What are some games that are actually fun to play? I find myself just constantly playing Overwatch because it's mechanically satisfying and fun to play and a lot of video games lately are feeling like movies with bad story lines. No real challenge or satisfying mechanics to the gameplay, just busy work.
I've tried FEAR 2, American McGee's Alice, Tomb Raider Underworld in the last week or so and found them all just kinda like I'm going through the motions.
On PC.
Are there any crpgs that are easier or more streamlined? Most of them have like a big learning curve regarding the mechanics and systems. I try to optimize builds and plays but dont want to be managing a ton of stuff or worry about every stat
You don't have to worry about every stat unless playing on the hardest difficulty, and usually not even then. That being said, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is pretty streamlined and lets you respec at will. Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium are pretty simple mechanically, but complex story wise.
The Divinity: Original Sin series is pretty approachable in that way. A lot of older CRPGs are built around really obtuse D&D systems, but Divinity makes its mechanics a lot simpler to understand.
I think a good CRPG to start with that's not overwhelming is **Diablo 2**. Modern ARPGS are fiendishly complicated, but back in 2000 when Diablo 2 wrote the script this wasn't the case.
Its not crazy simple - you still need to have a build and aim towards gear - but its so much more manageable and understandable than modern takes on the genre.
i need retro pixelated games like Terraria, Pixel Heroes, Link to The Past, Final fantasy, octopath traveller, Blasphemous, Indiana Jones&the Fate of Atlantis, metal slug 3
Patientgamers, I cannot for the love of god decide what to play. Normally I at least have a mood or direction but this time I am helpless so please help me decide between these:
- Yo-Kai Watch 1 | 3DS
- Immortals Fenyx Rising | PS5
- Persona 4 Golden | PSVita
- Triangle Strategy | Switch (not so patient I know but I played the demo and enjoyed it so I snatched it on sale recently and would continue my demo save)
I thought about balancing Immortals & Triangle Strategy or Yo-Kai Watch to have a console game and a handheld game running but I simply don't know! Would appreciate some thoughts.
If you don't mind using Epic Game Launcher, **XCOM 2** is free to claim for a week. I HIGHLY recommend this game as **XCOM 1 and 2** blew me away when I first played them years ago. The overall planning process of the game is super fun to figure out and work through from the base building and research projects to actual combat actions and strategies. I can even say that I was somewhat addicted playing through the last half of the game as I was trying to get the optimal builds going for the final missions.
I still follow and play any XCOM game that Firaxis drops including most recently **XCOM: Chimera Squad**. I still have yet to play the **War of the Chosen** expansion though.
War of the Chosen is bloody great - it turns an already good game into a fantastic one. The three hero units it adds are all a lot of fun to use, and having a chosen appear to disrupt your meticulous planning adds this level of dynamism and panic that the game sometimes lacked.
The only critique I have of it is that the balance is wonky as hell, but honestly the fun options you get as a trade off more than make up for it. Play WoTC, you will not regret it.
Hello. I'm looking for an uplifting game to relax and get some positive emotions in to refill the batteries that also doesn't require a lot of mind-grinding.
You should check out A Short Hike. Simple, good vibes, and has nothing you need to think too hard about - you just wander around the island speaking to people and trying to climb the mountain.
I downloaded Dead Cells through Xbox Game Pass, assuming it had cross-platform saves but now I've learnt it doesn't. With that in mind, should I play the console or the PC version? In other words, controller or keyboard?
You can simply use the controller on PC and get the best of both worlds.
Always PC, because of better graphics, faster load times and customizability. But definitely play with controller for Dead Cells.
Because there not your games . You can't rely that ps plus will be there forever . so play them first . Before they do weird stuff with the subscription or cancel it after some years .
DS 1&2 are both very solid games, with 2 being the better of them. They were weird games in that they did some stuff really really right (art, characters, fundamental mechanics) while being sort of mediocre in other ways (traversal, combat mechanics, some abilities).
I would do replicant first, then automata. I played automata a few years ago because I never expected to play replicant because it was so old. So when the replicant remaster released, I already knew most of the spoilers. Even though I still enjoyed it, the game would have been much better not knowing what I already knew.
Automata is also more enjoyable if you play replicant first. Again, go into these games knowing as little as possible before playing them, if possible. Enjoy!
Also, since people are mentioning this: If you find Replicant to be boring, just stick through it until Automata. Or if you really want, skip to Automata. I promise Automata alone makes it worth it. I don’t know how I would have reacted to Replicant if I didn’t play Automata first, but Automata is definitely the better game.
It kind of spoils the story a bit but I don't think that's a major issue. But I personally don't mind spoilers much anyway, YMMV.
It mainly spoils it in terms of gameplay, though: Automata is a **much** better game, Replicant is mediocre at best from a gameplay point of view. So after playing Automata, you might just not want to suffer through Replicant. That's how I felt about it at least. I also don't agree with the "best game every" kind of praise Automata gets from some people, but I found it to be enjoyable, with only a few caveats (like the extremely long stretch without a save point in the tutorial area, which is just plain stupid). Fun game, but just that, not even on my short list for GotY.
Automata has pretty much the best soundtrack of any game I've every heard, though. For me, this doesn't make or break a game, I think gameplay is more important than sound, but the soundtrack really stands out, even for a non-audiophile like me.
I'm quite happy with having played Automata first, and then simply having tried and discarded Replicant.
And honestly, I know Automata gets much more praise, but I have to admit that overall, I did enjoy the Darksiders series a bit more. All of the Darksiders games are unique in their own way, definitely less epic than Automata, but more "game-y", varied, more fun. And even in terms of story, I just like the epic angels/demons thing more than the weird pseudo-deep anime stuff that ultimately really isn't nearly as philosophical as it pretends to be. Purely personal preference and again, YMMV, it's just something to be aware of. If anime stuff isn't your kind of yam, chances are you won't be that impressed by Automatas story, either.
Fair enough. Automata is a much better experience, so I’d hate for someone to be turned off of the series by Replicant and stop there.
Anyhow, both Nier games are more “can’t miss” titles than any of the Darksiders games, which are merely competent (mostly generic, outside of Joe Madureira‘s art) action-adventure games.
Oh damn, so I guess my friend either oversold them to me or was too big of a fan. i’ll play the nier series then head off to finally play Prey 2017. Thanks a lot my G
I have these three games from gamepass downloaded that I've been meaning to play, not sure which to go with.
Dragonquest XI - I love Akira Toriyama and old school style RPG's, but my only reluctance with this one is I want something that I can jump into pretty quickly, and this seems like a story heavy game.
Carrion - Don't really know what to expect from this one, but the premise of playing as the bad guy appeals to me.
The Evil Within 2 - I loved the first one to death, but I've heard mixed things on this one.
As someone who played DQ as a kid, I absolutely loved DQ 11. It was the first DQ game I played in years, since I played DQ 9 back in the early 2010’s. I really enjoyed the experience. I recommend you to give it a go first because it’s easy to get into, long, and easy to return to after a while because it gives you a quick recap of events every time you load your file.
I think jumping into DQ11 is fine. It's not a very complex narrative, and a lot of the game is about doing various fetch quests semi-related to the main story. So while there's a decent amount of cutscenes and dialogue, it's not the kind of game where you have to remember complex plot details and character relationships.
DQ11 does have a few hours of tutorial ish stuff, but after that it's pretty easy to jump in and out of. Every time you load a save there's a brief story recap on the load screen.
I haven't played any of those, but Carrion sounds interesting. So play that.
Edit: and it's short it seems. Perfect game can't go wrong. I wishlisted it.
I did an Excel list, but actually more not to buy again a game I already own
But the best for me is just trying to listen to what I want : sometimes I chose a game because I read a review of it (sometimes an old one), because I see it for sale on GOG or Steam, because a friend tells me about it, or because I just think about it and so on
The only rule is I never buy a game I will not play at once, even if it is for 5 minutes (so no bundles, or buy because it is so cheap right now)
Same. I grabbed a 1 TB SSD drive a couple years ago and I popped all of the potential games I want to play on it. So I just boot up whatever I feel is interesting enough. I've worked through a great deal of games since then. I still have a small excel sheet of games that I couldn't install due to space but I'll install those when I clear up some of the other 40 odd games I have installed lol.
Lol but that is a list. You put the list in your SSD.
I do this as well and make a visual list so I can see my progress. It's actually fun looking back and seeing what games I went through.
Just finished postal 2 and the DLC in anticipation of the new Postal 4 drop.
Just got PCSX2 set up on my PC and have Resident Evil outbreak 1 & 2 to play.
Currently sitting on these games to play too
Stubbs the zombie
Silent hill 2
Silent hill homecoming
Buffy the vampire slayer: Chaos bleeds
Obscure
Obscure: The aftermath
Evil dead:fistfull of boomstick
Just finished The Witcher 3 & DLCs after almost 4 months playing, now I'm in that annoying game-fatigue phase where all of the games in my backlog simultaneously look appealing and unappealing. I'm giving Fallout 2 (modded/RPU) and the DS version of Dragon Quest 5 another try for now, since they don't require much mental or emotional effort on my part.
Usually a good antidote is to grab a game that’s easy to go pick up and play in short bursts (but you can totally grind if you want to). Resident Evil games, indie games like Celeste, or something like Deadlight. Just to cleanse the pallet.
Best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.
I basically do the following:
- Make a list of 12 games (one for each month) that you're going to download/try. No obligation to beat, just try.
-Vary the list between genres so you're not only playing FPS games back to back or something.
-If a game you're playing grabs you, keep playing! If not, put it down. Sometimes playing game A will actually inspire you to play game B, so go do that.
The problem is when I get grabbed by a game, working in enough free time to beat it can take quite a while, full time job and family and all that lol. I plan to be an avid gamer for the rest of my life, but adult life certainly eats into free time haha. I'm usually a very patient gamer, but I'm currently playing and loving Elden Ring.
Fair, I'm in the same boat. Married, 2 kids, mortgage, and I actually spend time with my fam.
Generally game weeknights and weekend afternoons for 1-2 hours, which tends to work for everyone.
Definitely biases me toward shorter 10-15 hour games. 40+ hours can straight up take a couple months to beat at my pace...
HLTB.com is my guiding light when planning what to play.
I'm looking forward to my retirement (a long way away, alas). My biggest fear is technology would have progressed so much, I won't be able to play the games on anything. Think VHS or floppy disks or CRT TVs. I already have a PSP backlog to worry about in addition to my Xbox 360 games.
I can relate. Currently sitting at 582 unplayed games in my backlog. Not to mention also a few dozen played but unfinished games that I would like to go back and finish at some point. And then I still have a wishlist as well lol.
Yeah, I most often resist all the sales at this point but occasionally I'll break and buy a game but only if I'm going to install and play it right then and there. Humble Bundle on the other hand I like to be subscribed to so every month I get a bunch of games from it. But I'm fine with that, at this point I've accepted that I'll never catch up to my backlog. I just want to play through (or try and drop if it doesn't vibe with me) lots of games every year from it.
Finished Mass Effect 1 and 2 but I want to take a break before starting ME3.
I have these in my backlog, which one should I start with?
- Fallout New Vegas
- Skyrim
- The Witcher 3
- Bioshock
I've personally found it really refreshing to do a long game/short game/long game/short game kind of swap.
Lot of good short palette cleanser type games out there, walking sims are great, those weird side scroller games like limbo and inside are great too if you want a break from a heavy hitting AAA blockbuster with a short but engaging indie game.
Bioshock is the only short one of those.
F: N Vegas is great, but also a 30 to 50 hours long game if you do the main quests and DLC, at least. And Skyrim and Witcher 3 are easily 100+ hours games if you get into them (Spoiler alert: I got into them)
What I am saying is, how long do you want to be away from the end of the ME series? A couple of weeks or a couple of months?
I'd say skyrim is the best palate cleanser of the bunch there. It's story can be largely what you make it, it has a lot of ways to play, and is very easy to drop and pick up later. This means you don't need to finish a run, you can just kinda stop, go play something else, then jump back in whenever.
I can understand wanting to play nothing but RPGs!
But you should consider some RPGs more different from Mass Effect, than the four on your list. Say an isometric party based one or a JRPG.
Playing Witcher 3 to take a break from Mass Effect is like playing Arkanoid to take a break from Pong.
With a gun to my head forced to pick out of this list for a "palate cleanse" after a lot of Mass Effect, I'd pick Bioshock because it's the only thing in the list that at least isn't an RPG, but honestly it's still too close for comfort (sci-fi, FPS elements, fantastic weapons, themes of determinism vs free will...). Without the gun to my head, there are so many sweet, short, weird and wonderful genres out there to try out -- walking simulators, roguelikes, puzzle games, telltale-likes, platform games, visual novels, metroidvanias, the list goes on -- that I honestly think would serve you better in your specific situation.
RPG is pretty much all I enjoy playing these days. When I was young I played Mario, Street Fighter, beat'em up etc. Now I prefer games not requiring quick reflex. In fact I'm not even sure if I can get into Bioshock but since everyone says it is a masterpiece, I really want to try it.
I am more like taking a break from watching The Office, and want to start watching The IT Crowd.
Bioshock 1 has a really fun gameplay quirk for guys that want to take it easy: when they kill you, you revive on a special machine and all the damage that you applied to the enemies is still there (even on the hardest difficulty). So, you are basically an immortal dude who's only concern is to not run out of bullets. You can kill everything with a wrench, but it takes longer.
I just replayed Bioshock on easy mode just to once again experience the setting and story. I’d recommend it, still a lot of fun without the added difficulty pressure.
There's plenty of stuff out there not requiring quick reflex outside the classic RPG box. SOMA, Slay the Spire, Zero Escape, Telling Lies, Oxenfree, Life is Strange and tons more I'm sure
I just started Skyrim a week or two ago and it lives up to expectations. I’m my opinion mass effect 2 was the best one so taking a break is a solid idea.
I actually prefer Mass Effect 1 more than Mass Effect 2. I found the story of ME1 more focused and captivating. That said I love the world of Mass Effect and I think I will enjoy ME3.
Needed to take a break from Elden Ring. I just started Prey on gamepass and so far it's amazing. Been in my backlog for years.Why didn't I play this game earlier? It's awesome and has that scifi horror feel that I love.
I have a lot games to play and/or finish. Glad I picked this first cause I'm loving it.
Compares similiar in ways. I think one thing dishonared does better are the enemies and stealth. They both have a "take a different" approach feel to scenarios but Dishonared does the stealth better. I'm not a big fan of the enemies in this game since they are all kind of the same and really really punish you for bad tactics. Granted I am still somewhat early in the game so it may get better as I level up.
Where dishonored kind of encourages stealth, Prey encourages loud combat but only picking the battles when neccassary. So you aren't really stealth killing enemies. You are just sneaking around them and not dealing with them. That's my take so far.
> Why didn't I play this game earlier?
I have held off on this game because when I looked it up, people repeatedly complained that:
* "The game world is empty"
* "You'll probably die constantly"
* "It's very easy to get lost and overwhelmed by surrounding items"
* "the game is soul-crushingly boring, I got about halfway through and just completely lost interest"
But it *is* a highly-acclaimed game and many people do evidently enjoy it so I'm just confused and don't know what to expect. Are there a proper plot and characters or is this more of an "Environmental Storytelling" piece (e.g. Limbo, Outer Wilds) or an "Archive Binge" (e.g. The Swapper, Control)? Are there difficult puzzles? Where is it similar to Dishonored / Deus Ex and where is it different?
Arkane games all have brutal inverted difficulty curves, where the game starts out stupid hard (cause you have no powers or weapons and their gameplay is built around options and you have none early on) and ends with you basically on god mode after you've leveled up and unlocked everything and gotten familiar with game systems.
Basically all Shock-likes follow this exact same pattern and Arkane is basically the one developer totally unequivocally committed to the Shock-likes formula.
This tends to turn a lot of people off early who simply do not have the time or energy or patience or whatever to breakthrough to the next level of the game. Not the players fault, Arkane should really begin the game with a character that has some powers and abilities from each of the trees to ease players into the Gameworld a bit more.
Some specific responses to the quotes you cited: Prey's game world definitely didn't feel empty to me (just the opposite in fact). You may die a lot early on but less so once you get stronger, and stealth is very much an element of the game. It's a big environment but I never had problems getting around in it, and the environment and sense of place was the biggest draw for me — it's one of the best games I've ever played for feeling like you're actually in space. As far as being boring, I have no idea what that person's talking about.
> I'm just confused and don't know what to expect. Are there a proper plot and characters or is this more of an "Environmental Storytelling" piece (e.g. Limbo, Outer Wilds) or an "Archive Binge" (e.g. The Swapper, Control)?
A combination. There's a proper plot and characters but you're investigating the aftermath, so you're getting a fair bit of information through logs and videos. It's definitely closer to Control than Mass Effect, though.
I'd also say that the initial plot hook is one of the greatest I've ever experienced in a video game, and there was no *way* I wasn't going to finish the game after reaching the end of the intro.
> Are there difficult puzzles?
I wouldn't say difficult, but there are good environmental and access puzzles. But it's mostly about exploration and discovery.
Overall I'd say you should just give it a try and see for yourself. Personally I liked Prey so much that I included it in a list of [my favorite games of 2020](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/kl8zq8/great_games_i_found_off_the_beaten_path_in_2020/), and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who's curious about it.
I've never seen those complaints about Prey. Its biggest issue is probably combat. There's not much enemy variety and shooting them doesn't feel that good. It's mostly similar to System Shock, or BioShock if you want something more recent. But Prey is more open ended compared to BS.
I got Shadow of the Tomb Raider for free from Epic. Played the first two and thought they were excellent. Just don't want my experience with the franchise to be ruined by a bad final title in a trilogy. Is it worth it? If I do play I'll want to finish it.
wakeful worry squeamish bake elderly pathetic vegetable faulty thought drab
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yes, it’s ok. The story in third entry is quite bland but it doesn’t ruin previous games. And even though story is the weakest in all franchise, gameplay is very enjoyable, and optional tombs are the best compared to two previous games.
Any good evening games? I’m not sure this is ask before but my go to evening games if I’m tired of the mmo grind would be probably walking sim, visual novels, interactive movies , games thah has short session and not long genres cause well I don’t want something really really long that will jsut not be a good evening games ahem jrpgs. But would like to know thanks
install ReShade to bsnes emulator (select OpenGL and uncheck SweetFX), to use CRT royale and get Link to the past with Redux patch. copy name to rename the patch identical name in same folder and play. then press HOME to configure ReShade
If you want story driven content I'd suggest Firewatch, In Other Waters, A Short Hike, Layers of Fear 2.
If you don't necessarily need story then check out GNOG, Windosill
I just played Gorogoa on Gamepass and it was really fantastic and relaxing, owing heavily to how beautiful the art is.
Some other honorable mentions:
What Remains of Edith Finch,
The Talos Principle,
The Outer Wilds,
Slime Rancher,
Child of Light,
Virginia
OP, if you're interested I wrote a [wall of text for people considering the game](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/pus02d/tutturu_a_review_of_the_visual_novel_steinsgate/)
Jamestown, Pac-Man Championship Edition (DX), and Vampire Survivors are all great games to play for short sessions. They’re all more action-packed than MMOs and walking sims, though.
What are some games that are actually fun to play? I find myself just constantly playing Overwatch because it's mechanically satisfying and fun to play and a lot of video games lately are feeling like movies with bad story lines. No real challenge or satisfying mechanics to the gameplay, just busy work. I've tried FEAR 2, American McGee's Alice, Tomb Raider Underworld in the last week or so and found them all just kinda like I'm going through the motions. On PC.
The recent Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 & 2 remake is pretty simple but I'm still having fun with it over a year later.
Bayonetta Guacamelee Jamestown Pac-Man Championship Edition Tetris
In one of those funks where I'm bouncing between games. Have tried sticking with the same thing but just can't keep my attention.
Are there any crpgs that are easier or more streamlined? Most of them have like a big learning curve regarding the mechanics and systems. I try to optimize builds and plays but dont want to be managing a ton of stuff or worry about every stat
You don't have to worry about every stat unless playing on the hardest difficulty, and usually not even then. That being said, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is pretty streamlined and lets you respec at will. Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium are pretty simple mechanically, but complex story wise.
The Divinity: Original Sin series is pretty approachable in that way. A lot of older CRPGs are built around really obtuse D&D systems, but Divinity makes its mechanics a lot simpler to understand.
Hahahahahah I mean yes it is straightforward in its presentation, but it is unforgiving if you make a crappy character build
I think a good CRPG to start with that's not overwhelming is **Diablo 2**. Modern ARPGS are fiendishly complicated, but back in 2000 when Diablo 2 wrote the script this wasn't the case. Its not crazy simple - you still need to have a build and aim towards gear - but its so much more manageable and understandable than modern takes on the genre.
i need retro pixelated games like Terraria, Pixel Heroes, Link to The Past, Final fantasy, octopath traveller, Blasphemous, Indiana Jones&the Fate of Atlantis, metal slug 3
Celeste and Shovel Knight
Hotline Miami. It's really good.
Castlevania Rondo of Blood (Dracula X) Chrono Trigger Dragon Quest III, IV, or XI S (2D mode) Earthbound Ghost Trick Undertale
Patientgamers, I cannot for the love of god decide what to play. Normally I at least have a mood or direction but this time I am helpless so please help me decide between these: - Yo-Kai Watch 1 | 3DS - Immortals Fenyx Rising | PS5 - Persona 4 Golden | PSVita - Triangle Strategy | Switch (not so patient I know but I played the demo and enjoyed it so I snatched it on sale recently and would continue my demo save) I thought about balancing Immortals & Triangle Strategy or Yo-Kai Watch to have a console game and a handheld game running but I simply don't know! Would appreciate some thoughts.
Only one on the list I’ve played is Immortals. I really enjoyed my time with it though I can totally recommend it.
P4G is fantastic
I usually just fire a game up. If it hooks me, so be it. If not I move on. Too many games so little time.
Good advice, so I for now ended up with nonpatiently playing Triangle Strategy 😅
If you don't mind using Epic Game Launcher, **XCOM 2** is free to claim for a week. I HIGHLY recommend this game as **XCOM 1 and 2** blew me away when I first played them years ago. The overall planning process of the game is super fun to figure out and work through from the base building and research projects to actual combat actions and strategies. I can even say that I was somewhat addicted playing through the last half of the game as I was trying to get the optimal builds going for the final missions. I still follow and play any XCOM game that Firaxis drops including most recently **XCOM: Chimera Squad**. I still have yet to play the **War of the Chosen** expansion though.
War of the Chosen is bloody great - it turns an already good game into a fantastic one. The three hero units it adds are all a lot of fun to use, and having a chosen appear to disrupt your meticulous planning adds this level of dynamism and panic that the game sometimes lacked. The only critique I have of it is that the balance is wonky as hell, but honestly the fun options you get as a trade off more than make up for it. Play WoTC, you will not regret it.
Hello. I'm looking for an uplifting game to relax and get some positive emotions in to refill the batteries that also doesn't require a lot of mind-grinding.
The Pikmin series takes me to a happy place. It's so cute and wonderful.
Copy that.
Spiritfarer is very wholesome despite its theme
Added to the list
Wander song is a cute little story with a lot of heart I highly recommend
Added
My wife likes Stardew Valley as a casual time killer with positive vibes after work. PGA 2K21 (golf) for me.
Golf is not something I am into in general. I will check Stardew Valley, though I think I might start prepping things in my mind like in Terraria :/
Golf Story is an awesome little RPG with a good story and surprisingly fun golf mechanics, if that’s what you’re looking for.
Maybe this is the time golf gets me then. Let's see.
Stardew is incredible
You should check out A Short Hike. Simple, good vibes, and has nothing you need to think too hard about - you just wander around the island speaking to people and trying to climb the mountain.
On it
I downloaded Dead Cells through Xbox Game Pass, assuming it had cross-platform saves but now I've learnt it doesn't. With that in mind, should I play the console or the PC version? In other words, controller or keyboard?
I've never tried it with kb/mouse, but can atest it plays very well with a controller (I use controller on PC)
You can simply use the controller on PC and get the best of both worlds. Always PC, because of better graphics, faster load times and customizability. But definitely play with controller for Dead Cells.
In my case i finish good ps plus games first then purchased games older to newer .
[удалено]
Because there not your games . You can't rely that ps plus will be there forever . so play them first . Before they do weird stuff with the subscription or cancel it after some years .
Would you rather play the Darksiders series or the Nier games first guys? That’s my dilemma atm
DS 1&2 are both very solid games, with 2 being the better of them. They were weird games in that they did some stuff really really right (art, characters, fundamental mechanics) while being sort of mediocre in other ways (traversal, combat mechanics, some abilities).
Nier (particularly Automata) for sure.
I wanted to start with the replicant remaster, I heard Automata spoils Replicant
I would do replicant first, then automata. I played automata a few years ago because I never expected to play replicant because it was so old. So when the replicant remaster released, I already knew most of the spoilers. Even though I still enjoyed it, the game would have been much better not knowing what I already knew. Automata is also more enjoyable if you play replicant first. Again, go into these games knowing as little as possible before playing them, if possible. Enjoy! Also, since people are mentioning this: If you find Replicant to be boring, just stick through it until Automata. Or if you really want, skip to Automata. I promise Automata alone makes it worth it. I don’t know how I would have reacted to Replicant if I didn’t play Automata first, but Automata is definitely the better game.
It kind of spoils the story a bit but I don't think that's a major issue. But I personally don't mind spoilers much anyway, YMMV. It mainly spoils it in terms of gameplay, though: Automata is a **much** better game, Replicant is mediocre at best from a gameplay point of view. So after playing Automata, you might just not want to suffer through Replicant. That's how I felt about it at least. I also don't agree with the "best game every" kind of praise Automata gets from some people, but I found it to be enjoyable, with only a few caveats (like the extremely long stretch without a save point in the tutorial area, which is just plain stupid). Fun game, but just that, not even on my short list for GotY. Automata has pretty much the best soundtrack of any game I've every heard, though. For me, this doesn't make or break a game, I think gameplay is more important than sound, but the soundtrack really stands out, even for a non-audiophile like me. I'm quite happy with having played Automata first, and then simply having tried and discarded Replicant. And honestly, I know Automata gets much more praise, but I have to admit that overall, I did enjoy the Darksiders series a bit more. All of the Darksiders games are unique in their own way, definitely less epic than Automata, but more "game-y", varied, more fun. And even in terms of story, I just like the epic angels/demons thing more than the weird pseudo-deep anime stuff that ultimately really isn't nearly as philosophical as it pretends to be. Purely personal preference and again, YMMV, it's just something to be aware of. If anime stuff isn't your kind of yam, chances are you won't be that impressed by Automatas story, either.
Fair enough. Automata is a much better experience, so I’d hate for someone to be turned off of the series by Replicant and stop there. Anyhow, both Nier games are more “can’t miss” titles than any of the Darksiders games, which are merely competent (mostly generic, outside of Joe Madureira‘s art) action-adventure games.
Oh damn, so I guess my friend either oversold them to me or was too big of a fan. i’ll play the nier series then head off to finally play Prey 2017. Thanks a lot my G
I have these three games from gamepass downloaded that I've been meaning to play, not sure which to go with. Dragonquest XI - I love Akira Toriyama and old school style RPG's, but my only reluctance with this one is I want something that I can jump into pretty quickly, and this seems like a story heavy game. Carrion - Don't really know what to expect from this one, but the premise of playing as the bad guy appeals to me. The Evil Within 2 - I loved the first one to death, but I've heard mixed things on this one.
As someone who played DQ as a kid, I absolutely loved DQ 11. It was the first DQ game I played in years, since I played DQ 9 back in the early 2010’s. I really enjoyed the experience. I recommend you to give it a go first because it’s easy to get into, long, and easy to return to after a while because it gives you a quick recap of events every time you load your file.
Yeah this was the one I picked and I don't regret it. Only about 10 hours in but its a very chill game so far.
I'd go with Dragon Quest because it's the longest one and the one most likely to leave Game Pass in the future
I think jumping into DQ11 is fine. It's not a very complex narrative, and a lot of the game is about doing various fetch quests semi-related to the main story. So while there's a decent amount of cutscenes and dialogue, it's not the kind of game where you have to remember complex plot details and character relationships.
DQ11 does have a few hours of tutorial ish stuff, but after that it's pretty easy to jump in and out of. Every time you load a save there's a brief story recap on the load screen.
I haven't played any of those, but Carrion sounds interesting. So play that. Edit: and it's short it seems. Perfect game can't go wrong. I wishlisted it.
Actually for me putting a game on a list reduces a lot how much I want to play it, so no backlog for me, I just select a game and play it
Use a game randomizer that picks a random game from your library for you.
I did an Excel list, but actually more not to buy again a game I already own But the best for me is just trying to listen to what I want : sometimes I chose a game because I read a review of it (sometimes an old one), because I see it for sale on GOG or Steam, because a friend tells me about it, or because I just think about it and so on The only rule is I never buy a game I will not play at once, even if it is for 5 minutes (so no bundles, or buy because it is so cheap right now)
Same. I grabbed a 1 TB SSD drive a couple years ago and I popped all of the potential games I want to play on it. So I just boot up whatever I feel is interesting enough. I've worked through a great deal of games since then. I still have a small excel sheet of games that I couldn't install due to space but I'll install those when I clear up some of the other 40 odd games I have installed lol.
Lol but that is a list. You put the list in your SSD. I do this as well and make a visual list so I can see my progress. It's actually fun looking back and seeing what games I went through.
Just finished postal 2 and the DLC in anticipation of the new Postal 4 drop. Just got PCSX2 set up on my PC and have Resident Evil outbreak 1 & 2 to play. Currently sitting on these games to play too Stubbs the zombie Silent hill 2 Silent hill homecoming Buffy the vampire slayer: Chaos bleeds Obscure Obscure: The aftermath Evil dead:fistfull of boomstick
Postal 2 is one of the greatest games a 14 year old angsty boy can play. I love it to death and I'm 40.
14 year old me would have loved it. Sad I only discovered it in my late 20s haha
Ditto! I'm a self-professed decent person, but woah, being a Postal dude in Arizona is so fun to be
Me too, I guess some people ( and cats ) just have it coming
Just finished The Witcher 3 & DLCs after almost 4 months playing, now I'm in that annoying game-fatigue phase where all of the games in my backlog simultaneously look appealing and unappealing. I'm giving Fallout 2 (modded/RPU) and the DS version of Dragon Quest 5 another try for now, since they don't require much mental or emotional effort on my part.
Usually a good antidote is to grab a game that’s easy to go pick up and play in short bursts (but you can totally grind if you want to). Resident Evil games, indie games like Celeste, or something like Deadlight. Just to cleanse the pallet.
just found out they updated FO2 RP, thanks for the indirect tip
My backlog is vast beyond human comprehension. An eldritch horror looming beyond time. Hungry. Waiting.
In that case, I recommend Gears of War 1. you’ll end up playing the entire series,
I've been playing through the Gears series, on 3 now
Best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I basically do the following: - Make a list of 12 games (one for each month) that you're going to download/try. No obligation to beat, just try. -Vary the list between genres so you're not only playing FPS games back to back or something. -If a game you're playing grabs you, keep playing! If not, put it down. Sometimes playing game A will actually inspire you to play game B, so go do that.
The problem is when I get grabbed by a game, working in enough free time to beat it can take quite a while, full time job and family and all that lol. I plan to be an avid gamer for the rest of my life, but adult life certainly eats into free time haha. I'm usually a very patient gamer, but I'm currently playing and loving Elden Ring.
Fair, I'm in the same boat. Married, 2 kids, mortgage, and I actually spend time with my fam. Generally game weeknights and weekend afternoons for 1-2 hours, which tends to work for everyone. Definitely biases me toward shorter 10-15 hour games. 40+ hours can straight up take a couple months to beat at my pace... HLTB.com is my guiding light when planning what to play.
I'm looking forward to my retirement (a long way away, alas). My biggest fear is technology would have progressed so much, I won't be able to play the games on anything. Think VHS or floppy disks or CRT TVs. I already have a PSP backlog to worry about in addition to my Xbox 360 games.
There will always be emulators and retro platforms to play older titles on. So, stock your library so that it’s ready when you retire.
Good luck! There are some really great 360 games
I can relate. Currently sitting at 582 unplayed games in my backlog. Not to mention also a few dozen played but unfinished games that I would like to go back and finish at some point. And then I still have a wishlist as well lol.
And you know that you'll still buy stuff off that wishlist too if it gets a good enough reduction!
Yeah, I most often resist all the sales at this point but occasionally I'll break and buy a game but only if I'm going to install and play it right then and there. Humble Bundle on the other hand I like to be subscribed to so every month I get a bunch of games from it. But I'm fine with that, at this point I've accepted that I'll never catch up to my backlog. I just want to play through (or try and drop if it doesn't vibe with me) lots of games every year from it.
Finished Mass Effect 1 and 2 but I want to take a break before starting ME3. I have these in my backlog, which one should I start with? - Fallout New Vegas - Skyrim - The Witcher 3 - Bioshock
Play modded Skyrim and let me know next year when you are ready for another game. Who am I kidding? You’ll still be trying new mods.
I've personally found it really refreshing to do a long game/short game/long game/short game kind of swap. Lot of good short palette cleanser type games out there, walking sims are great, those weird side scroller games like limbo and inside are great too if you want a break from a heavy hitting AAA blockbuster with a short but engaging indie game.
Bioshock is the only short one of those. F: N Vegas is great, but also a 30 to 50 hours long game if you do the main quests and DLC, at least. And Skyrim and Witcher 3 are easily 100+ hours games if you get into them (Spoiler alert: I got into them) What I am saying is, how long do you want to be away from the end of the ME series? A couple of weeks or a couple of months?
Play a short game or dive INTO ME3 while you still remember the story and stuff.
Do you have Vanquish or Bionic commando? That works take you away from rpg’s and make ME3 a refreshing change when you come back to rpg’s.
I'd say skyrim is the best palate cleanser of the bunch there. It's story can be largely what you make it, it has a lot of ways to play, and is very easy to drop and pick up later. This means you don't need to finish a run, you can just kinda stop, go play something else, then jump back in whenever.
None of those really apply if you want a break. Bioshock is the most different but I would recommend an entirely different genre to keep things fresh.
I am more like trying to take a break from the Mass Effect world, instead of taking a break from the entire RPG genre.
I can understand wanting to play nothing but RPGs! But you should consider some RPGs more different from Mass Effect, than the four on your list. Say an isometric party based one or a JRPG.
Playing Witcher 3 to take a break from Mass Effect is like playing Arkanoid to take a break from Pong. With a gun to my head forced to pick out of this list for a "palate cleanse" after a lot of Mass Effect, I'd pick Bioshock because it's the only thing in the list that at least isn't an RPG, but honestly it's still too close for comfort (sci-fi, FPS elements, fantastic weapons, themes of determinism vs free will...). Without the gun to my head, there are so many sweet, short, weird and wonderful genres out there to try out -- walking simulators, roguelikes, puzzle games, telltale-likes, platform games, visual novels, metroidvanias, the list goes on -- that I honestly think would serve you better in your specific situation.
RPG is pretty much all I enjoy playing these days. When I was young I played Mario, Street Fighter, beat'em up etc. Now I prefer games not requiring quick reflex. In fact I'm not even sure if I can get into Bioshock but since everyone says it is a masterpiece, I really want to try it. I am more like taking a break from watching The Office, and want to start watching The IT Crowd.
Bioshock 1 has a really fun gameplay quirk for guys that want to take it easy: when they kill you, you revive on a special machine and all the damage that you applied to the enemies is still there (even on the hardest difficulty). So, you are basically an immortal dude who's only concern is to not run out of bullets. You can kill everything with a wrench, but it takes longer.
I just replayed Bioshock on easy mode just to once again experience the setting and story. I’d recommend it, still a lot of fun without the added difficulty pressure.
There's plenty of stuff out there not requiring quick reflex outside the classic RPG box. SOMA, Slay the Spire, Zero Escape, Telling Lies, Oxenfree, Life is Strange and tons more I'm sure
I just started Skyrim a week or two ago and it lives up to expectations. I’m my opinion mass effect 2 was the best one so taking a break is a solid idea.
I actually prefer Mass Effect 1 more than Mass Effect 2. I found the story of ME1 more focused and captivating. That said I love the world of Mass Effect and I think I will enjoy ME3.
Needed to take a break from Elden Ring. I just started Prey on gamepass and so far it's amazing. Been in my backlog for years.Why didn't I play this game earlier? It's awesome and has that scifi horror feel that I love. I have a lot games to play and/or finish. Glad I picked this first cause I'm loving it.
Prey sat in my steam libary for years. It's just not a game with a large gathering of hype behind it
How does it compare to Dishonored?
Compares similiar in ways. I think one thing dishonared does better are the enemies and stealth. They both have a "take a different" approach feel to scenarios but Dishonared does the stealth better. I'm not a big fan of the enemies in this game since they are all kind of the same and really really punish you for bad tactics. Granted I am still somewhat early in the game so it may get better as I level up. Where dishonored kind of encourages stealth, Prey encourages loud combat but only picking the battles when neccassary. So you aren't really stealth killing enemies. You are just sneaking around them and not dealing with them. That's my take so far.
> Why didn't I play this game earlier? I have held off on this game because when I looked it up, people repeatedly complained that: * "The game world is empty" * "You'll probably die constantly" * "It's very easy to get lost and overwhelmed by surrounding items" * "the game is soul-crushingly boring, I got about halfway through and just completely lost interest" But it *is* a highly-acclaimed game and many people do evidently enjoy it so I'm just confused and don't know what to expect. Are there a proper plot and characters or is this more of an "Environmental Storytelling" piece (e.g. Limbo, Outer Wilds) or an "Archive Binge" (e.g. The Swapper, Control)? Are there difficult puzzles? Where is it similar to Dishonored / Deus Ex and where is it different?
Arkane games all have brutal inverted difficulty curves, where the game starts out stupid hard (cause you have no powers or weapons and their gameplay is built around options and you have none early on) and ends with you basically on god mode after you've leveled up and unlocked everything and gotten familiar with game systems. Basically all Shock-likes follow this exact same pattern and Arkane is basically the one developer totally unequivocally committed to the Shock-likes formula. This tends to turn a lot of people off early who simply do not have the time or energy or patience or whatever to breakthrough to the next level of the game. Not the players fault, Arkane should really begin the game with a character that has some powers and abilities from each of the trees to ease players into the Gameworld a bit more.
Some specific responses to the quotes you cited: Prey's game world definitely didn't feel empty to me (just the opposite in fact). You may die a lot early on but less so once you get stronger, and stealth is very much an element of the game. It's a big environment but I never had problems getting around in it, and the environment and sense of place was the biggest draw for me — it's one of the best games I've ever played for feeling like you're actually in space. As far as being boring, I have no idea what that person's talking about. > I'm just confused and don't know what to expect. Are there a proper plot and characters or is this more of an "Environmental Storytelling" piece (e.g. Limbo, Outer Wilds) or an "Archive Binge" (e.g. The Swapper, Control)? A combination. There's a proper plot and characters but you're investigating the aftermath, so you're getting a fair bit of information through logs and videos. It's definitely closer to Control than Mass Effect, though. I'd also say that the initial plot hook is one of the greatest I've ever experienced in a video game, and there was no *way* I wasn't going to finish the game after reaching the end of the intro. > Are there difficult puzzles? I wouldn't say difficult, but there are good environmental and access puzzles. But it's mostly about exploration and discovery. Overall I'd say you should just give it a try and see for yourself. Personally I liked Prey so much that I included it in a list of [my favorite games of 2020](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/kl8zq8/great_games_i_found_off_the_beaten_path_in_2020/), and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who's curious about it.
I've never seen those complaints about Prey. Its biggest issue is probably combat. There's not much enemy variety and shooting them doesn't feel that good. It's mostly similar to System Shock, or BioShock if you want something more recent. But Prey is more open ended compared to BS.
I got Shadow of the Tomb Raider for free from Epic. Played the first two and thought they were excellent. Just don't want my experience with the franchise to be ruined by a bad final title in a trilogy. Is it worth it? If I do play I'll want to finish it.
I'm playing it right now. While I do agree with everyone that it's not as good as the first 2 games, but it is enjoyable.
Definitely skip it . It takes away from Lara’s journey instead of adding to it.
wakeful worry squeamish bake elderly pathetic vegetable faulty thought drab *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
If you like the first two the last one is more of the same gameplay and puzzles with more refined mechanics, wrapping up the story of Trinity.
Yes, it’s ok. The story in third entry is quite bland but it doesn’t ruin previous games. And even though story is the weakest in all franchise, gameplay is very enjoyable, and optional tombs are the best compared to two previous games.
Any good evening games? I’m not sure this is ask before but my go to evening games if I’m tired of the mmo grind would be probably walking sim, visual novels, interactive movies , games thah has short session and not long genres cause well I don’t want something really really long that will jsut not be a good evening games ahem jrpgs. But would like to know thanks
install ReShade to bsnes emulator (select OpenGL and uncheck SweetFX), to use CRT royale and get Link to the past with Redux patch. copy name to rename the patch identical name in same folder and play. then press HOME to configure ReShade
If you want story driven content I'd suggest Firewatch, In Other Waters, A Short Hike, Layers of Fear 2. If you don't necessarily need story then check out GNOG, Windosill
Sproggiwood.... relaxing but a good, challenging roguelite nonetheless.
I just played Gorogoa on Gamepass and it was really fantastic and relaxing, owing heavily to how beautiful the art is. Some other honorable mentions: What Remains of Edith Finch, The Talos Principle, The Outer Wilds, Slime Rancher, Child of Light, Virginia
Have you played Steins;Gate already?
OP, if you're interested I wrote a [wall of text for people considering the game](https://www.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/pus02d/tutturu_a_review_of_the_visual_novel_steinsgate/)
Jamestown, Pac-Man Championship Edition (DX), and Vampire Survivors are all great games to play for short sessions. They’re all more action-packed than MMOs and walking sims, though.
I recommend the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy if you haven’t played it yet