<24 Hours Until the Clock Stops Ticking... (Asking for help with Game Purchases

[ReijiTabibito]

Yes, this is about New Year's, and it's not.  I need some help.  I got a bunch of Steam gift certificates for Christmas, which I redeemed a couple days ago to add onto the handful of dollars I still had leftover.  As of now, I have a little over $65 to spend on Steam.  There are a ton of sales going on on Steam right now, and I want to take advantage of them before they leave.  My problem is that looked over my games list of things I found interesting/have wanted, and the cost is more than what I have.  I've already taken the liberty of removing some games from the list (When I started, I had nearly twice as much in cost as I actually have on Steam), and this is what I'm down to.  The format for the list is - Game Name: Cost (Discount Percentage).

One Finger Death Punch: 2.49 (50%)
Shadow Warrior: 9.99 (75%)
Invisible, Inc.: 12.79 (20%)
Shantae Risky's Revenge: 4.99 (50%)
Deus Ex Human Revolution: 9.99 (50%)
Sword of the Stars The Pit: 3.24 (75%)
Hateful Days Bundle: 6.79 (66%)
Hard Reset: 3.74 (75%)
Gunpoint Special Edition: 11.99 (40%)
Shadowrun Returns Deluxe: 4.99 (80%)
Vlad the Impaler: 1.99 (60%)

This comes to 72.99 out of 65.02.  Any suggestions as to what I might eliminate from the list?

[consortium11]

I'm not the most familiar with all the games so perhaps I'm not the best person to ask but a few thoughts below:

1) A general one; take something from each genre but try to avoid doubling up. While they're different takes on the genre both Hard Reset and Shadow Warrior are FPS games; do you need both?

2) Does Shadowrun Returns Deluxe include Dragonfall? How much is Dragonfall alone (it can be played as a standalone game)? Dragonfall is superior to "normal" SRR in pretty much every way.

3) Invisible, Inc is early access isn't it? On principle I don't purchase early access games unless I'm deeply in love with the concept/developer. Moreover 20% off isn't much of a discount at all.

[ReijiTabibito]

1) Not necessarily.  Really, there's at least 3 FPS games - Shadow Warrior, Hard Reset, and Deus Ex.  I don't need all of them, but...Shadow Warrior is an old favorite of mine, plus it's 75% off.  Eliminating Hard Reset, while it's a couple bucks off my total, isn't enough by itself to bring my total down below $65.

2) No.  Dragonfall is a separate item.  The version being advertised on Steam is only 50% off, making it more than regular SR Returns.  And no, I don't know if it can be played as a standalone game.

3) Yes, it is.  But I like the idea of it so much that I'd be willing to throw down the money for it.  Plus, as Early Access, I'll get any future updates to the game for free.  I see more as 'investment for the future'.  Similar to when I bought Wolf Among Us - only half the game was out at that point, but I was willing to take the chance that I would really like the rest of the game, and that what was out was worth the money I spent.

EDIT: In order to bring my total below $65, I need to eliminate one of the following from the list - Shadow Warrior; Invisible, Inc; Deus Ex Human Revolution; Gunpoint Special Edition.  Anything else, I'd either need to eliminate more than one thing, or downgrade.  I looked into downgrading Gunpoint to the normal game, but that's not enough in an of itself to bring me the money I need.

[consortium11]

I'd argue Deus Ex HR is more of a first person stealther than shooter (although shooting is still a viable way to get around).

Regardless I really enjoyed both DE:HR and Shadow Warrior so personally I'd be loathe to drop either. That leaves Gunpoint or Invisible, Inc and while I can't say I know much about either I'd be tempted to not bother with Invisible, Inc largely for the reasons set out above; it's early access, as such there's no guarantee that there will ever be more content or that it will arrive in a timely fashion (see Broken Age and what's current going on with Spin Tires) and the discount is only 20%. Gunpoint at 40% off isn't great either, especially for a game which came out about 18 months ago and the special addition of which appear to add little in-game but if in doubt I tend to go for the bigger discount.

[ReijiTabibito]

Here's a question for you.  Is Hard Reset a worthwhile shooter?  A lot of reviews I read say it's a nice way to drop a few hours of time, but that it's not anything special, lacking the overall plots of things like Deus Ex and Shadow Warrior.  I ask because the Gunpoint I'm buying is the Special Edition (as noted) - the regular game coming with director commentary on levels, and the game's soundtrack.  I'd primarily be buying the Special Edition for the soundtrack, which sounds cool from the handful of clips of music I've heard in-game.

However, if I drop down to the regular Gunpoint (just the game), and then drop Hard Reset, that brings me below my funding limit.

[consortium11]

I'm somewhat biased towards Hard Reset as I know (in the vague, online way that comes from being a part of a community) one of the developers. That said it's not the deepest game ever and while there's a bit of replayability it's not a game you're likely to pick up time after time after time; you'll probably play through it once or twice, put it down for six months and then possibly pick it up again out of curiosity. With Deus Ex already providing some cyberpunk/near future settings it may be that you feel you can sacrifice Hard Reset.

On a side note I'm not sure Shadow Warrior is a game you should go into expecting a great... or even good... plot. Shadow Warrior is all about arcade style action, lots of guns, challenging levels and some of the best first-person swordplay around. It's a brilliant game and one that is very, very fun to play... but the plot is nothing to write home about.

[ReijiTabibito]

I'm not.  Regarding Shadow Warrior.  I'm buying half for the game updates, half for the nostalgia of the old game (seriously, Lo Wang is one of my most favorite shooter protagonists ever).  I mean, how many trailers have the main hero singing that song from the 80s Transformer movie?

That said, I think I am gonna drop Hard Reset and downgrade to the regular Gunpoint.  I found the soundtrack on iTunes and that would be a lot better for me than buying it off Steam.

[Mathim]

Try watching some gameplay footage on youtube. That seriously helps me narrow down my choices.