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Project "Backlog Eradication" - Clearin' out the pile o' shame

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Mop it up:
Maybe you should try Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, which I think goes under a different title in Europe (I want to say Mystic Quest Legend but that might be Final Fantasy Adventure...). Whereas Chrono Trigger is just a more streamlined RPG, FFMQ was created as an introduction to RPGs in an attempt to get idiotic Americans into the genre.

UltimatePartyBear:
The problem with that recommendation is that Mystic Quest isn't actually very good.  Unlike Chrono Trigger, which is very good indeed.  It's like saying "You tried filet mignon but still don't like red meat?  How about some puréed beef flavored baby mush?  It's even more tender, after all."

Mop it up:
Yeah, I almost made a comment about how the game isn't that good, but there are people out there who like the game. But, it sounded like he was looking more for a game that eases a player into RPGs, and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest would do that better than Chrono Trigger. I also felt the music was well done, and it's probably worth playing just for that.

UltimatePartyBear:
Mostly what I remember about MQ is that there was no random number generator.  Everything was based on stats alone, so every fight against a particular group of monsters played out the exact same way every time.  Same turn order, same damage from attacks.  It took a couple of tries to find the optimal solution for an encounter, and then you just repeated that until a level up changed your stats a little.  It made for the most monotonous RPG I've ever played, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Killer_Man_Jaro:
UPDATE INCOMING

So it completely slipped my mind that I made this thread. One year on, I've cleared out a fair amount of the backlog, yet the list is still almost as long as it was when I started. I updated the original post with the current list and thought I'd begin by knocking off one that I'll probably continue to dip into from time to time:
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The Binding of Isaac

You remember in school, that one slightly weird kid who, instead of paying attention during class, would draw scenes of violence and grotesque monsters in his notebook? If that kid's mind were made into a videogame, it would probably be a lot like The Binding of Isaac. This is a twisted, twisted game - a sequence of procedurally-generated dungeons with inspirations rooted in the first Legend of Zelda, except here you play a young boy named Isaac, trapped in his basement with an assortment of truly disgusting creatures. Seriously, these are perhaps the most hideous enemy designs of any game ever - between this and Super Meat Boy, I'm starting to think that Edmund McMillen needs professional help.

If you can look past the layer of disturbed art design, what you are left with is a short but reasonably addictive dungeon crawler in which you move around and shoot monsters with your tears. At first, the game was simply a myriad of frustrations - the controls were part of the issue (the inability to shoot diagonally was particularly irksome to me), but mainly, it was the game's ridiculously obtuse nature. Over the course of a playthrough, you will come across dozens of items and there is zero indication on what any of them do. Consequently, I was dying a whole lot, and unlike the rogue-likes it has been compared to, death resets everything.

However, where the similarity to rogue-likes does apply is that it pays to be patient. If you lack patience, you will not make it. Through trial and error - mostly error - I worked out the AI routines of the enemies and gained an appreciation for the decision to forego diagonal shooting, as it forces you to take a more considered approach in clearing out a room. At the same time, I gradually figured out what items were for, how to use them in tandem, when to spend money and so on. It is not immediately gratifying, so I could absolutely understand why many people would not stick with it. With that said, I felt amazingly accomplished on my first successful playthrough.

Of course, as with nearly all randomly-generated dungeon titles, there is the occasional clunkiness with how certain enemy placements, rooms or maps are laid out. Furthermore, the combination of useful or useless items it happens to spawn is also a bit 'luck of the draw.' The Binding of Isaac will definitely not appeal to everyone, but over time, I worked out a homoeostasis with the game's system and eventually came to enjoy it because of that.

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