Community MetaSteam | September 2020 - An Offer You Definitively Can't Refuse

[Wok]

I missed this announcement a month ago.

• You can now play Pathfinder: Kingmaker with your gamepad.
• Turn-based mode is now available.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker — Enhanced Plus Edition - Pathfinder Kingmaker: Definitive Edition Update Is Here! - Steam News

Please be aware of plot spoilers in the description below! Highlights • You can now play Pathfinder: Kingmaker with your gamepad. • Turn-based mode is now available. Areas • Now, after you explored the Blackstones Ford map, you can stay in that area to collect the loot and exit when you feel...

store.steampowered.com

 

[ezodagrom]

So Sakura Wars is getting a stage play adaptation but no PC adaptation. Sega pls.

I think there's a decent chance that Sakura Wars will arrive on PC someday, but since SEGA relies quite a bit on outsourcing for PC ports and there's other games that are likely to take priority over it (Yakuza 3/4/5, Judgment), who knows when that'll happen. :x

I prefer that SEGA takes their time with their ports though (as long as they exist, of course, I wish SEGA would improve their communication about PC releases). Simultaneous releases are not always a good thing, as seen with Bamco's most recent releases (SAO Alicization and Captain Tsubasa PC versions were released with enough issues to give them mixed reviews on Steam).

 

[fantomena]

So Hades has been out for a long time on Steam, longer time on EGS and recently released on Switch and yet us the 3rd global best seller.

 

[Hektor]

Hades is such a disappointment.
The game is fun to play, but during EA was massively empty on content.
4 environments with 1 boss each that you repeat in the exact same order every run just isn't enough for a roguelike.
And now the 1.0 release is out and it doesn't add anything at all?! Just one new cutscene/forced walking moment where there used to be a "To be continued before..."?

No new environment? No new boss? NOTHING?

 

[BlueOdin]

This was a triumph

 

[texhnolyze]

Hades is such a disappointment.
The game is fun to play, but during EA was massively empty on content.
4 environments with 1 boss each that you repeat in the exact same order every run just isn't enough for a roguelike.
And now the 1.0 release is out and it doesn't add anything at all?! Just one new cutscene/forced walking moment where there used to be a "To be continued before..."?

No new environment? No new boss? NOTHING?

Seriously? How did it receive so much acclaims then?

It's currently the top of 2020 games in Opencritic.

 

[Deleted member 113]

I'll probably have some free time in the next week, and I'll probably start playing something "new" (on top of the multiple games I started, but that I'm yet to finish ).

Anyway, a couple of questions:
-I've been meaning to play the SpellForce series. I never finished the first one, and all I played of the 2nd and 3rd games were the demos. I know the 3rd game is supposed to be a prequel. What should I play: shall I go for game three, or play the first game?

-any recommendations for a real-time action RPG that can be played with a controller, and that isn't overly long (20h or less, ideally)? I was planning on starting Kingdoms of Amalur, but I'll probably wait for a few patches, but I'm looking for something similar.

-are Octopath Traveler or Persona 4 Golden good games to play in "instalments"? I mean, I frequently play games for an hour or two, drop them, and return to them days or a week later. I know Octopath Traveler is supposed to be long, but split into several characters and/or chapters, and Persona 4 Golden's action is split into days. Is either of them a good fit for what I look for? Can I play them, and return to them, without feeling "lost"? What would be a good stopping point?

thanks

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

I'd say Persona 4 Golden would not be good for me to play in split up sessions due to the complexity of the story, relationships and systems. I'd have to make extensive notes or i'd forget what i was doing and returning to a game like that after a few weeks is probably a nightmare and a recipe for a dropped run. For me anyway, it's one i'd have to tackle in a long run with a break for a day here or there for my sanity.

I do have P5 and P4G in my library and i want to get around to them at some point.

 

[ISee]

I'll probably have some free time in the next week, and I'll probably start playing something "new" (on top of the multiple games I started, but that I'm yet to finish ).

Anyway, a couple of questions:
-I've been meaning to play the SpellForce series. I never finished the first one, and all I played of the 2nd and 3rd games were the demos. I know the 3rd game is supposed to be a prequel. What should I play: shall I go for game three, or play the first game?

-any recommendations for a real-time action RPG that can be played with a controller, and that isn't overly long (20h or less, ideally)? I was planning on starting Kingdoms of Amalur, but I'll probably wait for a few patches, but I'm looking for something similar.

-are Octopath Traveler or Persona 4 Golden good games to play in "instalments"? I mean, I frequently play games for an hour or two, drop them, and return to them days or a week later. I know Octopath Traveler is supposed to be long, but split into several characters and/or chapters, and Persona 4 Golden's action is split into days. Is either of them a good fit for what I look for? Can I play them, and return to them, without feeling "lost"? What would be a good stopping point?

thanks

Can't answer all your questions, but I'd recommend playing spellforce in release order.

P4G is not a good candidate for week long breaks imo. I'd eventually get lost.

 

[texhnolyze]

So I just tried Shadow of TR with ray tracing, and my PC manages to run it at 30fps locked at half refresh rate in the first tutorial area until the first hub in Mexico with the crowds. When I try to unlock the vsync, it's hovering in the mid 30s to low 40s. I'm not exactly running the game on low settings either.

I guess I'm good for ray traced Cyberpunk since the PC requirements are more or less the same.

 

[Tomasety]

-any recommendations for a real-time action RPG that can be played with a controller, and that isn't overly long (20h or less, ideally)? I was planning on starting Kingdoms of Amalur, but I'll probably wait for a few patches, but I'm looking for something similar.

thanks

I'm not sure whether you own/have played the following games so I will write a bunch of them just in case:
Bastion, Darksiders Warmastered Edition (not sure it can be beaten under 20h), Fable Anniversary, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas.

There should be probably more but I've been lost for the past 2 years so not really updated on many new games yet.

 

[texhnolyze]

I'll probably have some free time in the next week, and I'll probably start playing something "new" (on top of the multiple games I started, but that I'm yet to finish ).

Anyway, a couple of questions:
-I've been meaning to play the SpellForce series. I never finished the first one, and all I played of the 2nd and 3rd games were the demos. I know the 3rd game is supposed to be a prequel. What should I play: shall I go for game three, or play the first game?

-any recommendations for a real-time action RPG that can be played with a controller, and that isn't overly long (20h or less, ideally)? I was planning on starting Kingdoms of Amalur, but I'll probably wait for a few patches, but I'm looking for something similar.

-are Octopath Traveler or Persona 4 Golden good games to play in "instalments"? I mean, I frequently play games for an hour or two, drop them, and return to them days or a week later. I know Octopath Traveler is supposed to be long, but split into several characters and/or chapters, and Persona 4 Golden's action is split into days. Is either of them a good fit for what I look for? Can I play them, and return to them, without feeling "lost"? What would be a good stopping point?

thanks

According to Steam, I beat Yakuza Kiwami in 21 hours and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 22 hours. So I can only recommend those. I'd have more to recommend if not for that 20h limit. Also, I tend to take my time with my RPGs, so my experience with them may be different than the average.

Regarding Persona 4, listen to EdwardTivrusky above. It's not that bad when you're in a dungeon mode, but in daily life parts, you'll be planning your activities a lot to increase your affinity with the characters. So it's not a good idea to leave the game for too long and often since you will forget what you were doing before unless you take notes.

 

[Deleted member 113]

I'm not sure whether you own/have played the following games so I will write a bunch of them just in case:
Bastion, Darksiders Warmastered Edition (not sure it can be beaten under 20h), Fable Anniversary, Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas.

There should be probably more but I've been lost for the past 2 years so not really updated on many new games yet.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I already played Bastion, but not the other 3 (and I own them). I was actually thinking about Fable already, since I only played a small bit on my brother's Xbox.

According to Steam, I beat Yakuza Kiwami in 21 hours and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in 22 hours. So I can only recommend those. I'd have more to recommend if not for that 20h limit. Also, I tend to take my time with my RPGs, so my experience with them may be different than the average.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm saving Yakuza for another time, since I already played and finished Yakuza and Yakuza 2 on a PS2 (which I bought just to play them, since I was a huge of the Shenmue series, and the first Yakuza looked like a spiritual successor of sorts ), but I still need to finish Yakuza 0 first.
I played around 30h at launch (and was nowhere near the end; I like to take my time with the Yakuza games, doing side-activities and looking for collectibles), but then had a period in which I was unable to play, so I decided I would re-start it at some time.
Yeah, all this talk of Yakuza is making me want to finally re-start Yakuza 0.

 

[Eferis]

Russian third person RPG released a couple of years ago I think, any idea? Can’t remember its name for the life of me. It was pretty well received.

 

[texhnolyze]

I just activated 14-days of Gamepass yesterday so that I can grab that PSO2 perks later.

I installed The Surge 2 immediately, but after playing for a couple of hours I don't feel like doing it anymore for now. The talk about RTX reminds me of Metro Exodus, but it seems like it's not on Gamepass anymore?

Russian third person RPG released a couple of years ago I think, any idea? Can’t remember its name for the life of me. It was pretty well received.

It's ATOM, and it's the best post-apocalyptic RPG since New Vegas. Remember the name!

 

[Eferis]

It's ATOM, and it's the best post-apocalyptic RPG since New Vegas. Remember the name!

I remember that one (and Encased) but it’s isomeric. The one I have in mind is a third-person game.

 

[texhnolyze]

I remember that one (and Encased) but it’s isomeric. The one I have in mind is a third-person game.

Oh, it's probably Insomnia: The Ark then, but it's not well-received.

And now I'm curious.

 

[Eferis]

Oh, it's probably Insomnia: The Ark then, but it's not well-received.

And now I'm curious.

That’s the one! I remember good things being said about it when it launched despite the “jankiness”.

 

[texhnolyze]

That’s the one! I remember good things being said about it when it launched despite the “jankiness”.

I've been following the game since launch in the hope of controller support. It's surely interesting, but I've read nasty things like game-breaking bugs that would stop you from progressing. I'm not sure if it's common enough to happen to people or not.

 

[Deleted member 113]

I forgot this week it's the launch week of the remake of Mafia.
I'm looking forward to it, since I rather like the series, but considering the short amount of time I spent with Mafia 2 and 3's Definitive Editions last week (which appeared to be far buggier than the original versions, and frankly appear to have been ported back from consoles), with no improvements in sight, I'm not sure if I should just wait a bit more for a patch or two.

 

[Mor]

Weekly update is live.

|OT| - Steam Weekly Top Sellers - A thread about weekly data

Well, it has happened, as I have been compiling the information week after week since Summer began I thought it would be great to share the thoughts and discussions in one single place once a week. In this first post you will find a collection that goes from June 21 up to September 6, 11 weeks...

metacouncil.com

In case you want to check and discuss

 

[LEANIJA]

FunktionJCB I'd recommend Greedfall, but it's longer.... according to Steam I spent 45 hours with it - but I also play games very slowly, so your mileage may vary. It's a really good action RPG in any case, though.

 

[Deleted member 113]

FunktionJCB I'd recommend Greedfall, but it's longer.... according to Steam I spent 45 hours with it - but I also play games very slowly, so your mileage may vary. It's a really good action RPG in any case, though.

Thanks.
I love Spiders' games (and I even pre-ordered Greedfall), but I'm embarrassed to say... I'm yet to play it.

You wouldn't believe the amount of times I installed the game to play it, and even setup things, but I never started it.
Same thing with DONTNOD's Vampyr.

 

[lashman]

Thanks.
I love Spiders' games (and I even pre-ordered Greedfall), but I'm embarrassed to say... I'm yet to play it.

You wouldn't believe the amount of times I installed the game to play it, and even setup things, but I never started it.
Same thing with DONTNOD's Vampyr.

 

[Deleted member 113]

That's nothing.

I have full series of games that I own, but never played them.
Like, Dark Souls.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Too busy working and buying things to actually play them.
The hero we need.

 

[LEANIJA]

Thanks.
I love Spiders' games (and I even pre-ordered Greedfall), but I'm embarrassed to say... I'm yet to play it.

You wouldn't believe the amount of times I installed the game to play it, and even setup things, but I never started it.
Same thing with DONTNOD's Vampyr.

Vampyr I played for half an hour, then stopped... I do this with many games unfortunately.
But yeah, Greedfall is great

 

[lashman]

That's nothing.

I have full series of games that I own, but never played them.
Like, Dark Souls.

absolutely shameful!

 

[PC-tan]

The song is good

and ya I have shared the tweet already but the song just reminded me of it again

 

[Deleted member 113]

Too busy working and buying things to actually play them.
The hero we need.

Exactly!

When you are younger, you have lots of time to play, but no money to buy new games (so you play the same game over and over again; that's why I can play games like Mega Man 2, or Streets of Rage 2, with my eyes closed).
When you start working, you start having money, but... you have no time to play them.
Or, you do have time, but you have no patience, since you are "burned-out" after working your ass off, and without patience to do anything.

I have been sitting at my desk for almost 3 hours thinking about what I'm going to play, and I'm yet to start playing anything!

 

[lashman]

I have been sitting at my desk for almost 3 hours thinking about what I'm going to play, and I'm yet to start playing anything!

wow, easy with the personal attacks!

this is soooooo me, lol

 

[Tizoc]

The song is good

and ya I have shared the tweet already but the song just reminded me of it again

Good shotguns in video games:
Metal Slug
Rage 1
Half Life
Doom 2016

To name a few. Scrub ass kid been playing way too much call a doody and become homogeonized to using assault rifle guns because they're the only guns these games are designed around :V

 

[LEANIJA]

wow, easy with the personal attacks!

this is soooooo me, lol

Oh yeah don't i know that feeling
Im always glad when i have a game i really love playing so i don't run into this issue... like recently with HZD. No thinking what to play, it was always just that, until there was nothing left to do in game.

 

[Deleted member 113]

I'm sure everyone has seen the sale at the main store page, but Fire Pro Wrestling World is 70% off (and the DLCs are on sale as well).



There's even a DLC campaign designed by Suda 51, which naturally, coming off my post above, I'm... yet to play it.

---

Speaking of Spike Chunsoft games, don't sleep on their upcoming release of Shiren the Wanderer.
This series is a lot of fun. For years, I kept waiting for one of its entries to be released on PC, since I always thought it would find an audience in our platform.
I mean dungeon crawlers used to be popular on PC, and roguelikes are all the rage nowadays. This game has things to appeal to both crowds.
Hopefully, people will give it a chance.

 

[NarohDethan]

Well I mean.... Didn't the Original game sort of center around that to begin with?

Or was that just a lie to sell us product?


Also from a technical stand point, whos work was more impressive John Carmark or Tim S? Because from my understanding both are programmers that worked on some import FPS games.

John Carmack is the GOAT technical wizard. He’s in another level. However, all the game design was either John Romero and Tom Hall

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

I have been sitting at my desk for almost 3 hours thinking about what I'm going to play, and I'm yet to start playing anything!

Amateur! I've been sat at my desk thinking about how great it will be to play Paradise Killer after i finish watching this Hololive EN stream ... spongebob-two-days-later.gif ...

 

[Deleted member 113]

John Carmack is the GOAT technical wizard. He’s in another level. However, all the game design was either John Romero and Tom Hall

Yeah. And Tim wasn't a designer either.
They both made engines. The other guys made the actual creative stuff, the games, the graphics, the gameplay.

John Carmack may be great at programming stuff, but I tend to credit designers (and map makers) for the quality of those classic FPSs.
In terms of id Software, in their "golden age" Tom Hall was mainly the creative/lead designer, Adrian Carmack the artist, John Romero the gameplay programmer and map maker, while John Carmack's work was mostly in terms of the technical side of the engine.
I don't want to minimize John Carmack's work in any way, but basically, he did the engines. Tom Hall designed most of the game, Adrian Carmack many of the graphics, and John Romero the maps, and gameplay systems. Of course, they all dabbled a bit in other things (for example, Tom Hall did some maps), but those were their strengths.

 

[Joe Spangle]

I struggle to pick a game to play too and often just stare at my library for ages.

I do love it though when i finally pick one and it turns out to be great fun and i get a good gaming session on the go and itll be a game ill be enjoying for a few days/weeks.

Recently its been M.O Ashtray. Then Song of the Deep and currently its Spelunky. I just bought RE3 so ill dive into that next.

 

[QFNS]

Good shotguns in video games:
Metal Slug
Rage 1
Half Life
Doom 2016

To name a few. Scrub ass kid been playing way too much call a doody and become homogeonized to using assault rifle guns because they're the only guns these games are designed around :V

Talking about good shotguns and not mentioning original DOOM over 2016 DOOM should be illegal.

Also the Unreal Tournament Flak Cannon is a godly shotgun. The sound isn't it on the level of the others on this list, but in terms of power it's amazing.

Also if you want to know about DOOM watch Tim Roger's impossibly comprehensive review on Action Button's YouTube. It's only 3hours long....

 

[NarohDethan]

Yeah. And Tim wasn't a designer either.
They both made engines. The other guys made the actual creative stuff, the games, the graphics, the gameplay.

John Carmack may be great at programming stuff, but I tend to credit designers (and map makers) for the quality of those classic FPSs.
In terms of id Software, in their "golden age" Tom Hall was mainly the creative/lead designer, Adrian Carmack the artist, John Romero the gameplay programmer and map maker, while John Carmack's work was mostly in terms of the technical side of the engine.
I don't want to minimize John Carmack's work in any way, but basically, he did the engines. Tom Hall designed most of the game, Adrian Carmack many of the graphics, and John Romero the maps, and gameplay systems. Of course, they all dabbled a bit in other things (for example, Tom Hall did some maps), but those were their strengths.

IMO that’s why id and John Romero have not released a truly classic game since Quake. The whole team complemented each other so well.

 

[Hektor]

HELL YES

Seriously? How did it receive so much acclaims then?

It's currently the top of 2020 games in Opencritic.

No idea.
Like, the game would clearly be at least a 9/10 if it had the variety of your average roguelike because the core gameplay, art, atmosphere etc is top notch, but like this, it's just missing a core aspect that makes roguelikes good.

I would presume at the most obvious explanation that most reviewers only did like 10-20 runs before they wrote their review

 

[Deleted member 113]

IMO that’s why id and John Romero have not released a truly classic game since Quake. The whole team complemented each other so well.

Yeah, it's like a sports team. You may have a "minor" player, who doesn't appear to be as useful as the other guys, but usually they are the ones that do the "dirty work", say, defending, and they allow the other guys to shine.
But, you remove those "minor" guys, and the all-star players struggle to win games.

When we talk about id Sofware, people usually think of the two John's.
And indeed, they were the "superstars". One, a code genius, the other a fabulous map builder, who understood what made something fun to play, or not.
But, people like Tom Hall (a great creative figure, that people frequently tend to ignore, forgetting he was the main creative force behind games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Rise of the Triad, and the insanily underrated Anachronox), and Adrian Carmack (an artist that worked, among other games, Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, Hexen: Beyond Heretic, and the Quake series) were much needed, and important pieces of the puzzle, since they took over duties the others wouldn't.

In those days, with smaller teams, one person's work had a lot more influence in the final game, and this team had their hands on some really great games, that remain fun to play all these years later.

 

[PC-tan]

Yeah. And Tim wasn't a designer either.
They both made engines. The other guys made the actual creative stuff, the games, the graphics, the gameplay.

John Carmack may be great at programming stuff, but I tend to credit designers (and map makers) for the quality of those classic FPSs.
In terms of id Software, in their "golden age" Tom Hall was mainly the creative/lead designer, Adrian Carmack the artist, John Romero the gameplay programmer and map maker, while John Carmack's work was mostly in terms of the technical side of the engine.
I don't want to minimize John Carmack's work in any way, but basically, he did the engines. Tom Hall designed most of the game, Adrian Carmack many of the graphics, and John Romero the maps, and gameplay systems. Of course, they all dabbled a bit in other things (for example, Tom Hall did some maps), but those were their strengths.

So what did Tim S and his team do when they were smaller? By the time of the first Unreal game I'm guessing that they were bigger (in terms of team size and not of success) compared to Id when they released DOOM?

And where does Cliffy B fit in all of this?

well....

Did Cliffy B ever reach the same height that Romero did?

 

[Stevey]

id > Epic every day

Early Epic was good but never on id's level

 

[Deleted member 113]

So what did Tim S and his team do when they were smaller? By the time of the first Unreal game I'm guessing that they were bigger (in terms of team size and not of success) compared to Id when they released DOOM?

And where does Cliffy B fit in all of this?

well....

Did Cliffy B ever reach the same height that Romero did?

Well, I won't pretend I'm an expert on Epic's earlier staff (although I played their games before Unreal came around, and I was rather fond of the Unreal Tournament series, and before that the Jazz Jackrabbit series, among others), but I don't believe Tim was ever a designer of anything.
He was a coder. An engine maker. They had other people for the creative stuff.

As for your question about Cliffy B, and John Romero, I really don't think they had the same function.
If you want to take my previous description of id Software, and you want to compare Cliffy B with anyone, I would say Cliffy B was Epic's Tom Hall, but with John Romero's "rockstar" attitude. I really don't see them much alike, in terms of what they did. Yeah, they were both working on FPSs, but what each did wasn't really the same thing.

 

[PC-tan]

HELL YES



No idea.
Like, the game would clearly be at least a 9/10 if it had the variety of your average roguelike because the core gameplay, art, atmosphere etc is top notch, but like this, it's just missing a core aspect that makes roguelikes good.

I would presume at the most obvious explanation that most reviewers only did like 10-20 runs before they wrote their review

Enjoy your 30 day ban

reason : NO ANIME / J-ROCK / POP

violates will be punished by the full authority of the council /s




All things considered, did the reviewers play the game during early access?

 

[Tizoc]

Talking about good shotguns and not mentioning original DOOM over 2016 DOOM should be illegal.

Eh, I do crime.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Eh, I do crime.

 

[Deleted member 113]

3 weeks later, and I'm now missing only 5€ in my goal to purchase STAR WARS: Squadrons using only wallet funds from selling Steam cards.
I mean, I would have reached the goal by now, if I wasn't buying a 1-2€ game or DLC almost every day (and Operencia last week).

But man, selling cards is a slow process. No one buys shit (except during the weekends).
I still have 700 or so unsold cards (most of the cards that dropped).

 

[spindoctor]

Can someone fix this for me on the backend? lashman

No, I'm not spamming my way to 300 :\