Community Backlog Blitz Season 3 - Runs April 1 through June 30 with a raffle at the end

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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We just finished a successful first season of the Backlog Blitz. We had 27 participants with 132 game goals set and 71 of them were completed. Congrats on clearing out those backlogs! C-Dub was the big winner this time with winning the first draw of the prize for completing Job Simulator. Make sure to congratulate them here or at the previous thread.

But that means it's time to start anew. The spreadsheet has been updated, the prize pool has been reset, and for whatever reason they keep releasing more games so you'll probably be able to find five more you want to complete.

It's in the thread title but take note that we're now running it for three months instead of four like the previous one. 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:

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:

Revealed 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!
 

Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
1,561
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We just finished a successful first season of the Backlog Blitz. We had 27 participants with 132 game goals set and 71 of them were completed. Congrats on clearing out those backlogs! C-Dub was the big winner this time with winning the first draw of the prize for completing Job Simulator. Make sure to congratulate them here or at the previous thread.

But that means it's time to start anew. The spreadsheet has been updated, the prize pool has been reset, and for whatever reason they keep releasing more games so you'll probably be able to find five more you want to complete.

It's in the thread title but take note that we're now running it for three months instead of four like the previous one. 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:

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:

[Hidden 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!
I'm going to try again because well I'm locked inside my house this time

I added my games to the Ol' listeroo
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Oh, I won! :face-with-tears-of-joy: I've DM'd you my choice Wibblewozzer.

I'll be taking part in this Blitz again because I like clearing my backlog, but I don't know what the rules are on winning twice. In the off chance I win again on this one, I'd just like to say I want it to go to someone else immediately. But that would be a really rare occurrence.

Also, once my choice has been confirmed I'll also be contributing some money to the pot for the current Blitz. Gotta pay it forward.
 
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BlueOdin

Dec 3, 2018
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Going to copy my list from the old thread
  • Dishonored 2
  • Gothic
  • Saga Scarlet Grace: Ambitions
  • Rehtona
  • Batman: The Telltale Series
Still playing Dishonored 2 and enjoying it a lot. Though I haven't played in two days or so. Animal Crossing sucking up a lot of my time

Edit.: Congrats C-Dub!!!
 
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Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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Congrats C-Dub !

Vagrant Story, I'm moving it from my previous list to this one, I managed to start it but just really watched the intro and saved on the first save point.
Broken Sword 5 is one of my kickstarter games I still somehow haven't played, so that will change now.
Yakuza Kiwami, I mostly enjoyed Yakuza 0, so I'm probably going to play Kiwami and Kiwami 2 this year, starting with Kiwami of course.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War, I mostly enjoyed the first game here as well but nothing about the marketing of the second really screamed day 1, so I only got Wardor after they patched the lootbox shit out of it.
Illusion of Gaia, it's one of those games I've been meaning to finish for as long as I can remember but something always distracts me, 10th time's the charm. :D
 
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gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
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Well done C-Dub.
My list this go around - giving myself a fighting chance:
  • Black Mesa
  • Scanner Sombre
  • Perception
  • Assassin's Creed 2
  • Dead Rising 2 OTR
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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Gone all the way back to 2015 to games I stopped playing for one reason or another:

The Evil Within
Contradiction
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Stanley Parable
Star Trek The 25th Anniversary
Jazzpunk
Falling Skies The Game
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
Life is Strange Season 1
Beyond: Two Souls
Until Dawn


5 of
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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bobnowhere You may want to hold off on Stanley Parable for the Ultra Deluxe version that's coming since it just adds to the main game with more content.

Parsnip Good luck against those vampires in Gaia.

I was asked about chipping into the pot. Here are my usual details that can be used to chip in. Again, give me your name or PM me when you do so and I'll note who sent what, otherwise I'll treat it more as anonymous.

Paypal - Wibblewozzer@gmail.com
Venmo - @Nicholas-Garboden
Square Cash App - $NicholasGarboden

You can always suggest another method if there's an app you prefer or whatever and I can look into it. The prize pot currently sits at $20 from what I contribute at the start.
 
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freshVeggie

almost there
Sep 7, 2018
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My picks are...

  • Inside
  • Fallout New Vegas
  • Nioh
  • Halo CE
  • Dying Light
Gunning for Nioh as the first candidate. Been a while scratching that Souls itch.
 
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Spamlynguist

I can never decide on an avatar
Dec 31, 2018
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My picks this time around are:

  • Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled
  • Dragon Quest
  • Misadventures of Laura Silver
  • Super Mario Odyssey
  • Valiant Hearts: The Great War
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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Alright, made my picks and forgot to post them:

  • Yakuza 4
  • Remember Me
  • Ys: Oath in Felghana
  • Gal*Gun 2
  • Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner MARS

For some reason I thought I had an even mix of longer and shorter games but those are mostly all just in that 10ish hour range except for Yakuza 4. I do have another Blitz I'm in with five games that should take longer so all of them together will fill up some time. Over there I've got lined up Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Rayman Origins (and Rayman Legends is on my monthly list for May), Witcher III DLC, Trine, and Strider (2014).

Along with new games and some other alternate goals I have going through the year that should keep me going.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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You're one ahead of me, I'm still working my way to Broken Sword 5 with 4 on this blitz.
In my mind 4 is a weird game. In some ways it's return to form, but it's just "off" in some other ways. I should replay it one of these days to refresh my memory and solidify my thoughts on it.
 

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
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Sooooo. Um. Well.
It's day 3 of month 1 and I've already finished Machinarium and Primordia (which where both much shorter than I expected) and have started game #3, Remember Me. Plus thanks to the current situation I'm only working ~4 hours a day and todays Choice is meh so I'm not even going to get distracted by shiny new games.

I still have quite a bunch of other games I plan on playing anyway, but I might merge Machinarium and Primordia into a single slot (it kinda fits anyway, since both are 2D point and click adventures with robots in a robot world, lol) and choose something else for game #5, maybe The Surge.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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Sooooo. Um. Well.
It's day 3 of month 1 and I've already finished Machinarium and Primordia (which where both much shorter than I expected) and have started game #3, Remember Me. Plus thanks to the current situation I'm only working ~4 hours a day and todays Choice is meh so I'm not even going to get distracted by shiny new games.

I still have quite a bunch of other games I plan on playing anyway, but I might merge Machinarium and Primordia into a single slot (it kinda fits anyway, since both are 2D point and click adventures with robots in a robot world, lol) and choose something else for game #5, maybe The Surge.
Sounds like you need to pick longer games! Remember Me is also fairly short. I'm playing through it as one of my Blitz games and I hit halfway through the game with only like 5ish hours. And that's probably with 30 minutes wasted playing with settings and being alt-tabbed.
 
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bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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Added a couple of PS4 games to my long list, owned them for at least 3 years without playing them.
 

Theswweet

Dirty Weeb
Mar 12, 2019
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Despite not meeting all my goals last time around, if anything I'm going to make my choices harder this time around - I really need to knock some of these long-ass RPGs off my backlog, and I sure as shit have the time these days.

1. Xenoblade Chronicles X
2. Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
3. Disco Elysium
4. Rune Factory 4 Special
5. Ys Origin
 
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Deleted member 113

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Last trimester, I didn't have the time to put much effort into it, but hopefully this time I'll be able to do so properly. :)

I'll be (trying to) play:

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
Blaster Master Zero
Blaster Master Zero 2
The Shapeshifting Detective
The Church in the Darkness

EDIT: updated the list
 
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Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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I started with Wardor instead of Vagrant Story, mainly because the extra heavy input in the game makes it so that jumping between it and any other game is just going to feel like ass so I figured I'll play this one first so I don't have to get used it all over again.
 

Futaleufu

Laughing Chojin
Mar 14, 2019
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Now that I'm done with Just Cause 3 (not bad, but I liked JC2 better) I'm going to give the multiplayer mod a try and then start my list with Metal Slug XX
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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I finished Remember Me. It was pretty decent. The visuals and music were great, the gameplay was merely fine. The story was enough to keep me going but honestly nothing remarkable. The concept behind the game could have done a lot more with the setup.

Moving on to Gal*Gun 2 now. Doesn't seem overly long.

I'm partially considering swapping out one of my games with Shadow of War as I've been meaning to start that and I do need to mix in some longer stuff. I may just keep it as a side goal in between the Blitz games, though.
 

Futaleufu

Laughing Chojin
Mar 14, 2019
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Metal Slug XX's stage design is diabolical, full of slanted terrain, too many parts that require memorization and enemies waiting for you to jump. It's easily the hardest game of the series.

At least thats 1 out of 5.
 

BlueOdin

Dec 3, 2018
995
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Finished Dishonored 2

I like it though I feel like I stood in the way of my own enjoyment because of their chaos rating. It is clearly a system designed for replayabilty so you go through it multiple times, experimenting with powers, knowing levels by heart etc. As someone who doesn't play games again after the credits roll most of the time I wanted to go through the game undetected without killing anybody while also getting as much of the collectibles. The best possible way one might say.

But since I don't know shit about any of the layouts, enemy patterns etc. I had often a dreadful experience which resulted in me reloading all the time. Also trying to do everything with the chain link ability but then not being able to get one or two people who would destroy my stealthy plan. It was only in the last couple of missions that I played more aggressively and had more fun with the game. Still trying to not kill anybody (apart from some targets and me manipulating some robots which then went wild) though the game sometimes counted someone as dead though I stopped using the chain link but even then some people I put in safe spaces counted as dead in the end. So I tried not be too bothered by that but it still stung a bit.

It is because of the chaos and the rating at the end of each mission that I probably prefer nuPrey. For me it gave me better tools to come up with better, more custom solutions with the glue gun and the nerf cross bow. Also better options to build a more diverse character which I was missing a bit in Dishonored 2. Though it seems that it wasn't a goal for them so I don't want to hold it against it. Systems to do more crazy stuff seem to be there or maybe I wasn't creative enough to do it.

Other than that the level design was cool. My highlight was the mission "A Crack in the Slab". The often lauded Clockwork Mansion I just found annoying and looked up a guide on how to skip that stuff.
Visually the game looks amazing. Maybe not from a visual fidelity point of view but artistically the game is so good realised. Maybe even above From Software in cohesion for me.

Maybe I will think different about the game later. And I still have Death of the Outsider which might get me more on board with Dishonored.

Anyway, on to Gothic.
 
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BlueOdin

Dec 3, 2018
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Only have played 15 minutes of Gothic but it is kinda doped so far. More confined world that I love with no huge horizons to show you that the world is big. Also everyone treating me like shit.
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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#1 done, Beyond Two Souls on PS4 - Strange game, so interesting yet so frustrating.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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#1 done, Beyond Two Souls on PS4 - Strange game, so interesting yet so frustrating.
And now replay it in chronological order and see if that's how it should have been released.

I could be misremembering but didn't they say during the PS3 days that it wasn't meant to have the events happen in the order of the base game, but instead chronologically, but Sony stepped in and was worried about the pacing or how the first hours would just be Jodie as a kid and thought people wouldn't be interested enough? I always meant to replay it chronologically just to see if it feels better overall.
 

bobnowhere

Careful Icarus
Sep 20, 2018
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And now replay it in chronological order and see if that's how it should have been released.

I could be misremembering but didn't they say during the PS3 days that it wasn't meant to have the events happen in the order of the base game, but instead chronologically, but Sony stepped in and was worried about the pacing or how the first hours would just be Jodie as a kid and thought people wouldn't be interested enough? I always meant to replay it chronologically just to see if it feels better overall.
The structure was a bit annoying. They could have easily limited it to just kid Jodie flashbacks and played say everything from when she joins the CIA in order with limited interludes.
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
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Man just beat Black Mesa, and I gotta say, god damn was it fun. Yes it's half life with some small changes and a way more fun Xen, but honestly, the thing that impressed me most - the soundtrack. Half life's soundtrack was already awesome, but the Crowbar Collective nailed the soundtrack.
 
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xinek

日本語が苦手
Apr 17, 2019
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The last Blitz was really fun -- good to read what others were playing, and I finally got around to playing Yakuza 0. Unfortunately, I then bought Yakuza Kiwami and played through that. Now, I'm going to play through Yakuza 0 again and do more of the minigames and side quests. Then, I'll be playing Yakuza Kiwami 2. I'm hoping that by then, more Yakuza games will be released on PC. So, Backlog Blitz basically helped me clear out a few backlog items, but it also destroyed any hope of further backlog clearing in the short to medium term. Oh, well!
 

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
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The last Blitz was really fun -- good to read what others were playing, and I finally got around to playing Yakuza 0. Unfortunately, I then bought Yakuza Kiwami and played through that. Now, I'm going to play through Yakuza 0 again and do more of the minigames and side quests. Then, I'll be playing Yakuza Kiwami 2. I'm hoping that by then, more Yakuza games will be released on PC. So, Backlog Blitz basically helped me clear out a few backlog items, but it also destroyed any hope of further backlog clearing in the short to medium term. Oh, well!
Don't burn yourself out on them. I played 0, Kiwami 1 and 2 within a year and by the time I played 2 I was ignoring a lot of the side stuff because I just "wanted to get it over with", which is the opposite of what I want to do in a Yakuza game!
 

Gevin

Watch Madoka
Nov 16, 2018
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Replying to see the spreadsheet, will edit with more relevant info later

EDIT: added 3 games for it, gotta think of 2 others
 
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xinek

日本語が苦手
Apr 17, 2019
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Don't burn yourself out on them. I played 0, Kiwami 1 and 2 within a year and by the time I played 2 I was ignoring a lot of the side stuff because I just "wanted to get it over with", which is the opposite of what I want to do in a Yakuza game!
Seems unlikely right now, but who knows what will happen after a long second playthrough of 0. I skipped a lot of optional stuff in 0 because I was so into the story, but I can definitely see it getting repetitive after several games!
 

Deku

Just nothing
Oct 19, 2018
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20XX
www.seikens.com
I think I am in the last chapter of Aegis Defenders. It's kinda fun game, although I don't like the idea that you need to upgrade your units. So I did what any stupid cheater would do: Cheat. Even with fully upgraded units the game is still challenging :D
Yeah, I suck
 

gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
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Toronto
And down goes Perception. Interesting game, but it definitely falls off in the 3rd and fourth chapters. Mechanically it's a great idea that either needs to be fleshed out more or a shorter game. Still enjoyable and I beat two games in a month. Thank you pandemic isolation.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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I've been plugging away at Wardor. I enjoy it to a point, it's completely mindless but mostly fun.
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
15 days into April, I haven't started any of the games, and I want to change all 5 of my selections. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
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key to enjoy this is , not too long sessions
I've been doing pretty long sessions, but the core gameplay loop of selecting some captain, do the quest, collect a couple collectables that are close, do a story mission or two has been working for me, better than the first game even.