My patient gaming life has changed since I decided to write stuff down as a hobby.
For me I did it as a blog instead of a private log, which I found really helped. Cosplaying as a games journalist, you have to finish the review so you either complete it or you might look up a let’s play or walkthrough to get what you need.
That’s the key for me, some of them I’ve been bouncing off or just thinking about playing since the NES days and because I didn’t finish them they always stay on the list. But I’ve finally mentally put them to bed!
I highly recommend it to anyone with a backlog, especially if you are in the market for a new hobby, 2 birds with 1 stone!
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That’s a nice idea actually, and it actually gets you to consider your thoughts on a game. Quite often I’ll think back to a game I’ve played before and I can’t remember exactly what it was that I liked/disliked about it - or at the very least I’d struggle to put it into words. Instead I just have a general sense of the ‘feeling’ of that game. Considering the game immediately after finishing it would solidify things in your memory and give you a greater appreciation of it. That in turn may encourage you to play more games in your backlog that you’d disregarded previously.
Let me mention a couple of games I’ve finished recently:
Return of the Obra Dinn definitely stands out as one of the most unique games I’ve played. Clouds, explosions and all the little details of the ship rendered in that dithered pixel art style immediately drew me in. And somehow the game makes the admin of identifying and filling out a book of crew members extremely rewarding. There were some moments near the end of the game where I hit a wall - and it’s good to have a friend who’s completed the game if you want some hints. But for the most part you could make logical claims about each character. Coupled with the amazing voice acting and soundtrack, this is an extremely satisfying and intelligently designed game.
It’s a game that completely flew past me when it released, but I’d subsequently heard great things about Dragon’s Dogma. And having played it, I can see why a lot of people recommend it. The combat feels like Monster Hunter meets Dark Souls - very fluid and responsive, and I love the way you can hire other player’s pawns with varying levels of expertise to assist you. Whilst I did enjoy my time playing this one, it did feel like a very empty world. Throughout the story, I was gearing up for the game to lead me to the next big city but that never happened. The ending was actually very interesting, but it felt like it was missing a larger second act which never happened. I hope that the sequel can make the open world a bit more lively.
I enjoyed what I could manage of Obra Dinn, I really wanted to love it but I think it just got too hard for me, did you make it to the end? My memory is terrible which doesn’t help. It does look fantastic though.
Yes I did eventually get to the end. I recommend finishing it - if you get really stuck try a hint website like this. I think that can make the experience a bit more enjoyable, as a few of the clues are really obscure.
Along these lines, I think my favourite puzzle game of all time has to be The Witness. Have you played that?
Thank you, bookmarked in case I do go back to it! I loved the Witness, Myst vibes. I love that abandoned world feeling like not even abandoned location, but abandoned world. I believe I did use the odd hint for that game too but most of it was just really satisfying to figure out.
I’ve actually not played any of the Myst games! But I did buy the collection on Humble Bundle recently, so I look forward to giving them a go :)
I stream games, even though there’s nobody really watching it (lmao, i’m a horrible streamer), but it forces me to plan and play thru my backlog. Unless if the game is just not resonating, or gave me motion sickness, I do get thru most games, or at least significant chunk of them.
By the end of the game, I’d write a short review (i used RankOne due to twitch integration), just to get my feelings about the game out.
Also with this, I rarely buy games on full price unless I really want to, seeing the backlog dampens your urge to buy new stuff.
Yeah the cost of living crisis has really helped the backlog not increase!
Lucky for me most of my list is old games, but still feels so good to finally tick off a game after so many years.
Writing down a short summary of what I did does sound like a good way to remember what I did in the game if I put it down for an extended time like a diary. Would be able to just read what I did to get back on track.
For sure that is another killer, halfway through but completely forgot what was going on in the game. Give up or start again?
I’ve started doing similar logging my games but not going as far as to write my own reviews.
It’s interesting looking back though a year and seeing what I played over a calendar year. Last year I tried Castlevania and Metroid for the first time and both series really pulled me in. This year seems to be the 3DS Fire Emblem games and Final Fantasy series (never played them before and now I’m up to FF7).
I keep a basic log in a notebook. I just log all each game as I complete it. Organized by year I completed it. I started as a way to help me make sure I was doing hobbies I enjoyed.
This might sound negative, but I don’t mean it that way. I just think differently about this. I’m glad for those who do enjoy keeping logs and writing about and reviewing games, but it’s not something I really want to do.
I guess I’ve never felt the need to keep a log of what I play. I’m either enjoying myself, or I bounce off of it to something else. I’ve also never really been stressed about a backlog. To me my backlog of games isn’t a list I need to complete, it’s a list of choices I currently have if I’m looking for something to do. I don’t even really have a backlog, just a list of games on steam and/or my hard drive. Along that same vein, I don’t feel pressured to finish games. If I’m really into one and I’ve made a lot of progress, I’ll push it through. If I’m not feeling it, I don’t. Games to me shouldn’t be a chore. I do give them a good try, though, because it sometimes takes a while for a game to hit it’s stride.
To me, because I’m not feeling those urges, keeping a list would be more of a chore for me than anything else.
Totally get it, and I wish I was more like that! I am definitely a list person so without ticking something off I can never tie off those mental loose ends.
I’m a mess of un-ticked off mental loose ends :)
I could totally see having something like this take hold of me, but it just hasn’t as far as video games are concerned.
I tend to treat books differently, for what it’s worth. I don’t review them or list them, but a book sitting around that I haven’t read is more of a mental loose end for me than a video game is. Not sure why. I also feel obligated to give a book a really good try before finally bouncing off it forever. Like, this is the 4th time I’ve read this book and have never gotten beyond page 700 before. Calling this one done.
