March '19 Play Log III - Goal Review Edition
Yes, another one already. Told you they wouldn’t be on the backlog for long :). First though, since 2019 is 25% over (scary right?) I’m going to review how badly I’m doing on my 2019 Goals.
Overall:
SG:
ABC:
Goals
Part of the problem I’m having is that I considered how realistic my goals were in isolation. Turns out trying to meet them all is not going to happen.
70% beaten SG wins ratio: I’m doing fairly well on this one. I started the year at 50% wins beaten, and am now at 56%. I’m fairly happy with this.
Max 30 Wishlist Unplayed games: I started with 41 games in this list, have beaten a few, and am now at 48. Yikes. In my defence, that’s largely because I realized I had missed a lot of games when creating the list. I’m thinking 40 is a more realistic target.
Much fewer abandoned games: I wasn’t sure what would be realistic, but was hoping for 40. I started the year with 66 abandoned games and am now at… 66. I beat a few, am taking a break from a few I started, and started a few multiplayer ones with friends. So overall this goal is also going badly. 55 is probably a more realistic number, even that may be a stretch though.
Reduce games on the backlog: This one is one I’ve been trying to do for a while. I realized that while my unplayed % was going down, the number of games was still going up. Finally some progress here: 277 down to 265. I’m trying to reduce bought games and prevent new acquisitions from going on the backlog for long. A flood of new games is really putting this to the test though: 3 recent SG wins, 2 trades, and the first HB monthly I got in a while.
I've had my eye on this game for a while and finally picked it up. It was definitely worth it; I thoroughly enjoyed this game and highly recommend it to fans of the psychological horror genre.
Pros:
- The atmosphere is very well done. It doesn't start scary in the prologue, but the atmosphere builds up as the game progresses.
- The horror elements don't rely on jumpscares.
- You learn a bit about Taiwanese religion, mythology, and life under martial law, though I wouldn't classify it as educational.
Cons:
- I've sat here for a while trying to think of some and am coming up blank. If you enjoy horror games and/or learning about other cultures, you should pick this up.
Verdict: 8/10
For some reason I had a really hard time reviewing this one. I really enjoyed it though. I’m not sure if this would be considered a spoiler or not, so just in case: I’m not a fan of depressing stories or games. If it wasn’t for that I may have given it a better rating. I’m still glad I played it though.
I charming adventure game about getting rid of a curse that ends each day after only 60 seconds. At first I thought the time limit would stress me out too much, but I didn't find that to be the case.
Pros:
- Lots of hidden secrets to find
- It's entirely possible to play the whole game without a guide, though it may take a lot of days of exploration.
- You can die on purpose to end a day early, which is handy if you know you won't have time to get to wherever you want to go next.
- There are 4 different houses, and you'll restart the next day from whichever one you visited last, allowing you to spend less time going to a far location and more time exploring.
- You'll eventually unlock a way to teleport between houses, making changing starting locations easier
Cons:
- There's no way you'll find anywhere near all of the hidden stuff without a guide.
- The ghost Mary can help with that by giving hints, but if I hadn't looked at a guide I doubt I'd have ever figured out how to unlock her anyway.
- You can unlock 'Mary's Mode' which has no time limit. This would be really useful to get all of the hidden stuff, except guess how it's unlocked? By finding all of the hidden stuff. You can still use it to cheat an achievement or two but the biggest use case for it is gone.
- I beat the game after finding everything but Mary's Mode didn't unlock. The only things I can think of were that I killed some snakes, and I did it after beating the boss (i.e. I beat the boss, hit continue again, got everything, then beat the boss again). A more clear indicator that it exists and the requirements for unlocking it would be nice.
Verdict: 8/10
From the April HB Monthly. It’s quite a good game. Between it and Mutant I’m really glad I got the bundle. It’s beaten for now, but I plan on getting remaining achievements tonight.
Added to the Backlog
Another SG win (though I’ve yet to receive it so I hope I’m not speaking too soon). This one was on my wishlist so I’m looking forward to playing it.
0 hours playtime
Having less wishlisted unplayed games is definitely one of my targets for this year as well, so many wonderful games getting pushed further down the never-ending backlog!!
Best of luck with your goals (and kudos on being self aware at not being overly unrealistic), always nice to check in and adjust ‘em. One game at a time. :D 56% SG wins is nothing to sneeze at!
Thanks! Yeah I figure once I’m caught up on SG wins I’ll have more time to play wishlisted games as well. Plus, I don’t like the thought of giving someone a game and them never playing it, so I’m trying to avoid being that person myself.
Yeah, the buying part really throws back the backlog progress plans :(
Ever since I note things (this year), it’s been a bit of a shocking revelation. We gotta be strong! Don’t add to many games to your library! (Or WL. That’s the most tricky part on my end….)
Have a productive month! \o/
Haha yeah. The upside of succeeding on that though is that newer games tend to be better because I only cave for the games I think I’m going to like the most.
Thanks, you too!