Backlog 2023

[Mikodesu]

Snip

Spoiler:

Koji is a surprisingly cute name for him though?

I'm just glad you named him something sensible instead of some of the others I've seen in co-op. I've seen 'Buttmunch', 'Dumbass', 'Lilman', and more lol.

I personally went from not liking Scaramouche from 1.1 - 2.? to being interested in his overall concept. Being created by Ei only to be tossed away was intriguing to say the least. Come the current patches, I get immediate damage to my kokoro because I am a sucker for characters who give up on being pure evil and become frenemies with characters or just plain allies. He is a little « Cow Poopoo » still, be he's my little « Cow Poopoo » now lmao.

I named him Gaelach, the Gaelic word for moon as I thought it suited him.

Spoiler:

I'm at least smart enough to name him something a bit slyly?

A cat is a very appropriate analogy for him, because I think "cute little « Cow Poopoo »" fits him to a T. (Speaking of which I just realized where your new icon came from. )

Gaelach sounds very sweet, though. Nice as a way to separate him from his heritage too.

Lantern Rite has been a nice change of pace every year, at least. Lots to do, lots of freebies.

I don't mind leaks, but I never seek them out so I don't happen on them too early. Early leaks are like an early trailer for a game that won't come out for a long time. It just makes the wait harder for me.

I think Enkanomiya would have worked out better if the puzzles weren't such a pain. I enjoyed it, personally, but I still have a bunch of sigils sitting in my inventory, so I guess it wasn't my favorite area, either. Best of luck getting through it! At least a map helps.

[Code_Name_Geek]

Do you have any gaming goals this year?
I have a hard time starting new games, even if I want to play them, and I often find myself waiting for the "right moment" to start a game or making excuses as to why I can't start it now. For example, I have a few monster catching games I'd like to play and last year I procrastinated starting on them since it always felt too close to a Pokémon release (even though it was only at the beginning and end of the year!). I also sometimes get stuck deciding which game to play next and end up not playing much of anything for a while due to indecision, so I need to be more decisive! So my goal is to try to start more new games without waiting for that "right" moment to start (which usually doesn't even exist). Finally, I'd like to continue my recent trend of focusing on full releases that I already own instead of spending so much time on mobile games and gachas (I might still play some mobile games here and there, as long as it's not three gachas at once like I was doing for a while last year).

What's in your backlog right now?
I have a lot of unplayed games, but I tried making a list of some games I want to play sooner rather than later. Probably won't get to all of these this year but I thought having a list would be helpful. So, in no particular order:

Spoiler:

Shin Megami Tensei III
Earthbound (3DS)
Okami
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Monster Hunter Stories
Persona Q/Q2
Symphonic Rain
Octopath Traveler
Bravely Default 2
Our Life: Beginnings and Always
The Red Lantern
The World Ends With You
A-Train PC Classic
Monster Sanctuary
Bastion
Monster Train
Slime Rancher
Sonic Adventure DX
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Fossil Fighters
Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop
Digimon Story Cybersleuth: Hacker's Memory
Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythmic Adventure Pack
Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure
Harmoknight
OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood
Learn Japanese to Survive! Katakana War/Kanji Combat

There's also a few games I've already started that I want to continue playing or finish this year:

Spoiler:

Final Fantasy VII
Pokémon Brilliant Diamond
Pokémon Violet
Pokémon Picross
My Time At Portia
Rune Factory 4 Special
Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Parkasaurus

Which new releases are you looking forward to this year?
Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life and Rune Factory 3 Special are at the top of my list! I'm also interested in the Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection, but probably won't get that on release since those collections tend to go down in price fairly soon.

Do you have a wishlist of existing games?
There's a few digital games I'm interested in but I'm waiting for a bigger sale since I probably won't play them right away, including OlliOlli World, Dorfromantik, Mini Motorways, Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, Unpacking, and Melatonin. There's also Rune Factory 5 and Harvestella, both of which I want to play eventually but I'm undecided on what platform to get them on.

~

Currently I'm playing Pokémon Violet, which is growing on me a lot despite its flaws. Overall, I'm definitely enjoying it more than Legends Arceus, and I want to make sure to at least finish the main story before putting it down since I haven't finished either Brilliant Diamond or Legends Arceus yet (played them too close together and I got kind of burnt out, to be honest). I do want to complete the Pokédex as well but we'll see if I get both of those done before moving on or not. I have all of the Pokémon I wanted for my team now, but every time I go to do a new story objective I get sidetracked exploring for a long time so it's not going super quickly.

I also started two new games already, so I'm making progress on my goal to start new games! One of them is Lumines Remastered, which I played a bit of the PS2 version and liked but couldn't finish since I don't have a functioning PS2 at the moment. So I bought it on Steam on sale and I'm playing it there, which has achievements as a bonus and the upscaled visuals look really nice. The other one is Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival, which I mostly started for the multiplayer mode but it looks like I'll have to play single player to unlock some more songs for multiplayer.

[Kikki]

I have a hard time starting new games, even if I want to play them, and I often find myself waiting for the "right moment" to start a game or making excuses as to why I can't start it now. For example, I have a few monster catching games I'd like to play and last year I procrastinated starting on them since it always felt too close to a Pokémon release (even though it was only at the beginning and end of the year!). I also sometimes get stuck deciding which game to play next and end up not playing much of anything for a while due to indecision, so I need to be more decisive! So my goal is to try to start more new games without waiting for that "right" moment to start (which usually doesn't even exist).

Iiiiiiiiiinteresting. I do this as well! It sounds like maybe I do it to a lesser extent, but I definitely tend to not start a new game because I'm not feeling like it's quite the 'right' one for the moment. I'll end up playing nothing at all, even if I WANT to play something, and think that game would probably be fun if I just started it.

It's kind of like writing. Sometimes you waste loads of time waiting for inspiration to strike before starting something, but the truth is, inspiration won't strike until you've already started working on it. (I find it almost always takes off pretty smoothly once you've got even a little bit down.) Inspiration is something that grows from an already-existing spark, it isn't the spark itself, imo.

[Code_Name_Geek]

I have a hard time starting new games, even if I want to play them, and I often find myself waiting for the "right moment" to start a game or making excuses as to why I can't start it now. For example, I have a few monster catching games I'd like to play and last year I procrastinated starting on them since it always felt too close to a Pokémon release (even though it was only at the beginning and end of the year!). I also sometimes get stuck deciding which game to play next and end up not playing much of anything for a while due to indecision, so I need to be more decisive! So my goal is to try to start more new games without waiting for that "right" moment to start (which usually doesn't even exist).

Iiiiiiiiiinteresting. I do this as well! It sounds like maybe I do it to a lesser extent, but I definitely tend to not start a new game because I'm not feeling like it's quite the 'right' one for the moment. I'll end up playing nothing at all, even if I WANT to play something, and think that game would probably be fun if I just started it.

It's kind of like writing. Sometimes you waste loads of time waiting for inspiration to strike before starting something, but the truth is, inspiration won't strike until you've already started working on it. (I find it almost always takes off pretty smoothly once you've got even a little bit down.) Inspiration is something that grows from an already-existing spark, it isn't the spark itself, imo.

Comparing it to writing is a really apt comparison, actually, since I also do the same thing with writing myself. I guess it's a bit comforting to know that others experience this as well, though - I have a friend who does it to an even worse extent than me! Now you've got me thinking I should sit down and try writing more often even if I don't have a ton of inspiration...

[Kikki]

Comparing it to writing is a really apt comparison, actually, since I also do the same thing with writing myself. I guess it's a bit comforting to know that others experience this as well, though - I have a friend who does it to an even worse extent than me! Now you've got me thinking I should sit down and try writing more often even if I don't have a ton of inspiration...

I once had a specific scene/chapter I had to write. It had to contain certain events, and it had to end with the words "...getting faster." I wanted it to turn out a specific way, but wasn't sure how to go about it, so for a long time I didn't do it, but the minute I got sick of waiting and decided to just go ahead and do it, whether it went well or not, it flowed right out, really well, first shot. No rewrites. And it took all of ten minutes, lol. Really stupid to have waited so long! All you need, ime, is even a vague idea of what you want to write about, and you can just start on it, even without knowing any of the details. That's how it works for me, anyway.

And now I'm pretty sure I'll just go ahead and play Kynseed. I do actually want to. The reason I was hesitating was because I want the game to be COMPLETELY done before I play, but the two updates of content that're left may not be worth waiting for...I don't even know that it's stuff I'll find significant, so...why wait? I may lose interest by the time the last bits are added. The longer I wait, the more likely I am to have other, higher-priority games to play. Right now I have nothing, so...

[greensara]

I think I have nearly "beaten" Littlewood. I have one book left, which should unlock the last area, and a few days before my character marries Ash. I also really only have a few odds and ends to wrap up:

Spoiler:

finish three house wishes, finish museum (mostly flowers), ultimately upgrade the Grand Forge, expand the village one more time, finish the "personal goals" list in my character's house, and maxing stats and friendship points.

It's been pretty fun overall, but I wonder if I rushed it too much in my veteran efficiency, lol. Helped with my town building itch though.

I started Egglia, and it is really cute. Love the art and actually like the music. The dice rolling dungeons are a new thing for me, but the few areas I have been in have been a pretty decent balance of fun and challenge. You can definitely see its phone game roots in the pacing/ timing set on certain aspects, though I think the companion cool down time is the most annoying. I hope there are a lot more battle companions as the story progresses. The quests and town building are ok, but goodness, everyone is so hungry for wood, for both their buildings, and then they have the gall to ask for wood pieces or wood furniture for random requests, lol. No, MY wood, I have plans for it.

Found two more demos on the Japanese eShop I hadn't noticed before. The demo of the offline version of Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest Treasures. Like the Sonic Frontiers Demo, the Dragon Quest Treasures Demo was in full English! It was okay, but probably not my cup of tea. Also, I think I forgot to mention the Sonic Frontiers Demo is timed, I forget for how long. It's really pretty, but probably not my thing either. It was nice to be able to give the demos a try though.

[Kikki]

The quests and town building are ok, but goodness, everyone is so hungry for wood, for both their buildings, and then they have the gall to ask for wood pieces or wood furniture for random requests, lol. No, MY wood, I have plans for it.

I advise prioritizing Robin's requests when you can. I wish I'd known that from the start, but not sure if you'd want to know the reason why. If you do, then:

Spoiler:

Robin often gives you a new world egg...or whatever they're called...whenever you increase her friendship to a new level, generally via her requests.

[simside]

I've used a site called Backloggery for video game backlog. I like having my list of games to scroll through obsessively, like petting a cat. But it can be bad too since it's designed with the idea that you want to beat and complete every game you own, so it tracks stats. Which is depressing! It is cool to see how many games you've beaten on your list, though. And it has a cool feature called Fortune Cookie, which you can set by console, set to exclude games, etc, and let it pick what you play next. I usually have a good idea what I'm playing next (I like jumping around to avoid burnout), but I've used it a couple times when I was in the mood for a surprise. It's fun.

---

I am in October in Persona 5 Royal now, no thanks to the spaceport palace boss. I almost rage-quit the game, which I haven't done in years. THAT BOSS WAS AWFUL. I've been expecting SMT-type unfair boss fights, but this game felt too easy. No! They wait until you're 100 hours in to throw the worst fight in the world at you. It was worse than a regular tough SMT boss fight, because this game has so much story to sit through if the fight doesn't work out. I timed it, there are four and a half minutes minimum until you get to the fight, which included dashing through the palace, skipping all the cutscenes, etc. I was overleveled! I had the right personas! They were overleveled! There was absolutely nothing I could have grinded to improve that fight. It deserved to be rage-quit.

Then the story kept going when you got past the hard part of the fight, and there's a timer counting down. I let the story run, I kept thinking I was on the last form. There were three more! I was also prepared to quit if the timer ran out because there were so many dialogue scenes. UGH.

---

I also got through quite a bit of Even if Tempest. I'm working through the third story now. It... keeps getting weirder, and I love it. I'm a bit antsy for a new game, even though I started this one a week ago. Trying to decide what to play after Tempest... something short, either the second Taiko no Tatsujin game (so I can take the cartridge out of the little holder in my Switch case), or maybe To the Moon. I should give myself space between narrative games, so I may go for a shooter. Either Pocky and Rocky Reshrined or Abarenbo Tengu. I'll definitely hate the latter, but it might be weird enough to give a try.

[Kikki]

A lot of Fogu members seem to like Backloggery Myself, I like Grouvee. There are probably lots more but those are the two backlog-tracking sites I remember.

~

It's no use. I need something very wholesome to play after that stupid garbage I watched on Netflix (it was okay at first but the tone went all the way downhill after a while, imo) and Kynseed just doesn't feel wholesome. It feels creepy, like you've made a deal with the devil. Very lacking in wholesome cozy feelings, for me! Plus one of my medical appointments just gave me temporary uncomfortable news, and my foot is number than usual today so the tingling is irritating me, so I extra want something that's just flat-out comforting to play. That means a replay, most likely of something handheld, so I'll either get back to my SoS1 or ANB replay or start yet another replay of Trio.

I did manage to locate and purchase the tin bucket in Kynseed, though, so I finally finished that day's extra task. New games are overwhelming at first with all you have to learn. Right now I'm stressed out thinking about being cursed by not leaving offerings for goddesses. You may get three blessings each week AND three curses, because each goddess shares her statue with one other goddess and you can only make one offering each eligible day. Not even knowing how it all works, I'm not sure how to tackle that, yet, but I guess I have until Day 7 to figure it out.

Yep, the details are overwhelming right now because there are so many and they're all unfamiliar. I'm pretty sure I'm going to break out Trio. I love the clear-cut goals, and the fact that I'm already comfortable with all the mechanics. I can't play complicated new games when I'm feeling anxious.

[Bluie]

I don't mind leaks, but I never seek them out so I don't happen on them too early. Early leaks are like an early trailer for a game that won't come out for a long time. It just makes the wait harder for me.

I think Enkanomiya would have worked out better if the puzzles weren't such a pain. I enjoyed it, personally, but I still have a bunch of sigils sitting in my inventory, so I guess it wasn't my favorite area, either. Best of luck getting through it! At least a map helps.

The leaks just got really, REALLY bad today. There's Fontaine characters everywhere, beware.

Enkanomiya is definitely a lot more sufferable with Wanderer. I'm able to zoom around where the game would usually force you to find another way, but yeah, the sigil « Male Cow Poopoo » it getting on my nerves. It's needlessly complicated and I internally scream every time I'm missing one of a specifc make for a dumb puzzle. Just, make ONE collectable for a special area LIKE LITERALLY EVERY OTHER SPECIAL AREA. I bloody swear the devs in charge of Inazuma just decided to make everything under the rule of cool instead of THINKING. Man I appreciate Sumeru so much. All the underground pathways can get a bit confusing, but at least I don't have to slam my head against a wall anymore to solve puzzles!

[greensara]

Kikki - I figured something like that was going on with Robin since she levels up but doesn't go anywhere with you. She's not a shopkeeper either to my knowledge so she has to have something going for her, lol.

Well, I cleared my first game for 2023 with Littlewood. Unlocked the last area, married, and rolled the credits with the cute accompanying scenes. I think that's about it content-wise unless I want to get all the in-game achievements. It was fun for what it was, but I kind of wish there was more content.

Random side note: When I was checking the US eShop today, I noticed the Sonic Frontiers Demo is up there now too. The Dragon Quest Treasures Demo will likely follow suit in my opinion, in case anyone was interested.

[Kikki]

I figured something like that was going on with Robin since she levels up but doesn't go anywhere with you. She's not a shopkeeper either to my knowledge so she has to have something going for her, lol.

I was mad about all the characters wanting so much wood when I needed it (to build THEIR houses and upgrade THEIR shops), so the first time I played I ignored them and didn't realize that focusing on Robin was actually more important, progression-wise, than getting houses built.

Though you can tackle it in any order you want, of course. It's just much easier to get more goods as you unlock more regions.

~

Trio replay is nice, even if I don't go very far with it. The beginning of these games is my favourite...the first year. Even just the first season, in some cases...the slow start-up portion is really, really cozy. Even with a very familiar game, it feels like things could go in whatever direction you want, then. Even when you know full well exactly how things will go. I'm currently just soothing myself as much as possible, in anticipation of a pain-filled Monday-Thursday.

Am looking forward to Lulukoko opening up, though. I need a hammer. I need a Ludus. Can't build anything without him, in this game! And all I can do until then is forage, and do part time jobs, and be back in bed just after lunch, lol...there just isn't enough to do until Lulukoko opens. I did get a chicken thanks to part time work...and soon a cow. (If only a few freelance jobs over the course of a single week could get you that much irl, lol.)

If I play long enough to actually get to credits, I'll probably go for Yuzuki again, though Ludus was making himself appealing the last time I played (quit by Winter Year 1 in that play, though, so didn't get to dating, let alone marriage.) I can't remember the reverse dating and proposal events any more, so it'd be nice to see them again.

I should probably go back and try to at least get through the prologue of Kynseed, too. Got my tin bucket, lol...I have no idea what to DO with my tin bucket, but I did finally locate it. I guess I could try playing lackadaisically since it seems to be that type of game, but that's just not my style. It'd be an effort of will to play aimlessly, lol.

[yzafre]

Random side note: When I was checking the US eShop today, I noticed the Sonic Frontiers Demo is up there now too.

Oh, that's good to know! I'm definitely curious about that game, so it would be nice to get a taste of it.

I cleaned up my BotW file a little bit - finished off the Champion's Ballad quest line (still good, through not quite as much as I remember), beat Ganon so I would get the various completion trackers, hunted down all quests except the sword trials... We'll see how much more I do. What's left would be the sword trials, hunting the big monsters for Kilton, and finding Koroks. Haven't decided if I'm interested or not.

AC:NH, on the other hand... having a grand old time. I'm working on moving villagers out of the way and terraforming right now, getting the vague shape I want. One of the areas took up more space than I thought it would, so I'm having to figure out how I'm going to shuffle my buildings around to get the look I want.

Looking at games I want next, I am very intently watching the FE:Engage reviews as they roll in. The first trailer for that game did not impress me, so there's a lot of work to be done to convince me to buy that one. If not, maybe I'll pluck another indie game off my list of options at the end of the month.

[midnighttherabbit]

Finally finished Dragon Age: Inquisition, making that one game beat this year! (Though I played 90% of it in December lol), I definitely liked the first two games better, but playing all three in quick succession was a really fun experience.

I think I'd better finish The Witcher 3 next. I played the first two in the summer and had a weird love hate relationship with them. By the time I got a good 50 hours into TW3 I was getting a bit sick of Geralt... There are only so many hours I can spend wandering around woods with the world's gruffest video game protagonist.

[greensara]

Hooray! Finally decided to suck it up and try finishing Skyward Sword and I did! Had to use a Guardian potion+ and try several times, but I finally beat the big bad and I was super surprised I actually did it and that it wasn't a fake out. When I realized that it was actually the beginning of the ending sequence, I started whooping and having a happy dance moment. The kids were all jumping around and yelling at the TV too, lol. It was a good ending and I am glad I decided not to drop it, because trying without that potion, I was seriously considering it. After the ending was over and the option for hero mode unlocked, my son looked at me and said, " What happen a monster? All gone?" I told him that the monster was all gone and he smiled and held his arm up like Link and said, "Did it!!" LOL!!!