Geek Babble- A Deep Dive into the Gaming Backlog for 2018

2018 has been off to a good start as I have begun to clear out my backlog of shame. (It helps to focus when you actually limit the amount of new games being added to your collection.)

I started the year off right by finishing Persona 5 on New Year’s Day. I originally wanted to finish the game before 2018, but a day behind schedule is pretty good considering my terrible track record for consistent gaming. The end game was a slog and the final dungeon of a JRPG is always a complicated process. Watching the ending took several hours which is why I’m glad I finished it on a day off from work.

I’m not completely satisfied with my first playthrough, but all and all, Persona 5 was an excellent game. Story and character-wise, I enjoyed some aspects of Persona 4 better. In terms of gameplay and quality of life updates (saving, confidants, demon fusion, and abilities in battle), Persona 5 is easily one of my favorite entries in the series. I love how it incorporated elements from older Persona games, the Shin Megami Tensei games, and even a touch of Catherine in places. I’d love to do a replay on New Game+ in the near future because it was so much fun, and I felt I have yet to scratch the surface with my confidants.

However, tackling a series of smaller games from my backlog is a much more pressing issue. I realized in the 144 hours I put into Persona 5, I could have finished 10 smaller games, and maybe even two or three shorter JRPGs. Granted, if they can’t hold my attention their shorter length is meaningless. So I searched my backlog for short games that I had already begun to play.

I first started with Stacking. A game developed and published by Double Fine Productions in early 2011. I originally saw a review of the game on X-Play of that year. The graphics and the ability to play in a world filled with Russian nesting dolls (Matryoshka), captured my attention and refused to let go. An adventure game where you could control a small doll (Charlie Blackmore) and control other people by stacking inside of them was unique. I bought the game on Steam in 2012, but I didn’t give the game a serious play until mid-2017. It was only in January and February of this year that I focused hard on finishing Stacking and completed it during the first full week of February. Although I didn’t get around to doing The Lost Hobo King DLC, the main game is complete.

Feeling victorious after seeing the credits roll for Stacking, I doubled down on my efforts to complete 999: Nine Hours, Nine persons, Nine Doors. I had been playing through 999 slowly on my lunch breaks during work, shortly after finishing Shin Megami Tensei IV. I had very little interest in the game, as the story initially bored me. It wasn’t until the first death in the game that I found my interest increasing. Once I got my first ending, I was determined to see the game through by obtaining all six of the endings. I finally finished the game less than two weeks ago on February 25. I was satisfied with the ending and I do want to finish the Nonary series (Virtue’s Last Reward and Zero Time Dilemma) in the future. However, I’m still scraping away at my backlog, so those games may have to wait for just a while longer. I’ll probably buy the 3DS games before Nintendo pulls the plug on the system.

As of this writing, the next games on the backlog are Persona Q, which is a bigger JRPG than I realized, but at least I can play it on the go. I still have yet to finish Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest and I’m not sure if I’m going to at this point. As for consoles/PC, I have my eye on a few smaller games on Steam that I can finish off in a reasonable amount of time—mainly Bastion, Portal (the original game), and Night in the Woods.

I also got to finish off 2017 in another big way. I was able to watch a Video Games Live concert in Newark, New Jersey. It was about an hour and a half away from Philadelphia, but it was great watching a live orchestra perform video game music. The last time I saw a Video Games Live show was in 2009 when it was actually playing in Philadelphia. It only took me eight years to see the show again. The show featured music spanning from Super Mario Bros to Skyrim. We also got to witness a first—music from Okami making its premier at Video Games Live. As a bonus, a long-time friend of mine was performing– in a custom mask she modeled after Amaterasu. I finally got to meet her for the first time in person after the show.

2017 ended as a great year for gaming. Here’s to chipping further away at my backlog in 2018. How’s your backlog coming along? Do you have one?

Related posts:

Geek Babble – Still Kicking, Still Gaming Part 1 Geek Babble – Forget the Backlog Geek Babble- Attack of the Backlog Geek Babble – Marching in like a Lion