How I’m dealing with my video game backlog of 48 titles – Reader’s Feature

54 minutes ago 2

Elden Ring close-up of villain character holding a floating red flame in his hand

Elden Ring – is it still on your backlog? (Bandai Namco)

With too many games and not enough time to complete them all, a reader explains how he breaks down his video game backlog problem.

My wife, who is very much into reading, is often buying new books. I commented on how many books she had yet to read and she rightly questioned how many games I’d bought that I had yet to play.

So I downloaded an app, so I could sort out my library. Frankly I’m slightly embarrassed when I started to list them in the various categories.

I’m a sucker for a new game. Currently I have 20 games on my wishlist. Amongst other things there’s GTA 6. I’m slightly loathed to spend £70 on a digital game but it’ll be years before it drops in price and they’ll be no escaping spoilers unless you play it within the first few months of release. Although I don’t think GTA 6 will live up to the hype I think it will still be a must play game.

I’ve also got Control Resonant on the list. I don’t usually pre-order but Currys have an offer on, which drops the price to around 43 quid, which is a very reasonable price for a new game. Control is up there as one of the best games ever made and deserves more recognition. The sequel looks to be shaping up to be a worthy successor. I also want to get Toem 2 when that comes out and Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake.

Other games that I’ll wait for a price drop are Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Moss: The Forgotten Relic, Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight, and possibly Marvel’s Wolverine.

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I’ve also started listening to a podcast called Button Boys featuring the comedians Glenn Moore, Pierre Novellie, and Sarah Keyworth and each week they recommended some lesser known games such as Killer Frequency, Expelled!, and The Dark Queen Of Mortholme and there’s a fair few I’ve added to my wishlist. Thankfully these are usually very cheap and aren’t long games.

Backlog

My backlog consists of 48 games. However, 11 of these are games from bundles which I bought for other titles. Some of them, such as Amanda The Adventurer or Loddlenaut, I will likely never play. I also bought a Resident Evil bundle and some of the titles, such as Resident Evil 5 and 6 I might never get round to, but then again it was the other titles such as Resident Evil 2 remake, Resident Evil 7, and Resident Evil Village that were the main draws.

A further 27 games were free either via Epic, Steam or Amazon. Some I might play but I’m not too worried, since I didn’t pay anything. Some of the more noticeable free games are Bioshock, Disco Elysium, Dishonored, and Dredge.

Thankfully, then, only 10 of the games on my backlog I actually paid for outright. And I don’t think I paid more than £10 for any of them. Most were in the under £5 price range.

Playing

Currently I’m playing five games, which is too much really. I had started Resident Evil (the remake version from 2002) and although I was enjoying it at times the tank controls and camera angles can be a bit grating. Having never finished an Assassin’s Creed game before I bought the Black Flag remake, which I’m really enjoying. Therefore, Resident Evil went on the back burner.

I’m currently away on holiday and have only taken the Switch 2. That means I’ve started Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. Having a good time so far, although I think Gizeh, the area I’m on at the moment, isn’t as fun to explore as the Vatican. I’ve also played a bit of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which I enjoy but find the amount of content overwhelming, which is my issue with previous Assassin’s Creed games I’ve played. Also, whilst performance is good, the visuals look a bit blurry compared with other Switch 2 ports.

I’ve also downloaded a mobile game Bury Me, My Love which is a narrative game in the form of text messages sent to your phone about a man whose wife is escaping Syria during the war. The signal whilst I’m away is haphazard, so might have to play this more when home.

Paused

This is the real horror show. I have a whopping 22 games that I’ve paused playing. And only three are free. Another two are Game Pass games: Forza Horizon 5 and 6 – both of which I’ve played for some time but never actually completed.

Most of the games are actually well acclaimed but I just never clicked with them. The Witcher 3, for example, which I enjoyed at the beginning of the game, when I’m looking for missing frying pans or finding a soldier’s lost brother, but I struggled with the combat and the confusing inventory system, where I have loads of items but never know their importance. I might one day try again but drop it to its lowest difficulty setting. Cyberpunk 2077 I struggled with for similar reasons.

Most of these games I might’ve traded in, but they are all digital games from Steam mainly. Fortunately, most were quite cheap. However, some, like Baldur’s Gate 3, were full price. Baldur’s Gate 3 was a game I got after getting carried away by the hype. Having never played a Dungeons & Dragons type game, or any turn-based games, I struggled with gameplay. Again, I might need to revisit after looking up some guides and turning down the difficulty.

My most frustrating purchase is Spider-Man 2. I loved the first two games but for some reason I can’t get into the latest. I have also had a few issues with performance on the Legion Go. I do actually want to complete this, either later in the year or next, so if I can’t iron out the issues I’ll bite the bullet and get it for the PlayStation 5 on the cheap and trade in when I’m finished.

I think the issue is also the length of the games. Most are fairly hefty. Days Gone is possibly the prime example. I played it for about five or so hours. It’s a decent enough game if it was 10 or even 20 hours but I don’t know that I care enough to finish when it’s apparently 36 hours or more according to HowLongToBeat.

Completed

According to my list I’ve completed only 83 games in my lifetime. Although some, I may have forgotten. However, I’ve only really started playing games that have a main quest or mission storyline that has a completion in the past 13 years. Therefore, this would equal about six to seven games a year on average. This sounds about right, since some longer games can take me a good few months and even shorter ones take at least a month. Also, some games, such as The Last Of Us, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, Control, Resident Evil 2 remake, and Resident Evil Village I’ve finished at least twice.

I’ve rated each of the games I’ve finished. This is actually pretty hard. For instance, Breath Of The Wild is my favourite game ever and I’ve rated it 10/10. Tears Of The Kingdom is an amazing game in its own right. However, for me Breath Of The Wild is better. So for that reason, it feels slightly wrong to also give Tears Of The Kingdom a 10. Equally, a 9 feels a bit harsh.

Similarly, 007 First Light is possibly the best game I’ve played this year. Initially I rated it 9/10. However, I kind of thought that perhaps that was too high. Equally, 8 feels not high enough. I feel the 10-point scoring scale is too restrictive and half points would be better or even a percentage score. I don’t know how you all do it and god help the poor people working for outlets like Empire magazine that have a 5 point rating scale.

Quit

These are the games I’ve given up on for various reasons. These are ones that, generally speaking, I either no longer own or know I won’t ever go back to. There’s only nine on the list but I’m sure if I racked my brain I’d find tons more. Some, like Pokémon Pokopia and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, I really wanted to like and can tell they are well made but ultimately weren’t for me. Some games I didn’t even dislike.

For instance, Elden Ring I loved and played for several months and got fairly far into the game. However, I tried to get past Maliketh, the Black Blade and failed numerous times. This was after I struggled for days or weeks with the Fire Giant. Therefore, I felt my time with the game had reached its natural conclusion. Though I’ve said never again, given it’s coming out soon for the Switch 2, the lure of playing in bed has made me think perhaps I’ll give it another go at some point. Despite quitting I’d still consider it one of the best games ever made.

So there you have it. I’m hoping other readers have even worse backlogs or games paused to make me feel a bit better.

By reader matc7884