I almost picked up Beyond Earth, but I've heard such mixed things about it that I've just decided to give it a pass.
Games on SALE!
- Thread starter figmentPez
- Start date
Sooo...nothing of value lost, then?
Meh, I'm kind of interested in Beyond Earth, but at only -50% and no DLC, I'll wait. I expect I'll pick it up this Christmas or next summer at -75% or -80%, in a GOTY/complete/whatever edition. I know it isn't quite Civ-V-meets-Alpha-Centauri as everyone wanted, but it's still probably worth a playthrough or two.
Between tax stuff and car troubles, I really don't have much leeway money that isn't Gamestop store credit ... but Mega Man X4 and X5 are each less than a dollar on PSN and I'd be stupid not to jump on that for less than $2 total.
figmentPez
Staff member
Humble Bundle #14 is out. Best game in it is Torchlight 2, IMO, but there's lots of other good stuff.
Has anyone played Unepic? I keep thinking of checking it out, but I'm not really big on Metrovania games.
If you're not into Metroidvania you might not like it. I found it fun, but it's pretty tough and unforgiving when it comes to bosses. It adds in the pattern recognition of Mega Man on top of other things, so yeah.
I got it a while back. I wasn't that happy with it. But I'm not a platformer fan in general, so don't take my word as final.
It's Lego Sale Mania, brother!
First, Steam is having a Lego sale with 75% off many of the Lego games.
http://store.steampowered.com/sale/LEGO
Then Humble Bumble's store has the same kind of sale with pretty much the same selection!
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/lego_weekend/
Though they're also having a WB game sale, too:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/wbgames_weekend/
(Having now played through and beat it, I can say that Arkham Origins is worth getting for $4.99. It's not worth much more than that, but worth playing at least once.)
They also still have an Adventure Game mid-week sale:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adventuremidweek/
(I'm tempted to get Back to the Future, Wolf Among Us, and maybe the Broken Sword games, which I've never played.)
First, Steam is having a Lego sale with 75% off many of the Lego games.
http://store.steampowered.com/sale/LEGO
Then Humble Bumble's store has the same kind of sale with pretty much the same selection!
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/lego_weekend/
Though they're also having a WB game sale, too:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/wbgames_weekend/
(Having now played through and beat it, I can say that Arkham Origins is worth getting for $4.99. It's not worth much more than that, but worth playing at least once.)
They also still have an Adventure Game mid-week sale:
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/adventuremidweek/
(I'm tempted to get Back to the Future, Wolf Among Us, and maybe the Broken Sword games, which I've never played.)
Wolf Among Us was great. It's another in the vein of the 'new' style of telltale adventure games, like The Walking Dead. I loved everything about it. Back to the Future is much more in the older style, but still fun and charming if you like those. Never played Broken Sword.
figmentPez
Staff member
I disagree with your conclusion. Back to the Future is more of an older style adventure game, but it's gameplay sucks and will not appeal to anyone just on the basis of it's gameplay. It's only good if you want the story, which is an enjoyable BttF tale, but I can easily see an adventure game fan being frustrated at how boring the "puzzles" are.
You just described most 'older' style adventure games, which is why I included the caveat that you have to enjoy those.
All I remember about "older adventure games" is that a lot of them didn't actually work, or relied on completely random actions that could make the game unwinnable within the first five minutes. I know there was one text adventure for the C64 that I really loved, but had a bug near the end of the game where it literally wouldn't respond to the key phrase you needed to use to finish the goddamn game.
GasBandit
Staff member
Yeahhhh I really don't miss the "you have to try every item on every target in the world" type adventure games, like Gabriel Knight and such. There needs to be some logic to it.
I don't like the (slightly more recent) flash games that have you stuck in a room, either, where you have to click everything with everything to get out.
Or games where you immediately discard a tool after using it once, or where there is a huge logic impasse: if I'm traversing through a ruined building and I find a fire axe that I can use to get through a door where the lock is broken, I should be able to use that same thing to get into any locked room that doesn't have, like, a massive security door. And I'm sure as fuck not tossing it away. Same with any kind of screwdriver, adjustable wrench, and crowbar. For that matter, if my character has a shotgun or any kind of explosives, there really shouldn't be a thing as a locked door anymore.
I think there are some good, classic-style adventure games being made. Anything by Wadjet Eye is worth it, especially the Blackwell series. But then, I grew up on adventure games, so I'm a little biased.
There's a similar game on steam right now, only in a more light hearted sense. It's called Please Don't Touch Anything, where you visit a friend at his job, and he runs to the bathroom, instructing you not to touch anything.
Naturally, you touch everything.
Green Man Gaming has a strange sale going on right now:
http://www.greenmangaming.com/easter-7/
They're selling different packs that include 7 indie games, each selling for $1.
1) There's a lot of repetition among the packs, which makes me wonder what the point is of that.
2) I've never played or even heard of almost anyone of them.
And now having a look at some of them on Steam, almost all of them have either mixed or negative reviews. So sounds like you're getting your moneys worth here, you guys!
http://www.greenmangaming.com/easter-7/
They're selling different packs that include 7 indie games, each selling for $1.
1) There's a lot of repetition among the packs, which makes me wonder what the point is of that.
2) I've never played or even heard of almost anyone of them.
And now having a look at some of them on Steam, almost all of them have either mixed or negative reviews. So sounds like you're getting your moneys worth here, you guys!
figmentPez
Staff member
And even among those, Back to the Future is bad. Which is really saying something. Compare it's puzzles to something good, like Grim Fandango, or Curse of Monkey Island, or even the Sam & Max games from Telltale, and you'll see that the puzzles are much better constructed in a good adventure game. BttF is just bland when it comes to puzzles, which is a far worse sin to most adventure game fans than being obtuse is.[DOUBLEPOST=1428043463,1428042898][/DOUBLEPOST]
And this makes me think that I should differentiate between the truly old school adventure games from the text era and the hey-day of Sierra, where death was common, unwinnable states were part of the "replay value", and puzzles were intentionally as obtuse as possible; and the slightly less old school adventure games that came about after LucasArts largely did away with death, unwinnable states, and made most puzzles have some sort of clue or logic in the world.* (It may not have actually been obvious, and may have resulted in a "try every object on every other object" approach for many players, but the puzzles in the Monkey Island series really did have clues to solving them in the world.)
BttF is not only solidly in the latter of these two types, but it's puzzles are so straightforward and foreshadowed that they hardly count as puzzles at all. Any adventure game fan who chose the "Mega Monkey" option in Curse of Monkey Island is going to have pretty much zero trouble finishing BttF, and indeed may simply be bored if they don't enjoy the story. BttF's puzzles are obvious and boring.
*Then there's the slightly different style of adventure game that Myst brought to the table, where story takes a back seat to pretty worlds, and interaction with characters makes way for straight-up logic puzzles.
Steam has a sale on the Metro Redux games (remade) for 50% off. Get them both at once and save a whole $0.50 (Can). Fifty cents, you guys!
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/44169/
Postal 2 is on for 90% off. Kinda tempting.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/223470/
Age of Wonder III 66% off
http://store.steampowered.com/app/226840/
Humble Bumble is having an Origin Humble Bumble 2:
https://www.humblebundle.com/
(On the one hand, some great games on there for a low price. On the other hand...Origin. But at least more than half is redeemable on Steam, too.)
And just to make the vein in @GasBandit's head throb, a Humble Bumble sale on Rogue-like games!
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/roguelike_midweek/
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/44169/
Postal 2 is on for 90% off. Kinda tempting.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/223470/
Age of Wonder III 66% off
http://store.steampowered.com/app/226840/
Humble Bumble is having an Origin Humble Bumble 2:
https://www.humblebundle.com/
(On the one hand, some great games on there for a low price. On the other hand...Origin. But at least more than half is redeemable on Steam, too.)
And just to make the vein in @GasBandit's head throb, a Humble Bumble sale on Rogue-like games!
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/roguelike_midweek/
This sounded tempting until I actually looked at it, and realized I already have DA:O, Dead Space 2, and Mass Effect 2 on Steam, and I have no interest in the remaining games. If they add Mass Effect 3 to the bundle and it remains a really low price, though...
For some reason (did the board really just roll back, or is the whole of time-space a bit frazzled? I can't tell) gog.com has already started their May the Fourth sale. Lots of Star Wars games at nice discounts (though some are ridiculous), a few new releases (Rebel Assault, guys! Guys!).
GasBandit
Staff member
The second-most hated Ultima game is free on Origin!
http://www.bluesnews.com/s/161128/ultima-8-free-on-origin
http://www.bluesnews.com/s/161128/ultima-8-free-on-origin
GasBandit
Staff member
What's a Paladin?
GasBandit
Staff member
So, Steam sale for May the 4th. The KOTOR series, Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series, Empire at War (a HIGHLY underrated RTS game), Battlefront II, Starfighter and (ugh) Force Unleashed all for 23.00