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.
A bit off topic, but I thought I'd ask in here since ya'll are generally a very knowledgeable collective.
My son's pc recently started getting stuck in a boot loop. Initially thought it was the PSU but then settled on bad mobo. Long story short, new mobo didn't fix the issue, so I'm back to investigating the PSU. I've never done any voltage testing on one with a multimeter but just watched some videos on it and should be able to do that no problem. Those videos only focused on testing the 24-pin mobo plug - should I be testing all power supply plugs, ie GPU plugs, mobo pci-e plug, etc?
With the replacement mobo, I got it to boot into Windows, left it idling for a while with no issues but noticed the GPU fans were not spinning (they did only when first powered on, then quit). I moved him to integrated video so he could use the PC, but it started rebooting on him when playing non-intensive games like Worldbox or browsing the internet/youtube.
Gpu fans not spinning while idle is normal and a typical part of most fan profiles.
Beyond that, there's nothing that screams as an obviously identifiable problem based on your description. Your problem could be related to temps (in which event a sudden reset is triggered to prevent lasting damage) or an unstable component such as a ram module. I would first ensure that stock voltages across the board are set to auto/default.
I believe everything is set to stock voltage, we didn't mess with any of that for his PC, but I will check. And I had to clear CMOS on the new mobo to get it boot properly.
I'd launched one of his more graphically intense games - F1 '20 - and let it run for a couple of mins to see if the fans kicked on, but they didn't; maybe I didn't wait long enough.
I hadn't checked the RAM sticks since trying to diagnose the boot loop, but I'll try to run memtest on them, too.
I believe everything is set to stock voltage, we didn't mess with any of that for his PC, but I will check. And I had to clear CMOS on the new mobo to get it boot properly.
I'd launched one of his more graphically intense games - F1 '20 - and let it run for a couple of mins to see if the fans kicked on, but they didn't; maybe I didn't wait long enough.
I hadn't checked the RAM sticks since trying to diagnose the boot loop, but I'll try to run memtest on them, too.
Is it a new PC? Did you just add the RAM? Some systems do better with 2 sticks instead of 4 nowadays, but I haven't looked into that. You can try running with 2 sticks or run memtest or something. Assuming the logs don't tell you.
Newer PCs turn off the fans when they're not needed. My GPU/case/PSU fans are off a lot, and I'm not always sure it's on.
I'll take a look at the logs too. I haven't had a chance to investigate anything further yet.
This is not a new PC. It was my brother's old gaming PC, the parts are circa 2012 I think - i7-3770k CPU, 2 8GB dual channel RAM kits, GTX 970, everything inside came with it from him. We've had it for about 3 years and the only thing I've done was upgrade the HDD to SSDs.
One other anecdote - I didn't take the side panel off much, but when this first started, I noticed a red light on the mobo that I didn't remember being lit up in the past. It says it's DRAM_LED (I think the mobo model is Asus P8z77-V) and googling said it could be bad RAM, faulty PSU, or bad mobo. I tried powering on with each RAM stick by itself but it kept doing the boot loop and the led didn't turn off, so I moved on to other tests.
I dislike the new like system... I don't want to have to think about what human emotion is appropriate for a given post. Please assume a thumbs up is me displaying appropriate human emotions.
The 33% off coupon creates some pretty good deals on Epic for newer releases, things like Midnight Suns Legendary Edition for $20, Lego 2k Drive with Season Pass for $20, and Mortal Kombat 1 Ultimate Edition for $40. Plus you also get 10% credit back. I still miss the $10 off coupons but for high dollar items this way is a much better deal. Also an all time low on all the Kingdom Hearts games which are Epic exclusive and likely to remain that way.
More Epic Deals - no coupon:
-> Mass Effect: Legendary *** = $5.99
-> Need for Speed: Unbound - Standard *** = $9.79
-> Need for Speed: Unbound - Palace Edition (with 4 More Cars, 20 more clothes, and more) *** = $11.19.
*** = this requires also additional EA App client-app.
More Epic Deals - price after coupon:
-> Red Dead Redemption 2 [also requires Rockstar Launcher] = $13.26
-> Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive = $16.07.
-> Dead Space Remake (2023) [also requires EA App] = $16.07
The 33% off coupon creates some pretty good deals on Epic for newer releases, things like Midnight Suns Legendary Edition for $20, Lego 2k Drive with Season Pass for $20, and Mortal Kombat 1 Ultimate Edition for $40. Plus you also get 10% credit back. I still miss the $10 off coupons but for high dollar items this way is a much better deal. Also an all time low on all the Kingdom Hearts games which are Epic exclusive and likely to remain that way.
Wouldn't surprise me if Kingdom Hearts comes to Steam in April, similar to Tony Hawk (3 year exclusive). There's too much money to be made on steam.. I don't think square enix would be crazy enough to give up steam money for epic exclusivity. But if you don't want to wait or don't mind owning them on epic, that price is really hard to beat. Should even come with 10% cashback? $61 for all of that + 10% cashback isn't bad at all
Wouldn't surprise me if Kingdom Hearts comes to Steam in April, similar to Tony Hawk (3 year exclusive). There's too much money to be made on steam.. I don't think square enix would be crazy enough to give up steam money for epic exclusivity. But if you don't want to wait or don't mind owning them on epic, that price is really hard to beat. Should even come with 10% cashback? $61 for all of that + 10% cashback isn't bad at all
From what I've read, the Kingdom Hearts ports were done by Epic themselves, so it seems likely they have permanent control over them, which would mean continued exclusivity until Epic gives up on burning money on the PC storefront.
From what I've read, the Kingdom Hearts ports were done by Epic themselves, so it seems likely they have permanent control over them, which would mean continued exclusivity until Epic gives up on burning money on the PC storefront.
Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory. But from what I'm reading it's only worth getting if you really like rhythm games, the story is just a rehash of all of the other games with maybe like 25 minutes of new story content that you could watch on YouTube
Come on The Callisto Protocol giveaway. No way I'm paying Epic for that game and it's slid down the hill in price in recent months. Deluxe edition would certainly be welcome.
At some point they gave away The Crew and I ended up playing it quite a bit last fall via Luna streaming which was the perfect way to do it and quite enjoyable. It was, essentially, an MMO so I guess it's not surprising to see it die; I was surprised they were still selling DLC for it. A decade for an MMO is still a pretty good run, especially one without a monthly fee. Shame they can't just shift it to being an offline single player game though.
Unrelated Edit: Nobody gave SqueEnix the memo that the Steam winter sale isn't until next week so they added a week to theirs which includes many Final Fantasy games at 60% off directly from Steam which is the first time that's been the case. Will also be worth watching the beginning of the actual Winter sale for price mistakes as in the past double sales like this sometimes stacked unintentionally (though I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen any more other than in certain types of bundles).
At some point they gave away The Crew and I ended up playing it quite a bit last fall via Luna streaming which was the perfect way to do it and quite enjoyable. It was, essentially, an MMO so I guess it's not surprising to see it die; I was surprised they were still selling DLC for it. A decade for an MMO is still a pretty good run, especially one without a monthly fee. Shame they can't just shift it to being an offline single player game though.
Unrelated Edit: Nobody gave SqueEnix the memo that the Steam winter sale isn't until next week so they added a week to theirs which includes many Final Fantasy games at 60% off directly from Steam which is the first time that's been the case. Will also be worth watching the beginning of the actual Winter sale for price mistakes as in the past double sales like this sometimes stacked unintentionally (though I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen any more other than in certain types of bundles).
Yup, that's the thing - these games want to be always-online and have SP-focus....yet don't make anything work offline. Good thing I didn't spend $1 on this game.
About Square - Good. Now Squeenix can start early and stand-out doing a sale now when not as many got deals going on Steam at the same time and then they can keep it going into the Winter Sale. They seem to be hemorrhaging cash anyways for years; they need as many sales as they can get w/ the way they spend $ on developing and publishing games.
definitely worth grabbing. in the 3 weeks I've had it, I've dropped 30 hours in it, while floating around other games as well. A lot of... depth....to it
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria was marked down to half off so with the coupon it's now 67% off not even two months after release. Doesn't really bode well for future development but from what I could tell the general reception on launch was positive.
Some new historical lows on GMG after XP discount and 3% off XP voucher. Final Fantasy 7 Remake comes out to $27.16. Tactics Ogre is now 60% off. Bunch of other Square Enix games worth looking at.
Might finally go for FF7R now that it's 60% off on GMG, but I suppose the base price could drop as happened with FFXV eventually. Also considering Tactics Ogre and Dragon Quest Treasures. Anyone know if Tactics Ogre deluxe comes with the full soundtrack or just a small sampling? Was hoping Live A live would be 60% this time, but maybe next sale.
Some new historical lows on GMG after XP discount and 3% off XP voucher. Final Fantasy 7 Remake comes out to $27.16. Tactics Ogre is now 60% off. Bunch of other Square Enix games worth looking at.
I'm loving FF7 Remake Intergrade; got that on Epic a bit ago. Like some 20 hours in or so. I paid like $24 for it during last recent Black Friday Sale. IIRC, Epic has a 30 Day Rule on sales - so hopefully, that comes back soon for others. But, to get that on Steam might be worth the extra few dollars for many here.
I'm also seeing with my XP boost here for these Steam-keys:
FF4 (3D Remake) = $5.12 *
FF4: The After Years (3D) = $5.12 *
FF7 (OG Steam version) [Steam] = $3.84 *
FF8 (OG Steam Version) [Steam] = $3.84 *
FF8: Remastered [Steam] = $6.40
FF9 [Steam] = $9.72 *
FFX and FF X-2 Remastered Pack = $9.60 *
FF12: Zodiac Age [Steam] = $16
FF XIII = $5.12 *
FF XIII-2 = $6.40 *
Lightning Returns: FF13 (a.k.a. FFXIII-3) = $6.40 *
FF15 [base-game] = $11.20 *
FF15: Episode Ardyn DLC = $1.60
Chrono Trigger = $6 *
Chrono Cross: RD [Steam] = $8
Romancing SaGa 2 = $4 *
Ramancing SaGa 3 = $6.96 *
SaGa: Scarlet Grace - Ambitions = $7.20
STAR OCEAN: The Last Hope - 4K & HD Remaster = $5.04 *
Legend of Mana [Steam] = $12
Secret of Mana = $16
* = I already got these already on Steam - but such good prices, had to point 'em out.
So, how's FF8 OG Steam version v. FF8 Remastered version?
I have FF8 on PSX and FF8 OG version on Steam; I ain't got FF8 Remastered from Steam. I did not like a lot of the grind in OG FF8 on PSX, as you needed to stock magic up by Drawing and Stealing & was annoyed by Long-winded Summons with no real fast forward (though, you could hit Skip w/ Start button) - so are there mods for OG FF8 on Steam and how weird Junction system was - fixing any or especially a lot of that grind & mess could really help. Up to 3x speed in FF8 Remastered on Steam sounds like it could really help that - does FF8 OG Steam have any of that for mods or anything?
EDIT (this line only) - Oh, there's hi-speed mode in FF8 OG on Steam, hit the F1 key. That might be good enough for me, for now.
Oh, and FF8 story & character stuff's all over the place too; and Squall's super-whiny and annoying, without going into details galore as to why and whatnot here without spoilers; and without going into stuff about other non-party members being botched IMHO, too.
FF8 Spoilers and Thoughts.
Ultimecia seems so lacking as a character in so many ways. I always wondered, since it ain't spelled-out, if that was Rinoa "gone bad" and turned evil & doing anything to try to chase Squall through-out time (whether it's for revenge, to try to get back to be with him, mixture of both, and/or any other reasons), since he's blowing her off for like a great deal of the game - until near the end of time almost happens. If they ever did spell it out that Rinoa is Ultimecia, I think it probably actually would've helped Ultimecia as a villain.
I did love Ultimecia puppeteering Edea; what a great twist that was, ending Disc 1. It's a shame after Disc 1, it didn't amount to much w/ Ultimecia - but, that's also why I wondered if Rinoa = Ultimecia.
Also, super-tempted by FF12: Zodiac? How is FF12? Been wanting that for quite a while.
I’ve been saying Vagrant Story is the best game of all time, and FFT is the best game with the words “Final” or “Fantasy” in the title, for something close to two decades now, and I can’t recommend 12. This isn’t because I think the game overall is bad. This is because the first few hours are so boring that I’ve never gotten any further than that in the half dozen times I’ve tried to get into the game.
I’ve been saying Vagrant Story is the best game of all time, and FFT is the best game with the words “Final” or “Fantasy” in the title, for something close to two decades now, and I can’t recommend 12. This isn’t because I think the game overall is bad. This is because the first few hours are so boring that I’ve never gotten any further than that in the half dozen times I’ve tried to get into the game.
I have had the exact same feeling about 12. I've tried to start it over and over again on so many systems but never can seem to get into it. Maybe it really takes off after the initial few hours but I'm usually sleepy or distracted by squirrels I see outside when ever the game is loaded on a console.
I enjoyed FFXII: TZA. The TZA improvements really help with character customization and I had fun experimenting with different builds. Modern features like ultrawide support also really help. After playing through vanilla FFXII a few times, TZA was the first time I fully engaged with everything, did all the mark hunts, etc. Perhaps the most notable gameplay quirk of the original was the bizarre Zodiac Spear mechanics, which required you to skip opening several treasure chests. Now in TZA there's even more bizarre ways of rng manipulation that let you exploit your way into obtaining weird OP invisible weapons that would be otherwise be highly improbable to obtain in a normal playthrough. In TZA there's still some oddities and stretches of rough gameplay, but overall I enjoyed it & recommend it. Probably lands somewhere around #5 among my favorite FF titles.
I also really recommend using the free Moguri Mod on the existing steam version of FFIX. That was a great experience on steam deck.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria was marked down to half off so with the coupon it's now 67% off not even two months after release. Doesn't really bode well for future development but from what I could tell the general reception on launch was positive.
Is there any way to get a discount on Steam credit now? Target shuts them off this time of year, BB doesn't have sales, GameStop ended using GCs to buy them, and I can't even think of another retailer that sells them. I've never paid full price for a gift card in my life so I'm kind of at a loss here.
Having played all the main series several times each over the years aside from 16, FF12 is easily my favorite Final Fantasy. Maybe my favorite jrpg ever actually. And that was before the Zodiac Age improvements, which really do enhance everything gameplay-wise. I get that it’s a pretty divisive game though. People who really like the anime-ness of jrpgs seem to mostly dislike 12. There’s not much of that here. The monsters look more like realistic critters that wander around the massive maps. Even the moogles look like big average rodents in this game. Despite there being 3 female party members, they have no otaku appeal to them at all. There’s not much comic relief, aside from Balthier’s occasional snarky comments. There’s magic and espers sure, but that’s mostly in service of a plot that centers around geopolitics and wartime occupation. The main character doesn’t help things either. He mostly comes off as a bland tag-along and practically disappears into the background by the 2nd half of the game. If you view everything as Ashe’s story though, and it really is, then things become a lot more interesting and the stakes are a lot higher. She’s also a pretty interesting, well-written character… kind of a snobby royal at first, who ultimately has to get over her grief from losing her husband and move on to restoring her kingdom. Every character besides the two kids are really great actually. Favorite part of the game for me is still Fran’s return to her village, where she realizes that she will never be welcomed back, and that’s okay, life goes on. It’s the one small bit of character development she gets, but it just blows you away with how simply well told it is.
And then there’s that gameplay… ppl say it just plays itself, and there’s some truth to that. But that’s the appeal- spending hours crafting the perfect set up gambits and letting your party loose in a giant dungeon and guiding them through it like a small army of automatons. And eventually you stumble upon a boss or mark, and you have to do a lot more micromanaging or even turn off the gambits entirely. It’s brilliant, especially if your favorite part of jrpgs is minmaxing and customizing a perfect party. The gambit system is still unlike anything else in any rpg, and the job system in ZA makes it even better.
So yeah, hearty recommend. I might pick it up too, as they added a respecing option a while after I platinumed the PS4 version of Zodiac Age. There’s definitely an optimal job setup for the 6 party members, but being able to respec into different roles and experiment should be fun.
I didn't play FF12: TZA long, as I really wanted to see its combat & all, since I'm in the middle of FF7 Remake Intergrade - but, this combat in FF12 already to me feels like early on here a DAO type of combat RTwP (Real-Time with Pause) meets FF Menus (when you hit the C button on the gamepad to pause). So, yeah - I'm liking this combat already. This already seems right up my alley here - even with a controller.
Of course, gonna have to restart to get the full gist of story and character stuff - but this feels like the FF take on doing a BioWare-style RTwP combat system (think say BG1, BG2, DAO, NWN1, etc.) and using a mix of FF Menu-stuff when you do issue the Pause part. This type of combat here in FF12, old-school turn-based combat (think of any TB-system from FF1-10), and/or the FF7 Remake's action-RPG combat with a slow-motion VATS-style thing laced with FF Menus seems like what I would really want out of any FF games - I'm fine w/ these.
Maybe I need to check out FF15 again - but it's combat so did not hit me. Felt like FF meets Mass Effect games - too simplified (for a FF game to me), as you don't have much control over the other party members except you can issue them to use their Special Skills.
Back to FF12: TZA here now. When doing the "steamapp_id.txt" trick (create this file with the game's Steam ID Number - that's "595520" for this one - in the main game-directory and/or wherever the game's EXE file is), this game now works without Steam going, once you got it downloaded and installed from there, making it essentially DRM-Free. Tested it, works great.
Is there any way to get a discount on Steam credit now? Target shuts them off this time of year, BB doesn't have sales, GameStop ended using GCs to buy them, and I can't even think of another retailer that sells them. I've never paid full price for a gift card in my life so I'm kind of at a loss here.
None that I've found. I used to get Amazon credits for doing surveys, buy XBOX and PSN credit and sell it on here for 15 to 20 percent off. I'd then take the money and buy Steam Credit, but Amazon won't let you buy gift cards with your balance any longer.
