For me: Easily Portal 2.
A deeply rich story, funny dialogue, and great puzzles that will truly make your brain think. The story is very rich and spans across several different eras of Aperture history, going as far back as the 50s. The dialogue is funny and some of the lines are the most memorable in all of gaming (like the Cave Johnson lemon rant). And last but not least, the puzzles are great. They start off pretty simple, but as you progress further in the story, they get more and more complicated, especially when you get the repulsion gel and proposion gel. I feel like Portal 2 is the Gold Standard for puzzle games that every game that comes after it will be judged on.
Also, if you don’t own Portal 2 yet, now is a fantastic time to get it - it’s on sale for $1 on Steam, same with Portal 1. And if you want both games, the bundle containing both games is $1.50. Do not miss out on this offer, it’s so worth it.
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
I just bought it two weeks ago for 10$. Excellent game though. Well worth 2 coffees!
Stardew Valley.
Its revolver has continuously released huge updates for free and has commuted to never charging for dlc.
The games mechanics are pretty great and nothing in the game requires too much grinding to get.
Even when you “finish” the game, there are still things to do and starting a new files is always fun.
The characters are all great and have unique personalities. It really makes you feel like you are part of the town.
My wife and I have over 400 hours on a single file. It’s also enjoyable starting a new file. I like to challenge myself to see how quickly I can do certain objectives in the game.
It’s also decently cheap and has a huge community behind it.
The game is just perfect. Many farms were made and many hours spent.
My only complaint is that there isn’t more of the game 😂
Luckily mods solve this.
Crosscode, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Celeste, Fallout: New Vegas
I think everyone should play factorio for at least a few hours. It will be some of the most interesting 17 months of their lives.
Is it a time lapse game? Where you play for like an hour, then suddenly the sun is down?
Hollowknight my beloved
Terraria
Dishonored!!
This one has been sitting in my steam backlog since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. I should get on that…
Valheim is definitely a must buy. It’s a survival game with crafting and building elements.
And whoever likes Valheim should have a look at 7 Days to Die and The Forest (and probably The Forest 2, but I haven’t played that one yet).
“Anyone who likes survival crafting games will like other survival crafting games.”
But yes.
Mount and Blade Warband for me. Native is fun but the community has made so many total conversion mods for it that can be swapped in and out at the launcher. It can be Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, most points of history between now and ancient Rome, and it can even be Star Wars
I love M&B, it was the first game where I could have a chill sword fight in super slow motion, defeating hordes of enemies with convincing swipes.
What good mods are there for it at the moment?
Awoiaf (GoT)
Last Days of the Third Age (LotR)
Warsword Conquest (Warhammer)
Perisno + Prophecy of Pendor (Fantasy conversions with lots of lore and things to do)
Gekokujo Daimyo Edition (Sengoku period Japan)
Anno Domini 1257 (13th Century Europe)
L’Aigle (Napoleonic Wars)
https://www.moddb.com/games/mount-blade-warband/mods?sort=visitstotal-desc
Theres tons of them on Moddb and they’re easy to throw on your game
There was an outstanding RTS game from 1997 called Total Annihilation. The soundtrack was 11/10, it was made by Jeremy Soule, the guy who did the Skyrim soundtrack. Some might say that Supreme Commander 2 is their most recent successor to TA, but they are wrong. Check out Beyond All Reason (BAR). It’s in Alpha and it’s free but it’s already sooooo good.
Valheim
Not everyone likes every genre of game - so here’s my grouped list:
The “I’m a nerd and like to build things and I like to watch lava lamps flow” Factorio
The “I enjoy tough but fair games that I can totally become OP in once I figure it out” Elden Ring
The “I just want to chill” game Stardew Valley
The “I like to build things” game minecraft Honorable mention-Terraria
The “Metroidvania” game Hollow Knight
The “Arpg” game Diablo 2 Honorable mention - PoE
The “I like action and smashing things in an open world” game Neir Automata Honorable mention - God of war (play one of the originals so you can 1st hate the remake, and then get to THAT point, and then happily eat crow and let Kratos be your baby daddy.
I keep getting stuck at the beginning in Nier Automata. Is there really no option to save until after like 30+ mins of gameplay?
Yup. There’s a story reason for it. It’s actually part of the charm of the game. But that first bit (which should be an intro cake walk, but isn’t) is a bad design choice IMO.
Last Epoch is everything I wanted Diablo 3 to be without being a bit too much for me like PoE can be. Highly recommend it.
I have it. I don’t know why, but it won’t sink its claws into me. It’s a great game but something isn’t clicking for me. Most people like it though from what I can tell.
I would say, if you’re interested, the best way to see if it clicks is to give it’s best system it’s best chance. Which IMO is the skill spec. Find a class with a spell you like, give it a few points to transform and if it’s not getting you by then it never will.
For me it’s a perfect middle ground. More complex than Diablo but not as over the top as PoE. Not for everyone though, I totally respect that.
I only gotta mention one that everyone should play at least once in their lifetime: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Great game! (Also happy cake day)
Thanks friend. Hoping to get my footing in a non-consumer antagonistic forum aggregator lol
It might be as close to a perfect game as it gets. I love that you can turn off the HUD and it’s still completely playable. Nintendo is one of the few companies that puts so much care into their open world that you can just explore and talk to people and get all the information you need to complete the game.
For modern games, I also love Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn for the complex stories and creativity but Breath of the Wild is just so perfectly executed. It’s sort of like classic Pixar movies where it might be rated G but still manages to appeal to adults.
I’ve heard of both. I didn’t know Horizon was an open world sort of game.
Either way, I completely agree. Even at the old age of 16, I was touched so harshly by that game that it became my favorite game I’ve ever played after just 2 sessions
Chrono Trigger is a must for anyone that likes RPG’s.
RPGs*
Celeste. Great fun Mario-level game, but with a deeper story in both game and in development.
