Be Excellent To Each Other

This thread is the antithesis of the Finish 52 thread. What games have you got in your backlog? How many have you abandoned or taking an extended break from? Maybe there's a behemoth or two that is just taking you forever to get through. Let's see exactly how many unplayed games you have in your Steam, PSN and Xbox Live libraries.

Here's a list of games from my Steam library that I've started but not finished for various reasons:



List of games from my Steam account that I have an interest in playing but not even loaded up once!



PS4 games that I've given up on or not finished yet:


PS4 games that I haven't started:


Also New Super Mario Bros U (halfway through) and Super Mario 3D World (not started) from the Wii U.

So all in all that's pretty terrible. It's time to put an action plan together!

There's loads of it, but I'll start with mass effect 2.

I don't get why this series is so popular and I had to persevere to finish the first one. I tried more than once to play the second to the end. It's the kind of game that is absolutely average on everything, and while I tolerate crap fantasy stories, I don't tolerate crap science fiction. This is isn't proper science fiction, it's just magic in space.

I think I have only "finished" about 5 games in the last 10 years. I even got to the last battle of some 360 JRPG and didn't bother to finish. I find it now limits my spending, as I can't justify spending money on new games when I have (on the ps4):
Every ps plus game for 2 years
the last of us
uncharted 4
driven
xcom 2
fallout 4
some RPG i forget - dragon age: inquisition (saw it on myp's list)
the division
basically, i have only finished one game one game on the ps4:
Wolfenstein - old blood.

My Steam library is a bit of a mess. Of the games in my backlog, there are -

- some I'm interested in but can't play due to not having the hard drive space to actually install them - FFX Remake being the main one at 37gb
- some I've just never tried. Probably 1000+ of these.

Of the abandoned games, there's a mix of them being crap (some of the indie games, usually) or very good but for some reason have just not held my interest - like Rocket League or Road Redemption. Probably no fault of the games themselves, just my changing game tastes, I guess.

1000+ ?? How did you get so many games?

Where do I start…

I’ve got shit loads of games that I haven’t played thoroughly. Some of the more noticeable ones of late are:-

Quantum Break – Xbox One
I got into this to start with as it’s fantastically presented. For some reason though, I gave up half way through. Maybe it just wasn’t exciting?

Project X Zone 2 – 3DS
I played the first of these games to death and I think I clocked over 60 hours on it. The second was more of the same and when I got it, I don’t think I was ready to sink that much time into it again.

Astroneer – Xbox One
This is still technically a beta so I’m ok with not coming back to it. I like it, but the Switch came along and Zelda demanded I play that instead.

Steep – Xbox One
I bought this because it was cheap, had a night on it and never came back to it. One day I will though.

Skies of Arcadia – Dreamcast
I bought this off eBay and it wasn’t cheap (although cheaper than the going rate at the time). I fully intend to get into this as it looks excellent. The only problem is finding the time to sit in front of my TV. The Switch really has changed the way I play games.

There's hundreds more that I haven't mentioned here but these are the most recent that spring to mind. I'll retire one day and have lots of time for games... One day...

Mainly through heavily discounted bundles or Steam sales. I also use the Is there any deal? site to find new bundles. I've recently stopped buying games just because they are cheap though, so now I make sure there's at least one or two games that I actually want to play first.

Jesus fucking Christ myp; STOP BUYING GAMES YOU LOON! That's genuinely the worst list of shame I've ever seen.


List of games across all platforms I own and intend to play:



Stuff I dropped that I might've played:



Stuff I started then dropped because it wasn't good enough:



That's from Steam and PS3/4 but I can't get my Xbox achievements to load here at work so can't check what I dropped from that platform

I suspect mine might be worse.

Although you could simplify Myp's list to "anything that isn't iRacing'

Games that I have in Steam that I've never played:

Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition
Black Mesa
Cities: Skyline
Counter Strike
Counter Strike: Source
Deathmatch Classic
DiRT Showdown
FlatOut
GTA2
Various Half Life addons
Hell Yeah! (I have no idea what this is, or any memory of buying it)
Jet Set Radio
Ricochet
Tiny Bridge: Ratventure

There are more not on Steam:

Firewatch (PC)
Assassin Creed Brotherhood (360)
Various other 360 games.

All in all, not bad.

You should play Firewatch. It's delightful and only runs about 4 hours.

I suspect DavPaz could take longer.

That doesn't include all the 360/PS3 games I gave up on last generation either.

To be fair I've completed 94 games on the 360, 37 on PS3/4/Vita and 25 PC games so I don't feel too bad.

It's on my wishlist. I haven't bought it yet for, uhh, obvious reasons.

Looking at myp's list, if I was to recommend an action plan it would be:

1. Dump everything you've started but haven't finished. If you didn't give a shit enough at the time you're not going to now more time has passed. Playing games is supposed to be fun so if you look at something and a thoughts like 'can't muster the energy' cross your mind then you're not going to enjoy yourself. It'll also demotivate you from getting through other new stuff.
2. Entirely stop buying new games. It doesn't matter how good that Steam/PSN sale or, not how incredible a Humble Bundle looks, just step the fuck away. Picking up cheap games is a false economy when you're sitting on a massive backlog because you'll almost certainly not get round to playing it until you could've just bought it cheaper again because so much time has passed. Note that there might still be the odd game that you're so interested in it can jump the queue (e.g. Fallout 4, Uncharted 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider being recent examples for me) but unless you're absolutely 100% totally completely sure you'll start playing it the instant you buy it then DO NOT FUCKING PICK IT UP!
3. Take a really, really long hard look at your pile of 'stuff you're interested in' and ask yourself whether you're genuinely interested enough. Whether you can honestly see yourself properly positively wanting to play these games while other stuff piles up. Anything you're not 100% sure about: dump it. This list needs to be comprised solely of stuff you're actually eager to play; not just stuff you feel you should because you own it and someone once said something nice about it.
4. STOP BUYING NEW GAMES. Fucking seriously.

Ok, being brutal now, here's the games I'd like to return to:



That gives me a place to start. Considering I'm currently playing Until Dawn I'll finish that first and take it from there.

My list is much like others - ie. crammed with Steam games.

However, the big game that I've started but not gone back to is Witcher 3 on the PS4. I just can't summon the energy.

And I'd rather be playing Horizon Zero Dawn or Factorio or GTAV.

You just hold down the X button or something, probably.

Conversely I can't summon the energy to return to GTAV. The controls are just too clunky. And when I'm driving about my eyes are glued to the mini map rather than the amazing world around me.

Estus, MarkG.

Witcher 3 was absolutely perfect to play while I was off work for 8 months.

Played through he HD remake of The Last of Us too.


As for games I have that I haven't finished, I'm not counting all the shite I've downloaded for free from PS+:

Metal Gear Solid 5 - Really good game, just slowly lost interest in it.

Which is why you sit in the passenger seat while Craster drives.

Thoughts on myp's backlog.

ABZU: it's short, which is a bonus, but it's a poorer cousing of Journey so I dunno. Keep it on the list as a pallette cleanser for when you need something quick and light.
Alan Wake: I loved it an it's atmosphere but I seem to be in the minority so I certainly wouldn't put this at the top of your list. It's getting on a bit now as well so could maybe be dumped.
Alan Wake's American Nightmare: the combat is the weakest aspect of Alan Wake and this game is nothing but the combat; dumpt it hard.
Aliens vs Predator: it's ancient, dump it.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent: ancient and clunky, dump it.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs I really wanted to like this but it was boring and surprisingly ugly. Dump it.
Analogue: A Hate Story :it's a visual novel but, from the Steam screenshots, the dialogue looks pretty clunky. Dump.
Anna Extended Edition: this looks like the kind of amateur hour horror game Steam is crawling with. Dump.
A Story About My Uncle: this starts off well enough but descends into annoyance pretty quickly, and even at it's best it's just mildly engaging. In your situation I'd dump it.
Back to the Future the Game: it's balls, dump it.
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition: never played it but it's old, dump it.
Bastion: I enjoyed it and the music's awesome, keep as a low priority.
Batman Arkham Origins: it's basically just Arkham City 2 and you're not enjoying that so dump this.
Betrayer: it's balls, dump it.
BioShock 2: is worse than the original by all accounts so dump.
BioShock Infinite: looks lovely and has a nice story; is crippled with genuinely god-awful combat. either dump or play through on easy to get the most enjoyment out of it.
Californium: looks interesting, keep.
Child of Light: I hated the demo so personally I'd dump it but that's just me.
Crysis: it's old and wasn't brilliant to being with. It's also just another FPS at this point in the proceedings. Dump.
Day of the Tentacle Remastered: I get the feeling you're generally going off point and click games so dump this.
Darksiders: I loved this but it's getting on a but now so keep if you personally really fancy it or dump otherwise.
Deadlight: really fun and short with a nice atmosphere. Keep, but don't prioritise.
Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut: I adored this but in spite of it rather than because of it. It's a slog, albeit a hilarious and bonkers slog, so I'd err on the side of 'dump'.
Dead Rising 3: Dead Rising games are shit and this was the weakest of the lot. Dump.
Dead Space 2: it's old, dump it.
Dishonored: it's fucking brilliant, play it. Prioritise it in fact.
Distance: yeah, another driving game is what you really need! Dump.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West: it's a fun enough game but it's not brilliant and is derivative of a lot of other stuff so I'd probably dump.
F.E.A.R. 2: fuck knows, never played them. You probably only need to play one of them though so dump this or FEAR 3.
F.E.A.R. 3: see above.
Fable Anniversary: it's old, dump it.
Fallout 4: give it a shot. Enough time's passed since the last Fallout game that it won't bore you on principle and it's pretty easy to get into. If it's not grabbing you after a while though, don't be afraid to dump it.
Far Cry 2: really? Why? Fuck off, dump it.
Far Cry 3: have you played Far Cry 4? If you have, dump this. If you haven't, prioritise this.
Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon: it's pish, dump it.
FUEL: another driving game, dump it.
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams: really boring throwback bollocks. Dump.
Gods Will Be Watching: looks interesting, and problably short. Keep.
Grim Fandango Remastered: if you haven't played it by now then you won't, dump.
Just Cause: pick one and dump one.
Just Cause 2: see above.
Loom: it's ancient, dump it.
Mafia 2: I really enjoyed this personally, but it doesn't do anything you haven't seen before so probably dump.
Mass Effect 2: probably worth playing as it's so beloved. I went straight to this without playing the first one so you're safe doing that and dumping the original.
Papo & Yo: it's fun but essential, probably dump.
Psychonauts: it's ancient, dump.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein: it's ancient, dump.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl: it's old and has a rep for being clunky and weird. Dump.
Shadow Complex Remastered: did you play it the first time around? If so, dump it. If not, keep.
Singularity: keep, it's a right good laugh.
Sleeping Dogs: it's a good game but it's just another open world GTA-alike, I'd consider dumping it.
Slender: The Arrival: it's balls, dump.
System Shock 2: it's ancient, dump.
Tales of Monkey Island: it's ancient, dump.
The Novelist: looks interesting, and probably short. Keep.
The Turing Test: definitely keep, I'm really looking forward to this one myself.
Undertale: keep, possibly even prioritise.
Wolfenstein: The New Order: it was alright but got boring pretty quickly and is just yet another FPS. Keep maybe, but don't prioritise.

Seeing the word 'dump' so many times in quick succession has me crying with laughter at my desk

I think I'll need Bamba when my kids come to dump all my games in the skip after I'm gone...

Think about my sunk costs!!!

I largely agree with Bamba, but I'd narrow it down even further and just keep these ones.

Long plays (in this order):-



Short plays (in this order):


My backlog currently consists of:



Everything else can fuck off.

Ok, thanks for the advice gents. I'm obviously ignoring some of it, but definitely taking most of it on board.

I feel a lot less bad for the games that I have accumulated but hardly scratched the surface of.

Would definitely advise a playthough of Doom though - first game since Resi 4 I have completed twice.

My list includes Halo Wars 2, CoD Infinite Warfare, All the PS Plus and All Games with Gold Games since forever, Mad Max, Alien Isolation, Battlefield 4, Mortal Kombat X, Raiden V, Tons of Lego games, Forza Fast and Furious, Fallout 4, The Evil Within and Sunset Overdrive.

Once I have finished Forza Horizon 3 and Forza 6 on the Xbox One I think I'll get back into Raiden V having only played it for about an hour or so.
On the PS4 once I've finished Deus Ex : Mankind Divided I will probably just churn my way through CoD because it scratches a certain guilty itch.

If anyone wants my copy of Fallout 4 for Xbone (don't all shout at once Xbone fans) then let me know as there's no way I can be arsed with picking that up again.

Oh, I've completely forgotten about Steep too.

Ass creed unity.

Uncharted 2 and 3

The last of us.

No Mans Sky

Ark.