In Steam’s unrelenting and ever-more specific barrage of sales, this week Valve’s store is focusing on turn-based RPGs, everyone’s favorite waiting games. The likes of Final Fantasy are joined by plenty of delightful games both big and small, charming and horrifying, and above all else, rewarding to play. Here are some of the best games to pick up throughout Steam’s turn-based sale, which ends October 7.
Sea of Stars
I’m pretty sure that I’m the resident Sea of Stars enjoyer at this site, so let me make the case for it real quick. It’s an homage to the RPGs of yesteryear, namely Chrono Trigger and the original Golden Sun, but it’s a lot more light-hearted and looser than either of those games. I’ll be the first to admit that Sea of Stars doesn’t tell the most compelling story, but it makes up for that with a vibrant and expressive look, as well as a battle system that I absolutely cherish. In it, opponents have a set of “locks” that can be broken by attacks depending on things like weapon types or elemental weaknesses. If you manage to break every lock, which can be a bit of a puzzle in and of itself, you stagger your opponent, delaying their moves or even resetting their process. This is a layer added atop a battle system that welds the timing of Super Mario RPG to the combination attacks of Chrono Trigger.
If that’s enough to get you in the door, Sea of Stars takes you on a hell of a journey, and manages to succinctly do a lot in roughly 30 hours. Sea of Stars is easily some of the most straightforward fun you can have with a bite-sized RPG, and you can pick it up on Steam for $US25 right now.
Darkest Dungeon
The gloom of fall is fully setting in, and it’s now October so what better way to celebrate the time than grabbing Darkest Dungeon? Easily the most terrifying and nerve-wracking entry on this list, Darkest Dungeon combines turn-based RPG mechanics with intense dungeon crawls, resource management, and takes ailment statuses and debuffs to the next level. In it, you have to assemble a party of various typical classes—this time cast in roles that adhere more closely to a dark medieval fantasy—and plumb the depths of several dungeons beneath a gothic manor. These dungeons contain the stuff of nightmares, including eldritch horrors, and your party must slaughter them or be slaughtered. It all takes place in gnarly, hand-drawn, turn-based combat where tactical positioning and timing is key, your team needing to endure the terror as best as they can without breaking.
If a party member’s sanity (which can be tracked) cracks in the face of these abominations, their resolve is challenged, prompting them to come back either stronger than ever, or worse off, and the matter is more or less decided by a behind-the-scenes die roll. In the meantime, you can manage the party as best you can by ensuring that they rest properly both in and out of dungeon crawls, are well fed, and crucially, are always in well-lit spaces. Nothing terrifies folks more than the dark, and the creepy crawlies that go stumbling in it. Darkest Dungeon is a wonderful twist on turn-based RPGs and there’s even a full sequel out right now, but why not jump into the first game for just $US3.74 or even pick it up along with all of its DLC for just about $US10 on Steam?
Marvel’s Midnight Suns
After reviving XCOM and popularizing the series throughout the 2010s, the noted strategy developer Firaxis took a wild swing with Marvel’s Midnight Suns. A turn-based tactics RPG based on the popular comic book brand, Midnight Suns brings deck-building into the fold as an added layer to really make itself stand apart. In a sense, it succeeded.
Midnight Suns is unlike any Marvel game before it, spinning a lengthy RPG tale out of this premise while also turning its cast of heroes, including beloved legends like Wolverine and overlooked characters like Magik, into likable personas that you can spend time befriending when you’re outside of missions. When you’re in the action, you can take a set of characters, as well as their customizable decks of techniques, and unleash hell on enemies—the fun of Midnight Suns often tends to be how ridiculous and over-the-top these tactical skirmishes turn out to be, which captures a whimsical energy that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been missing for a long time now.
Unfortunately, people didn’t quite pick up on everything that Midnight Suns had to offer, but that hasn’t stopped it from slowly building a devout audience, and it shouldn’t stop you from picking it up for $US15, or either of its more content-rich editions for $US20 and $US25, on Steam.
Final Fantasy X/X-2
Kenneth Shepard would scream at me if I didn’t shout out Final Fantasy X/X-2, whose remasters are currently on sale. Besides being some of his favorite games ever, these two are also the last Final Fantasy titles—save for maybe the MMO Final Fantasy XIV Online—where it felt like folks were unilaterally behind the series and championing every installment as some of the best in the biz. Most folks who have played one or both of them adore Tidus and Yuna, as well as their romance, and love either game’s progression systems and larger world, which are both what I’d consider integral pieces to a great RPG.
Final Fantasy X and X-2 were also exceptional in their lineage because they were the first two games in the mainline series to be explicitly connected to one another. This would only really happen again with the XIII trilogy, the original Final Fantasy XIV and its rebirth as A Realm Reborn—which could and should be treated as entirely different games—and the trilogy of games “remaking” Final Fantasy VII. Unlike most of those later examples though, Final Fantasy X and X-2 are sharp and focused games across the board, telling two distinct halves of a story and ultimately coming to a satisfying conclusion. You can get both of them in a single package for just $US12 on Steam.
Cassette Beasts
Look, there are a lot of Pokémon clones out there to pick from, and I’m sure there’s an absolute wealth of them on sale right now. Cassette Beasts is, crucially, the only one that I’ve played, so it’s the one I’m going with—and there’s a lot to love about it. Cassette Beasts adapts the tried-and-true formula into an open world where you encounter the titular monsters in the wild, record them, and then use them in battle. Through a mixtape mechanic, you can even combine creatures into a whole new evolved set of monsters that blend types and have unique traits and skills.
The open world is filled with threads to pull on, encompassing a few different major arcs, like having to face off against elite Rangers, but then there’s also a storyline where you have to track down these nightmarish things called Archangels. It’s all in service of an isekai plot that drops you, as well as everyone else in the game, onto the island of New Whirral, where Cassette Beasts takes place.
You’re allowed to use your beasts’ traversal abilities pretty freely in the overworld, you can befriend and romance characters, and there’s even multiplayer in this game. Unlike its main inspiration these days, it looks good and runs reliably well too, meaning Cassette Beasts is everything you could really want out of a monster-collecting RPG, and it’s yours for $US12 on Steam.
Arco
Arco’s got a lot of cool things going for it. First, it’s a Mesoamerican fantasy RPG, which is a combination of words I’m not used to seeing put together like that, and which brings me immense joy as a Latino. Second, its combat, which blurs the lines between real-time combat and tactics gameplay, absolutely rules.
Arco allows you to plot a course of action and then carry it out at the same time as your enemies. In the middle of this action though, you can effectively pause and micro-adjust your course, which can include running in another direction, assuming a different tactical position, or launching an attack. Enemies telegraph their next move while paused, giving you an idea of how to respond after resuming time, and it leads to remarkably tense little skirmishes between bouts of exploration and traditional dungeon crawling. Arco is currently discounted to $US15 and it is well worth it.
Tactical Breach Wizards
I’m right near the end of Tactical Breach Wizards, and you guys, it’s so good. I’m pretty sure I’ve got the full roster of possible teammates at this point, since we’re barreling towards a confrontation with the game’s big baddie. Yet, I constantly feel like I’m learning something new about how these characters operate individually and as a unit, reminding me of my favorite tactics game, Into the Breach.
I’ve got a druid now who can shape-shift into a dog, turn enemies against each other by biting them, and avoids enemy fire in his wild shape, and my tank unit can basically swap places with anyone regardless of sightlines, meaning my super-powered squad is just zipping all over the place, pulling people off ledges or knocking them out of windows and into portals. It has never stopped being anything but an utter blast and a laugh riot, it’s hard-as-hell politics are just the cherry on top. Tactical Breach Wizards really just is one of the best games of the year, and you should pick it up while it’s ever-so-slightly cheaper at $US18 on Steam.
Felvidek
I’ve both seen and heard of Felvidek before, but I’ve never actually gotten around to check it out. However, once you lay eyes on it, it’s the kind of game that begs to be seen through to completion. Felvidek is…different. It’s a short RPG that can apparently be finished in a handful of hours, but the most striking part about it is its art style, which makes it look like a PS1 game.
Set in 15th century Slovakia, you play as an alcoholic knight who must repel threats to his land, ally himself with people of different walks of life and belief, and suppress “surreal horrors” in first-person turn-based combat. Felvidek is the most distinct game on this list, and one I’ve got an immediate need for, and you can pick it up for $US12 right now.
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition
I’m still reeling from the passing of the legendary mangaka Akira Toriyama, but it’s a comfort to live in a world so full of the man’s beautiful work. I haven’t found the time to be able to dig into his games like I intended, but if you’re looking for a lengthy and gorgeous RPG with turn-based combat to sink your teeth into, you can’t possibly go wrong with the definitive edition of Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. I’ve only sparingly played it myself, but it’s positively filled with that charm and hope that Toriyama-san’s best work managed to channel.
This definitive version of the game comes with a whole host of additions, including extra scenarios and a redone score, but its most wonderful quirk is that it can be fully played in 3D graphics or the series’ traditional 2D look. Considering Dragon Quest’s legacy and its current position as one of the most enduring old-school series, it’s a touch that goes a long way. Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is the most classic RPG you’re going to find on this sale, and it can be yours for $US20.
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