Let’s Get Prepped for Four in February!

Four in February is an annual gaming event that encourages people to focus on their backlog, rather than spend money on new games. The objective, as the name implies, is to pick four games from the ol’ backlog and complete them before the end of the month.

This is something I look forward to participating in every year, and knowing that many of you also suffer from atrocious backlogs I figured I’d share my list and encourage you all to do the same!

While it’s easy to just pick four of the shortest games you own and call it a day, I tend to pick three reasonably short games and one meatier one (spreading them across four different consoles to share the love). You can find out the average completion time for any of your games over at HowLongToBeat.com, which always comes in handy during Four in February.

This is meant to be a fun and motivating event, not a stressful task working under a deadline. If you don’t finish, you don’t finish. Last February I didn’t finish ANY of the four games I chose, but I did knock out two other games from my backlog–still an accomplishment.

For this year’s Four in February, I’m going with two bigger games that I just started yesterday, along with two smaller games to break things up.

#1 – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)

This has been on my backlog for a while now, and although I’ve played the game on N64 and the Wii’s Virtual Console, I just started my first playthrough of the 3DS remaster yesterday. I hear it’s an incredible upgrade to an already timeless game, and I’m hoping my familiarity with this one cuts down my completion time a bit.

Average completion time: 24-31 hours

#2 – Megadimension Neptunia VII (PS4)

I started this JRPG the same day as Ocarina of Time 3D, so I’ve only managed to shave a few hours off the completion time thus far (making it not feel like a cheap addition or anything). Like any other JRPG, I expect it to be grind-heavy, overly verbose, and time consuming, so I’m a little worried about finishing Nep-Nep before the end of the month.

Average completion time: 37-60 hours, depending on side quests

#3 – MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs. Zombies (Vita)

It’s a double dose of Nep-mania in February! However, while Megadimension Neptunia VII is a full-length JRPG, MegaTagmension Blanc + Neptune vs. Zombies is more akin to a Dynasty Warriors clone instead. It’s a hack-n-slash and it’s on Vita, making it the perfect pre-sleep ritual while I’m all snug in my bed.

Average completion time: 7-12 hours

#4 – Freedom Planet (Wii U)

This love letter to the good Sonic the Hedgehog games of yore has been installed on my Wii U for more than a year, but I’ve yet to finish it. It’s beautiful, it’s fast, and with Freedom Planet 2 on the horizon now seems like a great time to put the original behind me.

Average completion time: 4.5-5.5 hours

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Perhaps I’m being a little overly ambitious this year, going for two lengthier titles and two shorter ones, but we’ll see at the end of the month how things went.

Do you ever take part in Four in February? Any interest in starting this year? If so, write up your list and drop a link in the comments. We’ll motivate each other.