So, because of my military service coming up (it's a mandatory draft in my country) I had to move out of my regular home, and store most of my stuff for after I'm done with the army stuff, when I will find another house again. Among the stuff I packed and have left at relatives, is my monster of a Desktop (roughly 1500 euros total), meaning for the next 1.5 years I'll have to make do with my laptop.
The laptop is a Lenovo70-80 model, by no means a bad piece of hardware, but nowhere close to having a gaming PC. Therefore, now is the time to play all the low spec games that had been piling up in my Steam library all this time. With a prompt by a friend (and my own nostalgia for when I used to work for a reviewing site and b!tch about things professionally) I decided to make a buyer's guide, with games that get my personal recommendation and can run on a potato, while also costing no more than change. There will be a separate article in the future with F2P games that I recommend.
Rules:
- The game cannot be Free to Play.
- It has to cost no more than 1 euro without timed discounts.
- Only games on Steam and Origin are included. Third party sellers are fair game as long as they still sell codes for Steam or Origin.
- Viable Third Party Sellers: Kinguin, Eneba, G2A (out of these I trust "Kinguin" the most and use it every time I want to buy another game)
- They have to include no DLC that are required for the full experience. Soundtrack, Artbook etc DLCs don't count.
- It has to get my personal seal of approval, and nostalgia goggles are completely forbidden. They have to be enjoyable on their own by today's standards.
Analogue: A Hate Story
Genre: Visual Novel
A visual novel set in the distant future, the player is an astronaut/hacker who comes across an abandoned spaceship. There you must communicate with its two AIs: Hyun-Ae* and Mute*. The reasons it gets my recommendation:
A)Rather than a simple reading game, Analogue includes a respectful amount of pseudo-coding (don't get scared, it's stuff that is somewhat challenging but also completely accessible even with no experience in coding). Apart from being a hacker, you're also sort of a "space detective", as you gradually unlock access to various files from the spaceship's memory through said hacking, learning what actually happened. We're talking chat logs, police reports, divorce papers, etc, with the AIs commenting and debating your findings.
B)It has a very unique atmosphere compared to most VNs, with its white void backgrounds and constant sense of loneliness.
C)Grade A' material waifus with actual character depth while not lacking any moe.
D)The choices you make in this game can also be transferred to its sequel: Hate Plus (which is an amazing game I thoroughly recommend in its own right, but only if you've played the first).
E)The game has fairly feminist undertones and an anti-patriarchic message, except it is aimed at a culture that actually needs it (aka: not the spoiled, self-entitled, mentally challenged western leftists). It is a very fresh perspective reflecting the real life struggles and worries of the author.
F)Stupidly catchy theme song for the sequel, I still have it on the playlist 5 years later.
A)Rather than a simple reading game, Analogue includes a respectful amount of pseudo-coding (don't get scared, it's stuff that is somewhat challenging but also completely accessible even with no experience in coding). Apart from being a hacker, you're also sort of a "space detective", as you gradually unlock access to various files from the spaceship's memory through said hacking, learning what actually happened. We're talking chat logs, police reports, divorce papers, etc, with the AIs commenting and debating your findings.
B)It has a very unique atmosphere compared to most VNs, with its white void backgrounds and constant sense of loneliness.
C)Grade A' material waifus with actual character depth while not lacking any moe.
D)The choices you make in this game can also be transferred to its sequel: Hate Plus (which is an amazing game I thoroughly recommend in its own right, but only if you've played the first).
E)The game has fairly feminist undertones and an anti-patriarchic message, except it is aimed at a culture that actually needs it (aka: not the spoiled, self-entitled, mentally challenged western leftists). It is a very fresh perspective reflecting the real life struggles and worries of the author.
F)Stupidly catchy theme song for the sequel, I still have it on the playlist 5 years later.
No joke, along with its sequel, Analogue is the best visual novel I have ever played regardless of price (and I have played most of the classics, including eroges). My suggestion, other than grabbing it right away from Kinguin, is waiting for Steam to start its major discounts (Christmas sales, Halloween sales, etc.) and buying it in the Hateful Days bundle with its sequel, they are always dirt-cheap.
(And in a bonus piece of useless Trivia, Azar, the blonde loli of my RPG, directly references Mute* in one of her voice-acted jokes about her design.)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Genre: FPS
Fight the SS during World War 2, in a unique blend of a classic WW2 shooter, and horror elements. Huge open levels, which you can approach in a multitude of ways and a constantly fresh gameplay that challenges your skills and planning. Reasons for recommendation:
A)Masterful atmosphere. Quite often, people will tell you graphics don't matter. These people are morons. Resolutions aside, having good aesthetics is a determining factor for a good game. RoCW just has optical design down. The environments look absolutely gorgeous, and are incredibly varied.
B)Nazi ladies in latex and stiletto high-heels (and also the occasional civilian lady in lingerie, before Bethesda was infected with "the message").
C)Genuinely f@cking horrifying when it wants to be. The catacombs of RtCW are on par with the Flood introduction level in Halo: CE.
D)Huge variety in gameplay approaches, matching its level design. Sometimes you're going rambo, sometimes you're a stealth agent and sometimes you're letting the SS duke it out against bloody zombies and unholy abominations while you speed past both.
E)The 2001 game somef@ckinghow has better AI than the vast majority of modern FPSes. The game seriously forces you to learn how enemies work, and, while difficult, it is very rarely unfair or annoying. (with 1-2 notable exceptions, but those are like 5 minute sessions in a roughly 6-7 hour game).
The sad thing is, I ended up playing "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" after I had finished the Bethesda reboot franchise, and I sadly realized that a 2001 game somehow has OBJECTIVELY BETTER GAMEPLAY (and atmosphere) than the garbage a triple A company with millions of dollars for budget has been serving us in the entire franchise.
Elderborn
Genre: First Person Hack&Slash
If you've played Dark Messiah of Might&Magic you know why First Person Hack&Slash can have a bloody good execution, especially when enjoying a dedicated kick button. For the uninitiated, the concept is: Big semi-open environments with opportunities for environmental interaction (read: kills), dodging, parrying and hacking away in first person, tons of gore and music that gets you bumped up.
A)First Person Hack&Slash. The genre alone is a positive.
B)Delicious up-close-and-personal gore. Tons of ways to murder your partially-zombified enemies, from strategically piercing the parasites keeping them reanimated to just chopping a bastard in half with a "f@ck you" sized claymore.
C)Related to the above: Tons of weapons, and, consequently, gameplay variety.
D)A very original desert city setting bringing to mind something out of Conan mixed with Resident Evil. (and for the actually cultured folks: It's Morbus Gravis.) The game is a visual feast despite consisting of a diverse color palette of 50 variants of puke yellow.
E)Actual physics-based collision system. It's hard to translate it by mere reading alone, but lets just say that fighting feels good.
Steam recorded 8.3 hours, and honestly they don't seem enough. I have the highest hopes for the studio's next project: Blood West.
Genre: Turn-Based Combat
Referencing Might&Magic once more, this time we'll refer you to Heroes of Might&Magic (or possibly X-Com), for a map separated into squares, which you must travel with your party to fight the respective enemy team. Following a basic fantasy story, your heroes are tasked with stopping an ancient evil from rising, and they are composed by a combination of story characters and custom ones you make for yourself (with a max of 6 being available at any time in combat). As a warning, Fell Seal is hard.
A)Challenging combat (bordering on unfair, honestly. Your enemies can do everything that you can, except they are usually 3 or 4 times the size of your team).
B)Lengthy and with lots of replayability thanks to the customization you can give your team, though the story is pretty linear.
C)Fun graphics.
Genre: Rogue-Like Platformer
A pixelated art-style, maps that only go one way, the resetting of gear/items whenever you die, combat straight out of Dark Souls but in 2D, Dark Devotion offers a chunky amount of gameplay for the spare change it asks for a price.
A)Lots of exploration to do.
B)Challenging and satisfying combat (except when it ends up an RNG fest, in general the bosses are designed like sh!t)
C)Dark, gritty aesthetics in great pixel art.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Genre: FPS Stealth Horror
A gem that flew under the radar, CoC puts us in the shoes of a private detective, investigating the mysterious disappearances of folks in Innsmouth, a fishing town. Blending elements from multiple stories of H.P. Lovecraft, CoC is unlike anything you will ever play, and one of the games I hold dearest.
A)Unique setting that will burn itself in your memory.
B)Genuine dread is ever-present.
C)Sanity mechanics.
D)The "revolver" shooter treatment, where your weapons kick ass but they take an hour to reload and can miss easily.
E)Varied sequences, switching from stealth to horror-running to shooting flawlessly.
Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi
Genre: FPS Horror
I am glad to see that in recent years, this has gotten the love it deserves by retro reviewers. A completely unique rogue-like way ahead of its time, Nosferatu has little story to offer: You are a poor dude whose entire family went on vacation to Dracula's castle, and you must save as many of them as you can before midnight comes and Dracula himself descends.
A)Escort quest with a purpose: Each family member you save gives you a unique bonus that will help you proceed.
B)Great replayability. The castle's rooms and wings are procedurally generated, though certain events are stable. That means you never know quite what type of enemy to expect, and, respectfully, you might be ill-prepared to fight them.
C)Revolver-logic combat... Quite literally. You will either hit the mark and blow a ghoul's brains straight off, or you will miss and the time required to reload is enough for every vampire in the castle to get straws and start sucking.
D)Vampire boobies.
E)Great enemy design. They each have a gimmick which you will need to learn or you're dead.
Enclave Gold
Genre: 3rd Person Hack & Slash
Unlike the above entry, Enclave has yet to receive the praise it deserves. Set in a typical medieval fantasy world, hordes of orcs and other monsters are attacking human cities, in an effort to resurrect their demon lord. Separated in giant, interacted levels, the game allows you to choose which unlocked hero you're going to use for pure, arcade fun, spending your starting money to equip them accordingly (gold collected once is permanently available as your starting balance for each level). After you finish its campaign once, you can replay the whole thing, this time as one of the monster races, in service of the raiding hordes.
A)Grade A arcade fun. Tons of monsters to kill, enjoyable ways to kill them.
B)The levels are really impressive visually AND technically, with tons of possible environmental interactions and secrets that you have to discover on your own. Once again, it's one of the really old games that totally eclipses newer ones in pure gameplay.
C)Great replayability, as you try out different classes and attempt to collect all the loot of each level.
D)Boobies and butts like any good 70s-90s comic would feature. Sad to say, I don't see any Red Sonyas or Druunas popping out in today's progressive culture.
E)Pretty fun mini-games, usually in the form of controlling turrets or similar machines.
F)Great variety in gameplay and settings.
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