The Backlog Check-in Vol. 321: 2/24/24: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Grandia, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Grandia

Added: Eternights, Grandia

Games releasing this week
Age of Wonders 4: Primal Fury
Anglerfish
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
Beat the Beats VR
Captain Velvet Meteor: The Jump+ Dimensions
Cavern of Dreams
Champion Shift
Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Cricket Through the Ages
The C64 Collection 3
Dicefolk
Ex Astris
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Goblin Slayer Another Adventure: Nightmare Feast
Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure
Heartshot
Heavenly Bodies
Hidden Winter Cats
Mixture
The Mobius Machine
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi Tsuzuri
Parry Nightmare
Pecaminosa
Picross S+
Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons
PopSlinger
Power Wash Simulator - Warhammer 40,000
Pull Stay
Rainbow Reactor: Fusion - Remaster
Reverse: 1999 Version 1.4 The Prisoner in the Cave
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island
SpaceKraft!
Spiritfall
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
Tamarak Trail
Timemelters
Ufouria: The Saga 2
Unlife
A Void Hope
Welcome to Paradize
William and Sly
Wrath: Aeon of Ruin

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Save Room, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, McPixel 3

Finished: Save Room

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 33


I was looking to play a short game or two before jumping into another big one, and I ended up playing three this weekend.

Save Room: This is the puzzle game where you fit guns, ammo, etc., into a case a la RE4. As advertised by crim, a very enjoyable and chill experience. I went through the whole thing in a few hours and got the platinum.

Gibbon: This is my favorite animal... I could watch gibbons swinging around for hours, and I thought this would provide that sensation. Unfortunately, the controls here just do not work for me... just L2 for running and R2 for swinging. Had to quit pretty early on.

McPixel 3: Very fun and funny. More urination than I expected. Thanks for the word, argyle. I will be going for 100% on this to see all the scenarios.

[argyle]

Games added: Like A Dragon: Ishin!, New Tales From The Borderlands Deluxe Ed. (both ps4), Undernauts: Labyrinth Of Yomi (ps5), Wild Hearts, Stranger of Paradise, Anno 1800 (xbox series)

Last week: Finished Like A Dragon and A Little To The Left

This week: LAD Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

The game pickups were all Gamestop markdowns, they had some pretty good deals last week (which is getting rarer and rarer).

Finished up LAD Sat night (well technically EARLY Sunday morning). Great game, great ending. Final time on the clock was about 108 hours I believe. I usually wouldn't start up a game's sequel immediately after finishing it, but I figure since TMWEHN is action-based instead of turn-based, and it's a lot shorter than the mainline games, then it shouldn't be an issue. Not very far in yet, but digging it so far.

A Little To The Left is a very short but fun puzzle game about organization. If that sounds appealing to you then I definitely recommend it, but wait for it to be on sale for cheap because it is VERY short. Exophase shows my time spent at a little over 10 hours, but that's ridiculous - it has to have counted time I had it paused. I'd put it closer to 3, *maybe* 4. There are daily puzzles you can do, but I don't see myself booting it up every day to solve one puzzle.

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Windbound, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 43 games

93 hours into Infinite Wealth with the end in sight soon!

Finished up LAD Sat night (well technically EARLY Sunday morning). Great game, great ending. Final time on the clock was about 108 hours I believe. I usually wouldn't start up a game's sequel immediately after finishing it, but I figure since TMWEHN is action-based instead of turn-based, and it's a lot shorter than the mainline games, then it shouldn't be an issue. Not very far in yet, but digging it so far.

Those 2 should be played close to each other, they tie together. Enjoy!

[argyle]

Those 2 should be played close to each other, they tie together. Enjoy!

Finished Chapter 1 last night, and I definitely see what you mean. I guess I didn't realize that TMWEHN takes place at the same time as the first LAD. Interested to see where it goes.

Oh, and "Would you like to continue on Easy?" - Yes, please.

defeat.gif (516 KiB) Viewed 576 times

[isthatallyougot]

Phase, how are you feeling about the TR remasters? Hope you're enjoying them, new controls and all. I've heard the camera really needs work with the modern control scheme, but of course the internet can be a bit hyperbolic oftentimes.

I'll definitely get it sooner or later, hopefully after some good patches. But I'm really tempted to go back and play some of the original (Core) 5 on Steam in the meantime. (We won't speak of AOD, lol. Not entirely their fault for sure though.) I may fire up the very first. It's been so long, but I'm sure I'll still love it. The atmosphere and level design were always excellent, and I'm sure they will still feel that way to me, and the old tank controls are no barrier to my own enjoyment. (I know many feel differently about that sort of thing though.)

[crimson_tide]

Played: Like A Dragon: Dondoko Island

Beat: Nothing

Bought: that Street Fighter/Capcom Arcade deal from Humble Bundle for like $20 in anticipation of getting my Steam Deck back someday. Oh and renewed my PS+ because I am a Sony simp or something .

This Week: Like A Dragon: Dondoko Island

So Dondoko Island has dominated my gaming life. I fully understand it is just Animal Crossing. I will never play Animal Crossing. But again, much like that business 'minigame' in the last game, that goddamned Ichiban is just so down for anything that I then become down for it. I am at 2 stars right now. I am committed to getting to 5. They just opened up the farm for me. I did a brief battle and found a whole ass house just chilling on another island. I love all this nonsense that has literally NOTHING to do with the main game. I just keep finding new stuff all the time! What. A. Game.

[Phaseknox]

Phase, how are you feeling about the TR remasters? Hope you're enjoying them, new controls and all. I've heard the camera really needs work with the modern control scheme, but of course the internet can be a bit hyperbolic oftentimes.

I'll definitely get it sooner or later, hopefully after some good patches. But I'm really tempted to go back and play some of the original (Core) 5 on Steam in the meantime. (We won't speak of AOD, lol. Not entirely their fault for sure though.) I may fire up the very first. It's been so long, but I'm sure I'll still love it. The atmosphere and level design were always excellent, and I'm sure they will still feel that way to me, and the old tank controls are no barrier to my own enjoyment. (I know many feel differently about that sort of thing though.)

I stopped playing the Tomb Raider remasters because I got Grandia and wanted to play it, but I stopped playing it because I wasn’t in the mood for such a big JRPG right now. I started playing Alisa which is a homage to the original PS1 Resident Evil, but despite digging how authentic it felt to being a PS1 survival horror game I just wasn’t in the mood for it at this time. I don’t know what I’m in the mood to play right now, I’ve been feeling a bit down and haven’t been in much of a gaming mood. There’s a good sale at the PS Store right now, and I’m going to buy a few games from it. Maybe one of those will be what I’m in the mood for now. We’ll see.

As for the Tomb Raider remasters, I was definitely enjoying them or at least the first game which was the one that I was playing. They did a good job with them, and I don’t have too many complaints. The camera is definitely problematic at times and the biggest issue that I have, but other than that I was enjoying revisiting classic Tomb Raider again with improved graphics and 60fps. The rumor is that they’re going to release remasters for The Last Revelation, Chronicles and The Angel of Darkness next. I actually somewhat like The Angel of Darkness, and feel that they can make it a better experience with improved graphics and controls.

[canedaddy]

Sorry to hear you've been down in the dumps, Phase. Praying for you.

It's possible McPixel 3 would help pull you out of that funk. It is pretty dang amusing.

Played: Like A Dragon: Dondoko Island

This Week: Like A Dragon: Dondoko Island

So Dondoko Island has dominated my gaming life. I fully understand it is just Animal Crossing. I will never play Animal Crossing. But again, much like that business 'minigame' in the last game, that goddamned Ichiban is just so down for anything that I then become down for it. I am at 2 stars right now. I am committed to getting to 5. They just opened up the farm for me. I did a brief battle and found a whole ass house just chilling on another island. I love all this nonsense that has literally NOTHING to do with the main game. I just keep finding new stuff all the time! What. A. Game.

Am I to take this to mean there's an Animal Crossing-like in Infinite Wealth?!?

[isthatallyougot]

I stopped playing the Tomb Raider remasters because I got Grandia and wanted to play it, but I stopped playing it because I wasn’t in the mood for such a big JRPG right now. I started playing Alisa which is a homage to the original PS1 Resident Evil, but despite digging how authentic it felt to being a PS1 survival horror game I just wasn’t in the mood for it at this time. I don’t know what I’m in the mood to play right now, I’ve been feeling a bit down and haven’t been in much of a gaming mood. There’s a good sale at the PS Store right now, and I’m going to buy a few games from it. Maybe one of those will be what I’m in the mood for now. We’ll see.

As for the Tomb Raider remasters, I was definitely enjoying them or at least the first game which was the one that I was playing. They did a good job with them, and I don’t have too many complaints. The camera is definitely problematic at times and the biggest issue that I have, but other than that I was enjoying revisiting classic Tomb Raider again with improved graphics and 60fps. The rumor is that they’re going to release remasters for The Last Revelation, Chronicles and The Angel of Darkness next. I actually somewhat like The Angel of Darkness, and feel that they can make it a better experience with improved graphics and controls.

I never finished AOD. I encountered an apparently game-breaking bug not too far into it, but it was definitely not the caliber of the PS1 entries to that point imho. I may give it another shot one day though.

And I saw the in-game easter egg that hinted at TR 4 & 5 being a possibility, but I never saw any reference to AOD. It would be nice if that game got the proper attention to complete it though.

Hope you get to feeling better.