Steam+ Deals Mega Thread (All PC Gaming Deals)

Neuro5i5

Neuro5i5

CAGiversary!
Feedback
151 (100%)
This thread will attempt to provide a place to discuss past/present/future PC gaming deals. While mainly focusing on Steam games, any standout sales may also be presented. I will not be updating every Daily/Weekly/etc. sale. The tools to help individuals become a smarter shopper will be provided below.

See this POST for links to store sale pages, threads of interest and other tools to help you become a more informed PC game shopper.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 12 Downvote
DD83 said:
Wow... the new discovery queue interface sucks... It might be okay for people who just blow through queues during events to get badges/cards, but sucks if you actually look at stuff to add to wishlist.

I want to see the screenshots.

I wind up adding in dozens of extra clicks to load tabs with the full page so I can see screenshots and other info.
Click to expand...
I am not seeing the new queue - maybe they're rolling it out in phases.

 
I'm out this Steamfest. I looked through about 100 games and most were already wishlisted or not interesting to me. I think I have like 2 I want to try, but this wont be a 100+ demo gamefest like I usually do.

 
Kyle1022 said:
Y'all are slacking on the Steam Next Fest demo reviews. Here is one I recommend trying:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1192810/Romancelvania/

It's called Romancelvania and is part Metroidvania, part dating sim, from a team of former Bioshock developers. There's also a waifu with pumpkin tiddies. Yes, it's as great as it sounds
Click to expand...
Aquatico: An underwater city builder. It has potential and looks good but the UI... so frustrating that I lasted 15 minutes before I quit out and uninstalled it.

Cosmoteer: Star Valor or Star Sector type top down space shooter with some FTL vibes. It has potential but again, UI issues. I got slaughtered trying to get my first bounty. Maybe I'll go mine rocks for awhile.

Soulstone Survivors: A 3d version of Vampire Survivor/Nomad Survival. Not bad overall with pretty spell effects but I'm burnt out on the genre now.

Manor Lords: I've been watching this one for two years since it was announced. Medieval City builder with rts combat (not in the demo). It has big potential. Looks good graphically for an alpha demo. Aspects of Banished, Bannerlord and total war in one package.

Death Trash: Already in EA and has a demo but I played it last week so I will toss it in here. A pixel graphics post-apocalyptic rpg exploration game with "cosmic horrors" and punks with shotguns. I didn't hate it and Steam says I lasted 26 minutes before some tentacle dude killed me.

Weird West- Released earlier this year but played the demo the other day. Another cosmic horror take on the Wild West that despite wonky controls and camera, it was fun for over an hour. Think Hard West/Wasteland but with real time combat.

6 more demos to go.

 
I am too busy to do my normal "I played 60+ demos, here's a 1 sentence review."

Quick stuff (green means go, red means no, yellow means ... mo-ybe?)

Asterigos: Zelda X Dark Souls; low budget, but has heart
The Knight Witch: Shmup meets roguelike, I think; it deserves a second chance
9 Years of Shadows:  Neat looking metroidvania, I like it
The Eternal Cylinder: Weird storytelling meets Spore; this will either be weird AF good or weird AF bad
Seven Cities: Jank ass diablo clone, nope
Homicidal All-Stars:  Jank ass XCOM clone, nope

Boomerang X:  Really tense first person action; not looking for that right now, but it can get quite addictive!

Edit:

Soulstone Survivors: Prolog: Loved the demo, love the prologue; recommended!

Edit2:

Potionomics:  Amazing animation, great artstyle, funny dialog, and neat gameplay (cards and crafting).  Easily my #1 so far.
Chaos Crown: It's got spunk and heart, but its jank, as well
God-Machine: God-no
Spark in the Dark: I played an earlier demo that tried for more of a physics heavy combat (I think) and it was bad.  They have trashed that and gone for more animation based; I like it as a dark, dank dungeon crawler.  More interested now.
Technobog:  Same as Chaos Crown, melee action versus archer action.  Has heart, as well.
Dice Tribes:  It's a city builder strategy game that uses weighted dice rolls and dice-math manipulation.  It's seemingly pretty clever, think Dicey Dungeons, but as a strategy game versus a roguelike.

Hex the Lich: Not digging it

Flooded:  I dunno about this one, a reverse builder.  I think it feels a bit tedious? I don't like time limits.

Kamifuda:  It's an anime VN with Magic the Gathering gameplay

Retooled:  Needs reworked.

Swarmlake: Second game by the guy who made Refunct.  Buy them both.

School of Magic:  Magically tragic.
Bound by Blades:  Weird battle system; I don't like it, but I think its got something there

Cartridge Defense:  Nah
Delicious Dungeons:  Undercooked

Birding Simulator:  Nothing to tweet about

Gibbon: Beyond the Trees:  It's neat at what its doing, kind of ape (monkey?) based auto runner, but not my thing

Roadwarden:  Vibes are strong with this one

Brotato:  Technically I think there isn't a demo anymore, but I played its old demo to death.  Love this!

I cheated and added in demos that are available now, but things I've tried over the past few weeks. 

I plan on playing more sometime this weekend and would love to see other's recommendations!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Played 1 out of 7 demos I downloaded.

Dredge (8/10): The fishing part is less difficult than I expected. A lot of sailing and quests, and the controls are mostly intuitive. A lot was locked away in the demo, like all upgrades. Was planning on buying it, and I still plan to.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I finally set up my Steam Deck, but mine had a problem that my relative's didn't have. The plastic on the back panel of mine was warped near the left trigger, which was causing some contact and making it feel "mushy". I've seen other people online post about this issue

I really didn't want to have to RMA it, so I took off the back panel (which was a pain in the ass to remove) and filed down the plastic where it was rubbing against the left trigger. After filing away what seemed like a LOT of plastic on the lip of the back panel, I was able to reattach it without it making that contact anymore. Now it works perfectly, mushiness is gone

The best part is that you can't tell any work was done to the back panel from looking at it on the outside. I've also heard that people have taken a hair dryer to the warped area and bent it back into place, or just wedged something in between them and kept it there for awhile until they separated, but I wasn't sure if those would only be temporary fixes. By filing it down, I'm sure I'll never have to worry about it again. Just a heads up in case anyone else runs into a similar issue - before you deal with the hassle of an RMA, you might be able to fix it yourself
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Steam Deck Dock can be ordered now, but, goddamn...

$50 - sweet. $60 - ok. $70 - pump the brakes, Valve.

$90!?!? Too much, Gabe. I'll look at other options.
 
Well I guess you could connect a lot of nice things to it...

OBnHGPxBoBpCtqzsOPKQ-cG3mwA=.gif


 
Wildfrost (??/10): Card battler. Good presentation, but it feels much more punishing than even Slay the Spire. Took it off my wishlist and will assess at a future time.

Potionomics (0/10): Odd Potion Craft mixed with a card battler. Loads so much and it's so unoptimized. Nothing is intuitive. Text is slow as hell and you can't skip to next dialog, so you're forced to stare at nothing if you finished reading. A lot of in-your-face BUY ME messages. Froze for me on first try, and second try I couldn't figure out how to get back to the shop. What I could play wasn't particularly fun. Alt-F4ed. I don't know who the target audience is.

Got 4 more to try.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The discovery queue is freakin' terrible now! Very hard to navigate and navigating to game pages to see screenshots is horrible. This is on a desktop.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The DLC is defintely essential for both games. It's only a couple dollars more for the ultimate editions as opposed to the base games, so you might as well
 
Since it was mentioned in this thread not too long ago, I figured I'd post the update here.  It looks like Valve re-evaluated that CHAOS;HEAD NOAH game that was originally denied and will now allow it on the platform so it will still be releasing tomorrow (10/7):

https://www.gematsu.com/2022/10/chaoshead-noah-for-pc-to-launch-via-steam-as-previously-planned-on-october-7

https://www.spike-chunsoft.com/news/update-steam-version-of-chaoshead-noah/

VALVE'S STATEMENT TO SPIKE CHUNSOFT:

“Valve’s content review team, the group that made the original decision, has re-examined CHAOS;HEAD NOAH and decided to reverse course and allow the game to ship on Steam, as is. We’ve also examined the process that led to the previous decision about CHAOS;HEAD NOAH, and made some changes to avoid situations like this in the future.”

SPIKE CHUNSOFT'S STATEMENT TO FANS:

“We believe this decision is the result of the unwavering support from fans of the Science Adventure series as well as all of the players who are eagerly awaiting the release of this title. Your voices have been heard. We sincerely appreciate your commitment. We look forward to your continued support of Spike Chunsoft and the Science Adventure series.”

 
Last edited by a moderator:
whelp, they're now selling steam decks without a waiting period. guess i better ge... wait a minute, i hate mobile gaming. 

takes money from imaginary steam deck fund and puts it into imaginary ryzen 5800x3d fund.

catch you portable gaming morans on the flipside...

 
Lithium Flower said:
Great for Spike Chunsoft but hopefully banned games like Muramasa are given another look.
Click to expand...
In the grand scheme of things it should help games like Muramasa, but Spike Chunsoft probably has the biggest following of any VN publisher on steam. That lead to a 5k signed petition in only a few days. I'm hoping whoever rejected it gets fired. You don't just reject a VN on steam that's already been heavily censored and released on switch, especially when it's apart of the science adventure series lol
 
1st set of impressions. Honestly I probably wouldn't totally recommend any of these. They all had flaws and were not super exciting. I did think Birth was pretty interesting with it's somewhat grotesque and very artsy style, but the gameplay was just OK. Bigger than Me had a good idea but also had a somewhat bad execution. The music was good and I can see this being a bundle darling somewhere down the road.

9 Years of Shadows - 16 minutes. This was pretty meh Metroidvania game with alright pixel art, decent enough sound and music, and some OK controls. It’s a desolate land and some girl is trying to stop a curse. It just wasn’t too exciting, I lost at a boss and my game froze. 6/10

The Abandoned Planet - 7 minutes. A typical point and click first person adventure game about someone crash landing on a planet. It has a really messy interface with OK enough voice acting. Just didn’t play that well and was confusing. 5.5/10

Afterdrean - 13 minutes completed demo. This one is a 2D adventure horror puzzle game where you are in a dream and lots of creepy stuff happens in a weird motel. It was kind of neat though I didn’t like the vibrations and would turn them off. It looks decent enough to play bundled. 6.5/10

Astergios: Curse of the Stars - 33 minutes. This one is a 3D adventure souls action game kind of Monster Hunter open world game. It looks pretty decent and controls all right although the impact of your weapons and skills on others feels a bit lacking. Also one major major downside is when you restart from a save point it doesn’t keep track of your items. If you use 6 health potions and lose in a boss battle, you will not get them back. This major flaw ruined the demo and forced me to quit. I feel it needs polish and would be good bundled, but the developers need to do something or no one will play this game. 6.5/10

Bigger Than Me - 19 minutes completed the demo. This is an adventure game of a struggling guy who is trying to pay off his apartment. It’s an adventure game and has puzzles but also little mini games to kind of annoy, but also provide a bit more interactivity. He gets big and the only way to get out of it is to calm down. You usually have to do puzzles to calm down. This one was very nice graphics wise and may be a good final product preferably bundled. 7/10

Birth - 35 minutes completed demo. This one has you going around searching for bones and organs to create something. It has a weird art style and is a puzzle game like Leyton games at heart. I kind of enjoyed even though pure puzzle games aren’t usually my jam. I would easily play bundled. 7/10

 
Last edited by a moderator:
eulogywerd21 said:
The Steam Deck Dock can be ordered now, but, goddamn...

$50 - sweet. $60 - ok. $70 - pump the brakes, Valve.

$90!?!? Too much, Gabe. I'll look at other options.
Click to expand...
I own the JSAUX dock with gigabit ethernet but don't like how the ethernet plugs into the side. Also, I have no self-control so I bought the official dock for future compatibility reasons (maybe future firmware updates work better with the official dock?).

 
Anyone have suggestions on how to buy the humble choice bundle this month? I've tried 3 times using my card and my wife's card but I keep getting hit with a "manual review" then canceled order. Normally I wouldn't care but I seriously doubt I'm going to get Deathloop for anywhere near the $13 they're charging. I've sent in a support ticket this time around but I'm not hopeful given my last couple attempts to purchase.

Eta: I should mention that this is the first time I'm buying anything from Humble, is that the issue?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
walletandgromice said:
Picking up fallout 3 new Vegas to go straight into my steamdeck backlog. Any opinions of if the DLC is "essential" or not?
Click to expand...
Absolutely.

For F3, you literally need Broken Steel DLC to continue playing in the game-world, after you finish the main quest. Also...Broken Steel, The Pitt and Point Lookout are awesome. The other DLC's are good too, but those ones stick-out. Also, these are meaty for DLC's - so, you'll want them all. So, yeah - go GOTY on Fallout 3.

For FO:NV - you certainly want to go Ultimate. Get all the DLC's, even the Item DLC's like Courier's Stash. First off - to do the JSawyer Mod (made by the lead at Obsidian on FNV himself, who wanted to make the game harder for himself...and others) or any variants of that mod that are out there (such as JSawyer Ultimate, Sawyer Batty for FNV, and SawyerBatty for TTW) - you'll need to own every single DLC for FNV. So yeah, go Ultimate on that. Also, like F3, the DLC's are meaty - and Old World Blues DLC is one of the best DLC's ever - so yeah, you'll want to go Complete.

As usual per Bethesda games on their GameBryo/Creation Engine games - their fans often do buy everything and modders often makes mods while owning everything which will cause their mods to often require you own everything - so to be safe, just own everything there.

So, this previous paragraph goes basically for:

1. ES3: Morrowind - go GOTY Edition;

2. ES4: Oblivion - Go for the GOTY Deluxe version on this;

3. ES5: Skyrim - Go Special or Anniversary;

4. F3 - go GOTY on this;

5. And F4 - go GOTY on this; especially since Far Harbor DLC is great & Nuka World DLC is quite good.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
samnite said:
I own the JSAUX dock with gigabit ethernet but don't like how the ethernet plugs into the side. Also, I have no self-control so I bought the official dock for future compatibility reasons (maybe future firmware updates work better with the official dock?).
Click to expand...
I'm debating the dock, but honestly, I'd probably only use it as a charger. My TV has all the actual consoles connected to it, and I have my PC for games that require me to play on a PC. The deck is for when I wanna sit on the couch and get a crick in my neck. Maybe I'll grab one down the line, but now is not the time for that, I think.

 
caldazar said:
I'm debating the dock, but honestly, I'd probably only use it as a charger. My TV has all the actual consoles connected to it, and I have my PC for games that require me to play on a PC. The deck is for when I wanna sit on the couch and get a crick in my neck. Maybe I'll grab one down the line, but now is not the time for that, I think.
Click to expand...
I use a $20 monoprice usb-C power/hdmi/usb dongle, attached to a $7 (for 2) usb-C right angle adapter, sitting on my WiiU non charging stand. I also use a $8 usb to gigabit adapter with it. The only thing I didn't already own was the usb C right angle adapter.

It looks a bit janky but it was compared to $90? That's just silly.

Like you but I don't really need a dock esp not at $90. I have consoles, a PC, and a steamlink. I use the handheld as a handheld.
 
I went for the official dock, but I can see why many are going for third-party options. $90 is definitely a lot, but I have to have the "official one" for my OCD, lol. Is displayport better if I am connecting to a PC monitor? Also, does anyone have suggestions for a good screen protector? I have the 64GB deck and I am looking at the "magglass" anti-glare protector since I didn't spring for the more expensive option with the anti-glare screen.

 
I went with the official Steam Deck dock as well. I was hesitant for the price, but had a few months of $20 Steam GCs for $15 from GameStop and my logic is that the output to a tv will be the most refined with the official dock. The fact that the firmware can be upgraded tells me it has the best possibility of working well in the Linux mode as well. Using the Steam deck with a standard dock was less than thrilling, so I have high hopes for the Valve hardware.
 
caldazar said:
I'm debating the dock, but honestly, I'd probably only use it as a charger. My TV has all the actual consoles connected to it, and I have my PC for games that require me to play on a PC. The deck is for when I wanna sit on the couch and get a crick in my neck. Maybe I'll grab one down the line, but now is not the time for that, I think.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I totally understand. I am totally FOMOing here in case some firmware update makes the official dock essential but those who are handheld only with the deck probably don't need to worry about it for now. I actually try to use my DECK for games exclusive to the PC and the dock makes those games more enjoyable and portable (at a destination while traveling) on occasion.

 
Kyle1022 said:
I finally set up my Steam Deck, but mine had a problem that my relative's didn't have. The plastic on the back panel of mine was warped near the left trigger, which was causing some contact and making it feel "mushy". I've seen other people online post about this issue

I really didn't want to have to RMA it, so I took off the back panel (which was a pain in the ass to remove) and filed down the plastic where it was rubbing against the left trigger. After filing away what seemed like a LOT of plastic on the lip of the back panel, I was able to reattach it without it making that contact anymore. Now it works perfectly, mushiness is gone

The best part is that you can't tell any work was done to the back panel from looking at it on the outside. I've also heard that people have taken a hair dryer to the warped area and bent it back into place, or just wedged something in between them and kept it there for awhile until they separated, but I wasn't sure if those would only be temporary fixes. By filing it down, I'm sure I'll never have to worry about it again. Just a heads up in case anyone else runs into a similar issue - before you deal with the hassle of an RMA, you might be able to fix it yourself
Click to expand...
handsome-handy.gif
 
Someone mentioned it before it was actually available, so for any Prime users who forgot till just now (like me), you can now collect a GOG code for Middle Earth: Shadow Of War.

 
Next set of impressions for this Steam Fest. I still have a bit under 40 to go, of which I'll likely hit all of them trying to give them at least 5 minutes each (some games don't reach this or I know most of the feel in under 5 minutes). This set has some more excellent feeling games in the list along with some strong good games as well. Gunbrella was pretty cool feeling and controlled extremely well. The Knight Witch looked excellent, controlled decently, was unique and challenging. I also think Hybrid Heaven was a nice feeling visual novel and would have played and finished it if I had the full version. Decernation had excellent French music and had decent character development for the demo. It was weird as heck, but kept my interest. Insomnia: Theater in the Head was also absurd and weird, but strangely entertaining.

Bravery & Greed - 25 minutes completed demo. This one is an adventure beat em up fantasy arena fighter RPG thing. It kind of reminds me of Neon Abyss, but it isn’t a shooter. This one is really badly balanced for single player. The controls feel floaty at times especially for jumping. It’s all a bit imprecise. There seems like there will be a large variety of loot and skills and such, but it already felt shallow and pretty just alright. The graphics were great and the sound was alright. This feels like a future bundle game, and I wouldn’t buy it unless you want a co-op arena fantasy beat em up. The boss at the end of the level had so much HP that my person was useless after a bit. 6.5/10

The Bunny Graveyard - 2 minutes. This one is a simulator of a bunny and her garden I think. It’s supposed to be scary. I couldn’t leave or figure out how to activate anything in the first scene. Just a protip to any designers out there but don’t do this! Try to help out enough to at least figure out what to do in the very beginning. I gave up after all the controls ended up doing nothing. Incomprehensible/10

Case Files: The Death of Paulette Williams - 6 minutes. This one is one of those mystery games that are popular now where you go through videos and recordings in order to solve a case. The main investigator had OK voice acting. This one feels a little more rough, but I’m sure has an OK mystery. I’d rather just play this later bundled, but it seemed competent enough. You can take notes depending on the interviews and what you see. 6/10

The Case of the Golden Idol - 3 minutes. I really didn’t like this one. It has a murder scene I guess and you get words from clicking them and objects to solve a mystery I guess. On the thinking page you put all the words in proper places to solve a mystery or something. The graphics were not to my liking and it all felt clunky. This might be fun to put all the pieces together for some, but it was a bore to me. 4/10

Cesspool - 3 minutes. Another one I didn’t like. This is an RPG in the future and looks apocalyptic. I don’t know how but the controls felt super floaty for moving around. There was this weird CRT monitor filter that made things harder to see and read. It may have potential, but felt a little generic other than one of the characters being a monkey. 5/10

Chasm: The Rift - 10 minutes. Just a remaster of an old FPS. The voices are still campy and the game is just OK still. The graphics look nice enough being pixelly but clean. The controls are OK although the enemies feel a bit bullet spongey on the normal difficulty. It’s OK, but I would only get bundled. 6.5/10

Clash: Artifacts of Chaos - 27 minutes. This one is a unique looking good sounding 3D over the shoulder fighting game. It feels very unique although the controls take a lot of getting used to. This one can be very good as it felt very polished already. The characters looked interesting as well. 7/10

Cult of Babel - 7 minutes. I don’t know Vampire Survivors, but I’m sure this is a clone of it. You just play someone moving around and shooting things to unlock cards or something. It was OK enough, but I should likely just play the original game. 6/10

Death Roads: Tournament - 6 minutes. An original take on deck building. In this one you’re in a Mad Max style universe where you fight in a car. The UI is very, very clunky and I had no idea what I was doing half the time with the mass amount of iconography. There could be something here, but the tutorial needs to be upgraded as it helped a bit, but didn’t teach me the fundamentals well. Would play bundled. 6/10

Decernation - 20 minutes maybe I had something to do and left the game running to complete the game. What a weird game. It has quite good graphics and some unique French music. It’s a story lead drama game about a dancer and has a lot of weird imagery and such. Really felt alright although the rhythm mini game needs a lot of work and is hard to get great timing on. Worth it for the story I’m sure. 7.5/10

Doubleshake - 37 minutes. This one is 2.5D platformer that feels like floatier Tomba. Alright graphics and controls although some of the jump and movement was tricky. Not too amazing but felt alright and you got quests and found stuff too. With a little bit of work it could become a decent game. 6.5/10

Dream Tactics - 3 minutes. A very minimalistic looking turn based Final Fantasy Tactics like strategy game. It has a card system, but was not super intuitive from the UI. The character portraits were nice. Otherwise just OK and would maybe play in a cheap bundle. 6/10

Fallen City Brawl - 3 minutes. This is a side scrolling beat em up ala Streets of Rage. This doesn’t control anywhere near as well although the animations are nice as well as the sounds and music. It just felt OK, but would be an okay bundle game. 6/10

Foolish Mortals - 12 minutes. This one is an adventure game about a guy wanting to find a treasure, but he needs to communicate with the dead to do that. He has to do a task for a voodoo doctor to help. This one has decent enough voice acting, a little rough animation, but a lot of heart. A lot of people worked on this on and I feel in the full thing it may be a good adventure ghost story. 7/10

Gun Jam - 2 minutes. Another FPS keep the beat game, although this doesn’t feel as good as Metal Hellsinger. The music seemed good, as well as the aesthetics, but I kept dying on the first level and wasn’t sure what to do. Would only play bundled. 6/10

Gunbrella - 36 minutes finished demo. This has been one of the better demos I’ve played. You play a guy who has a gunbrella that is used for fighting as well as moving. It controls decently well with the gamepad and seems like an interesting 2D platformer shooter. It has solid graphics and a decent soundtrack. I would play this one discounted. 8/10

Hunt the Night - 10 minutes. This one is a top down kind of souls like Zelda kind of game. You play a vampire I think and have to fight some monsters. The controls were OK, though everything felt floaty. The graphics were cool for the cutscenes, but only OK in the real game. The music and atmosphere was pretty good. Nothing amazing, but could be cool. 6.5/10

Hybrid Harmony - 29 minutes completed demo. This one is a romantic comedy visual novel about a human going into a hybrid school where there are trolls and pixies and such. It had OK voice acting for the girls and seemed pretty fun. The art wasn’t too bad and the music was alright. I liked the setting too. I would buy it with a slight discount. 7.5/10

Inkulinati - 9 minutes completed tutorial. This one is a well animated 2D plane based turn based game. It is alright and looks very decent, but it wasn’t very interesting IMHO. You play a character that draws out minions who can be moved and do moves. You can either push an opponent off the plane or have your minions finish them. It’s alright and has decent music. 6.5/10

Insomnia: Theater in the Head - 13 minutes completed demo. This one was so weird. It stars a girl who is an insomniac and to show this there is little theater pieces puzzle things to showcase it all. It’s well illustrated and seems OK. Very unique at least. 7.5/10

The Knight Witch - 53 minutes completed demo. This one is a unique Metroidvania bullet hell shooter type game. You have cards which do powers when powered up by energy. It’s pretty decent with alright controls and has a good story with good graphics. Would easily get bundled. 8/10

Mato Anomalies - 12 minutes. This one is a futuristic RPG about some guy who meets some other guy after being attacked. I believe the first guy is a detective. This is kind of trying to be SMTish, but the execution is worse. It still is decent with a cool setting and generally derivative gameplay. 6.5/10

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Only the good ones, because I am busy:

Wildfrost Another card game, but with a lot of card multipliers and even the ability to play cards on cards(!); it gets pretty hairy, I liked it
Cassette Beasts:  Best indie take on Pokemon/Digimon, IMO.  Interesting mechanics, great vibes, and I dig the music and aesthetic
Dream Tactics:  As a tactics connoisseur, there is a lot of depth here enabled by the card based system.  Don't let the simple art direction fool you, as the development of characters, the stacking of statuses, and the third character that benefits from stance swaps all makes for great depth in a fast-paced, no frills title.  Add in some cute writing and you get a must-have SRPG, IMO.
Ship of Fools:  Roguelike boat-based tower defense/action combat.  There are a lot of moving parts here, but I think this could be the standout "one of those" titles this year or next depending on release.  It really is a unique take on a well beaten path.  Dip your oar in!

My metric for recommendation is if I wasn't compelled to turn it off and wanted to play more (or meeting "thanks for playing, this is the end of the demo!" line bums me out).  All of the above will be hits, probs.

 
Two more demos I enjoyed:

Against the Storm: City builder where you try to rebuild a village while not angering the forest gods or the ruling queen of the land. Rebuild civilization and fight against evil rain or forest killing your village.

Zoria Age of Shattering: Turn based rpg game, a mix of Divinity OS 1/2 another isometric rpg games. Decent crafting system and combat was pretty fun.

They really need to make these two weeks long with so many demos out there. Some still seem to be active now at least.

 
It's officially happening. Goodbye Origin...Hello, EA App.
 
[customspoiler="YAY!!! Finally."]
 
Nft4Epz.gif


[/customspoiler]

*Also, be aware that if you install the EA App now, it will replace your Origin install. Previously (not sure when it changed), you could have both installed at the same time.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Why are we excited? Isn’t it just Origin by a different name? Wake me up when I can play my EA on Origin games on Steam without installing any other app. God EA sucks …
 
Finished the Steam Fest games I had. There are a lot in this batch. There were some solid ones in this set. Pitstop in Purgatory was a unique visual novel about a girl and others in purgatory. Spooky milk life was my 18+ game of the fest. It was ridiculous and fun, which I wanted to play more of. Thirsty Suitors was a very unique feeling RPG and almost feels like Scott Pilgrim the RPG. It involves a girl going back to her home town and dealing with her exes. Wavetale was a very good feeling 3D platformer with very nice water and could have a lot of potential. Lastly Unusual Findings also had cool 80s asthetics and could be a good adventure game when it's out. Others I have around 7 are also worth playing, but these were the best of this lot.

Meg’s Monster - 20 minutes. This one is a decent looking RPG similar to Undertale, but it plays more like an over the shoulder Suikoden looking game. It felt alright and could be good, but I didn’t find it amazing other than the graphics. 6.5/10

Metroplex Zero - 31 minutes. A cyberpunk deck builder Slay the Spire like. It has okay music and just average graphics. The gameplay is a little complicated for building decks and all. It seems alright although it could use some polish in the gameplay. 6/10

MiLE HiGH TAXi - 9 minutes. I really didn’t like this one. It’s a Crazy Taxi clone where you have a hover taxi and can go up and down. It’s confusing and doesn’t control anywhere near as good as Crazy Taxi or Simpson’s Hit & Run. Just felt bad, although the atmosphere was cool. 5.5/10

Midnight Girl - 10 minutes completed demo. This one is 2D adventure game about a girl in older times (I think early 1900s) who is trying to get through a place and must solve puzzles to get a bolt cutter to get through. It was alright and looked and played alright. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad either. 6.5/10

Monospaced Lovers - 60 minutes. This one is a somewhat floaty 2D platformer adventure game with a lot of jumping and some annoying binary and hex puzzles and such. These drove me nuts and I was getting tired of it. Otherwise the game is quite gorgeous and I wish the puzzles weren’t so confusing. 6/10

Multi-Medium - 10 minutes. This one is another 2D platformer puzzle game with a lot of jumping. The graphics look hand drawn like a coloring book. It’s alright, but I got tired of the environmental puzzles. It’s not bad, but just not to my liking. 6/10

Out of Hands - 3 minutes. Really weird kind of rogue lite card game where everything is hands. It’s just weird and original for sure, but the gameplay was kind of off. Not my thing at all. 6/10

Pitstop in Purgatory - 20 minutes finished demo. This one is a mix of a mainly visual novel and some light adventure puzzles about a girl who dies and ends up in purgatory. Pretty much it’s about her and the people there. It seemed pretty interesting. It has a unique hand drawn look that is simple but nice. I liked the music and the atmosphere. This one seems worth playing when it’s out. 7.5/10

Potionomics - 18 minutes demo completed. This one was kind of weird. It’s kind of a mix of a visual novel and store simulation thing about running a potion store. The graphics are nice, but the game itself is OK. In brewing stuff you have timers and in selling stuff you do some weird deck building thing to make more interest. It’s alright overall and has good graphics, but it felt clunky as well. I wasn’t crazy about it. 6.5/10

Psychroma - 15 minutes demo completed. This one is a weird 2D adventure horror game about cyborgs and dreams and lots of weird stuff happening. I’m not sure about it, but it was creepy and could be interesting. 6/10

Public Bounce - 7 minutes. This one is an adult interactive mini game really about people in situations and they want to do crazy things, like one person is an on air radio show person and asks people to do instructions for sure. This is combined with annoying 1 button timing mini games. The premise is interesting with people doing things places they wouldn’t otherwise, but the execution is poor. This should have just been a visual novel. Decent enough graphics with OK voice acting. 5.5/10

Slay the Princess - 7 minute demo. This one is a choose your own adventure visual novel about a hero slaying a princess or not. If you die, you come back to the same place to do it again. An interesting art style, excellent narrator voice with an alright princess voice as well. This one felt entertaining and had humor to it. This one looks to be good bundled for sure. 7.5/10

Sole Saga - 18 minutes. This is another Vampire Survivors clone. Nothing amazing and has some anime aesthetics. Honestly just felt OK. Didn’t control amazingly well either, mainly for skills. 6/10

Spellbook Demonslayers - 60 minutes. Another Vampire Survivors clone although this one was pretty decent. It controlled well and the graphics were OK, but not amazing. Overall seemed like a good one to get on a discount. 7/10

Spooky Milk Life - 30 minutes finished demo. This one is an absurd 18+ game where you play a guy moving around and it’s like a life sex simulator. The in your face of everything 18+ makes it almost a parody, but it was pretty fun. The graphics were good and the gameplay was OK. There are ways to get more stats and also get acquainted with characters. There even is a basic RPG timing battle system which is OK. I’d probably get this one discounted. 7/10

Storyteller - 7 minutes. This one is a puzzle game where you have characters and settings and you try to get some desired outcome by telling a story. It looks good, but wasn’t too exciting. Would be alright bundled though. 6.5/10

Theseus Protocol - 19 minutes. Bare bones anime rogue lite Slay the Spire like with electronic music and no story and no explanation of anything. It wasn’t terrible, but even sometimes I thought I would block everything, but it didn’t and I just can’t explain. 6/10

Thirsty Suitors - 15 minutes finished demo. This one is a stylistic RPG about exes and getting over them and moving on in life. This is styled like all heck, has a good soundtrack, has Mario RPG like timing and seems very interesting. These are the good type of indie games trying something new with their own flare. I would get it discounted. 8/10

Turbo Kid - 28 minutes. Highly original cross between Mega Man X, bike riding and an open world like Castlevania. This one can be hard to control for the bicycle, but it was fun. It had decent graphics and a good soundtrack. It was hard though and the control for fighting can be a lot better. Still pretty recommended. 7/10

Unusual Findings - 16 minutes completed demo. This one is a 2D adventure game set in the 80s with some very good looking pixel art, voice acting and decent music. Stuff happens and your set of 3 friends needs to unravel the mystery. I liked this one enough and would get it discounted. 8/10

Venegful Guardian Moonrider - 35 minutes completed demo. This one is a 2D somewhat Ninja Gaiden action game. It’s all fast paced and controls OK enough. The jumping and attacking feels floaty and slow at times, but it works OK. Overall this had great asthetics and soundtrack. I would get it bundled only. 7/10

Vernal Edge - 57 minutes completed demo. This one is a very actiony puzzle like Metroidvania. This one had a lot of precise platforming and an action combo system for combat. It mainly has arena like combat with multiple enemies. This one had nice graphics and decent music. I think the arena like fights could get old quickly, but it was pretty fun. Worth it bundled. 7/10

Void Scrappers - 14 minutes finished a run. This is yet another Vampire Survivors clone. This one is in space, looks quite generic and plays OK. It’s one of the more forgettable ones I’ve played. I feel it will be an Indiegala bundle sooner or later once it’s done. 5.5/10

Wavetale - 16 minutes completed demo. This one is a very nice looking and sounding 3D platformer about a big mist that takes over an island. You end up getting hit by the wave, but afterwards end up on an island. Here you see something and realize it helps you float on water and so begins the war versus this black sludge stuff. It also had good voice acting and controlled very well with the Series X controller. Overall it was solid and would be worth getting discounted. 8/10

Wildfrost - Almost 3 hours. This one is somewhat similar to Monster Train and has you as a hero and some allies that attack when their cooldown is up. The graphics are excellent along with the sounds. The control is good. What isn’t good IMHO is the balance of the game. Some enemies are extremely spongy and deal lots of damage. I got to I think the final boss a few times, but it had so much health and everyone was doing lots of damage, so it was a bust. Because of these issues, I am downgrading the grade to just a good game. If balanced it will be an excellent game. I also don’t understand why you can only have 3 allies I think. There is room on your side of the field for 6, so this seems a little lame. 6.5/10

Invercity - 8 minutes. This one is a Japanese game I believe as I played it untranslated (not by choice). This is a simple platformer and puzzle game where when you do a handstand as the little girl you invert gravity. It’s nice and gives some good puzzles. Good for a cheap or bundled game. 7/10

女拳主義F-ist - 7 minutes completed demo. This one is an 18+ punch out rhythm game simple thing where women become so powerful that one man training in the forest must defeat them to restore manhood’s dignity. This was OK drawn and really dumb. Still would play bundled. 5.5/10

Milk Girl -Sweet memories of summer - 43 minutes completed demo. This one is a decently bad game about a girl who comes over from your youth and she has a milking problem. You then take her in during the summer and have a life sim with her. This is basic and not too amazing. There is lewd in the game, but it’s all words and no actions. Just not very good. 5/10

Purrrfect Love - 14 minutes. This is a visual novel nukige where you are a manga writer and have a girl meet you at your house one day. She knows your name, but you don’t know her. She is crazy about you and that begins this wild adventure of a guy who has nightmares about a house fire and his cat he didn’t save. This has pretty decent art and a good opening. The story is pretty meh, but I would get it in a cheap Indiegala bundle or something. 6/10

 
Last edited by a moderator:
etcrane said:
Why are we excited? Isn’t it just Origin by a different name? Wake me up when I can play my EA on Origin games on Steam without installing any other app. God EA sucks …
Click to expand...
I'm not excited, more sarcastically frustrated. I'm not one who really cares about different platforms, so much. For me, it feels the EA App just still needs time to bake. The feature set is as basic (and even more so, currently, in some areas) as Origin was. Even GOG Galaxy has more features available, like the ability to hide games or customize the size of game tiles. As a PC user, I/we tend to prefer having options. If you are going to take away an option by forcing your client, at least give me options on what I can do with it.

 
etcrane said:
Why are we excited? Isn’t it just Origin by a different name?
Click to expand...
Kind of, I guess. [shrug] Very similar, but...seems more ALSO geared for EA Play (their Game Pass) - similar to what the Xbox PC App does.

But I ain't checked EA Desktop App in some time though - but some games I own on EA Origin just weren't even showing up on the new EA App, a while ago, when it was in Beta. [shrug]

I ain't gonna move until it's forced now, as there's some PC's that I ain't even put that EA App junk on yet - i.e. my new Gigabyte Laptop.

Wake me up when I can play my EA on Origin games on Steam without installing any other app. God EA sucks …
Click to expand...
Don't know if that'll ever happen. We got a better chance of that happening if Steam stops allowing extra app's/storefronts on their store - which they likely won't do, as I'd bet games using Origin, Uplay, Xbox PC App still sell really well there. Valve/Steam cares about the $.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top