It's that time of year again, friends. What have you picked up/what do you recommend for the Steam Summer Sale?
For me, I recommend DAVE THE DIVER. A single-player RPG about a guy who scuba dives by day, then brings his catch to work at a sushi restaurant by night. It has beautiful, colorful pixel graphics, and tons of minigames popping up in unexpected places. I haven't finished it, but so far, it's even faintly based. It openly mocks Dave for being fat, as well as making the save-the-whales Greenpeace standin a bunch of evil, drooling morons that Dave regularly dunks on and has to fight. It's on sale for $18, it's rated Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's a big thumbs up from me.
I also picked up Card Survival: Tropical Island. It's a game about, well, surviving on a tropical island using cards. Click on locations to explore them, and find cards like Palm Tree, Stone, or Heavy Rock. Drag the Stone onto the Heavy Rock to get a Sharpened Stone. Drag that onto the Coconuts from the Palm Tree to get Cocount Milk, Coconut Meat, and Coconut Shells. You now have a little something to eat and drink, but be careful: too many Coconut products will give you diarrhea, which could be deadly on this remote island.
Don't be fooled by the dated graphics. Card Survival is clearly incredibly deep and made with a lot of love and care. It's on sale for $17, and it's rated Overwhelmingly Positive. Full disclosure: despite liking card games and the theme, I didn't care for the actual gameplay and ended up refunding it. Still, I really do think that's a "me" problem, and feel very good about shouting it out.
Not new (to me), but I always recommend Rimworld without hesitation. An incredibly good colony management game with a ridiculous mod scene. In past years, the dev has refused to put it on sale, but it's currently going for a minor discount of $28, it's Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's worth every penny.
In a similar vein, Against the Storm is a very good title that combines a city builder with a roguelite. You are sent out to build a new village, each of which will have different resources and options available. You must take those options and combine them into a thriving new city. Once you've scored enough points (by making your people happy, producing manufactured goods, sending resources back to the capital, and so on), you've won that round. Your city will appear on the map as you are sent out to start a new city. But beware! After every five cycles or so, the Storm will wipe the map clean, leaving only the capital city safe. Against the Storm is rated Overwhelmingly Positive, and it's currently on sale for $20.
Another good older one is Noita. You play a wizard in a roguelike where every pixel is made out of a simulated material. Fight monsters and find loot, new wands, and spells as you descend into the earth, but be careful! That puddle of Oil will light on fire if a spark lands on it. Noita is Overwhelmingly Positive, and currently on sale for just $10.
Still another game I picked up earlier is War of Rights. It's a first person shooter that literally tries to be a Civil War infantry simulator. Designed around relatively large multiplayer battles, you will be handed a musket and expected to stay in line with the rest of your unit, obeying your officers orders (you won't accomplish much running off with your single shot anyway.) It has incredibly realistic graphics for an indie title, using CRYENGINE, and at least one server has had a battle going every time I logged on. My only minor complaint is that you don't necessarily want to play it constantly; being a Civil War infantryman is more of a mood than a lifestyle these days. It's rated Very Positive, and it's currently 50% off at $15.
Those are some of the titles I recommend this year. What about you?
I recently came back to Deep Rock Galactic, and it's a got a shit tonne of new content since I last played it. Also a new season just came out.
And at 67% off it's just a STEAL right now. The best 4 player coop out there IMO.
I was gonna get Back4Blood purely because of L4D nostalgia, but I decided against it and went back to DRG.
By the way, Back4Blood is friggin EIGHTY percent off right now, and the game isn't even 2 years old. Sales must have been extremely disappointing. But it might be worth to check it out at this price if you're into L4D.
Back4Blood got shit on by youtube reviewers, I don't think is that bad but it looked net inferior to L4d. That was another game I was looking forward to playing with some friends and the reviews just killed the mood.
That's exactly what I heard from a friend who was big on L4D: it's not a bad game per se, but not as good as L4D, and it was very pricey when it came out.
The price was the main reason I didn't get it when it came out, and I was only considering it because it's super cheap now.
Might still get it before the sale ends.
The horrible cringey, Liberal-infused dialogue is what turned me off of Back 4 B;ood, and the fact there didn't appear to be any normal straight White males to play. It looked like a woke(r) version of Left 4 Dead, so it didn't matter how good some people said the gameplay was, I was never going to touch.
I wanted to like deep rock galactic but it's yet another game with screwed up FOV and camera shake. At least I got to find out the options to disable that shit don't actually work during a free weekend.
I'll throw in the two PC games I've played the most recently as both hooked me. I didn't buy either on Steam, but they are in the sale and I think worthy.
Grim Dawn was recommended to me on here recently, and it's excellent. Diablo clone. I'd tried Torchlight 2 just before and it didn't scratch the same itch anything like Grim Dawn. Lots of classes and builds. I prefer to play these games blind and make up my own build and it's been great. I've had a couple nights where the game kept me up because I wanted to keep going, and that's been rare for me lately. Steal for $13.
Prodeus is another one I found when I stumbled across retro-indie shooter games. It's on sale for $18. What can I say, it's Doom modernized, and I don't mean trannies. Think if the people that complained about the change of pace in Doom 3 and didn't like the new Dooms enough made their own game. Shoot shit, pick up health/armor/ammo, get keys and open doors. It's not complex but it's a lot of fun. There's also a map editor with tons of content in it but I haven't tried to edit anything yet. I played it off Xbox Game Pass though.
+1 for Grim Dawn, love that game. I really enjoy its atmosphere and build variety.
Personally I enjoyed Torchlight 2 over Grim Dawn simply because of the mechanics, but Grim Dawn is a more modern game with additional options and build variety for sure.
Seems like that genre has kind of died out though.
I'm sure I'll play it more eventually, I played the first Torchlight a ton. I had forgotten I had the second one I bought ages ago. I think at the moment I was just more interested in the skill trees in Grim Dawn.
Maybe Diablo 4 will spawn some new interest in the genre and more new development. If it's gameplay loop is fun players will want to keep playing games like it but escape whatever anti-player garbage I'm sure Blizzard filled it with.
Let me know if Diablo 4 is any good. From what I can see it is decent but the friend I tend to play with does not like it. He was a fan of Diablo 2, POE and Diablo 3 later on.
Diablo 4 is a potentially good game ruined by level scaling.
After the campaign nothing opens up by level, mobs are always your level of higher, and drops are tied to your level.
Everything about it punishes you from leveling up except the PoE-lite paragon board in which you can reach mildly powerful nodes by leveling up, but even here once you get the nodes you want (by like level 70) every time you level up everything gets harder than any boost you get.
Diablo 3 had similar problems with level scaling, but to a lesser degree. Every time you got another paragon point it was an absolute benefit - like 0.01% benefit, but you never went backwards like in D4.
I got it for 'free' and it was kind of fun for maybe like 5-10 hours. After that it's a trash game.
No dungeon crawlers have ever been able to live up to Diablo 2, in my opinion. That was the peak. I've tried virtually every dungeon crawler since and the best ones still have glaring issues (e.g., the best loot has random affixes you have to grind for eternity to get because it's all soulbound, or endgame is just running infinitely scaling "difficulties" in random layouts ZZZZZZ).
Grim Dawn is very good, but it's missing some soul somehow. I don't think the worldbuilding is all that special.
I think the soul you're looking for was left back in Titan Quest, which for me was the gold standard that no other "ARPG" could live up to. The music alone in TQ was just absolutely beautiful.
Not sure I like their always recording of voice, I hope they get up so people can host their own servers asap
Yeah and the reminding you of “the rules” every log in is lame but game play wise it’s pretty sick
You can turn that off
No? In order to use the voice chat they will be recording it and then storing it and giving randoms access to it in order to perform judgment, says quite clearly.
I see people banned regularly for "discrimination"
+1 to Rimworld, theres a Youtuber (MrSamuelStreamer) who has far too many hours on it; but for each season he builds a new mod collection on steam. They're pretty fun to follow along with and can vary from pro-human androids to ultratech (not)vampires.
I'd also recommend Risk of Rain 2, Roguelike action game which supports 4-player coop. Has modding support too, which brings new items, characters and even 4+ player multiplayer which is pretty cool.
A couple of other notable recommendations are the brutal games project zomboid (top down zombie survival) and kenshi (Similar to rimworld, colony type builder but 3d and pretty difficult).
And one to keep an eye on: Shadows of Doubt, cool voxel and randomly generated detective game. Bit too early on at the moment but has a lot of future potential.
I also love RimWorld, and I feel like I have to point out that it rarely goes on sale, and when it does, it's usually a small discount.
It's 20% off on steam right now, and that's as good of a discount as you're ever gonna get with RimWorld.
A friend recently bought it for me but I don't yet have the DLC and I'm trying to make sure I really stretch my entertainment dollar, so I'm not sure if it's worth paying $60 for all three DLC right now. With the moddability of the game I'm not sure they provide enough content to justify the ~$20 sale price.
I haven't played biotech, but both Ideology and Royalty feel like mods.
That being said, Ideology feels like one of those mods that should've been in the core game since the beginning. It fits pretty much any kind of gameplay you might wanna go for.
I simply don't play without Ideology.
Royalty is kinda meh. It's nice if you wanna play the space noble thing, or even to combine it with other mods (like to make actual medieval royalty). But it's something that you'll play on and off like any other themed mod.
And the stuff in Biotech seems like things that already existed in mods (like genetics, children an such). But then again I could be wrong because I don't have it.
Biotech felt more like a decent dlc compared to the other two imo; ideology just feels like a bunch of mood adjusting variables and royalty just feels like a more in-depth empire mod.
You could probably emulate all three with a bunch of varying mods, but I'd say ideology and biotech are more worth it.
I've only just started a run where I'm using the royalty stuff, it's pretty fun but kinda feels thrown together and doesn't feel like it adds a whole new dynamic which every run should incorporate. Whereas the other two most certainly do
If you still have not bought edf. Nows is the time to buy edf 5
I don’t want to be racist, but once you’ve played one of those games you’ve played them all. They’re kind of boring after a while.
Son, how hard did they condition you that you thought that was a racist take?
Clearly did not play fencer/air raider
Comment Reported for: Retardation
Comment Approved: That is not a rule violation.
Second it, it is a nice twist on city builder.
I will recommend Gates of hell: Ostfront. (Sadly you must purchase the shit know as call of arms since it somehow a expansion to it) It is men of war, with the standard singleplayer missions (that you can play coop), a dynamic campaign (which is so so) and the normal mp skirmish, the only downside is that they removed frontline from mp which was my favorite game mode. But the gameplay is solid, and it really feels like a proper ww2 skirimsh (not large battle) simulation.
I will third Against The Storm. Completed product, but the devs still do minor content updates and renewing measures, and it's a fun citybuilder roguelite.
Fourthing even. Probably one of the best City Builders I've seen, with an actual "end goal" to prevent that sandbox drought most end up.
A few mods can make the dynamic campaign mode more interesting. Or infuriatingly difficult. Conquest Enhanced (v2), Mace, Mace v2 (compatibility patch for the two mods).
After years of playing Men of War games, it's a bit horrifying seeing enemy AI actually knocking out the crew of one of your AT guns and man it, aiming it right back at your own forces.
Grim Dawn.
It scratches the Diablo itch in a way that I haven't experienced since Torchlight 2.
I recently got American Truck Simulator for a good deal (specifically, the "Southwest Bundle" for $22 and change. Base game available for $5). I had been wanting a game more outside my comfort zone for a while, and this has me surprisingly hooked.
You get a wide variety of control options (all the way up to dedicated steering wheel, pedals, and gearbox), and it play quite decent on my Xbox 360 controller.
The only glaring flaw is that the NPCs all drive like Californians, so trucker beware.
I picked up Spark The Electric Jester 3. I haven't played the full version yet, but I really enjoyed the demo. It really does feel like the Sonic Adventure 3 we never got. I really appreciated the way the levels were designed to accommodate multiple styles of play. You wanna speedrun straight for the goal? There's a reward for that. You wanna explore and look for secrets? There are rewards for that. You wanna combo enemies and rack up a high score? There's a reward for that.
Just play your tens if not hundreds of backlogs you never touched for 15 years bruh
I'll second Noita as well. And, if you're a perceptive one, there is more to the world than the straight forward game, with other puzzles within the world. Yes, it's randomly generated, but there are also other constants. Very compelling gameplay loop, but like OP says, be wary of fire. Fire is your enemy.
Thirding Noita. To say there's more to the game is an understatement. If you go through the main dungeons and boss like you're led to believe you're "supposed" to you'll see something like 10% of the content. It's a gotcha on part with the first castlevania game to pull the upside-down castle trick.
There's also some pretty awesome content mods. Nothing on the level of terraria but still very meaty.
I really liked En Garde. The game has shit optimization, but the fighting felt really good and the writing had a good vibe.
I tried the demo and was pretty impressed with the design. Very solid concept with pretty good execution overall. Essentially, play as Zorro and keep your enemies off balance while you utilize anything in the environment to your advantage.
In case you don't have it, Just Cause 3 I got for under $5.
If you like post-apocalyptic games in the style of old Fallout, I can't recommend ATOM RPG and Trudograd enough. The bundle is on sale for $14.38. I beat the original game twice, sinking at least 120 hours into it, and the Trudograd expansion kept me going for somewhere around 40 hours. I would highly recommend a blind playthrough the first time around. You might not have much choice, though, since the game's limited popularity in the West means you'll have to do quite a bit of digging to find information about people, places, and things.
For post-apocalyptic titles of the first-person variety, I recommend the Metro franchise. All three games, and their expansions, are on sale for about $10. These make excellent additions to the Steve Blum extended universe.
For the urban open world experience, Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition is a solid choice at only $5.99. It's definitely the black sheep of the franchise, which I get, but I still think it's a great game. The DLCs also hold up pretty well. You'll want to do some tweaks, though, as some of the original songs, and even entire radio stations, have been removed. There are also some optimization issues you'll need to sort out manually.
I have been eyeing ATOM RPG for quite a while, nice to see that it is good.
If you like games that remind you of old Fallout, I recommend Underrail including the Expedition DLC. Just checked, and I have over 200 hours in those two.
It also has some based stuff in it.
Six recommendations (links to trailers included):
Hong Kong Massacre: Absolutely a blast to play. 65% off on Steam. It'll take about four through six hours to complete. It's not long but it's one of those games you might replay to enjoy the very satisfying shooting physics and unlock more stuff. It's essentially like a top-down version of Max Payne 3, but one bullet kills you (or the enemies) and there is no drunk-o-vision. The destruction physics in the environment are absolutely on-point. It has a straightforward story that very well could have been a John Woo film, zero wokeness, and is completely awesome. I had always thought the game was made in Unreal but it's actually running on Unity. Looks fantastic and the gunplay is extremely satisfying.
Midnight Fight Express This is one of the most badass games you'll ever play. Essentially it combines the best of the John Wick-style shooting and Judo-melee, with awesome beat-'em-up mechanics and tons of weapons. The game never feels like you're fighting against the controls, and every aspect of the combat is so smooth. It's a shockingly polished game, too. The story is pretty nice as well, but I'm not going to spoil any of that. it reminds me if AKI's No Mercy was combined with Dead To Rights. Surprisingly, it's another Unity-based game, so it has super smooth framerates, none of the frame processing hitching you see in a lot of other games, and it's extremely responsive, and absolutely no wokeness at all, in fact it sometimes takes the piss out of the wokies. It's currently 30% off.
Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues: This one really took me by surprise. I'm not into licensed based games, but this is a really well done beat-'em-up for the most part. Great 2-player co-op options, and it has two story modes as you play as Cobra Kai or as Miyago-Do. Both sides feature four player characters you can tag out, and it has lots of unlockable content, and a healthy dose of different stages to traverse. I like the stage designs and interactables, and the Cobra Kai side is really fun to play and have some great moves. Once again, it's a highly optimised Unity game; runs great, has smooth frames and plenty to enjoy, especially if you have family or friends for local co-op. Some of the animations for some of the characters are bit... clunky, but otherwise it works well. It's also 75% off on Steam right now. Also, no wokeness that I've encountered at all.
Resonance of Fate: Bit of a reluctant recommendation here. If you're into JRPGs this has one of the most unique turn-based combat systems in any game. It's really cool because it's focused on gun-ki-do, basically. Heavily inspired by stuff like The Matrix and Equilibrium. It's not an easy game at all, though, and it doesn't rely on traditional grinding to get strong, but rather the synergy you adapt in how you utilise the resonance feature. The story makes no sense whatsoever in relation to the world building, and it's pretentious and dumb and ends before anything really comes together coherently. However, the combat system alone is well worth it if you're into unique JRPGs. I would highly suggest watching some tutorials, especially regarding the first boss fight, because it's not so much about how high your level is but how you combine scratch + physical damage and guard-breaking enemies. It's currently 40% off right now.
Sifu: I've never raged at a game the way I did with the absolute cheap final boss in this game. It's so ridiculously hard I'm not even going to say how many hours I wasted trying to beat him. Essentially I just had to restart the whole game on a whole new difficulty because he was that hard. That being said, this has the kind of fighting combat system I wish other games had. There are no fancy auto-dodge mechanics here, you manually have to jump and dodge and parry directional attacks, and that's what makes the game so hard. But at the same time, this is one of the most rewarding hand-to-hand beat-'em-up games. Also, the multiple endings and unlockables makes this one of those games you can just keep returning to in order to get better and improve. Once you learn to master the mechanics you can put on some Tony Jaa-tier bone-breaking fight sequences that are as satisfying to pull off as they are to watch. In some ways in never gets tiring once you start improving your technique.
Exanima: Not discounted at all, but it's only $14.99, and probably the best $14.99 I've spent in a long time. This game is very challenging but well worth it. It's very similar to Hellish Quart, insofar that HEMA tactics work like a chef's kiss in this game. Distance, spacing, zoning, and footwork are all essentials to winning. It utilises physics-based, procedural animations, so you don't rely on key-frames to monitor when to strike, but rather distance and openings. It has somewhat simple controls, but this is the very definition of simple to learn but unbelievably hard to master, all because the game's physics system takes height, weight, mass, and kinetic movement into account. So different opponents wearing different armour and using short/long weapons will all vary how difficult they are to fight and what weapon will work best/worst against them. There is no single answer in this game, and ultimately it boils down to what you feel most comfortable using.
This is also the only game that gets warhammers and flails right. Dual-wielding flails are some of the most dangerous weapons, just because of their unpredictability and how much damage they can dish out. You also can't block flails properly, so you mostly have to just get out of the way, since they can swing around or over shields and parries. Warhammers are a real treat to use because they get crushing damage right in this game. Leading an opponent to trip over another dead body or stumble over a chair and then do a downward swing to crush their skull offers a sickeningly satisfying result. A lot of times direct kill shots will take out an opponent (or you) in one hit. A lot of the reviews that said this game would ruin hack-and-slash ARPGs for you forever weren't lying. It's hard to go back to the traditional hack-and-slash games after playing this. This is a huge and hard recommendation here for anyone who enjoys medieval games but want something with actual realistic, physics-based combat.
I'll second MFE, I was really bummed when I realized I only had one mission left.
I liked the idea of Sifu more than the game itself. I usually don't put up with any kind of grind. I have so little time to play, I like each session to end with some kind of progress.
That said, Sifu is beautifully crafted, in all senses.
Same here. Most newer games I'm always looking forward to getting to the end, but I was still ready for more in that game.
I usually dedicate free time to a game (when I have time) in case of a grind, but I have to 100% agree with you here. I, too, love the concept more than the execution. I personally think they did a better job with Absolver than Sifu when it came to balance and time commitments. Absolver was also strangely better optimised than Sifu. There's nothing more obnoxious than losing a fight because of a frame processing stutter for a game that isn't even graphically taxing (happened infrequently but enough during the final boss fight that I actually missed a couple of parries as a result).
But you're right, it's beautifully crafted. I hope they make a Sifu 2 and commit to a more unique art-style that really dives into the washed out painterly effect a bit more. The environments were perfect because they felt lived in and real, and were actually scaled properly. I just think the character art was a little too flat. Harsher contrasts with the shadows and some of the shader effects could have helped them both look more set into the environment and also standout design wise.
Got the dlc for x4, was mainly in it for the Terrans though. While fun, X3 with the Litcube universe mod is still better.
Also picked up the two races dlc for distant worlds 2, the treacherous spiders are fun to play.
AOE 2 definitive edition is £4.
I wanted to get Dying Light 2 but I want to see a bigger discount first.
Everspace 2. Indie game funded by a kickstarter: really well done.
How much better is it than Everspace 1?
1 was a good roguelike run-through game, but it got repetitive after a while. They went open world with 2, so you're not just running through the same levels over and over. It's better.
War of rights is dope. Definitely beautiful and a change of pace.
I can join the chorus recommending Against the Storm. It's a extremely well crafted colony management game that does a marvelous job of making you approach things differently each time, and grapple with competing contingencies, and with a mammoth and interesting difficulty scale to keep challenging yourself against, great vibe for a quiet evening. For the summer sale specifically it's technically not their lowest discount ever, but I expect you won't see it that low again for a while, since the price went up a few months ago in preparation for leaving early access.
Another newcomer this year I can (and already have) heartily recommend is The Last Spell. A turn based base defence/survival game with excellent art tastes and a fantastic few Vs many game style that really makes you get imaginative with the many tools and weapon skills available to eeke out as much carnage as possible every turn. Again not the lowest price ever because of a release price jump earlier in the year, but it's a new record low since release. The vibe on this one rip and tear, but with nerd glasses on.
Another indie recommendation that punches above its weight is Troubleshooter: abandoned children (stupid name, I know). A very Korean manga style turnbased strategy that looks like nu-XCOM on the surface but is far more detailed. There are absolutely mountains of character perks and builds to mull over between missions and 100+ hand made missions to go through (with easy replayability and good reason to do so). The vibe on this one is happy go lucky with a weird weeby accent.
Obligatory Hunt: Showdown reminder. It's still the rootin tootin-est cowboy era exploration of the horrors of eldritch powers and human greed. It's what ETF could have been if they didn't hate fun and love masochistic ball torture. The stakes are high but not crippling to the not sweatiest, the mechanics are deep and the setting is beautifully realized. The vibe on this one is holding your breath waiting to murder your fellow man.
And a bit of a curveball recommendation here. For Honor is now just a few bucks for the basic pleb version. It's still ubisoft and obviously fuck those guys. But the game itself was pretty well made and hasn't been competely gutted of merit by microtransactions. IMO the combat mechanics are far more fulfilling than Chivalry or Mordhau were. The single player alone is worth a few bucks, but the multiplayer isn't dead and obviously it's sweaty as hell in there by now, but as long as you don't mind seeing yourself getting disemboweled constantly it's still pretty fun. The vibe on this one is begrudging enjoyment.
I didn't get anything this sale, but my current play is 75% discounted: Pathologic 2. It's my second serious attempt to beat it and honestly I don't know if I'll ever finish it because of how stressful and sadistic the challenge is. As such I can't tell if I love it or hate it... or maybe I'm pretty sure that it's both at once.
In any case it's a genuinely unusual game and worth a look for anyone who wants something a little off the wall. I've read that the writer originally conceived of it as a play and it still retains that kind of atmosphere, with occasional shadowy characters whose main purpose is to provide meta-textual commentary on the events as they unfold, as if it's a performance. That and the surreal design of the town and all the cryptic language gives a unique and dreamlike air to the setting (a town threatened with plague).
But coming to it knowing a little about how aRtSy and jank (mainly poor optimisation) it was supposed to be, I was surprised how many gameplay elements there are, even if none of them are spectacular. Generic explore, loot, lockpick, raid & trade, touch of crafting, Oblivion-like FPS melee and shooting (if you can ever find ammo) and some diagnosis/dosage minigame. What make it tough are the brutal time limits and status gauges (health, hunger, infection, etc.) which are tuned to torture you and ensure you struggle, suffer, miss mission markers, die (lives are unlimited but death has other consequences) and generally never feel comfortable or happy. That's why even though it's not a survival horror in tone, it has that level of stress. And I'm still not sure if that even works as a concept, but here I am thinking about it and talking about it, so there you go.
Yakuza Collection.
Got Goldwn Light on sale finally. Not a bad game once you decipher the nonsense. It's basicly just Rogue, but with uh.. meat.
Stickied for community / video-game involvement!
Ayyyyy
Is Civ 6 any good? Saw the base game was $6 without all the DLC, wasn't sure if I should try it or wait until a GOTY edition with all the DLC is included goes on sale.
I've played quite a few hours of Civ6 (my SO loves the series), and I'll say that it's pretty good. The devs, I believe, are pretty corporate and woke. The game tries very (very) hard to dig up wamen leaders absolutely every single time they can, but I do find the game fun.
2 different versions of Catherine de Medici, even.
Yeah, I've heard similar complaints about it. I loved Civ 5 but wasn't sure if there was enough new stuff to warrant upgrading.
5 with BNW is a vastly superior game to 6.
And Civ IV Complete + your favorite mod(s) is vastly superior to that.
Caveman 2 Cosmos for life
It's been quite a while since I played 5, so I'm not sure.
That's true. I forgot about that. And the damage it does cause in game has literally never actually happened. Though I've found the Flood Barriers annoyingly expensive to build -- gotta make it seem horrific, dontcha know.
I have more hours in Civ IV and it's various expansions/mods than any other game/series. I played a fair bit of V and BE but I don't think I broke 1k hours on either. I bought VI recently when I could get everything for under $20, played maybe 20 hours or so between a few games to test certain things out, and decided I'd rather never play it again.
That is good to know, thanks!
I found civ6 to be a bit lacking. Lots of looks and stuff but I never really enjoyed it like 5. Also yes, wahmen leaders everywhere.
Civ 6 is only worth it with the climate dlc and even then only extremely cheap. It lost my interest year one but I still go back to Civ 5 complete edition.
The newest game like that I play and actually enjoy is Humankind.
You may not like Reddit, but you may still find r/GameDeals useful (if it is open).
It’s open, FYI.
Street Fighter 6
Dredge: Lovecraftian fishing simulator. You can probably easily 100% the game in 15 hours or so (maybe more, they just did a massive addition of stuff after I beat the game), but it's a good 15 hours. Pay attention to the two intro cutscenes!
Mars Horizon: Space race builder sim. Has a lot of RPG elements: your choices can effect the future of your game. I had an emergency on my first space station, so I told an astronaut to suit up and fix it. They got hurt, refused to be evacuated, and ended up crippled. So I gave them an admin job. Years later, got an event where that astronaut did a commencement speech discussing how I kept the faith with them in their time of need. Got a funding boost and several new astronaut candidates.
Ultimate Admirals: Dreadnoughts: Pick your country, design your ships, begin a campaign. Imagine a LEGO game and EU IV had a love child. Biggest problem is that campaigns are still in Beta, and the game really does need a fan-made patch that balances things out. (Otherwise, the game hates anything over a 12" gun, resulting in 1930s battleships with 16" guns with 5 minute reloads.)
I might finally pickup Elden Ring.