The Backlog Check-in Vol. 95: 10/26/19: Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout/Luigi's Mansion 3 Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: My Time at Portia

Finished (playing): My Time at Portia

Playing: ?

I stopped playing My Time at Portia, while I was enjoying it at first its gameplay loop becomes repetitive rather quickly. While I realize that's the norm for these types of games, its gameplay loop of basically gathering materials and resources to build and craft things isn't quite as enjoyable as the daily farming/social sim gameplay loops of other similar games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley. While it offers a town community and social elements, they take a backseat to mining for materials/resources and building and crafting which I started to tire of after a few hours. While there's a chance that I might come back to it again at some point, I have too many other games that I would rather be playing right now to keep dumping hours into it without making much progress.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout and Luigi's Mansion 3 come out this week.

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Assassin's Creed: Odyssey

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 31 games

61 hours into Odyssey and I'm getting ready to resume the main story again after taking care of most of the islands (only a few at the top of the map left). Also just beat up a mythical beast of legend, so that was fun.

[argyle]

Games added: Celeste, Iconoclasts, Ghost 1.0

Last week: Finished nothing, played The Outer Worlds mostly

This week: The Outer Worlds

TOW is amazing. It's exactly what I hoped it would be - if anything, it's even better than I hoped.

[Phaseknox]

TOW is amazing. It's exactly what I hoped it would be - if anything, it's even better than I hoped.

It's always great when a game that you're really looking forward to is as good as you were hoping that it would be, but even greater when it's better. Based on your impressions of The Outer Worlds and the (almost) universal praise that it's been receiving at NeoGAF (which is rare) it seems to be better than I was thinking that it was. I really look forward to playing it, hopefully it's on sale Black Friday.

[Phaseknox]

I started playing Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age tonight, and I'm loving it. I'm still not feeling very good so I was in the mood for something a little lighter in terms of overall look and feel and a little more laidback in terms of gameplay, and DQ11 delivers with its bright and colorful anime graphics and classic turn-based combat.

I feel that a lot of JRPGs this gen have gotten a little too complex and complicated for their own good with too many systems and lengthy tutorials for everything taking away from the fun factor a bit. Old school turn-based JRPGs remain some of my favorites, and that's exactly what DQ11 is but with modern visuals. It probably has the best graphics that I've seen in a JRPG this gen so far, and that's because it was made from the ground up for the PS4 instead of being made for the PS3 and ported to the PS4 like a lot of JRPGs this gen have been.

It's yet another current gen game that makes it clear to me that I'm not even remotely ready for the PS5 yet. I've only had my PS4 for three years and I have 200+ games for it with a lot more that I still want so I'm in no hurry for the PS5.

[jfissel]

I started playing Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age tonight, and I'm loving it. I'm still not feeling very good so I was in the mood for something a little lighter in terms of overall look and feel and a little more laidback in terms of gameplay, and DQ11 delivers with its bright and colorful anime graphics and classic turn-based combat.

I feel that a lot of JRPGs this gen have gotten a little too complex and complicated for their own good with too many systems and lengthy tutorials for everything taking away from the fun factor a bit. Old school turn-based JRPGs remain some of my favorites, and that's exactly what DQ11 is but with modern visuals. It probably has the best graphics that I've seen in a JRPG this gen so far, and that's because it was made from the ground up for the PS4 instead of being made for the PS3 and ported to the PS4 like a lot of JRPGs this gen have been.

It's yet another current gen game that makes it clear to me that I'm not even remotely ready for the PS5 yet. I've only had my PS4 for three years and I have 200+ games for it with a lot more that I still want so I'm in no hurry for the PS5.

Yep, it's a good one. Enjoy! :slime: It has a great cast of interesting characters and a fun world to explore.

[canedaddy]

Hey y'all. Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I haven't done any gaming aside from one or two hours of Borderlands.

Most of my spare time has been filled with house hunting and the like. We're moving back east, for a variety of reasons. I've loved my time in Arizona, no doubt... there are a lot of things here, and people, that I'll miss. But it will be good to get back to old friends and family. I'll keep my job, just work remotely.

We put in an offer on a house over the weekend, and after some back and forth we have a deal. So my next few weeks will be filled with planning, packing and all that fun stuff. Moving day is TBD but probably late November/early December.

Hope you guys have been well!

[isthatallyougot]

Hey y'all. Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I haven't done any gaming aside from one or two hours of Borderlands.

Most of my spare time has been filled with house hunting and the like. We're moving back east, for a variety of reasons. I've loved my time in Arizona, no doubt... there are a lot of things here, and people, that I'll miss. But it will be good to get back to old friends and family. I'll keep my job, just work remotely.

We put in an offer on a house over the weekend, and after some back and forth we have a deal. So my next few weeks will be filled with planning, packing and all that fun stuff. Moving day is TBD but probably late November/early December.

Hope you guys have been well!

Sheesh - moving has to be high on the list of my least favorite things. Hope it's over quick.

[Phaseknox]

Yep, it's a good one. Enjoy! :slime: It has a great cast of interesting characters and a fun world to explore.

I've definitely been enjoying it. I've played it for 10 hours so far, and that time has flown by. I've heard that it's a 100+ hour game, but I find that somewhat hard to believe since it's fairly linear without a lot of side content. While some of the areas are open-ish, there's not a lot to explore off the beaten path. But at the same time I don't feel like a lot has really happened within the 10 hours that I've played so far, so I can see it being a really long game if it keeps going at the same pace which I'm fine with because I'm really enjoying my time with it.

It's like a golden age JRPG from the PS1, Dreamcast and PS2 generations, but with modern bells and whistles/graphics. I haven't felt this nostalgic with a JRPG in a long time. My only real complaint is that the main character is a silent protagonist, with such a lively cast of side characters it's really off-putting (especially during character interaction/story scenes) when he's mute the entire time. The silent protagonist trend in JRPGs needs to end.

Hey y'all. Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I haven't done any gaming aside from one or two hours of Borderlands.

Most of my spare time has been filled with house hunting and the like. We're moving back east, for a variety of reasons. I've loved my time in Arizona, no doubt... there are a lot of things here, and people, that I'll miss. But it will be good to get back to old friends and family. I'll keep my job, just work remotely.

We put in an offer on a house over the weekend, and after some back and forth we have a deal. So my next few weeks will be filled with planning, packing and all that fun stuff. Moving day is TBD but probably late November/early December.

I was starting to think that you were another PS2 Backlog Committee casualty, so thanks for checking in and letting us know what's been going on.

[argyle]

Hey y'all. Sorry I haven't been on here in a while. I haven't done any gaming aside from one or two hours of Borderlands.

Most of my spare time has been filled with house hunting and the like. We're moving back east, for a variety of reasons. I've loved my time in Arizona, no doubt... there are a lot of things here, and people, that I'll miss. But it will be good to get back to old friends and family. I'll keep my job, just work remotely.

We put in an offer on a house over the weekend, and after some back and forth we have a deal. So my next few weeks will be filled with planning, packing and all that fun stuff. Moving day is TBD but probably late November/early December.

Hope you guys have been well!

Good luck on the move cane. Where will this put you in relation to your kids?