Another day brings us another great Steam sale.
This one in particular contains a lot of my favorite franchises so without further adieu here are my recommendations for the 27th of December:
The Witcher franchise (mixed %) with special mention for The Witcher 2 (-85%)
Along with the Souls series the Witcher franchise is my favorite bunch of games. They didn't start off perfect but you can see a clear evolution through the sequels. The first game had poor combat but an excellent story so the second one improved on the combat and finally when the third game came along it improved on both while adding one of the best open worlds I've seen so far. Given that I can talk about them for hours its best I spare you the time and go briefly over them:
-The Witcher 1 has a deep and mysterious story but the combat is a bit bland by today's standards. So while its one of my favorites its hard to recommend it to people. Your enjoyment of The Witcher 1 is going to depend on your ability to work around its flaws in order to find the good but if you can do that you will find an excellent game here.
-The Witcher 2 on the other hand improved itself quite heavily on the gameplay front while still retaining a good story. With its price right now being at an all time low I see no reason why you shouldn't grab it unless you really dislike action RPGs.
-Witcher 3 is by far the superior game here and while it is pricey compared to its predecessors it offers massive value for your money. My playthrough of it took me well over a hundred hours! So if you're looking for a wast open world game that still has a good story and great characters go with the Witcher 3, its one of my favorite games ever.
Warhammer 40k: Franchise (-75% across the board)
Speaking of favorites, the Warhammer 40k universe is another one of mine. There are a lot of games to cower here so I'll do the same thing as with the Witcher series and separate them in to three stacks:
-Dawn of War 1 is a classic base building RTS whose graphics might be a bit dated by today's standards but the gameplay is still there. Special mention goes to the sound design which was excellent when it first released and is still excellent today. If you plan on getting this series I would suggest going for the base game, Dawn of War I: GOTY edition, as well as its expansion Dark Crusade. There are more expansions but they're not worth your time so just stick with these two.
-Dawn of War 2 is a more streamlined strategy game that eschews basebuilding in favor of small squad battles. It also features a pretty big single player/coop campaign which plays as a mix between an RPG and an RTS with there being plenty of different ways to build as well as equip your characters. My advice with this one is to get the base game, Dawn of War 2, as well as its standalone-expansion Retribution. Chaos Rising is less of an expansion and more of a short map pack so if you really want more DoW2 you can grab that one as well but otherwise I'd skip it.
-And finally, if you want to really feel like a space marine then grab, well, Space Marine. There is barely any story and the characters are cheesy but good lord is the combat gameplay satisfying. You will be able to cleave through hordes of Orcs with a bolt pistol in one hand and chainsword in the other, what more can you want from a game. Jetpacks? Has those too!
Everything I said about The Walking Dead before applies here as well. It is one of those new hybrids between a visual novel and a point and click adventure game. As far as that genre is concerned the Wolf is among the top and if you ask me its Telltale's best. The Big Bad Wolf, yes the one from fairy-tales, is the main protagonist and he manages to be both equally badass as well as emotionally compelling, a feat of writing that isn't always easy to do. In short, if you enjoy a good story then you are almost definitely going to enjoy this one, especially if you liked any of the other Telltale games.
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag (-75%)
Everyone knows what the Assassin's Creed series is about these days so I won't spend time on that. What I will talk about is how Black Flag took an old and tired formula and breathed new life in to it through the use of ships. While the land based gameplay is the same as in every other AC game it is the seas that will commandeer the most of your attention as you sail across the known world, engage in whaling, fight off pirates and enjoy being serenaded by sea chanteys. If you wanted to get in to the AC series, or simply wanted to try out a new one, I definitely suggest you go with Black Flag and then promptly never play any other one because so far this one is by far better than the rest.
Styx: Master of Shadows (-75%)
Styx is a bit of a niche game and I know a lot of people won't like it but it is such a good stealth game that I had to put it on my list of recommendations. With giant, cleverly designed levels and plenty of stealth focused tools Styx has a lot to offer to players that prefer the sneaky approach. Though bear one thing in mind, Styx is a stealth game through and through, and not one of these modern stealth games where you can decide you had enough and simply kill everyone, no no. In Styx you are a goblin and let's just say your odds of winning a straight fight against a dozen armored guards aren't very high. So if you're finding yourself itching for a stealth game made with a lot of love and care I'd say go for it.
And that is it for today. Today's sale contained a lot of my favorite games in it so the sale slated for tomorrow is going to have to try really hard to best it. Whether it will actually manage, we'll have to see tomorrow. See you then!