The Backlog Check-in Vol. 326: 3/30/24: Freedom Planet 2 Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Outriders, RPGolf Legends

Finished: Nothing

Playing: ?

Added: Nothing

Games releasing this week
Anonymous Hacker Simulator
Astra: Knights of Veda
Azoove
C-Smash VRS
Deceit 2
Freedom Planet 2
From Glory to Goo
The Gap
Hydroneer: Journey to Vocalidis
Kitchen Crisis
Minishoot’ Adventures
Planetiles
Purpose 1951
Saviorless
SnowRunner - The Atom
Sons of Valhalla
Tengoku Struggle: Strayside
Turbo Golf Racing
Withering Rooms

[argyle]

Games added: Age of Booty, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin (both Xbox digital sales), Radical Rabbit Stew (Switch digital sale)

Last week: Mostly Unicorn Overlord & Slay the Spire, with a few other things sprinkled in

This week: Same

The deeper I get into UO the better it gets. It's one of those amazing games that you can play at a surface level & enjoy but if you choose to get into the real nuts & bolts of the game it just rewards you more & more for doing so. I was playing through part of the colosseum and using those tough fights to tweak my teams. It's insanely satisfying to lose a fight, then go in & adjust the minutia of when your abilities trigger, what abilities are triggering, etc. and then re-do the fight and see your changes in action and win.

Meanwhile, Slay the Spire is fun-ish but much more about luck than skill. I'll probably stick with it a little longer, but I have seen credits roll (you supposedly have to beat it with all 3 characters and then do something else to see the "true" ending, but I don't know that I'll be in for that). So at this point, once something else pulls me away from it I'm fine with putting it down.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Sea of Stars

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing (although I have been eyeballing the PSN Spring Sale)

Current backlog: 34


I think I'm near the end of the main storyline of Sea of Stars. It has been a delight all the way.

[isthatallyougot]

It's one of those amazing games that you can play at a surface level & enjoy but if you choose to get into the real nuts & bolts of the game it just rewards you more & more for doing so.

I *LOVE* that! So many of the best games offer that layered feeling to things. The only Vanillaware game I've every played is Dragon's Crown. And while I thought it was pretty good, the on-screen chaos was too busy for my tastes. It interfered with game "readability" imho. The art was great and the gameplay tight though - plenty to like about it. Maybe I'll give another entry by them a shot or return and dig deeper into DC one day.

(Edit: I forgot that I also played GrimGrimoire which was also decent but not great, at least in terms of my tastes.

As for myself, I finished up my hard run of Guacamelee STCE, and it was just as awesome - actually more so - as the first run. I'm 85 % complete with everything - all secrets, side-quests and collectibles. I haven't had to look up anything yet, but one of the secrets was so cleverly hidden. But it was hidden with just enough information for the observant player to work it out. I really love that type of puzzle, and this was super fun to figure out and execute. I've also got 5 of the 6 mask pieces, so I'll get the last one (again) when I return to face the final boss for the last time. Man one of those orbs was really challenging to get. (The one in the Tree Tops area). There was some real finesse needed to ascend those heights with all the obstacles. And then you meet a *damn* rooster who tells you

DisplayCollapse view

congratulations you've made it half way, when you actually have finished

. Man, I was pissed both before and after I knew it was a joke, lol. Such a fantastic game - *my kind of game*. Tight mechanics, light-hearted presentation, great soundtrack, good challenge in both platforming and fighting and an interesting map with plenty of little secrets to uncover.

Sounds like we're all having fun. (even phase? ) I've also played some shorter games blended in along with Guac and some other stuff, but I guess those will just magically show up on the year-end countdown, ha.

[Phaseknox]

Sounds like we're all having fun. (even phase? )

Not really. I stopped playing Outriders because it’s too easy on the story setting, and it’s one of the most repetitive games that I’ve played. It doesn’t present any challenge on the story setting, but it’s a little too challenging on the easy setting. While I was somewhat enjoying the story and characters, the gameplay is just going through linear levels shooting waves of same-y enemies over and over again. There’s literally nothing else that you do in the game.

I started playing Adam’s Venture Origins which is a third person adventure puzzle game that seems like a PS2/Xbox era game which gives it some retro charm, but the constant puzzles ruined it for me. It’s more about solving annoying little puzzles than it is about adventure which is a shame because it had the potential to be better than it is.

I started playing Conan Exiles and it had the potential to be a really good third person open world action adventure game, but instead it’s a crafting/survival game. You have hunger and thirst meters that deplete quickly, and have to craft clothing, tools, weapons and shelter with resources that you gather. Part of the problem is that everything that you craft especially shelter takes a lot of resources, so you spend a lot of time going around tediously collecting resources which is boring. The game in general is boring because there’s really no goal to it. There’s general tasks that you’re given, but they almost all involve crafting and survival. To make matters worse, the framerate chugs and stutters continuously to the point where it’s unplayable. I played the game once before a while ago and it didn’t do this, so it’s an issue with the latest update. I discovered that the developer was told about it two years ago and they said that they were looking into it, but they obviously didn’t fix it which is ridiculous because the game is basically broken.

https://forums.funcom.com/t/low-fps-lag ... 0aka%20lag.

Games added: Age of Booty, 9 Monkeys of Shaolin (both Xbox digital sales), Radical Rabbit Stew (Switch digital sale)

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who buys games that I’ll probably never play.

[isthatallyougot]

Sounds like we're all having fun. (even phase? )

Not really.

Hopefully you'll find something that clicks.

[argyle]

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who buys games that I’ll probably never play.

Lol, well I usually get around to them sooner or later. Plus I spent $4 total on those. Quest for Booty was $1, and it's getting delisted soon so I bit on that. Radical Rabbit Stew was $1 as well after I cashed in $1 worth of reward points, and it popped up in a hidden Switch gems video I watched a little while back. Shaolin was the "expensive" one at $2, and the trailer for it just looked really good - a stylized beat-em-up.

[canedaddy]

Quest for Booty was $1.

It's usually a lot more than that!

Just wanted to let you folks know I'll be away from here for a week or so. Going on a little trip that includes a stop in jfissel country to see (or experience) the total eclipse.

[crimson_tide]

Hey!

Played: A tiny little bit of Infinite Wealth. Like a kitten's paw worth. Also randomness on my Steamdeck while commuting. The Witcher 3 is fine, Dragon's Dogma is also fine, Ori is pretty good search action and Gotham Knights...I don't hate t. But I don't like it yet. Also playing as Red Hood because non lethal guns that get stronger is just stupid. It takes so many bullets for any one thug.

Beat: Nothing

Bought: Humble Bundles! Bought the EDF 4.1 with DLC/World Brothers/Iron Rain/5 and the Red Faction/Saints Row bundle with 10 games as well.

My internet has been out all week and we have to switch carriers now. It's a whole ass thing. Bummer.

[jfissel]

Quest for Booty was $1.

It's usually a lot more than that!

Just wanted to let you folks know I'll be away from here for a week or so. Going on a little trip that includes a stop in jfissel country to see (or experience) the total eclipse.

Enjoy! I will also be checking out the eclipse tomorrow.