It's that time of year yet again! Now to copy over this post from ludist210...

Backlaugust: The Official Negative World Month for Decimating Backlogs!™ is back again for more action! So start looking through your backlog and get started!

Here are the "rules":

Games can be on any system, not just Nintendo systems. I know we're a Nintendo fan site, but most everyone here is a multi-console owner. So play a game on any system you want.

Let us know what you're playing. Mostly just so we can cheer each other on.

Play games you already own. A lot of people tend to buy a game then not play it, or play it for a significant amount of time and then put it down. This is what we're aiming for. Games that launch in August don't count.

Try to pick up games you aren't actively playing right now. Games you're currently playing can be allowed, but in the spirit of Backlaugust, let's try to make them games you aren't playing at the moment. Make it a game you haven't touched in a month or more if possible.

When is a game done? That's up to you! Mark a game off your backlog when you've seen the ending or end credits, or once you've seen enough of the game in a game without a "proper ending" (like an arcade-type game). You don't have to do or get everything unless you want to.

Finished games will be posted in the OP. Because everyone likes to see their accomplishments recognized. Just post when you're done and I'll try to update daily.

Last year, we finished a whopping 32 games. That might be a tough number to top, but if everyone pitches in, I think we can do it!

THE FINISHED PILE:
1. Anodyne - NSwitch - Mop it up
2. The Walking Dead Season Two - PC - Brick
3. Trine: Enchanted Edition - NSwitch - Mop it up
4. Child of Light - NSwitch - ludist210
5. Hue - NSwitch - ludist210
6. TumbleSeed - NSwitch - ludist 210
7. Tumblestone - NSwitch - Mop it up
8. Crysis Remastered - NSwitch - TheBigG753
9. Yoku's Island Express - NSwitch - Mop it up
10. Unravel Two - NSwitch - ludist210
11. Yooka-Laylee - Xbone - Mop it up
12. The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures - NSwitch - Guillaume
13. Banner Saga Part 2 - NSwitch - ludist210
14. The Way Remastered - NSwitch - Mop it up
15. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent - Xbox - TheBigG753
16. Okaeri! Chibi-Robo! Happy Richie Oosouji - DS - Pokepal148
17. Journey of the Broken Circle - NSwitch - Mop it up
18. Banner Saga Part 3 - NSwitch - ludist210
19. EQQO - NSwitch - Mop it up
20. Bouncy Bob - NSwitch - Mop it up
21. Quake (+expansions) - Xbone - Mop it up
22. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - SNES (NSwitch) - TheBigG753
23. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - PC - Brick

URL to share (right click and copy)

Anyone? Anyone? ... Bueller?

For meself, like I typically do, now's the time I look through all the digital goodies I got either free or on sale for far less than it probably should have been. I've amassed quite a few titles on Switch over the years that I haven't touched, so I'll be choosing some from out of those. These types of games tend to be on the shorter side too so they work out nicely. So far I've picked out two to start with, which are Tumblestone and Anodyne; the former I've been curious about since I saw it on Wii U, and the latter simply looks like a relatively shorter and easier game to get things rolling.

I'm game for this--I've been retroing it up all year and there's nothing I'm getting this month for Switch! Gimme a bit to decide on which games to play though.

I won't have a ton of time for games this month, but I'll try and do Crysis Remastered (Switch). I started it last summer but only put an hour or so in before I got distracted by something else, and never went back to it. So basically I have the whole game still ahead of me.

I've got some ideas for a couple other shorter games I could do after that if there's still time left at the end.

Neo TWEWY, Great Ace Attorney and a vacation don't leave me much time to devote to whittling the backlog. Maybe I'll start Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse, but not right now, and it's unlikely I'll finish in August!

With MercurySteam giving us Metroid Dread in just a couple of months, I've decided to check out their first big game; Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

I'm working through Mother 3 on my homebrewed 3DS. I just finished the first chapter. We'll see what happens from here!

My first completion is in the books: Anodyne.

I bought this when it was on sale for 99 cents because it appeared to be inspired by The Legend of Zelda games. The 8-bit style feels more in line with Game Boy games than NES for a few reasons, including that characters are made up of few pixels and the tile grids are fairly small, sometimes causing rooms to feel a little cramped. The adventure is more bite-sized too, as throughout it the boy only ever gains two tools, leaving most progression gated by keys and switches. There's some decent exploration as the game opens up, but combat and puzzles usually remain pretty simple. The story and world lean towards the more drab and abstract side. I know there's symbolism in here, but as far as I can figure out, there's no cohesive whole or meaning to the plot else than what's already implied by the game's title: a drug-induced trip, fighting manifestations of the kid's issues, thoughts, and feelings.

Overall, simple isn't bad, so it was decent enough for the price. I noticed there's a sequel though, and I'm not sure I'd play it unless it offers more variety.

@Mop it up

Ah, neat, I really liked Anodyne and it wearing its Link's Awakening inspiration on its sleeve.

Have you looked at Anodyne 2? I haven't played it yet but they went for a PS1 look to it. The dev had more experience at that point at well. I've heard good things.

I think I'll play more Mario Golf (N64) this month. Not exactly the kind of game you can "beat" but I still can get plenty more gameplay out of it--I've never even unlocked the last couple courses!

@Guillaume I only heard about Anodyne 2 from seeing it when browsing the eShop, so I don't know anything about it else than it exists. I'm not sure whether or not PS1 graphics would be an improvement, but it's encouraging to hear the devs have improved from experience. I may grab it if it goes onto a similar sale.

@TriforceBun There are probably a few things you could do to consider "completing" the game, such as unlocking everything like you mentioned. Aren't there some tournaments to play as well? Finishing all of those could also count.

Finally played through Telltale's The Walking Dead Season Two. These games are an emotional gut punch. I'll play New Frontier, Michonne, and Final Season in October for the Halloween spirit, and I'm sure they'll be on sale on Steam at that time.

I might try to actually finish Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. I gave up on the end back when it was just one longggggggg thing you had to do at once, but apparently they updated the game with checkpoints since then? I might be able to give it a serious go now.

Though it is unclear how the checkpoints would help much if you still lose all of those "lives" or whatever. Unless they refill a bit. I dunno.

@Brick Which system did you play it on?

Another one in the books for me: Trine

I got the collection on Switch back in a holiday sale, but never got around to them until now. We tackled it in 3-player co-op, which appears to be the way these games are meant to be played. It's certainly a hoot in that setting, figuring out the best ways to cooperate which often just means not getting into each other's way. As a physics-based platformer there's plenty of ways for things to go hilariously wrong, though I could see this game being a bit of a pain in single player with some of the (unintended?) weird physics quirks. The abilities and level design feel largely rudimentary, so my hope is that the sequels expanded on these aspects. The graphics are pretty good and nicely-detailed, though it feels a little drab for an enchanted magical fantasy. We may play through one or more of the other games before the end of August, as well.

@Mop it up

PC

It turns out I AM playing a Backlaugust game, but I don't know if I have the cojones to "call my shot" and predict I can get it done by the end of the month. Hmm.... I guess I'll just say it- my Backlaugust game is Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair (PC).

This game was free on Amazon games a while back, but I understand that it's pretty much the same as the Switch version. I heard the Switch version is a really good port, and basically runs at 1080p at 60fps. The PC version really is buttery smooth in 4k, though I do miss being able to play the game portably. Still, hard to pass up the price of free.

The game is really good so far.
- David Wise's music might have me thinking this game is way better than it actually is. Grant Kirkhope's music didn't exactly have that effect in the first game. He made some good tunes, but they didn't seem nearly as good as in previous Banjo games (or even DK64). David Wise's stuff in YL was awesome by the way.
- I liked the first game, but it had a "scrapped together" feel that I think has plagued a couple of other Kickstarter titles. This game feels more polished and cohesive, and generally just more interesting.
- So far, I don't think the platforming is as good as in Retro's DKC games, but it's definitely cut from the same cloth (which makes sense given the game's lineage).
- Part of me feels like this game's polish is due to its 2D nature, but I don't want to disparage 2D game design. I just have to imagine that a full 3D, open world game is a much bigger challenge for a developer, and maybe the original was just too ambitious. I'd still like to see them revisit 3D in the future if they can get a better budget...and maybe an editor.

OH- I also finally started Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy, which is also good so far. I have to admit...so far I haven't been wild about a couple of the puzzles. I just did the ice block one, and it took me four hints to even realize what they were asking me to do.

Hey, guess what? I beat a game!

Child of Light (Switch) is in the finished pile! I beat it on the Wii U years ago and adored it enough to buy it when it was on sale on Switch a while ago. Still good. Kind of want to replay it to max out my character's stats. Short for an RPG (15-20 hours), but a fun romp with a neat battle hook.

Ooooh, I finished another!

Hue (Switch). I picked this one up a while ago and got pretty far (all but two colors) and then just...stopped. It didn't grab me right away, but it certainly wasn't a bad game. On the contrary, it's quite good. The music is great, and the atmosphere is interesting. Solving puzzles by using colors was certainly interesting. It started easy, but the last few sections had me trying, dying, and re-trying several times before I finished. In spite of the dying, it's relaxing at time, as there are no enemies. I also got all 28 collectibles, so I guess it's 100%'d.

Half a dozen hours well spent. Now what to play next...

I did finally get back to Crysis over the weekend. Where I left off last summer, I was towards the end of the first mission and now I've gotten up to the 4th mission.

I'm still feeling a bit mixed on it. I can see where it's a clear predecessor to modern Far Cry and other open-world games that have a hybrid-stealth "clear these outposts" design (MGSV, BOTW) but at least at this point, this game is really limited in how you can approach these outposts, so it's felt pretty repetitive. It's also frustrating at times due to how quickly and easily enemies can spot and kill you, combined with there being long stretches without any checkpoints. It doesn't help that the game is also janky as hell.

@TheBigG753

Basically my feelings on it as well. Maybe it was good back when it came out, but it's just dated now. The armour power does basically nothing when turned on when on the highest difficulty, which everyone recommends to play on. I just don't care at all for these games. I went and edited the .ini files to increase the suit powers and the duration so I could have at least some fun, but even that wasn't enough.

@Brick

I can't imagine. I'm playing on Normal and I rarely use armor anyway since it feels pretty worthless (and cloak is just a lot more viable). So I was doing a lot of cloaking, get a kill or two in, run away and hide, regroup, cloak & repeat. Things have gotten better since I got a good sniper rifle. That has at least encouraged me to scout out good vantage points right away and then thin out the crowds from there. The first few missions don't really present those opportunities at all.

And I will say the two missions I did last night were a noticeable improvement over the first few, with superior level design which I felt offered more options for maneuvering around heavily-guarded zones, and also encouraged more improvising. Whereas a lot of the early areas in the game are mostly flat terrains with a bunch of small huts and tents scattered around. (also those last two missions felt so much like MGSV missions that I'm convinced that Crysis was a heavy influence on it)