The STEAM Sales and Releases Thread

[someone else]

 

[Country_Gravy]

Can we just get a Phantasie remake, instead?

 

[Country_Gravy]

whatever shit I tried to post didn't load....see C64 version of Phantasie for reference

 

[Infinitron]

Cheapest it's ever been.

 

[Rahdulan]

Cheapest it's ever been.

I haven't really been following its thread, but did Codex ever reach consensus on whether base or Revisited was preferred?

 

[LESS T_T]

You are Konrad von Meinhart, the son of the Grand Duke of an imperial province. Your father has vanished under mysterious circumstances and has bequeathed to you the title and the family estate. Now the burden of power is on your shoulders.

Trumpets are solemnly playing fanfare while you are ascending the pedestal. You receive the symbols of authority and swear fealty to the Sovereign – the immortal Emperor, who’s lived for innumerable years and governs the known world.

But it’s difficult for you to search your heart. Are you happy? Proud? Or worried? There is a varied crowd of people in the hall – like a many-headed beast that you are to curb. Merchants and priests, war and feudal lords, minstrels and courtiers – there are both friends and mortal foes among them.

FEATURES

• Nonlinear story in the spirit of the old-school RPG
  Take up the path of a medieval ruler and the dangers, challenges and contradictions that come with such an occupation duty. Like a real mosaic, this ramified storyline is composed of hundreds of events and your own decisions, which makes each walkthrough unique. Not only do the conceptual nodes of the story change, but so too do the lines stretched between them.
  
• Governance of the province at all levels
  Take everything under your control: from the minute details to the global strategy of developing the domain. Distribute resources, restore the family estate, punish and pardon, establish relations with your neighbours, barbarians and the capital. The fate of the domain depends on you – will it become a major trading hub, a cultural center or a powerful military outpost?
  
• Political intrigues
  Maneuver between the interests of influential fractions: feudal nobility, the church and merchants. Eliminate conflicts, carry out reforms, lobby for beneficial solutions – you are empowered to either maintain the feudal traditions or shake up the foundations by turning the duchy into a trading republic or even a theocracy.
  
• Role-play
  Make a fresh start and determine the personality of the young Duke through your own decisions: preferences, interests and even character traits. A devout dogmatist or a science enthusiast, a warrior or a hard worker, a recluse or a lover of feasts and hunting – a flexible system of features allows you to get into character and act exactly the way you want.
  
• Elaborate fictional world
  The plot is unfolding in a universal empire that has united the whole world. Society is a bizarre fusion of Modern Era progress and ancient Roman militarism permeated with eastern spirituality. Politics is intimately connected with the dogmas of the Church of Unity: the priests claim that the Sovereign’s soul is immortal and he has been reincarnating in new bodies since the very creation of the world. You are to find out whether there is truth in the holy books or not.

 

[Infinitron]

First sale ever for this Maniac Mansion homage:

 

[LESS T_T]

INDUSTRIA, short late-Cold War steampunk shooter:

On the evening of the fall of the Berlin wall, a young woman plunges headlong into a parallel dimension to find her missing work colleague who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. While the checkpoints in East Berlin are still being overrun by crowds of people, Nora escapes from this world, into unknown layers of time and into an unknown fate.

• Profound story: Experience a classic story-driven first-person shooter with about 4 hours of gameplay
  
• Retro Shooter-Gameplay: No rear sight, no bells and whistles - only satisfying gunplay
  
• Tight atmosphere: Dive into a lovingly designed world full of mystery and lynchesque surreality
  
• Deadly danger: Enemies lurk around every corner - defend yourself with 4 different weapons
  
• Unique setting: Berlin at the time of the fall of the wall meets a surreal world of steampunk
  
• Experimental soundtrack: Synthesizer, acoustic instruments and melancholic vocals

Berlin, 9th November 1989: The streets are full of people. After four decades of division, thousands of cars are rolling across the inner-German border. The Wall is finally open!

At the same time a man disappears in a secret research facility near East Berlin. His goodbye message reaches you too late. You drive back to the office, where the State Security has already destroyed all records of the research project. The complex is deserted and empty.

The search for Walter takes you deep into the center of the facility - right into the heart of the universe, where time seems to stand still. The dark secret lurks - well hidden - behind the curtain. In the end, it is horrible insights and the questions of responsibility that make you dive deeper and deeper into a strange, surreal yet familiar world.

 

[Endemic]

Europa Universalis IV + some DLCs are in a Humble Bundle.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/...ees_tile_index_3_c_europauniversalisiv_bundle

 

[someone else]

“The Steam Lunar New Year sale is back this year, celebrating the Year of the Rat!

“The 2020 Lunar New Year Sale will run from January 23rd to January 27th.

 

[someone else]

Europa Universalis IV + some DLCs are in a Humble Bundle.

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/...ees_tile_index_3_c_europauniversalisiv_bundle

Looks at the no. of DLCs, maybe not.

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[AbounI]

What about a hand simulator ? But wait, it's not just any hand ! Yes, you can be Him.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1198970/I_Am_Jesus_Christ/

Seriously. Some are ashamed of nothing.

 

[someone else]

Half-Life: Alyx is coming in March, and we are celebrating early by making all games in the Half-Life Series FREE to play for Steam users, from now until the day it launches!

https://store.steampowered.com/news/57848/

 

[Azalin]

Chink sale is on

 

[belated]

Old Kohan games finally on sale, and at -85%? Not bad.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Only 400 free tokens makes me sad. It's traditional that I get at least the level 1 badge of every sale because even though I ignore all game badges and shit, sales are (Usually) free to get. This is the first one where you can't get the sale badge without spending money, unless the later envelopes give more shekels. Nothing leaping out at me as something I feel super compelled to buy, either.

 

[Life of the Party]

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Is it worth it?

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Is it worth it?

Yeah. If you're heading into it without the expectation that it's a modern classic and will completely shake your world, Spiders/Cyanide RPGs are pretty much all fun. Nothing really noteworthy gameplay-wise but the writing and story is kind of a hoot, and if you're in the mood for budget action RPG it's easily worth $3.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Is the combat really a complete disaster? How much of it is there?

 

[Modron]

I'd say go play the Game of Thrones rpg first so you can properly appreciate how that system was recycled and watered down into a linear action game if going into Of Orcs and Men.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Is the combat really a complete disaster? How much of it is there?

It's not a complete disaster but it's nothing to write home about either. If you've played any other Spiders/Cyanide action RPGs you'll have a good idea of the general sense of it. It's been years so my memory may be hazy, but I do remember it having more combat than some of their games. The Game of Thrones RPG for example was relatively light on the trash combat but I dimly remember Orcs and Men being a little higher than I'd like. It wasn't endless slogs of garbage though.

The one marginally cool aspect is/was how Styx and the orc (Forget his name) are so wildly different. Styx can stealth and assassinate people as you'd expect, and the orc can go into a berserk rage and fuck people up. Generally you don't just enter combat and then have them both fighting at the same time, you try to pick off as many as you can with the goblin and then send the orc in to mop up. And as is standard in a Spiders/Cyanide venture it features sodomy.

Edit: Posted this after Modron's post hit, and I'd agree with him that the Game of Thrones RPG is a better game. But for $3 Orcs and Men doesn't really offend me. I've got a weird soft spot for their jank though, even if I haven't played their "Big hit" of Greedfall yet.

 

[Rahdulan]

Is the combat really a complete disaster? How much of it is there?

Big thing about combat is it EXPECTS you to play dangerously. You need to learn how to use berserking correctly so you don't fuck up Styx when Arkail loses control just like how you're expected to thin enemy ranks with Styx's stealth to even the playing field. I think combat is somewhat more crowd control-centric than Game of Thrones RPG was, though. Could be confusing the two.

 

[Curratum]

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/1581/Steve_Jacksons_Sorcery__The_Complete_Collection/

That's a lot of good game, illustrated by D&D 5E's core book cartographer. Combat is not the best but if you're not into heavy dice rolling, it could be fun. The book content is often expanded with extra areas and encounters and it all works quite well together.