How's your backlog?

[Kikki]

Question!

I've been sticking with reading and writing, but I do occasionally come up for air...and then I look over both my backlog and my wishlist to remind myself of what is waiting for me. And one of the games I kind of want is Mario Party Top 100.

But...how do you work with that, as far as 'completing' it goes? I mean, it's a compilation of 100 mini games. How do you decide when you have 'finished' a game like that? It looks like a good game to take travelling or anywhere you're going to be waiting, as you can easily pick it up and put it back down in five or ten minute sessions, rather than getting pulled in for hours like I do with most of my games. But if I did get it, I really don't know how I'd ever change the (-) I'd get from purchasing it into a (+). Do you just...log a certain amount of hours? Try a certain number of the mini games? Get enough high scores?

How do you decide, with a game like that? Or do you just not bother putting it onto your list at all? Shuffle it into a category of its own?

[Bluie]

I'd say play all the mini games once counts as completion (and win?). If you want to keep playing after that then go for it.

[Ehppy]

I haven't posted here in a while. I was hoping to have some progress to show but unfortunately I don't really. I haven't finished any games yet! I wanted to wrap up 3oT before moving onto another game, but it's taking way longer than I anticipated

@ Kikki
Mario Party the top 100 is a tricky one for sure!

I'd agree that you could just call it complete once you've played through all the minigames. Is there a challenge mode? I don't know a whole lot about how it operates, but completed challenges could give you a good idea of where to aim.

Or you could leave it off your list. It seems like the sort of game that there's no point in putting a definite end on, since the experience isn't made any more whole by exactly how many times you play the games or which ones you play.
An example being Overwatch, for me. I play it every day but there's no "end" to it so I left it off the list.
Ultimately, go with whatever you're most comfortable with!

@RopeMaidenKirie
I really appreciate the offer on the spreadsheet! I ended up making my own, and learned some things about Google Spreadsheet in the process so I think it was worth it. I did take some inspiration from yours though, I hope that's alright!
Here's what it looks like right now.

Spoiler:

I even learned how to tally a column, which once I watched a tutorial it was very, very easy but nonetheless it made me happy.
I've got 37 games on here and counting, and a lot of them are long RPGs so I have my work cut out for me.
I'm allllmost done with my 3oT playthrough I think. I might have to cut back on some of my goals and what I consider "complete" however. I wanted to see my kid all grown up but I haven't even had said kid yet, so... Hmm. We'll see!
Then I'm moving on to Dragon Ball Fusions. I'm not even the biggest DBZ fan... I barely watched the show and never played the games but I still have a nostalgic attachment to the franchise and the concept for the game seemed so fun and cute. It got mixed reviews but it has character customization so I've been suckered in, hahah.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Yeah, for games like that Kikki, I either leave them off the list entirely or play them until I feel like I've adequately played enough to where it's considered 'done' for myself and I just move on. I do the same for MMOs and just null them or count them as 0 on my list.

@Ehppy - Not at all!! You did a good job, it looks great <3 Just one thing though, if you wanna sort them to look more organized in a specific category, there's a pretty easy way to do so!

Spoiler:

Highlight all of the spreadsheet (click under the FX in the upper left-hand corner is the easiest way)

Then go to Data > Sort Range
Check "Data has header row"
Then in the sort by drop down you can sort it by whichever column you'd like! Makes it all nice and organized

I really enjoyed DB Fusions and spent a good 30-40 hours on it! Lots of fun imo. Gets a bit repetitive near the end, but you can mainline the game pretty quickly if you just want to focus on it.

For an update on my progress:


I bought Iconoclasts today so I'm at +3 atm, but I've been playing all day and around 25% done, so it shouldn't take me too long. Also over halfway in Cosmic Star Heroine so I should be finishing that up soon too.

[Kikki]

Okay, thanks guys; if I get it I'll consider it a casual game, or like a mobile game, for which there's no real completion point at all. Those kinds of games I really only play to fill in time...I never sit down and just play them for themselves. Though I'll keep track of any outliers in their own list so that I don't fail to keep track of the money I'm spending.

Wow, Ehppy, that's quite the list! You have some serious doozies on there. Several of those games you have either on hold or not yet started are among my favourite games ever. On that hand...lucky you!

On the OTHER hand...poor you! Because every game I see that I recognize is a looooong game. That list is not going to be a quick-complete.

[Ehppy]

@RopeMaidenKirie
Ahh thank you for the tip! I gave it a try, and everything is so much cleaner now! Thank you, I'm sure this will come in handy for future spreadsheets as well. <3

Now I'm all the more excited to give Fusions a try. I imagine I'll be getting quite a lot of enjoyment out of it! Grind doesn't usually bother me too much so we'll see.

And congrats on your progress!

@Kikki
Yeah I've certainly got my work cut out for me. I don't like missing out on games I know I will love but it's gotten me into a bit of trouble now. :
Fortunately some of the On Hold games are near completion... A small few, anyway. XCX I was pretty close to the end last I played it, as well as Trails in the Sky, and Monster Hunter Stories. But I know I have several hundred hours of JRPGs ahead of me still. P:

[Ronin19]

I finished my Cora-mance file for Andromeda, got now 90% of the trophies (just missing the Medic trophy and Insanity trophy to get the platinum!), and I think I know what most of my canon choices are going to be for Andromeda! Now that that's settled, I've moved back to Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory!

I'm at Chapter 10 and I have to say the pacing and translating in the game aren't that great, and I don't remember the first game being this poor in either department either. Combat and everything else is the same and fun, but I'm having trouble liking and caring the protagonist compared to the first game. His account got stolen and that part of the story only FINALLY picked up halfway through.

I've also started up my 4th official Mass Effect 3 playthrough while I was sick this past week. It didn't feel like I could focus on any new games while I was sick, so I started up a 4th file of the game.

I also bought Staxel recently, and it's exactly like Minecraft, but more farming than anything. No real goals, just building and farming stuff. I do like how you can be either a human, elf, or a cat person.

[Ehppy]

@Ronin
You've played an impressive amount of Mass Effect!
I have a lot of love for the series as well but I can't say I've accomplished nearly as many playthroughts.
I have played ME2 three times though. You make me want to play them again. I still haven't really gotten into ME:A and it's defeinitely high on my list to play.

I thought about picking up Staxel because they sent me a coupon for it on Steam but I'm trying to be more selective lately.
Is it fun even without a lot of long-term goals? It did look pretty cute, and I enjoyed Minecraft well enough!

[Ronin19]

@Ronin
You've played an impressive amount of Mass Effect!
I have a lot of love for the series as well but I can't say I've accomplished nearly as many playthroughts.
I have played ME2 three times though. You make me want to play them again. I still haven't really gotten into ME:A and it's defeinitely high on my list to play.

I thought about picking up Staxel because they sent me a coupon for it on Steam but I'm trying to be more selective lately.
Is it fun even without a lot of long-term goals? It did look pretty cute, and I enjoyed Minecraft well enough!

I must have played through ME1 and ME2 15 or 16 times and with this run of ME3, this'll be my 9th time playing it in total. Since ME2's 8th birthday was a few days ago, I see no reason not to start it up again.

I say if you definitely like Minecraft, you might like Staxel. I haven't played of it when I got it due to being sick and other games have priority, but I thought it was okay with the two in game days I played. Building is limited with giving you blueprints and then getting materials for it (picking up water by breaking it into blocks is funny) and it's a bit confusing too. As I said, customizing your character was a lot of fun. There aren't a whole lot of characters, but they're charming in their limited way.

The game is early access, so it'll more than likely update as the game gets older.

I beat Digimon earlier today. The game had an emotional ending, but, as I said earlier, the story is all over the place and wouldn't end when it should have ended.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

I had a few friends pick up Staxel and then refund it for My Time At Portia, which they are enjoying way more. They are both on my steam wishlists but I think I'll wait until they are both out of early access to pick them up.

Happy Feb! I completed 7 games in January which I'm pretty excited about overall.

This month might be a bit harder since I'm running out of shorter games, but there are a few indies I'm looking to buy (Gleaner Heights, A Case of Distrust and A Salem Witch Trial) so that'll be a nice reprieve between the longer titles.

My big goal this month is to finish up Divinity Original Sin 2, and then hopefully finally officially start Yakuza 0.

[Ronin19]

I had a few friends pick up Staxel and then refund it for My Time At Portia, which they are enjoying way more. They are both on my steam wishlists but I think I'll wait until they are both out of early access to pick them up.

I requested a refund for it just now. I was a little skeptic when I started playing it; it really is a farming Minecraft game and it does have potential, but, in its current state, it just needs more. I'm already guaranteed a copy of My Time at Portia for the Switch, so I'll be waiting a long time to play it.

I just picked up Night in the Woods for my Switch! one of my favorite indie games on the go is an instant buy. The Ace Attorney series is also on sale on the 3DS eShop, so I managed to pick up Apollo Justice, which completes my Ace Attorney collection on my 3DS. I already played it, so I'm not in a rush to play through it again just yet.

[Bluie]

Well, I finally have a backlog, albeit a bit small. I've been slowly playing my way through Lost Sphear, thinking 'man I have nothing to play all February' as March is my heavy release month and I didn't see anything on the eShop that enticed me. AND THEN, I booted up the eshop to see Mercenaries Saga Chronicles is up for preload + The Men of Yoshiwara: Kikuya surprised released. I bought em both.

Mercenaries Saga Chronicles is three turn based SRPGs and it unlocks next friday. I want to try and finish Lost Sphear first, then play The Men of Yoshiwara and try to finish it too before then. I... don't see it happening LOL. Especially since OwlBoy has caught my eye too (RUNNING LOW ON FUNDS, STOP BUYING STUFF!).

Anywho, once March rolls around I'll also have Penny Punching Princess and Atelier Lydie&Suelle demanding my attention, and they release within days of one another!

Man, it's been a long time since ive had to balance games. I'm taking Feb off from my hobbies so I do have a whole month to sort these things out(and most of March) but we'll just see what life does.

[Kikki]

How is Lost Sphear? I keep hearing that it's just Setsuna over again and feels more like a rerun, so to speak, than like a new game. No idea if that's true, though; I have seen some positive reviews, as well.

I'm still completely in writing mode, myself. Dragon Quest Builders (Switch version) and Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology are both due out this month and I believe I want them both, but this Backlog Blitz thing is successfully making me think twice about doing so. My urge to buy the games I want as soon as they are available has been tempered by the lack of desire to see that negative number creep up during a time when I'm not feeling like doing any gaming. It feels like it'll get out of control too quickly.

[Bluie]

People are pretty much going into Lost Sphear with a rotten attitude i've been finding. They want it to blow them out of the water in lieu of the disappointment they felt for I Am Setsuna, and it's not gonna do it. It's a simple RPG with a standard 'save the world' affair - what RPG Factory has always advertised their games would be.

The battle system is fun, the story is decent-good(especially late game), the OST is great, and i'm having a blast. I adore the character designs too, all the female party members have armor that isn't ridiculous which is a nice change from Xenoblade 2. I also feel that a lot of people didn't finish the game for their reviews. Late game, especially on hard mode, is engaging and doing everyone's character quests add good development for everyone, tying up loose ends and giving more backstory to some things.

Anyways, it's good if you're wanting a simple RPG with some deeper mechanics. I don't regret buying it full price, but for fence sitters i'd say wait for a sale.

[Kikki]

Hmm. I will keep it on my list. Honestly, while some of the negative reviews read as intelligent and well-measured, most of them came across as sour. Personally, I had no expectations at all when I bought Setsuna...I got it because I thought it looked very pretty and I was interested in a largely piano score for the soundtrack. And I have only played the first hour or two of it even yet, so that remains the same.

Lost Sphear sounded interesting to me because of the...memories being erased or something like that. It sounded like it had some interesting devices. I don't have any expectations of it at this point, either. So if the negative reviews are largely due to having unrealistic or rigid expectations, that should not be a problem in my case.