Your method/motivation to finish your ever growing backlog games?

[wine_and_song]

What I found is that having a way to track my progress / save and browse screenshots / write out my thoughts (and frustrations) made it easier to process and much more fun too. I us Obsidian with their new Bases plugin to have my library of games (to be played/playing/finished or dnf) and like this, I can link as many photos or little text entries to the same game, as I want. It also makes it really easy to track how my enjoyment of the game progressed in each route (especially if some of the routes are required to to reach the LI/ending I want).

If I really hate something, I'd rather find a video of somebody doing the route I wanted to reach than suffer through hours upon hours of unwanted gameplay, though - my backlog is huge, anyway. And it's a hobby meant to be enjoyed!

 

[Rdddmi]

I think it's really difficult to completely get through your backlog of games. I've already given up on trying to do that.
I just choose the game I want to play the most at that moment and keep playing it until I finish it. Once I start a game, I try to launch it and make some progress, even if I only have a little time to play, so I can eventually make it to the end.
If a game isn't really my cup of tea, I often end up rushing through the routes of characters I don't particularly care about.

 

[failedwebsite]

MY PLANET NEEDS ME!
...basically.

I'm telling myself that I do it for other people, to write a review, rec it or unrec it to others, stuff like that.

but because they were popular back then, so now I have no motivation to play them.

Lamento is still popular! Some people (like me) still have a glimmer of hope that JAST will release it one day.

 

[dogiwall]

Recently, I've the idea of ripping some assets (mostly the script and cgs) and make mini-wikis/database (such as list of characters, saved scripts, art, etc.) on Obsidian after finishing a game, if that counts a motivation lol

There's a lot to my backlog (for both otome and non-otome games) so might as well spread out the time I play them rather than just play one after another lol

 

[MikuMikuni]

Wow setting it as your wallpaper is a really good idea, why did that never cross my mind lol. I have a huge backlog but no actual method, I struggle with finishing games sadly. But usually if I do get burnout, I just switch to a non-otome game (also got a massive backlog lol). I tried switching to another otome once but it only made the burnout worse because my mind was like, 'This is still the same genre!'

 

[satory]

If I had methods of finishing backlog I wouldn't have a backlog in the first place I'm just waiting for my brain to go "ok, we need to read this vn right now" and only then go reading. And it doesn't work as much as it should, the list keeps growing.

I used to not touch other games while reading something, but it also didn't help much

 

[sorene]

I usually switch to a different genre for a while. After some time, I naturally start craving otome games again, and that's when I go back to my backlog. Although sometimes I end up getting completely hooked on the other game instead

 

[DoDoPopping]

I tend to have a few different reactions in this kind of situation：

1. If I feel absolutely nothing for a certain character,
I'll go read other people's thoughts on that character's route.
If I confirm that the story is also going in a direction I find boring, I'll just sikp that route.

2. I'll go play a game where I'm really into pretty much all of the characters first.
Once I'm in a better mood, I'll come back and give it another try.

3. Even if I'm not really interested in a character,
if their route contains a lot of important worldbuilding details and foreshadowing,
I'll keep complaining to myself while carefully paying attention to all the hidden information scattered throughout the game, slowly piecing together the answers in my head.

 

[caducus]

I fall victim to this a bit, and it's definitely tricky to navigate. I was lamenting in a different thread about the exact same thing. It helps not having too many VNs on my plate. When I have a ton of games I'm playing, I naturally neglect the ones I'm not as into in favor of the ones I'm enjoying the most.

I also try to keep in mind that when I don't play a game for a while, I'll probably need to restart it from the beginning if I go back to it, which seems like a waste to me. I don't always succeed, but the mental allotment of that time (which I don't have an abundance of) to playing something a SECOND time sometimes can help me focus on the present and finishing it now.

Also, I don't ONLY play VNs. Having a game with a different kind of gameplay - roguelite or card battler or exploratory rpg or whatever - to switch over to when I'm feeling a little burnt out from reading so much helps me get back in the mood.

 

[Watera]

Writing them down every route i finish and make a goal

 

[noch]

I think what motivates me to get through games is knowing that I can add the LIs to my tierlist. Sites like vndb and koilog are cool, but having a visual for every route I've completed and ranked in one graphic is really fun for me to see

 

[khatruong1804]

If a game gets too difficult, I just skip that part and keep going

 

[sweetymana]

I think I have 2 otome game, that I am so unmotivated to play after one route. Its so repetitive and just heavy romance. Its just bad plot and setting that does not match me. Its just blend time skipping a lot throughout the story and love suddenly come in. I do not know how to reacts to those stories. Either way, I keep giving excuse to myself to delay playing. Or getting myself away from switch not to play after a year. Anyway, its kinda expensive not to play the game. but feel bad from not playing it too. It so complicated feeling.