Office or Home, the Pile Lurks - Pile of Shame May 2020

Welcome to May. After spending April working remotely, I can safely say that being home and in closer proximity to my Pile of Shame does absolutely nothing to get me to play those game. Some of us are returning back to the office soon, but this will have no impact on my pile playing.

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy.

Some housekeeping notes.

If you're interested, m0nk3yboy, has the 12 month 2020 pile plan thread over here.

A quick reminder, in order to be considered "Pile of Shame" the game needs to be at least three months old. Otherwise, it's just a new game you haven't gotten to playing yet.

Also, if you are curious about some of the previous threads, Picks of the Pile, etc... Please go here and check out the spreadsheet I setup.

Let's get on to the games!

This month's Pick of the Pile is

Dragon Quest XI


IMAGE(https://o.aolcdn.com/images/dims?quality=85&image_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fo.aolcdn.com%2Fhss%2Fstorage%2Fmidas%2Fe09a89600c6556c38d6473b2ef4851eb%2F206257964%2Fdragonquest-ed.jpg&client=amp-blogside-v2&signature=e147c70c4c16b2460a9b0ffafbee6deae6ebdcba)
"A young man, about to participate in his village’s coming of age ceremony, heads off to the top of the local lookout point alongside his childhood friend. After a series of unexpected events, this intrepid adventurer learns he is the reincarnation of a legendary hero from a forgotten age." (Official Site)

Multi-Platform
ABZU - AUs_TBirD
Assassin's Creed Revelations - bobbywatson
Dragon Quest XI - JohnKillo
Guacamelee 2 - Stele
Last Day of June - AUs_TBirD
The Last of Us - AUs_TBirD
Little Nightmares - brokenclavicle
One Night Stand - AUs_TBirD
Ryse: Son of Rome - Hemi
Spyro Spyro: Ripto's Rage [Reignited] - brokenclavicle
Steamworld Quest - Stele
Trails in the Sky SC - JohnKillo

PC
The Last Express - AUs_TBirD

PS4
The Last Guardian - AUs_TBirD

Xbox One

Nintendo Switch

Nintendo Wii
The Last Story - AUs_TBirD

For some reason, Animal Crossing, Ring Fit Adventure and Monster Hunter World Iceborne have taken over my life, to the point where I'm barely playing anything else. I have failed to complete Dragon Quest V for two months in a row. Which is weird considering it's a 25-hour game.

This month, I'm going with Assassin's Creed Revelations (multi, playing on PC). I started yesterday. Apparently it's not super long either, so I should be able to clear it in May.

This month I will declare:
The Last Express (PC) - carrying over from last month.
The Last of Us (PS3/multi) - resuming my February pledge.

....I seem to have a theme going, so let's stay with it.

Last Day of June (PC/multi) - Epic Games Store freebie. I know almost nothing about this other than it's short.
The Last Guardian (PS4) - ok, starting to get ambitious here.

Stretch goal:
The Last Story (Wii) - played a bit of this several years ago. I remember almost nothing, so I'll start over if I do get to this.

Outside of the theme, I also declare ABZU (PC/multi), because it's short and I'm already halfway through it.

So, I literally finished none of my pile picks for April, but I did beat - checks his finished game list - 3 games and two game-sized DLC pieces, so there's that.

Predictable as I am, and dogged at that, I am carrying over what I'd declared last month and sticking to it:

Little Nightmares (multi)
Spyro Spyro: Ripto's Rage [Reignited] (multi)

I will refrain from adding anything else right now, but who knows, I might actually have some real free time this month. Working from home is turning out to leave me a bit more exhausted due to having to do more reporting.

DQ11 and Trails in the Sky SC.

DQ11 is beautiful. It has enough modern touches for the genre.

I finished Ryse. Definitely a launch game. Some big ole gaps in the story too. Give it a C-

Hey I finished Guacamelee 2 (Switch, multi) last weekend, in May.

I've only owned it for a month but it definitely qualifies for the pile.

Working on Steamworld Quest (Switch, multi) right now between Animal Crossing sessions. I think I have a decent chance of finishing it this month too.

Home stretch update.
Finished:
ABZÛ (PC/multi), May 8 - A chill exploration game with a really nice visual style and a few fun surprises. I even played a bit more after the credits rolled, which I don't do often.

Finished (undeclared):
One NIght Stand (PC) (PC/multi), May 8 - 6 of 12 endings (so far). Each playthrough is very short, but always interesting. I was very impressed with how effectively the visual style conveyed emotions, and how some actions could bear unintended consequences, while I could totally get away with some other things. I certainly found myself doing some things I would never even consider IRL, just to see what would happen....and then sometimes feeling kind of bad about it.

Other progress:
The Last Express (PC) - played about 15 minutes. Intrigued but also put off by the navigation and visuals.
The Last of Us (PS3/multi) - I've gone from 22% complete at the beginning of the month to 47% now. At 12 hours of playtime. HLTB says it should take 16.... The last two sessions lasted about 2 hours each, and in each I managed 3%, so that's not sustainable.
This is the one I'm going to be pushing to finish by the end of the month, but at this rate it seems unlikely to happen.
Last Day of June (PC/multi) - got to the title screen one night. Then decided I wanted to try to do it in one sitting...whenever that ends up being.
The Last Guardian (PS4) - haven't started it.
The Last Story (Wii) - Put 90 minutes into this. Dialogue is JRPG cringeworthy, but I like the mechanics. I'm at the exact same spot at the same levels as I was 6 or so years ago when I first tried it (and then got distracted by other games).

Unexpectedly, I've spent several hours this month playing my 3 year old save in Mass Effect 2. I guess it has finally been long enough for me to get over the change of mechanics from ME1 to ME2. Hint: I preferred ME1's gameplay.

Mostly, I've spent the month being my 3 year old's chair anytime I try to sit down and do things at the PC when he's awake.

Is it the end of the month already? Holy crap...

Nothing beaten for me. I barely played anything other than Animal Crossing. Don't particularly feel like playing anything at all, to be honest.

I have been slacking on finishing things lately. Wanted to beat Bravely Second this month but looks like that one will not wrap up until next month, leaving me very little time before the next JRPG group game gets voted on and started.

Man I'm on chapter 12 of Steamworld Quest. Looks like it has 19 chapters. It's going to be close.

Carrying over to June:
The Last of Us (PS3/multi) - I went from 22% to 70% complete this month. Took me 18 hours of game time according to the save states. That doesn't count numerous restarts due to dying. Guess I'll be closer to the completionist estimates (23 hours) of howlongtobeat.com. I am scavenging at nearly every opportunity...

Last Day of June (PC/multi) - Didn't start it in May. June seems the appropriate month to play this anyway.

The Last Story (Wii) - doubt I'll finish it in June since I'm still very early on, but I hope to make lots of progress.

Dropping for now:
The Last Express (PC) - don't currently feel any desire to dive back in.
The Last Guardian (PS4) - never started it.

Adding for June:
The Last of Us: Left Behind (PS4/multi) - might as well, right?