The Backlog Check-in Vol. 207: 12/18/21: Christmas Eve Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Biomutant, Far Cry 6, What Remains of Edith Finch

Finished: What Remains of Edith Finch

Playing: Far Cry 6

Added: Nothing

I’ve been playing Far Cry 6, and enjoying it. It’s the usual Ubisoft open world game with a giant map packed with things to do. The main and side missions have been my primary focus, but there’s other optional things that I like to do as well.

It’s basically more Far Cry, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing IMO. I like the formula, and this is the best game in the series since Far Cry 3 IMO. The story and characters are good, the environment is impressive looking and the gameplay is fun.

Games releasing this week
Colt Canyon
In My Shadow
Lacuna
Rigid Force Redux
Scarf
Tunnel of Doom
Vegas Tales
Winter Sports Games: 4K Edition

[crimson_tide]

Sup fam?

Played: Yakuza 4...Sonic Mania ( goshdanged Sonic 2 trailer got me HYPED...but I still think the greatest Sonic game ever made' is abso ******** lutely not that. It's fine. At best)...Lego DC Supervillains. It's been a not good gaming week bruhs. Except Yakuza 4. Yakuza 4 is always good.

Bought:... nothing? I think I am way to see what the Xmas sale brings. If Guardians of the Galaxy ends up at $30, I might bite and make that my winter break game.

Beat: nothing. I don't think I will be beating anything else for a minute at the moment.

So I am giving Mania another shot. That trailer was the bee's knees, fam. I am here for them basically making a movie out of the bones of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Because that's what they did. Might even go back to a movie theater with the kiddo, we are making plans already . But Mania is...fine. Every Sonic fan slobs the knob but I don't get it. It's too much. It just lacks the flow of 3& Knuckles. That game is a clinic. It's just brilliant. Mania is nostalgia. Pure nostalgia. But they tried to much while adhering to the classic formula when they do something new. It doesn't work for me.

Oh and Lego DC Supervillains sucks. It's just not good. Ew. No thanks. So of course, this is the one the kiddo wants to finish .
I really need to take advantage of PS Now and get her into FFX2. It has everything she wants on games...

[Phaseknox]

Bought:... nothing? I think I am way to see what the Xmas sale brings. If Guardians of the Galaxy ends up at $30, I might bite and make that my winter break game.

It was $25 during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, and I bought it and was going to play it now but decided to play Far Cry 6 instead.

Speaking of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales, they’re supposed to be the best deals of the year. However, after they ended not only did some of the games that I bought during them stay the same prices but a couple are even cheaper now. Avengers and Lost Judgment are still the same prices, and Far Cry 6 and Life is Strange: True Colors are both $5 cheaper now. WTF?!

This really pisses me off because I jumped on those sales thinking that they were going to be the cheapest prices that I could get those games for a while, but not only did some of them stay the same prices but some of them are actually cheaper now.

Some like Biomutant, Guardians of the Galaxy and Scarlet Nexus did go back up in price a little after the sales, but not by much. I can understand some staying the same prices after the sales, but some being even cheaper now is what really chaps my hide.

[crimson_tide]

True, but word of mouth from the various podcasts I listen to while lifting finally won me over and the sales were done by then. Also, I very, very rarely by physical anymore. It has to be an exceptionally great deal (less than $15) for me to consider it. I love having a digital library, it's just super convenient and space saving for me. Plus, I can rag on my wife about her shoe collection but she has zero to complain about because she knows nothing of the games I own digitally but never touch . The only physical games I am looking at getting are the Trails of Cold Steel games from GameStop used during a sale because they are charging way too much for them. I want to grab all of them for around $60 if possible and that is not happening digitally. But aside from that, I am sticking to digital.

Has anyone else heard about this FFXIV nuttiness where Square stopping sales because the last story expansion Endwalker is just out and they don't have the servers to support it? Apparently, it has received pretty universal acclaim from critics and fans alike because the story is so good. And these cats are making FF16. I may just finally go into it this coming year. If anyone here would like to run around with me, that'd be great because I don't want to play with other people. Ew.

[Phaseknox]

I very, very rarely by physical anymore. It has to be an exceptionally great deal (less than $15) for me to consider it. I love having a digital library, it's just super convenient and space saving for me.

I prefer digital to physical these days as well not only for the convenience like you mentioned, but also because my PS4 disc drive occasionally acts up and I’m worried that it’s eventually going to stop working like the one in my Xbox 360 did. I still buy physical copies of bigger budget more AAA type games since I built up a physical collection of them from the start, but lower budget mid-tier games, niche JRPGs and indies I usually buy digitally.

The only physical games I am looking at getting are the Trails of Cold Steel games from GameStop used during a sale because they are charging way too much for them. I want to grab all of them for around $60 if possible and that is not happening digitally. But aside from that, I am sticking to digital.

I’ve been wanting to get the Trails of Cold Steel games for a while now, but the lowest that they have ever been digitally is $20 and physical copies never seem to drop below $30. They’re niche JRPGs from Falcom, so it’s highly unlikely that they’ll ever be available cheap physically. I plan on eventually getting them digitally if the PS Store ever has a good sale on them.

Has anyone else heard about this FFXIV nuttiness where Square stopping sales because the last story expansion Endwalker is just out and they don't have the servers to support it? Apparently, it has received pretty universal acclaim from critics and fans alike because the story is so good. And these cats are making FF16. I may just finally go into it this coming year. If anyone here would like to run around with me, that'd be great because I don't want to play with other people. Ew.

Yeah, I heard about it. Online gaming isn’t my thing, but I’m sure that there’s some people here who are into it. I think that argyle is, but he’s been MIA again lately.

[argyle]

'Sup?

Games added: Grabbed Mass Effect Legendary Edition & the SMT 3: Nocturne PS4 remake this week from GS because they were $17/each.

Last week / This week: Nada. I'm minus a tv right now - I had gotten a new one a couple weeks ago because my old one was dying, but it was a piece 'o crap so I returned it. I bought the replacement, but due to the holiday rush it won't be delivered until NEXT Tues (the 28th). Sucks, I had just fired up Like A Dragon and was all ready to dive into that.

I've been hitting the side gig hard lately, so it's just as well I don't have the gaming distraction I suppose.

BTW, crim, lemme know if/when you decide to dive into FFXIV. Tam & I played it a bit several years back & loved it, and we'd be all for a good excuse to give it another go. I'm 1000% with you about playing with rando's online though!

Also, technically this would be the week before Christmas edition, or maybe the Christmas Eve edition, since Christmas is on a Sat and that's typically when we count the new week as starting? Right?

[Phaseknox]

I'm minus a tv right now - I had gotten a new one a couple weeks ago because my old one was dying, but it was a piece 'o crap so I returned it. I bought the replacement, but due to the holiday rush it won't be delivered until NEXT Tues (the 28th).

That SUCKS!!!! I just got a new TV myself, a 43” Toshiba 4K and it ROCKS!!!! The picture is clear and crisp with great color, and contrast. I thought that my previous TV looked good, but this is a noticeable upgrade. I showed my mom Far Cry 6 on it, and it’s the first time that she’s truly been impressed by a game that I showed her. She said that it looked real.

Also, technically this would be the week before Christmas edition, or maybe the Christmas Eve edition, since Christmas is on a Sat and that's typically when we count the new week as starting? Right?

Fixed.

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Final Fantasy VII Remake, Lost Judgment PS5

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 40 games

Well, I made very little progress in Lost Judgment...not sure if I can beat it in the next couple of days since there's a lot to do. But definitely before the end of the year!

[Phaseknox]

Well, I made very little progress in Lost Judgment...not sure if I can beat it in the next couple of days since there's a lot to do. But definitely before the end of the year!

I assume that you want to finish it before the end of the year so that you can include it in your top games of the year list right?

[crimson_tide]

Yeah Phase, I might have to give up on the Trails of Cold Steel if this new deal doesn't pan out. Gamestop is currently having a buy 5 used for 19.99 or less each, get 50% off. That is a crazy good deal for what I am looking for. If I can grab the first 2 or 3 games for $10 each, I will cave and spend $30 or so on the finale. I will get some other things like Sonic Colors and one more to make it worth it. Sure hope I can find a Gamestop that has all the games. I also know Falcom made Tokyo Xanadu EX+ and that's supposed to be a bit more of any action RPG with Persona style interactions that's supposed to be somewhat like Trails so I may give that a real go in the coming year finally.

BTW, crim, lemme know if/when you decide to dive into FFXIV. Tam & I played it a bit several years back & loved it, and we'd be all for a good excuse to give it another go. I'm 1000% with you about playing with rando's online though!

So I will hopefully be able to get to FF14 before the spring rolls around. I would get a feel for it first before I bothered you and Tam with my noob nonsense. How far did you get? I will definitely let y'all know when I am down to play. Is there a role I should focus on that y'all need in a party?

Also, I am posting at the crack of 10am because I have no students. This pandemic blows.