Anyone pick up anything new this time around? Brutal Legend was $1.50, yes under two dollars, so I got it. Factorio looks like my kind of crack so I got that as well, even if not on sale. The game is early access, but it was a full release/Kickstarter game that they put back into pre-release for Steam.
Other than that I am playing Stellaris and nearing an end-game on a long slog. Not sure yet how I am going to review this one, but it is on sale if you are into bullshit map-management simulators like I am.
I grabbed Cities: Skylines finally and lost 3 hours on it immediately. I can see why people laud it as the true successor of SimCity 4. So worth the price. Also grabbed an RPG called Siralim that reminds me of Dragon Warrior Monsters for the Gameboy Color. Haven't gotten to play it yet, but am excited to try it out.
Cities is probably one of the best games I've ever bought. I really don't play it a lot (or anything outside Rocksmith, really), but I've enjoyed every minute I've spent in that game. While the traffic mechanics that can cause growing pains can be annoying, it's still fun watching your tiny city grow into a booming metropolis. I'd love to go play some more and knock out some of the monuments.
My holy grail in skylines is to make a city where it's always faster to walk to the next district than take a car. It works up to a certain size, then the emergency and civil services cause a break down because they can't get to places fast enough. One day though...
ARK: Survival Evolved is on and off sale all year. I'm nearing 500 hours on it since I've gotten it. It's pre-release as well so it's buggy for what it is but has so many features rolling out roughly twice a month. The dev team crowd sources mods too, so the community base is pretty forthcoming with content as well. Open-world, semi-sandbox, with a Jurassic Park type of survival. The game is as technical as you'd like it to be. Well shit, now that I'm typing this comment, is there a Hubski group?
I've been running it fairly well on a mac that's a bit dated. There's a formula for getting the launch settings and in-game settings tweaked just right as well. With regard to who you play with, just as with MC, all you have to do is find the right server (usually smaller ones, avoid public like the plague). I tend to find keepers on Reddit.
I refrained from putting that in the description for some reason, but that's the general consensus. In truth, it's taken over my minecraft slot in terms of gaming. My main minecraft server got shut down due to the crackdown on EULA (mainly towny servers). I was able to convince a fraction of the community to start ARK. Having one survival/crafting game at a time seems to be the way to go too... none of us have touched minecraft since. Less so a missed opportunity - if anything, it'll be way better if/when you pick it up.It's Minecraft with dinosaurs that you can tame and ride!
I picked up Life is Strange since I heard it's a really solid story game and I'm a sucker for those. I picked up the HD remake of AoE II for the nostalgia and I had a hard time not impulse buying one of my favorite games of all time for the price. Finally I picked up a tradeable copy of HuniePop to troll one of my friends, still deciding who my victim will be.
Start playing Life is Strange and don't stop until it's over. Your mind will break and you will enjoy every second of it. You can generally plow through it in about 12 hours or so. There are so many screwed up things that happen in that game (and are different depending on your seemingly inconsequential choices) that you will completely lose your shit at some point. I'm generally not one to cry in movies or games or really ever, but I completely lost it during one of the later scenes. They even include many parts of the game for you to simply just sit down. All that happens is that you sit there. It's generally because you are just trying to comprehend the insanity that just happened, and trying to literally just be relaxed enough to handle and cope with the next thing you are up against. It's moments of reflection in life. There are enough relateable moments to anyone who's actually experienced any level of difficulty in life that you are guaranteed to get attached to one or more characters to the point that you absolutely do not want anything bad to happen to them. And it could, depending on your choices. You can also save them, depending on your choices. The music and soundtrack is incredible, the style and feel is unrivaled. It's simply a series of moments in life that turn your world upside down, all mixed into one story. The gameplay is simply a series of approximately 67 different choices that affect dialogue and outcomes in future situations. The first screen you see when you start the game is: "Life is Strange is a series of choices that affect the past, present, and future. Choose wisely." 10/10, would pay $2000 to wipe my memory and experience it again for the first time. That being said, the replayability is still high since you can make different choices and get an entirely different mood throughout the game. Though in general even the least heavy hearted timeline is very screwed up due to certain story elements that are guaranteed to occur. Life is Strange's subtitle should be: "Throw Donnie Darko in the trash can, it's useless now".
Fantastic endorsement! I was excited enough to check out how much it costs. The only thing stopping me was that I'd have to get a Steam card. But your description was really persuasive. I watched a couple gamers play the beginning of the game and lost interest. Maybe it's one of those games that you have to play yourself to enjoy.
It also takes some time to get going. They have to introduce the characters, the setting, the atmosphere of what's "normal". And it does take some time. It's the only video game that the characters actually feel like real people to me. And yeah I think you have to play it yourself. That being said, if you are with someone who is watching (significant other?), they'd enjoy it too because they can be a part of the decision making processes which are the largest part of the game.
I'll actually tell you one thing, the best place to put the game down (once) and get some sleep is between episodes 2 and 3. You're not going to want to put it down during the craziness that is 3-5, and generally you'll need a nap in between. I just got to the end of episode 2 for the fourth time in a row and I know (because of past experience) that I've lead the story down in about 4 different places that I've never experienced before, so it will be interesting to see how they play off each other. There's already been dialogue I've never heard before and the real choice impacts haven't occurred quite yet. It's also interesting to be able to figure out how everything plays off each other I guess with multiple playthroughs. Combining X with Y choice can cause outcome 1 of 3, let's try to get outcome 2 next time around, etc. There are also entire locations that you will not be able to go to every time. There's no reason to because the plot doesn't develop that way for you. This game is so intricate and the sheer quantity of meaningful items laying around is staggering. I do have to say this is probably a masterpiece.
I think I got myself hyped up for the game. I've played through it many times already, and I think I'm going to play it again now. It's a perfect game for playing when you have time for and need to reflect on your own decisions in life.... and now is a good time for that for me. Additional: They apparently are called "Moments of Calm" on Youtube and you can see them all by searching: Literally. Just. Sitting. Yet your mind is going completely nuts.
I picked up Transformers Devastation for myself, and spent about 15-20 bucks getting various friends stuff.
I got about 10 hours into it. Time flew as I figured out a lot of the stuff on my own. I've been avoiding the wiki and forums, and its hitting all my ADHD and OCD buttons. I need to put it down and run through Brutal Legend, and try not to be sad when Lenny's cameo comes up.
I bought a few things that I might never get around to playing. Played a few hours of Dead State and like it so far. Pillars of Eternity seems fantastic but I've only gotten to play for less than a half hour at a time. I hope I get a chance to gorge on it soon.
I'm not a gamer but I like watching gamers on youtube. The stories I've heard are that the Steam servers are getting overloaded and that it's hard to get on to see what's on sale. One Let's Player is saying to wait until later in the season unless the sale is really good or the price is right since the prices usually come down later in the season. Although I'm not a gamer, I've been tempted to get a game on Steam called Slime Rancher. It's in beta, I think. I haven't checked to see if it's on sale. It's the last thing I need right now. But I really liked watching it played on youtube.
Slime Rancher is on sale, but only 20% ($16) and it's still Early Access. My general rule for Early Access: But what's there now, not on anything that is promised, so it's up to you. I've been interested in that one too. As for waiting for better deals: IsThereAnyDeal can tell you if a game's been cheaper before. It's always a risk that something will go cheaper later and it usually does with the rare exception. They don't do the whole 8-12 hour deals anymore and everything stays the same price until the end of the sale, so you have through this Sunday to decide if something's worth it.
Thanks for that price update and correction about early access. Both are reasons that I won't be getting it. That's too high for me for a game that's not even completed. I've seen one gamer do an update video when they added some stuff, but the updates aren't going really fast. Will you be getting it?
Don't think it's quite there yet for me, price or content wise. It's been on my radar though because one of the streamer/youtubers I watch has played it and the fact that I've never seen anything be creative with various forms of slimes except Dragon Warrior, so it immediately popped out at me when I first saw it.