The Groginati Sales Thread

[Nefaro]

He bought airsoft guns from China, too, so liked to pick up Chinglish and use it; so if you ever see me typing that something "has been occurred" in a humor context, that's why.

Like "Hotted Up"?

I see that one fairly regularly.

[BanzaiCat]

I understand. Just giving you a hard time, JP. :)

And yeah, Engrish is highly popular over there. They could give two flying fornications about whether it's correct or not.

[JasonPratt]

^^ No problems at all. :)


Okay, this weekend on Steam sales, aside from Blood Bowl Chaos Edition (which is the one to get at this point, if anyone has any interest in tactical turn-based killer rugby with tentacles, midgets and Amazons at all, {coughcoughSIGhack}), I see the PC version of Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, with the extra prologue campaign attached in the Premium edition.

It is of course another variant of the "Journey to the West" story, set in an apocalyptic future this time and starring the Oscar-level mo-cap acting talents of Andy Serkis (aka Gollum and King Kong). Despite the provocative title, it isn't about that kind of bondage. ;) But it has a good story, and a great romantic story, plus a lot of butt-kicking 3PS action and platforming somewhat similar to God of War or the Sands of Time series (or the recent Castlevania reboots).

It was one of the first games I picked up when I finally bought a PS3, and I've never regretted it. The regular edition would save you a couple of dollars, and the prologue story isn't necessary, but if anyone does get the premium edition you should probably play it first as it will add a lot more background depth to why a particular character helps the hero team. (Doing so will spoil a little of the overarching plot-situation, but so will reading much of anything about the game, so meh.)

[Martok]

GOG's current weekend promo is "BIG Games BIG Sale ":  For another 34 hours or so, they have a number of newer releases at discounted prices, including Age of Wonders 3 and The Last Federation. 


http://www.gog.com/promo/big_games_weekend_promo_101014?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=game_subject&utm_campaign=big_games_weekend_promo

[airboy]

Advanced Tactics Gold is on sale this week for digital release for $20.00. 

This is a very good game.  Very flexible software model.  Great for PBEM.

http://matrixgames.com/news/1533/Deal.of.the.Week:.Advanced.Tactics.Gold.

[magnus]

 I have the original Advanced Tactics and I never really got into it that much.

I was hoping AT was a new Operational art of war, but there weren't many scenarios and the game seemed mostly for playing against other people and not the AI.

Has there been that much of a change with the gold version?

[JasonPratt]

I feel kind of sad I didn't pick up Espana 36 from Matrix last week, as I know it deserves the attention.

But there was only one game I was going to spend that money on this week.

AND LO, IT COMES!

[BanzaiCat]

AND LO, IT COMES!

- Pornstache, Jeffery. (1977) Money Shots from the Middle Ages., pp 277.

[PanzersEast]

I have the original Advanced Tactics and I never really got into it that much.

I was hoping AT was a new Operational art of war, but there weren't many scenarios and the game seemed mostly for playing against other people and not the AI.

Has there been that much of a change with the gold version?

I would be curious to hear as well.... any feedback from the Grog community.  I have the original and played it quit a bit back in the day.

PE

[Barthheart]

I have the original Advanced Tactics and I never really got into it that much.

I was hoping AT was a new Operational art of war, but there weren't many scenarios and the game seemed mostly for playing against other people and not the AI.

Has there been that much of a change with the gold version?

I would be curious to hear as well.... any feedback from the Grog community.  I have the original and played it quit a bit back in the day.

PE

Gold didn't really add anything that would change your original view of the game. It's still mostly a sandbox to build scenarios in to play other people.

[JasonPratt]

That "Tomb Raider" origin game is on deep-discount sale at Steam midweek this week, ranging from $4 to $7.50 depending on how much multiplayer bling you do or don't want with it.

I liked it when I played it... last year? Early this year? Don't exactly recall. It was a grueling experience, and I think my brain may have blocked out a lot of it from trauma -- I recall nicknaming it I Spit On Your Tomb. As a gritty reboot I think they took it way too far, but I admire their somewhat insane persistence and commitment to doing so.

While waiting for my CK2 DLC to download (which didn't actually take long), I amused myself writing the following review, which I stand by 100%.

Just like the TV show, this Green Arrow origin story has a weird insistence on refusing to acknowledge "Green" or even "Arrow" in the title -- and takes it farther by not even letting Ollie wear green or even use a hood, though I guess that's to be expected since it all takes place on Flashback Island. Also, Ollie is a non-spoiled non-***hole girl, which is admittedly different, and the purgatory island is WAAAAAY cooler and much more extensive. I felt bad for Ollie, or Laurel or Lara as they call him here, merging his character with not-Black-Canary I guess -- or maybe this is supposed to be Sarah from the show? There's practically no continuity with DC comics in this game, but maybe there were licensing considerations, unlike the TV show which throws in lots of DC material but sometimes shakes up how things fit together. Like how in the show he mostly fights Batman villains (which is understandable as Green Arrow doesn't have many good villains of his own, and they're apparently building a TV justice League again with him in the Batman role, except better than that Smallville show which ran for 10 years and convinced the CW network that people would really like a Green Arrow show as he was one of the better characters on it. I lost my train of thought. Oh, right.) But here, he's a she and she's an archaeologist in training.

Also, SPOILER ALERT, even though Laura is ready to be Green Arrow at the end of the story, she doesn't go full GA on the island but, weridly, finishes off the main villain with two handguns at the last moment. I guess that's to throw players a curve about whether she'll really become Green Arrow or not, but the forthcoming sequel which will only be available for XBOne seems to suggest she'll be back to... Brown Arrowing, I guess? No hood yet, still.

Anyway. It's a great game for what it is, very brutal, makes it easy to see how Laurel could have leveled up to Green Arrow status in only a couple of weeks at most, though of course being a game they fast-forward a lot of that development: she starts out being reasonably good at arrow shooting already, for example, but since she has practically no support helping her that's okay. And I like how the Island is a lot more like the one in Lost.

Oh,and there are tombs occasionally for Laurel to explore, which I guess is where the title comes from, though Ollie was never that interested in raiding tombs. Looks like they're going to stick with that new trait in the sequel: Tomb Raider, Return of Graphite Point or whatever code name they finally give her since it doesn't look like it'll be Green Arrow yet or maybe ever.

If they would just drop the attempts at tying it to the TV show, I think this could be a good separate franchise starter in itself -- and to be fair, maybe that's what theyre doing in the sequel.

8.5/10 even if you're not a Green Arrow fan. Or maybe especially if you're not.

[airboy]

I have the original Advanced Tactics and I never really got into it that much.

I was hoping AT was a new Operational art of war, but there weren't many scenarios and the game seemed mostly for playing against other people and not the AI.

Has there been that much of a change with the gold version?

I play it against the AI.  To me, this is a much better version of "Empire."  I do not like the sea aspects of this, and alter the terrain mix accordingly.  It is a nice, sandbox 4x game against the AI.  Against a human opponent it is a lot more challenging.

[BanzaiCat]

Is the Tomb Raider reboot any good?

I never played any of the original games; just didn't see the appeal despite bewbage (gasp, I know).

I did watch a bit of a Let's Play video and it did seem pretty interesting and intense.

[Arctic Blast]

Is the Tomb Raider reboot any good?

I never played any of the original games; just didn't see the appeal despite bewbage (gasp, I know).

I did watch a bit of a Let's Play video and it did seem pretty interesting and intense.

I liked it, and I also wasn't much of a fan of the earlier games.

[JasonPratt]

I liked it, but as the joke review indicates I didn't think it connected sufficiently to Tomb Raider as a property. The modern Playstation trilogy (Legend, Anniversary, Underworld), also made by the same people, definitely works better for that purpose. (Also 80% off until the end of the day, by the way, at Steam, for PC obviously.)


If you want a super-gritty bow-hunting 3PS action adventure platformer set on an island inhabited by wolves and pirates and undead Japanese Atlantean Elder Gods, featuring a well-realized sad-but-tragically-determined Katniss from The Hunger Games, you could spend your $4 on far, far worse, and probably have. >:D