The Backlog Check-in Vol. 112: 2/22/20: Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection Edition

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Spider-Man DLC

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 35 games

Still settling into my new place, but I did buy a lot of furniture this weekend so that's a lot off the checklist.

Quite a few games releasing this week, though I'm not sure about their popularity:
- Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection
- Two Point Hospital (console versions)
- Overpass
- Bloodroots
- Metro Redux (Switch)
- One Man Punch
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV

[Phaseknox]

Played: Bastion, Child of Light, Forgotton Anne, Titan Quest

Finished: Forgotton Anne

Playing: Titan Quest

I wanted to take a break from big budget open world games, so I decided to play some smaller scale digital/indie games. I started with Forgotton Anne, and really enjoyed it. It's a side scrolling 2.5D adventure/platform/puzzle game with hand drawn art and animation influenced by Studio Ghibli. It's a quality game with great graphics, music and voice acting. It's somewhat of an interactive story with platforming, and puzzles. The story and characters are quite good, and the platforming and puzzles are decent. It took me roughly 9 hours to finish which was the right length for the experience.

I started playing Child of Light after finishing Forgotton Anne, but it didn't appeal to me as much. It's a cartoonish side scrolling 2.5D turn-based fantasy RPG where you fly through nice looking hand drawn watercolor environments. It has good music, too. But all that you really do in it is fly through levels, collect stuff and engage in turn-based combat every so often. The story and characters are fairly dull, and flying through semi open-ended environments isn't all that exciting. I was enjoying the game more at the very beginning before I could fly, and had to walk/run/jump and solve puzzles like a traditional adventure/platform/puzzle game. But you get the ability to fly early in the game, and then that's what you primarily do from that point forward. The turn-based combat is pretty good, but it wasn't enough to keep me engaged.

I started playing Bastion after I stopped playing Child of Light, and it didn't really appeal to me either. It's an isometric view linear action game with cartoonish graphics, and the environments form around/underneath you as you walk/run which I don't really like since not only is it distracting/gimmicky but also makes the graphics tile based and artificial/video game-y looking. I would have preferred it having already established organic environments like in classic action adventure games. It plays good, and has a narrator narrating the experience as you play. It also has cool music. But it's basically an action game where you walk along a linear path fighting waves of enemies which becomes repetitive rather quickly. It would have benefited from having more to do in it such as platforming and puzzle solving.

I started playing Titan Quest after quitting Bastion, and it clicked with me right away. It's an isometric view action RPG similar to the classics in the genre, but with a Greek mythology setting/theme. It reminds me a lot of Sacred 2, but with a more linear game world. Combat is based more on weapon stats than actual skill as you just press and hold a button to attack, and it pretty much goes into autopilot. Deciding which weapons and skills to use in which situations is part of the strategy. There's no evade moves like dodge or roll, and blocking is done automatically based on shield stats. While I would prefer a more interactive combat system, I still find the one that it offers decent for the most part. While the story and characterization are somewhat thin for an RPG, it's a more quest and gameplay driven experience. It looks good with a lot of color and detail to the graphics, and the music is good too. It's a throwback to classic isometric view action RPGs, and I'm enjoying it.

[isthatallyougot]

I started playing Child of Light after finishing Forgotton Anne, but it didn't appeal to me as much. It's a cartoonish side scrolling 2.5D turn-based fantasy RPG where you fly through nice looking hand drawn watercolor environments. It has good music, too. But all that you really do in it is fly through levels, collect stuff and engage in turn-based combat every so often. The story and characters are fairly dull, and flying through semi open-ended environments isn't all that exciting. I was enjoying the game more at the very beginning before I could fly, and had to walk/run/jump and solve puzzles like a traditional adventure/platform/puzzle game. But you get the ability to fly early in the game, and then that's what you primarily do from that point forward. The turn-based combat is pretty good, but it wasn't enough to keep me engaged.

I enjoyed it. Not a classic or anything, but it had nice art/music - like you said. And the combat *was* pretty fun.

As for myself. I started up Game of Thrones from Telltale. I've never watched the show. (shock) But I thought I'd give it a spin for some mindless entertainment. Pretty good so far. Lots of political/social drama.

I also started up Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I've had it in my backlog (the 2 in 1 pack on GBA with Aria of Sorrow) for ages, and finally decided to give it a go. Really enjoyable metroidvania so far, although the music is really disappointing relative to SOTN. I knew it would be technically inferior, given the hardware, but the melodies for the most part are just not very satisfying.

[Phaseknox]

I stopped playing Titan Quest, it's basically just going through somewhat open-ish environments fighting mobs of enemies and collecting loot. Since melee combat is basically on autopilot there's not much to it making it not very fun. The game originally came out in 2006 for PC, and they released a 10 year anniversary edition in 2016 with some improvements and released that version for consoles in 2017 which explains why it feels rather antiquated. It's fairly average for the genre, and I was finding it to be repetitive. If it had a deeper more interactive combat system then it would be better since fighting enemies is what you primarily do in it, but the stat based autopilot combat is too basic.

I started playing Dead Nation, and I'm really digging it. It's an isometric view twin stick shooter zombie apocalypse survival horror game where you make your way through ruined city streets fighting hordes of varied zombies. The graphics are really good with a lot of detail to everything, and nice lighting effects. The gameplay is tight and responsive, and the shooting is fun with you switching to different weapons on the fly depending on the situation. The music is cool, too. It's a solid action shooter, and I'm enjoying it.

I enjoyed it. Not a classic or anything, but it had nice art/music - like you said. And the combat *was* pretty fun.

It's definitely a good game and I was enjoying it for a while, but it would have benefited from mixing being on the ground running/platforming and flying instead of always flying IMO. Just flying through the environments and engaging in turn-based combat every so often got a little dull IMO. Perhaps I'll play it again in the future if the mood strikes me, but it failed to keep me interested until the end at this time.

[isthatallyougot]

I started playing Dead Nation, and I'm really digging it. It's an isometric view twin stick shooter zombie apocalypse survival horror game where you make your way through ruined city streets fighting hordes of varied zombies. The graphics are really good with a lot of detail to everything, and nice lighting effects. The gameplay is tight and responsive, and the shooting is fun with you switching to different weapons on the fly depending on the situation. The music is cool, too. It's a solid action shooter, and I'm enjoying it.

I loved Dead Nation. Housemarque are gaming giants imo.

[canedaddy]

Howdy guys. Sorry I've been away for so long. Hope you're all doing well.

We're settled into the new house now and I'm having a little more time for gaming. I've been playing Dragon Quest QXI, which, of course, I'm loving. It's still hard to believe sometimes that I'm playing a big new DQ in HD on my PS4. For a while that seemed like it would never happen. And the game looks soooo good. Also a ton of fun.


Played this week: Dragon Quest XI

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 36 (14 PS4, 9 Vita, 7 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)

[isthatallyougot]

Howdy guys. Sorry I've been away for so long. Hope you're all doing well.

We're settled into the new house now and I'm having a little more time for gaming. I've been playing Dragon Quest QXI, which, of course, I'm loving. It's still hard to believe sometimes that I'm playing a big new DQ in HD on my PS4. For a while that seemed like it would never happen. And the game looks soooo good. Also a ton of fun.


Played this week: Dragon Quest XI

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 36 (14 PS4, 9 Vita, 7 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)

Wow! the daddy is back. I had been wondering if you'd just checked out for good, lol. Glad to see you around. (Sorry about your Ravens in the playoffs. My brother is just outside of Nashville, so obviously he was thrilled though. I really thought they were going to bring home the Lombardi again this year. Tough loss.)

[jfissel]

Howdy guys. Sorry I've been away for so long. Hope you're all doing well.

We're settled into the new house now and I'm having a little more time for gaming. I've been playing Dragon Quest QXI, which, of course, I'm loving. It's still hard to believe sometimes that I'm playing a big new DQ in HD on my PS4. For a while that seemed like it would never happen. And the game looks soooo good. Also a ton of fun.


Played this week: Dragon Quest XI

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 36 (14 PS4, 9 Vita, 7 3DS/2DS, 5 PS2)

Hi cane, welcome back!

As for Dead Nation, I got that as one of my games for the PSN hack thing and thought it was great.