Backlog Bullshit

The world of gaming moves pretty fast


Some parts faster than others

My gaming schedule is seemingly beset upon me with no clear resolution in regards of clear priority or proper resolution. I’m constantly in need to play new games, especially in relation to writing about them, but can never find time to finish them. A serious issue in terms of productivity to be sure, but I think one more so unique in regards to my attempts of writing about them, in all of their peculiar machinations. A few core examples to help illustrate my point from recent days are titles like Indiana Jones, Warhammer, and Balatro, that I’m consistently at odds with myself on just how much is enough to get the general gist of a game before being able to both write about it and move on. At least with Indiana Jones, there is a conclusive ending, same is true for Warhammer’s single player at the very least, in all of it’s charmingly try hard Bologna Boy Battalion Space Adventures kind of way.


A screenshot from the epic conclusion of Warhammer
40k: Space Marine 2’s finale

Warhammer’s multiplayer though? That’s a tougher nut to crack, though I suppose reducing the answer down to the simplicity of “when enough is enough” without overly complicating the issue is the answer I’m not attempting to write some kind of grand opus deconstructionism of the title after all, nor am I trying to position myself as the go to expert of the Warhammer multiplayer sphere moving forward. With that in consideration, having finished the story mode at the end of January, and having only found the enthusiasm to play a handful of matches in the last month and a half, doesn’t that send a clear enough message to me that the excitement levels just aren’t there and that I should just pull the plug on the entire thing and just move on with my heretical life?


Maybe if I just paint more minis the game
will seem like it’s more fun

More to my point: there’s always going to be another shooter, and plenty of the more competent ones (See: Warhammer) will eventually have to be left behind for greener pastures. I’ve even been thinking about how I want to get back to Halo, truth be told, not even having finished the campaign when I played it on the Xbox One, and having really enjoyed the multiplayer to boot. I’ve also, much like my ridiculously long journey with Rare Replay that I’ve been detailing recently, have been slowly moving towards “100%in” The Master Chief Collection for the better part of a decade now, and still have a long way to go in getting all the cheevos attached to the compilation of titles. Unlike Rare Replay however, deep down I’m fairly certain it will all be for naught, as just the multiplayer aspect alone of the Chief Collection will likely stop me from acquiring every last achievement, but the interest in the attempt remains.


At least I can be rest assured I will never run out of
teabags, no matter how long the attempt takes

I say all of this while sitting on the world select screen of Sonic Colors Ultimate, a game I meant to write about today, which is another title I just started, in spite of constant reminders to myself to *not* start another game on the PS4 until I get the Platinum on Elden Ring, which has been an ongoing project for the last year of time, while my poor Switch (and Zelda to that point) continues to collect dust. This is all the while, as previously mentioned, I attempt to justify another ante in Balatro to see, much like Warhammer, I really *get* the game before moving on, even while plenty of other titles I love sit there screaming “play me” amidst the chaotic schedule that has me constantly on the hunt for a free minute to enjoy a new game.


Ah shit, I knew I forgot to download something

The backlog remains an eternal struggle in a never ending game of tug-o-war…at least I have plenty to entertain me for the rest of eternity.

~Pashford