Page 1 of 2

The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2026 2:18 pm
by jfissel
Image

Moonlight Peaks (Switch 2, Switch, PC, Android) – July 7
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – July 9
Backyard Baseball (PC, Mac, modern consoles) – July 9
College Football 27 (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – July 9
Echoes of Aincrad (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – July 9
Granblue Fantasy Relink: Endless Ragnarok (PS5, PS4, Switch 2, PC) – July 9
Tiny Bookshop (iOS, Android) – July 9
Veritas Tales: Witch of the Dark Castle (PC) – July 9
Winx Club: The Magic Is Back (Xbox Series X/S) – July 9
Digimon Story Time Stranger (Switch 2) – July 10
Echoes of Aincrad (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – July 10
Palworld (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC) – July 10
Wuthering Waves (Xbox Series X/S) – July 10


Finished: 007 First Light (story)

Now Playing: 007 First Light

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 36 games

Beat the story in First Light and now I'm going back through to clean up the collectibles I missed. Got 58/92 on my own, not bad.

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2026 9:46 am
by canedaddy
I hope everyone had a fantastic time celebrating America's Big 250!

Image


jfissel wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2026 2:18 pm Beat the story in First Light and now I'm going back through to clean up the collectibles I missed. Got 58/92 on my own, not bad.
Did you keep track of those as you played, or does the game have a system that lets you know which ones you got or missed? (Thinking about that kind of thing a lot as I play Vice City, haha. I have made sure to keep track of every jump I register, package I find, etc.)



Played recently: GTA Vice City

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

I injured my Achilles tendon last weekend (thankfully not ruptured, but doc says it will take 2 months to get better), so I haven't been able to do much but sit and rest... which meant a whole lot of Vice City this week and over the holiday weekend. I think I'm at 56% now and moving right along. Got my mansion, blew up the Haitians, took Love Fist to the show. :lol: Actually taking a break from main missions now to work on collectibles, asset missions, etc. Such a fun game, man. I'm sure GTA VI will be amazing, but I doubt it will be able to capture the magic of Vice City.

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2026 10:26 am
by argyle
Games added: Nothing

Last week: Finished Crimson Desert.

This week: I have no idea. Something short. :lol:

Credits have rolled, a little over 360 hours on the clock. I honestly didn't play a lot of anything this past week, I think I'm going through detox. Was sitting at the final boss basically all week. :P

I did play a certain game on Saturday, as tradition would hold, but that will go on next week's report. ;)

Hope everyone had a good 4th / 250th!



Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2026 2:13 pm
by isthatallyougot
I finished up the main story of Vice City and did a good bit of optional stuff. I'm also sure I saw and did some things this time I never did back in 2002. I found a little dump of a safehouse atop some downtown roof which I don't think I found before, for one thing. I never bothered with 100% back then and I won't now either. Once it's just a matter of collecting property payouts and watching the $ go up it loses a bit of a draw, even if it is still fun to tool around and cause some chaos for its own sake. I found 43 hidden packages, I think it was, and I debated enjoying the easter-egg hunt aspect of searching for more, but I can't be arsed when there are plenty of other games to play, lol.

I've also been getting into a really fun and unique survival horror RPG called Look Outside. This one has so much personality and a great sense of mystery. I've been glued to the screen with it. Really interesting tone in this. It's oddly both cozy and menacing.



Cane, you gotta watch your movements now that you're old. No more quick turns to the ice box. :P

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Mon Jul 06, 2026 4:05 pm
by jfissel
canedaddy wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 9:46 am
jfissel wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2026 2:18 pm Beat the story in First Light and now I'm going back through to clean up the collectibles I missed. Got 58/92 on my own, not bad.
Did you keep track of those as you played, or does the game have a system that lets you know which ones you got or missed? (Thinking about that kind of thing a lot as I play Vice City, haha. I have made sure to keep track of every jump I register, package I find, etc.)

Played recently: GTA Vice City

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

I injured my Achilles tendon last weekend (thankfully not ruptured, but doc says it will take 2 months to get better), so I haven't been able to do much but sit and rest... which meant a whole lot of Vice City this week and over the holiday weekend. I think I'm at 56% now and moving right along. Got my mansion, blew up the Haitians, took Love Fist to the show. :lol: Actually taking a break from main missions now to work on collectibles, asset missions, etc. Such a fun game, man. I'm sure GTA VI will be amazing, but I doubt it will be able to capture the magic of Vice City.
It has a list in the menu for which ones you've collected. Most games do that now, those old GTAs just tracked like x/100 or whatever so you always had to run through everything again to find those last couple.

Ouch, get well soon! But also now's the time to veg out and game!

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2026 2:39 pm
by canedaddy
Thanks j!

isthatallyougot wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 2:13 pm I found a little dump of a safehouse atop some downtown roof which I don't think I found before, for one thing.
Ah, the ol' Skumole Shack! What a lovely place to rest your head for the night. :lol:

Image


isthatallyougot wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 2:13 pm Cane, you gotta watch your movements now that you're old. No more quick turns to the ice box. :P
Ha, you ain't lyin. Though this apparently is the result of an old high school football injury that has risen up decades later to get me again. :cry:

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2026 3:09 pm
by jfissel
Happy National Video Game Day! Hope all of you celebrate today.

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2026 8:07 pm
by argyle
I made this custom cover for Castlevania: Dominus Collection for the Switch. Gonna use the template to make covers for the other Konami collections too - thought you gents might appreciate it. :)

Castlevania Dominus Collection - cover.png

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2026 6:56 am
by isthatallyougot
canedaddy wrote: Tue Jul 07, 2026 2:39 pm Ah, the ol' Skumole Shack! What a lovely place to rest your head for the night. :lol:

Image

Ha, you ain't lyin. Though this apparently is the result of an old high school football injury that has risen up decades later to get me again. :cry:
Yeah! That's the place. Home sweet home, lol! And you should have had the foresight to realize that football would be bad for being old!!! Don't you see?!? :P (Hope it's not too problematic for too long for you.)
jfissel wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2026 3:09 pm Happy National Video Game Day! Hope all of you celebrate today.
You know, my old cynical self thinks there are far...FAR...too many "Days" for far too many things, but this is worthy, ha. I didn't even know it was a thing.
argyle wrote: Wed Jul 08, 2026 8:07 pm I made this custom cover for Castlevania: Dominus Collection for the Switch. Gonna use the template to make covers for the other Konami collections too - thought you gents might appreciate it. :)


Castlevania Dominus Collection - cover.png
Yeah, that's really cool, but what is physical media? :P

Re: The Backlog Check-In Vol. 444: 7/4/26: Independence Day Edition

Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2026 10:03 am
by argyle
isthatallyougot wrote: Thu Jul 09, 2026 6:56 am Yeah, that's really cool, but what is physical media? :P
airplane slap.gif
airplane slap.gif (5.51 MiB) Viewed 3816 times