Revisiting Gaming Goals from January..

So in an earlier post this year, I mentioned that my gaming goal for this year was to completely wipe out my non-import  PS2 backlog.  Have I been successful in that endeavor?

..Well, that's kind of a funny story, but the short answer is "no".  The usual obligations have impeded that progress somewhat (oh, pesky job, you always stand in my way), but I've also been sidetracked by games on my other consoles as well (which I also need to write about, I know).  Rather than lament my progress (or lack thereof), let's present what I still have to go through, and what might be hampering my progress there. 

The first Raidou game was one of my favorite PS2 games, so I was pretty excited about the second.  Progress has been slow, though.  While the original  Raidou a lighter, easy game (often accused of being too 'light' for a Megaten game), the second is truer to its MegaTen roots:  Demon negotiations, expanded fusions, and even the alignment choices.

Sadly, this has made going through the game much more tedious.  The longer than normal loading times and the awkward translation don't help much, either.

What.

 I bought both Disgaea 1/2upon release, and while I've played them sporadically, the extreme grind turned me off to them.  The Enabler warmed me back up to them in some capacity though, when she made the very good point that they're nice to pick up for a few hours, grind out a few levels, then put down.

I've taken this to heart, but at the same time it's also made me realize (especially after playing FFTA2) that I'm really enjoying my strategy games in portable form more than on console.  I've been considering purchasing 1 & 2 on the PSP, particularly in light of the added content.  If I do this, do I omit these on a technicality?



Ah Nocturne.  The only thing really keeping this one on my backlog is wanting to save the best for last.  I know it's going to be a long game, so I want to savor the experience, and not rush it.

Plus, it's been so long since I played the game that whenever I turn it on, I have absolutely no idea where the hell I'm supposed to go, thus I was pondering a fresh start.



David already covered Devil May Cry 3 in a great post, so I've had less of an inclination to finish it; he's said pretty much everything about this game I could have. Plus, it's DMC:  I know I can finish it in a dedicated afternoon or two, and I know that I'll have a blast doing it.  What more is there to say?

By contrast, I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about Kingdom Hearts II.  My recent experience with Birth By Sleep has made me  reluctant to play this.  Another part of why I held off on this?  I wanted to play the games in chronological order, which means that, given the KH universe's love of spin offs, I had about 4 or 5 games to play before I got to this one.

.. Yeah.  I made it through Birth By Sleep and returned 358/2 days before I finished it.  I can't say I'm looking forward to this one at all.

I do, however, look forward to playing through this one.  I'm not even sure if Samurai Warriors 2 (or Sengoku Musou 2 for you purists) counts as part of my backlog.  Many of our games on the backlog (with some rare exceptions like Tales of the Abyss) get finished with the intent of fully completing them and never going back to them again.  I think of Samurai Warriors 2, or any Musou game, as a nice go-to game for anger management.  Sure, there's a story mode with plenty of characters to finish it with, but I'm in no rush to complete it.  It's more about the journey than the destination with this one.

That and killing as many Strike Ninjas as possible.  Fuck those guys.

I've been eyeing the XBox 360 version for awhile.  I'm sure the game would be much more awesome in HD.

Last, and certainly. . . well yeah, least:  Romancing SaGa:  Minstrel's Song - a remake of the SaGa game that started it all.

It's SaGa.  I'm scared to touch this with good reason.

Yeah.  That's pretty much it.


So there you have it:  My remaining PS2 line up.  Any thoughts or preferences on which I should tackle?  Does shifting three of these games away from the PS2 allow me to finish the goal on a technicality?  Do you have anything you'd like to read about in particular first?  You decide!