Backlog 2025

Kikki · Post Posted: Mar 19, 2025 3:59 am

That's great

I'm happy for everyone experiencing it for the first time (or essentially for the first time).

For me it's a different thing. I just have to hope they haven't done anything to mar the game I've loved for 10 years already (I got it day one, back in 2015...though I think that was late year so it won't really be 10 years until this year is winding down.) If they have, I'll just have to try to ignore it.

I guess it unlocks at midnight tonight on the eshop? The first second of the day on the 20th...00:01. I guess? Not sure about that, but my understanding of these big first party releases is that they release the first second of the day of their release, in whatever time zone they're in.

I'm waiting for my physical copy, which should arrive Friday. It's okay by me. I already know everything there is to do in this game and can gun ahead or linger however I like. The main story is much less important in X than in the other games. It's a fairly big story even so, but because you're playing an avatar character, it's less character driven, which makes it feel really different.

I'll be farting about as I am now, with other comforting homey stuff, until then. I'm eager to see how it feels to replay this 'improved' version, and it'll be GREAT playing online again and getting all those squad bonuses. Gonna try not to think about the rest, and just ignore it if anything stupid comes up. For those playing for the first time, anything new is going to feel like the way it always was. For me, anything new is going to feel weird and intrusive, but hopefully they managed to magic it in naturally.

greensara · Post Posted: Mar 19, 2025 1:42 pm

I have almost beaten the main story/quest in my main file of Echoes of the Plum Grove. The first generation was rather uneventful, but there were a couple sicknesses in the second, which I am still in. I just have

Spoiler:

to clear it, but it keeps going like other farms sims afterward. I also made an evil character in a different profile out of morbid curiosity; he had 2 bio kids and adopted 8 before I decided to end his anarchy. Interestingly the four oldest adopted kids got dibs on the farm over the younger bio kids, like maybe they found him out, lol. Certainly fanfic fuel if I had time to write.

I have also been messing with My Time at Sandrock Online, since I got a free code from Pathea for getting the physical version of Sandrock. It's focused on rebuilding the town, and bringing characters in, with only a very loose story. It is fun for what it is, and likely more so if you actually played it multiplayer. Relationship building seems a lot harder since you don't seem to collectively please everyone in town with quests.

My order of Xenoblade X is preparing to ship when I checked on it. With spring break half over already, I doubt I will be able to get to it for a while, but I will have it when I am ready to play a long one. Maybe summer break? I decided to go ahead and get it now though as the other Xenoblade games seem to get harder to find physically at a reasonable price after a while.

Kikki · Post Posted: Mar 19, 2025 6:23 pm

Oh, public service announcement for new XCX players! You see, there's one game mechanic that you won't realize is there until it's too late to affect the outcome. This isn't a plot spoiler...it's a...quest-possibility spoiler? A mechanics spoiler? Anyway, sometimes you have choices to make in quests. And the thing is, it is possible for those choices to have larger consequences than you might think. Mainly, it's possible that

Spoiler:

I wished I'd known that the first time I played and I made a wrong choice. I made a RIGHT choice the first time, and didn't even realize it could have had such an effect until another quest came up and I made the bad choice. Though it doesn't affect the plot and there isn't much of a chain effect anywhere.

This is a game of exploration. If you don't dive into the world itself, you're probably not gonna like the game much, because it's less main-story-driven than the other Xenoblades. Get out there and explore! Find alien vistas and peoples and freaky reasons for why things are as they are. Become humanity's best representative in every way. That's what XCX lets you do, and that's why it's so special, imo. Just don't expect it to feel all that much like the other Xenoblade games, cuz then you'll probably be bewildered and/or disappointed.

Make it yours. Go out there and feel like the brightest shining beacon of humanity ever, and the most insignificant mote of dust in the universe, one after the other, over and over. I hope you love it.

Bluie · Post Posted: Mar 21, 2025 1:53 am

I spent roughly 10 hours in XCX yesterday (Got up at 2 AM, stopped playing around lunch time), mostly exploring where I could and cheesing the long jump to get where I shouldn't, haha. I've unlocked party editing and now Tatsu is following me everywhere. I went minorly insane trying to find a probe site, only to google it and find out that I'll need a flying skell. Boo. I stopped after taking a bunch of quests and I'll probably get back to it on Saturday. I refuse to rush any games this year, so I'm taking everything at my own pace. Today I'll either tackle some more side content in ZZZ or work on the story of Monster Hunter Wilds.

I think the only other game this year I might buy day one is Fantasy Life i, but I'm waiting for reviews. It's really hard to trust Level 5 these days and apparently the game itself went through several levels of development hell, so I'd like to see the finished product before I buy it. Also, I DO want Guardians of Azuma, but the footage they've been showing is in no way Switch gameplay. Like, I'm not stupid, Marvelous, I've had this system for what, eight years now? And I know when I'm being duped. I suffered through RF5's performance issues, but I know I no longer have the patience for it. I'm not into PC gaming, so either get it as a launch title on Switch 2, or release it on PS5 - then you'll have my money.

Kikki · Post Posted: Mar 21, 2025 12:51 pm

Bluie wrote: ↑Mar 21, 2025 1:53 am I spent roughly 10 hours in XCX yesterday (Got up at 2 AM, stopped playing around lunch time), mostly exploring where I could and cheesing the long jump to get where I shouldn't, haha.

In XCX, that's typically been referred to as 'moutain goating'.

There's almost nowhere in Primordia you can't get to that way. And I THINK there is only one probe in all of Primordia that you call cannot get to without a skell. (Or a doll, if you prefer.) There's one you absolutely CANNOT reach by any means other than a Skell. No...actually I think there are two. There's a third to the far west of Primordia that SEEMS like it can't be reached without a skell, but it can, via mountain-goating. Though in original X, that probe required either a level 4 or level 5 level field skill in mechanical, so you couldn't install the probe even if you DID get to it. I'm not sure how it works, now.

~

It's weird being able to open all the treasure/claim all the debris, decipher all the biological and etc troves around Mira. There has been only ONE I haven't been able to claim, the big trailer in the AD in NLA, in front of Blade Tower. That has a really high-level reward in it, so it'd be nuts if you could access it at this point in the game. I really wonder how they're gonna handle this. It said something about doing a mission to unlock the field skill, but does that mean you have to do just one specific mission at some point in the story and then you'll have access to all higher-level troves? I guess this applies to probes, too. No more level 1, level 2 to level 5 probe installations, now. For me, not a good thing, but I loved the way it worked already. I really just wanted a straight port with some QoL added in the menus. I didn't even need the graphic upgrade. The graphics are notably crisper and the colours punchier, but they aren't any more beautiful, now. X was already gorgeous on Wii U. Except in areas where the punchier colours are on particularly good display.

The world graphics are a nice upgrade, but I'm really disliking the changes they made to the player avatar character art style. My character was absolutely gorgeous in Original, and now he looks like a big derp in Definitive, and I quickly found all the right settings to make him look as much like Original as possible, but...yuck. That severely down-turned mouth is bizarre, and he looks less mature now...he had a less anime look, before. At least his hair is still beautiful, and character figures are the same. Elma doesn't look as good as she used to, but Lin looks better, as does Lao, imo. So it's pretty mixed for characters other than my own created character.

The gameplay is pretty different. I mean, it's the same, but they've really made the combat easier to pick up, and your first notable battle...the 3-grex fight...was SO MUCH EASIER. I think I could have just stood there and done nothing while Elma took all 3 out by herself. They've added cues for everything so that you barely have to think on your own. I guess it makes it more accessible, but this game is the love of my gaming life, so I'm not very appreciative of any changes I wasn't looking for. (And I wanted almost NO changes, other than being able to control UI text size and the audio levels. And being able to edit the party on the fly is also nice, I wanted that, too, though I hadn't actually thought to ask for it, I just found it irritating changing the party sometimes. And XP for reserve party is also good, though it has a downside as well, imo. Wonder how it'll work with affinity. But do the character events even still exist?)

I see you can get tickets via exploration/survey completion. Not sure how else...you'll need a lot more than they're showing, there, so hopefully there's another way. Or maybe they've made ticket costs much lower than they used to be, I dunno.

Well, well...I have very mixed feelings. It doesn't quite feel like MY game, any more, and that's sad. But it's early. At least I can still look at this beautiful world and hear the wonderful music? Even if a lot else has been changed.

Oh yeah, in case it wasn't obvious...I have my game now. It arrived around 11:30 this morning. I couldn't play long as my neck is dire and I had to run out as soon as I could to the chiro, but I played a bit more after returning as well. I can play this evening, too, I think, unless I can't stay awake. Which is quite possible.

greensara · Post Posted: Mar 23, 2025 5:29 am

My copy of Xenoblade X came late Friday, so I didn't even crack open the box until I got off work yesterday. I was debating whether I should start working on topping up the soil in my raised beds with what I brought home from the greenhouse or sit around and play something since I was pretty worn out. (People have spring fever, I tell you.) Since I wanted to get what will probably be my last gold points, and I was curious about the character creation options, games won, lol.

I made my character look like a petite but scrappy gal. My son was disappointed; he wanted me to make a boy character.

I got through the intro and chapter 1 (which still seems like part of the intro). I think the game is gorgeous and I am intrigued by the premise, though the timeline made me laugh as it reminded me of old media that thought in 2000 we'd all have a sci-fi kind of life. Overall I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with all the battle components and trying to remember the basic controls, so I personally didn't mind the hand holding. I don't know if I am ready to commit to it yet. I initially felt really overwhelmed by BOTW and sat on it for a while before I really gave it a chance and ended up loving it, so I know I should give it a good shot.

Booted up FFXIV a couple nights ago and realized I am likely near the end of ARR. I would like to get white mage and paladin to level 50 like dragoon before I actually go for the "ending ".

PSI_Nightshade · Post Posted: Mar 23, 2025 8:33 pm

It's been busy weeks but I spent some free time working through the copious amount of puzzles in Piczle Cross: Story of Seasons and now I have everything completed in this game. I love Picross style games so I was totally satisfied with this game (although I think the game had some issues processing the numbers with the bigger and less obvious puzzles near the end). I'll be working on the Rune Factory version later though.

For now, it's Xenoblade Chronicles X time! I already started it and I already see the improvements I needed which was the biggest pain back then. That's right: Party management! being able to do it anywhere without hunting anyone down is such a relief. So here I am, back in my BS trying to unlock as much stuff in FrontierNav before progressing the story just because I can even if it's not the most optimal. I can't help myself.

Kikki · Post Posted: Mar 24, 2025 4:22 am

It's optimal for story speed PSI Nightshade

You'll be able to zoom everywhere via fast travel if you've unlocked everything first. (Well, everything possible.) It's also good for getting more money and resources, if you're planting mining and research probes as you go. (Though you won't have enough storage probes yet to take advantage of a really big probe haul.)

~

They have made the combat a LOT easier. Now that I've played as long as I have, I'm a bit stunned by how much easier it is. The boss fight in Chapter 4 was done first time! I've always had to do it multiple times, before, but it was downright easy, this time. The energy clips (which didn't exist in Original) allowing instant refreshing of any art is so darned cheaty.

However...it's getting a little more difficult by now, as resistances (yours AND the enemies') become more important. So I suppose this will just make later game feel a little easier, though it's making early game feel a LOT easier. Though if you haven't played Original, it'll just feel like what it is, since you'd have nothing to compare to.

There's a few changes I'm liking a lot, and a bunch that I'm pouty about, but at least it still feels like X. I can't believe you can SEE COLLECTIBLES ON THE MAP, now. In Original, you had to find those suckers yourself! Without Frontier Nav (the website), it would have been absolute torture, finding the rare stuff. Even with it, it was still rare. (In case anyone doesn't know...collectibles can be time dependent. Like, some are only available at night.)

The somewhat intense struggle of X (Original) was part of its charm, to me...it really fit the narrative. Definitive feels like it's been tamed in advance. But some of the changes are really good, and I suppose it was so difficult before that it would have turned most against it. I've heard of some people still finding it difficult and wishing there was a 'casual' mode in this like in the others, so...

Gotta go get ready to leave, now. That's another thing that's making me pouty today, lol.

Bluie · Post Posted: Mar 24, 2025 8:55 am

Moutain goating. Lol, that's so cute. Gonna have to stop myself from making goat noises when I'm long jumping now.

I finished Monster Hunter Wilds, as in I got the credits. Post game is all high rank and I don't know if I'm up for the grind yet. Wilds is a fantastic game, but it kinda... lacks the MH charm I love. I have this same issue with Monster Hunter World. They're both made for the average mainstream and thus leave the quirky charms that brought me into the series in the dust. Playing this game has just made me want a 3DS collection (3,4, and Generations) remaster for modern consoles. One fight in Wilds had the whimsy that made the spark return, but everything else is a spectacle now. And don't get me wrong, I love a good spectacle fight, but when almost literally every fight is one, I'm bored and going through the motions. It's still a good game and I will still be playing it, but I'm not falling over it like everyone else is.

I also finished all the character quests in ZZZ and have been slooowly working through all the hanging sidequests I haven't gotten to yet. They're all combat based, so they wont take -long- per say, but there's a lot of them, and every time I finish one or two, three more pop up. This is what I get for taking months away from this game.

Not sure if I want to go back to XCX yet. I might be getting a little burned out on action based games. I have some visual novels I could play and I also have that Natsu-mon game on Switch. Or I just might binge an anime lol.

Terdin · Post Posted: Mar 25, 2025 2:19 am

I finally got around to reach the second ending of Rune Factory 2. Around the time one needs to grow crops down in the shrine to get orbs to unlock the door to Fiersome, I usually get bored and start wanting to do the courting of the first generation again. This time I managed to push myself to persevere, and then a couple of days after Fiersome to get Omnigate. My only regrets for that run was that I spent too much time in first generation as I wanted to watch at least one rival wedding at some point and figured that was the time to do it, and that I sped through the second generation, reaching the second ending before the middle of summer.

I'm now making a leisurely run to take the bad feelings away. Gonna marry in fall and then spend at least as many days as Tanya has trials for each dungeon before moving on to the next. More focus on crafting and relationships than getting to The End, so to speak.

Harvest Moon kawaii · Post Posted: Mar 25, 2025 2:33 pm

I haven't posted here in forever. I'm sorry.

My backlog is waaaay too big (Switch = 400-500+ games, Steam [413 games], and still have Nintendo DS and 3DS games to play.) So, I won't be listing every single one here.

I've been working hard to save money for the Nintendo Switch 2 since last year when the existence of a successor was confirmed. I've also significantly cut back on my video game and DLC spending and spending in general. It's hard still, but I'm very proud of myself.

I want to spend more time gaming this year and try to complete as many games as possible. Unfortunately, I don't have a plan or anything. And I feel like websites like How Long to Beat aren't very useful to me since they can take me waaay longer to beat than the averages listed there.

Also, a sequel for 9 R.I.P. was already announced in Japan

Currently Playing:

1) Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Nintendo Switch) (75+ hours)

2) Genso Manège (Nintendo Switch) (25+ hours)

3) Piczle Cross: Rune Factory (1+ hours)

Finished:

1) 9 R.I.P. ( 100%) (Nintendo Switch) (105+ hours)

Bluie · Post Posted: Mar 27, 2025 1:43 pm

For some stupid reason (because I legitimately don't know what's come over me), I'm working on finishing the National Dex in Pokémon Home right now. I have 113 mons left to get (out of 1446) and I've reached generation 5 in my chronological list of missing creatures. Some of these Pokémon haven't even been in a game since their debut, so they might be a little annoying to get. Also, there's a TON of event Pokémon that I missed the distribution of and getting them is going to be a pain. SOME of them can be gotten in the games, but a lot of them are either you were in the right place at the right time, or you got someone who generated one. I have redownloaded some of the Pokemon titles to try and get them myself, but I might get desperate lol. I may work on completing the other Pokedexs too as they yield some pretty nice rewards, but the Pokemon HAVE to be from their origin game in order to count towards completion, which is... annoying to say the least. Ah well, I'll see where my mood goes. I should at least finish Let's Go Pikachu and the Scarlet DLC as I never did for whatever reason.

midnighttherabbit · Post Posted: Mar 27, 2025 1:51 pm

It's been a few weeks (months?) since I last did a backlog update but I AM sort of slowly working through it. I bought a couple of games in the spring sale on Steam but I think I'm making at least some progress.

I finally finished Rogue Trader in February - even though it took me several months I loved it, it was such a refreshing CRPG after playing through a few not-so-good ones recently. The companions were all so fun and I loved how much reactivity there was - the story fell apart a little (in true Owlcat fashion lol) in the final 2 acts but I didn't mind because the individual companion arcs kept me invested. I want to replay it at some point but it IS a 100 hour game so I'll give it a little while.

Immediately after I caved to my friends and finally played Mass Effect. Oh my « Harvest Goddess » I hated it. I know I'm going to play the sequels just so I can get what my friends are talking about but it was just not an enjoyable experience.

Then I played Suikoden. Last year I tried to play a bunch of Persona and dislikes it enough to pretty much stop playing JRPGs for a long time but Suikoden might have brought me back - I loved the story and the characters so much. I've heard the second one is the best so I'm really excited to get to it at some point.

And now I'm slowly playing Spiritfarer. I started it on Switch a very long time ago but got it for like £2 in the Steam sale and decided to try again - it's cute! Not really something I want to play for more than an hour at a time but I'm enjoying it.
At the same time I am SO SICK. I had a doctor's appt last week and I think I picked either the flu or covid there because I haven't been right for almost a week now. Whenever I get a bad cold I have a really strong urge to play modern Fire Emblem lol. I'm playing FE: Engage Conquest for the first time since I was a teenager and it's fine, not bad or good but it's doing the job.

Also all the SoS talk today is making me want to finally play the AWL remake. I played the first act when it first came out but never finished it.

Kikki · Post Posted: Mar 28, 2025 8:43 am

I think I've had 2 play sessions in XCXDe since my last post. I've been so tired, even in full days at home, that I can't play. Sometimes it's too painful to sit upright (lol?) and sometimes I'm flat out too tired, and other times it's a mix of the two.

Not that it'd be bad at all if I were...drawing or writing or something, instead. But I'm not. I'm so tired I'm just half-reclined with my laptop, watching videos and the like. Huge waste of time. But it lets my muscles unclench.

Not sure when I'm going to get used to this...when it'll get better. Or if it's gonna get worse.

But anyway, when I DID play, I got tons done. I've finished Chapter 6 in Definitive, now. I did a huge amount of affinity missions (remember to do those, fellow players! They're where all the good background info comes from in this game...the main story is comparatively barebones.) and I think more than a dozen heart-to-hearts. Heck, I may have done two dozen.

Affinity goes up in this game SO much faster. They may have tweaked the amount you get from answering Soul Voices, but I think it again comes down to the invention of the energy clips that allow you to charge up and use an art in an instant. Normally most soul voices are unanswerable, because you're waiting for your art to charge. But now you can fire off any art at almost any time because you can insta-recharge them whenever you choose.

So it not only makes the combat way eaiser, it also makes raising affinity way easier. I have mixed feelings about how much easier the combat is (not only because of the energy clips) but I LOVE that we can raise affinity this fast. Raising affinity to be able to do all the affinity missions (which have so much extra story packed into them!) in post-game was such a chore.

I've got every currently available party member recruited. I know who two more of the still blanked-out ones would be as well as where/when they'll become available, because they were in Original XCX...but I don't know who the others are. Guess they must be more new ones. I've already recruited one new character (created for Definitive, and honestly, really weird...they don't feel like they belong at all and their introduction doesn't fit the world...they didn't lay much groundwork for it.)

Couldn't get my head together to play this morning and my time is not my own from 1-10pm today, so today's a wash, game-wise. I might be able to play tomorrow night? I don't know, any more, I'm never sure when I'll have the time AND the physical state to actually do it. I'll be home all of Sunday and am really hoping I'll have the energy to do stuff that day, gaming or otherwise. I'm in the mood to play right now, but I have to leave soon enough that that's really not feasible!

Still, I've made progress.

PSI_Nightshade · Post Posted: Mar 28, 2025 2:12 pm

Kikki wrote: ↑Mar 24, 2025 4:22 am It's optimal for story speed PSI Nightshade You'll be able to zoom everywhere via fast travel if you've unlocked everything first. (Well, everything possible.) It's also good for getting more money and resources, if you're planting mining and research probes as you go. (Though you won't have enough storage probes yet to take advantage of a really big probe haul.)

Believe me, I know. It's just that I get a kick out of trying to get to places the game clearly didn't want me to reach until I get my Skell license. The Internet must be installed! It's also early enough that I can dump my miranium deposits into Sakuraba and Grenada. Planning to move on with Chapter 4 once I finish the sidequests currently available now that I got all the Primordia probes done (at least though that I can in fact reach).

That being said, Seekers of Eternity just came out on Final Fantasy XIV so I've been busy all week. I'll get back to XCX as soon as I got free time.