Steam Sales 2016.

[DefunctTheory]

Metal Gear Solid 5 looks amazing, but I have not played a Metal Gear game for more than 15 minutes since I beat Metal Gear Solid last millennium. I read that it is better if you followed the story. I'm a sucker for a good tale (even willing to ignore bad game design to pursue a decent story) but is MGSV worth it if you haven't kept up?

Ok, so here's the thing - For people who have been with Kojima the whole way, and who have somehow fallen in love with his process, the story in MGSV is a masterpiece you cannot enjoy without having the entire story mapped out in your head.

For the rest of us, the story is atrocious. The plot is dumb. The characters are dumb. The characterization is dumb. The dialogue is mind blowingly retarded, to the point that some people (Including me) never finished the game because it is such a demoralizing experience to listen to hour upon hour of nonsense and gibberish. A character, screaming 'Remember the Alamo,' completely deaf to how uncalled for and out of context it is, is seared into my brain, as well as 15 minute conversations where no one can say anything without waving their arms around like they're in a cartoon and trying to summon demons, while shrieking 'Phantom Pain' over and over again. And then there's the symbolism, which somehow manages to be both so hamfisted that its less symbolism and more 'neon sign,' and so obtuse that you wonder how the hell anyone on the internet noticed.

That being said, it's a fantastic balloon simulator, with a lot of stuff that will give you hours of enjoyment, if you can somehow avoid all the NPCs who want to drop the title in conversation every 6 words. Worth the sales price, I think.

Anyone have any thoughts or views on FF XIII as a story?

The premise of FF13 isn't bad, but the execution and characters are. Characterization of main characters is... catastrophic. Lightning has the emotional complexity of a piece of plywood, Hope is a colossal whiny *****, Snow is just... god damn it, Snow. And none of the other characters are much better. Honestly, I thought the whole game was trash, from the gameplay to the story to the characters, the only shining beacon being the world and enemy design.

And, ultimately, by the time I quit the game (About 20 some hours in), I wanted all those fuckers to die.

 

[Fox12]

I just got Undertale for $6. A pleasure so far. I hope it saves automatically or I'm going to have to repeat about an hour of progress!

Ooh, a good choice! I avoided a lot of the fanfare over it, but it ended up being one one of my favorite indie games of all time. It has a lot more depth then it appears to have. I finished my last playthrough about a week ago, and it was blisteringly creative. Unfortunately there's no autosave. You save your game at those little shining points that fill you with determination.

OT: I'm loving Hyper Light Drifter so far. You can tell that it took a lot of ideas from Dark Soul's, but it doesn't feel like a complete ripoff, unlike Salt and Sanctuary. A lot of Dark Soul's clones have been coming out lately. Thankfully, HLD doesn't feel like one. It took some of the design philosophies from Soul's, and decided to do something original.

 

[Fox12]

I'm debating getting the expansion to Bioshock infinite even if its not the best price. That or Final Fantasy 13. Most negative reviews I saw of FFXIII compared it to a linear hall story and that it was a great story but no variety or choice until late in the game. This immediately reminded me of FF X. I surprisingly loved FFX. I love open worlds and choice, but sometimes I want a nice over-embellished linear story with great illustrations. A lot of what I've read leads me to believe FFXIII is a lot like FF X, and thus I will enjoy it despite the bad reviews.
Anyone have any thoughts or views on FF XIII as a story?

FFX and FFXIII are very similar. Personally, I don't mind a linear game if the story and game play are up to snuff. I loved The Last of Us, for instance, and it's pretty straightforward.

However, and this is only my opinion, I was really disappointed by FFXIII. I found the game play to be either boring or frustrating, and the story wasn't as good as X. As a result, I quickly grew board. In X I could occasionally grind, and I often felt compelled to get to the next cutscene. The plot in XIII just wasn't that compelling. It doesn't help that it seemed to reuse plot points and character designs from other games.

Spoiler

Wakka? What are you doing here?

I thought Seifer was in FF8?

The director straight up said he just wanted a female Cloud

It just felt like... fanfiction after a while.

Now, that's just my two cents. You may love the game. I'll even admit that there were goodpoints. It was probably the best looking game on the PS3, and it added some much needed improvements to the series. For instance, instead of grinding every character individually, they all gain experience as a group. This makes it easier to switch out characters without consequences. Over time, though, the game just felt sort of hollow.

I would wait for FF15, which is coming out as soon as October. There's a free demo available on consoles, if you have one, and it floored me. It looks really, really good. Persona 5 is coming out in 6 months as well, and it's looking pretty phenomenal.

(I would add that it's not a bad deal at $8. Just don't expect it to be as good as some of the others)

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

So I got Binding of Issac Rebirth for next to nothing - $9.99, and...and I think I over-paid. There isn't much here. Meaning, yes, there are a LOT of random upgrades, buts its just all...random. I'm about 30+ attempts in, and lets go with 7 wins and...and nothing. Just feels like any random Contra attempt. Just random whatevers and more random whatevers and if you're like mad legit bro MOAR random whatevers. None of which is actually explained, and I refuse to use a Wiki.

I mean whoo there's a dead little kid...and a beetle. Oh wow! That's not the type of thing you see together. Better blow it up to see if I get a gold coin! /repeat

Don't get it. Even a little bit...like there's less appeal here than in 7-1 Starcraft Comp Stomps....

 

[Fox12]

snip

The Wakka bit made me chuckle. He was not my favorite character, but I see how he was necessary.
Thanks for the perspective, I want something less than $15 that feels like FFX (I'd accept VII or IX) but a new story, albeit with the standard formula. I just want a great story and good visuals. I have Witcher 3 and plenty of other games if I want options.

Would FF XIII fit the bill or are there better options that would feel more like one of the classic, linear FF stories. I'm aware they won't be as good as the classics but I'm in the mood for something similar.

Any other good jrpg style story/graphic oriented games are welcome suggestions too so long as they fit the price point. FF X like would be preferred but not necessary.

If money wasn't the issue - I'd get the new Torment.

FF13 wasn't a bad game. It's definitely worth the price point they're asking for. It's not like anythings broken. It's just one of those games that I picked up but never finished. If you're really looking for something like FF10, then I would say go ahead and buy it. It has way more in common with FF10 then any other game in the series, and it has some really jaw dropping art direction. It's definitely miles ahead of the competition in terms of graphical fidelity and beautiful level design. Heck, it even has a summoning system similar to 10. You'll get way more mileage out of FF13 then you will out of the Bioshock DLC you mentioned. It also has two sequels that I haven't played, but which supposedly fixed a lot of the problems people had with the first one. I think they're relatively cheap as well.

I would also keep your eye out for I Am Setsuna. It's a small scale square game, but the plot reminded me of FF10. It's too pricey to get now, but you may want to pick it up on the next sale.

If you want something more old school, then there are several options available.

Spoiler

FF7 11.99
I would argue that FF7 had my favorite story, characters, and game play, if you go into it with an open mind. The graphics haven't aged well, but that didn't bother me. It's more cyberpunk then fantasy, though, and doesn't have much in common with 10.

FF8 5.99
FF8 is okay, but it has a really clunky battle system, and the story has its ups and downs. It also takes itself a tadbit seriously. The graphics are better then 7, though, and I liked the characters. This game was trying to recapture the success of 7, though, so expect lots of sci-fi.

FF9 20.99 (not on sale)
A fun adventure/lovestory that doubles as a love letter to classic FF titles. It probably aged the best from that generation. It's generally light hearted, with some emotionally poignant moments mixed in. Tonally, it's probably closer to 10 then the others, but the game play is different and it's not as linear. Unfortunately, it's kind of pricey, and for some dumb reason it's not on sale

FF6 7.99
This game is really oldschool, but you may like it if you enjoy old sprite games on the SNES. It has some shocking plot developments and decent game play. It suffers from excessive grinding, though, and it can drag at times. It's probably the best retro FF game.

FF3/4 7.99
Both got a ds remake that was ported to Steam. They're kind of like a less refined version of Bravely Default. They're fun time wasters, but they're kind of scant in the plot department. They have good game play and job systems, though.

I should point out that these games are not linear. They tend to be somewhat open, and their game play can vary wildly between games. Most of them have some variation of the timed battle system, as opposed to the slower, more strategic system in 10

I tried not to get too wordy, but I hoped that helped.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Do the sequels to FFXIII require you to play it first to get the story?

No. Each one will tell you what happened in the main game, and what was important (Which can be explained in a sentence or two, really).

The gameplay of each sequel is also better then the main game, though they have their own problems. FF13-2 features time travel and some infuriating anime tropes, and Lightning Returns, presumably because the creators finally realized how dumb half their characters are, actually work how emotionally dead everyone is into the plot to justify it. Lightning Returns also has a world timer, so if having a stop watch dangled over your head, determining when you can do stuff and auto-failing side quest if you don't dance just right bothers you, skip it.

 

[Fox12]

Do the sequels to FFXIII require you to play it first to get the story?

My friends have said that you don't have to, but I haven't played them myself, so it's mostly hearsay. The bits I've seen seemed like they improved on the formula a lot. That said, I had a hard time following the plot in FF13. They use a lot of really strange terminology, and they don't really bother trying to explain it. I ended up ignoring all of the political/religious stuff in favor of the personal character stories, which were much easier to relate to. The plot is somewhat similar to 10, though, so you can probably jump into the sequels without too much trouble. I think they're around ten bucks on Steam.

FFX-2: I TRIED so hard to like this game but it felt like a fanfic by someone who couldn't come to terms with the ending of FF X

FF13 has the same director and writer as x-2. It's definitely better then x-2, but when I say that his games feel like fan fiction, you seem to get what I mean. A lot of characters and plot lines resemble people and things in other FF titles. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if you just want something like FF10, but if you want a unique story, you may be disappointed. Maybe watch the first part on youtube, and decide fromt here? It should give you a pretty solid idea of what to expect.

The only other JRPG's I can think of on Steam are Valkyria Chronicles, Trails in the Sky, and Undertale. Valkyria Chronicles mixes real time and turned based strategy, and has some of the most unique game play I've seen in a strategy game. It has a gorgeous water color art style. The plot can be a bit goofy at times, and it occasionally relies on old anime cliches, but I found it's doofyness more endearing then off putting. It's about five dollars.

I haven't played Trails in the Sky, but everybody and their mother seems to rave about it. It appears to be an old fashioned JRPG with decent game play and a robust story.

Undertale isn't technically a JRPG, but it has that quirky charm you'd expect from one. I was really surprised with this one. The game is relatively short, but the meat of the story comes from replaying it and making different choices. The soundtrack and art design are to die for, even if the graphics aren't. The game play is pretty original too. For six dollars, it's one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've had in a long time. I would say it has a generally light hearted tone, with some rather dark moments sprinkled in.

 

[DefunctTheory]

The only other JRPG's I can think of on Steam are Valkyria Chronicles, Trails in the Sky, and Undertale.

Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Zestiria
Hyperdimension series
Dragon Quest Heroes
Grandia II

Probably not as many as I'd like, but there's plenty.

 

[Fox12]

The only other JRPG's I can think of on Steam are Valkyria Chronicles, Trails in the Sky, and Undertale.

Tales of Symphonia
Tales of Zestiria
Hyperdimension series
Dragon Quest Heroes
Grandia II

Probably not as many as I'd like, but there's plenty.

I didn't want to recommend something I didn't know much about : P

I knew there were more games on there, but I haven't played many JRPG's in a while. I had a falling out with JRPG's last generation. It wasn't until I recently got into Atlus and Fromsoft that I started coming back to them. FF 15 looks surprisingly good, though, if the demo is anything to go by.

 

[SweetShark]

I just got Undertale for $6. A pleasure so far. I hope it saves automatically or I'm going to have to repeat about an hour of progress!

NOPE! You must save by clicking the yellow stars you find!
However I heared somewhere if you don't save, the game secretly create a save file for you, without knowing why.
Am I wrong?

 

[DefunctTheory]

I just got Undertale for $6. A pleasure so far. I hope it saves automatically or I'm going to have to repeat about an hour of progress!

NOPE! You must save by clicking the yellow stars you find!
However I heared somewhere if you don't save, the game secretly create a save file for you, without knowing why.
Am I wrong?

Are you referring to the separate save file, that keeps track of all your goofs and attempts to fix them through save restarting, so it can mock you for them later?

 

[SweetShark]

I just got Undertale for $6. A pleasure so far. I hope it saves automatically or I'm going to have to repeat about an hour of progress!

NOPE! You must save by clicking the yellow stars you find!
However I heared somewhere if you don't save, the game secretly create a save file for you, without knowing why.
Am I wrong?

Are you referring to the separate save file, that keeps track of all your goofs and attempts to fix them through save restarting, so it can mock you for them later?

I don't know. That why I ask as well.

*MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE GAME BELOW!!!*

Spoiler

I know if you don't save until you meet the the "Photoshop" Flowey, he will mock you calling you an idiot for not saving your game at all.

 

[william1657]

Thomas was Alone (-75%, down to $2.49)
Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition (-75%, down to $1.73)
To The Moon (-80%, down to $1.99)
Braid (-83%, down to $2.54)
Half-Life Complete BUNDLE (-88%, down to $4.28)
Costume Quest 1 & 2 Bundle (-90%, down to $1.99)

 

[gorfias]

Unfortunately there's no autosave [In Undertale]. You save your game at those little shining points that fill you with determination.

NOPE! You must save by clicking the yellow stars you find!

LOL. Thanks guys! I thought that thing a flame and dangerous! I stayed away from it! I'll have to try again. From the beginning. Any penalty for taking all the candy I can hold? (says I feel like scum for taking more than one: regains 10 HP).

 

[ensouls]

So far have only gotten the Stanley Parable and Momodora, also thinking about Prince of Persia SoT, Bloodlust Shadowhunter (for them VtM shakes) and Nevermind. Hyper Light Drifter is only 20% because it's still new, so pass.

 

[DoPo]

Bloodlust Shadowhunter (for them VtM shakes)

It's not really much like VtM. Well, aside from being about vampires in a modern world. I got right when it went into Early Access but I've not played it for a while, so I don't know how it progressed recently. At any rate, it's more dungeon crawler-y to an extent. The abilities you get are also randomised.

I did like the game, just want to point out it has little to do with VtM.

 

[SweetShark]

Unfortunately there's no autosave [In Undertale]. You save your game at those little shining points that fill you with determination.

NOPE! You must save by clicking the yellow stars you find!

LOL. Thanks guys! I thought that thing a flame and dangerous! I stayed away from it! I'll have to try again. From the beginning. Any penalty for taking all the candy I can hold? (says I feel like scum for taking more than one: regains 10 HP).

You are truly blessed playing the game without knowing nothing. I was also one of the lucky ones and play it after some days it came out and the game rock my world.
So please leave internet behind and first finish the game to not get spoiled. Cheers!!!