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.
Crosscode, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Celeste, Fallout: New Vegas
+1 for Crosscode! I will admit the terrain puzzles can feel tedious after a while, but goodness, this game has great mechanics, story, and charm. One of my favorite games of all time.
I am so excited for the next game coming out by Radical Fish Games.
I bought crosscode some months ago on GOG and I'm slowly working through it.
I'm constantly amazed at how it feels like a grand AAA mmorpg. The complexity of the maps is astounding (sometimes at a fault) and there is a lot of stuff to do. A tales of grindea on steroids, if you will
Strongly recommended if you enjoy the genre
- Show
If I had my way every domicile in human history would have one of these and a pair of decks.
What are your favorite games to play?
I used to love president as a kid, now I play it a lot in clubhouse games on the switch. I know a few friends who play spades.
Unfortunately the hostile takeover of the developer/publisher makes it hard to recommend buying. It's a must-play but not a must-buy.
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.
The game doesn't punish you if you knock the difficulty down to easy for that section to get through it.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong but Stardew Valley stresses me out way more than many other games. There's so little time
I managed to get into Stardew after some insistence, but I also struggled with this for a long time and I know exactly why in my case after coming back to harvest moon for a bit: the player character is too slow. You spend soooo much time walking and unlike HM/RF you don’t have a sprint button, so everything becomes more stressful to do.
Yeah you're running by default but it can easily take an in-game hour to get anywhere. When you're done with the plants or animals you have to race to get to the shops in order to be there before closing. Especially the blacksmith
See, after one year everything repeats indefinitely. You literally can’t miss anything. So there’s actually infinite time. If you’re stressing out like “omg spring is gone and I didn’t grow abc”. That’s what’s supposed to happen - you’ll grow it next spring.
Hollow Knight is the king of a crowded Genre by far. The charm of the world building is spot on and just leaves you wanting more.
I've been impatiently waiting for Silksong since I accepted defeat on the endgame content of Hollow Knight for my own sanity.
This one has been sitting in my steam backlog since the dinosaurs roamed the earth. I should get on that…
I would add Outer Wilds to the list.
You can really only play it once in a lifetime but I think it's the best video game experiences available.
Honorable mention for Tunic and Cocoon for the same reason
I've tried to play it twice and barely make it 30 minutes in. Been meaning to try it again though because I keep hearing it's amazing.
A couple of oldies, that deserve to still be played. Disclaimer: I played both games when they were already ~8 years old, and completely outdated in terms of technology.
Planescape: Torment
One of the best RPG ever created, and that is entirely for the world building and writing, and how much of the gameplay ends up being based on these rather than the combat mechanics (which are just ok)
Deus Ex
Again it was way ahead of its time in terms of world building and depth, and it was still an unashamed PC game, that dared to challenge its users a little and didn't need to have a GUI that could be used with a gamepad, unlike the sequels.
Strongly agree. Deus Ex is still even now my favorite game ever. NPCs sound like real people and actually have meaningful things to say.
It does however have possibly the worst death animations in the history of gaming...
Pikmin (any instalments of the main series) - though I must admit I'm incredibly biased since this is coming from someone who cried her eyes out when she saw the Pikmin 4 trailer 😭 yes I cried over a game trailer that's about weird bugs. It is my fave franchise ever it's like my baby.
Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild - this is a game that makes me wish memory wiping technology existed. I would love to play this for the very first time again!
Final Fantasy X - the first Final Fantasy game I played and it is still my fave!
Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Sunshine - the most fun I've ever had with 3D platformers by far, Super Mario Galaxy's visuals are still so impressive.
The first game I EVER played gets a honorary mention - Super Mario All Stars for the Super Nintendo! The very first game I played on it was Super Mario Bros 3! 😃
There could be hundreds that I post here, but going to just say the ones I go back to again and again.
Satisfactory, The Planet Crafter, Stardew Valley, Death Stranding, Kerbal Space Program, Cities Skyline, Cyberpunk 2077, Stray, Red Dead Redemption 1 & 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Doom 1 & 2, Decent, and of course Skyeim.
Command & Conquer, Tie Fighter, Simpsons Doom, Quake, Portal, and DDR.
I only gotta mention one that everyone should play at least once in their lifetime: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Thanks friend. Hoping to get my footing in a non-consumer antagonistic forum aggregator lol
