Oof, you think you can complete Red Dead 2 by the end of the year?! Good luck!! It’s good that you’re making progress though, I’m so proud! 
As for me, well I’m still working through AC Odyssey’s DLC which I’m not going to finish before Gears 5 releases on Tuesday. I should have two episodes left after this weekend, so the plan is:
Gears 5 → AC Atlantis Ep 2 → Shenmue → AC Atlantis Ep 3 → Shenmue II → Shenmue III
Gears 5 is DONE. Really enjoyed it. Some nice throwbacks to older Gears games and some new stuff to mix it up.
Total items on list: 9…still
I went ahead and traded in all of my physical PS4 games today, with the exception of Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, and Detroit (I’ve finished this last one, but want to explore more of the endings before I sell it). It feels good to do a purge. I’m not sure if I will finish Red Dead Redemption 2 before the end of the year as it’s a mammoth game, but I can make some progress on it at least.
Will you play anything else before the end of the year? Because if its your sole focus you might be able to dent it!
Odyssey. Is. Done. Finally I’ve conquered the DLC, which I enjoyed although probably not so much for the gameplay or story but more for the dives into the deeper AC lore. I’ll probably revisit the game when the Discovery Tour comes out but I don’t really feel that counts.
Total items on list: 8
I’m only about 20% through the story, but enjoying it immensely. I’m able to sink hours at a time into the game world without getting bored. So, I’ll probably carry on with RDR2 as my focus. An ambitious goal would be to finish it before Shenmue III arrives. But even if I don’t finish it this year, I’ll aim to complete it and God of War before The Last of Us Part II arrives at the latest or hold off buying that so that I don’t have a stack of unfinished physical games hanging around.
I’ll likely end up grabbing Gears 5 and blasting through the campaign. Good to hear positive things. I didn’t really think much of the Gears 4 campaign in the end. It didn’t feel as memorable as 1-3 and felt way cheaper on Insane. My friend and I got stuck on a Brumak boss fairly deep in as we managed to glitch the encounter out. Horde was decent at least.
Look forward to giving Gears 5 a try.
Now that I’ve finished Red Dead Redemption 2, I’m looking at what to play next (before Shenmue III arrives). Probably God of War.
However, I don’t want to play games just to check them off a list. They need to be compelling experiences to warrant devoting large amounts of time to complete them. RDR2 was at least 40 hours of gameplay, a full working week, but it was worth it. And there’s the question of whether some of these games would perform better on PS5 or PC - the framerates of Skyrim and Fallout 4 on PS4 Pro leave something to be desired, as does Far Cry 4. I really only have time to play through one or two of these big 40 hour+ open world games per year, so I’m thinking next year might the one to take on The Witcher III (a fitting game to end the console generation with, since it was such a landmark title in it).
Seven weeks later…
I’ve finished Shenmue I & II! They are every bit as amazing as I remember… And what’s even better is that Shenmue III has been dispatched!!!
I’ve also purchased Planet Zoo this month… But that shall have to wait…!
Total items on list: 8
I finished God of War. So that’s all of my physical games complete.
I had planned to play Shenmue III next. However, I had a look at where I am in Final Fantasy VII and I’m apparently over half way through that game, so it would be sensible to finish it off before starting on another story based game.
Tentative plan: After Final Fantasy VII and Shenmue III, I am considering of shifting from PS4 to PC, to play Panzer Dragoon: Remake and because many of my other backlog games will have better performance on PC. After The Last of Us: Part II comes out in May 2020 I can then sell my PS4 Pro before the next generation of consoles arrives. That will introduce a whole new backlog to contend with…
(-) Shenmue III
Total items on list: 7
That was fast; I imagine you really enjoyed Shenmue III to finish it so quickly! This makes me look forward to starting it even more.
Unfortunately my backlog has grown since my last post, with the purchase of a Switch Lite and Breath of the Wild. I also added the digital copy of Shenmue III I redeemed from Kickstarter and bought three more PS4 games on sale: The Last of Us: Remastered, Life is Strange 2, and Grand Theft Auto V. The Last of Us will technically be a replay (I played through the original on PS3), but it’s so good it warrants a replay before the sequel arrives.
I decided not to go ahead with the shift to PC. With so many current generation console games to play and the next generation consoles confirmed to be backward compatible, it’s hard to justify at the moment. I’m also fairly confident that the performance issues in some of the PS4 Pro games will disappear when PS5 comes out, and if the PS5 has exclusives anything like PS4 I will most likely get one. So I’ll probably just wait to play those games (on a PS5 console).
I feel that not getting a PC is also very helpful for your backlog Maybe once you’ve exhausted all there is on console (there’s actually only three confirmed games coming out next year that I want so far) you can go through your Steam backlog in retirement!
Indeed. One thing I’ve come to appreciate from this topic is the value in making the most of what you already have.
I’m also not sure how much I’ll play the Switch, as there’s only a couple of exclusives that really interest me, so I don’t foresee another huge backlog springing into existence there. It sits in a middle ground between high production value games that I would rather play on a larger screen and simple games that mobile phones and tablets are sufficient for. I’ll take it with me next time I travel in any case. Perhaps it will become my go-to for playing indie games.
Regarding the PC, I might get a lightweight laptop next time that is sufficient for playing some of those older games on my 4K display, and play newer releases on the next generation of consoles. But that’s a future concern now that I’m set up for the next year or so of new releases.
The good thing about not getting a PC now is that one that runs your backlog will be cheaper when you do buy one… as long as you don’t want to buy any more games on PC (hence the joy of moving to consoles).
I got Destiny 1 and 2 for Secret Santa at work… more as a troll gift than anything else, but I will play them.
Total items on list: 9
A lot of those games are on Xbox Game Pass anyway, so if I move in a console-only direction, I could play many of them in 4K/60fps without re-purchasing the games or buying a new laptop. Another benefit would be that Game Pass subscribers don’t have backlogs.
I played a demo of Destiny 1. It was okay, but didn’t grab me the way Halo did, so I never purchased the full game.
I feel like I’ve made good progress in the last six months, finishing I think five full games and a bunch of DLC. However for Christmas I managed to gain Destiny 1 & 2, as well as Detroit: Become Human and Resident Evil 2. This means that my list is actually now larger than when I started this topic! 
Dreamcast
Ecco the Dolphin
Fur Fighters
Sega Rally 2
Skies of Arcadia
PC
Black Mesa (Finally content complete! But waiting for some polish in v1.0 before I start…)
Far Cry New Dawn
Planet Zoo - in progress
PS4
Detroit: Become Human
Resident Evil Origins
Resident Evil 2
Xbox One
Destiny
Destiny 2
Total items on list: 12
The next new release I’m interested in is Resident Evil 3 in April, so my plan is to finish Planet Zoo, play through the Destinys and then get through RE Origins and 2 before then! Maybe Detroit too…
Let’s see if I can compile my current list.
Completed
PS4
PC
Currently In Progress
PS4
Purchased (or Promo/Free) Backlog
PS4
I’ll add my upcoming PC stuff after work later today.
Snowie
Wow you have so many games that I haven’t even heard of… Best get cracking I reckon!
(-) Planet Zoo
(+) Jedi Fallen Order
Total items on list: 12
And well, I’ve finished the career mode of PZ but am going to build my ultimate zoo in sandbox now!
(+) Journey
(+) Spirit of the North
Total items on list: 14
Currently playing: Jedi: Fallen Order
There’s a big sale on the Playstaion Store right now, but it ends tomorrow night I believe. I managed to grab Spirit of the North for a minor discount and Journey for a massive one - time to see what all the fuss is about! They have Firewatch on there too for I think 80% off, and that is highly recommended to anyone that hasn’t played it yet.
What’s also worth noting is that I have now purchased every single game I want to own. That means that the backlog can’t grow any larger until new games are released!
I’m glad you bought Journey… be sure to let us know what you think of it once you’ve competed the journey. I don’t want to oversell the game, as much of the appeal is personal. It’s an indie game, so exceptions should be adjusted accordingly; more of a Firewatch (another great indie game) than a Last of Us.
I haven’t made any progress on my backlog since my last post (taking a break from gaming). But I’ll no doubt get back into Shenmue III and other titles in the coming months.