December 21, 2024
Happy December! While I work on stories and finish my massive backlog, I figure why not share a few recommendations while the Steam Winter Sale is ongoing? If you have any of your own, feel free to share in the comments :]
In Stars and Time $19.99 $14.99 — A strongly narrative-centric RPG that I wish I could say more about but I will simply leave it at "You are trapped in a time loop". If you're here for tight turn-based gameplay, this unfortunately falls into some of the trappings of other indie RPGs and won't really do it for you. But if you're here for a wholly unique piece of art with some great writing and a gripping story, this is it.
Siralim Ultimate $19.99 $7.99 — It's a Dragon Quest Monsters-like structure combined with a Disgaea grindfest philosophy and only made for the worst kind of statmaxxing theorycrafting sickos (me). You get to recruit a bunch of monsters with unique passives nad traits, merge them together, and form a team who will hopefully have a specific enough combination of abilities that they break the combat, at least until you go into a higher level dungeon and fight a boss team that is capable of breaking the combat right back at you. It has a ridiculously large amount of systems and unlockables, and while it says I only have 25 hours in it, it's actually because the game has a mobile port which I've poured far more time into! This is the kind of game you will either love or absolutely resent, but if all that sounds good to you, give it a shake!
Beastieball $24.99 $22.49 — I'm going to be writing a separate journal entry about this game eventually, but even if it's in Early Access I MUST recommend it. The main things it's missing are a chunk of creature animations, but in this game I found one of THE most interesting and fun turn-based combat systems I've ever played, a cute aesthetic, a killer soundtrack, some really fun writing, and a ridiculous amount of content. I've beaten the game once already and am definitely looking to return down the line. It's pure inspiration and love all the way through. REAL SPORTS
Black Ice $19.99 $16.99 — A first person looter shooter inspired by cyberpunk media (specifically Neuromancer and Snow Crash) with a deceptively simple structure: go to a building, "hack" it by killing the enemies that spawn from it, get your loot, and then go to the next building. The feedback loop is remarkable in how it sinks its teeth into you, though; an assortment of character perks and possible weapons and abilities ensure you're always working towards something, and the map itself has many interesting areas to shake up fights and have you rethink your approach. If you love experimenting with diverse character builds like I do, you'll also find plenty of that here; you can do protective sniper-based playstyles, playstyles based around using minions, heavy use of grenades and more. There's also multiplayer!
ZeroRanger $11.99 $8.99 — A super tight shmup with an excellent aesthetic, soundtrack, gameplay and story. There's a lot of hype moments and surprises packed in such a small and unassuming package! In particular the way extends work and the continue system I want to say make it a good beginner's game.
Grim Dawn $24.99 $2.49 — If you are at all into Diablo-style ARPGs, this is an insane steal. Grim Dawn doesn't have the best graphical fidelity, but it has a killer aesthetic and extremely tight ARPG gameplay with a ton of customization and action. A big element for me is how it's strongly designed as an offline, singleplayer experience, with any online elements being auxiliary; when Diablo itself and even other popular imitators like Last Epoch go the way of the "service game", it's nice to have a game that isn't asking you to connect to a server.
Touhou: Artificial Dream in Arcadia $9.99 $0.79 — This fangame is in fact so good that I almost regret not buying it at full price! It's a Touhou fangame in the style of the first two Shin Megami Tensei games, which I've never played 😅 It's a bit challenging, but the polish is off the charts and the gameplay and vibes are about as satisfying as the games I have played. I started it for a friend and ended up putting more time into it than I thought, so it feels like you get a lot of bang for your buck. If you really like Sumireko, she's the protagonist here! If you really like any other Touhou character, they're probably recruitable here. If you don't like Touhou at all, I think this game might be a bit alienating without even some surface familiarity with the lore, but it's still a super competent dungeon crawler.
Gravity Circuit $16.99 $8.49 — I've talked about this one in a past journal, but I cannot state enough how excellent it is. Tight, fluid action platforming that loudly and proudly wears it Mega Man influences on its sleeves, while also feeling wholly unique and memorable in its own right. A banging soundtrack and tons of unlockables and reasons to replay round out one of my favorite packages of 2023. Also you get a piledriver and you can use this on bosses.
Copy Kitty $14.99 $3.74 — One of my favorite games of all time, a delightful passion project between a developer couple that feels like some kind of strange cross between Kirby 64 and Gunstar Heroes or some other such Treasure game. It's full of explosions, bouncy music, and a ridiculous amount of powers to combine and unleash. The pre-rendered 3D graphics visual style is insanely charming, and the writing, while minimal, is a ton of fun too. There's also an absurd amount of content; two characters with unique campaigns, hard mode campaigns that have their own sets of levels, an Endless Mode, several secret bosses, various unlockable modifiers, and a level editor. The game actually has a pretty meaty demo that will definitely let you figure out if you like it or not, so it doesn't hurt to at least check that out!
CrossCode $19.99 $5.99 — An excellent action RPG based around a girl playing an MMO. Lea is one of the most lovable protagonists I've ever had the pleasure of following in a game, and the rest of the cast are no slouches either. The visuals are gorgeous, and the presentation is strong in selling the MMORPG environment. The combat is frantic and skillful, with excellently designed enemies and bosses, and it's broken up by dungeons that are surprisingly puzzle-y (think Golden Sun). It just rules.
Rift Wizard $14.99 $6.59 — A unique, tile-based roguelike built around collecting various spells, powering them up and using them to incinerate enemies as you climb through levels. Despite appearances, the minimal room for mistakes and the contemplative pace makes it closer to a puzzle game. It's brutal, but a nice coffee break-like game!
Tales of Maj'Eyal $6.99 $3.49 — Probably one of the best traditional roguelikes I've played! Skews a lot more "Diablo" than other games of its kind, with a focus on characterbuilding, using a large amount of skills, and roaming a world of connected dungeons. There's a lot of classes to unlock and play, and the yall have distinctly different approaches which can be tweaked on a per-character basis. The presentation is also genuinely nice for a game like this, with nice tile visuals and particle effects conveying everything that needs to be conveyed.
Barony $19.99 $9.99 — An interesting and extremely polished action-roguelike, maybe best thought of as Nethack/Rogue in first person, with all the things a game like that would entail (dying a lot to stupid shit). It's come a long way since its early releases, with a gorgeous UI and a large amount of classes and races for every playstyle. The best part though is that it's a wholly capable multiplayer experience; brutal dungeon crawling is at its absolute greatest when you have someone to bicker with after one of you gets crushed by a boulder trap!