RPG backlog

[Daria]

Also started Bravely Default. Hope I finish it, loving it so far (about 20 hours in).

So that totally didn't happen. I did beat Breath of Fire 2... again.

[Tanooki]

I stopped on BD so long ago I think I'd probably just replay the game at this rate if the need popped up. The thing is annoyingly the game has fallen into the trap of Square with the FF franchise. You can take down 2/3 of the game or more, but then the boss fights get so stupid cheap you need to be psychic, die a lot, or cheat(get guide, buy guide, have someone do it, watch video) to know what move you can do, and all the ones you can not with specific jobs/subjobs set up or you just get your ass handed to you. I'm up near the fire temple, I think I was up around that singing bimbo with all the status conditions. I remember being fed up with that and going to play another game.

[Steven]

How's everyone's backlogs?

Not bad, not bad at all. 2013 I managed to knock out 13 SNES RPGs. Yeah, that's something that will never ever happen again. I somehow managed to beat one every month, and that decreased my backlog tremendously.

2014 haven't played/beaten as many RPGs but I just got through Shadowrun (not really an RPG but I count it as an ARPG) and am currently 8 hours into Secret of Evermore. Getting excited because my SNES RPG backlog now remains:

1. Harvest Moon
2. EVO
3. 7th Saga
4. Inindo (yes, I want to eventually play through this one)

US side only. I'm almost done! Oh and then there are ARPGs or adventure games I still want to beat, like Ys III, Equinox, Addams Family Values, Young Merlin, etc.

[celerystalker]

Y's III won't take you long, Steven. I sat down to try it finally last year and beat it in about 3 hours. Grind out a few levels at the beginning and you'll be golden.

I quit keeping a backlog, because my RPG play almost always follows the same pattern as many others, I suspect.

1) I buy the game.
2) I start playing one day and get a few hours in, anywhere from 2-20 in a few days.
3) I get in the mood to play something else or life gets busy and abandon it.
4) A few years later I think about it, put the game back in.
5) 90% of the time, I only vaguely remember what I was doing and decide that to truly enjoy it, I need to start over.
6) This time, I either get tenacious and finish it or the cycle repeats itself.

Rarely do I finish an RPG the first time I intend to, but the few that I do are the ones I end loving and recommending, either because they were captivating enough to keep me hooked or short enough to be a pleasant diversion.

Honestly, I'd love to see some other people's recommendations using that criteria: games they beat on the first attempt, games that they walked away from and returned to and finished, and at the bottom the "maybe someday, but not todays."

[The Adventurer]

Dark Souls was the first 'RPG' to grip me for a full 65 hour first play through. That has not happened in a while.

Current backlog has grown recently with the additions of Arc the Lad - Twilight of Spirits (PS2), Disgaea 2 (PS2), and Shiren the Wanderer (Wii).

On top of the old backlong of...

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (DS)
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturn (PS2)
Devil Survivor Overclocked (3DS)
Disgaea (PS2)
Kingdom Hearts (PS2)
Rune Factory 4 (3DS)
Dragon Quest V (DS)
Final Fantasy III (DS)
Radiant Historia (DS)
Final Fantasy Tactics (PS1)
Rogue Galaxy (PS2)

and to many others I picked up 'just because' without any real plan to play them any time soon. Like Sands of Destruction (DS), YS 1 & 2 Collection (DS), and Baten Kaitos (GCN)!