Commit to your backlog thread - 2019-2020

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
10,999
733
136
2021 starts here: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/2021-backlog-thread.2589123/




Partially inspired by @DigDog 's thread here about playing through your backlog instead of buying new games, as well as @BFG10K 's thread here about games you played in 2018.

I thought it might be fun for those of us with large backlogs to make a specific plan to play our games for the year. We could report back and see how we're all progressing throughout the year. This thread is not about preventing you from playing new games (I'll probably get Sekiro and The Outer Worlds sometime this year, for example), it's just about setting a goal for your backlog.

Personally, I'm going to pick 12 games (~1 per month), but this is just for fun, so feel free to pick any number you want.

Anyway, here's my initial list (I may change games out if I find out I'm not really enjoying one), in no particular order:

Batman: Arkham Knight
Assassin's Creed: Origins
Horizon: Zero Dawn
God of War
Life is Strange
LIMBO
A Hat in Time
FEZ
Half-Life (I know, I know. I started this a few times over the years but never finished it.)
Snake Pass
Metal Gear Solid V
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
 
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balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
6,288
2,682
136
Been wanting to do something like this for a while so I'm glad you started a thread. The easiest way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time so I'm going to start with a single game. That game will be Doom.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,718
7,015
136
I have some relics that I've been meaning to play through. My current list off the top of my head:

Psychonauts
Fallout 3
Batman Arkham City
Dark Souls
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Transistor
Skyrim
Crysis Warhead
Lost Planet
Firewatch
The Stanley Parable
Max Payne
Pillars of Eternity

Probably more, but that's a list I'm willing to commit to.
 

Borealis7

Platinum Member
Oct 19, 2006
2,914
205
106
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
Pillars of Etenity 2
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Final Fantasy XV PC
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Kingdom Come: Deliverance

yeah...i'm big on RPGs. currently playing Path of Exile so see ya'll in 2020 :)
 

Zenoth

Diamond Member
Jan 29, 2005
5,189
184
106
I'll try to focus on completing my Witcher 3 game, one that is currently 'in progress'. I actually accumulated about 40 hours in three separate saves since the game was released, but I never got to keep on going. And I lost one of them (the latest one at the time) when I formatted my drive a couple of months ago. Recently I got my GTX 1080 (had a 970 prior) and the game runs significantly faster than before, tried it like that and now I'll keep on going with my save for sure. I got some mods installed too, so far so good.

I'll also try to finally finish my Breath of the Wild game, still in progress after about 170 hours. I'm taking it very slowly, often just exploring; rarely using my (main) Horse (only for very long distances). I like to just walk around in villages (not much to do, but just taking in the atmosphere; which I love in that game, very relaxing) and appreciate the calm and checking some NPCs going about their daily stuff. I think I still have 2 'maps' to discover (well, to reveal on the actual world map by climbing their respective towers), and I still have about half the Shrines to complete (done about 65, and I did read that there's around 120 or so). I also only defeated one of the guardians (desert one), still have 3 or 4 to go (I think there's one extra in the last DLC, not sure though). And finally I will try to eventually finish the last round of challenges in the first DLC area (I completed the 'easy' and the 'medium' ones, only the last one to go).

After those two are done, hmmm... there's a bunch I could dive in to complete. I never got to complete the Dying Light expansion. I did finish the main game though, and I did start the expansion in the rural areas. But I stopped very shortly after, never went back in. I should, I liked the game overall (story not much, but gameplay, absolutely). I... erm... I might find the patience to play Dark Souls 3... probably not enough to complete it but... yeah I might give it a try again at some point. It was my first DS game in the series, I knew what to 'expect'. I just don't have the willpower for those types of games I used to back in my golden years. Give me DS3 back when I was maybe 15 up to around 20 and I probably would have finished it in a week, probably less (regardless of deaths and "challenge", didn't give two rats' arse about that back then). But nowadays... I do like some challenge but I also like it when I can see it coming ahead. I'm not that much of a fan of some guy sniping me from a corner I have yet to turn toward.

If not then I'll try to finish Red Faction Guerilla and Armageddon at some point. I got the 'ReMarstered' version of Guerilla now; so I'll go with that one. And Armageddon... bought it around maybe 2 years ago (or a little less), it was on sale for very cheap and jumped on it at the time since I was actually playing Guerilla (the first Steam version). But I eventually stopped with Guerilla (about 3 hours in or so) and never even installed Armageddon ever since I bought it. So yeah I'll try to remedy that stuff sometime this year.

My actual 'total' Backlog would amount to around 40+ games though. However, there's absolutely zero possibility that I'll finish even half of them. And there's a bunch of nice games coming in 2019, one of which is none other than the Resident Evil 2 Remake; which I might be playing just a little bit.
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
Darksiders II
Dark Souls III
Dragon Age II
Dead Space II

I'm also wanting to give Serious Sam 3 another go now that they mucked with it.
 

mopardude87

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2018
3,348
1,575
96
Bioshock 2
Doom 2016

I guess since i paid $40 like a tool for DNF i need to punish myself and attempt to finish that one too.I get about half way in and the repeating and puzzles makes me quit.Coming off from playing DN64 i cry every time i launched DNF.I swear there is a agenda making all new come backs and remakes as trash as possible.
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
10,999
733
136
Psychonauts


The Stanley Parable

Oh man, I love Psychonauts. It's a collecathon so it's not for everyone, but it's right up my alley. I can't wait for the sequel.

I forgot about The Stanley Parable. I've had that one in my Steam library for a bit now. Maybe I'll try to squeeze that one in sometime too.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
I finally got done with Pillars of Eternity and Doom and Ghost Recon Wildlands. Sitting on my butt in a cold wintery stupor kinda makes you dumb but also helps you focus on gaming.
Started Pillars of Eternity 2 but the game kept freezing and it also just didnt grab me. I may never finish it.

Looking at my insane Steam list I realized theres almost nothing I really want to beat that I havent already. I think I'd rather start another game of Fallout 4 than try another go at Battletech.
The violent sexy city of Saints Row 3 is more enticing than ANY Call of Duty.
Metro is just a pain. Would be happier in a T.D. game with no end that what is basically an interactive movie with too many quick-time events.
Far Cry 4 is a hell of a lot more attractive than Max Payne 3 or any Painkiller or the new Wolfenstein adventures.
Amnesia gets boring. Sam & Max and Wallace & Grommit just cant keep my attention for very long, fun as they are.
Arkham Asylum, City, Origins, and Knight become tiresome after just a couple minutes.
Dungeon Siege 3 isnt even close to the pleasure Dungeon Siege 1 is.

Yup, its sad. I dont wanna start anything new and the old stuff I've played too many times.
God forbid I should construct that damn exercycle and lose a couple pounds!
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,718
7,015
136
I finally got done with Pillars of Eternity and Doom and Ghost Recon Wildlands. Sitting on my butt in a cold wintery stupor kinda makes you dumb but also helps you focus on gaming.
Started Pillars of Eternity 2 but the game kept freezing and it also just didnt grab me. I may never finish it.

Looking at my insane Steam list I realized theres almost nothing I really want to beat that I havent already. I think I'd rather start another game of Fallout 4 than try another go at Battletech.
The violent sexy city of Saints Row 3 is more enticing than ANY Call of Duty.
Metro is just a pain. Would be happier in a T.D. game with no end that what is basically an interactive movie with too many quick-time events.
Far Cry 4 is a hell of a lot more attractive than Max Payne 3 or any Painkiller or the new Wolfenstein adventures.
Amnesia gets boring. Sam & Max and Wallace & Grommit just cant keep my attention for very long, fun as they are.
Arkham Asylum, City, Origins, and Knight become tiresome after just a couple minutes.
Dungeon Siege 3 isnt even close to the pleasure Dungeon Siege 1 is.

Yup, its sad. I dont wanna start anything new and the old stuff I've played too many times.
God forbid I should construct that damn exercycle and lose a couple pounds!

Wolfenstein:TNO and TOB are worth the price of admission. Worth playing through at least once, and follow the old "on rails" campaign formula so they're pretty quick to play through.

The Batman games are some of the best TP/Platformer games I've ever played, but they definitely have an early game bump to get over before the fun really begins. Finally playing through Arkham City after a bunch of false starts where I was just intimidated by the sheer scale of the game. As you progress the goals become more discrete and manageable and *fun*.

100% with you on COD and all it's clones though. Closest thing to a modern military shooter I'm planning on playing is Bad Company 2's campaign (I've played the MP to Oblivion and back).

It does become easier to fall back into "safe" gaming routines, agreed there. I had to make a conscious decision to start and stick with games otherwise I tend to just fall back into old Bioware RPGs that I'd play again for the 11 dozenth time...
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,512
29,098
146
I have one or two Arkham games that I could play. I did get around to the 2nd one earlier last year and enjoyed finishing it. I had quit after about 3 hours and let it sit for years.

maybe some AC games, as I find those enjoyable, again? --just played through Odyssey (free with GPU) and Origins--well, only bought because on sale and because I was enjoying Odyssey, but then the previous games aren't really like these 2. Less fetch quests (plus), but ever-more grindy climb tower/rough up thugs/hide in hay "quests" (big negative).

Farcry 5 maybe (also got that on sale). Currently playing through FF XV. I enjoy it, but I dislike that it, like so many other games, is basically the same as every other game--the pseudo or full sandbox, open-world, meaningless fetch and loot questing...but it does have those classic FF-like hidden side quests for ultra rare gear and stuff....but I think I am too old for that kind of grind.
I also picked up Destiny 2 when it was free that weekend...I enjoyed it, about 10 hours, but I promptly stopped playing when AC Odyssey became available. I had no plans to do that, but I did. Maybe pick that back up.

There are also 100+ other games that I probably haven't even launched...but I won't.
 

GibbyPruchesi

Member
Jan 18, 2019
32
5
16
I upgraded my pc recently after being with an old laptop for a while so a lot of these games aren't exactly new. Anyway:
Pillars of Eternity
Darksiders II
Darksiders III
Ori and the Blind Forest
Transistor
Divinity: Original Sin
Mass Effect: Andromeda
DOOM
Other games that don't really have an ending but are still interesting to me:
Overwatch
Rocksmith
Heroes of the Storm
Warframe
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
10,999
733
136
I finished Batman: Arkham Knight last night.

I'm so glad people made a stink about how much the batmobile was used, so that it tempered my expectations. I ended up enjoying the game very much, so much so that I 100%ed it (including all of the Riddler collectables). I definitely recommend the game to anyone who has enjoyed the Arkham games, so long as you are prepared to use the Batmobile quite a bit. I still have the "Arkham episodes" to play, since I have all the DLC. After that, I'll have to figure out which game to tackle next from my backlog.
 

GodisanAtheist

Diamond Member
Nov 16, 2006
6,718
7,015
136
I have some relics that I've been meaning to play through. My current list off the top of my head:

Psychonauts
Fallout 3
Batman Arkham City
Dark Souls
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Transistor
Skyrim
Crysis Warhead
Lost Planet
Firewatch
The Stanley Parable
Max Payne
Pillars of Eternity

Probably more, but that's a list I'm willing to commit to.

- So... How did everyone do?

Off the list above I scratched:
Psychonauts
Batman AC
Skyrim
FireWatch

Also completed the following that were not on my hit list:
Command & Conquer 3
Xcom Enemy Unknown
Battlefield BC2
Orcs Must Die
Devil May Cry
SW Republic Commando

I feel like there may be a handful more but the titles just start mushing together.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
I only completed a couple games this year but started about 20.
I need to get my life together and spend more time getting in shape and less time goofing off.
Also need to only buy games I know I will finish, and thats not many.
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
10,999
733
136
I was a whopping 25% successful. Finished:
Batman: Arkham Knight
Assassin's Creed: Origins
Half-Life

I was playing through God of War with my mom until she became too sick to play anymore. Haven't been very motivated to play games the last half of 2019.

I'm going to come up with a list of 12 for 2020. Maybe I'll do better this year.
 

JujuFish

Lifer
Feb 3, 2005
10,999
733
136
OK I'm going to try this again for 2020, with hopefuilly more luck. A couple games are still there from my 2019 list.

These are the 12 games from my backlog I want to beat this year:

Half-Life 2
God of War
Crash Bandicoot 1
Pokemon Sword
Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Spider-Man (PS4)
Legend of Grimrock
Duke Nukem Forever
The Walking Dead: Season Two
Shadow of the Tomb Raider
Fallout 4