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Dustin's avatar

Play games? I just listen to you guys talk about playing games and then I play "Steam Store" and work on getting that "library score" up.

Jokes aside I really don't worry about backlog anymore. UFO 50 did kind of a magic trick to my brain where it really made me have fun playing games again in a way I hadn't in a very long time. So I still pick at games but I'm not worrying about checking any of them off of a list. I let myself get sucked into a game (like Blue Prince) but then I'll dip out and play some indie metroidvannia that's been in my library from a humble bundle that I probably bought years ago.

And if I want to make sure that I'm up to date on the latest and greatest in interactive entertainment I pay somebody to do that for me. So thanks for that.

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Joe Moore's avatar

I finally finished death stranding so I can jump into death stranding 2 and know what's going on. Spoiler, I will still have no idea what's going on with death stranding 2, but Griffin is wrong, death stranding is an amazing game

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Andrew Burgess's avatar

When my twins were born last fall, i picked up Like a Dragon Gaiden on gamepass and ran through the whole thing 100%. during late nights with the babies i decided i would boot up yakuza 1 and run through the whole series.... 100% each one. My two year old loves watching the crane game, which is good because i was dog shit at it. 8 months later i am just starting yakuza 4 and it has been a rollercoaster of fun and frustration beating every mini game and substory for the completion, but the desire the play these amazing games has never diminished. Hope to be starting infinite wealth around the holidays.

ps. when you 100% yakuza 3, the trophy is called "Worlds Greatest Dad" my wife found me printing it out and hanging it above my desk the next day

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Andrew Reaume's avatar

Can I ask, what were you playing them on?

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Andrew Burgess's avatar

I've been playing them on xbox series X since they were all on gamepass. They just took most off but I got 3 &4 on sale. After I beat 4 I'll see where I can get it on sale

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Andrew Reaume's avatar

Nice. Ngl I just bought infinite wealth because somebody was selling a used copy for a good price near me, but I’ve never played any of them and I was only interested because of this podcast. So then I started debating about whether I should play like a dragon first to at least start with Ichiban and then the slippery slope thinking started to take hold. I know if I go back to the first yakuza games it will take me a decade to get the infinite wealth if I’m lucky. But I do manage to put way more time into games if I can play them on my steam deck, so that’s kind of what I was wondering about if that’s how you were playing them.

Same goes for Persona, in a way - people love those games but their length is intimidating to me

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Andrew Burgess's avatar

I will say, you play normal mode and stuck to the story and just do substories when you want, you'll get to infinite wealth relatively fast. I'm doing all sub stories and beating it in about 40-55 hours. Then another like 30 to do it all. I think it's worth doing because I love the characters and story so much. I actually played "man who erased his name" first which is like a mini side game starring kiryu and it really made me want to know the whole series.

But also.... I'm sure you can play infinite first, go back and treat all the other games like cool prequel nods lol

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Hi Sbstk I'm Dad's avatar

You don't keep the backlog from overwhelming you. It swells, and grows, consuming you one dollar at a time, it's hours of JRPGs crashing over you like waves in the black of night in an ocean of indie games. You reach out for something, anything to save you and find nothing. Your ankles become ensnared by the rope of family and work, and as you gasp your last breath, the salt of live service games sting as you slip under, to rest upon the rocks of half finished search action games and visual novels.

That being said, im currently playing through Yakuza: Like A Dragon, silent hill 2 remake, and I play blue prince with my wife every other night. Im tackling my backlog while the big releases are slow, and I split it between 1 hundred hour JRPG, and one easier pickup and put down game. But blue prince has been phenomenal to play with my wife, a great couples game.

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Serious Michael's avatar

Every summer I always start a creative project (not necessarily to finish, just to keep my brain busy) and this summer I’m making a videogame! I’m not trying to learn complex software development or anything, just keeping it simple.

I’d love to hear a segment on accessible tools for game development, especially things like sprites and music and other assets.

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Sequoia's avatar

I've accrued a huge backlog of visual novels over the past decade so I've decided this year I would finally tackle it. To make things fun, I've put all of the game titles into an online randomizer wheel and have been playing whatever the wheel lands on. Without the stress of making the decision, it's a lot less overwhelming and I wind up playing games I may have continued to put off otherwise. I've fully completed around 20 of them since January.

Currently getting my way through Higurashi When They Cry (modded) which I've been putting off since 2017.

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Andrew Reaume's avatar

Nice! Do you have a favorite so far? How flexible is your definition is “visual novel”?

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Devin J Reid's avatar

My gaming list is mostly backlog, I missed three years of gaming from living in Antarctica. Not sure how to catch up, honestly I play vicariously through the besties. Trying to finish divinity2 so I can play balders gate3, trying to finish dark souls 3 so I can play Elden ring(I’m a bit of a completionist at the franchise level). Also been getting into game design, so that really hurt my ability to keep up. The Besties help me sort through what to play.

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Dustin's avatar

"I missed three years of gaming from living in Antarctica" is a pretty wild statement to make so casually.

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Devin J Reid's avatar

Been trying to catch up for years!

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Burnthings's avatar

I think I'll give Hi-Fi Rush a deeper dive.

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Rob W's avatar

I find the interesting thing with backlogs--games, movies, books--is when you have that one work that's been sitting there for years. Like, every time you come across something new of interest, it gets pushed down further.

Then, one day, it's just the right time and you pick it up and have a blast.

I don't feel overwhelmed by having a backlog. I like being able to pick something out of it when I feel inspired. Maybe I'll finally play Lightning Returns 10 years after buying it.

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Rob W's avatar

Oh also, one technique I do is alternating AAA with an indie or two, and breaking up RPGs with indie or shorter games.

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Rummy's avatar

I decided to pick up Starfield again because I never finished it... What the hell was I thinking?

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Rob W's avatar

You know what you did wrong and you can only cleanse your soul through self-flagellation

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Rummy's avatar

🤣

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Lucas H.'s avatar

Please give Sunderfolk a chance. Having a great time with it, but you need to couch co-op it. Can't try this one single player.

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campbell's avatar

I bought Dark Cloud 2 in like 2004 and started it up about six different times in the past two decades, beat the first hour of it, and set it down just to repeat the cycle. Maybe this is the year?

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Theresa's avatar

Regrettably, I am a completionist. Current Steam library (I use collections to sort both by genre and status):

61 games 100%ed

69 games finished, less than 100% achievements (nice)

4 in progress

233 unplayed, 12 of which are on my "To Play Next" list. Probably Tunic next if I can ever pull myself out off the medical drama-obsessed Pitt I fell into last month and stop playing Project Hospital.

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Theresa's avatar

Also 73 games on my Steam wishlist. Don't worry, I am totally on top of this and someday will finish every game I want to play! (with all achievements!) And read all the books on my Goodreads list and finish all the craft projects I have planned!

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Xander's avatar

I’m trying to soak in the last of my Switch before it’s possible I never play it again. Anybody else doing a farewell/nostalgia tour?

I know it’s a little silly cuz all the games will still be playable on 2, but I still feel like I’m gonna miss it. Just finished Lil Gator Game on it last night

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Alex Gurtcheff's avatar

I keep a backlog note on my phone and add to it - but I put it in priority order so I don't get decision fatigue. Sometimes something will jump the line if it goes on sale, though.

Really enjoying Oblivion right now - and have Clair Obscur next on the list!

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Aleksander Samuel's avatar

I just finished Metaphor last night!

My best strategy to avoid a huge backlog, or never finished games I actually want to complete:

One game pr. genre.

That means I held off on starting Clair Obscur until now, even though it was new, shiny, and tempting!

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