Sunday 7 February 2010

Blogging about backlogging

Backlogs are quite a conundrum. I'm sure every gamer has them, or indeed most people with hobbies. Be they books, movies, comics, I'm sure everyone has bought something and then not given it the attention it deserves. But, I'm sure that every backlog also contains a mixture of things that people really want to finish off and then ones that they're really no longer bothered about anymore. I've recently been considering games that I've started, but have yet to complete, yet still have some sort of urge to finish off. I've no idea if I'll actually get around to doing that, because that's just the nature of a backlog in a sense, but there's only a handful really!


Trauma Center: Under the Knife

I've had this for several years now, uncompleted. But not without at least having tried to finish it off, which is a good sign in some regard. I remember being really hyped up for the first entry in the series, but the steady increase in difficulty throughout the game eventually proved too much for me. I'd really love to finish it off, and the later games on Wii and DS look really good, but I just can't bring myself to move onto those without having finished an earlier game in the series. Especially as I already own it! The worst part is, I know I'm near the end of the game. I think this is probably the only game in this list that I could theoretically finish off some time soon.


Mother 3

The only game in this list that I've had to resort to emulation to play. Which is part of the problem, actually. I would have loved to play this on an actual console, but as there's no official translation, I had to resort to the fan translation. Which I must mention, is a stellar job. Regardless, I find myself having less conviction to play a game fully when I've not bought it. The other issue? I was so hyped about playing this that when I finally got around to it, I played it solidly, and eventually reached saturation point. I really should finish this off because, again, I'm near the end, but it's just finding that motivation to do so.


Professor Layton and the Curious Village

First one in this list that's the first entry in a series! And what a series it is, with a second trilogy having recently started in Japan and with a tie in movie to go along with it, it's quite the success story. I really am quite enamoured with Level 5, there's a lot of effort and detail put into their games from what I've experienced, which is just the sort of thing I like to see. However, I've never really been one for brain teasers, which this game consists of. The overall mystery and quirkiness of the characters are quite endearing however, so this will most likely be something that requires willpower to complete.


Jeanne D'arc

Another title by Level 5, and a lesser known one to boot. Some time ago, I was really into strategy RPGs, which was almost entirely the fault of Fire Emblem. There are some obvious similarities between Fire Emblem and Jeanne D'arc, but D'arc seems to be somewhat deeper. I remember also being quite impressed with the production quality, it actually pains me to admit that I was initially interested due to the box art, as I'd never heard of it before. Worth noting though is that the attempts at French accents did grate a bit. I'm really not sure why I stopped playing this, but who knows, maybe this year I can finish it off!


Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

First title on the list that isn't on a portable system! How could I do an update on here without mentioning Shin Megami Tensei? Oh, I do love it so. But this one. This was too much for me. I'm well aware that SMT in general is a pretty tough series, but this one takes a lot of time and effort just to survive making it to a dungeon at some points. And then obviously you've got to retreat the way you came to recover. I think that this is probably the main game on this list that I've got the strongest urge to complete. I loved the setting, the music was fantastic, and I've always found Kaneko's character design has an odd charm to it. I've just got to see if I've got the spare time to commit to this. No doubt that if I do somehow finish it off, I'll develop an urge to get some of the alternate endings as well. Good times indeed.

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