Backlog Club: Week Zero, June - Return Of Backlog Club, Return Of The Obra Dinn

This is one of the games on my wishlist, awaiting a deep sail that sinks the price below, say, ten euro's tops, preferably less of course. I could also... pirate it, but I always give them some years to meet my price first. I'm in no rush, and not starving for games to play.

Ori and Hollow Knight I both started playing, but due to circumstances stopped and didn't return to...

Currently clearing my Ace Attorney backlog, starting by replaying the trilogy, and I'm at the case in the circus, in the second game.

I picked up the LRG physical release of this game, not knowing much about it outside of the premise and that Lucas Pope was responsible for its creation. It's one of the best indie titles I've played! This game roped me in for its 10+ hours and had me guessing, planning, and sleuthing even away from my Switch. I reached a couple of epiphanies at work and then had to agonize over my guesses throughout the day until I got home. XD The story isn't discovered in sequential order, but it's very rewarding when everything just clicks.

Hollow Knight and Ori literally neck and neck at time of posting. I personally preferred Ori with it's more compact game style, but you can't go wrong with either.

Celeste I haven't played but my brother raves about it.

I would love any of the ones for next month but my favorite is Celeste. Great story telling and snappy platforming

I really loved this game. Felt like a proper detective when I worked the last bit out.

I played it, liked it, even had a few of those ‘AHA!’ moments where it all clicked. Despite that, I just didn’t vibe with the style and the mystery that much, meaning I lost interest close to the end of the game. Still finished it and it was an unique experience, at least!

I have hear of all three of these games but I've never played any of them! I feel like I might have received Hollow Knight for free at some point on Epic Games. Time to try it!

This has been on my radar for quite some time now. I tell myself that I'm not into these kinds of detective games, but there's actually been a couple I've enjoyed so maybe I need to reasses that.

As for the next game, I own all 3, but have only beaten Hollow Knight, though it was a few years ago at this point. Honestly wouldn't mind playing any of these again.

Have that many people skipped Hollow Knight to this point? Seems like everyone has played it, especially here.

Psyched for Obra Dinn. Just have to decide which platform to get it on. Or actually, I should make sure I didn't get it randomly on PC years ago and not play it

This is a phenomenal game, everyone should give it a go. The process of figuring things out really feels like you solved it yourself, as opposed to following a predetermined path set by the game. I also really enjoyed playing this with my partner, as you can discuss all of the clues and everything you know together, so I'd recommend it played in that way if you're interested!

Return Of The Obra Dinn is fantastic, though I do have some loose ends to tie up in the journal. I wrote about the game with NPUK https://nintendoplayers.uk/news/community-article-indie-insights---return-of-the-obra-din/ Game Maker's Toolkit on YouTube did a good video about it too.

I;m finding earthbound to be a slog, but real excited for this one. I even managed to snag a physical copy that should be here June 1st just in time to start this. ( I also voted for Hollow knight by virtue of I already own it)

finally busted out RUINER. absolutely super mechanics - but now it's taxing me with the moral gate. what a spoiler thing to add. if placed in the star wars galaxy it might have been permissible. But your character is armed with lead pipe instead of a lightsaber, and bullets instead of a lazer gun, painting you as a kamikaze terrorist instead of a jedi or disney tourist. what the actual fk.

Return of the Obra Dinn is one of those I should've been played but y'know... Other games, etc., etc. I may have to re-add this to my wishlist.

Here in lies the quandary - I want to play this game but I’m currently deep within a couple other backlog games. Do I add to the backlog in order to participate? Or do I wait a month for (hopefully) Hollow Knight?

Return to Obra Din is on my wishlist, but I see the Backlog Club as a way to not buy new games.
Voted Ori because I need to get back to it and Hollow Knight I would probably have to start over.

I too have a pirate game I need to work on. Recently got the AC: Black flag bundle but got stuck pretty early when forced to harvest metal from taking down other ships. Quickly frustrated me by being ganged up on by 5 ships everytime while also battling the ass ship controls. Was really enjoying it until then.

I don't have Obra Dinn, but seeing the early lead of hollow knight and knowing it's a beefy game, I might get a headstart on it.

I agree with the other hurrahs for this game. It’s terrific: original, challenging (mentally), and engrossing.

Obra Dinn is on my wish list, so I think I will give it a crack. Not usually the kind of game I’d go for, but the people who like it seem to REALLY love it, so it’s got me intrigued. Plus I’m not sure I’ve ever played a pirate game. Or an insurance claims adjuster game

Legitimately a 10/10 game

I want to play this and The Stanley Parable, but first-person camera with free character movement games make me motion sick.

No joke, the only game like that I've ever finished was Shadowgate 64. I had to quit Perfect Dark, Metroid Prime, and Portal. (I'll never get my cake!)

I can handle rail shooters like Pokemon Snap as long as I don't turn too fast. And first person with limited movement, like Virtue's Last Reward, are usually fine since there's typically long pauses between movement. But the moment you have to control both your viewpoint and your movement separately... BLARGHHH!!!!

I started this one day and... oh man, you have to really know what's going on. Maybe this is the excuse to get back into it.

Wow, why's it more expensive on PlayStation for Europe?

@Shambo oh please let me know what you think about that one! 😂

@SmaggTheSmug good point, I was on the way to the shop! 😂🤣
I'll go on with hollow knight then, game is amazing but HARD!

I love this idea of a backlog book club. I think I'll be dipping in and out when a game is selected for the month on a game that is actually in my backlog though. I've been working hard this year to try to get through it and I'm only about 25% done at this point. It's gunna be hard to stick to that rule for next month though as out of the three I've recently completed Ori but haven't even touched Celeste or Hollow Knight yet.

@garfreek Ace Attorney Trilogy? It's a perfect compilation to REplay. The first time I played those games (separately, on the DS) I enjoyed them much less actually. First, I didn't know I could 'press' testimony statements as much as I wanted, second, the game sometimes relies to much on you following its logic and even being a step ahead. Sometimes it just doesn't work without a walkthrough. But replaying it, with distant memories of how some things worked out, and figuring things out from there, it works better I'd say. The first game works the best, as the introductions to cases sometimes literally show you what happens and who did it, so you know what to focus on, against what is more plausible and already accepted as 'truth'. Still, some really great cases, colourful characters, good music, sometimes even great overarching plot.

Almost done with the second game now, and after the third, it's all new to me (except for the Layton crossover, that was actually one of my most hyped games around the launch of the 3ds, but it took them seemingly forever to localise it).

Hollow Knight is on that many people's backlog? I thought that game was more popular than that. I was really hoping for Ori or Celeste as those are the kind of games people pick up and forget about. Here's to wishing the voting system doesn't just devolve into a popularity contest.

@Shambo

Next up, Apollo Justice! Loved that game, but know that it's crazy different than Phoenix Wright. Just enjoy the ride! 😁

I hate it when they reveal the villain. So I was bummed out Dual destinies did it with their first AND second case. I also think that game is a lot easier. So I always suggest skipping the intro cutscene of the second case! (The first case absolutely needs it's intro! 😂😁)

The third and two final chapters (And the DLC chapter, ) of Dual destinies are all really fun. So enjoy!!

@garfreek Last night I finished the second, I was too tired to go on but too invested to stop. So I almost fell asleep multiple times, during the seemingly endless final trial, but not because it was boring, just because my brain physically short circuited from exhaustion but I forced myself to keep going. It's been so long, I barely remember anything, but it all comes back just in time for everything to go smooth and be surprising but reckognisable at the same time. The perfect replay, and I'm looking forward to what's 'new' after this. When I first saw the 3d models in Layton and AA, I was somewhat disappointed (always enjoyed the completely insane sprite animations). But by now I can appreciate them, so they won't stop me from playing through it.

This one’s been on my wishlist for so long. I guess this is a good excuse to hop aboard. Looking forward to chatting about it!

Obra Dinn has a "high priority" backlog game for a bit for me, so happy to get that last little push to boot it up.

Generally enjoying it so far, though the controls have some rough edges (finding the right spot to stand to trigger the watch or "ID-vision" can be finicky and sometimes I end up interacting with something in the environment that I'm not even looking at; also, I wish it had toggle-able gyro controls)

Also, I've already run into a situation where the game seems to assume I have some real-world knowledge. This shouldn't really be an issue, though in this case I needed to do some real-world research to shore up a lack of my own knowledge, and a very generally worded Google searched that did not mention Obra Dinn had a picture from the game as one of its top results!

Also, regarding the next month's game, Celeste would probably be best for my backlog, since I haven't finished the main game for that one. Hollow Knight is a phenomenal game, but if it's chosen, I'll just spend all month practicing so I can finally beat the true final boss... I managed to get the "bad" ending ages, and complete the various tasks needed to unlock the true ending, but now I'm so out of practice I can't even beat the pre-true final boss.

Ori I already completed (maybe 100%ed?), and I was really underwhelmed. I do not get why people like that game as much as they do...

Couldn't wait for the next update, but I just 100% Obra Dinn. Doesn't take long to do so. I think there was only one or two times that the wording for the death was more finicky than I'd like. For example, I don't know if this is a SPOILER, but one person had a barrel explode in front of them and they died from that explosion. I put "was burned" because he was burned to death by the explosion, but the game wanted "exploded."

I will say that I think two things to know that I didn't realize: 1) use the map, as it has lodging of the crew and 2) PAY ATTENTION TO CLOTHES. I really underestimated the importance of using clothes to help identify at least the type of crewmate. In the end, I enjoyed the game. Would have enjoyed it more had I known those two things, but I have to say.... Do we need to chase down the death cloud for EVERY new body found? That grew tedious a couple dozen corpses in. 🙄

Gonna get a head start Hollow Knight.