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No new games in 2021, unfinished backlog only

Do you sign the No New Games Pact of 2021?

  • Yes

  • No


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+ 3.

So an amazing Christmas spent with family had some icing on the cake when I brought over my Super Famicom mini. When I play by myself, I usually play on original hardware. But when I visit friends or family, it's not appealing at all to carry over a Super Famicom and all associated cables, plus carts, plus wired controllers, plus an upscaler. It's cumbersome, very inconvenient, and there's no guarantee that whoever I'm visiting is gonna have space for all that crap on their TV stand. So I hacked my Super Famicom mini and added the games I already own physically, and bought a couple of the 8bitdo wireless Super Famicom controllers.

So my brother got pretty hype about the games, and we hooked up the mini to the TV. It's awesome how well SFC/SNES games hold up -- this was on a 4k TV, and actually looked pretty decent (with scanlines, of course). Another aspect is that I've played some of these games quite a bit solo, but man, playing them in coop is that much more fun.

Completed replays of:

Final Fight 2: There's something about the atmosphere that doesn't make this as good as the original Final Fight. But, at least on the SFC this one is 2-player. The songs are not as good as Final Fight 1 but the action feels good, and the stages are short enough that the game can be completed quickly. Although the whole "you can hit your partner/friendly fire" mechanic of some of those beat 'em ups of old got a bit in the way here: there'd be times that, as Haggar, I'd slam an enemy (his throw move) towards Carlos (who my brother was playing as), and the enemy bounce would knock my brother off. Thankfully we adjusted and it didn't get in the way enough to become a nuisance. Also not sure what to make of the whole globe-trotting thing, I prefer the action to be local to Metro City. At least the Chun Li cameo in Hong Kong is nice, LOL. Lastly, for some bizarre reason this is a sequel, but in my opinion looks much uglier than the original Final Fight. So in general I prefer the original Final Fight by a large margin, but still have fun playing this game in coop.

Contra Spirits: I purposely own the Japanese version of Contra III because it has both a 30-lives code (not quite the same input as the famous "Konami Code") and a stage select code, both things that the American version doesn't have. But not much else to really say that hasn't been said infinitely: the gameplay is tight, the enemy layout is amazing, the soundtrack rocks, the game looks good, the weapons are fun as hell, the boss fights are really fun... goes on and on and on. When I was a kid and was a noob, I loved the Spread (S) gun, because that's what I knew from the NES Contras. But oh boy... When I left my noob ways behind me, I do most of my playthroughs with the combo of Laser (L) and Crush (C) guns. That may just be the most overpowered gun combo in that game; it's freaking brutal, you can run through the game decimating enemies easily, especially in two-player mode. Love this game and will play it regularly until the day I die.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time: Another fantastic game. A soundtrack for the ages. Narrow but fun as hell gameplay. There are aspects of the gameplay that can get deep, but even at its deepest the game is still a bit shallow -- I honestly think the gameplay depth of 16-bit beat 'em ups is very limited. But still, I've played this game dozens of times, and never gets old. Another game I'll play until I die.

When we were done, my brother said, "damn, Konami and Capcom were really on fire back in those days." Yes they were. Yes, they were...
(Well, I still think Capcom's very much still got it, and still outputs my favorite games every generation without fail. Konami though? Well....)
 
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Elcid

Banned
I'll be with you guys in spirit.

Gonna focus hard on my backlog and keeping any unnecessary spending down to a minimum in 2021.

I'm not gonna pretend like I won't be buying Madden/NHL or Halo though. Probably The Medium too.
Life goal is to buy a house this year so I'm not allowing myself to spend a penny on vidya. My PS5 is going to have to milk the shit out of Demon's Souls and Avengers more than I already have.
 

DelireMan7

Member
My challenge :
No 2021 games . I can buy older games as my backlog is limited to 1 genre and I might want to change genre during the year according to my mood.

Here my final list. I bought Baten Kaitos and my wife decided to buy a N64 so I took Zelda Ocarina of time. This is my last buy for this year.

Physical Backlog :

  • Lunar Silver Star Harmony (PSP) Edit: Ongoing ! Started 1st of January
  • The Legend of Heroes : Trails in the Sky (PSP)
  • Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
  • Odin Sphere (PS2)
  • Baldur's Gate : Siege of Dragonspear (PS4)
  • Baldur's Gate 2 : Shadows of Amn (PS4)
  • Baldur's Gate 2 : Throne of Bhaal (PS4)
  • Assassin's Creed IV : Black Flag (PS3)
  • Baten Kaitos : Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (Gamecube)
  • Zelda Ocarina of time (N64)
  • [Replay] Final Fantasy X and X-2 (PS2)
  • [Replay] At least one SoulsBorne (PS3/4)
This is my biggest backlog ever. I usually immediately play what I buy.

Backlog and Games completed in 2020 :
  • Xenoblade Chronicles Done !
  • Final Fantasy XII Gave up ! Done !
  • The Last of Us (PS+) Done !
Games completed :
  1. Dragon Age Origins (PC) (started early 2019, finished 6th January 20, around 80h)
  2. The Last of us + Left Behind (PS4) (Started 1st January, finished 19th January 20, 18h30 + 2h20, Survivor Difficulty)
  3. Dark Souls Remastered (PS4) (thanks to the lockdown, finish a coop playthrough (half NG and full NG+) with a friend)
  4. Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) (Started 25th January 2020, finished 10th May 20, 78h30)
  5. Streets of Rage 4 (PS4) (Online coop with friends, still playing Mania arcade and scoring)
  6. Assassin's Creed (PS3) (Started 12th of May, finished the 30rd of May)
  7. Assassin's Creed II (PS3) (Started 2nd of June, finished 17th of June, 15h30)
  8. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (PS3) (Started 20th of June; finished the 5th of July, 14h42)
  9. Assassin's Creed Revelations (PS3) (Started 5th of July; finished 11th of July, 9h03)
  10. Final Fantasy XII : The Zodiac age (PS4) (Started 25th of July, stopped 21st of August Finish the 3rd of November, around 64h)
  11. Batman Arkham Knight's DLC : Batgirl, Red Hood, Catwoman and Harley Quinn (PS4) (21/22 nd of August, around 3h)
  12. Assassin's Creed 3 (PS3) (Started the 23th of August, ended the 5th of September, 19h)
  13. Baldur's Gate (PS4) (Started the 14th of September, ended the 5th of October, "162 days")
  14. Demon's Souls (PS3) (Started the 5th of October, ended the 17th of October, 25h)
  15. Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition + DLCs (Gladio, Prompto, Ignis and Ardyn) (PS4) (Started 7th of November, ended 5th of December around 58h)
  16. Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (PSP) (Started 9th of December, ended 28th of December, 36h22)
 
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Kazza

Member
My original plan was to build a new PC, but with that situation completely fucked for the foreseeable future, I may as well jump on the "no new games" train and enjoy the stuff I have already instead. I've built up a nice collection of "retro" titles and machines over the years, so I'll spend 2021 digging in to those. Pretty much all of these will be first time playthroughs for me, so if anyone has any tips and advice then let me know.

OG Xbox

Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Burnout Revenge
Halo: Combat Evolved
Gunvalkyrie
Otogi 2
ToeJam & Earl 3
Splinter Cell

Gamecube

Metroid Prime
Super Monkey Ball
Star Wars: Rogue Leader

PS2

Devil May Cry
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
Ridge Racer 5
Onimusha: Warlords
Ace Combat: Distant Thunder
God Hand
Jet Li Rise to Honour

Dreamcast (via PC ports)

Sonic Adventure
Space Channel 5
Sega Bass Fishing

PS3

Folklore
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Mass Effect 2
The Saboteur
Sniper Elite V2

Xbox 360

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Sega Rally
Gears of War 3

Saturn (via Xbox 360 ports)

Radiant Silvergun
Guardian Heroes
Fighting Vipers
Virtua Fighter 2

PS1

Castlevania: SotN (2nd half - I already completed the first half this Oct)
Tomb Raider 2
FF VII
Resident Evil 2

Megadrive/Mega CD

Snatcher
Lunar The Silver Star
Shining Force CD
Ristar
MUSHA

PC

198X
Beat Cop
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Celeste
Detention
Doom (classic 90s Doom - yep, never played this one!)
The Longest Journey
Tales of Monkey Island
Megaman Legacy Collection
Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 & 2
Street Fighter Collection (primarily SF2 - want to fulfil a childhood ambition and get good at it)
Syndicate Plus
Technobabylon
Thief Gold


I count 56 games there. That seems a lot, but I should have around 10-15 hours per week playing time, and most of these older type games tend to be on the shorter side, so I could possibly manage to finish the lot. My backlog is bigger than that (thanks Humble Bundle), but it's nice to prioritise the games. A good mix of genres there. The only thing missing is some sports games, but I'm pretty sure I have that NeoGeo baseball one on an SNK collection somewhere.

I just took my PS2 and Xbox out of storage, and it's good having them all set up again (the Xbox gave me a scare with it's own version of the dreaded 360 red ring of death, but everything was fine after switching it on for a second time). Seeing all those great games (a mix of GOATs and quirkier titles), I suddenly feel much better about not being able to buy an RTX3070. It'll make Christmas next year more fun, as that will be the point where a years worth of pent up purchase desire will finally be able to be let free.
 
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stn

Member
I probably won't buy any games in 2021 apart from Hitman 3, anyway. That said, I did beat Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4) last night, now doing a second run just to get the platinum (which I may hopefully complete tonight since the game is short). I have another 60 games to beat after that, probably going to finish off Yakuza: Like A Dragon (PS4) next.
 

Phase

Member
My original plan was to build a new PC, but with that situation completely fucked for the foreseeable future, I may as well jump on the "no new games" train and enjoy the stuff I have already instead. I've built up a nice collection of "retro" titles and machines over the years, so I'll spend 2021 digging in to those. Pretty much all of these will be first time playthroughs for me, so if anyone has any tips and advice then let me know.

OG Xbox

Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Burnout Revenge
Halo: Combat Evolved
Gunvalkyrie
Otogi 2
ToeJam & Earl 3
Splinter Cell

Gamecube

Metroid Prime
Super Monkey Ball
Star Wars: Rogue Leader

PS2

Devil May Cry
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution
Ridge Racer 5
Onimusha: Warlords
Ace Combat: Distant Thunder
God Hand
Jet Li Rise to Honour

Dreamcast (via PC ports)

Sonic Adventure
Space Channel 5
Sega Bass Fishing

PS3

Folklore
Ninja Gaiden Sigma
Mass Effect 2
The Saboteur
Sniper Elite V2

Xbox 360

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Sega Rally
Gears of War 3

Saturn (via Xbox 360 ports)

Radiant Silvergun
Guardian Heroes
Fighting Vipers
Virtua Fighter 2

PS1

Castlevania: SotN (2nd half - I already completed the first half this Oct)
Tomb Raider 2
FF VII
Resident Evil 2

Megadrive/Mega CD

Snatcher
Lunar The Silver Star
Shining Force CD
Ristar
MUSHA

PC

198X
Beat Cop
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Celeste
Detention
Doom (classic 90s Doom - yep, never played this one!)
The Longest Journey
Tales of Monkey Island
Megaman Legacy Collection
Roller Coaster Tycoon 1 & 2
Street Fighter Collection (primarily SF2 - want to fulfil a childhood ambition and get good at it)
Syndicate Plus
Technobabylon
Thief Gold


I count 56 games there. That seems a lot, but I should have around 10-15 hours per week playing time, and most of these older type games tend to be on the shorter side, so I could possibly manage to finish the lot. My backlog is bigger than that (thanks Humble Bundle), but it's nice to prioritise the games. A good mix of genres there. The only thing missing is some sports games, but I'm pretty sure I have that NeoGeo baseball one on an SNK collection somewhere.

I just took my PS2 and Xbox out of storage, and it's good having them all set up again (the Xbox gave me a scare with it's own version of the dreaded 360 red ring of death, but everything was fine after switching it on for a second time). Seeing all those great games (a mix of GOATs and quirkier titles), I suddenly feel much better about not being able to buy an RTX3070. It'll make Christmas next year more fun, as that will be the point where a years worth of pent up purchase desire will finally be able to be let free.
What a list! Have fun.
 

Kazza

Member
What a list! Have fun.

Thanks! I've gone from feeling mildly depressed about not being able to buy a new PC to really looking forward to playing lots of great classics, all as a result of writing that list. I've just ordered the PS2 version of a snowboarding game called SSX3, adding a much needed sports title to round off my library. I did a lot of actual, real life snowboarding last winter and was looking forward to doing more this year, but covid intervened in that plan, so I'm playing this as a substitute. While it can't compare to the real thing, I've heard it's a great game, so should be fun.
 
Thanks! I've gone from feeling mildly depressed about not being able to buy a new PC to really looking forward to playing lots of great classics, all as a result of writing that list.

That's awesome! Glad you were able to turn a negative into a positive. Your list of games looks awesome (and many on their original consoles, too!) Have a blast, and keep us updated in this thread!

As for your goal of getting better at Street Fighter 2 -- do you have a specific goal in mind? Do you have a character in mind? Exciting times...
 

Kazza

Member
As for your goal of getting better at Street Fighter 2 -- do you have a specific goal in mind? Do you have a character in mind? Exciting times...

I'm old enough to have been around during the whole SFII arcade craze, but was a little too young to compete. My memories of the period mostly consist of putting my coin down for a match, then sideling up next to the much taller 16/17 year old who had just defeated the last opponent, and then proceed to get absolutely destroyed, haha. Actually, people were pretty nice on the whole, and there was a kind of arcade etiquette in force. The older kids knew that us little brats were spending our scant pocket money on this game, so they would normally let me go on the attack for the first half of each round, just blocking my attacks, before clinically finishing me off before the clock ran down. On the rare occasion I would come across a free machine and could play against the CPU, I would normally not be able to get past round 3. I remember spending lots of time watching others play, eyes flicking between the screen and the controls in an attempt to see how the were pulling off all those super impressive moves. I never got good and tended to play the likes of Final Fight with my pennies instead. Good memories, feels like a different era.

Of course, the game would later come consoles, but the cartridge was expensive, plus it would involve buying a six button controller (I had a Megadrive), so I never got round to buying it.

Well, it's 2020 now, and I just bought myself a copy of the collection and one of these beauties, and am now ready to really get into it:

51sJVy-zp1L._AC_SL1280_.jpg


In terms of characters, I'd like to start with the classic Ryu/Ken. I can do the dragon punch, spinning kick and fireball move, but my whole fighting tactics are pretty much non-existent. After those, Chun-Li would be the next choice, but all characters are pretty interesting to me. I think the great selection of characters are one of the things that made it so popular. I'd like to stick with the World Warrior edition to begin with. I don't need to be smashing people online, for now I'd just be happy to be able to beat the CPU on normal difficulty. I did come across this video which, apart from being delightfully 90s, also seems to contain some pretty good advice:




Thinking about that whole arcade culture, I really like the HappyConsoleGamer's stories about the game (featuring stabbing threats and racist Asian businessmen):






Sorry, that ended up longing than I intended. Any SFII advice would be appreciated.
 
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Sejan

Member
I’m in until I get my hands on a PS5. At that point, I’ll get demon’s soul and one other depending on what’s available at the time. All in all, I don’t expect to get many new games at all in 2020. I’ll probably end up doing the Kanye tier.
 
I'm old enough to have been around during the whole SFII arcade craze, but was a little too young to compete. My memories of the period mostly consist of putting my coin down for a match, then sideling up next to the much taller 16/17 year old who had just defeated the last opponent, and then proceed to get absolutely destroyed, haha. Actually, people were pretty nice on the whole, and there was a kind of arcade etiquette in force. The older kids knew that us little brats were spending our scant pocket money on this game, so they would normally let me go on the attack for the first half of each round, just blocking my attacks, before clinically finishing me off before the clock ran down. On the rare occasion I would come across a free machine and could play against the CPU, I would normally not be able to get past round 3. I remember spending lots of time watching others play, eyes flicking between the screen and the controls in an attempt to see how the were pulling off all those super impressive moves. I never got good and tended to play the likes of Final Fight with my pennies instead. Good memories, feels like a different era.

Of course, the game would later come consoles, but the cartridge was expensive, plus it would involve buying a six button controller (I had a Megadrive), so I never got round to buying it.

Well, it's 2020 now, and I just bought myself a copy of the collection and one of these beauties, and am now ready to really get into it:

51sJVy-zp1L._AC_SL1280_.jpg


In terms of characters, I'd like to start with the classic Ryu/Ken. I can do the dragon punch, spinning kick and fireball move, but my whole fighting tactics are pretty much non-existent. After those, Chun-Li would be the next choice, but all characters are pretty interesting to me. I think the great selection of characters are one of the things that made it so popular. I'd like to stick with the World Warrior edition to begin with. I don't need to be smashing people online, for now I'd just be happy to be able to beat the CPU on normal difficulty. I did come across this video which, apart from being delightfully 90s, also seems to contain some pretty good advice:




Thinking about that whole arcade culture, I really like the HappyConsoleGamer's stories about the game (featuring stabbing threats and racist Asian businessmen):






Sorry, that ended up longing than I intended. Any SFII advice would be appreciated.

"Sorry"? Nonsense, loved your post!

That joystick does look pretty freaking sweet! Mad respect. I myself have been around fighting games in one way or another for close to 30 years, and funnily enough I've always eschewed joysticks in favor of pads. (Probably has to do with playing a lot of fighting games on the Saturn growing up, and as we all know that's the GOAT D-pad...)

You've got the right approach, getting the basic special moves is a good start. Can you do the moves consistently at this point?

World Warrior is also a great start. It's slower paced than future games (even within the Street Fighter II series), but still has most of the basic aspects of Street Fighter that have been around for almost 30 years.

I'm not any kind of expert, but I'm sure that I and any other GAFfers experienced with fighting games can answer any questions you may have! Cheers!
 

Bakkus

Member
Metroid Prime
Play with the hint system ON as it is by default unless you wanna go insane with all the mindless wandering. If you're interested in the story and lore, scan all different enemies and the goo you find on the wall to read. There's also a really annoying place called Phazon Mines.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy
Please avoid this version and play the DS versions instead. They completely ruined the sprite visuals.
 
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Focused hard on my backlog in the past two years so currently it‘s down to 6 games - and I‘m working on one of those as we speak.

Since I‘ve become weirdly patient in the past year or so and even with the heaviest discounts don‘t feel the urge to buy games anymore if I can‘t tackle them right away, I‘m pretty sure I‘ll be done completely very soon. For Dark Souls 3 I‘m prolly gonna wait for the PS5 to play since I can play it there on 60 fps. I also have Splinter Cell DA here 2 times (Xbox and 360 version) and I might hold on to those until I bought a series X but if it takes too long I‘ll prolly get my 360 out of the cellar again.

Can‘t wait to see the 0 on my backloggery. :messenger_sunglasses:
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
I wouldn't do this even if I had a massive backlog but thankfully, I only have one game in my backlog from last generation which is Wasteland 3. Other than that, games have been either completed or simply dropped for good and are simply gone. But huge props and credit for those who are actually able to only play their backlogged games and not any new releases.
 

Kazza

Member
Play with the hint system ON as it is by default unless you wanna go insane with all the mindless wandering. If you're interested in the story and lore, scan all different enemies and the goo you find on the wall to read. There's also a really annoying place called Phazon Mines.

I actually started the game a couple of years back, but got frustrated at a particular boss (the fight took place at the top of a "tree" that you had to climb all the way back up to when you died), then life intervened and I didn't continue. I think I'll just start a new game, rather than continuing my old save. I can't remember whether I had the hint system on or off, but I'll put it on this time, so long as it doesn't spoile anything.

Please avoid this version and play the DS versions instead. They completely ruined the sprite visuals.

While I appreciate the older style pixel art (I'm going to be learning to draw a bit of pixel art myself next year), I personally don't mind the HD artwork. I'm also playing the game in a foreign language, so it's as much a study tool as a game. Playing the DS version would involve finding a ROM, then trying to find an appropriate language patch, then an emulator etc, so I'm just gonna stick to the regular PC game.
 

Kazza

Member
I just checked a cupboard and took a look at my brother's old DS collection that he gave me, and noticed that he has Trials and Tribulations, so maybe I'll play that one on my 3DS.
 
It's my first since this beauty 30 years ago:

320px-ArcadePowerStick_MD_JP.jpg


Playing a game feels much more like an event when using a huge arcade stick. As well as the fighting games, I'm going to squeeze in some MAME arcade gaming next year too (hope that doesn't count as breaking the backlog rules :messenger_beaming: )
Please tell me you still own this, LOL.

I didn't even know a Genesis 3-button stick existed. Holy shit that looks good...
 
It's my first since this beauty 30 years ago:

320px-ArcadePowerStick_MD_JP.jpg


Playing a game feels much more like an event when using a huge arcade stick. As well as the fighting games, I'm going to squeeze in some MAME arcade gaming next year too (hope that doesn't count as breaking the backlog rules :messenger_beaming: )
lol yeah that must feel like quite an upgrade. I have a few HORI sticks myself. The guts can be easily swapped (if desired), and the cases are extremely well built. I have a Real Arcade Pro N series from 10 years ago that I still use regularly (on my PS2 via converter). Plus two VLX sticks. I don't think I'll ever need to buy a stick again.

Much love for HORI.

I try to use em whenever the game suits it, which is a surprisingly big chunk of my game library. Anything side-scrolling is usually fine on a stick. Most arcade and indie games can be played with a stick. VS puzzle games, fighting games (obviously), and so forth. Arcade sticks are a great investment imo
 
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Griffon

Member
By the look of things, my year will be mostly backlogs too.

But not quite tho, I wont skip Resident Evil 8, and I'm holding hopes for Elden Ring or BotW2. And I'm not opposed to good indie surprises.
 
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Kazza

Member
Please tell me you still own this, LOL.

I didn't even know a Genesis 3-button stick existed. Holy shit that looks good...

Unfortunately not, haha! I seem to have pretty much gotten rid of all my old console stuff at some point (at least I can't find any of it back at my parent's place). I'm sure they released a 6 button version later, but I had one of the earlier 3 button ones. Although one on one fighting games weren't a big thing yet, having the stick for the likes of Altered Beast and Golden Axe did help fulfil the "We bring the arcade experience home" promise of the system. It was a pretty solid stick, as I remember it.

lol yeah that must feel like quite an upgrade. I have a few HORI sticks myself. The guts can be easily swapped (if desired), and the cases are extremely well built. I have a Real Arcade Pro N series from 10 years ago that I still use regularly (on my PS2 via converter). Plus two VLX sticks. I don't think I'll ever need to buy a stick again.

Much love for HORI.

I try to use em whenever the game suits it, which is a surprisingly big chunk of my game library. Anything side-scrolling is usually fine on a stick. Most arcade and indie games can be played with a stick. VS puzzle games, fighting games (obviously), and so forth. Arcade sticks are a great investment imo

A Hori stick would normally be a bit too pricey for me, but since I have put off buying a new PC for at least another year, I've had some spare cash to spend, so bought myself a nice mechanical keyboard, decent mouse, a nice set of Sennheiser headphones, plus this arcade stick. The only thing I don't like about it is the rather dull black and grey faceplate design. It's not a big deal, but I might see if I can modify the design some day.

I know you're a big shoot'em up fan. Do you ever use any of your arcade sticks for those? I'm thinking of using mine to play Radiant Silvergun. I mean, that's how they were played at the arcade, so I'm sure it'll feel fine, but do you find you can play better with a regular controller?

-XqW_rARByGiF4CH_JR8St0lXPxnjJcljyML5Ic9WLOWGt8hWlEErdm4sKGS5ro8CWJKzO1wj74TAp0iHTfo8JE2OHTvNTpcz42HDr_2WwAknn98RQ71ouEojL4L5nKuWuhlhWi1fqYz
 
A Hori stick would normally be a bit too pricey for me, but since I have put off buying a new PC for at least another year, I've had some spare cash to spend, so bought myself a nice mechanical keyboard, decent mouse, a nice set of Sennheiser headphones, plus this arcade stick. The only thing I don't like about it is the rather dull black and grey faceplate design. It's not a big deal, but I might see if I can modify the design some day.

I know you're a big shoot'em up fan. Do you ever use any of your arcade sticks for those? I'm thinking of using mine to play Radiant Silvergun. I mean, that's how they were played at the arcade, so I'm sure it'll feel fine, but do you find you can play better with a regular controller?

-XqW_rARByGiF4CH_JR8St0lXPxnjJcljyML5Ic9WLOWGt8hWlEErdm4sKGS5ro8CWJKzO1wj74TAp0iHTfo8JE2OHTvNTpcz42HDr_2WwAknn98RQ71ouEojL4L5nKuWuhlhWi1fqYz
I generally play arcade games on a stick if I can help it, and shmups are no exception. The aforementioned HORI RAP-N model is what I use on the daily for practicing Daioujou. It still has the stock white Sanwa buttons (from the time before HORI started their own Hayabusa line) and the lever has an 8-way gate on a Seimitsu LS 40.

Arcade sticks are nice for two reasons, and neither of my reasons have to do with "authenticity" or whatever.

First, they've easier on the hands. I switched to sticks in the first place because I was learning Guilty Gear XX on a PS2 controller. Every friend in that group would blister their thumbs. Using a stick is overall just more relaxed. My hands don't cramp up or get rubbed the wrong way from playing for hours at a time.

Second, pulling off complex maneuvers feels more natural and intuitive on a stick with that instant clicky-click feedback. Of course, this assumes the game uses D-pad and not analogue direction. I dunno. Plenty of people perform fine on a controller. An arcade stick feels to me like a more fine-tuned instrument. Precise and simple. All extraneous buttons removed. Fighting games also benefit from a stick for this reason. Using shoulder buttons for Heavy Punch/Heavy Kick never made sense to me.

This translates to shmups, where the value of precision inputs and of building muscle-memory with a ubiquitous control scheme should be obvious.
 
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Kazza

Member
I was learning Guilty Gear XX on a PS2 controller. Every friend in that group would blister their thumbs.

I don't know how people can stand playing fighting games on any playstation controller. The d-pad is fine for regular 2D games, but the way it's almost separated into four "buttons" just doesn't do it for me. I have a USB converter for a Saturn model 2 pad, and that has been my go to for any 2D games on PC, but I'm going to start switching to the stick for some now that I have it.
 

Kazza

Member
Absolutely amazing game. Wish I could play it for the first time again.

I've already played the first mission and think I'm going to love it. I'm even tempted to order the other two PS2 games so that I don't have to wait another year to play them.


I would strongly suggest playing Lunar on the Saturn if you can

I remember seeing stuff about the Saturn version in the Saturn thread. I plan on doing the "unworked designs" patch on the Mega CD version, as I understand that the localisation company jacked up the difficulty. Is that your main beef with that version?
 
I'll be playing Resident Evil 8 but I am the type of gamer who is generally 5 years behind the curve. The last 10 years or so I've preferred to explore old games and see stuff that I missed out on. Been on a Wii U kick lately and I'm always up for playing my Sega Saturn/PS2/PSX.

I will say, 2020 has been great for my backlog, I actually finally beat Albert Odyssey for the Saturn and it was just fantastic. One of my most nostalgic games, my older brother and I were playing it alot as kids when our father was dying of cancer. It's not a game that was hard to revisit due to sadness, I just didn't want to actually finish it because the game meant so much to me, but this year I did and enjoyed the hell out of it. I'll definitely be revisiting it again at some point. Crazy that it goes for $300 on ebay, it's honestly not that "great" of a game but it is relatively unique and totally worth playing if you enjoy SNES era RPGs. The OST is fantastic.

Attack the backlog!!!
 

VidKid369

Member
I will say, 2020 has been great for my backlog, I actually finally beat Albert Odyssey for the Saturn and it was just fantastic. One of my most nostalgic games, my older brother and I were playing it alot as kids when our father was dying of cancer. It's not a game that was hard to revisit due to sadness, I just didn't want to actually finish it because the game meant so much to me, but this year I did and enjoyed the hell out of it. I'll definitely be revisiting it again at some point. Crazy that it goes for $300 on ebay, it's honestly not that "great" of a game but it is relatively unique and totally worth playing if you enjoy SNES era RPGs. The OST is fantastic.

Attack the backlog!!!
Oh wow, I recently just beat Albert Odyssey: Legend of Eldean for the Saturn not too long ago as well. I like Working Designs' RPGs a lot and I never got to get Albert Odyssey as a kid. It was a pretty cool adventure. I wish more RPGs were just like it. Cheers!
 

VidKid369

Member
Hey guys. I've never written out a list before to help with my backlog so I thought I'd try.
* denotes I've finished the game before but I want to do everything for a 100% completion. I'm focusing mainly on my Super NES + PlayStation this year.

Super Nintendo:
Chrono Trigger*
Earthbound*
Final Fantasy II*
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Harvest Moon
Illusion of Gaia
Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals*
Secret of Evermore
Super Mario RPG - Legend of the Seven Stars*

PlayStation:
[parasite eve]
Alundra
Azure Dreams
Brave Fencer Musashi
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Chocobo's Dungeon 2
Chrono Cross*
Final Fantasy VI*
Eternal Eyes
Final Fantasy Tactics*
Final Fantasy VIII*
front mission 3
Grandia
The Legend of Dragoon
Legend of Legaia*
Legend of Mana
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
SaGa Frontier
SaGa Frontier II
Saiyuki: Journey West*
Suikoden*
Suikoden II*
Tales of Destiny
Tales of Destiny II
theme Hospital
Thousand Arms*
Vagrant Story
Vandal Hearts
Vanguard Bandits*
Wild ARMs
Wild ARMs 2
Xenogears

Wish me luck.
 

stn

Member
Here's my backlog heading into 2021:

X360:
DMC HD Collection
Forza 3
RE 6

3DS:
DQ8
Ocarina of Time 3D
Xenoblade 3D

Dreamcast:
Shenmue

N64:
Banjo Kazooie
Body Harvest
Jet Force Gemini

PS2:
Bujingai
Half Life
Onimusha 2, 3, and Dawn of Dreams
Shinobi
Soul Calibur 3

PS3:
Metal Gear Collection (MGS1 and MGS4)
Nier

PS4:
Battle Chasers
Bayonetta and Vanquish Collection
Berserk
Bloodborne
Dark Souls 1-3
DQ 11 S
Fist of the North Star
Ghost of Tsushima
LA Noire
Nier Automata
Sekiro
Shadow of the Colossus
Shenmue HD Collection
Shenmue 3
Vampyr
Yakuza Like A Dragon
Ys: 8 Lcarimosa
Ys: Celceta

Switch:
Deadly Premonition 1 and 2
Pokemon Shield
Mario 3D All Stars
Trials of Mana
Xenoblade HD and Xenoblade 2 and Xenoblade 2 Golden Country

XBO:
CP2077
Destiny 2
ESO
Gears 4 and 5
Hitman 2
Mafia
RE2
Wolfenstein 2

XBox:
GTA San Andreas
MK Shaolin Monks
Scarface
Sudeki

Since I work nonstop and am hoping to find a wife and start a family, I'll probably never finish this backlog, lol
 

Bakkus

Member
I've finished Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles already this year. Sonic 2 is good but not great (game over you have to restart the entire game? fuck that), while Sonic 3 & Knuckles is really great. But the last zone sucks. If you die on various checkpoints then you have to play really rough parts with no rings to protect you. Oh yeah, Carnival Zone sucks too even if you ignore those infamous barrels; That zone has so many annoying gimmicks which doesn't work and godawful music. But other than that, the game is great with brilliant zones with a lot of clever ideas which almost never overstay their welcome. Incredible how they managed to improve so much on the foundation of Sonic 1 & 2 on the same console!

Sonic 2 - 7.5/10 (I had played it to the end boss before, but that was in 50hz)

Sonic 3 & Knuckles - 8.5/10 (almost a 9, but the last zone ruined a bit of the overall impression)

I did actually finish Sonic 2 on December 30th or something, but last years thread was dead at that point, so I'll just include it for this year.
 

Kazza

Member
This might have been the only kid in the world with a backlog problem in 1994:




I always thought I had a bumper Christmas if I got more than 2 games. This would have been overwhelming. Backlogs weren't a thing in my childhood.
 

Kazza

Member
I just cancelled my Humble Bundle subscription today. Although good value for money, I find that I get my enjoyment when I specifically and individually pay for each game. I don't wnat to get to the end of this year with another 120 unplayed games clogging up my PC.
 
I have precisely 0 games in my library that I've bought and yet played. I don't buy a game if I don't intend to play it immediately (or right after the previous game if I'm buying more than 1 at a time). However, there's a text document somewhere on my computer that has 100+ games that I've been planning to play. I've been working on this list for years now, and I tend to add 3-5 games during the time it takes me to finish 1 game on that list.

So, yes for buying 2021 games if something interests me, no for working on my backlog like it's a to do list of chores. I don't think I'll be alive to finish that whole list, so my goal is to finish the year with less entries on the list than what I have now.
 
I just cancelled my Humble Bundle subscription today. Although good value for money, I find that I get my enjoyment when I specifically and individually pay for each game. I don't wnat to get to the end of this year with another 120 unplayed games clogging up my PC.

Good job! I've gone through something a bit similar -- while I don't have Humble Bundle, it's too easy to see something on a Steam Winter sale, for example, and pull the trigger on it even though you've got 120 other games to tend to. But lately, I've resisted.

I've generally had good impulse control most of my life, and my current backlog is largely due to other factors (family and friends, demanding work schedules, other hobbies, a time-hogging girlfriend I've since gotten rid of, etc...). But the thing is, each and every one of the games in my backlog I've bought with the intention of playing. I'm a gamer/player, not a collector. I don't buy games just to "have them."

I really like this thread, it's an encouragement to all of us to actually, you know... play the games we've bought :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Cheers!

EDIT: To address a point made by D DeathFromBelow1122 above -- that's the thing, a backlog doesn't have to feel like a chore. Depending on how big someone's backlog is, and how varied it is, you can have a lot of choice -- and a lot of fun -- with the games you may already have in your backlog. If you feel that a game in your backlog is a chore, then maybe you didn't really ever want to play that game in the first place, even when you initially bought it. But I can also understand if, for example, your backlog is all FPS games, you may get FPS burnout and want to buy that new platformer or puzzle game you've been eyeing. I understand that. But I don't think that's the situation in most cases.
 
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Phase

Member
52games2021-1.png


1. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)
First finished game of the year! Great game. I had already played Witcher 3 before this but that wasn't detrimental to my enjoyment. I rather liked the shorter length and the more linear design worked well.
 
52games2021-1.png


1. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)
First finished game of the year! Great game. I had already played Witcher 3 before this but that wasn't detrimental to my enjoyment. I rather liked the shorter length and the more linear design worked well.
My favorite Witcher game. It felt in line with what Dragon Age was doing at the time (and did it better): mutually-exclusive plot branches to encourage multiple playthroughs.
 

Kazza

Member
52games2021-1.png


1. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (PC)
First finished game of the year! Great game. I had already played Witcher 3 before this but that wasn't detrimental to my enjoyment. I rather liked the shorter length and the more linear design worked well.

Cool, I've always wondered how the 2nd game was. Good to know it holds up well. TBH, shorter isn't exactly a bad point for me either.
 

Phase

Member
Cool, I've always wondered how the 2nd game was. Good to know it holds up well. TBH, shorter isn't exactly a bad point for me either.
My favorite Witcher game. It felt in line with what Dragon Age was doing at the time (and did it better): mutually-exclusive plot branches to encourage multiple playthroughs.
I agree. I like open worlds for the fact that I can do what I want whenever, but I would have to say I probably like 2 more than 3 as it felt way more focused.
 

Phase

Member
Finished off one more I had been playing through.

52games2021-2.png


2. Demon's Souls (PS3)
It was fun to come back to this game after so long. The limited-direction rolling took some time to get used to as I rolled the opposite direction sometimes in the heat of the moment, but I loved playing through all the areas again. I'm currently going through NG+ but will probably put it down for a while. When I eventually get a PS5 I'll play through the remake.
 

gamer82

Member
No will power!

I got a bunch of games for xmas to play on my shiney but scratched ps5 (had hairline scratches all over the black part out the box and it's a dust magnet as well 😕)

My 2021 backlog

Uncharted 1-4 (played a few times but fancied a redo)

Horrizon zero dawn complete edition

God of war

Doom eternal

The avengers (but waiting for patch before starting)

Days gone

Resident evil 3

Spider-Man remastered

Just a few before i get anymore so im good for a while as i don't play every day for hours on end.

Anyone else not bothered by trophy collecting?
 
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Phase

Member
52games2021-3.png


3. Little Big Planet (PS3)
I'm glad it's short. Nostalgia didn't carry the game for me but it was still fun. I remember how cool it was at the time playing all of the online player created levels and playing with others, but this playthrough was offline. I'm hoping to keep up a good pace for the first couple months this year. Going to be playing a lot the next few weeks.
 
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+1. (For some reason I'm only counting games after I beat them, I'll reconsider this approach if I start playing games I don't beat. I doubt that will happen, though). Current backlog completed count: 5.

Super Mario Bros (via Super Mario All-Stars; played on an original Super Nintendo). Not much to say about Mario 1, it's almost single-handedly (indirectly) the reason why we're all here, LOL. I hooked up my Super Nintendo (with a Framemeister) because I plan to play a shit ton of the carts that I own this year. So I started with good ol' Super Mario All-Stars, and did a 100% (warp-less) run.

Let's see. Game looks great (is this the first "next gen remaster" ever made?). Game plays great. However:
(1) Maybe it's just me, or my memory of playing the NES game is foggy, but something about the physics feels ever so slightly "off" here, compared to the NES version. I can't really explain it in detail, but I wasn't landing some of my jumps at the places I wanted to (in the NES version I'm more or less able to stay at a consistent "dashing and jumping" pace for most levels throughout the entire game).
(2) Even though the game looks good, I still prefer the look and feel of the 8-bit version. This is a colorful and good looking remaster, but some of the levels are a bit too "busy" with background clouds and colorful stuff, and I prefer the more toned-down original version. In Mario 1 this is still tolerable; I think Mario 3 is the game where this becomes a real issue for me.

Anyway I started playing Super Mario Bros: The Lost Levels immediately afterward, and not counting it yet because I haven't completed it. This is my first playthrough (also warp-less) and I knew I was in for a challenge, but HOLY SHIT. I think I've heard that "Mario 1 death jingle" more times last night than I have my entire previous playing history combined. I'll offer more thoughts once I've beaten it.

Happy gaming, GAF! :messenger_bicep:
 
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