I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

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chase210
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I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

My backlog is relatively small compared to some peoples, but it's still big enough that I wonder why I don't play more of it. So I've made a list of it, and I'm going to try and clear it by.... this time next year. Or if not all of it, at least a good chunk of it. Couple of thoughts

- I don’t necessarily have to finish the game, if I decide to sell it cos I don’t like it, that’s ok too, the point is, off the list.
- I’m only counting games I’ve never played all the way through before. I have played through Pokemon heart gold about 30 times for example, so I’m content to leave another play through for now.
- finished in the sense of having played all the way to the end of the story. Not all collectibles say, of a game, unless I really like it and want to do it, which is different.
- I’m not including the whole gamepass catalogue here, for arguments sake, I mean stuff I’ve either downloaded or already own and or started.
- I am not buying a single new video game until I have cleared at least a substantial part of this list.

To play

Halo Combat Evolved (about 30% through)
Halo 2 ( maybe 80% through)
Halo 4 (Maybe 40%)
Halo 5 (50%)
Alan Wake
Dead Space 2 (I'm right at the end of 1 so that should be kinda quick)
Resident Evil 4
Titanfall 2 (pretty sure I'm not far from the end here either)
Sonic Mania
Steamworld Dig 1 & 2
Transistor
Luigi's Mansion 3
Fire Emblem Three Houses
Shovel Knight (Just the main campaign for now anyway)
Ori and the Blind Forest
Valkyria Chronicles (The first one)
Kamiko (This is super short right?)
Okami HD
Final Fantasy III, IV, VII, VIII, and IX, and XII, and XIII.
Superhot
Velocity 2X
Salt and Sanctuary
Resident Evil Revelations
I am Setsuna
Hollow Knight (technically I could finish this right now, but I want to get a good ending)
Hellblade
Axiom Verge
Cuphead
Celeste
Rage 2
Cadence of Hyrule Birth of the Necrodancer
Bioshock 1 & 2
The World Ends With You
Sonic Colours
Kirby Power Paintbrush
Walking Dead all the seasons.
Killzone Shadowfall
Detective Pikachu
Chrono Trigger
Yoshi's Touch and Go
Counterspy
Sleeping Dogs
Rise of the Tombraider
Recore
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order
The Outer Worlds
Doom
Blue Dragon
Sunset Overdrive
Child of Light


Completed

Dead Space
Rise of the Tombraider
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Chopper
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here.

Post by Chopper »

Relatively small??!?! Can’t you prune that list a bit - e.g. do you really need to play Sleeping Dogs at this point?

Trying to be helpful here :D
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here.

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Chopper wrote: December 8th, 2019, 9:39 pm Relatively small??!?! Can’t you prune that list a bit - e.g. do you really need to play Sleeping Dogs at this point?

Trying to be helpful here :D
Well some people have steam backlogs of hundreds or thousands! So relatively small.
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Scrustle
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here.

Post by Scrustle »

Wow, looks like you're not going to be buying any new games in a very long time. Easily a year's worth of games there, at least. A lot of classics though, so it should be a good time.
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Chopper
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Chopper »

Yeah, as far as I can tell, there is several years of gaming here. :)

Have you thought about an approach? Are you gonna try and mix quick wins/short games with longer games, or try and knock them off at the beginning? Should you play more recent games first - eg I think I'd rather play the recent Star Wars game while people are still talking about it rather than putting it on the list for 6 months time, and so on.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

I'm going to do the games I've already started first. Thats why Dead Space and ROTR were done so quick, I was basically at the end. I'm only going to do one JRPG at a time so I can sink my time into properly, instead of spreading across multiple ones. And I think I will try and do the shorter games first.
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Chopper
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Chopper »

I'm sure you know but Superhot is very short. Rage 2 is short for an open worlder - 10 to 12 hours if you mainline it, I reckon.

The Walking Dead series is a good one too - the individual episodes are generally short enough to play in a single gaming session, you feel like you're making progress with each chapter, and at the end of the week you've completed a game.

Good luck with it! Keep us up to date :)
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Suits »

Nothing as grand as your list Chase but I got about 10 classics off my bs log this year.

Things like Mario Galaxy 2, Minish Cap, etc...

It feels so good to clear them off.
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here.

Post by Alex79 »

chase210 wrote: December 8th, 2019, 9:45 pm
Chopper wrote: December 8th, 2019, 9:39 pm Relatively small??!?! Can’t you prune that list a bit - e.g. do you really need to play Sleeping Dogs at this point?

Trying to be helpful here :D
Well some people have steam backlogs of hundreds or thousands! So relatively small.
Sleeping Dogs is brilliant! Still the best GTA type game that isn't GTA we've had. Shame they never made a sequel. Had a great neo-noir type story, too.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

I think Final Fantasy III is gonna be one I take off the list without finishing it. Mainly because its incredibly slow, somewhat boring, and really quite obtuse.
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Alex79 »

chase210 wrote: December 9th, 2019, 6:01 pm I think Final Fantasy III is gonna be one I take off the list without finishing it. Mainly because its incredibly slow, somewhat boring, and really quite obtuse.
So why's it on the list at all? As in, how do games end up on your list? What differentiates between a backlog game and just a game you own.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

Alex79uk wrote: December 9th, 2019, 6:15 pm
chase210 wrote: December 9th, 2019, 6:01 pm I think Final Fantasy III is gonna be one I take off the list without finishing it. Mainly because its incredibly slow, somewhat boring, and really quite obtuse.
So why's it on the list at all? As in, how do games end up on your list? What differentiates between a backlog game and just a game you own.
It's any game I bought with the intention of playing and ended up leaving on a shelf or download list for a long time. Case in point, I bought this copy of final fantasy 3 in 2006.
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Simonsloth »

A few tips as I have been doing the same.

Its important to make sure you alternate between genres and after every long game do one or two short ones. Good mentally to see the list getting shorter.

I cheated and thought the Cane and Rinse team must have thought long and hard about it so I approached it by playing in the show running order with a podcast to listen to after finishing each game. Works a treat and flows nicely.

That list will take you a couple of years at least!
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Jobobonobo »

chase210 wrote: December 9th, 2019, 6:01 pm I think Final Fantasy III is gonna be one I take off the list without finishing it. Mainly because its incredibly slow, somewhat boring, and really quite obtuse.
I think if you are to actually enjoy your time going through your backlog, this is essential to do. If you are not enjoying a game and feel like you have to finish it out of some strange obligation to check it off the backlog then gaming will turn into a job, not a hobby and you don't need that! I made this mistake earlier this year by sticking with Gravity Rush 2 despite me beginning to really not enjoy myself with it. For your own sanity, if you are not having fun or getting anything positive out of it, bin it and move onto something else.
Simonsloth wrote: December 9th, 2019, 7:49 pm Its important to make sure you alternate between genres and after every long game do one or two short ones. Good mentally to see the list getting shorter.
Strongly agree with this. Especially as there are a fair few JRPGs in this list, always good to have something different and short in between. Of the titles I have played and enjoyed in your list that is not a big time sink, I would definitely recommend Sonic Mania for a quick burst of fun. Will probably get it done in a day or two and is a fantastic throwback to Sonic's glory days.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

Final Fantasy VIII is surprisingly very fun. I played this one very briefly back in.... 2007/08? I don't remember exactly. And the internet seems to either forget final fantasy 8, or talk about it like its a terrible game, so I was quite trepidatious about it. But, its a lot of fun, I'm motivated to play it more.
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Flabyo »

It plays just fine (though there’s a design flaw that makes it very easy to beat). It’s the *story* I don’t like in 8.
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by Alex79 »

I loved FF8. It was a pain in the arse going back to it on Vita though because charging the guardians made you have to hold the console really awkwardly. Select and Square I think you had to bash.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

I'm discovering one of my main issues, I hardly played anything in a week except about 6 hours of pokemon sword. Which would be fine, except in that 6 hours I made very little story progression.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

clippa wrote: December 19th, 2019, 5:27 am I don't like the idea of backlogs and piles of shame.
I think it's brought on, understandably, by consumer guilt, but we've all got so many responsibilities and anxieties in the modern world today, I really don't think you should let that sort of neurosis spill over into your leisure time.

Games are your escape, you need to keep all that just plain happy fun and unsullied.

I reckon you could whittle that list down to almost nothing. Those games aren't going anywhere, there's no rush to get through them. You don't have to get through them.
If you're on console you can even sell them on or pass them on or give them to charity.

It's like you're turning your "me time" into a second job, chipping away at a big in-box, and like you say, feeling even worse when you've spent a few hours in the office and don't feel like you've put a dent in it.

What's a game that you always have great fun playing? I reckon you should put that on for an hour then go out and buy that sexy shiny new one you've had your eye on! :lol:

I think your intentions are nothing but good but you're crushing your own fun. I'm staging an intervention :lol:
To be fair I'm pretty confident I'll get at least 5 games for Christmas. But you are right though, it should be fun, not a chore.


In that vein, Death Stranding is off the list because I hate it. Astrobot is off because VR makes me so sick its not worth playing.
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chase210
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Re: I am going to clear my backlog and try and keep a record here

Post by chase210 »

I got bought Witcher 3 and dragon quest for switch for Christmas. Both of which are pretty lengthy so I understand. On the plus side, Titanfall 2 is done.
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