Another wall of text incoming but this is what I do semipro, though I will not be shilling or anything here, ever.
Grim Dawn
I've been playing the shit out of this over the last two weeks, I dunno why. It's basically the indie response to Diablo 3, made by some of the team that made Titan Quest back 15 years ago or so, a quality Diablo2-style ARPG that I never really got into. I guess the devs wanted to make a game based on the Black Legion books but couldn't get the rights or something, though they slipped the Black Legion into this game anyway.
Grim Dawn is everything I wanted from Diablo 3 (except the AAA production values that Blizzard brings to the table): flexible character development, unique classes and abilities, all the complexity of previous games while increasing the complexity further without making the game unapproachable, cool monsters and tons of blood and shit exploding. The setting is, unsurprisingly, the very epitome of grimdark: post-medieval society experiences a magipocalypse brought on by, well, the actual cause is revealed during the game so I won't spoil it, but the dead are walking around and demons are popping up and humanity is pretty much screwed.
There are a couple things that make me prefer this to D3 (not the least of which is supporting a developer with heart, and also being able to play offline SUCK IT BLIZZARD): the development options allow you to actually create a unique and viable character that is not identical to every other character of the same class; the 'Constellation' system by which you fill in constellations with points earned from sanctifying shrines, an entirely parallel development system that ties into and complements character development via leveling; all my goddamn hotkeys work right from the beginning; you can spin the camera (!!!); playing through on normal difficulty actual requires a tiny bit of skill. The worst I can say about it is that the graphics aren't spectacular, that it can get repetitive (a trait it shares with all ARPGs like this, imo), the voice acting ranges from good to not good, and that's about it.
It is probably the best ARPG I have ever played, and though I usually get bored with these games after 10 hrs or so I'm currently at the 30 hr mark and going strong. Also I am playing with the Steam controller form my bed and the experience is PERFECT, running around with the left stick, moving the camera with right pad, then clicking the pad to activate the mouse cursor... one of the best Steam controller experiences I've had yet.
Warhammer Quest
A vidya conversion of the classic tabletop miniatures game (which I have never played), I find this game strangely compelling. I got it in the Humble Monthly Bundle I think, so if I divide the 12$ I paid for the bundle among the games I got this cost me... $3? I bring up cost right off the bat because WHQ kinda sticks it to you, moneywise: the base game includes 4 characters out of 12 and the others are purchases separately, individually, and at the not inconsiderable sum of 3$ a piece, and I think there are other things to buy as well (monsters maybe?). Anyway I'm broke as hell and usually won't even play a game that's not complete (like the recent and pretty good Spacehulk Ascension, another GW license with a ton of DLC) so I didn't buy any other classes but damn, there is a charm and an addictive element to WHQ that is undeniable.
The controls and UI are kind of a pain (I'm playing with my Steam controller emulating a trackball/mouse) in that there aren't enough hot keys or a way to remap them either (I think), and it's brutally difficult at first and does a piss poor job of explaining how to play AND the graphics aren't so great AND the animations are slow AND AND AND yet I have been putting in an hour a night at least, grinding my party to 4th level, getting better gear, doing those quirky GW-style quests.
It's hard to recommend because of the paywall (15$ for the game plus 24$ more for all the characters, who are all pretty different) but it scratches a weird itch that I guess I like to have scratched. When I have some extra money I'll probably buy the other characters but if I hadn't gotten the game in a bundle I'd have never picked it up, imo it should be free if they want to sell DLC characters or 25$ for everything.
Sentinels of the Multiverse
Some of you may be familiar with the physical version of this game, it is a co-op NON-collectible (ie, complete upon purchase) card game with a bunch of expansions where you and your friends (or just you) control superheroes battling supervillains. The coop-only nature of the game makes it pretty cool, and each hero has their own feel and strategy for playing. Also it is nothing like Magic: The Gathering which can be nice. At this point there are LOTS of heroes, villains, and environments (where the battle takes place), and a new expansion came out the other day. The game can be a little complex to get into (especially if you get it with all the expansions) and can be a little slow to play (lots of times I've had games take more than an hour) and the UI is not the best but it is functional, the game is fun, and it has some heart which I think counts for something. The art, however, generally ranges from 'just better than high school art student' to 'medium grade webcomic,' which is unfortunate but doesn't detract from the experience and might even lend it some charm.
Magic Duels
I never played M:TG until the Xbox 360 version of Duels of the Planeswalkers back in, jeez, 2009 or so. Since then I have picked up each yearly iteration and been more or less satisfied: for 15 bucks you get a complete, if limited, experience. Last year the developers decided to go 'free2play' (ie pay2win), with mixed results. Now the game is free, and you can TECHNICALLY get all the in game cards by grinding out gold, or you can pay something like 40$ real money and unlock them all. Sorry, that was before the expansions came out this week, now I guess it's like 140$ to unlock everything. I played the new singleplayer stuff (including a heavily Lovecraft inspired expansion), spent the gold I earned on booster packs and... didn't have enough good cards to make a deck, saw that it would take between 10 and 30 matches to unlock another booster (of 6 cards), and said screw it. I'll play the next expansion when it comes out I guess. Too bad, I like the game but I'm not grinding 100 hrs trying to make a vidya Magic deck.
The Magic Circle
Clever, unique, well-written, and funny with excellent voice acting (headlining is James Urbaniak of Dr. Venture fame!!!), the less I say about this the better as discovery is part of the fun. I've had it on my wishlist since I saw a preview a year or so ago and was thrilled it was in the Humble Monthly Bundle. I'll just say the game is pretty much a 'what if Dr Venture was a game developer a la Peter Molyneux and you broke into his newest game to play it while he was still working on it.' I haven't finished it and I assume it won't last very long but it is already one of the funniest games I've played in a long time, with a surprisingly honest and unfiltered perspective into video game design that doesn't treat the player like a total moron. Wonderful.
