Summer Challenge!

I am joining a challenge that Alienjesus is doing where I pick 10 classics that are in my collection that I have not yet beat and beat them over the course of the summer. For me, the summer is from now till the official end of summer on Sept. 21.  Further more, I will challenge myself to write about each game I play for the challenge when I finish it.

The games I will play in no particular order:

1). Final Fantasy VI.  I really had the pick of the series here as I haven't finished any of them I thru IX.  I could have done IV, but I figured that is cheating since I am close to the end on it when I got frustrated with the difficulty jump.  Also, VI is widely praised and has beautiful pixel art.  This should be a joy.

2). Metroid Prime.  I started this when the Metroid Prime Trilogy was released, but I think I will just restart this  for the challenge. 

3). Super Mario Brothers 3.  While I haven't beaten 1, 2, Lost Levels or World, I chose this one since it really introduced the overworld idea used in pretty much every Mario game since.  I will be playing the All-Stars Wii version of the game.

4). Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D.  I had a choice of multiple Zelda's and multiple versions of this game, but I chose to play the portable one since I won't be limited to playing while home.  I think the reputation of this game has been keeping me from it mostly.

5). ICO. The collection that this came in was one of my reasons for choosing a PS3 over 360 and I have yet to play it or Shadows of the Colossus.  Its about time I play one of my reasons for getting the system, no?

6). Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.  While I haven't played any of the Metal Gear games, this is the first one in terms of story time line and that is the order I am going to play them.

7). Broken Sword: Shadows of the Templars.  I needed a point and click in here some where and this fits the bill of being classic.  I hope I enjoy this series as much as I do the Telltale games and Aminita Design's.

8). Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones. This one may not be a classic, but the first game in the trilogy is and I have already beaten the first two in the trilogy, so I might as well finish it.

9). Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.  While I wanted to stick to one RPG for this challenge, I don't think this will be overly long and I've seen enough differing views on it to want to see for myself.

10). XIII. This is more of a cult classic FPS.  I like the art style... Will have to see about the game itself.

May Goals and Such

Well, let me just say this up front.  If there is anyway for me to not want to play a certain game it is to set it specifically as a goal to beat.  So, for May I am going to be a bit more general in my goals.  Overall I would like to get my unbeaten down below 340, though with currently being at 348 and with two guaranteed and one other possible addition coming, that may be a stretch.

I also decided to change how I handle DLC.  I had been counting each DLC that had objectives as a :U:, but I decided that unless the DLC has significant content to it then it will just count towards completion of the main game.  For example, all the DLC except Awakening for Dragon Age are this way now, as are both DLC for Mass Effect.  Awakening is the exception here since it is really a fully realized expansion.  I am keeping the Borderlands DLC except Mad Moxie's as :U: since they all have significant length to them and are story driven.  Mad Moxie's is more of a challenge map type DLC and thus will only count for completion of the main game.  The last one I would like to comment on are the Civ DLC.  While the campaigns in these DLC aren't necessarily long, they change the core game significantly with special rules and have multiple factions each, thus earning :U: status.

During the next month, I will be adding two, possibly three games to my backlog.  I will try to avoid what happened towards the end of this month with the random purchases of the Metal Gear Solid HD pack, Batman, Assassin's Creed II and Sonic Generations.  I did also purchase the original Assassin's Creed for PS3, but since I already had it on another system, it just changed my primary copy.

Definite additions will be Diablo 3 on May 15th and Batman: Arkham City GOTY at the end of the month.  D3 is coming free since I signed up for the annual WoW pass.  Batman is preordered, and may even spark a hard mode run of Arkham Asylum leading up to its release.  The possible purchase is Legend of Grimrock.  I have heard nothing but good things about this game and have always wanted to try a dungeon crawler.  Also, it is made by a Finnish studio and I am part Finn.  I may also be adding the DLC for Assassin's Creed II if I get to that this month, though they will count for completion of the main game, not seperate :U:s

As for what I am playing currently, I am still going through my RPG rotation, though Avadon seems to be skipped a lot.  I am getting towards the home stretch of Final Fantasy XIII and am making steady progress in Xenoblade.  Though I will say Xenoblade will not be done before Last Story comes out. I would like to finish Avadon before then so Last Story can have the third slot in the RPG/long game rotation since I fully expect XIII-2 take XIII's spot.

So while my general goal is to beat around 10 games or so (yeah right) I would like to specifically make progress on getting both Steam and GoG under 60 :U: and beat some of my new games for the year.

April 19th Update

Well, it is already apparent that I bit off more than I can chew for April.  I will still see how much I can accomplish in the time that is remaining though.  The largest development is that I switched out Mass Effect 2 for Final Fantasy XIII.  Every time I considered playing ME2 I just didn't feel at all motivated to do anything, so I figured it was best to set it aside for a while and go back to a game that has been on the back burner.  The fact that I have XIII-2 waiting in the wings also made me want to go back and finish XIII.

I have also found a system that seems to prevent or at least prolong burnout on long games, and that is to have two or three of them going at the same time and rotate so I am not playing the same game two or more days in a row.  At the moment, the three games on this rotation are Xenoblade, Final Fantasy XIII and Avadon, though Avadon hasn't been touched in a week.  (Should change today!).

Another change I made is in how I handle cookie games.  My original idea was to have a Beat cookie and a Starter Cookie, but I decided to change that.  Instead, I will only have one cookie game going at any given time.  The type of cookie will be chosen when I go to open one.  For the first cookie on this new system, I chose to do a handheld cookie where it only considered unbeaten games on one of my handheld systems since I didn't have any handheld's on my now playing.

And now for a general update on the games in my now playing.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike: This is my handheld cookie game.  I haven't done much with it since opening the cookie besides figuring out where I left off.  When I started it, I had two save files.  One was on the level select screen with mission 15 as the next mission and the other was in the middle of a battle.  I finished the battle and found that it was in level 9.  I then saved over the first save and thus will be picking up with mission 10.  I also fooled around with the combat mode a bit.  Need to figure out how long that mode actually is.

Avadon: The Black Fortress: I haven't touched this in over a week.  The last time I played, I finished the Beraza Pit and then got my next assignment, which is to go deal with a wizard tower in Khemeria.

Capsized: Haven't played this one much either in the past few days.  I poked around in level four, but didn't finish it.

Final Fantasy XIII: Just got back into this the other day and finished Chapter 9.  Next session I will start and maybe even finish Chapter 10, depending on how long it is.  Not sure what side tracked me from this in the first place, but it feels good to be back.

Hard Reset: Started and got partway through level 2.  I've been dying a lot on this level and from what I read there are 7 more after it.  This will be interesting.  Hopefully I will get better and be able to finish this soon so I can move onto other new bundle games from this year.

SSX: This is beat, but I am still keeping it in now playing as I am still having fun with it and working towards complete/platinum.  I have most of the online required badges, including the 50,000 person global event and the badges involving beating rivals and defending against rivals, so it should really be up to me now.  

Xenoblade Chronicles: This game has been a blast so far.  From what I have seen, it is either 60 hours if you don't do side quests or ~120 hours if you do them all.  I am seem to be heading towards the 120 hour side, which doesn't bother me at all.  Lately I have been cleaning up side quests and exploring the Satorl Marsh.  I have also just begun the rebuilding of Colony 6.   Next session I will need to put together a shopping list of what I need for the first set of upgrades.

State of the Backlog April 2012

So far my goals system has been working out ok, though the second half of March was a complete failure.  I have decided to go for goals being for the whole month as opposed to half a month increments.  The end of March and early April have/will be bad for new games.  The end of March saw two indie bundles plus a freebie from gog.com.  So far early April has seen Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Capsized purchased.  Originally I was going to wait on XIII-2 until I finished XIII, but it was on sale for $40 instead of the normal $60, so I picked it up.  Capsized was on sale for $2.50 on Steam.  Coming still in the next few days is Xenoblades Chronicles (preorder) and SSX (Easter Gift) as well as the possibility of another freebie from gog.com as they hinted at a gift being given out on 4-5-2012.

For the month of April I would like to do the following.

1). Finish Mass Effect 2.  This has been in progress for a while and I know I am getting close to the end. Only a few Loyalty missions left and some side quests before Omega 4.  Once this is done, I will probably go back to FFXIII since the onus is on to finish that with enough time left in the year to finish XIII-2 as well.
2). Finish the two indie bundles.  This includes Avadon, Snuggle Truck, Zen Bound 2, Hard Reset and Vertex Dispenser.
3). Play through Capsized and Treasure Adventure Game.  Possibly also the thank you freebie from gog.com, depending on if it is a game and what game it is.
4). Finish SBCGFAP.  Wanted to finish it last month, but didn't.  Also would like to finish Gemini Rue and open another starter cookie, but that isn't a priority.
5). Get a Beat on SSX.  I don't think this will take long.  And it is one of those games that I see myself going back to from time to time to kill time ect.
6). Make significant progress on Xenoblades.  I do not see myself beating this in April.  From all accounts a single play through can take up to 120 hours depending on how much you do and with my sporadic play habits and the fact that I like to work on multiple games means this will take some time.  I would like to finish it before Last Story comes out in Mid June.
7). The overall goal for the month will be to get my unifinshed back below 340, which is where it was before the indie bundles came and spoiled my parade.

Update: Keeping the Train Rolling

Just a quick update.  Since my last post I have put another few hours into Mass Effect.  I will write another post when there is something to write about though.  I decided to tackle one of the main story missions and am still in the middle of corporate wasteland.  Want to wait till I finish that mission before posting an update on that.

As for Radiant Historia, I haven't played it much recently.  Just over 3 hours since I started this blog and 6 hours total.  Its not that I don't like the game.  Its more that playing it requires at least an hour per session and when I have that sort of time I either want to fire up Mass Effect or my guild mates in WoW want me to log on and run some dungeon with them.  Hopefully I will get around to playing this more though, so I can keep my posting varied between the games I am playing.  I also plan to decide on a Wii and possibly a PS1 game to throw into the mix as well.

Thirdly, I have heard rumor on the internet the the 3rd Humble Indie Bundle is coming tomorrow.  This means more games for my backlog really.  It is a pay what you want pack of indie games where part of the proceeds go to charities and you get to decide how the money you spend is divided.  The third installation of the bundle will include Trine, Shadow Grounds and Shadow Grounds: Survivor.  Also included is the prototype for Jack Claw and a pre-order for Splot.   Honestly, Trine is the only one here that hold any interest for me, but the cause is good, so I still plan on purchasing the bundle.  Of course I will give each game a fair chance before I decide if it is something I like.  If not, I will null it, no big deal.

This also gives me an idea for a future project, probably when Mass Effect is done, or Mass Effect 2 if I decide to continue that series.  And that would be to put at least 6 hours or beat every game from all three indie bundles.  Of course, games that were included in incomplete states will not have to meet my normal rules, though I may play them enough to post about them once.  Games under this category would include Cortex Command (campaign mode has yet to be released), Jack Claw (only a playable prototype at the moment) and Spots (I don't think there is even a playable prototype out yet).

A New Direction

I have been following the CRPG Addict's blog for a few months now and I have to say that what he is doing, intrigues me.  He has set some rules and is systematically playing through CRPGs starting from the mid 80's to present in chronological order.  He is a self professed addict and is using the project as a way to do something productive with his hobby.  I am similar in some ways with my game playing, though different as well.  My problem is starting a game, playing if for a bit and then getting distracted by either real life or another game.  By the time that distraction is past, I either have no motivation to continue on in that game, have forgotten what I am doing, or have yet another distraction come up.

To remedy this, I created an account on the backloggery. The site allows users to post their game collections and the status of each game, whether it is unbeaten, beaten or completed.  There are also specialized status' called null and mastered.  Null is used for games you want to show in your collection, but have no way to truly win.  Mastered is used to denote completing a self imposed challenge to increase the difficulty of the game beyond the normal scope of the game.  An example would be a speed run, or a mega buster only run in a Megaman game.  This worked for a while to motivate me to make progress on my games, but lately is seems that is doing the trick.  Which brings be back to the CRPG Addict.

I figured I would take his example and impose a few rules, and use a blog to track my playing and thoughts about the games I am playing.  So, my rules that I will do my best to follow are as follows:

1. Only one game from each system that I own can be in my now playing.  These are the games I will be writing about on the blog.  Null games do not count for this purpose, though they may get occasional posts if something interesting happens or I have something to talk about regarding those games.


2. A game must be played for at least 6 hours unless beaten in less time before it can be removed and a new game can be added.  I considered making the time longer or even requiring beaten status to remove it, but that would just make it feel like a chore.  The blog will allow me to document my progress better than the backloggery site can anyway.


3. For each game, a blog post should be made when the game is added to the now playing list after a bit of play to introduce it and my initial thoughts on it.  Another post should be made when the game is removed.  That post should give a good idea where I left off if the game is still unbeaten and my final thoughts when beaten.  Interim posts should be made as needed as well.  (I will shoot for roughly 3 hours worth of gameplay for each post.

Well thats about it for now.  Should be posts for Radiant Historia and Mass Effect soon.

Rating System

I am going to adopt Nintendo Life's scoring policy for my reviews. I am going to post their guidelines here for reference.

10 - Perfect

Of course no game is ever truly perfect, but a score of ten indicates that it is as close as it can get to perfection in the current climate of games. We don't dish this score out lightly, this is a genre defining game that we absolutely feel you should own.

9 - Excellent

A game that scores a nine should be considered a must buy for fans of the genre. Of course if we give a nine to a racing game and you only enjoy RPGs then this probably won't change your mind.

8 - Very Good

If we award a game an eight, you can be sure if you like the genre this is a sound buy for you. Minor niggling factors or a badly judged difficulty spike may have made this game fall short of a nine, but it is not to be dismissed lightly.

7 - Good

A seven is not average in our eyes. This game will sport a few areas where the game is blatantly let down to the detriment of its overall quality and enjoyment, but it is NOT average. A seven is still a recommendation, but you might want to consider what we thought let the game down and decide for yourself if it would bother you before buying.

6 - Not Bad

This game is not good enough to rush out and buy without doing your homework. Whilst you should approach with a degree of caution you might still really enjoy this game. A good example of a six is a lazy sequel, it doesn't innovate but it doesn't really do anything wrong. Other games with a six may be flawed in crucial areas.

5 - Average

A five is where you really need to start wondering if this game is for you. We are saying this game is average in our own subjective opinion. You have to judge for yourself if you are so attracted to this game's concept that you are going to take a chance on it anyway. We'll always give our reasons to show why the game failed to impress.

4 - Below Par

A game with a four may well have some redeeming features, but we're clearly issuing caution to stay away from this game. Broken gameplay, bugs, bad control schemes, inflexible options, and repetitiveness - all these are factors which may contribute to a score of four.

3 - Poor

This is the sort of game you buy and instantly wish you didn't. The developers and publishers are probably well aware of what went wrong and are trying to put a brave face on it. Don't be fooled, accept our warning and run a mile!

2 - Bad

Avoid this miserable specimen of a game at all costs. Any manner of game breaking faults may have contributed to a game being awarded a two, suffice to say this game is not for you. Move on, there is nothing to see here.

1 - Awful

This game is a shambling mockery of a game. You should be insulted that someone thought you were dumb enough to even consider buying this turd. If you ever see a rating of a one DO NOT even consider buying this game. RUN for your life!

These rating descriptions were copied directly from Nintendo Life. I had no part in their creation, but I liked their definitions and reproduced them here for convenience.

Welcome to my Backbloggery

Hello and welcome to my backbloggery. What is a backbloggery you ask? Well, it is a blog that I am using to track my progress through my backlog. A motivator if you will. With this blog I intend to share my initial thoughts on games that I am currently playing as well as write reviews of them when I beat them.

If I revisit a game to go for completion, I also hope to write a post discussing the game after a second play through, to see how it has changed my perception of the game.

I am hoping writing about the games I am playing will help to increase my excitement about the game as well as improve my writing skills. So we shall see.