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

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Avern

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May 14, 2020
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I finished up Control last night. What a ride. The gunplay and narrative rarely ever felt all that in-sync with each other, but both were excellent in their own rights. I think this is the first time a game not made by From Soft hooked me enough to read every single lore document I came across. The world is just so compelling. My only other experience with Remedy was Alan Wake, which I found boring, so I didn't expect to get such a kick out of Control. I'm definitely going to have to go back in to check out the rest of the sidequests I missed (and I guess the DLCs as well).

That said, what is with AAA games shoehorning in loot/crafting mechanics with zero sense of physicality? This has been happening since Far Cry 3, and it's the worst. In a loot game like Diablo, items are distinct, equippable, and even take up physical space in your inventory. They feel real. The same goes for crafting games, where the items you build occupy space in the world. But in Control and seemingly every other AAA game out there, you get all of these pieces of loot that are completely intangible. They're numbers in a menu, and it's soooo dull.
 

Trisolarian

Junior Member
Jul 12, 2019
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I'm in the mood to play a game like Mass Effect.

I played the first 2 games on an Xbox 360, but never played part 3.
Since the game uses the saves of previous games, and I have none for PC, I'll probably play the trilogy one of these days, but considering the mess that is the current DLC situation for the series on Steam (the DLCs for 3 are available on Steam, but not the ones for the previous games), and the rumours of a remastered trilogy release, I'll probably wait.

OK, to cut a long story short: Mass Effect Andromeda is currently on sale.
May I ask:
-is it worth it?
-does it spoil anything from Mass Effect 3 (which I haven't played it)? Would I miss out on anything for temporarily skipping part 3?
-the DLC listed on Steam is all for the multiplayer mode, right? And is it only early unlocks, or does it include anything not obtainable otherwise?

And finally, since the ME: Andromeda + Dragon Age Inquisition pack is cheap-ish at the moment: is there any DLC that is not include on the Steam versions of these games?

thanks ;)
-ME:A is worth it.
-Not that I'm aware of
-No single player DLC for ME:A. Game was dropped like a hot rock by EA after some improvement patches. (Which DID improve things)

I finished up Control last night. What a ride. The gunplay and narrative rarely ever felt all that in-sync with each other, but both were excellent in their own rights. I think this is the first time a game not made by From Soft hooked me enough to read every single lore document I came across. The world is just so compelling. My only other experience with Remedy was Alan Wake, which I found boring, so I didn't expect to get such a kick out of Control. I'm definitely going to have to go back in to check out the rest of the sidequests I missed (and I guess the DLCs as well).

That said, what is with AAA games shoehorning in loot/crafting mechanics with zero sense of physicality? This has been happening since Far Cry 3, and it's the worst. In a loot game like Diablo, items are distinct, equippable, and even take up physical space in your inventory. They feel real. The same goes for crafting games, where the items you build occupy space in the world. But in Control and seemingly every other AAA game out there, you get all of these pieces of loot that are completely intangible. They're numbers in a menu, and it's soooo dull.
I too loved Control. I'm the founding and only member (metausers=lame-0's) of the Jesse Faden Defense Force.
I shall now proceed to pick bones with you. I believe that your experience with the gunplay and the narrative feeling out of sync will resolve itself when you play the DLCs as the established Director. The final battle of the last DLC left me feeling that I had truly mastered not only the combat but my characters role in the FBC. Now, if you run through the game sans sidequests, some parts of the main game feel 'unearned'. You need to complete the side quests for the full experience.

Control does this better than even Far Cry 5 (which did this really well). The highest level of items make an insane difference in your personal power set and how the weapons behave. They add a very precise way of tweaking your build in order to face specific bosses, enemies and environmental puzzles with an extra edge that simply level up your abilities doesn't give you.

Also, please join the Jesse Faden Defense Force when possible.
 
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Readher

Resident Cynic
Jun 23, 2020
430
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Poland
Everything was removed :coffee-blob:

The Council - Ending is infamous for being bad (though I'm not sure I will agree) and I'm not gonna play it soon
The Surge 2 - Not in the mood to rage right now
Disgaea 1 - Already played years ago, don't like the low res sprites, I may as well play the PSP version again
Divinity 2 - Didn't play the first one, so as good as the price is...

I succeeded on all my will saves :kissing-face:
Are we talking about Divinity 2 or Original Sin 2? Because D:OS2 is set like thousands years after D:OS, so playing the first one isn't required at all.
 

Deleted member 113

Guest
Sea of Thieves, of course

alternatively, if you're not into multiplayer stuff - Risen 2 and 3 (or AssFlag, but you probably already played this one)
Yeah, I'm more of a single-player guy. :)
Plus, I still haven't found the time nor patience to backup everything, and upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10, so Sea of Thieves is out.
I played the Risen series, but not Black Flag.

This year, I didn't go on a vacation. In recent years, I tried to leave all the noise and stress that comes from living in a city behind for a few days, and I would go for rural, remote locations full of nature, and visit castles and similar stuff. :)
So, I would like to find a "virtual" alternative. I think what I would like is to play a game like Euro Truck Simulator 2, where I can leave the truck and just explore.

I always enjoyed "micro" open world games. I mean, open world games, but in a smaller scale, with a smaller map, like the town in the first Shenmue.
Open world games are always trying to go bigger and louder (not to mention, they keep portraying the same places; yeah, New York is great, but I would to love adventure myself in, say, an European city). I wish someone would go in the opposite direction. Like Warren Spector's "one city block" idea.
 

Avern

MetaMember
May 14, 2020
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FunktionJCB Have you tried The Painscreek Killings? It's a small open-world game set in an abandoned village, where you try to uncover the truth behind some murders that happened years prior. It's a lot of poking around in homes, looking for letters, notes, and diaries to piece together what was going on in the town at the time and trying to figure out how to get into locked and off-limits areas. I thought it was interesting, and kind of relaxing. It was satisfying to just poke and prod as the town slowly opened up. However, it's a really slow-paced, low-budget game with a lot of key hunting (the kind where you can get stuck for an hour because you missed a tiny key in a box on a desk), so it might not be what you're looking for.

 

Deleted member 113

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FunktionJCB Have you tried The Painscreek Killings? It's a small open-world game set in an abandoned village, where you try to uncover the truth behind some murders that happened years prior. It's a lot of poking around in homes, looking for letters, notes, and diaries to piece together what was going on in the town at the time and trying to figure out how to get into locked and off-limits areas. I thought it was interesting, and kind of relaxing. It was satisfying to just poke and prod as the town slowly opened up. However, it's a really slow-paced, low-budget game with a lot of key hunting (the kind where you can get stuck for an hour because you missed a tiny key in a box on a desk), so it might not be what you're looking for.

Thanks. :)
I don't believe I did (I played a similar game, but looking at the screenshots, it wasn't it). And I already own it. ;)
 
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fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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Finished the 3rd Blands 3 DLC, the wors tone so far, just started the 4th one (last DLC), hope it's good.

The whole game takes 113 gb, so Im looking forward to uninstalling it.
 
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gabbo

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Dec 22, 2018
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Are we talking about Divinity 2 or Original Sin 2? Because D:OS2 is set like thousands years after D:OS, so playing the first one isn't required at all.
hell it was my entry into the series, and I don't care one bit that the backstory makes no sense to me. I'm just enjoying the strategy aspects and the rush of finally winning a battle
 

Deleted member 113

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Slowly progressing in Paradise Killer but once I figured areas I hadn't explored yet, been getting more clues.
I really need to play the game. It was the game at the top of my wishlist, and I absolutely loved the demo.

But, when I was going to start it, I saw a comment by the developer mentioning adding achievements in an update, so now I'm not sure if I should wait a bit more for them to be added, or to finally start it. :giggle:

In the meantime, I've been rocking the soundtrack. (y)

 

Tizoc

Retired, but still Enabling
Oct 11, 2018
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I really need to play the game. It was the game at the top of my wishlist, and I absolutely loved the demo.

But, when I was going to start it, I saw a comment by the developer mentioning adding achievements in an update, so now I'm not sure if I should wait a bit more for them to be added, or to finally start it. :giggle:

In the meantime, I've been rocking the soundtrack. (y)

Yeah I need them cheevos retro-actively unlocked after I finish my playthru :V
NGL, I would've liked some kind of 'progress tracker', but hey if these cheevos don't pop up again in a replay, I'm doing good so far.
And yes the soundtrack slaps~
 
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Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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That said, what is with AAA games shoehorning in loot/crafting mechanics with zero sense of physicality? This has been happening since Far Cry 3, and it's the worst. In a loot game like Diablo, items are distinct, equippable, and even take up physical space in your inventory. They feel real. The same goes for crafting games, where the items you build occupy space in the world. But in Control and seemingly every other AAA game out there, you get all of these pieces of loot that are completely intangible. They're numbers in a menu, and it's soooo dull.
I couldn't agree more. I liked Outward in that respect, but mostly every game that really makes items and outer wear change appearances instead of having it simply be statistics. That physicality is arguably really expensive because those are Tier 0 assets that are always in your face, but damn if it's not of of the basises for appropriating your character in RPGs.
 
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fokkusu

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Dec 9, 2018
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Remedy's Death Rally free on Steam? Cannot confirm it since I have it in my library.
 

yuraya

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May 4, 2019
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Came across Ubisoft financial on Reddit and their PC sales are in decline.

From q1 2019-2020 -> q1 2020-2021
34%->20%

Source: Ubisoft - Earnings & Sales

It's the PDF file.

The decline happened when they left Steam.
Yep. And you can't even use the excuse of games being delayed or not having enough releases because console sales increased in that time period. That is with a PC only game they put out in a new Anno too heh.

They took a huge hit. I wonder what Tim Sweeney thinks of that.
 

ZKenir

Setting the Seas Ablaze
May 10, 2019
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I wonder what Tim Sweeney thinks of that.
He doesn't care, the deal with ubisoft as far as he's concerned is to increase EGS users by having people purchasing games there, he doesn't care about ubisoft beyond how they can help him increase EGS userbase.
He doesn't care about other devs in general beyond what users they can bring to EGS, the only potential issue with this is if ubisoft branches out again by releasing on Steam, but I guess if that happens he'll be ok as long as they do that much later.
 

ZKenir

Setting the Seas Ablaze
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they know that already, that's why Epic forks out cash and why publishers/devs accept it, nobody who is sane goes like "well, time to release on EGS only as success is guaranteed!", it's moneyhat or multiple stores including Steam
 
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EdwardTivrusky

Good Morning, Weather Hackers!
Dec 8, 2018
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But, when I was going to start it, I saw a comment by the developer mentioning adding achievements in an update, so now I'm not sure if I should wait a bit more for them to be added, or to finally start it. :giggle:

In the meantime, I've been rocking the soundtrack. (y)

Good to see ya back!
I'm playing it regardless of acheivements as i'll quite happily play it again when they are added.
I bought the soundtrack too. It's great.
 

spindoctor

MetaMember
Jun 9, 2019
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The game has good to it but the designer's hand is really, really heavy and authoritarian. It's like they are shoving their decision design into your face every minute, asking "Did you see how you have to shoot the glowy bit with that specific weapon? CAN YOU SEE MY DESIGN CHOPS?" when all I want is run, gun and enjoy it.
I'm rather late to this discussion but Hugo Martin (game director) explained their design choices in some interview. It links back to how they interpreted feedback from Doom 2016. Now that game had the player getting new weapons or suit upgrades or runes all the way until the third last level. When you entered the final two levels of Doom 2016, you had your entire arsenal at your disposal and the levels were basically successive combat arenas with hard monsters. One bit of feedback that even I noticed was that both players and even critic reviews said that the game was too long. That the end of the game was just padding. That it was repetitive and boring. Personally, I thought it was the exact opposite with those final couple of levels being really fun for me.

Anyway, id software noticed this feedback and, presumably with the help of tons of telemetry, they came to the conclusion that people were bored of the game at the end because they were just using the super shotgun and nothing else the entire time. That one weapon was good enough to deal with every enemy and pretty much get through the whole game. This is what they took away from that feedback and tried to fix in Eternal.

Now, it would be apostasy to remove the super shotgun from Doom. So they give it you rather late (at least not until mid way through the campaign IIRC). And every change mentioned earlier was an attempt to nerf the super shotgun. The low ammo count was to encourage players to use other weapons. The weakpoint system (where you can only destroy a plasma shield with the plasma gun for example) was designed to get players to use other weapons. However, these changes, combined with some other design choices (like them doubling down on the "push forward combat" concept to replenish health, armor and ammo), moved the needle too far in the direction of the game feeling like it required you to play in the way they want you to instead of in the way you want to.

Personally, I think they made a mistake with their interpretation of that feedback about the older game being too repetitive and boring. That said, I always switched between weapons for the combat scenarios anyway so the lack of ammo, for example, was noticeable but not a detriment to my personal experience.

I think they made other... unfortunate... design choices in Eternal. Which is why I think Doom 2016 is easily the better game. That game had a purity of focus and vision that was diluted in Eternal.
 

FunnyJay

Powered by the Cloud
Apr 6, 2019
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FunktionJCB
Have you considered the "Genesis" DLC or whatever it is called for Mass Effect 3, where you generate your save for ME3 by "playing" through the story of 1 and 2 in 15 minutes or so?
 

Li Kao

It’s a strange world. Let’s keep it that way.
Jan 28, 2019
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Are we talking about Divinity 2 or Original Sin 2? Because D:OS2 is set like thousands years after D:OS, so playing the first one isn't required at all.
I have respectably sized OCD.
And I also enjoyed what little plot of the first one I saw before getting stuck. The fragmented soul thing was too reminiscent of Planescape for me not to eat it up.

This year, I didn't go on a vacation. In recent years, I tried to leave all the noise and stress that comes from living in a city behind for a few days, and I would go for rural, remote locations full of nature, and visit castles and similar stuff. :)
So, I would like to find a "virtual" alternative. I think what I would like is to play a game like Euro Truck Simulator 2, where I can leave the truck and just explore.
Not what your want exactly, but there are a surprising number of indie games where the natural world takes central place.
A short hike as already mentioned, Morels, the game where you are a nature painter, the one inspired by Thoreau but it’s EGS, I must forget some.
 
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Deleted member 113

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FunktionJCB
Have you considered the "Genesis" DLC or whatever it is called for Mass Effect 3, where you generate your save for ME3 by "playing" through the story of 1 and 2 in 15 minutes or so?
Yeah, but I genuinely want to replay the first 2 games that I already played, and finally play through ME3, so I'm saving that for when I have more time on my hands (a playthrough of the 3 games in sequence). ;)

I just read that ME: Andromeda starts just after ME2, which almost ends up being a bit of a "branching point" to the series (ME3 in the main branch, and this reboot of sorts that starts after ME2, and takes place in another galaxy, in the future, in another). That's great, since that's where I stopped.
I know the game has problems, but for the current asking price I'll give it a go.

Not what your want exactly, but there are a surprising number of indie games where the natural world takes central place.
A short hike as already mentioned, Morels, the game where you are a nature painter, the one inspired by Thoreau but it’s EGS, I must forget some.
I played A short hike already, but I was unaware of Morels. Thanks for the heads-up. ;)
 

Swenhir

Spaceships!
Apr 18, 2019
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I'm rather late to this discussion but Hugo Martin (game director) explained their design choices in some interview. It links back to how they interpreted feedback from Doom 2016. Now that game had the player getting new weapons or suit upgrades or runes all the way until the third last level. When you entered the final two levels of Doom 2016, you had your entire arsenal at your disposal and the levels were basically successive combat arenas with hard monsters. One bit of feedback that even I noticed was that both players and even critic reviews said that the game was too long. That the end of the game was just padding. That it was repetitive and boring. Personally, I thought it was the exact opposite with those final couple of levels being really fun for me.

Anyway, id software noticed this feedback and, presumably with the help of tons of telemetry, they came to the conclusion that people were bored of the game at the end because they were just using the super shotgun and nothing else the entire time. That one weapon was good enough to deal with every enemy and pretty much get through the whole game. This is what they took away from that feedback and tried to fix in Eternal.

Now, it would be apostasy to remove the super shotgun from Doom. So they give it you rather late (at least not until mid way through the campaign IIRC). And every change mentioned earlier was an attempt to nerf the super shotgun. The low ammo count was to encourage players to use other weapons. The weakpoint system (where you can only destroy a plasma shield with the plasma gun for example) was designed to get players to use other weapons. However, these changes, combined with some other design choices (like them doubling down on the "push forward combat" concept to replenish health, armor and ammo), moved the needle too far in the direction of the game feeling like it required you to play in the way they want you to instead of in the way you want to.

Personally, I think they made a mistake with their interpretation of that feedback about the older game being too repetitive and boring. That said, I always switched between weapons for the combat scenarios anyway so the lack of ammo, for example, was noticeable but not a detriment to my personal experience.

I think they made other... unfortunate... design choices in Eternal. Which is why I think Doom 2016 is easily the better game. That game had a purity of focus and vision that was diluted in Eternal.
I have to agree with you, I never felt 2016 was too long. And I know Hugo Martin, like anyone who's watching the noclips documentaries. I think he seems pretty awesome, even though I very much disagree with his design mentality. I also agree regarding the purity of focus, especially when it came to humor and plot. Vega was in my opinion the strongest character of the whole story, followed by the big bad cyborg-whatshisname himself.

On the topic of the weapons, I agree with you. My perspective is that forcing people to switch isn't going to really do anything to solve the problem of people using whatever is most efficient, made worse by just how much pressure they put on the player. SSG>Ballista>whatever is pretty much the default about halfway in in Eternal, especially when facing maurauders and using anything else is just not possible, unless you are good enough to detonate rockets at the right time.

I think that rather than forbidding, forcing and nearly lecturing the player with those tutorials, they could have gotten away with simply making all the weapons really fun and enticing in their own way - which they have, to be fair. It's just that the pressure cooker of the game's ammo count and arena design means you are forced to forgo creativity and go for anything that allows you to win. Even the extra lives mechanic makes it so you really, really hate loosing and feel the sting of it.

That creativity, that space to breathe, that fun and split-second wonder of "just what piece of brutally-demon-dismembering-weaponry am I going to use on this fellow?" is gone in Eternal for me.
 
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xinek

日本語が苦手
Apr 17, 2019
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Now, it would be apostasy to remove the super shotgun from Doom. So they give it you rather late (at least not until mid way through the campaign IIRC). And every change mentioned earlier was an attempt to nerf the super shotgun. The low ammo count was to encourage players to use other weapons. The weakpoint system (where you can only destroy a plasma shield with the plasma gun for example) was designed to get players to use other weapons. However, these changes, combined with some other design choices (like them doubling down on the "push forward combat" concept to replenish health, armor and ammo), moved the needle too far in the direction of the game feeling like it required you to play in the way they want you to instead of in the way you want to.
I've always found this kind of thing so weird. So game devs see that something that they made is so good that players use it all the time, and the conclusion basically is "oh no, it's too good and people are having too much fun with it. let's nerf it". In a multiplayer game, maybe that's justified, but in SP Doom? If people were not dropping the game, it must have still been fun for them, right?
This is similar to a common game mechanic that I really have never liked, where a game gives you fun stuff and then takes it away. I've been back on Monster Train lately, so the example of ember drain is fresh in my mind. So here we have a game about playing cards, but then there are enemies who take away the energy you need to use to play the cards. At it's worst, you can lose an entire turn because you have no energy to play cards. In a card game! I just find this frustrating as hell, a huge eyeroller, and not fun at all.
 

fspm

MetaMember
Nov 1, 2018
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Came across Ubisoft financial on Reddit and their PC sales are in decline.

From q1 2019-2020 -> q1 2020-2021
34%->20%

Source: Ubisoft - Earnings & Sales

It's the PDF file.

The decline happened when they left Steam.
Even before egs was a thing it took a lot of effort to make yourself jump through steam->uplay hoops, postponed playing south park and the stick cause I believed it required uplay :steam_pig_crylaughing:

Now it's even easier: Ubisoft - who?gif How long can they keep selling same reskinned shit though, asscreed_asscreed, asscreed_farcry, asscreed_watchdog
 

AHA-Lambda

MetaMember
Oct 9, 2018
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Finished The Occupation now.
Man....So remember what I talked about with the game being buggy?

Well in the last area I managed to get stuck between some level geometry and a guard. This led to multiple quick instances of being “caught” by said guard of course, as he was right next to me. This led to me then being kicked out of the final area (not sure if something similar happens in other levels, I didn't get caught enough it would seem if there is).
Boom immediately railroaded to the bad ending as I failed the objective.
And I struggled to give a shit otherwise by this point.

The story isn't engaging anyway, the game doesn't do a good job in the world-building department, as it goes way too in depth on certain specifics of its world without sufficiently explaining them. So by time I had achieved the bad ending I just felt fed up anyway.

Glad I only paid a couple of quid.
 
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Myradeer

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FunktionJCB Have you tried The Painscreek Killings? It's a small open-world game set in an abandoned village, where you try to uncover the truth behind some murders that happened years prior. It's a lot of poking around in homes, looking for letters, notes, and diaries to piece together what was going on in the town at the time and trying to figure out how to get into locked and off-limits areas. I thought it was interesting, and kind of relaxing. It was satisfying to just poke and prod as the town slowly opened up. However, it's a really slow-paced, low-budget game with a lot of key hunting (the kind where you can get stuck for an hour because you missed a tiny key in a box on a desk), so it might not be what you're looking for.

Happy to see someone else recognize Painscreek Killing as something worthy of recommendation. There's really no other games like it - only game I remember that implements open-handed investigation in decent manner (instead of being linear like typical of either investigation or walking sim genre)

Edit: Ah there's also Her Story which does non-linear progression pretty well but that doesn't have 'world' to explore.
 

AHA-Lambda

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Looks like Steam version is confirmed for Little Nightmares II


  • Standardspiel in PVC-Hülle : Blu-Ray-Disc für PS4 oder Xbox One, Cartridge für Nintendo Switch, digitaler Steamcode für PC.
 

Mivey

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2018
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Looks like Steam version is confirmed for Little Nightmares II

Hmm, not yet confirmed Steam release, of a sequel to a fairly popular game, with a physical version with "supposed" Steam codes in it.

You know what that means. :timinator:
 

spindoctor

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Jun 9, 2019
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I've always found this kind of thing so weird. So game devs see that something that they made is so good that players use it all the time, and the conclusion basically is "oh no, it's too good and people are having too much fun with it. let's nerf it". In a multiplayer game, maybe that's justified, but in SP Doom? If people were not dropping the game, it must have still been fun for them, right?
That's not exactly what they were doing though. They didn't nerf the super shotty just because it was too much fun. They had two data points;

1) Telemetry probably told them that many players used the weapon exclusively in the last levels (or throughout the game).
2) They got a lot of feedback that the game was too repetitive and the final levels felt like padding.

And the connection they made here was that players would have had more fun if they had engaged with the combat system and weapons arsenal more. It's not an unreasonable assumption. Any shooter would get a bit dull if you played it with a single gun for 15 hours. The question here is whether they correctly identified cause and effect. I imagine they must have done some research into the idea before settling down to design the next game.

Ultimately though, whether or not they were correct with their assumption, the solution they implemented sort of pushed up a different set of problems. I think Eternal was generally better received than 2016 so maybe the trade off was worth it.
 
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Mor

Me llamo Willy y no hice la mili, pero vendo Chili
Sep 7, 2018
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Came across Ubisoft financial on Reddit and their PC sales are in decline.

From q1 2019-2020 -> q1 2020-2021
34%->20%

Source: Ubisoft - Earnings & Sales

It's the PDF file.

The decline happened when they left Steam.
I'm absolutely dupely doublely utterly sure they won't come back, in, let's say, 1-2 years with their Upla+ thing like EA :evilblob:
 
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Arsene

On a break
Apr 17, 2019
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Looks like Steam version is confirmed for Little Nightmares II

Steam has been listed on the website since it was announced. Namco has yet to announce an EGS exclusive.

 

Deleted member 113

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For gamers who aren't too bothered by (highly) simplistic graphics, and enjoy a good "old school" sci-fi/exploration tile-based game, Approaching Infinity is well worth a look.




The game was previously crowdfunded at Kickstarter, and distributed by Shrapnel Games at their website, and the good reviews over the years always made me want to give it a go, but Shrapnel was selling it for $40+, and worse of all the game had a silly DRM/activation process (with limited activations), so I gave it a pass, even when earlier this year I received an email from Shrapnel informing that the game was going to be removed from their store.

It was for the best, because the developer has self-published an updated version of the game on Steam, for an affordable price-tag (less than 9€).

And let me tell you, the post-launch support this game has been receiving is crazy!
The game sold more in two days on Steam than in 5 years at the Shrapnel Games store, and things have been going so well for the developer he has actually quit his job, and is working full-time on it.
As a result, pretty much every day or two there's been a content update. Pretty much everything that is requested in terms of additions, that doesn't break the game, is being added. A bug is reported, it gets immediately fixed (sometimes just minutes later!).
I don't think I ever saw a game with such level of customer support/interaction as this one.

If you are interested in giving it a go, don't be discouraged by the "early access" label, this isn't an incomplete game.
The Steam version is a full game already, basically the existing game that was sold at the Shrapnel store for $40+, with 5 years of updates, and some new tweaks and improvements done for the Steam version (both before and after launch).
The developer added the early access tag because he is adding some achievements, and even more content and tweaks, based on feedback/requests.

As an added bonus, the game appears to be DRM free.
I have been playing it these past few weeks on an older PC without internet access, and despite a small message appearing on the top left corner saying "connecting to Steam" on start-up, the truth is in case of failure to connect to Steam the game played just fine.

Here are a couple of articles about the game, from the time it originally launched 5 years ago:


And, here are a couple of videos about it (the second features an interview with the developer):

 
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