Lok's 2025 Backlog Bash Extravaganza !!

It's time to burn through all those Halloween and Winter sale games again!

I'm going to tackle my backlog in 3 phases

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Phase 1: Any game I have installed already. This should be the easiest since if it's already installed then I'm good to go.

Phase 2: Any game I don't currently have installed that I also haven't played yet. This is the bulk of the backlog, and I look forward to FF7 when it can be downloaded

Phase 3: Games from the trash bin that need further attention (IE: Mostly freemium games or games that failed to complete in a previous backlog bash)

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Furthermore, I'll give each game a Backlog rating. It's not a rating of the game quality, just a rating of how backlogiful the game is.

S Rank: 100%'d the game, wowzers!
A Rank: Beat the game
B Rank: I couldn't beat the game and it would take significant effort to finish (such as MMOs with a core plot), but I WILL return someday
C Rank: I couldn't beat the game and the game is just kinda... ehhhh
D Rank: Coke Zero
F Rank: I turned the game on, barfed, did a 360 and walked away.

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You can join in too!

I'll be doing these in alphabetical order by phase as according to my Steam Library.

Game 1: Among Us - A Rank

Wow, that took only like a few minutes!

Game 2: Balatro - A Rank

Wow, I already had it done!

Game 3: Blasphemous 2 DLC ONLY. This game was previously S rank and has been reduced to A rank due to the DLC... as such, this is the first game I will be actuall playing for this topic

I'll finally have time to game next week. Might as well try to finish Berseria before Graces comes out.

oopsie, looks like Blasphemous 2 was previously only B rank - I must have got it mixed up. Still, new DLC

Oopsie, looks like I messed up my own rating system... Blasphemous 2 WAS A rank afterall, but I still need the DLC clear

I can't remember where to go, I have double jump and my next goal is somewhere in the upper right.... I don't have the ability to go through blue chains or gold platforms yet.

Progress is being made

Enjoy the best song from Blasphemous 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLDoLQQ4uP4

Ok, Blasphemous 2 is done to a high A rank - I could S rank it now, the only achievements missing are an optional choice in the DLC which is about 1/3 through the game, and the 'get to the emery boss in 30 minutes'... but that's a scope for another day.

Next game!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082710/Bug_Fables_The_Everlasting_Sapling/

Let's a go!

holy crap is it cold today~! I'm going back to bed

If I had Steam Deck I could play, but meh

phase 1 should just be look at everything

and then phase 2 is just play something you've played 43 times already instead

Lokarin posted...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1082710/Bug_Fables_The_Everlasting_Sapling/

It's Paper Mario, with bugs!

Rather cute, I'm mid chapter 2 right now

Lokarin posted...

It's Paper Mario, with bugs!

Rather cute, I'm mid chapter 2 right now

Yeah I was tempted to get it but I'll get it during another sale.

The chapter 3 dungeon is fantastic

Starting chapter 5

game is rather charming and Vi is so cute. lots of content, too.

Game is funny in how it unlocks most abilities for you, though. Some you'll unlock as the plot suggests, which is totally fair; but others you'll just be walking down a road and Kabbu will be like "oh, I can run btw - double tap B" :V

Beat it, Bug Fables upgraded to A Rank.

It's really good. Highly recommend if you just want a Paper Mario style RPG

Will play it a bit more cuz there's bonus content before moving on

Bug Fables, gunna take a break - not going to get this to S Rank (platinum/etc), as the final achievement is a grind heavy one and I don't wanna burnout, plus the game is only like 300 megs so it's not wasting any drive space.

Next Game on the List:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/612390/Dandara_Trials_of_Fear_Edition/

Currently D Rank (Coke Zero - IE - I never even played it yet)

dang, the movement in this game is super slick

I'm lost - it's a metroidvania with a map, good scene direction and top tier set design; but I still don't know where to go cuz the 3 new powerups I got just aren't clicking in my head... and I'm thinking a lot of powerups might be optional, as well.

I might have to tackle 2 games at the same time now, since I'm getting ... ehhhh, not 'wrist' pain, but forearm pain very near the wrist when I use my gamepad (due to overplaying Bug Fables) so I need to split this into 1 gamepad game and 1 KBM game.

Of course, that KBM game could just be Balatro :3

I think the next KBM game in my Phase 1 backlog is The Last Federation, way down in L while I'm still up in D.

I managed to find 3 MORE powerups, (one of them being a simple warp to campsite item) and I STILL have no idea where to go!

This time not because lost, but because I stare at the map and can't see places I haven't been

Beat it with the special ending (cuz via exploration I found almost everything EXCEPT the final boss)... so Dandara is up to A Rank

Pretty good game, do recommend if you like metroidvanias... and the speedrun is insano.

The game is also worth more than 20k point on Exophase so I'll probably S Rank/Platinum it later on.

NEXT GAME

Dead Cells.... mmm, already A Rank, but I have like 3 unplayed DLCs for it so I should give it a few rounds

Death Road to Canada, A Rank, but achievements didn't exist way back when I put most my time in.

Deep Rock Galactic... unknown rank since I don't know if there's a concrete ending, but I did do lots so I'll pass this down to Phase 3

Demon's Tilt .... .... unknown rank, it IS an arcade pinball game so it's unlikely to have an ending, but it also has bosses so there might be some ultimate jackpot. So like Dead Cells I'll play this a few times here.

Doom 1 and 2

...

Ok, I'll play this. Ya, I've played all the Doom... but I haven't finished SIGIL, which is a really cool campaign. But this game is already S Rank

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince

........

Yay, New Game Time (D Rank). That will be the next game on this list. I love Dragon Quest Monsters and I wish the devs would put in the time to make it as competitive as Pokemon. They tried it with Joker 2 (and presumably 3), but it didn't really work because: A) The rankings had hidden mechanics that only Japanese players knew and B) It's on the DS and doesn't exist any more

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2175540/DRAGON_QUEST_MONSTERS_The_Dark_Prince/

Up to E rank tournaments in Dark Prince. Game is pretty ok

Some sucky stuff - whatever they're using for a lighting shader is completely broken; it's almost like there's just a second character model of 'well lit' mode that is super-imposed over your current model, cuz it really does look weird.

One GUI sin the game makes is that in text menus the highlighted and non-highlighted options are both neutral colours, so you can easily mistake highlighted for not-highlighted and vice versa.

This game kinda mid so far

The game is a demi-prequel to Dragon Quest 4 where you play as younger Psaro... but, like, SO FAR (only at the beginning) they're kinda like not really committing to any given plot, yet, so IDK

But...

Best thing EVER!!

https://dragon-quest.org/wiki/Goonache_goodie

OMG!!!

awww, that's cute

Your test experiment of the Secret of Evolution is turning Healie human; I love demi-prequels

Healie is an absolute Shotacon

https://imgur.com/sX4oipM