character driven beat-em-ups with optional arcade-y side stuff.
I plan to pick up the Shenmue collection at some point. I've always been curious, and I think I'll enjoy it - even so long after the fact. (I'm not an A.I. :P )
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

isthatallyougot wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:45 pmI'm not an A.I. :P
I am. ;)

:P
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argyle
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by argyle »

Phaseknox wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 1:36 pm God of War is definitely one of the best games of the year, and I have no doubt that Spider-Man is as well. But I think that I'm going to enjoy games like Dragon Quest XI, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider even more. We'll see.
Well I'm back onto DQXI now and loving it, so we'll see how it ranks once I'm done. And there are other games I'm really looking forward to before the end of the year - mainly AC Odyssey, but also Spyro Reignited and Darksiders III. I'm honestly not that excited for Red Dead right now. Admittedly I haven't watched much on it, so I'm gonna check out some of the more recent trailers on it tomorrow.

There are also a lot of games already released this year that I haven't played yet or haven't put as much time into as I would like. There's just too much great stuff out there right now. I may do what you did next gen Phase, and just hold off on picking up the new systems until I've caught up some. Of course, I'm really hoping Sony makes the PS5 backwards compatible w/ the PS4. They had an excuse this time with the drastic change in system architecture from the PS3 to PS4 (PS3 was just really weird hardware according to pretty much everyone), but they won't have that same excuse next time. It would be foolish for them not to do that, honestly - as one of the guys I know at my local GS said this week, with the library of exclusives they have on the PS4 they could pretty much bury MS from the start by carrying all of that forward.
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 37: 9/15/18: Ummm...Xenoblade Chronicles 2 DLC Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

argyle wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:51 pmI'm back onto DQXI now and loving it, so we'll see how it ranks once I'm done.
Based on what I've seen of it, it looks like a possible GOTY contender.
argyle wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:51 pmthere are other games I'm really looking forward to before the end of the year - mainly AC Odyssey, but also Spyro Reignited and Darksiders III.
I forgot about Darksiders III, I'm really looking forward to it too.
argyle wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:51 pmI'm honestly not that excited for Red Dead right now. Admittedly I haven't watched much on it, so I'm gonna check out some of the more recent trailers on it tomorrow.
I also wasn't really excited for it until watching the latest gameplay trailer, but now I am. It looks like a big sprawling highly detailed open world western with tons to see and do, I expect it to stand out as something special this year.
argyle wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:51 pmThere's just too much great stuff out there right now. I may do what you did next gen Phase, and just hold off on picking up the new systems until I've caught up some.
I won't be ready for next gen until the gen after it. :P
argyle wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 10:51 pmI'm really hoping Sony makes the PS5 backwards compatible w/ the PS4.
If they do that then I will definitely buy a PS5 sooner rather than later.
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