bryce0lynch

I pushed Steam Returns pretty hard over the holidays.

*) Doom - Returned. I wasn't looking for unreal tournament.
*) Helldivers - Returned. Twin stick couch coop. The "gotta reload every 1.5 seconds" thing was pretty lame, even if the universe was cool.
*) Kentucky Route Zero. Returned. Not a fucking game. An interactive storybook. Crrepy, atmospheric, but not a fucking game. And I STILL like Zork. I tried this since it was on several "bests" lists.
*) The Witness. Returned. Yes, it's better than Myst. But it's still mindless puzzles. And I don't give a fuck about the experience or message. Tried because it was on several "bests lists.
*) Overcooked. Returned. Another couch coop. Sluggish controls ruined the experience.
*) Renegade Ops. Returned. Another couch coop. Another of the twin stick not fun shooters.
*) Dying Light. Returned. 6 hour long intro. Lame parkour. I just didn't care.
*) Party Saboteurs. Returned. Couch competitive. Not as good as Hidden in Plain sight. The graphics are better, but the game modes of HIPS are better.
*) Miner Warfare. Returned. Couch competitive. Sluggish and a concept better implemented in the better couch games.


Papers Please was fun as a family watch & comment game.
Hidden in Plain Sight is GREAT fun for couch multiplayer.
Darkest Dungeon is nice, but a bit slow. I ended up keeping it.
CoD: World at War (solo play) was also a keeper.


Anyway, the ability to return games has made it MUCH easier for me to invest some cash in a game to try and find something fun for me. I think I'm spending more on games because I'm no longer afraid I'm going to get burned by something shitty, unfun, and expensive.

Trevor

Free Mass Effect 2 at Origin.
https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/sto...andard-edition

fumanstan

Even at 2560x1440, the big images on this page annoy me (since I usually do side by side browser windows).

Weird. Even though the new Doom game didn't do much for me (still need to finish it) I'm not sure UT is the comparison that comes to my mind.

bryce0lynch

You're right, but it's the best I had. I guess I was referring to the very fast paced twitch FPS experience. There's also an element of "enter a room, door locks, monsters show up, run around killing them" that doesn't match UT.

I recognize this is a thing. It's not the Stalker/Far Cry experience that I'm looking for.

bryce0lynch

I finally got around to Bioshock Infinite.

I found the controls .. sluggish? There's a lot of money and resources ... no real challenge there. Too many set-piece like combats and very linear. The cut scenes and ... programmed video stuff (mini-cut scenes?) REALLY drove me nuts in this. Couldn't stand it.

On the plus side I think they had a decent idea with the girl in combat. Not enough choices/options, but I get, and like, where they were going with it. While I HATED The cut-scene like stuff I thought they did an EXCELLENT job or giving both her and your character nice arcs DURING the game. All of the little stuff and comments they made over the course of the games. In contract, I found the cut-scene shit/narrative quite weak.

Plus, it was fun executing all the bigots, armed or not.

I give it a 7/10.

Phodg

Bought Ark: Survival Evolved and the Scorched Earth expansion pack this week. $17 for the pair. A couple of friends at work also bought it and one of them is setting up a private server so we don't have to play on the public ones, where apparently you get wrecked on a regular basis. Should be fun.

shizawn

Thimbleweed Park is out today! http://store.steampowered.com/app/569860/

Dan

^ I'm buying that for sure. I contributed to the library (along with about 1000 other random people), so it'll be fun to find that, and also it just looks like a damn fun game.

fumanstan

Reviews look pretty good so far, 85 on Metacritic 20 reviews in.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/thimbleweed-park

Love these old adventure games and Ron Gilbert, so i'll probably buy this. Looks more of what I hoped Broken Age would be.

EDIT: Just noticed this is an XBox Play Anywhere title. I might go that route.

Also, I'd love to play this type of game on the Switch

Dan

No port-begging!!!

Dan

So, is anyone else actually playing Thimbleweed Park yet?

I'm already stuck!
As Deloris,


I'm playing on easy for my first round. Will do the tougher mode on my second try.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying it. I sent in a story for the library sometime last year, but I haven't been able to find it in there yet, and I'm not sure how to get the computer in that room to search for it.

Dan

Well, I completed Thimbleweed Park on easy (Casual). It was a lot of fun... and so frustrating in certain parts until the solution just 'clicked' so to speak. My only tip is, if it doesn't seem like there's a direct solution to a specific problem, move on to something else, as the solution might come up later.

I'm going to start a Hard run eventually; probably when it hits the Windows 10 store, since I bought it on XBox, and it's one of those "play anywhere" titles. I've already read that the puzzles are way more complicated in hard mode, but I'm up for the challenge.

Definitely worth the $20 I spent.

GoVegan

^Regarding difficulty levels. Does anyone know if playing on an easier difficulty level kind of "spoils" the higher difficulty levels, or are the solutions significantly different?

Dan

They are significantly different. I've read a few spoilers for some of the puzzles and... yeah... they're way more complex, and involve items/interactions that are almost completely different. At least, that's how it was for the ones I read about. I'm sure some, by design, have to be similar, but I wouldn't worry too much about easy mode spoiling hard mode.

GoVegan

Cool, thanks. Alright, I'll exercise my old-school adventure game muscles on the casual mode first.

Noonan

Anyone here game in 1440? Used a bit of my tax return and treated myself to a GTX 1070 and a new monitor. I'll be going from 1080 60hz to 1440 165hz IPS panel with G-Sync. How big of an improvement in visuals are I in for?

fumanstan

I do, I've had an ASUS PG278Q monitor for some time now. I had been using a 2560x1440 monitor prior so there wasn't a resolution bump for me, but with the higher refresh rate and GSync everything is just a lot smoother without any tearing. It's pretty great in that regard.

Noonan

Great. Looking forward to setting it all up. I went with the Viewsonic XG2703-GS. Should arrive next Wed.

shizawn

Steam summer sale has started!

Store's going to be a mess for awhile and it'll probably take a couple hours for all the prices to propagate.

Phodg

Yeah, been looking at it. I have about 20 games on my wish list and none of them are on sale.

EDIT: I take that back. Picked up Portal and Portal 2 for $2.37 incl tax. Happy with that !

lopper

I haven't bought anything so far, but I've at least added Homeworld Remastered and Homeworld Deserts of Kharak to my cart. I'll be getting those two at least.

starseed1981

So bad opened ended question here....

I really only go on Steam twice a year during the sales to purchase quirky indie games. Right now in my cart I have things like: Pony Island, Always Sometimes Monsters, Kindergarten and Undertale. Does anyone have any other recommendations (I like all genres)? I don't really keep up with the PC gaming scene so any feedback is appreciated.

Dan

^ I loved Pony Island and Undertale. Haven't played the others you have listed there.

Super Win The Game is quite good. Plays kind of like Zelda II on the NES, and has the best CRT filter settings in a game I've ever seen. That dev has a new game called Gunmetal Arcadia, which I haven't played yet.
Hotline Miami is great. Haven't played #2 yet.
I also enjoyed games such as VVVVVV, Thomas Was Alone, and Thimbleweed Park.

shizawn

If you like Point and click adventure games I can recommend the following:

The 5 Blackwell games. The first 4 are in a bundle for $5 and the 5th has to be purchased separately
Resonance
Gemini Rue
Primordia
Technobabylon
The Silent Age
Anna's Quest

Haven't played it yet. but Oxenfree is supposed to be good.

Some other interesting games (maybe they're quirky, maybe not):

Papers, Please
Cook, Serve, Delicious!
The Stanley Parable
Please, Don't Touch Anything
Botanicula (all of the Amanita Design games are wonderful)

If you like puzzle games I highly recommend the Hexcells games. They're minesweeper-like games, but with more advanced mechanics. The 3-game bundle can be had for less than $3.

starseed1981

Thank you guys.