The Backlog Check-in Vol. 261: 12/31/22: Fantavision Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Always Sometimes Monsters, Delivery From the Pain, Diablo II: Resurrected, God of War: Ragnarok, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD, Sofia and the Ancient Clan, Sumatra: Fate of Yandi

Finished: Nothing

Playing: ?

Added: Afterparty, Agatha Knife, Always Sometimes Monsters, The Bounty Huntress, Catmaze, Delivery From the Pain, Diablo II: Resurrected, Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights, The Entropy Centre, Gale of Windoria, Giga Wrecker Alt., Golden Force, Hourglass, A Juggler’s Tale, Lost Sea, Metaloid: Origin, Minute of Islands, Potion Permit, Ronin, Sofiya and the Ancient Clan, Sumatra: Fate of Yandi, Trigger Witch, Wife Quest, Young Souls

I’m absolutely buried in games to play. I’ve been wanting to play God of War: Ragnarok since it came out, and I got it for Christmas and started playing it and was really enjoying it. But then I bought a bunch of games from the PS Store holiday sale that I wanted to play, so I stopped playing God of War: Ragnarok.

I have hundreds of games sitting in my backlog waiting to be played. I want to play them, but there’s only so much time in a day. And I know that when I start playing a game like God of War: Ragnarok, it’s all that I’ll be playing for weeks.

I stopped playing The Ascent which I was enjoying to play God of War: Ragnarok, and then I stopped playing it to play some games that I bought from the PS Store holiday sale. And I still want more games from the PS Store holiday sale, and there’s a lot of games coming out in 2023 that I want.

It’s somewhat difficult to commit a lot of time to just one game when I have so many games that I want to play, that’s part of why I prefer games to have more reasonable lengths these days. I know that I have to commit to one game and stick with it, but that’s a little hard to do sometimes when I have so much that I want to play.

Games releasing this week
Cotton Fantasy
We Are the Caretakers

[jfissel]

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Stray, Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, God of War: Ragnarok

Added to Backlog: God of War: Ragnarok

Current Backlog: 44 games

I should be getting close to the end of the Ragnarok story, can hopefully finish it this week and then get cracking on the platinum trophy.

Happy New Year!

[Phaseknox]

I’m not really sure if I should be concerned about cane and izzy right now or not considering that neither have posted here in weeks which is unlike them especially during the holidays. The last time that cane posted he said that he had a nasty virus, and he hasn’t been heard from since. And izzy hasn’t posted here for well over a month. The only one of us that sometimes vanishes for weeks at a time is argyle , but cane and izzy usually post here rather consistently so their absence has been a little concerning.

[argyle]

Games added: Atelier Ryza (the first one...forgot the long crazy subtitle), Windbound, AER (all Switch, the last 2 digital from a sale)

Last week: Finished Diablo III Season 27 (the first time I've completed a season! ), played Huntdown, Diablo III & Death Stranding

This week: Mainly Death Stranding - a little Diablo when I want to play something mindless, usually when I'm up in the middle of the night because I can't sleep

Forgot that I picked up Huntdown & The Takeover for Switch the week of Christmas in a digital sale - those 2 were $3 & $4, the 2 this I grabbed this week were $2/each - hard to pass for those prices. Huntdown is fantastic btw - a throwback to 90's style arcade side scrolling shooters. Complete with that 90's era "dystopian futuristic cop" aesthetic that was so popular. It plays great, they struck the right balance of retro feel with modern conveniences & improvements. Highly recommended, esp. if you can find it cheap (I may import a physical copy because I really like it).

Started playing Death Stranding Director's Cut on the PS5 this past weekend, and I absolutely love it. I told Tam last night that my issue with most big budget games these days is that they feel like Marvel movies. They're big and flashy, and yeah, sometimes fun, but they also feel manufactured and soulless. There's no personality to them - they feel like they were designed by a committee who was just checking boxes on what games should have these days. Death Stranding is the total opposite of that - it is 1000% a Hideo Kojima game. There's no mistaking it. It OOZES personality, and is extremely unique. I had heard some ppl water down the gameplay to "just walking around carrying stuff" and that's about as reductive as saying Bioshock is just walking around shooting stuff. There's a TON to this game, extremely deep and layered both in gameplay and in story. I'm hooked. Has anyone here played it? I want to say J did, but I'm not positive - it's definitely a different experience, and it's not the fastest paced game ever, but if it hooks you it will hook you HARD. I have a feeling izzy and cane would really dig it.

[Phaseknox]

Games added: Atelier Ryza (the first one...forgot the long crazy subtitle)

I can’t believe that the third one is coming out this year. Apparently the first two are Gust’s most successful games ever which is why they made a third. There’s tons of games in the Atelier series, and I haven’t played one. The whole alchemy/crafting thing in them doesn’t really appeal to me, but I’m interested in checking out the Atelier Ryza games.

Last week: Finished Diablo III Season 27 (the first time I've completed a season! )

What are seasons in Diablo III?

This week: Mainly Death Stranding - a little Diablo when I want to play something mindless, usually when I'm up in the middle of the night because I can't sleep

Why can’t you sleep?

Forgot that I picked up Huntdown & The Takeover for Switch the week of Christmas in a digital sale - those 2 were $3 & $4, the 2 this I grabbed this week were $2/each - hard to pass for those prices. Huntdown is fantastic btw - a throwback to 90's style arcade side scrolling shooters. Complete with that 90's era "dystopian futuristic cop" aesthetic that was so popular. It plays great, they struck the right balance of retro feel with modern conveniences & improvements. Highly recommended, esp. if you can find it cheap (I may import a physical copy because I really like it).

I have Huntdown and The Takeover. I played Huntdown and agree that it’s great for the reasons that you mentioned, but unfortunately it’s really hard even on easy so I stopped playing it. I finished The Takeover a while ago, and I enjoyed it for the most part. It’s a retro style side scrolling arcade beat ‘em up. If you like those then I would recommend Final Vendetta and Mayhem Brawler which are even better IMO.

Started playing Death Stranding Director's Cut on the PS5 this past weekend, and I absolutely love it. I told Tam last night that my issue with most big budget games these days is that they feel like Marvel movies. They're big and flashy, and yeah, sometimes fun, but they also feel manufactured and soulless. There's no personality to them - they feel like they were designed by a committee who was just checking boxes on what games should have these days.

I completely agree with your analogy of big budget AAA games these days, and it’s why they haven’t been appealing to me as much lately. I tend to prefer AA and indie games more now, they don’t feel as manufactured and overproduced just to make money from the masses. I have Death Stranding, but I haven’t played it yet. I’m not sure if I’ll like it or not, but I plan on playing it when it’s something that I’m in the mood for.

I have a feeling izzy and cane would really dig it.

Who?

[jfissel]

Started playing Death Stranding Director's Cut on the PS5 this past weekend, and I absolutely love it. I told Tam last night that my issue with most big budget games these days is that they feel like Marvel movies. They're big and flashy, and yeah, sometimes fun, but they also feel manufactured and soulless. There's no personality to them - they feel like they were designed by a committee who was just checking boxes on what games should have these days. Death Stranding is the total opposite of that - it is 1000% a Hideo Kojima game. There's no mistaking it. It OOZES personality, and is extremely unique. I had heard some ppl water down the gameplay to "just walking around carrying stuff" and that's about as reductive as saying Bioshock is just walking around shooting stuff. There's a TON to this game, extremely deep and layered both in gameplay and in story. I'm hooked. Has anyone here played it? I want to say J did, but I'm not positive - it's definitely a different experience, and it's not the fastest paced game ever, but if it hooks you it will hook you HARD. I have a feeling izzy and cane would really dig it.

I have not played Death Stranding. Not sure it's my cup of tea, but you never know.

I’m not really sure if I should be concerned about cane and izzy right now or not considering that neither have posted here in weeks which is unlike them especially during the holidays. The last time that cane posted he said that he had a nasty virus, and he hasn’t been heard from since. And izzy hasn’t posted here for well over a month. The only one of us that sometimes vanishes for weeks at a time is argyle , but cane and izzy usually post here rather consistently so their absence has been a little concerning.

I'm not sure where they are. I can send cane a message on facebook, we'll see if he responds. EDIT: He was just on a long vacation and swamped with work...he'll be back on soon.

[Phaseknox]

I have not played Death Stranding. Not sure it's my cup of tea, but you never know.

It doesn’t look like something that I would like, but I’ve thought that about games before and they ended up surprising me when I actually played them which could be the case with this one.

I can send cane a message on facebook, we'll see if he responds. EDIT: He was just on a long vacation and swamped with work...he'll be back on soon.

Good to know, thanks.

[canedaddy]

I’m not really sure if I should be concerned about cane and izzy right now or not considering that neither have posted here in weeks which is unlike them especially during the holidays. The last time that cane posted he said that he had a nasty virus, and he hasn’t been heard from since. And izzy hasn’t posted here for well over a month. The only one of us that sometimes vanishes for weeks at a time is argyle , but cane and izzy usually post here rather consistently so their absence has been a little concerning.

Apologies! I am alive.

The past few weeks have been kinda nuts.

First I was sick, as you said above. That really kicked my butt.

Then my PC got nuked by a virus, requiring a few days of headaches before I finally figured out how to do a reset (and lost all bookmarks etc. in the process).

Then the holidays came, very busy time.

Then in the middle of that, my daughter had her second child, a very large baby (11 lbs, 11 oz) who had some health concerns they needed to check out. (All is fine). We were in charge of their 3-year-old during the several days they were in the hospital, which was absolutely exhausting for this old man.

Then I got back to work this week and it's been insanely busy catching up on everything.

So anyway, all is well and I'll be around here again.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a happy New Year playing all the games Santy Claus brought ya.


Played recently: God of War Ragnarok

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 29

[crimson_tide]

Played: Arkham Asylum, Sonic Origins, Lego Marvel Superheroes, Tony Hawk a ton of demos that convinced me not to buy some games.

Beat: Sonic 1 ( it ummm...I don't like this game. CD isn't really what I remember either... don't worry though, I know 2 and 3& Knuckles are STILL the bee's knees)

Bought: Hot Wheels GOTY, Uncharted Bundle

This week: Arkham and Sonic if I get a chance.

It's not been a real gaming time as of late fam. Life and all that. Arkham Asylum is REALLY good though. I forgot, it's been a long time since I touched it. Looking forward to City again now. I downloaded Knight but... it's Arkham Knight. Ew. We'll see...

[argyle]

Games added: Atelier Ryza (the first one...forgot the long crazy subtitle)

I can’t believe that the third one is coming out this year. Apparently the first two are Gust’s most successful games ever which is why they made a third. There’s tons of games in the Atelier series, and I haven’t played one. The whole alchemy/crafting thing in them doesn’t really appeal to me, but I’m interested in checking out the Atelier Ryza games.

I've never played any of them either, tho I've always wanted to (and I've owned a few over the years... ). I've heard this is a great one to start with tho, so I think I may be ready to give it a go this year.

Last week: Finished Diablo III Season 27 (the first time I've completed a season! )

What are seasons in Diablo III?

They run a new season every few months - they consist of tiers of challenges to complete, and each tier you finish gives you a different in-game reward. Nothing fancy, it's more about saying you did it than anything else (tho you get a pet for finishing the season that's pretty cool - this time it was a zombie dog who's carrying an arm that's holding a sword). The challenges get pretty tough on the high end, which is why I've never finished one, but I've always wanted to. And I'm not sure how much longer they'll be doing D3 seasons once 4 releases.

Why can’t you sleep?

Migraines/sinus issues/general stress-induced insomnia - depends on the night.

I have Huntdown and The Takeover. I played Huntdown and agree that it’s great for the reasons that you mentioned, but unfortunately it’s really hard even on easy so I stopped playing it. I finished The Takeover a while ago, and I enjoyed it for the most part. It’s a retro style side scrolling arcade beat ‘em up. If you like those then I would recommend Final Vendetta and Mayhem Brawler which are even better IMO.

Pretty sure I've looked at at least one of those in the past - they may even be on my wishlist already, but I'll add them if not.

I have not played Death Stranding. Not sure it's my cup of tea, but you never know.

It doesn’t look like something that I would like, but I’ve thought that about games before and they ended up surprising me when I actually played them which could be the case with this one.

Honestly I wasn't really sure I'd like it either, which is why it took me so long to play it. I recommend giving it a go, whether you like it or not it's definitely a unique experience.

Then in the middle of that, my daughter had her second child, a very large baby (11 lbs, 11 oz) who had some health concerns they needed to check out. (All is fine). We were in charge of their 3-year-old during the several days they were in the hospital, which was absolutely exhausting for this old man.

Then I got back to work this week and it's been insanely busy catching up on everything.

So anyway, all is well and I'll be around here again.

I hope you all had a great Christmas and a happy New Year playing all the games Santy Claus brought ya.

Congratulations! Glad all is well with the new addition & your daughter, and I'm glad you're feeling better as well.

And I 1000% understand what you mean about work. January is my least-favorite month (I tell people it's the Monday of the year). Around here, starting around Thanksgiving everyone puts off any IT issues they can because they don't want to do anything, then it all hits when we get back - along with registration for the Spring semester and and new issues that arise.

tired-struggle.gif (4.47 MiB) Viewed 24995 times

Anyway, Merry New Year to you (and everyone else) as well. As for Santy Claus, he has told me "I don't give you games because you buy whatever games you want anyway."