A month ago, our lives changed drastically and a stay at home order was put in place. Some like myself were perfectly adept for this having already acquired a large library full of time sinks just waiting to be reopened. Then there were some in an entirely new lane with no idea what to do with all this free time. It’s been great seeing my friends list come back alive! What used to say I had 12 friends online is now in the upper 30’s at any time.
The greatest part of this situation has been the quest I started to clear a chunk of my backlog. It began once the first couple games of the year got delayed. At first I had been angry but once I turned on my PS4 I discovered that I had 200 games installed with a high percentage of them being incomplete. Not even accounting for my Xbox with Game-pass account, switch games or even my Steam/Epic/Turbo tax machine library.
I kicked off my backlog journey with Ratchet & Clank (2016); the game based off the movie based off the game. At the same time I was working on the Dreams review which is available here. As a lifelong Insomniac fan I have to say the reboot of Ratchet & Clank is amazing. Instead of a beat for beat reboot of the original it re-imagines entire worlds, story beats, and even brings in cut scenes from the movie.
After 40 hours and doing two playthroughs sometimes you just want to take in the sights.
I followed that with Infamous Second Son, a PS4 launch game from Sucker Punch. Second Son is a launch game through and through. Weird gimmicks using the touch pad and a mediocre story kept this game from reaching the heights of the previous two Infamous games from the PS3 era. I had to beat the game twice to get a platinum, not my proudest trophy hunt. On the Xbox front I started the platformer Super Lucky’s Tale, a game very similar to Yooka Laylee in its nostalgia focused gameplay.
Even though I had beaten it on the PS Vita Gravity Rush Remastered was worth double dipping even if only for that sweet Platinum trophy!
Finally I reached into my Pile of shame games I’ve never played and started Bioshock Infinite; a game I’ve purchased three times but never started. Say what you will about Ken Levine and Take 2 but they can craft a damn good game when they want to. As a straightforward shooter it’s uninventive but the story and visuals are so great that even as a last gen game it holds up with the best of them. It’s been three weeks and I’m still thinking about what I came across in that 10 hour experience. Last week I purchased Gravity Rush Remastered and Gravity Rush 2, a PS Vita launch title remastered for PS4 and its sequel. I platinumed that yesterday right before I started the sequel. And I have no end in sight.
I’ve recently dug into Tetris effect an amazing game i would have altogether skipped if it wasn’t in my Pile of Shame.
Where will my quest for order among my backlog end? I have the slightest idea but I’m loving playing all these games I overlooked or overbooked myself on playing at release. If you have an abundance of time and nothing to do or you’re tired of waiting for that 30 GB update on Call of Duty, look into your backlog/pile of shame and pick something out. There’s no telling what gem’s you may find!
For all the Nerdy News you need to Know about and more Stay Posted to Alpha Nerds Guild. And for more Info on my Quest to finish them all my Twitter is here. Let us know what you are playing in the comments below. Later Nerds!
