The week is winding down, so let’s talk about what backloggin’ shenanigans I’ll be up to next!
Stain Your Vanias
Good morrow backloggers!! Since the week is wrapping up and I won’t be seeing all of you for another week, well, at least in a Daily Backlog capacity. I thought it would be fun to just quickly go over what I have planned, all the way over here in backlog town. You know, the games I’m looking to play (or finish) and maybe some of the content I’m working on and hoping to put out there in the next few weeks.
First on the list, is a game that I’m sure you’ve seen me mention a few times here and there, as well as a game I’ve been anticipating for years now, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. I mean, it’s a Metroidvania that’s heavily inspired by Castlevania so that’s to be expected. But when I first heard of it, I was kinda skeptical. I mean, Symphony of the Night has long been one of my favorite action-platformers since it graced the little console that could, the PlayStation 1. But the fact that it was going 2.5D instead of pure 2D and I’ve been burned by another “spiritual successor” to one of my other favorite platformers, it left me a little hesitant to say the least. It’s the primary reason I didn’t opt in to supporting its Kickstarter. Which I fully regret now.
But now that I have the game in my hands, all of those doubts are washing away. It plays even better than I could have hoped for. Although the graphics may not be refined as something you’d see in a 2D Castlevania game, the art direction and world design is just as stellar as the best of them. It even has some of the features that I really enjoyed from the GBA and DS iterations, such as the “Shard” system where you can gain abilities from monsters. It’s random if they drop, and I may try to grind them out a little too much, but I really enjoy having the ability to mix and match loadouts to suit various scenarios. Not to mention the drive to see what each and every enemy will give you!
Anyways, I’m having a blast with Bloodstained and I should hopefully have a new Backlog Review dedicated to it in the next couple of weeks. I’m also picking away at that Metroidvania comparison post where I’ll be pitting Bloodstained: RotN, Timespinner, and Castlevania: SotN against each other so look forward to those!!
An Odd Mix
Next up is a couple of games I was graciously given by their respective publishers for review, Senran Kagura: Peach Ball from XSEED and Songbird Symphony from PQube!! An odd mixture of games I might add!! The first being a pinball game featuring the infamous cast from the fun and fanservice laden manga/anime/video game series Senran Kagura. The next being an excruciatingly adorable platformer starring a little gray bird named Birb and features some simplistic rhythm based mechanics. I’ve tested both out so far, and each of them are surprisingly fun!
I still haven’t really decided what I want to do with these games yet and since Songbird Symphony’s embargo isn’t lifted until next Thursday (July 25th), I probably won’t do too much until then. Though I am thinking I’ll be streaming one and doing a full review for the other.
Regardless, you should be seeing both of them in the next couple of weeks and I’m excited to dive into each of them! Luckily, they’re on the Switch too, so they’ll make good side games as I finish up Bloodstained. Maybe I’ll put up a poll in the near future to see what all of you would like to see on stream.
Futurelog
And finally, I can’t have a future plans post without talking about some of the games I’m looking to play or pick up! I won’t really go into too much detail for each game, since I want to try and keep this post relatively short, but here’s a list for your perusal!
Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God
A farming sim style game in the vein of Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley and Graveyard Keeper. Only this time you run a tavern!! This is a game my wife has been eyeballing and since her birthday is just around the corner, it’s pretty much a guarantee this will be added to the library!
The Messenger
A 2D retro-inspired action-platformer with many inspirations from classic Ninja games such as Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi! I’ve been drooling over this game for a while now and I’m determined to pick it up and play it before the year is out!
Owlboy
Another 2D platformer that, in my mind, reminds me a lot of Zelda. Except for maybe it being closer to a Metroidvania. My wife gave me the physical Switch version of the game over the holidays last year, and I think it’s about time I play it! The graphics look top notch and the gameplay looks like it’ll be right up my alley, so I’m very much looking forward to getting into it!
Borderlands 3
A first person shlooter where you do a lot of lootin’ and shootin’. My wife and I are diehard fans of the Borderlands series and we would be remiss if we didn’t play the third one when it’s released this fall!! So excited!!
Labyrinth of Refrain
A first person dungeon crawling JRPG from the JRPG kings over at NIS America. Another game my wife and I picked up over a year ago. At the time we were really in the mood for a good JRPG that reminded us of the wonderful Disgaea. Hopefully this lives up to our expectations and we get around to playing it this time!
Nioh
A third person action RPG with many similarities to the Darks Souls games. I’m a big fan of Dark Souls and Dark Souls inspired games, and Nioh ended up being a must buy for me. Especially since it also reminded me of Onimusha, another of my favorite PS2 games. I’m very much looking forward to this one and if it’s anywhere near as good as Dark Souls or Onimusha, I think I’m in for a treat!
Day One Hundred and Thirty
Well my friends, that’s going to do it for today!! Lots of really fun things to look forward to! From playing Metroidvanias to NSFW pinball games, I’m really excited to both play them all and write about them. Oh, and how could I forget Overcooked 2!! Which has also been a blast!
Anyways, I hope you all have a great rest of your day, a wonderful weekend and I’ll see you next week for my Xeodrifter stream!!
Currently Playing
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (PlayStation 4)
Overcooked 2 (PlayStation 4)
Super Bomberman R (Xbox One)
Total Backlogged Games: 733 … the number of years (it feels like) between me and my vacation!
Total Completed Games: 34 …the number of times I've checked the clock in the last 34 minutes.
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And you can keep tabs on my backlog by checking out the Backlog Odyssey Backloggery game list!
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