Community Backlog Blitz Season 5 - Runs October 1 through December 31 with a raffle at the end

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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We just finished a successful fourth season of the Backlog Blitz. We had 24 participants with 118 game goals set and 76 of them were completed. Congrats on clearing out those backlogs! Accoun was the big winner this time with winning the first draw of the prize for completing Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization. Make sure to congratulate them here or at the previous thread!

Also, this was one full year of Blitz complete! Congrats to everyone that has joined over the past year (I think it might have been 13 months, actually). Here's to another year and hundreds more games completed!

But that means it's time to start anew. The spreadsheet has been updated, the prize pool has been reset, and this time we have new consoles coming out to distract but also new graphics cards that'll help you run your backlog at 4k 120fps. Or more! Go insane!

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:

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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!
 
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Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
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Downunder.
I'll be joining this season after a few of season absences.

My tentative list includes:

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth
Vagrant Story (replay)

Currently playing Shadow Tactics at the moment, but feels kind of unfair to include it since I feel I'm very close to the endgame.

Let me ponder it some more.
 

Accoun

MetaMember
Dec 9, 2018
36
48
18
New thread smell.

Felt bad, but I actually avoided picking up new games after finishing my last blitz. I already have hard time deciding as it is, even with a few of them lingering.
 

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
2,170
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Decided to catch up on the hype behind two gaming classics. Having previously done Disco Elysium and Death of the Outsider, I figured it’d be good to go back to the games that inspired them. For the rest, I tried to spread out genre-wise. I’ll probably start with Soma.

Yakuza 0
Soma
Deus Ex
Planescape: Torment
Guacamelee 2
 

Valdien

✵ Chaos! ✵
Mar 26, 2020
1,254
2,727
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Toronto
I'll be joining this season after a few of season absences.

My tentative list includes:

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth
Vagrant Story (replay)

Currently playing Shadow Tactics at the moment, but feels kind of unfair to include it since I feel I'm very close to the endgame.

Let me ponder it some more.
I actually need to finish Digimon Cyber Sleuth myself. Dropped it a few months ago when I got tired of all the grinding required to get certain evolutions. Evolve, devolve, evolve, devolve, evolve, devolve... yes, finally!

Shadow Tactics is a great game. The last mission has a very neat trick that you can do to end the missions in 2-3 minutes.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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This is a first for me where I don't fly into picking my games. I've made a list of 2020 games I want to try to get through before the end of the year so that's more my mental focus so I might just pick earlier 2020 games for it this time around (despite not owning many of them and planning on buying them over the next few months). But that goes against how I usually do the Blitz so I may mix it up a bit more and include some shorter, proper backlog games.

This is a tough one to select!

Also, just a heads up but their will be a second winner for Season 4 and I'll announce it when I can. Accoun's prize he picked goes on sale very frequently and probably will again within the next few weeks so I agreed to wait until it does again before making the purchase. Once I know how much is left over I'll announce the second drawing winner. I like to be transparent about the prize money so figured this heads up would suffice for now.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,028
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Finland
I recently started playing No Man's Sky and Opus Magnum, but I'll probably add 5 different games in the list instead. :heroblob:


eXperience 112
Brütal Legend
Darksiders 3
Broken Sword 5 - the Serpent's Curse
Nelke & the Legendary Alchemists ~Ateliers of the New World~

Looks like a good list.
I played Experience 112 back when it came out but my PC at the time was really bad so the multiview system the game has really just didn't run great at all. Looking forward to experience the experience the way it was meant to be experienced. :blobheadset: Also I will never not find the differences between the US and EU boxart for this game funny.




Brütal Legend is a replay as well, but this time on PC. I beat the game on 360 on the hardest difficulty but I don't think I'll do that again, will probably go for the collectibles though.
Darksiders 3 has been waiting for me since the launch. I need to stop buying games at launch and then not touch then for 2 years. :blobweary:
Broken Sword 5 is the same, I backed the kickstarter but haven't touched the game yet.
Nelke on the other hand I bought just a few days ago on sale so at least that one is somewhat fresh. :heroblob:

Vagrant Story (replay)
:sf_quackd:

I replayed VS not too long. Love it.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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All right, put together my list of all shorter games but four of them are older games that are proper backlog while one is a 2020 game that I played a little of and really enjoyed and already had plans to play as one of the next few games I go through.

Hyper Light Drifter
The Hex
Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut
Umuranagi Generation
Firewatch

Pretty good variety so I'm looking forward to completing these games that have been waiting for too long!
 

Nzyme

Time to get Fit
Sep 19, 2018
192
538
93
In, again! Dig backlog blitz so much.

I'm really struggling to decide what games to pick. My idiot brain picks too many games to play and doesn't focus. I wonder if I can change that.
This is it; October 2020 - the start of shit going right - I hope!

I've entered a preliminary set of games, but will see how I feel. If I get through some too quickly, I'll switch them out for others so I can keep this as challenging and meaningful as possible.

Disco Elysium
Death Stranding
Xcom 2
Squadrons
Spelunky
 

Theswweet

Dirty Weeb
Mar 12, 2019
984
2,163
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Didn't end up clearing any of my listed games last time around, so I'm listing some different ones this time around.

1. Time Travelers
2. Death Stranding
3. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rrim
4. Trails of Cold Steel IV
5. Robotics;Notes DaSH
 

Cacher

Romantic Storm
Jun 3, 2020
4,133
12,609
113
Not sure if I will be able to finish this blitz as my gaming time should be shortened soon due to irl matters. Nonetheless, I am in!

  • THE Kanshikikan (done 1/10 episodes)
  • Yakuza 0 (20 hours in, expected to be a 100+hour game)
  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (1 hour in)
  • eXperience 112
  • Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

THE Kanshikikan: An old PS2 game which is never localized. You can read my write-up in the Forgotten Games thread:

Yakuza 0: This is very fun. I am still early into the main story and addicted to the real property management game.

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: The game has been sitting in the backlog for a long time. I want to start playing my Switch again so this is in. I have the gold edition so Donkey Kong DLC is included. Already 1 hours into the game and loving it. So much charm and love put into it.

eXperience 112: Grabbed this game a few days ago due to it being mentioned in the Forgotten Games thread. The mechanics sound ahead of its time (heck, still a very fresh take even in 2020). Surprised to see Parsnip also playing it as well. Good luck!

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity: Zelda is always a day1 purchase to me, so I am putting it here. Hopefully I will have the money for it in this year. If not, I will change it into something else.
 
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Derrick01

MetaMember
Oct 6, 2018
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I'll join for the first time, why not. I'm planning on doing

1. Spyro 2
2. Spyro 3
3. Pathfinder Kingmaker (that area where it corrupts saves better be fixed now...)
4. Ghost of Tsushima
5. Remnant from the ashes

I don't think I'll be able to finish them all since I'm getting about 7 games in november so I'll be busy from that point on but I'll give it an honest shot.
 

Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
1,561
5,440
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This is what I'm going to do for games:

Metro 2033 Redux
Hotline Miami 2
Batman: The Telltale Series + Sequel
Dragons Dogma
Zombi


Styx: master of shadows

Assuming I get enough time Ill try for the sequel for the other ones but thats what I'm eyeballing
Also unless I'm an idiot (Entirely possible, I had to go back to the actual link of the other old thread to edit in my entries since I could only view the new/old entry sheet for oct/dec) since I couldn't figure out how to input my data
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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Finland
Yeah I guess the embed doesn't have a link in it anywhere that would actually take you to the sheet. :thinking-blob:
 

Futaleufu

Laughing Chojin
Mar 14, 2019
679
1,119
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Time for some older games

-Risen
-DMC Devil May Cry
-Lords of the Fallen
-South Park The Stick of Truth
-Sniper Elite III

EDIT: BTW, I'm unable to add myself to the spreadsheet: its opening in the quote above instead of sending me to its own page, and I cant edit it.
 
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gabbo

MetaMember
Dec 22, 2018
3,506
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Hoping to do better than 3 this time around
1. Halo Reach
2 Cloud Punk
3. Alien Isolation
4. Catherine Classic
5. Pathologic 2

EDIT: BTW, I'm unable to add myself to the spreadsheet: its opening in the quote above instead of sending me to its own page, and I cant edit it.
I'm having this issue too
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,095
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This is what I'm going to do for games:

Metro 2033 Redux
Hotline Miami 2
Batman: The Telltale Series + Sequel
Dragons Dogma
Zombi


Styx: master of shadows

Assuming I get enough time Ill try for the sequel for the other ones but thats what I'm eyeballing
Also unless I'm an idiot (Entirely possible, I had to go back to the actual link of the other old thread to edit in my entries since I could only view the new/old entry sheet for oct/dec) since I couldn't figure out how to input my data
Yeah I guess the embed doesn't have a link in it anywhere that would actually take you to the sheet. :thinking-blob:
Time for some older games

-Risen
-DMC Devil May Cry
-Lords of the Fallen
-South Park The Stick of Truth
-Sniper Elite III

EDIT: BTW, I'm unable to add myself to the spreadsheet: its opening in the quote above instead of sending me to its own page, and I cant edit it.
Hoping to do better than 3 this time around
1. Halo Reach
2 Cloud Punk
3. Alien Isolation
4. Catherine Classic
5. Pathologic 2


I'm having this issue too
Fixed!

Completely forgot that the forum software converts it to the sheet instead of the link so I had to manually link it. Should work now!
 

Deku

Just nothing
Oct 19, 2018
4,261
8,615
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20XX
www.seikens.com
Going for big games this time. I probably will remove one
These are the games I have picked so far
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2
  • Dragon Ball FighterZ - Story mode
  • Dragons Dogma
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Hoping I can do all 5 this go around. My list for this time:

1) Halo 3: ODST
2) Super Mario Sunshine
3) The Blackwell Legacy
4) Westworld Awakening
5) Dry Drowning

These are games I've been meaning to play for some time, so I'm looking forward to getting started. Already playing ODST and really enjoying it - it's not Halo, but it's Halo-adjacent and I'm really enjoying how different it is in tone and gameplay from the Master Chief games.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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Swapped out Umurangi Generations with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. I've picked recent/upcoming games for the Blitz with limits in the past when I was doing two Blitzes at the same time but since I'm only doing one it felt a little wrong (in my own mental rulebook) to pick a 2020 title for the Blitz so I had a few ideas and this one makes sense since I want to play Curse of the Moon 2 but never played the first game despite owning it for a year.

Don't think I'll swap out anything else and instead just plan on including some of the other ideas I have for the next Blitz.

Also, we're doing fairly well already. Only six shy from having as many participants as last Blitz (which I think had our second most participants).
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
3,992
11,886
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I've already finished ODST as of yesterday, so I'm 1/5. I've got a non-Blitz game I'm playing next, as I started it before the Blitz, but I'll be moving to my next Blitz game after that.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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Completed my first game with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. For some reason I thought it was about double the length than it actually was. I added it in place of Umurangi Generation because I figured I'd really like it and then hop into Curse of the Moon 2 soon after since I'm focusing more on 2020 titles but now I might take a break before I do so because while it was a pretty good time it felt maybe a little too retro or something? Having no mid-air control just doesn't feel great.

Anyhow, now I kind of want to clear out a couple more of the Blitz games. We'll see!
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,028
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Finland
Completed my first game with Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon. For some reason I thought it was about double the length than it actually was. I added it in place of Umurangi Generation because I figured I'd really like it and then hop into Curse of the Moon 2 soon after since I'm focusing more on 2020 titles but now I might take a break before I do so because while it was a pretty good time it felt maybe a little too retro or something? Having no mid-air control just doesn't feel great.

Anyhow, now I kind of want to clear out a couple more of the Blitz games. We'll see!
Did you just play a one normal run? Maybe you should do super zangetsu run too.
 
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BlueOdin

Dec 3, 2018
995
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Kinda lost track in the last one. Hopefully will do better this time:

  • Resident Evil VII
  • Outer Wilds
  • Katamari Damacy: Reroll
  • Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Already started REVII
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,095
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Did you just play a one normal run? Maybe you should do super zangetsu run too.
I'd rather not hate the game. Besides, if I did another run I'd probably try the Nightmare Mode, but again, not that interested.

I'll consider doing one of the other runs for a different ending but it's unlikely I'll do it. Part of why I began enjoying it more was having the other characters so deaths were less punishing and I had more options and doing either of the other two runs is more limiting and more punishing.
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
3,028
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Finland
I'd rather not hate the game. Besides, if I did another run I'd probably try the Nightmare Mode, but again, not that interested.

I'll consider doing one of the other runs for a different ending but it's unlikely I'll do it. Part of why I began enjoying it more was having the other characters so deaths were less punishing and I had more options and doing either of the other two runs is more limiting and more punishing.
Aww. I had a lot of fun with them back when I played to the point that I went back and gave Castlevania 3 a serious go.
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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Moved on to The Hex. Pony Island was a Blitz game previously, I think, as I know I played through 1/3 of it and then put it down for a year or two before returning to it. I ultimately had a pretty good time but it was a neat idea that could have been more entertaining to play and just feel better to play. I know it's made by a single person, but so are some other hit games.

So with The Hex I expected with one hit game and some money they would be able to take that experience and make a much better game. But so far it's a drag. I'm somewhere nearing the halfway point I believe and I could probably finish it up within two hours at the pace I've been going but I'll probably split it up into smaller 30+ minute chunks and get through it that way. I'm guessing people that really like it are just attached to the story and don't mind that it doesn't play particularly well.
 

Rockin' Ranger

Rangers With Candy
Nov 7, 2018
501
1,810
93
Carried over Hypnospace Outlaw and Broken Sword 5 from last blitz since I didn't get to them. My three new picks are Planescape: Torment, Devil May Cry 5, and Resident Evil 4. So far I'm started on Planescape, it's pretty good! :heroblob:

Moved on to The Hex. Pony Island was a Blitz game previously, I think, as I know I played through 1/3 of it and then put it down for a year or two before returning to it. I ultimately had a pretty good time but it was a neat idea that could have been more entertaining to play and just feel better to play. I know it's made by a single person, but so are some other hit games.

So with The Hex I expected with one hit game and some money they would be able to take that experience and make a much better game. But so far it's a drag. I'm somewhere nearing the halfway point I believe and I could probably finish it up within two hours at the pace I've been going but I'll probably split it up into smaller 30+ minute chunks and get through it that way. I'm guessing people that really like it are just attached to the story and don't mind that it doesn't play particularly well.
I felt The Hex had a few good moments to it but I wasn't a huge fan of it overall.
 

Accoun

MetaMember
Dec 9, 2018
36
48
18
So, my first game this season was Titanfall 2.

Took me around 7 hours on Hard and I'm honestly wondering if it didn't took me longer to download the game than to finish it. :fearful-face:
I enjoyed it quite a bit, tho. Not sure about "the best FPS campaign since HL2" or whatever clickbait bullshit has been said about it, but it's really fun. Not sure how much I liked that it's still based around your typical Modern Military Shootertm, but it has enough things to differ from them. I actually liked regenerating health in it - which is definitely not a thing I say often. Made a lot of sense with the speed, even if I'm not great about the execution.

I have to admit, the titan duels as boss battles gave me a heavy Bet On Soldier vibes. Wonder if someone on the team actually played that kinda obscure, budget, PC-only game and thought "I like this, we should add some things like it to our game".

OK, spoiler time:
I don't think BT's death was as dramatic as the devs thought. I just didn't really felt that close to him. Feels really like an Infinity Ward problem, since
Ghost's death in MW2 was even worse - he was a nothing background character that we didn't really interact with. I've seen some COD fans pick it as a big moment for them and it's honestly a puzzle to me why.
Defying the protagonist by throwing him out at the last time was a nice moment (so was him grabbing us when we were falling from an explosion or whatever), but it was still just "nice" and not much more.
 
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beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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FINISH IT :longswordblob::longswordblob2::heroblob::dmcblob::dualbladesblob:
Gotta do it for the ending, bro!
Yeah... I hear good things, so I'll press on for now :poutblob:

Also started Guacamelee 2. It'll be my palate cleanser from Soma. I loved Guacamelee Gold and STCE. Played through them like three times. Don't know why I fell off of Guacamelee 2, because so far it plays like a dream and looks absolutely gorgeous. Maybe something else came out around the time of its release. In any case, I'm glad I gave it another go!
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,095
1,646
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I got a bit further in The Hex last night and need to push myself to work on more of it each night. In the meantime I also started Firewatch back up as it's another Blitz game and I could see bouncing back and forth between these two games to get through both together. Firewatch seems exactly what I enjoy so having it balance out The Hex works out.

Yeah... I hear good things, so I'll press on for now :poutblob:

Also started Guacamelee 2. It'll be my palate cleanser from Soma. I loved Guacamelee Gold and STCE. Played through them like three times. Don't know why I fell off of Guacamelee 2, because so far it plays like a dream and looks absolutely gorgeous. Maybe something else came out around the time of its release. In any case, I'm glad I gave it another go!
I wasn't crazy about Guacamelee, largely thought it was fine but not deserving of the praise, and even I thought Guacamelee 2 was improved a lot (but still nothing amazing). If you loved the first I can't imagine why you wouldn't enjoy the second one.
 

Cacher

Romantic Storm
Jun 3, 2020
4,133
12,609
113
Not sure if I’ll be able to finish Soma. It’s pretty spooky and its ‘safe’ mode isn’t helping much 😭
I originally want to complete a horror game in this blitz, but I am too much of a coward. 🤣
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,095
1,646
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And I just kept at it and finished The Hex.

The latter portions are definitely much better than the first 2/3. And afterwards I looked up achievements and saw there's a ton of really creative things with secret stuff in the game and then it was linked to a thread with the big secret in the game and that's truly pretty nuts. So I do appreciate the developer putting all that effort in. But yeah, not that enjoyable to play (which seems on the nose considering some aspects of the game).
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
1,095
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And now I completed my third Blitz game: Firewatch.

It was fantastic and it's silly I waited this long since I owned and started it when it launched but set it aside and ignored it afterward. Makes it much more hard to accept the news that In the Valley of Gods was dropped since I'd love another game from them in a similar style.

I purposely picked shorter games this Blitz so I could give 2020 games more time but I maybe should have gone for some slightly longer games. I'm flying through them. But I did purposely pick proper backlog games that were all titles I've owned for some time and assumed I'd really like.
 

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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I purposely picked shorter games this Blitz so I could give 2020 games more time but I maybe should have gone for some slightly longer games. I'm flying through them. But I did purposely pick proper backlog games that were all titles I've owned for some time and assumed I'd really like.
That’s the way I’ve been approaching it as well. Just tried to pick stuff I bought a while ago and wouldn’t have likely played soon, regardless of length. And, ultimately, any game crossed off from your backlog is a net plus!

I also really loved Firewatch. That opening alone cemented it as a really strong interactive experience. The way the rest of the game depicts these very human behavioral tendencies of escapism, how it deals with the idea of expectation versus reality, and how these are interwoven into the narrative and play are great. Especially the mirroring of player character and player. The latter is something people seem to be divided on in terms of how the game concludes (and other story beats), but I think it fits the overall theme of the game well, and it’d have been strange if things went any other way.

There’s a lot more to say about the game, but I wouldn’t want to deprive others of the arc you go through as a player. I think it’s one of few games where it is best to go in blind and let yourself be led by the experience. I definitely encourage anyone who has it in their backlog to give it a chance. It can be finished in one or two sessions, and whether you enjoy it or not, it will give you some things to ruminate on, which is part of its strength I'd say.
 
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Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
1,561
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I've played through and beat Hotline Miami 2

I loved playing through the first one ages ago and similarly I really enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's got that just enough story to it to kind of keep you going and senseless violence to make you kind of zone out with that amazing soundtrack going on as well.

What I didn't like was them adding in some mechanics to levels that were basically a big old F U to throw a wrench into you getting a groove on things, so like a guy that's invulnerable or ones that duck every time you shoot them, so they have to be shot at a perfect time or same mechanic but it's a melee guy.

Overall it's fine with that I think but it was kind of just annoying, I enjoyed everything else up until getting to those segments and then it was "well this is dumb"
 

Parsnip

Riskbreaker
Sep 11, 2018
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Finland
I've played through and beat Hotline Miami 2

I loved playing through the first one ages ago and similarly I really enjoyed this one quite a bit. It's got that just enough story to it to kind of keep you going and senseless violence to make you kind of zone out with that amazing soundtrack going on as well.

What I didn't like was them adding in some mechanics to levels that were basically a big old F U to throw a wrench into you getting a groove on things, so like a guy that's invulnerable or ones that duck every time you shoot them, so they have to be shot at a perfect time or same mechanic but it's a melee guy.

Overall it's fine with that I think but it was kind of just annoying, I enjoyed everything else up until getting to those segments and then it was "well this is dumb"
Coincidentally I've just been listening to the soundtracks of the two games. Still haven't played 2 though.

 

Madventure

The Angel of Deaf
Nov 17, 2018
1,561
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Coincidentally I've just been listening to the soundtracks of the two games. Still haven't played 2 though.

There's a guide explaining the entire timeline/story of the game in the guides for Hotline miami 2 and the main characters that I read after I beat the game that helped piece the shit together. Also after I beat the game I realized I somehow missed like a fucking tutorial level that you can somehow miss playing that explains a character. So that was weird
 
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Wibblewozzer

Wibblewozzer

Robot on the inside
Dec 6, 2018
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That’s the way I’ve been approaching it as well. Just tried to pick stuff I bought a while ago and wouldn’t have likely played soon, regardless of length. And, ultimately, any game crossed off from your backlog is a net plus!

I also really loved Firewatch. That opening alone cemented it as a really strong interactive experience. The way the rest of the game depicts these very human behavioral tendencies of escapism, how it deals with the idea of expectation versus reality, and how these are interwoven into the narrative and play are great. Especially the mirroring of player character and player. The latter is something people seem to be divided on in terms of how the game concludes (and other story beats), but I think it fits the overall theme of the game well, and it’d have been strange if things went any other way.

There’s a lot more to say about the game, but I wouldn’t want to deprive others of the arc you go through as a player. I think it’s one of few games where it is best to go in blind and let yourself be led by the experience. I definitely encourage anyone who has it in their backlog to give it a chance. It can be finished in one or two sessions, and whether you enjoy it or not, it will give you some things to ruminate on, which is part of its strength I'd say.
Only because I love achievements so much I wish there were more if only so I could more easily compare them to see what things people did more often or not. For example, pretty much the whole time I debated whether to pick up the wedding ring or not as I wasn't sure how to have Henry process things. In the end it felt irresponsible to leave it, no matter how much he seemed to enjoy Delilah's company (and invite her to Boulder, heh) since if he was going to go that direction he should properly close up the other chapter of his life. And of course you just feel shitty having him go that way because abandoning his sick wife feels shitty but the dude needs to live a happy life, too. In the end I picked up the ring right before I left (in fact I ran back and got it because Delilah said to get anything I want to keep before I leave) and I was a little disappointed there was no achievement for picking either direction there to see what most people did

Anyhow, long spoiler aside, it's just an altogether great game. And I wish we had more that were essentially just like it in tone and style and writing.
 
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