BLAEO — Backlog Assassins Extraordinaire

Golf Peaks

3 hours playtime

12 of 12 achievements
The Ramp

51 minutes playtime

12 of 12 achievements
Kentucky Route Zero

9 hours playtime

24 of 24 achievements
Sniper Elite 4

36 hours playtime

47 of 85 achievements
The Darkside Detective

5 hours playtime

30 of 30 achievements
Inspector Waffles

3 hours playtime

15 of 15 achievements

June-July

A bit disorganized in June and I didn’t make much progress in many games, so I went for the two-month report. It does bring the problem of not remembering what I played, but I think I got everything!

I had a weekend away to another area of Japan and stayed near the beach. Still difficult to travel internationally and the prices are crazy, so this was the best I could do for now!

Not much other news. bought a few things for my apartment and did quite a lot of extra work (which helps pay for those things!). My real job has been quiet for a week or so. There will be a very busy period late in August, but for now, I’m enjoying being at a bit of a loose end. That’s given me a bit more time to play games, but this month was not a good one for cutting down the backlog as I bought far more than I beat!

Steam

Golf Peaks

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Not the kind of game I'd normally go for just reading the description on the Steam store and the preview videos, but I read a lot of good things about this.

Puzzle golf game. You are given a set number of 'cards' that hit the ball in different ways, normally different distances or chipping the ball. Then you need to negotiate the course and put the ball. Simple idea. As with all puzzle games, I did what I could and checked guides when I was stuck, so it's a semi-legitimate completed game.

The Ramp

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There's a warning on the store page of this game not to expect too much and that it's not really a 'game' as such and more a 'digital toy'. It's nice that the creator added the warning to prevent people expecting too much.

I think it's fair to call it a game, just a short and simple one. I picked it up during the Steam sale and think the reduced price was fair for what I got. It took me just under an hour to 'complete' the game and get all the achievements. It does feel more like a way to just zone out a bit and not really chase achievements, so in that way maybe a 'digital toy' is a better description. You have the rhythm-type control of pressing and releasing a button at the right point to build up speed and the pretty standard combination of directions and buttons for grabs and tricks. Nice to pass a little time and if you don't feel like getting stuck into another game, it's something nice to dip into every now and then. Good music too

Kentucky Route Zero

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I remember seeing the first 'episode' of this being released years ago. It looked interesting, but I wasn't really convinced. I'm kind of glad I didn't dive in early as it took a very long time for all the parts to come out. I think about 7 years on Steam (9 years of production including the Kickstarter days).

So, does it feel like a game that took 9 years to develop? In many ways, yes. There are a lot of great things in the game and it's very polished, it's just not really my thing. I don't spend a lot of time writing my comments (I don't think I can really call them 'reviews'!) on BLAEO, but I did think about this one a bit because it's not really like many other games I've played. I've settled on drawing a parallel - KRZ is, for me, like a Wes Anderson movie. It's artistic, stylish, kind of hipster-ish, there's good music, and it's been carefully and thoughtfully put together to create a very polished final product. There are parts where I think, "that's clever" but at the end of the experience I didn't really enjoy it and it all feels a bit pretentious. It could be that I just don't get it, but I didn't really understand what the 'deeper meaning' of the game was and after looking up ideas online, it feels like a bit of a stretch. So, anyway. It looks great (see below for some poorly formatted screenshots) and the scenes and angles are directed like a movie, but aside from the visuals, I didn't enjoy it. Completed.

Sniper Elite 4

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Played this a few years back on a friend's system, Playstation maybe? And quite enjoyed it. I have the first in the series but haven't bought anything since.

I'm sure everyone is pretty familiar with this series. I see it as kind of a mix between Hitman and Just cause myself. Option for stealth but not as important as Hitman, with a slightly more open world and collectibles like Just Cause. I beat the main game and DLC missions, got all the secondary objectives, and the optional objectives in the main missions. Also picked up quite a few extra achievements as I went, so sitting at a respectable 55%. It's unlikely I'll every get 100%, as there are ones for the highest level of difficulty and no saves, which I don't have the skill/patience for! I might come back and pick up a few more in the future though, collectibles and things. Beaten.

Darkside Detective

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A Point and Click Adventure game, which I normally steer clear of but this one had overwhelmingly positive reviews and I could pick it up in a trade.

Better dialogue than a lot of similar games, and there were a few funny bits in there. The puzzles weren't too obscure either. I dipped into guides when I was a bit lost and to clear up achievements at the end, so at times I was treating this a bit like a visual novel rather than a game. Probably won't get the sequel, but not gonna count it out. Fun game, and it goes into the completed pile.

Inspector Waffles

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Pretty similar description to the game above! Another Point and Click Adventure game. I got this one from the Guardian Bundle at Fanatical.

Pixel graphics for this one, very blocky, but the cut scenes were all cartoon style and much more detailed. A bit strange that there was so much of a contrast between them really. The story in this one was more complex than Darkside detective, there were also some slightly more obscure solutions to puzzles. I had a similar tactic with this game in that I dipped into guides when I was stuck rather than thinking too hard! I did have to load from a save point and replay quite a big section as I missed a collectible card needed for a secret ending and achievements. Pretty good overall, and good dialogue again, but I preferred Darkside Detective. Completed.

Backlog Additions

Where to start. I’ve had a decent amount of money sitting in my Steam account for about 3 years that hasn’t really decreased much, so I splurged all that on a few games. Also did some trades… so I bought a silly number of games, 15 in total!
Here they are: Art of Rally, Unsighted, Cavity Busters, Courier of the Crypts, DYSMANTLE, DEATHLOOP, ATOM RPG Trudograd, Olija, Golf Peaks, Necesse, Cyberpunk 2077, Sniper Elite 4 Deluxe Edition, Black Mesa, Wildfire, The Ramp.