Battling the Backlog: Episode 2: Girls & Guns

Since getting rid of The Bigs 2 and forcing myself to stop playing shmups all the time I've been surprisingly effective at knocking games off my list. Feels good, man. This time on my personal adventure to cut my backlog down to size we have Lollipop Chainsaw, Binary Domain, God Hand and Valkyria Chronicles.

I'd like to say I'm on less of a masochistic note than last time with Demon's Souls and BloodRayne Betrayal, but a couple of these proved to be pretty challenging as well. Luckily none of these games are complete shit like BloodRayne is.



Why I put it off: I didn’t really, but at least it hasn’t been added to the massive pile of unfinished games. I’m eliminating the problems of tomorrow today.

Thoughts: After No More Heroes I’ve had pretty high expectations for Suda 51, so I expected to fall in love with Lollipop Chainsaw from the moment I laid eyes on it. Though I enjoyed the game, for whatever reason it didn’t feel special in comparison with Grasshopper’s past work. I can’t really explain why. I had fun with it but it really didn’t click with me the same way the NMH games or Shadows of the Damned did.

Rating: Pretty good, but disappointing.



Why I put it off: I decided to finish Demon’s Souls before Atlus turned them back into a pumpkin and put it on the back burner for a little while.

Thoughts: If I had to place my vote for Game of the Year right now, it would be Binary Domain hands down. While developed by Sega’s Yakuza Studio, the game has some serious Mikami vibes to it, distinctly giving me the feeling of a hybrid of Resident Evil 4 and Vanquish. Enjoying those games quite a bit, the blend of cover-based action shooting with a deep emphasis on character and political commentary on a world overrun by technology really won me over.

Rating: Absolutely fantastic.



Why I put it off: I actually bought a copy back in the day and played it occasionally on my roommate’s PS2 but never finished it. Once we went our separate ways I had a game and no system to play it on until I picked up a digital copy when the game hit PSN recently.

Thoughts: I love it. The graphics are a bit dated and could definitely use some smoothing out. The gameplay gets a little repetitive and it can definitely get frustrating at times, but playing this on the heels of Lollipop Chainsaw made me think about NMH a lot. With the amazing soundtrack and humor, Grasshopper’s fingerprints are all over this game even though Clover put in most of the work on it. So yeah, great game. It’s a bit of an eyesore at times but definitely check it out on PS3 if you didn’t before.

Rating: Great.



Why I put it off: Kind of the same deal as God Hand. Was borrowing it from the same roommate and he didn’t like it and sold the game when I was about a third of the way through. I bought it a while back and got about to the halfway mark and got frustrated and put it down and I tend to prefer SRPGs on handhelds anyway.

Thoughts: It’s breathtakingly gorgeous, has a gripping and emotional (if a little cliché) narrative and engrossing gameplay. Not really sure there’s much more I can say. Allistair summed it up pretty well the other day.

Rating: Brilliant.

Tell me Destructoid, what should I finish next? If you guys suggest one of these I'll try to prioritize experiencing that game. Off the top of my head, I have these kicking around in various states of completion:

Ico HD, Dead Space 2, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Deadly Premonition, Splinter Cell HD, Skyward Sword, Other M, Outland, A Boy and His Blog, Disaster Day of Crisis, Parasite Eve II, Super Metroid (LOL), Mega Man 9, Lit, Metroid Prime 3, Okami, Recettear: Item Shop's Tale, Lone Survivor, Gish, Half Life 2 (doubleLOL), Trauma Team, Conduit 2, Cursed Mountain, Lost in Shadow, Read Dead Redemption, MGS Twin Snakes, Killer 7, EDF Insect Armageddon, Fallout New Vegas, Skyrim, Dead Rising 2, Mario Sunshine, Mario Galaxy 2, Killzone Liberation, Corpse Party.