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! The idea is to finish games during the month of August.

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 23 games. That might be a tough number to top, but if everyone pitches in, I think we can do it!

THE FINISHED PILE:
1. Katamari Damacy Reroll - Xbone - Mop it up
2. Mega Man X - SNES (NSwitch) - Mop it up
3. Banjo-Kazooie - N64 (Xbone) - TheBigG753
4. Mega Man X2 - SNES (NSwitch) - Mop it up
5. Mega Man X3 - SNES (NSwitch) - Mop it up
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - DS - Stan McStanly
7. NEO: The World Ends with You - NSwitch - Hero_Of_Hyrule
8. Castlevania: Bloodlines - Genesis (NSwitch) - TriforceBun
9. The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe - NSwitch - nate38
10. Mega Man X4 - PSX (NSwitch) - Mop it up
11. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - GBA (NSwitch) - TheBigG753
12. Mega Man X5 - PSX (NSwitch) - Mop it up
13. The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles - NSwitch - Stan McStanly
14. Frog Fractions: Game of the Decade Edition: Hop's Iconic Hat - PC - pokepal148
15. Mega Man X6 - PSX (NSwitch) - Mop it up
16. Super Metroid - SNES (NSwitch) - Stan McStanly
17. Mega Man X7 - PS2 (NSwitch) - Mop it up
18. Lost Judgment - Xbox S|X- PogueSquadron
19. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance - GBA (NSwitch) - TheBigG753
20. Mega Man X8 - PS2 (NSwitch) - Mop it up
21. Banjo-Tooie - N64 (Xbone) - TheBigG753
22. Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance - 3DS (PS4) - PogueSquadron
23. Chex Quest HD - NSwitch - Mop it up
24. Super Bomberman R -NSwitch - Mop it up
25. Pokkén Tournament DX - NSwitch - Mop it up
26. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles - Wii - TriforceBun
27. Donkey Kong - Game Boy - GameDadGrant
28. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow - GBA (NSwitch) - TheBigG753
29. Halo 2 Anniversary - PC - Brick
30. Conker's Bad Fur Day - N64 (Xbone) - TheBigG753
31. Castlevania - NES (NSwitch) - Mop it up
32. Castlevania: The Adventure - Game Boy (NSwitch) - Mop it up
33. Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge - Game Boy (NSwitch) - Mop it up
34. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - NES (NSwitch) - Mop it up
35. Hades - Xbox S|X - Mop it up

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Put about another hour into CotM this morning, cleared the first boss. Enjoyable so far in the same way SotN was. Out of town this weekend so I don't think I'll be playing much more for a few days, though I'll have my Switch for Ring Fit purposes so perhaps I shall play a little more.

Mop it up said:

@TheBigG753 That's good to hear! I was a little worried you'd hate it due to its age although I don't recall your preferences on platformers and such. Did you go for 100% or just got to the credits roll? Grunty's Lair also has the catchiest tune which gets stuck in my head whenever I play it. Fair warning on Banjo-Tooie, it's pretty divisive. I personally think it's a great sequel and like it more than the first, but I can see why some fans were disappointed and disliked it since it really does have a different feel to it.

100%'d it all the way. It was hard not to try and complete everything as I went along, even if I spent a lot of extra time in some worlds searching for the last jiggie or honeycomb. Only broke down and looked up 2 or 3 things, and usually I was on the right track (and sometimes something just didn't work right and I figured I had the wrong solution).

I have always liked these kind of platformers and it's nice to be able to finally play one of the signature games of this style. I really enjoyed Yooka-Laylee (and I feel that game got a lot more criticism than it deserved). Some aspects of B-K are definitely dated, but the frustrating moments of falling off of a ledge because of the camera were more than made up for with the game design, which still holds up really well. And obviously I am understanding of it being a nearly 25-year-old game and keeping that in mind as I played through it. So yeah, overall once I got into the flow of the game I was addicted all the way through to the end. It's a great game.

@TheBigG753 Here here! Was one of the things you looked up, breaking the window on the big ship in Rusty Bucket Bay? I remember that was one thing I missed when I had to look up how to get everything in that level, since I didn't feel like there was any indication that window could be broken.

While I agree with some of the criticisms surrounding Yooka-Laylee (mainly that its controls and camera feel too dated) and don't think it quite lives up to the Banjo-Kazooie pedigree, I still enjoyed my time with that game on its own merits. I felt it was more similar to Banjo-Tooie than Kazooie, so if you liked YL then maybe you will like Tooie after all.

Anyhoos, for my own progress...

Mega Man X3
Continuing my saga with a renewed sense of vigor, I jumped into the next game in line with mild expectations. I know the actual cartridge of X3 is quite valuable at this point, which is a reason I appreciate collections like this. This one is the fave of one of my friends, and I've gotta say...

...He must be a masochist! X3 is significantly more difficult than the first two for all the wrong reasons, feeling rather sloppy in many respects. This game in particular made me realize a big issue I have with this series as it was most apparent here: the toughest part is trying to get started. Most bosses are brutal with just the buster, especially in the beginning with no upgrades. However, many bosses become crippled in some way when their weakness is used on them, making winning easy. The final set of stages in this one are also a boar even with max upgrades, I can't even imagine trying to do them any other way!

I understand that a reverse difficulty curve like this helps to offer a sense of progression, as the player certainly feels more powerful as they go. I also appreciate the concept of making upgrades optional which can add some replayability. I think these ideas could be handled better than they are in this series, because too often it teeters between only the two extremes of being either tediously difficult or bonehead easy. It's a bummer too since I like the music and themes of this game. It's a real shame that the collection doesn't have save states as I would be enjoying these more if it did. It does offer something called "Rookie Hunter mode" which appears to be some sort of easy mode, but I was hoping to not have to go that route. If the latter games only get tougher from here then I may not have much choice. Fortunately, it can be toggled on and off on the fly, so I can still start on normal and just flick it on to get past any roadblocks.

This wraps up the SNES titles! I'm curious to see if the move to PlayStation with X4 brings any noticeable changes. So far, I've been using an actual SNES controller, or I guess technically it's a replica since it came with the SNES Classic. Hopefully it's still usable with the remainder of the series.

Hopefully i can beat M Prime this year. The system glitched and i lost maybe 10 minutes of progress but thats enough for me to put it off for eternity ( I [really] don't like playing stuff over again)

But i did finish two games ive been putting off so you can add them to the heap.
Castlevania: Dawn Of Sorrow
And
Metroid fusion

My list.

Metroid prime
Metroid Prime 3
Super metroid
FF VII
FF V
Cave Story (when i get the good ending ill have played 100% of the game)
Ace attorney triles and tribulations

Pretty much any game on my profile that isnt PC or Switch.

I should have the Ace Attorney Chronicles done by this month. I put that off for two months this year.

I also beat Batman: Arkham Asylum, but i ground through that in less then a week so idk if it counts as the victory your looking for here.

I finished up Neo: The World Ends with you. I feel very mixed. Seems like they didn't have a lot of story to tell, so they told it very slowly. But the novelty of seeing TWEWY again after so long and in 3D carries this a long way.

Stan McStanly said:

I also beat Batman: Arkham Asylum, but i ground through that in less then a week so idk if it counts as the victory your looking for here.

To be clear here, this event is specifically for beating games during August. It doesn't matter when they were started or how long they take to beat, as long as they were finished during this month of August is all it takes to count. With that in mind, were any of these completed within the last week?

I polished off Castlevania: Bloodlines for the first time a couple days ago! All in all, I thought it was a pretty cool CV game altogether. Solid visuals and level of detail, a reasonable challenge level (although I wish there was a more forgiving password system), and a cool soundtrack. The game's second stage (Atlantis) kind of put me off a few years back and features some slightly frustrating parts, and I would've liked to see even more levels, but it's a good time.

Next up, I'm gonna try to finish Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for the first time. It's like Shocktober has come early for me this year; I'm in a spooky mood.

Mop it up said:

Stan McStanly said:

I also beat Batman: Arkham Asylum, but i ground through that in less then a week so idk if it counts as the victory your looking for here.

To be clear here, this event is specifically for beating games during August. It doesn't matter when they were started or how long they take to beat, as long as they were finished during this month of August is all it takes to count. With that in mind, were any of these completed within the last week?

just the castlevania. I figured this was for the whole year, hence the other game mentions.

@TheBigG753 @Mop it up
I too played Banjo-Kazooie (360 version) for the first time just about a year ago. I was really impressed with the presentation, which was outstanding for a game of its era, and still feels notable even now. The overall game design mostly holds up as well, though I did get lost in Grunty's Lair a whole lot, looking for where to go, or trying to remember how I got to certain worlds, and occasionally I'd get a bit burned out pursuing some of the more involved missions. (And yes, the breakable windows in Rusty Bucket Bay were one of a few things I had to look up.) I'll probably check out Banjo-Tooie next time I subscribe to Game Pass, since that probably won't be for a while and I'll probably be in the mood for another collectathon by then.

@Mop it up Having played the Classic Mega Man series and X series again in the last several years, I tend to agree that the added complexity of the X games did more harm than good. I still like the games (particularly like the upgrade hunt that you aren't as keen on), and I still think it's cool that Capcom shook things up a bit for the jump to SNES, but I think my occasional Mega Man cravings in the future will almost always lead to one of the NES games (or 9 & 10) at this point.


I bought The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe when it came out because I had fond memories of the free mod from, what, a decade ago? Anyhow, I played through a bunch of endings the other day (including at least one new ending) and enjoyed the lighthearted vidyagame satire, though it feels less clever than it did a decade ago, which is natural given it was sort of a product of its era, my own disconnect from much of AAA gaming since that time, and the fact that I've played it before. Still pretty funny, at least.

In the Unofficial Sonic Games category, I played through Sonic Triple Trouble 16-bit this weekend, a Genesis-ization of the Game Gear original that does a good job of cleaning up and adding to the levels of the original game, with some all-new stage gimmicks and alternate gameplay modes that are neat takes on the original's under-explored ideas. It understandably lacks the polish of the Retro Engine era 16-bit Sonic games, and the controls feel a bit less responsive, and it's held back a bit by adhering to the somewhat bland level themes of the original, but it's probably the best Sonic fan-game I've played. I definitely liked it more than this year's other unofficial classic Sonic game, Sonic and the Fallen Star, which looked real nice but didn't hook me with its first few expansive, empty stages.

If I'm feeling gamey this month, I'll probably try to put some time into my other backlog games, Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition and Mario Strikers: Battle League.

@Mop it up
I had similar thoughts on those games. Loved the quirkiness and music of Katamari, didn't love the gameplay. And I still haven't made it through Mega Man X1, even though it should be right up my alley. Oddly enough, the Zero series is where I've spent most of my time.

@Anand I was hovering over the ban button but then your Zero comment saved you.

For now.

Sup uncle
Mmmm chrono cross its fantastic i cant get enough i just eat it for breakfast yum the element system is so great and intelligent its the best game ever

@Stan McStanly No worries, I s'pose the opening post could doesn't explicitly explain it, so I'll add that in.

@Anand I'll probably want to try out the MMZero series at some point. I presume the Switch collection has no issues and is okay to play?

@nate38 On which system did you play The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe? Also, hm, should fan games be counted for this? That's a toughie. Has this come up before? What do people think?

At least you have catchy music to listen to if you get lost in Grunty's Lair. I guess we're forming a club, people who missed the windows in Rusty Bucket Bay. Maybe we need a catchier name.

I'm probably being a little too critical on the Mega Man X games by viewing them through a modern lens, though I did still try to mention some of the good points. I s'pose they were some ambitious games for the time, trying things that hadn't been done much if at all. I think I would like the hidden upgrades idea better if they felt more like bonuses rather than necessities like dashing and air dash, as most bosses are brutal without the stuff.

Now, if we're talking with extream technically, i beat animal crossing new horizons this month by upgrading my house compleatly and obtaining the legendary FROGGY CHAIR

I guess listening to KK play music sets off the ending credits so theres that too.

Mega Man X4
While I knew that the leap to PlayStation would mean fancy cutscenes because they could, I forgot about how it would also involve having annoying voices for everyone and every little action! I guess I also forgot how heavily compressed scenes were back then, as the opening anime was grainier than an old VHS tape. Moving past that, I gotta say...

...There isn't much more to say at this point! Perhaps I'm just getting used to the way these games work but I found this one to be the easiest game so far, sans the last boss which was a slog. Though it is also less punishing with things like more generous checkpoints so that's good. There's more story now which I guess is to try and give a better sense of place for everything, but it isn't interesting. Still solid presentation with a nice variety of themes and stages. This might be my fave so far, though the little annoyances I mentioned may be enough to bump it down below X2. It's tough to say.

With that, the Mega Man X Legacy Collection itself is now complete! I'm tempted to add it to the list as well... but that probably wouldn't be right. Although I s'pose that the collection has medals to earn and a bonus challenge, which I didn't go for, so if I really wanted to add it then I'd probably have to complete that stuff. Perhaps another time, as now it's on to the second collection. Wish me luck!

I enjoy every MMX game less than the previous one. But I do still get a lot of fun out of the first three games, particularly the original. I find that their brand of fast-paced action (thanks to wall-jumping and especially the dash move) gives me a different enough flavor from the original MM games that they justify their existence. The visuals and character designs tend to be gorgeous as well, although I agree with the criticism that each one further over-complicates the formula with weird upgrades (the first two games felt the best two me in this way as well).

Gotta put dash on the shoulder buttons though! Forget the weapon cycling; this is the only way to really comfortably play MMX games. Charging the X Buster and letting it fly on the bosses while dashing away onto the wall only to do it again and perfectly time that release right when the charge is ready to go...UNFFGH. Feels so good~

On the other hand, I...did not love the Zero subseries when I played it on Switch. The GBA screen size was a huge hindrance in my eyes and the games just have weird, clunky systems in place (Cyber-Elves) that I felt were implemented poorly. MMZX was pretty good though.

Had a mostly free day yesterday to play several more hours of Circle of the Moon. The in-game % has me around 60% and that feels about right.

Things felt a bit funnel-y in the early going (get a new ability, and it's pretty clear where to use that ability to go next in a linear fashion) but things have opened up considerably since, where the next place to go isn't quite as apparent. The DSS is cool, although some combinations feel a bit OP. I'm using the poison cloud 95% of the time since it blocks most projectiles, damages enemies, breaks candles/torches and easily reveals secret paths. Though against bosses, I've had to mix and match armor/secondary weapon/DSS and figuring out the right combo of things to equip has been fun.

I do wish the map had more warp points, though. Backtracking between different main sections of the map is a bit cumbersome.

@Mop it up
@nate38

Luckily for me, I accidentally discovered the breakable windows when attacking an enemy and there just happened to be one right there. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed them.

One that sadly had me stumped were the flower pots in the Mad Monster Mansion graveyard. I swear I tried farting eggs at one and nothing happened and just figured the last jiggie had to be somewhere else (thought for sure it was going to be behind the stained glass "Banjo-Kazooie" window! ). One of those cases where I should have been a little more persistent before writing something off as a solution, but it did seem like I had to be more accurate with those flower pots than was asked of me with the Leaky puzzle in Treasure Trove Cove.

I finished Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Switch) last night. A little over 96% completion. I didn't do the battle dungeon, so that part of the map isn't filled in, but I'm pretty sure I fully explored everything else. Final boss was crazy, I couldn't really tell in the last phase if I was making any headway or not. Eventually played things very conservatively, got in a hit here and a hit there, took no risks and got the W after what felt like a very long time. I read elsewhere that the fight is really troublesome without certain DSS cards and without grinding to about 10 levels higher than I was.

CotM is a good, solid Metroidvania game, though not nearly on the same level as SotN. I liked it, but after being really hooked for most of my playtime, I did start to burn out a bit towards the end. The last couple hours were a bit of a slog. I didn't particularly care for the map, whether it's the lack of interconnectivity between areas or the lack of warp points. It wasn't a whole lot of fun backtracking for those last few secrets. Metroid games really get it right towards the end of the game, where you have the space jump + screw attack to plow through difficult areas quickly. Some late game enemies are also incredibly frustrating and punishing. It really demanded a lot of switching between different DSS combos, and while I realize things were limited by the GBA controls, going back and forth into the menu constantly got a little tiresome.

Started Banjo-Tooie this morning and should be starting Harmony of Dissonance at lunch.