Backlog Updates?

In my first article, I discussed my backlog as a whole and tried to analyze my approach to playing games in general. Now it's time to start reporting progress updates as I work through my backlog. This is hopefully the first of many "Backlog Update" articles. I don't know how frequently I'll post these, but part of my motivation for building the Articles feature here on Completionator was to hold myself accountable for playing games AND finishing them.

Traveling Back in Time to 1995

If you recall from my first article, my primary focus right now is Chrono Trigger. Well, it's been a bumpy couple of weeks for my backlog, but I'm proud to say that Chrono Trigger remains my #1 backlog target. Bumpy, eh? Yeah, we'll talk about that in a minute.

But for now, let's talk about Chrono Trigger. My history with this game prior to my current playthrough is practically non-existent. I remember hearing about it back in the mid-90s, but since I didn't have a SNES, I never really paid much attention. I didn't pick up a SNES until 2000 or so and by then I was knee-deep in Dreamcast games, so I basically purchased The King of Dragons and let my SNES collect dust.

I'm trying really hard to not hijack my own post and talk about this amazing beat 'em up from Capcom.

Anyways, I would later pick up Final Fantasy Chronicles on PlayStation and......I never actually played it. Why? Well, for some reason, I continued to tell myself that I needed to finish the two games on Final Fantasy Anthology before I move onto Final Fantasy Chronicles. I know, I know, that makes NO SENSE AT ALL, but that's what my brain kept telling me. So Chrono Trigger was being held captive by my own inability to finish games that have no relation to it whatsoever. (Perhaps one day I'll divulge details as to why I still haven't finished Final Fantasy Anthology...)

I eventually got the urge to try out Chrono Trigger a few years ago, probably 2012 or so. I played it for maybe 30 minutes and never even got to the first battle. I recall being in the mood for an RPG, but apparently not Chrono Trigger. And so it sat. I eventually bought the DS re-release from Square Enix for a few bucks, even though I project there's about a 1.5% chance I ever actually play it (that was the collector in me).

And then finally, a few weeks ago I had the urge once again. I loaded the game up and told myself I was going to give it a fair shake and AT LEAST get to the first battle. As you can probably surmise, I greatly enjoyed the game and have been working on it ever since.

At this point, I'm about 12.5 hours into the game and just slayed a huge dinosaur (don't worry, I'll keep this article spoiler-free). I know the game isn't supposed to be too terribly long (for a JRPG, at least), so I'm guessing I'm about halfway through. I actually prefer games to not be TOO long, mainly because I have so many I want to play and time is limited, so shorter games allow me to play more games, which is my preference.

So yeah, Chrono Trigger is an excellent game and I can see why it's so highly regarded in the gaming community. I reaaaaallly wish I would've played this back in the '90s because I would've LOVED it. I mean, I still love it, but unfortunately, I don't have the nostalgic ties to it that make things even sweeter.

Since I'm still playing it, I'll just quickly log a few things that I'm enjoying about the game:

• The story is excellent....better not say anything more.
• The characters are excellent and all seem to have a reason for being a playable character. I especially like Frog. He's such a cool character and his story / background has been a highlight for me.
• The soundtrack is top-notch.
• How can I say this...the battle system, enemies, and techs make for some interesting battles with TONS of flexibility.

Always a Bumpy Ride

I mentioned earlier that I've been focusing on Chrono Trigger, but it's been a bumpy ride. The main reason for that is there are too many games I want to play! Ahh!!! It's tough for me to play a game like Chrono Trigger during the work week, so the main thing that's been pulling me away from it has been this gem:

Factorio is such an easy game to load up and play for a few minutes at a time, which works perfect for me during the week. It recently had a big patch and I hadn't played it in a long time, so I couldn't resist it any longer.

Of course, there's also the scenario where a game pops up out of nowhere and reminds me that I want to play it. That happened the other day with @WhitsEnd's excellent article on Tail Concerto. And then I did it to myself by thinking about Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption and how I'd like to replay it. See? It never ends.

And yet I've stayed strong for the most part. Chrono Trigger remains my top priority and I feel confident I can wrap it up in the next 2-4 weeks. The next game on my list is still the same from my previous article:

I even got a head-start on Myth II: Soulblighter today by picking up where I left off nearly a year ago. I finally beat the mission I had been stuck on and I'm very much looking forward to finally putting this one to rest.

But not yet. Chrono Trigger is 20 years overdue and my journey back to 1995 must continue.