Aja on 10/2/2025 at 15:29
Quote Posted by Starker
I have too many unplayed games on Steam to comfortably count, but probably the most notable are:
Bloodborne -- I've thought of getting a console just for this one game. So far common sense has held out, but one of these days... It's technically not in backlog yet, but it's still a game I'm determined to play.
If you've held out this long on Bloodborne, I say wait longer for the eventual remaster (or if PC mod version is completed). It's a wonderful game, but the input lag and framerate stutters are very noticeable and hard to ignore. It took maybe six or seven hours before I finally got accustomed to it and stopped feeling a vague sense of nausea/headache whenever I played.
Tomi on 10/2/2025 at 16:23
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Thief: Gold
System Shock 1
Prey
Prey: Mooncrash
Ultima Underworld 2
Ultima IX
Wing Commander 2 & expansion
Star Control 2
Master of Orion 2
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Some good games there! Haven't you played Thief 1 at all, or are you only missing the Gold missions? Are there other differences between TDP and Gold other than the extra missions?
I've never played System Shock 1 or 2 (I did start SS2 but the space zombies annoyed me) so I should probably add those games on my list too. :o Does it count if I play the recent SS1 remake? :D
Prey was pretty good but if I remember correctly it became a bit of a chore towards the end, so I never played Mooncrash.
I should probably add Ultima Underworld 2 on my list as well. I really liked UW1 and I started UW2 soon afterwards, but for whatever reason I never got far in it. I'd pay good money for decent remakes of those games!
Why would you want to play Ultima IX? :p Don't get me wrong - I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people say, and I enjoyed it when it was new, but as an Ultima game it was quite a disappointment. And just like all those late 90's and early 2000's 3D games, it probably hasn't aged very well either.
I actually replayed Wing Commander 2 a couple of years ago and it was still good fun, but without the nostalgia factor I'm not sure how enjoyable it would have been. If you don't mind the ancient gameplay, there's a superb story and the soundtrack is pure gold.
As for SC2, MoO2 and Alpha Centauri, I've played them all and MoO2 is my favourite of the bunch. It's surely one of the best strategy games that I've played.
Renault on 10/2/2025 at 18:04
Quote Posted by Tomi
*
(a lot of) Thief Fan Missions:
The most shameful of them all?
I love the game and Thief is the reason why I joined this forum, but I've only ever played like five FMs.
This seems odd and tbh almost criminal since you are a FM author.
You have to at least play The Black Parade, although the only issue there is that everything afterwards won't seem nearly as good.
Tomi on 10/2/2025 at 21:07
Quote Posted by demagogue
Games I'd be starting from scratch: Darkwood
Ghost of Tsushima (I used to live on Tsushima, so I kinda gotta.)
Hellblade Sensua's Sacrifice
Indika
Neverwinter Nights & Icewind Dale
Outcast
Paperbeast
Pillars of Eternity
Prey: Mooncrash
Psychonauts
Stanely Parable
-I played Darkwood a couple of years ago, and even though it seemed like something that I'd normally enjoy, I couldn't get into it. Perhaps I should give it another chance.
-I
always mix up Ghost of Tsushima with Ghostwire Tokyo, and it drives me crazy that I can never remember which one I've played (it's the latter).
-Senua's Sacrifice was an interesting experience. Thanks for reminding me that I still gotta play the sequel...
-Indika regularly shows up for me in recommended games in the XBox store, but I've never taken a closer look. Maybe next time I will! It's on sale quite often too.
-Icewind Dale is a bit too combat heavy for me. In any other RPG when I visit a new town and have to talk to a hundred NPCs, I'm usually like "oh come on, gimme some enemies to fight already". Icewind Dale is the complete opposite. :D
-Pillars of Eternity is one of those RPGs that I've been intending to play for almost a decade (it was released in March 2015), but I just never feel like actually starting. Perhaps one day...
-Psychonauts is/was a fun game! Because of the bizarre art style it's probably still enjoyable today, unlike most action games from that era. I'll have to add the sequel to my Backlog of Shame.
Quote:
Games I'm already deep into and want to eventually finishAssassin's Creed II
Baulder's Gate trilogy
Bioshock
Control
Cyberpunk 2077
Deus Ex Human Revolution
Deathtrash
Dishonored 2
Fallout New Vegas
Forgotten Anne
Hades
Heaven's Vault
Neva
Night in the Woods
Norco
Pentiment
Plague Tale Innocence
Planescape Torment
Red Dead Redemption 2
Roadwarden
Stalker 2
Stray
System Shock 1
Teardown
Thief Deadly Shadows
How can you even be deep into that many games at the same time?! I seem to be the complete opposite when it comes to this - I just can't bring myself to start another game until I've finished whatever I'm currently playing, especially if they're both story-heavy games. I usually finish what I start as well, so it's no wonder my backlog never gets any shorter. :erg:
Anyway, so many great games on that mega-list of yours.
Control and
Pentiment are the must-plays for me.
Tomi on 10/2/2025 at 21:15
Quote Posted by Renault
This seems odd and tbh almost criminal since you are a FM author.
You have to at least play The Black Parade, although the only issue there is that everything afterwards won't seem nearly as good.
"almost criminal" ... Haha yes, I know. :D It is a bit odd indeed, but after firing up Dromed for the first time I just wanted to create missions instead of playing them. I did some testing every now and then, and that's where most of my FM playing experience comes from. But yeah, I really need to play some of the essential FMs at least! And perhaps I shouldn't start with The Black Parade then.
demagogue on 10/2/2025 at 22:29
Quote Posted by Tomi
How can you even be deep into that many games at the same time?!
Grim Dawn's another one in that list I thought of.
Well first this is over like 20+ years.
So there could be all kinds of reasons.
But I think it's because there are these games that I think are important to play, and I know I have limited time, so I make sure at the least I'll play the first level or the first few levels, and by that point I'll know if it's worth continuing to the end or moving on to another "must play".
Sometimes I'll be at a particularly hard part and don't want to push through it... Alice 2, Control, Stray, Neva...
(BTW you may notice there are no Souls-like games in here. It's just not my gaming love language to push through really hard parts, unless it's a special game where that's not the focus. I pushed through hard parts in Subnautica or Stalker.)
Sometimes I'll just feel deflated because the game isn't really living up to the hype in my mind... Bioshock, Cyberpunk 2077, early levels of Thief Deadly Shadows... I know I should push through until the important parts, but I can't get the momentum.
Some require that you don't wait too long between sessions or you just lose the thread of the game, basically the RPGs, Baulder's Gates, Fallout NV, Heaven's Vault, Planescape, Roadwarden...
Sometimes my gaming laptop will crash and by the time I get a new one the momentum's gone.
Or a really important new game comes out that jumps to priority.
Mr.Duck on 11/2/2025 at 06:31
*Cough*
My backlog is a crime against my wallet. I shan't post it 'cause it's embarrassingly...long (easily past the 100 games' mark, I'll leave it at that).
nicked on 11/2/2025 at 06:53
I have a backlog but it's only about 4 games. I'm pretty ruthless about adding titles to my "Games I Will Never Finish" folder on Steam. Once they're in there, I can happily stop thinking about them.
Sulphur on 11/2/2025 at 07:08
Quote Posted by Tomi
Some good games there! Haven't you played Thief 1 at all, or are you only missing the Gold missions? Are there other differences between TDP and Gold other than the extra missions?
I played TDP first, then discovered T:G, and the replay killed my enthusiasm a bit. As far as I know, it's just the extra missions in Gold.
Quote:
I've never played System Shock 1 or 2 (I did start SS2 but the space zombies annoyed me) so I should probably add those games on my list too. :o Does it count if I play the recent SS1 remake? :D
Heh, if you ask the purists over at the SS forums, probably not. But what I played of the demo showed me a game that was similar enough in both spirit and design that you're not missing a ton. The original is, of course, preferred for the authentic experience, and what I would term 'vibes'. It's just very unique, from the music to the spritework and overall feel, which Nightdive's remake loses out on in non-negligible ways.
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Why would you want to play Ultima IX? :p Don't get me wrong - I don't think it's as bad as a lot of people say, and I enjoyed it when it was new, but as an Ultima game it was quite a disappointment. And just like all those late 90's and early 2000's 3D games, it probably hasn't aged very well either.
Call it sheer bloody-mindedness. Ultima's my favourite video game series of all time, and has always been since I came across U7/U6 as a kid. I played through U8 with a quizzical expression on my adolescent face after U7, but I finished it because there were still enough odd and interesting things about it to pull me along. UIX, when it released, was so demanding on PCs of the time that while I was able to get a reasonable frame rate on it, I pushed it aside because of the bad press and also figured I might as well get the best graphics out of it at least. But then other life things became more important, and I never got around to playing it through - and I do want to see it through, warts, wrinkles, terrible ending and all, to close the book on it for kid me.
Quote:
I actually replayed Wing Commander 2 a couple of years ago and it was still good fun, but without the nostalgia factor I'm not sure how enjoyable it would have been. If you don't mind the ancient gameplay, there's a superb story and the soundtrack is pure gold.
I think that's going to be a stumbling block, really. I adore the oldschool graphics (bleeding edge at the time, of course - ah, Origin!), but the space combat always felt a bit unwieldy even back then. I've played and finished WC3 and WC4, so I know what happened at the end of WC2, but it's a foundational game for me and my old friends from school, so I feel like I should at least try to pick it up again.
Quote:
As for SC2, MoO2 and Alpha Centauri, I've played them all and MoO2 is my favourite of the bunch. It's surely one of the best strategy games that I've played.
Yup, they're all three fantastic games, and I really should find a way to finally progress beyond the middle of SC2. MoO 2 and SMAC have always been on the 'get to these when you're in the mood' list, but the mood is a capricious thing, and I should probably just set aside some time for them instead.
henke on 11/2/2025 at 08:41
Quote Posted by Aja
If you've held out this long on Bloodborne, I say wait longer for the eventual remaster (or if PC mod version is completed). It's a wonderful game, but the input lag and framerate stutters are very noticeable and hard to ignore. It took maybe six or seven hours before I finally got accustomed to it and stopped feeling a vague sense of nausea/headache whenever I played.
The PC Emulator version is apparently quite good these days!
[video=youtube;-zjzBbdl7hk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zjzBbdl7hk[/video]
Yeah I also replayed a bit of it recently on PS4 and was shocked at how laggy it was. My rose tinted glasses had covered up that aspect of it. Might opt for emulating it on PC if I ever really wanna replay it.
