The Backlog Check-in Vol. 347: 8/24/24: Star Wars Outlaws/Visions of Mana/World of Warcraft: The War Within Edition

[Phaseknox]

Played: Second Life

Finished: Nothing

Playing: Second Life

Added: Nothing

Games releasing this week
Akimbot
Bloodhound
Bloodless
Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes
Beyond Hanwell
Blood Hunting
Breachway
Core Keeper
Corpus Edax
Crypt Custodian
Dale & Dawson Stationary Supplies
Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
Endzone 2
Fairy Tale: Dungeons
Gori: Cuddly Carnage
Ground of Aces
Gundam Breaker 4
Inn Tycoon
Kamitsubaki City Ensemble
Knock on the Coffin Lid
Koboo: The Tree Spirit
The Land of the Magnates
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
Lucky Tower Ultimate
Maximum Apocalypse
The Meating
Mecha Break
Memoriapolis
Monster Jam Showdown
Monster Run
9-Bit Armies: A Bit Too Far
Ninza
Operation: Polygon Storm
Project Castaway
Runa and the Chaikuru Legacy
Shadow of the Ninja - Reborn
SMITE 2
Snezhinka: Sentinel Girls 2
SOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato
Squirrel with a Gun
Star Wars Outlaws
Sugardew Island - Your Cozy Farm Shop
Supermoves
Ten Bells
Thief Simulator 2
Toy Shire
Ultra Pro Wrestling
Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Party Dash
Valfaris: Mecha Therion
Vampire Survivors
Visions of Mana
Warcana
WitchSpring R
World of Warcraft: The War Within
Z.O.N.A: Origin

[canedaddy]

Second Life is still going, eh? Well as long as you're enjoying it...



Played recently: Outriders

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: Outriders

Current backlog: 41


Gotta say, I'm having a great time with Outriders. Just what the doctor ordered. Satisfying shooting with sweet loot in a well-crafted world driven by an engaging story. I can see how people have put hundreds of hours into it trying out different builds and classes. I love the one I chose... Technomancer. Turrets and minigun/rocket launcher powers. Good times. Probably will finish this week, but likely will do another run at some point with another class.

[isthatallyougot]

Yeah, I also noticed you've only been playing Second Life for a while phase. I don't really know anything about it - just the general idea. I know you've talked about it a few times here. How long has that thing been going anyway? Is it still as active as it was years ago?

As for myself, I'm still playing Morrowind. I started up a new character like I mentioned, and I'm enjoying my weakness, lol. As fun as it can be to break this game asunder, it's honestly more fun to have some resistance and some self-imposed limitations. Granted, there was plenty of resistance in the early going on my first run so it's not like I didn't have some opposition, but once I started exploiting the possibilities, I rendered the world a laughable plaything, and it kind of muted the run up towards the climax as well as the conclusion, even though that power trip was enjoyable too.

I'm not sure if I'll keep chugging with this new character or not considering how much I've already invested in terms of hours this year, but I'm still having fun, so I'll ride the wave while it's high.

I also started up Kaze and the Wild Masks, a platformer that takes inspiration and liberties from Donkey Kong Country and others. It's a good looking game and offers a nice challenge, even pretty early on along with some additional even more difficult carrots on a stick. It's layered nicely in that way, and I'm having a good time with it only a couple hours into things.

I also have been playing Legend Bowl finally. I downloaded an NFL mod and am playing a franchise that begins with last season's players. It is really a fun game of gridiron. Fundamentally it's very sound, even if it doesn't have the depth of animations and some ancillary aspects from some more hard core sims like 2K and Madden. But make no mistake, the fundamentals are absolutely rock solid, and it's been a blast so far.






Cane, if you're wondering why I'm playing as the Vikings, I relocated a while back. I grew up a Vikings fan, and when my life took a turn a few years ago, I decided to kind of flush my history in the Carolinas in a sort of self-healing catharsis. I've always hated the super hot summers of the south, which made things even easier. I literally can't tolerate the heat, and I was born not too far from where I moved. I feel at home in this fresh start relative to my Nordic and childhood roots. Plus, it wasn't too hard to let go of the Panthers as a part of that process, as terrible as they are, lol. I'm sure no one else would notice from the posted screens, but I figured I'd explain to remove any mystery. But if you are hankering for a new game of pigskin, this ought to satisfy imho. I don't know if you can mod things on console or not, but you can edit things on your own, if you want.

[Phaseknox]

Second Life is still going, eh? Well as long as you're enjoying it...

Yeah, I also noticed you've only been playing Second Life for a while phase.

About three weeks ago I got something in my left eye and instead of doing the smart thing and going to the eye doctor I tried flushing it out in the shower which I went overboard with because it wouldn’t come out, and resulted in me damaging the vision in the eye. It was my good eye as my right eye had received some damage over the years, so now both eyes are bad blurrier than before with somewhat dulled brightness and color. I can see things somewhat clear up close, but I need glasses to see things further away. But now I need a new prescription, so I haven’t been watching anything or playing games. I’ve been really depressed and have been spending my days drinking beer, listening to music and playing Second Life on my laptop.

[jfissel]

Finished: Jeanne d'Arc PS5 (story)

Now Playing: Jeanne d'Arc PS5

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 44 games

The story is complete in Jeanne d'Arc! Cane - highly recommend grabbing it and replaying it on the big screen. I am doing some post-game activities and hopefully going for platinum.

About three weeks ago I got something in my left eye and instead of doing the smart thing and going to the eye doctor I tried flushing it out in the shower which I went overboard with because it wouldn’t come out, and resulted in me damaging the vision in the eye. It was my good eye as my right eye had received some damage over the years, so now both eyes are bad blurrier than before with somewhat dulled brightness and color. I can see things somewhat clear up close, but I need glasses to see things further away. But now I need a new prescription, so I haven’t been watching anything or playing games. I’ve been really depressed and have been spending my days drinking beer, listening to music and playing Second Life on my laptop.

Dang, man...that sounds rough. Better days ahead, Phase!

[canedaddy]

I also have been playing Legend Bowl finally. I downloaded an NFL mod and am playing a franchise that begins with last season's players. It is really a fun game of gridiron. Fundamentally it's very sound, even if it doesn't have the depth of animations and some ancillary aspects from some more hard core sims like 2K and Madden. But make no mistake, the fundamentals are absolutely rock solid, and it's been a blast so far.

That looks awesome, and your review has me sold on it. I will grab it sometime soon.

Cane, if you're wondering why I'm playing as the Vikings, I relocated a while back. I grew up a Vikings fan, and when my life took a turn a few years ago, I decided to kind of flush my history in the Carolinas in a sort of self-healing catharsis. I've always hated the super hot summers of the south, which made things even easier. I literally can't tolerate the heat, and I was born not too far from where I moved. I feel at home in this fresh start relative to my Nordic and childhood roots. Plus, it wasn't too hard to let go of the Panthers as a part of that process, as terrible as they are, lol. I'm sure no one else would notice from the posted screens, but I figured I'd explain to remove any mystery.

Sounds like a great decision, especially after Sunday! Skol!

[canedaddy]

About three weeks ago I got something in my left eye and instead of doing the smart thing and going to the eye doctor I tried flushing it out in the shower which I went overboard with because it wouldn’t come out, and resulted in me damaging the vision in the eye. It was my good eye as my right eye had received some damage over the years, so now both eyes are bad blurrier than before with somewhat dulled brightness and color. I can see things somewhat clear up close, but I need glasses to see things further away. But now I need a new prescription, so I haven’t been watching anything or playing games. I’ve been really depressed and have been spending my days drinking beer, listening to music and playing Second Life on my laptop.

Good grief. Sorry to hear that.

[isthatallyougot]

That looks awesome, and your review has me sold on it. I will grab it sometime soon.

Oh it's great fun! I'm already 45 plus hours in and in the NFC title game in season 2 of my franchise. I've been playing with the self-imposed rule that every season I win the Super Bowl I have to bump it up to the next difficulty, and it looks like I may go back to back and have to bump it up again. I started at the default difficulty, so I'm hopefully going to hit my sweet spot soon, or just find out that "I'm him."

Sounds like a great decision, especially after Sunday! Skol!

Well, I'm sure we'll probably see the "real" Darnold soon enough...this week probably. He's followed me from Carolina in a circuitous route though, so I've got a bit of an attachment to hoping he finally finds himself reaching his potential here. He's a likeable enough guy and got all the tools. I'm hoping he's just a late bloomer.

(I bet you've had just about enough of the Chiefs, huh?)

[canedaddy]

Well, I'm sure we'll probably see the "real" Darnold soon enough...this week probably. He's followed me from Carolina in a circuitous route though, so I've got a bit of an attachment to hoping he finally finds himself reaching his potential here. He's a likeable enough guy and got all the tools. I'm hoping he's just a late bloomer.

(I bet you've had just about enough of the Chiefs, huh?)

Maybe Darnold will be like Baker Mayfield and finally figure it out this season and be a star, you never know.

I cannot stand the Chiefs. Hopefully the next time we play them will be the one where the Ravens get all the breaks to offset Mahomes' greatness and the KC-loving officials.

[isthatallyougot]

I cannot stand the Chiefs. Hopefully the next time we play them will be the one where the Ravens get all the breaks to offset Mahomes' greatness and the KC-loving officials.

You know I have always loved the purity of genuine competition, but there are way too many red flags to dismiss regarding professional "sports". There are the obvious and acknowledged gambling (and other) scandals, but there are so many other fishy issues that really taint my enjoyment of the games. I personally believe that the leagues (all of them) have so much money on the line in terms of audience engagement, tv deals, et al that they simply would not accept "allowing the chips to fall as they may". They love their heroes / villains, and when one team becomes (is chosen to be) a "dynasty", it is ultimately good for the bottom line. And then they'll just rinse and repeat. There's so much to say about these problems, but it's ultimately an exercise in futility. And I, myself, am part of the problem for giving my time and attention to these theatrics.