The games I want to play - Lukather's Trove
but haven't played yet
Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good holiday, especially in the company of your loved ones.
Did you manage to carve out some time to play? As this famous meme goes
So now I’m in the middle one, money, skill (not as much as I was young but still) but no time.
Get ready because this will be the classic newsletter of New Year's resolutions. In fact, not quite classic, since I've been talking about the lack of time I'd like to take the opportunity to review with you some of the hundreds (literally I have at least 250 games on my Steam wishlist) of games I'd like to play but haven't had the time to yet.
So buckle up and let’s go!
Let me start with a premise. I have a large backlog of games that I have bought and never played, or played very little, still, for this post I want to focus on those games that I have on my wishlist that I haven't bought yet, knowing very well that I don't have time to play them (but also for other reasons, first and foremost the lack of desire to play specific genres).
Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
I played the first one quite a bit and was looking forward to this second chapter.
Upon release it didn't receive great reviews, in fact, it was apparently quite riddled with bugs.
The game is fairly stable now and quite a few mods are also available.
Unfortunately, as often happens to me, I'm not in the mood to play a game as challenging as this one but it's definitely in my top 5 games I'd like to play.
For those not familiar with the game, it is
a strategy/action RPG. Create a character, engage in diplomacy, craft, trade and conquer new lands in a vast medieval sandbox. Raise armies to lead into battle and command and fight alongside your troops in massive real-time battles using a deep but intuitive skill-based combat system.
Caves of Qud
Do you know why roguelike games are called that? They take their name from Rouge, the game (originally created in 1980) that first made permadeath famous, i.e. that game mode in which if the character dies the game is over and you start from scratch, no upgrades, no possibility of resuming a save, nothing.
If you have read the previous issue you know that I am a lover of Dwarf Fortress (although having played it not as much as I would like to). Well, Caves of Qud is a bit of a meeting of Rogue (or ADOM, another great 'roguelike') and Dwarf Fortress (mainly because of the graphical modality and the apparent clunkiness of the UI.
Is Overwhelming Positive on Steam and still in EA but offers already hours of gameplay and fun (hopefully).
Caves of Qud is a science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation, and swathes of sentient plants. Come inhabit an exotic world and chisel through layers of thousand-year-old civilizations.
This is another heavy game that I’m not quite ready to approach, which is why is still on my wishlist and not in my backlog.
Prodeus
Back to basics with Prodeus. Why do I say that? First of all, Prodeus is an old-fashioned FPS shooter, and not just because of the pixelated graphics. I'm mostly talking about origins for myself, as I was (and sometimes still am) a regular player of FSPs, mostly competitive ones like Unreal Tournament, Quake, Counter-Strike and its mods, and Team Fortress (the first one).
This is another game that got Overwhelming Positive reviews on Steam and deserves a lot of love from me.
Is a first-person shooter of old, re-imagined using modern rendering techniques and technology. Experience the quality you’d expect from a modern AAA game, designed with retro aesthetics and gameplay that invoke the tech-imposed limits of older hardware.
Carrier Command 2
When I read the news of the rebirth of Microprose, one of my favourite developers/publishers in the Amiga era, I rushed to read the list of games they had in development and among them, my eye fell on Carrier Command 2. I have to be honest, I wasn't familiar with the previous chapter released in 1988 for Atari ST, Amiga and others, so I approached the game with curiosity but without bias.
I clearly wasted no time and as soon as I had the chance I tried the game's demo (during a Steam Festival, if I'm not mistaken). It was love at first sight/game.
CC2 is a real-time strategy game that puts you in command of a futuristic carrier capable of deploying a vast array of aircraft and amphibious units. You can freely walk around the carrier visiting all the different floors of this huge ship.
We have to take care of launching the attack using ground, amphibious and air fighters, keep our resources (ammunition and infantry availability) under control, and to do all this we have to physically sit at the corresponding checkpoint inside the ship.
Why haven't I bought it yet? Because to fully enjoy the game you need to play it with a few friends so you can share the tasks and not go crazy trying to control everything and every one by yourself.
Vagrus: The Riven Realms
This is one of the most complex and dense gameplay and narrative indie RPGs I have ever experienced.
I say tried because you can also try it out by playing the prologue, completely free, on Steam. The world-building is huge, with lots and lots of text describing each and every bit of the world.
The reviews are mixed, some said that the game is too punishing (but to be fair, the developer said it too on the Steam Page.
Embark on a perilous journey across a realm forsaken by the gods and devastated by an arcane cataclysm. Accompanied by a hardy crew, you must trade, fight, and explore your way to success as the leader of a travelling company in Vagrus.
Bonus games:
VTOL VR: VTOL VR is a near-futuristic combat flight game built for Virtual Reality. Pilot advanced multi-role jets, using your hands to flip switches, press buttons, and manipulate the virtual flight controls.
Battle Brothers: Battle Brothers is a turn-based tactical RPG which has you leading a mercenary company in a gritty, low-power, medieval fantasy world.
Everspace 2: is a fast-paced single-player spaceship shooter with worthwhile exploration in space and on planets, tons of loot, RPG elements, mining, and crafting.