Steam Summer Sale 2023 Recommendations Thread
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Dishonored (2012) $2.49 at -75%
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Left 4 Dead 2 (2009) $0.99 at -90%
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Portal 1&2 (2007) $1.48 at -93%
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Batman Arkham Collection (2010) $8.99 at -85%
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Skyrim (2011) $9.99 at -75%
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Bioshock Collection (2007) $11.99 at -80%
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Stardew Valley (2016) $9.89 at -34%
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Disco Elysium (2019) $9.99 at -75%
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FTL: Faster Than Light (2012) $2.49 at -75%
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Into The Breach (2018) $7.49 at -50%
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Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition (1999) $4.99 at -75%
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Borderlands 2 (2012) $7.99 at -80%
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Tomb Raider (2013) $2.99 at -80%
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GTA V (2013) $14.99 at -63%
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Sleeping Dogs (2014) $2.99 at -85%
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Wolfenstein: The Two Pack (2014) $7.49 at -75%
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Wolfenstein Alt-History Collection (2014) $15.80 at -84%
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Shadow Warrior (2013) $2.99 at -90%
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Max Payne 3 (2012) $5.99 at -70%
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Hitman Absolution (2012) $3.99 at -80%
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Resident Evil 2 (2019) $9.99 at -75%
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Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen (2016) $4.79 at -84%
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Zombie Army Trilogy (2015) $6.74 at -85%
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Darksiders 2 (2012) $7.49 at -75%
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Super Meat Boy (2010) $1.49 at -90%
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X-COM 2 Collection (2016) $7.74 at -94%
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Alien Isolation (2014) $7.99 at -80%
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The Walking Dead Complete (2012) $19.79 at -72%
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Mass Effect Legendary Edition (2007) $14.99 at -75%
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State of Decay: YOSE (2013) $4.99 at -75%
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State of Decay 2 (2018) $11.99 at -60%
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Metro Saga (2010) $9.76 at -89%
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The Talos Principle (2014) $4.49 at -85%
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The Evil Within Bundle (2014) $6.24 at -75%
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Outlast Trinity Bundle (2014) $7.05 at -88%
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Transistor (2014) $3.99 at -80%
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Hades (2020) $12.49 at -50%
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Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons (2013) $3.74 at -75%
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Gears 5 (2019) $9.99 at -75%
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Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) $4.99 at -75%
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Sunset Overdrive (2014) $6.59 at -67%
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Dead Cells (2018) $12.49 at -50%
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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy (2012) $9.89 at -67%
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Fallout 4: GOTY (2015) $9.99 at -75%
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Prey (2017) $7.49 at -75%
Don't pay for disco elysium. The creators were ousted in a hostile takeover, ironically. Pirate it if you can. Otherwise great list 🙂
You should watch the PMG video about it, it's much more nuanced than that.
Here's the link for anyone interested. I have watched that video and still firmly believe it was a hostile take over.
Yeah, both claims can be true (about it being a hostile takeover, and Kurvitz being a bad boss), but I feel like one of those things is radically worse (and more illegal) than the other.
(and also, I question PMG's interview process, where it felt like the spent equal time on both claims, and more attention and interviews on the 'Kurvitz is a bad boss/employee' claim, when I feel like more time should have been spent cross-interviewing Kompus for the discrepancies, and the bias the employee's have to cater to their current boss rather than their former boss.)
So it's not just the Citizen Kane of video adventure games but even features the same complexity of IRL drama.
We've made it, lads!
TLDR?
Workers say the lead and creators were dicks, tough to work with. Investor and largest shareholder bought out a majority share, is now currently fighting to keep the IP and excise the lead/creators under the guise that they weren't good for company culture.
My personal view, disregard it if you want to make your own judgements, it doesn't matter if the guy is a dick, this is what they created. Saying it's what was best for the company seemingly only seems to be best for one guy. You don't get to use being a piece of shit to work with, even if 100% true, as a reason to conspire against and force everyone out of the company. You open clear cut dialogue and boundaries, then make compromises. This youtuber's video that goes into much more depth and eloquently explains my position.
Thank you for sharing the article and the TLDR. I honestly had no idea any of this had transpired.
To be fair I think they had decent reason to be fired. Seemed they basically had left the company to attempt to make it on their own, leaving those who just had to make the Final Cut without them to get fucked. Not to mention legit trying to take source code. You also mentioned not covering the financials, but the video can’t really go much into the financial situation as that is all under litigation so they’re not going to get much out of it. I mean hell the creators being like “what I had no idea this new company, of which I am an owner, was created at all.” Seems…. Impossible? But yeah, that part will have to wait for court.
Overall my opinion is everyone sucks other than the team still working there who had nothing to do with it. The creators selling their IP was a poor choice if they wanted to try and leave the company and make their own. Consolidating the company I mean, yeah dick move I guess but to be expected of an investor when something proves to be a success.
Not sure what this instance allows for suggestions, but the GOG version is ideal, stay away from IGG-Games.
What's wrong with IGG-Games?
https://libreddit.hu/r/Piracy/comments/ttkcit/friendly_reminder_to_stay_away_from_igggames/
Oh shit good to know, thanks!
Only issue is I just don't trust pirated games enough to install them on my PC. I guess I could wait for a give away in the future.
Building and keeping trust is actually important to the ethos of good pirates. I'd recommend you to download GOG versions, which are left totally untouched since they're DRM free. I can send you some links by DM if you'd like, or you can check the megathread of my home instance's piracy community.
Wow I had no idea. That's so sad.
Anyone else feeling like they’ve already picked up most of these over the years of summer sales and there’s really not anything worth picking up this year?
The most recently released game on the list is Hades, which came out three years ago. Most are much older. Chances are if you play PC games you've gotten most of these in past sales.
Just by taking a glance at this list I can see I already have at least 80% of the games, if not 90%. I've been looking through the Steam shop and there just aren't many good deals this year, that haven't already been on a steep discount.
I've definitely picked up most things in the OP, but there are always new games getting added to my wishlist.
I just slowly work my way through my wishlist and pick up a few games each sale.
Not at all, I got almost 500 games on my wishlist so I have something new pretty much every sale.
I already played the majority of them. But Zombie Army is looking tempting, so still got something new to try.
Yeah, pretty much. It's not that I have all the games specifically. There's just so many that are copy/paste of a much more susccessful game. I think a lot of us have gotten the "best in slot" and are just waiting for the industry to catch up and start dishing out something innovative.
Most of these are all old suggestions that people with a few sales under their belt would’ve already picked up. There are definitely games worth buying on sale still though.
Rude to list transistor and hades but not Pyre
Pyre is basically Fantasy NBA Jam with a visual novel story that adapts to if you win or lose. Very good story. Very good art. Very good music. Very good game.
Don't forget about Supergiant's first game, Bastion. It's currently an absolute steal at 80% off.
Love the narrator in Bastion. One of my all time favorite soundtracks too!
The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful. Even if you don't play the game, give the soundtrack a listen.
I am just adding my humble opinion but Pyre is the only SuperGiant game that I don't like.
I 'finished' it, in that I sent one of my homies back through the whatever, but I ran out of steam on the game shortly after. It's a lot of fun, still.
It definitely isn't for everyone, but it is a very solid game. Especially for the $4 they're charging on sale.
I really recommend the Ori series, beautiful and the story is great.
First one was a 10/10 for me. Second one was a 9.5/10. Both were excellent games. Both made my cry like a baby. Highly recommended.
Fuckin hell you guys are here too, thank god
This is a beautiful breakdown. Nice to see this type of content on the community. Real quality.
The original Deus Ex is 86% off at 0,97€. Definitely worth it if you have yet to play this masterpiece! Just finished it myself on Steam Deck and worked like a charm.
The mod Deus Ex: Revision is available on Steam as well for free, which makes it extremely easy to install and use on Steam Deck. GMDX is another good mod, but it's not on Steam so you'd have to install it the old fashioned way.
Vanilla is great if it's anyone's first play-through, though
I am tempted to buy transistor - is it pretty similar to Bastion? Pyre was amazing, but Im not sure if I need another straight forward RPG style game. Does it have some kind of unique hook?
Into the Breach, Talos Principal, and Ori also look interesting. Although they're all slightly different than things I usually play so not sure.
Although I finished Bastion five times and Transistor twice, I'd still say Transistor is the better of the two while being comparable to their best game Hades.
I ended up grabbing transistor and into the breach. I've had a beer too many to be any good at into the breach ATM, but loving transistor so far
If you like Transistor, Hades is similar.
Oh I have played a ton of Hades. Hades II will be a game I pick up when it comes out. No idea how I missed transistor
Have you also seen Bastion
Yeah I think that was the first game I ever played by this developer. Love their style. I mustve just been busy or strapped for cash when Transistor hit. Then when I saw it go onsale before I thought it looked a bit like a bastion clone, so didnt pull the trigger. Thanks for tipping me over into buying it!
I still listen to the soundtrack, I prefer Transistor but as Bastion was the only one out back then I finished it 5 times.
I tried transistor right after Bastion and didn't really like it in comparison... Then I went back to it loved it!
It plays a lot different because of the whole action economy thing, but it's definitely worth a try.
I might pick up into the breach too, it looks like the sort of "puzzle" game I can get into
Into the breach is amazing, it definitely plays like a puzzle game, the kind where you play the moves in your head to make sure the move you're making now won't come back and bite you in the ass 2 turns later :)
Transistor is one of my top games. I think you would like it.
Ori is a nice game. It is quite casual at first, but it gets more complicated over time. The graphics are nice and the effects not over the top. The story is more...I would say somber?
Overall, it was also a great game for my girlfriend. Visuals and story held her interest long enough to play through the whole game (even the more frustrating parts).
The only bad thing I have to say about Into the Breach is that the final level is insanely hard on anything but the easiest difficulty - which is kinda on par with the creators of FTL. Either way, I highly recommend it!
I would say it's easier than bastion but has some interesting combo mechanics.
supergiant knocked the story/art/music out of the park, as they normally do
Dark Souls Remastered and Sekiro are on sale. These are relatively rarely discounted, so here's an opportunity if you were looking to pick them up.
Dark Souls: should I pick up I or III?
For context, I never got into DS until I played Elder Scrolls, which I've been obsessed with
I personally think Dark Souls 1 is the better game.
Edit: Added Dark Souls III to list
I highly recommend playing Disco Elysium, but I'd recommend pirating it like the creators requested.
Amazing game though.
Get Dead Cells. It’s made for the Steam Deck!
Was hoping for a discount on the Castlevania DLC.
Batbarian: Testament of the Primordials. A metroidvania with a strong emphasis on puzzle-solving, but other elements of the genre are not left behind: there's hair-pulling platforming sections, and boss fights that'll leave you bald.
The particularity of this game lies in Pip, our light-emitting bat companion. We don't control her directly, but we can influence her behavior by throwing different types of fruits. And it's with her light and the throwing ability that we'll solve most puzzles.
It's honestly a tough game, especially in its second half if you go for completion (I have two left hands, and have shed tears of blood...), but there's plenty of accessibility options like slowing time when throwing a fruit or multiplying your attack, that'll let you tweak your experience to match with your ability level.
Besides, It's a genuinely well written comedic game with good world-building, and it has a killer soundtrack with a distinctive 80s flair 😊
I would also recommend Elden Ring. Currently at 30% off.
Elden Ring (2022) $41.99 at -30%
I'll put a nomination in for Dragon's Dogma @ $5. I first played it on the vita, so it's great for portable (Deck) playing. It's a fun enough RPG/fantasy and I quite liked the pawn system. There's a sequel on the way so if it's something you enjoy there'll be more :)
Dragons Dogma is phenomenal. And the DLC is perfect too. Highly recommend it for any fans of Soulslikes, Monster Hunter or The Witcher series
Is RDR2 worth getting on the pc if I already own it on xbox?
Depends on your specs, I guess. I have a top end GPU for the first time in my life (3rd world is tough), it's glorious seeing it in full ultra, 1440p@60FPS. If you won't be able to bruteforce it, the One X version should be fine, I guess.
Oh man picked up rdr2 recently and couldn't put it down awesome game. Got a copy of rdr and going to dust off the ps3 after not playing it for almost a decade
Well guess I don't have an excuse not to try out ori and Stardew valley
You've never played Stardew? Oh, you're in for a treat. One of my favourite games of all time.
I didn't like Ori, though. Too difficult, for one thing. It has these especially frustrating escape sequences. It was a pretty game, but that wasn't enough to make me enjoy it.
Can't recommend Stardew valley enough.
I'm gonna go against the grain here and say: if you have lots of stuff to do, stay away from crackdew valley
I am going to defend ori, at least the first one. Played and finished that.
Ori is a visually beautiful game and although there were some annoying sections I admit, the game has a very forgiving checkpoint system and before you know it you'll be chain jumping and platform "surfing" in no time.
I also like how they incorporated the game theme music throughout the game, but that is my personal thing
Compared to something like Hollow Knight, which is a also a brilliant game, Ori felt easier or at least provided an easier means for me to fail until I succeed at least.
Stardew Valley is one of those "you never knew you'd enjoy until the game gets its claws in you", and it pretty open to how you want to approach it be a farmer, a rancher, miner, explorer, fisherman, valley garden instrument, corporate sellout and I am sure I am missing more
Stardew valley is great, no regrets! Also it has a good mod community. (both game extensions and qol stuff)
I hit perfection on a vanilla(ish) playthrough... I would say never again, but I currently have a heavily modded SVE play through in summer of year 1.
I'll say, getting all those mods to play nice on my old laptop was not fun.
Warhammer: Vermintide II is 80% off
Ah yes I did enjoy Left for Dead in Warhammer Fantasy
I doubly recommend it with friends!
Thanks for the write up fellow gamer
Thanks for this list. I can really recommend both state of decay games. I’ve been playing them for years and I really love them
I'm not sure that its the type of game many people here would enjoy, but if you're looking for a strategy game with a slightly retro (2000s-ish) vibe, I can highly recommend kairosofts games. Game Dev story in particular I love and is on sale for AU$5
Bioshock remastered is a mess, keeps crashing
Honestly that didn't happen at all to me
This is my signal to buy Into the Breach and jump in.
I'm also giving into the Resident Evil series that's been on my wishlist for waaay too long... RE Remake, RE 0 Remake, RE 2, RE 3, RE 7.
Village and RE 4 will have to wait as the price hasn't dropped enough yet. >:D
Into the Breach might be the game I have the most hours played
The nature of the game makes it amazing for a quick session before bed or during lunch.
Wow that's a great haul!! You have some incredible adventures ahead :)
You're telling me! Excited to get home, install them and see what all the great reviews are saying.
I never tried the resident evil series and haven’t heard about it much, is it worth it? Where do I start?
Resident Evil 2 Remake is an all-time classic IMO. Phenomenal entry point. No knowledge required from Resident Evil 1.
Yep I also started with Resident Evil 2 Remake. Great game!
I also recommend Resident Evil 2 remake.
Age of Empires DE currently does not work on linux and for some win 11 users too. It did but as of 2 days ago it hasn't. This is the issue on the subject, https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton/issues/3189. At least people got a minecraft crossover 🙄
Thanks for the info. Hopefully there will be some solution soon, since the issue is so recent.
Is this recent? I've played a bunch of games on Linux with my friends on Windows. Just had to do the required finagling found on ProtonDB
So many awesome games on sale.
It's rare I say this about a game, but this is even worth full price, so definitely pick this up if it even looks vaguely relevant to your interests. It's positional chess-like turn-based rogue-lite full-information gameplay. It's awesome. They dropped a massive completely free content expansion out of the blue after years of being released that just made it all even better.
Risk of rain 2 if you're into FPV rouge likes (I love zombies and any wave shooter game really)
One of my favorite games of all time. The music is 10/10 epic. I'm trying to get 100% completion. Especially amazing with friends to just chill and slay. Mercenary is my go to character. Hard to learn, but rewarding.
Risk of rain 2 (2020) $12.49 at -50%
Weird West if you enjoy immersive sims.
Weird West: Definitive Edition (2022) $9.99 at -75%
Thanks for reminding me that *left 4 dead 1 & 2 *were in sale for 90% and other old valve games... I bought them as soon as i can!
I didn't want to fill out the list with extra info, but L4D2 is both games in one engine.
Thanks for these, much appreciated!
That's a solid selection right there, mate!
Haven't played it yet, but I grabbed Super Chibi Knight for $1. The original was one of my favorite flash games back in the day so I'm going in blind to the sequel.
Thank you! Finally picked up FTL after absolutely loving the Jumplight Odyssey demo during NextFest. I need more space survival sim in my life
I'm seeing it as 90% off at $5.99. Not sure where you get your data from, but a heads up.
Because I linked the full edition with dlc, which I am recommending.
Edit: I added collection to the title.
I seriously gotta pick up some of these, thanks for the recommendation!