GOG celebrates its tenth anniversary with a makeover, sale and giveaway to vote on
Good Old Happy Returns
The store formerly known as Good Old Games is ten years old, and GOG is celebrating by slashing prices on a bunch of games, as you do. The site has also been revamped with a new, wider and roomier design, and there's a vote happening now to decide what game they'll be giving away on October 4th - Shadow Warrior 2, Superhot or Firewatch? Take your pick.
GOG invited RPS's crew to pick a few showcase games. While not all of them are discounted, we think that our list of Good Games For Better People is a nice look at the softer side of videogames. Romance and relationships get top billing, although if you like to mix in a little violence, half of Dragon Age: Origins's best dialogue happens while everyone's dripping with fresh demon blood.
I must admit, I never would have expected GOG to get this big. When the site first debuted, it was effectively an official, commercial rival to 'abandonware' sites so prevalent at the time. They sold old DOS and Windows games, repackaged to play nice on modern machines. Nothing you couldn't do yourself, but the convenience was a huge draw. It wasn't until The Witcher 2's release that the store really felt like it was gaining a mainstream foothold. Now? The sky's the limit, and the store has a more restrained feel compared to Steam's increasingly wild west approach.
As for the giveaway vote, while I'm certain Superhot (which I liked, but thought it was a little underdeveloped) will be picked, I'm hoping that people go with Shadow Warrior 2 instead. While some people bounced off it, I really appreciated its blend of slightly old-school FPS combat spiced up with a little bit of Diablo-esque encounter and loot generation. It's not nearly as stat-driven as Borderlands, but there's enough room in there to come up with a personal character build. Blasphemous, I know, but I think I played it more than 2016's Doom reboot.
So, what's next for GOG? Probably more big-budget aspirations, with Cyberpunk 2077 leading the charge. I hope that GOG doesn't lose sight of its roots though. There's a few games in their retro library that still have issues with Windows 10. I do appreciate GOG's attempts to include user-made patches and fixes wherever possible though. Oh, and my personal pick from the RPS list? Undertale. If you've somehow missed it or refused to play because its fans were too enthusiastic, fix that immediately. It's not even discounted, but worth every penny, and will cheer you right up.