So I caved…if you remember my barely coherent Rant about the actual pretty great rerelease of many Warhammer (40k) classic games on steam. I lamented the obvious missing Warhammer 40k Deathwatch by Rodeo games. Well, in my epic lamenting about my current™ first world problem I stumbled down a rabbit hole. PHYSICAL copies of Deathwatch for the PS4 are still valid says Reddit. And Reddit is always right! Right?™
Bought one copy for a pittance of Amazon.de (only one copy left - lucky me). My first physical game purchase since before the pandemic - feels weird. Even got the physical Switch Sega Megadrive collection (Sega Genesis on the American Continent) as a early birthday present as well. Same situation, digital delisted but physical purchases still valid. Why? Not all Phantasy Star and Shining Force games are available on the NSO subscription, and I missed the announcement of the digital delisting - booo.
Anyways, can report: Physical Megadrive/Genesis collection still works on Switch. Deathwatch physical still works on PS5 (4). Got a jumpscare that the disc wasn’t recognized first, but eject/reinsert fixed the problem. Even downloaded an hefty update file automatically. Finished the prologue and everything is fine…aside from missing controller layout and the usual lazy mobile-to-console port shenanigans (small scrolling speed-no customizable options, etc). Obviously all IAP removed. You get fixed formerly real-world-money Ressource per mission as a reward (for purchasing gear/marine card packs). A bit sad that the Enhanced Edition exclusive chapters (White Scars, Black Templars, Dark Angels, Raven Guard and Imperial Fists) are a bit underrepresented (no tier 3/4 Marines boo).
Ok, now to the obligatory Murphy‘s law shoutout:
Hear ye, hear ye! I dare nay CHALLENGE you to rerelease a steam version now that I have jumped trough these fiery hoops….FOR SCIENCE!