Community MetaSteam | April 2020 - A Disaster Report From Raccoon City

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low-G

old school cool
Nov 1, 2018
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Really wish I remember where I got it, because much of what I had was not shop bought, but I definitely had an original cassette version of what must have been v2 for the C64. I remember liking the clam shell box it was in.
New version is 150GB HD space required, wonder how many cassettes that would be. Which I guess boringly would come down to how fast could data be reliably read back off the tape storage.
Not to mention the optional Internet streaming assets, which vastly eclipses the memory bus speed, and even almost certainly the peak internal bandwidth of the CPU of computers of that era, let alone long term storage like a tape drive.
 
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PC-tan

Low Tier Weeb
Jan 19, 2019
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I should be done with Nier G by the end of this week since the multiple endings do not seem to take that long, also I maxed out a certain weapon in the game that is very OP and basically one shots most enemies. You see a mini boss? I can oneshot that,




10 years!!!!!!
 

「Echo」

竜の魔女。
Nov 1, 2018
2,721
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Mt. Whatever
I ended up having to quit Animal Crossing. I can't recall what magic this series held over me in my youth, but these days it just feels like work... after work.

(I had set my Switch to -7 hours timezone difference so it would still be daylight in-game after my work shifts.)

It's like I come home from work settle into a 1-2 hour block of daily routine, shake every tree until I get the two hidden furniture, hit every rock 'til I find the money one, plant a money tree and find the one I planted 3 days ago. Visit clothes store, visit town hall, visit nook shop. Fish, catch whatever bugs I see along the way. Sell. Move some stuff around. Save and turn off.

Repeat tomorrow

A lot of my annoyances stem from UI/UX stuff too

Like why is there no shopping cart for Able Sisters? I really have to enter the dressing room 4 times a day to get everything I want? Why isn't my in-home workbench connected to my in-home storage?

It's tedium

Why isn't the ladder and pole context sensitive, like if I run up to a wall, hold up+A it should be automatic. Likewise for rivers and the pole.

And there is this weird sense of "I should pace myself." Like I'm not getting my 10th villager yet, but on purpose. Because once you get the landscaping tools and remake your island exactly how you want it, than what? You just spend everyday doing the exact same thing I described above, hoping for something new. Hoarding things. Maybe changing the layout of a room from time to time.

Nostalgia is a weird poison. I can't believe I liked this at one point in my life. :confused-face:
 

Hektor

Autobahnraser
Nov 1, 2018
5,814
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I should be done with Nier G by the end of this week since the multiple endings do not seem to take that long, also I maxed out a certain weapon in the game that is very OP and basically one shots most enemies. You see a mini boss? I can oneshot that,
I presume you mean the phoenix spear.

The futher endings are definitely Shorter than getting to ending A, especially if you do all the sidequests in your first playthrough, but i'd say ending B through D take comined about as long as Ending A.

Anyways, best game of all time
 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,078
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Well, it's time to finish Daemon x Machina! :triggerblob: :triggerblob: :triggerblob:
(I finished half of the game already but jumped into a different game)
 

beep boop

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
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I ended up having to quit Animal Crossing. I can't recall what magic this series held over me in my youth, but these days it just feels like work... after work.

(I had set my Switch to -7 hours timezone difference so it would still be daylight in-game after my work shifts.)

It's like I come home from work settle into a 1-2 hour block of daily routine, shake every tree until I get the two hidden furniture, hit every rock 'til I find the money one, plant a money tree and find the one I planted 3 days ago. Visit clothes store, visit town hall, visit nook shop. Fish, catch whatever bugs I see along the way. Sell. Move some stuff around. Save and turn off.

Repeat tomorrow

A lot of my annoyances stem from UI/UX stuff too

Like why is there no shopping cart for Able Sisters? I really have to enter the dressing room 4 times a day to get everything I want? Why isn't my in-home workbench connected to my in-home storage?

It's tedium

Why isn't the ladder and pole context sensitive, like if I run up to a wall, hold up+A it should be automatic. Likewise for rivers and the pole.

And there is this weird sense of "I should pace myself." Like I'm not getting my 10th villager yet, but on purpose. Because once you get the landscaping tools and remake your island exactly how you want it, than what? You just spend everyday doing the exact same thing I described above, hoping for something new. Hoarding things. Maybe changing the layout of a room from time to time.

Nostalgia is a weird poison. I can't believe I liked this at one point in my life. :confused-face:
Yep. It's got a lot of weird design in it. The game marvels in wasting your time with these little interactions. Things like asking you if you would you like to use the workbench, when you walked up to it and pressed the interact button. Like, no shit I would -- that's why I'm here and pressed that button! And then all the stuff you named and a dozen more things. It's really worn me down over time. The durability on tools in particular is utterly baffling.

On the one hand, it's a game that wants you to be you, have this fun and chill alternate life, express yourself. But at the same time it is molding you and telling you, no, THIS is how you'll behave. You will sit here and listen to all our messages and natural interfaces because what we say is Important, you will do all your clothes shopping by 21.00 and furniture shopping by 22.00, if you want to sell anything after that it will lose 20% of its value, the game will move as slowly as you want but as quickly as we want, you will go through all these rudimentary steps and busywork to unlock basic features in the game, etc.

It is equally expressive and authoritarian in its play. How many posts I've seen defending completely arbitrary design. The value or enjoyment equation is different for everyone -- understandable. But I cannot fathom why people are like "no, this is good because it tells you to take it slow." What.
 
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After my Dandy Dungeon love-fest, with constant posts about the game and its developers, it's INTI CREATES week! :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

No, but seriously, since most of us have a little more time on their hands, being home and all (weirdly, I'm at home, but I'm working even more, and having less free time :confounded-face:), I just wanted to point out INTI CREATES has been doing some live online streaming shows, either a single bilingual stream, or two different streams (one in Japanese, another in English), to cover their release plans, update plans, and so on.
I watched an archived version of their previous show earlier this month, in which they announced the Dragon Marked For Death Steam release, plus the latest Blaster Master Zero 2 DLC (also available on Steam), among other things, so as a PC gamer it was definitely of interest.

They had another one last night, whose archived version is available. Since it covers the launch of the Steam version of Dragon Marked For Death, maybe some of you would like to check it out, to pass the time. I'm yet to check it myself, but hopefully, they dropped some info about future Steam plans (Azure Striker Gunvolt 2 Steam release?).
Anyway, here's the link:

 

Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
7,078
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Looks like Beautiful desolation is on sale after a big patch which includes 2 new languages; Spanish and Turkish + Mac OSX support.

Spanish and Turkish players can enjoy a fully translated game featuring over 75,000 words!

We have also released the OSX version of Beautiful Desolation for Mac adventure gamers!

A HINT system that can be toggled from the game menu should assist players who want to enjoy the story and not the adventure game grind.
 

FunnyJay

Powered by the Cloud
Apr 6, 2019
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Sweden
I actually had the time to play the prologue of Darkwood yesterday. Really creepy and very interesting indeed. Can't wait to actually explore the main part of the game!
 
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Y'all forgot that one time inti creates rep. were straight up lying about not being able to offer dlc for free for gunvolt 2?
I totally did not, but since I'm terribly weak, I bought those Gunvolt 2 DLCs yesterday, when I bought their newest game and DLC. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

I check Steam, and I see pretty much every publisher (and many developers) nickel-and-diming people with their extensive lists of DLCs and Season passes, that cost way more than the actual game. They surely aren't Koei Tecmo. While I was not happy with the Gunvolt 2 DLC situation, at the end of the day, it's a couple of DLCs that cost €1.99 each, so I bought them.

But seriously, I don't know what's up with them and their Steam releases, but something is always wrong.
They always mess up something. I'm not speaking in terms of the actual port (they have actually been good at improving their PC releases, and updating them), but in terms of information, DLCs availability, and so on.

I mean, they are a team that has been self-publishing their games, and whose sales are always low, comparatively speaking to other titles (their titles sell 100k/200k copies, and they are more than happy with it; Dragon Marked For Death, a title they worked on for 9+ years, has recently reached 120k sales, and they called it a success), so it would be in their interest to promote their Steam releases as well as possible, to sell as many copies as they can, but things are frequently lacking.

For example, they systematically mess up free DLCs at launch. There's always problems with them not being available as intended (Dragon Marked For Death was another one; it's now fixed, but the time-limited DLC for early buyers was missing). I don't doubt they did attempt to set the Gunvolt 2 DLCs to free on Steam (those 2 were after launch), but they failed to, and surely didn't bother contacting Valve, as they should have.

Another way they do mess up is their Steam store listings. They frequently have early buyer content/DLCs, which is a way to entice people to buy their games at launch, but... they never advertise that on their Steam store pages! It's ridiculous, but unless you check their trailers in full (where that information is probably "hidden" at the very end of the trailer), or their website (in which the information is listed in such a way 90% of those who read it will miss it), you will probably be totally unaware of it even existing. Considering the point of that early buyer DLC is to entice early buyers, how in the hell do they completely fail to advertise it?

But there's more. Like their Azure Striker Gunvolt port. When it launched, the port was based on the 3DS release, and had a few awkward things about it (basically, you would get 2 screens all the time, in one way or another, to mimic the 3DS setup). But then, they worked on ports for other consoles, and updated the PC release with those changes/improvements, so it now has better graphics/assets, a single-screen setup, (...).
I discovered this recently, because, as you may have guessed by now, they completely failed to mention the update, and great improvements/changes made to the port, in any shape and form on their Steam store page. Worse, they still have screens from the original launch version in the store!

I don't know if it's lack of staff that speaks English, or if they are missing one person just to handle this sort of thing for their PC releases, but it's not doing them any favours.
Again, the actual ports have been good (the PC versions are basically the versions to get), and after skipping PC in most of their releases, they have been "playing catch-up", and have released, in 10 months, 5 games on Steam, so it's a platform they are actively supporting.
But, they keep failing in the small details, especially in terms of informing and interacting with their PC user-base.
 
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Dragon1893

MetaMember
Apr 17, 2019
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Haven't posted in a while, work has been pretty busy and when I have some free time I'm completely absorbed by Trails of Cold Steel 3 and Persona 5 Royal.
I noticed that Robotic Notes has been announced for steam. It takes place in the Stein's Gate universe, I hope it's a least half as good.
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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I'm in the dreaded lull between two games, wondering what to play next.

Finished the very mediocre REvelations 2, then the gameplay-lacking but entrancing Plague Tale, and finally Steamworld Dig 2. Still doing my daily routine in Animal Crossing, but that's it at the moment.
Oh and I would be the first the lament that I rebounded hard on Total War Warhammer. Too little to do on a turn, battles taking forever, and oh my god at the difference between the screenshots and reality. Not technically, I have no idea, but I would be surprised anyone played the game that zoomed in. So if in theory this is a fanservice fest, in practicality I just played for several hours looking at a nice map and tiny shadowy units. Again, I'm the first to lament this feeling.

Next ?
On PC I could play...
DMC V
Sims 4
Factorio
Steamworld Heist

On Switch I could play...
Mario Odyssey
Astral Chains

But I'm really tempted to bite the bullet on Pokemon.

And evidently I will start a random bad game instead, because I'm stupid and life choices are hard.
 

fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
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I assume ideal spec on the right is 4K meaning if you do 1080p like me you don't need to care about ideal specs.
 

fantomena

MetaMember
Dec 17, 2018
9,743
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Im kinda in the same position as you, I chose my Switch games. I only have 4 Switch "one and done" games in my backlog currently, Luigis Mansion 3, FE Three Houses, Cadence of Hyrule and Sushi Striker, compared to PC which I have thousands. Started yesterday on Luigis Mansion 3.

I decided to go for my Switch games. Simply because my PC backlog will never end, but my Switch backlog will, until the next Nintendo exclusive is out or I buy a game on my Switch wishlist (which is about 10 I think, but I don't really desperately want any of them so they are just sitting on my wishlist until I someday buy them).

I also have a 3DS and Vita backlog, but I don't really care much for them.

Also, I would recommend you to play Mario Odyssey and Astral Chain before you get Pokemon, they are shorter games than Pokemon. I don't have Pokemon as Im not really interested in the game, but Mario Odyssey is about 15-20 hours and Astral Chain is about 10-15 hours. Im pretty sure Pokemon is longer than that.
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Factorio, because it is the #3 best Steam game of all time on SteamDB and #4 on Steam250.
The obvious best choice, agreed.
It's funny how minds work. I played the demo and it was a blast, bought soon after then... never in the mood to start it. There is a sort of inertia to beat before starting some (most ?) games, inertia specific to each ones, that is surely the worst enemy of a gamer, imho.
 

Deku

Just nothing
Oct 19, 2018
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20XX
www.seikens.com
Currently playing Sword Art Online: Re:Hollow Fragment. I don't understand this game.
First you start at level 100, since the story starts after episode 14 in the anime series. Second the is that it feels there are two different stories in the game, one that they have to finish the remaining 25 floor of the tower, and the second one is the Hollow dungeon part. This is confusing.
I also don't understand the guild quest, I have to do them before defeating the boss of the floor.
Seems like the devs didn't know how to make a game at all...
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Currently playing Sword Art Online: Re:Hollow Fragment. I don't understand this game.
First you start at level 100, since the story starts after episode 14 in the anime series. Second the is that it feels there are two different stories in the game, one that they have to finish the remaining 25 floor of the tower, and the second one is the Hollow dungeon part. This is confusing.
I also don't understand the guild quest, I have to do them before defeating the boss of the floor.
Seems like the devs didn't know how to make a game at all...
Isn't that the one that was an expanded remake of a PSP game ? Maybe could explain the multiple games / disjointed feeling.
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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What did they add in the remake?
Looking in a walkthrough it seems that the Hollow story was in the original game...
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is a PlayStation Vita game released in Japan on April 24, 2014.[102][103] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment takes place in the same alternative storyline as Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment,[104] and it includes all content of "Floor Clearing" from that previous game[105] with the addition of new unexplored "Hollow Area" of Aincrad.[106]

Infinity Moment was the PSP one. Don't know if there are other differences, sorry.
Source is obvious :smiling-eyes:

-

Oh and people who suggest games to me : thank you, I appreciate each input :photoblobheart:
But I also forgot to add that PICROSS S4 IS TOMORROW sniff like an addict
 

Deleted member 113

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Fans of old-school shmups, I have some great news!

Remember when I recently mentioned CITY CONNECTION would be releasing an enhanced port of STRIKERS 1945?



Which, by the way, will cost $9,99, with a 10% launch discount, and will have additional modes over the recent Switch port, according to the following press release:


Well, they just announced 9+ more are coming soon!!!



The titles mentioned in the press release I linked to above are:

Samurai Aces
Samurai Aces Episode II: TENGAI
Samurai Aces Episode III: SENGOKU CANNON
GUNBIRD
GUNBIRD 2
STRIKERS 1945 II
STRIKERS 1945 III
SOL DIVIDE -SWORD OF DARKNESS-
Dragon Blaze
and more

Here's a few screenshots from the upcoming titles:








If you like the genre, do consider picking them up, to show there's interest in PC/Steam ports of older shmups. :cat-heart-blob:
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Too bad how the super famous bullet hell dev that I forgot the name of just stopped releasing games on Steam, maybe the success wasn't that big, IDK.
Even more surprising to see that as far as I know, they didn't jump on the Switch bandwagon either. I mean I'm sure there are some like Ikaruga, but it's a drop in a sea of titles.
 
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Deku

Just nothing
Oct 19, 2018
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www.seikens.com
Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is a PlayStation Vita game released in Japan on April 24, 2014.[102][103] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment takes place in the same alternative storyline as Sword Art Online: Infinity Moment,[104] and it includes all content of "Floor Clearing" from that previous game[105] with the addition of new unexplored "Hollow Area" of Aincrad.[106]

Infinity Moment was the PSP one. Don't know if there are other differences, sorry.
Source is obvious :smiling-eyes:

-

Oh and people who suggest games to me : thank you, I appreciate each input :photoblobheart:
But I also forgot to add that PICROSS S4 IS TOMORROW sniff like an addict
Looks like that Hollow Fragment is remake of Infinity Moment, while RE: Hollow Fragment is a Directors cut version with additional content
Too bad how the super famous bullet hell dev that I forgot the name of just stopped releasing games on Steam, maybe the success wasn't that big, IDK.
Even more surprising to see that as far as I know, they didn't jump on the Switch bandwagon either. I mean I'm sure there are some like Ikaruga, but it's a drop in a sea of titles.
Do you mean Cave or Treasure?
 
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Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Looks like that Hollow Fragment is remake of Infinity Moment, while RE: Hollow Fragment is a Directors cut version with additional content
So you mean they released an expanded remake of an expanded remake ?
Man, that rabbit hole goes deep, no wonder some parts must feel odd.

Do you mean Cave?
Yeah, sorry, I had a brain fart. To my knowledge, their last Steam release was quite some time ago.
 

kafiend

MetaMember
Dec 6, 2018
549
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The obvious best choice, agreed.
It's funny how minds work. I played the demo and it was a blast, bought soon after then... never in the mood to start it. There is a sort of inertia to beat before starting some (most ?) games, inertia specific to each ones, that is surely the worst enemy of a gamer, imho.
I did the same with Factorio. I really should not have bought it the same week I bought Rimworld. Way too much digital crack for me in a short space of time.
 

BO7AMMOOD

Lucas isn't sure what to do anymore
Apr 18, 2019
648
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But there's more. Like their Azure Striker Gunvolt port. When it launched, the port was based on the 3DS release, and had a few awkward things about it (basically, you would get 2 screens all the time, in one way or another, to mimic the 3DS setup). But then, they worked on ports for other consoles, and updated the PC release with those changes/improvements, so it now has better graphics/assets, a single-screen setup, (...).
I discovered this recently, because, as you may have guessed by now, they completely failed to mention the update, and great improvements/changes made to the port, in any shape and form on their Steam store page. Worse, they still have screens from the original launch version in the store!
I've had Azure Striker Gunvolt on my wishlist for a long time now. I almost bought it a few times when it was on sale but didn't because playing a port that's identical to the 3DS version of the game, which I own, wasn't very appealing. Great to know though that they improved the port since release, because as you said, the Steam page sure doesn't show that they did :D
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
7,827
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I did the same with Factorio. I really should not have bought it the same week I bought Rimworld. Way too much digital crack for me in a short space of time.
Funnily enough that's one of the reasons I still haven't caved in for Rimworld. I just KNOW it will be the same song and dance of 'man, it's surely great, I have to start it... some other day !'
 
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Tizoc

Retired, but still Enabling
Oct 11, 2018
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Oman
ko-fi.com
Watch til the end

Fans of old-school shmups, I have some great news!

Remember when I recently mentioned CITY CONNECTION would be releasing an enhanced port of STRIKERS 1945?



Which, by the way, will cost $9,99, with a 10% launch discount, and will have additional modes over the recent Switch port, according to the following press release:


Well, they just announced 9+ more are coming soon!!!



The titles mentioned in the press release I linked to above are:

Samurai Aces
Samurai Aces Episode II: TENGAI
Samurai Aces Episode III: SENGOKU CANNON
GUNBIRD
GUNBIRD 2
STRIKERS 1945 II
STRIKERS 1945 III
SOL DIVIDE -SWORD OF DARKNESS-
Dragon Blaze
and more

Here's a few screenshots from the upcoming titles:








If you like the genre, do consider picking them up, to show there's interest in PC/Steam ports of older shmups. :cat-heart-blob:
OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAH

You should show a stronger spine. How you gonna give EGScloosies the middle finger but not uppity ass twitter reps of game companies?
Child, your Uncle Birdman is disappoint
 
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Deleted member 113

Guest
Each time you edit this post I get the urge to like it, only to see it's already done.
Consider it liked at least three times :cuteblob:
Thanks!
It's done! ;)

When I first posted, I hadn't read the press release in full, and didn't see they named 7 other upcoming titles. :giggle:

---

You should show a stronger spine. How you gonna give EGScloosies the middle finger but not uppity ass twitter reps of game companies?
Child, your Uncle Birdman is disappoint
I'm a nice, mellow guy, who likes to (try to) stay positive. ;)
I open an exception for the EGScloosies you mentioned, because of the crap they pulled with going after games I helped crowdfund, so for them, my middle finger is still happily reserved. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

---

I've had Azure Striker Gunvolt on my wishlist for a long time now. I almost bought it a few times when it was on sale but didn't because playing a port that's identical to the 3DS version of the game, which I own, wasn't very appealing. Great to know though that they improved the port since release, because as you said, the Steam page sure doesn't show that they did :D
Yeah, if you are interested in the game, the PC version is now a good buy.
Don't get me wrong, the launch version was surely playable, and I did play it at the time, but it was almost like playing the 3DS version in an emulator, with a few tweaks.
The patch added some higher definition assets (made for the console ports), plus 60fps support (the framerate of the original version was 30fps), and a few additional modes.

Why they don't advertise the hell out of it, I don't know.
I just recently learned about this myself, and the patch was released in 2018 (3 years or so after the game launched)!
 

Tizoc

Retired, but still Enabling
Oct 11, 2018
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Oman
ko-fi.com
Thanks!
It's done! ;)

When I first posted, I hadn't read the press release in full, and didn't see they named 7 other upcoming titles. :giggle:

---



I'm a nice, mellow guy, who likes to (try to) stay positive. ;)
I open an exception for the EGScloosies you mentioned, because of the crap they pulled with going after games I helped crowdfund, so for them, my middle finger is still happily reserved. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

---



Yeah, if you are interested in the game, the PC version is now a good buy.
Don't get me wrong, the launch version was surely playable, and I did play it at the time, but it was almost like playing the 3DS version in an emulator, with a few tweaks.
The patch added some higher definition assets (made for the console ports), plus 60fps support (the framerate of the original version was 30fps), and a few additional modes.
My middle fingers join forces with yours then~
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Dragon marked for death is a little costly, and customer feedback on Switch at least is all over the place. Unfortunate, because it screams Meta-Coop !
BlindRhythm :cat-heart-blob:

My middle fingers join forces with yours then~
The Voltron of middle-fingers. Is it time to close Internet for the day ? We won't be able to do better than this, won't we ? :thinking-blob:
I want to be Space Cop Gavan middle finger.
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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I want to like trails in the skies but the casual sexism is really up there. I feel sorry for Estelle, she's getting bullied left and right. It's making it kind of hard to push past the intro.
 
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