Conquering The Backlog Part 3: Terraria Journey's End Messed Up All My Plans

Another week is in the bag, which means it's time for another progress report on my New Year's resolution of working through my extensive backlog of games. I haven't had as much free to time to play games this past week, but when I have had the time, I've been chipping away at Ori and the Will of the Wisps. I'm fairly deep into that game now, but unfortunately, there's something that threatens to sideline Ori for the foreseeable future: Terraria.Terraria, as many fans know, is slated to receive its fourth and final major expansion today. Dubbed Journey's End, the changelog for this update is so ridiculously long that it has its own table of contents. That alone should make the sheer scope of this Terraria update clear.I've sung the praises of Terraria many times in the past – it's one of my favorite games of all time, and it's also with my most-played game on Steam by about 300 hours. With Journey's End dropping later today, there's no doubt in my mind that I'll be playing a lot of Terraria over the next several weeks.

Strangely enough, Terraria qualifies for this challenge, because even though I've dumped a lot of time into it, I've never actually completed it. I've come within a few bosses of beating it in the past, but I've never seen the game through to the end. I plan to do that this time around, so maybe at the end of 2020 we'll see Terraria sitting on my list of completed games.

The simple fact of the matter is that if I want these articles to be compelling to both write and read, I can't just play Terraria for three weeks straight. I'm going to need to make time for other games, and I likely will just by virtue of not wanting to get burned out on Terraria. One game that's increasingly easy to make time for is Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which I'm hoping to finish in the next week or so.

I feel like a broken record at this point, but I can't stress enough just how beautiful this game is. It would be a joy to play because of its visuals alone, but Ori and the Will of the Wisps does everything really well. The platforming feels excellent, the music is fantastic, and even though the story is fairly basic, it can really still tug on those old heartstrings from time to time.

I loved Ori and the Blind Forest so much that I wound up doing a 100% run of the game, and honestly that's probably what's going to happen with Ori and the Will of the Wisps. These games are the kind that you don't want to end, and I can already tell that by the time I'm closing in on the end of Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I'll be looking for some way to extend the experience.

If you've enjoyed games like Metroid, Castlevania, or Hollow Knight in the past and you haven't played either of the Ori games, playing them should be a priority for you. I can definitely say that in the case of Ori and the Blind Forest, and when it comes to Ori and the Will of the Wisps, I get the feeling that I don't even need to finish it to know that it's worth recommending.

As far as other games are concerned, there isn't a whole lot going on right now. Like I said, I haven't had a ton of free time over the past week to play games, so the others I've been dabbling in have fallen off the radar for now. They'll be back – especially Just Shapes and Beats and Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition – but in the immediate future, it seems like my free time will be dominated by Terraria and Ori and the Will of the Wisps (and WoW Classic because I can't escape that game).

That, unfortunately, means that there aren't any new games to add to the list today, so the total count of completed games for 2020 still sits at four. Have a look at the list as of May 16th, 2020 below:

PC

• Cat Quest

• Chrono Trigger

• Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (100%)

PlayStation 4

• Journey

So yes, that list is still pretty depressing within the context of this challenge, which is to complete a bunch of games in my backlog in 2020. We're now halfway through May and the list is only sitting at four entries, which means that I need to pick up the pace a little bit. Hopefully next week I'll have Ori and the Will of the Wisps to add to this list, but if I come back next Saturday and say that I've done nothing by play Terraria in my free time, don't be too surprised.

Be sure to check back next Saturday for another update on my progress, but in the meantime, head down to the comments section and let me know what games you've got on deck for the week ahead.