The Backlog Check-in Vol. 284: 6/10/23: Jorel’s Brother and the Most Important Game of the Galaxy Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: King’s Bounty II

Finished: Nothing

Playing: King’s Bounty II

Added: Nothing

Games releasing this week
Alchemic Cutie
Brave Soldier: Invasion of Cyborgs
Chess Gambit
Classic Sport Driving
Corbid: A Colorful Adventure
Danmaku Unlimited 3
Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow
Dordogne
Dubium
Fall of Porcupine
F1 23
Guardians of Holme
Happy Game Pilgrims
Heist Kitty
Jack Jeanne
Jorel’s Brother and the Most Important Game of the Galaxy
Oblivion Override
Park Beyond
Pixel Ripped 1978
ProtoCorgi
Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Hung Parliament
Space Reign
Stay Out of the House
Steel Assault
Undawn
The Zone: Stalker Stories

[crimson_tide]

Jorel’s Brother and the Most Important Game of the Galaxy

Look Phase, we're out of the pandemic. You can stop making up fake games...*googles Phase's fake game*

...sorry Phase.

Played: Little Noah, Hades, Ruiner, Odin Sphere (going for the platinum), Marvel Midnight Suns (Look, my Hunter is going to be the mother of Blade's daughter, Captain Marvel best go off into space to leave me with my man or else )

Bought: Ruiner, Hades, Transformers Battlegrounds (it's only 8 or so hours apparently and will likely be better than the recently released movie which should not be a huge reach at all )

This week: Odin Sphere and Marvel Midnight Suns fam!

So I tried Ruiner (how was this only $2?) and Hades. I liked Ruiner and don't get Hades but that's probably because everyone said that it was the greatest game ever and it didn't immediately grab me. That's not the game's fault so I will get into it when I feel like focusing on it to pick at it and find the greatness probably.

But Marvel Midnight Suns is so dumb. I love it. The Plot is you as the resurrected Hunter are the child of Lilith, the billion years old eldritch demon who died by your hand hundreds of years ago. Now she's back and blah blah blah rule/destroy the world/universe/multiverse yada yada yada. While the strategy card based battle system is slick and finally clicked for me last night (it's REALLY good), that's still not keeping me playing alone. Hunter grew up in a pocket dimension called the Abbey where the Midnight Suns are based which Hunter can explore freely. Time flows different sooooo...all sense of urgency is omitted and absolved so Hunter can do fun things like go fishing with Blade or plan a surprise party for Magik's birthday. Just dumb ****. I know everyone else in the world is not super down with this game but I can't get enough and am tickled every time I play it. Whether it's the social stuff or combat or exploring the Abbey, I am down for all of it. I wish they had some kind of demo I could suggest for y'all but it takes a good minute to get going. I would definitely suggest it on a deep discount. It's ugly as sin (looks like an early PS3 game...very, very early, think Folklore), the card battle system might not be your jam, the writing is all over the damn place, the pacing is bizarre and the Persona style social link style is not for everyone. This game has Problems. But I love it. Also there's a dog named Charlie I get to pet daily. There's a kitty kat too you have to find through meows like Yakuza 6 and it's adorable...**** It, everyone should buy this game, forget that I said anything critiquing it .

[Phaseknox]

Jorel’s Brother and the Most Important Game of the Galaxy

Look Phase, we're out of the pandemic. You can stop making up fake games...*googles Phase's fake game*

...sorry Phase.

I liked Ruiner and don't get Hades but that's probably because everyone said that it was the greatest game ever and it didn't immediately grab me.

Everyone says that Vampire Survivors is the greatest game ever as well which is why I don’t listen to everyone.

Marvel Midnight Suns is so dumb. I love it. The Plot is you as the resurrected Hunter are the child of Lilith, the billion years old eldritch demon who died by your hand hundreds of years ago. Now she's back and blah blah blah rule/destroy the world/universe/multiverse yada yada yada. While the strategy card based battle system is slick and finally clicked for me last night (it's REALLY good), that's still not keeping me playing alone. Hunter grew up in a pocket dimension called the Abbey where the Midnight Suns are based which Hunter can explore freely. Time flows different sooooo...all sense of urgency is omitted and absolved so Hunter can do fun things like go fishing with Blade or plan a surprise party for Magik's birthday. Just dumb ****.

It sounds like something that I will like, I’ll get it when it’s cheap.

[jfissel]

Finished: New Super Mario Bros 2

Now Playing: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Tchia

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 44 games

Finished the main levels in NSMB 2, which is enough for me. I did everything in the first game, but I'm not keen on the controls now so it frustrated me a bit. Another 3DS game up next: Zelda. Trying to move through my backlog on this handheld, but I still have like 6 or 7 games left.

[Phaseknox]

I quit playing King’s Bounty II close to the end because the battles were becoming too difficult. I played the majority of the game, and watched the ending on YouTube. If I started the game over again from the beginning I know that I would do better, because I learned the overall mechanics later in the game which if I understood better at the beginning I would have been a lot more powerful throughout the game and at the end. It’s definitely a good game, but the mix of third person adventure RPG gameplay and isometric view strategic tactical turn-based squad combat is a little awkward as it almost feels like two separate games combined into one. It would have been better just having in-world realtime character action combat IMO.

I was still in the mood for a third person adventure RPG, so I started playing Jade Empire since I’ve been meaning to play it again for a long time because I didn’t finish it back when I originally played it. While it’s of course showing its age now visually, the story, characters and gameplay still hold up fairly well and I’m enjoying it more this time than I originally did. It’s a beat-em-up RPG, unlike other BioWare RPGs the combat is completely realtime action. You go around melee fighting groups of enemies like in a beat-em-up while the story, character interaction, leveling and upgrading/unlocking of new abilities/skills give it its RPG elements. It’s a little dated in terms of graphics and controls, but I’m still enjoying it because of the story, characters and beat-em-up gameplay.

[argyle]

Games added: Outbuddies DX

Last week: Finished nothing, played Tears of the Kingdom, Diablo 4, and a little Street Fighter 6

This week: Same

I'm close to the end of the main story in Zelda - still a TON of side stuff I haven't done, but I think I may go ahead & wrap up the story and then keep playing. I don't want to quit playing and not have finished the story, so this way whenever I'm ready to move on I can. Tam & I are really enjoying D4 - Diablo is one of our jams, and we just have a blast playing together. I would have put more time into SF6, because it's great, but I'm not a fan of the PS5 controller on a good day, and it REALLY sucks for fighters. Was looking for a cheap fightpad for the system, but I'm not sure such a thing exists.

Outbuddies is a Metroidvania that I've heard good things about so it was on my wishlist, and it was on sale for $2. Maybe I'll get to it eventually.

[canedaddy]

Look Phase, we're out of the pandemic. You can stop making up fake games...*googles Phase's fake game*

...sorry Phase.

My thought exactly.

So I tried Ruiner (how was this only $2?) and Hades. I liked Ruiner and don't get Hades but that's probably because everyone said that it was the greatest game ever and it didn't immediately grab me. That's not the game's fault so I will get into it when I feel like focusing on it to pick at it and find the greatness probably.

I'm not alone! Whew. I tried Hades and did not get it. Maybe I'll go back to it sometime and it'll click with me, but my first try was very disappointing.

I was still in the mood for a third person adventure RPG, so I started playing Jade Empire since I’ve been meaning to play it again for a long time because I didn’t finish it back when I originally played it. While it’s of course showing its age now visually, the story, characters and gameplay still hold up fairly well and I’m enjoying it more this time than I originally did. It’s a beat-em-up RPG, unlike other BioWare RPGs the combat is completely realtime action. You go around melee fighting groups of enemies like in a beat-em-up while the story, character interaction, leveling and upgrading/unlocking of new abilities/skills give it its RPG elements. It’s a little dated in terms of graphics and controls, but I’m still enjoying it because of the story, characters and beat-em-up gameplay.

Where are you playing that? I thought it was an Xbox exclusive... didn't know you had one of those.


Played recently: Octopath Traveler II

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 31

I've gotten sucked into Octopath 2 pretty hard. It's still not bringing all the stories together in any way whatsoever, but I've assembled a foursome I really like and have moved into some tougher areas where I can slay fools now.

[argyle]

Oh, I forgot to toss in my .02. Ruiner is great, Hades is amazing, and Vampire Survivor is a blast. But it's OK, you guys are allowed to be wrong.

[Phaseknox]

Where are you playing that? I thought it was an Xbox exclusive... didn't know you had one of those.

I have an Xbox 360, a lot of original Xbox games can be played on it.

Hades is amazing, and Vampire Survivor is a blast. But it's OK, you guys are allowed to be wrong.

I haven’t actually played either one, but they don’t really look like my thing. However, I’m interested in Hades II because it has a female protagonist.

[argyle]

Where are you playing that? I thought it was an Xbox exclusive... didn't know you had one of those.

I have an Xbox 360, a lot of original Xbox games can be played on it.

Hades is amazing, and Vampire Survivor is a blast. But it's OK, you guys are allowed to be wrong.

I haven’t actually played either one, but they don’t really look like my thing. However, I’m interested in Hades II because it has a female protagonist.

Ah, that explains it. I'll grant you, Vampire Survivor doesn't LOOK like a very good game at all. It looks pretty bad, honestly. And it's hard to describe why it's so fun. It's doubtful that it would ever been anyone's GOTY, but it's just a really fun, addictive game that you can play in 15-30 min bursts (tho it often turns into more). It's a very simple concept done extremely well.