The Backlog Check-In Vol. 453: 9/5/26: Labor Day Edition

[jfissel]

Curse of Pirates (PC) – September 7
Tiny Eden (PC) – September 7
Aerial_Knight's MrFreezy (PlayStation 5) – September 8
Cat Me If You Can (PC) – September 8
Halloween (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – September 8
Honeycomb: The World Beyond (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – September 8
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris (iOS, Android) – September 8
Mewgenics (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2) – September 8
Sprawl Zero (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – September 8
Golden Swirl (PC) – September 9
Valheim (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch 2, PC) – September 9
BrokenLore: Don't Lie (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC) – September 10
Hazard Pay (PS5, Switch, PC) – September 10
Hot Wheels: Infinite Rush (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, PC) – September 10
Infinity: HexaDome Tactics (PC) – September 10
Screenbound (PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC) – September 10
Shroom and Gloom (Early Access) (PC) – September 10
The Crust (PC) – September 10
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (PlayStation 5, Switch 2) – September 10
The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure (PlayStation 5, Switch 2) – September 10
The Royal Writ (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch) – September 10
Wardogs (PC early access) – September 10
NHL 27 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S) – September 11


Finished: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (story)

Now Playing: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Added to Backlog: Nothing

Current Backlog: 35 games

Got the credits to roll on Expedition 33! Working through some post-game content and hopefully getting the platinum trophy before Wolverine arrives on the 15th.

[canedaddy]

Played recently: Titan Quest, Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below, Dragon Quest Builders

Finished: nothing

Added to backlog: nothing

I was like Goldilocks with the porridge last week. Took three attempts till it was just right.

First in line was Titan Quest, a classic "skeleton killer" (my brother's term for isometric action RPGs). I made a character and started playing... and only lasted about 10 minutes. The combat and movement could not feel worse. I know this is the PS4 version of an old PC game, so maybe that's the issue? But I found it unplayable.

Next, I fired up Dragon Quest Heroes for a second time. Not sure why I stopped the first time, but it happened again. I think the main issue is that it's more of a tower defense game than a musou. I don't want to protect a tree root; I just want to wipe out hordes of monsters with my DQ characters. Did that aspect change with DQ Heroes 2?

Finally, after getting a little taste of DQ and needing something to hit, I just decided to replay DQ Builders (which I had beaten on Vita). It is still a very fun game and sucked me right in.

[argyle]

Games added: Nothing, I think.

Last...whatever: Balatro, dabbled with some other stuff

This week: I'm thinking about starting Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Man, the start of Fall semester hit like a truck this year. It's always hectic, but we had 2 major projects that were completed at the same time, and it's just been a madhouse. Add to that a ludicrous amount of car troubles, and now I've been sick all Labor Day weekend, and...yeah. I need a break.

How are you guys holding up?

[canedaddy]

Glad you haven't yet gone to your eternal reward. Bad time of year to be sick... hope you're feeling better!

[isthatallyougot]

not dead yet.jpg


Games added: Nothing, I think.

Last...whatever: Balatro, dabbled with some other stuff

This week: I'm thinking about starting Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.

Man, the start of Fall semester hit like a truck this year. It's always hectic, but we had 2 major projects that were completed at the same time, and it's just been a madhouse. Add to that a ludicrous amount of car troubles, and now I've been sick all Labor Day weekend, and...yeah. I need a break.

How are you guys holding up?

Glad to see air still fills your lungs. We're all getting to that stage where, "anything could theoretically happen at any time", lol. Sooo spoopy! Sounds like your plate is pretty full. Car troubles. Ugh, I hate cars, but I don't want to live in a big city where they aren't necessary. I hate the vibe and pace of metro areas, having lived in Charlotte for so many years and battling that nasty traffic. You see, I just want to complain.

I've been playing more Grapple Dog and Out of the Park baseball (of course ).

I also started up Slay the Spire and the early returns seem to indicate that this one might get its hooks into me real good. It's got that easy to learn/hard to master flavor, at least early on. And there's plenty of rogue-like randomness and strategy to keep each run both unique and engaging. Really interesting and compelling, at least in its initial flavor - about 4 hours in. I know some people play this for hundreds of hours, so if it clicks for me like it seems it will, I'll have it in my rotation for a long time. And it's easy to hop in and play a bit and hop back out, so it really lends itself to prolonged investment alongside other games.

[isthatallyougot]

I know this will be of little interest, but I had to share how my OOTP season is going.



51-10 thus far in the second season of the new fictional historical league I'm doing. I've played OOTP for many years and have had some amazing teams and successes. But, I've never had a juggernaut like this. Generally, I am very budget minded, and even find it MORE satisfying to win with a lower payroll. This first off-season of this new league, however, there were just some opportunities to upgrade that I couldn't pass up that really complemented the team I was building. I have the top payroll in the league, although this is in 1901 dollars, lol, and absolutely paltry in comparison to the figures you see today. But, we just seemingly can't lose. (I've just jinxed myself, haven't I? ) We even have two of our better players on moderately lengthy IL stints, but our depth, both on the big-league roster as well as throughout the farm system has patched those cracks effectively enough. We're #1 in runs scored and #1 in runs allowed, and this is surely not a small sample size. The only downside of having such a team is that anything other than a championship will feel like a failure. Well, I'll just ride this wave while I can.