How's your backlog?

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Yeah howlongtobeat.com is usually pretty on the spot for me, but it'll definitely vary by person! Definitely a good base line when looking at what games to play for sure.

One thing I did during the blitz in the beginning which I feel was a mistake was playing a bunch of my smaller games in a row, instead of playing a few short ones, then longer ones, then switching back to short ones. I realized all too quickly that after my short games were finished, all I had left were my 40+ hour long massive RPGs lol. Ends up kind of daunting!

Let me know how Battle Chef is! I'm super curious and almost purchased it when it released, but held back. I also hope you end up enjoying Persona 5 more than I did. It was one of my few games I actually dropped off my backlog, because 30 hours in I just wasn't enjoying it at all. Shame especially since I loved P3 and P4, but it's my biggest disappointment this year. Watched my husband play through it instead, and I'm glad he ended up at least enjoying it so it wasn't a wasted purchase. After 8~ years of waiting for it, I think my expectations were just way too high.

Edit: Steam sale got me, my backlog is back up to 10 lol. Got some birthday money and spent it on a few games I've been waiting for for a long time. Luckily should be able to knock out most of them within a few days, since they are short.

[Kikki]

I've only played about an hour of Battle Chef (though it's only a ten hour game, about) but it's quite fun so far. It doesn't feel that much like time management because you're racing out to hunt for ingredients to fit the theme of the dish they tell you to cook, and fighting monster plants and mutant animals doesn't feel much like Cake Mania, lol.

But the 'match 3' part is neat, as you add the orbs yourself when you choose your ingredients, then arrange by 'stirring' four orbs at once, until you line up 3, and then they will coalesce into one higher-quality orb. You can also match up the higher quality orbs to get an even higher quality orb, and those represent the quality of the ingredients in your final dish. And the characters are interesting and the storyline is...well, not overly complicated, but they put their own quirky spin on it and I do want to see my protagonist succeed. I like seeing what dish I end up with depending on what ingredients I used, and getting the most points I can on theme. I also like that they have a 'practise area' where you can try out the cooking/gathering as long as you want, since they change up the rules with almost every competition. At least then I feel like I know what I'm doing when it counts. The graphics are neat, too...they look hand-drawn and coloured, in a sort of...shabby-chic, French poster-art style. If that makes any sense. I like it, anyway. Though it remains to be seen if it will hold up to longer play.

I haven't tried P5 yet, but did do the first chapter of Danganronpa 1-2 reload. It's very interesting, but I have a low threshold for violence and vulgarity, so there have been points at which I was very turned off by it, too. Though it is interesting enough that you really want to know the end, I'm finding so far. I can't play it for hours on end, though, like I would a game like XC2, because I reach my tolerance level too quickly.

Persona 4 Golden is the only Persona I have played and it was very good, and P5 looked very similar, so I got it when it came on for half price, though it took close to a year. I'll get around to it eventually.

[Ronin19]

Whelp, my backlog has increased lately thanks to Christmas and my anniversary with my boyfriend. I now have Dream Daddy, Horizon Zero Dawn's DLC, and I ordered the .hack remaster game for PS4. Lots to do before Digimon comes out.

[Celestrian]

I have a pretty decent amount of backlog. Mostly from me being pretty lethargic.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

A friend bought me Ori and the Blind Forest on Christmas and wow is it beautiful and fun! I'm playing like 5 games at the same time now, but really enjoying all of them. I love indies so much lol

Unfortunately that means my backlog is up to 11 now, but I don't think I have anything I want until March, so I should be able to knock out at least 50% of my backlog before then. Still torn on Ni no Kuni 2, it looks amazing to me, but I never played the first one and hate jumping into sequels.

[Kikki]

I'm pretty sure Ni No Kuni II isn't really connected to the first game. (I didn't enjoy the first game, actually, but that's due to specific quirks in taste, yet again, not because the game wasn't any good.) Apparently nothing is the same but the graphic style...no characters are repeated, the battle system is different, and the lore is different, so...seems like there'd only be superficial connections. But I cancelled my order...I'll need to wait for more reviews after release to get enough info to decide if it's for me or not. The 10% pre-order discount isn't worth it, considering how high the probability is that it'll just go straight to my backlog and molder there for a few years, if it ever gets played at all.

Glad you've got another fun game Ronin19, too. Presents are nice. (I have never received a game as a gift, actually, not once, so I can only blame my entire backlog on myself.)

I don't really mind having a backlog when it's all games I really want to get to playing, it's more when it's at least half full of stuff I don't even want to bother with that I get kind of discouraged because it's like looking at a list of wasted money. But I don't feel that way if it's chock-full of really great games I'm still looking forward to playing.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Oh! So it's like XC2 was to XC1 then? That's really good to know. I might wait on reviews anyways to make sure it's something I want, though I already have the preorder paid off.. can always switch to something else instead

I'm really excited for another Nintendo Direct to detail what's in store for Nintendo next year. I'd really like to play more on my Switch next year..a new Animal Crossing and Pokemon would be amazing.

So because of the holidays and steam sales my backlog doubled in size lol, whoops. On the plus side I'm super excited to play everything, and all the stuff I got is pretty short, so that's nice.

My backlog now:
Dragon Quest V
Cosmic Star Heroine
Divinity Original Sin 2
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Hue
Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition
Rakuen
Technobabylon
Trails in the Sky the 3rd
Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection
Yakuza 0
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I'm pretty close to finishing Hue, it's a pretty fun puzzler based on colors. Short, but worth the $2 so far imo

[Kikki]

Yeah, been hearing rumours about the upcoming Nintendo Direct, though mostly the rumours seem to focus on Fe, which I am not interested in, so far, because it looks great, but nothing other than the looks catches my attention. I love a beautiful game but unless it is very short, I can't enjoy a game on that alone. Plus it is by EA, which...well, I haven't seen a single game by them that I felt was any better than 'okay'. Fe looks very different from their usual thing, though, so that's interesting.

But I like Nintendo Directs even if they don't end up showcasing anything I want, so I'll watch when it comes along and see if anything grabs me. I'm always looking for the next game I'll love so much that it will get added to my 'all-time favourites' list, but they come along pretty rarely. I don't think I even get one per year, but if I do, it's no more than that. But I guess if I had broader tastes my backlog would already have gotten well into three digits, so maybe it's good that I'm so very fussy and perhaps inflexible about what I like.

Yep! I looked into whether Ni No Kuni II was a direct sequel or etc since that was a topic that was of interest to me, and everything I can find says they are really not connected at all. (Except the art style.) I actually research games quite a lot before buying them which makes it weird that I still end up with so many stinkers, but it's probably due to sales and the constant misleading hope that my taste has grown over the years and suddenly I too will be able to appreciate more of the games that everyone raves about. (But it never seems to have.)

For Ni No Kuni II, I'll be watching what people have to say about it after it's out, to see if I can scrounge up enough detail to figure out if it'll be compelling for me or not. No doubt Let's Play videos will spring up pretty quickly so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting enough info eventually. I hope it's great.

[Bluie]

My backlog has actually gone non existent. I had a lot of free time in the past few months and I cleaned up everything. The only other thing i'm working through is Fire Emblem Warriors, but it's started to wear on me. I'm probably going to drop it, but it got around 50 hours out of me. Done the story, just haven't unlocked all the characters. I also really don't care for any of the DLC so, eh, most likely dropping.

The only other games i'm playing right now are Yodanji and Soldam, which are both pick up and play with unlockables. I have a lot of games next year to look forward too, so i'll have to survive on them until then.

Though, I have never played Skyrim before. If it wasn't $90 for the Switch copy, id've picked it up day one.

[rachellion]

I have the eternal backlog on Steam Someday I'll get to these games, some day!

Still need to beat Ganon on BoTW, still need to finish the final dungeon in P5. After that I'm thinking of getting one of the Digimon games on the PS4 (I'm leaning New World Order because I LOVED Digimon World) and playing through that. We also just got Mario Odyssey so ya know, gotta play that too.

Mostly done with Pokemon UltraSun! I haaaaate how they bungled the plot in the later half of the game, but some of the changes they made mechanically I like a lot. Just need to beat the Elite Four!

[Kikki]

Whew, already the 29th of December. I need to organize my backlog into categories. Games I still really want to play, ones ambivalent or unsure about, and ones I'd need some kind of monetary incentive to be willing to pick up again, lol. Any that I need payment to get me to finish them, I'll move to my 'abandoned' list when 2018 officially starts.

I don't really think there's any point in forcing yourself to finish a game you try and have NO interest in (assuming you gave it a fair shot), because they're games, not something virtuous like starting a new exercise routine or etc. (Unless other gamers have more unusual situations than mine, I guess.) But I do think there's a point in making myself LOOK at all the money I wasted by keeping a list of games that were a total waste to purchase. It's because I keep giving games I know aren't my style a chance, when I should just stick to my guns and accept that my 'love' range is teeny tiny.

Tried Dust (An Elysian Tail) and it's really nice and colorful, but it's mainly similar to a side-scrolling platformer, which is not promising for me. Also played the first chapter of Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc, and it was very interesting, but ick, awfully grim for me. But I'd like to see the whole story...I just wish there was a 'for special snowflakes' setting, lol, that would take out all of the cursing and violence and other stuff I find distasteful. But I'll try to ignore or not notice those parts. Almost certain I'll end up finishing this one.

Currently working on Persona 5, which is great so far. I like it even more than P4G, excepting a few small details I won't blabber about here, and I'm at about 30 hours in and on the 3rd palace. The things I don't like about it are small and take up very little time, so I'm quite sure this one is going to get finished, too. Thank goodness But it's going to take a while, yet.

After P5 and Danganronpa 1 and 2, I'll probably go to something light, like Battle Chef, but all-in-all I think things are proceeding decently right now.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Happy new year everyone!

I've got my 2018 google backlog doc up and all ready to go for the new year

Spoiler:

It's been kinda fun going between those top 6 games because they are all very different genres. Probably will end up focusing on Pillars of the Earth since I'm almost finished with the first book. I'd like to finish at least 3 games this month, so I think that's pretty doable!

[Kikki]

That's super organized, Kirie I don't think my list is going to be all spiffy and shiny like that. I have decided, though, to count December and late Nov game purchases into January, as a little bit of a penalty will be better motivation for me. So, thus far...

January

Purchased
-Persona 5 (-1)
-Dust: An Elysian Tail (-1)
-Danganronpa 1-2 reload (I'm going to count this as two since it's literally just a compilation of two games.) (-2)
-Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (-1)
-Tokyo Xanadu eX+ (-1)

Completed
-Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (+1)
-Persona 5 (+1)

Abandoned - All count for 0
-Sunshine Islands
-Tale of Two Towns
-Final Fantasy 15
-BotW DLC content
-Tales of Symphonia
-Parascientific Escape
-Weapon Shop de Omasse
-Kingdom's Item Shop

Summary: Debits (-6) Credits (+2)

So that's a total of (-4) on January 1st, 2018. That -4 will hopefully urge me to keep finishing games and NOT to buy new ones that I don't reeeeeeally want to play right away. I JUST finished Persona 5. The credits were rolling when I started this post, lol. *sigh* Stupid Persona games, the endings always leave you feeling wrung out. In a good way that also feels bad, lol. Or me they do, anyway.

I don't anticipate any January game purchases. I was going to move on to Danganronpa, but P5 made want something a little more frivolous for a while, or at least very different in feel...not at all dark. Might try Tokyo Xanadu eX+ since I know nothing about it and am kind of interested in seeing what it's about. I anticipate one of my larger problems in completing backlog games is that what I really like to do is replay my favourites rather than starting new ones.

[Ehppy]

Ahh I like your spreadsheet!
Maybe tomorrow I'll attempt something similar, I enjoy a bit of organizing but I'm not very proficient at it lol.
You've got some games on your list I've never heard of. o: Against my better judgement, I'll have to look into them!
I don't need more games to add to my list but curiosity is a powerful force.


You're braver than I am, Kikki.
I got a few games from family for Christmas but I think I may not count them as negatives.
As it is I'm probably buying two new games this month (Because I am a weak, weak human.) so I don't feel like I need the added pressure. That said, I may change my mind. I definitely agree that having the penalty there could work as a good motivator!
And I have the same problem with restarting games. In december alone I fought the urge to start new files on HM: Animal Parade, HM: Magical Melody, Elebits, Rune Factory Frontier, Avalon Code, Fire Emblem Fates, Pokemon X, and more that aren't coming to mind right now. I'm glad I was able to get past that (thought Animal Parade is still calling me fairly strongly.)

[Kikki]

I am currently wanting to replay Tales of Berseria and finish my replays of Tales of Zestiria and Legend of Heroes: Trails in Cold Steel II that are both halfway through from quite a few months ago. And now that I have finished Persona 5, I also want to replay both it and Persona 4 Golden since I like to experience NG+ (games with good NG+ options are a real trap for me). I do this with books and movies, too. It's kind of like going to a restaurant where you found a dish you love. There appear to be a good assortment of other dishes you'd love just as much and maaaaybe a few you'd like even more...it's a shame not to try them...but it's so hard to resist that one dish you already know is so delicious that your mouth can just anticipate the flavour of it.

Btw, Ehppy, I will finally make a point to say it: I think your screen name is adorable. Both as 'Ehppy' and for the fact that when I see it, my brain often scrambles it into 'Happy', lol.

I'm the type who wants that extra push in everything I do, so that's why I'm including those late 2017 games...to get the ball rolling faster for me. I really want a bit of pressure to help me look more critically at anything I consider buying. It's already stopped me from buying Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom when it came up on sale, as well as another game I was tempted by yesterday that I already can't recall the name of. So the whole concept of 'backlog blitz' does seem to be helpful in curbing my bad gaming habits. I think it just makes me aware of them.