Top 3 Games In My Backlog

ADHD is a fun thing. It's something I've been learning to live with my whole life. It made school challenging, it's made work interesting, and it even bleeds through into my hobbies.

Which brings me to the point of this post: I have quite the backlog of games that I have started yet not finished. Sometimes when I leave a game unfinished, it's because I got stuck at a point and get frustrated with it, but most of the time I'll see a new game that will grab my attention and start playing that one instead. It's a vicious cycle.

Here, in no particular order, is my Top 3 list of games I need to finish already for the love of god.

1. Earthbound



Let me start this one off by saying that I love Earthbound. The humor, the world, the characters, the simplicity of the battle system... all great. I can zone out while playing it, and I'll frequently watch a movie or listen to a podcast while I'm working my way through a dungeon.



This is one of those games that I'll stop playing because something else will grab my interest, and I've unfortunately had to re-start it a few times. I don't know if Destructoid frowns upon the practice, so let's just say that I'm not playing this game on it's original platform. I've had to switch... "systems" on which I play it a few times, and I never remember to copy over the save file.

And you can't go wrong with Mr. Saturn.



How can you not love that face!?

2. Persona 3



I want to love Persona 3. I really do. I love the idea of the game: go to school, hang out with friends, and hold a part-time job during the day, and then explore a dungeon and fight monsters at night. The music is great, especially the school and battle themes, both of which get stuck in my head for hours (Baby baby baby baby baby baby baby...). The style is awesome; the character designs are really cool, and the UI looks great.

The game play and the plot, though... *sigh*. I kind of enjoy the battle system, but exploiting an enemy's weakness and then ganging up on them with the whole party over and over gets old to me. I still love seeing everybody rush forward to pound on the monsters, though.



Maybe the fact that you're exploring the same tower that looks very similar from floor to floor gets to me, too. I'm also about 23 hours into the game, and there hasn't been much of a plot so far except for "go to school, fight monsters in a weird dungeon at night, and every now and then a boss shows up in the real world." But then again, I might be spending too much time in Tartarus (the dungeon you explore at night).

I'm hoping the plot will pick up soon. Maybe the fact that the PSP version mostly plays out like a visual novel unless you're expIoring Tartarus kinda turns me off, too. Instead of getting this:



You get this:



I still hope that I'll end up loving the game.

3. Cave Story



I am deeply disappointed in myself for not yet having finished this game. I have a few friends who list it among their favorites, and their disapproving stares pain me so.

It's adorable and incredibly fun. I'm a fan of retro-styled games, and the 16-bit look really scratches that itch. The character designs are great, too. The music is incredible, too; I used to have the Bushlands/Grasslands music as my ringtone.

Balrog's a fun character, and I love running into him.



And the monsters are so cute! I almost feel bad killing them.



The gameplay is great, too. Exploring the world scratches that Metroidvania itch. Finding life and missile upgrades always gives me joy. And I love scrambling for the little gems that drop from enemies that upgrade your weapons; I can't help doing it even when my weapons are maxed out.

The main reason I haven't finished the game yet is this asshole:



I have so much trouble with this guy! You have to avoid getting run over by him, and then avoid a crap ton of missiles that he shoots at you that home in on you. I usually get frustrated after a few attempts to beat him and put the game down for a while. And then forget about it.

So yeah, those are the 3 games that I most want to finish. Now that I've finished the Borderlands 2 main game, I think I'll devote my game-playing time to finishing these before I move on to another new game. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to that.

Let me know what games you've been meaning to finish! We can agonize together!

Honorable mentions: Okami, Aquaria, Lost Odyssey, Fallout: New Vegas, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.