It is that time of the year everyone! Kim from Later Levels is back with Love Your Backlog Month! Thank you Kim for what is becoming one of my favorite holidays now. Since it is the namesake of my blog, you can probably guess that I have a very steep backlog in my collection. You would guess right since my gaming time has been reduced, but my collecting habit has never stopped. That is kind of a lie since I am reaching the point where I almost have all of the old games that I have been seeking (just the really expensive ones left).
I had to crunch the numbers yet again and made sure that I was as close to accurate. I have officially decided that I am not responsible for finishing any games that Kat has or bought since I did not purchase them myself. This helps take the edge off somethings and drastically brings my number down (even though I want that 1000+ badge…). This year’s grand total of unfinished games in my backlog is…
664!
It is a smaller number from last year! Removing the filler really helped. Since I like working with spreadsheets, I broke down every system that I own and recounted every finished and unfinished game for each. I also started taking liberties when it comes to multiple copies of a game that is either on another console or just a remaster/rerelease of an older game. I have decided that if I have finished it on one console, then I have finished every other version of it, unless it is a completely different game (story changes, mechanics). For example, I own Mega Man X on multiple systems (I love Mega Man X). Since I have finished the game once, I am counting every rerelease of the game as finished as well since it is the same game. This cleans things up a lot since there is no need for me to go out of my way to finish the game again but just on a different system. It also saves me time to play other games.
I am proud that my Game Boy collection is complete since the only one I haven’t played belongs to Kat. The numbers were looking good until I got to my Switch and PC collection. I was expecting my PC backlog to be huge, but I honestly forgot that I have some games since they are not on Steam. The Switch backlog took me by surprise until I realized that that number comes mostly from all the collection packs that are available for the system. The Switch is the perfect little system to bundle a bunch of old games on, and that is where the inflation comes from. The worst offender is the Sega Genesis Classics that has over 50 games in it. If I knew Nintendo was going to add Genesis games to their online service, I probably would not have gotten this pack. I should get around to playing the two games that I own on Wii U virtual console to complete that collection. I am also tempted to not buy or finish anymore GameCube or PSP games just so I can keep it perfectly balanced.
With some of that out of the way, it is time for the Q&A section of this post. I will try my best to not repeat my answers from previous years.
A Game You Are Eager To Play, But Haven’t Yet Started
So many choices, but I think I will have to go with Pandora’s Tower on the Nintendo Wii. We all know the story about Operation Rainfall which helped bring Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, & Pandora’s Tower over to the west. Out of those games, Pandora’s Tower is the only one that I haven’t played. I got it for Christmas a couple of years ago, but I have yet to sit down and play it. I don’t know the reason for this, except maybe I’m just lazy and don’t feel like hooking up my Wii. Will I get around to playing it this year? Maybe?
A Game You’ve Started Several Times But Haven’t Yet Finished
This is a fun question since I recently attempted to play it again a few months ago. That game is Final Fantasy XV.
I’ve had this game since it released on day one. I remember coming home from work excited to play this. During my first playthrough, I got as far as Chapter 2, and then stopped playing. It wasn’t because I wasn’t having a good time, but Kat wanted to play the game as well. So in order not to spoil each other, we would take turns playing to reach where the other one left off. If you are asking why we didn’t just pass the controller to each other, it is because we have different styles of playing games. While I wonder and do the things that I want to do, Kat will complete everything that she can before moving on to the next part. I think this is where things fell off. It also didn’t help that we both got distracted by other games that came out later like Tales of Berseria and Horizon Zero Dawn.
We decided to get a second copy of the game and play side by side when Kat upgraded to her PS4 Pro, but we never got around to it until last year. We stopped playing again because we were getting exhausted from doing all of the side quests to the point where almost ten hours in we still hadn’t progressed much in the main story. With Final Fantasy XVI coming soon, one of us will have to sit down and finish it (which most likely will be me since I want to finish all the mainline games).
The Oldest Game In Terms Of Release Date
I said Super Mario 64 the previous year, but that was inaccurate at the time. The correct answer was Pac-Man on the Game Boy, but I now have something even older than that. The Final Fantasy Adventure was released in September 1990, beating Pac-Man for the Game Boy by one year. This game marks the beginning of the SaGa franchise that Square has been reintroducing to the west for some time now. I have been digging into the SaGa franchise over the past year, but haven’t gone back as far as Romancing SaGa. At some point I would like to do an overview of the series and talk about why the series isn’t as popular as some of Square’s other RPGs.
The Most Recent Addition To Your Library
The last game that I got was the 20th anniversary edition of Final Fantasy II on the PSP. I found a copy of Final Fantasy for the PSP last year, but could never come across the second game in any of the stores I visit. Final Fantasy II may be one of the least popular titles in the series, but I actually enjoy it for what it is. It has flaws, but the music and scenario left an impression on me when I first played it years ago. Honestly, I just want to see if I can still use the Teleport spell to carry to the final boss again.
The Game Which Has Spent The Most Time On Your Backlog
I think it is the same answer as last time (Super Mario 64), so instead I will pick the game on my purchase tracker. All the way back in 2015, I bought Grand Theft Auto 5 for the PS3. I am not the type to play the story mode of a GTA title. I normally just goof around in the world and make up my own objectives as I go. Kat and I played online often when we were long-distance dating at the time. Good memories. Any who, this is the oldest from when I started recording, so it will remain old until I get around to that story mode.
The Person Responsible For You Adding The Most Entries To Your Backlog, Due To Their Good Recommendations
No one really influences my decision when purchasing games. I tend to just decide for myself if I am interested in playing something. The internet helps with this since I stay away from most things that are highly talked about (I wish Tears of the Kingdom would interest me). When I look at my PC list however, I will have to blame my friend E for the behemoth of a backlog that it is. He is the one who helped me build my first gaming PC, so it is completely his fault that I have so many unfinished games. He will recommend games that we can try out together and I will give it a try until something else would come up that he would want me to try. I’ve enjoyed his recommendations, but it is hard to finish one game when we keep jumping all over the place or can’t find time to play games in the evening. Even so, without his recommendations I wouldn’t be interested in some games like Total War, Borderlands, or Divinity.
As for what I want to do for Maybe in March, maybe I should do the story mode for GTA5. Knowing me, I doubt that will happen. I do however want to finish another GBA game since technically they have all been in my backlog longer than GTA5. Which one will that be? I guess you will just have to wait and see (I still need to figure it out).
That’s all I got. Thanks again Kim for hosting this event and I will see you all next month (or sooner since I have other things to write and talk about)!
It is a new year and I have wrote diddly squat. It is not from a lack of trying, but from me not knowing where I want to start this year. I normally put out a post about what I want to achieve this year, but those things never work out so I didn’t feel the need to write about it. I am taking this year with an open mind as much as possible. Instead of trying to plan things out and stressing about things yet to come, I am going to ride the waves and see where life wants to take me from once. I have unnecessarily created stress for myself already, so I just need to empty my brain and remind myself that things always work out at the end.
On the writing front, I have written a few things that just need a second readthrough and some edits here and there. One thing that I wrote was really fun for me to write, and I hope I did that game justice while talking about it. It may take some time for that to come out, but I hope you enjoy it. I am going to continue just posting when I feel like the moment is right. When I feel like I am completely done with the post, I will release it like normally. I noticed my blog stats took a dive last year, but that has never bothered me from the very start. I just want to write fun things that I like to write and people enjoy reading. I’m too busy to get sucked into the numbers game.
There is also the matter of EXP Share. Earlier this month I asked the community if they would like to see this event return. I received a large positive support for it, so it will be officially returning. My plan at this point is to aim for March since I still need to sit down and hammer out the changes coming to it. Please look forward to it!
Games Finished This Month
Star Fox Zero
The best way to start a new year is to start from the bottom. I had hoped that I would be able to overcome Star Fox Zero’s unique control scheme, but it quickly made me frustrated. There were some parts where I had brief moments of enjoyment. The on-rails portions made changing my view from the Wii U Gamepad to the TV was easy enough to overcome, but once all-range mode started, my orientation would always be off. All the different vehicles were a headache to control with the landmaster being the worst. The game is pretty to look at, and the soundtrack is one of the best from the Star Fox series. I just wish like everyone else that the controls could be adjusted and accessible for different playstyles.
Marvel’s Spider-Man
I wouldn’t say that I am the biggest Spider-Man fan, but he is one of my favorites. I had no real interest in playing this game, but I decided to give it a try after owning it for a while. My impressions? This was one of the best times that I’ve had playing an action game. My problem with most action games is that at some point the combat gets too heavy and complicated that half of my moveset is wasted since I quickly forget about them. Not to mention that sometimes you have to remember different combinations with light and heavy attacks and how to chain into a specific move. With Spider-Man, all you have to remember is the melee button, the web-pulley button, and the get-out-the-way button. Just by remembering those actions, the combat becomes a simple rhythm dance that is easy to follow. What also helps is that if a special action is available, the game will tell you which buttons to press which eliminates my weakness of trying to remember how to pull off a specific action. I was really not expecting to enjoy this game as much as I did. So much in fact…
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
I decided to keep the spidy train going by finishing Miles Morales. Since it is a shorter game (and I didn’t feel like completing everything), it only took me three play sessions to finish the story. I enjoyed playing as Miles as we get to see him starting out and getting used to his powers and responsibilities. This is something we hardly get to do as the OG Spider-Man since most of his games start off with him being Spider-Man for a while. While I am now looking forward to Spider-Man 2 later this year, it might be something I don’t play immediately at launch.
New Additions
Ys (Origin, The Oath in Felghana, & The Ark of Napishtim)
The Ys series is one that I’ve been interested in for a while. I played Ys I and found the bump mechanic to be a learning curve at the time. Now that I am deep into The Legend of Heroes series, I want to take the time to visit Falcom’s other signature series. My friend described the later games as Zelda on crack, so I will eventually see if that is true.
Harvest Moon 64
No. My quest to own almost every Harvest Moon game has not ended. I never knew this game existed until I did my research on Harvest Moon games. I’m just happy to own a genuine copy since most I found online were reproduction carts.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
I have never seen this game in the wild. I’ve heard mixed things about this game, but the only opinion that matters is mine. So far just by looking at it, I don’t know if I will finish it (like the original FFXII). If anything, I now have a complete collection of Final Fantasy games that came out for the Nintendo DS!
Star Fox Command
From one bad Star Fox game to one that I’ve heard little about. The back of the box should give me all the information that I need to know (like the good ‘ole days…). I’m just happy to play a Star Fox game that isn’t a retelling of the first. Speaking of which, I need to get Star Fox Adventures from my brother at some point…
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Adding this to the collection means that I now have all the Castlevania games released on the DS. That means that for this October, I will be playing through the DS titles. This also means Konami will announce a DS trilogy collection this year. I will feel slightly defeated if that happens.
Pokémon HeartGold
RIP my wallet on this one. If I had the foresight that I do now, I would have “held on to” this game from my younger brother. He lost it after a move, so congrats to whoever finds that game. What made buying this sting even more is that there was a cheaper copy at a different booth that was selling games (about $25 dollars cheaper). I was saving that blow for a copy of Dragon Quest VI on the DS, but settled with this since it would have hurt just as much. Now I am just missing two games to have the entire mainline set…
Final Fantasy II (PSP)
I am one of those sickos who actually enjoys Final Fantasy II. The PSP version looks good, but I will have to see if it will allow me to teleport all my enemies away.
Fire Emblem Engage
I wasn’t planning on getting this so soon, but peer pressure finally got the best of me. From what little I have seen and heard, this is a fantastic Fire Emblem game. As someone who wasn’t crazy about Three Houses, this looks like it is up my alley with the heavier focus on tactical gameplay. Can’t wait to play through it (need to finish it before Theatrhythm).
Currently Playing
The first half of the month was supposed to be Fire Emblem Engage time to shine. That was until a demo for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Final Bar Line was released. I hardly ever play demos for games since they are more or less incomplete versions of the final game, but I cave when it is something I really want to play. I will definitely play Engage, but it might be after a few rounds of blissful music.
I am also almost done with my first playthrough of Romancing SaGa – Minstrel Song Remastered. I have hardly talked about this game since it is a bit complicated for new players. I am at the final “dungeon” and I’m still finding mechanics that I never used, or learning more ways that made the game 10 times harder than it should be. I imagine at this point the final boss will take me about two months to beat, so I will keep you posted when I am victorious.
That’s all I got this month. I am going to continue patiently waiting for my game of the year to come out now.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It’s time to talk about the games that you played this year, rank them arbitrary, and let a bunch of people on the internet judge your decisions. Luckily for me, I am immune to most online criticism so I have no trouble sharing some of my thoughts. 2022 was a busy year for me. I finished 27 games this year! This is a feat for me since I normally finish around less than 20 games in a year. Most of my accomplishments came from my 50-50 challenge that ended in August.
So let’s briefly go over the games that I finished this year and how I rank each of them. I didn’t know what format I wanted to go with originally, but then I realized that I never capitalized on the whole tier list craze that was going around. Since I am one who tends to be late at adapting trends, I decided to go the tier list route this year. These things tend to be more fun when it is happening in real time, but this is the best that I can do. Going from S to D rank without some type of guidance, so I came up with my own guidepost on how I should categorize each ranking:
S – Stupendous! This Game Made My Year! A – Amazing Game With Great Things! B – Better Than Most. In The Middle. C- Could Play Again, But No Time Soon. D – My Disappointment Is Immense, And My Year Was Ruined.
Cool. Let’s start the rankings then!
Dynasty Warriors 2
Dynasty Warriors 2 was the first game that I finished this year. Off the bat, it is one of the weaker games in the series. The action feels slow at times and the whole presentation just feels off. I know that this is my fault for starting at the third game and going backwards would affect my judgment. It is still Dynasty Warriors Gundam at the end, so I still had a fun time with it even though I was left wanting more. First game on the list and it goes into the C tier.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus
The first new game that I played this year is possibly my favorite game to come out this year. Pokémon Legends: Arceus made me realize what I enjoy the most in Pokémon games; exploring and discovering new things on my own and making it dangerous. To say that this game held my attention from beginning to end is an understatement. There were very few games that I played this year where I completed almost everything in it. Completing the Pokédex in this game is rewarding since it unlocks the true ending of the game and one of the best finales that I’ve seen in a Pokémon game. My only regret is that I will have to wait enough time to pass for me to forget most things, or for another game in this style to get this type of experience again. If you haven’t guessed yet, this is going in the “S’ tier for me. If you haven’t played this game yet, or thought Pokémon Scarlet and Violet didn’t innovate the series enough for you, give this game a try.
HuniePop 2: Double Date
Yes the “aesthetic” is nice to look at in this game, but that is not what drew me into this game. You know your game is special when the T&A is good, but the gameplay is even better than that. I had no idea how the Hunipot developer was going to enhance the gameplay from the first game, but the double date mechanic is genius. It works well when you are trying to strategize your dates and be resourceful with your items. The final boss(es) was one of the best that I’ve encountered in a game in a while. It uses all of your knowledge of each individual girl and makes you think on how to counter each stipulation while being mindful of your turn limit. It took Kat and I a few tries to overcome it, but it was satisfying coming out on top of it. Honestly, I have nothing really bad to say about it. Even though I haven’t returned to the game ever since we beat it, I highly recommend this game if you are a fan of challenging puzzle games (you can turn the nudity off). It might be weird for me to put it in the “A” tier, but I will be honest and say that I haven’t played or thought about this game after beating it.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a mixed game for me. The beginning of the game feels slow and uninteresting to play, but starts to pick up once you reach the second half. The lighthearted nature of the characters threw me off as well since nothing ever felt at stake until you get towards the end of the game. I also didn’t find myself as intrigued with the world like I was with the first Xenoblade. With all of that said, it is not a bad game. Once the combat became more engaging, I was enjoying it. When the big reveals were revealed, it made playing through to the end worth it to see how everything tied at the end. It’s just a shame that the best parts of the game for me were placed in the second half of the game. Not bad, but without its faults. In the middle “B” tier it goes.
Trivia Pursuit Live! 2
How did they make this game worse than the first one? I enjoyed playing the first Trivia Pursuit Live! with Kat since it is a constant reminder that I’m terrible at Geography. You would think the sequel would be better, but it is a downgrade. The game just screams “budget title” since some of the charm from the first game was taken out and replaced with nothing. I know that’s a lot to ask from a trivia game developed by Ubisoft, but a little more effort would have been appreciated instead of just updating the pool of questions. Easily one of the worst games that I’ve played this year. Our first “D” tier game.
Yu Gi Oh! Master Duel
Yu Gi Oh! Master Duel was a surprising game to hear about. A free-to-play game where you can play with others using the current rule set and cards is a great way to get into the game, kinda. It is apparent that if you are unaware of the current meta of the game, then you will have a hard time in the ranked mode. The rules to Yu Gi Oh! are already complicated, and can be intimidating to new players. There are however multiple free rooms that you can use to help test out decks, learn new tricks, and slowly work your way up to the point where you feel comfortable taking on other players. I will say that this game is a great way to get into the game since it’s free and available on all platforms and mobile (you can even keep your progress on multiple systems). While I haven’t played in a while, I still recognize this as a good game. Into the “A” rank it goes!
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
After spending some time away from this game, I am now in the mindset of wanting more from this game. It is a fun Kirby game no doubt, but not one of my personal favorite Kirby adventure. While the game was fun to play through and the challenges offered some thinking on my end, it never grasped me to play for hours on end. There is something holding me back from really enjoying this game since others seemed to really enjoy this game. No offense to Kirbo, but the game feels like a “B” tier entry to me.
Final Fantasy V Advance
I don’t mean to be harsh with Final Fantasy V, but it is a let down from other past Final Fantasy games that I’ve played. The job system is great and allows for lots of party customization. The system is so good, that they decided to create a new series that utilizes this system and expand on it even more. What really brings Final Fantasy V for me is everything else in the game. The narrative is one of the weakest for me, and never held my attention during non-key points. While the main cast is good, the way they can go from emotional to having goofy fun made me forget that they were trying to prevent the void from consuming their world. That is where I am at with this game. You can read more of my thoughts in the post I wrote. Seeing as I wasn’t dragging my feet to finish this game, I will put it in the C tier since it wasn’t a complete disappointment at the end.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin
Now this was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting this game to win Meme of the Year with the heavy emphasis on edginess. What I wasn’t expecting was a well thought out game that required me to be patient and learn things as I played. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin seems stupid on paper and in person, but there is a layer of strategy where understanding your foes and having the right job setup will lead to rewarding victories. I don’t want to compare this to a soulslike game since it is not one at its core. Its similarities come to having limited restorative options, tough boss fights that require you to think and adapt, and not having a straightforward narrative. The game tries to keep you in the action as much as possible while offering challenges to make replayability interesting. There are elements that I don’t appreciate like the stupid amount of loot that you obtain in this game. There is too much loot for me to sort through and figure out if I need it. Big numbers means good right? That’s all I did in my playthrough. I do also wish that the AI companions were a bit smarter, but what can you do when they are always constantly asking Jack what to do. Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this game. I want to do the DLC quests at some point once they have all been released and maybe try and go for the platinum achievement. Surprisingly fun game that is held back by the loot mechanic. I feel comfortable putting this in an “B” ranking.
Elden Ring
My second “Game of the Year.” I want to break the stigma that there can only be one game in your Game of the Year spot. Both Pokémon: Legends Arceus and Elden Ring provided two different experiences for me that jointly made my year one to remember. I am not the type of person who plays these types of games and finishes them in the same year. Elden Ring only took me three months which is a new record for me. That was in part of playing the game with one of my best friends from almost beginning to end. The fact that I was able to have a partner with me helped me with the exploration hurdles that I have and really challenged me to keep up with my friend when they would get ahead of me. It might be the “blasphemous” way of playing the game, but that made it one of the best games that I played this year. I still have two other buddy campaigns to do, so I don’t see myself being done with the game for a while (especially when DLC officially comes). It is one of my games from this year just for being one of the best co-op experiences I’ve had all year. S tier for Elden Ring even though my reasons are different from most.
Mario Strikers: Battle League
You would think I would learn to stay away from Mario Sport games these days, but there was no way they would mess up Mario Strikers. The previous games were short on content, but provided hours of fun because the core game was just fun. That didn’t really happen with this title. Something is missing from that core in Battle League. It is Mario Strikers in all mechanics, but something about it just doesn’t feel right. I haven’t had the chance to play this with other people so that might be it, but even so, something just prevents me from caring that much about the game. I argue that Mario Golf: Super Rush had more for me to be engaged with; and I hate Speed Golf. Until I figure that out, Mario Strikers: Battle League joins all the other disappointing games this year in the D tier.
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
I don’t like this game. I have a big personal problem with 3D platforming games that make them hard for me to enjoy them. Despite this, I try to play these types of games just to see if I can overcome my problems and find ways to adapt and enjoy them. Super Mario 3D World did not help. The way the platforming in this game works feels designed for Mario veterans to me. The floaty and sometimes slipper nature of each character made the simple challenge of jumping from one platform to the next irritating at some points. I didn’t even try playing Bowser’s Fury just because I was ready to be done with this game once and for all. That being said, it is a me problem and not a fault to the game’s design. If you like Mario games, you will have a blast playing through this. Me being the type of person who is bad at 3D platforming finds this type of game hard to enjoy. For my own personal reasons, this game goes into the C tier for me.
Super Mario 3D Land
I loved this game. I didn’t have the interest of playing this, but I got it for cheap one year thanks to birthday discount (remember when Nintendo would offer you discounts for your birthday?) I was convinced I wasn’t going to like it since it is a 3D Mario game, but everything in this game just works and clicks for me. I theorize that since the game is on a smaller screen, I have less things to process while moving forward. It also helps that the 3D effect actually works in this game and helps with seeing the 3D environments clearly. Maybe I should have played this before 3D World since I had such a better experience with this handheld game over the console upgrade. Super Mario 3D Land lands in the A tier for me.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
When it was announced that Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII was getting a remake, I took the opportunity to finish the original PSP game. After not touching it for years, I was surprised to see that I left off right outside the door to the final boss. I couldn’t tell you why I never finished the game then and there. The fun part was relearning how to play the game while fighting the final boss. Once I got back into the hang of things, I managed to finally see the end of Zack’s journey in glorious fashion. So yeah, I don’t really remember anything about this game except that the combat can get frustrating at times. Nothing amazing was sticking out to me, but nothing bad either. I will play the remake at some point, so for now I will place the original in the B tier.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV
The finale to the Trails of Cold Steel saga took the longest time for me to finish. At this point, I was entwined in the story and characters that I had to see everyone’s resolution to the end. Unfortunately that cost me almost 200 hours of my life to do so. I don’t regret the time I spent, but I felt some things did drag on only for the story to speed through at the end. I am a huge fan of this series and I can’t wait to see where the series goes from here after finally meeting the Grandmaster of Ouroboros and what plans they may have in store next. Now I just need to find time to play the Sky trilogy and Crossbell duology before Trails into Reverie comes out in July. Sign. I am going to place this game in the “A” tier. Great conclusion to the saga, but could have been trimmed down just a bit.
Gunstar Heroes
This is a game from my childhood. Whenever we would visit one of our cousins, we would ask to play this game since it was so chaotic and fun. Revisiting it now made me question how durable we were as children since there are so many flashing lights and it gets hard to comprehend what is going on on the screen sometimes. Thanks to the Nintendo Switch Online service (words that I won’t say often), I was able to play this game with my older brother and beat it in one sitting. According to him, we have never beaten this game, hence why it is on my list. If you have never played Gunstar Heroes before, give it a try since it is available on almost all systems at this point. Just make sure to ask your optometrist if your eyesight is strong enough to handle everything on the screen. I give this game an A rank on this list.
Final Fantasy VII
I love playing RPGs (more specific JRPGs). To tell people that I have never finished one of the most iconic JRPGs until now was a fun treat. I have attempted to play and finish this game in the past, but losing your progress doesn’t help to motivate you to restart. Having the drive to finally restart this game and see it through to the end was both equally satisfying and comforting to a younger me since the game is not difficult whatsoever. Sure the superbosses are difficult as you would expect, but nothing in the main story presents much difficulty as long as you are properly equipped. I think the biggest hurdle is how slow the game is. Playing this on original hardware would have been a chore since things just move slowly and getting anything done takes time. That is why I recommend doing what I did and play one of the newer versions of this game that includes toggle turbo speed to get to place faster. I will always recommend playing older games at a faster speed in certain points since it really takes some of the bore away when you want to get to the next story beat. I did manage to get my one and only platinum trophy from this game this year, and I found the game enjoyable to this day. Maybe it was the time of the year that I played it, or if I missed the FFVIII hype train back in the day, but at the end of the day I found this game to be amazing and still holds up to this day. That is why it is in the A tier for me personally.
Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate
The surprise sleeper hit for me this year is probably Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate. I have given this game so many tries, but the appeal never grabbed me. It didn’t help that I was hours into Monster Hunter World when Capcom decided to release this in the West. With the help of a friend, I was finally able to enjoy the game for what it is. This is a great sendoff to the old style of Monster Hunter, and has plenty of content that not even World or Rise has been able to acquire. While I love this game now, I do know that its limitations are hard to ignore. Even so, I am happy that I no longer have a clear answer to my least favorite Monster Hunter game now. Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate is deserving of my A ranking. It would be an S if it didn’t take this long for me to enjoy.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a beast of a game. At times I feel like Monolith Soft knows how to work with the Switch better than Nintendo’s first-party developers know how to. The fact that the game can support seven characters fighting hordes of enemies and keep a stable-ish framerate is an impressive feat. I thought this game was better than XC2, and had the same level of mystery and surprises like the first. The ability to change classes is a mechanic that works well for the series since battle tend to get repetitive without some changes. For many, this is probably one of the best JRPGs that they have played this year. If I felt like I wasn’t wasting some of my time with some of the side quests that didn’t yield much benefit for doing them, then I would say XC3 hits the mark. I found myself racing towards the end in the final chapter and getting my big payoff from finishing the game then and there instead of dragging it on with the side stories. I can’t place this lower or on the same level as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, so it must go into the A tier.
Trombone Champ
Sometimes a game sounds so stupid and ridiculous that you have to try it out yourself. Trombone Champ was that game for me this year. Being a musician myself, I had to try this funny trombone game that popped up out of nowhere on my timeline. What went from laughs turned into something serious however. The power of the trombone started to swell in me, and I found myself compelled to achieve S rank on all the songs and collect all of the collectable cards that I could. The mystery of the trombone still eludes me and I need to find out why they are associated with the baboon. Baboons. Baboons….Ba..boo…ns. Uh sorry. Trombone Champ is a fun game even if the fun lasts for about 5-10 hours. Good on you trombone kid. You get an A rank from me.
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
Lament of Innocence was the second Castlevania game that I played this year, and could stomach to finish! While I enjoyed the combat and soundtrack, I found the level design, camera control, and BS platforming sections to hinder my good time. It is not a long game to beat, so I may one day return to it to 100% complete it. Stuck in the middle, so it will be placed in “B” tier.
Castlevania Judgment
The soundtrack is fire, but the rest of the game belongs in a fire (not really). D tier.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
Ah Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. Just when I was ready to write off all 3D Castlevania games being bad to just ok, you showed up and showed me what could have been if more 3D titles were made (by Igarashi). Curse of Darkness incorporated my favorite elements of the series and made it work in a 3D environment. While I have some minor complaints about it, I found the game to be a good palate cleanser to the other average and bad games that I played. Thank you, and take your spot in the “A” tier.
Overwatch 2
I don’t know if this counts, but the Blizzard treated this as a new game, so so am I! Overwatch 2 should have never happened. Blizzard could have easily done a big update to gut the loot box system and everything would have been fine. Instead, they wasted so much time to hype up this “evolution” to the original Overwatch, and the result was a worse version of Overwatch. It is the same game with one less player on each team. I dislike the UI, the removal of post game stats, and the quirky fun of the game. Don’t even get me started on the bullshit that is the battle pass and how unapologetically predatory it is. This is the worst battle pass system that I have seen; and I am only familiar with two of them. I’m going to stop here before I get into a giant rant of how Blizzard thought this system would be better. I still find some fun in the game on a base level, but there was no need to rush this “sequel” out in the state that it is in. This can go nowhere else but the “D” tier.
Pokémon Alpha Sapphire
Before PokémonScarlet came out, I wanted to finish some other Pokémon titles that I had in the backlog. I have tried playing the remakes for the third generation a number of times, but for some reason I could never get past a certain point. I would mostly lose interest in it and would restart the game to refresh my opinion. My final opinion is that this is how a remake should be. Keep everything that was in the original release, but add some new designs, introduce the new mechanics to the series in a way that makes sense to the story, and introduce some new quality of life improvements to make the game stand out. I really wished I played this game soon when it first released since it would have been my go to Pokémon game on the 3DS. Until I revisit Pokémon X and Y (since I have no memories of those games), Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby will now be my recommended titles for the Nintendo 3DS. I would put this in the “S” tier, but one thing that I kept constantly missing while playing the game was the original GBA soundtrack. If my compressed trumpets were in the game, then this would be the perfect game. Even so, this will be placed in the “A” tier.
Pokémon Scarlet
I had a wave of emotions while playing this game. When it was first announced, I was like “okay….”. When I started playing it, I was like “Okay!”. When I was trying to finish up the last gyms, titans, and Team Star bases, I was like “Okaaaay….”. When I reached the final area and the climax of the game, I was like “OKAY!!!!”. Pokémon Scarlet is a great new direction for the mainline series. Having the world be open for you to explore and discover new things on your own is something people have wanted for ages. The story is a bit one note at the beginning, but opens up to be something more endearing than most storylines in the series. This would have been the greatest Pokémon game that I have ever played, if Legends: Arceus didn’t come out this year. When I compare the two, Legends: Arceus always comes on top for me. Scarlet may get better once the technical issues get resolved, or if future DLC somehow blows the finale out of the water. Pokémon Scarlet just has the misfortune of not being better than the other two Pokémon games that I played this year. Still a great game with great ideas. It still deserves to be in the “B” tier.
Vampire Survivors
Simplicity at it’s finest. Your goal is to power up and survive the time limit in each stage. It is simple on paper, but it is the way Vampire Survivors handles this approach. Normally the difficulty in these games should get harder as time goes. Vampire Survivors mixes it up so that you have several calm and hectic times throughout your survival. It helps keep the player on their toes while playing a simple game. That and the cryptic story that you slowly uncover as you explore each stage. What surprised me the most about this game is that for how simple and cheap it is, The developer put a ton of care to the world building, how all the tools work with each other, and made it so that the game is not as impossible as it may seem. I may be a few achievements away from 100% completion, but I don’t see a time where I don’t boot the game up just to play one round (especially now that
As the saying goes, that is that. If any of my personal placements upsets you, then please consult a medical professional. My goal next year is to try and beat more games than I did the previous year. With the amount of JRPGs I have to get through next year, I may have a tough battle ahead.
This month has been very slow. I have come home every day this week after work and just completely shut down once I get a moment of rest. There are a lot of things that I have not been keeping up with. I barely got the games I wanted to get done this month due to this exhaustion that I’ve been feeling. I also have this new foot pain that I should definitely get checked out if I wasn’t so scared about future medical bills (USA! USA!) Overall, this month was less stressful than last month’s gauntlet of work training.
Not everything was doom and gloom this month. As a challenge for myself, I decided to make a conscious effort to save as much money as I could. If I could save a set amount, I would reward myself with something I found that I really want. I am happy to say that I meet my goal with flying colors and I now get to treat myself to this special item. The strange thing is, I’m not sure if I want my reward or not anymore. If I do end up getting it, I’ll mention it in next month’s post.
Other than that, I decided to get a new case for my computer. My original case is not completely compatible with the new motherboard, and I knew at some point I would have to correct this. I am nervous about having to move every component from one case to another, but I’ve done it once already without blowing up anything, so I should be fine this time around.
Finished Games
Castlevania: Lament of Innocence
I was really looking forward to playing this Castlevania game this month. It had been sitting on my shelf for five years, and it took me about eight hours to finish it. What were my overall thoughts about it? You will have to tune in next week when I write up my thoughts on the early 3D Castlevania games that I’ve played.
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness
The same goes with Curse of Darkness. While I will say that I enjoyed this more than Lament of Innocence, both games have their good and bad qualities that make them fun to play. Again, I will have more details next week.
New and Finished Games
Castlevania Judgment
I had no intentions of getting this game, but I did once I found a brand new copy for less than $20 USD. It’s….not that bad, but far from a good fighting game. I like the attempt they made, but you can tell that more work needed to be put into this game. That is all I will say for now.
New Games This Month
Lost Odyssey (X360)
Not that many new games this month. I already own a digital copy of this game on my Xbox 360, but I keep forgetting that I have it since I never touch my 360. I found the strategy guide to the game at a used book store, and they had the game as well. So now I have a physical reminder that I have this game. I really should get around to playing this.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (PS4)
It is almost time to continue my journey through this series in reverse order. I have been told that Trails from Zero and Azure are two of the best games in the series. Hopefully it doesn’t take me months to get through this game. I still have the Sky trilogy on standby for me to get through at some point.
Toukiden Kiwami (PS4)
I managed to find a PS4 copy in the wild for less than $10 USD. It will be interesting to compare this to the Vita version.
Currently Playing
I am biding my time until Pokèmon Scarlet and Violet comes out on Nov. 18. Something about the game is preventing me from being super excited for it, but I do plan on playing it day one with Kat and my younger brother. The co-op function will be interesting to try out, and I’m slowly warming up to the new battle mechanic. Until then, I need to work on something. I started Live A Live a few weeks ago and may continue that. It is a short game, so I should be able to get it done by mid-November. If anything else, I might start Trails from Zero and try to get that done before Trails from Azure releases. Plans are up in the air right now.
Plans for Next Month
Like I mentioned earlier, I do plan to have a post about the early 3D Castlevania games that I played this month. I will definitely have that ready next week. If I don’t you can all call me a liar liar pants on fire liar. The only other post that I have ready is continuing the series where I talk about gaming devices from my past. I am excited about this one because it is on a system that kept me playing games throughout the mid 2000s. It will be ready next month after some editing has been done. After that, things may start to slow down further as we somehow hit the holiday season. It feels very weird that we are about to enter the holiday season. The slow time will help me work on what might be my biggest end of the year post.
And that is all I got this month. Hip hip hooray for November!
For those keeping track, I was on a roll for a while posting at least one blog post a week. This was due to the amount of games I had finished and me just writing down my fresh thoughts before I forgot them. While there are still plenty more of them that I need to write (include a bunch more just from this month), I need the time unscramble my thoughts and make them coherent as possible. For example, I have a post about Kirby and the Forgotten Land that I was ready to publish, but after rereading it, it felt unfocused. I had established a subject, but for some reason started to talk about a different one half way through. This is a problem when I have multiple topics to talk about, so I decided to rewrite the entire thing with the second (more interesting) topic in mind. This realization has made me observe my writing process a bit more and has led to some new writing strategies. This would be a good motivator to get more done, but June brought about some other headaches that I wasn’t prepared for.
Three people at my job resigned this month. I was close with two of them, so seeing them leave is bittersweet. With the scare of layoffs floating around campus, I’m glad they were able to find new jobs that move them upward in their fields. One of them was the only one I could talk to about video games around here, so now I’m back having no one to share in my hobby.
And if that wasn’t a big kick to the tibia, my boss announced that they were diagnosed with one of the worst news that your doctor could give you. What makes things stressful is that in the coming months we will be switching our ILS to a different company that will take effect in December. This means lots of training, ensuring our data is up-to-date and ready for migration, pulling everything that we’ve had for the past 20+ years and making sure that the switch goes off without any major hiccups. My boss may or may not be in the office around this time, so they are relying on me to take charge incase they are not around. I’m up for the task, but I won’t lie and say that it has already taken a toll on me with everything that has happened so far.
Ok. Had to get that out somewhere. Onto the best distraction from work that I could ask for. A warning first. My birthday was this month. With how things are going, Kat gave me her blessing to do the one thing that I restrain myself from doing. She told me to splurge. So splurge I did…
Finished Games This Month
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
I believe I have come to the realization that I don’t find modern Mario games appealing. I wasn’t the biggest Mario fan to begin with, but the games I had on the SNES and the Galaxy games (surprisingly) were enjoyable experiences. While the music and visuals in 3D World are great, the gameplay frustrated me the most. I have bad depth perception. This is a reason why I avoid 3D platformers and hate when 3D action games include random platforming. 3D World feels fast; and when I’m pressured to do fast platforming action, I fail terribly. When trying to be precise with my landings, I would always be off by a hair and either get hit by an enemy or fall to my death. The moments when the world is shifts to a 2D perspective is worse since it retains the 3D space in the foreground. Instead of having a fun, whimsical time, I was clutching my controller hoping that my fuddled hand-eye coordination would work together. Good game, just not meant for me.
Super Mario 3D Land
Take all my issues with 3D World and throw them out the window. This was one of the best Mario games that I’ve played in a long time. Everything about this game just felt better than 3D World. Mario controlled just fine and I didn’t have many issues with the platforming challenges. This is one of the games where I enjoy playing with the 3D effect turned one since it works with the game and not just tied in gimmick. The only time I got frustrated in the game was during the final Bowser level where the game doesn’t give you a normal checkpoint halfway. I messed up during the final part and thought I had to redo the entire stage again, only to be greeted with a checkpoint at the beginning of the final confrontation again. I will have to do some research on the two games and try to really figure out what the main difference was. I wish I had this game sooner in my library. It would have possibly been in my top 3DS games.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
After watching the Final Fantasy VII anniversary event, I came to the conclusion that I should really finish the original game… The other thought that I had was that I should finish the original Crisis Core since the remake/remastered/rebranded was announced. So I did that instead. I knew I was close to the end of the game where I last left off. I didn’t realize however that I was standing right outside the door to the final fight. Blame younger me. The last time I played Crisis Core was sometime during or right after college, so I had to remember how to play the game while fighting the final boss. It might have been easier if I took the time to do the missions, but I did it and got to see Zack go out like a badass. I’m looking forward to the remake now not only to refresh myself on the story, but to take advantage of skipping cutscenes since you can’t do that in the original. If I have to watch the cutscene before the final fight I’m going to have a crisis soon.
Added and Finished This Month
Mario Strikers: Battle League
Only play this game if you have friends you want to play with or a big fan of unregulated football. Mario Strikers: Battle League is not a bad game. It is a stale one if you don’t have people to play with. I’m not going to fault the game for a lack of content since the pervious titles didn’t have many modes either. Playing against high level CPU or random people online who know what they are doing will lead to some heated matches that will make you scream at your TV to simulate watching a real football match. I had some entertainment with it, but until I can get my brothers and friends to play along with me, there’s not much here for me.
Added This Month
Tales of Destiny 2 (JP)
I made the trip to visit one of my favorite game stores. Sometimes it is nice to visit in person since they will have items in stock, but not updated on their website. Imagine my reaction when I saw this in a display case. It was listed as unavailable on their site, but there it was just hanging out. It wasn’t a pricy game either only being around $35 complete. Now I just need a translation guide in order to play it…
Drakengard 3
Have you ever had a game that keeps popping up out of nowhere and taunts you to try it out? That’s my relationship so far with Drakengard 3. I have no idea what this game is about. I know it is connected to the Nier series, but that is all I know. Something was just bugging me to get it, so I gave in and welcomed it to the collection.
Planet Puzzle League
Pokémon Puzzle League is probably the only game where I get very competitive in. I don’t understand why Puzzle League games are not made as often as Tetris or Puyo Puyo games. Puzzle League is a great game that rewards fast thinking and reaction. It is my go to when claiming a puzzle game that you are good at. Anyway, I never knew a DS game was made, so I picked it up for cheap and showed it off to my brother (who is also very competitive at the game). He informed me that the game was made available on the 3DS shop and he already knew about it…
Kirby: Planet Robobot
After finishing Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I started to look at other Kirby games that I may have looked over. Planet Robobot was seen as an interesting shake up from the normal Kirby gameplay. Piloting mechs that can use Kirby’s copy ability does seem like an interesting concept, but for some reason I had no desire to pick it up. Now seemed like a good time (especially with rising 3DS prices) to check this adventure out.
Unlimited Saga
With the remaster of Romancing Saga: Minstrel Song coming out this winter, I no longer feel obligated to play the unforgiving PS2 version. With Square seemingly interested in remastering all of the SaGa games, it is only eventual that Unlimited Saga will get that same treatment. So to hasten that inevitability, I found a copy and added it to the collection. I will play it so that I can get an understanding why critics hated it, but knowing my luck the improved remaster is already being worked on (I hope…).
Pokémon White
The most expensive game I purchased this month (go figure). Pokémon Black & White would be my favorite generation of Pokémon if Game Freak never released HeartGold & SoulSilver. Kat has never played these games before, so I mostly got it for her to play and understand why these games were so good. If not, I can just play this version since I’ve never have. I won’t have a problem with that.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Thanks to having this game in the past (and the memory card data), I don’t need to add this to my Unfinished list. I was just happy to find a copy that wasn’t for $90 or $100 dollars. After playing it for a few minutes, I still don’t think its the greatest. I’m not a competitive player or give a damn about the competitive fighting scene to play this the way the community wants me to play it. I just enjoy doing adventure mode and looking through the gallery since that was what I always did. Any who, it is back in the collection after losing it all those years ago.
New Super Mario Bros 2
I saw it for least than $10 dollars complete and said sure why not. The New Super Mario Bros games all look bland, but I seem to fair better at them since they are not in 3D. I will see if this surprises me like 3D Land did, but I’m not holding my breath on this one.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
I greatly disliked Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate back in the day. It didn’t feel like a worthy successor to the enjoyment that I had with the first game on the GameCube (despite playing it all the time with another friend). When Echoes of Time first came out, I avoided it since it looked too similar to Rings of Fate and I wanted none of that. Nowadays, I can distinguish Rings of Fate for what it was, but it still remains one of my least favorite games. Adding Echoes of Time to the collection not only means that I have a complete collection now (minus the Wii Ware titles), but it also gives me a chance to give this game a chance and judge it for what it is.
Xenogears
For my birthday, my in-laws tasked Kat with picking out a gift card for me. Kat choose a PlayStation gift card, so I had to figure out what to do with that. I immediately came up with the idea to purchase some classic games that are f***ing expensive to buy physically. Xenogears is one of those games that is stupid expensive to buy. I will gladly pay the $10 dollars on the online store versus the $120+ prices from other places. Now if only Xenosaga Episode III would become affordable…
Mega Man Legends
Along with Xenogears, I also purchased Mega Man Legends. I have played and finished this game in the past on the N64 and emulation. Since I have never owned it before, now seemed like the perfect excuse to own it officially. And before you ask, yes. I am also one of those who is upset that we will never get a third game in the subseries.
Bleach: Soul Resurrecction
I have never seen/heard of this game before, but I became curious once I saw that it was published by NIS America. Not one of my favorite anime, but I did enjoy some of the concepts. I can’t wait to see how much filler is in this game.
Dynasty Warriors 9 Empires
This game has been on my radar for a while, but I was a little hesitant since reviews were mixed. While I do enjoy musou games, I’ve come to find that I enjoy when they are mixed with other franchises (Dragon Quest/One Piece/Gundam). Finding a copy of this game at a low price will convince me to try it out however. After playing through the tutorial, I have come to the conclusion that I like it. The emphasis on controlling bases is something I really enjoyed in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3, and I’m glad to play another game that makes capture points relevant. I can see myself finishing this game through.
Yoshi’s Wooly World
Every time I think I’m done collecting games for the Wii U, there are still some games in the library that don’t get ported over to the Switch. I think most people were beating on Nintendo to release Wooly World on the Switch, but we got Crafted World instead. Seeing that Wii U games are becoming rarer these days and the online store retiring soon, I decided to give the wooly game a proper home.
Satisfactory
My friend Eric gifted this game to me on Steam. He was telling me how obsessed he had became over this game and that it would be fun to play in multiplayer mode. I do enjoy a good simulation game, but I was not prepared for the chaotic nature of this game. The whole game is about striping the planet of it’s resources and creating factories and machines to do all your work, so it is pretty messed up to begin with. The fun part is figuring out how to use the tools to create new machines and become completely automatic. Some would say that watching your factories run by themselves to your benefit, satisfying.
Cross Edge
I was watching a video on gaming cross overs and heard about this game. I have never heard of this game before, so I immediately scooped it out. Not an expensive game to acquire, but one that may soon be.
Currently Playing
I should be playing Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak right now, but I’m not. Would you be surprise to know that there are monsters in the base game that I never got around to fighting? I finished most things in the game before updates were added in over time, and I just never got around to finish them. I plan on doing those quickly before moving on to the expansion.
What I am currently playing is the final chapter of The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. I have been playing this game on and off for almost a year and a half now. After finishing all the quests, side content, and collectables (and still missing some), I am finally ready to conclude this saga. It will be a bittersweet moment since I’ve already decided at some point I am going to replay all four games in the saga to earn all of the achievements. And eventually, I will get to the Trails in the Sky trilogy and the Crossbell duology when both games come out. What I am saying is that I have come to really enjoy this series enough to experience the entire overall story. Thank God the developers included a High-Speed mode to get through a lot of things.
Before jumping into that nightmare, I need to start getting myself ready for Xenoblade Chronicles 3. If I didn’t finish Xenoblade Chronicles 2 this year, I wouldn’t be as excited for this game as I am now. I will try and find some shorter games to play and finish before this game comes out; because I will probably be glued to this until I roll credits.
Blog Content
I will try to upload the posts that I had in mind for last month this month. I make no promises. The hot, sticky days of Summer are here and most of the time I want to get comfortable and play some games. I still want to write some fun things alongside my backlog posts for variety, but we will see how that goes.
I’m going to stop talking now. If you need me I will be burying my debit card somewhere in the backyard so that I never splurge again and then play more Monster Hunter.
Tales From The Backlog 