The Backlog Blog

EDITOR'S NOTE: I am not doing backlog stuff anymore, just straight game reviews. So this is outdated. The game list is also outdated; I have boatloads more now. So you can pretend this doesn't exist. 

Greetings, fellow gamers. My name is Nathan, and I have a problem.

My problem is that I own a metric butt-ton of video games, and I haven't beaten the half of them. I have a monster backlog, one that is looming over me, and still I keep buying more games. It's an awful thing, to be certain. However, now I'm going to try and fix it.

On this blog I'm going to document every time I play a backlogged game, with my comments and critique. I'll post screenshots and snarky comments based on how I feel about a particular game, as well as insights as to how long I've been playing it, etc.

Keep in mind I'll be limited to the games I own and the systems I have. After I beat a game, I'll open it up to the readers (however many few of them there might be) to tell me what game they think I should try and beat next. But first, let's lay down a few guidelines on how this is going to work.

Rules

- I'm going to play games that I've bought but have not yet played. Some of these games I bought recently but played/beaten before. If that's the case, I'll indicate that on the list, but they are still fair game.


- I'm going to try to beat every game all the way through. That doesn't, hoever, mean I'm going to 100% everything or do every side quest. I'll beat the main story and as much of the side bits as I feel like, but my run is mainly to simply beat the game. 


- I'm going to preference more modern games as well as games that have a more defined beginning, middle, and (most importantly) end. For the less modern games (or games that are older, ex Duck Tales, etc.) I'll instead do a simple review or post where I run through the game and give a basic rundown. This applies for the majority of the NES games, so expect mini-reviews of these games when I play through them to the best of my ability. However, I probably won't dedicate massive amounts of time to them like would be required for Disgaea, for example.


- Single player games only, and in games with multiplayer I'll give the multiplayer a shot but that isn't the main focus. If I'm playing CoD: World at War, for example, I'll beat the main story and then maybe test multiplayer, but I'm not going to get to the max level or anything. 


- I will not "bow out" at any time unless I really feel like it is necessary. Also, if a technical issue makes it impossible for me to finish a game, that also is reason to quit. 


- These have to be games that can be beaten. So games like Rock Band, DDR, etc. are right out. If there isn't an actual ending or stopping place, it isn't on the list. 


At my current state, I don't have a capture card or any way to take video for me to comment over. So for the time being you are limited to me finding screenshots off the internet of what I'm talking about relevant to the games. Perhaps in the near future I'll manage to get a card and start taking video of this instead, which would be a lot more fun.

And now, here is the full list of games I own that have yet to be beaten. Be warned, it's pretty massive! First off, however, here are the list of systems I currently have:

Xbox 360 with Kinect
PS3 (Launch, so backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 games)
Nintendo Gamecube
Nintendo 64
Super Nintendo
NES
Nintendo DS Lite (plays GBA games)


And here are the list of "unbeaten" games for each of these systems. Keep this in mind for future voting on the next game I play!

* - Started, got a substantial way through, but not beaten
~ - Beaten before, but not since re-obtaining the game

Disc Games

Child of Eden *

Deadly Premonition *

Lego Star Wars - The Complete Saga *

Lego Indiana Jones

Kung Fu Panda

Mirror's Edge

Overlord II

Singularity

XBLA Games

Darwinia +

Defense Grid *

Greed Corp *

Gyromancer *

Half-Minute Hero *

Hydrophobia

ilomilo *

Monkey Island 2 SE *

Outpost Koloki X

Prince of Persia Classic *

Splosion Man *

Trials HD *

Wik: Fable of Souls

Disc Based Games

3D Dot Game Heroes *

Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice

Final Fantasy XIII *

Infamous

Little Big Planet *

Metal Gear Solid 4

Valkyria Chronicles

PSN Games

Stacking

Sonic Adventure

Shatter

Mega Man 10

Beyond Good and Evil

Disgaea - Hour of Darkness

Disgaea 2 - Cursed Memories *

Final Fantasy X ~

God Hand *

Metal Gear Solid ~

Metal Gear Solid 2 - Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 3 - Snake Eater

Okami *

Persona 4 *

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ~

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within *~

Prince of Persia: The Two Towers ~

Psychonauts

Shadow of the Colossus *

Silent Hill 2 *

Silent Hill 3 ~

The Suffering

Final Fantasy VII ~*

Final Fantasy VIII ~

Final Fantasy IX ~

Alundra

Final Fantasy Tactics *

Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus

Spyro Year of the Dragon

Parasite Eve *~

Resident Evil 2

Suikoden

Silent Hill *

Baten Kaitos - Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

Metroid Prime ~

Metroid Prime 2

Spider-Man

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess *

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker *~

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Banjo-Kazooie

Banjo-Tooie

Blast Corps

Perfect Dark

Starfox 64

Jet Force Gemeni

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ~

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ~

Final Fantasy II ~

Final Fantasy III ~

Zelda: A Link to the Past ~

Chrono Trigger ~

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest *

Castlevania

Castlevania 2 - Simon's Quest

Castlevania 3 - Dracula's Curse

Blaster Master

Batman

Dragon Warrior

Duck Tales

Megaman 2 ~

Marble Madness

Paperboy

Rad Racer

Kirby's Adventure *

Phoenix Wright - Trials and Tribulations *

Phoenix Wright - And Justice for All

Ace Attorney - Apollo Justice

The World Ends With You

Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure *

Disgaea DS

So, now that all that crap is out of the way, it's time to announce the first game I'm going to play in my backlog! And that game is...*drumroll*

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes!

Oh quit whining, it's a fine game

The reason for this is:

1. I beat Metroid Prime a while back and quite enjoyed it.
2. I started MP2:E shortly after it was released, but never beat it. I remember enjoying it but was also really mad because it did a lot of things I didn't feel were "Metroidy" enough. We'll see if I still feel the same six years later.
3. My Gamecube doesn't get enough love.


So that's it! I played a fair amount today, but since I'm still figuring out the process there might not be a post. Expect a write-up for the first couple hours of MP2: Echoes soon! And be sure and share this blog around if you enjoy it; I'd love to have comments and feedback.

Introduction

The Professor Layton and the Curious Village Walkthrough is a comprehensive step by step fully illustrated easy to follow guide

The walkthrough includes puzzles for both the US and UK versions and you can also see what's hiding behind The Hidden Door

Solutions to all the US and UK Weekly Puzzles are also provided

Where a UK puzzle has a different name than the US version (but is the same puzzle), only the US name appears in the index

Players are asked to only visit the free Live Help if you actually intend to ask a question, discuss something or want to say Hi


Professor Hershel Layton's Twitter

Follow Hershel Layton's Twitter for news, walkthrough updates, release dates, preview information, news about version specific puzzles so you get more puzzles to solve, puzzle tips and more

You'll also receive a heads up about upcoming puzzle, mystery and adventure games that you may also enjoy

Followers of this Twitter may request extra hints or ask about any of the games (include @HershelLayton in your question)


Poll Results After more than 3500 votes, 84% of players consider the game to be awesome, 15% think it's good, 1% average while only a very small number of players thought it was terrible

After almost 400 votes, 64% of players are female


The Puzzle Index on the right lists the puzzles in numerical order while the previous/next links at the end of each page give you the order that the puzzles are found in the game

The lists of gizmos, painting scraps, furniture and characters can be used to jump directly to where they can be found

001 Where's the Town? (US) / Where's the Village? (UK)

Who's Pulling?

On a hot summer's day, two sweaty people are making their
way up a steep hill with a heavy wooden cart filled with apples

The person pulling the cart tells an inquisitive stranger walking
down the hill that "the person pushing the cart is my son"

However, the boy pushing the cart from the rear responds
by saying that "the person pulling the cart is not my father"

How is the person pulling the cart related to the boy pushing it?


Hint

The boy's statement would seem obvious to the stranger


Solution

Scroll Down or Click Here

















































































The person pulling the cart is the boy's mother

This free video game walkthrough is for the Nintendo DS
Professor Layton and the Curious Village Walkthrough

The Honest Village

A boy lost in the mountains encounters a man standing at
a fork in a path leading to two villages in the distance

The boy has heard that everyone in one village only tells the
truth while everyone in the other village always tells lies

Not wanting to get directions at a village where everyone
always tells lies, the boy asks the man where he lives

The man points to the village on the right

Should the boy continue on to the village on the left
or should he make his way to the village on the right?


Hint

The man would point to the same village regardless
of whether he always tells the truth or always lies


Solution

Scroll Down or Click Here
















































































The boy should make his way to the village on the right

This free video game walkthrough is for the Nintendo DS
Professor Layton and the Curious Village Walkthrough

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the password to open the Hidden Door?

The password (a string of both letters and numbers) is unique to each DS, so someone else's password will not work for you

The password can be found by playing the sequel on your DS

You can see what's hiding behind the door here


What are the picarats for?

The picarats basically represent your score for the game

They also unlock (based on the number of picarats) art, music, character profiles, voice and movies in the Top Secret section

Don't worry about incorrect answers as you'll still have enough picarats to unlock everything even if you get every puzzle wrong

You don't receive anything extra (besides personal satisfaction) for finishing the game with a perfect score


Where is puzzle 012?

The puzzles don't appear in numerical order throughout the game

Puzzle 012 doesn't turn up until the start of Chapter Four


I didn't answer puzzle 070 and now it's gone

Don't worry, if you quit this puzzle before answering it, it will turn up in Granny Riddleton's Puzzle Shack near the end of the game


Can any puzzles be permanently missed?

No

If you're missing some puzzles after completing the story, you have the option of going back into town to get them

Any missing puzzles will either be in Granny Riddleton's Puzzle Shack or still in their original locations


Can any hint coins be permanently missed?

Yes

There are 31 hint coins that could be permanently missed


Do you get anything special for collecting all 200 hint coins?

No, only the personal satisfaction of doing so


Where is Granny Riddleton's Puzzle Shack?

You can see where this is here


Why do the letters I write keep turning into numbers

Read the puzzle question again, the answer will be a number


Why is Golden Apple's House locked after finishing the story?

After watching the end of the story, wait until the credits finish rolling then save when prompted to do so

You can see this in more detail here here


Why is Puzzle Master's House locked after 132 puzzles?

The game's puzzle index only shows those puzzles that have been found, so if the last puzzle in the index is number 132, this doesn't necessarily mean that you've both found and solved 132 puzzles

Open the trunk and look at the left side of the top screen to see exactly how many puzzles you've both found and solved

If the trunk shows, for example, that you've both found and solved 131 puzzles, then you have to very carefully look through the game's puzzle index to find the missing puzzle number

If you look through the game's puzzle index and don't find the missing puzzle, keep looking as some players have had to scroll through the index several times before they spot the missing number

Importantly, when you select the save slot to load, this needs to show 132/132 before the Puzzle Master's House will unlock

27 Bright Idea (UK)

Weekly Puzzle
Solve Puzzles


Weekly Puzzle 27


Hint


Solution

Connect the wires as shown

26 Morning Greetings (UK)

26 Morning Greetings (UK)

Weekly Puzzle
Solve Puzzles


Weekly Puzzle 26


Hint


Solution

You can expect to see 400 bows

25 Morning Greetings (US)
25 Shoe Box Scramble (UK)

27 Bright Idea (UK)