Community MetaSteam | March 2024 - Can we find Moominvalley in the Forbidden West?

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fantomena

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Dec 17, 2018
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Saw that the Ubi store has a "buy 2 games, get 40% off" and Im considering using it on PoP: Lost Crown and Valiant Hearts 2 (just came out on PC).

However, the EGS spring gales starts after that offer is over and PoP will be 40% off there, but Valiant Hearts 2 is apparently not on EGS and the thought of giving Epic a cut for Ubi games isn't a good thought.
 

PC-tan

Low Tier Weeb
Jan 19, 2019
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I have no idea who or what vanillaware is

small google search. looks at first image

...
Yeah... I think I'm good thanks. Consoles can keep them.
Their characters do have crazy proportions. You have sort of looking normal looking people. Then you have female characters with huge breast and huge buts. You also have male characters with huge torsos and small heads and legs.

Also looking at the image, I like how Alice (the girl with the car at the bottom) is looking at Gwendolyn (the girl holding the bear person) since in that game Alice is reading the story about the life of Gwendolyn in a book. The game being Odin Sphere.



Also the art book that that image is from I plan to buy one day. The book is called Vanilla Mania! and came out last year.


But I can understand how their game design is not for everyone. Especially the stuff from Dragons Crown.


I do like their use of colours though.
This aged like milk.



The dude was pretty far off the mark. Was it 100% off the mark? No id say more like 70% of the mark.

It did seem that some stuff did get improved, but was it all because of Epic? Maybe not.

Were savings passed on to consumers? Yes and no. Publishers didn't pass on savings (and they should have? I'm guessing that's what Epic was saying would happen, but we all know that didn't happen) and instead it was Epic that had to do it by proving people with coupons to make stuff cheap.
 
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dex3108

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Dec 20, 2018
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That is Phantom Liberty done. Really good story, atmosphere and characters. Main mission design improved a bit, side missions improved a lot compared to base game. But gameplay was for the most part same as base game. Overall really good DLC/Expansion and i would put it somewhere between Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine regarding size and scope.
 

Jadax

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Oct 25, 2018
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That is Phantom Liberty done. Really good story, atmosphere and characters. Main mission design improved a bit, side missions improved a lot compared to base game. But gameplay was for the most part same as base game. Overall really good DLC/Expansion and i would put it somewhere between Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine regarding size and scope.
Similar sentiment, though haven't finished it yet. Imagine if they had released the original game at this level...
 

NarohDethan

There was a fish in the percolator!
Apr 6, 2019
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As in consoles like xbox/ps? Doubt that. Think they realized they can't break into that market (after their initial failed foray into it), and so went with handheld.
Yeah, or at least a super charged dock.


I just want a new Steam Controller.
I bought a Xbox Dream Vapor controller, in pink. Beautiful.
 

Arc

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Sep 19, 2020
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I have a Steam controller somewhere. I never liked it and that's despite me trying for more than a dozen hours to get used to it. However a new Steam controller that has the Deck's design would be my jam.
 
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C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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The Steam controller was interesting, but its flexibility was also a major inflexibility with a lot of games designed for controllers. You couldn't just rock a Steam controller - it was something you had along with an Xbox controller.

They fixed this flaw with the Steam Deck, so they're clearly aware of the issues. But whether they apply that to a new controller is anyone's guess.
 
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Alextended

Segata's Disciple
Jan 28, 2019
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He still gets royalties if you buy it before it's pulled but doesn't know anything about how they'll handle that, I imagine it'll remain in your library if you own it.
I don't get it, if it's single player stuff with 0 costs why delist it at all, just don't mess with it in any way whatsoever, why go out of your way to do all this wrong?
 

STHX

MetaMember
Sep 20, 2021
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I don't get it, if it's single player stuff with 0 costs why delist it at all, just don't mess with it in any way whatsoever, why go out of your way to do all this wrong?
It's Zaslav so my pick is "tax writeoff"
 

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
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Me too. IMO it's just not good for controller designed games
I couldn't disagree more.

IMHO it's the best controller for every game with 3D camera control (first or third person). I e.g. use it to play every single Souls-like game I've ever played (so, hundreds of hours).

I also think it's much more ergonomic than any other controller I've used. It's the only controller which I can hold very naturally while actively using all 4 shoulder buttons.

As much as I like the Deck, it's clearly a more compromised input scheme in some aspects (and of course the ergonomics are also compromised by virtue of it being a handheld). The Steam controller was a complete rethinking not just of the input scheme, but also of how a controller can and should be held in your hands -- that's why I like it so much, and I think that's also why many people dislike it.
So while I would very much love a Steam Controller 2, I also expect that if it ever happens they would go more traditional with it to have broader appeal. So I might not end up liking it as much as the first one.

Luckily I bought 2 additional Steam Controllers when they were cheap. The first one (which I got when it was first released) eventually broke, so I'm on one of the "new" ones now. I wish I bought 5 :p
 

hersheyfan

South Sea Islander
Jul 17, 2021
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Their characters do have crazy proportions. You have sort of looking normal looking people. Then you have female characters with huge breast and huge buts. You also have male characters with huge torsos and small heads and legs.

Also looking at the image, I like how Alice (the girl with the car at the bottom) is looking at Gwendolyn (the girl holding the bear person) since in that game Alice is reading the story about the life of Gwendolyn in a book. The game being Odin Sphere.



Also the art book that that image is from I plan to buy one day. The book is called Vanilla Mania! and came out last year.


But I can understand how their game design is not for everyone. Especially the stuff from Dragons Crown.
I own a copy of Vanilla Mania! (their anniversary artbook), its absolutely worth the money. Softcover so shipping won't break the bank, and the paper is good quality (the art is obviously outstanding, but you knew that already).



I own all of Vanillaware's games already, but I'd do terrible things for Steam ports of Muramasa and Dragon's Crown Pro.
 
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Kyougar

No reviews, no Buy
Nov 2, 2018
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Me too. IMO it's just not good for controller designed games and I'd much rather use KB&M for shooters. Used it a couple times and then just stored it somewhere.
I quite liked it. I use it on 3D JRPG's
Although, the touchpad for looking around isn't that great.
 
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PC-tan

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I'm currently playing a lwd game and some of the characters are really out there. They are believable characters. But just some of the stuff that they say is pretty wild.


Outside of the typical KFC VN, when it comes to the difference content wise of JP VN games and Western VNs the way characters act are just something else.

Just like how Japan has troupes, western stuff also has that. So looking at games like Class of 09 and some of the dialogue in that game. Did stuff like that happen in schools in the US? Yeah and just seeing it play out in a VN is wild. "are you taking drugs at school"?




VNs are kinda hard for me to get into, this is part of the reason why I like ones with 3D environments and characters moving or having some other elements.

Having VA is nice, in VNs but I also feel like it's not THE most important thing in them. Maybe this is why some of them don't even have English VA since there is no real need for it.
 

Arulan

Lizardman
Dec 7, 2018
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I'm also very fond of the Steam controller. In an ideal world the right trackpad should've revolutionized controller design going forward and replaced the right analog stick. It's very good, and likely as good as a thumb-sized input area is going to get to a mouse. And then you have the dual-stage triggers, 80+ hour battery life, the comfort of its shape, the versatility of the pads in general, and everything Steam Input let you do with it. If they could address the stiff micro-switch shoulder buttons and include a D-Pad or making the left trackpad a better D-Pad alternative it would be perfect for me.
 

dex3108

MetaMember
Dec 20, 2018
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Some people are really delusional regarding Sony PC releases. Best take so far is "Sony needs to find a way to sell more consoles and lower AAA budgets". Max number of sold consoles is basically the same since PS2 era so if they didn't figured out how to sell more consoles until now I really can't see how they can figure it now when they literally can't even lower console price. And I can't see how they can lower AAA budgets when most of those are salaries.

They simply can't have everything, they need to budge somewhere. I still think that releasing PC games Day 1 or at least close to day 1 is less painful option. Sony 1st party games for the most part require PC that are above 500$ so there won't be sudden exodus of PS5 players. And again Sony earns most money from Fortnite, FIFA, NBA and CoD players. That is all pure profit. Selling 10M copies of their 1st party games these days is basically breaking even and getting minimal profit on top of that. And that kinda is not profit because next sequel will cost more.
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Games industry indulged in a specs and budget arms race, trained their fans to want expensive games and lose their shit over the reflections in a puddle.

It looks like Sony has won the console war and Microsoft is probably going to fade away as a competitive first party.

The holy grail for MS and Sony was always a monopoly in the space and fleecing users for profits on hardware, first party games, subscriptions and the 30% store cut. Basically your typical enshittocene.

Alas their ever escalating war of specs and AAA games has basically led us to a point where subscriptions and the 30% cut fund hardware and first party games, and I don’t see a way of reversing that.

So unless Sony can put the genie back in the lamp and adopt the Nintendo model, they’re basically stuck perpetuating the tech arms race without having a competitor. In such a scenario, releasing on PC feels almost essential to recoup some first party development budget.

But even factoring that in, it feels unsustainable. I think AAA gaming and high end hardware is primed for a grim reckoning.
 

Censored

I didn't delete that post!. Get my post back!.
Oct 8, 2021
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RIP

Maybe 2K should stop treating the platform so poorly
I’ve been playing Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior this weekend on pc and steam deck. Runs nice on Deck. Love it, very nostalgic xD.
I was only interested on Wrestlemania. 2k should have released it as standalone game. It’s expensive as hell the 40th Anniversary edition (even the 89€ I paid on keys site, imagine the steam full price)
 

Arc

MetaMember
Sep 19, 2020
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RIP

Maybe 2K should stop treating the platform so poorly


It's the second highest peak concurrent for a WWE game on Steam. Rasslin games are just not big on PC. Last I checked, it was #2 on PS5 behind Fortnite.
 

Lashley

Computer Cowboy 🤠


It's the second highest peak concurrent for a WWE game on Steam. Rasslin games are just not big on PC. Last I checked, it was #2 on PS5 behind Fortnite.
Least the number is improving, but 2K's sports games are usually bad or last gen on PC, so people expect the same here.

Hell, even I was going to get it on PS5 until I learned the PC has parity with it (Even has UW support)
 
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Aaron D.

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Jul 10, 2019
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Pretty good bundle

This is an incredible value.

Dove into a few titles over the weekend.

Scars Above (6 hrs.) - This one REALLY surprised me. Just think AA with a ton of heart. Feels a bit like Mass Effect mechanically (locomotion, gunplay, level design). Touch of Dark Souls (rest spots/enemy reset, shortcut triggers). Great science angle with detailed world/enemy lore. Love the elemental combo system for taking down baddies. Feels great to play, smart writing & design, a bit linear but that's okay. Double-A hidden gem territory here.

LISA: The Painful / Joyful DLC (90 min.) - I've watched extended Let's Play of this RPG Maker build and had it Wishlisted forever, but it just never seems to get a significant discount. The 2023 Def. Ed comes with welcome res upscale, 120 fps option and Easy mode. I love the dark post-apocalyptic humor in this one. It's delivered straight-faced and deadpan and the timing on line delivery is pitch perfect. Character art is a great balance of goofy & a tad disturbing, kind of like the entire game vibe overall. Classic.

Eastward (10 min.) - No config options. My 2560 x 1600 / 16:10 /240 Hz screen displays this title at 720p upscaled to 1080p/16:9/60Hz and it looks like absolute crap. Looked for a Config file to edit but saw nothing of use even in the %AppData% files. Just kinda sidelined the game as it seems interesting on the surface and was a big trigger for me getting the bundle in the first place. May revisit but it had a really poor first impression technically.

Wanted: Dead - Haven't tried this but have seen enough streamer gameplay to know this is the modern-day Deadly Premonition jankfest I need in my life.

All the others are on my radar as well. For some reason I thought I already owned Plague Tale from some bundler or another but it turns out it was actually Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. Don't know why I always mix those up in my head, lol.

Anyway, best $15 bundle I've nabbed in quite some time!
 

C-Dub

Makoto Niijima Fan Club President
Dec 23, 2018
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Sounds like things have ramped up for Sony first party ports in 2024.

Clearing the backlog, maybe?
 

Shahem

R7 7800X3D I RTX 4080
Jan 26, 2020
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Maybe August and then GoW September-October.
So soon for God of War Ragnarok ? I'm expecting it in Fev-March 2025.

Yeah August for TLOU 2 makes some sense. I imagine Naughty Dog are doing the PC version with Iron Galaxy assisting.
 
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