PSN Weekly Deals - 8/27: PAX Indie Sale, DJ Hero/2/GH Sale, Spelunky $11.99, Pinballistik is Free!, and Machinarium Vita Free for PS+!

[FriskyTanuki]

Welcome to the best thread for all of the deals on games, add-ons, and other stuff in the PlayStation Store both on and off of PSN.

Index
Current Deals
Upcoming Deals & PlayStation Plus Schedule
Free Games
PlayStation Plus Preview
Persistent PlayStation Plus and Alternate Deals
Frequently Asked Questions
History of Free PlayStation Plus Games

Current Deals (Full Update Here) - Store Updates Every Tuesday, Usually Between 4-8 EST

Visit The Web PS Store Here

Key:
N - New This Week
X - Expires With Next Update
P - Permanent Price Drop
C - Cross Buy (Vita/PS3)
D - Demo or Full Game Trial Available

Pre-orders


Battlefield 4 - $59.99 - Ends 10/29 [customspoiler='Bonuses']China Rising Expansion & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Battlefield 4 - Premium - $49.99 - Ends 10/29
Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse - $14.99 X [customspoiler='Bonuses']Original Genesis game, Avatars, & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Diablo III - $59.99 X [customspoiler='Bonuses']Infernal Helm DLC Pack & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
FIFA 14 - $59.99 - Out 9/24 [customspoiler='Bonuses']24 FUT Gold Packs & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]

Grand Theft Auto V - $59.99 - Out 9/17 [customspoiler='Bonuses']75% Discount on a Rockstar PSN Title, Atomic Blimp, & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]

NHL 14 - $59.99 - Ends 9/10 D [customspoiler='Bonuses']24 HUT Gold Packs & Exclusive Theme[/customspoiler]
Rain - $14.99 - Ends 10/1 [customspoiler='Bonuses']Avatars, Dynamic and Static Themes, & Musical Montage[/customspoiler]
 
Bundles

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon & Call of Juarez Gunslinger Bundle - $24.99 - 17% Off ND

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 & 2 Bundle - $7.49 - 50% Off NX

Pinballistik + DLC Bundle - $4.99 - 38% Off NP

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype Complete Bundle - $5.99 - 54% Off - [customspoiler='Includes']Full Game + The Last Chapter Add-on[/customspoiler]

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype + Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer Bundle - $6.99 - 53% Off - [customspoiler='Does Not Include']Last Chapter Add-on for X2[/customspoiler]

PS3

Amy - $1.99 - 33% Off
Closure - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD
Dragon Fantasy Book I - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC

Dyad - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD

flOw - $5.59


Flower - $6.99 D



Journey - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD

Limbo - $7.49 - 50% Off NXCD

Madden NFL 13 - $29.99 - 25% Off NP
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - $29.99 - 25% Off NPD
Pinballistik - Free NP
Retro City Rampage - $4.99 - 66% Off NXC
Retro/Grade - $4.99 - 50% Off - Compatible with Guitar Controller NXD
Skullgirls - $7.49 - 50% Off NXD
Tokyo Jungle - $7.49 - 50% Off NX
Soldner-X: Himmelssturmer - $3.99 - 50% Off



Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype - $4.99 - 50% Off
Wicked Monsters Blast! HD - $4.99 - 50% Off- Move Compatible
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC


 

PS2 Classics

Raiden III - $5.99 - 40% Off
Add-ons




DJ Hero - Jay-Z vs. Eminem Pack - $3.99 - 50% Off N
DJ Hero 2 - Hard Edge Mix Pack - $2.99 - 50% Off N
DJ Hero 2 - Ultra Mix Pack - $3.99 - 50% Off N

Dragon's Crown - Storyteller Voice Pack - Free X



Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Classic Rock Track Pack - $3.13 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - Coldplay Track Pack - $3.13 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero 5 - Avenged Sevenfold Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero 5 - Rock 1 Track Pack - $5.49 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Linkin Park Track Pack - $5.99 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock - Rocky Horror Picture Show Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero World Tour - Classic Rock Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Guitar Hero World Tour - Queen Track Pack - $2.75 - 50% Off N
Rocksmith - "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Godzilla" by Blue Oyster Cult - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Keep Yourself Alive" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Killer Queen" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "My Sharona" by The Knack - $1.99 - 33% Off NX
Rocksmith - "Stone Cold Crazy" by Queen - $1.99 - 33% Off NX

Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype - The Last Chapter - $2.49 - 50% Off

 

PS1 Classics - All of these are compatible with PS3 and PSP unless otherwise noted. Check this thread for Vita compatibility.
N/A

 
Minis - All of these are compatible with PS3 and PSP unless otherwise noted. Check this thread for Vita compatibility.
1000 Tiny Claws - $1.75 - 50% Off
Blimp: The Flying Adventures - $1.49
Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess - $2.49 - 50% Off

Who's That Flying?! - $2.49 - 50% Off

 
PSP Games - Check this thread for Vita Compatibility
N/A
 

Vita Games

Dragon Fantasy Book I - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC

Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable - $19.99 - 50% Off N

Limbo - $7.49 - 50% Off NXCD

Need for Speed: Most Wanted - $19.99 - 33% Off NP

Retro City Rampage - $4.99 - 66% Off NXCD

Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $4.99 - 50% Off NXC
Vita Add-ons

Dragon's Crown - Storyteller Voice Pack - Free X
 
PlayStation Plus

PS3 Deals



Closure - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD
Dragon Fantasy Book I - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC

Dyad - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD




Grid 2 - $53.99 - 10% Off X



Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds Complete Collection - $19.99 - 20% Off - Move Compatible
Journey - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD

Limbo - $5.99 - 60% Off NXCD
Ms. Germinator - $7.99 - 20% Off XC
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1 & 2 Bundle - $3.75 - 75% Off NX
Retro City Rampage - $3.74 - 75% Off NXC
Retro/Grade - $2.50 - 75% Off - Compatible with Guitar Controller NXD
Skullgirls - $3.75 - 75% Off NXD

Spelunky - $11.99 - 20% Off NXC
Tokyo Jungle - $3.75 - 75% Off NX
Wicked Monsters Blast! HD - $1.00 - 90% Off - Move Compatible
Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC

Vita Deals

Dragon Fantasy Book I - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC
Draw Slasher - $3.00 - 50% Off N
Limbo - $5.99 - 60% Off NXCD
Ms. Germinator - $7.99 - 20% Off XC

Muramasa Rebirth - $20.99 - 30% Off X

Retro City Rampage - $3.74 - 75% Off NXCD

Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov's Revenge - $2.50 - 75% Off NXC
 
Add-on Deals
Bit.Trip Presents…Runner2: Future Legend Of Rhythm Alien - Good Friends Character Pack - $2.39 - 20% Off
Subscriptions

Music Unlimited Premium One Year Subscription - $41.99

Free Games (Don't Argue About This, Please)

Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - 769 MB

Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower - PSP/Vita - 657 MB

Gravity Rush - Vita - 1.4 GB

Hitman: Absolution - 16.1 GB X - [customspoiler='Includes']Full Game, Deus Ex Disguise DLC, Deus Ex Zenith Handgun, and Discount on Sleeping Dogs[/customspoiler]

Jet Set Radio - 1.1 GB
Knytt Underground - PS3/Vita - 857 MB

LittleBigPlanet Karting - 7 GB

LittleBigPlanet Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves - Requires Move
Machinarium - 183 MB

Machinarium - Vita - 329 MB N

Metal Slug XX - PSP/Vita - 166 MB
Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee - 1.2 GB
Pinball Arcade - PS3/Vita - 115 MB
Saints Row The Third - 7.2 GB - Free CheapyD Pack
Uncharted: Golden Abyss - Vita - 2.9 GB
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - 30 GB
Wipeout 2048 - Vita - 1.6 GB

XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 7.6 GB

Zen Pinball 2 - Star Wars Pinball - PS3/Vita - 783 MB N [customspoiler='Includes']Standalone Star Wars Pinball game[/customspoiler]

Themes
[customspoiler=PS+ Themes]Abstract Art - Dynamic
Assassin's Creed Revelations - Dynamic
Cuckoo - Dynamic
Daytona USA
Double Dragon Neon - Dynamic
Dragon - Dynamic
Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit - Dynamic
The House of the Dead III - Dynamic
The House of the Dead 4 - Dynamic
I Am Alive - Dynamic
Infamous Festival of Blood - Dynamic
Jet Set Radio - Dynamic
Leap Year - Dynamic
Mesh - Dynamic
Mexican Skulls - Dynamic
PlayStation Plus - Dynamic
Robot - Dynamic
Samurai - Dynamic
Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1 - Dynamic
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Dynamic
Stripe Shift Part 2 - Dynamic
Tales from Space: About a Blob
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown - Dynamic[/customspoiler]

Avatars
[customspoiler=PS+ Avatars]Armageddon Riders (3)
Cool Cat
Daytona USA (5)
Dead Cloud
Double Dragon Neon (7)
Fat Princess (2)
God of War: Ascension
Green Hamster
Hell Yeah! (4)
The House of the Dead III (3)
The House of the Dead 4 (3)
Jet Set Radio (6)
LittleBigPlanet (2)
Mutant Skull
Pink Hamster
PlayStation B-boy (1, 2, 3)
Resident Evil 5
Section 8: Prejudice Bundle
Squirrel
Stick Up Kid
Street Fighter X Tekken
Street Fighter 2
Tank Commander
Top Dawg
Under Siege
Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown (20)[/customspoiler]

Feel free to provide feedback for ways to improve this thread. Thanks.

 

[@FIF]

Prices on Vita games are hot. Looks like I'll be trading in my carts and getting digital copies of Soul Sacrifice, Katamari, MGS HD. Is Dynasty Warriors any fun? I'm not a huge fan of the console games but figure it could be a good pick up and play title.

 

[jkam]

So glad I waited on Muramasa at launch. I had a feeling I should. I'll pick that up. I'm finishing up Metal Gear HD Collection on a cart (finished 2 and playing 3 now). I'm almost exclusively digital on the Vita at this point. Besides MGS HD on cart I have LBP and Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus (silly since I have it with PLUS and already finished it). Ninja Gaiden is just one of those games for me I feel the need to keep around, one of my favorites.

Considering but not sure on Ridge Racer and Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2.

 

[tylerh1701]

Man...both Soul Sacrifice and Muramasa are up there for way cheaper than I paid for a physical version. And I have hardly played either of them haha. Shows me yet again that curtailing my purchases for my backlog recently was a good idea. Only buy games I can play right now or have to play day one! -_-

I would sell them both and get the digital copies, but I'd rather have them physical and my memory card is near max already anyways. Big loss for this CAG right here lol. Oh well, I'm still learning how to best handle my game purchasing lately.

My guidelines are $13 max on retail titles (though I did just splurge on Metal Gear Rising for $16, but I plan on beating and selling it this week so I'll probably break even) and <$10 AND 50% off or more for digital titles.

Do I break my guidelines sometimes? Sure, once in a while I'll go a few bucks higher (though never over $20 for retail and $15 for digital). Do I get burned when I break my guidelines? Usually.

 

[tylerh1701]

Oh, looks like we're getting Runner 2 this week.  Was hoping for Star Wars Pinball.

Also looks like Tomb Raider is going to be on sale for $20.

 

[wilflare]

I missed the comments on this but how's Wicked Monsters Blast! HD for $1?

 

[crzyboy88]

Ridge Racer lacked a bunch of content, didn't it?

 

[Yanksfan]

Fantastic Vita sales here..I will pick up:

Touch My Katamari - 3.75

Muramasa Rebirth - 20.99

Metal Gear Solid HD - 14.69 (already own cart, but for under 8 a piece, it would be worth it to always have them installed)

New Little King's Story - 9.79

Ultimate MvC3 - 10.00

If these sale prices weren't so awesome, I would have picked up Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 at its price as well. But considering I have read how the port isn't too hot, I will wait on that one since there are so many other worthy games to grab. And for those that don't have Soul Sacrifice yet, now is the time at that price.

 

[rpg]

Japanese Games Sale (PS Vita)

[customspoiler='August 13th – 19th Vita Sale']-Street Fighter X Tekken
$27.99
$19.59+

-Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus
$27.99
$19.59+

-Guilty Gear Accent XX Core + R
$10.49
$7.34+

-Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland
$27.99
$19.59+

-Silent Hill: Book of Memories
$14.99
$7.50+

-Ridge Racer PS Vita
$12.49
$6.25+

-Touch My Katamari
$7.49
$3.75+

-Soul Sacrifice
$24.99
$17.49+

-Gravity Rush
$24.99
Free+[/customspoiler]

[customspoiler='August 20th – 26th Vita Sale']-Muramasa Rebirth
$27.99
$20.99+

-Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
$20.99
$14.69+

-New Little Kings Story
$13.99
$9.79+

-Dead or Alive 5 Plus
$19.99
$10.00+

-Ragnarok Odyssey
$20.99
$14.69+

-Dynasty Warriors Next
$17.49
$8.75+

-Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
$19.99
$10.00+

-Super Monkey Ball
$20.99
$14.69+[/customspoiler]

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/08/12/ps-vita-game-sale-celebrates-japanese-developers/

 

[Joker13z]

My guidelines are $13 max on retail titles (though I did just splurge on Metal Gear Rising for $16, but I plan on beating and selling it this week so I'll probably break even) and <$10 AND 50% off or more for digital titles.

Do I break my guidelines sometimes? Sure, once in a while I'll go a few bucks higher (though never over $20 for retail and $15 for digital). Do I get burned when I break my guidelines? Usually.

I'm fine with console or pc games and waiting but for some reason in the past I've always been a sucker for handheld games. I'm usually fine with spending $20-$30 on them. Which is fine with me, cause they usually deserve it, but the problem is most of them I didn't end up playing them through before the price dropped a lot more.

So basically I need to just keep doing what I've been doing and curtail my buying to games I want to play immediately. Tales of Xillia was a good example of that. I knew I wanted to play that immediately and am playing it haha. So I'm getting better.

 

[jkam]

Tomb Raider is tempting at that price despite having already finished it and selling it off. It's rare I go back to much anymore though so don't think I'll bite. 

 

[KingofOldSchool]

Some good prices, but with lack of storage options for the Vita due to Sony's greed, I'll probably pass on the games.

 

[tylerh1701]

Ducktales reviews have been rather polarizing.  Some loving it and praising the great job WayForward did updating it but sticking true to the original, others bemoaning the archaic level design and difficulty.

I have no idea what to think.  Guess I'll be making my decision tonight.  I honestly didn't play a whole lot of Ducktales specifically as a kid, but I played plenty of other games of that ilk and consider myself a pretty big fan of the old "archaic" style that some of those games had.

 

[sherlock2g]

This sale is going to break me. I'm in for Soul Sacrifice, Touch My Katamari, and Muramasa Rebirth. I'm on the fence of Totori, New Little Kings Story, and Ragnarok Odyssey. I already have the PS3 version of Totori and I heard not so good things about New Little Kings Story and Ragnarok Odyssey.

 

[Joker13z]

This sale is going to break me. I'm in for Soul Sacrifice, Touch My Katamari, and Muramasa Rebirth. I'm on the fence of Totori, New Little Kings Story, and Ragnarok Odyssey. I already have the PS3 version of Totori and I heard not so good things about New Little Kings Story and Ragnarok Odyssey.

I would hold off on Ragnarok Odyssey. This goes for everyone else here too. Not that it's a bad game. But an updated version is going to be making it's way here eventually called Ragnarok Odyssey Ace. It's basically just an upgraded version of the first game but with a lot more elements added to it. I believe Xseed already confirmed it would come here but I may be remembering wrong.

Regardless I'd avoid it for now. In fact, I'm about to be selling my physical copy soon before the price drops a lot when new one comes out.

 

[kme06d]

I'm debating on Atelier Totori Plus: The Adventurer of Arland and silent hill. I love rpgs and that game (Atelier) caught my eye when I heard about it. It probably would go straight into my backlog though. Should I wait for a further price drop?

I enjoyed the silent hill demo, so that seems like a decent price to tool around with it some more.

Also, thanks for everyone's advice on pjm. I decided to bite at the plus sale price the other day and played through the first 4 easy levels on casual. I'm enjoying it, and I really like the micromanagement aspect of it. I imagine it will be my nightly go-to game for a while.

 

[breakfuss]

Ducktales reviews have been rather polarizing. Some loving it and praising the great job WayForward did updating it but sticking true to the original, others bemoaning the archaic level design and difficulty.

I have no idea what to think. Guess I'll be making my decision tonight. I honestly didn't play a whole lot of Ducktales specifically as a kid, but I played plenty of other games of that ilk and consider myself a pretty big fan of the old "archaic" style that some of those games had.

I've had nothing but unpleasant experiences with WayForward's games for the very reasons you mention.

 

[waldo21212]

Gonna pick up Touch My Katamari for sure, maybe Ridge Racer (haven't looked into the game at all, don't usually play racing games), and have to think about MGS collection.

The worst part is deciding what to delete off my Vita.

As far as Silent Hill, I bought it during the last sale and wasn't really into it.  At $7.50 it's hard to recommend.

 

[rpg]

Ducktales reviews have been rather polarizing. Some loving it and praising the great job WayForward did updating it but sticking true to the original, others bemoaning the archaic level design and difficulty.

Are this the reviews?

DuckTales: Remastered reviews

Polygon – 5/10

Edge – 5/10
Joystiq – 3/5

Gamespot – 4/10

 

[amusedtoe]

Nope these sumbitches DONT give out cart games HERE

so expect piss

Moooooooooooonnnnnday, yelllow Monday. Moooooooooooonnnnnday, yelllow Monday.

Look at all this Vita piss. The cage was right all along...

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/08/12/ps-vita-game-sale-celebrates-japanese-developers/

Man...both Soul Sacrifice and Muramasa are up there for way cheaper than I paid for a physical version. And I have hardly played either of them haha. Shows me yet again that curtailing my purchases for my backlog recently was a good idea. Only buy games I can play right now or have to play day one! -_-

I would sell them both and get the digital copies, but I'd rather have them physical and my memory card is near max already anyways. Big loss for this CAG right here lol. Oh well, I'm still learning how to best handle my game purchasing lately.

This sale is going to break me.

This. I'm between excitement and dread. Just this and the summer blast sale will have eaten up more money than Steam has for the last year and a half of sales.

 

[Gosha]

Wow, going to be spending a bit at this Vita sale.  Any places with PSN deals right now?

 

[amusedtoe]

Wow, going to be spending a bit at this Vita sale. Any places with PSN deals right now?

Yeah, somewhere with some discounted credit would be amazing right now.

 

[Deader2818]

If you played and loved Ducktales on the NES there is really no reason NOT to get it.

The biggest complaint most of them have is that its not relevant anymore so younger people won't get it.

 

[Derextreme]

soooooo glad i was able to hold off on totori. i've almost bought it like 6 times already. definitely getting that, and maybe little king's story. also, that's a sweet deal for soul sacrifice and muramasa. shame i bought muramasa full price from amazon about a month ago, since i couldn't find it retail anywhere in my area. might look into selling that one, and grabbing the download since it's a small one. 

 

[jkam]

Yeah, somewhere with some discounted credit would be amazing right now.

It looks like Best Buy still has a $50 PSN card for $45. Not sure if you need to be a Reward Zone member or not. Not much but not horrible either.

 

[breakfuss]

If you played and loved Ducktales on the NES there is really no reason NOT to get it.

The biggest complaint most of them have is that its not relevant anymore so younger people won't get it.

No, it appears the chief complaints are the game's difficulty and unresponsive/floaty controls. If anything, the faithfulness to the original and its source material is the only redeeming factor.

 

[ChallengeEverything]

Please tell me there's actual PSN/PS3 games on sale this week and not just stuff for Vita. If that chess game goes to $.99 I may buy it. 

Ive been reading up on the reviews for Ducktales and I have to wonder the ages of some of the reviewers. If they're only in their 20's, then I doubt they could have played the original or maybe they're just like some of us and sick of reboots/reimaginings. Don't get me wrong. Some of them have been downright great(Tomb Raider), but most times they're horrible piles of steaming crap.

 

[amusedtoe]

It looks like Best Buy still has a $50 PSN card for $45. Not sure if you need to be a Reward Zone member or not. Not much but not horrible either.

Ah yeah, missed that because you have to add it to the card to see the price drop.

 

[breakfuss]

Ive been reading up on the reviews for Ducktales and I have to wonder the ages of some of the reviewers. If they're only in their 20's, then I doubt they could have played the original

I would actually expect the intended audience to be around that age, and maybe early 30-mid 30s. But, 20s is perfectly reasonable.

 

[Deader2818]

Mid to early 20s will be to young to really have played Duck tales. Hell a 25 year old would have been born in 1988.

 

[QuarterRoy00]

Ducktales reviews have been rather polarizing. Some loving it and praising the great job WayForward did updating it but sticking true to the original, others bemoaning the archaic level design and difficulty.

I have no idea what to think. Guess I'll be making my decision tonight. I honestly didn't play a whole lot of Ducktales specifically as a kid, but I played plenty of other games of that ilk and consider myself a pretty big fan of the old "archaic" style that some of those games had.



Seems the reviews are saying that if you like old 8-bit early 90s platformers, you'll dig it. Even more so if you loved the cartoon.

 

[@FIF]

Are this the reviews?

DuckTales: Remastered reviews
Polygon – 5/10
Edge – 5/10
Joystiq – 3/5
Gamespot – 4/10

Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.

 

[wrencrest]

I liked what Wayforward did with Double Dragon Neon.  Not a great game, but it was fun/goofy.  I already preorderd Ducktales anyway so I am getting it either way.  I cant see it being that bad, but if it has floaty controls/is a difficult game then it is a faithful remake.   

 

[gettinmoney662]

Maaan, I'm tempted on:

Soul Sacrifice

Atelier Totori Plus

Muramasa Rebirth

New Little King's Story

I'm actually selling the PS3 Atelier series even though I never played them just to clear out my backlog and then when I found out they're all coming to the Vita, I was thinking about just getting them on that.

I'm not sure if I want Soul Sacrifice on a cart or not.  Same with Muramasa.

Maybe I'll just get NLKS to save my wallet and backlog some grief.

 

[anarchyoblivion]

Can anybody comment on New Little King's Story; I remember hearing about frame rate issues when the game came out. Was this bad enough to make the game unplayable? I really enjoyed the Wii game and had my eye on the Vita version but it was way overpriced upon release.

 

[affa]

this sale. oh this sale. i just finally thought i had my budget sorted for all the upcoming games i wanted.

questions/thoughts:

Atetilier Toturi Plus -- this is part of a trilogy, right? Does this stand well on its own? Isn't another one coming to vita soon?

Silent Hill - bought during last sale. wasn't impressed, though i understand why others like it.

Touch My Katamari - just played the demo last week. bought. the use of vita touch controls to change the shape worked really well.

Ridge Racer -- worth it?

Muramasa Rebirth -- worth it?

New Little Kings Story - hmm. might have to bite.

Dynasty Warriors Next -- worth it?

Some good prices, but with lack of storage options for the Vita due to Sony's greed, I'll probably pass on the games.

yes, cards are overpriced for consumers. but i think it's more due to the cost of r&d plus lack of economies of scale than 'greed'. it's also likely the price of cards partly subsidizes a lower cost for the vita. don't get me wrong, i'd welcome a drastic reduction.... i just don't think 'greed' is why they are priced where they are now.

 

[@FIF]

I'm not sure if I want Soul Sacrifice on a cart or not. Same with Muramasa.

Get the Soul Sacrifice demo and log some online play. If it's not for you, hold out for a cheap physical copy. If you think you'll be into online multi, pick it up now. Digital means you're good to go any time, and it'll be awhile before cart is this cheap. While post release support has been great (8+ free DLC quests/rites), the online community may not be as robust by the time physical copies hit your price point.

 

[affa]

Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.

Polygon got a massive infusion of cash from Microsoft. Something like $750k. While it's remotely possible they are 'fair'... it's also remotely possible it affects their overall judgement concerned playstation exclusives. even given a completely legit reviewer, an editor can still subtly influence scores simply by deciding who reviews what, etc. you also wouldn't need to target every exclusive, just certain ones (like those with a lot of positive word of mouth, like DC and TLOU).

i obviously don't know if anything untoward is going on. But... $750k is a lot of money. Tons and tons of it.

 

[gettinmoney662]

Get the Soul Sacrifice demo and log some online play. If it's not for you, hold out for a cheap physical copy. If you think you'll be into online multi, pick it up now. Digital means you're good to go any time, and it'll be awhile before cart is this cheap. While post release support has been great (8+ free DLC quests/rites), the online community may not be as robust by the time physical copies hit your price point.

Oh, duh, I forgot about the demo, thanks.

 

[biledriver]

Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.

You do realize that these sites don't just carry reviews all by the same person, right? You can never condemn a website based of one person's reviews. The only bad review in my eyes is one that is decided beforehand by someone's attitude about the game(which I believe their Dragon's Crown review was by the way) or one that puts personal opinion way above detailing the actual gameplay and other factors.

I mean, I think Last of Us is melodramatic SoS quite frankly. So I would agree with a review that doesn't glow about it. The only real importance of a review is getting a feel for what the game is like, potential bugs/issues and one person's opinion on it. Which is why it's pretty crazy that game designers are getting pay based off reviews of all things. Such an incredibly subjective thing. But no website can be bashed as a whole for their reviewers individual scores being not what you want.

Except maybe when you read their review on a website fully covered in ads for that game. That's more when you should be suspicious than because someone didn't like what you like.

 

[MrNinjaSquirrel]

Ducktales reviews have been rather polarizing. Some loving it and praising the great job WayForward did updating it but sticking true to the original, others bemoaning the archaic level design and difficulty.

I have no idea what to think. Guess I'll be making my decision tonight. I honestly didn't play a whole lot of Ducktales specifically as a kid, but I played plenty of other games of that ilk and consider myself a pretty big fan of the old "archaic" style that some of those games had.

I kinda felt that way about A Boy and His Blob (loved the art, but level design and difficulty were WAY more than I expected or wanted, which led me to never finishing it). This blurb stuck out to me while looking over metacritic:

Joysti - If anything, I'll blame DuckTales Remastered's shortcomings on the current state of digital pricing. It's unfortunate that a short but near-perfect game had to be weighed down with so much extraneous material, seemingly for the sake of padding out its length to justify a premium-priced digital release. 6/10

A lot of reviews I'm seeing are saying it's a game for those that loved the original and are looking for some nostalgia. Otherwise, it doesn't sound like it is really worth it.

Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.

I don't know, I personally agree with their review for The Last of Us. And it's good to remember that none of these sites are one entity, reviews are done by a bunch of different people who have different opinions on games. Maybe you dislike one reviewer in particular at a site (has happened to me), but that doesn't mean the entire site is to be written off.

 

[Derextreme]

Maaan, I'm tempted on:

Soul Sacrifice

Atelier Totori Plus

Muramasa Rebirth

New Little King's Story

i would put muramasa above totori, but everything in that same order. totori is digital only, so that could factor in. soul sacrifice is my favorite vita game by far, and with all the free dlc packs, the game has a lot of meat to it. muramasa is less than 500mb iirc, and i haven't seen it on sale anywhere. i haven't even seen a physical copy at gamestop, target, walmart, bestbuy, or toys r us near me.

Ridge Racer -- unless you like ridge racer, i'd say pass on it. i haven't played a ridge racer before this in many years, but i just couldn't stand it.

Muramasa Rebirth -- pretty solid metroidvania style game, and awesome combat mechanics(when you start collecting more swords). story seems pretty interesting so far, and there's 2 campaigns. my only drawback so far is, you have to run all the way back through previously cleared areas a lot.

Dynasty Warriors Next -- i would definitely say so, one of my favorite dynasty warrior games. touch screen is used a bit gimmicky, imo. definitely a solid title though. full campaigns and an empires-esque conquest mode. edit mode is also present. there's only ad-hoc for the mp, but i would say it's worth the $9 if you like dw games.

just my thoughts on a few of those.

 

[gettinmoney662]

i would put muramasa above totori, but everything in that same order. totori is digital only, so that could factor in. soul sacrifice is my favorite vita game by far, and with all the free dlc packs, the game has a lot of meat to it. muramasa is less than 500mb iirc, and i haven't seen it on sale anywhere. i haven't even seen a physical copy at gamestop, target, walmart, bestbuy, or toys r us near me.

I was actually just listing them in the order they were listed in the sale announcement, but thanks for the input. I'm just wondering if these will reach these prices later, especially Totori.

 

[mpaullin]

Pure Chess complete was the only deal announced according to Frisky's recap.

I was just reading up on it and might bite if it's at $.99 like some of the recent sales. The wife has been wanting to learn chess so this might be a good way to get that going.

Anyone know if the online part of that game has been patched? I probably won't play much online, but the reviews I read made it sound horrible with no random matches and only "play-by-mail" options.

No patch that I am aware of, but I bought this game at full price and really dug it. I have a buddy who lives far away and do the "play by mail" thing all of the time. I actually prefer this way of playing. It's unlikely that I'll ever set aside a half hour or so to dedicate to a game of digital chess. But this way I boot up my PS3, see that it's my turn, make my move and move on to bigger and better things.

The option for regular ol' online play would have made this the full package, but there are also some fun single player options (e.g., puzzle-like games where you have to get checkmate in one or two moves).

 

[Derextreme]

I was actually just listing them in the order they were listed in the sale announcement, but thanks for the input. I'm just wondering if these will reach these prices later, especially Totori.

lol, yeah, i knew that. i was just saying how i would order them favorite to least. though i haven't played totori or nlks to have a vote about those really. i'm actually shocked that totori is on sale, i don't recall seeing any of those on sale for ps3 before, or even their dlcs. looking around at prices for the ps3 versions, they all seem pretty high still.

soul sac might hit 20 for retail, it's been on sale a few times for 30.

nlks also has a 20 dlc pack/pass, but i have no idea if any of that affects gameplay. looks like a lot of costumes or equipment. i don't see this getting any cheaper though. surprised it's on sale already after having a $20 price drop a few weeks ago.

 

[dealerman]

this sale. oh this sale. i just finally thought i had my budget sorted for all the upcoming games i wanted.

questions/thoughts:

Atetilier Toturi Plus -- this is part of a trilogy, right? Does this stand well on its own? Isn't another one coming to vita soon?

Silent Hill - bought during last sale. wasn't impressed, though i understand why others like it.

Touch My Katamari - just played the demo last week. bought. the use of vita touch controls to change the shape worked really well.

Ridge Racer -- worth it?

Muramasa Rebirth -- worth it?

New Little Kings Story - hmm. might have to bite.

Dynasty Warriors Next -- worth it?

yes, cards are overpriced for consumers. but i think it's more due to the cost of r&d plus lack of economies of scale than 'greed'. it's also likely the price of cards partly subsidizes a lower cost for the vita. don't get me wrong, i'd welcome a drastic reduction.... i just don't think 'greed' is why they are priced where they are now.

I think the Greed comes from the fact that there is only Sony brand memory cards. If they had competition the product would be better and the prices would too. They should allow third party manufacturing.

 

[captaintek3304]

I can't recommend Atelier Totori enough. It was the first of the series I've ever played and I loved it. Meruru is suppose to be coming to Vita, but I'm not 100% sure if its been confirmed for US yet. The series is not your typical RPG, so I'd definitely recommend reading some reviews or watching a few videos if you're on the fence. I paid $40 for it and don't regret it.

I'm not so sure about this Murumasa game. Seems like a beat em up? Is it worth the $21?

 

[@FIF]

I kinda felt that way about A Boy and His Blob (loved the art, but level design and difficulty were WAY more than I expected or wanted, which led me to never finishing it). This blurb stuck out to me while looking over metacritic:

Joysti - If anything, I'll blame DuckTales Remastered's shortcomings on the current state of digital pricing. It's unfortunate that a short but near-perfect game had to be weighed down with so much extraneous material, seemingly for the sake of padding out its length to justify a premium-priced digital release. 6/10

A lot of reviews I'm seeing are saying it's a game for those that loved the original and are looking for some nostalgia. Otherwise, it doesn't sound like it is really worth it.

I don't know, I personally agree with their review for The Last of Us. And it's good to remember that none of these sites are one entity, reviews are done by a bunch of different people who have different opinions on games. Maybe you dislike one reviewer in particular at a site (has happened to me), but that doesn't mean the entire site is to be written off.

FWIW, I actually agree that TLoU was overpraised. And I can see some people hating it.

Polygon's issue isn't a single reviewer though, its editorial. The site seems to revel is being at the extremes of review bands. Questionably high on a bunch of indie games. Bizarrely low on a few AAA's. A good editorial staff would reign in reviews that rationalize exceptional scores based on a single subjective characteristic of a game, whether TLoU's dark violence or Dragon's Crown's sexualized art, and refocus the writers on reviewing the works as games and as a whole.

It feels like the editorial staff has given the reviewers a mandate to be at the extreme ends of Metacritic's aggregated list of reviews--make waves to draw eyeballs. And it makes the reviews useless as actual indicators of game quality.

 

[htz]

Touch My Katamari for $3.75.

 

[breakfuss]

I think it was @velo who gave bad impressions of Touch My Katamari? Can't remember. It's $4 regardless...and I do love katamari, but I think he said a lot of the levels were locked behind a paywall or something, lol.

Polygon can suck a D. They gave the only bad review to Last of Us. They crapped on Dragon's Crown because of the art direction--which is surely something that should factor into a review, but its not like Crown has texture pop in, low res textures or some genuine technical/critical failing. Subjectively scoring the entire game because they don't like the witch's breasts and ignoring how it plays, how well its designed, whether it succeeds at its goals is ridiculous.

I can see how DuckTales would be divisive. But no one should put any stock in Polygon's evaluation of a game.

I agree the MS money hurts Polygon's credibility, but I still appreciate their perspective. It's one thing to be maverick for the sake of being so, but they always intelligently and thoroughly articulate their positions. I didn't agree with Dragon's Crown score, but she raised fair and valid points. Same with Last of Us. Same with Ni No Kuni. And since everything they've said about DuckTales is characteristic of WayForward's previous work, I'd say they gave it a fair shake. Let's just assume MS payed them to not board the hype trains.

 

[amusedtoe]

Hmm, the image they have on the sale picture is of Unbounded but that never came out on Vita. Pretty sure it's just Ridge Racer which is supposed to be beyond miserable. Apparently it also comes with only three tracks and the other six are DLC too.

FWIW, I actually agree that TLoU was overpraised. And I can see some people hating it.

Polygon's issue isn't a single reviewer though, its editorial. The site seems to revel is being at the extremes of review bands. Questionably high on a bunch of indie games. Bizarrely low on a few AAA's. A good editorial staff would reign in reviews that rationalize exceptional scores based on a single subjective characteristic of a game, whether TLoU's dark violence or Dragon's Crown's sexualized art, and refocus the writers on reviewing the works as games and as a whole.

It feels like the editorial staff has given the reviewers a mandate to be at the extreme ends of Metacritic's aggregated list of reviews--make waves to draw eyeballs. And it makes the reviews useless as actual indicators of game quality.

Unless you're foremost concerned with integrity that's exactly what you're doing since that's the only way you're making any money. The more extreme and controversial you are the more clicks you're getting, the more ad revenue you're generating. It's why a lot of these blog driven sites have devolved into sensational drivel.