Speaking of HumbleChoice (as I was in another thread)... there is
another HumbleChoice selection available today. The games on offer for
this December are:

(The bundle discount is from here: https://www.humblebundle.com, links
to individual games provided only to offer more information about each
title)

*Wasteland 3
https://store.steampowered.com/app/719040/Wasteland_3/
This game of course needs little introduction; I'm sure most of us
here are aware of its heritage, if not its existence. It's a top-down
CRPG and - if the reviews are anything to go by - a pretty good one at
that. I'm happy to add it to my library, even if I'm not all that
excited about playing it. Top-down viewpoints (as I've probably
already said too frequently) aren't that appealing to me, and even
post-apocalyptic adventures don't do it for me anymore. And who has
the time for a long, involved role-playing game anymore?

* Greedfall
https://store.steampowered.com/app/719040/Wasteland_3/
Another RPG, albeit this one utilizing a more immersive
over-the-shoulder viewpoint. It reminds me of the "Risen" games more
than anything else. Reviews indicate strong story and narrative but
average mechanics. Ehn. It's different, at least, so I'm happy to have
it.

* First Class Trouble
A co-op action adventure game in the line of "The Ship", where your
group has to solve a mystery and survive. Seems quite well done, but
it does require you to have a bunch of friends who also own the game
to play with, and given how niche this title is, that might be a
problem.

* Backbone
https://store.steampowered.com/app/865610/Backbone/
An old-school side-view point-n-click adventure game featuring an
anthropomorphic Fox detective. There's a lot of praise for the art
style and mechanics, but apparently the story and gameplay fall apart
after the first couple of acts. Still, its hard for me to resist an
classic adventure.

* TOEM
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307580/TOEM/
A charming adventure game with a 'hand drawn' art style. Looks nice
and it reviewed well, although its use of "simlish" babble for the
voice-overs is an immediate turn-off for me. But if you can get past
that, it's a fun game.

* Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
https://store.steampowered.com/app/447120/Where_the_Water_Tastes_Like_Wine/
Hey, another adventure game, although this one verges more into
walking-sim territory. Not sure if this game is to my taste, though

* Blade Assault
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1367300/Blade_Assault/
Finally, a game where I can shoot something! Too bad its a pixel-art
rogue-like platformer. Well, it's colorful at least.

* Super Magbot
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205170/Super_Magbot/
Another indie retro platformer. It boasts "precise platforming", which
isn't the sort of thing I much enjoy. But the genre has its fans, and
I suppose if you're into that sort of thing it might be worth your
time.

So... one triple-A quality game, and the rest are either average or
filler. It's getting harder to justify the cost of the subscription; I
was really hoping that the December offerings would be exceptional and
make me remember why I kept buying these things. I mean, I could get
Wasteland 3 for $14USD, and that's only a little more than the $12USD
of the bundle.

Well, I'm still saving a couple of bucks so I guess I'll grab it this
month. We'll see what happens in January, though.

On 06/12/2022 19:30, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> Speaking of HumbleChoice (as I was in another thread)... there is
> another HumbleChoice selection available today. The games on offer for
> this December are:
>
> (The bundle discount is from here: https://www.humblebundle.com, links
> to individual games provided only to offer more information about each
> title)
>
> *Wasteland 3
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/719040/Wasteland_3/
> This game of course needs little introduction; I'm sure most of us
> here are aware of its heritage, if not its existence. It's a top-down
> CRPG and - if the reviews are anything to go by - a pretty good one at
> that. I'm happy to add it to my library, even if I'm not all that
> excited about playing it. Top-down viewpoints (as I've probably
> already said too frequently) aren't that appealing to me, and even
> post-apocalyptic adventures don't do it for me anymore. And who has
> the time for a long, involved role-playing game anymore?
>
> * Greedfall
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/719040/Wasteland_3/
> Another RPG, albeit this one utilizing a more immersive
> over-the-shoulder viewpoint. It reminds me of the "Risen" games more
> than anything else. Reviews indicate strong story and narrative but
> average mechanics. Ehn. It's different, at least, so I'm happy to have
> it.
>
> * First Class Trouble
> A co-op action adventure game in the line of "The Ship", where your
> group has to solve a mystery and survive. Seems quite well done, but
> it does require you to have a bunch of friends who also own the game
> to play with, and given how niche this title is, that might be a
> problem.
>
> * Backbone
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/865610/Backbone/
> An old-school side-view point-n-click adventure game featuring an
> anthropomorphic Fox detective. There's a lot of praise for the art
> style and mechanics, but apparently the story and gameplay fall apart
> after the first couple of acts. Still, its hard for me to resist an
> classic adventure.
>
> * TOEM
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307580/TOEM/
> A charming adventure game with a 'hand drawn' art style. Looks nice
> and it reviewed well, although its use of "simlish" babble for the
> voice-overs is an immediate turn-off for me. But if you can get past
> that, it's a fun game.
>
> * Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/447120/Where_the_Water_Tastes_Like_Wine/
> Hey, another adventure game, although this one verges more into
> walking-sim territory. Not sure if this game is to my taste, though
>
> * Blade Assault
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/1367300/Blade_Assault/
> Finally, a game where I can shoot something! Too bad its a pixel-art
> rogue-like platformer. Well, it's colorful at least.
>
> * Super Magbot
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/1205170/Super_Magbot/
> Another indie retro platformer. It boasts "precise platforming", which
> isn't the sort of thing I much enjoy. But the genre has its fans, and
> I suppose if you're into that sort of thing it might be worth your
> time.
>
>
> So... one triple-A quality game, and the rest are either average or
> filler. It's getting harder to justify the cost of the subscription; I
> was really hoping that the December offerings would be exceptional and
> make me remember why I kept buying these things. I mean, I could get
> Wasteland 3 for $14USD, and that's only a little more than the $12USD
> of the bundle.
>
> Well, I'm still saving a couple of bucks so I guess I'll grab it this
> month. We'll see what happens in January, though.
>
>
>

Hmm... This month does look a bit better than the anemic last few
months. I haven't even gotten around to play Wasteland 2 yet despite
having it in my library for years now. Greedfall might be ok (even
though advertising you can play as male or female is kind of... is that
really a special feature?)
Backbone reminds me that I think I have that game on itch.io already
thanks to one of those giant bundles a while ago.
Blade Assault looks like 3 or 4 other games I got from Humble Choice
already. I think they easily could slip in one of those and I wouldn't
even notice.

So... two games I might be interested in. I bet Wasteland would be
taxing my system though...

On Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 10:31:00 AM UTC-8, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> Speaking of HumbleChoice (as I was in another thread)... there is
> another HumbleChoice selection available today. The games on offer for
> this December are:
>
> (The bundle discount is from here: https://www.humblebundle.com, links
> to individual games provided only to offer more information about each
> title)
>
> *Wasteland 3
> https://store.steampowered.com/app/719040/Wasteland_3/
> This game of course needs little introduction; I'm sure most of us
> here are aware of its heritage, if not its existence. It's a top-down
> CRPG and - if the reviews are anything to go by - a pretty good one at
> that. I'm happy to add it to my library, even if I'm not all that
> excited about playing it. Top-down viewpoints (as I've probably
> already said too frequently) aren't that appealing to me, and even
> post-apocalyptic adventures don't do it for me anymore. And who has
> the time for a long, involved role-playing game anymore?
....
>
> So... one triple-A quality game, and the rest are either average or
> filler. It's getting harder to justify the cost of the subscription; I
> was really hoping that the December offerings would be exceptional and
> make me remember why I kept buying these things. I mean, I could get
> Wasteland 3 for $14USD, and that's only a little more than the $12USD
> of the bundle.
>
> Well, I'm still saving a couple of bucks so I guess I'll grab it this
> month. We'll see what happens in January, though.

Wasteland 2 wasn't really an RPG. It was really a 'tactics' type game.
It was just o.k. to me. I did manage to finish it at least which is becoming
increasingly rare. I wouldn't mind picking up 3 at a reasonable price, which
I assume is similar to 2.

The other stuff looks up my alley too, though I've a rather large and
growing pile of stuff I've never even tried.

I don't usually do this humble bundle stuff, is it possible to get all these
just this month without some subscription thing?

- Justisaur

On Tue, 6 Dec 2022 18:38:24 -0800 (PST), Justisaur
<justisaur@gmail.com> wrote:

>I don't usually do this humble bundle stuff, is it possible to get all these
>just this month without some subscription thing?

Yes. I call it a 'subscription' but it really isn't. You can buy up to
a year's worth of bundles at a time, but most people (myself included)
pay per month, with no penalties if you skip a month.

Well, they do have their "HumbleSelect" thing, which requires you to
remain paid up. That's a rotating selection of (mostly) Indie titles
that you install and play through their app. But that's in /addition/
to their games mentioned aboice in the HumbleChoice selection (and the
HumbleChoice games usually are Steam products which you continue to
own regardless if you maintain your 'subscription' to Humble or not).

So, yeah, if you think, "Hey, this months games seem worth the price
of admission, but I don't wanna get suckered into paying again next
month', then you can do that.

On 07/12/2022 02:38, Justisaur wrote:
> Wasteland 2 wasn't really an RPG. It was really a 'tactics' type game.
> It was just o.k. to me. I did manage to finish it at least which is becoming
> increasingly rare. I wouldn't mind picking up 3 at a reasonable price, which
> I assume is similar to 2.

I have played it for a bit and it didn't quite grab me as I think it
tried too much to be both a RPG and a tactical game. It's something that
I find personally off putting. Decide what type of game you're making
and do that one thing well. It's also one of the things that annoyed me
about XCOM, I really wish that the whole base/resource management part
wasn't there.

Shadowrun : Returns I think is a good example as although it's called an
RPG the story is pretty thin on the ground and a lot, well most, of it
is here's the next mission which you're teleported to so none of that
boring travelling stuff. Kill the bad guys and return to your base.

On 09/12/2022 11:48, JAB wrote:
> On 07/12/2022 02:38, Justisaur wrote:

>
> Shadowrun : Returns I think is a good example as although it's called an
> RPG the story is pretty thin on the ground and a lot, well most, of it
> is here's the next mission which you're teleported to so none of that
> boring travelling stuff. Kill the bad guys and return to your base.

Shadowrun Returns really got better with the Hong Kong and Dragonfall
versions. Returns basically is just a straight railroad of a story.