PS2 Backlog Committee

New games this week:

Highguard - PC PS5 XBX
Earth Must Die - PC
I Hate This Place - PC PS5 XBX NS
Cairn - PC PS5
Code Vein II - PC PS5 XBX
The 9th Charnel - PC PS5 XBX

What a lineup!


Played recently: Astro Bot

Finished: Astro Bot

Added to backlog: nothing

I beat the main game of Astro Bot and did the Christmas DLC. Now I'm trying to get the last couple of Bots in the main game, which is driving me insane. I have two things left: To The Beat! (X level) and Great Master Challenge. Both are giving me fits. I will keep trying another night or two before I just concede I lack the skills to finish those.

Aside from that, Astro Bot is truly an amazing game, maybe the best 3-D platformer ever. An immaculately playable, wonderful experience full of laughs and surprises.

Finished: Nothing

Now Playing: Once Upon a Katamari (trophy cleanup), PowerWash Simulator 2

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 39 games

At the end of PowerWash Simulator 2, will finish up this week.

canedaddy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:52 pm I beat the main game of Astro Bot and did the Christmas DLC. Now I'm trying to get the last couple of Bots in the main game, which is driving me insane. I have two things left: To The Beat! (X level) and Great Master Challenge. Both are giving me fits. I will keep trying another night or two before I just concede I lack the skills to finish those.

Aside from that, Astro Bot is truly an amazing game, maybe the best 3-D platformer ever. An immaculately playable, wonderful experience full of laughs and surprises.

To the Beat...one of the levels that gave me trouble, lol. Keep at it!

canedaddy wrote: ↑Tue Jan 27, 2026 2:52 pm maybe the best 3-D platformer ever.

WOW! That is quite the statement indeed. I know many love it though. Maybe it'll eventually make its way to PC one day.


I've been really loving my time with DQ8. I just "defeated" Empyrea so I can I really love the pacing in this and the gradual opening of exploration. I'm about 60 hours in and loving it at least as much as DQXI. Such an enjoyable journey with a fun cast, great presentation and lots of drama (and melodrama).

I've also been playing Retro Game Challenge for the DS which has also been really fun. It's like UFO 50 before that landed. (Another game that's high on my to-buy list when it sees a deep enough discount for a guy with 3000 steam games, i.e. very cheap, lol)

isthatallyougot wrote: ↑Wed Jan 28, 2026 1:03 pm I've been really loving my time with DQ8. I just "defeated" Empyrea so I can

DisplayCollapse view

fly around now.

I really love the pacing in this and the gradual opening of exploration. I'm about 60 hours in and loving it at least as much as DQXI. Such an enjoyable journey with a fun cast, great presentation and lots of drama (and melodrama).

I concur wholeheartedly!

To The Beat! and the Great Master Challenge are beaten, and the Astro Bot platinum is secured!



I'm not sure whether to proceed to the DLC stuff (Vicious Void and Stellar Speedway) or move on to another game. It sounds like those are hardcore difficulty and speedruns, respectively, neither of which is my thing. Any advice, jfissel or anyone else who played them? As satisfying as it was to beat those last two levels in the main game and get the plat, I'm not really up for that kind of headbanging on a large scale.

Games added: Nothing

Last week: Finished nothing, played Hello Kitty, Marvel Galactic Invasion, and I can't remember what else

This week: Same plus a LOT of Cult of the Lamb

There are some games that come out & I just *know* I'm going to love them, but for whatever reason I keep putting off playing them. I know izzy can relate to that, he's mentioned something similar several times. Well, Cult of the Lamb was one of those games for me. Something finally pushed me to start it this past week - I own it for the Switch, but I'm playing it off of the Playstation subscription service. And sure enough, I absolutely love it. It's a roguelite that's half dungeon crawler and half cult simulator. The thing is, usually when a game does this kind of thing I love one part of it and don't really care for the other, so I end up feeling like the other thing is a chore I have to do to get back to the good stuff - and usually, it's the sim aspect that I don't really like. In this case, both things are a blast and the way they affect one another is so well done that the entire game is just a joy to play. I have nothing bad to say about it in fact - from the gameplay to the graphics to the music, the entire package is just immaculate. I've sunk over 30 hours into it so far (for reasons I'll go into in a min...) and I'm about 2/3's through the main story, so I feel safe saying that it's an absolute banger. Highly recommended.

Monday was a work at home day for me due to the weather. Honestly, it got really cold down here but nothing else, but I never complain about a work from home day. That morning I started feeling a little pinch in my abdomen, which I wrote off to something I ate - I had made some chili the night before, so maybe that was it. As the day went on, the pain got worse, and it really didn't feel like a stomach issue. I was barely able to sleep that night, there was no way I could lay in bed that wasn't painful. Tam almost took me to the emergency room, but I really didn't want to and it finally started easing off a little after I took some pain meds. The next day I stayed home & went to the doc, and turns out I have a kidney stone. So I stayed home yesterday as well adjusting to the pain meds, waiting on a call to setup a CT scan that never came, and just generally being in pain. I'm back at work today, but still in some pain. Anyway, that time at home where I couldn't do much else, I played CotL.

And now...I wait.



[media]https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxmqN8lhV0v_ ... 9xy5y8Gxv8[/media]

I hope crim didn't get wrecked by the winter storm. He's probably just playing some version of Sonic on his Deck.

canedaddy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 28, 2026 3:20 pm I concur wholeheartedly!

I don't know why nobody ever talked up this game or series around here. I know we're a very small community, but you would think ****someone**** would have tried things out. It would have been nice to know. I mean, I know most of you guys are all Call of Duty / Madden bros. though, and that's fine. But branching out and experiencing new things can be good too.

argyle wrote: ↑Thu Jan 29, 2026 11:42 am There are some games that come out & I just *know* I'm going to love them, but for whatever reason I keep putting off playing them. I know izzy can relate to that, he's mentioned something similar several times.

Coincidentally, what I'm playing right now in DQ8 falls squarely in that category. I expected I'd love it and even bought two physical copies (spaced apart) not long after release. And I even ended up playing DQXI FIRST, lol. The brain is a mystery sometimes, ha.

argyle wrote: ↑Thu Jan 29, 2026 11:42 am Monday was a work at home day for me due to the weather. Honestly, it got really cold down here but nothing else, but I never complain about a work from home day. That morning I started feeling a little pinch in my abdomen, which I wrote off to something I ate - I had made some chili the night before, so maybe that was it. As the day went on, the pain got worse, and it really didn't feel like a stomach issue. I was barely able to sleep that night, there was no way I could lay in bed that wasn't painful. Tam almost took me to the emergency room, but I really didn't want to and it finally started easing off a little after I took some pain meds. The next day I stayed home & went to the doc, and turns out I have a kidney stone. So I stayed home yesterday as well adjusting to the pain meds, waiting on a call to setup a CT scan that never came, and just generally being in pain. I'm back at work today, but still in some pain. Anyway, that time at home where I couldn't do much else, I played CotL.

And now...I wait.

DUDE!!!! I passed 2 kidney stones at once last year and, not to scare you, but whoo boy was it PAINFUL!!! It wasn't the actual passing that hurt in my case, it was the prelude. I thought at first that I had strained my side exercising or something, but the pain just kept growing more and more intense over time and I eventually had an inkling (didn't go to the dr, lol) of what I was dealing with. So for about a full week, I was sweating and moaning and in really quite an exquisite state of pain, and then it subsided a bit and then shortly thereafter, I went to the bathroom and plop-plop, those little devils were gone. And the actual event was, thankfully, really anti-climactic given the lead-up. So yeah, drink your lemon water and stay hydrated brother and hopefully you'll avoid a recurrence. Bonne chance brother!! I know sometimes people have really mild experiences with them and I hope yours is of that variety.

argyle wrote: ↑Thu Jan 29, 2026 11:42 am Monday was a work at home day for me due to the weather. Honestly, it got really cold down here but nothing else, but I never complain about a work from home day. That morning I started feeling a little pinch in my abdomen, which I wrote off to something I ate - I had made some chili the night before, so maybe that was it. As the day went on, the pain got worse, and it really didn't feel like a stomach issue. I was barely able to sleep that night, there was no way I could lay in bed that wasn't painful. Tam almost took me to the emergency room, but I really didn't want to and it finally started easing off a little after I took some pain meds. The next day I stayed home & went to the doc, and turns out I have a kidney stone. So I stayed home yesterday as well adjusting to the pain meds, waiting on a call to setup a CT scan that never came, and just generally being in pain. I'm back at work today, but still in some pain. Anyway, that time at home where I couldn't do much else, I played CotL.

Oh no! I'm very thankful I've never had to go through that. Please Lord keep that record going!!