Smokin' Hot Deals

Enjoying the 5 billion Black Friday e-mails you've received?  I know that I've woken up to my inbox crammed full of hysterical e-mails begging me to buy something because the deals are sooo amazing (fun fact--they're really usually not that great but our little peanut brains just like buying things waaaay too much).  But I'll admit...my little peanut brain has been buying things!  And, of course, the Steam Autumn sale is here so that I can extend my purchases to the world of video games as well.  What to buy though?  Here's my advice on what to grab in the current Steam sale.

1.) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

If you're like me, you might be somewhat opposed to purchasing remasters/remakes/basically the same game(s) twice.  Buuuut, thanks to the magic of the SALES you can grab the updated Legendary Edition for the smokin' hot price of $4.99.  For the price of a fancy coffee drink you can play one of the best sci-fi RPG's out there.  The legendary edition does have some benefits over the basic games--firstly, the first game has received a graphics update and a few minor gameplay tweaks.  It looks good for a game from 2007, but it unfortunately does still play like the original game from 2007.  Secondly, you get all the DLC (this includes special promotional content/pre-order bonuses).  Lastly, it's nice not to have to manage importing saves and having everything just carry over from game to game automatically.  There are some other fun features like a new screenshot tool that make your $4.99 worth it.

Avoid the baddies and grab those crystals.

2.) Vampire Survivors

Don't want to spend a fortune on a new game?  Well, for $3,74 you can get an oddly enjoyable game that I've found myself being really bad at, but still wanting to play.  I knew very little about the game but thanks to crossover content in Balatro and a goofy meme about games that are great and don't have uber-leet graphics, I decided to give it a try.  It's a sort of survival/roguelike/bullet hell/run around grabbing crystals for as long as you can/video game.  There are a ton of different characters to unlock and it has some mechanics that give it a ton of replayability.  

3.) Dave the Diver

I can't rave enough about Dave the Diver and would recommend it to someone who's looking for a relaxing, but fun game that doesn't require a top of the line PC to play.  It's part action adventure/exploration/roguelike/management and has a great cast of characters, story, and gameplay.  You can grab it for $13.99 and there's a lot of fun crossover content from other games that has been added in.

4.) Red Dead Redemption 2

No, I'm not recommending the recently released re-master of the original Red Dead Redemption (I am still of the opinion that it's overpriced), but would steer folks toward the amazing RDR2.  For $19.79 you can grab one of the best RPG's out there.  Us PC folks had to wait a long, long time for it to finally migrate to the PC world, so there's a chance that some people might've slept on it.  It's definitely worth your time and is one of my all-time favorites. (*Who knows when we'll actually see Grand Theft Auto VI on PC....I wouldn't anticipate it any time soon though)

5.) Cyberpunk 2077

Maybe you were turned off by the extremely bad release back in 2021 (it was a disaster) and just never pulled the trigger on it.  Thanks to years of redemptive work by CD Projekt, Cyberpunk has evolved into a fun and replayable RPG.  It's still not perfect, but I do have a special place in my heart for Night City and all its violent dysfunction.  For $26.99 you can easily spend 100+ hours tooling around as a decked out V.  (*for $46.90 you can get the base game and the "Phantom Liberty" DLC).

There are a ton of other deals out there, but those are my personal recommendations.  And, in just a few weeks the holiday sale will roll around and there will be even more deals to consider.  Happy shopping and gaming!