Affectus
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1478710
Affectus is a cyberpunk stealth-action RPG set in a decadent and sick megalopolis after a pandemic has deprived humans of the ability to feel positive emotions. In this world, the only way to feel good is a drug called Affectus.
You are waking up with no memory in a dark alley at the bottom of a multi-layered mega-city called Tribus. You can customize your gender, cyberware, skillset and explore a city where the choices you make will shape the story and the world around you.
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Exploration & quests: Choose to follow the main story or do side quests to learn more about the world. Explore freely, loot some goods, and find secrets.
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Multiple choice dialogues: Choose your personality. Some choices you make will impact the story. Will you be kind?
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Fights and Stealth: Choose to engage in gun-fights with enemies or avoid them to achieve your goal. Will you spare them?
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Hack: Open locked doors, disable security measures or hack into computers.
Enjoy an immersive exclusive soundtrack by Kevin “Kounine” Colombin inspired by the best cyberpunk and sci-fi movies. Dynamic Sync switches the music smoothly to match the action and help you focus on your objectives.
Discover how you lost your memory through a world where happiness, hope, and love have vanished. What kind of person were you before?
Will you stand out?
Read More: Best Choices Matter Stealth Games.
Mass Effect™ 3 N7 Digital Deluxe Edition (2012)
9/10
Graphics
☐ Beautiful
☑ Average (The textures have aged poorly, set pieces however hold up very well, ‘ALOT texture overhaul mod’ HIGHLY recommended)
☐ Outdated
Gameplay
☑ Very Fun (Just a lot of fun, especially biotics everything feels so much smoother over previous entries, never got bored)
☐ Average
☐ Repetitive
Audio
☑ High quality (Great audio mixing, everything from enemies to weapons, biotics to music are all some of the best a game can offer)
☐ Average
☐ Repetitive
Difficulty
☑ Hard (On Insanity, enemies *Seem to hit a little harder than in ME2 though weapons and biotics are more effective in ME3)
– Real player with 212.9 hrs in game
I recommend this game, But not on Steam.
In its Current State, The game is unplayable.
Edit:
There is an Unofficial workaround, installing ReShade seems to Solve the FPS problems, You don’t even need to install any of the filters, Just reshade, and point it at ME3 and the Stuttering is fixed.
(This isn’t a Guaranteed fix as some users found that this didn’t work or that ReShade isn’t compatible with their PC’s)
Still not recommending this as;
- Performance Issues
Without going to extra effort. The game Runs at a solid 60 FPS easily, but dips down frequently during cutscenes and gameplay, down to 22 and even full freezes for a half second or so.
– Real player with 51.7 hrs in game
Exoplanet: First Contact
UPDATE below the original review, 23+ hours in the game
I currently have close to 9.4 hours in the game, and I’m at the current ‘end.’ As such, I’ll provide my thoughts thus far:
1st question most ask, is it worth buying? In its current state, at 10 hours of gameplay, that’s a tough sell, but having a chance to perhaps have some input on how the final product turns out may be the tipping point for some.
I’ve had fun. I’ve thought about this game between sessions, which is usually a good indicator that it’s interesting enough, even in its current Alpha state, to keep me guessing. I really hope this winds up as a completed project (have seen a few Alphas sputter and die, let this not be one!)
– Real player with 23.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Choices Matter Nonlinear Games.
What if Firefly and Mad Max had a Western themed love child…?
Add in a healthy dollop of Fallout and you’d be looking at Exoplanet: First Contact a real find for those of you lucky enough to stumble across it’s store page.
At the moment - Update 7, mid Jan 2018 - sadly almost nobody has heard of this early access gem. This game is a serious sleeper. It’s a clever, novel concept, the gameplay and the story suck you in from the beginning. I’ve seen criticism of the graphics in other reviews but I guess that was prior to the last update because the desert looks great to me.
– Real player with 12.7 hrs in game
Clean Slate
This game has an incredibly compelling plot and puzzles that can be genuinely hard that are mostly satisfying when completed. It is a great homage to the Zero Escape series and you should absolutely play it if you are a fan.
– Real player with 7.1 hrs in game
Loved the plot, pacing and writing. Its a nice homage to other games like the 999 series. Totally recommended if you like the genre.
– Real player with 5.3 hrs in game
Mass Effect™ Legendary Edition
One of the greatest sagas in gaming history. Its off-the-rails good. If you have any interest in science-fiction you should definitely play this, right now!
+Graphics are beautiful. Shepard is beautiful. ALL the cut-scenes look AMAZING, even the loading screens look fantastic! Visually, they’re all a masterpiece. I commend BioWare for bringing these all-time classics in to the modern day, especially the first game. You can tell they’ve put a ton of work in to all 3 games, and I found it very gratifying in this age of sub-par remasters.
– Real player with 197.3 hrs in game
It’s Mass Effect. What else do you need to know?
Alright, for the uninitiated: Mass Effect doesn’t have the most refined gameplay. But it oozes with soul. The game has phenomenal writing. The worlds you visit, the characters you meet, they all tell you decades of stories with only few conversations and encounters. The story and its actors are captivating. You always want to know more about this galaxy and the people in it. Missions are exciting and going back to your ship to talk with your crew is fascinating. If you ever have a thirst for a big adventure that spans over a whole galaxy this game keeps you covered from beginning to end.
– Real player with 185.1 hrs in game
Alpha One
In Alpha One you awaken from bio-stasis alone in an uncharted region of the galaxy. Aboard the United Colony Ship Alpha, you were part of an interstellar expedition gone wrong. To survive it was necessary to deploy the colony ship into station mode and outfit a space capsule with the ability to collect resources. After discovering a strange, crystalline substance, it allowed you to create an experimental jump drive that you hope one day can get you home to Earth.
With your limited jump-drive capabilities, you explore the region and find out there are many types of resources with the potential to build and unlock new technologies. However, you quickly learn you have an adversary. You meet an intelligent life-form pursuing those same resources and they see your very existence as a threat!
Find a way to control these systems, defend them, harvest and use them to research technology. It’s a race for you to defeat the enemy or stay alive until you can find a way home.
What you do in Alpha One:
GATHER RESOURCES
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Classic Newtonian physics; thrust in one direction, spin your capsule to angle your trajectory
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Harvest resources with your space capsule
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Use resources to build, repair and research
SPACE COMBAT
- Compete for resources in dogfights with hostile NPC ships (and escape if you have to!)
EXPAND TERRITORIES
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Each star system is a level that you have to clear in order to claim and deploy automated outposts (your opponent will do the same)
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Outposts will collect resources from the system they inhabit
DEFEND OUTPOSTS
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Defend your outposts, with your ship or leave it up to automated Gunship Defenders
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Build and strategically deploy Gunships Defenders on the map to protect your economy
RESOURCES
- Strategically expand by deploying outposts to systems with resources that counter your opponent!
- Use each resource for its own line of weapons and defense
COUNTER THE ENEMY
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Research tech to defend the enemy’s weapons
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Create weapons that your opponent can’t defend!
ATTACK ENEMY TERRITORIES
- Attack Enemy outposts to hurt their economy and hinder their ability to make repairs, build and research tech
MAPS
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Play a progression of maps that get progressively harder
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Includes a map editor to make your own levels
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or generate your own random map/settings for a custom randomized experience
Bionic Heart 2
Having somewhat fond remembrances of the first Bionic Heart game (played some time ago), when I came across this sequel on sale for $10, I decided to give it a go. Unfortunately, other than the name, there’s not a lot in common. The humor is mostly gone, the characters are very shallow, and the whole concept of “social boss fight” is very contrived. There is a lot of dialog amongst the various endings, but a lot of it is recycled. The art doesn’t really match up with the characters. And the endings just don’t give you much feeling of satisfaction.
– Real player with 19.3 hrs in game
This is an nteresting visual novel which sacrifices the typical genre-obliged light-heartedness setting and “romance options” for a much more mature and grim drama, which is quite refreshing.
The games also features a very good soundtrack (which you can find somewhere in the game folder, along a few wallpapers with drawings not used in the game), and good art, far away from the standard VN anime style in most characters.
The game is sadly not perfect. The writing could be the mayor issue. It is much better than that of its predecessor, but still shows some inconsistencies, such as different versions of “reality” depending on the path (that may be needed for making room to the 24 endings, but I find that a bit cheaty and unimmersive), and some deus-ex-machinas hard to explain. In a few points, disconnects from the story of the first game, which I find a good decision. That should allow you to not feel obliged to play that game, which was worse than this one. Also, there are a few minor bugs here and there, nothing game-breaking or particularly annoying (but note that in Linux, the achievements don’t unlock, but if you kept savegames before the endings you can load the savegames in other platform and unlock the achievements by replaying them, I had to do that). All the endings can be achieved but the guides are hard to find and follow (I couldn’t find a comprehensive one). Getting all of them became a bit tedious (and frustrating because of the errors in the guides I used).
– Real player with 18.1 hrs in game
Gaia Beyond
Gaia Beyond is a handcrafted 2D Action-RPG in space.
-multiple save slots, quicksave and quickload, autosaves.
-open world
-quest with multiple solutions
-ship building, upgrade-able weapons
-fight stations with your ship
Sure we’re fans of the genre and bound to like the game more than the usual fare,but those looking for an original and thrilling, handcrafted open world 2d space shooter, this will not disappoint. Gaia Beyond introduced a world with characters I actually cared about, and combat gameplay I could get behind. This game really does have something for every sci-fi shooter fan: Good writing, characters with depth(you get to meet the most spaced-out guys in the galaxy), huge amount of side quests(some with multiple solutions), factions, intimidating ships, upgrade-able ships and weapons, mining, trading, nice OST etc. It was not a very demanding game. You were just a simple nobody mining and shooting your way up, trying to make your way in this seemingly peaceful mysterious space. While all the ships were actually flying in the game world in real time, most of the time it was quite relaxed. Some fights were tough when I didn’t upgrade or choose my guns properly. It played especially good on big monitor(this game has 4K support). No other 2d space shooter I’ve ever played has impressed me like this one. Maybe Starsector has better combat than this but that’s the only thing it is better. I’d played 3030 Deathwar Redux , Star Valor, and Starcom Nexus, this game is better. After playing for around 30 hours , I doubt that I had reached even halfway of the main story, this game is loooooong. Yuki, one of the game writer, said the game is still a bit rough around the edges, but I could see that they were updating and patching up the game almost monthly, and they were quite active on the forum answering questions and acknowledging bugs, so I would not worry about that at all.
– Real player with 51.1 hrs in game
I would recommend this so much, but…I’d wait until the main quest is extended by at least 300%.
In a nutshell: Great game but I’d wait until the main quest is extended by at least 300%. Don’t bother grinding unless you really want to, regardless of main story.
Long review: This is a very cool 2D “Galaxy on fire 2-ish” space action RPG game where you explore, mine, hunt and upgrade your ships and weapons. Kind of like Zelda / Diablo in a spaceship and a huge map set in our solar system in a dystopian future.
– Real player with 34.3 hrs in game
La Memoire
La Mémoire is a futuristic visual novel about longing and the struggle to bring back lost memories, set in a future where humans live alongside androids.
Story
The story takes place in the near future, where scientists and innovators have created near-perfect androids to help humans with their daily necessities. At first, they were only produced to help people in their homes, but then slowly began to penetrate the industrial sector as workers. Soon, they were replacing humans. Many were satisfied, but many were not. People began protesting against the use of androids in the industrial sector, resulting in a destructive revolt against androids by humans.
This led to severe damage in the industrial market. For the first time in widespread human history, human rights won over deeply corrupt leaders and governments, as there was nothing those in power could do to suppress the protests of the people, who had nothing to lose from the androids having taken their livelihood.
Today, androids are limited to performing housework or helping elderly people, focusing only on serving humans. Even though laws were passed prohibiting the use of androids beyond certain situations, there remains a black market for people who attempt to use broken androids for activities like manufacturing weapons, illegal dealings, and other shady activities. Thus, the world still is not truly at peace.
After Inazuma Kazuya lost his mother for unknown reasons, his father, a renowned scientist, took Kazuya to another city. But before Kazuya left, he promised to play with his friend Kotobuki Risu for the last time, only to find her killed in a car accident right in front of his eyes. Losing both his mother and his friend brought Kazuya trauma, which he blamed himself for.
Years passed, and Kazuya decided to move back to Ringo City and enroll in a private high school, Kiyoku High School. He determined that he was going to find peace for himself at last, thinking that he couldn’t live with such guilt forever. He lives in a mixed dorm with his new friends: Asami Mao, an energetic yet caring girl; and a mysterious girl with a penchant for music, Kamome Saaya.
For a time, Kazuya’s life went smoothly. Slowly but surely, he began to come to terms with all that had happened in his past and started to make peace with himself. But things turn upside down suddenly when Kazuya sees his once dead childhood friend. His hand suddenly shivers and his face turns white. All the memories about his childhood friend, accompanied by the guilt, sweep over him like a torrent in a deep sea. Kazuya then approaches the girl and abruptly asks her about everything he can. Much to Kazuya’s surprise, the girl doesn’t seem to know him. She only introduces herself as Kotobuki Risu. Her voice, her crimson-red eyes, her gesture, and everything else is just the same. Kazuya is positive that she is Risu herself. But why doesn’t she remember him?
Features
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Multiple Routes and Endings
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20+ CGs
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8-10 Hours of Gameplay
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Beautiful OST
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Windows, OSX, & Linux Support
Inazuma Kazuya
An infamous transfer student known for his cool, composed, yet kind attitude. Everyone also knows him as someone who is ‘not so good academically, but godly in physical activities’; something proven his participation in many sports clubs, which to this day beg him to join them or be a temporary member of their tournaments. Despite his childhood traumas, he returned to Ringo City to make peace with himself and his past, not knowing he’d meet his supposedly dead childhood friend, Risu, once more.
Kotobuki Risu
The supposedly once-dead childhood friend of Kazuya. She was turned into an android by her father because her father still wanted to see her smile, even in death. She lost all of her emotions and memories in the process, leaving her but an empty vessel of a ‘living’ android. She may appear precious and fragile, but under her cute and doll-like appearance, she is actually the strongest android in existence.
Asami Mao
Her smile is her best quality, and it’s something that everyone in Kiyoku High School can tell you. Rumor has it she can melt even the coldest heart, Asami Mao. Besides her cheerful, caring, and energetic nature, she has an abundant love for felines. She is also a good engineer—she has a penchant for building cute feline robots. How perfect can she be? None would seem to doubt her perfection; that is, unless they happen to know about the hollowness of it all. Her encounters with Kazuya changes her little by little, as she gradually feels that Kazuya has the same pain as she does.
Kamome Saaya
A mysterious elegant girl who barely talks and has a sharp gaze. Because of her dark stare, people often mistake her for being angry. She often got into problems because of this, mainly with upperclassmen. She dreams of becoming a great musician just like her mother once was. However, she struggles with this dream because of her own traumas.
Kotobuki Ryuu
A newly transferred student who takes the entire school by storm. He immediately overthrows Kazuya’s position as the most influential and popular student in school. Compared to Kazuya, Ryuu can seemingly do anything slightly better, and even more, he’s not a dimwit like Kazuya, and he is arguably more charming.
Kazuya isn’t bothered by Ryuu’s existence however, or so he tells himself. Yet, Ryuu claims to be Risu’s older problem, something Kazuya can’t accept - not just because of him knowing her so well, but because he can’t remember her even having siblings in the first place. Ryuu seems to know everything about Risu however, and has decided to help Risu regain all her memories together with Kazuya - but what is his real plan?
Solar Echoes: The Star Legation
STORY
Soon after the alien races began to explore outside their own star systems, they discovered each other. Hostilities grew into skirmishes and eventually, wars. However, some still desired peace. We’ve been taught that the Interstellar Union was formed in the year 1,023 LN. And we’ve been told of the human, Trey Donovan, who led the peace legation to unite everyone across the stars.
Details beyond that are varied and embellished, but we do have records of Trey’s past. This man, now considered a legend, was no diplomat. He grew up in entirely human-centric surroundings and had never ventured beyond human territories. He was banished to an exile colony after a dishonorable discharge from the military. He received no training for the peace legation that he supposedly led. Trey’s only known redeeming quality was his leadership and success in bringing law to a planet overrun with criminals.
How did this man travel to alien worlds and speak before powerful leaders? How was this human able to convince those alien leaders to send a representative with him to join the Interstellar Union? How did he survive the dangerous journey through space among an alien crew, several which were technically still at war with each other? There are still many unanswered questions about Trey Donovan and his journey across the universe. What really happened aboard that starship?
ABOUT
Solar Echoes: The Star Legation is a Sci-Fi Visual Novel game with RPG elements, full of intriguing alien characters, bizarre foreign cultures, and interstellar conflict. Journey through space to gather and manage an alien crew, visit new worlds, negotiate with alien leaders, and even risk romance across the stars! Survival and success depends upon your choices and the reputation you’ve built among your alien crewmates. Can your diplomatic efforts with alien leaders lead to a peaceful alliance between all the races, or will you incite a massive interstellar war? Will your words bring unity, or chaos?
FEATURES
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The Star Legation’s beautifully authentic style blends realism with a cel-shaded, anime touch. Design, art, and audio create a unique space-opera atmosphere.
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100’s of decisions to make in this epic, choice-driven branching story
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Experience an engaging narrative filled with intrigue, humor, science, treachery, and heart.
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RPG elements with 8 different character design skill choices to make
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32 possible endings (including 5 main endings)
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Immersive and realistic dialogue: some character sprites have over 100 different expressions!
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Optional Romance story routes with 2 human characters
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Detailed background art, cinematic camera work, expressive character sprites, and animated sequences make this visual novel a dynamic experience!
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Build relationships with memorable characters and develop a reputation that will alter the course of the story!
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Over 20 hours of gameplay, with additional hours in alternate routes and endings
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Awesome SciFi soundtrack by composer Andy Mitchell, featuring over 75 minutes of original music!
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15+ High Res CG’s to unlock, designed by the talented artist, Aeghite!
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Hidden skill-related choices based on your character design that unlock extra routes
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Optional Combat (auto-win option), or Challenge Mode