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: Grand adventures
On an average day about a dozen new games are released on Steam. And while we think that's a good thing, it can be understandably hard to keep up with. Potentially exciting gems are sure to be lost in the deluge of new things to play unless you sort through every single game that is released on Steam. So that’s exactly what we’ve done. If nothing catches your fancy this week, we've gathered the you can play right now and a running list of the that are launching this year.
Misery
Release: October 24
Developer: Platypus Entertainment
Misery is a first-person survival shooter inspired by Stalker and Lethal Company, and I suspect it's heavily influenced by the old that went by the same name. Playable both solo and cooperatively for up to five players, in Misery you're a solider in a private military company who was tasked with protecting a "secret research institute" in a fictional Eastern European country. But of course, shit hits the fan, a nuclear bomb drops, and in its aftermath you're forced to scavenge the world for "artifacts", while taking care to avoid (or eliminate) aggressive humans and mutated creatures alike. The whole affair is glazed in a charming late '90s 3D art style that I like, and while it won't win prizes for originality, it looks [[link]] very atmospheric and even darkly funny.
Hyperbeat
Release: October 23
Developer: Alice Bottino, Chancellor Wallin
Hypebeat [[link]] is a rhythm game with a proudly polygonal, retro-futuristic art style. As a knight, you've arrived in the wireframe fluoro-lit haven of Wellspring, where you'll meet and converse with other knights and also—of course—take part in musical gauntlets. There's character customization, but in a way reminiscent of N++ you can customise the palette of the game too. I'm drawn to the Steam Workshop integration, which lets players put their own music in the game, but the original music is dreamy and propulsive, in keeping with the mood of the gorgeous art style.
Splintered
Release: October 24
Developers: dotMake Studios
After a stint in early access, this 8-bit-inspired JRPG has hit 1.0. While Splintered is not a roguelike, randomization is at its core: what starts as a very conventional pixel art adventure is complicated by the big baddies' ability to "splinter" the world. This sends everything into disarray, breaking the cohesion of the world and even scrambling the traits and abilities of enemies. It's a fun idea, but you'll still really need to love the genre and the era for this to make any sense. If that's you, this thing seems endlessly replayable.
The Bench
Release: October 25
Developer: Voxel Studios
In The Bench you're one of those old men who like to sit all day on park benches. You have a walking stick, loads of bread, and an undying love and respect for pigeons. So strong has the bond between man and pigeons become, that you're able to give the flying rats commands. Sometimes these commands are practical, all the better to solve puzzles, but sometimes they're in the name of toying with other park goers. Because who said old men can't play malicious pranks? There's fishing too.
The Crazy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles
Release: October 23
Developer: Fix-a-Bug
Here's a fun coffee break dungeon-crawler with some neat ideas of its own. The most obvious is its combat, which manages to weave some tense, twitch-oriented action into an otherwise familiar turn-based system, but I also love how it brings clarity and readability to a genre that can be famously inscrutable (another good recent example is Moonring). There are 50 "designed level archetypes", crafting, three classes, and skill tree deliberation galore.