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[Dragon]

Posting in here as well, to all my good GAFfers:

I wish I could be as understanding and cool as fuck as you are bro. Have a good New Years!

 

[Suite Pee]

Super excited for having to skip over "haul" posts.

 

[kutthoat5150]

Just used up the remaining $35 and got wolfenstein and ynab, this was one of the only sales where it was easy to resist overspending. I've got a feeling my wallet is really going to hurt in 2015 though.

 

[user237]

I got a foil card of this kissy-faced boy. I think it's a boy, not totally sure. Pretty sure nobody will buy my card though.

 

[zero shift]

Welp, I finally felt safe enough to purchase the Ys games without waiting for the sale. Got all of the Ys games up on Steam.

 

[aku:jiki]

More of a math-ish puzzle game than a roguelike/lite. It's not exactly what I expected. Loved the art style, try a demo if there's one available. I was left disappointed, personally

Me too. It seems like it plays like a truly classic roguelike the very first run you play, then you recognize that not only does the puzzle factor exist, it's the entire point of the game. Coupled with the obscured map, trying to guess where to go while maximizing your steps was mostly frustrating and boring to me. It's the worst way to do random-based rogue-ish design, IMO.

You're still "ignoring" the Pixeljunk games.

That's probably because none of them are very good.

They made a game called "Shooter" that doesn't actually contain any shooting!

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Would you recommend it for someone that hasn't really gotten into 4X other than enjoying Civ 5? I love the idea of those games, but I tend to get overwhelmed the first time I play them.

Quick question: I'm thinking of gifting someone the Complete Edition of Civ 5, but they already have the base game. Does that mean I'll be gifting everything besides vanilla Civ 5?

Also, can someone sell me on Endless Legend? The price is attractive right now, but I remember playing Endless Space and finding myself kinda put off by how... sterile it felt. Can anyone say if Endless Legend if any different? And how it compares to Civilization 5 in particular. Does it do political/diplomatic/etc stuff better or something?

Here's my initial impressions:

So in case there was anybody on the fence about Endless Legend in the last hour, I've been playing it.

It's an absolutely beautiful game. Graphics, UI, music, oh man the music. Pretty much love everything about it except the combat. The combat has been pretty lame and I'll probably end up auto-resolving most of the time. (Not that it's necessarily any worse than Civ combat which is similar to the auto-resolve option).

But I've never been huge on combat in 4X games anyway - always been more into city managing/exploration, which is great here. Lots of interesting ruins/anomalies/resources to take advantage of.

The factions themselves ooze with personality and from what I understand can have quite different playstyles. Been playing as the Vaulters this first game. And of course you can create your own faction like in Gal Civ or several other 4Xs (takes on the appearance of a base faction, but you set the attributes).

There's also minor factions to deal with which are like a combination of city-states and barbarians.

Quest system is pretty cool, each faction follows a different main questline that pushes you to complete certain objectives, and adds a bit of story that you don't really get in Civ, (at least Civ V and earlier entries - Beyond Earth apparently has something but it's not as deep?)

I think that covers most of it (might have forgotten one or two things), so yeah - fun game, if you're even remotely interested in it/4Xes and don't mind a mediocre combat system, I'd definitely recommend.

This is a pretty good let's play to give you a better idea about the game since there's no demo.

If you like Civ V, you'll probably enjoy Endless Legend. Same vein, but evolved in some ways. RPS has it as their GOTY. Weakest link is probably the combat, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily any worse than Civ IV or V.

As for comparing it to Endless Space/Disharmony (which I also own). I'd definitely say Endless Legend is the superior game. I probably should give Endless Space another chance, but if it means anything, I've put in 20+ hours into Endless Legend already whereas my Endless Space playtime stands at 4 hours. If it was the UI that felt sterile, well they're pretty much the same in that regard. As for personality, I think the factions in Endless Legend are definitely more engaging than Endless Space. Combat wasn't that great in Endless Space either from what I recall, but I think it's better in EL.

And yeah, the diplomatic/political stuff is a bit more interesting than in Civ. You earn influence points as a resource and spend them on "Empire Plans" every so many turns which have wide-ranging strategic effects. The same points are also spent to enact any deals with the AI. It's not too in-depth, but I think a bit of an improvement over what Civ has. Besides that I think the possible states/reactions AI factions can have is a bit more varied that what you see in Civ (though I haven't played much Civ recently). The luxury/strategic resource system is a step up as well IMO, with the ability to use them as "boosters" for a temporary effect compared to just generating passive happiness or whatever.

The one other thing of note in Endless Legend is the city/region system. The map is divided into regions and you can only settle one city in each one (aside from the Cultists whose defining mechanic is that they can only settle one city period.) You can grow your cities to include more tiles, but it's a little bit different than Civ. You have to be more picky about where you place your cities, particularly if you're playing more tall. It's an interesting wrinkle in the genre.

 

[thoseAREmySHOES]

I bought Papers, Please with some leftover card money. I'm staying strong and not adding to my backlog.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

The only game I want is Arma 3, but $30 is still too much for me.

 

[gsrjedi]

I wonder if Amazon will match the current price for Ground Zeroes. I've got a gift card I'd like to use

 

[Moonlight]

Here's my initial impressions:



This is a pretty good let's play to give you a better idea about the game since there's no demo.

If you like Civ V, you'll probably enjoy Endless Legend. Same vein, but evolved in some ways. RPS has it as their GOTY. Weakest link is probably the combat, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily any worse than Civ IV or V.

As for comparing it to Endless Space/Disharmony (which I also own). I'd definitely say Endless Legend is the superior game. I probably should give Endless Space another chance, but if it means anything, I've put in 20+ hours into Endless Legend already whereas my Endless Space playtime stands at 4 hours. If it was the UI that felt sterile, well they're pretty much the same in that regard. As for personality, I think the factions in Endless Legend are definitely more engaging than Endless Space. Combat wasn't that great in Endless Space either from what I recall, but I think it's better in EL.

And yeah, the diplomatic/political stuff is a bit more interesting than in Civ. You earn influence points as a resource and spend them on "Empire Plans" every so many turns which have wide-ranging strategic effects. The same points are also spent to enact any deals with the AI. It's not too in-depth, but I think a bit of an improvement over what Civ has. Besides that I think the possible states/reactions AI factions can have is a bit more varied that what you see in Civ (though I haven't played much Civ recently). The luxury/strategic resource system is a step up as well IMO, with the ability to use them as "boosters" for a temporary effect compared to just generating passive happiness or whatever.

These are great. Thanks so much for this.

Last question, though, before I make my decision. Is the game particularly technically demanding? Relative to Civ 5/BE's recommended.

 

[Hadoukie]

So are these the last of the big sales? Was gonna wait and see of Dynasty Warriors went back on sale, but if it won't, I'd might as well get it now

 

[autoduelist]

How is desktop dungeons?

It's amazing, if it's your thing.

It's a roguelike, but no issues with permadeath because every dungeon is (essentially) one level. You pick a race/class, which comes with it's own combo of skills/traits, and you start a dungeon at lvl 1. You need to carefully explore the dungeon while killing monsters. You need to optimize your route to gain experience ... always killing low level monsters, for example, will only gain you their level in experience, but killing monsters above your level gives you experience bonuses. Monsters stand still, so it's all about where to attack next, when to explore, the best way to use potions, etc.

Every time you level up, you regain all hp and mp (as well as increase both to some degree, based on your character). Monsters don't heal if you level up (but do if you explore) so you can sometimes beat high level monsters through careful play -- get yourself about ready to level up, wound a high level monster till you're at low health, kill a low level monster for the level up/heal, then finish off the high level monster. You'll also find cool skills to use in each dungeon. In this way, you need to really use your race/class traits and found spells to their maximum, and really squeak out all the value to be found in each dungeon. It's very much a puzzle, and in some harder situations it can be quite difficult (in a good way).

As you beat dungeons and do quests, you unlock tons of more classes/races and more enemy types. You'll also unlock more stuff you can take into each dungeon with you. The diversity of characters is huge and so different runs on dungeons play out very differently. Figuring out how to kill a level 9 anti-magic monster with your mage can be exhilaration. There are also gods you can worship (or not) that give very distinct abilities.

It does require some level of math - you might be fighting a medusa, for example, that will stone you if your hp is lower than half. Your attack does 6 damage, it's attack does 10 damage, you've got 21 hitpoints, it has 18 hps... can you kill it or do you get stoned trying? What if you have a 'first strike' skill, or what if you're a vampire and gain x% of damage in hp every turn? What if you have enough MP to throw a fireball for 8 damage first? Plus you could always use a skill or a potion, and there are tons of other ways to optimize your play. The game warns you if your next move would result in death, and does some of the math for you, but you still need to be capable of planning several turns in advance if you want to kill a level 8 monster with your level 5 monster for the experience multiplier.

I bought it full price and absolutely love it, but i'd been playing the alpha for ages.

 

[garath]

Wow. Encore already What the heck.

Hmm.. well I'd like to finish a badge but I'm missing a few cards.

I need:

Rhombus
Sage
Sparkles

I have extras of:
Blase (1)
Itsy (3)
Monte (2)
Zippy (2)

 

[Benedict]

Dungeon of the Endless, Pixel or Crystal?

 

[Lazulic]

I could use itsy and tender : )

If you're still around you can add my ID from my profile page and I can get those to you.

 

[Grief.exe]

Shovel Knight or Binding of Isaac Rebirth?

Both!

So two day encore means no more new dailies? So I'm safe to get Baldur's Gate even though it hasn't been a daily?

I could have sworn it was a flash at one point, but I guess not.

www.steamprices.com/us/app/257350/

 

[Kagemusha]

I'm still looking at Joylancer, Top Hat, and Rex Rocket.

Purchased:
1001 Spikes
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
Epic Battle Fantasy 4
Detective Case and Clown Bot in: Murder in the Hotel Lisbon
Platformines Steam Store and Retail Key
PAC-MAN Championship Edition DX+ All You Can Eat Edition Bundle
Ultimate General: Gettysburg
Carmageddon: Reincarnation
Skullgirls
Carpe Fulger Bundle
Starpoint Gemini 2
Lords of Xulima
Turbo Dismount
Fight The Dragon
Hero Siege - The Karp of Doom (Digital Collector's Edition)
Dominions 4 Steam Store and Retail Key
Verdun
The Secret World
Dungeon Defenders Franchise Pack
Planetary Annihilation
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Talisman Digital Edition
Supreme Ruler Ultimate
McPixel
Pineapple Smash Crew
Plague Inc: Evolved
Ziggurat
Magicite
Grim Dawn
Project Zomboid
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
bit Dungeon II
R.U.S.E.
Orcs Must Die + Artifacts of Power and Lost Adventures
Guns of Icarus Online
Space Engineers
METAL GEAR SOLID V: GROUND ZEROES

Won the Following Auctions:
Joe Danger + Joe Danger 2: The Movie + Bonus Content
Shantae: Risky's Revenge - Director's Cut
Dominions 3: The Awakening
Shatter with Soundtrack
Iron Fisticle
Life of Pixel
Conquest of Elysium 3
Viktor: Enforcer Edition
Noitu Love 2 Devolution
Momodora III
Gunhound
We Slay Monsters
Retro Game Crunch
FOTONICA
Assault Android Cactus
Spark Rising
Mega Coin Squad
Magicians & Looters
Cavern Kings
Concursion + Soundtrack EP
A Golden Wake
Super Win the Game: Soundtrack Edition
A Wizard's Lizard
Snuggle Truck
The Sacred Tears TRUE
Data Hacker: Corruption
Malebolgia

And Picked up these from GMG:
Scribblenauts Unlimited Retail
Scribblenauts Unmasked
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Defense Grid 2
Aliens vs. Predator Collection Retail
Valve Complete 2012 Pack Retail
Mini Ninjas
The Lost Crown
Game Dev Tycoon
Hatoful Boyfriend
Papo & Yo
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Retail
Castle of Illusion Retail
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Master Collection

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

These are great. Thanks so much for this.

Last question, though, before I make my decision. Is the game particularly technically demanding? Relative to Civ 5's minimum.

Well you can check the store pages for system requirements and compare. Civ V is a fairly old game at this point though so if you're struggling to run it, I might pass on Endless Legend since graphically (at least on higher settings) it's quite a step up (being a 2014 game vs. a 2010 one.) But it's not going to be a crazy taxing game. I run (most?) every setting on high on a 750 Ti that I just got a few months ago after my other GPU crapped out and that's only about a $130 card.

Dungeon of the Endless, Pixel or Crystal?

I got Crystal, but it's really more if you want to support the developers and/or own the other Endless games (the bonuses are mainly for EL and ES and are probably worth it for the asking cost). If you don't care about those, then Pixel is probably fine. Though I haven't actually gotten into the game yet to tell you if the extra hero/ship really makes a difference for Dungeon.

 

[Benedict]

In my cart:

Endless Space - Emperor Edition
Dungeon of the Endless - Pixel Pack
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
The Long Dark

Jay or Nay?

 

[Enco]

Just finished my This War of Mine playthrough.

10 hours. What an experience. Holy shit. 2 people managed to survive to the end of the war. I did some pretty terrible stuff that I feel awful about and I lost some people that I actually cared for.

A+ game. I'll probably start another playthrough. Hopefully it's as good the second time around.

 

[aku:jiki]

It's amazing, if it's your thing.

Have to say that your post is a bit deceptive since you don't mention the health/exploration puzzle system at all. The way you pretty much have to take damage and have to leave unexplored areas of the level to regain the HP is what breaks the design for some of us.

Dungeon of the Endless, Pixel or Crystal?

The Crystal pack has one of the best characters in the game. He might sound useless if you read what he does, but once you get into it and understand what he does, he'll be a "holy shit" type character.

I don't really recommend the game itself though... The dust/light thing is obnoxious and luck-based in the endgame.

 

[Tizoc]

Crom brings this message from on high:
Prepare yourselves.

 

[Fragamemnon]

In my cart:

Endless Space - Emperor Edition
Dungeon of the Endless - Pixel Pack
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
The Long Dark

Jay or Nay?

Strong vouch for the first two, for sure.

 

[rickyson1]

no ys daily? ugh was waiting for that all sale

 

[autoduelist]

Dungeon of the Endless, Pixel or Crystal?

I bought the more expensive one. It's... kinda worth it, but not really? You do get some unlocks for other Endless games, which is nice. The main thing you gain is a great character (that I use on all runs). He's a good resource builder.

Very highly recommend the game overall. I did a long writeup recently in one of these threads -- it's roguelike meets base builder meets resource management meets tower defense. And done really well.

Harder than you'd expect at first, though, even on 'easy'. But SO good.

 

[The_Monk]

In my cart:

The Long Dark

Jay or Nay?

I'm going to say "Yes" even if I don't have the game.

But to be honest, I keep only reading positive feedback regarding this game. So, if you like the genre and you are curious, I would say go for it, enjoy and make sure to post some impressions later on in the regular Steam thread, please!

 

[autoduelist]

Have to say that your post is a bit deceptive since you don't mention the health/exploration puzzle system at all. The way you pretty much have to take damage and have to leave unexplored areas of the level to regain the HP is what breaks the design for some of us.

Well, I covered a ton of it, and mentioned monster heal when you explore... I don't see how that's 'deceptive' at all... would really mentioning that you heal as you explore make my long summary less 'deceptive'? I felt I got too deep into the mechanics as it was - it's a lot to explain in a few paragraphs.

But I don't see how this breaks the game, though? It IS the game. It's balanced amazingly. Consider unexplored territory a resource, it's just part of the math. If healing when you explore breaks the game for you, then the game isn't for you, because it's one of the games moments of brilliance in terms of getting through a hard dungeon successfully.

The entire point of the game is figuring out how to use everything at your disposal to take out the highest level monster you can, at any point, hopefully with other experience bonuses in play, so that you can make the best of the limited resources on each level (monster experience, healing possibilities, etc) and take out the boss to clear the dungeon. You need to think ahead, not randomly explore, and maximize your killing. This requires math, but good puzzly math.

Each dungeon only takes 15-60 minutes, depending on how difficult it is vs. your current setup. If you die, just try again, just like with any other roguelike, except here you're not investing days into a character, just one dungeon level.

 

[Tizoc]

Crom wishes you all a happy new year with great fortune and endeavors.

Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 32 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below that corresponds to the game you want. (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering). Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.

ModBot Basics:
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- I really appreciate thank you messages, but please send them to me (Tizoc, not ModBot!) via PM instead of in thread.
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Rules for this Giveaway:
- This giveaway is a raffle. The winners will be selected by random draw 24 hours after the draw was created. Any games not claimed after that point will be given away first come first serve.

Toki Tori -- MB-3D7207896BAE4DC8 - Taken by JoduanER2. 1 entrants total.
Penguins Arena: Sedna's World -- MB-9DFBEDEE76948389 - Taken by Rawket Lawnchair. 1 entrants total.

Killer is Dead - Nightmare Edition -- MB-3C6F2C592C470CEB - Taken by Berto. 77 entrants total.

Ikaruga -- MB-600F901F0E52EE56 - Taken by Zantar. 46 entrants total.

Skullgirls -- MB-73053A46CDA06CAD - Taken by Jay RaR. 6 entrants total.
Return to mysterious Island 2 -- MB-4F34552DB25F1FFC - Taken by drakaenae. 1 entrants total.
Wickland -- MB-C67C96D86023E89B - Taken by Naked Snake. 1 entrants total.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes -- MB-C9843720E37E08AF - Taken by Luap. 1 entrants total.
Salammbo: Battle for Carthage -- MB-679A7C1AAC824520 - Taken by Bayonetta. 1 entrants total.

DuckTales Remastered -- MB-BD7E406370969ABC - Taken by MicroByter. 25 entrants total.

Strider -- MB-53141174091FD599 - Taken by bkw. 26 entrants total.

Toki Tori 2 Plus -- MB-C011F4FA05D0A341 - Taken by SapientWolf. 2 entrants total.

Metal Slug 3 -- MB-A55FEF7C7CE856D8 - Taken by Iron Badger. 2 entrants total.

Ghostbusters: The Videogame -- MB-78F8CFFDC2ADDC15 - Taken by JBourne. 7 entrants total.

Volgarr the Viking -- MB-BF19F791744D532A - Taken by eyeless. 11 entrants total.

Hatoful Boyfriend -- MB-A44E008CBD4D468E - Taken by Patison. 13 entrants total.

Gunhound EX #2 -- MB-B409A5CB59303E6B - Taken by Oldschoolgamer. 7 entrants total.

Tropico 4 Collector's Bundle -- MB-BF49702B40993202 - Taken by daydreaming. 6 entrants total.

Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystera -- MB-7B5BB1FCAFE48DAD - Taken by The Shadow. 8 entrants total.

Stick it to the man! -- MB-6DFCBCA27C499712 - Taken by Catshade. 2 entrants total.

Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death -- MB-80BF67E907382AF9 - Taken by woo and indeed hoo. 2 entrants total.
Amerzone: The Explorer's Legacy -- MB-65FB194DFDBE26E1 - Taken by topyy. 1 entrants total.

Gunhound EX #1 -- MB-16748A86BFCCB777 - Taken by The Reloader. 10 entrants total.
Nostradamus: The Last Prophecy -- MB-364AA1A743BE50D3 - Taken by fuzzy123. 2 entrants total.

Valiant Hearts: The Great War -- MB-3A194D24241976EE - Taken by Xeteh. 29 entrants total.

Ys: The Oath in Felghana -- MB-CB987306A5B7F8B3 - Taken by TheLight. 27 entrants total.

The Talos Principle -- MB-A8CC6DF38E5AAE92 - Taken by Maxwood. 123 entrants total.
White Noise Online -- MB-9219C064A5DDD6F7 - Taken by InfiniteNine. 1 entrants total.

Metal Slug X -- MB-E8D6EEB883FC1E2C - Taken by OFFIS. 12 entrants total.

Castle of Illusion -- MB-669381D96E9046F0 - Taken by TheMadMan007. 10 entrants total.

Freedom Planet -- MB-23F620B6AE095915 - Taken by Tellaerin. 31 entrants total.

Lost Planet 3 -- MB-4F4F107DB90B51DD - Taken by spindoctor. 38 entrants total.

 

[NoPiece]

They made a game called "Shooter" that doesn't actually contain any shooting!

I'll agree that Pixeljunk Shooter is a bad name, but you definitely do shoot in it. Regardless, it is a great game, and the fluid mechanics are really cool. A steal at $2.24.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/255870/

 

[ModBot]

Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, I am giving away a Steam key. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line from the message below containing the game you want to enter for. Confused? Watch this GIF tutorial or ask for help.

ModBot Basics:
- Do not trade keys you win off-site to enrich yourself. Don't try to claim games you have no interest in collecting or playing. Don't claim games to give them to friends off-site.
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two.

Mystery Gift -- MB-60F5A90BD638BC66 - Taken by Shadowplay1979

 

[dani_dc]

Crom wishes you all a happy new year with great fortune and endeavors.

That's a great selection of titles right there.
Everyone should go for Ikaruga!

 

[aku:jiki]

Well, I covered a ton of it, and mentioned monster heal when you explore... I don't see how that's 'deceptive' at all... would really mentioning that you heal as you explore make my long summary less 'deceptive'? I felt I got too deep into the mechanics as it was - it's a lot to explain in a few paragraphs.
But I don't see how this breaks the game, though? It IS the game. It's balanced amazingly. Consider unexplored territory a resource, it's just part of the math. If healing when you explore breaks the game for you, then the game isn't for you, because it's one of the games moments of brilliance in terms of getting through a hard dungeon successfully.
The entire point of the game is figuring out how to use everything at your disposal to take out the highest level monster you can, at any point, hopefully with other experience bonuses in play.

My point is, what happens when you guess wrong and you explore the corner with all the level 10's in it first, have no health left after you go do the level 3 corners and can't explore to heal anymore? There's a large luck factor to the game and I personally don't find it brilliant at all, just frustrating and boring.

I'll agree that Pixeljunk Shooter is a bad name, but you definitely do shoot in it.

I know, I completed it. There's like 5 whole combat rooms in the entire game. It's a physics puzzle game with the worst branding in gaming history.

 

[Soyongdori]

Having a dilemma. Should I buy Divinity or Endless Legend? I like playing turn based RPGs like Shadowrun and Wasteland 2, but I've never played games like Civilization which involves hex based strategy, but I've heard so much good thing about EL.

 

[denx]

That's a great selection of titles right there.
Everyone should go for Ikaruga!

Ikaruga is actually terrible, it's videogame poison and nobody should approach it with a ten feet pole. Stay far away for your own sake.

Spoiler

I entered for Ikaruga, stay away fools

 

[LurkerPrime]

Having a dilemma. Should I buy Divinity or Endless Legend? I like playing turn based RPGs like Shadowrun and Wasteland 2, but I've never played games like Civilization which involves hex based strategy, but I've heard so much good thing about EL.

Divinity: Original Sin is the better game.

Endless Legend has some big problems that stop it from being great. In time the devs may fix it, but for now it is a flawed gem.

 

[autoduelist]

My point is, what happens when you guess wrong and you explore the corner with all the level 10's in it first, have no health left after you go do the level 3 corners and can't explore to heal anymore? There's a large luck factor to the game and I personally don't find it brilliant at all, just frustrating and boring.

Um, I hate to say it, but this comes down to a 'you're doing it wrong'. Finding a level 10 monster early doesn't matter, it's not like you have to attack it. You also should not base the majority of your healing on exploration - it's a last resort, not your only resort. The number one way to heal end game is leveling up (plus hp potions, obviously), exploration is only super important towards the beginning/middle (when there is still lots to explore).

If you need health to take out that level 10 boss at the end, you -never- should be relying on exploration to get it. Rather, you should attack it a couple times at level 8 or 9, then use a couple level 3 or 4 grunts that you skipped over to level up one last time for full heal/mp, then use your spells and attacks to kill boss.

The way you leave some level 3/4s on the board for this is by maximizing your play throughout the early game. Kill as high level as possible with as little exploration as possible.

I pretty much never have unexplored tiles left when I'm at the boss, because you simply don't need them.

You are absolutely right - if you just kill low level monsters the entire time, you'll run out of juice and die. That's why I said the game is about learning how to kill monsters 2-4 levels higher than you for the XP bonuses, so you have lots of lower level grunts left at the end to use as healing/leveling. As a general rule, I -never- kill anything at my level, except perhaps the first monster and in extreme circumstances. I stone almost everything level 1-3 because of the XP bonuses you get for your next kill.

It really is far more about planning/advance strategy than it is 'luck'. It only feels like it's based on luck when you're first starting out because you haven't learned how to deal with situations such as the one you outlined.

 

[Moonlight]

Well you can check the store pages for system requirements and compare. Civ V is a fairly old game at this point though so if you're struggling to run it, I might pass on Endless Legend since graphically (at least on higher settings) it's quite a step up (being a 2014 game vs. a 2010 one.) But it's not going to be a crazy taxing game. I run (most?) every setting on high on a 750 Ti that I just got a few months ago after my other GPU crapped out and that's only about a $130 card.

Did some checking and it seems I'll be able to run it without much issue. Just bought it. Thanks for the insight!

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Tizoc is too kind, that's a great selection.

 

[theMrCravens]

Crom wishes you all a happy new year with great fortune and endeavors.

Hail Crom !

Thank you.

 

[dani_dc]

Ikaruga is actually terrible, it's videogame poison and nobody should approach it with a ten feet pole. Stay far away for your own sake.

Spoiler

I entered for Ikaruga, stay away fools

Please, everyone should go for Ikaruga, it's the best game on the list! That or Talos cause it's new!

Spoiler

*trying to divert attention from Freedom Planet*

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Yeah as much praise as I give Endless Legend, it is good, but somewhat flawed. It's out of early access, but the devs are still working on it and it's likely to get a big expansion/update similar to Disharmony for Endless Space besides other patches.

And though it does have mod support, the scene around the game isn't that big.

So while I'd urge people to get it, if you're not quite on the fence already, I think you could wait and pick it up in the future when it's more developed. If you've never been into strategy games before I'd recommend Civ V complete as a better starting point.

 

[His Majesty]

Having a dilemma. Should I buy Divinity or Endless Legend? I like playing turn based RPGs like Shadowrun and Wasteland 2, but I've never played games like Civilization which involves hex based strategy, but I've heard so much good thing about EL.

Divinity takes turn-based combat to a whole new level compared to Shadowrun and Wasteland 2.

 

[Marow]

Didn't expect the encore sale this early! Guess it's time to start spending!

Does anyone know when the GMG sale ends? The voucher ends on Jan 2, so I guess the sale also ends then?

 

[Unknown One]

I'm pretty excited about what is coming to the encore finale.

 

[Bebpo]

Divinity takes turn-based combat to a whole new level compared to Shadowrun and Wasteland 2.

I have all three in my backlog. I'm thinking of saving Divinity for last so it won't bring down my enjoyment of the others in comparison.

 

[Polishin8r]

Crom wishes you all a happy new year with great fortune and endeavors.

whoa thanks Tizoc amazing giveaway! Happy New Years!

 

[Benedict]

Thanks for the tips regarding Endless games. Decided to buy both of them, higher tier, since I haven't spent that much this sale. Feels strange to have bought some games that only had 50% off...

So far this is all I've gotten.

Steam Store:

The Long Dark
Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
Endless Space + Disharmony
Dungeon of the Endless - Crystal Pack
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist Standard Edition

RPG Maker: Dungeons and Volcanoes Tile Pack
RPG Maker: Old School Modern Resource Pack Steam Store and Retail Key
RPG Maker: Modern Day Tiles Resource Pack
RPG Maker: Old School Modern 2 Resource Pack
DLC #3 - El Diablo Islands - Host
DLC #1 - Kovac’s Way
DLC #2 - Hello my name is Nina
DLC #4 - One Shot Escape
DLC #5 - Endless mode
Abby+Kenji+Jack alternate skins
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic (WR)
Metal Gear Rising

Amazon.co.uk:
South Park A Stick of Truth
Ridge Racer Unbound.

Auctions:
Blue Toad Murder Files
Swarm Arena
Dyad

For my daughters:
Spelunky x2
BitTrip Collection 2014 x2
Toki Tori 1
Disney Princess: My Fairy Adventure (auction)
Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey (auction)

 

[zerokoolpsx]

Encore sales came a day earlier than expected. Some deals are worst, others are better.

 

[The Shogun]

Is the Season Pass for Alien Isolation worth it?