GoG sale - What to get?

[Opal Monkey]

There is a holiday sale on at GoG.com (http://www.gog.com/en/page/xmas10/), and I'm planning on getting a few games.

A lot of people here seem to have good judgement in games, and I would appreciate some advice on what games in the sale, other than the ones I list below, are truly worth playing? What are your absolute favorites out of the lot?

Planning on getting so far:
- Divine Divinity
- Beyond Divinity
- Blood
Also considering:
- Outcast
- Beyond Good and Evil

The only one I haven't played of those is Beyond Divinity. The rest I've played before, but either never finished, don't own, or just want a digital copy of.

I also know from past threads that some people don't like GoG for one reason or another. I don't really care. What I'm interested in here is if the games are good, not GoG.

Thanks to everyone who has some suggestions! I await your wise counsel.

[yerkyerk]

Psychonauts is a very good title, imho. Can't really pidgeon-hole it into a genre, but it's really something you've got to try, if you haven't already played it.

[Renevent]

Arx Fatalis would be my main suggestion if you haven't played it yet.

Also:

HOMM3 Complete
Raptor: Call of Shadows
1nsane Racing (cool racing game)

[yerkyerk]

Age of Wonders is nice if you like turn-based fantasy strategy games (it has outdated gfx, but imo a wonderful series).
Another world was a great platformer for its time. '93 I think? Interesting artsie gfx style that still hasn't dated, imo. It's a nice game as well.

I played Gothic not long after it came out and I really liked it, dunno how it holds up compared to modern day games in the same style. The controls were definetely clunky. If you played and liked any other part in the series though, I can advice it. It's what pulled me in in the series.

Spellforce was interesting where it combined strategy with action RPG, yet it became repetitive and drawn-out too quickly and the aRPG aspects and strategy aspects were both underrepresented.

Cannon Fodder; gooooood memories. Really old though, not sure if you're looking for such stuff. A squad based real-time strategy with funny gfx (very good for the time, imo) and some black humor.

That's all I can advice really. Dunno a lot of these games and there's also quite a bunch I used to play because there just wasn't anything better.

[DragonWolf]

I love HOMM one of the best games ever. lol they even have Creatures for sale. god i haven't played thta game since i was 12 or so. I kept killing my Norns.

[Josho]

Laid down quite a bit of money last night on this sale...

Warlords Battlecry 3
Temple of Elemental Evil, The
Constructor
Baldur's Gate 2 Complete
Jagged Alliance 2
Psychonauts
Incredible Machine Mega Pack, The
Master of Magic
Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga
Master of Orion 1+2
Planescape: Torment

Some games, notably JA2, Baldur's Gate, Master of Magic were to basically get electronic copies, basically, rebuying the game. Others I never got to as a younger lad.

I've spent too much on games lately...

I'd recommend Raptor - great top down shooter, heck of a lot of fun. Can be easy though once the most powerful gun is able to be bought (easily achieved once going through the casual difficulty). Did so just recently in fact.

Age of Wonders is great, if not a little clunky with the interface.

[Wildman]

Opal Monkey, from what I can see you're a RPG fan so you might try Baldurs Gate, its a great game and its a long one, or give NeverWinter Nights a try, you wont be disappointed.

[Thander]

hmm, I have Divine Divinity and will gladly ship it to you if affordable

...Read: The graphics really suck, far to low resolution to utilize the isometric view... I therefore haven't played it alot because it annoyed me too much...

[Renevent]

Yeah the low res does suck but you still think the graphics suck? I think the 2D artwork is very good and well detailed...and even holds up today!

[DragonWolf]

I bought Septerra Core to try. Interesting game so far the story certianly looks promising. managed to get myself killed in the first battle though coz I didn't bother reading the manual and just dove straight in as I usualy do. :p

I also intend on getting the HoMM as well as Kings Quest. Pitty they didn't have the original Leisuresuit Larry. That game used to crack me up as a kid and had a really funny little security device in which it asked you questions only your parents could possibly know the answers to.

[Renevent]

The security check was funny lol...

http://www.allowe.com/Larry/1questions.htm

[DragonWolf]

sadly i knew the answers to some of those questions.

On a side note:

They have BATTLE CHESS! the ultimate of chess game. Play chess and watch the game pieces kill each other while you play. :D

[Wildman]

Wow, Septerra Core, I haven't seen that name in a while, I think I still have it loaded on my laptop. If you like turn based combat, the original Final Fantasy series or Adventure games its a fun one.

[DragonWolf]

Wow, Septerra Core, I haven't seen that name in a while, I think I still have it loaded on my laptop. If you like turn based combat, the original Final Fantasy series or Adventure games its a fun one.

Yeah, just watch out. It likes to have a 'Fatal Panic error' when loading the game. It only worked for me after setting my Hardware Acceleration to none, the sameple rate conversion quality to standard in my audio settings and disabled the Directdraw acceleration in Quicktime as according to some others in the GoG forum. Apparently it doesn't like something in Windows XP :p

[Void(null)]

I'm planning on picking up:

Baldurs gate 1 & 2
Icewind Dale 1 & 2
Temple of Elemental Evil
Neverwinter Nights
Planescape Torment
Beyond Divinity
Divine Divinity

[Opal Monkey]

First off. Thanks for all the input and suggestions everyone! I ended up getting about 1/3 of the games I would have if time and money weren't a factor, but I decided not to spend an insane amount on them.
Here's what I got yesterday:
- Divine Divinity
- Beyond Divinity
- Blood
- Cannon Fodder
- Psychonauts
- Creatures: Exodus
- Master of Orion 1+2
- Arx Fatalis
- Neverwinter Nights: Diamond

On a previous sale awhile ago I also got:
- Duke Nukem 3D
- Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
- Syberia
- The Longest Journey

Of all of those, the only one I've actually installed is Cannon Fodder! I really need to get to playin'! At least I have backups for when I can't think of anything else.

In case anyone is wondering why I didn't get a lot of the one mentioned, here's why.
- I like strategy games, but I'm horrible at most of them, especially turn-based ones. Master of Orion was the only one that really caught my eye.
- I would have gotten all the ones like Baldur's Gate, Planescape, Icewind Dale, etc... but that would have run into a lot of money, and time! I did get Neverwinter Nights because I've had it on my list of games to get for a long time now, but could never find it anywhere.

Cannon Fodder; gooooood memories. Really old though, not sure if you're looking for such stuff. A squad based real-time strategy with funny gfx (very good for the time, imo) and some black humor.
Got Cannon Fodder for this very reason! Thanks for pointing it out, I hadn't noticed it before that. I used to play that when I was about 9 and loved it!

Oh, and thanks Yerk for recommending Psychonauts. I'm quite excited to try it out!

lol they even have Creatures for sale. god i haven't played thta game since i was 12 or so. I kept killing my Norns.
Creatures pissed me off to no end when I was a kid because the Norns where so frail! I think the disk is still laying around here somewhere for "The Albion Years", so I got the one after that instead. I'll have to try them both out again and see what they are really like.

hmm, I have Divine Divinity and will gladly ship it to you if affordable

...Read: The graphics really suck, far to low resolution to utilize the isometric view... I therefore haven't played it alot because it annoyed me too much...
Sorry, I've already got a box copy. Got that a few years back from Xplosiv (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Interactive#Xplosiv). It was the only place I could find to get a physical copy, required at the time because of dial-up. Heh, it actually came on 4 CD's rather than a DVD :rolleyes:. Getting the digital copy was... well... I don't know? Mostly because it was so cheap!

If yours is an original box from when it was in retail packaging, it's almost tempting. I love having game boxes and hard copies of games!

I always thought the graphics were quite good for their time. I'd say it's the best isometric RPG I've ever played. Not that I have played a lot of them. I did find the story quite good, and everything else worked good for me. I'll have to play it again (still have my old saves :D) and see if I'm remembering it right.


Thank you again all, I'm off to play! :D

[yerkyerk]

Oh, and thanks Yerk for recommending Psychonauts. I'm quite excited to try it out!

No problem, I can't imagine that game will dissapoint, it's a critically acclaimed masterpiece. The game baffled me on several occassions.

Also, I heard steam Sales will start today, so if you got some money and time left... :)

[Opal Monkey]

Also, I heard steam Sales will start today, so if you got some money and time left... :)

As much as I would love to buy more games... I'm not even going to look! I haven't used steam yet, and I don't think a holiday sale is a good time for me to start. I'd end up going into debt! :p

[yerkyerk]

As much as I would love to buy more games... I'm not even going to look! I haven't used steam yet, and I don't think a holiday sale is a good time for me to start. I'd end up going into debt! :p

On the contrary, holiday sales on Steam are an excellent time to start. You'll get offers for up to 90% (or more) and 75% discounts are rather common even for newer games. Their sales are better than anything I've seen at digital outlets and having by far the biggest marketshare and global success also makes them the least likely to go down, unlike some other digital outlets.

Come on, join the dark side. We have cookies!

[Renevent]

*snip*
Here's what I got yesterday:
- Divine Divinity
- Beyond Divinity
- Blood
- Cannon Fodder
- Psychonauts
- Creatures: Exodus
- Master of Orion 1+2
- Arx Fatalis
- Neverwinter Nights: Diamond

*snip*


Some excellent choices! Hard part is going to be finding time to play all these wonderful games :p

[Opal Monkey]

On the contrary, holiday sales on Steam are an excellent time to start. You'll get offers for up to 90% (or more) and 75% discounts are rather common even for newer games. <snip>

Come on, join the dark side. We have cookies!

Mmm... cookies... :drool:

Okay, fine, I'll go take a look at the sales... I just have to try and have some restraint! ... For once.

Edit: Oh right, that's why I don't buy newer games online... they're like 8GB to download! And here I am with a 30GB/month limit. I might have to get Super Meat Boy though, 75% off is a damn good deal.

Some excellent choices! Hard part is going to be finding time to play all these wonderful games :p
Yup, that's a bit of a problem. Especially since I'm still playing Minecraft and League of Legends. Then there are the mods for Minecraft... Oh my, why am I on the forums, I've got games to play! :p

[Renevent]

Hey whenever you get around to playing Arx Fatalis please come back and let us know what you thought!

[Opal Monkey]

Great... just freaking great! [insert sarcasm]

I get set up on Steam, find a game I want to buy that is on sale for another 10.5 hours, and now the email verification won't work. It's not getting caught by the spam filter, there is just no email. Submitted a support ticket about it 4 hours ago and haven't got a reply. The big problem is that if I don't get it done before I go to sleep in a couple of hours, I'll miss the sale. :undecided:

I suppose maybe I'll try it with a different email address? It would just be nice to have it linked with my normal account.

Hey whenever you get around to playing Arx Fatalis please come back and let us know what you thought!

Sure thing! ... If I remember. I'll move it to the top of my list so I'm more likely to remember.

[yerkyerk]

If it won't work, let me know, I can order the game for you and you'll have it. You can order a same priced game for me later :)

Just PM me the game you want and the email account you want to link to your Steam account.

[jiaco]

Yikes, Titan Quest Gold on steam == 2,49

[DragonWolf]

already purchased and i'm also contemplating getting the FEAR Complete Pack for $16.22

[yerkyerk]

Well, TQ is a must-get if you don't have it, but I assume everyone on this board already has it once at least.

The first F.E.A.R. game was decent, scary and somewhat refreshing. The rest, well, meh, not so. Even the first game falls into the trap of becoming an average shooter later in the game, but the last games (expansions and part 2) aren't even that scary anymore.

Also, if I remember correctly, F.E.A.R. 2 ignores everything what happened in the F.E.A.R. expansions. That's basically a big slap in the face of the gamer...

[DragonWolf]

I hate it when they do that in games. they must honestly think we don't notice when they don't follow the timeline properly.

But still i dont play alot of FPS. BioShock 1 & 2 sum up my entire exspieriance with the genre. None of the others really caught my attention but FEAR looked interesting. I'll probibly still get it just to see what its like for myself.

[Opal Monkey]

Hey whenever you get around to playing Arx Fatalis please come back and let us know what you thought!
Okay, as requested I'm back to give my impressions of Arx Fatalis... and the other games I've tried from what I bought on the GoG sale.


<snip>
Here's what I got yesterday:
- Divine Divinity
- Beyond Divinity
- Blood
- Cannon Fodder
- Psychonauts
- Creatures: Exodus
- Master of Orion 1+2
- Arx Fatalis
- Neverwinter Nights: Diamond
<snip>


Divine Divinity - As mentioned before, I've got a boxed copy of this and love it. Just got this to have a digital copy.

Cannon Fodder - Fun, simple controls. Hilarious death animations that remind me of C&C: Red Alert. Difficulty that ramps up fast. What more could I ask of a game from 1993 made by 4 guys!? ... Well, actually, a few more keyboard controls would have been nice :p

Master of Orion 1+2 - So far I've tried the first game for a total of maybe 3 hours, just long enough to get the basics understood and colonize a few planets. I've been a little afraid to go back to it for the simple fact that I found it very hard to stop playing! It feels kind of like a really old version of Sins of a Solar Empire that is fully turn-based (rather than 4x). I'm sure I'll love both MoO 1 & 2!

Arx Fatalis - Hmm... I don't know... I just don't know... where to start praising Arx Fatalis! :D I'm not kidding, I'm loving this game in almost every way! Atmosphere, check. Good back story and setting, check. Interesting magic system, check. Fun combat, check. Amazing interface, check and check!

I'm sure I could go on like that for awhile. Even just the way the dialog is delivered: decent, but strangely amusing, makes it feel good. The graphics are good too, especially when you crank them up to 1920x1080. I play at a little lower resolution because I like the text and UI to be a little bigger, but everything looks really good, and even better when you remember it's from 2002.

I've only played for a few hours, and only leveled up once. I'm kind of wondering how long the game is, and what the level cap is... if there is one? Anyone know?

The UI is actually my favorite thing about the game. I was totally lost for the first 10 minutes. "How do I interact with this?" "Where do I equip this club?" Etc... etc... But after that I really got the feel for it. I'm sure a lot of games don't use this kind of interface because it would turn a lot of people off before they would get the feel for it, and if it's not done right it would just be a huge failure. I really wish more game developers would take the chance though because it gives a really nice feel to an RPG being able to interact a little more naturally.

The little touches like cooking food by a fire or using a mortar and pestle to grind the plants you find also set it off very nicely. I can't say much about the magic system yet as I only have 3 runes and can only figure out how to cast one spell... but it looks interesting.


Creatures pissed me off to no end when I was a kid because the Norns where so frail! I think the disk is still laying around here somewhere for "The Albion Years", so I got the one after that instead. I'll have to try them both out again and see what they are really like.

I haven't tried Creatures: Exodus yet, but I ended up getting Creatures: The Albion Years. I found my disk, then realized it was only Creatures 1 and The Albion Years includes Creatures 2. I've spent a little time on Creatures 1, and it's just how I remember it: aggravating and somewhat impressive.

<snip> I might have to get Super Meat Boy though, 75% off is a damn good deal. <snip>
Got Super Meat Boy, thanks to yerkyerk's intervention when Steam didn't feel like sending an automated email or replying to my support ticket for 24 hours (after the sale would have been over!). Thanks for that yerk.

Super Meat Boy is very entertaining, and good for playing in short bursts because of the quick buildup of potentially controller hurling frustration!
Disclaimer: Super Meat Boy "requires" a controller to work good. An analog stick seems to be the only thing that gives good control of the little sack of meat and his various cohorts :)

Aside: This may not really be the place to mention it, but seeing as how it's my thread, I'm doing it anyways.

Having leaf decay back in Minecraft is just so freaking wonderful! Sure, there was a mod to fix it in SSP, but when playing on a server as I have been lately the leaves would just sit there, floating in the air, forever :mad: So much nicer now that they are decaying nicely, it actually makes a big difference, at least it does to me and my pseudo-OCD for having a place for every block and every block in it's place!

Edit: I like the GoG t-shirt (http://www.gog.com/en/news/share_the_good_news_and_win_a_gog_t_shirt/). Classy ;)

[matthewfarmery]

well this is interesting, thread starter taking a topic off topic :D

but yes about minecraft, leaf decay is a lot better and the performance issues have been dealt with, I think,

as for Gog, will have to check what I want, I remember cannon fodder, I also loved the theme tune, and for those that haven't heard it before,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiYuq6Ac3a0 war!! Never been so much fun!! :D:D loved that tune!!!

[Renevent]

Arx Fatalis - Hmm... I don't know... I just don't know... where to start praising Arx Fatalis! :D I'm not kidding, I'm loving this game in almost every way! Atmosphere, check. Good back story and setting, check. Interesting magic system, check. Fun combat, check. Amazing interface, check and check!

I'm sure I could go on like that for awhile. Even just the way the dialog is delivered: decent, but strangely amusing, makes it feel good. The graphics are good too, especially when you crank them up to 1920x1080. I play at a little lower resolution because I like the text and UI to be a little bigger, but everything looks really good, and even better when you remember it's from 2002.

I've only played for a few hours, and only leveled up once. I'm kind of wondering how long the game is, and what the level cap is... if there is one? Anyone know?

The UI is actually my favorite thing about the game. I was totally lost for the first 10 minutes. "How do I interact with this?" "Where do I equip this club?" Etc... etc... But after that I really got the feel for it. I'm sure a lot of games don't use this kind of interface because it would turn a lot of people off before they would get the feel for it, and if it's not done right it would just be a huge failure. I really wish more game developers would take the chance though because it gives a really nice feel to an RPG being able to interact a little more naturally.

The little touches like cooking food by a fire or using a mortar and pestle to grind the plants you find also set it off very nicely. I can't say much about the magic system yet as I only have 3 runes and can only figure out how to cast one spell... but it looks interesting.



I don't remember exactly how long the game is, but I think it's at least 25-30 hours if you explore most of the areas. Also, again my memory is a bit foggy but I think max level is 10. Don't worry though, by max level you are WAY more powerful than you were at level 1. There is a nice progression through items, magic, and character prowess throughout the game. It's not as dramatic as say Titan Quest, but Arx is paced much differently anyways and is a more...um...deliberate experience if that makes sense to you.

Anyways glad to hear you are enjoying the game...it's always been one of my favorites. It's a thinkin' mans RPG and I think it's a shame it was overshadowed by (the also exceptional) Morrowind.

:p