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The Backlog Completionist Diary

mrcheez

I realised last night that my cross-platform backlog is so huge, and still growing, that I'll likely never get any satisfaction from owning it unless I actively try to play (maybe even complete) as many games from it as I can.

I've got Steam games that have never been installed, Xbox 360 games still in their wrapping and loads of PS4 games arriving in the post, never mind my Wii U and NES/SNES minis. Hell even some iOS/Android games I never tried!

So I'm starting this thread as a public log to push me to start chipping away at it, and perhaps inspire others that are in the same predicament.

First up: The Last of Us - Remastered (PS4)

Started this one last night, choosing Normal difficulty to make it easier to complete

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mrcheez

COMPLETED

Megaman 2 (NES) - Certainly fairer than the first installment, but still damned hard. The last Dr Wiley fight probably took as long as the other levels combined so felt great to complete!

Total cleared off backlog so far: 63

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Half Life Alyx (Oculus Quest via Steam) - Absolutely outstanding AAA VR game. Took me probably 20 hours in total over a period of weeks when I got the time to play. Really shows the capability of a VR game once a premium studio gets behind it. Thoroughly enjoyed the story and gravity gloves, plus the satisfying combat.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 64

NEXT UP
Farpoint (PSVR)

The first game I got with my PSVR, and I've neglected it!!

EDIT: just checked it was actually 23 hours for Alyx... I searched for all items I could find

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Journey (PS4) - Decided to get this one off the backlog while I was waiting for a few things to download. Atmospheric alright and gets particularly emotional toward the end, but I do get the feeling it's slightly overrated. The biggest shock for me was discovering the other companions I encountered were actually real players and not AI as I thought!!

Total cleared off backlog so far: 65

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Flower (PS4) - After completing Journey I decided to close off the rest of the Journey Collector's Edition. Having played Flow to death on my PSP years ago that left me with Flower. Decidedly meh arty fare with an environmental message. Probably worth it as a freebie tbh.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 66

Jayisplay

mrcheez wrote: »

COMPLETED

Journey (PS4) - Decided to get this one off the backlog while I was waiting for a few things to download. Atmospheric alright and gets particularly emotional toward the end, but I do get the feeling it's slightly overrated. The biggest shock for me was discovering the other companions I encountered were actually real players and not AI as I thought!!

Total cleared off backlog so far: 65

Agree nice game but definitely a tad bit overrated

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Gran Turismo Sport (PS4/PSVR) - I have a few "near-complete" games but decided to setup the Playseat Challenge and G29 wheel for past 3 weeks to power through this one. My main aim was to unlock all the arcade levels in order to be able to play them on PSVR and I finally did that so that's as far I want to go with this game as playing flatscreen is just so unengaging.

When I play driving games I want to be able to look around using my head, so the PSVR aspect is the only joy I really get from this.

Driving a Mini Cooper through the neon streets of Japan was the highlight and worth the slog

Total cleared off backlog so far: 67

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Flashback (Switch Lite) - I've played this in various incarnations over the years but great to finally complete it. Enjoyable even with some clunky controls. Definitely worth the €0.46 I paid for it on the South Africa Nintendo store :pac:

Total cleared off backlog so far: 68

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Tetris Effect (PS4/PSVR) Finally managed to complete the campaign. The last level is the trickiest and probably ended up taking 50% of all the campaign duration to beat!

Still love this as a quick pick up and play if I ever want to zone out, perfect way to chill.

Runner up for Game of the Year, Half Life Alyx being the winner so far.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 69

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Farpoint (PSVR) - Got this one with my PSVR so it's taken almost 4 years to finally get it off the backlog and play it to completion with my Aim controller.

The quality of this game surprised me considering how early it is in the lifecycle of the PSVR. The set pieces in particular are stunning, despite the limitations of the PSVR hardware. If they remade this for the Quest 2 or something it would sell like hotcakes.

Difficult too!

Total cleared off backlog so far: 70

mrcheez

Have been a bit busy over past few months, but in the meantime I've amassed yet more games which are on the list to complete... it never ends :pac:

COMPLETED

Westworld: Awakening (SteamVR via Oculus Quest 2) - Picked this up for €4.99 last month and really enjoyed it. The graphics are actually surprisingly great, though the story is fairly short (completed it in around 3-4 hours), but loved living in the Westworld world again.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 71

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Hue (Switch Lite) - Really enjoyed this one. The ambient piano music is pure zen and the graphics, while simple, are stunning on the Switch Lite's screen. The puzzles are challenging, rewarding and not overly frustrating, highly recommend.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 72

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Edge of Nowhere (Oculus via Oculus Quest 2) - Very enjoyable Lovecraftian 3rd person VR stuff. Kinda like Tomb Raider-lite, but well worth a playthrough. Played it during a storm outside so this only added to the immersion of the storm in the game.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 73

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Narcosis (Oculus via Oculus Quest 2) - Another dusted off my backlog bought years ago. Underwater scare-fest, surprisingly immersive given the age (you really do feel like you are at the bottom of the ocean) but the control mechanism is very dated (Xbox controller-only and forward/turn all controlled only by left stick). Atmospheric and decent story overall though.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 74

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Pixel Ripped 1995 (native Oculus Quest 2) - Won this game in a YouTube competition, but it would have been worth the asking price. Great fun though I found I had to use my Xbox controller as Touch controllers are really not designed for side-on platformers! Made for a bit of a challenge when I had to juggle between the touch controller and Xbox controller in real time though

Total cleared off backlog so far: 75

NEXT UP
Last of Us Part II (PS4)

mrcheez

COMPLETED

The Last of Us Part II (PS4) - Took about 38-40 hours but finally completed this today! Thought this was a tour-de-force in storytelling, and I enjoyed every minute. Can't really fault it, but it has some "progressive" themes which might have bothered some people and might be why some didn't like it.

Worthy successor to Part I imho.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 76

mrcheez

COMPLETED

WarioWare: Get It Together! (Switch) - Pressie from Santy! ;) Quite addictive stuff but not excessively challenging so a quick one to get through over the xmas hols. There are a fair few "challenges" to complete if I want to go back to it, but the core story mode is done so that a "completed game" in my book.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 77

NEXT UP

Getting through Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) and Wolfestein The New Order (PS4) at the moment and hope to have both done soon.

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Wolfestein The New Order (PS4) - I picked up Wolfenstein The New Colossus on Switch over Xmas and realised I still hadn't completed (or even played beyond first 30 mins) The New Order when I picked it up on PS4 back around 2017... so that was incentive enough to get through it finally.

Very enjoyable game, loved the weapons and lean-out mechanic, though the AI on Hurt Me Plenty sometimes left a lot to be desired. Good story and looking forward to jumping into The New Colossus after I complete Luigi's Mansion 3.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 78

NEXT UP

Aiming to complete Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) finally.

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Luigi's Mansion 3 (Switch) - Generally superb and ingenious game, looking gorgeous too, but some frustrating puzzles really slowed the momentum at some points. Took me shy of 21 hours to complete so one of the bigger ones on my backlog out of the way.

Was a pressie from dear ol' Santy back in Xmas 2020 so was determined to finally honour it 😊

Total cleared off backlog so far: 79

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Alone in the Dark (PC - Gog) - I'm talking the 1992 game. Had completed it before, but re-bought it this week for a euro.

Man, good times, though I definitely am a better gamer now than I was as a teen and completed it in around an hour 😊

Total cleared off backlog so far: 80

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Wolfestein The New Colossus (Switch) - Opted for the handheld version of this one. Played wonderfully on the very capable Switch Lite with no slowdown, and paired with bluetooth headphones I was fully immersed whilst tucked under the bed covers.

Excellent little game... about 15-18 hours full for the campaign.. you really need to have completed The New Order beforehand to understand the characters and plot... and seeing as the Switch doesn't have The New Order I'd have to assume anyone playing it on that really would need to own another non-Nintendo console prior to that to get the most out of it.

The inclusion of Wolfenstein 3D in full, hidden away as an Easter egg was a nice touch.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 81

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Red Matter (Oculus Quest 2) - Bought this maybe at the start of 2020 and only got around to completing it now. Old-school puzzler.. bit like Myst, and a nice ~4 hour campaign so not too taxing. Extremely stunning visuals in VR though, especially the latter part where you stare out across at Saturn from your position on one of its moons.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 82

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Virtual Virtual Reality (Oculus Quest 2) - Been meaning to play this one for a while now. A bit like Portal in VR, or Stanley Parable. Funny alright, but became a bit grindy after a few hours.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 83

mrcheez

Haven't had one of these non-completed entries here for a while but here goes...

TRIED BUT NOT BOTHERING WITH AGAIN

Ghost Giant (Oculus Quest 2) - Initially a nice idea, a bit like Moss, but the frustrating hit detection from your avatar that requires you pick things up and throw them accurately really made this too frustrating to continue with. Some puzzles were convoluted too and just required you got lucky with guesses, rather than requiring any skill. A big meh.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 84

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Legend of Zelda - NES (Zelda Game & Watch) - OK, so I'm 36 years late getting to this but better late than never. My first Zelda game was TLoZ 2 on NES, and only partially played bits of the first one at my mate's house. Surprised how addictive it was and I was always looking forward to getting back into it to complete "just one more dungeon before bed".

The G&W was the perfect form-factor for this, meaning I got to play a bit of it on the plane and then on the beach on a recent holiday, before completing it while camping over the weekend. And in all that time I probably charged it 2 times.

Dungeon 6 was a bastard to complete though.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 85

mrcheez

COMPLETED

XCom 2 (Switch) - Bought this on a whim for around €1.90 several months ago and only started it 5 weeks ago. My God I got hooked on this so badly that I actually had to play it every morning before work for an hour or so, then a few hours each evening in bed (gotta love that Switch portability), THEN playing it while on vacation when I should have been out enjoying the sun.

Not ashamed to admit: that was pure addiction right there. Prob played over 100 hours in the month.

Great to have it completed but I enjoyed every minute.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 86

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Bioshock (Switch) - Bioshock 2 was one of the first games I played on my Xbox 360 around a decade ago, but I never got around to trying the first one (dabbled with the third, but must get back to it).

Picked up the Collection on Switch for peanuts.

Hard as feck... not helped by fact there's no motion aiming on the Switch version (which is standard for most shooters) but after a few hours I got the feel of it. Now I finally know what the little Sisters are.. I still harvested the hell out of em though, being the evil bastid I am 😝

Total cleared off backlog so far: 87

mrcheez

TRIED BUT NOT BOTHERING WITH AGAIN

Cosmodread (Oculus Quest 2) - I gave Cosmodread a go there last night. It's disappointingly not as scary as Dreadhalls (made by the same dev) and it's a constant "replay the same levels over and over as you die and unlock extra bits", which I guess is the roguelike formula.

Found it a bit boring to be honest and didn't feel like replaying the levels over and over to level up.

Other roguelikes keep me coming back for more though, so I'm not against the genre in total.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 88

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Blair Witch (Oculus Quest 2) - A decent little horror VR game, about 5 hours in length. My doggie companion "Bullet" was uber-cute though. I probably spent half the game fluffing up his ears 🤣

Total cleared off backlog so far: 89

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife (Oculus Quest 2) - Didn't know anything about this VR horror gem going into but, my God, this is the scariest thing I've ever played on anything. The score is intense, the jump scares are genuine and had me almost "nope"-ing out of my headset on several occasions.

Only downside is the slow walking speed, and it also takes a bit of time to get going but once you're 25% into it the scares ramp up quickly.

Perfect way to spend Halloween.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 90

mrcheez

COMPLETED

Resident Evil 1 Remake (PS4) - Took me 19 hours spread over around 6 weeks but enjoyed every minute. Funny that after completing the game with Jill you get "rewarded" with the ability to play her again with a skimpy top but that's Capcom for ya.

Also have Re0, Re2 and Re3 to play so will pick em up in 2023.

Total cleared off backlog so far: 91