The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

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Phaseknox
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The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

Played: Tormented Souls

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Tormented Souls

Added: Nothing

I’m still playing Tormented Souls, and really enjoying it. It’s a mix of classic Resident Evil and Silent Hill, and it’s one of the scarier games that I’ve played. It’s almost like a point-and-click adventure game with environment exploration, key item collecting and puzzle solving. There’s combat as well, but it’s not the focus. It’s included just enough to add some action to the experience without being overdone.

The puzzles are fairly creative/inventive, and I’ve been able to figure out most of them on my own. There’s only been a few so far that I’ve had to look up the solutions for.

The game itself is dark, disturbing and unsettling with some truly grotesque and gruesome stuff in it. It definitely earns its M rating. But this along with its claustrophobic environments, methodical pace, constant backtracking and head-scratching puzzles make it something that I don’t play for long periods of time like I would an open world game or RPG for example.

My only real complaints with the game are with its somewhat cartoonish mannequin looking human characters, and bad voice acting. The environments are extremely detailed and realistic looking, but the characters lack the same detail and realism making them not fit with the tone of the game. And the voice acting is some of the worst that I’ve heard in a game in a while. The voice for the main character doesn’t fit her look at all. She’s a young character in her early 20s, but the voice for her sounds much older and is kind of deep. And the voice actresses’ performance is extremely wooden. The priest’s voice actor is even worse completely dry lacking any emotion whatsoever. The child’s voice acting is actually somewhat decent which is surprising considering that child voice acting in games usually isn’t very good.

As much as I’ve been enjoying the game, $40 is a little more than I feel that it’s worth since it’s a lower budget game that apparently isn’t very long. It’s something that’s more worth $20-$30 IMO, but I’ve paid more for worse games before so it’s not too big of a deal.

Games releasing this week
Aztech: Forgotten Gods
Century: Age of Ashes
Chocobo GP
Have a Nice Death
Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures
The Last Cube
Radioactive Dwarfs: Evil From the Sewers
Retro Pixel Racers
RPG Time: The Legend of Wright
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom
Submerged: Hidden Depths
Time Loader
WWE 2K22
Young Souls
Last edited by Phaseknox on Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:46 am, edited 4 times in total.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog-Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Played recently: Valkyria Chronicles 4

Finished: VC4

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 21 (17 PS4, 4 Switch)


I had a great time with VC4 and not moving on yet. There are some postgame skirmishes I'm doing, along with the "squad stories" (side missions with groups of team members) I didn't complete.

Part of me wants to go for the platinum, but that means getting S ranks on all missions, which would be pretty tedious and requires using a guide. (I have some missions where I've wiped out the map in three turns and still can't get beyond a B rank.)

So nope, I'll probably just do all the remaining battles and move on.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog-Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

canedaddy wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 10:17 amI had a great time with VC4 and not moving on yet. There are some postgame skirmishes I'm doing, along with the "squad stories" (side missions with groups of team members) I didn't complete.
I was hoping that you would have moved on to Elden Ring by now so that I could get your impressions of the PS4 version and the game in general.

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isthatallyougot
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by isthatallyougot »

I'm still having a great time in RDR2.

I'm also playing Where the Water Tastes Like Wine which has been a nice experience. It's a narrative driven game about wandering depression-era America and exchanging tales with fellow vagabonds. The soundtrack is amazing and it has a really strong flavor of the setting. There's over 200 stories to collect as you wander and some really interesting characters to meet and share those tales with. It's not for the impatient though. Movement can be very slow, but it's all about soaking in that vibe.
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Dragon kick your a$$ into the Milky Way!
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

I finished Tormented Souls, and I really enjoyed it despite the story being completely bonkers and nonsensical. The whole premise is totally absurd, and a lot of what happens in it isn’t explained at all. But it’s a gameplay first type experience, and it delivers in that department with well designed interconnecting environments, rewarding exploration, clever puzzles and scary creatures to fight.

However, at about the halfway point until the end I had to look up where to go and how to solve puzzles a lot more than I would have liked. I was enjoying it the most when I could figure things out on my own, and keep the flow of progression going. But some things were too difficult for me to figure out, so I had to look up the solutions which kept pulling me out of the experience. However, the game was still really good for the most part. I enjoyed my time with it.
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canedaddy
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Re: The Backlog-Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by canedaddy »

Phaseknox wrote: Sat Mar 05, 2022 11:38 am I was hoping that you would have moved on to Elden Ring by now so that I could get your impressions of the PS4 version and the game in general.
You vastly overrate my gaming speed. :lol:

I've been considering getting Elden Ring once I'm finished with VC4 (probably in a few days) but still on the fence.

One question I have, which perhaps argyle can answer: Is the open world just populated by monsters/enemies/weirdos? Or are there some semi-normal NPCs that you interact with, a la Elder Scrolls and Witcher?
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crimson_tide
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by crimson_tide »

Sup? Quick check in, after crim's Short California/Vegas Adventure (tl;dr: they're fine. I guess), I have played next to NOTHING, Yay..... :cry: . Work and life have decided to kick in in earnest soooo...yeah. Anyhoo:

Played over the last couple weeks: Earthbound (...it's fine. On my way to Fourside whenever I figure out how to get there), Steamworld Dig 2 (more on this in a minute...), MKXL Edition (what, I like these dumbass fighting game stories, I'm probably going to start churning through the small pile I have accrued), Front Mission 3...I think that's it. Bummer. Major bumsville is that those were mostly before I got to LA almost 2 weeks ago.

Bought: Nothing.

Beat: Steamworld Dig 2. I now hate it :) . They made the final boss a bullet hell shooter essentially without giving you the abilities necessary to accomplish what they wanted you to do. CrossCode pulls this but they give you the ability to function that compliment what you're expected to do. Steamworld Dig 2, just like Steamworld Dig before it, wants to have combat but not give you the tools necessary for that. It annoys the hell out of me when games do that, not cool. It was a pleasant ride until that point then it all falls apart and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Later fam, peace ;) !
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

canedaddy wrote: Mon Mar 07, 2022 7:46 amI've been considering getting Elden Ring once I'm finished with VC4 (probably in a few days) but still on the fence.

One question I have, which perhaps argyle can answer: Is the open world just populated by monsters/enemies/weirdos? Or are there some semi-normal NPCs that you interact with, a la Elder Scrolls and Witcher?
I’ve been watching a lot of gameplay streams and videos of Elden Ring, and while it looks really cool some of the bosses look absolutely brutal which I was worried about. The open world design structure allows you to explore and find/obtain better gear/weapons and farm less challenging enemies to obtain runes to level up your character so that you can progressively tackle tougher areas and bosses, but some bosses still seem insanely difficult more so than I personally think that I would have the patience to deal with despite making my character stronger.

The game is apparently massive in size and scope, and is a major undertaking to explore and improve your character for the tougher areas and bosses. I think that would be good for someone like you who doesn’t have a big backlog of games to play and wants to devote the type of time needed to finish a single game of this magnitude, but I have 600+ games waiting to be played so it’s not really something that I’m ready to play anytime soon if ever at all.

As for your question about the NPCs in the world, based on what I’ve seen of the game there are some human characters that you interact with and get quests from. Not to the degree of other open world RPGs with bustling towns and such, but enough to where it’s not strictly populated with only enemies, creatures and monsters everywhere. However, the story elements and character interactions seem to be fairly sparse like they are in other FromSoftware games. I guess that’s another turnoff for me as I like a lot of story and character interaction in my RPGs. You also play as a silent protagonist which I don’t like, I like playing as a voiced character with emotion and personality so that I feel like I’m playing as an actual person instead of as a video game avatar.

Of course argyle will be able to give a better assessment of the game since he’s actually playing it which is different from watching gameplay streams and videos of it, but based on what I’ve seen of it it’s essentially Dark Souls with an open world which is either considered a good or bad thing depending on the individual.
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jfissel
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by jfissel »

Finished: Nothing

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

Added to Backlog: Gran Turismo 7

Current Backlog: 41 games

I'm well over 50 hours into Horizon, not sure on % complete but I'm going around and finishing up side stuff in each area as the next main quest is pretty far away.

Added Gran Turismo 7 (25th Anniversary Edition), looking forward to playing that after Horizon.
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Phaseknox
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Re: The Backlog Check-in Vol. 218: 3/5/22: WWE 2K22 Edition

Post by Phaseknox »

After finishing Tormented Souls I was still in a classic survival horror mood, so I started playing Resident Evil Remake. It still holds up today, and I’m enjoying it. I plan on playing Resident Evil Remake 2 and 3 after it.
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