The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

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Phaseknox
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The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

Played: Horizon Zero Dawn

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Horizon Zero Dawn

Added: Tormented Souls

Games releasing this week
Babylon’s Fall
Beholder 3
Conan Chop Chop
Elex II
Far: Changing Tides
Gran Turismo 7
Gunborg: Dark Matters
Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator
Legend of Ixtona
Little Orpheus
A Musical Story
Music Racer
Puzzle Quest 3
Ryan’s Rescue Squad
Shadow Warrior 3
35MM
Triangle Strategy
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argyle
Posts: 827
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:28 pm

Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by argyle »

Games added: Elden Ring

Last week: Finished nothing. Played some forgettable BS, and then Elden ring.

This week: Elden Ring.

I freakin' LOVE Elden Ring. It is surpassing all of my expectations. The world is massive and extremely fun to explore - it's very refreshing to play an open-world game that isn't all about finding quest markers, clearing out forts or whatever, and collecting baphmodads. In this regard, it very much reminds me of Breath of the Wild, which also had a very pure sense of exploration (even though it did have some collectibles, they weren't a huge focus in that game). The difficulty is challenging but fair - I'm playing a magic user which allows me to fight ranged and still do some pretty good damage. There are save points scattered throughout but also "checkpoints" - when you die you can choose to respawn at the last save or the closest checkpoint, and those are typically pretty close to where you died. They are often really close to boss fights as well, which may be a first for From :P. In addition, you have ways of refilling your healing & magic restoration potions outside of the save points. There are certain groups of enemies where if you kill them all they will refill your potions. Also, there are some "dung beetles" pushing big balls that will restore one charge of either your health or magic potions if you kill them. These aren't so plentiful that it makes conserving your charges trivial, not by a long shot - but there are enough of them to where you feel like you have a fair shot. The bosses are very tough, as expected, but since it's open-world if you get stuck on one you can just go & do something else for a bit until you feel like you're built up a bit more.

The entire game is basically just super absorbing - we've owned it for a day, and already neither Tam nor myself can put it down (yes, Tam is hooked on a From game as well, something I really didn't expect). I've sunk a little over 8 hours into it so far. It's definitely shaping up to be a super-strong GOTY contender. Anyone that's on the fence, I highly recommend giving it a go. Believe the hype. :)
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed
if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I
became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the
desire to be very grown up.” ― C.S. Lewis

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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

Man, I'm so tempted to get Elden Ring immediately - not that I needed your confirmation, but I'm knee deep in RDR2 and a few others, and I refuse to divide my attention when playing any Soulsborne game. I'll just rest easy knowing it's there for me when I'm ready. I've watched ZERO media and read no reviews - I didn't need or want to, but I did see that it received tons of 10s, and that the Steam CCU is crazy high for a single player game, and a FROM one at that.
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Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Yeah, I think I've heard enough where I want to give it a go myself.


Played recently: Valkyria Chronicles 4

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 21 (17 PS4, 4 Switch)


I'm nearing the end of VC4. The last two battles have been tough. It's a bummer to be an hour or more in and realize you're probably not going to prevail. Very glad to finally win both. I'm sure the next ones will be brutal too.
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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by jfissel »

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Horizon: Forbidden West

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 40 games

28.5 hours into Horizon and I'm 24% complete! I've done more story missions than I normally would, so I'll need to spend a lot of time cleaning up side stuff very soon. Great story so far.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 217: 2/26/22: Babylon’s Fall/Elex II/Gran Turismo 7/Shadow Warrior 3 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I decided to stop playing Horizon Zero Dawn since I’m not in the mood to play a big open world game right now, especially one that I’ve already played before. I was enjoying it more this time than I originally did, but a lot of it was feeling familiar as well. And replaying it again along with its DLC, and then starting Horizon Forbidden West right after it was a little more than I wanted to tackle right now.

I started playing an isometric view action adventure survival game called The Wild Eight, and I was liking what I played of it. You play as a plane crash survivor in the frozen wilderness, and have to gather resources, craft, eat, stay warm and fight off wildlife. There’s a story, and you’re given objectives to complete. Despite enjoying it I decided to stop playing it as it seems like a fairly deep and involving game, and will take a long time to complete. I want to play through some other shorter games that I have before diving into something like it right now.

I started playing a cartoonish top-down view 16-bit style pixel art action adventure game called Arietta of Spirits, and I was enjoying it for the most part. It’s a cute Zelda type game with a decent story, characters, combat and adventuring with good pacing. But the environments basically consist of same-y looking wilderness, and caves. I stopped playing it for now, but it’s something that I’ll most likely play again in the future when I’m more in the mood for it.

I started playing Tormented Souls which is a game that I’ve been wanting for a while now. It was originally announced for all platforms, but only came out for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X for some reason. However, the PS4 version finally came out last week and I bought it. I really like what I’ve played so far, it’s a retro style survival horror game almost identical to Resident Evil Remake in design structure, visual style, presentation, menus and even music. It takes place in a dark and disturbing claustrophobic mansion, and has fixed camera angles, tank controls, limited ammo combat, key item puzzles, tape recording reels for saving and plenty of jump scares.





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