What are must-have games in the current Steam Sale?

simple@lemm.ee to Games@lemmy.world – 245 points –

I've about $50 in my steam wallet and I'm wondering what this community would think are must-haves. I'm currently eyeing Satisfactory and Potion Craft and am worried I'm missing out on any great deals.

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Disco Elysium is 75% off.

Prey (and Mooncrash) are 75% off. Most other Arkane games are too, and they're all top notch (except Redfall :/)

Killer7 is 75% off.

Ace Combat 7 is 85% off.

Dying Light (and The Following expansion) are 80% off.

CONTROL is 75% off.

All the Deus Ex games are >80% off, really can't go wrong here.

Pillars of Eternity I and II are 75% off.

Lots of great deals on high-profile games this sale, and I highly recommend everything on this list.

Isn't there something with disco elysium and whoever is profiting off of it now is not the original creators?

Yeah, iirc the developers, who'd spent bloody ages developing the world for the game, we're effectively kicked out during a hostile publisher takeover. They're seeing none of the money from sales, nor do they hold the rights to their own property.

I might be misremembering some parts here, but the main point is that the devs were fucked over, aren't profiting off their property, can't do anything new with the property.

It's a clusterfuck really, but yeah the lead writer, designer and artist were all fired and lost the rights to the IP. Litigation is still ongoing I think, and hopefully Kurvitz, Hindpere and Rostov can regain the right to at least produce more work in the IP in the future. Heartbreaking for Kurvitz especially since he's built the IP with and for his friends from the age of 15.

The original developers were forced out of the studio, allegedly through fraudulent means, but I'm not sure whether they lost royalties from sales as well. I can't find anything confirming one way or the other, unfortunately.

I loved Discord Elysium! Going to pick up Pillars of Eternity because of your comment. Never heard of those games and looks cool.

Going to try these on my Steam Deck, not sure how the controls work with controller yet. ProtonDB gave both a platinum rating, yet Steam says playable lol. If it's anything like Divinity Original Sin 2 then I'm excited.

ProtonDB gave both a platinum rating, yet Steam says playable lol

Steam's checkmark rating is based on a very specific set of criteria, like if the game plays well on gamepad, if the UI elements work on small displays, if it requires keyboard input, etc. Yellow check means the game will play, green means it theoretically has an experience which is on par with native console games.

ProtonDB only cares how good the Linux compatibility is in general, not specifically on the Steam Deck.

ProtonDB now has their top results specifically for the Deck, which is annoying since I only care about general Linux compatibility and would like to remove them. I can filter my results to show matching OS / graphics card, which is great, but only once I've scrolled passed a whole pile of stuff I don't care about.

Disco Elysium is Verified. The only reason Pillars is Playable and not Verified is because the game doesn't always have the correct button prompts.

How does the original dying light hold up in 2023?

Still the better Dying Light imo, but DL2 is catching up due to Techland actually giving a shit.

I'd recommend Pathfinder over Pillars Of Eternity, it has a massive sale too!

I loaded up Pathfinder, got through the intro and got to the world map, thought, 'yep, I can see myself spending a lot of time on this game,' and haven't played it since lol. I really need to jump into it again.

Owlcat are also doing a Rogue Trader crpg set in the Warhammer 40000 universe. I've tried to swear off GW for being evil but it looks really cool from what I've seen.

Holy shit a wh40k crpg? Shut up and take my money!

Honestly both are excellent. PF kingmaker has the beneath the stolen lands DLC which is dope, it's like an infinite dungeon crawl. Pure D&D-style combat in a roguelike!

Resident Evil 7 is $8 its really fun but I can only play like an hour at a time or I feel like my heart will pop out of my chest.

Subnautica is $10 I haven't gotten it yet but heard it's really good.

Deep Rock Galactic $10

Valheim $12

Hollow Knight $8

Fallout New Vegas $7

Slay the Spire $9 rogue like deck builder

Castle Crashers $3

Batman Arkham Collection $9 four great games for that price is an amazing deal

Spyro Trilogy $10

Undertale $3

Sleeping Dogs $3

Death's Door $8

Sleeping dogs is a great game. I never liked any GTA games or anything else in that style but I fell in love with that game. Great combat, fun story, great atmosphere and and beautiful representation of Hong Kong.

+100 to Sleeping Dogs! Seconding everything you say - plus it has the pork bun vendor.

Same, Sleeping Dogs was just so much more fun to me than other open world games. The martial arts combat was a lot more fun than the typical gun combat most open world games have, and Hong Kong felt more interesting and interactable than the typical open world city, and it just looking fantastic. Only thing is that it runs out of content way before something like GTA, but I'd rather have more fun with fewer hours than endless padding. Wish it had been more successful so we could have gotten a more expansive sequel.

Subnautica is so much fun. I spent hours and my wrists on Sub 1 and 2.

Seems like it from what I've heard, it's currently sitting in my cart because I'm trying to decide which games I'm gonna have time for over ones that I can wait for the next sale.

PC version has an 'keep going forward' button, takes the strain off. But yes; one of the finest games ever made, I think - do yourself a favour and go in blind.

I got to a point and then had no idea what to do next and stopped playing. I really want to finish it however

Haven't played Castle Crashers / Death's Door, but otherwise that is a phenomenal selection of games - can't go wrong with any of those.

Castle Crashers is a fun indie coop beat em up style game up to 4 players and is also couch coop. Deaths Door is a really fun action rpg but a bit short, def worth it tho when on sale.

Slay the Spire is SO worth it. There's so many hours of entertainment in that little gem.

Great list, fnv, hollow knight, valheim, slay the spire, subnautica and sleeping dogs are probably all in my top 20 pc games ever and maybe top 10 for single player.

If you could only play one of the rest which would you pick?

Recommend checking sales over at GOG, only DRM free games 👍

The Valve Complete Pack is 96% off for a total of $6.54. Portal 1+2, Half-Life 1+2+episodes, Left 4 Dead 2 are all must-haves if you don't already have them, fantastic games that explain why people clamor for Valve to make more games.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Many might already own it, but if you don’t it’s worth the money

I’m actually making my first “full” play through. I played it when it first came out got 40 hours in and got stuck in a death loop save where my next save was like hours behind.

Just reinstalled it with “through the valleys” mod collection and it’s amazing. It’s a vanilla+ like experience and really fun. So this time I’m actually going to complete it. Then I’ll eventually get around to Skyrim again and actually try to finish that 😂

Do that! Definitely! I have like 3000h in both combined. I got hooked instantly when I first got Oblivion when it came out

I’m like 10-12 hours in and I have given jauffre the amulet. But decided to go explore and do other side quests before making my way into the MSQ.

I started a new game a few days ago. So far I only made it out of the sewers. Thinking about joining the dark brotherhood once again. Oh and I am so looking forward to meeting my favorite video game character of all times once again. Sheogorath

I get most of my games from Humble Bundle now days but I grabbed:

Hades - great roguelite from steam deck

Subnautica below zero - subpart continuation of one of the best games this millennia

Technomancer - purely because mortismal gaming suggested it

24 euros. Worth it.

I realy loved the first part of subnautica. So definitely going to play the second part when I got some spare time

Below Zero is not quite as good as Subnautica, but it's still pretty decent. It definitely doesn't have the same feeling of aloneness that Subnautica had, and it does nudge you a bit more towards your objectives. It's also a shorter game overall.

I grabbed a bunch of smaller games for my steamdeck that I’ve been wanting to try:

Noita - you’re a wizard in a rougelike physics sandbox environment

Super Meatboy - precision platformer ($1.25)

Cave Story+ - old Metroidvania platformer I never got around to finishing on console years ago

Fez - 2D/3D puzzle platformer

DIG - “Spelunky meets Enter the gungeon & Broforce” action rougelike platformer

Super Blood Hockey - old school arcade style hockey, pixel graphics (and has multiplayer split screen)

Binding of Isaac - never played it, gonna see what all the hype is about. Action rougelike

Tunic - old school LoZ style RPG

Pizza Tower - sonic the hedgehog on crack

Dave the Diver - dive, catch fish, sell fish in restaurant, buy better gear, dive, catch bigger fish, repeat…

Cursed to Golf - deck building rougelike with golf mechanics

Monster Sanctuary - 2D Pokémon platformer

Resident Evil 3 - cause it was $10 and I just finished 2

Absolutely loved tunic. It's a blast going in blind.

I just picked it up this sale and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Other than it being talked about on The Besties podcast and how much they liked it, and how you're picking up instruction booklet as you go I didnt know much about it. Getting lost occasionally but loving looking for hints in the booklet and not looking it up online instead.

I finished the game and immediately bought a Tunic T-shirt just so I'd remember how much I liked the game. My only piece of videogame apparel

I played the demo a while back and it seemed pretty generic. What did I miss from only 30 minutes of gameplay?

Oh man... like everything?

I describe the game as "Holy shit, I didn't know I could do that" the game.

The game is all about secrets, did you get as far as looking into the in-game game manual? It's vital, and none of it is obvious.

There's also a lot of NES/SNES Nostalgia, if you don't miss through leafing through game manuals or issues of EGM this might not hit for you as much as it did for me.

A lot of folk bounce off the game because the combat is too difficult, or because the puzzles are too obtuse. Personally I loved it though.

Is Noita a game that you can keep going back to? I've been considering to buy it for some time now, but I feel like the learning curve is way to steep for playing it casually once or twice a week. Also, I generally only play games with a controller. Does Noita have good controller support?

It’s a rougelike so you’ll die a lot… I think it’s really fun but it can be punishing. There is a ton to do and lots to explore though so if you can push through the difficulty curve it’s pretty rewarding.

Controls could be better but it’s not unplayable with a controller. Definitely made for KB+M though…

I highly recommend Monster Sanctuary. The story is okay but the gameplay is wonderful.

I just gave that one away on c/giftofgaming !

A most excellent game, and a pretty neat pvp ladder idea!

This is sort of off topic, but do you like your Steam Deck? I'm trying to decide whether to build a PC or get a Steam Deck, but the thing is I literally just want something to run Steam Big Picture mode. It seems like a waste to build a PC just for that, but I'm worried the Steam Deck won't run fantastically if I just want to leave it hooked up to my TV 90% of the time.

I'm not quite the person you originally asked, but I've also got a Steam Deck, maybe I can help? Full disclosure, I primary use my steam deck as hand held (switch killer), so I can only kind of speak the big picture performance, but I really like my steam deck. It's probably my new favorite way to kill time while traveling (assuming I can keep it charged or find somewhere to plug it in). Under the hood it's a remarkably capable computer, but it does have limitations, so I hesitate recommend it for everyone. It really depends on what you plan to play on it and your expectations. Its handled pretty much every game I've thrown at it (Hallow Knight, Lego Harry Potter, Slay the Spire, Ara Fell, Baba is You, Vampire Survivors, Spiritfarer, Shattered Pixel Dungeon, and West of Loathing) very well, but I've mostly stuck to verified titles from my library of mostly indy games. That said, it can be quirky sometimes. It's hard to explain beyond just general Linux weirdness, but it's stuff like the mod manager for Slay the Spire being fully functional, except for the part where you can't see it (if I recall correctly it only draws when java redraws the window, like when a touch is registered), but after the modded game is launched, it runs perfectly fine. I have also heard that the steam deck can struggle a bit with more demanding games, especially on higher settings.

If you're looking to get 4K 60+ fps max settings on the latest AAA title, I'd probably steer you towards a custom build, but if you aren't looking to push those kind of frames and are okay with some occasional software tinkering, then it's hard to go wrong with the steam deck.

Just a heads up: Humble Bundle posts in like an hour. I'm waiting for that drop so I can make sure I don't overspend lol.

-Outer Wilds and Return of the Obra Dinn are must plays. About $27

-Definitely recommend the spiderman games.

-I'm looking at a game called Cloudbuilt. It's $7. This review is selling me "If Mirrors Edge and Sonic decided that they wanted to have a baby but then megaman x was upset cause he always wanted to have a baby with mirrors edge so he inserted nano machines to make the baby a bit more like him this game is what you would end up with!"

The binding of isaac complete pack is at 38€ at the moment, pretty expensive but worth it, i've spent around 2000 hours with the game

Also Brotato is a nice little game and its like 4 bucks at the moment

Halls of Torment is a similar game to Bro and VS, but reminds me of Planescape in feel. Put over 20 hours in in a matter of days.

Hades is a great action rpg with rouge-lite elements. The power up combinations and synergies are near limitless and the writing is fucking fantastic. It's like 13 bucks right now.

7 days to die is my favorite survival game, it combines minecraft-like building with a looter shooter and a horde-survival element. Very addictive, if a bit old. It's 5 bucks which..like you can't even get a Sammy for 5 bucks anymore.

Disco Elysium at 75% off is a steal!

Also, Kingdom Come Deliverance, 75% off and rven cheaper than Disco Elysium. This one is hands down one of the best modern rpg games I have played, especially because you can play without the minimap relying on directions given by NPCs, it is so inmersive and it has a plethora of interesting mechanics and an amazingly beautiful world.

Disco Elysium has sleazy publisher issues though, doesn't it?

Yeah, the original creators ask you to pirate it instead.

I recently bought Dave the Diver (even though it is not discounted by that much) and I‘m having a blast playing it.

It’s a mix of rouge lite, exploration, farming and restaurant sim with a ton of exploration, interesting characters and a nice art style. The sense of progression is very addictive. Would definitely recommend.

Dave The Diver rules. I picked it up because it happened to release recently, not specifically because of the sale, and I love it!

Yup, worth it. I love that it is just so blatantly videogame-y. The damn mirror? Yeah, sure. Makes sense, game.

Yeah I’m hooked on this game too. Even though it’s just 10% off for release, it’s cheap to begin with, so totally worth buying now.

I have been playing six hours a day for the past few days. Help me

Can't recommend Disco Elysium enough, it's a truly brilliant game.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the righteous is right up there too.

Pillars of eternity games are a close second to that.

I don’t feel comfortable buying it after when the publisher (IIRC) did to the devs.

Which game and what happened?

Edit: never mind, read about it in another comment. Disco E.

Seconded, unequivocally! Disco Elysium was such an experience.

I remember the first time I saw it.. it looked so terrible at first glance. My husband was playing it and he said it was so good, but when I came over to check I was like.. "ehhh if you say so." I mean, let's be honest, a casual glance might make it seem like it's some crappy game.

But my husband was adamant, so I got the game too and I'm sooooooo happy I did. It's honestly one of the (if not the!) best written games I've played. The monologues are beautiful, the dialogues are superb. This game has made me laugh so hard I had tears running down my cheeks, and it has made me cry for real. It's funny, it's tragic, it's melancholic, it's remarkably 'deep' and it touches on so many important subjects in a non-lecturing way.

Anyone who wants to experience the entire rainbow of emotions should definitely buy this. It's brilliant.

Edit just to say: You can never go wrong with Slay the Spire. I've spent hours upon hours playing it, off and on, and it's great!

Brotato - > 3.99€

Vampire Survivors - > 3.74€

Stardew Valley - > 9.23€

Three games i have poured several hours (+-100) in. I think they are one, if not the best in their genres.

I've been really enjoying cross-code on my potato of a laptop. Arpg with a heavy puzzle focus. Only single player, but coop would be too frustrating with the platforming elements

Seconding this, Cross Code is a hidden gem. It reminded me a lot of Secret of Mana but with a much more fluid (and fun) combat system.

This thread is terrible for my wallet and backlog.

To contribute to the discussion, I bought an old PopCap game called Insaniquarium recently for around 60c, but there a demo version if you want to try it.

It isn't just nostalgia; The game is actually still fun after all these years.

Someone from the review section burned 1800+hrs on it, which I think is actually insane.

I never heard of it until my girlfriend bought it on steam about a week ago

The metro games are like 10$ usd for all 3 absolutely amazing games

Definitely, all of them good in their own right, but Exodus so good and expansive that the other two combined feel like an awesome prologue

These games are so great! I played the original 2033 back when it came out and bought the redux version later, the changes they made were great. I also love the feel of the open world in redux, it feels as alive as a nuclear wasteland can feel

Cassette Beasts! Amazing monster trainer/Pokemon like with quality of life improvements everywhere, a crazy amount of "shinys" as each monster can spawn as any element, good story and tunes, and awesome art. Definitely worth picking up.

Also Eastward doesn't get enough love. Touching story, brilliant art and music, solid mechanics and a whole, deep turn based retro rpg within the game.

It is also made in Godot, which is a free and open source engine!

Never heard of Cassette Beasts! That looks really cool, I'll check it out.

Signalis is $16 for 7-10hrs of Silent Hill/Resident Evil creepiness. Has a similar aesthetic to Evangelion too!

Lucky for me I got it with Humble Bundle free. Haven't had a chance to play it because of my backlog. I saw some of it through a streamer and it looked great.

I know that deck building are not that popular but I really liked the game ash of gods:the way, very entertaining storytelling and some puzzles blew my mind

I picked up Tunic and having a blast with it so far.

Got binding of Isaac complete bundle as well, yet to get to that but been on the wishlist for a few months

Tunic is awesome and adorable and I love foxes and soulslike stuff. But man… Tunic has me soooo confused. It’s got a great sense of discovery but I’m extremely stuck, and don’t want to look things up.

I put another few hours in after work today and got slowed down a couple of times, but studying the instruction manual has gave me some pointers and I am loving that aspect of it

How far are you? There are some pretty bullshit puzzles towards the end. I eventually resorted to a guide and didn't regret it.

Age of Empires II Definitive edition is 75% off. It's 5 euro. As far as I know, it was never discounted more.

Killer7. The craziest game ever released, the weirdest gaming experience I've ever had. It's glorious.

I just picked up Spider-Man: Remastered and I am having a ton of fun.

Still kinda expensive if I'm honest.

Yeah, it's $40 right now. I think I'll wait until it dips to $20 or $15.

Same I have been putting off all playstation games (besides horizon don't remember when I bought that one) because they are just to expensive for how old they are. I do t care when u ported it to PC you "made" it years ago Also got a back log of games for years to come.

Agreed. I think Horizon and Days Gone are a reasonable price atm, but the rest are too expensive compared to their price on console.

Spiritfarer is a great game for the summer - super good price too.

I haven't tried Fear & Hunger yet, but what I know about it sounds fantastic if you're into punishing dark and unique games. That being said, don't watch too much of a preview for this one. I was spoiled on some of the earlier surprises and challenges and it looks like such a ride!

Haven't seen this yet, but with Payday 3 coming out soon, it's worth noting that Payday: The Heist is only $1.50. I've enjoyed my solo time so far, but that's as a big payday 2 fan. It's still definitely worth a shot with friends though!

Stardew Valley, Graveyard Keeper, portal 1 and 2, Undertale, Katana Zero, Fallout 4, Skyrim, RimWorld, and if you want nsfw ones I can recommend in private.

I'll second katana zero! It's a brilliant little action platformer that reminds me of braid in a few ways, but turned up to 11

Any have any VR recommendations?

I do some

  1. Half life alyx, 60% discount. More than the game itself I find the mods to be really impressive. Of course the main game is cool, and because it's a prequel you don't really need to have played previous hapf life titles.

  2. Into the radious, 40%. One of my favorite vr games. Its a survival, based on the stalker games. The game is slow, methodical, the weapons are satisfying, it forces you to think ypur approach and navigating the world with a map that doesn't show you where you are is really cool and immersive.

  3. Superhot vr, 60%. Although be warned that if I were you I would pirate it, the devs removed some suicide related scenes that were cool to play from the game, which you can still play if you were to download an older version. If you don't mind that, then by all means buy it, it is one of the best introductory vr games after all

  4. Walkabout minigolf, 50%. If you are getting a single game of what I recommend PLEASE BUY THIS ONE. It is one of the best games I played on vr, playing minigolf is so damn fun. You barely need space on your room and there is a big skill curve to learn the game, maybe I liked it this much because I had never played minigolf, but the game feels genius to me.

  5. In death, 50%. It is a game where you are an archer and you have to battle through procedurally generated levels, also you move by shooting specific arrows or a dagger you can throw, it is really an intense game.

If you have a steering wheel consider getting dirt rally 2 and Asseto Corsa (the original one)

It is a shame that beat saber (hands down the best and most addictive vr game out there) is not discounted.

My games: Our Hero! First, Two and Last! Total = 1.98€ 😆

Well, I didn't even notice that the various DLCs (or in this case, games) for Halo: The Master Chief Collection are all on sale - you can get them all for $10. I'd been meaning to pick up the ones I didn't have (I had them all on Xbox One, so its been on the backburner) which is awesome.

Cassette Beasts, if you like (or used to like) Pokémon. Fantastic, in-depth twists on the genre. Plus it has an amazing art style and is full of charm.