Backlog 2025

[Bluie]

67 more Pokemon to go for the HOME National Dex. As predicted, a handful of the Gen 5 Pokémon have been a little more difficult to get. Surprisingly (and so far) the hardest one to get people to cough up was Carracosta. While the rest of my GTS trades took anywhere between 20 min - and hour for a turn around, hours went by on each of my attempts to get one of these big blue turtles. I have ZERO idea why it's like this other than it's a fossil Pokémon. I finally got one this morning for a Galarian Slowbro. Getting all the mysticals is going to be an actual pain though. I'm going to offer up my vault of shinies and whatever legendries I have kicking around on the HOME Reddit first and see if I get any bites. I don't even really want to keep them. I'm totally up for touch trades and letting people keep what I'm offering because I'm really not all that attached to these mons outside of a handful.

On XCX, I just really haven't had the motivation to go back to it yet. I'm really happy it's here and it's a ton of fun, but my mind is not begging for a large exploration game atm. I'm feeling more mission based gameplay right now, or just not gaming at all. I will get back to it eventually regardless.

[Kikki]

Gonna play a little this morning. I had just finished Chapter 6, so I've got some good side missions to do now. The middle of my day isn't my own, but...I'll be home again by 7pm, this time. Might feel up to playing in the evening, too. Or maybe I should finish my sphere-drawing attempt. I sort of enjoy drawing, but I'm so bad at it that it gets un-fun pretty fast. Oh well. I'm confounded by how big to draw my shadows. I get light placement, to some extent, but...how do I decide how big to make the sphere's shadow? A bigger shadow indicates a brighter light, or a closer light, I believe, but...

Eh, whatever. Stuff like this keeps me from bothering to try. Pathetic of me, must go ahead and do it and make the shadows whatever darned size. Or all the sizes!

Or I'll just play.

Oh yeah, and the session before this one, I finally felt very at home in XCX again, for two reasons. I finished House of Cards, so I can now customize my character again. I decided to commit to this anime aesthetic and not try to get the sculpted look my avatar of humanity had in Original...took away the hollowed cheeks/shading under the cheekbones. Looks way better like this, on this anime critter. AND...I unlocked the Candid and Credible arms manufacturer! I am a C&C girl to the very end! Now that I'm perfectly customized and wearing a full C&C outfit, I feel like I'm playing the real XCX again. *whew!*

[Roinda]

Ugh, my backlog has completely fallen apart, like total collapse.

I think I’ve bought more games than I’ve actually completed.

I ended up packing away my two Xboxes and my WiiU as they just weren’t being played enough. I bought a second hand SNES and a Sega Mega Drive (which, funnily enough, I haven’t played either of just lately.)


Current and recent past playthroughs:

PlayStation 2: Power Rangers Time force

Switch: ACNH, MySims

Recently I plugged the PS4 back in and have started playing again.

PS4: Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix.

I didn’t fully realize at first but this is a collection of games, so you’ve got KH 1, KH 2, Re:Chain of Memories, Birth by Sleep, 358/2 days and Re:coded.

I’ve been playing KH 2, I prefer it to the first. Although the beginning part with Roxas gets a bit boring after a while.

I’ve never played Final Fantasy so don’t know anything about the characters beyond what I’ve learned in KH.

Games bought recently but haven’t/only just started playing:

PlayStation 4:

Kingdom Hearts 3

DMC HD Collection (I must be mad)

Switch:

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Power Rangers Rita’s Rewind

Epic Mickey ReBrushed

That’s all I can remember right now.

[Milo]

I’ve never played Final Fantasy so don’t know anything about the characters beyond what I’ve learned in KH.

The Kingdom Hearts versions of Final Fantasy characters are really only superficially similar to the originals. They're basically new characters recycling existing designs because "hey, we own the IP". They even turned a trio of characters who were simply humans in the original into fairies.

(The Kingdom Hearts versions of Disney characters are more similar to their original versions, being more like "same person put through different experiences on account of the fracturing of the realms".)

[Bluie]

Only 10 Pokemon left to get for the Pokemon Home National Dex, and they're all mythicals I'm gonna need to talk to people to get. I wish they'd just cut the « Male Cow Poopoo » and let people trade special Pokemon. It's stupid that you can ASK for them in trades but there's literally no way to send them. Truly, peak programming.

Been playing Zenless and FFXIV. With ZZZ, I again got lucky and pulled a 5* I wanted. After playing through the second most recent character story, I found Trigger to be a very interesting support character in battle. I don't need another electric character, but that fact that she snipes enemies while off field is very cool and fun. I had 30 pulls and she came home, so I worked on getting her fully upgraded and outfitted. I've also started working on the 4* characters I have full copies of, because why not. Nicole and Ben are my current focus and I'll work on them as I feel like it.

With FFXIV, I'm really just doing weeklies until they drop more content. I honestly didn't really like the new raids week 1, but I guess that was just growing pains as week 2 was really fun. I'd say Floor 5 is my favorite out of the bunch due to its disco theme and mechanics. Having to literally dance to escape damage is very funny and very quirky FFXIV. Plus, the frogs in disco outfits and afros are just... so freaking funny now that I'm not scrambling to dodge their attacks. The other three are fine, though the screen barf on Floor 8 is really, really bad. I thankfully have a raid-pilled online acquaintance who helped point out the safe spots I can focus on instead, but MAN, I wonder if they're going to patch anything in regards to it. Having three towers in a confined space falling in odd directions (that you have to dodge) while there's a party wide full screen attack going off (not to mention all the background and particle effects) is just... too much. I worry for those who just want to finish the battle for story content. I'd usually say 'they can just get carried', but there's an enrage in this fight too (as in, you have to kill something before a meter fills up - or you wipe the whole fight and have to start at the beginning) and it's TIGHT. It will be less so as the weeks go on an everyone gets better gear, but right now, it's very easy to flub. If there's one thing Dawntrail has done 'right', it's amping up the fights after so many people « Baaaa *glomp* » and moaned that everything was too easy. Well, congrats, now even normal content is difficult. I'm more or less fine with it, I can adapt, but I feel bad for the casual story enjoyers.

Other than that, I might be starting Genshin again as the next quest (according to leakers) is leading us back to the first area. I think I could probably binge the story of Natlan on one of my days off, probably. My motivation to write has been waning as of late because despite having 40 subscribers and almost 5000 hits on my monster longfic, I receive crickets each time I post a new chapter and it's extremely discouraging. I'm not expecting wild fanfare, but a little indication I'm doing something right (or wrong?) would be nice. I do like feedback and it just feels like I'm writing into a void lately. And no, I'm not in the corner of 'writers deserve comments' but it would be NICE, ya know? I'm seriously thinking of cross posting from AO3 to FFN just to see if I can get anything over there.

[Roinda]

I’ve never played Final Fantasy so don’t know anything about the characters beyond what I’ve learned in KH.

The Kingdom Hearts versions of Final Fantasy characters are really only superficially similar to the originals. They're basically new characters recycling existing designs because "hey, we own the IP". They even turned a trio of characters who were simply humans in the original into fairies.

Ah, ok. Fair enough. I’d actually forgotten that last part until I read it. Shows how long it’s been since I last played KH2

Not much progress regarding gameplay. Been focusing on the first DMC. I was worried when I first bought the game as I don’t do blood and gore at all but it’s been manageable so far. Luckily the cutscenes can been skipped. Haven’t got very far, I’ve simply been playing the first part of the first mission over and over to try and build up as many red orbs as possible.

I also just pre-ordered a Switch 2 with Mario Kart World. No idea where I’m going to put it as I’m out/running out of space.

[Kikki]

Owwwwww. Ouchity ouch ouch. I've been working this body WAY more than it wanted to consent to.

Though at home, I'm having fun. One is that I have some nice (Arrtx) pencil crayons now, and they layer together in an almost bizarrely creamy way that's fascinatingly fun, and makes lines very forgiving if you colour too harshly anywhere, because you can always smooth it right out. Plus I have a really nice book to colour in. So colouring is really fun atm.

But I suppose this isn't a colouring forum. Or thread. I have been playing lots...well, perhaps not lots comparatively, but plenty of time at home has been spent on it. I haven't played more XCX since then, but hey, I've played this game for hundreds upon hundreds of hours over the past ten years, so I only feel like playing it when I feel like playing it, if you get what I mean. No urge to complete a playthrough, because I've done that multiple times already.

Otherwise, I've been playing Pioneers of Olive Town. It's just as fun as I remembered, maybe more, but it's also just as deeply flawed. The fun is downright addictive-level, but the flaws are quite glaring when they come up, which is fairly frequent. When you're not getting sucked into a fun whirlwind, your'e annoyed by the absurd levels of inventory management and the ridiculous characters and writing, horribly boring marriage candidates, and various other issues.

I'm reeeeeally hankering for Wanderstop. I think I have to get it. I may even try playing it directly on my laptop. New pencil crayons and a game are probably going to be my splurge from a recent windfall. Might as well use a little money before it becomes worth less than the paper its printed on, lol. Though I'm not a big spender, so a 'splurge' for me is $100-200 bucks within a week or two. I'll be getting the Switch 2 on release, if I can, because I think that's going to make more economic sense than waiting (just my feeling), so that'll be my major purchase for the whole year...won't be tossing money around on much else.

That reminds me that I need to move some money. I should go do that right now. I don't think I have any other gaming news. XCX and PoOT. Pretty sure I haven't played anything else this month. I feel like playing a bit of DQB2 again since I dropped my most recent post half way through Fallowfield, and it's just such a comfy game. I also want to replay FFVII Remake (not Rebirth. I loved it, but because of the many MANY required-by-the-main-story minigames, I may never play Rebirth again. Sad!) But the urge was higher when I first finished Rebirth. Kinda don't want to go back to the very end of Crisis Core, now. Oh wait, I DID play some Tears of the Kingdom within April, didn't I? That was lots of fun, suppose I might do some more.

[Kikki]

Wow, look at that. Four days! I thought I posted just yesterday, but nope. New post rather than an edit, then.

I finally played some more XCX, cleaning up affinity quests and heart-to-hearts again, and new social quests that have unlocked since finishing Chapter 6 and 7. I have my entire roster of possible party members up to 4 and 5 hearts of affinity, though there are still 3 or 4 more to unlock. (I know who one is, but I don't know the others. Guess they're new ones. I wish they'd just brought in some existing characters rather than inserting these new characters out of nowhere. I've met two, and they just do NOT feel like they belong in this game at all.)

I believe I played more PoOT as well. I thiiiink I have one more 'main story' quest to unlock and then I'll be done that, but I never did the HG quests, or Spirit quests. Whatever they're called in this game. I need to get all the gardens unlocked and the hydroculture plant (I don't remember if I unlocked it in my first playthrough but I assume I didn't, with the ridiculous material requirements it has, and considering I only played to mid or late winter of year 1 in my first file...not enough time to make 50 orichalcum bricks!)

I feel a bit like playing some Animal Crossing, though I don't know why, since I wouldn't have anything to do when I booted it up. This feels like a follow-your-whims year, rather than a year to pay much attention to backlog. I mostly just want to play 'cozy' stuff, which includes old favourites that aren't actually in the cozy category, like XCX itself, or DQB2 or Ace Attorney, Tales, Trails, etc.

When I think of all the replays I want to cuddle into, I'm reminded anew how many great games I already own, and how not being able to get the Switch 2 (if that happened) wouldn't curtail my gaming any, because I already have so many options. Who even needs money, at this point? I could continue my gaming habits for ages just with what I already have.

Very crunchy today. But I finally have a good little stretch to myself and can hopefully uncrumple in that time, and the end of April isn't far off. I will probably have less need to push my physical limit after that. Happily, PoOT is really good in handheld mode for when I'm too crunchy to even sit up, lol.

So looking forward to real outdoor time, with grass and trees that rustle in the sunlight.

[Bluie]

I wish I could give you some of my weather right now, Kiki. In typical Texas fashion, it's already waaaaayyy too hot for the season. It's not unbearable (yet) but both my husband and I let out an involuntary noise of disgust on exiting the house yesterday. I would gladly ship some of it over to you if I could.

I've been working and arting lately, so not too much gaming. I did play through the .0 content of Genshin's newest region, but then got too tired in the .1 once a dungeon came around. It's... OK, but nothing mindblowing. I'll probably attempt to play the rest this week, if I'm feeling up to it. I also jumped into Star Rail to grab my free 5* and then jumped back out. ZZZ is gearing up for it's first anniversary and 2.0's launch. I'm interested, but it's following the Hoyo pattern of the second area being the China inspired focus. Honestly, as long as it doesn't become a wankfest I'm forced to return to (Star Rail) or be a barely changed yearly event (Genshin), I'm OK with it. I do like the look of the new Panda character and hope they're playable.

I'm honestly feeling like I want to play something a little more chill. I got My Time at Sandrock on sale, but I know it's not completely chill, especially after all the time I put into Portia. I'm eyeing Hello Kitty Island Adventure or maybe playing my copy of A Wonderful Life on PS5 (I initially bought it on PS5, but it came out too close to FFXV and my husband stole the PS5 away to play it... leading me to buy it on the Switch and play it while waiting for my console to be returned to me lol). I also still have Natsu-Mon on my Switch just waiting for me to play. There's so many 'cozy' games to choose from these days. Younger me would be ecstatic, me now can't decide and it's irritating LOL.

[Code_Name_Geek]

First backlog post of 2025! My semester started with a heavier courseload that I expected and I'm working some extra shifts at work, so I've decided that my only goal for the time being is to make a little bit of time to play something.

Well, that didn't work out. Which is probably pretty obvious from this being my second post of the year. What a semester from hell, I'm not actually sure how I survived.

But now I'm back! And the game I'm easing back in with is Sonic X Shadow Generations (again). Since it was the last one I left off with it was the obvious choice, and I still have stuff left to do in it. I played a couple of times last weekend and I managed to get an S rank on all the acts (except for the DLC one which I'll get to later). I originally wanted to S rank them all without the Doom Wings enabled but I found out the last two acts were insanely difficult to do without due to being designed for them, so I settled for doing those two with the Doom Wings on - which was still enough of a challenge. My remaining achievements for the Shadow side are mostly to do with collectibles, which is a lot more chill, as well as some challenge stages and one for the final boss that sounds pretty daunting.

I'm starting to get a loose idea of what I want to play next once I deal with some of the life stuff I've been putting off this whole semester. I've been wanting to replay The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, since I have a better handle on who these characters are now, but that's a game that can be played in one session so it won't take up too much time. With the upcoming new games in the AITSF and Tamagotchi Corner Shop series, I want to get through the last two games I have for those: AI: Nirvana Initiative and Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 3. I also recently acquired Sonic Rivals (for a steal of a deal online - 20-30$ CAD cheaper than the usual asking price and free shipping to boot!) and I have two friends who want to play it multiplayer so I'd like to play through the story and unlock all the characters so we can play together. And beyond that, I'm kind of wanting to finally play Bravely Default 2 but that'll probably have to wait until the real summer break before I even consider starting something like that. Plus, I haven't forgotten that Sonic Unleashed is next on my list of main series Sonic games to play. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to all of those with all the other stuff I want to do too but it's something to work towards!

[Kikki]

I'll have some of your heat, Bluie. You could pare off 10 degrees Celcius, and we could fit it in nicely, right now. (it's 3C at the moment, and the high today is only 10C even with full sun, and we're nearing the end of April...it's been a pretty chilly one.) I sure wish I could be outside without a coat...I feel like it would give me some energy.

Well, I'm too busy to do anything outdoors until April ends anyway...and I have to spend almost all my time at home in a reclined position because everything hurts so much and I'm so tired, I'm barely even cooking and I have to scrape up all my energy to do a grocery shopping trip. -___-

As such, I don't think I'll be playing XCX today. I'm not here tonight, but this morning I'm just flat out too tired and sore. Had to give it up after a few hours yesterday because sitting hurt too much and was too tiring. What a pathetic thing to say! I almost definitely won't be playing tomorrow or Saturday, either, but I may get a chance to play something on Sunday.

There was a fair few Nintendo eshop items on sale from my wishlist, and I've always been intrigued by I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. The title is a huge turn off...the teens are probably the worst period of life. The dorkiest and most awkward. I had a much better time in college and through my twenties and thirties than I did through my early and mid teens. I've no nostalgia for the teenage years and it's the period of life I would least want to return to, given a choice. But even so, the game looks good. The art style is unique and pleasing and the gameplay mix looks fun. The dialogue appears interesting, too. And it was on...I think 40% off. It cost $14.49, and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Sometimes it's fun just to try something different.

[S1lvergale]

There was a fair few Nintendo eshop items on sale from my wishlist, and I've always been intrigued by I Was a Teenage Exocolonist. The title is a huge turn off...the teens are probably the worst period of life. The dorkiest and most awkward. I had a much better time in college and through my twenties and thirties than I did through my early and mid teens. I've no nostalgia for the teenage years and it's the period of life I would least want to return to, given a choice. But even so, the game looks good. The art style is unique and pleasing and the gameplay mix looks fun. The dialogue appears interesting, too. And it was on...I think 40% off. It cost $14.49, and I'm perfectly okay with that.

Sometimes it's fun just to try something different.

As someone who has played and loves Teenage Exocolonist, I will say that say that this isn't a game you want to play if you're looking for a soft feel-good game. It's good, very good, but it delves into some heavy topics and some of the events can be very dark. The content warnings are there for a reason.

As for me, I've recently started up a new playthrough of Dragon Quest 3 2dHd. I played it once when it first came out and wanted to let it rest a bit before diving back in. I love Dragon Quest, but I can't do multiple playthroughs in a row. Currently made it to the first new kingdom on a new continent, playing with a female Hero, and her boys. Merchant, Thief, and Monster Wrangler. Different from my first playthrough, and it'll be interesting to play without a Priest.

[Kikki]

As someone who has played and loves Teenage Exocolonist, I will say that say that this isn't a game you want to play if you're looking for a soft feel-good game. It's good, very good, but it delves into some heavy topics and some of the events can be very dark. The content warnings are there for a reason.

I appreciate the input. No worries, though; I am an otoge veteran. (I've fallen away from otoges in the last five years as I've already done a decade or more of them prior to that and they're all too samey to me, now.) They're almost all full of quite dark content.

I managed to squeeze in an hour or two of XCX yesterday morning. I think that's when I did it? But I wore out and couldn't continue after a bit, even with some extra time before I had to leave. And I made it home nearly two hours early today, but...I don't know if I can scrape myself together to play...I think I'd be better off fitting in a nap before supper, since I've got a 8.5 hour shift tomorrow and I can't afford to feel as bad then as I do now.

There are things I feel like playing, but yeah. Physically not up to it. I'd colour a bit instead, but...too tired for that, too. It's nap time. Big fat nap time.

[Bluie]

I had a fairly decent gaming day. Started out with Genshin and got to the end of the second act in Natlan. I did some weekly bosses co-op at the highest level and got hit on by some rando. He could've been joking, but he honed in on me specifically because of my girlish name. Were the keyboard on Genshin not so cumbersome, I would have firmly told him I'm married, but I ignored them and jumped out of co-op before they could message me again. I cannot believe someone was trying to pick up chicks in a mobile gacha of all places...

I then moved onto FFXIV to do my weeklies. The fights are easy now, but I still mess up on a mechanic or two. I also did Wondrous Tales (bingo) to get some more currency to get better gear. AND, I finally managed to catch the special FATE, Mica. I needed the currency it dropped for a music scroll, though I do want to fight it again to get the silly mascot costume. This battle is usually popping while I'm at work, so it was nice to finally catch it.

And finally, I ended my day off with some Monster Hunter Wilds. I unlocked the gathering hub, did a few missions, and then waited around for one of Diva's concerts. It was really pretty and it's a shame she's not an NPC you can interact with. Anyways, I plan on replaying Deltarune chapter 1&2 soonish. With the next two chapters coming out soon, I'd rather they be fresh in my mind. Gonna play the PS4 version and transfer my progress to the PS5 version when it drops (already confirmed to be a thing via Toby Fox himself).

[Kikki]

I had a big, fat nap! After my post, I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up for 3 hours. When I woke up, I was startled...it was light, but dim, and I could hear my sister's tablet going from...somewhere. I thought it was morning, lol, and was startled to hear her awake.

It took me a minute to realize it was evening, and where and why I'd been so very asleep. But I felt better! The dizzy oogy feeling was gone. But then I needed to stay up a little later so I'd sleep properly through the night, goofy me...so I played XCX until about 11pm before heading back to bed.

And I got chapter 9 done! That's pretty much the last 'unlock' point, other than a few level barriers on a couple of the core affinity quests. (Generally involving Lin, Elma, Irina, and to some extent, Gwin. And Lao, of course. Dunno why he always teeters on the edge of my memory, sometimes dropping right off.)

My personal favourite party member is Yelv. He has such a good story through his affinity quests. At least, it's the one that appeals to ME the most. (They all have stories. Alexa's is the weakest, imo...her skell obsession isn't entertaining or endearing to me, just boring and tedious. Not really fond of Celica's, either, and Gwin should be more interesting than he is. Boze is a Bozo. Though it's interesting that the responses he likes are the ones that correct him. L is just a goofball so his stuff is mostly farce, imo. HB entertains me and Yelv's story is the best for my tastes. Hope is meh, though there's good world-building in her story. The two new ones I've met so far are nothing special. Ooh, and I love Phog and Frye, their...spoiler...is just really satisfying to complete.)

I really dislike the holofigure that you unlock via H.B. though.

Anyway, big fat nap was quite restorative. Perma-tired even so, of course, but it salvaged last night!