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Mid-Year Game Plans
Finally, with the Summer Steam Sale, my wait is over:
Of course, the best part of seasonal Steam sales these days is that it leads to 3rd party storefronts offering even steeper discounts. For example, I won’t be purchasing Elden Ring on Steam for $41.99, I will be purchasing it from DLGamer for $36.99. Using 3rd-parties has bit me in the past, but “Steam Activation” are the magic words. Well, provided there aren’t delays in getting the keys. The only real downside is losing the ability to refund the game within the 2-hour window, but I’m thinking that won’t be relevant here. Probably.
Aside from Elden Ring, there are a number of items on my wishlist that are on sale. Unfortunately, I cannot trust any of them to not just magically show up on Game Pass by the time I get around to playing them. For example, My Time at Sandrock is currently 20% off with an estimated 1.0 release date of September. The devs have stated that once the game is out of Early Access, it will be more expensive. I really enjoyed My Time at Portia to the tune of 107 hours. But here’s the thing: My Time at Portia is already on Game Pass right now. Is Sandrock currently listed as an upcoming Game Pass title? No. Does the original game being there make it more likely that sequel will be too? I’d like to think so.
It helps/hurts that Game Pass is becoming the new hotness for survival/crafting games, including Early Access ones. Coral Island, Grounded, Little Witch in the Woods, Homestead Arcana, Farworld Pioneers (ugh), Stardew Valley, 7 Days to Die, Disney Dreamlight Valley, No Man’s Sky. Story of Seasons: Mineral Town just hit the service too. Meanwhile, my Steam wishlist has:
- My Time at Sandrock (EA)
- Stoneshard (EA)
- Scrap Mechanic (EA)
- Travellers Rest (EA)
- Roots of Pacha
- Sons of the Forest (EA)
- One Lonely Outpost (EA)
- Forever Skies (EA)
- Survival: Fountain of Youth (EA)
- Voidtrain (EA)
- Life Not Supported (EA)
Which of those will land on Game Pass? Or in a Humble Bundle, for that matter? Who knows.
What I do know is that it will be difficult to find time to play all of the things anyhow. Just look at this:
- Hearthstone: Titans (Expansion) – August 1st
- Baldur’s Gate 3 – August 3rd
- Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure (expansion) – August 22nd
- ARK: Survival Ascended (Remaster) – August 2023
- Starfield – September 6th
- Lies of P – September 19th
- My Time at Sandrock – September 26th
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (DLC) – September 26th
Needless to say, August and September are a little stacked. It was even more stacked on the September side until the devs for Baldur’s Gate 3 decided to release it a month early to avoid competition with Starfield. Of course, I do not necessarily plan to purchase all of these games… huh. Actually, both Starfield and Lies of P will be on Game Pass, and I’m eagerly anticipating the Cyberpunk DLC. And Hearthstone is Hearthstone. And GW2 is GW2.
So, uh, yeah. Maybe I will just wait on any more deal purchases until the Winter Sale.
In An Age 
Gaming News Roundup
Jun 12
Posted by Azuriel
A lot of gaming news came out this week. Here is what I have been keeping an eye on.
Fable (Feb 2027)
I never got into the Fable series back in the day, as they were XBox exclusives for a long while. Technically, the first and third entries are in my Steam library, but Fable 3 crashing during an auto-save didn’t cut it in 2016, let alone a decade later. What is cutting things, is this 30-minute gameplay trailer.
The systems presented are very gamified, as I am sure the originals were as well, but I was impressed nonetheless with the overall game vibe. “Romance any random NPC” telegraphs that romance isn’t that deep, but maybe that doesn’t matter if you take a shining to a particular barkeep or general narrative. No doubt there will be forum posts detailing RimWorld-esque grotesqueries such as swooning the orphan whose parents you murdered for no reason.
But you know what? Good on them. When you build a sandbox, sometimes you are going to uncover some buried shit.
Anyway, I’m excited. It’s also going to be on Game Pass, so there’s that too.
Palworld 1.0 (July 10th)
After my original forays into Palworld two years ago, I have not touched the game since. While the zeitgeist has moved on, I was waiting for precisely this particular bit of news, e.g. a version 1.0 release. I do not have grand delusions that any developer takes versioning seriously, but if you are going to pick a particular point in time to make final determination as to the quality of a game, I figure 1.0 is about as good as anything.
You can watch the latest trailer here. It has nothing on the very original teaser trailer, but then again, nothing else really could.
Valheim 1.0 (September 9th)
Same deal as Palworld. Played for almost 50 hours five years ago, and stopped once I ran out of Early Access road (and encountered placeholder monster drops). I have some concerns about what I have heard about the Mistlands experience already in the game, but we shall see. Trailer here.
Abiotic Factor: Entropic Break (Autumn 2026)
I almost didn’t include this one, as I am not entirely sure how I feel about it. Specifically, Abiotic Factor is getting a DLC released later this year. Which is good! But I spent nearly 160 hours playing the game already, and I’m not certain whether I want (or am able to be) sucked in back in. Trailer here.
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Tags: Abiotic Factor, Fable, Gaming News, Palworld, Upcoming Releases, Valheim