So many games, but which should I play? Duders! I need your help.

One of the drawbacks of me being in university, working a part-time job, finishing up a co-op placement, and all the while trying to keep my social life in check is that I rarely find time for myself any more. Which means it's not always easy to dedicate time to some of my favorite hobbies, gaming included. Over the last few years I've purchased many games that I fully intended on playing (the majority of them being from past Steam sales) and for whatever reason, just never got around to. It's a bad habit that has resulted in a huge backlog of games, some of which I'm embarrassed to admit I still haven't played. Fortunately, I've had more free time this summer so I decided to start tackling the pile of games I still haven't played before going out and buying the latest releases that I've been waiting for. Over the past few months I've managed to finish a decent amount of games from my backlog and I've actually been enjoying it, but I still have a lot to get threw. So I need your help duders! With summer slowly coming to an end and the first classes of the semester rapidly approaching. I want to complete a few more games from my backlog before I become to busy to do so. As it stands, this is what I have left:

• Dead Space 2
• Vanquish
• Bayonetta
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
• Shadows of the Damned
• BioShock
• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Limbo
• Super Meat Boy
• The Binding of Isaac
• Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
• Syndicate
• The Darkness II
• Bulletstorm
• Demon's Souls
• Valkyria Chronicles
• Binary Domain
• Singularity

I already own a copy of each of these games so it's not a matter of which ones are worth the money. It's safe to say I will enjoy any of them, either because I've played another game in the series or generally like the genre or setting of the game. I'm just curious to know which of these games simply demand my attention before summer ends and classes start, and who better to ask than the GiantBomb community? I will get around to playing the others eventually, although at a much slower pace. So also feel free let me know which ones would be more appropriate for playing in short sessions over the course of a month or two. I appreciate any suggestions!

Darkness II is a good choice because it's pretty short and linear. The nature of the Darkness adds an enjoyable touch of instability and paranoia to the storytelling, and ripping dudes up is just pretty fun.

BioShock is also relatively short. Once you get to that super major event in the storyline, you can pretty much just YouTube the final boss fight and ending and you won't miss much of significance if you are pressed for time.

My backlog is not quite as large, but I'm not sure how I will handle the rest of it when I start school up again. Good luck!

As long as you get some meat boy and batman time in you're doing the right thing here.

Shadows of the Damned. It's the ultimate super-group colaboration. Suda 51's (No more Heroes) crazy concept, game Mechanics by Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), and music by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). So basically the best parts of the games you love rolled into one, it's funny, and looks great, and sounds AMAZING.

Dead Space 2 and Bioshock, hands-down.

I like a lot of those games on that list but the above two take the cake for me.

I'd say Demons Souls.
Levels don't take that long so I'd say it would be perfect, just do one level at a time when you get the time to do a level.

Demon's Souls and Valkyria Chronicles. They're two of my favorite games on that list and will take the most time. Other games you need to play, but will take less time:

Super Meat Boy. Good in short bursts, especially if you're prone to getting pissed at games. Maybe the best 2D platformer?

Bayonetta. Only about 8 hours probably. Really fun and crazy in all the right ways. Bayonetta is a surprisingly good character.

Vanquish. Same as Bayonetta.(though the characters are more generic)

Those are the 5 games I would recommend the most. Maybe put Arkham Asylum in place of Vanquish, it's longer though. Bioshock, as I'm sure you know, is really good, but the rest of the games I mentioned have something different going for them that I really appreciate. Also, if possible, I would say play Dark Souls instead of Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is good, but the level design in Dark Souls is significantly better. If you've played Dark Souls, I would say don't bother going back to Demon's Souls, just play something else instead.

Syndicate is another really good, but really short game. The story is completely useless, but it plays incredibly well. I found the multiplayer to be a more enjoyable experience than the single player.

Since you're planning to play in shorter sessions, I would recomend games divided in real chapters/levels. MGS4, Vanquish, Bayonetta and Valkyria Chronicles, for example. The first three are not long games and always have a good place to stop playing, and Valkyria Chronicles can be tackled with 2 or 3 battles per session. Also, they're some of the best games of this generation, in my opinion.

Bioshock and Limbo, both great games.

I'd go with Darkness II, Bulletstorm, and then finish with Batman AA. The first two are rather short games that are both really fun to play the entire time, and then Batman AA is just a great game.

Bayonetta. Then play it again on Hard. Then play it again on Climax mode.

Then Pure Platinum everything.

Throw away all the other games.

EDIT: Ok seriously, Bayonetta is still priority one. But Give 4 hours or so to Limbo as well. And Super Meat boy is one of the best sidescrolling platformers, ever, well worth investing the time to get good.

All the other games can go either way I guess, but I personally like Valkyria Chronicles a lot and if Dark Souls is any indication, then Demon's souls should be one hell of a fun ride.

Binding of Isaac is amazing, but you really should play that a few times a day, just to "get it". Playing that exclusively probably works, but it has pretty much infinite replayability. So you know, get to other stuff at the same time.

Valkyria Chronicles because it's been on my backlog for way too long and if I can convince one other person to play it then I can justify putting off playing a game I know I will love even longer.

Alphabetical order.

Batman for a great and long AAA adventure you'll never forget. Limbo for a short incredibly atmospheric indie action you'll never forget.

I think Super Meat Boy or Binding of Isaac would be good choices, none of the other games really strike me as the 'short-session' type of game. Personally I prefer to finish the bigger/more complex games as fast as possible, lest I lose interest/forget the story/forget the controls. I've been playing Super Meat Boy on and off since it was released though, it's awesome.

If this is not a problem for you, I'd say that all the games on your list are decent at the least. If I had to prioritize I'd play MGS4 first, yeah.

If you're pressed for time I'd go with Bioshock, it's not the shortest of that list, but you don't get anything different if you replay it so one playthrough should be enough.

@SexyToad said:

Bioshock and Limbo, both great games.

Yup. I'd say Limbo first, as it's short, and I think a great stage-setter for BioShock.

MGS4 then Bayonetta then Binding of Isaac.

E: Actually fuck my answer. This is the correct one.

@Hunkulese said:

Alphabetical order.

First off, you can invite or go over and play video games with friends so thats being social AND playing games, ZOMG!!!! 
 
Going down your list, I would first say Syndicate was alright but nothing special.  The Darkness II is pretty dang fun.  Bulletstorm again was alright.  Binary Domain was different and worth a go.  So what would I play first - The Darkness II.  And your backlog is small really.  I'm at 38 and its about to start climbing again.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

@Bigandtasty said:

Darkness II is a good choice because it's pretty short and linear. The nature of the Darkness adds an enjoyable touch of instability and paranoia to the storytelling, and ripping dudes up is just pretty fun.

BioShock is also relatively short. Once you get to that super major event in the storyline, you can pretty much just YouTube the final boss fight and ending and you won't miss much of significance if you are pressed for time.

My backlog is not quite as large, but I'm not sure how I will handle the rest of it when I start school up again. Good luck!

Thanks! I loved the original Darkness, and the art style in Darkness II just looks so damn cool. When I saw it on sale during the Steam summer sale I couldn't resist. It might be a good one to bang out over a couple weekends.

@YI_Orange said:

Demon's Souls and Valkyria Chronicles. They're two of my favorite games on that list and will take the most time. Other games you need to play, but will take less time:

Super Meat Boy. Good in short bursts, especially if you're prone to getting pissed at games. Maybe the best 2D platformer?

Bayonetta. Only about 8 hours probably. Really fun and crazy in all the right ways. Bayonetta is a surprisingly good character.

Vanquish. Same as Bayonetta.(though the characters are more generic)

Those are the 5 games I would recommend the most. Maybe put Arkham Asylum in place of Vanquish, it's longer though. Bioshock, as I'm sure you know, is really good, but the rest of the games I mentioned have something different going for them that I really appreciate. Also, if possible, I would say play Dark Souls instead of Demon's Souls. Demon's Souls is good, but the level design in Dark Souls is significantly better. If you've played Dark Souls, I would say don't bother going back to Demon's Souls, just play something else instead.

Syndicate is another really good, but really short game. The story is completely useless, but it plays incredibly well. I found the multiplayer to be a more enjoyable experience than the single player.

I have played a ton of Dark Souls, and love it. It was easily one of my favorite games of last year. After playing threw it a few times I bought Demon's Souls because I really wanted another game that could give me a similar experience. I put off playing it for awhile because I had literally just finished with Dark Souls at the time, and wanted to take a break. I've been itching to play it since. Is it really not worth going back to if I've done pretty much all there is to do in the sequel?

@jonnyboy said:

Shadows of the Damned. It's the ultimate super-group colaboration. Suda 51's (No more Heroes) crazy concept, game Mechanics by Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil), and music by Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill). So basically the best parts of the games you love rolled into one, it's funny, and looks great, and sounds AMAZING.

I hear you man, literally everything I hear about the game has me hyped to play it. How long would you say it is?

@crusader8463 said:

Valkyria Chronicles because it's been on my backlog for way too long and if I can convince one other person to play it then I can justify putting off playing a game I know I will love even longer.

I know how you feel. I've owned a copy Valkyria Chronicles longer than any game on this list. I've only ever heard positive things about it and know it's a game I would enjoy but for some reason I've continued to put off playing it. I'm determined to finish it before the end of the year though. Glad to know I'm not alone!

I would say Limbo and Superbrothers. At the same time play Darkness 2. I haven't played any of these but they would be the ones I'd be most excited for.

I think you really should play Bioshock. Make sure you play it before Singularity though; it will make you appreciate just how good Bioshock is, given that Singularity is, for all intents and purposes, a poor-man's Bioshock.

I would say Bioshock and Batman: Arkham Asylum are the best games on that list and ones you should play. However, everyone should play Vanquish and you could easily beat it in one dedicated day, but then you might end up playing it over and over again like I did.

@sins_of_mosin said:

First off, you can invite or go over and play video games with friends so thats being social AND playing games, ZOMG!!!! Going down your list, I would first say Syndicate was alright but nothing special. The Darkness II is pretty dang fun. Bulletstorm again was alright. Binary Domain was different and worth a go. So what would I play first - The Darkness II. And your backlog is small really. I'm at 38 and its about to start climbing again.

Sadly, I don't know many gamers. Well, no one that plays anything beyond the odd Madden or COD match. Plus, I have a lot of other interests that compete for my time. I also just like to go out and do other things besides gaming. Which is probably another reason why I'm late to play a lot of games. I usually turn to the GiantBomb staff and the community here to let me know what games are really worth my time and which ones aren't because for the most part I trust what you guys have to say. My list was considerably bigger at the beginning of the summer but your right 38 is a lot more than I originally had. I'm glad I starting getting to it before it got out of hand. Thanks for the suggestions!

Singularity! That game needs to be played by more people! It is a hugely underrated game and was sadly forgotten at launch due to no advertising.

Shadows of the Damned should take you like 6 hours to beat. that's a good one to start with.

@deox: Shadows is a 6-7 hour joint, but you could just as easily come back to it now and again and not feel like you've lost any momentum. It's gameplay-wise just like Resi 4, linear but constantly changing.

Add two more games to the list, and roll a D20.

@deox: It's not that it's not worth going back to necessarily. I played Demon's Souls the year it came out and loved the hell out of it. After playing Dark Souls and looking back on Demon's Souls though..I think Dark is a big improvement. They play roughly the same, but Demon's Souls has herb farming instead of the handy estus flasks, a hub world instead of bonfires and 5 stages that you teleport to from the hub world. Crafting materials are more difficult to come by and there's a few bits that just feel cheap or annoying rather than actually difficult. So it's not that Demon's Souls isn't worth playing, it's more that since you've already played Dark Souls, a superior yet similar experience(in my opinion), I would give it very low priority considering how many other great games you have to play.

Edit - I'd also like to say again that you should play Valkyria Chronicles. Not enough people have. It's like the hidden gem of the generation for me. Just do it!