8 votes

Tildes' Game Backlog Burner Event: Week 1 Update Thread

What is this?

See here for full details on the event.

Post Your Update

  • How did your week go?
  • What games did you get through?
  • How did you feel about them?
  • What's up next for you?

Focuses for Week 2

  • Games in genres you don't normally play
  • Games that take longer than 4 hours to complete
  • Story-driven games

Let's burn through these backlogs!

9 comments

  1. [4]
    aphoenix
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm kinda doing my own thing - trying out (not getting through) at least one game from each of the last 12 humble monthly bundles, and reporting in on them - but that kind of keeps in line with...

    I'm kinda doing my own thing - trying out (not getting through) at least one game from each of the last 12 humble monthly bundles, and reporting in on them - but that kind of keeps in line with your focuses for this week.

    Week 1

    • Northgard April 2019 - I summed it up here in the first thread but if anyone doesn't want to click, here's the tl;dr - it's a fun RTS with vikings. It has been easy to get into for someone who hasn't played many RTS games in the last 15 years. I will continue playing this. 9/10
    • Wandersong May 2019 - previous comment - a cute platformer that I played for half an hour and then deleted. Cool concept, but there are better sidescrolling platform games. 5/10
    • 911 Operator June 2019 - You play as a 911 Operator; you have to route police officers, paramedics, and firemen to different calls that you receive. When I logged in, it offered to put me in my home city, which was kind of cool. It doesn't seem particularly difficult on start, but I sense that it could get pretty hectic pretty quickly. I found it enjoyable; I'll probably casually play it, but I don't know how in-depth I'd go with it. Cool concept, graphics are simple but effective, giving me a home map felt cool. 7/10
    • Love is Dead July 2019 - It is the apocalypse; you are a zombie. Everyone is a zombie! You must reunite with your lover (a zombie) and find your pets (guess what, zombies). Each level is a puzzle where you have to find how to get to your lover. The puzzles haven't gotten particularly difficult, but there's extra items to find in each one. The graphics are simple, the controls are very easy, the story is sweet. I will probably play this one or two more times. 6/10

    I'm 1/3 of the way through my goal, so this should be a cakewalk. ;)

    5 votes
    1. kfwyre
      Link Parent
      I love this! Keep in mind "doing your own thing" is exactly the point of this whole exercise. My focus areas are totally optional and are there just in case anyone needs a way of cutting down the...

      I love this! Keep in mind "doing your own thing" is exactly the point of this whole exercise. My focus areas are totally optional and are there just in case anyone needs a way of cutting down the analysis paralysis that can come from the "where do I even start?" question. Ultimately I want people to do what works for them.

      Though I haven't played 911 Operator, I think it's a really interesting example of the use of OpenStreetMap data in a game.

      3 votes
    2. aphoenix
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Week 2 Surviving Mars August 2019 - This is a city building game on Mars. The point is... to survive, and perhaps flourish! I've played through the tutorial, and it's fairly in depth, very cool,...

      Week 2

      • Surviving Mars August 2019 - This is a city building game on Mars. The point is... to survive, and perhaps flourish! I've played through the tutorial, and it's fairly in depth, very cool, and pretty well done. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue playing; while I enjoy a lot of things about it, it's feeling like a bit of a misfire to me, but I'm not sure if that's covid ennui talking, as nothing is seeming as enjoyable for the last few days. I'm giving this 7/10; I'm going to give it another go at some point.
      • God's Trigger September 2019 - This is a slick indie action game where you play as an angel and a demon, switching between characters as needed. In some ways it reminded me of No More Heroes; it's stylish and violent and dark and sometimes funny. The characters are cliche, but they know that they are, the levels are hard, but doable, and it's got a cool mechanic. I'm not good at top down shooters where you use the left joystick to move and the right joystick to aim and shoot with triggers, but if that sounds like fun for you, then this is a good pick. 8/10 but probably won't play too much more, but I might see if people are playing it on twitch or something.
      3 votes
    3. twisterghost
      Link Parent
      I've been playing a lot of Northgard with a friend recently. I just suggested it to someone else here too. Glad that they released the Conquest mode, which made for some really interesting...

      I've been playing a lot of Northgard with a friend recently. I just suggested it to someone else here too. Glad that they released the Conquest mode, which made for some really interesting gameplay modifications to breathe some new life into it.

      2 votes
  2. Douglas
    Link
    Update: It went well! I got about ~6-7 hours in overall. I'm trying to balance my time with that and self-care/movies/tv shows. It'd be all too easy for me to binge my way further, but I know...

    Update:

    • It went well! I got about ~6-7 hours in overall. I'm trying to balance my time with that and self-care/movies/tv shows. It'd be all too easy for me to binge my way further, but I know myself too well that I'm trying to keep that from happening.
    • I finished A Short Hike which I friggin' loved. It was cute, short (~2 hours for me and I took my time/was not a competitionist), and more touching than most other games. I really liked the wholesome humor that had enough spunk to stay fresh; it probably helps the aesthetics put me in the right headspace for it. Alongside that, I got through a fair amount of Conarium which is-- so far-- more enjoyable to me than Call of Cthulu. I guess I prefer my Lovecraft stories to get told through a self-paced plot and discovery, rather than cutscenes hampered by what I felt was bad voice acting and on-the-nose dialogue.
    • After I finish Conarium, I want to move on to Observation which I'd started a while ago and didn't get too far in, because it felt like a game that I'd like to be 100% invested in (i.e. can't switch between that game and some other narrative-heavy game). I guiltily admit I picked up The Suicide of Rachel Foster this morning, so I'll probably play that with my wife; we really like detective walking simulators-- and our friend recommended it based off our shared love of Painscreek Killings.
    • For games I don't normally play, I picked up Planet Zoo a while ago and have been meaning to dive more into that. My hesitance comes from the fact that I suck at simulation games. I grew up playing them and loving them like Theme Park, Sim City 2000, Sim City, Sim Ant, etc., but Planet Zoo feels like it's wayyyy more intense and resource-management heavy. Like I'm gonna have to make some mental room to accommodate its rules to get familiar with it. We'll see.
    3 votes
  3. [2]
    kfwyre
    Link
    I've shared pieces of this elsewhere, but I figured I'd pull together all my writeups into one place for this update. My plan for this month is to "Play the Alphabet" by choosing a game for each...

    I've shared pieces of this elsewhere, but I figured I'd pull together all my writeups into one place for this update.

    My plan for this month is to "Play the Alphabet" by choosing a game for each letter of the alphabet. Prior to the month I'd done A and B (accidentally, which was what prompted me to continue the sequence), so my backlog burning technically began with the game for the letter C. I'm now up to J!

    Here are my thoughts for everything I've done so far:

    AER: Memories of Old

    Completed after 3.0 hours

    Thoughts

    This is an "evening-size" indie exploration adventure. Half of the game is you flying around as a bird, navigating a world of floating islands in the sky. The other half is you exploring intricate underground architecture and caverns. There's also some lore regarding a creation fable and a world savior that I didn't really pay much attention to. I loved the flying more than the spelunking, but overall the game was nice, calm, and visually stimulating.

    Battle Chef Brigade

    Moved on after 2.8 hours

    Thoughts

    This was an interesting match 3, beat-em-up, visual novel hybrid. It's a pretty clear homage to Iron Chef where you fight enemies to gather ingredients, which you then cook together into dishes through a match 3-style system. It's very innovative, and I thoroughly enjoyed what I played. Unfortunately, the game, I feel, tries to do too much. It keeps throwing more and more things at you, adding plot points and mechanics. I wanted to just be able to just play the game, but the story mode railroads you into a sort of protracted, extensive tutorial that ended up losing me.

    It's not a bad game by any means. It just wasn't for me. I can definitely see how, for those it clicks for, it really clicks. It's novel and unlike anything else I've played. Though it pulls from a lot of other genres, it ends up creating something entirely its own.

    Chime Sharp

    Moved On after 10 minutes

    Thoughts

    It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with this game, it's just that I had no interest in playing it further than the little bit that I did. It's a bit like Tetris meets Jezzball, where you lay down tiles to create quadrilaterals to claim area on a big grid. The game is music-based, but not an outright rhythm game, and it did have some nice tracks. I can see how it's the kind of game you can get into a good flow with.

    Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition

    Moved On after 30 minutes

    Thoughts

    This one was actually a really impressive game. It's one I may come back to in the future to give another shot. It reminds me of Celeste in terms of its artwork and presentation and VVVVVV in its gameplay. Your main character can launch from surface to surface, sticking only to specifically identified areas of levels. It uses this main mechanic and sprawling level design to create a metroidvania with a very unique traversal method. I found that I loved the concept and execution of the game (it's very well made) but didn't love the gameplay itself. I also found it hard to mentally map the game and kept getting lost, even in the early areas.

    Equilinox

    Ongoing, 3+ hours so far

    Thoughts (part 1)

    This is an interesting, relaxing sandbox where you build up an ecosystem. Think SimCity but with nature instead of buildings. The game starts you out simple and has a quest system designed to act as a tutorial and also a guide, teaching you how to do different things in the game. It's very chill and relaxing, and has a wonderful soundtrack to accompany it. The game has started to get slightly more complex and I'm having a bit more difficulty getting to the next steps, but it seems like there isn't really a failstate, so even if I mess something up (as I have many times) I just have to wait for my resource generation to replenish my currency before I can give it another go. It seems like the kind of game that, once you get going, would be great to run in the background and check-in on every so often. It's kind of like a digital terrarium.

    Thoughts (part 2)

    Equilinox moved from something I was trying out to something I'm going to keep installed and come back to every so often. It's kind of like a clicker game, but in the best way possible. At it's basest level, you're slowly generating resources that you can spend to unlock new things, which help you generate new resources, which help you unlock new things, and so on. The game is richer than that though, and getting to sculpt your little ecosystem is great. It's nice and relaxing, and a perfect game to have on for audiobooks.

    The Free Ones

    Finished after 3.3 hours

    Thoughts

    This comes very, very close to being a "hidden gem". It's a 3D grappling hook adventure, very much in the vein of A Story About My Uncle, with some rail-riding sections that reminded me of Bioshock Infinite. When it's right, it's right. You soar and fly and it feels amazing when you nail the right movement sequence. When it's frustrating, it's frustrating. Sometimes the stuff you're supposed to grapple onto is pixel-thin, and at times the grapple's distance window feels super small. I got through some of the ending parts of the game by cheesing it and "landing" on surfaces that I wasn't supposed to.

    The game held my interest enough for me to see it through, and I automatically give bonus points to any game that releases with a native Linux build.

    The Gardens Between

    Finished after 2.5 hours

    Thoughts

    This was a short and sweet puzzle game involving time manipulation. Instead of controlling characters directly, you control time, moving things backwards, forwards, or pausing it. You then direct the characters to manipulate certain objects that persist or change outcomes independent of the timeline, in order to get the characters to their destination for each level.

    I really enjoyed this. It has the simplicity of a mobile game with depth and graphics that won't leave people who play it on PC feeling short-changed. It tells a nice, wordless story about friendship, and the environments it creates are wonderful to look at, both aesthetically and conceptually. I also thoroughly enjoyed the music. Puzzle-wise, it's a little on the simple side, but I also think it's going for younger audiences, which I think it's perfect for.

    Also it's got a native Linux build, which is an easy way to curry favor with me!

    Hyper Sentinel

    Moved On after 10 minutes

    Thoughts

    This is a retro throwback game -- the kind where it's hard to tell if it's referencing a specific game or just a specific style. It's a 2D scrolling space shooter where you can reverse directions, and your goal is to get high scores. I played it for a bit, saw what I needed to see, and decided to move on. Not for me.

    The Initiate

    Finished after 3.3 hours

    Thoughts

    This is an "escape room" style first-person adventure that I enjoyed way more than I was expecting to. It doesn't have an adjustable FOV and it was right on the borderline of playable for me (if it required more "active" player movement it would have made me nauseous, but since you're just slowly walking around, it was doable).

    The game has a horror vibe to it but never really goes in that direction, keeping a creepy atmosphere but never doing anything to outright scare or threaten the player. Its puzzles were, for the most part, interesting, and the game was way bigger than I was expecting it to be initially. I kept thinking I was close to finishing, only to find out there was even more.

    The game is a bit rough around the edges, but I'm willing to overlook those sorts of things, especially for smaller indie studios. One puzzle, however, would not trigger with a correct solution, so that stopped my progress for a while. I thought I was going to have to abandon the game, but eventually stumbled into a solution for it, even though it was technically "wrong" according to the game logic. In searching around for a solution, others seemed to have the same problem. If you can get past the bugs and some of the clumsier puzzles, I'd say the game is an outright hidden gem.


    What's next on the list?

    Jet Set Knights

    3 votes
    1. kfwyre
      Link Parent
      Jet Set Knights Moved On after 10 minutes Thoughts This was reminiscent of Super Crate Box but didn't have as good of a feel to it. Wasn't bad, but wasn't for me. Killing Time at Lightspeed:...

      Jet Set Knights

      Moved On after 10 minutes

      Thoughts

      This was reminiscent of Super Crate Box but didn't have as good of a feel to it. Wasn't bad, but wasn't for me.

      Killing Time at Lightspeed: Enhanced Edition

      Finished after 1.4 hours

      Thoughts

      I really liked this. This is a short, narrative-driven game based around checking social media. The clever catch is that you are on a spaceship, traveling very fast. As such, every time you refresh your feed, months or years have passed for the people you're following. This lets the game tell a broad story arc in a quick and interesting way. The game has a lot of relevant social commentary, as well as some entertaining humor. Each time you refresh your feed, you can check posts from "Skimmit" (a clear nod to reddit), some of which have smirk-worthy titles.

      Overall I really enjoyed this. I played it in one sitting (with a short interruption to take my dog outside), and I think there's a lot of resonance to be found in its commentary. I would definitely classify it as a "hidden gem".

      Next up:

      Little Red Lie

      1 vote
  4. [2]
    wexx
    Link
    Last week: basically just finished control and Zed, which I posted on the thread as well. Control: very good, excited for the DLC Zed: Cannot recommend, but it was pretty/the story was OK This...

    Last week: basically just finished control and Zed, which I posted on the thread as well.

    Control: very good, excited for the DLC
    Zed: Cannot recommend, but it was pretty/the story was OK

    This week:
    Started Gris last night, I'll probably finish that tonight or tomorrow.
    I'm about 40 hours into persona 5, I might try and make a dent in that, and then move onto the Witcher 3 (as noted last week also). I've also been playing FFXIV, which is definitely a game that takes longer than 4 hours to complete ^^;
    I have a bunch more in my backlog that could fit in this week, but I doubt It'll make it on my plate.

    2 votes
    1. wexx
      Link Parent
      I'm also going to jump back onto Where the water tastes like wine at some point this weekend, I think. Which is slightly over 4 hours long if I remember the howlongtobeat estimate

      I'm also going to jump back onto Where the water tastes like wine at some point this weekend, I think. Which is slightly over 4 hours long if I remember the howlongtobeat estimate

      2 votes