Any platform(s).
- Subnautica (original and Sub Zero, plus a nod to Planet Crafter which captures some of that same vibe)
- Metroid Prime (and all the other Metroids)
- StarCraft (1 and 2, though fuck Blizzard today)
- Diablo (2 and 3, though to a lesser extent for 3, and still fuck Blizzard)
- WoW (I’m done with it now but there was a reason I was addicted for those years, but fuck Blizzard)
- Oblivion (and Skyrim)
- Factorio (and Dyson Sphere Project)
- Beat Saber (and a nod to the rhythm games that predated it, like Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Frequency I believe it was called)
- Paradox games (HOI4, CK3, Europa (uh current?), Stellaris)
- Hades
Many others could have been listed here instead. Oxygen not included, smash Bros, DBZ kakarot, xenosaga 2, transport fever, city skylines, risk of Rain 2, King’s quest series, civ, Halo, Mario games, Zelda games, Mario Kart, Lego games, Minecraft… And I’m sure I’m missing many more that I have tried and others that I haven’t.
Oblivion I find somewhat questionable due to just how awful that leveling system was. Holy fuck did mods ever save that fucking game.
Oblivion holds a special place in my heart as the first elder scrolls game I played and as one of the few games that rewarded players that jumped everywhere they went. My mind was kinda blown the first time I saw athleticism or acrobatics level up just from jumping from one place to another.
And I have fond memories of getting into the mage’s guild and making a custom spell that increased acrobatics to a crazy level and then jumping around the roofs of that section of the town. That was the last time I played the game, actually. It came out early in my WoW addiction and interrupted the addiction for a month or so, but then I got pulled back into WoW and ended up going pretty hardcore with the character I rolled on my return and didn’t have time for… well, anything else lol.
- Chrono Trigger
Okay done
deleted by creator
- Disco Elysium
- Jade Empire
- Eternal Darkness
- Knights of the Old Republic
- Starcraft 2
- Quake
- Chrono Trigger
- Portal
- Resident Evil 4
- The Last of Us
Metal Gear Solid 1
Cyberpunk 2077
Civilization V
Gods Will Be Watching
Portal
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Dead Cells
Sniper Elite 3
Dirt Rally
Ghost of Tsushima
I was so close to putting Dead Cells on my list, but I opted for Hades instead. Dead Cells is so damned good, though.
In no particular order:
- Elden Ring
- Team Fortress 2
- Day of the Tentacle
- Freelancer
- FTL
- System Shock 2
- Duck Game
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Rome: Total War
- Diablo 2
Day of the Tentacle is one of my first PC gaming memories. My friend’s brother had a PC that could play it, and I was in awe. I remember he had to uninstall it to make room for Duke Nukem 3d…
Have you played Wing Commander: Privateer? It predates Freelancer by a bit but it hit a lot of the same notes for me.
In no particular order:
- Hero’s Quest (from Sierra On-line)
- Valheim
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Skyrim
- No Man’s Sky
- City of Heroes (can you believe it’s legally back?!?)
- Red Dead Redemption II
- Planescape: Torment
- Stardew Valley
- Starfield
(I’m sure that last one will raise some eyebrows, but I’ve already got over 1k hours in it since launch. For all its faults, it scratches some itch of mine just right.)
I am embarrassed that I didn’t name Torment… that game was amazing and so far beyond Baulder’s Gate 2.
I was so excited when I stumbled across the Enhanced Edition on Steam! (I hadn’t played it since it was first released, and had lost the original disc)
Games that I have spent an incredible amount of time playing, in no particular order (games where I have noted time, I have played those exclusively without playing any other games):
- Enter the Gungeon (two years)
- Master of Orion (& sequels and likes)
- UFO/TFTD
- Sim City 2000
- Command & Conquer (just the first one)
- Quake World (5 years)
- Ragnarok Online (5 years)
- Transport Tycoon Deluxe (& Open TTD)
- Wizardry 7
- World of Warcraft (5 years)
I’d like to mention that there comes a certain point in skill based games like fps and twitchy MMOs, where your character’s movements are so ingrained in muscle memory, your knowledge of the game engines’ ins and outs are so thorough, that even just standing around in one spot you know at any moment what action or reaction is going to happen upon your next few key presses, and you have a hundred percent confidence in executing those without a flaw, if you bothered to lift your finger.
That’s when you quit, I guess.
Edit: honorary mention for Fallout 1/2/3/NV, TES3&5, Elite/First Encounter, Syndicate, Starcraft 2, Creatures 1&2, Civilization, Master of Magic, King’s Bounty & HOMM, DOOM 1/2, Scorched Earth/Worms, Diablo 1&2
Outer Wilds
and
Inscryption
Boom Blocks - Wii - top of my list. Not because it’s a good game, but because my kids and I had uproarious hours spent playing it together.
Video game I have not yet figured out the name of. It came out in 1986(ish?) and it had a robot/cyborg in a kind of metroidvania level set. Macintosh.
Doom, the original. Scared the PISS out of me. Then I played it hardcore after that. Doom II came out and I set up LAN parties and opened up my nascent IT outsourcing business for those. Helldivers 2 - Honestly, I haven’t actually engaged with a game this hard for decades. Senua’s Sacrifice - This game helped me considerably, in understanding the people I love. Doom 2016 - What’s not to like. It’s perfect. Starcraft II - When it came out. Excellent weaving of story and gameplay. HI-FI Rush - Unexpected fun. Zork - I would have never expected this level of amazing story telling this many years ago.
I know I am short of 10, but I can’t think of anything else.Not in order: Dark Souls 1 Dark Souls 3 Elden Ring Witcher 3 Undertale Baldurs Gate 3 NieR: Automata Skyrim Hollow Knight Minecraft
Elden ring
Borderlands 2
Pokemon emerald
Fallout 4
Monster Hunter world
Chivalry II
Gears of war 2
PUBG
Escape from Tarkov
Call of duty: World at war
Roughly in that order
Honorable mentions that could be swapped with any of my bottom 4:
Eve online
Total war Warhammer 2/3
Baldurs gate 3
Minecraft
No one said Disco Elysium so far? What’s wrong with you, Lemmy?
Literally got posted as I was complaining. Neat.
You were heard by the Great Lemmian Hivemind and your wish was bestowed upon you!
I tried Disco Elysium, and I really appreciate everything it did/was trying to do, but I simply could not get over the pacing, long-winded conversations, and lack of guidance.
Don’t get me wrong, I love narrative-based games and open-ended exploration, but what amounts to turn-based game mechanics are too slow, and a complete absence of any obvious paths to take makes the game unapproachable.
Football Manager phone versions.
All on Windows XP:
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Max Payne
Max Payne 2
Aliens Versus Predator 2
Half Life
COD 1,2 and 3
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
Just the ones I know, of course. In the order I fell in love with them:
- Combat
- Duke Nukem
- Herzog Zwei
- Streets of Rage 2
- Mario Kart
- Outpost
- Sim City 2000
- Warcraft 2
- Unreal Tournament 2004
- Halo
Darn that’s ten and it only gets me up to two decades ago, when I was ending college.
My ten from after college:
- FarCry 2
- EVE Online
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Minecraft
- Grand Theft Auto V online mode
- Factorio
- Battlefield 5
- Sea of Thieves
- Space Engineers
- Overwatch 2
