2012, end of the world, or end of your pile? - the 12 month thread

I already listed my purchase targets in the 2013 thread, but for the sake of discussion unless Nintendo drops a minefield of games after March, it's looking like 2013 is the year of indies and kickstarters for me.

Final breakdown for the year.

IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/unfinished.gif) 51.5%
IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/beaten.gif) 27.3%
IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/completed.gif) 18.2%
IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/images/null.gif) 3%

Time to delete everything unfinished.

I've also been crafting and update to the description on my backloggery page. I'll probably post that in the 2013 thread.

My 2012 is not nearly over yet. I just got 4+ new games added to the pile for my birthday.

First, many thanks to monkeyboy for Sine Mora on Steam. I had just played the demo and enjoyed it on PS3 a few days ago and the gift popped for me when it was probably my birthday for his local time, and mere hours early my time.

Secondly, my wife got me PS+ for my birthday. Immediately that added Infamous 2, Quantum Conundrum, and Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One. All of these were on some sort of wishlist already, so adding them to the pile is not unexpected. Just the timing.

Plus Mega Man 9 continues to kick my butt. Made it to Dr. Wily and got stomped many times.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

My 2012 is not nearly over yet.

Mine either apparently, as I picked up Metro 2033 free from Facebook today. I don't think I'm going to actually add it to the pile though, as I'd rather play it on 360, and was planning to pick it up on that platform sometime next year.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Plus Mega Man 9 continues to kick my butt. Made it to Dr. Wily and got stomped many times.

Hoarding energy tanks is your friend.

AUs_TBirD wrote:
mrtomaytohead wrote:

Plus Mega Man 9 continues to kick my butt. Made it to Dr. Wily and got stomped many times.

Hoarding energy tanks is your friend.

Yeah, I'm gonna have to go into that battle with full E-tanks and the half damage thing on. I keep getting randomly hurt in the first phase too much and I'm nearly hopeless on the 2nd, despite reading some strategies on avoiding the fire.

The 8 robot masters are pretty easy with the right weapons, though. Nothing like the first time against them.

I think I realized that in order to beat MM2 in the Anniversary Collection I need to hoard E Tanks. Except for the fact that my save at the Wily Fortress doesn't have any E Tanks. I think when I put the game down I was debating between password scumming to add 5 tanks or continuing to beat my head against the wall. I forget if I tried again after I figured out how to turn Game Mode on with my TV....

mrtomaytohead wrote:

The 8 robot masters are pretty easy with the right weapons, though. Nothing like the first time against them.

Isn't that always the case

shoptroll wrote:

I think I realized that in order to beat MM2 in the Anniversary Collection I need to hoard E Tanks. Except for the fact that my save at the Wily Fortress doesn't have any E Tanks. I think when I put the game down I was debating between password scumming to add 5 tanks or continuing to beat my head against the wall. I forget if I tried again after I figured out how to turn Game Mode on with my TV....

mrtomaytohead wrote:

The 8 robot masters are pretty easy with the right weapons, though. Nothing like the first time against them.

Isn't that always the case

Yeah I guess so, but it's hard to remember a time when the robot masters of MM2 were too hard for me and just a megabuster.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

Yeah I guess so, but it's hard to remember a time when the robot masters of MM2 were too hard for me and just a megabuster.

I died so many times on the Quick Man stage. I swear I could get through that without the Flash Stopper when I was younger

So I picked up Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (why does capcom not like to keep counting with this franchise?) via PS+ and played through Guile's story mode. I saw credits roll. That counts as beaten, right? I mean, I had to suffer through the cheap attacks of M. Bison many times. It has to be called beaten, despite there being 38 other characters.

Either way, I think it's being marked off of my backlog as I have no real desire to return to that. This will also serve as a lesson to me to avoid fighting games, especially after glancing at King of Fighters long enough to try the first tutorial.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

So I picked up Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (why does capcom not like to keep counting with this franchise?) via PS+ and played through Guile's story mode. I saw credits roll. That counts as beaten, right? I mean, I had to suffer through the cheap attacks of M. Bison many times. It has to be called beaten, despite there being 38 other characters.

You're a better man than I am. I couldn't even beat Sagat with Ryu on the PC version of vanilla IV

I'd mark that beaten. Also, unless it's Smash Brothers, I don't usually buy fighters unless I have someone to play with. Learned that lesson after Tatsunoko v. Capcom.

I've always marked off one character's story in a fighting game as Beaten. Completing all of the characters is Complete (plus any little time trial challenges they have set up).

Fighting games are easy like that.

You guys are making me feel better. I did continue like 20 times on M. Bison alone after not continuing once previously.

Also, shoptroll, I didn't face sagat as guile, only M. Bison and Seth. Don't be fooled because Seth is such a menacing sounding name. He was quite easier than Bison. But that's maybe because I resorted to being pretty cheap and leaning heavily on hard kick which worked wonders.
Like you, I'd rather play a figher like smash bros. I did find Soul Calibur 2 felt like it had a near perfect balance of easy to get into and hard to master. But that game is how old now? 10 years since the arcade! Oh, man.

Oh right, I struggled with Sagat and finally beat him but Seth was just a nightmare even on Easy.

Did you play on an easier difficulty, Tomayto? If the Easy or Easiest mode is a lot more possible I'd be fine downloading it. But if it's still diamond-up-the-ass hard even on Easiest then screw it.

I played on Easy which is the 3rd setting, medium being default, so i assume that was 3/7. Easier and Easiest were the actual names of the settings below it.

It's more that the final couple of fights just get cheap and annoying. Just try to remember fighting M. Bison in Street Fighter 2 and how you were certain the computer was cheating. Up until that point I didn't even continue once.

Also the move list icons, even after looking at the really minimal legend, are completely baffling until you realize they really do want you to do the most absurd inputs possible.

Guile's super move was hold down-left, then do a do down-right and over to down-left (didn't show a rounded motion so assume it wasn't a roll) and then straight to a up-right + button (hard kick?). The part between the hold down-left and hard kick was one single icon with a black line going across the bottom, and then crossing the circle icon to the top-right. To me, that's not a single motion, but 3 separate inputs so it took looking it up to come to grips with the fact that was indeed what they wanted and they were too lazy to show or explain it correctly anywhere I could find.

At this point I'm convinced that fighting games are being developed for no one but the hardcore fighting game crowd. I liked fighting games long ago when I could play with friends and beat the computer. But I could beat Rival Schools on the Playstation without having to resort to the easiest difficulty.

At this point I'll just hope that Playstation All-Stars makes it okay for people to imitate Smash Bros. and spark a new user-friendly sub-genre of fighting game. I like the idea that all I need to do is press a direction and a button and the character essentially pulls off a special move. Not only do I end up learning all the moves easily, but I'm able to execute them instantly.

ccesarano wrote:

At this point I'm convinced that fighting games are being developed for no one but the hardcore fighting game crowd. I liked fighting games long ago when I could play with friends and beat the computer. But I could beat Rival Schools on the Playstation without having to resort to the easiest difficulty.

At this point I'll just hope that Playstation All-Stars makes it okay for people to imitate Smash Bros. and spark a new user-friendly sub-genre of fighting game. I like the idea that all I need to do is press a direction and a button and the character essentially pulls off a special move. Not only do I end up learning all the moves easily, but I'm able to execute them instantly.

I get that same feeling as well, with rare exceptions. Part of what made me consider trying Marvel vs Capcom 3, was that it was supposedly kind of button mashy, and therefore noob friendly. I never did actually try it though, as after being burned by Blaz Blue (massive difficulty spike 3 fights in) and Street Fighter IV (which at least tries to teach you how to play, but is still esoteric as balls), I got the feeling that the fighting game scene's definition of noob is probably still several skill levels above my own.

I have Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and managed to beat it a couple times, but I believe on an easier difficulty. In the end I keep it around for when I move out and wish to have a fighting game on hand to play with friends, but if I end up getting Playstation All-Stars or getting Smash Bros. Brawl again then I doubt MvC3 will see much action.

Supposedly Persona 4 Arena did a fantastic job of creating a fighting game for non-hardcore players.

According to Backloggery I beat 7 games and added 20 for a total of -13 for the year. Really kind of sad. The only thing I've realized is I need to give up MMOs. The time I spent in Rift, SWTOR and GW 2 could easily have allowed me to knock out 10 more titles.

Here's what I crossed off the list:

1. Mass Effect 1
2. Torchlight 2
3. Toy Soldiers
4. Star Wars Old Republic
5. Dawn of War 2
6. Guild Wars Eye of the North
7. Diablo 3

And my Backloggery total:

IMAGE(http://backloggery.com/z_daddy/sig.gif)

Slid one last game in under the radar for 2012 with Sine Mora. That put my backloggery at +8 for the year with 24 added and an astonishing 32 beat. Granted, some of those were games like Metal Slug 3-6 and one DLC campaign was included there.

Those games are:

  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  • Bioshock 2
  • De Blob 2
  • Dirt 3
  • Renegade Ops
  • Renegade Ops Coldstrike
  • Borderlands GotY Edition
  • Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
  • Bastion
  • 3D Dot Game Heroes
  • Prototype
  • Hard Reset
  • Sanctum
  • Batman Arkham City
  • Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
  • Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
  • Transformers: War for Cybertron
  • HOARD
  • Flight Control HD
  • Enslaved: Odyssy to the West
  • The Baconing
  • Battlefield 3
  • Toy Soldiers
  • Dead Island
  • Limbo
  • Mega Man ZX Advent
  • Metal Slug 3
  • Metal Slug 4
  • Metal Slug 5
  • Metal Slug 6
  • Sine Mora
  • Super Street Fighter IV

The order of the list only has relevence to me and how I tracked the games in my own document and I can't imagine trying to explain it to anyone now as It's a complete mess, except to say anything after Flight Control was added in 2012 or I didn't intend to play it in 2012 when it started.

Beat FarCry 3 (rental) yesterday. Another quality game in at a discounted cost

Ok, for completeness sake:

[size=10]January: Psychoauts, Orcs Must Die!, Bastion, Renegade Ops[/size]

[size=10]February: Trine, Trine 2, And Yet it Moves!, Breath of Death VIII, Cave Story+, Yosumin!, LIMBO, Cthulhu Saves the World[/size]

[size=10]March: NyxQuest, Blade Kitten, I-Fluid, Legend of Zelda: Spirits Tracks[/size]

[size=10]April: Aquaria, SONG SUMMONER, 初音ミク and Future Stars: Project Mirai, Shoot Many Robots[/size]

[size=10]May: Mass Effect, Mega Man ZX[/size]

[size=10]June: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine, Bulletstorm, Puzzle Dimension, Quantum Conundrum, Deus Ex: Human Revolution - The Missing Link, Amnesia: The Dark Descent[/size]

[size=10]July: Q.U.B.E., Auditorium, Lollipop Chainsaw, Mass Effect 2, The Binding of Isaac, Botanicula, NightSky[/size]

[size=10]August: Mega Man 9, Stacking, Jurassic Park: The Game, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Jolly Rover[/size]

[size=10]September: Costume Quest, Beyond Good & Evil, Hacker Evolution, Lume[/size]

[size=10]October: The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, Uplink, Machinarium, Tiny Band Story, Gemini Rue, Borderlands 2, Who's That Flying?!, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty[/size]

[SIZE=10]November: Monkey Island 2: Special Edition, Razor2: Hidden Skies, Home, Rock of Ages, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two[/SIZE]

December: Orcs Must Die 2, One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP, Hyperdimention Neptunia, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimentions, Unmechanical

[size=10]Removed: Spacechem, Archon: Classic, Lucidity, Mr. Robot, Gish, Bob Came in Pieces, Bad Rats, Sequence, Spectromancer, Your Doodles are Bugged Various pvp games[/size]

Added this year: Unmechanical, Deponia, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Heavy Rain, Snapshot, Assassin's Creed 3, Closure, [size=10]Home, Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage, Last Story, Home, Rock of Ages, Orcs Must Die 2, Half Minute Hero, Batman Arkham City, Offspring Fling!, 初音ミク and Future Stars: Project Mirai, One Piece: Unlimited Cruise SP, Shoot Many Robots, Xenoblade Chronicles, Torchlight 2, Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2, Borderlands 2, Lolipop Chainsaw, Alice: The Madness Returns, L.A. Noire, Cargo – The Quest for Gravity, Grotesque Tactics 2, Sequence, Penumbra Overture, Penumbra Black Plague, Binding of Issac, Alan Wake, Stacking, Costume Quest, Chantelise, Fortune Summoners, Jurassic Park: The Game, Beyond Good & Evil, Q.U.B.E., Botanicula, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Auditorium, Defense Grid: The Awakening - You Monster DLC, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty, Pokemon Black 2[/size]

Remaining Pile: 83 (66 beaten, 45 added, 18 removed, Total Pile Change: -36)

Freakin' Holiday sales and gifts... :p

Picked up McPixel and New Super Mario Bros. 2 as holiday gifts. Bought Tactics Ogre, Star Ocean First Departure, and Final Fantasy 4 Heroes of Light, and a handful of indie games from the Humble Bundle. That ends the year with a Backloggery change of -38. Still my best year, but I think it's time to lay off the Humble Bundles.

shoptroll wrote:

Star Ocean First Departure

What is this now? A Vita game of the first game or something?

PSP remake of the first game.

Jan. Feb. Mar. April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. 1st Final update!

Well, here we are. I don't think anything actually changed in the last month. No games bought, and none beat. Kinda crazy. I've had more fun lately getting back into older games that I've already played, like P3:FES and FF XIII. This trend may continue.

Finished this year (alphabetical by platform)

  • Alpha Protocol [color=blue](360)[/color]
  • Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
  • Dark Souls
  • Dance Central 2
  • Driver: San Francisco [color=red]New this month[/color]
  • El-Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
  • Enchanted Arms
  • Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
  • Final Fantasy XIII-2
  • Gunslinger
  • Kung Fu Panda
  • Lego Batman
  • Once Upon a Monster
  • Project Gotham Racing 3
  • Rayman Origins
  • Botanicula [color=blue](PC)[/color]
  • The Dream Machine (chapters 1-3 so far)
  • Mirror's Edge
  • Quantum Conundrum
  • Tiny Bang Story
  • Torchlight 2 [color=red]New this month[/color]
  • Ys Origin
  • Hyperdimension Neptunia [color=blue](PS3)[/color] [color=red]New this month[/color]
  • LittleBIGPlanet
  • Journey
  • Tales of Graces ƒ [color=red]New this month[/color]
  • Uncharted
  • Uncharted 2
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword :([color=blue] (Wii)[/color]
  • The Last Story
  • Xenoblade Chronicles
  • Radiant Historia[color=blue] (DS/3DS)[/color]
  • 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors
  • Devil Survivor 2
  • Ocarina of Time: 3D
  • Paper Mario: Sticker Star [color=red]New this month[/color]
  • Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
  • Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box
  • Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
  • Pushmo
  • SMT: Strange Journey
  • Super Mario 3D Land
  • Persona 3:FES[color=blue] (PS2)[/color]

/ = Abandoned / Sold
/ = Finished / Completed

Currently playing (alphabetical by platform)

  • Bayonetta [color=green]on loan[/color] (aaaalmost done) [color=blue](360)[/color]
  • Persona 4 Arena
  • Atom Zombie Smasher[color=blue](PC)[/color]
  • Jade Empire (unfortunately on hold until I can get the technical issues sorted out...if I can)
  • Yakuza 4 [color=blue](PS3)[/color]
  • Tales of the Abyss [color=blue] (DS/3DS)[/color]

Games shamefully purchased this month

  • None

I, Minarchist, solemnly pledge to remain incredibly awesome just like I am now. Also, to take part in the Pile of Shame monthly threads. Even if it is just for one game, I will put forth effort to clear my ever-growing pile, one game at a time.

I also pledge to do everything within my ability to restrict my game purchases to those that I've listed, and, if I should falter, will shamefully add them to the pile in full sight of this support group.