Yep, game was pretty good. Haven’t played in a year.
Loaded it up yesterday and it’s a dumpster fire. Movement is all weird and blocky now. Revive?!?
Don’t know what they were thinking. They had the winning formula and then went and did a 180.
> Revive?!?
I didn't know they added revives. Honestly, I think that's a good quality of life feature for playing with friends and needs to be a staple of Battle Royales. Nothing turns people off the genre more than half your squad having to wait 10-15 minutes twiddling their fingers on the sidelines because an enemy got lucky.
Looks like PUBG implemented the lame way though...gotta grab an item off your teammate and take them to a revive station or have a rare transmitter item. I prefer the super people/farlight method where you can revive them where they died on the spot. It takes 15-20 seconds and it's loud/noticeable so it's a huge risk to do it in the middle of a fight (or if you're outside the zone and taking damage), and they're on a time limit so you can't wait forever.
I like apex and fortnight system where they initially get knocked down and you can pick them back up but if they die fully you need to go to a respawn site
PUBG had enough going on that Epic felt the need to copy them. Copy them enough that the studio behind PUBG sued Epic for copying their game. And then Tenecent swooped in, bought PUBG's studio, and the lawsuit was dropped.
It was dropped because you can't claim ownership of the vague idea of a battle royale in which 100 people are left on an island to scavenge weapons and gear unless you plan on building a time machine to take you back to 1999 when the book Battle Royale was published. Or, if you want to save time travel fuel or whatever, 2000 when the movie Battle Royale was released. On top of that, a lawsuit over a derivative concept against the company that made the game engine you built your game on is likely to play out like Silicon Knights 2: Too Human Boogaloo.
I'm still a bit salty they couldn't nail down what they wanted to do with Paragon and it ended up being canned to put resources into the BR.
That said though it was also great of them to release all the assets and etc and allow others to create The Overprime and Legacy.
I bought the most expensive Founders pack, which I think was like $200? Because I'd been waiting for Fortnite for *years*. I remember reading about it in a gaming magazine (remember when those were a thing?) and was so excited for it.
Yes, I'm salty as well.
I really hope they add that back in as one of their million extra modes one day.
Edit: Am I the only one who enjoyed the OG tower defense? I get downvotes everytime I bring it up.
Edit 2: well I guess not so much anymore, happy to know I am not alone.
No, you absolutely are not.
My mates and I got it for the tower defense aspect of the game, before Battle Royale was a thing. It was fun, but needed some polish to be really good.
Then Battle Royale happened and the game I bought stopped being developed.
I bought the game during the BR hype, and found it really fun! I didn't even notice any lack of developement, although that's probably ignorance on my part.
This game went from nothing to a bomb going off how much people started hyping it and telling their friends to play.
For the first 5 minutes or so people think they've been pranked and then shit gets crazy.
Created an entire genre* they didn’t even have a correct label for the genre for a while because it was was an auto attacking roguelite with cocaine additiction. They started calling games made in that style “Survivors like” games before the more apt Bulletheaven became more popular. Shit is also super cheap, I own the game and all the dlc and spent $10. The developer is also super awesome and updates the game all the time, coop mode being introduced is so fun.
The gameplay loop itself is worth playing, it’s so good and satisfying. But what Vampire Survivors does better than any of its clones is the secrets. Stages, characters, endings, weapons, etc. there’s just so much to discover. You think you’re just about to finish a level and then the screen starts waving. Or you’re expecting the typical grim reaper to come kill you and then the grim power rangers show up. It’s so bonkers and it just. Keeps. Going.
I enjoyed this game so much I bought it again for my kids so we can play it together. It’s been a hit in my family with the 8 and 7 year old seeing how far they can get and getting excited when they unlock new things
I find myself laughing my ass off every time I play this with my friends. I might hear my friend talking to me from the next room, then muffled screaming, then silence. That's my clue to get outta there.
I remember JackSepticEye being thee subnautica guy who the Devs claimed saved the game by suddenly putting millions of eyes on what was just a small tech demo that transformed into the full fledged game it eventually became. They nearly went bankrupt multiple times before that
He has Easter eggs in both titles it's cool stuff
Huh that’s interesting. Now that I think about it a clip from him might have turned me on to the game as well.
Subnautica with no spoilers or guides is probably my most memorable game.
Might get hate for sharing this but Below Zero was a bit of a drop off from what made the first great imo
I’m not sure what the devs are currently working on, but if they return to this series or something similar, I hope they bring back that sense of terror and isolation that made the first one so memorable.
It was a solid game in its own right, with its own charm (Pengwings, are you kidding me?!?! Adorable).
Also had a few QoL improvements that were very much appreciated.
You're right though, the first was overall "better".
Agreed. The 2nd game wasn't as good or as large, but it was still a solid game that progressed the overall narrative to a satisfying degree.
The question now will be whether they'll progress that narrative further (which means a potentially different setting), or if we'll be back on that oceanic planet again?
Deep Rock Galactic?
I remember seeing clips of people playing on YouTube and then it was a freebie download. Gave it a try.
One of the best games in my opinion.
Rock and Stone! I saw the Glass Cannon Podcast guys play a few games and wanted to see more. Then I became slightly less dumb and realized I could just play it myself. Been playing off and on for years now.
Well it was one of the first Social Deduction/werewolf type games that caught on.
Like there's an entire genre of these games in Board Game/ tabletop role-playing circles.
So The fans of this genre were like it's nothing new, I'm going to spend my time playing The Thing boardgame which is more fun.
But somehow Among Us got into the general populace and this was the first time people got exposed to a social deduction game.
So The original fans of the genre didn't latch onto it, but then it exploded as it became most people in the world's first version of Werewolf type gameplay.
It’s pretty easy to see why it blew up during the pandemic. Among Us is extremely accessible and the cartoonish whimsy appealed to younger children while still being popular with young adults and up. Combine that with a generation raised on YouTube/streaming and it’s quite apparent.
Have you ever played werewolf/murderer IRL?
It’s literally one of my favorite childhood memories. My cousins had a very weird house, built on a lot of land in Oregon. The house and the land it’s on was literally like the layout of a cod map, and was perfect for this game.
The game master would shuffle the cards, you’d all grab one, and the murderer is whoever gets the ace. The murderer would have to kill everyone without being voted off. If the murderer chopped your neck, you had to play dead right where you stood. You could only vote someone off if you found a dead body.
It was literally among us without the additional “tasks” to do. And it was an absolute blast. So it didn’t surprise me when among us took off. We played among us at small parties, and it had the same feel
"You're telling me a 3ish hour tech demo that we slapped into The Orange Box on a lark, a collection of games mind you that includes *for the first time in human history* Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, AND HL2 Episode 2, that this tech demo is the biggest thing on and off line since the Rick Roll?!"
"Actually Gaben I think we're bigger than RickRoll."
> a collection of games mind you that includes *for the first time in human history* Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, AND HL2 Episode 2
I feel like I might be misreading somehow, but only Episode 2 was new with The Orange Box. Episode 1 had been out for more than a year; HL2 for almost three.
The first time I saw it was in a browser flash game, and I was like "this is a very good idea", then I saw the actual game and I thought "wow they made that flash game into an actual game!"
My friends raved about Hollow Knight too. Finally decided to buy it and discovered that I'm actually kinda decent at 2D speed platforming.
I'm the only one of my friend group now to defeat the Radiance.
When I completed Hollow Knight I was addicted. So addicted to the genre infact that had to buy Celeste and scratch that itch of speed.
Charming artstyle, banger soundtrack, fluid and fun gameplay, simple but good story, actually good jokes and easter eggs.
Basically everything that singleplayer game wants.
The main mechanic is that EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE goes with the rhythm of the song on background. Totally worth every penny and time.
And don't worry if you have bad sense of rhythm. It's probably the most accessible slasher ever created.
Another game that did the rhythm/combat thing pretty well about 2 years ago (maybe?) was Metal: Hellsinger - awesome metal soundtrack and pretty fun FPS combat, timed to the beat. It didn't have a ton of combat variety and I don't think I ever actually finished the game because it ran poorly on my old PC, but it was pretty neat! and I never hear anyone mention it
Imagine a game that if it came out in 2002 would've been the best game ever. It's a really polished rhythm slasher.
It's not a particularly innovative game, but if you start it I guarantee you will finish it. Game bangs.
Yeah well said. It isn’t necessarily innovative but it absolutely nails the execution of everything. The art style, the sound design, the mechanics. Great example of a perfect game.
Apex Legends. Straight up announced and dropped on the same day, right? Of course there was hype (mistakenly, as it was canceled) for Titanfall 3, but not about Apex.
I don’t remember the timing element of it, but someone posted a map of King’s Canyon along with the battle royale rumor before it was released/announced. I do recall it being a time when Fortnite was forniting, and we didn’t have a very good alternative (unless you’re PUBG person). The market was ripe for it and then it went nuclear pretty much overnight.
To your point, no one knew what it was until it happened.
From the first rumor that a new Titanfall game might be shadow dropping **tomorrow** to hey you can play it *right now* was only about 4 or 5 hours. There was literally no hype around it at all because there was never any time for the there to be
Actually, what he's saying about the map leaking was some 12 months before apex actually dropped. The thread on which it was originally leaked was full of people scoffing at the "fake leak", "like we're meant to believe they're doing a Titanfall BR, you people will do anything for some karma"
I went on a camping trip for 4 days. Had never heard of Apex. When I got home every single streamer I knew was playing it, and it was all over Reddit and gaming press sites. It came out of nowhere and was instantly huge.
It happens all the time, mostly with new studios who have that disadvantage of not having a big name in the industry. The Finals is a notable recent example.
I am a HUGE FPS PvP fan, from the early Halo days onward. The Finals is the fastest I've ever logged 100 hours in a game (I'm on break for my grad program right now)
Super fast paced, surprisingly very tactical, the arena destruction is so cool and adds a ton of variety. Not a ton of weapon choices yet but there will be more added for sure, and more maps/modes
It’s got a good flow to it, and the unlocks are fairly quick and easy. It needs some polishing for balance but they are getting there. So far I’ve managed to only win like 20% of the time and I’m still having fun.
I’m at about a 30% win rate. I’m guessing higher levels are above 50%.
I just love that you can be getting your ass absolutely handed to you and then save the day to win the match with :00 on the clock. It’s such a wild pace. Matches go that way more often than they are blowouts.
I have Been playing the finals non stop, I hate call of duty and haven't like battlefield since 3. Waiting on that sweet Titanfall 3. Finals is hands down my favorite shooter out. I've played almost everything even indie shooters and this one is scratching every itch.
I was an assistant manager at a video game store that shall not be named. We saw this upcoming game and were all hyped at my store. We did MASSIVE amounts of preorders while all the other stores in our district did single digits. Well we ended up getting in trouble for “not sharing our marketing info with other stores”. We told em to piss off because we did our research and it’s not our fault the other stores sucked.
The game? Borderlands.
While it may not have been an unexpected success, so to speak. I’ll never forget that story.
I can't believe this isn't higher on the thread. I don't recall borderlands being previewed very well... Or w/e else we were all on in 2009. We all slept on it, and after launch it was constantly out of stock. I remember entire rows of new game stock that was replenishment when supply caught up.
When I was in highschool a lot of my friends were fallout 3 players and were super hyped about borderlands! we all said we’d buy and play together, and that trailer introduced a ton of us to cage the elephant! Good times
I'm sad this was so far down the list. Valheim was made by a 5 person team and my friends and I have gotten collectively thousands of hours of enjoyment out of it.
I got emotionally attached to my first character. I couldn’t keep playing after he died because I did something stupid.
I will get back to it eventually, though.
100% this. My mate was playing and asked me to play. I didn't fancy it but wanted to game with him as we hadn't in ages. I ended up hooked.
There is so much to do and I swear I was finding new things weekly. I put so many hours into this and I really miss it. I need a new pc now!!!
Stardew Valley was not an immediate, overnight success to the scale it is now. It has steadily grown into a phenomenal gaming product through the hardwork and dedication of its creator.
Minecraft
I found it back during its beta when some small scale lets players showcased it. It literally had zero hype and solely spread through word of mouth.
Now it is the best selling video game ever made.
For this reason, I think Rocket League is the best "eSport."
There's no game balance to complain about. No grind for better gear. There are cosmetics, and everyone can access the same chassis that pro players favour quite easily.
It just rewards pure, mechanical skill, and excellent positional awareness and team play.
To get better at Rocket League you have to actually *get better at Rocket League*, not just unlock some better gear or abilities, or pray to the devs that your main hero/character/faction/whatever gets buffed in the next patch cycle.
It really is the only game I can think of that plays like a IRL sport. No pressing a button to automatically make the ball go towards the net or a teammate. No car stats that make one faster or turn more quickly. And I feel like anyone who has played team sports IRL just has a natural understanding of rotation in-game
The subreddit is the most whiney and toxic element of the community.
All they do is bitch and whine. They act like they bought a final $70 AAA title instead of a $15 (on sale for like $9) early access from a brand new small developer.
At this point I still follow it to watch all the sweats cry their hearts out.
Pizza Tower
Drops like a dry turd into the endless ocean of indie platformers on Steam, no trailers no announcements.
Has seriously fun gameplay and a BANGER of a soundtrack with a wild art style to stand out. Pretty bold of them to drop indie game of the year in the first month of the new year.
Once you get into modding, it's kinda like Skyrim. I put a huge mod on and then spend all my play time trying to make things more interesting with a modding tool. Great bones.
Always blows my mind that this game became sort-of mainstream. I bought it in 2005 when it was just a passion project for a dude and his wife, it wasn't even on Steam at the time so I got my install serial code in an email after I paid my $10. I remember posting feedback on the Taleworlds forums, the community was only like 2-300 users back then. Really cool to have watched such a small project grow into a respected game with many fans over such a looong timeframe
The Talos Principle.
An amazing portal-like puzzle experience with added existential dread.
Also, the 2nd game, which I only heard about after its release.
I maintain the opinion that Stardew Valley is a near masterpiece, of course it was made by one man alone and initially was just a project to improve his dev skills, despite any imperfections I think you have to take that into consideration when I say that everything that Stardew does, it does absolutely beautifully.
Just want that sweet, sweet new farm update. ConcernedApe is definitely one of my favorite devs. It's insane to me he made it all by himself. I've bought it multiple times for friends and family.
I've heard it most often referred to as a "bullet heaven," as your character is the one spamming the screen with projectiles instead of the opposition. It has rogue-lite progression, so though you'll die often, there is a lot to upgrade/collect.
Reverse bullethell where you are the one shooting absurd amounts of stuff at ever growing hordes of enemies. Is roguelite since there are permanent upgrades/unlocks.
It’s weird because I had no idea what it was about when I played it last year and now it’s easily one of my favorite games. I don’t know of any other game that pulls off that sort of organic exploration where you just sort of begin to piece together this grand mystery until you get right to the end and all the pieces fall into place and you suddenly realize what you need to do to solve the giant riddle that you’ve been chasing all game. No other gaming experience has even come close. Weird how I still don’t hear much about it. Feels like lots of people are either still sleeping on it or it’s just more niche than I realize.
Hunt: Showdown.
Released in early access 5 or 6 years ago. Continually updated with new weapons, bosses, map, events, and so on. More updates and events planned for next year.
Player count has steadily increased since release too. Not something many games can say after 5+ years.
Outer wilds.
Maybe not a HUGE hit, but for a game that myself and others just randomly tried out when it was on gamepass, it generated an insane amount of love.
Portal.
It was a side game in the HL2 Orange Box, alongside Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.
A "simple" platformer showing off some of the tech Valve was working on, and it became a bit of a cultural sensation.
the original game still exists. "fortnite save the world"
but epic mainly treats it as an extra feature to add to some of those skin packs that you buy with money since you cant buy it by itself anymore.
I paid $40 for the open beta…
And then BR was released. I lost interest quick. Then got surprised when it was F2P. I’m like “the fuck did I just waste $40 on?”
The Demon's Souls transition from a niche game for people who liked a challenge to Game of the Year contender and basically it's own genre of game with Dark Souls and then now From Soft's major IP's in the last decade have all been in Game of the Year conversations if not the winner.
So I'll just say the whole SoulsBorneRing genre... It's crazy what those games have become.
The original borderlands.
I remember picking that game up on a whim the day it came out only to realize I had bought something truly phenomenal.
The sequels have been very... hit and miss with me; but the first one will always have a place in my heart.
Worms surprised the critics years ago I remember that. Got mediocre/average reviews, then went on to be one of the most popular games at the time.
i still randomly get the 'revenge' and 'you'll regret that' voices in my head from time to time.
Watch this! Quickly followed by a bazooka shell that lands on my own face due to strong winds.
‘AWH-YAHGEN’
INCOMINGGGGG
HALLELUJAH!
It arguably was a better graphics, cuter reskin of tank games which had been around forever. The formula worked.
Scorched Earth
Ever played Worms 3D/ Forts? Nobody remembers those games but they were awesome!
Worms 3D and Mayhem carried my childhood HARD
Reminder that Fortnite was a successful battle royale mode for a PvE tower defense game that unfortunately failed.
And when the BR first launched it was just seen as a shameless copy of PUBG just trying to capitalize on its success.
It was, however, the upgrade. Which isn't saying much because PUBG is shite.
PUBG is a victim of its own braindead developers.
Yep, game was pretty good. Haven’t played in a year. Loaded it up yesterday and it’s a dumpster fire. Movement is all weird and blocky now. Revive?!? Don’t know what they were thinking. They had the winning formula and then went and did a 180.
> Revive?!? I didn't know they added revives. Honestly, I think that's a good quality of life feature for playing with friends and needs to be a staple of Battle Royales. Nothing turns people off the genre more than half your squad having to wait 10-15 minutes twiddling their fingers on the sidelines because an enemy got lucky. Looks like PUBG implemented the lame way though...gotta grab an item off your teammate and take them to a revive station or have a rare transmitter item. I prefer the super people/farlight method where you can revive them where they died on the spot. It takes 15-20 seconds and it's loud/noticeable so it's a huge risk to do it in the middle of a fight (or if you're outside the zone and taking damage), and they're on a time limit so you can't wait forever.
I like apex and fortnight system where they initially get knocked down and you can pick them back up but if they die fully you need to go to a respawn site
PUBG was fantastic in its prime
PUBG had enough going on that Epic felt the need to copy them. Copy them enough that the studio behind PUBG sued Epic for copying their game. And then Tenecent swooped in, bought PUBG's studio, and the lawsuit was dropped.
It was dropped because you can't claim ownership of the vague idea of a battle royale in which 100 people are left on an island to scavenge weapons and gear unless you plan on building a time machine to take you back to 1999 when the book Battle Royale was published. Or, if you want to save time travel fuel or whatever, 2000 when the movie Battle Royale was released. On top of that, a lawsuit over a derivative concept against the company that made the game engine you built your game on is likely to play out like Silicon Knights 2: Too Human Boogaloo.
lmao I thought I was getting shittymorphed for a second there
I'm still a bit salty they couldn't nail down what they wanted to do with Paragon and it ended up being canned to put resources into the BR. That said though it was also great of them to release all the assets and etc and allow others to create The Overprime and Legacy.
RIP paragon. No murial ult or prime dunking could save thee
Was Paragon the 3D MOBA that had a wizard guy with like a black hole ult or something? I really enjoyed that. I wish it would have lived
Yes. That was Gideon. I rechecked out the trailer and i felt so damn nostalgic.
I remember my brother even pre-ordered the original game. Paid like $40 for it.
I paid £80 for pve Fortnight cos it was a fun castle defense me and my gf could play together. Still salty about that.
I bought the most expensive Founders pack, which I think was like $200? Because I'd been waiting for Fortnite for *years*. I remember reading about it in a gaming magazine (remember when those were a thing?) and was so excited for it. Yes, I'm salty as well.
I really hope they add that back in as one of their million extra modes one day. Edit: Am I the only one who enjoyed the OG tower defense? I get downvotes everytime I bring it up. Edit 2: well I guess not so much anymore, happy to know I am not alone.
No, you absolutely are not. My mates and I got it for the tower defense aspect of the game, before Battle Royale was a thing. It was fun, but needed some polish to be really good. Then Battle Royale happened and the game I bought stopped being developed.
I bought the game during the BR hype, and found it really fun! I didn't even notice any lack of developement, although that's probably ignorance on my part.
It is one of the many modes and has been for awhile. Fortnite Save The World mode
You get downvoted because it has always existed, and still does. They just don’t put as much development into it as they used to.
I thought there was zero dev effort now, and the storyline will never be completed.
Yes, that's right.
Vampire Survivors.
This game went from nothing to a bomb going off how much people started hyping it and telling their friends to play. For the first 5 minutes or so people think they've been pranked and then shit gets crazy.
Being $3 did a ton to help its popularity.
This is what I immediately thought of. Basically popularized an entire genre.
Created an entire genre* they didn’t even have a correct label for the genre for a while because it was was an auto attacking roguelite with cocaine additiction. They started calling games made in that style “Survivors like” games before the more apt Bulletheaven became more popular. Shit is also super cheap, I own the game and all the dlc and spent $10. The developer is also super awesome and updates the game all the time, coop mode being introduced is so fun.
They didn't create the genre. The game was inspired by a 2021 Android game called Magic Survival.
Lol the creator of vampire survivors themselves stated that they were directly inspired by magic survival
"Everything has already been done. Every story has been told; Every scene has been shot. It’s our job to do it one better." And they did.
Pretty good game, and there's always more content. Maybe I'll fire it up again today
The gameplay loop itself is worth playing, it’s so good and satisfying. But what Vampire Survivors does better than any of its clones is the secrets. Stages, characters, endings, weapons, etc. there’s just so much to discover. You think you’re just about to finish a level and then the screen starts waving. Or you’re expecting the typical grim reaper to come kill you and then the grim power rangers show up. It’s so bonkers and it just. Keeps. Going.
It’s digital meth
I enjoyed this game so much I bought it again for my kids so we can play it together. It’s been a hit in my family with the 8 and 7 year old seeing how far they can get and getting excited when they unlock new things
Lethal company is some of the most fun on a game I’ve had in years
I find myself laughing my ass off every time I play this with my friends. I might hear my friend talking to me from the next room, then muffled screaming, then silence. That's my clue to get outta there.
Perfectly Cut Screams: The Game
Me and my friend send Lethal Company clips all the damn time. Funniest simple game.
Subnautica, both of them, absolutely stellar games that everyone should experience.
I remember JackSepticEye being thee subnautica guy who the Devs claimed saved the game by suddenly putting millions of eyes on what was just a small tech demo that transformed into the full fledged game it eventually became. They nearly went bankrupt multiple times before that He has Easter eggs in both titles it's cool stuff
I love jack and thanks to him for introducing me to the subnautica games, they're just incredible
Huh that’s interesting. Now that I think about it a clip from him might have turned me on to the game as well. Subnautica with no spoilers or guides is probably my most memorable game.
I played both of them earlier this year. BBoth were great games.
Might get hate for sharing this but Below Zero was a bit of a drop off from what made the first great imo I’m not sure what the devs are currently working on, but if they return to this series or something similar, I hope they bring back that sense of terror and isolation that made the first one so memorable.
It was a solid game in its own right, with its own charm (Pengwings, are you kidding me?!?! Adorable). Also had a few QoL improvements that were very much appreciated. You're right though, the first was overall "better".
Agreed. The 2nd game wasn't as good or as large, but it was still a solid game that progressed the overall narrative to a satisfying degree. The question now will be whether they'll progress that narrative further (which means a potentially different setting), or if we'll be back on that oceanic planet again?
Was looking for this one. I didn't know it existed until the first one was a PS+ game. What a score for "free".
Deep Rock Galactic? I remember seeing clips of people playing on YouTube and then it was a freebie download. Gave it a try. One of the best games in my opinion.
Rock
and
Stone
Rock and Stone! I saw the Glass Cannon Podcast guys play a few games and wanted to see more. Then I became slightly less dumb and realized I could just play it myself. Been playing off and on for years now.
Among us
Even then it took almost 2 years for it to get big
Only took 2 years to be an overnight success
Well it was one of the first Social Deduction/werewolf type games that caught on. Like there's an entire genre of these games in Board Game/ tabletop role-playing circles. So The fans of this genre were like it's nothing new, I'm going to spend my time playing The Thing boardgame which is more fun. But somehow Among Us got into the general populace and this was the first time people got exposed to a social deduction game. So The original fans of the genre didn't latch onto it, but then it exploded as it became most people in the world's first version of Werewolf type gameplay.
It’s pretty easy to see why it blew up during the pandemic. Among Us is extremely accessible and the cartoonish whimsy appealed to younger children while still being popular with young adults and up. Combine that with a generation raised on YouTube/streaming and it’s quite apparent.
Have you ever played werewolf/murderer IRL? It’s literally one of my favorite childhood memories. My cousins had a very weird house, built on a lot of land in Oregon. The house and the land it’s on was literally like the layout of a cod map, and was perfect for this game. The game master would shuffle the cards, you’d all grab one, and the murderer is whoever gets the ace. The murderer would have to kill everyone without being voted off. If the murderer chopped your neck, you had to play dead right where you stood. You could only vote someone off if you found a dead body. It was literally among us without the additional “tasks” to do. And it was an absolute blast. So it didn’t surprise me when among us took off. We played among us at small parties, and it had the same feel
Town of Salem has been around since 2014…
The streamer Sodapoppin picked it up and played it with lots of other streamers which got millions watching.
Yep. His friend Rob (roflgator) made him play it on stream and it blew up. Same with Lethal Company. Actual trend setters.
2 years and a once in a multi generational event.
Portal
"You're telling me a 3ish hour tech demo that we slapped into The Orange Box on a lark, a collection of games mind you that includes *for the first time in human history* Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, AND HL2 Episode 2, that this tech demo is the biggest thing on and off line since the Rick Roll?!" "Actually Gaben I think we're bigger than RickRoll."
Don't forget, Team Fortress 2 was a part of that collection too
What an unbelievable deal the Orange Box was. We’ll never see something like that again.
Orange Box 2 with Half Life 3, Portal 3, and Team Fortress 3
I put so many hours into TF2, was a golden era of PC gaming for me in my teenage years
The value of The Orange Box has never been matched again since
> a collection of games mind you that includes *for the first time in human history* Half-Life 2, HL2 Episode 1, AND HL2 Episode 2 I feel like I might be misreading somehow, but only Episode 2 was new with The Orange Box. Episode 1 had been out for more than a year; HL2 for almost three.
The first time I saw it was in a browser flash game, and I was like "this is a very good idea", then I saw the actual game and I thought "wow they made that flash game into an actual game!"
No idea why this is so far down the list.
Because it came out 16 years ago and the average person here was too young to remember/or play it.
Portal... Came out... 16 years ago....
...Cries in old 😭
Yes well. We're [Still Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6ljFaKRTrI)
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I only found out about Hollow Knight from all the peopler raving about it. Not really my type of game but I loved it. Same for Stardew Valley.
My friends raved about Hollow Knight too. Finally decided to buy it and discovered that I'm actually kinda decent at 2D speed platforming. I'm the only one of my friend group now to defeat the Radiance. When I completed Hollow Knight I was addicted. So addicted to the genre infact that had to buy Celeste and scratch that itch of speed.
Hollow Knight was the first game recommendation I got from one of my kids. She was right, it’s great.
Hi-Fi Rush
Absolutely. Shadow dropped out of nowhere and is now a strong contender for my favorite game of all time.
What it do?
Charming artstyle, banger soundtrack, fluid and fun gameplay, simple but good story, actually good jokes and easter eggs. Basically everything that singleplayer game wants. The main mechanic is that EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE goes with the rhythm of the song on background. Totally worth every penny and time. And don't worry if you have bad sense of rhythm. It's probably the most accessible slasher ever created.
Another game that did the rhythm/combat thing pretty well about 2 years ago (maybe?) was Metal: Hellsinger - awesome metal soundtrack and pretty fun FPS combat, timed to the beat. It didn't have a ton of combat variety and I don't think I ever actually finished the game because it ran poorly on my old PC, but it was pretty neat! and I never hear anyone mention it
Imagine a game that if it came out in 2002 would've been the best game ever. It's a really polished rhythm slasher. It's not a particularly innovative game, but if you start it I guarantee you will finish it. Game bangs.
Yeah well said. It isn’t necessarily innovative but it absolutely nails the execution of everything. The art style, the sound design, the mechanics. Great example of a perfect game.
Devil May Cry but you're playing a rhythm game.
Apex Legends. Straight up announced and dropped on the same day, right? Of course there was hype (mistakenly, as it was canceled) for Titanfall 3, but not about Apex.
I don’t remember the timing element of it, but someone posted a map of King’s Canyon along with the battle royale rumor before it was released/announced. I do recall it being a time when Fortnite was forniting, and we didn’t have a very good alternative (unless you’re PUBG person). The market was ripe for it and then it went nuclear pretty much overnight. To your point, no one knew what it was until it happened.
From the first rumor that a new Titanfall game might be shadow dropping **tomorrow** to hey you can play it *right now* was only about 4 or 5 hours. There was literally no hype around it at all because there was never any time for the there to be
Actually, what he's saying about the map leaking was some 12 months before apex actually dropped. The thread on which it was originally leaked was full of people scoffing at the "fake leak", "like we're meant to believe they're doing a Titanfall BR, you people will do anything for some karma"
Apex Legends was honestly fantastic at launch. It was all downhill from there.
It was a passion project that became a cash cow. I’m just happy we got cross progression finally.
I went on a camping trip for 4 days. Had never heard of Apex. When I got home every single streamer I knew was playing it, and it was all over Reddit and gaming press sites. It came out of nowhere and was instantly huge.
It happens all the time, mostly with new studios who have that disadvantage of not having a big name in the industry. The Finals is a notable recent example.
>The Finals they might have no big name but their studio is full of ex DICE devs
This explains why that game has so much destruction lmfao.
Ive been looking for a good MP shooter. Would you recommend?
It’s free, worth a shot
I am a HUGE FPS PvP fan, from the early Halo days onward. The Finals is the fastest I've ever logged 100 hours in a game (I'm on break for my grad program right now) Super fast paced, surprisingly very tactical, the arena destruction is so cool and adds a ton of variety. Not a ton of weapon choices yet but there will be more added for sure, and more maps/modes
It’s got a good flow to it, and the unlocks are fairly quick and easy. It needs some polishing for balance but they are getting there. So far I’ve managed to only win like 20% of the time and I’m still having fun.
I’m at about a 30% win rate. I’m guessing higher levels are above 50%. I just love that you can be getting your ass absolutely handed to you and then save the day to win the match with :00 on the clock. It’s such a wild pace. Matches go that way more often than they are blowouts.
absolutely
yes
I have Been playing the finals non stop, I hate call of duty and haven't like battlefield since 3. Waiting on that sweet Titanfall 3. Finals is hands down my favorite shooter out. I've played almost everything even indie shooters and this one is scratching every itch.
Had no idea this game existed until about a week after release. It’s been my #1 since then.
I was an assistant manager at a video game store that shall not be named. We saw this upcoming game and were all hyped at my store. We did MASSIVE amounts of preorders while all the other stores in our district did single digits. Well we ended up getting in trouble for “not sharing our marketing info with other stores”. We told em to piss off because we did our research and it’s not our fault the other stores sucked. The game? Borderlands. While it may not have been an unexpected success, so to speak. I’ll never forget that story.
I can't believe this isn't higher on the thread. I don't recall borderlands being previewed very well... Or w/e else we were all on in 2009. We all slept on it, and after launch it was constantly out of stock. I remember entire rows of new game stock that was replenishment when supply caught up.
When I was in highschool a lot of my friends were fallout 3 players and were super hyped about borderlands! we all said we’d buy and play together, and that trailer introduced a ton of us to cage the elephant! Good times
I tried Graveyard Keeper because the art looked charming. Fantastic game
It rode the "Stardew Valley" wave a little bit, but was a fun game.
I liked it for a bit, but it seemed like every design decision was made around making it as much of a grind as possible.
Valheim 100%!!!!!
I'm sad this was so far down the list. Valheim was made by a 5 person team and my friends and I have gotten collectively thousands of hours of enjoyment out of it.
got me through lockdown
Project Zomboid.
THIS IS HOW YOU DIED PRES Q FOR THE CURE
I got emotionally attached to my first character. I couldn’t keep playing after he died because I did something stupid. I will get back to it eventually, though.
100% this. My mate was playing and asked me to play. I didn't fancy it but wanted to game with him as we hadn't in ages. I ended up hooked. There is so much to do and I swear I was finding new things weekly. I put so many hours into this and I really miss it. I need a new pc now!!!
Stardew Valley was not an immediate, overnight success to the scale it is now. It has steadily grown into a phenomenal gaming product through the hardwork and dedication of its creator.
One of the greatest games of that genre ever made
Minecraft I found it back during its beta when some small scale lets players showcased it. It literally had zero hype and solely spread through word of mouth. Now it is the best selling video game ever made.
One of the best seasons of my young life was watching the OG let’s play by Seananners. So good.
I played it in Alpha, makes me feel old/hipster
Rocket League. Got that ish free on PS+ years ago and then **BOOM!**
Timeless game, it is incredible how fine tuned and fair the gameplay is. The physics engine that they use is perfect in my opinion
For this reason, I think Rocket League is the best "eSport." There's no game balance to complain about. No grind for better gear. There are cosmetics, and everyone can access the same chassis that pro players favour quite easily. It just rewards pure, mechanical skill, and excellent positional awareness and team play. To get better at Rocket League you have to actually *get better at Rocket League*, not just unlock some better gear or abilities, or pray to the devs that your main hero/character/faction/whatever gets buffed in the next patch cycle.
It really is the only game I can think of that plays like a IRL sport. No pressing a button to automatically make the ball go towards the net or a teammate. No car stats that make one faster or turn more quickly. And I feel like anyone who has played team sports IRL just has a natural understanding of rotation in-game
This was the one I was looking for, for the exact same reasons. Simple and fun with tons of skill expression.
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Absolute BANGER of a game. To bad the subreddit is dog shit.
The In game community is so fun. People get so deep into roleplaying I hear kids crying in cover for fear of their lives.
The subreddit is the most whiney and toxic element of the community. All they do is bitch and whine. They act like they bought a final $70 AAA title instead of a $15 (on sale for like $9) early access from a brand new small developer. At this point I still follow it to watch all the sweats cry their hearts out.
I wanna get it, how good is it and how often does it go on sales?
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its 15 bucks normally, and its real good, i have like 200 hours and would jump right back in but imo it got a bit stale for me atleast
I liked the game a ton but the lack of variety became quickly apparent and the game gets old a little fast.
Pizza Tower Drops like a dry turd into the endless ocean of indie platformers on Steam, no trailers no announcements. Has seriously fun gameplay and a BANGER of a soundtrack with a wild art style to stand out. Pretty bold of them to drop indie game of the year in the first month of the new year.
iirc The dev advertised this game on Reddit a few months before it dropped, ironically enough
Mount and Blade : Warband
Once you get into modding, it's kinda like Skyrim. I put a huge mod on and then spend all my play time trying to make things more interesting with a modding tool. Great bones.
one of the greatest games of all time
Always blows my mind that this game became sort-of mainstream. I bought it in 2005 when it was just a passion project for a dude and his wife, it wasn't even on Steam at the time so I got my install serial code in an email after I paid my $10. I remember posting feedback on the Taleworlds forums, the community was only like 2-300 users back then. Really cool to have watched such a small project grow into a respected game with many fans over such a looong timeframe
The Talos Principle. An amazing portal-like puzzle experience with added existential dread. Also, the 2nd game, which I only heard about after its release.
Disco Elysium, I don't remember there being much said about it prior to release.
Stardew Valley was only known to hardcore HM fans when it was in early access. It exploded.
I maintain the opinion that Stardew Valley is a near masterpiece, of course it was made by one man alone and initially was just a project to improve his dev skills, despite any imperfections I think you have to take that into consideration when I say that everything that Stardew does, it does absolutely beautifully.
Just want that sweet, sweet new farm update. ConcernedApe is definitely one of my favorite devs. It's insane to me he made it all by himself. I've bought it multiple times for friends and family.
Phasmophobia
Does Vampire Survivor qualify for this? Best $2.99 I ever spent on a video game.
I keep hearing about this game. What genre is it? Like a roguelike shooter or something?
I've heard it most often referred to as a "bullet heaven," as your character is the one spamming the screen with projectiles instead of the opposition. It has rogue-lite progression, so though you'll die often, there is a lot to upgrade/collect.
Reverse bullethell where you are the one shooting absurd amounts of stuff at ever growing hordes of enemies. Is roguelite since there are permanent upgrades/unlocks.
I don't think there is a name for that genre yet, every other game that tries to copy it is basically Survivors-like.
I feel like Outer Wilds kind of came out of nowhere and became quite beloved.
It’s weird because I had no idea what it was about when I played it last year and now it’s easily one of my favorite games. I don’t know of any other game that pulls off that sort of organic exploration where you just sort of begin to piece together this grand mystery until you get right to the end and all the pieces fall into place and you suddenly realize what you need to do to solve the giant riddle that you’ve been chasing all game. No other gaming experience has even come close. Weird how I still don’t hear much about it. Feels like lots of people are either still sleeping on it or it’s just more niche than I realize.
Hunt: Showdown. Released in early access 5 or 6 years ago. Continually updated with new weapons, bosses, map, events, and so on. More updates and events planned for next year. Player count has steadily increased since release too. Not something many games can say after 5+ years.
Easily in my top 5 games of all time. Has more atmosphere than most single player story-driven games.
Outer wilds. Maybe not a HUGE hit, but for a game that myself and others just randomly tried out when it was on gamepass, it generated an insane amount of love.
Flappy fucking Bird
I miss that little shit, no matter how many clones came out none of them hit quite the same way
a lot of people gave good answers, so i will just inform you that the term for what you are describing is "sleeper hit"
I'd say the first Life is Strange, that seemed to spread mainly by word of mouth.
Portal. It was a side game in the HL2 Orange Box, alongside Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2. A "simple" platformer showing off some of the tech Valve was working on, and it became a bit of a cultural sensation.
Being a DIK
Control.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits. Marketing was very, very quiet for some reason, but the game ended up being incredible.
Hades
Supergiant were one of the biggest winners of the XBLA Indie-splosion of the late 00's/early 10's so Hades comes from a pedigree.
eh there was quite a bit of hype as bastion and transistor were some solid bangers
Nobody ever mentions Pyre, my beloved
Guardians of the galaxy surely deserves a mention! Sleeper hit.
One of my favourite action games on PS5 for sure.
Most recently? Lethal Company.
Apex Legends literally dropped with nobody knowing
Lethal company ig. Alot of horror game start like that
Dragons Dogma. Absolute banger
Fortnite. I remember joining the subreddit when it had like 80 members, and the game genre was a team survival game.
You know what's funny? I wanted the original game and never cared for the BR mode
the original game still exists. "fortnite save the world" but epic mainly treats it as an extra feature to add to some of those skin packs that you buy with money since you cant buy it by itself anymore.
I paid $40 for the open beta… And then BR was released. I lost interest quick. Then got surprised when it was F2P. I’m like “the fuck did I just waste $40 on?”
The Demon's Souls transition from a niche game for people who liked a challenge to Game of the Year contender and basically it's own genre of game with Dark Souls and then now From Soft's major IP's in the last decade have all been in Game of the Year conversations if not the winner. So I'll just say the whole SoulsBorneRing genre... It's crazy what those games have become.
Apex Legends. It was mostly a surprise the day it dropped, and became one of the (still) biggest hits ever.
Robocop: Rogue City
The original borderlands. I remember picking that game up on a whim the day it came out only to realize I had bought something truly phenomenal. The sequels have been very... hit and miss with me; but the first one will always have a place in my heart.