The Backlog Check-in Vol. 342: 7/20/24: The Sims 4 Lovestruck Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Agony, Amnesia: Rebirth, Asdivine Kamura, Aspire: Ina’s Tale, Aurora’s Journey and the Pitiful Lackey, Dead or School, Evil Below, Kaze and the Wild Masks, Last Beat, Last Day of June, Orangeblood, Raji: An Ancient Epic, Ronin, Trigger Witch, Wife Quest, World to the West, Young Souls

Finished: Last Day of June

Playing: Young Souls

Added: Nothing

Games releasing this week
Abathor
Ao Oni
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
Artisan
Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable
Broken Lens
Conscript
Crime: 1997
Critter Crops
Daydream: Forgotten Sorrow
The Emperor and State
Ete
Exhausted Man
Exophobia
The Fall of Aether Station
Farlands
Finding Mosey
F1 Manager 2024
Frontier Hunter: Erza’s Wheel of Fortune
Hairdresser Simulator
House of Golf 2
Into the Radius 2
Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance
Lakeview Cabin Collection
Last Whisper Survival
Linkito
Lost Castle 2
Midnight Ramen
The New Denpa Men
Ninja Slayer: Neo-Saitama in Flames
Omega 6: The Triangle Stars
The Operator
Ova Magica
Rawmen: Food Fighter Arena
Retro Revengers
Riddle Tower
Scorchlands
Silverpine Creek
The Sims 4 Lovestruck
The Star Named EOS
Tactical Bandits
Tales of Fablecraft
Thrasher
Total War: Pharaoh - Dynasties
Valley Peaks
Veritus
Weko the Mask Gatherer
Weyrdlets

[argyle]

Games added: Crystar & Metaverse Keeper (switch), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Xbox)

Last week: Finished nothing, played LAD: TMWEHN mainly

This week: Finishing off TMWEHN, then on to Infinite Wealth!

I'm *right* at the end of TMWEHN - I'm at the point of no return in chapter 5 (the game told me when I saved & quit that this was the last time I had to do anything extra). I haven't been doing side stuff in this one (maybe 1 or 2 sidequests, but primarily just main story). That's not to say I haven't enjoyed it, but what I really want to sink my teeth into is Infinite Wealth.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Mad Max

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 39


Still having a great time with Mad Max. It's been a while since I've found myself staying up too late like this just to do one more mission or clear out one more area. Good stuff. (Caveat: There is a certain amount of repetition, and the framerate is a mess at times.)

[isthatallyougot]

Still playing Morrowind - 143 hours in. I'm the arch mage of the mages guild and house father of house Hlaalu with my stronghold being built currently. It has been an interesting ride for sure. In many ways, Morrowind really shows its age, but much of that "jank" is just typical Bethesda more so than being age-related issues. But there's also this incredible freedom, both in terms of exploration and character development, that, when married to the lore and narrative, makes for a really compelling package. I wouldn't expect it to be so easily digestible to the average modern gamer, or maybe even many who still have an affinity for older stuff, but it really has its charms, even if they can feel buried beneath some surface-level grime. I think that in this day and age, it's more the domain of the forgiving and patient gamer who is willing to tolerate and see-past some rough edges in order to appreciate the buried treasures. Of course, I've really enjoyed myself, having already put in so much time, but I'm not sure about how I'll ultimately rate it yet, even with so many hours on my plate. It's taking me a bit of time to digest everything and formulate my opinions and thoughts on the totality of the experience. I'm even considering starting up a new character and playing with some self-imposed limitations for a different experience since I've become so obscenely powerful. I could have wrapped up the primary quest long ago, but I've not been ready to set aside Almega, my current character, just yet - enjoying his super-powers for a while longer while remembering his humble (pathetic actually, lol) beginnings.

[argyle]

Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name is in the bag! Fantastic ending, that final part w/ the orphans really hit me in the feels. How they keep banging out these games at such high quality is just astounding - goes to show what you can do when you focus on what counts - story & gameplay, mainly - instead of trying to get the flashiest graphics, figure out where you can stuff more microtransactions, etc.

Now on to Infinite Wealth!

Infinite Wealth.gif (1.38 MiB) Viewed 5556 times

[canedaddy]

Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name is in the bag! Fantastic ending, that final part w/ the orphans really hit me in the feels. How they keep banging out these games at such high quality is just astounding - goes to show what you can do when you focus on what counts - story & gameplay, mainly - instead of trying to get the flashiest graphics, figure out where you can stuff more microtransactions, etc.

I reckon I need to play that one at some point!

[argyle]

Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name is in the bag! Fantastic ending, that final part w/ the orphans really hit me in the feels. How they keep banging out these games at such high quality is just astounding - goes to show what you can do when you focus on what counts - story & gameplay, mainly - instead of trying to get the flashiest graphics, figure out where you can stuff more microtransactions, etc.

I reckon I need to play that one at some point!

It really is short for a Yakuza game. I clocked in JUST over 16 hours, but again, I was pretty much laser-focused on the main story. I imagine if you tried to do everything you could probably double that, but even that is on the short side for a Yakuza game.

[jfissel]

Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name is in the bag! Fantastic ending, that final part w/ the orphans really hit me in the feels. How they keep banging out these games at such high quality is just astounding - goes to show what you can do when you focus on what counts - story & gameplay, mainly - instead of trying to get the flashiest graphics, figure out where you can stuff more microtransactions, etc.

Now on to Infinite Wealth!

Infinite Wealth.gif

It is short, but I still had a great time in that world. And it bridges some things between 7 and 8.


Finished: PowerWash Simulator: The Muckingham Files 3 DLC

Now Playing: Jeanne d'Arc PS5

Added to Backlog: Jeanne d'Arc PS5

Current Backlog: 44 games

And Jeanne d'Arc is currently underway. Only through 4 levels, but I have not played it since it came out - loving it again so far!

[crimson_tide]

Like A Dragon: The Man Who Erased His Name is in the bag! Fantastic ending, that final part w/ the orphans really hit me in the feels. How they keep banging out these games at such high quality is just astounding - goes to show what you can do when you focus on what counts - story & gameplay, mainly - instead of trying to get the flashiest graphics, figure out where you can stuff more microtransactions, etc.

Oh snap, I should do a 2023 game of the year thread next week!