PS2 Backlog Committee

Well gents, better late than never, huh.

I had an interesting gaming year that was dominated by a single title. Of course, I'll get to that eventually. I didn't have any replays, albeit with one notable exception that I'm not considering a replay for reasons I'll eventually explain. Despite the relatively short list this year, I surely did play some games that I really enjoyed, and I'll gradually work my way from the bottom to the top, as per usual. If you feel like chiming in, let 'er rip boys!

In terms of my ratings, I'm sure you guys know the drill.

1- trash
2- lacking
3- good
4- very good
5- personal Hall of Fame

Feel free to fill in all the detail of those broad rankings based on your own intuition. As for me, and as is the norm, I always refine the evaluations from simple number to greater nuance with the shared review-text.

So, I'll get it started on this relatively short (for me) yearly list with the worst game I played in 2025.

22) The River (PC - 2025) (41 minutes played) 2/5



In a free Steam game I played in 2025 called The River, you enter the experience into a blackness as a ball of light. You come to find that you are a disembodied person that has passed on to the other side. In order to "move on", this amnesiac character must remember who they are via a variety of interpersonal encounters with other deceased beings in this "Bardo" of sorts. He comes to learn that everyone he meets in this between-state has a specific connection to him from his previous life and that he will be able to regain awareness of the details of his previous incarnation through these interactions. He learns of tragedies that befell a community, apparently a pre-industrial medieval locale of sorts. There were betrayals and killings, and his sense of justice is engaged as he wants to right these wrongs of which he is informed, still lacking the complete picture. Without spoiling all the details, there is a "twist" about just who this person is, and unfortunately, it felt very telegraphed for me and is probably obvious to the reader of this review simply by limited context. I knew right away what the outcome was going to be, so that significantly muted what could have had some impact. It was still a revelation of weight for the character, even if it held no surprise for me as the player, and was surely a bitter pill to swallow as those memories were fleshed out prior to his own "moving on" to whatever lay next for his soul or essence. The game itself is a brief, kinetic visual novel that only involves clicking to move the dialogue forward as well as directing your character on screen from place to place. The graphics were very simple black and white throughout most of the short journey, appropriately enough given the themes, and there were very few locations. Overall, I thought it was an reasonably interesting story that poked at notions of morality and the inevitability of pain and suffering along with subtle whispers of the value of forgiveness, both towards other and self. But it wasn't particularly deep, nor was it complex or involved in any way. Credit to the developers for the concept, and I enjoyed it for what it was, but it really wasn't much of note, in the end. Not to be overly harsh on this obviously simple project, but it wasn't engaging enough to recommend, in my view, despite some interesting elements. I don't grade on a curve with my gaming reviews - not to be cruel, but out of a sense of personal authenticity. Many games I ultimately rate as sub-par have genuine effort and love put into them, I'm sure, but I'm only evaluating the creation as it resonates for me, with no judgment intended towards any of the creators. 2/5

• 21) Bird Game (PC - 2025) 2.9 hours played 2/5



People love cats and dogs, and surely they are wonderful companions, but I've always been partial to birds for whatever reason, having had a number of them in my homes over the years. So when I saw an intriguing free game that was released on PC in 2025 called, quite plainly, Bird Game, I wanted to play it because I love BIRB. BIRB make izzy happy. Anyway, it seemed quirky and possibly fun, so I installed it and got to "birding". It turns out that it's a turn-based RPG with mostly black and white visuals with some modest amount of color mixed within. It's very silly / surreal, having something to do with "purple fowl" that terrorized the civilians of this bird world until the "renowned wrestling fish" traveled underground and razed their dwelling"...yeah. Some sort of bird conflict that my feeble human mind cannot comprehend, I suppose. Long story short is that purple birds = bad, at least relative to the other birds in this fever dream. The RPG aspects of the game include consumables and equippable items to aid in your quest, like you might expect in the genre. There are also party members that you can recruit in this feathery fight. The battles themselves were very straightforward and were more for show than having any real depth or strategy. There were some puzzles and mazes to flesh out the journey too. And there was a very playful incorporation of language where words are used very loosely within what one might normally expect contextually, as well as some fun word combinations/mixing to offer a silly vibe. The presentation was pretty fun. I played for about 3 hours and probably almost completed it judging by the achievements, but towards the end, I encountered a tedious puzzle that I just didn't want to bother with. There was also some navigational awkwardness where world geometry wasn't clear in terms of where you could and could not walk that was annoying. The game wasn't awful, not by any stretch, but it also wasn't good enough that I felt like enduring any resistance to progression, and so there it was - at that annoying puzzle - that I put it down. It had its charms, and there was clearly some TLC involved in its creation, and I was prepared to give it a 3/5 due to those qualities, but I just lost my (limited) enthusiasm for this bird thing with that later puzzle. I imagine the fact that it was free made it easier to drop, but I was in no mood for any tedium with this one, especially since it wasn't *that* compelling in the first place. Ultimately, I'll give it a 2/5 while acknowledging some fun and playfully quirky aspects that I enjoyed, but not enough to overcome what I didn't. Sorry bird, the purple ones prevail!

The visuals on both of those hurt my eyes.

isthatallyougot wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2026 2:51 pm ... is probably obvious to the reader of this review simply by limited context. ...

I'd put money on it!

canedaddy wrote: ↑Mon May 18, 2026 12:29 pm The visuals on both of those hurt my eyes.

isthatallyougot wrote: ↑Wed May 13, 2026 2:51 pm ... is probably obvious to the reader of this review simply by limited context. ...

I'd put money on it!

Yeah, even talking about the telegraph, telegraphs the telegraph. Not a sign of a good telegraph....telegraph.

And, yeah, those visuals are harsh.I don't know why I played them. Sometimes you just do what you do. Bird Game was at least somewhat interesting though,

This next one I already talked about via crim's "let's play a franchise gamer's club" last year. (I forgot what it was called exactly.) And it slots in here for me in my 2025.

• 20) Ecco The Dolphin (Genesis - 1992) (1.5 hours played) 2/5



There are so many games that I am intrigued with that yet remain tantalizing mysteries to me. There's only so much a person can play, and so many potentially interesting titles must get ignored via the simple properties of math…of time. Ecco The Dolphin was a game and series that intrigued me for many years, and thanks to crim, I dipped my toes into this franchise waters in 2025.

So what drew me to this - to including this on my list of potential gamer's club series to play? Well, in the first place, I've always found dolphins to be mysterious, almost magical creatures, given their obvious curiosity, intelligence, and strange place within the realm of Animalia. I had the opportunity to play with a dolphin along with my child and ex-wife many years ago. And while I probably wouldn't do it again due to stories I've heard about how these majestic creatures are sometimes treated within the confines of tourism and "entertainment," it was nonetheless a beautiful opportunity that I've always remembered very fondly. So a game focused on these unique beings was always fascinating to me.

The narrative has an interesting set-up. A strange “storm” separates Ecco from his pod in the introduction, and he must find/rescue them. Along this journey, some interesting questions are posed to tickle your curiosity - things like the question of why his kind lives below the waves if they breathe air. Without spoiling details of this experience, I will say that things are far deeper than a simple ocean-faring adventure. We're dealing with time travel, interplanetary drama, and aliens, oh my! Things really spiral down the rabbit hole in some intriguing ways that might not be expected based on playing a game about a dolphin. There's some real surprising depth (no pun intended) surrounding both dolphins in general and Ecco in particular. In concept, I was interested and really enjoyed this aspect.

Musically, things were really nice as well. I know many debate the merits of the Genesis sound chip versus the SNES, but for me, it has always been clear and obvious that the Genesis is far superior overall in that regard, SNES sound strengths and advantages notwithstanding. I think there is a bias in the larger conversation due to the fact that there were simply more SNES owners overall, an obvioulsy heavy Nintendo bias in many gaming circles, as well as the fact that most people don't have an ear for sound quality. (Shut up, my opinion is "correct." ) Of course that is probably my own bias speaking, as these things are inevitably subjective. Having said that, the Genesis IS the far, FAR superior sound chip. Deal! (And I love the SNES as well.) But the music is nice along with the general sound design. And the soundtrack has a nice, mysterious vibe that suits the adventure.

In terms of gameplay, it was much more of a mixed bag, if I'm being generous. Moving Ecco around and breaching the surface was a fun sensation. The one thing I looked forward to when starting this series was the sensation of being a dolphin...of being free and moving unencumbered in the vastness of the sea. In practice, however, this game is very restrictive most of the time. There are hazards and obstacles everywhere that really impinge upon the sensations I was hoping to experience. You'll often find yourself needing to move with great caution and precision, and that is at odds with the sensation I wanted and was expecting. To be fair, there are moments when you can really let loose and be "playful," and those are wonderful and in some ways are nicely emphasized by their relative rarity. But overall things had a much more confining and claustrophobic feel than I was looking for in a game that was set in the spacious ocean. And Ecco is primarily a puzzle-oriented (key and object fetching and moving) type of gameplay, which isn't playing to the setting's strengths. You have to activate certain underwater gems (glyphs) that activate or open others/other paths, and it's often sort of a mystery as to what you've actually done (or subsequently need to do). And Ecco moves too fast and irregularly relative to the precision required in some spots. Sort of an awkward feeling underwater "platformer." Not the most natural and intuitive combination. Generally speaking, things felt much more clunky than I would have liked overall. And there were frustrating sections where you have to go fast but go slow. There was a section pretty early on where you are on tight time constraints, but due to the conditions you were facing, you had to go exceptionally slow in spots. This was very frustrating. I really cannot stand that sort of thing where you are both rushed and restricted simultaneously, especially when controls lack tightness and finesse. Really an off-putting feeling for me. I don't mind difficult/challenging in and of itself; in fact, I really get excited by it - that can be really fun if well-designed. But I don't like tedious challenges. This was the latter. The language of progression is often quite hazy here, and it makes playing more of a chore than any sort of fun or mechanically interesting challenge. I admire the ambition and task on offer in principle, but it feels rooted more in the days of Blockbuster game rentals, where companies didn't want kids renting and forgetting over a weekend, as they looked to get those purchase dollars rather than being crafted as a genuine challenge without that financial cynicism in play. It was really kind of an anti-rental DRM before such concepts existed in the digital space. Another thing that makes this apparent is how brief the game ultimately is if you know what to do. The added difficulty and tedious progression really emphasize an effort to extend the playtime artificially, imo. Ultimately and practically, Ecco is just a series of mazes with awkward controls, unclear objectives, nightmarish checkpoints, and punishing time constraints, and that does not a fun game make, despite all the positives in terms of presentation. And it's just difficult in an un-fun way overall. There are plenty of things that can damage Ecco in the ocean, and that's on top of managing the fact that he has to continually breathe air. Sometimes you find yourself in places where the ocean surface is not available to replenish your air, and you have to seek out these pockets of air underneath. And they're not always convenient. And then if you mess up and die, it's back to the beginning of the level. Just annoying. And, full disclosure, I didn't finish it. It was interesting enough that I “finished” the game/experience by watching what I didn't complete on YouTube - something I rarely do. And it was in the spirit of the video game club to see it all, I thought. But the fact that I didn't want to play to the end tells the ultimate story about the game on balance for me. 2/5. Not really for me, unfortunately. I won't necessarily dismiss the rest of the series, though. There's some variety in this franchise, although I understand the second game, The Tides of Time, is pretty much more of the same, so I may or may not visit that one before Ecco Jr. and the 3D - Defender of the Future. I won't be so harsh as to forego everything else, but presentation aside - which was really very nice overall - the original Ecco just wasn't what I'd call a good game on balance. The potential was there, but it was all undermined by tedium in terms of both design and control. If it had been the same game in terms of presentation without the annoying gameplay elements, if it had even been mostly a “walking (swimming) sim” sort of narrative-first experience, I would have ranked it higher.

Wow, a 2 for Ecco...I would've went with 1 personally. I kinda hate this game . The bonkers plot, chill music/vibes and me not hating the sequel (for some reason...) is why I am considering the upcoming collection on Steam (when it's $5 or less) to give it one last go. This review does not inspire confidence that I will be revising my stance on sheer unbridled hatred of this game.

crimson_tide wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2026 9:33 am Wow, a 2 for Ecco...I would've went with 1 personally. I kinda hate this game .

Now crim, my brother...my long-time, PS2backlogcommittee gaming, good brother! I have to give you a bit of this look.





When you forwarded the "play a franchise" idea out there to us, if I'm remembering correctly, I let you choose for me, either that or you were the deciding vote. Either way, why my good man, why oh why, out of the several different franchises I submitted (I'd have to find the thread, but I know I offered quite a few choices) did you pick a franchise that leads off with one where your opinion is, "I kinda hate this game." ?!?





My whole world view is undone.