I usually don't like the visual novel format, but this does look pretty fun.

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We partner. We amplify.
We conquer.

That's...one hell of a slogan there.

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This game looks interesting, but being published by Paradox Arc (a division of Paradox Interactive) is a no-go for me, taking into account what they did with the game Across the Obelisk - it started as a game published by Paradox Arc and later it got integrated with Paradox Interactive and since then the game have tons of DLCs (just like all major games under the Paradox Interactive umbrella). No biggie though, since we have lots of other great games to play nowadays.

As far as I'm aware this is a solo dev who has their hands full just getting the base game finished. So unless something radically changes I wouldn't expect much in the line of DLC at all, besides the art book and soundtrack which seem pretty innocuous.

Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

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I was attracted to Stardeus because of the original setting of post-disaster and having to pick up the pieces, but the game's really kinda left that behind in a lot of ways now.

Still, I should try it again sometime soon and check out all the new systems.

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Be prepared to fight a million dogs in the new combat engine, most of which are hiding behind bushes and light poles.

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And five more! This time with Proton!

OFF Prologue (Steam Play): What can I say? A surreal classic that's inspired a wealth of other games, most notably Undertale/Deltarune. The story of The Batter and his holy mission to purify the land, and the weird things he encounters along the way. The demo is basically the tutorial and Zone 1, so a decent amount of content. And did I mention the music is ridiculously good? Recommended.

A Game About Cutting a Tree (Steam Play): Just what it says on the tin. If you've seen A Game About Digging a Hole, it's basically a knockoff of that (different dev so assume shovelware). I assume by the end you're eaten by beavers or something. Runs okay, but not great. No FoV settings so I could only play it for a very short time before I started feeling it, so that's the end of that.

Growmancer (Steam Play): Kind of an incremental game, but not about automation. You play as this Groot-lookin' dude running around a desert, and grass springs up where you walk. The trick is you have to run over it a second time to turn the grass green, which in turn spawns flowers. Green grass and various kinds of flowers becomes your currency, and all the upgrades revolve around becoming better at growing stuff. Very short ~40 second runs, with upgrades that add fractions of a second onto that total. Recommended but it does get a bit old so restrict it to short playtimes.

MIO: Memories in Orbit (Steam Play): This one's really good. An action platformer where you play this tiny android exploring a gigantic spacecraft in ruins. Very Hollow Knight vibes in the sense that your opponents are other bots gone mad, but the style veers off in a much different direction of grandeur gone to ruin. The intro sequence is stylish as hell, and the attention to detail in environments and animations is amazing. Highly recommended.

Isles & Tiles (Steam Play): Puzzle/City Builder where you draw cards that have a variety of resource costs to construct buildings, and create the land to put them on as well. Pretty frustrating early on because it's hard to get your industry running due to not having the resources that industry is meant to create. Also got a BAD case of that Unity jank, so be prepared for that. There's the bones of a good game in here, just needs a few tweaks here and there.

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Fire more:

Into the Grid (Native): Cyberpunk netrunning deckbuilder. Basically a dungeon crawl in neon, but it looks very nice. Plays well too. A bunch of different directions to build your deck and the card art is good. Recommended.

Gloctopus (Native): Great idea, an octopus with guns! Practice, not so much. A side-scrolling twin stick shooter that's hard to aim, and there's no indication when you actually hit an enemy, other than them vanishing after a couple of shots. Minus points because you just bounce off walls instead of scuttle along them. Also don't like the gunshot sounds. Needs more time in the oven.

Thysiastery (Native): Another "Linux" game that has no Linux executable. Runs with forced Proton. Legend of Grimlock style dungeon crawler with monochrome pixel art. Runs quite well and the vibes are immaculate. Some oldschool roguelike elements, randomly generated characters and maps, turn-based, and permadeath, but not things like mystery potions and the like. Closer than most in that regard. Recommend.

Witchy Business (Native): Cute magic shop management sim. Surprisingly hectic as soon as the tutorial is over and generally needs balance, but otherwise fine. Cat character kind of annoying.

Wirelight (Native): Right away the music is a groove. Weird little puzzle dungeon crawler with a low-res pixel art aesthetic. For some reason movement is on arrow keys, but that does play into precise directions as a mechanic so I'll allow it. Very cute, puzzles are intuitive, and commands are always on the screen so you don't have to keep track of everything. Recommended.

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Tried five:

Quest of the Hero (Native): Hard to explain, in no small part because the mechanics are not explained at all. A lot of the game doesn't make that much sense at the start, but it seems like you make a bunch of choices, either safe ones which raise a "doom gauge" or ones that hurt you but give better rewards. Most of the damaging ones have damage to health or a stat over time, but not *real* time so no idea what that even means. Advise skipping this one.

The Drifter (Native): Pixel art point and click in the classic style, about a homeless man caught up in a violent conspiracy, but somehow able to return to moments before each successive death. Good premise, well communicated and grabs the player right away without a lot of laborious setup. Demo is very short, but enough to communicate the key features. Recommend.

Bloom - a puzzle adventure (Native): No Linux executable. Runs with forced Proton. Apparently personification of Mother Earth is being bullied by personifications of Jupiter, Saturn and...Pluto, for some reason? Which causes smog? It doesn't make much sense, and honestly it doesn't matter. Simple puzzles with a colourful style. Doesn't especially grab me but maybe this is for somebody.

AbstractPunk (Native): Oldschool FPS with an eyestrain-heavy collage style, where you're an office drone on a mission to deliver a message to a high-powered executive. Your weapon is a cutout of a woman who shoots happiness, while your enemies shoot sadness back at you. Very weird, very stylish, very confusing, VERY hard on the eyes. Seems kinda good though?

Black Hole Fishing (Native): Simple incremental about a fishing pond, except you're not using standard methods like hooks or dynamite, but a tiny black hole instead. At first you scare them in using your hookless bobber, but soon you've got a stronger hole and multiple auto-restockers to make that unnecessary. Not much content so far and the graphics are extremely basic, but the idea is pretty amusing.

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I have no idea what any of that is and I love it

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This, I like. Downloaded the demo, and it's definitely going on my wishlist.

The style is great and the mechanics are solid, if a bit vague in spots. I'd normally say that's a downside, but in a game like this you kind of want that feeling of not quite knowing what everything does right from the start.

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