A year in gaming - An effort to clear the 'backlog' of impulse buys

[groovychainsaw]

Ok gentlefolk and ladypersons. Here begins my main quest line for the year. To complete some of those games which I have enjoyed, and then dropped as soon as the new hotness comes along (gaming having given me the attention span of a hyperactive terrier). Well no more. Backlog-killing starts here.

The plan is to organise all the games I want to play at backloggery/Groovychainsaw (http://backloggery.com/Groovychainsaw). I will allow myself 5 slots for single-player games that I'm 'currently playing' (visible at the link). I will only allow myself to play those 5 games until one is 'completed' (In most cases, the 'final goal' is accomplished, not necessarily all side quests, otherwise Skyrim will be on there for the rest of my life). That's not to say I'll play through these games desperately in an attempt to get to the end as quickly as possible, I'll just be a bit more focussed on those 5, as they will be my only games until one is completed. I will play my blood bowl games as part of the leagues, likewise any other 'scheduled' multiplayer games will get in, too (they don't take up too much of my gaming time), but for single player, only those 5 will be played.

'So what are you taking up a whole thread for?', I hear you ask. Well, I'm planning to update my progress in here after each play session (so there may be spoilers, I haven't decided yet, but I'll give fair warning), and hopefully this will spur some discussion about the game/section/moments in question. Also, I'd like you guys to help guide my path through my games this year, so I'll be looking for advice about what to play next to add to my 'final five'.

And that starts now, 4 out of 5 slots are taken already. Given that they are filled with Skyrim, Saints Row the Third, Driver:SF and Dark Souls, I could do with something short and sweet to fill that last slot, so help me choose something to play from my backlog (http://backloggery.com/Groovychainsaw) that fits. Discussion/arguing over what I should play next is positively encouraged, and if you have similar plans, post your backlog in here. Lets see if we can make a concerted effort to actually play some of those steam sale games and other 'impulse buys' we've not got around to.

Oh, and before anyone complains, yes, there are quite a number of console games alongside PC ones. I need a split between console and PC so I can play on one system if the other is occupied :-). I don't want anyone moaning that I'm playing on the xbox and its inferior, thats not what this thread is for, its more a celebration of games as a whole rather than 'which format is best' type arguments.

[Kadayi]

There's a similar thread here with regard to backlogs: -

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?2172-No-New-Games-For-a-Year

Also I'd play SR3

[groovychainsaw]

Yeah Kadayi, I posted in there too having read through it about the principles being good, but I felt I was hijacking your efforts to not buy any games as I'm still planning to buy any new games I fancy throughout this year, just not until I have a free slot. I admire your ' no purchasing' efforts though, and it was the attempts in there to catalog the backlog (and use backloggery to do so) that inspired me to write this :-).

/Edit - And SR3 is 'currently being played'.... any other thoughts?

[Tikey]

I'd say Gemini Rue. I've yet to play it myself but It's different enough from what you're already playing and probably short enough too.

I've taken the liberty to add you in my backloggery. Maybe having some people there will motivate me to finish some games.

[Kadayi]

Well I can only comment on PC,. but I'd say albeit a tad clunky mechanistically Alpha Protocol is well worth finishing.

Albeit I enjoyed Arkham City there's way too many Riddler Trophies to collect (440 to get including a large number of physical combat challenges). In many ways I'd avoid it for a while as getting all of those is a massive time sink (I got up to 390 but kind of lost my motivation after that). Definitely worth playing at some point, but I wouldn't say it's crushingly urgent if your focus is on clearing games. I'd love to know that stats on the % of the player base who bothered getting them all. Hopefully Rocksteady with the next game will make it a bit more achievable in a realistic time frame.

[sabrage]

I was going to make a thread similar to this a month or so ago, but I figured nobody would care. Hipster backlog.

Did you happen to play Demon's Souls? I can't bring myself to go back to it after the first boss because, right when I thought I had the game figured out, it got way harder.

[Kadayi]

I saw Dark Souls around a friends earlier in the year (I'm strictly a PC gamer) and I was both 'damn this looks hard' and also 'I'd like to see this come to PC'.

[sabrage]

I saw Dark Souls around a friends earlier in the year (I'm strictly a PC gamer) and I was both 'damn this looks hard' and also 'I'd like to see this come to PC'.
I really should use quotes more liberally... My question was directed at groovychainsaw, as he mentioned that he was playing Dark Souls and I wanted to know how it compared to the original and if he had any general tips on the game.

The thing I like most about the game is its atmosphere, especially with the online component. Someone write "Beware of the footsteps ahead..." and I'll immediately be on edge about the enemy I'm about to face. And, invariably, whatever that enemy is can and will kill you until you learn its patterns. It's one of the few games I feel require true mastery, rather than luck or simple muscle memory à la Super Meat Boy to beat. Unfortunately, a lot of this mastery seems to come from trial-and-error and I feel like there's a lot about the game I'm missing without delving into online resources (something I hate doing.)

[FunnyB]

tikey and groovychainsaw -> I too took the liberty of adding you to my backloggery... I've also decided to dedicate some time to complete some of all those games that I've bought during the end of last year.

Link (http://backloggery.com/FunnyB) to my backloggery, for those who are interested...

[Roufuss]

Sabrage -- a lot about Demons Souls is trial and error and memorization though, just like Super Meat Boy. Once you learn the levels, akin to Super Meat Boy, it starts to get far easier.

Its hard at first because the game thrusts you into it, you don't know which level to choose first, there isn't a lot of in-game documentation... once you get used to the controls and combat, memorize the levels such as enemy placement and traps along with any shortcuts, it gets far, far easier. Not to mention once you start upgrading your character, getting some decent weapons and armor, things start getting easier then too.

Enemies that were once hard start to get easier as you learn how they move and after awhile, things will just start to *click*. Its hard to explain... I remember struggling at the beginning but around the halfway mark I just demolished the game all in one go.

Can't speak for Dark Souls, as I bought it at launch to support the developer (and I got it for half price to boot) but haven't had the time I wanted to sit there and dedicate a day to it to immerse myself in it. All I know is that the developers said they felt Demon's Souls was actually too easy (I remember seeing they said they were surprised at what people thought was difficult) and they wanted to make something they felt was challenging.

Both games are very old school in a way not a lot is, these days. They would make awesome PC games, but the developer is incredibly small and niche so I doubt they could really afford it. Not to mention Sony owns Demon's Souls and Sony doesn't do PC games.

[groovychainsaw]

Yeah, I'm a big fan of both Demon's Souls and Dark Souls myself, I put about 30 hours into demon's souls (and its in the backlog for completion!!) before I think my tank-type build started to run into difficulties (also a lack of user skill, i suspect!). For Dark Souls, I started as a pyromancer, giving me a hugely useful fireball spell to blast through the early bosses before diverging into a magic/rapid attacker. Suffice to say, I'm making much greater progress through Dark Souls than Demon's, it feels easier to me, although I think my Demons Souls experience gave me a head-start.

Both games are very hard, but reward patience. It IS trial and error to a certain extent, but it doesn't rely so much on twitch reflexes as something like like super meat boy, its a lot slower than that. Treat every fight as a duel and run away when outmatched and you'll generally get on fine. Much patience is required. You'll often die when you first meet a new enemy as they'll do something unexpected. Walk around with a shield up all the time if in doubt, like me, or if you are cocky and do have those twitch skills, rely on parrying every attack (bold choice, sir!). All of this is true for Demons, too.

Dark Souls feels easier to me because of the open world with the bonfires giving you more frequent respite than Demons ever did. You will need to use online guides at least a small amount though, the lack of signposting is perhaps taken to extremes, with you able to walk into tough/impossible areas immediately with no indication where you are supposed to go right from the start. A couple of hints as to where to go and a couple of hints on the more inscrutable bosses (what IS their weakness?) has kept me in the game when I felt I'd wandered into the wrong area/was ill-equipped. There is also a lot more that I'm completely missing (and you basically have to look up online to figure out or spend hours doing in-game tests), but I don't mind missing the really in-depth stuff so much. I'm sure there have been opportunities for NPC allies to join me for boss battles that I've missed, for example.

Dark Souls was probably the best game I played last year, hence why I put it back on this list to complete. I'd like to do it for my own satisfaction and it had disappeared under the pile of xmas steam sale games, making it a priority for my new years list. I'll let you know how I'm doing when I report in on my first play session.

[Giaddon]

Wow, your backlog is quite manageable compared to mine. Good job! I'd slot in Gemini Rue, or Sonic Generations, both fairly brief games. Although, honestly, I encourage you to play fewer games at one time (like two or three) rather than more. But you know your habits far better than I :)

Good luck!

[groovychainsaw]

Yeah, I don't think everything is on there that I'd like in the backlog (that was just what I dredged up last night), I could see it getting up to 100 or so games, but I'm fairly good at completing most short-ish games so most of those released in the last couple of years have been completed. I've also avoided adding anything procedural or with no clear end-game for now, as they'll be difficult to fit in. I may have to set my own end-game for that sort of thing. i'll cross that bridge when I come to it.As for having 5 at once, I was planning for them to be different genres/speeds for different moods (anyone else do that?), but I think I've basically got 2 open-world RPGs, one GTA-a-like and an open world racer, so maybe not as much variety as I first though. But as I am actually playing those right now, and enjoying all 4, i figured it was a good place to start.

Gemini Rue does look interesting and might prove a good change of pace from the others on my list. Anyone know if its a particularly long game?

[Anthile]

Gemini Rue is not very long but I guess it depends on how much of an adventure game veteran you are (I, for one, survived many) and your willingness to use a walkthrough if you get stuck. Because of the low resolution it can be hard to find items at times but it doesn't happen too often. The puzzles are almost all logical and don't require moon logic.
Overall I'd say about 5-6 hours.

[LordHuggington]

From the things in your backlog, I'm partial to Blur myself. It's got a lot of pick-up and play to it without having to deal with long, drawn out missions. Lots of unlockables, the weapons are fun, and the tracks are well laid out too. Good times.

[DevinSmoth]

Hey...

I'm in the same type of a boat as you are at this point. I have a huge backlog of games and my income just went poof! ;) So, with that in mind, I'm going back and spending my time going through the massive backlog of games that I have to play still.

My Backloggery is linked below but it isn't complete, my Steam profile is a more accurate picture of things that I still need to finish. I have so SO many titles that I need to work on this year. But I did decide that the only titles that I'm going to be buying this year are Torchlight 2 (assuming we ever get it) and Guild Wars 2 (assuming I decide that I have enough time for a MMO at that point). We'll see either way, I suppose.

I'm working on updating my Backloggery slowly as I am going through my Steam profile, but it's taking a long time. I think I'll do the whole five slots for single player stuff like you're doing and see how that goes. Thanks for the idea!

[Pseudo310]

I'm on backloggery as Pseudo. Thanks for reminding me about it. It was a big help the last time I decided to sift through my old games.

[SMiD]

Backloggery is nice and all, but I couldn't deal with their interface, and navigating their site was a pain in the ass.

[groovychainsaw]

Good suggestions, chaps. I'm leaning towards gemini rue or sonic generations right now (I don't think I could be picking between 2 more different games!) as, while I enjoyed blur (I've been buying bizarre creation's racers since metropolis street racer, and even the weakest racing game they've made is better than a good number of others), I don't really want another racer on there until driver is done. Also, nice to see a few others following this idea, I'll agree with SMiD that its not the best laid out site in the world, but having linked a few people on there now, its nice to get progress updates on others (motivational!), so I'll stick with it for now.

[DevinSmoth]

Yeah, groovychainsaw! I'll totally take on the challenge with you. It would be nice to clear some other titles out of the backlog. I'm still working on getting them all onto the backloggery site, but still... enjoying playing through them, without a doubt. I just need to stop playing Guild Wars and start playing more of the single player games to get them finished. ;)

As a quick side note, I think I have Gemini Rue somewhere laying around myself... if you decided to play that one, I may jump on the bandwagon and give that a go. Might be a good time, for sure.

[Spider Jerusalem]

this is silly.

games are for buying, not playing!

[Smashbox]

I went through my Steam library yesterday to categorize my games and found many I didn't even remember buying... perhaps they came in packs. So...

Anyone played the Elven Legacy series? Seems like it could be a good time.

This morning's post of the games of 2012 on the blog got me really excited. I suspect some of your willpower may be ground down by all these exciting things. Good luck to you all and godspeed!

[SMiD]

I think there is a standalone application for organizing your gaming collection out there. I remember running into it a few months back but can't, for the life of me, remember the name. That software (or a custom application like it) could be beneficial if you really wanted to take this a few steps further.

[clorax]

I'm working on updating my Backloggery slowly as I am going through my Steam profile, but it's taking a long time. I think I'll do the whole five slots for single player stuff like you're doing and see how that goes. Thanks for the idea!

You can use steam2backloggery (https://github.com/ToxicFrog/steamtools) to import all your Steam games into Backloggery automatically!

[Auspex]

Never heard of backloggery and I like your five game at a time tactic Groovy; may well copy it when I return to my desktop, xbox and PS3 - this crummy laptop can barely run anything.

[DevinSmoth]

You can use steam2backloggery (https://github.com/ToxicFrog/steamtools) to import all your Steam games into Backloggery automatically!
I gave that a shot, but it wasn't liking me... kinda weird. Haven't played with Lua scripts much yet... need to do some more of that... seeing that scripting language showing up alot these days.

[groovychainsaw]

Well, I got on last night and put an hour into skyrim. Didn't really do anything on the main quest line, so not really any closer to taking it off my list, but wasn't swayed into playing anything else at least. Discipline! I had to reset my config file as my tinkering had finally got to the point where the shadows were broken :-D. I did finish 2 quests, an annoying 'diplomatic immunity' one, not fun for a mage who specialises in making things explode rather than skulking about, and a simple dungeon dive to steal some scrolls from a vampire (my first one! I decided not to become one myself, fun as that may be) to translate for my librarian in the mage's guild (I'm the arch-mage! Look at me in my fancy robes!).

Also, still not decided on the 5th game, leaving that slot for now. Kinda worried something good might come out in the next couple of weeks that I haven't thought of yet... The RPS 'games of 2012' has me concerned about my plans :-)

@Smashbox - Elven legacy is a continuation of the 'Fantasy Wars' game (winner, most generic title, 2008). Its good old fashioned turn based strategy, reminding me of fantasy general (itself a fantasy offshoot of panzer general) in that you have a hex board, different specialists and level up your troops throughout the campaign. I enjoyed it, at least, anyone looking for some turn-based strategy with a bit of unit-levelling could do a lot worse.

[DevinSmoth]

I got on last night for about thirty minutes (was all I could spare between getting home late from work and watching Phineas and Ferb episodes with the wife... I love that show, so shoot me). I decided to give some time to Rainbow Six 3... and I realized something. I was playing the game entirely wrong and it was causing me to do much worse than I should have been doing. After reading a strategy FAQ for the game and experimenting a bit, I realized that while I had been just going in with one team and blowing through the objectives, there were possibilities for more teams and more strategy behind the game. I hadn't even done that... and I'd never set a checkpoint before, which resulted in me blundering around the map until I got lucky enough to take the objectives down.

So last night, I gave an attempt at doing different strategies, setting waypoints with multiple teams, and had some fun with it. I didn't like the fact that what I did ended up with me getting three people killed in the first mission. For those of you who haven't played that game, you have a limited team to complete the campaign with... and if you lose people, they're gone forever from your team roster. Eventually, I'll be doing missions with one person and praying I don't get shot. And yes, I'm playing on the easiest setting no less.

Anyway, long story short... I might give a bit more time to this game, but this may be one that I'm not going to ever finish. Not sure that I like it enough. I was thinking that it was going to just be a slightly squad based shooter where I got to kill terrorists, but there's a level of strategy that I don't really like in my shooters. So we'll see... I'll give it some more thought, but may be taking this off my currently playing list. On the upside, I think I know what I'm going to put in its place if I do decide to leave it on the wayside for the time being... Overlord!

Furthermore, tonight starts my weekend! YAY!

[groovychainsaw]

I was kinda thinking about this scenario, what if (as you describe) a game just becomes NOT FUN and is stuck on the 5 games list. Whilst the aim is to complete things on the backlog, its not at the expense of my sanity or just to waste my limited time (more so than gaming generally does, i mean ;-)). The way I figure it for me, the rule would be to take it out of the 5 current games, and remove it from the backlog completely as it 'failed the fun test'. I've already been doing this so far, there are plenty of steam games i played for a short while and didn't enjoy, so they are not in my backlog.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that your backlog as whole should only be made up of games you really would like to see through to completion. Unplayed ones, where you usually have no idea whether you'll like them or not, may need removal if they turn out to be bad, but you shouldn't put them back in your backlog, they should be removed entirely (uninstalled/traded in) and not revisited (at least not in this calendar year). That's how I'll manage it, anyway, I'm going to focus on the fun aspects and not spend ages playing things I'm not sure I really enjoy (which is something I also find myself doing too much of and am hoping to curtail with this effort)

[Tikey]

I don't think the purpose of the backlog is to finish games for the sake of finishing them. If you find that a game it's not fun/enjoyable then you shouldn't play it.

[sabrage]

I was kinda thinking about this scenario, what if (as you describe) a game just becomes NOT FUN and is stuck on the 5 games list.
Either I beat the game, or the game beats me. I actually have a couple of categories set up in Steam to deal with this: one labelled "Never Gonna Beat" for games I'm simply never going to want to play (Gish, GTAIV as it runs like shit on my computer) and one labelled "Too Damn Hard" for the games I just gave up on. If the effort to play a game outweighs the fun I get in return, I don't see any reason to play it. I use Backloggery as a catalogueing tool, so I don't just remove them, but you can use the "Null" category so they aren't weighing into your Unfinished list.

[Kadayi]

I don't think the purpose of the backlog is to finish games for the sake of finishing them. If you find that a game it's not fun/enjoyable then you shouldn't play it.

^This.

It's kind of why I've eschewed using backloggery tbh. I don't want to find myself playing a game all the way through that simply doesn't gel with me, when I can instead turn my attention to something more compelling and have fun with.

[groovychainsaw]

Yeah, I totally agree - it's obvious (to me!) that this idea isn't to force myself to play through bad games!

I have found myself flitting from game to game quite badly in recent times, only ever putting in an hour or so, on the idea that the new game I've just bought might be 1% more fun than the one I'm currently playing. I'm adding some discipline to myself, enforced through these lists, to finish some of the things I find fun, along with hopefully discussing some of the things people are playing and getting opinions on what good games are buried in my backlog and ought to get more playtime from me. So far, it's working, with some good suggestions of what to play out of my backlog and giving me just that little bit of focus when I fancy some gametime. I find that rather than being paralysed by 200 choices, I only have to pick from 5 (Although its still 4 as I'm scared to fill up the final slot!). On the plus side, all 4 games I definitely enjoy, so its hardly a slog or forcing difficult decisions. As sabrage said, either I beat the game, or the game beats me - those are the 2 'completion' states that get the game off the list.

[DevinSmoth]

I don't think the purpose of the backlog is to finish games for the sake of finishing them. If you find that a game it's not fun/enjoyable then you shouldn't play it.



That's a good point. I'm thinking that I'm going to give this game one more shot before it becomes a null. I actually have Crysis as a null already, because for some reason my computer doesn't like it... which doesn't make any sense. I just keep getting to one point in the storyline and then it crashes again. Not cool!

But yes... I agree... you shouldn't keep playing games that you're not enjoying anymore!

[Smashbox]

Parallel conversations in two threads. I can't keep them straight in my mind.

[DevinSmoth]

Parallel conversations in two threads. I can't keep them straight in my mind.

Hmm? What do you mean? What parallel conversations...

[Smashbox]

Hmm? What do you mean? What parallel conversations...
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?2172-No-New-Games-For-a-Year

[DevinSmoth]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?2172-No-New-Games-For-a-Year

Well, that's true... I like to think that they're seperate in the fact that this is more a diary than an actual discussion... but it's definitely kind of rambling!

[sabrage]

Rambling? On RPS? I've never heard such a preposterous notion.

[SMiD]

Cheers to everyone taking up this challenge; let's try to keep one another motivated here to make it through without too much burnout. Together we are strong and all that nonsense. We should have a theme song.

[Spider Jerusalem]

I gave that a shot, but it wasn't liking me... kinda weird. Haven't played with Lua scripts much yet... need to do some more of that... seeing that scripting language showing up alot these days.
same. i get an error when i try to execute the script. nfi why.

[groovychainsaw]

Well, thanks to Sabrage creating a gang (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/forums/showthread.php?2584-Ensemble-Backlog-Gemini-Rue) of us to get through it, and an unusual free Sunday coming up, game no.5 will be... Gemini Rue. It's been a while since i ran through a point and click game but the setting/style looks good and supposedly the puzzles make sense (unusually, for this genre). I'll report back on how my sunday goes :-).

[groovychainsaw]

Update! A successful weekend. I kept away from sales ad bundles, and stuck to games from the list. With the addition of Gemini Rue, i spent a couple of hours pointing and clicking on things. My patience for the puzzles in point and click things wears thin these days, i think its the linearity of the solutions that bothers me, I'd like to be able to use my brain, rather than trying to second guess what the designer was going to ask for next. I'm not saying they are illogical, i think I just expect multiple, more realistic solutions using tools etc. I do like the atmosphere and retro style though (as an amiga fan of days gone by) so I think that will keep me going through to the end.

The other game I've spent time getting through on my backlog is Driver:SF. A few more hours got put into on Sunday. As an unashamed arcade racing fan, I've found this to be one of the best driving games I've played in a long while, the music is great (seriously - its leading me towards some album purchases - its a great mix of 70's soul/funk, blues and modern rock), the 60fps (on 360) is slick and the variety in missions and challenges is great. Its like burnout paradise without the long downtime getting to the start of races and without the need to read maps whilst racing (whilst I completed paradise, those 2 things in particular annoyed me).

The handling model, whilst loose and tending to make everything drive like a 70s muscle car regardless of pedigree/driving wheels/power, is accurate enough to have fun drifting through junctions. With enough practice, I'm up to fast-and-furious style drifting under lorries now, which is great fun when you pull it off (9/10 times I end up squashed by a lorry, but the game is fairly forgiving of such errors). The 'quantum leap' mechanic to let you possess any car becomes more fun as you go get used to it, you can be quite creative with it. Some of the missions really allow you to be creative and come up with your own solutions, winning races by jumping into the oncoming traffic and then plowing a bus into a race leader is quite satisfying, and unlike anything else, whilst still keeping it challenging.

Spoilers from Driver!
Having reached chapter 5, it now turns out the bad guy can do the same 'jumping' trick, leading to a pretty great chase with him jumping into any car he likes to take me down. It made for a pretty entertaining run and I'm intrigued to see where it goes. How can I take down an opponent with the same abilities as myself??

[SMiD]

Great success! I finally can put Osmos behind me. I'm also close to wrapping up Braid (need puzzle pieces in Worlds 5 & 6); and about halfway through Mass Effect 1. Oh, and I've made it to the final island in Crayon Physics Deluxe.

[groovychainsaw]

Wow, good work SMiD, sounds like you've had more gaming time than me. I'm hoping to get on again at the weekend, evenings have been a bit hard to come by of late.What have you got lined up to play next?

[Kadayi]

Well I finished AC2 a couple of nights ago. I bought it quite some time ago and played it most of the way through, but never quite got around to finishing it. I decided it was probably worth playing from the start again as my muscle memory with respect to the controls was shot. Pretty enjoyable overall (I recommend Italian with subtitles Vs English 'mama mia' accents) as Ezio is much more likeable Vs Altair. Started up ACB now which is more of the same, but with some new features and challenges. Albeit the plot of the series if daft as brushes I do like how they tie everything into historical events.

[TailSwallower]

Getting on the backlog-clearing (and no new game for a year buying) bandwagon. I'll be posting about it around the place, but also blogging... Link in sig if anyone cares.

[DevinSmoth]

Personally, I've been ill for the last week or so, so I haven't had much in the way of energy for gaming, instead finally watching some tv that I had been behind in. That said, when I have had time for gaming, I've put some time into Starcraft laddering and Skyrim, which means that I haven't actually finished anything at this point, for sure.

I don't really know what I should be finishing, I feel like I'm stuck in the games that I've been playing lately (Blur) and I haven't added anything else to the list yet. Hopefully I'll get around to doing something about adding a game to the list and getting time to play it that's going to be actually finishable soon (ie not Skyrim or Starcraft).

Gz on finishing AC2, I really enjoyed that game. One of these days I'm going to get a hold of the next ones in the series, but I decided to wait until they came down in price, since it's not like I don't have anything to play in the meantime.

SMiD, I really enjoyed Osmos, it was a fun game, though I never went all the way through it... it was definitely relaxing with the worlds that I did indeed play through. Maybe I should go back and see about finishing that up, perhaps.

On the upside, tonight is the last thing I have to do this week and then I have another four day weekend (hopefully uninterupted by homework if I'm really productive today) which will be fun to see if I can't get any more gaming in. I need to decide on what game to finish next. It is going to be either Overlord (part way into), Last Remnant (haven't started) , or Arcania: Gothic 4 (haven't started either). Any ideas?!

(That's between Starcraft and shout/sprinting myself off cliffs accidentally in Skyrim)

[Kadayi]

Gz on finishing AC2, I really enjoyed that game. One of these days I'm going to get a hold of the next ones in the series, but I decided to wait until they came down in price, since it's not like I don't have anything to play in the meantime.

Yeah it was good fun. I didn't find the difficulty curve spiked as much with Vs the first game (which has a couple of 'fuck this game' moments for sure) and the camera on the whole was a lot better. When I'd played it previously I hadn't quite gotten the run up wall, jump to the side figured, but I got my technique down fairly well this time. Albeit there's the occasional shout of 'WTF are you doing you? ' there's nowhere near as much as 'OMFG.No...!!!!.' as in your atypical Tomb Raider. Also although there are a few timed challenges, they build in a little leeway in terms of timing so you can fuck up a couple of times and not suffer for it which is something I appreciate. In Tomb Raider anniversary there's an absurd time challenge with about 40 different actions in it and unless you ace it you it's restart time...that sort of thing is just daft game design in my opinion.

[FunnyB]

Well, so far, I've managed to play through two games this year (Shadowgrounds and Rochard) and I've only bought one game (Saint's Row The Third). I'm still committed to clearing out some of my backlog and I will try to avoid buying new games. In fact, with all the games I've got lying in my backlog, I don't really feel the need to buy more games right now. Saint's Row The Third being the exception though, since I loved the second game on 360 and I've been wanting to buy that since way before it was released.

[Oneironaut]

I started using Backloggery about 6 months ago, and it has really improved my completion rate for games. I still buy a lot of games though, so my backlog isn't getting much smaller. I'm currently playing a bit of GRID while I wait for UPS to deliver my copy of Monster Hunter Tri for my new Wii.

[LGM]

Well, so far, I've managed to play through two games this year (Shadowgrounds and Rochard)

Isn't Shadowgrounds just fantastic? I played through it last year, so great. :D I have Survivor too but haven't jumped into it yet.

I'm also in the process of actually playing through games instead of buying them and then buying more and then some more and barely finishing anything. Just finished the GTA: EFLC games (TLAD kinda sucked!). Not sure what to play next, I'm torn between Stalker:SOC, Bastion and Limbo.

[SMiD]

Wow, good work SMiD, sounds like you've had more gaming time than me. I'm hoping to get on again at the weekend, evenings have been a bit hard to come by of late.What have you got lined up to play next?

I figure I'll plow right into ME 2 to finish up that storyline. After that (or perhaps in parallel) it's gonna be more RPG-ness from the list. I've got Planescape: Torment, both Icewind Dales, and Neverwinter Nights to get through.

[FunnyB]

Isn't Shadowgrounds just fantastic? I played through it last year, so great. :D I have Survivor too but haven't jumped into it yet.

It really is fantastic. I started and completed it last weekend. I wasn't expecting much, and it really caught me off guard. First I thought it would be a poorer version of the kinda crappy new Alien Breed series, but it was loads better than those.

I haven't touched Survivor yet, since I thought I'd save that for later.

[alms]

Great success! I finally can put Osmos behind me.

Whoa, hat off to you sir. Did you actually like Osmos that much or you just HTFU ?

[Juan Carlo]

I did this last year. I didn't use backloggery, but I made a separate "now playing" category with 5 games and only allowed myself to play those. It worked awesomely. I completed tons of games, and I'm still doing it (today I finally finished Fallout 2! Huzzah! Now I can start Fallout 3!).

You just have to kind of get yourself into a mindset where you view playing a new game as being a reward for finishing a previous one. Otherwise, you end up jumping from game to game and never finish anything.

[Juan Carlo]

Well I finished AC2 a couple of nights ago. I bought it quite some time ago and played it most of the way through, but never quite got around to finishing it.

I finished this last week. AC2 is one of the first games in ages I finished in like 4 or 5 days. It held my interest and didn't overstay it's welcome--which is nice (especially since I really hated AC1).

[Juan Carlo]

Whoa, hat off to you sir. Did you actually like Osmos that much or you just HTFU ?

I really tried with this game, but finally just uninstalled it. It's tediousness outweighed its enjoyment factor, so I just realized at some point that I didn't care and it was just wasting my time when I could be doing other things.

Kudos to you for finishing it, though.

[LGM]

I completed tons of games, and I'm still doing it (today I finally finished Fallout 2! Huzzah! Now I can start Fallout 3!).


You're starting Fallout 3? See you in a month or two. :D

[DevinSmoth]

I wasn't a fan of AC1, but AC2 was really good... except for the final 'boss' encounter (which I'm not spoiling, just suffice to say that I wasn't impressed). In my opinion, it was stupid easy... and I walked through the entire thing in like... 15 minutes or less. Very anti-climatic ending in that sense.

That said, looking forward to getting around to Brotherhood (which I still have yet to purchase).

I played Osmos for a while, enjoyed it while I did, but not enough to really sit down and finish every level. It's a fun game though, pretty nice for a relaxing something to do. I need to finish Shadowgrounds apparently, I'm not very far in it... but I didn't think so far that it had any real depth yet. Not sure what you guys are seeing in it, so I'm going to have to put a bit more time into this one, apparently. Maybe that will be my other game right now, since I'm only really playing Skyrim/Starcraft2/Blur.

And now, I'm going to go play Shadowgrounds, it seems! Maybe I'll add it to my list of beaten games by the end of the weekend. ;)

[groovychainsaw]

Yup, myself the same, I got bored playing through AC1 (lovely idea, sorely lacking in variety), then they added in a lot more variety in the second and I enjoyed my time there (agree about the weak ending though). Still, I feel kinda sated on AC games now, I don't really feel the need to play another, as the reviews and comments I've seen suggest 'more of the same' form the sequel and I don't know if I'm enthusiastic enough about it to go through it again.

Shadowgrounds always looked like a basic shooter to me, and not interesting enough? Still, some people here seem to like it - what makes it more compelling than say, the original alien breed? It could easily get added to my backlog, too (if i ever get to finishing any of the games that I've got on there!)

[TailSwallower]

Gemini Rue is scratched off the list. Pretty short game though, so it doesn't make a huge dent overall.

[groovychainsaw]

Well done Swallower! I'm hoping to finish it off over the weekend, possibly along with driver:SF (I'm pretty sure I'm nearing the end, although may want to 100% it...), I'll let you know if I end up with 2 more slots free so I can poll for suggestions from my backlog :-)

[DevinSmoth]

I tried to give Gemini Rue a shot, and I just didn't like it... wasn't my thing, I guess. I'm not a huge fan of the point and click genre. It's too bad... people have been saying that it's a pretty good game, but meh... not going to spend my time playing a game if I'm not enjoying it, I suppose.

I'm hoping to make a large dent in my Shadowgrounds playthrough this weekend, though I do have some Geometry homework which I should look at at some point. A chance to use my new whiteboard! ;)_

[Lukasz]

all right. Also a big back log... "fortunately" i am at the moment sitting on a 8 year old midrange computer so my choices are limited.

Currently going through Septerra Core. A bit tedious game but I am quite enjoying. Should be finished by Wednesday.

I want to go through my GOG backlog first
So:
Jack Orlando
Kingpin
and either blood 2 or outcast

Depending on how big outcast is I should be finished with those games before the end of February.

[SMiD]

I actually enjoyed most of Osmos; the atmosphere was fantastic. My problem is solely with the pacing. When I started the game, I thought it was a relaxing little puzzler; the soothing music throughout certainly helped create this image. However, it's when you get to the last zones of each "arm" that you run into a wall of crippling frustration. Things go from introducing the concept to mastery of said concept rather quickly. But stick with it, and make serious use of slow-time, and you can come out on top.

As for Shadowgrounds: play it. Certainly one of the best of the genre, and it can easily be finished in a weekend. But... um... the sequel is sort of.... meh.

Now, suggestions as to what to finish next:
- Planescape: Torment
- Icewind Dale 1 & 2
- Neverwinter Nights Diamond
- Fallout

[groovychainsaw]

Out of those, I'd recommend planescape or fallout, preferably with the high res mods (just to help smooth over any graphics hangups - do an RPS search - they've done front-page articles on them both at some point ;-)). You'll enjoy the plot of both, both have slightly dated combat now, although i have a soft spot for the turn-based stuff, particularly in fallout. Of the 4, fallout is also the shortest game, if thats any help?

The other 2 are much weaker plot wise, I never got on with the heavy combat-focus of the icewind dale games and neverwinter's base game has a pretty mediocre plot, it was more a test for their engine (and DM-type features), i feel.

[Giaddon]

I'd say Fallout. The original is surprisingly short and tight, it's an excellently paced RPG.

ALSO:

You'll kill yourself trying to play through Neverwinter Nights Diamond. That's like a hundred hours of gameplay, most of it very boring. Throw the whole thing away or just play Hordes of the Underdark.

Icewind Dale 1 has a very interesting NPC mod (here (http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=174&Itemid=122)) that adds a full party of bantering NPCs to the game. Changes it from a hack-and-slash with an anonymous crew to more of a "full" role-playing game. Which maybe you don't want from Icewind Dale.

[TailSwallower]

not going to spend my time playing a game if I'm not enjoying it, I suppose.

Fair enough - I say the same thing about tackling my backlog. If a game came in a bundle then I'm not going to feel bad as long as I enjoy one of the games from said bundle.

That said though, I'm not much of a fan of Point and Click Adventures and I still enjoyed it. The sci-fi setting kept me interested.


Now, suggestions as to what to finish next:
- Planescape: Torment
- Icewind Dale 1 & 2
- Neverwinter Nights Diamond
- Fallout

I would recommend Planescape, then Fallout, then the other 2 in whatever order. It's just that Planescape is such a unique game that if you play it after any of the others it might taint your expectations. But yeah, Widescreen mods are a must for both of them. The games look gorgeous still when you tweak them to run at modern resolutions.


Icewind Dale 1 has a very interesting NPC mod (here (http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=174&Itemid=122)) that adds a full party of bantering NPCs to the game. Changes it from a hack-and-slash with an anonymous crew to more of a "full" role-playing game. Which maybe you don't want from Icewind Dale.

Thanks for the link. I might actually have a go with that seeing as I haven't had much luck with my own party, and I assume that one is well-balanced for what the game throws at you. Definitely more interested in a "full" RPG compared to a hack-and-slash, so it sounds like the mod for me.

[alms]

I actually enjoyed most of Osmos; the atmosphere was fantastic. My problem is solely with the pacing. When I started the game, I thought it was a relaxing little puzzler; the soothing music throughout certainly helped create this image. However, it's when you get to the last zones of each "arm" that you run into a wall of crippling frustration. Things go from introducing the concept to mastery of said concept rather quickly. But stick with it, and make serious use of slow-time, and you can come out on top.

My feelings exactly, the presentation really sets those expectations for you then out of the blue you get shot in the knees. More levels with a smoother difficulty curve would have probably gained the game far more fans than it has.

Problem is, there are so many games that I find challenging or even hard, and still entertain me/find fun to a degree, that I can't see myself going back to it. Guess it was not meant to be love.

[Wizardry]

Now, suggestions as to what to finish next:
- Planescape: Torment
- Icewind Dale 1 & 2
- Neverwinter Nights Diamond
- Fallout
Fallout first, then Icewind Dale 1 & 2, then Planescape: Torment, then Neverwinter Nights.


slightly dated combat
What does this mean?


Changes it from a hack-and-slash with an anonymous crew to more of a "full" role-playing game. Which maybe you don't want from Icewind Dale.
Why does recruitable companions turn something into a "full" RPG? If anything it dumbs it down into a shitty BioWarian "RPG".

[DevinSmoth]

I have Planescape, Icewind Dale 1/2 and Baldur's Gate 1/2 to play through myself. I'm looking forward to getting there, but I really just haven't yet. I want to play them super bad though... wasn't gaming when they came out the first time. ;) I'm a late bloomer (didn't start gaming until I was 18 and moved away from my parents who were anti-games).

That said, definitely going to finish Shadowgrounds this weekend and then consider what my next move is going to be. I also have Arcanum which is a game that a friend of mine recommended heavily. ;)

[SMiD]

Right, Fallout it is then. I've gotten it off of GoG, so I believe it's patched up as well as can be. Anything quirky about this version I should be aware of?

[Giaddon]

Great collection of mods and fixes here:

http://www.gog.com/en/forum/fallout_series/fallout_mods/page1

[Wizardry]

Right, Fallout it is then. I've gotten it off of GoG, so I believe it's patched up as well as can be. Anything quirky about this version I should be aware of?
I don't have the GOG version, but make sure you get the children patch if children are missing. Also, you may want to get one of the newer unofficial patches to fix the remaining bugs.

[groovychainsaw]

What does this mean?


I didn't really mean dated (i guess i was thinking of the graphics!), I should have said 'basic'. It's not that sophisticated in its approach. I know there are other turn-based games from that era and before that are sophisticated, it wasn't intended as a slight on those, Wizardry, I know what you're like ;-).

I, personally, enjoy the simplicity its low-fi combat provides, it fits the aesthetic of 'basic weapons in post-nuclear US'. I seem to remember it improved in the sequel (at least gave you more options in a fight). It has been a long while since I've played either, mind.

[Juan Carlo]

You're starting Fallout 3? See you in a month or two. :D

Well, I played it a couple years ago and never finished it because I got so sidetracked with sidequests and searching for bobble heads and other dumb stuff. So this time I've resolved to just do the main quest.

I've been playing through the entire Fallout franchise beginning with the first, which has been fun as apart from "Fallout 3" I'd never played any Fallout games before. It's also made the world of "Fallout 3" alot clearer than the first time I played it (i.e. I am now more familiar with the factions and the significance of certain in game items). Although, compared to the brilliance that was Fallout 2, Fallout 3 is a bit humorless and lackluster--especially when it comes to writing (which in traditional Bethesda fashion, is awful).

I really loved Fallout 2, though, and would recommend it if anyone hasn't played it yet. It's probably in my top 5 favorite RPGs ever--and it isn't often you play a game that you can say that about.

[sabrage]

Problem is, there are so many games that I find challenging or even hard, and still entertain me/find fun to a degree, that I can't see myself going back to it. Guess it was not meant to be love.
I'm with you on this one. I was kind of enjoying myself and then ran headfirst into a wall. It's a bitch of a puzzle game with imprecise controls and it was just too frustrating to bother anymore.

[FunnyB]

Shadowgrounds always looked like a basic shooter to me, and not interesting enough? Still, some people here seem to like it - what makes it more compelling than say, the original alien breed? It could easily get added to my backlog, too (if i ever get to finishing any of the games that I've got on there!)

Well, Shadowgrounds is a pretty basic shooter. I would say that it does the shooting parts very well, and the atmosphere was really nice and alienesque. For me, it was more that I was very pleasantly surprised about the game since I wasn't expecting a lot from it.
I have never played the original Alien Breed (maybe should pick it up sometime later from GOG now that it's on there?) but I've played the second of the newer Alien Breeds which I got for free during the summer holiday event on steam last year.
That game was very boring and predictable. Aliens kept popping up from everywhere at a rate that you were never really shocked to see them arrive anymore, and the objectives felt overly tedious.

Let me make an example of a string of objectives from that game.

Objective A: Use the elevator to get to a lower level. But wait! The elevator isn't powered when you reach it!
->Objective B: Activate the power to the elevator with a computer console. But wait! That computer console isn't powered when you reach it!
->Objective C: Turn on the generator that is across the map. Then you can return to objective B and later to objective A, but some other objective will probably show up and get in your way on your way to the generator.

See what I mean? It all felt so overly complex and tedious. After a few objectives, you pretty much knew that nothing was going to work for the first time you tried it, and you needed to backtrack several times to make any progress. That's freaking boring game design.

Shadowgrounds felt more natural, and for a lack of a better word, simpler. You got a few objectives, and more objectives were added during the missions, but you never felt that it was all padding the mission.

----------------

OK, an update on my backlog situation:
Since I am away from home this weekend, and only have my old laptop with me, my backlog will have to rest a few days. I have however, spent my free time with building a new fortress in Dwarf Fortress.... :D Fun times!

[DevinSmoth]

Darnit... not Dwarf Fortress! Man, I was already being tempted by that game... keep trying to resist so that I have time to do other things... RESIST IT!!!!

That said, I've been in a good DF mood lately... and it's been a while since I started up a fortress. Meh, now you're going to get me back into that game... so sad... If only it wasn't so good!

[Juan Carlo]

You're starting Fallout 3? See you in a month or two. :D

Heh.

I just did the main quest and I finished the entire game in under 10 hours. I didn't realize the main quest was so short. There were only like 6 missions total, then it ends. I even did whatever random side quests I stumbled upon as well, although I didn't go out of my way to search for them or anything.

Not complaining, though. As I said, when I first played it a few years ago I got my fill of side quests. So this time I just wanted to rush through and finish it so I can play "New Vegas" (which is what I really wanted to play all along anyway).

[Demievil]

I probably have about 70 games on my steam which I've never even installed now. I just can't see me ever having the time (or inclination now to go back) The worst thing is at the low price points you buy them at you don't even care.

[siegarettes]

I'm with you on this. I added you to my multitap by the way. I think seeing both our scores add up will prove motivational. I'll invite you all to join up with me. My page is here:
http://backloggery.com/hardpixelrain

[siegarettes]

I saw Dark Souls around a friends earlier in the year (I'm strictly a PC gamer) and I was both 'damn this looks hard' and also 'I'd like to see this come to PC'.

Ugh. I would play that so much more if this happened. By the way I also added you on Steam, I would be .tin tin at the moment. Same with you groovychainsaw.

Also created a Steam group so that we can join forces:
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/versusthebacklog

[DevinSmoth]

So I took the time this weekend and played all the way through Shadowgrounds. It was a fun game, I enjoyed it. ;) The storyline was so so... though I thought the ending was weak. Didn't give any explanation why I did what I did. Personally, I would have chosen a bit more bloody option, if you know what I mean.

That said, the action was fun ... and I enjoyed my time there! Pretty easy game, but that's fine with me... I enjoy easier games where I can just run around blow things up. And I loved the RPG-like qualities of upgrading weapons. Good times!

EDIT: I think that I'm going to go for Titan Quest next... but it's going to be a couple of days before I can really sit down with a game again... got some homework and whatnot to finish before I can do that again. ;)

[siegarettes]

So I took the time this weekend and played all the way through Shadowgrounds. It was a fun game, I enjoyed it. ;) The storyline was so so... though I thought the ending was weak. Didn't give any explanation why I did what I did. Personally, I would have chosen a bit more bloody option, if you know what I mean.

That said, the action was fun ... and I enjoyed my time there! Pretty easy game, but that's fine with me... I enjoy easier games where I can just run around blow things up. And I loved the RPG-like qualities of upgrading weapons. Good times!

EDIT: I think that I'm going to go for Titan Quest next... but it's going to be a couple of days before I can really sit down with a game again... got some homework and whatnot to finish before I can do that again. ;)

It is quite a decent game mechanically. Moreso with friends however. Some couch co op never hurts.

[DevinSmoth]

I actually was totally unaware that it had local co-op, not that it really matters... since I dont' have anyone around here to play it with anyway... ahh well.

[siegarettes]

I have many people around me to play with, but apparently they would rather do other things. Sigh.

[SMiD]

I have many people around me to play with, but apparently they would rather do other things. Sigh.

FUCK! I was totally about to respond with sadtrombone.com, BUT IT'S DOWN TO PROTEST SOPA. This bill needs to die.

On topic, I've finished ME1 and have moved on to ME2.... and the sequel kinda sucks. Every last element of RPG-ness was stripped and left rotting in a corner somewhere. Ugh. On the side, I've been ripping through Final DOOM and the Master Levels. Them shits is hard; whoever made teeth.wad is an asshole.

[siegarettes]

I played ME2 before ME1 for some reason, and I have to say I don't really like it as much as the sequel. The story decent enough, but it felt a bit too clunky and I ended up autoleveling for the most part. I definitely wish the sequel had more RPG elements however. I have yet to finish DOOM, but I'm taking a crack at it again. It is definitely quite difficult.

[Flint]

I really loved ME2 myself and actually prefer it to ME1 despite loving the hell out of that game too. The things it loses - the RPG-ness, the fully-fledged story - it gains in other parts, namely fantastic character development and action that not only feels amazingly solid and tight but works so well that you (or I, rather) don't end up missing the ME1 gameplay. Both brilliant games in the end, which is why it's so weird I'm so ambivalent about ME3 (largely because of some of the design decisions they seem to have done).

[FunnyB]

So, how are you all doing with your backlogs?

[DevinSmoth]

I'm failing at this moment, actually... I'm having a hard time finding a game that I enjoy at this point. I'm not sure why... games just aren't appealing much to me at this point. And I have friends pressuring me to get a 360 to play online with them... so I'm really unsure what I'm doing at this point, to be honest. Really, really confusing...

[sabrage]

Well, I'm failing in the sense that it's still growing, but my new SNES has motivated me to stick to one game and beat it. Double-edged sword in that respect (but I'm enjoying the hell out of it, which is probably the most important thing.)

[FunnyB]

I'm failing at this moment, actually... I'm having a hard time finding a game that I enjoy at this point. I'm not sure why... games just aren't appealing much to me at this point.

Well, I discovered something during the fall, back when I did my last attempt to clear a bit of my backlog. You can't focus too much on the clearing off the backlog so that you forget that you play games to be entertained. If you play games only because you want them to completed in your backlog, something is wrong. Take a break from it, and play something you enjoy instead, even if it is replaying a game you've played before. The backlog is always there, ready for you to wrestle with it again :D

In other news, I'm still playing through Saint's Row: The Third, and loving it. But it really makes me want to buy Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on steam... I had that game back when it first came out on the original Xbox, but never finished it due to it's immense size. But I'm starting to think it might be funny to play it on the PC... And I did happen to get a coupon for it during the Steam Winter Holiday sale.... Decisions, decisions... :D

[TailSwallower]

Haven't been gaming that much the last few days - been busy exploring Berlin, and now Stockholm. But I've been playing some more Cthulhu Saves the World, though I'm still not sure how long I'll want to stick with it.

[groovychainsaw]

I've put a couple more hours into driver:SF over the weekend, into chapter 8 now, working towards 100% completion. The challenges start to get pretty hard towards the end, and keep getting sidetracked into getting to the top of the global leaderboards on various challenges. Its still my favourite driving game I've played for some time, feels like a great successor to burnout, but managing the open world better than paradise ever did. I'm sticking to the list so far and actually the discipline is helping me focus on the games I've got. I've put a little time into saints row, too, but I tend to dip into that for 15-20 mins 'challenges'. Progress may be slow if i keep playing it like that :-).

[SMiD]

Doing well with the backlog so far. Serious Sam 3 is finished; the last level was spectacular Serious Sam action. And Mass Effect 2 is moving along nicely. Over on my laptop, I've got Fallout underway as I continue to work through the Doom II master levels. From time to time, I'll pluck away at Crayon Physics Deluxe, which is an absolute charmer. Sooo.... a little bit of variety to keep it from dogging on.

[groovychainsaw]

Got a bit more driver done, I've actually completed the main story now, just going back to wrap up the last few challenges/dares and buy all the cars (gotta catch em all!). there's probably an hour or two left in it, then away to add another game to the list. I need something else a bit more short-form (and maybe xboxey). I might see how bastion slots in there, as I've not played it yet.

*Possible spoilers* I'm not sure how much interest there is in driver, but I'll waffle on about it for a moment here. It's a great game, and anyone who enjoys racers leaning towards the arcade side or car chase films will get a lot out of it. 20 challenges are directly inspired by films, with the obvious bullitt car chase (its in SF after all!) alongside blues brothers (20 police cars chase you throughout the city, throwing themselves at you with abandon!), dukes of hazzard (on one of the off-road sections in a charger), vanishing point and cannonball run. They have all the licensed cars for these, so feels pretty fun and looks good (especially with the lambo/ferrari/ambulance etc. in the cannonball run one). The offroad stuff is surprisingly good, too, with a good handful of 80s group B cars, which with the slidey handling takes me back to sega rally.
*Definite spoilers*
The final boss fight drags on a bit, with random difficulty spikes, including your car suddenly becoming very vulnerable to damage versus the boss' being very tough during one chase (there are several chases to finish off the game). The worst thing about the final chase is relying on the AI looking after your car whilst you are off throwing (literally) other cars at the boss. The AI was never a good driver and final boss battle puts too much stress on a weak system, leaving you with several failures that you can't do anything about. It's a bit luck-based. This was probably the weakest thing I came across in the game and the only thing that really frustrated me at all, the rest of the game was great and a real comeback for driver, at least as good as the original (it even has the director mode to create your own films and upload them, as in the original). I look forward to their next game now, which is not something I expected to say about the driver franchise/reflections in recent years.

[Sproutmask]

OK I'll join in the group therapy here because Steam sales are very cheap and I'm weak, and I have some really long games that I've barely touched. Roughly my plan in the short term is finish Divinity 2 DKS, which I'm about 20 hours into, then get properly on with Alpha Protocol. If I need a break and want something more shootery, it's going to be FEAR 2 (fun so far, not played more than about 4 hours though) or Metro 2033 (properly atmospheric on a level I haven't seen since STALKER).

Once I've cleared a couple of those I'm going to start the strategy backlog but I'm torn between King Arthur and Empire TW. Somehow need to fit BG 1+2 and Planescape Torment in as well, damn you GOG!

Meanwhile, must try to resist the lure of Witcher 2 and ME3*, which will be my rewards for getting the backlog down - I don't even dare an exact count at this point hehe.

*Unless ME3 sucks, which will make me sad because I like the first two. Both of them. So take that, people who express a preference.

[deano2099]

I'm not avoiding buying new stuff, but am trying to clear the backlog a bit.

So far this year I've done Arkham City (loved the Riddler game more than the rest of it), the Doctor Who adventure games (so very nearly good, but actually shit), Assassin's Creed Revelations (loved it) and currently playing Darksiders (not entirely convinced, too much combat, and I'm getting random freeze-ups now).

Also Persona 3 on the PSP. Going to go for either Xenoblade Chronicles (on Dolphin, despite owning a copy of the game and Wii, because it looks likes shit on the Wii and amazing on Dolphin) or The Last Remnant. Also want to fit in Stacking.

I have, however, already bought Defender's Quest and nearly beat it (it's brilliant) and I'm reviewing Unstoppable Gorg (good but so very hard for my brain).

[dancingcrab]

Hey yo - reading through this thread, excited to see fellow Backloggery users! Hope no one minds too much, added a bunch of you to my multitap. Will try and comment properly tomorrow from my PC (on mobie right now), but you can see my disgusting behemoth of a backlog over at:

www.backloggery.com/dancingcrab

It's shameful!

[Sproutmask]

Here's my backloggery. It doesn't contain anywhere near everything yet, mostly out of shame.

http://www.backloggery.com/sproutmask

[DevinSmoth]

I added you guys all to my Backloggery... good to have more people on there! Mine definitely isn't complete either, by the way, mainly due to laziness. ;)

I haven't really done anything to my gaming backlog, but I've been catching up a bit more on my book backlog. ;) Finished the Tad Williams Otherland series, which was absolutely fantastic. Started in on Magicians by Grossman and have Road to Bedlam next. Good times!

I did start playing the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time game, which I'll work on a bit more over teh weekend. I've played that game a bit a long time ago, but it was a borrowed game from a classmate and I moved away from that school... so I never finished it. Playing it with the 360 controller on the PC has been a lot of fun. Other than that... not sure what I'm doing, need to play more Skyrim, I suppose. I have a feeling that Blur will never get finished... I'm not good enough to pass the time trials and whatnot, so I don't see that going anywhere, unfortunately. ;) My skill level in games is usually pretty crappy.

[groovychainsaw]

Right, completely completed driver:SF, that is 100% done and off the list. All challenges completed, all cars bought. Satisfying!

I gave Gemini Rue another hour, but have given up. Not enough fun for me, I'm afraid. I can see what others see in it,there's a nice atmosphere and retro style, but point and click just isn't my genre any more, no matter how hard I try, it feels far too linear and forced, even when the puzzle is logical. That's more a limitation of the genre, and not really a criticism of the game, I'm just playing it and feeling my attention wandering throughout.

In terms of replacements, i put sonic:generations on there, and had fun blasting through the 3 worlds. But then - that's it? Maybe I'm missing something, but then there's just challenges on each world, which seem to be pretty boring/uninspired (to my jaded tastes, anyway?) and collectables from replaying the existing levels. Anyone convince me there's more to be had there? Am I missing something obvious? If not, I'll still have 2 slots free on my backlog list, so any suggestion as to what I should add in next? I'm considering Bastion on the xbox, as I could do with another xbox game and it isn't another 40 hour open-world adventure. My only caveat is that I didn't like the demo much (style notwithstanding), so I'm hoping the combat gets a bit more interesting/complex as the game progresses.

So, suggestions, chaps - convince me that sonic is worth it, that bastion is good, or if there's something else in my backlog (http://backloggery.com/Groovychainsaw) that should be higher up my list?

[SMiD]

As far as I can tell, style is the only thing Bastion has going for it. Working through the game myself and finding it pretty thin. There doesn't seem to be a lot there below the surface; unless the later portions of the game turn into something special.

[Tikey]

This backloggery thing is really working for me. Finished a few games and now I'm close to finish X-Com (something I never did, actually)

[groovychainsaw]

Oooh Xcom - don't get me started on another game of that -I'll never get anything done. I tend to play through it about twice a year (not always successfully and not always to completion - I tend to mess around a bit rather than powerplay it). One of my all-time favourites :-).

/Oh, and also @SMiD - hmmm - that kinda how I felt about Bastion - so what about it - is the 'game' there - or is it style over substance?

[sabrage]

Baston's a fun game, just more "Gauntlet with a killer narrative" than Diablo.

[DevinSmoth]

So far I'm about ... 1/3rd into Bastion in my current playthrough and while it's a neat little dungeon crawler/action RPG... it's not the system or anything like that sets it apart, imo. The part that I love about that game is the fact that the soundtrack is straight up inspired and I enjoy the thematic elements, including the narrator, especially. So for me, it was always about all the neat ideas they had in the game rather than the actual game itself. That's just my opinion though.

As far as my backlog, I'm getting nowhere on it. I am currently playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (10%)... and UT2004 Single Player. I enjoy arcade action shooters from days of yore, I have to admit, though I tend to just set them to easy and blow through them. Other than that, haven't gotten any farther in Skyrim or Starcraft2 or Blur. So that's pretty sad. I'm pretty close to shelving Blur, honestly. I enjoy the game but I'm not good enough (never have been at racing games) to complete the challenges and unlock the bosses and whatnot. So I guess that's too bad for me, eh?!

I'm barely playing video games at this point, with most of my time being taken up by playing alot of board games right now.... it's been a lot of fun doing so, and I'm trying to figure out a way to increase my library. I so SO want the new version of Axis & Allies, as well as Galaxy Trucker, Memoir '44, and Flash Point: Fire Rescue. ... but alas, I has no money.

[groovychainsaw]

You know about the version of memoir '44 on steam, right? :-D that way lies destruction.... I play a few cardboard games too.

Nonetheless, I'm not sure about bastion now, my 5 slots for games are precious and I'm not hearing enough positive stuff right now. Any other suggestions form my backlog? Blur might get onto my PC list. I'm not sure its the best of bizarre creations, but I've got a reasonable way through it, and I'm pretty good at most racing games (ifisaysomyself!) so I could make swift progress and maybe enjoy it? I'm not sure about the structure though - it seems to reward grinding boring races mostly.

[laneford]

Right, I'm up for this too! I am committed to buying no new games except for; Mass Effect 3, and any decent turn based shenanigans (Firaxis X-Com, I'm looking at you)

http://backloggery.com/laneford

Add me up and poke me with many sticks until I finish more games.

[DevinSmoth]

You know about the version of memoir '44 on steam, right? :-D that way lies destruction.... I play a few cardboard games too.

Nonetheless, I'm not sure about bastion now, my 5 slots for games are precious and I'm not hearing enough positive stuff right now. Any other suggestions form my backlog? Blur might get onto my PC list. I'm not sure its the best of bizarre creations, but I've got a reasonable way through it, and I'm pretty good at most racing games (ifisaysomyself!) so I could make swift progress and maybe enjoy it? I'm not sure about the structure though - it seems to reward grinding boring races mostly.

I enjoyed Blur. It's a neat mix of Mario Kart and NFS. But, that said... it does have a bit of a grind to it... but I don't think much if you know how to race.

[Tikey]

I didn't get into blur. It should be a game I like and I don't find any deep flaw to it. Power ups have depth to it (being able to shoot backwards and destroy other power ups is quite nice) and the racing seems right but I just can't get into it. Maybe I just don't find the whole power-up racing fun against the AI.

[groovychainsaw]

Hi Laneford - thats a good selection of games you got going there - quite similar to my own! Good luck with getting through those - there's some big games on there - are you limiting yourself to just those on your list until one's complete?

[laneford]

Hi Laneford - thats a good selection of games you got going there - quite similar to my own! Good luck with getting through those - there's some big games on there - are you limiting yourself to just those on your list until one's complete?

I quite like your idea of having a few running at a time only, so I plan to have a few big ones (Skyrim, Zelda, Batman) mixed with some small ones. Just got to add a few more games to the list... (just not all of the backlog obviously. That would be insane)

[DevinSmoth]

Yes, definitely welcome laneford, to the home of the brave and strong... a place where I fear I do not belong, and yet still grace the halls with my spirit.

Sad part is... at this particular moment, I wish someone would offer me 1800$ for my Steam account, so that I could sell it and afford to get myself a couple of Sugar Bears that I want really badly.. darn those guys are awesome!

[deano2099]

Bastion is solid. It's the style and narration that make it stand out, but it's a solid game underneath. The variety of weapons means you can generally find a play-style that suits you, and mix it up a bit if you get bored. Yeah, it's mostly just running through levels and hitting and shooting things, but it feels solid, plays well - there's nothing wrong with it as a game.

[SMiD]

Bastion is solid. It's the style and narration that make it stand out, but it's a solid game underneath. The variety of weapons means you can generally find a play-style that suits you, and mix it up a bit if you get bored. Yeah, it's mostly just running through levels and hitting and shooting things, but it feels solid, plays well - there's nothing wrong with it as a game.

Agreed. Bastion is competent at what it does. It just happens to be a simple game with simple pleasures.... not that there's anything wrong with that. I'll certainly finish it since it's part of my personal NNGFAY challenge, but right now it can suck eggs cause I'm busy with Fallout.

[DevinSmoth]

Well, I went back to finish Bastion and now it's done for me! I was close to the end anyway, all things considered and now I'm definitely at the end. I was planning on going through the game again in the New Plus Mode or whatever it's called, but I think that I'm going to put that on the backburner and go for something else for the time being. I'm looking forward to going into another game, I think...

My thoughts on Bastion: I liked the game alot... it's not that deep of a game or anything like that... but I like the customization options that were presented in the form of the weapon mods and the liquors. Especially the latter, I thought was a fantastic way to tailor the game to your particular style of play. I want to go back at some point and finish up some stuff that I still haven't done yet achievement-wise, but I don't want to start hating the game either, so I'm going to go and do something else for a while first.

What have you guys been up to!?

[Tikey]

Finally beaten X-Com. I've played it for years and never got to Cydonia. Now it's a new era for me. I even got through the final mission with minimal losses.
I'm leaving TFTD and Apocalypse for later.

[DevinSmoth]

Hmm... I've played it a lot as well, and still never made it to the end. Maybe I should give that a shot for fun. ;)

[Colonel J]

Quite pleased with my backlog attack for January:

Finished:
Batman Arkham Asylum.
Crysis.
Limbo.
Gemini Rue (thanks to the Ensemble Backlog thread here).

In progress for Feb:
Deus Ex HR.
Unity of Command which I think is going to take a lot a longer than a month to clear the campaign and all the scenarios but going to see how far I get. Lovely game.

Games purchased since Xmas sales: zero.

[SMiD]

Nicely done, Colonel J. Feels good to make progress, eh? On my end, I've completed Mass Effect 2; the ending was kind of a letdown. Now I'm cruising through Red Alert 3 and all I can ask is: who wanted this game to be made? Was it really necessary? Oh well, onward and upward!

[DevinSmoth]

I kept trying to like Red Alert 3, because I loved Red Alert 2 so much... but yeah... wow... I just can't even make myself play through the first mission at this point... it was that bad. So tired of EA screwing over good games. Which, is why personally, I'm done buying EA games entirely. ;)

And gz, Colonel, that's some pretty impressive stuff right there! If only I was that productive! ;)

[Pseudo310]

I managed to beat the Russian and United States campaigns in Red Alert 3, but half my brain cells had died by that point so I couldn't do the Japanese campaign. Never again.

[SMiD]

Glad to hear it's not just me. Everything about this game seems half-assed. I will beat the whole damn campaign, though. I'm friggin committed.

[allanschnorr]

Finished in january:

Skyrim;
Renegade Ops;
Space Marine;
Rock of Ages;
Saints Row 3;

I'm close to the end of Duke Nukem Forever (I know it's bad, I just had to see it for myself and only paid $1 anyway) and there's only a few levels left in Osmos.
The only game a bought this year was Duke Nukem Forever for $1 and I promised to myself to try not to buy anything else until the next winter sale, but I'm considering buying Pixeljunkie Eden, even though I won't played it right now, just to encourage the release of other Pixeljunkie games on Steam. I consider buying cheap games under special circunstances like this an honest exception to my promise, so I'm fine with myself. Also, I was gifted From Dust e Dustforce, both of which I intend to play soon.

[DevinSmoth]

You know, your post made me think of something again that I was considering today. I loaded up Skyrim again for a playtime, and I realized something interesting about the game. I just can't get into that game. I think it's a great game, very deep and interesting and whatnot. But I'm wondering if it's the open-world part or what, but I'm just not getting into it.

I tend to enjoy RPGs in general, but something like Skyrim requires you to think a bit more than I wonder if I want to. Plus, the fact that I have so many options, really means that I don't make a decision and just sit in town going ... "can't think... too many options..." It's hard for me personally. That... and I tend to prefer games where I can just run in and beat things to death with a large sword or hammer. Skyrim you can't do that right away, because you will die... alot... at least I have. I played today for about 15 minutes... and I died three times, in three different ways (sabre cat... bandit chief... and a bear). I just can't deal with it, I suppose.

It's too bad though, because I really want to like that game, ya know?

[Yachmenev]

I managed to beat the Russian and United States campaigns in Red Alert 3, but half my brain cells had died by that point so I couldn't do the Japanese campaign. Never again.

That bad? I purchased the game during the winter sale on Steam, but in an order to keep my backlog manageable, I purchase all games on Steam as gifts to myself, so I still haven´t activated the game on my account. Should I avoid doing that and just trade the game?

[DevinSmoth]

That bad? I purchased the game during the winter sale on Steam, but in an order to keep my backlog manageable, I purchase all games on Steam as gifts to myself, so I still haven´t activated the game on my account. Should I avoid doing that and just trade the game?

If you can find someone that will trade the game with you, my personal recommendation is that you do it... but that's me. I thought I would want to play through it for old time's sake... but it's just not worth it in my opinion. I don't like C&C3 and 4 either but at least those weren't as bad as Red Alert 3.

I wish that I'd listened to everyone that kept telling me it was terrible. ;)

[Heliocentric]

RA3 was the one with inherent coop right, I need to try that one day? C&C 3 is the peak of C&C (the peak of red alert being the slight better red alert 2(vanilla or + exp). However C&C falls flat because it us highly scripted and has a right way to play. The rock, paper, scissors of the combat means under no circumstances is unit X the answer to situation Y and you'll need to restart and build the "right answer" unlike say red alert 2 where you could power through with adequate use of your forces. But C&C is pretty, and the acting is mostly inoffensive. The missions get a little annoying when they throw up time limits but cause dead time where you are waiting for the next script to kick in. Be that an enemy attack or your super weapon.

For C&C in general remember 'better RTS exist'.

[FunnyB]

Saint's Row: The Third is finished!

Really great game! Very entertaining. In some ways it was way better than (the non PC) Saint's Row 2, in other ways it was the same or not quite as good.

All in all, very good! Lots of activities and diversions left to complete though, but I think I'll do those when I feel like goofing off from another game for awhile.
I really wonder where the next game in the Saint's Row series will be heading. It feels like they've crammed a little bit of everything into the third game. Where can they go from here?


Anyway, now I need to choose some other game to power through!

[DevinSmoth]

Good luck choosing another game... I'm trying to figure something out myself right now. I don't know what I'm going to do about it yet... but I've been staring at my Steam library for a while now, attempting to find something to actually play that looks like it'd be fun. I probably should spend some time in Half-Life at some point, and see if I can't beat that game, since I've never had a playthrough of either of them. Cthulhu Saves the World is also making me interested, as is Last Remnant. Not to mention the Overlord series, Witcher, and Arcania... blah... so many options! It's paralyzing me!

Saint's Row and I should get together sometime, perhaps I'll re-download the second one and see if I can't beat that. Do you think it's worth it to play through?

[FunnyB]

Saint's Row and I should get together sometime, perhaps I'll re-download the second one and see if I can't beat that. Do you think it's worth it to play through?

I would like to note that I played Saint's Row 2 on the Xbox 360, as I've heard that the PC port is horrendous.
Gamewise, Saint's Row 2 is great! The missions are completely separate from the activities (unlike Saint's Row: The Third) but you must earn respect to be able to play missions or strongholds. Respect is gained by pretty much doing anything, but you earn a lot by doing the side activities.
The three gangs you face have separate storylines, which you can tackle in any order you want (unlike Saint's Row: The Third).
The story is nothing particularly special, but still quite good. Unlike Saint's Row: The Third, it has a few moments that are rather dramatic or even appalling. One moment you're running around spraying shit on buildings, the next something (almost) really moving happens...

Play it if you can! That's my advice!

BTW, how the *beep* do you use hidden spoiler text on this forum?

[DevinSmoth]

Maybe I will get back to it... I enjoyed what tiny bit I played, but got distracted by other things. I'm also thinking that I'll try to beat out Shadowgrounds:Survivor real quick before I start a bigger game like that.

MWUAHHAAHAHA

Edit: Not that way... ;)

[FunnyB]

MWUAHHAAHAHA

Edit: Not that way... ;)


Well, thanks for nothing then.... jk :P

[TailSwallower]

BTW, how the *beep* do you use hidden spoiler text on this forum?

You've got to change the colour of the text to white. It's not 100% effective, but it'll do.

[FunnyB]

Ahh... that's more like it! Thanks!

Back on topic:

Good weekend! Finished Half-Life 2: Episode 2 finally. Started playing that like a year or so ago and never finished it. In other news, Shadowgrounds Survivor has been started, and I'm also playing the Dawn of War II campaign.

And all this talk about old Thief joining the GOG ranks, have made me interested in actually trying to play through Thief: Deadly Shadows. That has been sitting in my steam backlog for over 2 years now....

We'll just have to see how much playtime the regular week till allow...

[DevinSmoth]

I'm looking at starting up Shadowgrounds: Survivor and Saint's Row 2. I think they will be fun games... and I don't have anything at the moment that's totally catching me. I wish someone would make Pineapple Smash Crew cheap enough for me to afford it, but I doubt it will be super soon. Thinking maybe summer sale?

That said, I've pretty much given up on Skyrim, which is depressing. I just can't get into it for some reason... and I want to so much! Also, I have never played either Half Life game or Portal 2 yet... how much of a bad person does that make me?

[allanschnorr]

Finished Duke Nukem Forever and Osmos this weekend and completed 2/3 of Dungeon Siege III, unfortunately I won't have much playtime available for the rest of the month.


I'm looking at starting up Shadowgrounds: Survivor and Saint's Row 2. I think they will be fun games... and I don't have anything at the moment that's totally catching me. I wish someone would make Pineapple Smash Crew cheap enough for me to afford it, but I doubt it will be super soon. Thinking maybe summer sale?

That said, I've pretty much given up on Skyrim, which is depressing. I just can't get into it for some reason... and I want to so much! Also, I have never played either Half Life game or Portal 2 yet... how much of a bad person does that make me?

How much have you played? Usually with this kind of open world games I have to play around 5-6 hours until I'm hooked, Skyrim I had to play more, around 10. If lack of focus is your problem, you may try to join a guild and complete their storyline. Once you know the world a little bit you'll be hooked.

[DevinSmoth]

Maybe I'll have to give Skyrim another go that isn't focused around a two-hander warrior. The game doesn't seem to like melee peeps unless you're sneaking around a lot. Maybe I should just make a crazy sneaky thief that backstabs everyone. I don't know... I so want to like that game! ;)

[groovychainsaw]

I'm adding kings bounty: the legend to my list. The only reason I'd never played it was that it always crashed during the tutorial. But I've changed things in my system since then and starting it last night, it worked fine. And is good fun, so, another big game on there, although a nice turn-based alternative to all the open world chaos.

As for skyrim, it's still on my list but I've also ended up a bit fatigued with it - some of the quests are very good indeed, but the combat is so weak as you level up, it's become pretty boring for me (and I'm playing a destruction/summoning type mage with a sideline in bows, so it really shouldn't?). You end up facing enemies who just have thousands of hitpoints and very painful strikes. Its the one thing they still haven't got right.

I'd appreciate them taking a leaf out of dark souls or even mount and blade and make the combat more realistic, with more active blocking/dodging/attacking, but also the opportunity to cut your opponent down in 1 or 2 hits if you get it right. I'm going to keep going with it, but it feels much more like a slog now. Exploration is still fun, and I'm sure there's still some interesting areas I haven't seen yet (I've only visited about 5 of the main cities so far). I may push through the main questline, see if that improves it at all, if not, I can at least say its completed when I get there :-).

[DevinSmoth]

Well, I've been playing Pineapple Smash Crew over this week and I just finished that, so that's one more down! ;) Of course, I just added it to my backlog a week ago, but that's not the point!

I'm going to attempt to hit Skyrim hard this weekend, I really want to get somewhere in that game... because I really want to explore what it has to offer. And now, I'm getting all excited about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning... but I've got to wait for it to come down in price, because I can't afford it where it is at the moment. ;) But it looks like so much fun! ;)

And that's where I am!

[Ergonomic Cat]

I'd like to see Resonance of Fate in there, because that's one of my big "God, I really should go back and play that game" games.

[groovychainsaw]

Well, I considered putting resonance of fate back on there (because I've already made good progress, and quite enjoy it, especially the puzzle-style world modifying/building/unlocking, I've been away for a year from it and it deserved better than to be abandoned) but then lovefilm told me they're sending me uncharted 3 and I'm a sucker for some good action-adventuring (particularly from the uncharted series) so thats going on there to complete my 5 for now. Shouldn't take too long to bash through though.

Also - played a bit more skyrim, with my focus on the war, and took whiterun from the imperials. Seemed like a good idea to me. I much prefer bringing the country back to its nordic roots. Was actually quite a fun (if simple) mass battle - my ice elemental had a great time running off and killing crossbowmen on the walls. 'Course, I probably should have done this earlier, as my magic level now appears to be deity-like versus normal guards, but at least I feel like I've gained in power over time (rather than the guards all sporting glass armour etc. and proving tank-like), and I can only appreciate skyrim's combat now as spectacle, rather than having any real depth. As spectacle goes, though, its quite fun when there's no damage-sink enemies around (with 1000s of hitpoints to whittle away).

[deano2099]

Resonance of Fate is good fun. The plot makes zero sense (I'm only a little bit more informed after reading the wiki) but it has some interesting systems.

[DevinSmoth]

Well, I've given up on Skyrim... I just can't get into the game, so I'm going to go play some other things... and perhaps I'll come back later. So, I picked up Saint's Row 2 and I'm enjoying that quite a darn bit... in the spot now where I should be finishing up Samedi side of things, I think. It's a fun game.

Other than that, much Starcraft 2 is going on... I really need to play the darn campaign, been doing multiplayer mainly. ;)

[SMiD]

When you say "picked up Saint's Row 2", do you mean you had it in your backlog already? Or did you purchase it at a discounted price? Because if it's the latter, it might be intervention time.... I'm not about to let a backlog-clearerer fall back into old habits!

[DevinSmoth]

*laughs* No, I've had it long, long time... just hadn't really gotten around to playing it yet. I plan on only a couple of purchases this year... Starcraft 2 expansion, Torchlight 2, Kingdoms of Amalur, and perhaps Guild Wars 2 depending on how I'm feeling about MMOs then. ;)

[Kodeen]

This past weekend I had to create a new Steam category: unplayed games in the backlog that I've owned for over a year (at least on Steam). For shame. At least I'm sticking to that category almost exclusively.

[Anthile]

I guess I will catalogue Greed Corp as played through. It was fun throughout the first two campaigns but once you get to play as the cartel, every AI is "Skilled" and you make your turn last. Considering that the maps are mirrored and everyone has the exact same abilities, you're pretty much at the mercy of the AI. Not to mention the broken inheritance mechanic, meaning that whoever delivers the killing blow to another player gains all his remaining cash. This leads more often than not to the situation that one player kills all other players in consecutive rounds.
It's just not fun anymore and there isn't much of a narrative that would motivate me to pull through.

[SMiD]

That's fair, Anthile. There's no point in masochistically pushing through a game just to finish it. You played it, determined it not to be your cup of tea, and now you move on. Here's hoping your next title is a bit more enjoyable!

[Anthile]

As a true hardcore PC gamer, I don't play to enjoy myself. I play because it is my destiny.

*cue epic music*

[Jiiiiim]

Hello folks. I've been doing the same thing without actually realising it, trying to plough through the back catalogue of games I have acquired but not done justice to. As of now that is a list of 67 games (I think it's more than that but I haven't summoned the courage to go through my shelves as well) and I've just finished my 18th, Breath of Death VII.

By clicking this finely-crafted link (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/) you will come across my thoughts on the first 18 games, as I'm sure you're all dying to hear. Encouragement and argument on my findings would be appreciated.

Next up: Wallace and Gromit. Oh god.

[FunnyB]

Currently, I'm all about Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II and lets not forget Thief II: The Metal Age. Lovely games!

[sabrage]

I got sucked back into DotA 2... I was having such a productive year, too.

[DevinSmoth]

I'm being a terribly bad person and playing multiple things at once. I want Brotherhood so badly, by the way... but I'm considering another playthrough of Deus Ex HR. I really enjoyed that game.

Also, currently playing several other games all at the same time, but I'm doing well and tracking them on my Backloggery. So I figure that's something, right? I've been telling myself to go play Shadowgrounds: Survivor as well, but I haven't really gotten up the strength to do that yet.

Someone answer me this, does Dragon Age combat get interesting? Right now... it seems like I just left click and wait for the battle to be over... not sure if it's going to get better?

I want Kingdoms of Amalur too! That game looks so awesome!

[SMiD]

Devin, here's the good news - Shadowgrounds: Survivor isn't all that long or difficult and can easily be completed in a weekend. That's what I did back in January anyways.

[Heliocentric]

I played 8 or so missions of Greed Corp. and it doesn't really change, pretty though. It's a shame because the game sounds like such a good idea, but because combat depends on stacks and terrain has no impact on combat? Blah.

[groovychainsaw]

I'm running fairly effectively through uncharted 3 right now, and getting increasingly bored with skyrim each time i log some time in there, it may be about to drop off my list for good. Its not as different to oblivion as initial impressions suggest, and I've already played in that world for some time, the combat is increasingly awful and I've seen most of the interesting bits of the world (aboveground, at least - i don't know what else is below, but I figure I've seen most of the dungeon 'styles' by now).

Uncharted 3 is ok, although not as good as 2 (and obviously this is only on PS3, so feel free to ignore if you're not interested/PC only), it feels a little bit more forced. Still really good, natural acting and story, only broken by moments where your character dies doing something stupid due to poor signposting/over the top combat (in terms of very tough bad guys/not enough ammo/too many bad guys - seriously, where do they all come from?). It's actually a game where it would be better if you were invincible (i think), which says a lot about its design. I'll get through it fairly comfortably though I think.

As for other games on my list, saints row has not seen any play time recently, although has yet to bore me completely (and is probably the best game on the list for 'just 15 minutes' of fun), kings bounty is still good, but will take a while, and dark souls I'm determined to play but so far have found no time all year. I'm going to be horribly rusty when i return. But I'm keeping that on there dammit, as it does right what so many other games do wrong these days and deserves to be played to death (almost certainly mine).

Crusader kings 2 has arrived now though, which is definitely pushing skyrim to the bottom of my list, as I'd love to give that a go. What can skyrim do to redeem itself - is there any fun left to be had at level 30? Are there any spells worth using other than 2 handed firebolts (with everything boosting them to stun/stagger bad guys). It's a long time since I've had an interesting quest - am I missing something amazing?

[DevinSmoth]

Yes, if I can get up the gumption this weekend, I'll give that a shot for sure... I would definitely like to actually finish another game. We'll see... I've been sick for the past week, so it's hard to play video games because my head hurts so much and all the flashy graphics destroy me. However, hopefully I'm getting better and will have more time to play this weekend, since I don't have any schoolwork to do either.

Groovy, sounds like you're kinda getting burnt out by your trudge through the backlog, man... I know how you feel. If you were to look at my Backloggery at this point, you'd notice that I have like... seven or eight games at the moment that I'm playing all at the same time. A bit of a violation of the 'rules' I suppose, but it's definitely helping me enjoy what I'm doing alot more.

Not only that, but I've really got to put some more time in Starcraft2, because I really want to get better... tired of my brother in law beating me all the time. ;)

[Tikey]

I'm a bad person. I ended up buying new games :( and games that weren't even in my wishlist.
At least I finished the Blackwell Trilogy. I didn't like them, very silly games with poor puzzles.

[SMiD]

I'm still holding strong to NNGFAY while purging my backlog. Next is a toss-up between DA:O and The Witchers 1 and 2. Huzzah.

[DevinSmoth]

I'm attempting DA:O as well as some of the other games on my list... and I have to say that personally I'm not enjoying the combat system. I'd like to say that I was... but honestly, I'm just not and it's sad. I hope to keep persevering and find something interesting in it, I truly do because a lot of people rave about it. I dunno... let me know what you think about it if you get there.

I also couldn't get into Witcher at all either, for the same reason. Combat felt stilted and annoying.

[TailSwallower]

I'm still holding strong to NNGFAY while purging my backlog.

Stand strong brother! My resolve was destroyed by Evil Bundles. Still I can guarantee I won't buy any AAA games this year because a grand total of zero of them are sounding appealing. I'll grab the SC2 expansion at some point, but that's really the only AAA 2012 release I care about.

[DevinSmoth]

No Guild Wars 2 for you, eh?

[Axyl]

or FireFall, Planetside 2, End of Nations, Tribes: Ascend or The Secret World..

damn guys... i just couldn't do it. My backlog is disgustingly big... but i just couldn't avoid those amazing titles.
Epic kudos to all attempting this tho. The mind boggles. :)

[DevinSmoth]

Well, actually End of Nations at least will be free to play... so it doesn't count as buying... right? Honestly, I probably won't be playing End of Nations, because I have Starcraft2 for my gaming RTS needs, which is filled quite nicely by it at this point.

Though I do know what you're saying though. Starcraft2's expansion will be the only thing I buy this year other than possibly Kingdoms of Amalur, I think. I don't know... Guild Wars 2 looked so good... and then it got... over-hyped or something, I think. Kinda sad!

[allanschnorr]

I'm a bad person. I ended up buying new games :( and games that weren't even in my wishlist.
At least I finished the Blackwell Trilogy. I didn't like them, very silly games with poor puzzles.

I ended up buying From Dust (I was interested in it for a long time and couldn't resist the $5 price) and Pixeljunk Eden (to support the release of other Pixeljunk games on pc) and already finished both. Great games, I would strongly recommend them, specially Eden, which is one of the best platformers I ever played on pc.

Besides those two games, I also finished Tropico 4, Fractal, Rochard and Dungeon Siege 3 and enjoyed all of them. I also played about 3 hours of Bionic Commando Rearmed and didn't like it at all. I can't point out what exactly is wrong with the game as it has many elements I enjoy in other games, I just find it boring. I'm planning to give it another chance in a few months and if I still can't enjoy it then, I'll move it to the "won't play" category.

[sabrage]

I ended up buying From Dust (I was interested in it for a long time and couldn't resist the $5 price) and Pixeljunk Eden (to support the release of other Pixeljunk games on pc) and already finished both. Great games, I would strongly recommend them, specially Eden, which is one of the best platformers I ever played on pc.

Besides those two games, I also finished Tropico 4, Fractal, Rochard and Dungeon Siege 3 and enjoyed all of them. I also played about 3 hours of Bionic Commando Rearmed and didn't like it at all. I can't point out what exactly is wrong with the game as it has many elements I enjoy in other games, I just find it boring. I'm planning to give it another chance in a few months and if I still can't enjoy it then, I'll move it to the "won't play" category.
Did you ever play the 3D Bionic Commando reboot? It was actually about as badass as you'd think having a super robot arm with a grappling hjook would be. I didn't even realize that Commando Rearmed was out on PC, what did you hate about it? The original is one of my favorite games on NES and I hear the remake stayed pretty true to it.

[LlamaFarmer]

I've added you guys to my multitap on backloggery, feel free to add me. At the moment I've given up on really working through it, but gives me some focus if funds are low and I'm needing inspiration for a game to play. Just got a 3DS with a bundle of games and Deus Ex: HR in the sale, plus eyeing up Dear Esther and Alan Wake, so I think it's only going to increase this month!

My backloggery (http://backloggery.com/llamafarmer)

[Jiiiiim]

Finished a few this week. The main problem I'm having is motivating myself to finish GTA3 as it is probably one of the more difficult games I've played. Not that the challenges are hard per se, but that every time you fail you have to spend an age finding a new car, figuring out where the hell the place you can buy guns is, and getting back to the mission.

19: Bookworm Adventures (amazing!) (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/19-bookworm-adventures/)
20: Wallace and Gromit (less awful than I was expecting) (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/20-wallace-and-gromit-grand-adventures/)
21: 123 Kick it! (the worst game in the entire world) (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/21-123kickit/)

ONWARDS

[Heliocentric]

Finished a few this week. The main problem I'm having is motivating myself to finish GTA3 as it is probably one of the more difficult games I've played. Not that the challenges are hard per se, but that every time you fail you have to spend an age finding a new car, figuring out where the hell the place you can buy guns is, and getting back to the mission.
Save scum, when you die or get arrested you lose your vehicle, your armour your guns and a chunk of money. If you save after mission complete and reload after mission failure to you have a much smoother ride.

Gta4 (and #1&2) is the only GTA I didn't need to do this, I don't imagine I'll need to do it for stories either.

[Jiiiiim]

Feels a bit cheap and cheesy but yes I think that is the only way I'm finishing it.

[Lambchops]

Bookworm Adventures is indeed awesome.

As for GTA III I think I only completed it thanks to a massave amount of free time when I was that age. I basically did all the extra side missions (emergency services, hidden packages etc) meaning that I could get all the weapons, armour and several police bribes at my hideout no problem. This also made it ridiculously easy to get a hold of a tank if I wanted one as I could cause mayhem quickly, nab one and then use the police bribes to get rid of the army.

Even with that though there were a couple of missions that took quite a few tries to complete.

[FunnyB]

The worst part about GTA III in my opinion was that you pretty much doublecrossed every gang in the entire city. Which was fine from a story point of view, but completely horrifying from a gameplay perspective. This meant that if you revisited "older" areas in the city after you have left them, the constantly patrolling gang members butcher you on sight.

I still remember it being totally impossible to drive through the mafia controlled city parts (where you start the game) since all their gang members have shotguns that are capable of exploding any car with like 2-3 shots.

This made it completely impossible to return to an earlier part of the city and doing side missions there. Thankfully, this "feature" with the gang warfare was toned down/changed in time for all the sequels.
Sure, the gangs that don't like you will probably attack if provoked, but at least they won't trash you just because you happen to drive by completely innocent.

[SMiD]

I still remember it being totally impossible to drive through the mafia controlled city parts (where you start the game) since all their gang members have shotguns that are capable of exploding any car with like 2-3 shots.

Seriously, this right here; and a shit-load of missions forced you to drive through Mafia-ville and Chinatown while collecting dropped pornos or whatever. Those damned shotguns...

The backlog took a break this weekend as I was visiting family, but this week I have lined up DA:O (plus expansion) for a solid playthrough on my main gaming PC. Meanwhile, I'll try to run through MDK and MDK2 on my laptop when my boss isn't looking at the office. :)

And yes, I'm legit trying to accomplish NNGFAY -- we should have RPS achievements to track this sort of thing.

[mrpier]

...and I've seen most of the interesting bits of the world (aboveground, at least - i don't know what else is below, but I figure I've seen most of the dungeon 'styles' by now).

Have you been to Blackreach? It's quite stunning the first time.

[groovychainsaw]

Errr, no (although it says a lot that i had to check - I never remember the names of any of these places) - is it that different to other dwemer ruins? It does sound interesting, I'll give you that. Maybe I'll go back in to find it :-)

[Sketch]

Blackreach is visited during the main quest. You go through a big Dwemer ruin to get there but the result is well, well worth seeing.

Make sure you Fus Ro Dah the ball! You'll know what I mean when you get there.

[Kadayi]

I'm thinking I might 'allow' myself ME3 simply because I've been replaying ME1 and (absurd inventory system aside) been enjoying the heck out of it playing through as a default paragon (if slightly racist) male shep (I have about 3 fem sheps through ME1 and 1 through ME2 as well) and I figure if I wait to Christmas I'll probably miss out on the Multi-player aspects (plus avoiding spoilers is going to be hard given the size of the title). I've been good so far in that I've skipped Dear Ester, Syndicate, Alan Wake & Reckoning which I'd of otherwise purchased. Still weighing it up though. On an unrelated note I cleared Limbo off my to finish list, though tbh up until this weekend I've been too busy with other things to put much time into games.

[allanschnorr]

I finished Cave Story+ today. The game was good, although not as good as the internet made me believe it was. The end boss was terrible, the worst kind of boss fight in my opinion: the one with more than one stage were you have to start from stage 1 if you fail.

I played the first five levels of Anomaly: Warzone Earth and found it pretty boring. Does anyone here knows if it gets better later on? Or is just more of the same? If it is just more of the same I'm considering abandoning this game.


Did you ever play the 3D Bionic Commando reboot? It was actually about as badass as you'd think having a super robot arm with a grappling hjook would be. I didn't even realize that Commando Rearmed was out on PC, what did you hate about it? The original is one of my favorite games on NES and I hear the remake stayed pretty true to it.

I haven't played the 3D reboot yet. I'll check a few gameplay videos and see if it is something I might like or not. :) About Rearmed, I played the original on NES when I was a child and remember liking it, but the remake doesn't live up to my memories. The game seemed too slow and the platforming and combat weren't compelling.

[Lambchops]

Yeah the Cave Story end boss is terrible. It's where I gave up last time, in fact. Largely because coming late to the party I'd set myself up for actually completing the full game with the tough end section which apparantly has some extra boss so having fucked up the final boss I didn't feel like it was worth plugging away to face the proper finaly boss, it just seemed beyond my abilities!

[alms]

Just how long is Cave Story? I'm looking for short games in my Steam library to reduce my backlog.

[sabrage]

Just how long is Cave Story? I'm looking for short games in my Steam library to reduce my backlog.
Depends on how good you are at 2D platformers.

[TailSwallower]

I played the first five levels of Anomaly: Warzone Earth and found it pretty boring. Does anyone here knows if it gets better later on? Or is just more of the same? If it is just more of the same I'm considering abandoning this game.

I played through (I think) the first 2 cities, and didn't think much of it either. I don't remember anything interesting coming in to play as it goes on... I still plan on going back to it and giving it another shot eventually.

[Anthile]

Cave Story isn't particularly long but it has some very nasty bosses which can turn out to be real roadblocks. Most people give up around Monster X.

[allanschnorr]

Just how long is Cave Story? I'm looking for short games in my Steam library to reduce my backlog.

It took me around 8 hours.

[FunnyB]

Finished Dawn of War II last night. Really great game! I'm considering jumping straight into Chaos Rising and continuing my adventures as the Force Commander.

I've also been toying with the thought of finally starting Baldur's Gate II, although I know that will take ages to complete...

[DevinSmoth]

I've been having issues getting into gaming lately... having recently found chess.com. Yes, I know... not a traditional video game, but I'm playing on electronic platforms, that's gotta count for something, right?

Lately... I keep getting stuck in all my video games that I'm playing, which is making me sad. Even Darksiders got me stuck on Tiamat... which is mainly due to the fact that I suck at the controller... but that's not the point. I think I even figured out how to defeat her, it's just... I can't seem to coordinate that well (and I'm on Easy for pity's sake... it's making me sad).

So with all the failure lately... I've decided to stop doing it and I went and started playing chess again, which I have a much higher non-fail rate at. Plus, on top of all that, it looks like I'm going to be ridiculously busy for the next year and a half with school/assistantship etc (except for the summer, when I have no idea what I'm going to do.. work at Walmart? Gah, I hate my life sometimes). So yeah, my point is... not sure how much game time I'm going to have soon... may have to dial it down and really just focus on one game. Which, at this point, would probably be Starcraft 2 or chess. ;)

Super sad, right?

I will say though, that I've been playing Realm of the Mad God lately... which is fun, I suppose, but I've just been unlocking all the classes (one more class to 20 will finish that goal) before I decide which class I'm going to attempt to max out for fun. ;)

[allanschnorr]

I finished Assassins Creed Brotherhood this week, great game, almost as good as Assassins Creed II. I really liked the possibility of recruiting new assassins and send them out on missions to gain xp and money. I spent a lot of time doing that. I also played a little of Greed Corp and I'm considering moving it to the "won't finish" list. I played 7-8 missions and it seems to be always the same, a simple strategy game with limited possibilities, not my thing.

I'm currently playing LA Noire and I'm enjoying it a lot. I was expecting an average game at best considering what I read around the internet, but I'm glad this is not true. Great game.

[Jiiiiim]

22: Binding of Isaac (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/22-the-binding-of-isaac/)
23: Serious Sam HD: First Encounter (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/23-serious-sam-hd-the-first-encounter/)

I think I'm now at 33% completion. Hot damn, only took two and a bit months. Have put GTA3 on the backburner for now as it was just pissing me off, though I'll try and do it next weekend. Hard Reset is an interesting mix of good design and terrible combination of design. Was pleased with Isaac though, I thought it was going to be genuinely dreadful at first but it turned out to be an incredibly compulsive 30-40 minuter that you just want to keep replaying.

[Yachmenev]

Is back on track with The Witcher 2. Chapter 2 now, or three, depending on if you count the prologue. Great game, even though I hate the combat system. Too much rolling, and you loose energy too quickly.

[Jiiiiim]

24: Hard Reset (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/24-hard-reset/)
25: Cogs (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/25-cogs/)

It was a bit of a shame that Hard Reset just ends so anticlimatically, and probably has the worst cutscenes ever, it had such promise at the start. Cogs filled some time that I probably could have used better. Foolishly though I have bought The Sims 3.

[SMiD]

I've not gotten much done with the backlog this week as I've been writing a fairly lengthy research paper. But the good news is that it's over and done and I never have to read Death on the Nile again! Now if only I could remember just what the hell I was doing in The Witcher...

And Jiiiiim, The Sims 3? Fairwell to progress! :)

[Tikey]

I've been buying some games, but at least I'm finishing them. I beat Serious Sam 3 in coop. It was a blast but those kleer can go to hell.

[FunnyB]

I took a break from the backlog yesterday to create a new region in SimCity 4. 3 hours later, and 3 small but effective cities were up and running. Love that game!

[Axyl]

So, I've been reading this thread since it started, even posted once or twice too..

But it's been floating around my head ever since..
Clearing the backlog of unfinished games.

I'll admit it.. the idea got me thinking. I currently have 191 titles on Steam, not including DLCs, Demos etc.
I've cleared less than half.. and that's being generous.

So, I decided to finally bite the bullet and jump on the Backlog-clearing bandwagon. :)

First title to clear was S.T.A.L.K.E.R - Call of Pripyat.
The game had been in my library for a couple of years after purchasing the double pack in a sale to replace my long-lost retail copy.

Right after that, I (finally) cleared the Space Marine campaign, as the rather repetitive one-button-hack-n-slash combat proved too much to bear the first time around.
Honestly, the story ain't half bad. Pretty damn happy that I finally powered through and saw the ending, actually. :)

Saints Row: The Third including all DLCs apart from the new vampire one also cleared (in co-op with a brother no less)
Honestly.. techincally FAR superior to the PC Port of SR2, but not quite as good a game. The story is utterly insane, but i kinda liked some of the deeper parts of SR2. Matey chained to that car, for example.

I hope to soon be adding Fallout: New Vegas, Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Inc DLC), Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, Portal 2 and Far Cry 2 to that list. Couple weeks-ish i reckon.
:)

[SMiD]

Fuck yeah, Axyl. Welcome to the party.

I myself am nearly finished playthroughs of Cogs, Fallout, and Just Cause 2 (all on separate machines), but EU3 keeps asking me to stop by and hang out for a bit; my poor, neglected nation.

[Axyl]

See, I'm not preventing myself from buying new games during all this.. which is probably making things harder for myself.

Having just bought Natural Selection 2, Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion and (finally) Mirror's Edge.. I guess i'll see how it goes, although i did clear over half of Portal 2 last night so I'm making good progress...
Thanks for the weclome, SMiD...

Game on! :P

[FunnyB]

Just finished Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising. It was excellent!
Next on my list: Finishing my second playthrough of Mass Effect, and playing through Rainbow Six Vegas.

How is it going for everyone else?

[alms]

Finally found the will to tackle Ben There, Dan That. It's not a bad game but for some reason it couldn't get me too much involved.

[Jiiiiim]

Ben There Dan That is very short, and very well-written. I really warmed to it because it was portraying self-aware adventure game protagonists. Admittedly being meta is no great shakes nowadays but it was played so well that it won me over.

Meanwhile I've been finishing off the detritus of some Indie Bundles. Scraping the barrel of short games I can finish quickly here.

26: Hammerfight (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/26-hammerfight/)
27: Samorost 2 (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/27-samorost-2/)

NEXT UP: Darwinia and The Sims 3.

[Anthile]

Ben There, Dan That was incredibly funny and I'm someone who doesn't find anything funny (it comes with being German). It's also a fairly good adventure game on top of that.
Time Gentlemen, Please is actually even funnier and better written, even if the puzzles go off the rails in the last third of the game.

[alms]

The playing-the-devs-thing didn't really worked for me, the humor only partly more so. While the running gag did make me laugh, there were other times, especially when exhausting conversation options, when it felt like when you're talking to one of those people who try too hard to be funny - grows tiring.

Regardless, I liked the ending and are going to try TGP sooner or later.

[Axyl]

Portal 2, cleared. Loved each and every single second of that one. I totally see why it's gotten such praise.
I'm still smiling now, and i quit out over half an hour ago. :D

Not sure what to clear next... Just picked up Arkham City and am quite enjoying it.. Might actually go with DX:HR or Dead Island next thinking about it. I want some pewpew. :D

[DevinSmoth]

DX:HR is a fun game... but if you're going for pewpew I'd go Dead Island. While not a fan of zombie games anymore (other than perhaps L4D2), it's most likely going to be more pewpew than DX was. That said... I loved DX. ;)

[Axyl]

Ended up between Dead Island, DX:HR and Far Cry 2...
Picked DX:HR + DLC.. rather looking forward to this one. :D

[DevinSmoth]

Good luck! It's a really fun game... I need to replay it again soon, now that I have the DLC and try the whole sneakery thing. Good times!

[Axyl]

Yeah, i've been reading up on the whole stealth vs non-stealth thing..
I'm sure it's nice to gain extra XP from Stealth takedowns / non-lethal etc, but quite frankly i feel like being a violent cyber-psychopath.. so Guns a plenty it is! :D

P.S.. Is it actually worth a second playthrough to take the stealthly/LTL route? Are there (m)any major differences bar XP gain? A different ending maybe? :)

[DevinSmoth]

As far as I can tell, you can experience all three endings in one playthrough if you save-scum. That said... I'm still working up to a second playthrough for the stealth just to see if I can't do it. I don't know if it's worth it, but I loved the game the first time around, so I want to see it again.

[FunnyB]

Weren't there 4 endings in DE:HR?

Anyways, I finished my second playthrough of Mass Effect yesterday. Played Male Renegade this time. Which means that it is now time to continue that character in Mass Effect 2! When I've completed nr 2 the second time around, I'll consider getting Mass Effect 3. Even though I've spoiled it completely for myself, I still want to play it. It's one of those games that sounds like the journey is better than the outcome. And I think I can live with that.

[groovychainsaw]

I completed stuff! 2 in one day! Finally. Kinda highlights how little time I have for games these days (blood bowl commitments notwithstanding). But I completed uncharted 3 yesterday, then followed that by finally beating deus ex:HR.

Both, interestingly, were only defeated when i said 'sod this' and turned the difficulty down to 'easy'. Both had bored me with tedious combat and I just don't have time for it any more. I still enjoyed all the fantastic set pieces in uncharted without the boring 'shoot 50 respawning men with slightly wonky controls and a bad cover system with a pad not fit for aiming well' fights. Likewise, I switched difficulty down to get past the penultimate boss fight in DE:HR, after it had screwed me by taking away all my abilities and leaving me with just one big gun (which didn't do enough damage on medium difficulty to kill the bad guy - on easy he died almost before he'd finished monologuing, which was strangely satisfying after this stopping my game for 4 months).

Neither are bad games, but repetitive combat, poor controls (IMHO) and odd difficulty spikes killed my enthusiasm for both. I put them on easy, then I enjoyed them again. I'm starting to come round to the mass effect 3 'i don't want fights' mode these days, i don't have time for boring combat.

Saying that, dark souls is still on my list, and I love that, still one of my favourite games of all time, but that a different sort of difficulty altogether, very rarely do i feel like the game decided to kill me for no reason, I like to feel its my fault entirely when I fail, and dark souls does that beautifully.

[FunnyB]

... the game decided to kill me for no reason, I like to feel its my fault entirely when I fail, and dark souls does that beautifully.

Reminds me of my recent replay of Mass Effect 1. Certain encounters in that game annoyed me to no end. First, the fact that quicksaves are blocked when an enemy is present made things really annoying when you died. Plus the fact it often felt like your companions didn't contribute much to the combat, and that 80 % of your shots missed, since the accuracy in that game sucks.
So, when I was killed by a stray rocket launcher blast by the very last enemy in a room, and had to restart a save where I hadn't entered the room containing 10-12 crazy enemies, I got kind of pissed off. Especially when this happened 5-6 times per room.

Talk about a game with good story, but bad gameplay mechanics :D

[Axyl]

Dammit.. i got right back into Minecraft with the latest update (Jungles, cats, world height increase, etc) and have only played the first two missions of DX:HR.
However, I'd decided to play a violent sociopath rather than the non-lethal stealthy option i keep hearing so much about.

You know that guy who takes the woman hostage in the early mission?

*SPOILER AHEAD*


i shot him in the head. no talking, no thought.. soon as i was given the option. cap. headshot. (damn that revolver is sick, though)

I felt like crap. Seriously. All the potential information i could have gained from this man, his side of the story and god knows what else...
Plus.. his motionless body laying in the room whilst everyone is saying "good job" etc..
Very strange sensation, i must say.

But, it got me thinking.. first off i restarted and will be taking each choice "as it comes" and playing it true to my RL self..
This has got me infinitely more excited about playing the game now, plus I still remember that feeling I got from cold bloodedly killing that guy. Maybe it's pure game design or maybe it's because it wasn't a "mindless bad guy". He spoke, facial animation and voice acting quality were all stellar and that in turn sold a REALLY immersive experience, which i think this profound cold chill i still get (IRL) remembering that scene is the result of.

Or.. I'm just far, FAR too neurotic and overthink everything.
Either way.. this Backlog Clearing is becoming far more poignant that I had first suspected.. and I am enjoying the ever-loving crap out of it!

tl;dr Yay for RPS and it's awesome ideas! :D

[DevinSmoth]

Well, since the thread made the first page again today, I decided that I'd give a quick update from me. I've had another quarter at graduate school start (working on finishing my Master's in Mathematics) and along with the Teaching position that I'm holding this quarter, that's taking a lot my time. Plus, I really need to score a full quarter of A's this quarter, so I'm studyingmore than I have been lately... which leaves me very little time for gaming.

I'm also being super ADD right now as far as games are concerned. If you check my Backloggery.com page, I'm keeping it updated with everything that I'm playing right now and it's getting a bit out of hand. I'm really enjoying Kingdoms of Amalur, but I'm not going to be finishing it any time soon with how large it is. I'm also really enjoying the time that I'm spending with Age of Empires Online, which also doesn't have a real finish point either. But I'm trying to push through and finish games like Majesty 2 and Hard REset, so that I can say that I'm clearing space in my backlog for more games at this point.

Add to all of that the fact that my wife and I are considering starting a family now that we've been married for almost four years... and things are insane at my house right now. Lots of long talks into the middle of the night only to have my sleep interupted by the insane pressure of needing to get out of the house for classes early the next morning.

I'm trying to keep up... but with everything going on, it's really REALLY hard! I do think I'm going to be skipping Guild Wars 2 which means that I only plan on purchasing Orcs Must Die! 2, Torchlight 2, and Starcraft 2 expansion this year... so that's a plus, right?! At least those are all games with technical endings (minus the whole multiplayer aspect of each).

Good job on the rest of you completing stuff though, I'm proud of you! ;) Maybe I'll finish Guardian of Light with my brother in law while he's here in town with some couch co-op... or finish the Lego Star Wars Saga. ;) So many hopes... so little, little time (especially since his first kid was born this morning!).

Edit: Oh, as a quick addendum, I did want to say that I'm also playing Kingdom of Loathing again pretty hardcore, so that's taking a lot of my gaming time right now as well. If you want to friend me on there, it's Hobse...

[SMiD]

After a small hiatus while I 100%ed FF 13-2, I'm back on the PC backlog. Icewind Dale is the current flavor, and it's pretty decent. Not on the same level as BG, but then it wasn't meant to be. Feels good to be back in the ole IE.

When not in IWD, I'll jump into Just Cause 2 for some amazingly catastrophic mayhem. Turning the difficulty down to casual is definitely the right move.

And when not in either of those 2 games, I'm in Unity trying to make an updated version of Sid Meier's SimGolf. Yeah...

[Yachmenev]

I recently got Shogun 2 and The Witcher 2 out of the backlog, although I feel I want to return to both of them. And now I´m not sure what I want to play of the backlog games. I keep putting som time in to Skyrim, but feel no rush in beating that. As for the others:

Deus Ex: Human Revolution - 9 hours in, and have reached the second hub, but am not entirely conviced yet. The hubs are quite dull in their design, and I feel like the progression through the main missions is a bit to linear for my taste.

Back to the Future - In the third episode. It´s ok, but really not much more. Feels like several steps backwards after the excellent Tales of Monkey Island and Sam&Max: Hit the Road.

The Last Express - Not even started it yet.

Alpha Protocol - I like the idea of it and the conversation system, but not quite fond of the mission structure in the game.

[allanschnorr]

I finished L.A. Noire and Mass Effect 3 and I'm thinking on what to play next. I'm between Dirt 3 and Blur. Also I've been playing SpaceChem during the last month, mainly during the weekends when I can play longer sessions. Also I'm trying to think in an indie game to play but that's been difficult. I'm finding that most of the indie games I own, mainly due to indie bundles, I don't like.

Let me explain the situation: those acclaimed indie games, like Super Meat Boy, Braid, SpaceChem, Bastion, VVVVVV, Machinarium, Osmos, among others, I absolutely love. It's games like Greed Corp, Binding of Isaac, Revenge of the Titans, Sanctum, Toki Tori, Sideway: New York that I end up not liking. I guess it's live and learn. Good thing I decided to skip the majority of bundles released this year (I only bought the BeMine bundle).

From now on I'll apply to Indie games the same treatment I aplly to AAA games: I'll only buy them after either playing a demo representative of the complete game or either watching at least a couple of let's play videos on youtube to at least have a good idea of what I'm getting.

[alms]

I'll only buy them after either playing a demo representative of the complete game or either watching at least a couple of let's play videos on youtube to at least have a good idea of what I'm getting.

Good luck with that, I've found that if I only stick to demos or videos/reviews there'a fair chance to skip games that I end up loving instead. Save for a few lucky cases of love at first sight, plenty of times I played the demo, walked away unimpressed, then got the full game through some bundle and changed my mind. Maybe it's because some games need time to grow on you, or maybe it just takes me longer than the average bloke to figure out, that I don't know.

In other news, I finished Avadon (a game I would've never given a chance were it not for HIB) after ~62 hours. Yay! I liked the grand finale very much! - but I didn't manage to play the game the way I wanted, some enemies are truly so much more powerful than the rest that I couldn't get myself to pour more hours in it to figure out how to win (and I believe at least one was pretty much unbeatable given the choices that had been made). Pretty curious about Avadon 2 I must say - looking forward to it.

[Yachmenev]

I´ve been playing a bit of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as my backlog keep shrinking. I dismissed it earlier because I had more interesting games to play, but after beating The Witcher 2, Shogun 2 and Gray Matter, and putting 60 hours into Skyrim, I thought I would take DX for a new spin.

It does have an interesting story, a good setting, nice dialogues, a superb soundtrack, and it´s fun to get so many different possible routes on the missions.

But I´m not preparered to completely embrace it yet, because there doesn´t really seem to be a pretty linear experience, more so than I thought. If you can take different routes, the missions seem like they play out in pretty much the same order no matter how you complete them (have reached the second hub and played a few hours so far). And it seems like the only different playstyle choices you make, are if you´re playing stealthy or commando style.

So even if it´s a good game, it feels like a 20 hours experience that I will have no real reason to revisit once I beat it. And when it comes to action titles, I always prefer replayable games.

[DevinSmoth]

Due to scheduling and whatnot, I'm really only spending time playing Kingdoms of Amalur and Age of Empires Online right now. Of course, the latter of those I can't ever "finish" persay... so I'm playing Kingdoms as my single player game right now. It's a good game, and I'm really enjoying it so far, though I worry about ever finishing it just because it's so long. Ahh well... should be fun while it lasts, either way, right?!

And I wanted to add that I would agree with you about the linearity of Deus Ex. It's not really an open world game in any sense of the word. However, I was a huge fan of how it did with things, quite honestly. I really enjoyed that game. Enough to say that I would like to play through it again at some point soon, I think.

[Yachmenev]

And I wanted to add that I would agree with you about the linearity of Deus Ex. It's not really an open world game in any sense of the word. However, I was a huge fan of how it did with things, quite honestly. I really enjoyed that game. Enough to say that I would like to play through it again at some point soon, I think.

I´m not looking for an open world game in Deus Ex, but I want to feel that I would get something different out of replaying it, other than just going stealth or berserk in the missions, but I suspect that I won´t since it seems that I will get all different augments in one playthrough.

[allanschnorr]

Good luck with that, I've found that if I only stick to demos or videos/reviews there'a fair chance to skip games that I end up loving instead. Save for a few lucky cases of love at first sight, plenty of times I played the demo, walked away unimpressed, then got the full game through some bundle and changed my mind. Maybe it's because some games need time to grow on you, or maybe it just takes me longer than the average bloke to figure out, that I don't know.

I agree there's a chance I miss on good games doing that. There are some genres I really like, like platformers, and for those genres I'm willing to take recommendations from forum users and friends with a similar taste to mine into account.

[Jiiiiim]

Computer exploded but on the plus side the new one can handle all the games on my list which the old one was incapable of. New Vegas looks amazing. Meanwhile, 28: Eufloria (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/11/28-eufloria/)

42-ish to go I think.

[Tikey]

I have killed my backlog. And not in the "I've finished everything" sense.
I purchased the 1c complete catalogue, mainly for a few games, but it also means that I have a huuuuuge number of games I'm never ever going to play.

I'm weak.

[SMiD]

I have killed my backlog. And not in the "I've finished everything" sense.
I purchased the 1c complete catalogue, mainly for a few games, but it also means that I have a huuuuuge number of games I'm never ever going to play.

I'm weak.

Tikey, WHYYYYYYYY!!!!!!???? Let this be a lesson to us others about how easy it is to fall astray. Stay strong brothers and sisters! The real tests are still ahead with the lure of the seasonal Steam sales. This is merely the calm before the storm; let us steel ourselves now for the coming conflict.

[allanschnorr]

Tikey, WHYYYYYYYY!!!!!!???? Let this be a lesson to us others about how easy it is to fall astray. Stay strong brothers and sisters! The real tests are still ahead with the lure of the seasonal Steam sales. This is merely the calm before the storm; let us steel ourselves now for the coming conflict.

I'm determined to stop buying bundles where I'm interested in only half of the games or less and cheap indie games I know little about.

Also If I'm strong enough I won't buy any games this summer sale. I really doubt I can achieve this, so I'll be happy enough with myself if I end up buying 5 games or less.

[SMiD]

I'm determined to stop buying bundles where I'm interested in only half of the games or less and cheap indie games I know little about.

Also If I'm strong enough I won't buy any games this summer sale. I really doubt I can achieve this, so I'll be happy enough with myself if I end up buying 5 games or less.

Good luck fellow backlog-clearerer. The summer sale will be a real test. Let's see who can get through unscathed.

[DevinSmoth]

Lol... well, Tikey, I know what you're saying. In the last few days, I've picked up Guild Wars 2, Indie Royale, Indie Fort 1, and the Indie pack on Steam, so I know what you're going through. Also, I've recently started trading off someof the games in my Steam inventory that I don't want, so I've acquired Duke Nukem Forever, and something else that I can't remember. Very exciting the trading thing!

I'm pretty sure that I want Scary Girl, Legend of Grimrock, the Starcraft 2 expansion, and Torchlight 2 still. But, I'm still playing thorugh some of my other games (ie at the moment, I'm doing Kingdoms of Amalur, since a friend was amazing enough to gift it to me, and Age of Empires Online). I am also working on the co-op campaign of Shank 1 while my brother in law is here to play it with!

Ahh well, I'm still having a great time, right?! That's what counts? My unplayed list though is getting much much longer faster than I can clear it out. I love you, Tikey!

[alms]

Devin what would you recommend for trading steam keys effectively ? also, risk-free and not too much micromanaging if possible.

[DevinSmoth]

Honestly, there's no risk-free way to do it... but most of these keys aren't worth that much anyway, so I just go with it. So far I've had pretty good luck, I have to say. That said, I will say that you can look at their Steam profile and many times they'll have people on there, posting that they've done successful key trades and the like with them before. For example, my profile has a couple of these types of things.

Just letting you know though, there is risk, and I dont' think that Steam is going to do anything if you do get ripped off. ;)

[sabrage]

If you're nervous about trading Steam keys, recruit someone trustworthy to act as a middleman for your transaction. If the other guy is unwilling to use a middleman, don't trade with him.

[Jiiiiim]

29: Cthulhu Saves the World (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/29-cthulhu-saves-the-world/)

New Vegas is absolutely massive, isn't it? 30 hours in and I still feel like I'm only scratching the surface. So much to see, so much stuff that can pretty easily kill me. It's finally an open-world game I don't hate.

[Yachmenev]

So I beat Deus Ex: Human Revolution yesterday, and I can´t really figure out what I think of it. I think it´s a really good game design in terms of how most people won´t notice it´s limitations, and I enjoyed it, but it could have been so much more.

I did like the story, the graphical design, the characters, the music, and you got the opportunity to be quite badass.

Thoughts:
*The game does present choices for you, but what they are is really challenges. You got put in tough situations where you have either man up or take the easy way out. It´s either being a hero or a failure/lazy.
*The augmentations are good, but to few. You can more or less max out a character in one playthrough, making the choices there less interesting. This was probably my main dissapointment with the game.
*Perhaps you should have been required to visit a LIMB clinic or Sarif HQ for some augmentations? It really doesn´t make sense that you can upgrade anything on the spot as long as you have enough praxis points.
*The sidequests aren´t that many, just enough to keep you occupied for one playthrough. But they all make sense in the game and the story. Every quest is given by a person that you meet for a good reason.
*The architects behind secret compounds, and the security officers in them, really must check their vents better.

In terms of pacing and content I do feel that this is something of a masterpiece that the designers can be very proud of. There is never more than you can handle going on, but always enough to keep you interested, and it hides it´s limitations pretty well. I just wished that there were more choices in quests and augmentations so you would feel a greater value in replaying it.

Remaining backlog:

Anticipated releases that I bought but haven´t finished
Skyrim
Fallout: New Vegas DLC packages

Games being saved for coop
Renegade Ops DLC
Trine 2

Games bought on sale
Alpha Protocol
Back to the Future: The Games (ep 3-5)

Classic games rebought
Bully
The Last Express

Games bought this year
So far only the Steam release of Pixeljunk Eden, and since it´s not a game I want to rush through, I don´t coun´t it to the backlog.

[Jiiiiim]

Slow, steady progress continues, I'm maybe down to one of these a week at the moment but WE MUST PREVAIL AGAINST THE BACKLOG

30: And Yet It Moves (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/30-and-yet-it-moves/)

31: Fallout New Vegas (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/28/31-fallout-new-vegas/)

58 hours on Vegas in the end, loved it loved it loved it.

[allanschnorr]

Besides the effort to clear the backlog, I can't resist and I still buy new games, but something has changed: now I play the games I bought almost immediately. I bought Botanicula, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and Lone Survivor in the last few weeks and already finished the first two. I'm playing Psychonauts now, Lone Survivor will be the next. I also finished Spacechem (only the main levels, I won't try the challenges for a few months at least), Auditorium and Beep.

I got Auditorium as a prize for backing Auditorium 2 on kickstarter and I loved the game. Those guys at Cipher Prime seem to be really good at creating puzzle games with addictive gameplay and nice visuals. I got Fractal in an Indie Royale bundle and liked it so much thanks to it simple gameplay and nice, clean visuals, that I tought they deserved more for that game than what I paid.

Beep is a nice platformer. It doesn't start really well, as it only becomes interesting after you finish the first worlds, but it is great fun in short amounts.

[DevinSmoth]

Well... with my brother in law in town lately, I've been doing a lot of multiplayer and co-op. Much of it has been in things like Blur (which doesn't have a co-op campaign) and Age of Empires Online (which has no ending), but I did finish the co-op campaign in the first Shank. In fact, I remembered why I liked Shank in the first place and got myself Shank 2 as well, which I'm part of the way through now on my own. I hope to finish that up here in the next week or so, maybe... though he still hasn't left yet.

That said, I did play the Guild Wars 2 beta some this weekend... and the Diablo 3 one last weekend, and they were interesting. I was also working on reviewing Warlock: Masters of the Arcane for the website I work for... so I've played some of that.

All in all, I have to admit that I'm not getting very far with the whole clearing out my backlog thing, but I hope to put some more time in it soon. My brother in law won't be gaming much in the near future after he leaves here, so I'll lose that distraction from single player games. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to several that I have on the list that look like fun, including Space Marine, Shank 2, and whatever else comes my way!

[agentorange]

Finished The Witcher 2 and The Missing Link. But playing TW2 made me want to go back and play the first one again... I really need to finished King Arthur so I can move onto the sequel, which I bought on release and haven't even touched, but goddamn the game erects a massive wall of difficulty about 20 hours in, and it's just a pain in the ass to play it at this point.

[Track]

I suppose that it would be a good idea to start chipping away at my backlog, though there are a few games that i'll be buying in the near future, namely:

- Max Payne 2
- Max Payne 3 (when the price drops)
- Guild Wars 2
- Bioshock Infinite

That being said, some of those won't come out for a while, so I have a fair bit of time. Before beginning, though, I have a question. During one of those massive Steam sales a while back, I picked up the entire Assassins Creed series for a fairly cheap price, mostly because I love historical fiction. The first game, though, is really getting on my nerves, mostly due to the absurdly horrible save system and UI, and the kind of finicky controls. That being said, I know that the second game, apparently, improves greatly on the first, so my question is: should I try just skipping to AC2 and ignoring the first one, or will I probably just dislike this series in general?

[SMiD]

Just wrapped up Assassin's Creed 1 and Icewind Dale Complete. I started AC2 but discovered I had the same feeling going into this sequel that I did when I went from ME1 to 2; I strongly preferred the original. ME2 grew on me in a few ways once I got over the fact that it was a departure from ME. I'm hoping the same thing happens for AC Deuce.

As for Icewind Dale: it's pure, distilled AD&D 2e combat. The storyline is pretty much inconsequential as the combat is certainly the focus of the game. It's not particularly horrible. It's just tedious. I'm holding off of IWD2 until I've sorted through PS:T as I'd rather not jump between AD&D editions.

So it's AC2 on the MSBox Full-Rotation and it's a combo of PS:T and Fallout on the PC. (I've sorely neglected my Fallout save.) Still haven't spent a penny on games this year. #Keepingthefaith

[Wizardry]

It's not particularly horrible. It's just tedious.
The combat? Or the story?

[Heliocentric]

AC1 is the beautifully crafted and novel game with the issues. AC2 is focus testing, more emotive and aspirational protagonist is far easier to like, the plot paints the Templars more clearly as villainous (something the ventures into parody in brotherhood) but AC2 and again in brotherhood the combat, buildings (and thus climbing), pacing and repetitive issues are violently better, but key is the stealth. Gone is the unchanging "head down" introduced is the crowd stealth which is satisfying and seeped deeply into my psyche (I can no longer standing a crowd in real life without bring aware of it). Horsebound enemies is also an awesome change (introduced in brotherhood?) even though it's impact was easily mitigated by the player.

I need to say many of my fondest mass effect memories come from choices in the first game, many desired choices I felt that the later games had mixed results in expressing. I nearly always got to say what I wanted in ME but not so much 2 or 3. I also loved exploring in the mako, the time in the hovercraft thing in ME2 was such a tease.

[SMiD]

The combat? Or the story?

I meant the combat (although the story is pretty generic, too); I find it boils down to simply surviving wave after wave of simple foes. Which by itself is not awful, but with the option to rest until healed at most times, the individual waves lose their challenge and turn into speedbumps. As long as I cast haste, I mow down enemies with ease. I can only think of a few fights where I was forced to pause often and figure out my next move. Hell, even the final (expansion) battle against dragon-what's-her-face was over in < 5 minutes as I straight out bum-rushed her. Honestly, the game could've used a few more spell-casters (ala BG2) to keep things interesting.

Edit: Maybe I need to play through it on HoF mode. I hear that ups the challenge.

[Jiiiiim]

32: Recettear (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/32-recettear/)

Not wholly unenjoyable but some absolutely awful design in there, still I'm glad to have it out of the way. If nothing else this Backlog is giving me plenty of practice at writing. Next: Deus Ex HR.

[allanschnorr]

I finished Dirt 3 (skipping all of the Gymkhana events I could) and I felt disappointed. I loved the racing in Dirt 2, specially the rally, and I was expecting Dirt 3 to be more of that, but with less of the annoying presentation. That was not what I got at all. Rally races are short, 1-2 minutes short, and there's not many variety, which is a problem with the other race types suffer too. There are less locations than in Dirt 2 and less tracks also. And some of the tracks are even a simple combination of others. Racing in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia in varied environments was one of the attractions of Dirt 2, it's a shame that's not available anymore. At least I paid only $15 for it...


32: Recettear (http://2012thechallenge.wordpress.com/2012/04/30/32-recettear/)

Not wholly unenjoyable but some absolutely awful design in there, still I'm glad to have it out of the way. If nothing else this Backlog is giving me plenty of practice at writing. Next: Deus Ex HR.

It's good to know I'm not the only one who did not enjoy Recettear. I didn't like the dungeons for the same reasons you mentioned and what kept me playing was the store part, although after about 5 hours that became tiresome and not fun. After that, I moved Recettear to my "one day I might play it again" list.

[DevinSmoth]

I keep wanting to get to Recettear, but I haven't found the time yet... one of these days I'll get to it, I swear!

[ShowMeTheMonkey]

I swapped Recettear for The Witcher 1.

LOVED Witcher 1. And I hear you can import your saves into 2. Awesome.

[FunnyB]

I've put Mass Effect 3 on hold for a little bit. I really like it so far, but I feel I haven't had enough free time to really get into it as of yet. I played through The Godfather II from beginning to end during last week. I give it a rating of..... "OK" at most. :D

Currently, I'm looking through my backlog and playing a few games that I've already started but not finished. A couple of mission in Just Cause 2. Getting close to the final story mission in that one.
Besides that, I played a little S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat, just to see exactly where I left it off. And I've also played a bit of Tropico 3.

So, I've played a little bit of everything... :D