PS2 Backlog Committee

Well I know it's late. Also, this will be in drips and drabs. Sorry. Plus, I will have random ass awards because I want to. Please note, I count like Xehanort from Kingdom Hearts: it's Organization 13...except there's like 20 of those fools. Just saying...

Given that 2020 was 2020, I didn't have to commute as much and I could stay up a little later. Also, a 1 year old who refused to sleep meant I was playing way more than normal. According to Playstation, I played 300 days last year an average of 3 hours a day. I also played a total of 1100 hours (which is just ludicrous to me!). My top 3 games in terms of hours played were:

1 Persona 5 Royal 180 hours
2 Assassin's Creed Odyssey 130 hours
3 Yakuza Like a Dragon 115 hours

Will these be my top 3 games? Only one way to find out...and here we go!

Game I Played Too Much Of For No Good Reason:

Sonic Generations: Look, I'm a Sonic stan...simp? I dunno, whatever the kids are using for sucker these days. Hell, the last movie I saw in theaters (possibly ever at this point) was Sonic The Gosh Dang Hedgehog with my goddaughter! Given the year, sometimes I would randomly go through parts of this game. Mostly the boss battles. These two in particular:





They aren't like...good. But I like them. They make me happy. They're dumb, simple, have ridiculously overproduced music and scenarios...I just find them comforting. And man, did I need some comfort gaming every now and again. Like a lot. I played this honestly just fine game way more than I should have this year.

10 TIE: Sleeping Dogs and Shadow of Mordor (no pics or videos, they are exceedingly fine games and don't deserve the effort) :

I listened to audiobooks over the summer while I played these. I was extremely whelmed by whatever these games were putting down. They are the textbook definition of games that are fine but I can see why they have dedicated fanbases. I also can't divorce the two in my mind because I played them under the exact same circumstances during the summer when nothing was grabbing me and I kept trying to find something, anything to keep me from diving headlong into FF14 finally (a cudgel I continue to threaten using but keep avoiding it. So why else are they sharing:

Sleeping Dogs: I apparently made it like halfway through this on PS3 (I distinctly remember giving up at the wedding last time because it just wasn't Yakuza enough for me, too shooty). This game will never be Yakuza enough for me. In fact, it reminds me of a Saints Row game but they took it WAY too seriously. It doesn't stand out in any real sense to me. But I did dig the fighting system. Mostly. It was a good time sink during a lazy couple summer days.

Shadow of Mordor: It is what it is: Assassin's Arkham: Mordor. Taken at face value, it's just a fine amalgamation of Arkham and AC. But that Nemesis system. Bruh, c'mon, that was some balling ass ish right there! I really enjoyed that. But the rest of the game was you know, fine. It limps on the list the same way Sleeping Dogs does for being a solid, if unremarkable, summer lazy day game. Oh, poisoning fools was kinda fun too. Too bad I bounced extremely hard off the sequel. I guess I got my fill of Nemesis here so far...

More to come soon, maybe games I you know, actually liked a lot and have actual things to say about !

No pork bun for you, huh? I really enjoyed Sleeping Dogs when it came out, but I don't feel compelled to ever go back to it.

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:08 pm They aren't like...good. But I like them. They make me happy.

Then they're good. Who else should be the judge of what is good?

canedaddy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:22 pm I really enjoyed Sleeping Dogs when it came out, but I don't feel compelled to ever go back to it.

I think if they asked me for a box quote for that game, this is what I would say verbatim.

Sonic Generations is still my favorite Sonic game. I need to grab it for the 360 so I can play it b/c on the Series X in 4k.

isthatallyougot wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 3:22 pm

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Tue Feb 16, 2021 1:08 pm They aren't like...good. But I like them. They make me happy.

Then they're good. Who else should be the judge of what is good?

True . I still always like to make a distinction between what I personally enjoy and measure the expectations of others when sharing. I'm a bit of an apologist that way . That post comes of as more dismissive than I intended because people should play Generations. It's just the context of I played bits these over and over again implies they are great and they honestly aren't (I like both of the original battles these games come from better to be frank) but they are quick, easy to access and just work for me. I am like you that if you like it, you like it and don't need to apologize for it. Guilty pleasure is a silly concept to me.

Good choice argyle, I love Generations but have surprisingly come around on Unleashed (which has exactly 3 awful parts, none of which are the werehog: the final boss, that plane minigame and...Eggmanland...) and Colors is high up there. I have also discovered I am not nearly as big on 2D Sonic as I thought because I bounce off Mania every time I touch it. Generations would rank high up there for me but it changes from time to time. Forces is good too for a quick romp and the self insert fursona you can make and become Sonic's bestie is just the most perfect meta-troll from Sonic Team I don't think they got nearly enough credit for .

Now back to the list! But first another category: Best Demonstration of Straight Up White Male Rage and Utter Lack of Hope and Joy...WE HAVE A TIE!!!

Injustice 1 and 2



and Prototype



'ight. So here's the deal. I had to stop playing Prototype because it just made me uncomfortable. Hulk UD is of my favorites and you would think grafting more powers onto that would make it that much better. But Alex Mercer is just...ugh. I get Hulk, there is context there. Absolutely nothing that happens in Prototype remotely excuses the carnage that you are able to create. The whole thing was just uncomfortable to play and knowing what the next part was about meant that I just had to stop. And the way the world actually is, I can't see myself going back. You can just eat people to get your life back with almost no consequence, the hell were they thinking?!?! It's just misguided and mean spirited and hollow and empty...wholly unpleasant. I tried to blow it off like I can most games but it was just too much.

The only thing the Injustice games had going for them is they were short fighting game story mode. Bad stories. Ones that made Batman and Superman into two bickering overpowered, overly rich white dudes use the world as their playground to have their silly little philosophical battle everyone else literally be damned. The game was exclusively about those two for no good reason. Also, can Superman ever be just Superman again? Where's the hope, the ideal to strive for that we will never achieve but should always be working toward? Batman's already a lost cause, but Superman should just be Superman from now on. Another hopeless game only saved by the fact that at least some of the fighting is fun. It's just all hollow and empty and in service of nothing. Blegh.

As you will see, I really need games to bring some kind of joy in for me to enjoy them. Be it the characters expressing it, the systems, the movement, SOMETHING needs to be there to make me stick with what can be heavy, bummer narratives, those three games did not have anything in the story to satisfy that (though Injustice 2 did have the Ninja Turtles in Vs mode...Michaelangelo IS joy). Now the countdown continues:

9: Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix



Man, I had a hard time finding gifs for this for some reason...anyway, speaking of joy, I give you Super Puzzle Fighter! I played this almost everyday since I got PS Now early in the pandemic justifying my whole subscription. I could play this on repeat everyday and be perfectly fine. It is my go to game, hands down. I have been itching for an actual fighting game the whole time I have been in lockdown but nothing ever really hit right. Puzzle Fighter just takes care of that itch. I don't actually have to do the fighting to see all the cool little animations which is fine because I am awful at fighting games. Much like Sonic Generations though, this is straight up comfort gaming. I love love love this game. I play it on my PS4, on my Vita, on the PS Mini...I just can't get enough. I am still looking for a fighting fame to really get into (because Injustice...well, look at the award tied to this one...). Sooo...if anybody has any good fighting game suggestions (preferably of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm variety), lay them on me! Until then, it's back to beating this again with Dan...the most counterintuitive character in the game !

And argyle...watch this space...just sayin...

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:24 am As you will see, I really need games to bring some kind of joy in for me to enjoy them. Be it the characters expressing it, the systems, the movement, SOMETHING needs to be there...

What? How about finding joy in the art of mediocre expression?!?

Nah izzy, they have to do the heavy lifting. I ain't finding nothing, my butt is in the seat to be entertained ! The countdown continues but first:

Most Gosh Dang It All, There STILL Wasn't Enough Time In The Year of Our Lord 2020: These are the games I bounced off of for one reason or another (meaning I started playing Odyssey/Origins, P5R and Like a Dragon) so I just couldn't work them in but I will get back to them!

Look, there's just a list and the games are Tales of Berseria...Velvet gets a cool hat...



and there are even MORE BALLER hats later that I haven't found yet:



OH HELL YES I will be getting back to this sooner rather than later.

MMZ/ZX Collection



Guys...it's hard!!! I forgot that Mega Man is actual challenging trial and error stuff so I need to figure this one out when I am in the mood for that kind of game. The Save Assist feature is pretty great though! Makes the challenge more tolerable, there was just something else I always wanted to play instead because I was invested in a story or it was P5R and I had a literal itinerary to get through.

Resonance of Fate



GUYS, 10 years later I FIGURED OUT HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME...I bought in the same sale I bought P5R. So that was you know...smart. But I really, really need to sit down with this one and invest because while I understand the battle system, now I need to figure out the guns and upgrading and using scratch damage effectively...but one day!!!

Mad Max



THAT is an intro! I was super invested. Then the game glitched. Save got corrupted. Had to let it go after that. But I did enjoy what I played and had I not gotten into something else (think it was Odyssey) I might have given it another go. But I just moved on. Still had a baller intro...

Dragon Quest 11 S Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition



Yo, just check that intro...imma straight up be so mad at myself for not just listening to j when he tried to sell me on this series through attraction and not promotion once I beat this game. I am about 25-30 hours into it and I must say it just bowls me over with its ease of play and general air of being pleasant. The story took some turns as soon as I reached the first town, that while not huge, were welcome and shows that while the game is going to feed into every cliche, they become cliches for the reason that they work and it's the high level execution that makes it pay off in the end. This will be extremely high on my list next year! Also that title...c'mon Square, you guys are approaching Fiona Apple levels of not being able to title things appropriately. Thankfully, like Fiona Apple, that is mouthful of a title but it's an absolute banger!

After checking the list...we can move on with the countdown!

8: TIE Horizon and Spidey The City That Never Sleeps

So I lumped all the Sony first party stuff together. This is where all the Assassin's Creed/Mad Max/Mordor itches came from, I wanted one of these types of sprawling action adventure open world games but couldn't find one like the ones Sony makes. And no, I ain't playing The Last of Us 2. I didn't like the last of us 1 at all and when the guiding thought was the game would be about hate since the first one was about love...guys, you saw what I said about needing joy in my games? I just said it . Also still wasn't exactly sold on Tsushima (though judging from the list y'all posted, I will bite when it's Greatest Hits as I was totally going to let it miss me).

Of course, I ignored Horizon. Hard. As I am doing Tsushima. I was wrong. So, so, so wrong. Holy schnikeys, I was not ready for this story. Like even a little bit. Aloy is my GURL, character of the forever, why does nobody big up Aloy?!?!? The end of the game when she calls out the people who need to hear it and does the thing because it needs to be done...it was like the second coming of my boy Ramza from Final Fantasy Tactics. I was so there for it! The actual mystery was intriguing, the reveals were well paced, and the sequel bait...was there. It was fine. I mean, I will play part two...

But now we have to talk about the gameplay. I had to bump it down all the way to story. This is back when I was commuting and didn't have nearly as much time (in fact, it was the last game I beat before March 13, the last day in the building). The reason the game is so low is that I didn't particularly like playing large stretches of it. The puzzles and exploration were fine but the combat I just couldn't jive with...there were weird balance issues, Aloy needed to be like a glass cannon. I get the monsters were powerful but she needed to be more powerful for me to want to engage with the traps and planning. I would get really close and the thing would route me as I went for the kill. It was frustrating. Especially since I was there for more Aloy and that story. The game part was getting in the way. So I have to knock it down a few pegs for that...

Much like Spidey. Look, swinging through that city will never, ever get tired. Switching suit and mixing and matching power and gadgets. Amazing. Love love love this game. But it has the exact opposite problem of Horizon in that the story was just not worthy of the excellent combat and systems. The Black Cat has a secret kid? Ummm...Peter knows Felicia as a person, they even establish that in this universe. How would he NOT have known that. I don't like how they tried to rehash the Officer Jefferson Davis bit in the second ep. I will never get the trophies in the DLC because **** a Screwball (LIKE COMMENT SUBSCRIBE ISN'T THIS FUNNY ) since she will not shut the **** up. And let's please, for the love of God, have Silver Sable die immediately in the sequel. I cannot stand this version of the character. Cool in the comics. Terrible in this game. Again, I played the hell out of this game and did everything that wasn't Screwball related but what a lame set of stories. Honestly, had this just been nested in the whole game, I would have been down with it. As a standalone, nah. They should have reversed and put the Tombstone/Taskmaster/Shocker stuff as this content and weaved this DLC stuff into the game.

Argyle made me reconsider my list a bit so let's see what happens at numero 7!...

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:52 pm But it has the exact opposite problem of Horizon in that the story was just not worthy of the excellent combat and systems.

I think you are *far* more versed in the overall story and universe of Spider-Man than I am. I loved the story, but I'm so far from immersed in things.

Also, Tales of Berseria is in my backlog. I think I'll love that one, whenever I get to it.

Yikes, I dun goofed! I was not meticulous with my word and now I must right a wrong: I LOVED the story on Marvel's Spider Man. They knocked that out of the gosh dang park. It's one of my favorite stories featuring Peter which is saying a lot coming from me. I specifically meant the DLC, The City That Never Sleeps. That's what I played this year right as the lockdown started. There's an arc in that and it picks up on threads from the core game but doesn't do anything with them. So it's just more Marvel's Spider Man game play, but lacking the really strong story. Also there's more Screwball. In all 3 parts. No. Just abso*******lutely NO.

But to be clear: Marvel's Spider Man core story, chef's kiss, 10/10, great stuff. The DLC is fine and not as good as the core game nor does it build in an interesting way. That's what I meant to say .

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:40 pm Yikes, I dun goofed! I was not meticulous with my word and now I must right a wrong: I LOVED the story on Marvel's Spider Man. They knocked that out of the gosh dang park. It's one of my favorite stories featuring Peter which is saying a lot coming from me. I specifically meant the DLC, The City That Never Sleeps. That's what I played this year right as the lockdown started. There's an arc in that and it picks up on threads from the core game but doesn't do anything with them. So it's just more Marvel's Spider Man game play, but lacking the really strong story. Also there's more Screwball. In all 3 parts. No. Just abso*******lutely NO.

But to be clear: Marvel's Spider Man core story, chef's kiss, 10/10, great stuff. The DLC is fine and not as good as the core game nor does it build in an interesting way. That's what I meant to say .

I probably should have read more carefully. I just assumed that I'm not well-versed in all things Spider-Man, and missed some of the problems since I loved the story and thought you didn't. Glad to hear it was worthy of my enjoyment.