Earlier this week, I was preparing myself to take the step of moving away from playing so much Destiny (no matter how much I like the game). I had no idea how difficult that would be. What helped to put it into perspective was taking into account the state of my 2015 backlog.

By “2015 backlog” I am referring to the games I currently own that were released in 2015. There are twenty on that list, and they are as follows (by initial release date):

Grim Fandango
Life is Strange
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
The Order: 1886
ScreamRide
White Night
Ori and the Blind Forest
Bloodborne*
Axiom Verge
Goat Simulator
Shovel Knight
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt*
Batman: Arkham Knight
Rocket League
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Rare Replay
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Tearaway: Unfolded
Soma

(* titles indicate that the game was started but remains unfinished)

There are so many titles on that list that I want to play, yet time is rapidly whooshing away from 2015. Add to that that Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider release in less than two weeks, and I am in full on video game panic mode.

So, today I decided to narrow down this list to five that I will tackle before the rest. Here’s hoping I can make some progress before the end of the calendar year.

Life is Strange

Life is Strange is a game I’ve heard compared to the strangeness of Twin Peaks, but with time travel and varied possible outcomes. I love a game where your decisions matter, and I’m entirely intrigued by this episodic tale. I was waiting for all five episodes to be released, and now that they have, I have no more excuses. It’s time to play this game. Marathon!

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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

I’ve never played a Metal Gear game before (I know, I know…) and this one snuck up on me, interest-wise. The more I saw of it, the more I wanted to play it. When I finally saw the game in action (thank you Test Chamber!) I knew I had to play it. I mean, just look at D Dog. How cool is he? He wears an eye patch for goodness sake.

On a completely unrelated note, I think I’ve just figured out the cheapest and most awesome Halloween costume for our husky, Cloud…

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Soma

Soma is a game that I’ve heard will turn your thoughts back on you and make you question what you actually believe. I like when I am forced to question certain things in reality, so it should come as no surprise that I’d like it in games, too. I’m ready to experience what this game has to offer.

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The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

This game has been on my radar for a good long while, and when it finally released on PS4 this year, I was quite excited. Did that mean I played it right away? Of course not.

Silly, silly Rebekah.

There is a fresh breed of games classified as “first person exploration” (and some other less-fond folks out there refer to them as “walking simulators”), and I love that these exist. I am looking forward to unraveling the mystery of Ethan Carter.

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I’ve often referred to how much I’d like to get back to this game, and it’s one of my sincere goals to finish it before the end of the year. From the dozen or so hours I played, I fell in love with the open world, beautiful visuals, and excellent sound design. I’m ready to find out where Geralt’s travels take him.

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Now that I’ve narrowed down my focus, I feel a bit better about at least making a dent in the 2015 releases I have.

With that, I ask: how is your 2015 backlog? Are you caught up on this year’s releases, or are you super behind as I am? Or do you eschew new releases all together and are working on older games? How do you manage your backlog?