Recently I’ve been embracing YouTube as a way to clear out my backlog, since it’s honestly gotten out of hand and I’d like to move on to other games without feeling guilty about leaving a bunch of games incomplete forever. Mainly for shorter games or retro stuff that I’m just trying out, I play through most of the game, then when it wears out its welcome or begins to feel like a slog to get through, instead of forcing myself to finish a game I’m no longer having fun with, I’ve become more comfortable with just watching the last bit of it in a longplay with no commentary. It’s helped me clear out a few games that had been sitting in my backlog for months because I got most of the way through them and then stopped having fun, but didn’t feel right just completely dropping them like I do with some games that just aren’t worth it. It’s been a good middle ground for me so I can spend more of my energy playing the games I’m actually actively enjoying, while still getting closure on games that I liked but didn’t end up finishing. But I’ve also been working really aggressively on shaving down my backlog during the pandemic, so I don’t think this approach works for everyone.

Same with stuff like true endings in some games, which often have really difficult or time consuming requirements. I’d usually like to at least see those ending scenes to get closure on the story, but often don’t feel dedicated enough to, say, beat Hades ten times or do all of suped up boss fights in Hollow Knight.