The Backlog Check-in Vol. 307: 11/18/23: Pui Pui Molcar Let’s! Molcar Party! Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Persona 4 Golden

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Persona 4 Golden

Added: Soul Hackers 2

Games releasing this week
Alina of the Arena
Construction Simulator - Spaceport Expansion
Domino: The Little One
Evil Diary
In Stars and Time
Irem Collection Volume 1
Ninja Issen
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - The Lord of Nothing
Pui Pui Molcar Let’s! Molcar Party!
Saint Kotar
Train Valley 2
Witchtastic
Wordless

[isthatallyougot]

I finished up the main campaign run of Mystery Dungeon : Shiren the Wanderer. What a fun game. I will warn that if you are not very patient and persistent (both of these), you'd best steer clear. This game will beat you senseless in ways that can feel unfair at times. But man, what a fun ride and sense of accomplishment in the end. And there's tons of post-game content there too. I spent around 27 hours to beat the main quest. It could have been done more quickly perhaps, but there's lots of trial-by-fire learning going on.

I also "finished" Broken Age. I was near the end and things just got tedious rather than fun, and I watched a youtube playthrough for the last 20 minutes or so. It had its pros and cons, and I certainly didn't hate it, but man did it unravel down the stretch both in terms of narrative and puzzles, and ended up feeling rushed and incomplete along with a few absurd puzzles. Such a promising 2/3 to 3/4 of a game that just soured and crumbled for me down the stretch.

I'm still chugging through Elite Beat Agents and opening new difficulties and trying to increase my overall rank. Such an incredibly fun music/rhythm game. Lots of legs and just a blast.

I think I'm finally also going to seriously go back to Chronicon's post-game so that I can formulate my final opinion on it for my year-end reviews. It's really fun with tons (endless) challenge and content, and I'm looking forward to diving even deeper. Hopefully I can get enough play time with it to include it in my 2023 reviews - if not, it will slip into 2024.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

Current backlog: 34


Worked my way through the Teeth of Naros DLC in Amalur, now just need to wrap up the main game and check out the new DLC.

I will concede that as much as I enjoy the game, it has two serious flaws... the load times between areas and serious glitches. I've had two side missions end because of the latter. Inexcusable.

[argyle]

Games added: Tunic (PS4), Robocop: Rogue City (XSX), Double Dragon Gaiden, Super Mario RPG, Gal Guardians, Trash Sailors (all Switch) - all physical pickups

Last week: Finished Spider-Man 2, played Robocop and Mario Wonder

This week: Same

My opinion didn't change much through the end of Spidy from what I said the other day, but I was close to the end when I made that post. I will say that the final chapter was frustratingly difficult even on "easy", so I finally said screw it & turned it down to "very easy" - aka you literally can't die mode, just to push through that mission & see the ending. It ended well enough. I'll sort my thoughts over the next month or so & see if/where it lands on my top 10.

I got in my copy of Robocop, which was the 3rd game in the b2g1 deal I did w/ Target. Incidentally, it was also the main one I was interested in playing. So I popped it in this weekend just to see how it was and...wow. Y'know those missing AA games we were pining for in last week's thread? Well, this is one of those. The game looks good, but it's clearly not ray-tracing-super-texture-advanced-animation-state-of-the-art level good. But that's OK! The environments look great, and more importantly the design is stellar - everything LOOKS dead-on like the movies. The game is supposed to follow after the second movie (so the last GOOD one). Everything is that 80's futuristic that the movie had, so CRT monitors & TVs, video tapes, rooms full of computer, etc. Tons of references to the movie. Likenesses of the original actors for the main roles (Murphy/Robocop, Lewis, the captain, etc.). They got Peter Weller - the original Robocop - to do the voice in the game. The other voice actors are replacements from what I can tell (but much of the cast has either passed away or has retired by now) but they all do a good job. The feel of playing as Robocop is just exactly what you would think it would be. You basically feel like a walking tank. This is NOT a cover shooter. Levels are large open areas where you can explore around and either work towards the main mission you are on or pickup side missions. All missions in an area must be completed before you move on, or you lose out on them (no idea if you can go back to completed areas at the end of the game or not). So it's a nice mix of a linear & open world game. From what I hear it's a 15-17 hour game, and at the rate I'm going I'll have it wrapped up soon. I'll have more to say later, but a few missions in and I can already tell you, if you enjoyed the 80's movies you'll love this.

[crimson_tide]

Played: Metal Slug with the kiddo, the Theatrhythm FF game demo, AND LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN: THE MAN WHO ERASED HIS NAME, WOOOOO!!!!

Bought: nothing. Yet. That Warhammer 40k Diablo-like for $5 and One Piece Odyssey is currently in my cart. I want to play the One Piece demo first though

This week:...ALL LIKE A DRAGON GAIDEN THE MAN WHO ERASED HIS NAME ALL THE TIME BABY!!!!!!!

They made Kiryu into Spider-Man. I give zero ****s. Also, I don't know why they thought trying to Clark Kent the goddamn DRAGON OF DOJIMA would work since everyone who sees his face is like 'oh hey, Kiryu !'. It's hilarious !

I had a brief thought for a possible game club: we all have those games we loved and promised we would go back to finish and/or plat for fun and just didn't. Or one there's zero reason you shouldn't have played immediately because it's just your type of game. You know that for a fact you would love it. But you just didn't play for whatever reason. You either pick one yourself OR make a little list (no more than 5) and let someone pick for you. Thoughts? I got this crazy idea because the One Piece rpg makers also made DQ11 which I always promised to go back to and Like A Dragon Gaiden made me think the same about Miles Morales. Let me know what you think fam!

[jfissel]

Finished: PowerWash Simulator Back to the Future DLC

Now Playing: Spider-man 2, Like a Dragon Gaiden

Added to Backlog: PowerWash Simulator Back to the Future DLC

Current Backlog: 43 games

The BttF DLC was pretty good - had some cool animations after cleaning the delorean and train (along with the 3D movie theater in 2015).

About 7 hours into Gaiden and having a lot of fun with side stuff (of course, I already got all the different items out of the UFO catcher machines, lol).

They made Kiryu into Spider-Man. I give zero ****s. Also, I don't know why they thought trying to Clark Kent the goddamn DRAGON OF DOJIMA would work since everyone who sees his face is like 'oh hey, Kiryu !'. It's hilarious !

I had a brief thought for a possible game club: we all have those games we loved and promised we would go back to finish and/or plat for fun and just didn't. Or one there's zero reason you shouldn't have played immediately because it's just your type of game. You know that for a fact you would love it. But you just didn't play for whatever reason. You either pick one yourself OR make a little list (no more than 5) and let someone pick for you. Thoughts? I got this crazy idea because the One Piece rpg makers also made DQ11 which I always promised to go back to and Like A Dragon Gaiden made me think the same about Miles Morales. Let me know what you think fam!

They did, didn't they!?!?!

Good idea, crim. I have plenty of games that I never went back to or never started for whatever reason.

[isthatallyougot]

I had a brief thought for a possible game club: we all have those games we loved and promised we would go back to finish and/or plat for fun and just didn't. Or one there's zero reason you shouldn't have played immediately because it's just your type of game. You know that for a fact you would love it. But you just didn't play for whatever reason. You either pick one yourself OR make a little list (no more than 5) and let someone pick for you. Thoughts? I got this crazy idea because the One Piece rpg makers also made DQ11 which I always promised to go back to and Like A Dragon Gaiden made me think the same about Miles Morales. Let me know what you think fam!

Oh yeah, I really like that idea crim! I'll come up with a list and post it after Thanksgiving and let you guys pick for me.

Hope you guys all have a happy holiday!

[jfissel]

Btw, crim and whoever else will play LaD Gaiden...the hostess bar is all video with real women now. Kinda weird, lol.

[Phaseknox]

Worked my way through the Teeth of Naros DLC in Amalur, now just need to wrap up the main game and check out the new DLC.

I will concede that as much as I enjoy the game, it has two serious flaws... the load times between areas and serious glitches. I've had two side missions end because of the latter. Inexcusable.

The constant loading between areas was my biggest problem with the game when playing it again recently, and one of the main reasons why I stopped playing it.

I got in my copy of Robocop, which was the 3rd game in the b2g1 deal I did w/ Target. Incidentally, it was also the main one I was interested in playing. So I popped it in this weekend just to see how it was and...wow. Y'know those missing AA games we were pining for in last week's thread? Well, this is one of those. The game looks good, but it's clearly not ray-tracing-super-texture-advanced-animation-state-of-the-art level good. But that's OK! The environments look great, and more importantly the design is stellar - everything LOOKS dead-on like the movies. The game is supposed to follow after the second movie (so the last GOOD one). Everything is that 80's futuristic that the movie had, so CRT monitors & TVs, video tapes, rooms full of computer, etc. Tons of references to the movie. Likenesses of the original actors for the main roles (Murphy/Robocop, Lewis, the captain, etc.). They got Peter Weller - the original Robocop - to do the voice in the game. The other voice actors are replacements from what I can tell (but much of the cast has either passed away or has retired by now) but they all do a good job. The feel of playing as Robocop is just exactly what you would think it would be. You basically feel like a walking tank. This is NOT a cover shooter. Levels are large open areas where you can explore around and either work towards the main mission you are on or pickup side missions. All missions in an area must be completed before you move on, or you lose out on them (no idea if you can go back to completed areas at the end of the game or not). So it's a nice mix of a linear & open world game. From what I hear it's a 15-17 hour game, and at the rate I'm going I'll have it wrapped up soon. I'll have more to say later, but a few missions in and I can already tell you, if you enjoyed the 80's movies you'll love this.

It sounds like something that I will really like since I’m a fan of both the 80s RoboCop movies, and AA games. It’s on my list of games to buy when I get a PS5.

I had a brief thought for a possible game club: we all have those games we loved and promised we would go back to finish and/or plat for fun and just didn't. Or one there's zero reason you shouldn't have played immediately because it's just your type of game. You know that for a fact you would love it. But you just didn't play for whatever reason. You either pick one yourself OR make a little list (no more than 5) and let someone pick for you. Thoughts? I got this crazy idea because the One Piece rpg makers also made DQ11 which I always promised to go back to and Like A Dragon Gaiden made me think the same about Miles Morales. Let me know what you think fam!

I’m currently playing Persona 4 which is a game that I always planned on going back to and finishing. And speaking of a game that I should have played immediately because I knew for a fact that I would love it is Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I can’t believe that I chose Red Dead Redemption II over it which is a decision that I regret.

crim and whoever else will play LaD Gaiden...the hostess bar is all video with real women now. Kinda weird, lol.

I’m going to buy it when it’s on sale.

[Phaseknox]

This Black Friday SUCKS!!!! No good game deals, but I don’t really need more games anyway.