We’re at the first month’s update on 365-2, and I’m already looking back at this, and wondering whether this was a hastily put together idea that I wasn’t going to be able to replicate, or if it was 100% plausible. Judging by the progress I’ve made already, in a month of some frustrations and challenges that took me away from completing more than I wanted to complete, I find myself a month into the planning/sketching/working, and I am already have over a month’s worth of content completed.

My true goal for the period between August and December 31st was to have as close to six months worth of content queued and “ready”. By “ready” I mean the majority of the review is written, but additives such as spell/grammar checks, screenshots and other things, are not yet completed. Those aspects of the reviews and the project, as with 365//365, I will leave until mid December, as those areas are not such a precarious endeavor.

Here’s a small sneak preview of some of the games I’ve already reviewed (the numbers on the left are not an indication of what number review they will end up being, but rather the order that review was completed)

Here’s an equally small sneak preview of games that are on the tentative review list:

It shows a lot of old school games, but there will be a mix of more recent games as well. The old school games lend themselves to easier reviewing, thanks to their brevity when compared to games releases over the last ten years. Queuing multiple old school games gives me time to work on newer, or longer titles that require a lot more dedication.

I have the following consoles/portables on the list:

• NES
• SNES
• GB
• GBC
• GBA
• N64
• GC
• Wii
• Wii U
• Switch
• DS
• 3DS
• Genesis
• Dreamcast
• Xbox 360
• Xbox 1/Series X
• PS1
• PS2
• PS4
• PS5
• PSP

A good portion of the month I haven’t been doing so well, so to see that I got as much as I got done actually done, pleases me. Once the damn weather cools down, we’ll be launching the stream companion to this project. I did manage to sneak out a stream a couple of weeks ago testing out my Retrotink 5X, and I discovered that my Xbox 360 won’t read discs. That completely upended my early stream plans, which involved streaming Homefront first, followed by the 360 version of Marvel Ultimate Alliance, followed by the PSP version of Ultimate Alliance 2 and then Ultimate Alliance 3 on the Switch as a Comparison Series. I may end up just playing the Wii version of the first game, but I want to read about it first and see if I can play with without the damn waggling.

For now, I swapped in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow as the first two games I plan to stream for the project. Once I decide on three more games, I’ll be switching to the remnants of PSX Mania for next seven games after that (those games I’ll play to completion on stream for sure, as with Dreamcast Mania games – the rest will be played to completion on an “as needed” basis). The PS1 and DC games, outside Metal Gear Solid and NFL 2K, are “quick” completion games that I’ll complete on stream, and then after that on my own time off stream, go back to if/where needed (like with fighters, I’ll play other characters and get a more broadened perspective). Once the PSX Mania block of games are streamed and completed, we’ll be doing a few buffer games before we do a block of Dreamcast Mania, rinse and repeat.

In reference to an idea I had in mind – I’m toying with the thought of setting up a Patreon for 365-2. The highest tier, which would be limited to three people, would give said individuals the chance to request one game each month they are a Patron, for me to review, which I will stream to its completion (at my discretion – if it’s an incredibly long game and I feel like I have the information that I need, we’ll stop the playthrough) and the review I write for it will be 1500 words at the very minimum. Just for perspective, Power Paragraph (PP) reviews are between 200 and 350 words and Quickie are 400-750ish, with the non-classified reviews being anywhere over 750 word. I don’t expect any aspect of the Patron to take off, but it’s an idea to toss out there anyway.

I am writing this on the early morning of 8/25, so I still have several more days to get more reviews done, although I have a plan for how I want to tackle the next batch of reviews, so it may remain at 30 to close out the month. I’m going to try and aim for 35 reviews for September, with the bare minimum needing to be 25. Having a newly softmodded Wii U and 3DS helps immensely, having multiple games of multiple generations within one console and one handheld. For September, a couple of games are being released that I have on my tentative list, one of which is Death Stranding: Director’s Cut, a next gen port of a game I felt was one of the best from the previous decade. Debating whether I want to add that to the stream list. (update – 8/31/21 – 36 done)

That about wraps up the first update on the progress of 365-2. While I’d love to have a six month queue done and set, even a four month one would suffice. I plan to aim for the stars though (as I always do, for better or worse) and will try my best to get that half year queue set. Follow me on Twitter and check back here at Galarian Gaming for any updates that may pop up between now and the first of October!