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List of Shame 2020: A Perfect Vision of Regret

by mento

Man, screw this year already. It's going to suck and we all know it.

...And that's it, that's all my melancholy new year whingeing out of the way. To the games!

We're sticking with the B-W-C system, so here's a recap:

  • [B]acklog items are those that I own but have yet to play. I made a lot of progress last year, so 2020's backlog section is shorter than usual (20, instead of 25 or 30).
  • [W]ishlist items are games I've yet to purchase but have been sufficiently convinced into someday doing so. I've split the wishlist evenly between 2019's hottest jams (15 of those) and the various outstanding games of the 2010s I've yet to check out (15 of those too).
  • [C]ompleted games are those I've finished since creating the list on 1/1/2020, which will be moved down the list and updated with their clear dates. I managed to complete half my list last year, so that's the goal to beat.

Since we're all about good vision in 2020, I'm going to predict the odds I actually complete any of these games with a rough percentage chance. I'm probably going to check in on the list throughout the year and deliberately pick games with low chances just to spite myself, because spite is pretty much all that keeps me going any more. Happy New Year!

Post-Year Update: 26/50, or 52% completion. Not the worst news this year had to give, so I'll take it.

Showing 1-10 of 50 items

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

1. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

[B] 70%. Another Chrimbo gift. I'm worried about burning out on the new DQ, despite all the acclaim it's gotten. I also got stuck playing the Switch demo for hours because I forgot I only downloaded it for Smash Bros. Ultimate goodies, so I'm planning to wait until the second half the year to start it. Maybe I'll forget?

XCOM 2

2. XCOM 2

[B] 40%. It's been on my PS4 HDD for a long time, but I keep thinking I'd be better off buying its expansion for all the major QoL fixes that comes with it. I liked the first XCOM reboot, but it really does wear you down fast without some luxuries.

Wasteland 2

3. Wasteland 2

[B] 55%. Fool I am, I donated to a Kickstarter for Bard's Tale IV partly so I could get this for free. Some three or four years later in 2020, and I can't run Bard's Tale IV on my PC (kinda embarrassing) and this reboot's about to get its first sequel. I should get something out of the money I put down so long ago.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

4. Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

[B] 60%. Pour one out for AlphaDream; I haven't heard amazing things about the M&L series post-Bowser's Inside Story, but they didn't deserve to go down like that. When did it suddenly become hard to make a Mario RPG? At any rate, I've got this and Paper Jam as mementos. I might want to get on those before the 3DS is entirely obsolete.

Tales of Graces F

5. Tales of Graces F

[B] 50%. Ah, Graces F. The only PS3 game on this whole list, and one of two English-language/Europe-released Tales games I've yet to play. I'll check it out one of these days, if only to ensure my Tiers of Tales character ranking list is as comprehensive as it can be.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

6. Pathfinder: Kingmaker

[B] 65%. Some CRPG voices I trust around here say it's pretty good now that it's been all patched up, and now I own it I'm sure I'll find an excuse to play when I'm not swamped with other RPGs.

Judgment

7. Judgment

[B] 20%. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much looking forward to playing this game and solving crimes with Yagami. However, with my OCD tendencies I can only manage one Yakuza game a year and Yakuza 6 will almost certainly be the candidate for 2020.

Disco Elysium

8. Disco Elysium

[W] 40%. Clearly, this was one of the games of 2019 to pay attention to, but I'm pessimistic it'll drop in price to something affordable (for me) before the end of 2020.

AI: The Somnium Files

9. AI: The Somnium Files

[W] 35%. See above. I've yet to see this game dip below £50 most places, and that's just ridiculous. I don't care how many imperiled animes it has or how much I've enjoyed Uchikoshi-san's previous works.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

10. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

[W] 50%. I love FromSoftware, but this rebooted Tenchu isn't really what I'm looking for out of them. It's been praised enough - and seems to be earning the GOTY accolade from a lot of places - that I'll probably fold and get it eventually anyway.

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