Since I’m not going to be buying much in the way of new games next year, I decided that I’d use at least some of that time to tackle some games that have been lingering in my library that just seem too damn long or overwhelming.
Now, I don’t actually expect to finish all of them, and it’s possible I won’t even start all of them, but what I am doing is getting myself prepped and making sure things are installed. I chose ten games with some pretty significant potential play times, because really, the only better time to play these monsters than during low-spend 2020 is if I had played them when I actually bought them.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
[How Long to Beat: 29 – 81 hours]
Received in the May 2019 Humble Monthly
I have a weird relationship with the Assassin’s Creed games. Weird, in that, I buy them but I don’t really play them. After my third or fourth attempt to get into the first game, I decided that playing them in order was overrated. Although there are some earlier entries in the series I want to spend some more time with, I decided to go for Origins.
Borderlands
[How Long to Beat : 22 – 63 hours]
Purchased Jan 3, 2013 for $4.99
I have played a little bit of Borderlands quite a few times, but never really stuck with it. Rumor has it that’s it’s better in co-op, but that’s not really my thing, but I feel like my recent interest in shooters filled with mayhem and destruction mean it’s time to give it another go.
Crusader Kings 2
[How Long to Beat: 65 – 291 hours]
Purchased September 2013 in a Humble Weekly Bundle (total bundle price: $6.00)
Crusader Kings 2 is another game that irks me – I should like it, I want to like it, I keep buying more and more DLC for it, but I don’t actually play it long enough to get up and over the learning curve.
Dying Light The Following Enhanced Edition
[How Long to Beat: 20 – 83 hours]
Purchased July 6, 2018 for $15.99
I really have no excuse for not diving into this sooner (except maybe that I keep going to back to the Dead Rising series whenever I feel the need to get my zombie killer on).
Fallout 4 GOTY
[How Long to Beat: 34 – 208 hours]
Purchased November 25, 2018 for $19.98
Here’s another series I had to finally give in and tell myself it was ok to play the later iterations without having completed the early games. I still probably SHOULD start with 3 or New Vegas, but I think I want to go into this one with very low expectations if I want to actually get my money’s worth.
Far Cry: Primal
[How Long to Beat: 14 – 36 hours]
Purchased August 22, 2019 for $5.50
I have no idea if I’ll even like this one – I’ve never played further than half an hour or so into any Far Cry title, but I love the concept, and I just kind of want to mess around and be all prehistoric and make my tools out of sticks and stones.
Grim Dawn
[How Long to Beat: 22 – 106 hours]
Received in the October 2016 Humble Monthly
This one I’ve dabbled in, but never really gotten into for no real reason I can fathom.
Slay the Spire
[How Long to Beat: 10 – 234 hours]
Purchased July 5, 2019 for $12.50
True confession: I’m worried this one is going to be too good, too addictive, and I haven’t had space for that kind of game in my life. Guess we’ll see how it goes.
Starbound
[How Long to Beat: 21 – 192 hours]
Received as a gift June 2017.
As one of the half a dozen people worldwide who couldn’t get into Terraria, I’m afraid I won’t like this. Or, more precisely, that I won’t get it.
The Witcher 3
[How Long to Beat: 52 – 191 hours]
Not yet purchased.
Will the hype machine kill this one for me? Will I finally discover that I no longer enjoy long & meaty RPGs? Will I finally understand what Gwent is all about? I suppose we’ll find out.
Honorable Mentions
- Bioshock Trilogy
- Call of Cthulu
- Divinity: Original Sin
- Endless Legend
- The Witness
These didn’t quite make the cut, but if I wanted to leave them here in case I nope out of any (or, god forbid, all) of my top 10.
Because I really struggle with giving myself permission to play even one massive, life-eating game – actually listing out a bunch I really want to spend some serious time with feels kind of overwhelming. However, since I’m also not restricting myself to these titles only, I’m hoping to open myself up to a good balance of intimidating titles, with some lovely little palette cleansers from my library in between.
