Community Backlog Blitz Season 12 - Runs July 1 through September 30 with a raffle at the end

[Wibblewozzer]

We just finished a successful eleventh season of the Backlog Blitz. One this wraps up it'll have been three years since the first Backlog Blitz. That's kind of crazy! But first we need to finish up this twefth season. That means we've had more seasons than X-Files, Frasier, and Happy Days. Mulder and Scully failed to clear out as many backlog games as we have! We had 18 participants with 86 game goals set and 53 of them were completed. Congrats on clearing out those backlogs! The rate of completion fell off this time but perhaps everyone was too busy with Elden Ring still the E3-esque game events and forgot to play their games? Deku was the big winner this time with winning the raffle for completing Street Fighter V. Make sure to congratulate them here or at the previous thread!

We've made it to quarter three of 2022. This is the calm before the storm. With this season ending at October's doorstep, it's the right time to knock out all the time consuming backlog games since this holiday season is looking to be a doozy.

The spreadsheet has been updated, the prize pool has been reset. We'll start with $20.00 due to leftover but chipping in is always welcome. The details to do so will be posted separately within the thread soon after we get started.

Pick your games accordingly!

What it is:

It's a simple way to clear out some backlog games. You select a number of specific games you want to complete and if you complete them in a set time frame you have a chance to pick a game of your choice within the prize limits.

Rules:

First off, there is no time limit on when you can join. If you come in late and only have a month left please feel free to join. Even one completed game will get you entered into the raffle detailed below.

Everyone shares the same rules so an agreed amount of time would be set (three months this time) and then a set amount of games you want to complete in that time (been using five games). You then pick your specific five games with the intention that you don't go changing it all the time. The idea isn't that once you beat some game you go and list it and mark it complete. Instead, you pick five games to complete at the start of the Blitz and ideally you complete them as well as anything else you want to finish in that time.

Prize:

In the end, I suggest a prize pool and a simple raffle done. I always chip in $20 to start it and accept any other additions. Raffle winners must use at least half but can go up to the full price of a game (capped at $60 if the prize pool gets large enough). Leftover goes to the next drawn winner until it gets down to $0 (or close enough at which point I'll just add it to the next Blitz).

Thoughts?

There's no entry fee or anything so there's really no loss for taking part or starting it and then ignoring it. It's just a fun way to clear out backlog games and have discussion about what you're completing. And commiserate if you pick a game you don't enjoy and sour one of your spots on your list.

I created the Google Sheet so feel free to add yourself and games:

You need to reply to this thread in order to see this content.

I changed to a hide until replied as I think some people had issues with the hide until reacted. Ask any questions and sorry for those that already posted their new lists in the previous thread. Feel free to just post it again here as we continue for the next three months here.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[Knurek]

On it, chief.
I'll go with
Uncharted
Uncharted 2
Uncharted 3
Uncharted 4
Uncharted: Lost Legacy

 

[Valdien]

Moving 4 games over from the last Blitz. Added a new one.

1) - Folklore - Trying to finish Chapter 5 with Ellen, but unfortunately, RPCS3 crashed twice just before the boss fight. I'm just gonna speedrun the level now.

2) - Valkyria Chronicles 4 - Will be starting Chapter 18 today, so should be done with it today or tomorrow.

3) - Neon White - Finished Episode 8. Taking a lot longer to finish the game because I've been going for all red medals (dev times).

4) - Grandia 1. - The only Grandia game I haven't played.

5) - Mana Khemia 1 - I'm liking the OST! Fav track so far. I also appreciate that the character progression system is tied to the alchemy system instead of just a traditional leveling up mechanic.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

As usual these days I have my goal list I put together at the start of the year and so my five games continue to be pulled from there.

Assassin's Creed Origins - Assassin's Creed category
Mega Man Zero - Mega Man category
Ender Lilies - Metroidvania category
Metroid: Zero Mission - Metroid category
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors

I don't actually have 999 in my VN category in my goals only because I completed it on DS like 11 years ago. But the latter two games are in my goals so I want to plow through 999 so I can start up VLR.

Even though a couple are very short (Mega Man Zero and Metroid: Zero Mission; weirdly both have the letters M-M-Z to make up their acronyms) usually I chew through a couple goal games so these are in place so I hopefully make more progress in those goal categories, too.

 

[Cacher]

Well, I am back. I played a few games on-and-off but not being able to finish anything. Gotta try finishing something this quarter

• Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga (GBA) -> Already started playing this. Around mid-game. Due to my current limited game time, may be able to finish this around mid-July?
• Hardspace Shipbreaker (PC) -> Also started this already. Still going through Act 2 of the main story, and also need to repair my own ship so there's much content left. Aim to finishing this around early August.
• Valkyria Chronicles (PC) -> This will probably be my first game on the Deck. Also got the second game on PSP so I can emulate it on the Deck.
• Blacksad: Under the Skin (PC) -> Doesn't look like it is a long game.
• Bravely Default For the Sequel (3DS) -> Yeah, probably no time for this but hopefully I will be able to start it around the end of this quarter.

Edit: Just realized that Xenoblade 3 will occupy most of my gaming time after July 28th. LOL let's see how this goes.

 

[Derrick01]

Gonna go with

Sakuna of Rice and Ruin
Star Ocean First Departure R
Street Fighter V (Mostly the campaign)
Edge of Eternity

The fifth I'm not 100% sure yet. I'm leaning towards Anno Mutationem but like Cacher said we're not far from Xenoblade 3 and once that's out I expect to dive into that so I may just make that my fifth.

 

[C-Dub]

Gonna go with…

Dishonored 2
Lost Judgment
Lake
Resident Evil 4 VR
Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout

Already a fair bit through Ai: The Somnium Files: nirvanA Initiative, and I’ll jump into the games in the order listed above after that.

I’m hoping to have these done asap as I have Stray and Soul Hackers 2 to play too.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Deku picked their prize for the prior Blitz and that means we have a bit leftover to add to this prize pot. So now we know we're starting with $23.69 this time and if anyone chips in I'll make sure to update it here and on the spreadsheet.

If anyone wishes to chip-in the ways to do so are right here:

You need to reply to this thread in order to see this content.

 

[Deku]

Thanks Wibblewozzer!!

For this blitz I think I am going all Mega Man games, starting with Mega Man X6

Mega Man X6
Mega Man X7
Mega Man X8
Mega Man Zero
Mega Man Zero 2

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Good luck. Mega Man X7 is abyssmal. I mostly thought X6 was fine but it had its issues in its design, too. X8 was quite solid, though, and had some creative aspects.

Currently going through Zero as my first Blitz game. I did a couple levels previously but started it last night to run through one level just to get back into things and it's okay. Seems like you need to grind to reasonably unlock any of the good Cyber Elves so that's kind of a shitty system.

 

[Parsnip]

Congrats Deku !

My five right now are;
Paradise Killer
Pikuniku
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Control
Deliver us the Moon

Paradise Killer and Pikuniku I'm moving over from previous blitz.
Control, Deliver us the Moon and Jedi Fallen Order are games I've had on my "later" category on steam for a while now, waiting for a GPU upgrade. And so now is the time to play them.
I actually started Jedi a while back when I had EA Play sub for 2 months, but I couldn't get a decent enough resolution out of the aging GTX 1070 while maintaining a locked 60 at the time, so I shelved it.

 

[Futaleufu]

Well, here we go again Let's see...

Battlefield V
Batman Arkham Knight
Middle Earth: Shadow of War

I'll choose the last two later

 

[Wibblewozzer]

And completed my first game: Mega Man Zero.

I think this was a very average Mega Man. Now, I did use Save Assist as I saw people online saying everyone should use it if they want to have fun with the game. I think what it does is adds a bunch of checkpoints all over the place. It did ultimately mean the game felt fairly easy because death wasn't punished much. And there is a lot of death but not in a fun way. Combat and bosses in general were all quite easy. But the small screen real estate means landing on spikes, falling very quickly into a pit, etc. happens constantly. The levels were largely basic and short, the Cyber Elf system is designed exceptionally poorly requiring grinding to take any real advantage of it, and the switch to no longer getting boss weapons means abilities are vastly simplified.

My hope is the rest of the handheld Mega Mans improve. I don't have any others on the Blitz but I'll probably put some time into Mega Man Zero 2 and just keep working through them as I want to finish this collection by the end of the year ideally.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Thanks Wibblewozzer!!

For this blitz I think I am going all Mega Man games, starting with Mega Man X6

Mega Man X6
Mega Man X7
Mega Man X8
Mega Man Zero
Mega Man Zero 2

I'm about halfway through Mega Man Zero 2, probably finish it tomorrow, and I have to say it's far better than Mega Man Zero. Which is a bit amusing when I looked up Metacritic and the four games go down in review score with each one, but that's just insane. It still has the annoying Cyber Elf system but now there's a reason to care about it dropping your rank when using them. But besides that the levels are infinitely more interesting and creative with some of the various elements. It just feels far more like a standard Mega Man game and for me that's a good thing.

 

[Deku]

I already got stuck in MMX6. Fighting High Max for the first time. He doesn't take damage, but I figured out (read a walkthrough) that I have to shoot him with Mega Buster and hurt him with boss weapon. When he has around 30-40% health left he is centering himself and starts to spam round bolts on me which I don't find any way to avoid. I don't know what to do here


edit: I must be playing the game wrong. Because the stages are stupid difficult. It's like they intentionally made it's impossible to avoid big sized enemies....

 

[gabbo]

I managed to get one.... title finished over the last period. Hopefully a little better goings this time around.
edit: my list:

• Gears Tactics
• Praey for the Gods
• The Walking Dead Season Two
• Serious Sam 2
• Away The Survival Series

 

[Kvik]

I'll be giving the Blitz another go this season. Mostly replays, except FF X-2 Last Mission and FF XIII Lightning Returns, which will be my first time playing.

• Final Fantasy X-2 : Last Mission
• Final Fantasy XII
• Final Fantasy XIII
• Final Fantasy XIII-2
• Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Returns

Depending on my progress, I'll probably swap one of them with Soul Hackers 2 since it's releasing in late August.

 

[Parsnip]

Finished the main campaign of Control. And so for the purposes of the blitz I'll mark it as done.
I'll definitely do whatever side quests I have left and the DLC as well though. And once I'm done with those, I might also do the remaining achievements, depending on what kind of stuff I have left at that point.

It's good! There's one thing that I still have hard time getting used to though and that's that Jesse is kind of glass cannon. She can't take too many rockets to the face or whatever even at full health, At least that's how it felt coming from Quantum Break. In general I'd say there's a bit too much fodder enemy combat, and it's a real pain when they sometimes spawn them behind you.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

After finishing my first game, Mega Man Zero, I then ran through Mega Man Zero 2 and 3, which I don't have as part of my Blitz. I finally took a break before finishing the last three in the collection as those can be saved for the next Blitz.

But instead I moved to Metroid: Zero Mission on my Blitz and this is a really good time. I went in expecting a 90% recreation of the original game with some tweaks to smooth things out and maybe add some extra paths. Instead this is an entirely remade thing with a bunch of new abilities and areas and bosses. I recognize some spots from the original but I'm surprised how much new stuff or how much they alter things while still keeping the general structure in place. I should finish it tomorrow probably and then move on to my longer Blitz games.

 

[Cacher]

Yoooo, I finally beat a game. Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga. On the train! Handheld gaming is nice because I have long commutes.

 

[Deku]

Finished Megaman X6. I feel bad because I didn't legit play it through. Cheated through the game since I didn't like the bullshit level design and boss fights. The last fight felt a bit bullshit too. Sigma had to be the last boss for no reason. Gate could be the last boss since he was the antagonist for the entire game.

Anyway I started X7 right away. The transition from 2D to 3D is bad. The characters look bad in 3D. And it feels so weird that you go from 2D platforming to 3D top view and back. It kinda ruins the control somewhat

So far only played through the intro level

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Two games down. Completed Metroid: Zero Mission. It was decent enough but overall movement and overall gameplay felt fairly clunky so I didn't bother going back to collect anything beyond whatever was nearby as I went from one objective to the next. The new area after Mother Brain was a fun surprise considering how different it felt and then did a great job making you feel powerful but ultimately I wouldn't place it super high in a Metroidvania ranking.

It did lead me to start up AM2R right after and this immediately feels way more responsive and enjoyable to play but I've played so much 2D action I'm going to split this up as I start up on Assassin's Creed Origins and mix things up between various games.

Finished Megaman X6. I feel bad because I didn't legit play it through. Cheated through the game since I didn't like the bullshit level design and boss fights. The last fight felt a bit bullshit too. Sigma had to be the last boss for no reason. Gate could be the last boss since he was the antagonist for the entire game.

Anyway I started X7 right away. The transition from 2D to 3D is bad. The characters look bad in 3D. And it feels so weird that you go from 2D platforming to 3D top view and back. It kinda ruins the control somewhat

So far only played through the intro level

It gets so much worse.

 

[Derrick01]

Decided to swap out star ocean 1 with anno mutationem. I'll gradually go through star ocean on my own time but I struggle to play more than 30-40 minutes at a time. My patience for random battles and obtuse mechanics with 0 tutorials isn't what it used to be in 1997.

 

[Cacher]

Switched Blacksad into Xenoblade Chronicles because I am preparing for the upcoming XB3. I can also play it on the train so this seems to be a great choice.

 

[Valdien]

Finished Neon White. Posted my impressions here: Community - MetaSteam | July 2022 - Stray(t) out of Kowloon.

Also finished VC 4 last weekend but forgot to update. 3 more blitz games to go!

 

[C-Dub]

I finished AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative yesterday, so this morning I moved onto my first Blitz game today: Dishonored 2.

I replayed the first game a few months back and I was reminded why I loved it so much. A really interesting world, amazing level design and slick controls and powers. So I was really excited to retry the sequel in the hope that my rekindled love of the first would get me pumped for the sequel.

Now I remember why I dropped it.

• Controls are really heavy, like you're wading through treacle.
• Aiming/shooting/sword fighting just feels very unpleasant and isn't satisfying at all.
• Stealth feels like an inconvenience to the design of this game rather than an integral part of it - it feels like they just want you to fight all the time.
• Level design feels like you're being tunnelled through set pieces rather than having an environment to explore.
• Corvo being voiced is wrong.
• The story is fan fiction quality. At least, what I played of it.
• The art style is gross; they've tried to tow a line between the first game and a more "realistic" style and it just looks hideous, like if you added "realism" to a Goomba in a Mario game.

The whole thing just comes across as really ill-conceived. I think letting you pick your character was a mistake, and is also very symbolic to the line Arkane were obviously trying to tow in literally every failed aspect of this game. Is this an immersive sim, or something more "broad"? And by "broad" I mean catered almost exclusively to the taste of people who just want to shoot things in games and shudder at the thought of playing as anyone who isn't a white dude. Arkane tried to tow that line and failed, because frankly it is untowable. You either make a bland and uninspired game designed for the lowest common denominator, or you show personality. I feel the 2008-2017 period (and probably beyond) is littered with sequels that try to be something they're not in order to increase sales, and Dishonored 2 sadly joins that heap.

An interesting sequel to the first game would've been a game set in the same fictional universe, but with all new characters and a new conflict, rather than a rehash of the struggles of the Dunwall throne and its play-actors. So Deathloop, basically.

With that in mind, my Blitz is not off to a good start... I picked up a few games in the Steam Sale so I will likely replace Dishonored 2 with one of those if I have time at the end. Since I also won't be bothering with it, I'm also taking Death of the Outsider off my long backlog list.

 

[Deku]

It gets so much worse.

Finished X7. You were right, everything is worse in it. There is nothing good in this game. The level design, the control, the story, the voice acting and even the characters. I don't like X being a whiney veteran hunter...

I think I am going to take a break from X games and start with Zero games. X7 left a bad taste

 

[ganmo]

I secretly started of this blitz with Bloodstained. Oh my it is a grindy game if you intend to 100% it and get all the achievements. The story is not much worth much either. Lacks depth and doesn't carry the game forward. I cannot remember SotN was that kind of game or was it? Maybe I have grown too old to enjoy grindy games? I've finished the game though and got the bad ending and true ending. But to anyone going to play this game. Maybe it is enough to get the bad ending, and then you can head over to YouTube and watch the true ending.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Finished X7. You were right, everything is worse in it. There is nothing good in this game. The level design, the control, the story, the voice acting and even the characters. I don't like X being a whiney veteran hunter...

I think I am going to take a break from X games and start with Zero games. X7 left a bad taste

X8 is far, far better. It's not perfect or anything, and it likely is considered such a good Mega Man game because it followed after X7, but just take solace that it'll be a lot better overall.

Zero 1 is designed to require grinding to make use of its item system. It's also overly simplistic in every facet but most specifically level design and boss fights. I spent around 30 minutes grinding just to be able to actually use the Cyber Elves (this'll make more sense when you get to it). This honestly would be one of my lower ranking Mega Man games. It's not outwardly bad, it's just badly designed and lame but playable.

Zero 2 and 3 are far better and are a real good time (albeit Zero 3 in particular is super easy, but it's fun).

I secretly started of this blitz with Bloodstained. Oh my it is a grindy game if you intend to 100% it and get all the achievements. The story is not much worth much either. Lacks depth and doesn't carry the game forward. I cannot remember SotN was that kind of game or was it? Maybe I have grown too old to enjoy grindy games? I've finished the game though and got the bad ending and true ending. But to anyone going to play this game. Maybe it is enough to get the bad ending, and then you can head over to YouTube and watch the true ending.

Do you mean grindy due to repeatedly killing enemies for their souls (or whatever the game calls its system)? In that regard Symphony of the Night isn't anything like that. You could choose to grind for experience in that game but I don't recall the pacing really requiring much of that so that's more a matter of preference. Bloodstained is much more comparable to Aria/Dawn of Sorrows which has the same sort of soul grinding if you wanted to work on maximizing those systems. But Bloodstained does take it one step further from what I can recall (in that you can make a soul level to make it a permanent stat upgrade but then max it a second time to stack it by equipping it? I think that's how it worked). I had a lot of fun with the game but I also had a few major complaints in some of its design. It does have complete freedom to break the game and make an incredibly overpowered MIriam.

 

[Spamlynguist]

Going with these games:

Kirby: Triple Deluxe (3DS)
Klonoa: Door To Phantomile (PS5)
Quarantine Circular (Steam)
Saints Row (PS5)
Super Dangerous Dungeons (Steam) Beaten on July 15th

 

[Parsnip]

I secretly started of this blitz with Bloodstained. Oh my it is a grindy game if you intend to 100% it and get all the achievements. The story is not much worth much either. Lacks depth and doesn't carry the game forward. I cannot remember SotN was that kind of game or was it? Maybe I have grown too old to enjoy grindy games? I've finished the game though and got the bad ending and true ending. But to anyone going to play this game. Maybe it is enough to get the bad ending, and then you can head over to YouTube and watch the true ending.

Yeah I have zero desire to 100% that one. It's just too much.
It also does the unforgivable design decision that requires you to get a specific drop from a specific enemy so you can even continue the game towards the true ending (the one that allows you to go underwater). The drop rate is not terrible, but it's shit all the same.
And yeah, some of the other IGA games also had similar bullshit in them, but I forget which ones specifically.
And also yeah, SotN doesn't really have those as far as I recall. Everything that's required is a found item and not an enemy drop.

 

[MegaApple]

Finished my FIRST GAME OF 2022, so entering for same

 

[Kvik]

Finished with Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission over the weekend.

As far as roguelike (lite?) goes, it's not the worst thing, but at the same time it wasn't the best either. I think the game is decent enough that it's pretty short, and it tries to do something different with a Final Fantasy title, but still isn't enough to write home about.

Mechanics-wise, it's a pretty decent dungeon crawler with grid-based movement, but I dislike that casting spells is awkward since I have to go through a menu. I feel the game could flow much smoother if we could hotkey the abilities to the d-pad, for example. Stacking dresssphere types to make different auto-abilities is a nice mechanics, but still rather paper thin. And 20 inventory slots didn't allow for a lot of creativity in stacking dressspheres since we're forced to cycle through the types fairly quickly (Dressspheres in this game has HP and have levels to gain).

80 floors seems like a lot for procedurally-generated levels, but it's really not. The floor layouts barely changes, since normally it's just two or three large areas connected with corridors with varying lengths. There are several floor traps types; such as poison, stop, trampoline, curse, and so on, but two of the most annoying trap types are probably "BOOM" which will destroy one of the equipped dressspheres, and pit traps, which will return the girls to the previous floor. The annoying bit about the pit traps is that since the floor layout is procedurally generated, the map will be different every time the girls get dropped to the previous floor, requiring them to navigate the floor once again.

The story (if you can call it that) is rather uninspiring, too. It's just the girls' day out, basically, with nothing of world-shattering consequence. If you're willing to call it a slice of life story, you probably won't be too far off the mark. It's kind of hilarious that (light spoiler of how the three spent their days after FF X-2) Yuna is basically a NEET, Payne is becoming an author and Rikku of all people is the only one still doing some kind of idol/adventure work.

Anyway, I don't know if my time with the game can be considered an enjoyable time or a chore; maybe a bit of both. But at the very least it was a closing chapter to one of the best Final Fantasy games ever conceived, and despite the jank, it's the kind of Japanese jank I've come to love and enjoy.

Next up is Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age. I never did finish my first playthrough for one reason or another, but I recall the PC port is quite competent despite the lack of unlockable framerate. Looks like there's a mod manager and plenty of mods for it too.

 

[Futaleufu]

Completed every story mission in Battlefield V. Surprised they let you play as the nazis in the last one.

Thats 1/5.

 

[kio]

I'll join in again

1. TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children
2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
3. Gamedec
4. Tangle Tower
5. Call of the Sea

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Going with these games:

Deathloop
Kirby: Triple Deluxe
Klonoa: Door To Phantomile
Quarantine Circular
Super Dangerous Dungeons

I'll join in again

1. TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children
2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
3. Gamedec
4. Tangle Tower
5. Call of the Sea

Unless both of you are using different names on the spreadsheet don't forget to add yourself to it and update it by the end so you're eligible for the raffle for the prize. The link is in the opening post.

 

[Spamlynguist]

Unless both of you are using different names on the spreadsheet don't forget to add yourself to it and update it by the end so you're eligible for the raffle for the prize. The link is in the opening post.

Ah thanks for the reminder, I put my name and selection of games in the wrong Blitz tab

 

[Deku]

Yuck, I think I suffer from motion sickness after playing Mega Man Zero. I still like the game, it's way better than the later Mega Man X games. Tight control, no bullshit level design, and great music.

I just don't understand why I got motion sickness. I didn't get it when I played on the DS.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Yuck, I think I suffer from motion sickness after playing Mega Man Zero. I still like the game, it's way better than the later Mega Man X games. Tight control, no bullshit level design, and great music.

I just don't understand why I got motion sickness. I didn't get it when I played on the DS.

Then you might be one of those folks that prefers Zero over the later games because I thought the level design was dreadful due to being really, really basic with practically no challenge to the levels at all. Zero 2 and 3 are closer to the NES Mega Man games where each stage tends to have a mechanic or gimmick that makes it feel unique from the others.

No clue on the motion sickness. I didn't notice anything when playing the game.

 

[Deku]

Then you might be one of those folks that prefers Zero over the later games because I thought the level design was dreadful due to being really, really basic with practically no challenge to the levels at all. Zero 2 and 3 are closer to the NES Mega Man games where each stage tends to have a mechanic or gimmick that makes it feel unique from the others.

No clue on the motion sickness. I didn't notice anything when playing the game.

Now that you mention it, the level design were plain and simple and also short

I probably need to play in shorter sessions. Today I played an hour or so

Edit: Finished Mega Man Zero, next is either X8 or Zero 2

 

[Spamlynguist]

Beat Super Dangerous Dungeons earlier today. A very fun but frustrating platformer at times.

That's 1/5 games done!

 

[ganmo]

Yuck, I think I suffer from motion sickness after playing Mega Man Zero. I still like the game, it's way better than the later Mega Man X games. Tight control, no bullshit level design, and great music.

I just don't understand why I got motion sickness. I didn't get it when I played on the DS.

motion sickness from a 2d side scroller that's the first to hear xD

Do you mean grindy due to repeatedly killing enemies for their souls (or whatever the game calls its system)? In that regard Symphony of the Night isn't anything like that. You could choose to grind for experience in that game but I don't recall the pacing really requiring much of that so that's more a matter of preference. Bloodstained is much more comparable to Aria/Dawn of Sorrows which has the same sort of soul grinding if you wanted to work on maximizing those systems. But Bloodstained does take it one step further from what I can recall (in that you can make a soul level to make it a permanent stat upgrade but then max it a second time to stack it by equipping it? I think that's how it worked). I had a lot of fun with the game but I also had a few major complaints in some of its design. It does have complete freedom to break the game and make an incredibly overpowered MIriam.

Yeah I have zero desire to 100% that one. It's just too much.
It also does the unforgivable design decision that requires you to get a specific drop from a specific enemy so you can even continue the game towards the true ending (the one that allows you to go underwater). The drop rate is not terrible, but it's shit all the same.
And yeah, some of the other IGA games also had similar bullshit in them, but I forget which ones specifically.
And also yeah, SotN doesn't really have those as far as I recall. Everything that's required is a found item and not an enemy drop.

Yeah, I'm unsure about if it was wise to make this kind of drop system in today's gaming industry. I would understand if they have rare drops for online games. But for offline game it is just annyoing that you need grind just to get item or equipment. Some of the soul shards you grind are needed to progress in the story. TBH kind of dislike games where you have to grind drops...

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Yeah, I'm unsure about if it was wise to make this kind of drop system in today's gaming industry. I would understand if they have rare drops for online games. But for offline game it is just annyoing that you need grind just to get item or equipment. Some of the soul shards you grind are needed to progress in the story. TBH kind of dislike games where you have to grind drops...

Having a required drop from a standard enemy where it's not obvious that you need the drop from it is a real dumb gameplay decision. I get that they would expect all players to be eager to collect all the drops so by encountering an enemy they'd plan for everyone to get the drop but it's still a really bad design. If it was a drop from a boss or something then that's fine, it makes more sense since bosses gate your progression and you expect rewards from taking down bosses, but yeah, really bad design. There's another similar thing later in the game where there's really no indication what you need and where to go next and only by fully exploring with the set of abilities you have do you find the next thing to make progress. It's not a great feeling when the item is really out of the way and required. Lastly, I had a bug that meant the hint system was giving me the wrong hint and it took me like 30 minutes of checking every corner of the place before I stumbled on what I needed to do to move forward and that was extremely maddening.

I came away from the game with some pretty major frustrations but ultimately I did have a good time. I just expect the next game to hopefully be better designed since now they've got everything built and they have more time to work on the quality.

 

[Deku]

motion sickness from a 2d side scroller that's the first to hear xD

Maybe it is something else. Seeing a sidescroll movement made me feel sick. Or maybe it was that day that I felt bad for other reasons.


Anyway, I have started X8. The game is so much better than X7. The voice acting seems better.
But the design for X looks worse, all his limbs look like tube rolls

 

[Parsnip]

Thinking about it, Momodora 2 made me slightly queasy back in the day. Specifically something about the screen change just didn't sit right with me.

 

[Futaleufu]

Added Yoku's Island Express, pretty good so far.

 

[Derrick01]

Finished edge of eternity. It's very janky and you can feel its kickstarter budget throughout the game but it's the strange type of game that gets better and more interesting as it progresses. The story continues to ramp up with intriguing revelations and the character writing improves bit by bit with some genuinely funny moments. They make it pretty obvious that there will be a sequel, as long as they can get funding for it at least, and I hope they do. I imagine if they had a proper AA jrpg budget they could make something rather impressive.

 

[Parsnip]

Finished Jedi Fallen Order.
It's alright but feels like its held together by two pieces of duct tape. More than most games.

Not sure if I'm going to play a blitz game next since I grabbed Hitman 3, might finally dig into that.
None of the games I have left are super duper long even if I end up going all completionist with them, so I shouldn't have too much trouble finishing them in the next 2 months.

 

[Knurek]

Done with the Blitz

 

[Futaleufu]

This weekend I completed both Yoku's Island Express and Batman Arkjam Knight. The former is great mix of a short metroidvania with a pinball game. The later is a finely crafted open world game. The Batmobile takes some time to adjust to and ends up as a great addition to the end of the saga.

That's 3/5 this season. I have Middle Earth Shadow of War as the 4th game, Late Shift is game nº 5.