Tackling My Gaming Backlog: February 2025 Check-In

2025 is the year that I do my best to tame a beast that all gamers have struggled to maintain for years: the gaming backlog. It is a beautiful thing but a curse all in one sentence. At the end of 2024, I wrote an article explaining my dilemma, and I made a conscious decision to do what I could to whittle down the number of games in it. January was off to a somewhat decent start, so let’s see how it went in February.

Click the link here to learn more about my relationship with my gaming backlog, and to see my progress from January, click the link here.

Gaming Backlog: February Check-In

February was an underwhelming month for me in terms of gaming. I did not have as much time as I would have liked to play, but I did get a few titles when I could. Most of the games I played this month were Apple Arcade titles, but there were a few others. Here are the games I played in February, and I will give you my quick thoughts on each one.

Dynasty Warriors: Origins — PS5 — 34h 37m — 9/10

Click the link here for my full-length review of Dynasty Warriors: Origins.

Skate City: New York — iOS — 2h 22 — 5/10

Click the link here for my full-length review of Skate City: New York.

Sonic Racing — iOS — 3 Hours — 6/10

Click the link here for my full-length review of Sonic Racing.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League — PS5 — 2h 37m (Retired) — 3/10

I caved in and decided to give Suicide Squad a go. I am a huge fan of Rocksteady, and Batman: Arkham City is one of my top three games of all time. Sadly, Suicide Squad is a disappointing combination of monotony, tedium and lifelessness.

I wish I could be more positive about this game and not simply submit myself to its negative reception, but I could not stomach it. In terms of positives, the game looks fantastic and performs at a consistent 60fps on PS5, but that’s about it. The character interactions are entertaining at first but get irritating very quickly. The shooting feels clunky, and the traversal feels lacklustre, especially compared to Arkham.

This game was free on PS Plus, so it cost me nothing to give it a try, but Suicide Squad made me feel quite sad. Rocksteady can do much better than this. One thought crossed my mind when I uninstalled the game: the Arkham trilogy was so good that the developers had no idea how to replicate the perfect formula they discovered.

Mafia II: Definitive Edition — PS5 — 6h 22m (Retired) — 4/10

Suicide Squad left a sour taste in my mouth, and for a good amount of time, Mafia II did remove the bitter aftertaste. Mafia II: Definitive Edition is not a ground-up remake like Mafia: Definitive Edition, so the visuals are not as impressive. The character models look unpolished, and some of the voice acting is a bit rough, but it did not distract me from the experience. The story was a downgrade from the first game, but I did get into it after an hour or so; it is slower-paced than the first game.

The problem, though, is that Mafia II: Definitive Edition is full of bugs and glitches. I was not able to finish this game because I encountered a game-breaking glitch around halfway through the campaign. I reached a mission where I had to drive to a character’s house and enter. However, every time I drove up to the house and entered, the whole house glitched, and the first floor disappeared, leaving me unable to progress the mission. This glitch is bad enough as it is, but the mission itself has a time limit, so if you can not get to the house in time and get to a particular location, you fail and have to start again. After seven attempts, the glitch happened every time. After this, I uninstalled the game and will never play it again.

Mafia III: Definitive Edition — PS5 — 7 Hours (Retired) — 5/10

Mafia II: Definitive Edition failed due to its game-breaking glitch, while Mafia III: Definitive Edition left me bored. Mafia III was controversial for its significant departure from the level design and aesthetics of the first two games. Mafia takes place in the 1930s, Mafia II in the 1940s, and Mafia III in the 1960s. Mafia III shifted the series toward a more open-world experience instead of the linear mission-by-mission structure of its predecessors. At first, I appreciated the idea of this structural change, and the visuals of Mafia III had great appeal. The story is also cleverly narrated, primarily through flashbacks presented in a true-crime documentary style. It’s a fantastic concept, but unfortunately, Mafia III suffers from tedious repetition and lacks variety in its missions.

Every mission and story chapter played out the same, and the only time I felt like I was making any progress in the game was when cutscenes came up to move the narrative forward. After seven hours, I stopped playing Mafia III because it failed to maintain my interest and left me with no desire to keep going. It is sad because Mafia III has a lot of good things in it, but it suffers from trying too hard to replicate Grand Theft Auto. 

Despite my disappointment with Mafia II and Mafia III, I am still looking forward to playing Mafia: The Old Country later this year.

Gaming Backlog: Summary

February was a poor month for gaming. Aside from Dynasty Warriors: Origins (which was incredible), there were no games this month that truly left a mark on me. I did have fun, but in terms of memorable experiences, it was lacking. 

My gaming time for this year so far is 94 hours and 13 minutes in total (including January)!

Gaming Backlog: New Additions

A few new games entered my gaming backlog this month:

• Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition (PS5)

• Borderlands 2 (PS5)

• Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (PS5)

• Borderlands 3 (PS5)

Gaming Backlog: Closing Thoughts

I hope March will be more eventful for gaming. I will be back at the beginning of April to summarise my gaming for this month; until then, happy gaming, everyone, and remember to give your gaming backlog love and attention.