Author Topic: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread  (Read 16824 times)

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Offline Dragon

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Arena didn't have them, but then, it didn't have Daedra, too (weapons and armor topped at Ebony). It's kind of an oddball, though still fun. Daggerfall had vampires, werewolves and even wereboars. You could become either if you wanted. IMO, if it wasn't so horribly buggy, it'd be the best game in the series. I really wish they ignored consoles and made the rest of the series on similar scale and depth.

 

Offline BloodEagle

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Skyrim is not all that it's cracked up to be.

Unless you're buying it for the text-editor based minigame, that is.  You'll spend a lot of time on that.

Like Oblivion, and Fallout 3/New Vegas, it only really shines with mods. The unmodded game isn't /bad,/ but when you have access to mods you can tailor it to your personal tastes in RPGs and it really comes alive.
Hardly; Oblivion was unplayable without mods. Unmodded Skyrim was already superior to a fully-modded Oblivion install.

Which isn't to say there aren't some really cool Skyrim mods out there...

I disagree.  Skyrim broke so many core features that I was forced (figuratively) to download mods to get them back to something resembling the earlier series' mechanics.

Oblivion could be played on its own, for what that's worth.

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Okay, so.

On one hand, Ace Combat has always seemed gimmicky and kind of everything terrible about writing in Japanese games rolled up in a semi-appealing package. On the other hand, it's an arcade air-combat game and I'm contractually obligated to be interested, because I like that.

Assault Horizon's on Steam for 9 bucks in the next 7 hours. Anybody want to give me the pros and cons, or at least description of the mechanics in the game so I can make a better decision?
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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
IIRC that's the Ace Combat: Modern Warfare version.  Avoid like the plague.
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Offline The E

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
It is ... mediocre. It lacks everything that made the previous Ace Combats fun. There's no giant flying fortresses, no weird concept planes, and crucially, it lacks trench run segments. It also misunderstands the "differences in kind" gameplay mixup principle, giving you boring turret sequences (Turret sequences! In an ACE COMBAT GAME! The **** is this?), and somewhat mishandled Helicopter sequences.

Then there are scripting issues. It's ****ing weird to see planes just spawn in mid-air without a good excuse.

Overall? Avoid unless you can get it for free, or close to it. Somewhere below 5$ would be a good price.
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Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
It lacks everything that made the previous Ace Combats fun.

Well, I've never actually played any of those and at this rate, never will.
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Offline StarSlayer

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
*note I can not speak for the PC version.

I won't lie the first time I went to play it I really didn't like it.  The first intro mission will need to be played using the default settings which are super dumb/terribad and will make you want to fling your flight controller.  I had to adjust the settings quite a bit to get it to behave in a fashion I liked and even then it's not exactly like previous AC games.  For better or worse you will need to utilize the close action battle gimmick.  I'll always wish they had just kept the flight mechanics from the previous games but if you're not entirely turned off by the close combat feature and make the appropriate adjustments to the flight model the gameplay is fine.

Unlike AC6, where there was a large air to ground component in pretty much every mission, many of the missions here are strictly air to air.  Since it takes place in the "real world" the PAK FA and F22 are the fanciest things in the air and don't expect any regular AC crazy giant boss vehicles/mecha godzilla.  Attack helicopter missions aren't exactly Longbow but provide a break from the normal fighter OPs.  It looks very nice and the score is up to AC standards. 

If you had a choice between AC6 and this I'd get AC6.  It looks almost as pretty and the mechanics are superior even if the story dialog is cringe worthy and has all the silly anime boss stuff.
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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
I would be remiss if I neglected to remind everyone that To The Moon is on sale and you need to play it, all of you.

 

Offline An4ximandros

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
I would be remiss if I neglected to remind everyone that To The Moon is on sale and you need to play it, all of you.

 

Offline AdmiralRalwood

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Skyrim is not all that it's cracked up to be.

Unless you're buying it for the text-editor based minigame, that is.  You'll spend a lot of time on that.

Like Oblivion, and Fallout 3/New Vegas, it only really shines with mods. The unmodded game isn't /bad,/ but when you have access to mods you can tailor it to your personal tastes in RPGs and it really comes alive.
Hardly; Oblivion was unplayable without mods. Unmodded Skyrim was already superior to a fully-modded Oblivion install.

Which isn't to say there aren't some really cool Skyrim mods out there...

I disagree.  Skyrim broke so many core features that I was forced (figuratively) to download mods to get them back to something resembling the earlier series' mechanics.

Oblivion could be played on its own, for what that's worth.
Oblivion (and Morrowind) had the most appalling leveling system I've ever seen; without mods, you have to carefully ration out how often you hit the jump key in order to make sure you don't get screwed out of attribute bonuses, which is patently ridiculous. Oblivion's over-reliance on making NPCs and enemies level with you meant that you lose all sense of character progression anyway, and failing to get maxed-out attribute bonuses actually means you do worse at level 50 than at level 1. Throw in all the other bugs, and I literally cannot stand unmodded Oblivion (with Morrowind, I just throw in Galsiah's Character Development and it's at least playable, though I obviously prefer to add unofficial patches and whatnot).

With Skyrim, there is literally no feature from previous games I miss (except possibly the ability to not have to re-equip my sword after firing a spell).

Oh, and spellmaking. I really hoped one of the DLC would add that back in, but oh well.

Apart from that, I'd like to know what all these "broken core features" are.
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Offline Hobbie

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
As someone who's played all of the Ace Combat series at varying points, I would recommend avoiding Assault Horizon. Gone are the fun dogfights of yester-decade, as the new game relies heavily on the auto-chase gimmick. The story is boring, there's no feeling of being terrifying to the enemy (a core component of Ace Combat since 4 onwards), and there's a lot of limitations in place on how you can do things and what you can fly as opposed to the 'pick a plane and go nuts' mentality of the older games.

If you've got a PS2, I highly recommend starting with Ace Combat 4 as that'll give you a great introduction into the game mechanics while keeping it simple and easy to follow.

If you want something similar on PC, check out a little game called Vector Thrust.
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Offline Mongoose

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
If anyone else is paying attention to the summer sale card-collecting, I have an extra Bioshock Infinite card, and I still need any one that isn't it, Dead Island: Riptide, or Reus.  Just hit me up if you feel like swapping.

 

Offline BloodEagle

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
With Skyrim, there is literally no feature from previous games I miss (except possibly the ability to not have to re-equip my sword after firing a spell).

Oh, and spellmaking. I really hoped one of the DLC would add that back in, but oh well.

Apart from that, I'd like to know what all these "broken core features" are.

You kind of answered the question already.

Basically, the stuff I like is not the same as the stuff you like.  I like a lot of the old systems from Morrowind that are either just plain not there in Skyrim or are changed in such a way as to be completely different (or broken, if you will).

Oblivion (and Morrowind) had the most appalling leveling system I've ever seen; without mods, you have to carefully ration out how often you hit the jump key in order to make sure you don't get screwed out of attribute bonuses, which is patently ridiculous. Oblivion's over-reliance on making NPCs and enemies level with you meant that you lose all sense of character progression anyway, and failing to get maxed-out attribute bonuses actually means you do worse at level 50 than at level 1. Throw in all the other bugs, and I literally cannot stand unmodded Oblivion (with Morrowind, I just throw in Galsiah's Character Development and it's at least playable, though I obviously prefer to add unofficial patches and whatnot).

I would like to note for the record that I do not like unmodded Oblivion.  I believe I've made a number of similar arguments to yours in the past regarding it.

That being said, I still think Skyrim is much more of a mess to the point that Oblivion shines in comparison: Aesthetically, mechanically, and narratively.  (I feel like I need to go drink bleach after saying that.)

 

Offline NGTM-1R

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
If anyone else is paying attention to the summer sale card-collecting, I have an extra Bioshock Infinite card, and I still need any one that isn't it, Dead Island: Riptide, or Reus.  Just hit me up if you feel like swapping.

I got a spare Prison Architect one if you want it.
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Offline Mongoose

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Sure.  Though I know that whatever I trade for will inevitably be the very next one I get as a drop.

E: Thank you sir!
« Last Edit: July 14, 2013, 08:30:24 pm by Mongoose »

 

Offline MP-Ryan

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
I also have a spare Bioshock Infinite card, and need anything other than BI and Tomb Raider.

And for those collecting the cards specifically for Bioshock Infinite, I have an extra Songbird as well.  Need anything that isn't Songbird, Lutece, or Fireman.
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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Anybody wondering why anybody cares about these cards: They can actually be sold for cash money if you should care to. I'm not sure what the point of crafting badges is, other than the aesthetic stuff and that it lets you get more drops.

I still have all single cards, no duplicates. But when I do, I'll trade somebody.

 

Offline MP-Ryan

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
Anybody wondering why anybody cares about these cards: They can actually be sold for cash money if you should care to. I'm not sure what the point of crafting badges is, other than the aesthetic stuff and that it lets you get more drops.

I still have all single cards, no duplicates. But when I do, I'll trade somebody.

Most of them sell for under $0.50 :P  Apparently the money goes into your Steam wallet.

As I said to a friend the other day:  if I get duplicates, I'll trade them, but the whole card / Steam level thing is just epeen enhancement.  I have Steam to play games, not waste time on other useless **** :P
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Offline ssmit132

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
I would be remiss if I neglected to remind everyone that To The Moon is on sale and you need to play it, all of you.
I got that the last time you said we should play it, and I haven't played it yet. :nervous:

I'm actually trying to avoid buying things this time around since I've already got quite a few games from Steam and GoG that I haven't played yet, but I did pick up Age of Empires II HD, partially because I could have multiplayer games with my friends.

 

Offline deathspeed

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Re: Steam Summer Sale Discussion Thread
I'm new to this steam sale stuff.  If Blood Dragon is already on sale for 25% off, is there any chance of it dropping even more as a daily deal, flash sale, or community choice?

I'm also considering picking up X3: Terran Conflict for $3.99, but not sure if I will actually enjoy it as I don't know much about the gameplay.
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