Thread: Mantis' Gaming Journey

This is my way of tracking my game progress and managing my backlog, and maybe you can help out with that with your recommendations. Obviously I'm only counting progress from now onward. In some cases I've already played games but it must have been at least a few years since I last completed a game before a replay. Current progress:

2020: Completed Games

Halo: Reach: Completed January 13th
Black Mirror - Bandersnatch: Completed late January
Cursed Halo: Completed March 13th
Halo - Combat Evolved: Completed mid-March

In-Progress Individual Games

   80% Chrono Trigger

   10% Half-Life VR

   80% Hang-On

   90% Streets of Rage 4

   36% SWAT Elite Force

In-Progress Game Series

   36% Halo

No confirmation of Halo 5, Halo Wars 2 or Halo Infinite coming to Steam yet. This is for Reach, 1-4 and ODST after 3 as well as Halo Wars. Reach and 1 completed. Awaiting a co-op playthrough of Halo 2 with Starwind55.

   40% Mirror's Edge

Currently near the end of the original Mirror's Edge.

   93% Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

At the final case of the third game. Will continue Ace Attorney when Capcom inevitably releases more titles on Steam.

   20% Shenmue

Most of the way through the first game.

List of potential upcoming games and game series will go here.

This is an updated OP. The original is below the line.

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Games... games everywhere. I've got way too many games. This is mostly thanks to how economical Steam is. I have hundreds of games very well worth playing on Steam. When you combine that with all the acclaimed retro games I either never got to play or I'd like to play again out of nostalgia—that's one hell of a backlog.

It's very overwhelming because I haven't played games all that often over the past few years. Maybe it's a boomer thing and I hate to say it, but part of me seems to have grown out of gaming. That's absolutely not what I want. I'd like to get back in the swing of it and conquer the backlog. (Or at least a good amount of it.)

I decided that a good way to handle this is to instead of building an elaborate plan, to just dive in and pick one that seems good. When I complete a game (usually just the main single player or story mode instead of trying to 100% games) I'll write a mini review in this thread as I don't want to clutter up the Games forum.

Today I got a classic Xbox that's come pre-loaded with mountains of retro games and every Xbox game ever. I'll be using this to play a lot of non-Steam games.



That photo's from the eBay listing and I got it today. Works great and the first game I tried out is Diddy Kong Racing for the N64. It was a true blast from the past and I've been meaning to replay it for years. I remember the story mode being quite short. I'm going on holiday in a day and a half, so at least I'll have that to look forward to after returning to rainy Britain.

Sweet Xbox my dude. I used to have something similar to that, but nowhere near as legit looking. The original Xbox was a much better console than people give it credit for. Not even taking into account its emulation abilities, that thing had a lot of weird, artsy little gems that many overlooked because of the console's reputation as a Halo machine. If you like third person shooters at all, definitely check out Gun Metal -- it plays like Mech Assault mixed with Star Fox, and it's cool as fuck.

On the note of growing out of gaming... I don't know what it is, but getting older seems to scale with getting tired of just about everything. Like I mentioned in that thread the other day, it has become increasingly difficult for me to justify indulging my hobbies with each passing year; but to be totally honest, when you think about everything we do on a daily basis, whether it's working to make your boss rich or wasting brain cells on the boob-tube... in the end, nothing really means anything at all. Like Layne Staley said, we're all gonna end up a big ol' pile of them bones. So, every time you feel like you're growing out of a hobby you love, just remember that doing something you enjoy is no more time wasted than pulling out your hair and watching the clock tick from a cubicle. You just have to fall back in love with it again, and I think buying a new toy loaded with new experiences is a great way to do just that.

Originally Posted by StarDood64

On the note of growing out of gaming... I don't know what it is, but getting older seems to scale with getting tired of just about everything. Like I mentioned in that thread the other day, it has become increasingly difficult for me to justify indulging my hobbies with each passing year; but to be totally honest, when you think about everything we do on a daily basis, whether it's working to make your boss rich or wasting brain cells on the boob-tube... in the end, nothing really means anything at all. Like Layne Staley said, we're all gonna end up a big ol' pile of them bones. So, every time you feel like you're growing out of a hobby you love, just remember that doing something you enjoy is no more time wasted than pulling out your hair and watching the clock tick from a cubicle. You just have to fall back in love with it again, and I think buying a new toy loaded with new experiences is a great way to do just that.

Some very wise words there buddy, and I agree 100%!

Yeah, that game does ring a bell so I'll keep that in mind. It'd certainly be on my Xbox. That reminds me of another third-person shooter that didn't get the recognition it deserved: Brute Force. I need to revisit that.

As I'm in Spain at the moment I only have a little gaming time per day, and obviously no Xbox. I have been playing a few games on my GPD-WIN 2, which is a handheld computer. I can hook it up to my hotel room's TV which is cool. I've been playing the Phoenix Wright trilogy, or more specifically the third game: Trials and Tribulations. I'm also replaying Mirror's Edge. I'm trying to avoid replaying too many games (mostly those I'd already replayed in the past four or five years) but that game's fun as fuck.

I play Fibbage sometimes. It's a good party game and perfect for a vacation. Before I left for my vacation I took this photo which may give you an idea of what I'll probably replay (for the first time in well over a decade) before the end of the year.

Originally Posted by Mantis

I took this photo which may give you an idea of what I'll probably replay (for the first time in well over a decade) before the end of the year.

My man.

Don't you think it's funny how Neo Tokyo takes place in 2019, and here we are, about to be in 2020? When I was playing this game for the first time as a kid, 17 years seemed so far away. How times change...



Ironically, some things aside, this game was pretty prophetic. It definitely nailed our shitty hairstyles at least.

Perfect Dark is 2023 and there are flying cars. These devs were on point.

I've wanted to update this for a while to keep it current. I've not really been sticking to playing games lately. I'm still making some progress. I've got another idea. When I complete a game or game series and consider what to play next, you can help make my mind up for me. I know this sounds lazy of me, but we all want to recommend things at times. I bet we've all done it at least once with Outlaw Star.

The trouble is, I've got so many game series that I have available to play, but it's difficult to be decisive when there are hundreds of choices. However, there is one game series I've stalled on a playthrough for a long time now. I'll talk about other games in another follow-up reply. Years ago I decided to play through all of the Final Fantasy main series. I've already completed Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX several times and X twice I think. I believe I almost completed VI when I was much younger. There are so many gaps. These are just main series games. The larger problem is that if I tackle all these Final Fantasy games together it'll take a long time. I'd like to space it out a little so I have room for other games. Probably Zemekis is my go-to guy for Final Fantasy, but we're both fans of some of the games. (FFVIII being my favourite game.)

I still want to play them in order, but when I first attempted this all those years ago, I started with the original game to stick to the plan. I've got to be honest: it's fucking boring. I know how ignorant that sounds and how this would make Final Fantasy fanboys have a hissy fit, but really, the original Phantasy Star is a better game and was released at almost the exact same time. The original Final Fantasy has almost zero plot which is what makes Final Fantasy great. It seemed like more of an experimental game which is fair enough. I tried. I tried hard to get through it but gave up. I'm considering that as complete as can be, so I'm going to start with Final Fantasy II which I hope is better. I do occasionally get nagged to play non-main series games so this is how I'll go about it all...

I'll play one Final Fantasy game every quarter. Three will be main games. The other a spin-off or non-main. The spin-off/non-main can be inserted wherever. However, if it's a spin-off, I must have already played the corresponding game beforehand. So I could handle 2020 this way...

Q1: Final Fantasy II
Q2: Spin-off/non-main chosen by forum members
Q3: Final Fantasy III
Q4: Final Fantasy IV (maybe including the After Years sequel, explained below)

Since Final Fantasy II isn't on Steam I'll play it some other way. I'm also not sure whether I should play the Final Fantasy III and IV versions on Steam. They are ports of the DS games. I was kind of turned off by the chibi appearances. I guess it's a bit unfair to judge the games this way so I'm still undecided. If I did play the DS port of IV, I'd also play The After Years to complete that playthrough. That sequel is only available for the 3D version.

2021: Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VII, Spin-off/non-main

I think 2021 will be fantastic. Final Fantasy V's Steam version has been receiving updates for a "better sprites" mod for some time now. Hopefully by 2021 that'll be finished. Likewise, the Steam version of Final Fantasy VI has better graphics now. While I never played V, I almost completed VI as a kid so it'd be nice to accomplish that. I've already completed Final Fantasy VII many, many times. When I completed it at nine years old it was the best thing ever. At the beginning I was skipping all the dialogue for a while but it got me into narrative-driven games as I progressively became more and more immersed in the story. I wish I still had my old save file. I named Tifa and Aeris (triggered?) my two crushes at the time. (Yeah, kinda embarrassing... ) What's important is that there's also the Remako mod that upscales the pre-rendered backgrounds with crystal-clear clarity. A real sight to see.

2022: Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX, Final Fantasy X and X-2, Spin-off/non-main

An excellent selection, starting with my favourite game of all time. I'm confident by 2022 the modding scene will have further refined modding for the original Steam released or achieved proper modding for the remastered version. Like Remako, most of all I want to play Final Fantasy VIII with upscaled backgrounds. It's an epic fail that DotEmu didn't do this. This will also be a great change to Final Fantasy IX. It'd probably be my third choice for PlayStation Final Fantasy games, but they're all incredibly close. I also completed IX fewer times than VII and VIII so it may be more enjoyable. As for Final Fantasy X, it's definitely one of my favourite PS2 games. Damn, I miss Blitzball. I never played X-2. It looked pretty stupid in any Let's Plays I saw and more like fan service than anything, but who knows...

Keep in mind that Final Fantasy XI and XIV aren't counted since they are MMOs.

2023: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XIII (maybe sequels if I'm feeling masochistic enough), Final Fantasy XV, Spin-off/non-main

The "bad year" in my opinion. Honestly, it's unfair of me to write off Final Fantasy XII as crap because I actually haven't played it. It's just that I never liked the look of it. Its battle system is completely different, but maybe I'll like it after all. Final Fantasy XIII, well, what can I say? I couldn't get very far into this. Sure, it looks nice, but I found it so lifeless at the time. If I'm going to play through all the sequels as well, what a nightmare. As for Final Fantasy XV, some of you know I generally do not like open-world games. I do not have high expectations.

By 2024, maybe the second (out of god knows how many) Final Fantasy VII Remake game will be out. Either way, it'll be on PC and discounted. I'm in no rush to play the remake. Being a patient gamer helps at times.

Right, that was long I know and I don't expect many of you will have read it (we don't have loads of Final Fantasy fans here) but I'm glad I've got my Final Fantasy plans for the next few years down on this virtual paper now. Like I said, playing them consecutively but spaced out allows room for other games. Feel free to suggest any non-mains/spin-offs or whatever.

Okay, so here's a general progress report. I've been playing through Shenmue for a while. While normally I'd prefer to just clear games and not 100% them, mechanics like gacha and various mini games can be very addictive. So I'm making an exception for Shenmue. While I don't necessarily intend to 100% the games, I'm trying to make the most out of this playthrough as there's plenty to do without feeling forced to 100% a game for the hell of it.

I also installed a new code for the forum, which is the progress bar. You just use "progress" (in square brackets) followed by a percentage after the equals. This is how far into the Shenmue series I think I am. Just quote my post if you want to look at the code. You can also use the icon in advanced post mode and enter the percentage. Maybe you could even make your own "game journey" thread like mine. Only issue with the bar is that the text only fits up to where the green bar reaches. (Could be fixed.)

   80% Chrono Trigger

I started another Chrono Trigger playthrough a year or two back. I'm almost at the end so I might as well finish it soon.

   40% Mirror's Edge Series

When I went on holiday to Spain in November, during many evenings I spent an hour or two replaying the original Mirror's Edge. I'm near the end of the first game (which I'd completed in the past) but afterwards I want to finally play the second game, Catalyst. Additionally, I'm going to read the Mirror's Edge comics. That won't take too long but they look interesting.

   93% Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy

One of my favourite game series. I've been replaying these games quite patiently. Only one case left in the third game. There are of course more Ace Attorney games, but I've decided to wait in case Capcom releases Apollo Justice or the other Phoenix Wright games on Steam.

   20% Shenmue Series

I spent a good number of hours at the slot house recently. It's mundane yet strangely enjoyable. I was so proud to get the 50,000-credit reward. For now I'm focusing on getting more gacha and trying to win Saturn versions of Space Harrier and Hang-On so I can hone my skills. I'd really like to complete them at the arcade and claim the rewards. (Wouldn't this technically count as completing two new games, despite them being games in a game? )

When I get the chance I'll edit the OP so it makes more sense. Most importantly, I'll also create a list of game series (or individual games) that are on my radar you guys can help me pick if ya want! I may have mentioned this, but there's a rule I'm following for games I've already completed. It must have been at least three years since I last completed a game to play it again.

There was a Mirror's Edge comic book? Mirror's Edge was a really good game. It was frustrating when you had things getting away to mess up your running but when you got into the zone, the parkour stuff became exhilarating. And that soundtrack..man, I loved the music in that game. I wish more games have a more ambient, atmospheric electronic music like this.



I never gotten around to the 2nd game though I heard that it's nowhere near as good.

Yeah, but it was more of a promotional thing I believe. You can get it really cheap which is probably what I'll do since I'd much rather have a printed comic book than digital. I was disappointed when I heard about Catalyst not being as good, but that was years back and I didn't get a chance to play it since it was exclusive to Origin. I have a feeling EA will release it on Steam soon. Even if it isn't as good, I found Mirror's Edge's story just as interesting as the gameplay, so I'll also play Catalyst because I don't like unfinished stories I guess.

Edit: Indeed, Mirror's Edge has a fantastic soundtrack!

Starwind55 and I have started playing Halo: Reach. I was very unsure about how he'd find Halo since he's largely a '90s FPS fanboy (sorry!), but then again, to a good extent I am too. I've completed a good number of FPS from back then. I don't play a lot of modern FPS these days. They don't have the same magic. The Halo trilogy was always an exception for me. I was obsessed with Halo in my early teens.

I think that a lot of criticism comes from PC FPS players (somehow I adapted just fine despite playing them regularly on my old Windows 98 PC) because of the evil gamepad and nitpickers who cherry-pick mechanics, like recharging shields. I always thought that was one thing that made Halo great. You approached the game completely different to other FPS, and not in a bad way. I always loved Half-Life, and it has great AI, you just went about how you dealt with enemies entirely differently.

I'm not a huge fan of Reach. I think it was the beginning of the end of Halo. Playing it on co-op with Starwind55, I'm viewing it more favourably since I'm not comparing it to Halo 1-3 as much nowadays. A good game, but I think it pales in comparison to the trilogy. Halo 4 onward? Hell no. Microsoft recently began releasing Halo games on Steam in the story order. Since Reach is a prequel, Halo: Combat Evolved (original) will probably come either next month or maybe March. Starwind55 seemed most interested in playing that one as he wants to judge the mechanics for himself. (Or so I believe.) We've played Reach co-op a couple of times now in the past few days. We've almost completed it. Three missions left.

   70% Halo: Reach

Originally Posted by Mantis

Starwind55 and I have started playing Halo: Reach. I was very unsure about how he'd find Halo since he's largely a '90s FPS fanboy (sorry!),

Well...you're not wrong

Yeah, I've always been drawn moreso to the classical shooters of the 90s just because I like the more frantic, faster paced stylings that we got from the shooters of those eras. Though honestly, I think I would be ostracized by the 90s FPS fanbase because there are a number of console-based first-person shooters that I love (Goldeneye 007, Black, The Timesplitters series, Killzone and Red Faction just to name a few). While I agree that first-person shooters are better with a mouse and keyboard, I don't think it's fair to dismiss a fps just because it comes on consoles.

You're right in that I am looking forward to Halo: Combat Evolved the most since it's the one that started it all. Halo: Reach was much further down the line and it felt like it was trying to mimic a bit of Call of Duty's success a bit. I've always wanted to play it because Halo has this reputation of bringing about the downfall of FPS. That it basically turned into a dumbed down, consolized genre that would appeal only to normies and dudebros. It was kind of like the Fortnite of it's day. Personally, I always had this feeling that this negative outlook on the Halo series has been greatly exaggerated and I wanted to give this series a fighting chance for a long while. Plus, I think it'd be fun to look at it from the perspective of someone who grew up with old-school shooters and how it stands on it's own merits and if it's worthy of the legacy that it has.

I don't hate Halo: Reach, though I feel it's a bit flawed since it seems that there's no feedback to the weapons and the baddies are a bit bullet spongey. Still, I think it makes for a solid co-op game at least and it's certainly something that I don't mind playing.