Video Game Deals

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/deals-with-gold?xr=shellnav

This week's Deals With Gold feature Forza and Battlefield games.

Forza Horizon 2 is $30 and this is the lowest price I have seen it anywhere. I'm actually going to grab it at that price. I have been wanting to play it every since that Fast and Furious standalone thing.

Congratulations Microsoft! Your dumb marketing convinced me to give you $30 during the Steam sale where I haven't come close to spending that much on any one game.
 
Well, if it worked, it isn't exactly dumb marketing. ;)

Yeah, I was really surprised how much I liked it since I'm not a huge racing fan. If it hadn't been free I would have never even tried it. I had Forza 5 since I got it dirt cheap but I had more fun with this dumb Fast and Furious marketing gimmick than I did in the entire full retail Forza 5 package.

Turns out that the more arcadey Horizon experience is still fun for me even if I don't love more sim based racers like the main Forza line.
 
I never got big into racing games. I'm not big on stuff where there's little room for error. Only ones I ever got into were the Mario Kart and Burnout Series, and that was because I could use weapons, which supports my lifelong theory that weapons make everything more fun.
 
Bloodborne is in the same ilk of the "Souls" games by From Software, so it's really difficult. Still, it has filled quite a niche and the third Dark Souls game was announced at E3 so they're not going anywhere.



 
http://store.steampowered.com/app/242920/

If you like city builder games Banished is worth the $5. The wrist on this one is that the main goal is keeping your population alive. Grow too fast and everyone will starve. Grow to slowly and you won't have enough people producing food, firewood, and other resources. I really like it.
 
I'm assuming most PC users here are already monitoring the Steam sales, but there's one that popped up today that I'd like to point out, which is Freedom Planet. Freedom Planet has been called "Shovel Knight for the Genesis", in that Shovel Knight was a tribute to the NES in its presentation and music and FP more mimics the style of the Genesis. The game definitely does look like something that would run on a 16-bit system, but as someone who had a Genesis I can safely say that the developers did not confine themselves to the same restrictions that Shovel Knight did. Also, a quick glance at the gameplay would lead one to believe that this is just a Sonic the Hedgehog clone, and while it definitely copies many aspects from Sonic, it would be wrong to consider it a clone as both offer different experiences.

The experience it offers is one of the most satisfying platforming experiences I've had in a while, probably since Rayman: Legends. I'm at the last boss (or at least what I THINK is the last boss) and I don't regret the experience. The levels are designed very well, the art style is colorful and fun to look at, the characters have real personalities (assuming you play the story mode) and the game is quite challenging, but in a good way similar to Mario & Rayman. Boss fights can at times be controller throwing frustrating, but like the old platformers, once you learn the patterns the battles become more manageable. The game has a 97% positive rating on Steam and 4.5 Star average on GoG, so I'm not alone in my praise for this game. If you're looking for a solid independent platforming game that still pushes you but doesn't throw you to the wolves like Super Meat Boy, then Freedom Planet will likely satisfy. The game is on sale for $4.49 for the next 47 hours on Steam, but even at the full price of $15 I'd say it's worth it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/248310/
 
I'm assuming most PC users here are already monitoring the Steam sales, but there's one that popped up today that I'd like to point out, which is Freedom Planet. Freedom Planet has been called "Shovel Knight for the Genesis", in that Shovel Knight was a tribute to the NES in its presentation and music and FP more mimics the style of the Genesis. The game definitely does look like something that would run on a 16-bit system, but as someone who had a Genesis I can safely say that the developers did not confine themselves to the same restrictions that Shovel Knight did. Also, a quick glance at the gameplay would lead one to believe that this is just a Sonic the Hedgehog clone, and while it definitely copies many aspects from Sonic, it would be wrong to consider it a clone as both offer different experiences.

The experience it offers is one of the most satisfying platforming experiences I've had in a while, probably since Rayman: Legends. I'm at the last boss (or at least what I THINK is the last boss) and I don't regret the experience. The levels are designed very well, the art style is colorful and fun to look at, the characters have real personalities (assuming you play the story mode) and the game is quite challenging, but in a good way similar to Mario & Rayman. Boss fights can at times be controller throwing frustrating, but like the old platformers, once you learn the patterns the battles become more manageable. The game has a 97% positive rating on Steam and 4.5 Star average on GoG, so I'm not alone in my praise for this game. If you're looking for a solid independent platforming game that still pushes you but doesn't throw you to the wolves like Super Meat Boy, then Freedom Planet will likely satisfy. The game is on sale for $4.49 for the next 47 hours on Steam, but even at the full price of $15 I'd say it's worth it.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/248310/

It's strange that I have never even heard of this game. On this recommendation I checked out the Steam page and watched their gameplay video. I was thinking about picking up both Shovel Knight and Ori and the Blind Forrest since they are featured deals today but I passed since they price will probably drop further before I'm really really looking for something new to play. This game is cheap enough that I'm just going to grab it today.
 
I hadn't heard of it either. It actually was a Kickstarter project, which obviously got funded and now was turned into a surprisingly good game. The way I came upon it was that during the last GoG sale, you had a small random chance with every purchase of getting a free game, so as I purchased what I originally wanted (which appears to have been Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded), at the end they told me I had won a free copy of Freedom Planet. It sat dormant in my library for a while until recently I decided to try it out. It is a fun game. I wouldn't put it up as high as Rayman: Legends, but it is fun.

A few tips:

1. Read the manual. In keeping with tradition of older games, this has NO tutorials that I can remember, or at least none that tell you all the moves you'll need. Look in the folder you install the game and find the readme file and look at that.

2. Levels are LONG in this game. While the game has levels that are broken up in sections, some of these levels can be rather long. I'm not kidding when I say you may find yourself in levels that last longer than 20 minutes on a first try (the game keeps a counter a'la Sonic so you always know.) Also, the game does not save your progress mid-level, so you need to finish it if you don't want to lose it.

3. Cutscenes can be rather long. The game really tries to tell a story and will do so with exposition based cut scenes. Don't worry, they're not as bad as Metal Gear, but definitely longer than what was typical during the 16-bit era.

4. If you're using a gamepad, you need to tell the game that you want to use the digital pad instead of the analog stick (if that's what you want.) Unlike most games that automatically let you use analog and digital at the same time, you need to tell the settings which you want to use, and it can only be one or the other. So if you prefer the precision of the digital pad you're going to have to set that first.
 
Steam's summer sale is also in its final 48 hours, so if you want it, get it now.

Yep. The encore sales have just started so I grabbed the last few games I was waiting on. Here is the final list of games I grabbed during this sale. I'm still tempted to grab Shovel Knight but I'm holding out for better than 33% off. The list of games I don't have time to play continues to grow.

Metro Redux
This War of Mine
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
State of Decay: Year One Survival Edition
The Talos Principle
Freedom Planet
The Stanley Parable
One Finger Death Punch
Civilization Beyond Earth/Sid Meier's Starships bundle
Ori and The Blind Forrest
CS:GO
 
Seriously, just get Shovel Knight at 33% off. I did and I don't regret it. It's likely going to be a LONG time before it gets cheaper than that, and honestly the game is so good that they deserve at LEAST that. It is an independent developer after all.

Edit: Didn't realize it was back to 15%. Still think it's worth at that price but I don't blame you for waiting.

I did okay with this summer sale. I picked these up:

CS:GO
Tales from the Borderlands
Duke Nukem Forever
Portal 2
Grim Fandango
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
 
Since Shovel Knight is an indie title with a 16-bit graphics style, there's probably a better than 90% chance it will be free for Plus members before the end of the year if history serves ...
 
Since Shovel Knight is an indie title with a 16-bit graphics style, there's probably a better than 90% chance it will be free for Plus members before the end of the year if history serves ...
Maybe, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that. SK has been nefariously avoiding sales. The most I've ever seen discounted was 33%. If I saw it offered on PS+ I wouldn't complain, but at the same time I wouldn't rest on those laurels as a reason to not buy it even at a discount.
 

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