Lessons Learned: Steam Backlog Is What It Is

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).  This post is ALSO a part of Blaugust 2023's lessons learned week. Why? Because my Steam backlog is what it is.

 I had set the year off to tackle as much of my Steam backlog as I could.  It was part reflecting on games that I played in the past and part playing games I never played (or didn't play enough to form an opinion).  The reflecting has been easier than the playing so I thought for Blaugust's "stay motivated" week I'd hit some of the "need to play" list.

 I stuck to my alphabetical approach and I'm still in the Bs which meant I hit some doozies.  First was The Binding of Isaac which just killed my momentum as I didn't really want to play it and just kept putting it off.  I should have skipped it but felt I needed to be fair to the objective of hitting the full backlog.  Putting this one off meant I put the rest off and thus didn't get anywhere and thus had to shift gears for "staying motivated" week for Blaugust.

 Lesson Learned: If a game in my Steam backlog is not interesting then don't play it.  Life is short; don't play crappy games.

 Going forward I will be more strategic in the games I play from the backlog. This doesn't mean I won't touch on all games, but some will just be commentary like I've done for games like the Bioshock series.

 I also picked up on a tool called Steam Completionist from a post on Aywren's blog so I am going to check that out to see how it can help me better track my backlog.

 

 

Steam Backlog: Bioshock, Bioshock 2, Bioshock Infinite

 For Blaugust 2023's "stay motivated" week I told myself I was going to play games in my Steam backlog, but then New World decided 8/21 was the day of days to drop transmog. So no backlog games played today, but since we were still in the Bs and next on the list was Bioshock it still qualifies as a game I can cover in my Steam Backlog series!

  Bioshock is one of my all time favorite games and those that know the game probably can guess why.  Even all these years later I hesitate to spoil it for anyone.  It's a must play!  Bioshock was more of an experience than it was a game, but that is not to say the gameplay wasn't great.  This game was an amazing marriage of story telling, game play, and that final satisfying twist.

 While Bioshock was more of an experience its successor, Bioshock 2, was more of a game.  The story featured some interesting choices and like the first game I'd rather not spoil them.  There was more game here as well but I am not sure it was for the better.  Some of the "more game" took away from the story aspects of the game but it was still a great game and story.  There was also a multiplayer mode.  Why?  I don't know. It was not needed and I didn't enjoy it.

 

 The most recent Bioshock entry is Bioshock Infinite and marked the series departure from the deep sea to the skies.  Like the first two the story elements of the game are best left unspoiled.  The underlying world that they are building is just fun and the expansion into floating cities in the sky was well done.  

 Bioshock was more experience.  Bioshock 2 was more game.  Bionshock Infinite was more of both game and experience.  Infinite is one of the few games where I feel like story telling and action combat are done well together.  And there is plenty of action in infinite with mechanics that on paper seem impossible, but the game somehow pulls it off.  

 Over all if I had to stack rank the games it would be:

• Bioshock Infinite
  
• Bioshock 1
  
• Bioshock 2

 Bioshock 1 is a must play, but if you've played it you know why you likely aren't going to play it much more than that first play through.  Bioshock Infinite however is fun to jump back into as there is so much fun to be had and different ways to traverse the game.  1,2, or Infinite - all of them are worth your time!

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

Steam Backlog: The Binding of Isaac

 Another week is beginning for Blaugust 2023 and as I laid out in my planning post this week it is all about playing some games in my backlog!  So... consider this post as part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts) and come back all week for more!

 Dusting off where I left the backlog we were still in the Bs (and 2023 is almost over!).  The next game up was The Binding of Isaac.

 This is a weird one.  I don't remember why I got the game and I only vaguely remember playing it originally so I decided this was one I needed to download again to write a post about.  It didn't take me long though to remember why I didn't play it much.

 The first part that throws me off is the theme of the game.  Let's just say it's not for the feint of heart.  As I have no heart... well let's continue.  No, actually lets not.  I don't like the premise or theme of the game. If you don't want to think about a mother sacrificing her child then don't play this game.

 The second part that throws me off is... well.. I'm old(er) with slow(er) reflexes and poor(er) vision.  Binding is a game that is all about fast reflexes amid tons of things going on at once.  I did get the hang of it after a bit and can see the draw in the skill ceiling the game offers. 

 BUT combine a theme I don't enjoy with gameplay that is for a younger (better?) gamer and I could not force myself to an hour of play.  I gave up after twenty or so minutes.

Steam Backlog: Way of the Hunter

This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

 Ever since I was a kid I have been a fan of "hunting" games on PCs.  There was a long period where I didn't play any, but that changed when I got into theHunter:Call of the Wild.  With a renewed interest in the genre I grabbed Way of the Hunter on Steam and added to my backlog.  Now I've gotten around to giving it a whirl!

 As most of the game reviews on Steam note it is impossible to evaluate Way of the Hunter (WotH) without making comparisons to theHunter.  The games are similar, if not almost exactly the same, at least at the surface.  WotH differs in some key areas and I've found myself enjoying it more.

 The first aspect of WotH that I found more enjoyable than theHunter is the story and missions.  I never spent much time on them in theHunter but in WotH I've found myself following along the main story line.  It is not anything to write home about, but it has a much better storytelling mechanism with it's comicbook-like cutscenes.

 Another aspect of WotH that helps with the story line is that travel feels much faster. Whether walking or taking a vehicle I feel like I get from A to B much faster than I did in theHunter.  There are still moments where you slow down to hunt, but between then it feels much faster.  WotH also gives you a vehicle from the start which is a welcome sigh!

 WotH also has a much larger render distance than theHunter.  In WotH you can spot animals and landmarks for what feels like thousands of yards/meters where as in theHunter it cuts off abruptly at 430.  Combined with faster travel I spend a lot less time "roaming" in WotH than I did in theHunter.  In WotH I can find targets at a distance and get there quickly.

 The inventory management in WotH is more straightforward and simplified.  While theHunter offers a ton of variety as far as load outs go the interface to manage all of it is a mess (better than it was in the past with recent patches but still a long ways off from what I expect in games made in the last decade).

 Speaking of variety that is one area that WotH lags behind theHunter.  theHunter has more reserves (aka maps) than I can remember and the variety of target species to hunt to go with them.  theHunter also has more weapons and hunting options such as bow that WotH does not have.  You can spend a lot of time with theHunter before you have to repeat content (if you pay up for the add on packs that is).

  As far as how the games play they are very similar.  Find animals, stalk, shoot, follow the blood trail, and harvest the animal.  Starting out both games felt the same, but the more I played (and paid for add ons) the theHunter became "arcade-like" as far as hunting went.  WotH has yet to get that "arcade" feel.  Hunts in WotH feel purposeful and engaging even if it sometimes takes a bit of time to track down an animal that you shot.  I shoot and kill less in WotH than I do in theHunter but somehow it feels better in WotH and unlike theHunter I never struggle to find animals in WotH.

 I am still early in WotH and I am enjoying it.  If asked I would recommend WotH over theHunter, but we'll have to see if that new-game sheen wears off and where the team behind WotH takes it.

 

Steam Backlog: Battlefield Bad Company 2

One of the best!

Funniest Battlefield ever sir!

 Next on the journey through my Steam backlog: Battlefield Bad Company 2!

 I am too obsessed with Battlefield 2042 currently to jump back into Bad Company 2 so this post will just be about my fond memories of destroyed battlefields!  This is one of my all time favorite Battlefield titles!

 Not only did this game have great multiplayer, but it also featured a great single player game.  In fact its the only single player campaign in the entire franchise that I can remember playing.  The characters were memorable and I can still hear "Rainbow Sprinkles"!

 Just watching that video brought back so many funny memories from this game's dialogue. I would even go as far to say that if Battlefield gamers were turned into virtual soldiers these yahoos would be the result.

 And talking about the rainbow sprinkles on the top: not only was Bad Company 2 amazing but so was it's Vietnam campaign.  For years I returned to play the Vietnam multiplayer.  Great maps and even better features! Ever see a helicopter airlift a tank into the middle of the battlefield?  Well guess what you can do in BFBC2 Vietnam!  Oh and the river patrol boats were overpowered... just saying.

 Regardless of Vietnam or the game proper the underlying gameplay was spot on.  Guns felt great.  Map destruction was top notch.  Vehicles felt balanced.  And one of the most controversial changes was removing the prone position.  If you wanted to snipe you had crouch as your best bet.  

 So many good memories here and this spot in the backlog is also timely as, unfortunately, EA is desisting Bad Company 2.

 

This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).  

Steam Backlog: Bejeweled 3

How did this get in here?

 Next on the journey into my Steam backlog is Bejeweled 3.  I don't ever remember buying this game or even remember wanting to buy this game.  But it's in the backlog so it must be played!

 

  The game is a straight forward puzzle game.  Swap gems and line up three.  Get lucky (or plan strategically) and an avalanche of combinations is possible.  Line up more than three and get special gems that explode or have other effects on the board.

 I put in my hour of playtime and feel satisfied enough to check this one off my Steam backlog checklist.  My final score:

This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts). 

Steam Backlog: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Dark... Black

 Batman: Arkham Asylum, of which I played 9 hours, was fun.  It landed at a point in my life where I had just become a new father and I started spending more time in singleplayer offline games than I did in online multiplayer games.  I never beat the game, but do have fond memories of it.

 Like other games I did not choose to revisit Arkham so just going to share some thoughts (see past posts tagged Batman:AA).

 The first memory that jumps back to me is "dark... black".  The game hit the mark for the cliche Batman "black".  Everything is dark and brooding.  I don't think "daylight" or "bright light" exist in the Asylum.

 I also remember the combat and it was fun; albeit I do remember it being a little harder to master on keyboard/mouse than I expected.  That did push me away from finishing the game (as well as having a young kiddo taking up my free time).  With more time this is one I'd probably revisit to finish at some point.

This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

Steam Backlog: Bastion

Narrator Narrates

 I played Bastion for six hours when it came out and I loved every minute of it.  It is not a game I chose to revisit and play as part of my Steam backlog journey but it brought back lots of fond memories (see all posts tagged Bastion).

 The most memorable aspect of Bastion was the narrator.  It narrates every action the player takes and makes it feel like it was designed commentary when it is actually dynamic; ever-changing based on what the player is doing.

 "The boy moves forward to smash the thing."

 "The boy smashes the thing."

 I didn't have to smash it.  Did it know I was going to smash it?  Was it leading me along?  The narration is phenomenal in that regard and I can still hear the voice in my head.  The game world, story, and combat itself was a ton of fun, but the narrator put it over the top.

 At one point the game had me thinking hard about MMOs as well.  Narration was a big idea; Bastion showed me that dynamic narration can work and that is exactly the type of narration an MMO would need.  Then more aspects of the game spilled out of my brain into that blog post and if you told me tomorrow that a Bastion MMORPG was being developed I would be the first person in line.  So much of Bastion make sense for an MMORPG.

 Now that I've written this post I think I may have to revisit this gem!

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

Steam Backlog: Among Us

Sus

 I will admit that I joined the bandwagon when Among Us swung back around in popularity well after it's original launch.  I think it was AOC streaming it during the 2020 presidential run that really hooked me.  We play a lot of hidden role board and card games in our house and I played a bunch of Town of Salem so I felt right at home in Among Us.

 The initial run was great, but I never got anything going with any gamer groups which I think is why I didn't spend more than a couple hours stabbing/getting stabbed by random internet strangers.  Eventually I found it more entertaining to watch groups play than to play myself.

 Among Us.  Fun for a few, but otherwise a flash in my Steam backlog.

 This post is part of my running series: My Steam Backlog (see all MySteamBacklog tagged posts).

My Steam Backlog

Me

Time to Play the Backlog?

 Does anyone ever look at the LIBRARY tab of their Steam client and wonder what is all hiding under it?  If it is anything like mine it is a long list of games you've bought and never played (or barely played).  I've been contemplating working through this backlog.

 It is actually a bit crazy when I look and see the size is 150+!  Some of this is sprawl from games I've tried over time, but the majority are games I've bought and quite a few that haven't gotten much attention (some not at all!).

 A quick shuffle through the list and by my count I have not played approximately 40 of the titles!  That is 25% of games I've bought that I've never played.  There is a much longer list of games that have been installed and played but not for any length of time.

 So I am considering reviewing this backlog with a few goals in mind:

• Create a blog post for each game (which may include its expansions)
• If I played the game already it will just be about memories from the game
• If I haven't played the game or didn't play it enough to get a sense for it then I will play the game before posting.  Goal will be at least 1 hour.
  
• Create some videos along the way

 This is also cheat mode for next week when I will be away from posting.  I will queue up a few posts from the backlog.

 Do you play your Steam backlog?  If so; leave a comment!