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.

[canedaddy]

But, we just seemingly can't lose. (I've just jinxed myself, haven't I? )

As a longtime O's fan, I'd say YES ABSOLUTELY YOU ARE ABOUT TO DROP 6 IN A ROW AND LOSE YOUR BEST PITCHER TO A HORRIFIC INJURY. But the izzy-managed 1901 Twins are a different story, evidently!

[argyle]

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.

Slay the Spire is fantastic, definitely one that will keep you saying "...just one more run." I am curious about the sequel, but I don't do early access so I'm waiting for the full release. And then I'll play it eventually (I was waiting for the full release of Hades II as well, and I still haven't touched that one ).

I'm playing Untitled Goose Game this week. Something reminded me of it the other day, and I remembered that I had played a little of it but never finished it - which is saying something, because it's a short game. I actually rolled credits last night, but there are a couple of tasks I didn't do and some more that it opened up after the credits, so I'll dust those off - probably tonight. It's a fun game - I told my wife I'm christening a new genre, "cozy a-hole games." So far, I have this one, Donut County, and Catlateral Damage.

I did pull Grapple Dog off the shelf & set it next to my Switch, so it's next in line.

OH! A couple of things I wanted to mention. Nintendo had a showing yesterday (technically Tues and Weds, but Tues was just the Ocarina of Time remake and I'm the one Zelda fan on earth who hates that game, soooo....). They showed some interesting stuff yesterday, but these three stood out to me the most:









And lastly, in further "what in the crap is going on with Sony???" news, did you guys hear that they backed out of Kojima's Metal Gear spiritual successor, so he shopped it around, and Microsoft has picked it up?

crazy pills.gif (2.89 MiB) Viewed 36 times

[isthatallyougot]

As a longtime O's fan, I'd say YES ABSOLUTELY YOU ARE ABOUT TO DROP 6 IN A ROW AND LOSE YOUR BEST PITCHER TO A HORRIFIC INJURY. But the izzy-managed 1901 Twins are a different story, evidently!

Yes, a different story indeed, apparently. Because now we're 60-11. So, we've been 9-1 since that post. We did, in fact, also lose our young ace with a rotator cuff strain just a few games ago. It was initially supposed to be only 2 weeks, but I got an update from the trainer that it now is an unknown recovery length, and when dealing with that type of injury, it's wise to be careful. I've already decided that when he comes back I'm going to stick him in the pen and just give him an inning or two here or there to see how it goes before trusting the injury with a start. Don't want to mess with a front of the rotation guy and end up causing long-term damage. It hasn't slowed this train though. Maybe nothing can! This team just wins. I've really never seen anything like it in all the years of playing this game. That's just one of the fascinating and compelling things about this series. There's just so much depth, and just like with real baseball, you always see something new, even when it's just a fancy spreadsheet, ha.

And you poor O's fans. Maybe they'll return to consistent contention in the next decade or 5. For all you long suffering O's fans, I hope a return to glory is sooner rather than later. Paging the ghost of Earl Weaver! From the mid-60's through the early/mid-80's, they really had some excellent teams.

Slay the Spire is fantastic, definitely one that will keep you saying "...just one more run." I am curious about the sequel, but I don't do early access so I'm waiting for the full release. And then I'll play it eventually (I was waiting for the full release of Hades II as well, and I still haven't touched that one ).

I did pull Grapple Dog off the shelf & set it next to my Switch, so it's next in line.

Yeah, I know how beloved that game is, and it's really easy to see why. Tons of depth and variability. I used to occasionally play Magic the Gathering with my family, and it had an instant sense of familiarity to those experiences.

I hope you enjoy Grapple Dog as much as I have. I've got about 250 of the 300 gems, and am just hopping in to grab one or two per day post-credits alongside other stuff. I don't know if I'll be able to get all 300 or not though. Some challenges in the B-side levels you open up are really tough.