Been a fan since the start, so here’s my two cents:
Dragon Age Origins is amazing. Buy each of the expansions. Save files transfer from expansion to expansion, and there are also a few DLCs for the base game. Usually everything is sold in one package - either the Ultimate Edition on Steam (which can also be modded), or GoG. GamePass only has the basegame.
Once you’ve completed the final DAO expansion (Witch Hunt), DA2 is worth playing at least once for its story. It has two expansions (Mark of the Assassin and Legacy) both of which are improvements on the base game. Don’t bother with any other DLC unless you get it all in a package deal. Save file transfers directly into DA2 from DAO.
Once you’ve completed DA2, DAI is also worth playing (I personally liked it more than 2, but YMMV). Mainline it if you start getting bored, as the main quest is worth the playthrough. It had three expansions, the first two played during the main campaign (both endgame) and one postgame expansion. All are worth playing, but The Descent and Trespasser are the most important for the overall world. DAI saves are a bit weird, as they don’t come from DA2. Instead, you fill in your choices in the Dragon Age Keep (should be first result on Google) and export them to DAI. I suggest jotting down major choices as you go.
Outside of the three games, there’s also a series of novels and a Netflix series, as well as a series of comics. The first five and following three comics are available in collections, generally pretty cheaply. Novels are printed to order. If you enjoy the stories in the games, I strongly recommend Asunder by David Gaider and The Masked Empire by Patrick Weekes. Tevinter Nights was great, but it may lose relevance when the new game comes out in the coming couple of years, as it was written as a kind of preview for what’s coming up. The Netflix series was good, but likely of little relevance to the greater narrative.
Honestly, all three games are worth playing in order. There’s nothing atrocious about any of them (DAI won game of the year in 2014), although none have aged super well. In the case of DA2, it may be worth mainlining if the environments bother you (game was made in 18 months, so most maps were recycled several times). If you do mod DAO, just do texture mods for now; there’s some great stuff out there, but only really worthwhile for later playthroughs.
If you find yourself really loving DAO, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a spiritual successor to it and a direct sequel to the games that were DAO’s original inspiration. Do check that out when it comes out at the end of the week if DAO is your jam.
Feel free to DM me if you have any other questions!
True, although combat is only one aspect of BG3, I’m mostly referring to storytelling and depth of decision making. Tbh I typically avoid combat in EA if I can’t one-shot everything (playing a very squishy Elder One Warlock for whom constitution is his dump stat). There are similarities though (DAO is largely turn-based RTP combat, whereas BG3 is totally turn-based. If you pause enough, DAO slows down enough to become pure turn-based).
DAO+Awakening is just a chef kiss, nothing is perfect in this world but as far as games are concerned DAO is an amazing experience.
DA2, huh, I did finish it like twice I’d say and I don’t remember much. Can’t say much but I guess this fact is something in itself.
DAI got a joke for a story, from the very first minutes it’s just laughable. I did enjoy the crafting and fighting in DAI but even those have a fair amount of flaws (limited number of abilities cause of console support and so on)
They’re called management sims, or in the case of Factorio a factory builder.
Rimworld is a colony management sim… check out Dwarf Fortress or Oxygen Not Included for similar games
Rollercoaster Tycoon is a theme park management sim, the obvious suggestions are Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo but also check out City Skylines.
Factorio is a factory builder, I would recommend Satisfactory or Dyson Sphere Program, there’s a few handfuls of those types of games. If you want to get a little wild look into Minecraft (Java edition) w/ mods - most easily something like the FTB Infinity Evolved or one of the new Direwolf packs, it’s arguably where the factory building craze started.
If your interested in the minecraft Mods, Skyfactory 3 or 4 are both good for this. There is a bit of startup before you get to all the automation though.
I need to try to get back into ONI. It should be something I would really enjoy. But I got hung up on some details.
Actually, I know it’s a defect in my mindset in approaching that game. I shouldn’t expect certain things like conservation of mass and energy… I also took a while to realize that solubility and diffusion just don’t exist in the game. I don’t want to care so much about this but I struggle.
I loved Tekkit/FTB back in the day! Lots of good times setting up factories and controlling swarms of turtles.
To be honest, I’ve never been able to get over the hump in ONI. I play for hours, have a blast but eventually things start falling apart and I’m not usually able to recover. That being said, I know there’s been some updates since last I played so I may go back to it soon.
Back in 2011 or so I got really into Minecraft mods. I think it was literally just Buildcraft and Industrialcraft. It involved many steps, putting folders inside the Minecraft JAR file, deleting meta INF files, etc. I stuck with it for a few years during which the scene exploded. I actually paid to host a website for my friend’s only server that just included links to the specifics mod versions and step by step instructions how to install them. It was around the same time FTB modpacks came out that I fell off, I played one or two SP worlds with FTB Infinity Evolved and had a lot of fun but Factorio and eventually Satisfactory scratched that same itch.
Just finished my first playthrough of Cyberpunk last night after about 120 hours. I had 3 or so gigs left but wanted to make sure I got it done before Baldur’s Gate 3 (will need to free up some disk space…).
Overall I liked it a lot, despite its many flaws. It has some moments, characters and stories that are really engaging. Judy was a standout for me, and her voice actress really killed it. I regret not choosing Female V now, but of course I had no idea at the time. And I know it’s controversial but I kinda liked Keanu as Silverhand, even though his voice acting isn’t always “good”. The relationship between V and Johnny was the thing I enjoyed the most, and Johnny’s character development.
Not sure I’m super happy with the ending I got, though, and I might go back and play out some of the other alternatives.
From memory, I’m pretty sure Judy can only romance female V (if that’s what your regret was).
I’m one of the weirdos who had a good time with Cyberpunk when it first came out. I’m really looking forward to the DLC and trying hard not to play it again before the DLC so I don’t burn myself out on it.
Yeah, Judy made a big impression on me. I’ll wait a while after Phantom Liberty’s release until I’ll play again, but I’ll definitely play Fem V then so I can see the Judy romance.
I just played through another ending today, (Don’t) Fear the Reaper into the Temperance ending, and I much preferred that to the one I got at first (Rogue’s path into The Sun ending). I’m much more satisfied with the game now.
I have heard people like that one, and I have read roughly what it’s about, but I’m saving that one for my next playthrough.
I think which one suits best depends a lot on both how you played your V and how you felt about Johnny.
For me, V and Johnny became like best friends, and so The Sun ended up feeling mostly like a letdown and a nobody wins scenario, and it felt almost out of character for V, too.
Temperance felt perfect for the story as I had experienced it, and it was also really cool to see the final dialogues inside Mikoshi from both the perspective of playing as Johnny and playing as V. Highly recommended.
SPOILERSWhen playing as Johnny (the first time), I actually thought V would interrupt a fourth time on the bridge heading towards the light and forcibly kick Johnny back into his body and make the choice for him. At least that’s where it felt like the dialogues were going. I think that would have been a cool moment, if your relationship with Johnny is high enough.
Just started timberborn and it seems to be in this vain. It's a beaver city builder and you have to manage the river with dams to survive droughts, along with the typical food, water and energy resource management.
Ha, was just about to come recommend Zachtronics games. They’re more, uh, programm-y than the others being mentioned, but they definitely do center around process management
I came here to say "Any Cyan game", Riven i think was definitely one of the most complex and needed the most notes. They've recently released Firmament and Riven remake is on its way too.
Got a bit carried away, but hopefully this is useful to somebody:
The Steam Deck is surprisingly versatile, especially now Valve have released the dock (enabling portable monitors). The most obvious benefits over a gaming laptop (beyond the price) are the smaller form-factor and relative quiet compared to a strong gaming laptop.
The main thing you should ask yourself is what you want to play.If your answer to that looks like “Crusader Kings III, Dota 2, and the latest competitive shooter”, then it might not be the best choice. But in general, you’d be surprised by how many games work great thanks to its extremely versatile input options.
Games that released before controller support on PC was mainstream – such as Oblivion, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Deus Ex, or Baldur’s Gate – typically play fine thanks to its extensive input customisation (including custom radial menus), its dual trackpads and gyroscope, and the community layout system. There are exceptions where you’d want a keyboard and mouse, but not as necessary as you’d expect.
Beyond info on software compatability, ProtonDB also includes Deck-specific reports at the top of each page detailing others’ experiences, such as whether they used a specific community layout or input method, performance under specific conditions (such as limiting power or frames to conserve battery life), and legibility on a smaller display. The wealth of shared controller configs is easily one of the greatest strengths the Deck has.
(And while other, more recent – albeit more expensive – options have stronger performance at higher power settings, the Deck has a strange persistence in outperforming its competitors at low power settings (source).)
Again, it’s mostly down to what you want to play. If you want to play recent releases with all the bells and whistles enablesd, you’d need to pay for a laptop many times the cost of a Deck (desktops less dramatically). Given you’re even considering handheld PCs I’m assuming that’s not your priority. Cyberpunk and the ever-demanding Red Dead Redemption 2 have been in the top 20 most-played games on Deck since Valve started publishing that information, so simply playing them isn’t an issue. (The top 100 games for 2023 by daily active players can be seen at the bottom here.)
To address some specific games and genres: If you’re into MOBAs, League and Dota play fine but you’ll want to be using a keyboard and mouse, while grand strategy games would at least warrant an external display.
If you want to play the latest CoD multiplayer, Valorant, or the upcoming Tarkov Arena, you should probably get a laptop. (You can install Windows on the Deck, but I can’t speak to that firsthand.) The trackpads themselves are viable for FPS games, though a learning experience, but the main issue here is that most developers haven’t enabled the option for their anti-cheat to work on Linux. Hunt: Showdown is a happy exception to this trend.
Almost any singleplayer RPG, FPS, or adventure game can be made to work just fine. Emulation has EmuDeck and can play most older games – assuming general emulator compatibility – up to some PS3 titles (like Demon Souls, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix, or the MGS HD Collection) and even a lot of Switch titles. Traditional roguelikes include many among the few 2D/singleplayer titles that don’t simply work out of the box. Yet a substantial number play great (e.g. Jupiter Hell, Tangledeep, Shiren the Wanderer, Caves of Qud); and many others have community layouts already so you don’t have to take the time to set one up yourself. It was learning that Dwarf Fortress played fine on Deck that opened my eyes to just how flexible the chunky little handheld can be.
I hope that helps in determining whether the Deck suits your personal needs; if there’s any angle I didn’t cover adequately that you have questions about, please feel free to ask.
Edit: Slight clarification, re: “Almost any singleplayer RPG, FPS, or adventure game” – this year, many multiplatform games have released on PC in a poorly optimised state, and depending on your personal tolerance the Deck may struggle to provide an adequate experience for them. Though it’s hard to give a recommendation in one direction or the other without knowing your budget, as such titles are often found lacking on even the newest consumer desktop hardware (hardware very few laptops can compare directly against, and so many will suffer these issues in a similar manner). A relevant Digital foundry video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oav-pZyA8y4
Thanks for the comprehensive review. When I mention the deck is limited, I’m mostly referring to the ability to play PC Game Pass through Xbox app. I know you can install Windows but it’s likely more tinkering than I would be interested in doing. Also, are there any issues still plaguing the device? After all, the Steam Deck is still a first gen product. I can’t wait to see what they will do in their next iteration.
It’s still buggy as all heck, and requires lots of troubleshooting even in the regular SteamOS mode. If you’ve used linux, especially if you’ve tried to game on it: it’s like that. Even the “verified” steam games often don’t work immediately without at least first fiddling with community controller profiles.
So from what you say I’d 1000% recommend going for the laptop.
Don’t have Game Pass, but I believe the options on Deck are currently to either install Windows and use the Xbox app, or following these instructions to access Xbox Cloud Gaming from SteamOS. (Assume that’s what you meant?)
Do you only plan on playing games available through Game Pass? I know there’s a couple of handheld devices (not really handheld PCs, Switch/Deck-esque with Android and smart phone hardware) that are built specifically for Xbox’s cloud gaming. (Maybe you don’t even know what you intend to play at this stage, and just expect to play whatever’s available without paying more money?)
If you buy a Steam Deck you’d probably eventually end up getting a bunch of things through Steam’s big sales (you’d have money spare to do so, if nothing else). If you buy a strong laptop, you’d have access to the same sales, and you might want to buy more games anyway to justify the relative price. Hard to really guess what use case would suit you without knowing what future you would want to play (or how well future Game Pass would correlate).
Also, are there any issues still plaguing the device?
The only real issue I ever had was some WiFi connectivity problems, but I haven’t experienced those for months now. I genuinely struggle to understand the experience of the other commenter, simply because it’s so far from my own experiences. And if anything I’ve found Steam’s use of Deck-Verified to be pretty conservative at times.
As long as I’ve had the thing there’s been a fairly constant stream of updates and bugfixes.
After all, the Steam Deck is still a first gen product. I can’t wait to see what they will do in their next iteration.
Hah, hard to know when that’ll appear. I’ve been waiting years for a second iteration of the index, and at this point I wish I’d just bought one years ago. Valve aren’t exactly the most transparent company with their ongoing projects.
Do you only plan on playing games available through Game Pass? I know there’s a couple of handheld devices (not really handheld PCs, Switch/Deck-esque with Android and smart phone hardware) that are built specifically for Xbox’s cloud gaming. (Maybe you don’t even know what you intend to play at this stage, and just expect to play whatever’s available without paying more money?)
I play a mixture of both games I’ve bought and games through Game Pass. Xbox cloud gaming isn’t great and I think it works for certain games but latency is a no go for me. One reason I like keeping Game Pass is that I often like to trial games before committing and for only $10/mo, it allows me to do this. Before the service exsited, I can easily waste $30+ buying games that I later learn I don’t really enjoy.
Yeah, that’s a great use for it. I guess I rely on Steam refunds being automatic under 2 hours played, but it’s not quite the same liberty to try things as with Game Pass. Certainly seems like a no-brainer if you have an Xbox (or at least it was even a decision before they decided to make Xbox Live and Game Pass the same thing).
A także, dlatego, że większość libertarian to doskonale rozumie i mniej lub bardziej otwarcie współpracuje z faszystami, czy też dlatego, że w środowiskach libertariańskich skrajnie częste są wynaturzenia takie jak pedofilia i zoofilia czy w końcu dlatego, że nazwa została ukradziona anarchistom.
Za to możesz raczej obwiniać Amerykańską LP i Korwina. :P
Pedofilia i Zoofilia to troche przesada, w żaden sposób nie wchodzi to w plan polityczny libertarianizmu, może to być cecha pewnych ludzi, niekoniecznie powiazanych z libertarianizmem. I to co opisujesz to już właśnie anarchizm, podstawowa kontrola monopolu raczej wchodzi w skład postulatów współczesnych partii libertariańskich. Tak jak lewica nie postuluje całkowitej komuny, tak libertarianie nie postulują anarcho-kapitalizmu. Postulowane są raczej rozwiązania bardziej uwspółcześnione. Niby przedsiębiorstwo jest autorytarne, ale każdy może zostać przedsiębiorcą, system w żaden sposób tego nie zabrania. A jednak im bardziej lewicowe państwo się staje, tym wiecęj kontroli mają rządzący, tym samym bardziej kontrolują kto ma tą władzę.
Niby przedsiębiorstwo jest autorytarne, ale każdy może zostać przedsiębiorcą, system w żaden sposób tego nie zabrania.
Nie każdy ma początkowy kapitał tak finansowy, jak społeczny czy adekwatne umiejętności — jak wszędzie i tutaj uprzywilejowane jednostki mają łatwiej. Merytokracja w nieegalitarnym systemie to ułuda i większość ludzi jest de facto skazana na bądź śmierć głodową bądź wyzysk w autorytarnym przedsiębiorstwie.
Postulowane są raczej rozwiązania bardziej uwspółcześnione.
Jakie konkretnie rozwiązania są postulowane?
Nie każdy może zostać przedsiębiorcą. Nie każdy pieniądze na start. Nie każdy ma pieniądze na walkę z wielkimi korporacjami, które promilem swoich zarobków mogą zabić każdą małą firmę, czy człowieka.
I’d been following the game’s development for years because I loved the idea of an open world where you’re a cat exploring Kowloon walled city, and was a little disappointed that it went in another direction. I did end up loving the game and I get that it became more, but I would have really loved something that simple. Like, I don’t need to save the world but I do specifically want to play as a cat in Kowloon walled city, you know?
I think if someone went all out with making some sort of bizarre simulator game like this, people would play it. Like, don’t even try to make it fun or add a story or anything, just make it as real as you can.
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