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52 Games. 1 Year. 2025. [BacklogBeat]

Wozzer

Member
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A thread for people that are trying to play 52 games in a year. Tell us how you're doing and what you are going to play next - claim a post and update us on your progress!

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How do I take part?
Claim a ‘main post’ where you will list all your completions for the year. You can use fancy images or special formatting to make it extra cool. In addition to this post your updates, completions and thoughts as singular posts throughout the year.

Does my main post need to adhere to a format?
Nope! We previously did, but now you can have it formatted however you like. Take some inspiration from previous year posts. Here’s a beautiful example!

Do I need to post reviews, scores, dates and stuff?
Also nope! It is highly recommended to spruce up your completions with mini reviews, a score (for example 2/5), your playtime duration, date completed, platform or any such fun statistical information but it's not required. You do you.

What's that Hall of Fame thing?
Those who beat the challenge get placed in the shrine that is the ‘Hall of Fame’™. Furthermore you’ll get a pretty little medal that denotes how many years you’ve overcome the challenge. Cool kids have been doing this for over five years.

How do I know when I've completed a game?
That can be tricky to determine, but it's ultimately up to you. If its a straightforward single player game then it's typically when the credits roll, but if it's say a multiplayer session based game maybe its when you’ve unlocked a certain feature or completed a battle pass.

Do the completions need to be games released this year?
Nope; any video game will suffice. It can be first plays or replays, classics or recent releases. It can be a game you started last year but are finishing this year.

Do board games count?
They do not. Vidya games only here.

I want to record durations, do I have to manually count?
No, most platforms (Steam, Xbox, Nintendo, etc) will do the duration tracking for you! If in doubt you can also use sites like HLTB to fill in the blanks.

Do episodic games count as a single game or X amount of games?
That's up to you. It's alright to count something like Life is Strange as one or five games. Your choice, for whatever makes sense with how you’ve been playing. Ask other users if in doubt.

What should I do once I've completed the challenge?
Send me a DM on this platform, with a link to your post that shows all the games you've completed, and I’ll make you thread famous by adding you to the Hall of FameTM. If I take a while to respond don’t panic, I tend to go into periods of hibernation throughout the year.

Is there a deadline?
Until Dec 31st 2025 @ 11.59pm!

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Archive: 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 (shout out to jshackles jshackles as the prior host)



Starting in 2020 our Discord (http://discord.backlogbeat.com/) has since grown to over 150 members. Among discussing the 52 Challenge (posting updates, picking games, etc) we also coordinate a slew of other totally cool game activities (see below)…




A play on a traditional book club that sees us choosing and collectively playing a nominated game per month, sharing our thoughts and opinions through to beating it. Those who beat the current nomination get entered into the raffle to pick the next months; share your favourite games or recent releases you’re excited for with us!

Jan: -Jul: -
Feb: -Aug: -
Mar: -Sep: -
Apr: -Oct: -
May: -Nov: -
Jun: -Dec: -


It’s the same thing as above, but only for movies! Similar approach in that all you need to do is watch the nominated film to acquire a raffle ticket with an even lower bar to enter as most choices can be completed with a leisurely sub 3 hour investment.

Jan: -Jul: -
Feb: -Aug: -
Mar: -Sep: -
Apr: -Oct: -
May: -Nov: -
Jun: -Dec: -


Sometimes it's tricky to get a thing nominated but there’s enough folk playing it that it makes sense to carve a dedicated place and play together. Elden Ring is a great example of a game that reaches new heights when played alongside others.

Come say hey, everyone is welcome and folks from these threads are our favourite kind of people! You’ll likely see a lot of familiar faces :)

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The brave individuals that overcome the challenge this year;
<... nobody yet, soon!>

The additional survivors who overcame the challenge of the previous years thread;



And below are the legacy participants from years prior who we hope to see return to us this year;

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And so there lists all those that have risen to the challenge during this or prior years! If you see yourself beating the challenge, please remember to send me a DM with your post once you’re done!
 
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Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Reserved! Thanks for doing this, Wozzer Wozzer 💙

I got 40 of 52 last year (still need to update the last 7 or 8 in the other thread), but I’ll get 52 this year for sure. Maybe.

The best part about the Jan 1 reset is that I can now replay all of my favorite games and have them count towards the goal.

Mario 64 and Cuphead, here I come!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Current progress with links to posts:
  1. Super Mario Bros [via Mario All-Stars] - 1/1 - 8️⃣
  2. Super Mario Bros 2 (J) [via Mario All-Stars] 1/1 - 6️⃣
 
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ReyBrujo

Member
Geez, I was at about 1 per month but my Switch backlog is over 200 games by now and I can add NES and SNES games as well from the emulation section or the mini consoles. Reserved.

Order​
Title​
Mini Review​
Image​
Date​
Score​
1​
Potato Flowers in Full Bloom (Switch)
Started back in December but finished it today after 36 hours. It's a cute first-person grid dungeon crawler (favorite genre) with teams of 3 with as 7 or 8 classes. The game has a simple story and is quite straightforward (4 areas with between 1 and 7 floors each) however got stuck a couple of times since you had to do like two locations at the same time. It's been ages since I had to rotate equipment and weapons to exploit weak points in enemies so it was a nice change of pace. Experience is based on size difference which means you cannot grind yourself to a big size, you ought to advance. Overall a cool game for anyone starting this genre. Encountered one crash (but game saves automatically often enough) and probably a dozen typos (like the one in the screenshot).
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1/26/10
2​
TMNT: Turtles in Time (arcade version, Cowabunga Collection)Got the Cowabunga Collection for Switch some time ago and yesterday spent an hour and a half on the arcade version of TMNT Turtles in Time. Extremely hard but as amazing as it used to be, a game made to force you insert coins because it was impossible to finish it with a single quarter.
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1/38/10
3​
TMNT; Tournament Fighters (Cowabunga Collection)Finished the story mode of the SNES game. Never liked it, felt like wasted money back in the day and feelings haven't changed. Tried starting the Genesis one from the collection but no way in hell I'm touching that ever again.1/43/10
 
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Dazraell

Member
I'm in! Here we go again

52 Games 2025 Challenge Status: 4/52

id
Game Title
Platform
Month
Notes
1​
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales​
Steam Deck​
January​
2​
Diablo III: The Darkening of Tristram​
PS5​
January​
Completed event as Witch Doctor​
3​
Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk​
PSX​
January​
4​
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate​
PS5​
January​
Completed main game, side content, The Last Maharaja and Dreadful Crimes DLCs​

Currently playing:
Assassin's Creed: Syndicate - Jack the Ripper (PS5)
Yakuza 3 Remastered (PS5)
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir (Switch)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)

Next to play:
Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition (PC)
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters (PS5)
Yakuza 4 Remastered (PS5)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance (PC)
Famicom Detective Club: The Girl Who Stands Behind (Switch)
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (Steam Deck)

Past challenges:
2020 - 50 / 52 games
2021 - 48 / 52 games
2023 - 61 / 52 games
2024 - 78 / 52 games
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Game 1 - Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 3 - PC / GOG - Completed Jan 1st, 2025
This game was really short, and honestly not quite as good as the previous two. However, it's still a fun mix of hidden object game, trading puzzle, and visual novel. I saw this on sale on GOG's winter sale, before that I honestly didn't realize this existed - despite liking and playing the previous two. Either way, it's a fun little game to start off 2025 with a bang.

Game 2 - A Park Full of Cats - PC / Steam - Completed Jan 2nd, 2025
I've really enjoyed these Devcats hidden cat picture games, this one I got on Steam because it wasn't on GOG. It was more or less similar to the other games in the series, in that your objective is to simply find all the cats. Some really cute levels, and some cute cats to find as well. Got 50/50 Steam achievements by finishing the free base game as well as the paid DLC.

Game 3 - Picross: Logiart Grimoire - Nintendo Switch - Completed Jan 3rd, 2025
I put about 80 hours into Logiart Grimoire, but just now finished it today. This was a pretty fun mix between picross puzzles and an Alchemy-like mixing gameplay puzzles. For example, meat + bread = hamburger, that sort of thing. I finished all 280 puzzles, as well as the bonus puzzles (another 100 or so that were included). Game has some insane value, and as always Juniper did a lovely job crafting fun puzzles.

Game 4 - Japanese Rail Sim 3D Monorail Trip to Okinawa - Nintendo 3DS - Completed Jan 4th, 2025
My wife and I visited Okinawa last year, and we rode on the Yui rail line many times during our trip, so I was surprised to see that they had a train simulation game that was just for driving that same line. A real trip down memory lane, as all the stops had their authentic music tune in the game, as well as video from the front of the monorail train that let us see all the fun places we had visited. The game itself was pretty basic, but had some punishing difficulty for being late or over the line, probably just like actually working for the Japanese rail line!
 
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tav7623

Member
Time to get back to it ( :p) good luck every one!

1. Call of Duty Black Ops 6 Multiplayer - PS5, est playtime: 10+ hrs, hit Prestige 2 on 1/2/25
I have a long history (almost 20 years) with playing the Call of Duty games (my first CoD was CoD 2 for the Xbox 360) so one of the games I got for Christmas this past year was Black Ops 6 and so far (without even touching the campaign, which I will be doing cause I've played the campaign for every CoD I've played except for Black Ops 4 which doesn't have a campaign or Zombies) I'm really enjoying it as I've managed to go from level 1 to being halfway through Prestige 2 in about a week. I'm gonna try and not let this game take up all my time this year but at the very least I want to complete the Season 1 Battle Pass, the campaign, and if I'm lucky beat the story for CoD Zombies.
 
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Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
This is the year. I'm going to fucking do it. I haven't attempted it since 2021, then life got complicated. Now, it's simple: I've got 52 weeks and I'm gonna fucking do this.


1. Front Mission (DS) - 1/2 - 22 Hours
Started this one about a week ago, but I finished it in the New Year, so it totally counts. I've wanted to play this game for a long time, and I enjoyed it. It's a solid SRPG, though one that doesn't have a ton of nuance to it. The game was pretty damn tough at the outset, but the difficulty is definitely frontloaded and became a breeze closer to the end. There were a few relatively minor drawbacks like the cumbersome menus and the fact that killing enemies can take forever (especially earlier in the game), but it was ultimately a really satisfying experience and one that I'm glad I finally got around to. I played the OCU campaign, which is original storyline from the SFC version - I'll play the UCS campaign at some point, but... I need a break. 7/10

2. Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (DS) - 1/5 - 4 Hours

I revisited NG: DS for the first time since my initial playthrough back in... man, what was it? 2009? Maybe 2008? I remember being kind of dismissive of the game when it first got announced because it was going to be almost entirely controlled by touch. Gave it a shot anyway and ended up having a great time, and that's still the case today. This remains a really fun game that distills Ninja Gaiden into a game that's super easy to pick up and play and immediately have fun with. Combat is satisfying, the game looks and sound great, and it doesn't overstay its welcome... which is just as well, as there's really not a ton of depth to the proceedings. It's a game that still feels novel today, and it does prompt one to wonder what mobile gaming would've been like if it'd leaned more in this direction as opposed to what it ultimately became. 8/10
 
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Jooxed

Gold Member
Completions 4/52

Game 1 - While We Wait Here - PC - 1/2/25 - Personal Rating 7/10, Fun little cozy game, has multiple endings but I don't see myself going back for more. You are working in a diner at the end of the world getting the patrons thoughts on the impending apocalypse, cool graphic choice and interesting concept. thought it could be a little bit longer, beat it in a couple hours.

Game 2 - This Bed We Made - PC - 1/3/25 - Personal Rating 8/10, Interesting, game kept me engaged until the end only took me about three hours to complete, apparently there is multiple endings based on decisions that you make throughout the game but no real desire to play through again.

Game 3 - Stasis - Macbook - 1/5/25 - Personal Rating 7/10 - Fun isometric sci fi horror game. Needed to use a guide on some of the puzzles, a couple of them were pretty hard, interesting ending left open to interpretation. Looking forward to the sequels to see more about Cayne lore.

Game 4 - Cayne - PC - 1/5/25 - Personal Rating 8/10 - Okay the sequel was much shorter than the first game only about 3 hours. Definitely a step up graphically, story wasn't as intriguing but the puzzles were more manageable IMO. Will probably take a break before starting game 3 in the series.
 
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Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Don't mind if I kick this off with the first entry of the year!

So, every few years, I do what I like to call "The Mario Gauntlet", which consists of playing every single mainline Mario game in order of release (with a bit of wiggle room).

THE LIST:
✅Super Mario Bros
✅Super Mario Bros 2 (J)
✅Super Mario Bros 2 (USA)
✅Super Mario Bros 3
✅Super Mario Land
✅Super Mario World
✅Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
✅Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
New Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Galaxy
New Super Mario Bros Wii
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Super Mario 3D Land (And I'll toss in Bowser's Fury as well)
New Super Mario Bros 2
New Super Mario Bros U
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Wonder

Usually I'll start with the classic SMB on the NES, but this year I decided to play the 4 NES games on the Super Nintendo via Mario All-Stars. I just finished the OG and Lost Levels, so...

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Super Mario Bros [via Super Mario All-Stars] (SNES) - 1/1

What can I say, it's a classic. But surprisingly, I think the All-Stars version is actually worse than the NES version. At least to me. The physics aren't identical, and there's some weird hitbox stuff with piranha plants, and jumping through brick blocks.

Still, it's a really good game, and a fun quick romp. 8️⃣

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Super Mario Bros 2 (J) [via Super Mario All-Stars] (SNES) - 1/1

And following up arguably the greatest game of all time released at that point is this stinky, stupid turd. This is Miyamoto's emo phase, clearly. The level design in this game is just bad and designed to piss off the player. There are random kaizo blocks everywhere, there are a few instances of pick-a-path, and it's just a terrible experience compared to the original game. If I got these levels in Super Mario Maker, I'd boo them for sure.

Still, it's a Mario game, so it's got some merit, and the gameplay is still super fun. I'll be generous since I love my man Mario and give this a 6️⃣
 
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My goal this year is 1000 games, each month.

Game 1 is Symphony of the Night. I played 0 hours today, not off to a strong start.


2 games completed
25 hours so far


2 - Playstation

1. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (Playstation) | 4th Jan - 15hrs | 100/100
2. CTR: Crash Team Racing (Playstation) | 5th Jan - 10hrs | 85/100
 
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marcincz

Member
Game 1 - Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (NDS) - 20h 01m
Beat 05/01/2025 - my score: 9/10
Game 2 - Final Fantasy III (NDS) - 34h 10m
Beat 06/01/2025 - my score: 7/10
 
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Perrott

Member
No.Game TitlePlatformDate CompletedScore
01​
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
PlayStation Vita
January 3rd, 2025​
★★★★★
 
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Jooxed

Gold Member
We are on the board already didn't expect the first one to be so short!

Game 1 - While We Wait Here - PC - 1/2/25 - Personal Rating 7/10, Fun little cozy game, has multiple endings but I don't see myself going back for more. You are working in a diner at the end of the world getting the patrons thoughts on the impending apocalypse, cool graphic choice and interesting concept. thought it could be a little bit longer, beat it in a couple hours.
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Another poor year for me 2024 results. Got a portal for Christmas so hopefully that will help clear some of the backlog currently playing fallout 4.


Me 2024

1) GTA V PS5 06/01 (7/10) would have been around an 8-8.5 but the glitch I had forcing me to replay 10ish hours soured it for me. Shorter than I was expecting.
2)The Calisto protocol PS5 15/01 (6.5/10)
3)Sea of stars Series X 21/02 (8/10)
4)2112td Android 17/03 (7/10)
5)Kingdom Rush Origins android 23/03 (7/10)
6)Final Fantasy 7 Remake PS5 14/05 (10/10)
7)Final fantasy 7 Remake intermission 04/06 (9.5/10)
8)A short hike series X 24/04 (6/10)
9)Call of duty MW3 series X 24/04 (3/10)
10)Shadow of the Erdtree series X 05/08 (9/10)
11)Doom legacy of rust series X 20/10 (8.5/10)
12)Call of duty Blops6 Series X 03/11 (8/10)


The Mrs 2024

1)Witcher 3 Hearts of stone 07/01 (9/10)
2)Dave the diver switch 14/01 (10/10)
3)Sakuna of rice and Ruin PS5 05/04 (9/10)
4)Botany Manor series X 12/04 (7/10)
5)Tomb Raider (2013) PS5 15/05 (7/10)
6)Rise of the Tomb Raider PS5 20/05 (8/10)
7)Shadow of the Tomb Raider PS5 28/05 (9/10)
8)God of war (2018) PS5 10/06 (10/10)
9)Kena PS5 06/07 (8/10)
10)Detroit become human PS5 08/07 (9.5/10)
11)Heavy Rain PS5 23/07 (4/10)
12)Beyond two souls PS5 07/08 (7/10)
13)Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 03/11 (10/10)
14)Horizon The Frozen wilds PS5 10/11 (9/10)
15)The last of us remake PS5 15/12 (10/10)
 

Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
thanos-impossible.gif

In 2 days?
To be fair, I was using warps for the NES games. It also helps that I used to speedrun a lot of Mario’s. I cranked out all seven of those games in about 4-5 hours.

I’m already on Yoshi’s Island, which I’m gonna try to finish tonight, but it’s much longer. Most of the games are gonna be a lot longer from here on out.
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
Game 2 - This Bed We Made - PC - 1/3/25 - Personal Rating 8/10, Interesting, game kept me engaged until the end only took me about three hours to complete, apparently there is multiple endings based on decisions that you make throughout the game but no real desire to play through again.

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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I've finished three games in the last three days. I'm on track to finish 365 games this year! (ha, if only!)
 
Game 1

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night - Playstation - 199.6% Completion

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I had planned on hitting 200.6% but forgot to grab an item hidden in a ceiling I might go back for. This game sits in my top ten favorite games ever made. The music, atmosphere, and exploration really made this a fun game to return to. I haven't played this game in decades, the last time being on my PS1 during some time off work. It really holds up well with almost nothing to complain about outside a couple "for the time" nitpicks (like the polygonal objects in the game that look terrible next to the fantastic pixel art). It controls snappy, fights are fun, all the items you find have a use and there are a ton of secrets to discover. The soundtrack in this game is amazing and includes everything from your standard Castlevania fare to jazzy beats, the voice acting is a special kind of awful befitting the era. The only game of this type I rate higher than this is Super Metroid, mainly due to how that game's very well-designed map doesn't need warp rooms or loading hallways.
 
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marcincz

Member
Game 1 - Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars (NDS) - 20h 01m
Beat 05/01/2025 - my score: 9/10

Beat first title in 2025.
Played for first time and it is a fantastic point and click game. From The Longest Journey I haven't played better adventure game.
 
Game 2

CTR: Crash Team Racing - Completed Adventure mode 100%

CU2oCFw.jpg


This a game I never even touched on the Playstation back in the day. I love Mario Kart and have played every one of them so it's a bit odd I never played this on my Playstation. The game is fantastic. From a visual standpoint, it's closer to Diddy Kong Racing than Mario Kart 64. While I still might place both Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64 (battle mode never got old in Mario Kart 64) higher on my list of favorite kart racers than this, I'm really glad I finally played this. I know there is a remastered Nitro-Fueled version of the game, but I wanted to play the original. The game is a lot bouncier than most Mario Kart games and feels looser, power sliding isn't as simple to pull off and serves more to prolong your speed boosts from hopping off jumps/peaks, but you get used to it quickly, at least enough to keep at the front of the pack. Powerups aren't as precise as in Mario Kart either, you know a red shell is going to hit the second you release it, homing missiles in this game tend to stray into walls way too often. The adventure mode is where I spent most of my time in this game, and it falls a bit short of Diddy Kong Racing. The overworld is nothing memorable. There isn't really any exploration to be done there. The regular races are pretty straightforward with heavy rubber banding and what feels at times like outright cheating by the CPU characters, so standard kart racing game fare. The relic races, CTR Challenges and crystal collecting rounds I had more fun with, trying to win races while collecting hidden coins, complete time trials while struggling to hit crates to freeze the clock and collecting crystals while doing platforming in the karts was a lot of fun. The boss races were a little more annoying with them spamming attacks. Oxide in particular just constantly dumps potion bottles that spin you out, slow you down and produce a cloud that obstructs the center of the screen which means you'll probably hit another potion bottle immediately. If you can't get ahead of him right away, you might as well restart. Despite that, I had a lot of fun with this one. It sits at the high end of the kart racing genre, definitely above par.
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
Game 3 - Stasis - Macbook - 1/5/25 - Personal Rating 7/10 - Fun isometric sci fi horror game. Needed to use a guide on some of the puzzles, a couple of them were pretty hard, interesting ending left open to interpretation. Looking forward to the sequels to see more about Cayne lore.

sfDb2GJ.jpeg
 

Jooxed

Gold Member
Game 4 - Cayne - PC - 1/5/25 - Personal Rating 8/10 - Okay the sequel was much shorter than the first game only about 3 hours. Definitely a step up graphically, story wasn't as intriguing but the puzzles were more manageable IMO. Will probably take a break before starting game 3 in the series.

rRGRauV.jpeg
 

Midn1ght

Member
52 games challenge 2025
Completed: 2/52
Completionist Profile
No.Game TitlePlatformMonthScore
01.​
Emily is Away​
PC | Steam​
January​
7/10​
02.​
Emily is Away Too​
PC | Steam​
January​
8/10​
 
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solecon64

Member
I took somewhat of a break from gaming between 2020 to 2023, only beating about 2 - 4 games each year. But last year I really came back to the hobby and managed to beat 24 games after Shadow of the Erdtree launched. Hope I can manage to do the 52 games challenge this year, so here it is:

1. Final Fantasy 1
( Nintendo Switch - 19 h - 05 Jan )
 

SpiceRacz

Member
Finished Dark Souls 2 SOTFS. Was around 30 hours all said and done. This is my 2nd time playing it, the last time being maybe 7 or 8 years ago. So, I wasn't compelled to complete everything. It's flawed, but still great and totally worth playing if you have any interest in the series.
 

NahaNago

Member
I'd like to finish more than a handful of games this year so let's try this again. I think I only beat astrobot, stellar blade, and wukong last year even though I bought dozens of games .
 
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