Steam Holiday Sale (Dec 18 - Jan 2)

[Ruldra]

Pretty much everything is on sale right now, so check out if anything interests you. Post worthwhile sales in here.

A couple that caught my attention is FTL (24hr sale - $2.49) and X-COM Complete Pack (UFO Defense, Terror from the Deep, Apocalypse, Interceptor and Enforcer - $3.74 for them all).

Crypt of the NecroDancer is 40% off right now but I feel this one will get a bigger discount in the future.

[Tregard]

Anyone have any opinions on Gunhound Ex? It's 80% off at the moment and looks like a fun blast.

I think I'm going to take it easy with this sale. Might just allow myself a tenner for a few indies buried in my wishlist.

[HydrogLox]

Gunhound EX REVIEW - Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 99

[Teufel_in_Blau]

Pretty much everything is on sale right now, so check out if anything interests you.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/261470/
Sadly not. ;_;

Will probably get South Park.

[Squire Grooktook]

Anyone have any opinions on Gunhound Ex? It's 80% off at the moment and looks like a fun blast.

I don't think the level/boss design is as pitch perfect as Gigantic Army (it's relatively straight forward and by the books, as opposed to GA's constant pressure and risk/reward), but it's still very well designed as far as I've played, and the speedy dashing and punch packing weapons are great fun. Shame about the scoring system though. I most certainly recommend picking it up...alongside Gigantic Army!

Picked up Freedom Planet myself. Liking it a lot so far. Feels a bit more precise then Sonic (from which it draws obvious inspiration) and the expanded moveset gives greater freedom to progressing through stages as well as makes non speedy moments feel more satisfying and lenient compared to Sonic's occasionally sloppy momentum breaking moments. Controls still feel a bit ill suited to actual dodging during boss fights, as in Sonic, but going on the offense with the games unique attack options is extremely entertaining and easily justifies the boss fights. I think this one's a definite keeper.

[Mischief Maker]

Anyone have any opinions on Gunhound Ex? It's 80% off at the moment and looks like a fun blast.

I don't think the level/boss design is as pitch perfect as Gigantic Army (it's relatively straight forward and by the books, as opposed to GA's constant pressure and risk/reward), but it's still very well designed as far as I've played, and the speedy dashing and punch packing weapons are great fun. Shame about the scoring system though. I most certainly recommend picking it up...alongside Gigantic Army!

Call me an idiot, but I thought the boss fights were where GA fell apart because your secondary weapons tear the boss down in seconds, and since the score is based on a timer, you're not penalized by speed kills.

What am I missing here?

[Ruldra]

What am I missing here?

The Steam version nerfed the beam cannon, one shot will take about half of a lifebar now. Still strong but not the broken weapon it was anymore.

And one of the Steam achievements is to 1cc insane mode with 18 million points, good luck getting that one. Even if you play perfectly you won't score much higher than that.

[Ruldra]

The store updated and Risk of Rain is now 75% off as a daily deal. This is the highest discount this game ever had.

[Blackbird]

I strongly recommend picking up Risk of Rain and Freedom Planet if you're interested in them. Both are fine games. Cri Cro is heavily discounted as well.

[Tregard]

I don't think the level/boss design is as pitch perfect as Gigantic Army (it's relatively straight forward and by the books, as opposed to GA's constant pressure and risk/reward), but it's still very well designed as far as I've played, and the speedy dashing and punch packing weapons are great fun. Shame about the scoring system though. I most certainly recommend picking it up...alongside Gigantic Army!

Gigantic Army was also on my wishlist. Sold!

The Shadow Warrior remake is 90% off for the next 24 hours, at £2.99. Don't remember seeing it this cheap before, will probably pick it up. It looks legitimately old-school.

[Squire Grooktook]

Anyone have any opinions on Gunhound Ex? It's 80% off at the moment and looks like a fun blast.

I don't think the level/boss design is as pitch perfect as Gigantic Army (it's relatively straight forward and by the books, as opposed to GA's constant pressure and risk/reward), but it's still very well designed as far as I've played, and the speedy dashing and punch packing weapons are great fun. Shame about the scoring system though. I most certainly recommend picking it up...alongside Gigantic Army!

Call me an idiot, but I thought the boss fights were where GA fell apart because your secondary weapons tear the boss down in seconds, and since the score is based on a timer, you're not penalized by speed kills.

What am I missing here?

Speed kills are part of scoring yes. That does mean you have to completely hold back on your secondary weapon during stages (which can be difficult with some of the later mini bosses being very dangerous). Late game bosses can often survive your sub weapons enough to still do some damage. If you play without sub weapons though, the last few bosses really do shine. Amazing battles.

[iconoclast]

It's not part of the Steam sale, but you can get Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (the best kart racer, probably because it's more like an arcade racer), Nights, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 Part 2, Sega Bass Fishing, and Sonic Adventure on Steam for a dollar (or whatever you want to pay): https://www.humblebundle.com/

As far as the sale goes, I'm just hoping Trails in the Sky gets a discount. I don't see it happening, though.

[Ruldra]

As far as the sale goes, I'm just hoping Trails in the Sky gets a discount. I don't see it happening, though.

Winter sale is just around the corner so wait for that. If it doesn't get a discount then, you're out of luck.

[Pretas]

Descent II and III (strangely not the first game) are half off for the sale, though you can get them DRM-free on GOG. Descent II is probably the greatest first-person shooter ever made for DOS that isn't Doom or Quake, and should have particular resonance with STG fans. A flight stick is all but required, though. Descent III tries to modernize the formula too much to no benefit, and any real challenge is eradicated by the addition of unlimited lives and the ability to recover all equipment after death. However, it does feature some welcome spacious outside areas to provide some relief from the endless claustrophobic tunnels.

I do not recommend Freedom Planet or Risk of Rain. The former is a cringe-inducingly cloying Sonic fangame with awfully questionable level design and physics; the latter is a piddling clone of Abuse or any other number of side-view analog aiming shooters, with lousy hipster graphics.

[Mischief Maker]

I do not recommend Freedom Planet or Risk of Rain. The former is a cringe-inducingly cloying Sonic fangame with awfully questionable level design and physics; the latter is a piddling clone of Abuse or any other number of side-view analog aiming shooters, with lousy hipster graphics.

Are we talking about the same Risk of Rain, here? It doesn't have freeaim last I checked.

[drauch]

Descent II is probably the greatest first-person shooter ever made for DOS that isn't Doom or Quake

That's bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.

[Squire Grooktook]

I do not recommend Freedom Planet or Risk of Rain. The former is a cringe-inducingly cloying Sonic fangame with awfully questionable level design and physics; the latter is a piddling clone of Abuse or any other number of side-view analog aiming shooters, with lousy hipster graphics.

Are we talking about the same Risk of Rain, here? It doesn't have freeaim last I checked.

Everything in that paragraph is nonsense.

Risk of Rain is a bit slow while un-upgraded, but becomes a bit better when the more fast paced characters and powers are unlocked. It's solid if you want a multiplayer run and gun shooter with randomly generated terrain and items, but I don't think the combat is terribly interesting. For someone who enjoys more tight design, Risk of Rain is a pass and something I only play for friends who like it.

Freedom Planet is aces though. Physics, level design, and boss design are all good and far superior to the game it takes inspiration from.

[Mischief Maker]

Freedom Planet is aces though. Physics, level design, and boss design are all far superior to the game it takes inspiration from.

The one thing I would ding FP for, if being completely honest, is the designer's choice of using Macromedia Fusion for the engine. It's just not up to the task of rendering a game this fast at fullscreen without tons and tons of tearing. At least on my 1920x1080 display.

[Leandro]

I bought a lot of games on Steam this year but I have almost no time to play them. I won't even enter the site anymore to avoid being tempted, lol

[Ruldra]

Took another peek at the store today and saw Gauntlet at 50% off and Papers Please at 70% off.

But I just wanted to say that I bought One Way Heroics and I recommend it very much. Very fun turn-based RPG that you can buy for less than a dollar at the moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bllk28GN3Wk

[CStarFlare]

Grabbed Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ today. I think I bought it twice for XBLA, and it's still a blast.

Also bought Sim City 4 Deluxe, La Mulana, and Astebreed. Astebree hasn't thrilled me, and haven't tried the others yet. If last year's Sale purchases are any indication, I probably won't ever get around to it.

[Mischief Maker]

Stay away from Papers Please!

It's not a fun puzzle game with a shit job theme, like tapper, it is a shit job that you're paying money for the privilege of working.

Papers, Please is the game most to blame for me finding myself on the unpopular side of gamergate, because of the unanimous ball-washing this game got from a gaming press still to this day sore over Roger Ebert snubbing them.

[Blackbird]

Papers, Please is critically interesting because of how effectively it integrates it's narrative into the action of the game. The gameplay itself is probably rather boring for most people (intentionally?). Think of it as a glorified visual novel about working in a socialist state rather than a puzzle game. Is it overrated? Maybe.

Gamergate is not about stopping "ball-washing" reviews though. If people really cared about ethical journalism, then biased, obviously-bought critics would be under criticism. But they aren't. Discounting Phil Fish (who almost everyone hated anyway), only female gaming personalities are being silenced. Don't delude yourself into thinking that gamergate is about something else.

[Mischief Maker]

Papers, Please is critically interesting because of how effectively it integrates it's narrative into the action of the game. The gameplay itself is probably rather boring for most people (intentionally?). Think of it as a glorified visual novel about working in a socialist state rather than a puzzle game. Is it overrated? Maybe.

And like I said with the "Tapper" example, they could have made the gameplay fun and still kept their message entirely intact.

The Card game "Bridge" is a deeper game than "Go Fish" because of its gameplay. If you made a special deck of cards with pictures of prominent politicians on the face cards, making a serious political statement by who you choose as the queen of hearts and who you choose as the jack of spades, etc, then sat down with that deck to play "Go Fish," it would still be a children's game.

As it is, Papers Please is a terrible game with terrible design, and your reward for investing the hours slogging through it is a message that was already summed up in the first 5 minutes of "Brazil." Art games were few and far between before the gaming journalism community latched onto "Passage" to show Ebert that games could be art. Lazy, childish art. The lavish praise they dollop onto "Papers, Please" will lead to even more copy cats that the press will praise to prove they're not outcast nerds (it's their readers who are the real outcast nerds!), while actually great indies that focus on gameplay instead of "message," like Aces Wild or Freedom Planet, languish in relative obscurity.

I suppose when enough lampreys latch onto a whale, an observer could assume what they're seeing is just a big ball of lampreys, the same way they could think gamergate is just a public feud between Adam Baldwin and Anita Sarkeesian.

[Domino]

Descent II and III (strangely not the first game) are half off for the sale, though you can get them DRM-free on GOG. Descent II is probably the greatest first-person shooter ever made for DOS that isn't Doom or Quake, and should have particular resonance with STG fans. A flight stick is all but required, though. Descent III tries to modernize the formula too much to no benefit, and any real challenge is eradicated by the addition of unlimited lives and the ability to recover all equipment after death. However, it does feature some welcome spacious outside areas to provide some relief from the endless claustrophobic tunnels.

Agreed. I thought DII was a big improvement over DI. Of course with DI you don't have the guide bot to assist you if you do get loss in the mines. DIII is only good for multipalyer, but barely anyone goes on DIII multiplayer.

[Ruldra]

And today's deal is the new X-COM at 75% off. Grab this one folks.

[Udderdude]

Freedom Planet is aces though. Physics, level design, and boss design are all far superior to the game it takes inspiration from.

The one thing I would ding FP for, if being completely honest, is the designer's choice of using Macromedia Fusion for the engine. It's just not up to the task of rendering a game this fast at fullscreen without tons and tons of tearing. At least on my 1920x1080 display.

This is why smarty pants developers find a way to run the game in fullscreen rather than stretching the game window to the size of the desktop ..

GameMaker (older versions) and Flash also have this problem.

I just bought Gauntlet. Yay :3

[Ruldra]

And now the Holiday Sale is upon us. Usually this is the sale where the highest discounts are offered, so have another look.

As expected, Trails in the Sky is now on sale, but only at 30% off. Maybe it's best to wait for one of the daily sales and hope it gets a better deal, because this discount doesn't look high enough.

[Khan]

Its about time the main sale kicked off been waiting ages ive got a few things im interested in atm Metal gear rising revengeance is like 80% at like £3.99 and a total steal imo so gonna go for that later tonight

[Leandro]

I finally played and finished the two Batman games I bought early this year, lol. I'm still playing Arkham City doing the side misions, actually.

Now I'm tempted to buy more games. I want that Alice Madness Returns game since I loved the first one.