Regarding the ShinyLoot Weekend Sale, has anyone played Valcarta: Rise of the Demon? It's on sale for $3 and looks like it could be pretty great.

It says it's "the first chapter of a 'storyline' game series that spans 5 chapters", but hopefully self-contained as well.

Tell you what, check your PMs and let us know what you think of it. I've been wanting to test ShinyLoot's new gifting function anyway.

Thank you very much! That's very generous of you! I will check it out soon and give my impressions. Good to see ShinyLoot allows gifting now, too!

Some deals at GMG, all Steam keys except for Tropico Reloaded:

Sonic Franchise Sale
Tropico Franchise Sale
Telltale Deals

Use voucher code GMG20-ODON7-FLUA7 for additional 20% off.

Ok, my thoughts so far, after just a short while with Valcarta: Rise of the Demon:

Story: The game world is quite expansive, and the game even comes with a 121-page pdf file of game lore. However, the game seems to assume you're already familiar with the universe, and as a result the characters seem to fall a little flat... They put a lot of thought into building the world, and the art is gorgeous for an RPG Maker game, so there's a lot of potential here, if they flesh out the characters a little better in the later installments. It's hard to get immersed in the world, as the main character and many others are only given basic motivations (which seem contradictory at times) and so far there hasn't been much of any background given for any of the characters...
I'm still enjoying it, as it's just fun to play, the art is nice, and the combat is actually great fun. Speaking of which...

Gameplay: The game is really fun so far, despite the somewhat two-dimensional story... combat is your standard turn-based jrpg style, but it's downright fun. Interesting effects from skills and armor make battles more interesting, and it keeps me from wanting to just rush through combat by spamming "attack." And plan to fight a lot... randomized encounters happen quite often, so I recommend staying near town when you start out, returning often to sell your junk loot and stock up on potions / upgrade equipment / rest before more fighting.

Oh, and I'm using an Xbox 360 gamepad to play, and my one complaint is that it doesn't support the D-pad, only the analog sticks (which can be a bit more difficult, as the characters move in only four directions, not eight... this can easily be adjusted to or fixed by using something like Xpadder, though.)

Final thoughts: I think I'm going to really enjoy this one, though I hope they develop the story more carefully in future episodes, as the world they've created doesn't seem to be lacking at all... it just seems like it needs more exposure. I'm going to read the lore book so I am familiar with the universe and the races of the world and such, and then get back into playing. I'd recommend that for any who want to give it a go, as I think having a familiarity with the game world will really help make the game more immersive.

Thanks again to IAmSinistar for the generous gift! I'll going to get to reading this lore so I can dive back into this once I'm done. :)

If you havn't seen it from the newsletter: Wadjet Eye's The Shivah - Kosha Edition-Remake is due for 21st Nov on Steam.
and on 20% Discounted for $4 until then.

Since it does not add any extended story you can play though it in 2 to 3 hours.

The Shiva is not only on Steam. You can order it directly on the Wadjet Eye homepage http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/pre-order/the-shivah/ via the Humble Store and get the DRM-free download.
And you can vote for it to come to GOG here:
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/the_shivah or/and
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/the_shivah_kosher_edition

I really hope I don't need to buy it from Humble but can get it here.

Thanks for writing a in-depth review on this game I had never heard of but am now intrigued by. anyways, the passage I quoted is the one thing that stuck out for me. It can still be played with mouse/kb I hope? If not, thats a dealbreaker in my gaming world.

Mortal Kombat is 50% off on Steam...
Why Gabe, why ??? I know you're watching me...

It is a good one. Actually, I can firmly say that it's the best MK ever, even better than MK2, my favorite (now second favorite).

Amazon Deals (All Steam)

Payday 2 - $9.98

Far Cry 3 - $14.99

PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate - $4.99

PixelJunk Eden - $4.99

PixelJunk Shooter - $6.91

PixelJunk Bundle - $16.89
- PixelJunk Eden
- PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
- PixelJunk Shooter




GreenManGaming Deals (All Steam)

Use this voucher code to get an additional 20% discount: GMG20-ODON7-FLUA7

Sonic 3 and Knuckles - $1.24

Sonic Adventure™ 2 - $2.23

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing - $3.74

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed - $4.99

Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed: Metal Sonic Pack - $0.74

Sonic Ultimate Pack - $37.10


Poker Night at the Inventory - $2.49

Hector: Badge of Carnage - $4.99

Wallace and Gromits: Grand Adventures - $4.99

Law & Order: Legacies - $4.99

Back to the Future: The Game - $6.24

Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People - $7.49


Hitman Pack - $11.24
- Hitman: Absolution Standard Edition
- Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
- Hitman: Blood Money
- Hitman: Codename 47



IndieGameStand

Tower of Guns (Early Access)

Pay what you want minimum of $1, already greenlit and you'll get a Steam key once they are added on Steam.

You can use a keyboard, though I don't think you'll need the mouse. I believe you move with the arrow keys and use Z, X, Enter and maybe Shift as the controls.

It has been unofficially confirmed that it will release here on Nov. 21st.

Thanks for the info, haven't seen it before.
Very nice, not only The Shiva, but Broken Sword too.
(I wished I didn't spent so much money during my insomnia...)

Payday 2 is coming up $17.99 for me