• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

My Backlog, Your Choice: Decide What I Play

J

Jive Turkey

Unconfirmed Member
Being out of work and broke sucks. Especially as a gamer. Fortunately I've built up quite a backlog and now it is time to play through all those games I never had time for when I was a productive member of society.

I've been toying with this idea for a while now. GAF is filled with passionate opinions about EVERYTHING and there's a weekly "what should I play next gaming advice" thread. This isn't one of those. In this thread I want you to make your voice heard. I don't want a sales pitch explaining why I should play a game instead I'm giving you the average GAF poster the power to pick the next game I complete out of my entire backlog. Am I overlooking a fantastic gem? Do you hate me and want to force me to play crap? It's all up to you.

Simply pick one - and ONLY ONE -game for me to play. The game that gets the most votes by 12 pm Pacific 11/16 will be the next game I finish.

DS
Ace Attorney series*
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Bangi-O Spirits
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Drawn to Life
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimorie of the Rift
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Izuna: Legend of the Unemplyed Ninja
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns*
Kirby Superstar Ultra
The Legacy of Ys Book 2
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legendary Starfy
Lock's Quest
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
New Super Mario Bros.
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
Pokemon Platinum
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
Scribblenauts
Soul Bubbles
Trace Memory
Trauma Center: Under the Knife
Trauma Center 2*
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble
Yoshi's Island DS

GameCube
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Baten Kaitos Origins*

PC
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadows of Chernobyl
Sam and Max: Season One
Sins of a Solar Empire
Warcraft III

PlayStation 3
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty*
Valkyria Chronicles

Xbox
Fable
Phantom Dust

Xbox 360
Call of Duty 3
Chromehounds
The Club
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Dark Sector
Dead of Alive 4
Dead Rising
Eternal Sonatta
Facebreaker
Fable 2*
Full Auto
Grand Theft Auto IV
Infinite Undiscovery
Lost Odyssey
Monster Madness
Project Gotham Racing 3 + 4
Project Sylpheed
Pure
Tales of Vesperia
Timeshift
Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise

XBLA
Banjo-Kazooie
Bionic Commando
Puzzle Quest

Wii
Blast Works
Boom Blox
Elebits
Endless Ocean
Excite Truck
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
House of the Dead: Overkill
Little King's Story
Mad World
Mercury Meltdown Revolution
Nights: Journey of Dreams
No More Heroes

WiiWare
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

*Ineligible until the pervious game(s) in the series are played

So there you have it. Pick my next game for better or worse.
 
jesus narrow it down what you're in the mood for, there's so many fucking choices you might as well be Gamestop
 
Warcraft 3, then Boom blox.

The only reason i have for suggesting those games is that they are my favourite games on your list.

EDIT: also, how the fuck did you build up such a fucking massive backlog? Do you just buy games then not play them?
 
Banjo Kazooie XBLA
 
Ace Attorney.
I don't understand why it's marked with an asterisk, do you mean you haven't finished the first one? If the answer is yes, then what are you waiting for? :D
 
Here is my hint for your backlog: Don't buy so many games :lol

Seriously, I have a total of 2 1 game I haven't actually finished, which is Fire Emblem Wii because I am trying to find the gamecube one first since they are direct sequels :lol
 
Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland

Avoid Ninja Gaiden DS (I hate myself for making me playing through the first 3 modes, only to get impossibly stuck on Ch 10 in the hardest difficulty. Plus, the game is not good. Waste of time.)
 
Amir0x said:
jesus narrow it down what you're in the mood for, there's so many fucking choices you might as well be Gamestop
Click to expand...
Well that would defeat the purpose of GAF imposing it's collective will upon me in my sub/dom act of videogaming now wouldn't it?

sohois said:
EDIT: also, how the fuck did you build up such a fucking massive backlog? Do you just buy games then not play them?
Click to expand...
Sometimes. Many of the games on my list I've played...Just not completed. Most everything on my list was purchased at clearance prices so it isn't like I rushed out to buy the latest and greatest just to let it sit.
 
Advice 1: stop buying games.
Advice 2: go replay Uncharted 2 on crushing.

Advice 2.1 (if 2 false): go buy Uncharted 2 and play it. Ignore advice #1.
 
Tales of Vesperia (Xbox 360)

0000001610-L-e542499.jpg
 
The 10-hour plan.
Play New Super Mario Bros. Should only take 3-4 hours or so to get from the beginning to the end (including skipping worlds). But if you decided to try and complete it thoroughly, then tack on a dozen hours or two.
Nights: Journey of Dreams only took me 3.5 hours. I've seen others take 3 hours or even less to finish one character's story mode (two characters to play with).
Finally, if you've played Elite Beat Agents or Ouendan before and are pretty skilled in those, Ouendan 2 shouldn't take more than 2 hours to get through the Normal difficulty.

Yeah, I know you asked for one but I picked three; only because the games are so short.
 
Little King's Story, if you're in the mood for a long game. If not, Excite Truck.

STALKER is a great choice too, but I liked those 2 more.
 
Corto said:
Advice 1: stop buying games.
Advice 2: go replay Uncharted 2 on crushing.

Advice 2.1 (if 2 false): go buy Uncharted 2 and play it. Ignore advice #1.
Click to expand...
the hell? he was way better games than Uncharted, why would he invest in time/money in weaker product.

play Ace Attorney games damn it. You won't regret it. They are short and have wonderful stories.

DO IT NOW.
 
faridmon said:
the hell? he was way better games than Uncharted, why would he invest in time/money in weaker product.

play Ace Attorney games damn it. You won't regret it. They are short and have wonderful stories.

DO IT NOW.
Click to expand...

Ok. It was just a humorous reply too... :D Valkyria Chronicles then.
 
Corto said:
Ok. It was just a humorous reply too... :D Valkyria Chronicles then.
Click to expand...
now we are talking. yes Valkyrie Chronicles. Do it now or after Ace Attorney series. in any order it will do.

damn man, you are in for a treat, you have all those games you haven't played/finished, i wish i could experience all those games for the first time again :(
 
I won't suggest anything to play next. Make up your own mind. But your backlog would be cut into shreds if you removed games that were pretty hopeless cases.

Sell / Delete / Remove from Backlog:
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years -- just not any good and you have no shortage of games in the genre to play.
Blast Works -- It's a nifty novelty, but this is a game that focuses on custom content creation. If you haven't gotten on with playing it yet, you never will actually get any meat out of this game.
Excite Truck -- If you haven't played it yet, you won't play it for a long time. This is an arcadey game. In a backlog situation, focus on games you can play and finish.
Nights: Journey of Dreams -- I haven't played this, but I'll take Segata's word on this that it's a rough around the edges sequel that true Nights fans will enjoy. If you haven't played this yet, you obviously aren't in that category, and most everyone else seemed disappointed.
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin -- I assume you already have the other AW games. You've played some of them. You know if you want to play this or not--because you haven't yet, I'll assume you probably don't really need much more in the way of Advance Wars
Final Fantasy III -- Probably the least playable game of the entire series. If you haven't got to this remake yet, you probably won't. If you were really a Final Fantasy fiend, I'd recommend this but in that case you'd already have played it. The remake doesn't add much to the Famicom version.
Final Fantasy IV -- This, on the other hand is a great remake. But if you haven't played it yet, and I'm going to assume you've played vanilla FFIV, I'd say you don't really need this and probably won't get to it.
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon -- You have another, much better Fire Emblem game to play.
Izuna -- It's not that it's bad, it's that there are better roguelikes on the same system and you've got two of these sitting unplayed. Sell 'em both.
Kirby Superstar Ultra -- I assume you've played Kirby Superstar. This is a sub-par port, and the new content is a snooze. Don't bother.
Pokemon Platinum -- I assume you've played and own other Pokemon games. You're not going to get to this one. By the time you do, HG/SS will be out and those'll be a better option.
Trauma Center 2 -- By all accounts an unnecessary sequel, and it was stupid to buy this before playing the original.
VJ: Double Trouble -- mehhhh
Motorstorm: Pacific Rift -- again, an arcadey racer. Not really the kind of game that you get around to playing when you have a backlog.
Fable -- Fable 2 is a massive improvement in every way and is available for cheap. If you want some Fable, play 2.
Call of Duty 3 -- Definitely the worst installment of the series, play 2 or 4 or 5 or 6 instead if you are desperately wanting to play CoD.
Chromehounds -- Most of the joy is in the online, servers are disconnecting soon... or maybe already
The Club -- Fun arcadey shooter; again, arcadey games are not your friend at this point.
Dead of Alive 4 -- There are much better fighting games on the system, and you probably don't have time to play those.
Facebreaker -- Skip it.
Infinite Undiscovery -- This is honestly a very very broken game and you have much better RPGs to play. You'll never get to this if you go quality first.
Project Gotham Racing 3 + 4 -- Pick one, junk the other...
Pure -- Again, a racer. You have too many of these and people generally don't play multiple racers concurrently.
Timeshift -- Much better FPSes on the system and in your library.

As a bonus, selling these games will actually get you money which you can use to get a haircut and a job. Your remaining backlog will last you more than a year.

I've played more games this year than any year previous in my life and I've finished about 60 games, cutting my backlog from ~210 to ~170 through completion, selling, and taking into account new purchases. Don't be afraid to swing the axe.

Also consider putting 15 minutes into every game in your backlog. Anything that doesn't catch your eye? Axe it. That's not enough time to make a good decision? Tough shit, you'll never have enough time to clear your backlog.

And sign up for Backloggery and get friends who bug you for not finishing games.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
What RPG to play next from my backlog
Poll 
27
682
KanKamAndNob replied
  • Poll
RPGs from my backlog
20
232
PeteBull replied
How big is your gaming backlog?
2 3
115
1K
Mr Hyde replied
Can't decide on a telescopic controller for my smartphone
4
163
Magic Carpet replied
What are your comfort games?
2
81
436
GardenOfAbbylon replied
Top Bottom