Steam

[YangusKhan]

Okay I wasn't initially gonna type all this out on my phone, but then I started to and now it's done lol.

Beneath Oresa: I actually saw this via JBear's wishlist. It's a deckbuilder roguelike with a 3D action game engine where you can do things like flank enemies or move to more advantageous positions.

Netherguild: Turn-based roguelike dungeon crawler with voxel graphics. This is probably the game I'm most iffy on, tbh.

Tyrant's Blessing: This one has an odd description. The tags say its a roguelite, but some of the discussions are comparing it more to XCOM. It looks a lot like Into the Breach with a Fantasy setting, though.

Aethyr: My first impression of this was a throwback to top-down SNES Quintet action games, oddly enough. Except the combat here looks a lot more active than even Terranigma, and it's also non-linear. But aesthetically, I really got some Illusion of Gaia vibes. Only thing is I don't really like the design of the main character.

Terracotta: This looks like a kind-of-isometric action-adventure-puzzle game. It has a really nice art style inspired by a traditional Chinese painting style, and the story is set during the Qin dynasty. Mostly makes me think of Bastion + Zelda.

Nine Sols: 2D action platformer with Sekiro-inspired combat. The Steam page describes the style as "Taopunk" that blends Taoism and cyberpunk. It's also got hand-drawn graphics and looks great.

Moonscars: Souls-like Metroidvania with a female protagonist. Also kind of on the brutalistic side aesthetically, kind of like Blasphemous but with a much less colorful style. The animations look a lot more... animated, than what I usually see in other games like this. Also I thought the most recent trailer for it was really bad but the other one was fine. I'm not that sold on this one.

Ghost Song: A sci-fi Metroidvania, emphasis on the Metroid (I saw some big tubes in that trailer) and atmosphere. Also it's got some voice acting for other characters you meet through the story.

 

[Becksworth]

I tried Ghost Song's demo, as that game was in development for at least 6 or 7 tears now. It's basically a Metroidvania/Souls-like that leans in on the Metroid. Slower paced than I'd like but not bad overall.

 

[Yimothy]

I was reading one of Beowulf’s posts about retro handhelds recently and googled one of the models he mentioned, and up top got suggestions of the ayaneo air pro handheld PC. I’d been aware of the Steamdeck, but it’s not yet available where I live so I was pretty much ignoring it, but after seeing that ad I started looking at other handheld gaming PCs and recently I bought a second hand GPD Win 3 - it’s basically a more powerful switch that runs windows. I haven’t actually used it at all yet, but I think I’m going to finally stop resisting the lure of steam.

First though I think I have to reformat this thing and do a fresh install of windows. Apparently some of them shipped with viruses (internet speculation is that someone on the production line was putting them there, who knows). Plus this being a second hand device who knows what the previous owner did with it, though he told me he’s done a factory reset.

Once I do get going I guess it’s time to learn how to steam. I was going to look at other distribution platforms, but there are a couple of games I want that apparently are only available through steam (and which annoyingly were on sale last week but not now). It looks like I should be waiting for sales before buying anything? What’s the go with steam keys? Can I trust third party sellers of those? Is steam as a company an ethical nightmare? I haven’t really tried to PC game since the 90s so I have no idea.

 

[Troa11]

Enjoy the Win 3, I have one myself and like it quite a bit. Instead of a fresh windows install I'd recommend instead doing a reformat with the GPD provided ISO (they call it the firmware image). They have proprietary software and drivers and it can be a beast to get them all rigged up yourself on a basic windows install.
That said, the best place to be checking for windows gaming (in my opinion) is isthereanydeal.com. That will give you not only the best current price of a game, but also historical lows so you know if you should be watching for a sale or biting now. And yeah, Steam is the defacto leader in game delivery but GOG, Origin, Epic, and a few other launchers exist. I personally don't care which I buy my game on since I use PlayNite as my launcher interface on the Win 3 that unifies them all.

 

[Violentvixen]

Once I do get going I guess it’s time to learn how to steam. I was going to look at other distribution platforms, but there are a couple of games I want that apparently are only available through steam (and which annoyingly were on sale last week but not now). It looks like I should be waiting for sales before buying anything? What’s the go with steam keys? Can I trust third party sellers of those? Is steam as a company an ethical nightmare? I haven’t really tried to PC game since the 90s so I have no idea.

You should absolutely wait for sales. You've just missed summer sale which is arguably the biggest of the year, but every week something is on sale and there will be more. Many of the festivals have demos so you can try out upcoming games ahead of time, but these are usually only available for a week or so.

I don't use 3rd party sellers much, with the exception of Humble Bundle which usually has huge batches of games that benefit charity. Also people on here are often giving away keys that are duplicates of games they already owned but were in a cheap bundle so you could get something that way.

Build a wishlist and watch for sales on it. This will also help Steam recommend things for you. If you go through the Discovery Queue process on the main page you can mark games you're not interested in or have played on another platform. There's also ways to ban certain keywords from ever showing up in your recommendations although I forget exactly where it is in the menu options.

 

[Positronic Brain]

I recommend Is There Any Deal to keep an eye on sales,and they have historical prices so you canget yourself an idea on how often those titles get on sale on different store fronts. AFAIK all the 3rd party sellers there are trustworthy (although some of them have region locked keys, so make sure the key is listed as "Activates In Your Region" before getting them outside Steam). PC Games do get a lot of sales compared to console, so it's just a matter of playing the patience game.

Also, keep an eye on Trading Time -as Violent Vixen said, some of us drop our duplicate keys there when we have them, and I guess you could also post the titles you want there in case somebody has a duplicate.

 

[Yimothy]

I'd recommend instead doing a reformat with the GPD provided ISO (they call it the firmware image). They have proprietary software and drivers and it can be a beast to get them all rigged up yourself on a basic windows install.

Thanks for the suggestion, I tried to do this but the ten gig download failed at about 90% and I gave up, made a windows installation usb and downloaded the driver pack from GPD’s website and installed that after windows. Meant I had to manage without the touchscreen for a bit but I got there.

And thanks for the suggestions all. I’d prefer not to be opening accounts with a heap of different providers if possible, but not if it means spending a whole lot more to buy things. I’ll also start paying attention to trading time.

So far this thing has been a bit of a reminder of why I’ve stuck to consoles for so many years - I’ve spent a lot of time fiddling with it, very little actually playing games. So far I’ve played about a half hour of the Bloodborne PSX demake, which I don’t think is pushing the limits of the device. I also took a shot at ZeroRanger - I’d been hoping to tate the device and play it that way, but although you can have the game display in tate and the controls can be reassigned I haven’t figured out a way to rotate the inputs from the analogue stick so it’s unplayable. I think if I go into the display settings and set it to portrait instead of landscape it’ll work, but that’s a bit of fiddling each time I want to play. I wonder if I can make a batch file to rotate the screen and start the game for me?

Edit: I did make the batch successfully but remapping the d-pad stopped the analog stick working. Maybe I’ll have to play it with one hand at the bottom of the console and one at the top.

 

[Troa11]

Yeah the definite pros of PC gaming are that you spend far less on the games themselves and your collection lasts longer (ie, I can still play games I bought during the GC/PS2/Xbox era without needing to have that specific PC around).

The cons are... fiddling. It's not perfect, but PCGamingWiki can be your friend there.

 

[Yimothy]

I tried hooking it up to my TV, which worked fine, but when I connected a Bluetooth controller and started up Bloodborne again the game wasn’t recognising any inputs from the controller. I had a look in the controller settings and all the buttons were recognised there. I had a look online and apparently if I run the game through steam (to bring this thread slightly back on topic) that’s likely to fix it. But I haven’t installed steam yet.

 

[Violentvixen]

Lots of demos available with the Gamescom fest.

Cult of the Lamb doesn't look like my thing but there's a demo of it if people are curious. For me the demo button is in the sidebar rather than in the middle like it usually is, weird.

I've previously tried the Coffee Talk episode 2 and it made me excited for the new game, although I dunno how much sense it will make to anyone who hasn't played episode 1.

A few games I've heard of in passing and may check out, be curious if anyone knows more about these:
ProtoCorgi
I Doesn't Exist
Firebird
Please Touch the Artwork
A Space for the Unbound

 

[JBear]

Cult of the Lamb doesn't look like my thing but there's a demo of it if people are curious. For me the demo button is in the sidebar rather than in the middle like it usually is, weird.

People seems to be really digging this one. I've heard it described as Actraiser by way of Binding of Isaac, and I like the first half of that equation quite a lot, but the visuals are a huge turn-off, much like the second half of that equation.

 

[Violentvixen]

People seems to be really digging this one. I've heard it described as Actraiser by way of Binding of Isaac, and I like the first half of that equation quite a lot, but the visuals are a huge turn-off, much like the second half of that equation.

Yeah, it was described to me as "goth Animal Crossing" and then I watched the trailer and uh nope. The idea of sacrificing a member of my cult just because they are changing their mind and want to leave is all sorts of disturbing and I can't get into it.

 

[Positronic Brain]

I tried Coffee Talk but the first 30 minutes left me cold - so it does get better or are they a good indication of the rest of the game?

 

[Violentvixen]

I tried Coffee Talk but the first 30 minutes left me cold - so it does get better or are they a good indication of the rest of the game?

Is there something specific you didn't like? You definitely don't have as many ingredients to use early in the game and the characters open up and more show up later in the game. I don't remember anything specific changing after 30 min, been a while though. But if the basic gameplay of talking to customers and making drinks doesn't click then I doubt you'll enjoy it, that gets more complex but the basics don't change. Does Steam still do the 1 hour play refund thing?

I also just saw it was re-added to Gamepass if people want to try it for free.

 

[Positronic Brain]

I played it on Gamepass the first time, and yeah, the drink/talk loop didn't engage me and I felt like the drink mechanic was, dunno, not baked enough? Dialogues weren't clicking, either. So I passed. Pity, because I really liked the elevator pitch.

 

[Yimothy]

I’ve been using steam on my handheld PC for a little while now, recently switched it to start in big picture mode to make it more convenient on controller/the handheld controls, and I’m surprised how bad it is. For example, if I select a text box, it’ll enlarge to fill the screen, but I don’t seem to be able to scroll the text. The one time I could get it to scroll, it had to be done with the analogue stick, the scroll speed was absurd if I made more than a tiny movement, and the direction of movement is inverted from what I want it to be. The text entry for searching is controlled with the stick instead of the pad (which is used to go back and forwards through what you’ve written, but that’s what shoulder buttons are for) and so is imprecise.

And there’s just less information available. I get that it’s a simplified interface but there should be some way to dig in and find out more. I was looking at the recommended games and there was an odd-looking one in there. I selected it and the demo video that started playing was straight up pornographic. Why was steam recommending a porn game to me (or rather, porn games - there were a couple others in the list that looked similar but I didn’t open them to confirm)? I had to exit big picture to see that it was because I’d played an episodic game (Life is Strange). Which doesn’t make a lot of sense. Anyway, I went into the preferences and after a while looking around I found the option to not show explicitly sexual content and ticked it. I feel like that should be opt in instead of opt out. Possibly there was a warning age check screen before it opened the game, but those come up for a lot of games and I don’t actually remember seeing one this time.

 

[Violentvixen]

I was looking at the recommended games and there was an odd-looking one in there. I selected it and the demo video that started playing was straight up pornographic. Why was steam recommending a porn game to me (or rather, porn games - there were a couple others in the list that looked similar but I didn’t open them to confirm)?

I had to futz with tags (I think I ended up straight-up excluding anything marked "anime" from my queue and that finally did it) a lot before it stopped showing me porny shit on occasion but this sounds odd for sure. I feel the age things are usually pretty good so maybe you opted out of that somehow?

Never used big picture mode so not sure of that.

 

[Yimothy]

I’ve had another look at big picture mode’s store section, and although in the regular view the porn games are now filtered out, they’re still there in big picture. I guess is has a separate configuration for some reason? Which I can’t figure out how to access, though I had a hard time finding it in the regular view too so maybe it’s there somewhere.

 

[YangusKhan]

There's another NextFest happening on Steam right now. I've downloaded maybe 5 demos but I already played 1 I wanted to signal boost: Cassette Beasts.

This is a Pokémon game through and through, but it has A Very Cool Aesthetic. The character creator also lets you choose some pronouns and be non-binary if you want. The demo itself is pretty short but it had me sold pretty much immediately after starting it.

 

[Becksworth]

9 Years of Shadow didn't seem to play nice with the Steamdeck, so can't speak on that.

Doubleshake looks cool, though. Like a cross of Klonoa, Tomba, and Mischief Makers with PSX era graphics.

 

[Positronic Brain]

9 Years of Shadow didn't seem to play nice with the Steamdeck, so can't speak on that.

Ah, found that out too, uh? first I thought it was a deliberate but weird art choice to have so many opaque glares at the intro but then... yeah. I need to play this one in my desktop.

Another cool demo I've seen that plays nice in Deck is Inkulinati - a tactic games using the weird drawings from the edges of medieval texts as the units. It's a really funny concept and the art style is really cool.

 

[Violentvixen]

There's another NextFest happening on Steam right now.

Oof this week was busy so I'm just now getting to downloading things, bah. Still, here are the ones I'm downloading and hope to try out before things end on the 10th. I don't think I spent more than 2 minutes researching any of these so we'll see how it goes:

Flat Eye- I saw some cool concept art for this several months ago but don't know a ton about it
Inkulinati- Comedy fighting game on medieval manuscripts as mentioned above
9 Years of Shadows - Also mentioned above and looks cool
WikiArena- Wikipedia based trivia or something? I dunno looked short and like something I could play with my spouse
A Castle Full of Cats - Look sometimes you just need a hidden object game in your life what can I say
Aka - Red panda on an adventure
Season- you're trying to collect memories before the world is destroyed, but you're a bike messenger?
Flowstone Saga- Tetris-ish RPG, I played a demo of this quite a while ago and liked it, looks like they've revamped the game significantly so excited to see the differences

 

[Becksworth]

Okay, 9 Years of Shadow got patched and is playable now. Still a little buggy, but seems pretty solid.

Also played Wavetale, which is a 3D platformer that was a Stadia exclusive before that fell through, so at least it is getting a PC release. Seems pretty cool.

 

[Violentvixen]

Steam is having a Tabletop game sale with a bunch of demos too. Lots of stuff, and Wingspan is 50% off.

 

[Violentvixen]

Did Steam do these yearly replay things before? I don't remember. Fun though.

I made an effort to clear out my backlog this year so this is satisfying.

 

[Kazin]

Did Steam do these yearly replay things before? I don't remember. Fun though.

I made an effort to clear out my backlog this year so this is satisfying.

Ooh, I'd like to see this for myself - how do I access that for my own account? Also it says yours isn't shared, though that may be because we're not friends on Steam? No idea. (I also don't know if we're friends or not on Steam, I only really started regularly playing PC games this year when I got my Steam Deck lol)

 

[Positronic Brain]

Ooh, I'd like to see this for myself - how do I access that for my own account?

In your Deck just go to the main store screen and scroll down. One of the banners is Steam Replay.

 

[Kazin]

In your Deck just go to the main store screen and scroll down. One of the banners is Steam Replay.

Thank you!

Here's mine:

Played a lot of Steam Deck this year, had no idea I played so much Wasteland 2 (it was only one playthrough! Great game though). Played a loooot of Retroarch, though I've since somewhat recently switched to EmuDeck, which is a "non-Steam" application, so my stats next year should be a lot different.

There's a bar graph on there that includes, among things like "Retro," "Metroidvania," "Farming Sims," and "RPGs," a category I didn't expect - "Cats." I played one cat game this year, Stray, so it means pretty much everything else falls into those other categories! lol

 

[JBear]

Kind of surprised at my top 5, but I guess I didn't really play a lot this year:

 

[Kazin]

I need to get back to Crystal Project and beat it. Cool, cool game.