Steam and Steam Decks

[RedTwoster]

1 hour ago, Dr. Alan Grant said:

Having purchased the Oddworld bundle, I have now discovered that some of them are included in the PS Plus subscription that I already pay for. £1 wasted. The horror. 

I’ve also just discovered that Abe’s Odyssey is actually Abe’s Oddysee. Only 20 something years too late.

I had the same realisation about Abe’s Exoddus relatively recently, it hadn’t occurred to me that they’d rammed another ‘odd’ in there, even though I was fully aware of ‘Oddysee’.

[Devon Malcolm]

Don't suppose anyone's got a Vice City key they'd like to flog? My PS3 has collapsed and I'm not paying for that GTA bundle on there, I only want Vice City.

[Devon Malcolm]

Anybody ever bought one of these?

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-egg-bundle

How much of a risk is it when you already have over 350 games in your library and are RPG and roguelike-averse?

[FLips]

15 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Anybody ever bought one of these?

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-egg-bundle

How much of a risk is it when you already have over 350 games in your library and are RPG and roguelike-averse?

Not the egg one but a couple of their other mystery packs back in December. You can judge whether it's worth it or not.

£4.99 a go and I got three of them and together they included:

Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
The Legend of Tianding
Circle Empires
Stasis: Bone Totem
Streets of Rogue
Just Die Already
The Darkside Detective
Siralim 3
Recursive Ruin
Guts and Glory
Doom 64

I gave Monster Prom 2 and Stasis away to mates. I already have Doom 64 and don't think I gave that away so if anyone wants the key then send me a PM and you can have it.

I installed the rest but the only ones that looks worth a damn are Darkside Detective and Recursive Ruin, the rest are all bargain bin looking shit.

[Thunderplex]

Punt a quid, that will give you a better realistic idea.  Or, self impose a ban, no new games till you have played out the ones you have already.  

[Devon Malcolm]

29 minutes ago, Thunderplex said:

Punt a quid, that will give you a better realistic idea.  Or, self impose a ban, no new games till you have played out the ones you have already.  

It's almost as if you don't know me at all.

[Thunderplex]

I had to when the stack of unplayed PS5 games was higher than the telly they were hiding behind.  It’s hard, especially when you see a bargain, but it does work, only 18” high now!.  Can’t say the same for board games though, much to wifeys dismay….

[Devon Malcolm]

No, that's not going to work. I'm going to buy 70 games in the next summer sale, I'm going to buy the 25 key version of the mystery egg bundle, and I'm going to die with 8678 unplayed games in my Steam library. It is my destiny.

[FLips]

Rolled the dice on the 25 game bundle and threw an extra 4 plus a wheel spin in for another few quid.

I've put in bold the games I've kept but any of you are welcome to the rest of them if you throw me a PM.

Space Crew Legendary Edition
Ludus
Ziggurat
Ziggurat 2
Bingus: My Beloved
Internet Cafe Simulator 2
Blue Estate The Game
Stick It!
My Big Sister: Remastered
The Inner World
Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York
To The Rescue!
RICE: Repetitive Indie Combat Experience
Vernal Edge
Fall of Porcupine
Wanba Warriors
Rock of Ages 3: Make and Break
Escape From Naraka
Red Bow
You Suck at Parking Complete Edition
Kingdom Wars 2 Definitive Edition
Elypse
Outshine
The Coma 2: Viscious Sisters
Verne: The Shape of Fantasy
White Noise 2
Creepy Tale 2
Unloved
ITORAH
White Noise Online

Some of them do look interesting but either aren't my type of game or I know I just won't ever get round to playing. Here's a look at the steam details on the rest so you have an idea if you want them or not.

Space Crew Legendary Edition - Time for your toughest mission yet! Recruit and train your crew to tackle the growing threat from alien and android armies as you defend Earth to become a Galactic Legend in Space Crew: Legendary Edition. All new content free to existing owners of Space Crew! - Usual Price £11.99 - Mostly Positive

Bingus: My Beloved - Bingus: My Beloved is a visual novel and dating sim where you choose to pursue Bingus or Big Floppa while you attend Zabloing Academy. Join your favorite high school club, make friends, and prepare to enter the Floppaverse! ?- Usual Price £4.29 - Very Positive - This looks to be an anime cat dating sim and if you ask me for this game I will judge you accordingly.

Internet Cafe Simulator 2 is an extremely comprehensive and detailed internet cafe business simulation game. - Usual Price £16.75 - Mostly Positive

Blue Estate The Game - Blue Estate is a black-humoured and corrosive rail shooter, adapted from the critically acclaimed and Eisner Award nominated graphic novel, Blue Estate by Viktor Kalvachev! - Usual price £9.99 - Very Positive

My Big Sister Remastered - My name is Luzia and this story is about my big sister, Sombria. Are you ready to hear it? - Usual Price £6.69 - Very Positive - This one looks like a pixel horror with Pokemon/Undertale style presentation. Could be OK if you're into that sort of thing.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York is a narrative experience set in the rich universe of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. It presents the struggle for power between two vampiric factions - the Camarilla and the Anarchs - bathed in the night lights of the Big Apple. - Usual Price £15.49 - Mostly Positive

To The Rescue! is a charming dog shelter simulator. Take care of unique dogs and find the right homes for as many of them as you can. Upgrade your shelter, control disease outbreaks, learn each dog's preferences, and make tough decisions, all while helping support real-world animal shelters! - Usual Price £15.49 - Mixed

RICE - A rich paragraph of information which will try to charm and pique interest, trying to catch your eye in a sea of competition using a slew of buzzwords such as ‘bullet heaven’ and ‘in-depth meta-progression’, in a vain attempt to make you believe this game is any different from others in its genre. - Usual Price £3.89 - Mostly Positive - It's Vampire Survivors et al.

Wanba Warriors - Have you got what it takes to be a Wanba Warrior? Step into the absurd world of calligraphy combat and prepare to lay the smackdown upon all who dare to oppose you, dishing out damage with your chosen ink brush of brutality! highly recommend playing with controllers. - Usual Price £4.29 - Very Positive - Looks to be a 1 v 1 combat game with Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy Physics.

Creepy Tale 2 - Experience the creepy tension of a brothers Grimm fairy tale in this puzzle adventure game. Follow the young and brave Lars as he embarks on a dangerous journey to save his sisters mind from the clutches of a mysterious evil. - Usual Price £7.99 - Very Positive

The Inner World – A 2D-Point’n’Click Adventure Together with the help of the mysterious thief Laura, his best intentions and no clue whatsoever, Robert sets off on his adventure to discover the secret of the wind's disappearance. Will the young adventurer be able to save his world? - Usual Price £11.99 - Very Positive

Escape from Naraka is a hellish first-person action platformer. Journey to another realm to save your beloved from an evil demon named Rangda the Leyak Queen and platform your way through a nightmarish temple where each level will challenge you again and again! - Usual Price £11.99 - Very Positive

Elypse - Embark upon a tragic tale and discover the ravaged world of Elypse! Fight your destiny in an arduous 2D adventure, story rich platformer, in a mesmerising and mysterious world. - Usual Price £8.50 - Mostly Positive

The Coma 2: Vicious Sisters is a Korean survival horror-adventure. Venture from your deserted school to survive the horrors of the night. Explore the surrounding Sehwa district and uncover the shadow realm's dark secrets. Use everything at your disposal to avoid a demoness hellbent on killing you! - Usual Price £11.99 - Overwhelmingly Positive

Itorah - Discover the world of Nahucan in this 2D action platformer. You are Itorah, the only human in this strange place. Explore, fight and survive to uncover your past and save Nahucan from its biggest threat, a mysterious plague! - Usual Price £17.49 - Mostly Positive

White Noise Online - A fully cooperative horror experience like never before! On White Noise Online, a team of up to 4 investigators has to explore an area looking for clues, while avoiding being devoured by a supernatural creature. Will you be able to uncover the truth behind the mysterious events? - Usual Price £4.29 - Mostly Positive.

---

So yeah if you want any of those above give me a shout.

My mate had a go of the same bundle and got a few duplicates but scored a copy of Beyond a Steel Sky and a couple of other decent looking ones. There's value to be had there as you can see by the respective prices of even the games I didn't want, but it's risky.

 

 

 

 

[Onyx2]

That game list sounds like it comes out of a name generator. Spunky Backpack etc. 

[Devon Malcolm]

You Suck at Parking is pretty good until it gets ridiculously hard and then I gave up on it. Some funny ideas in it, though, and I sunk a good 10 hours into it until I moved on.

[RedTwoster]

The latest Steam Next Fest is taking place, and I’ve tried a bunch of demos to see if it’s worth increasing the size of my always-growing wishlist…

Mina the Hollower

A 2D Zelda clone by the Shovel Knight people. It sounds like it should be an absolute blast…and it is. My favourite Zelda games for the longest time were Oracle of Seasons and Ages, and this feels very much like a Gameboy Zelda game, with more fluid movement. Unlike Zelda, there appears to be a bit of choice in how you play - for example, right at the beginning you get to choose what weapon you use, rather than simply being equipped with a sword and the three choices feel very different from one another (you get to try them). Perhaps you get all three as the game goes on, I don’t know, but I appreciated that, and got to select something that fitted my preferred play style. The demo (and presumably the game) starts with quite a challenging boss fight, which suggests to me this won’t be an easy game, although it was far from Souls-like. I very much enjoyed my time with this one and can’t wait for the full release. Needless to say, it’s been wishlisted.

Cast n Chill

A fishing game, where you cast your line and attempt to catch all sorts of fish to fill up this game’s equivalent to a Pokédex. Along the way, you upgrade your equipment to help you diversify your catch and improve your ability to catch fish. It describes itself as a ‘cozy game’ a phrase I’ve always hated, and as it happens, I didn’t like the game much either and found it incredibly dull. I’ve no doubt that there’s an audience for this, but I’m not it. From what I’ve played, it feels very simplistic and there’s not much to the gameplay. It’s like a fishing mini game from a larger title turned into a full game, without significantly evolving the gameplay to keep it interesting. I didn’t wishlist this one.

Off

Off is actually a re-release of a game made with RPG Maker that has been described as one of the most influential indie RPGs ever. I’d not actually heard of it, but after stumbling across it and learning more, I’d already wishlisted it and was excited to play this demo. Undertale and Omori are game said to be following in its footsteps, two titles I very much enjoy. From what I’ve played of this, though? I was very disappointed. The dialogue isn’t well written, and it feels more like a fan game than it does a full release with purpose. While I’ve no doubt it felt impressive and unique when it was first released over a decade ago, it’s been surpassed significantly by many of the games it inspired. I’ll still give the full release a go to see if it gets better, but I wasn’t impressed.

Morsels

The Binding of Isaac, meets Pokémon. I don’t like the former, love the latter but I decided to try it anyway. I knew very quickly that the game wasn’t for me, but there’s nothing wrong with it. It controls well, it’s difficult but not unfair and the premise is interesting. If you like games like Binding of Isaac and Enter the Gungeon, I’m pretty sure you’ll get a lot out of this. It wasn’t for me, though. 

House of Necrosis

I only tried this one because it sounded unique, and it very much ended up being one of my favourite demos from Nect Fest. It’s a turn-based survival horror game, and the closest thing I could compare it to is the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games - if they were crossed with Resident Evil. In execution, it works really well and feels unlike anything else I’ve ever played even if it does take inspiration from very popular genres. This made my wishlist, and I’m itching to play more.

[Devon Malcolm]

Lads.

*sigh*

I will report back soon.

[Jesse]

It got me, just after I finished a replay of all the Command & Conquer series so I was feeling vulnerable

[RedTwoster]

Righto, time for a few recommendations as I continue my quest to make your gaming tastes identical to mine…

Orbo’s Odyssey £2.14, was £4.29 (50% off)

Quite a weird game - a fast-paced 3D comedy platformer with gameplay mechanics enjoyable enough to compensate even if the humour isn’t to your taste. For £2.14, it’s a no-brainer.

I am your Beast £11.19, was £15.99 (30% off)

I really, really love this game. And I can either sell it to you or put you off it in one sentence - it’s a 3D, cell-shaded version of Hotline Miami. If that sounds like it’s for you, you’ll love it. If you didn’t like Hotline Miami, you probably won’t. It’s fast, frantic, tense and - crucially - short, I completed this in around 3-hours. While I was hungry for more, it was perfect for me with the gaming time I have available these days. 

1000X Resist £12.56, was £16.75 (25% off)

One of the best games of last year, and if more people had played it, I suspect it would have been a contender for GOTY. I didn’t get round to it until 2025, and I almost regret not playing it sooner. It’s a heavily story-driven game, and it’s one of those situations where telling you less is more. In short, a pandemic has ravaged humanity - a disease that mutates every time it spreads. One person is, for some reason, immune, and she’s cloned as scientists try to work out why she’s resistant to the illness. You play one of her clones years later. Her clones treat her like a god and worship her, pretty much everyone else is dead. The story is absolutely gripping and so well told. I couldn’t stop playing it at the time because I needed to know what happened next. If you only buy one game on this list, make it this one. 

Penny’s Big Breakaway £12.49, was £24.99 (50% off)

Full disclosure: I’ve never played the Steam version of this, I played it on Switch. But I really enjoyed it. It’s a 3D platformer by the Sonic Mania people, with a unique, yo-yo based system of moving around. It takes a bit of getting used to, but before you know it you’ll be whizzing and swinging around like a yo-yo version of Spider-Man. It’s fast, fun and feels like a modern twist on a PS2-era 3D platformer. If that’s your kind of thing, give it a go.