Discover the latest Steam discounts and explore your wishlist ideas.
Discover the latest Steam discounts and explore your wishlist ideas.
(I don't know whether this fits better here or in the PC Gaming section. No worries, here we go...) "Alright! Steam Summer Sale! What do we have to look forward to???" "..." "..." "Oh no..." Okay...this warrants a rant/review of my Steam Wishlist... 7 Days to Die (bought): FYI, I already broke my own rule for this post. This one was never on my wishlist, but it's USD$5.99 during the Summer Sale and a friend wanted me to play it with him. I haven't even had the game for two weeks and yet it's one of the best six dollars I've ever spent. You like Left 4 Dead? You like Minecraft? You like Skyrim? Does those three fused together sound appealing to you? And do you have friends to play with? If you answered "yes" to at least three of those questions, BUY IT!!!!! Okay, now onto my actual Steam wishlist. (This is an aggregation of user reviews in conjunction with my own thoughts.) Shadow Warrior 3 (didn't buy): It's presented as a game that can scratch that DOOM: Eternal itch for you, with a humorous twist. Does it do that? Yes...for 5 hours. Maybe more if you pick the higher difficulties. Wait for a bigger sale, because it will come. Or just ignore it and buy BPM: Bullets Per Minute, or a certain other game that I'm going to mention further down this list. Halo: Infinite, the Campaign (didn't buy): If the phrase "ho-hum Halo" were a game, it would be this. If you just wanna play Halo again, dammit, then go ahead! The multiplayer stuff is free! As for the Campaign, it's a mixed bag. Both the multiplayer and the campaign were a big deal when this game came out and both received praise for a little while. I wanted to wait for a sale to buy it, because dropping $50+ on a PC game is pretty risky when you're in college like me and have no consistent source of income. However, since the initial "OMG IT'S HALO OMG!!!" the reception has been lackluster. The gameplay is your typical Halo fun and some of the dialogue is good, but it feels like an unfinished product according to the Steam reviewers. Almost a, "What if Half Life 2 wasn't made by Valve?" kind of vibe. Wait another year or two for a better sale on the campaign. Jedi: Survivor (didn't buy): I hate that AAA games are $70 now, and the lame 25% off sale price should be expected for a game released mere months ago. Except, the price does not factor into my decision here. Remember how they actually made a dedicated PC version of Jedi: Fallen Order, and how well that worked? Yeah, the devs just said "Fuck it!" this time and spit out a sloppy console-to-PC port. And currently they're taking their sweet-ass time to fix it. I really hope they fix the crashes and severe optimization issues with this game later this year so that I can just play it on PC like I did with Jedi: Fallen Order. I've seen the reviews of the actual game itself. IT'S AMAZING...on console. But on PC? Wait until they fix it, and if they don't do it soon, just go buy the console version. Your wallet will understand. DNF Duel (won't buy until it's like $5): Remake/remaster of the classic fighting game from 2005. It's...disappointing. The devs didn't have much passion for this game and it shows. Just go buy MK11 or Street Fighter 6 or even the other fighting game I mention below and forget this game exists. The DioField Chronicle (won't buy) : Wasted. Fucking. Potential. They put some of the best 3D anime artistry you'll find in gaming only to forget they were making a game, must less a story-driven one. And holy shit, the trailers hyped up the story & gameplay, too! As a passerby lured in by those trailers, I am very disappointed. This is, in my opinion, a gaming analog to Disney's The Black Cauldron (1985). Company of Heroes 3 ( Go back home to Company of Heroes 1 & 2 and tell them you love them. Bravely Default II (didn't buy): Bravely Default II is a good game, but Bravely Default and even Bravely Second were great games. The drop in quality appears to be noticeable according to reviews. Bravely Default II is 50% off at USD$30 right now. So...it's good, but wait for a bigger sale. MELTY BLOOD: TYPE LUMINA (didn't buy): This fighting game looks fairly good, and seems to be more appealing to MELTY BLOOD fans than to passing anime casuals like me. However, it is not worth the base price of USD$50 or even the current sale price of USD$27.49. Considerable improvement over DNF Duel, with brownie points for humor, but wait for a bigger sale. Ziggurat II (Bought, with a capital 🅱): Ziggurat II is what Shadow Warrior 3 should have been in every conceivable way. Well, almost every way...Ziggurat II doesn't really have a story, but it doesn't need one. Ziggurat II is a good and logical sequel to the first installment from 10 years prior, while also being a good game to scratch that DOOM: Eternal itch with. Oh, and IT'S MORE THAN 5-10 HOURS LONG. What a novel concept!!! I bought the complete edition of this game on sale for USD$17, which is a very fair price. If you liked the first Ziggurat, or DOOM: Eternal, or better yet, BOTH of them, buy this as part of the Steam Summer Sale and don't look back. The Ziggurat franchise is an underrated gem. Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip (didn't buy): The Monster Prom series's target audience is teenagers, without a doubt. But even if you're an adult (young or not) with a silly or zany dimension to your sense of humor (like me), you will probably still love these games. Monster Prom 1, at least for me, was best experienced in short bursts, but it was fun! I skipped over the second game and it sounds like that was a good call based on some comments in the Steam reviews. (It's not bad, just the weakest in the series.) For this third installment, it sounds like the devs reinvented their franchise for the better. People are praising the changes they've made, and I have a hunch that the writing practice they've accrued is paying off! However, with one of the series's selling points being the crazy number of endings you can get (I'm talking HUNDREDS, AT LEAST ), I find it to be one of those, "Buy the game with all of its expansions/DLCs or go the fuck home," kind of games. This gets to the crux of why I chose not to buy Monster Prom 3 yet. While the base game of Monster Roadtrip is on a 25% off sale at USD$8.99, the complete edition of the game is on a 20% off sale at USD$20. Considering this game was released less than a year ago, the Steam Winter Sale deal on it will be better, no questions asked. Quirky indie game/series that I would highly recommend, but I'm waiting for a better sale that is sure to come. (For reference, Monster Prom 1 plus it's DLC is USD$5.98 right now. Start with that if you're interested.) END RESULT: I've walked away from the 2023 Steam Summer Sale with: 7 Days to Die Ziggurat II: Complete Edition Monster Prom 1 DLC (Because I forgot I didn't have it and it was like $3.) Overall, one of the most underwhelming Summer Sale hauls I can remember. A lot of the games and/or deals I was anticipating were disappointments, as mentioned above. My wallet says it's for the best, and I agree.
Dave the Diver has spent a lot of time and made me laugh for eighteen dollars.