Battling the Backlog 2024 - The First 5 Months (January to May)

I have a backlog of games yet to play, so I decided out of curiosity to keep a list of what I have played and have completed during each month using the How Long to Beat website.

This is not an entry with detailed reviews and thoughts on each game I just felt that it would be nice to have a record of the games I played, gave up on and completed during each month of the year. This entry covers the months of January up until the end of May 2024. I have written a very brief summary for each game and a review score for each game I completed.


Games Mentioned:

  • Tomb Raider I - III Remastered
  • Atari 50
  • Lollipop Chainsaw
  • Shadows of the Damned
  • Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes
  • Devil May Cry 4
  • Soul Calibur IV
  • Soul Calibur V
  • Stranglehold
  • Gungrave G.O.R.E
  • Arcade Paradise
  • Trek to Yomi
  • Little Nightmares II
  • Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw DLC
  • Ghostwire Tokyo
  • Song of Horror: Complete Edition


January

No games completed or even played in the month of January.


February

Played throughout February


Played on: PS5


Compilation of original 3 Tomb raider games and expansions. Slowly playing this on the side as I play through main backlog. I am not counting each game individually towards the backlog, so I will not mark this game as completed until all three games and expansions have been completed.

Started playing Tomb Raider I Remastered.


Completed on February 15th

Atari 50: The Anniversary CelebrationDLC

Played on: PS5



An interesting sort of interactive documentary telling the story of Atari history. It would be nice to see future retro collections be presented like this. It gave me a new appreciation for Atari classics - especially with the inclusion of Arcade versions of some games in the collection. My playthrough included a free DLC update which added extra games.

7/10


Completed on February 29th 

Lollipop Chainsaw

Played on: Xbox 360



Hollywood's James Gunn apparently worked on this. I enjoyed the game overall. It is a bonkers game that is for sure!

8/10


February Summary

Played: 3 

Completed: 2

Still in Progress: 1 (Tomb Raider I - III Remastered)


March

Retired on March 4th


Played on Xbox One (through Xbox 360 backwards compatibility)




I really wanted to finish this game as I was enjoying it, but there was the one on rails part was just proved to be too tedious (oddly I think if I played it on PC with mouse control I probably would have easily got past the troublesome part), so reluctantly I decided to stop and watch the rest online to see how it finished.

Completed on March 11th

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes

Played on: Nintendo Switch



After playing Suda 51's Shadows I heard that there was a sort of sequel to the game within Travis Strikes Again. You play as Travis Touchdown from No More Heroes and you play a number of games as the story sees Travis stuck in a weird phantom videogame console.

7.5/10


Retired on March 12th

Devil May Cry 4

Played on: Xbox 360



Reached mission 10 and disc stopped working which was pretty much half way through the game. Maybe one day I will pick up the special edition for cheap and finish the game. Although I have heard that the second half of the game goes through the levels I have already played but in backwards order with a new character. So maybe I feel like I have already seen enough of the title.

Retired on March 26th

Soulcalibur IV

Played on: Xbox 360


Already own game on PS3, but wanted to try game with Yoda exclusive character. I have marked as retired as have already played story on PS3 version.


Retired on March 26th

Soulcalibur V

Played on: Xbox 360




Only wanted to play as Ezio from the early Assassin's Creed games. Classed retired as story mode was really bland.


Played throughout March 

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft - Played throughout March

Played on: PS5



Progress:
Tomb Raider Remastered Completed on 3/3/2024        Score             9.5
TR 1 Unfinished Business Completed on 16/3/2024     Score            9/10

TR 2, Golden Mask TR II expansion, TR III and The Lost Artefact expansion still to be completed.

During the month of March every few days I would play a couple of levels of Tomb Raider II Remastered and have great fun.

March Summary

Played: 6

Completed: 1

Retired: 4

Still in Progress: 1 (Tomb Raider I - III Remastered)


April

Retired on April 2nd


Played on: Xbox 360




I Enjoyed the prequel movie Hard Boiled and wanted to try out this game sequel to the movie. I am not really a huge shooting game fan and despite my enjoyment of the prequel movie I just could not get into the game.

Completed on April 6th


Played on: PS5





A sequel to a PS2 game. It really did feel like a PS2 game with PS4/5 graphics. It was a fun game while it lasted - it is the sort of title you can play the on a rainy afternoon or two.

6.5/10

Retired on April 6th

Arcade Paradise

Played on: PS5



Dull tasks mixed with uninteresting Arcade machines that are clones of better games. Nice idea but did just did not click with me.


Completed on April 9th

Played on PS5

Trek to Yomi


Fun Samurai 2D adventure with a gorgeous art style. Felt the there may have been some influence from the old PS1 fighter Bushido Blade as you have to block in the game and you cannot simply button mash your way through the game.

8/10


Completed on April 30th

Little Nightmares II

Played on PS5 (PS4 version through backwards compatibility)



I really enjoy the first Little Nightmares game, but after they way the first game ended I was puzzled as to how they would make another version with the character Six. I ended up eventually playing the sequel and I loved playing this short little horror platformer.

8/10


Played throughout April

Played on: PS5

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft




Slowly continued to work my way through Tomb Raider II Remastered playing a level or two every three or four days.

April Summary

Played: 5

Completed: 3

Retired: 2

Still in Progress: 1 (Tomb Raider I - III Remastered)


May

Completed on May 3rd

Little Nightmares: Secrets of the Maw DLC

Played on: PS5 (PS4 version through backwards compatibility)


After playing the second Little Nightmares title I was a little sad that it was over, then I remembered that I had not finished the DLC from the first game (for some reason) that came with the Deluxe version of the first Little Nightmares title.

Again, I enjoyed my time with the DLC and wondered why I had stopped playing it originally - I think, at the time, I was just not in the right mood to be playing the type of game that Little Nightmares was. Anyway, I am glad that I returned to it.

7.5/10


Played throughout May

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft

Played on: PS5


I completed Tomb Raider II Remastered on 3/52024.              9/10

Now, I only have TR II Expansion, TR III and its expansion The Lost Artefact to start and finish.

Progress:

I started the Tomb Raider II expansion The Golden Mask during the month of May and at the time of writing (30th May 2024) I am about to start the final main level. I also hope that I will unlock the secret bonus level which can be unlocked by collecting all the secrets in the main expansion levels. I played the non remastered version of The Golden Mask once many years ago, but I have never ever played the bonus level. *UPDATE* As of the 31st of May 2024 I have found all the secrets in the Golden Mask and have unlocked the bonus level Nightmare in Vegas.

*UPDATE* On the last day of May 31st I finished the Nightmare in Vegas bonus level, so now I just have Tomb Raider III and its expansion level pack to beat before I can class Tomb Raider I - III Remastered fully complete.        

Tomb Raider Golden Mask completed on 31/5/2024 9.5/10





Completed on May 18th

Ghostwire: Tokyo

Played on: PS5





A semi open world Japanese horror/shooter were you don't use guns but you have some strange other worldly powers. It has satisfying combat but some times I wish it would lean more into the survival horror side of things. There is a section that happens in a school, which is my favourite part of the game and it has a more survival horror feel in the school section. Apparently, the school part was added as free DLC later after the release of the game. Sadly, Tangoworks, the studio that worked on the game were shut down - so a sequel from the original team is very unlikely to happen. 


Completed on May 30th

Song of Horror: Complete Edition

Played on: PS5 (PS4 version through backwards compatibility)




Interesting concept with a permadeath function where you can still complete the story if you lose some characters but it is game over if they are all lost. The permadeath function can be switched off if you want to just enjoy the story. I don't normally play permadeath games as they tend to be too repetitive forcing you to repeat the start of the story over and over every time you fail.

I played it in a hybrid way - I played with permadeath for each episode, but if I was ever down to only one character remaining I turned permadeath off to avoid too much repetition. It should be noted also that if you choose the main character before the other characters that the game will end (with permadeath on) if you lose him.

While, I enjoyed the game overall, some of the scares did get repetitive after a while and sometimes intruded on the engaging exploration. I did appreciate that the characters were defenceless normal people. You have to run and hide from the darkness rather than having an arsenal of weapons to keep the enemy at bay - I wish more games would take risks like this.

8/10

May Summary

Played: 4

Completed: (3) 2 full games and 1 DLC

Still in Progress: 1 (Tomb Raider I - III Remastered)


Total Summary

Played: 13 (Including 1 DLC)

Completed: 8 full games and 1 DLC

Retired: 6

Still in Progress: 1 (Tomb Raider I - III Remastered)









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