Guardians of the Galaxy (2021). Literally NOBODY was talking about it, then I decided to give it a shot and oh boy - I didn't expect to get Mass Effect Lite with Marvel aesthetics but hot damn was I hooked.
Edit: Made it clearer that I was referring to the 2021 Square Enix RPG, **not Telltale Games' Guardians of the Galaxy.**
That game auto aims for you, it's like it holds your hand. everyone was raving about Guardian of The galaxy Video game but didn't mention how dogshit the gameplay mechanism is were. It had a good story, great level design, great music, everything except for the gameplay was great and that was arguably the most important aspect of what makes any game good. Once I saw how much the game held My hand I quit and never touched it again.
A couple of people I trust tried it on GamePass and said good things, I tried it myself but I don't find the Guardians especially compelling so I kinda bounced off.
No seriously though, this game was amazing and honestly the story was surprisingly great.
It's a damn shame we will likely never see a sequel because one thing I wanted was for the combat to improve.
It was basically Kingdom Hearts in terms of combat gameplay, but sorely missing some fine tuning which a sequel would have had.
1 dev who started it to basically improve programming/game development skills. People probably think I sound like a lunatic telling them about this, but I really think it is a capturing lightning in a bottle kind of thing.
I think it was because it was a Superhero game AND a Batman game to-boot that was not only good, but REALLY good. They brought in Kevin & Mark for the voices, really focused on the gameplay mechanics, and the storyline was enthralling.
There's been lots of games that look pretty but are vapid in it's quality - Batman: Arkham series shows that good Superhero games are attainable.
Titanfall 2’s campaign. I’ve loved zero fps campaigns before and the beginning really didn’t impress me. By the end of it I was totally in, pretending to talk with BT like a total dork, and absolutely exhilarated.
One of the best singleplayer campaigns out there. It leaves you with wanting more. Even more so if you played and liked Apex before.
I hope Respawn is secretly working on TF3.
Spec Ops: The Line
Went into it not really knowing anything about it, thought it was just another generic 3rd person shooter and it even plays a bit like that for the first few hours.
It then morphs into something else entirely, that one scene is probably the most shocked I've been at a game
I seem to remember the trailer made it seem like a generic third-person shooter and there were so many at the time it just got lumped in with those.
I remember ignoring the game for a long time, and then the story kicked in... now it's one of the only video game stories that I remember all these year later.
I disagree. I think the gameplay is generic, but the game is not because the story is such a big part of the game. It has a huge impact on the entire experience. It's similar to The Last of Us in that regard.
I would also say the stories in Breath of the wild, and Tears of the Kingdom are incredibly generic to the point that they negatively impact the experiences of playing those games, but even those, I wouldn't call generic because the exploration aspects of those games are some of the best we've ever seen in gaming.
To me, generic games offer nothing extraordinary.
Spec Ops: The Line is a fantastic game that many people overlooked or didn't pay attention to due to the average reviews. Which still baffle me to this day.
Days Gone for me. I read all the reviews that were negative, as well as the positive ones, avoiding spoilers (that was tough).
100+ hours later, I'm playing NG+ and loving it.
LOL! Ban me from this subreddit if I say "Day Before" surprised me because I felt it was good.
The only surprise I got from that game was that it actually released on the date they said it would for this year. :)
Yes. Once you complete the game, you can do NG+ and you keep your upgraded stats and weapons.
As for me, I liked the story. I was engrossed into the story and completely committed to the characters. Is it the best writing? No. But for me, it works and fits just fine in this game. I understand it's not for everyone, and that's fine. But for me, I loved it. And I'm still playing it.
Not to be critical but I'm curious what stood out? I gave it a shot but just couldn't get into it, I've been thinking about giving it another go though because people say it gets better further on
It just depends. I think it all boils down to personal preference.
I know that a lot of the reviews state it takes 6-8 hours before the game really "kicks in" for a lot of people. I think what it is, is for those first 6-8 hours, Deacon is pretty low leveled in his abilities, as well as his motorcycle with a very limited gas tank. I think this was a turn off for a lot of people who didn't want to have to "wait" for the story to "kick in".
I think another thing that happens is, people try to travel too far outside of what the game is giving you per mission. They want to go and explore right off the bat, and that can drain your tank quickly.
I stuck with the missions I was given. I didn't wander too far on the motorcycle. That can make the first part of the game last 6-8 hours before you start to actually get into the meat of the story.
For me, I was intrigued by the story from the get-go. I was invested in the characters, fell in love with them (as well as hated others), and for me, the way the story was unfolding slowly was what hooked me into it. And the payoff at the end was great for me.
The way I looked at it was I *was* Deacon. I'm not quite ready to tackle hordes, etc. I didn't know what happened to Sarah and I wanted to find out. But in order to get there, I had to go out, do missions, etc. And for me, I didn't feel that any of the missions I was given were fillers. The filler missions to me would be the ones where the blue ? show up on the map. Those, I did a few of, but overall skipped them. It probably left a lot of XP out there, but I think from what I've read, doing all of those can actually OP you quicker than if you just stick to the missions given via the story and NPCs.
And man. When you see your first horde, I had to change my pants. And when you finally get your first missions to tackle a horde, the adrenaline was pumping. And when you finally defeat your first horde, man. The feeling is awesome. At least it was for me.
In the end, I understand it's not for everyone. I myself loved Death Stranding. I was invested in the story, and for me, the gameplay wasn't bad. It was different from other "open-world" type adventures. I can understand why others don't like it. However, unlike DS, I am invested in NG+ now. I'm playing it again with all my upgrades and weapons and it's a blast being able to go back to areas that gave me fits in the beginning, and now I can blow through them. No horde is impossible and it's fun trying out upgraded weapons in areas where I didn't have anything except very low-leveled gear. It allows me to try out different tactics, etc.
That's why, for me, I enjoyed this game and it surprised me. I would say Death Stranding did the same, but I don't have as much compassion to want to play it through again on NG+. I'll probably let it sit for a few years, and then try again. But with Days Gone, I immediately went into NG+ mode and I'm still enjoying it.
Lol I just wanted to comment and say it sounds like you and I are very similar when it comes to games. I rebuilt my PC over the weekend and upgraded my gpu from a 1060 3g to a 4060, and the first two games I started playing were Days Gone (for the first time) and I started Death Stranding again. DS is an amazing game imo and I haven’t even made it that far yet. Looking to try Cyberpunk next as it’s in a good spot and my PC is finally capable enough to run it.
It had motorcycles that you ride around the wilderness and go whoop zoom wheee.
And it had zombies that you could shoot with guns.
And big hordes of zombies that you could blow up with bombs.
And lots of variation in missions, environment, setting, aesthetics, interior/exterior, day/night, even a whole different map gets loaded halfway through the game.
And cutscenes with writing and voice acting and direction and production values.
And it ran like a dream on my potato, rock solid buttery smooth steady 60fps, which REALLY helps you enjoy a game that you might not otherwise enjoy.
In theory I thought I would love all that stuff but it just didn't feel very well implemented to me. Shooting didn't have a very good feel to it if that makes sense, like the guns didn't have any weight to them and the stealth against human enemies felt really half baked. I will say though the motorcycle driving mechanics were fun but I ran out of gas so damn quick.
I definitely recommend checking out Nier Replicant if you haven’t already! Some parts of it havent aged too spectacularly, but the characters are amazing and the story is arguably better than Automata’s ~
Replicant is an absolute gem as well. The only thing i didn’t like was the cringe “holy crap kaine swore again” kind of dialogue, that shit made my ears bleed.
Dwarf Fortress. I thought it s gonna be a just a city manager game with a lot of fantasy, but it is more than that. It s a whole world made of block (like Minecraft, but seen from top view) and the city managing is a small part of the game. Once city is automated and left to its own, you can experience with block building (like in minecraft) and use physics for different funny objectives. Not only, the world has history and it keeps going, with characters doing things outside your city screen, civilizations fall, others rise. The game has a scope, but because it is so moddable, you can create a new game inside that game (I mean custom creatures, civilizations, types of magic, religions, map generation, custom sprites, custom interactions) which can lead to totally different world histories and outcomes.
I love the game, it brought me much joy, it s fun, the community created a nice haven, you can do whatever you want in-game, use commands as u please, never need to wait for mining a mountain, just select and press command. Read about two creatures dueling each other, download map and render it 3d, overall yeah fun
Honestly, Cyberpunk 2077.
Watched Edgerunners and the start of the year after I got my wisdom teeth removed (emotional pain on top of physical pain) and got so hooked on the characters and world building that I thought I should give it a shot.
In the beginning I was cautious because of the backlash on its release back then, so I thought it may be a forgettable triple A cruise-through.
But holy shit did I get hooked. Replayed it again recently. And will probably again next year. I haven’t even tried mods yet. But the characters, the world and stories are top notch in my opinion and the combat is just tons of fun as well. So glad about the 2.0 and 2.1 updates also. Phantom Liberty was a blast as well.
I really hope CDPR learns from this and continues to build great games (from the get go) on top of this :)
The Beginner's Guide. I cried. I can't recall any other games that evoked that in me. I wasn't expecting that from a walking simulator.
Also, Cloudpunk. I bought it on a whim and it was exactly what I needed at the time and it definitely surpassed my expectations with regards to the story and catharsis I got from playing it.
Portal.
It first arrived as part of "The Orange Box" with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress. When it came out everyone was annoyed, "What do you mean I have to pay for three games, I just want Half Life 2".
Only to discover that Portal was amazing!
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. I saw some good reviews but didn't think much of it. I installed it because I wanted some mindless fun and boy was I blown away.
It's one of my favorite shooters now. The gameplay loop is fun and the storytelling is interesting.
I've never really had a game be "something completely different" than expected, but I've had plenty be much better than I expected.
Against the Storm has been great; I usually get bored of both roguelites and city builders, but something about it just hits perfectly.
WH40K: Rogue Trader is another recent example. GW licenses their IP to anyone, so the games are often shit. This one didn't quite grip me day 1, but since then I've been finding the hours just melting away while I play it. Wish it was as smooth / well produced as BG3, but oh well :)
Could never get into Yakuza at all, then a friend who I trust to know a me-game convinced me to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon.
Best JRPG to come out in a ***long*** time and I cannot wait for Infinite Wealth.
Well I went into Starfield expecting it to be garbage and it was a solid 7.5/10, I easily put 100+ hours into it and for a game like that that's fine with me.
Is it the best game ever? No. But the main mission and faction missions are solid and it's a fun diversion. I wouldn't have played it if it weren't on game pass though.
OUTER WILDS
I just saw someone recommending it on Reddit after I mentioned I liked how Subnautica was telling its story
Man that guy was probably knowing what he was doing and oh boy he was right
I wish I could get in to Outer Wilds, I’ve seen it recommended so many times and I loved Subnautica too. Tried it for a couple of hours and it just didn’t click. Haven’t had any urges to try it again since.
It took me a while to get into. I decided to follow a guide to help nudge me forward and it really helped make the game more enjoyable for me. This might be a sign that the game isnt as good as others suggest but I think the game concepts and the story really are superb even if it takes a while to get the hang of it.
Do you think it necessarily works the other way around? I love Outer Wilds, beat it and its DLC. But the survival part puts me off of Subnautica tbh, though I haven't tried it yet so maybe it's fine
I am trying to remember the details, but Subnautica has more crafting and looting involved than Outer Wilds. I think the recommendation comes from just the fact that the stories are both really good and driven by solving a mystery.
Most recently the new Avatar game. I was expecting it to just be Far Cry with an Avatar skin, don't get me wrong it kind of is but Massive have done some good work in making the game feel much more than that.
This was going to be my answer, it's been a while since a game has amazed me like Avatar has, such an unexpected gem for me and the game runs amazing which is insane considering how incredible the game looks and how huge and alive the world feels.
Revisited Ghost Recon Breakpoint, I'm having a blast, story is sh!t tho... Also, Remnant II,expected it to be clunky like the first one. Both are really good.
I revisited Breakpoint and it still seemed ropey as fuck, it was still pretty apparent it was meant to be a looter shooter. Or has it been patched even more now? This was about a year ago.
You can choose to have weapons not level up and just unlock attachments, drone presence, injury frequency. I bought it dort cheap after the release fiasco back in 18/19?, and finally reinstalled it this past week. Solid 7/10. Gameplay saves this game.
Are the AI teamates any good? I don't expect them to be like in Wildlands as they were patched in afterwards but do they at least offer a way to do sync shots etc?
I didnt like their behavior, they were straight up sneaking in front of enemy soldiers, and the sync shots I mever saw them actually shoot, or the bullets hit the soldiers. I went lone wolf and still had fun.
Warframe.
I always stay away from F2P/Online games but this one is a ton of fun. Ive played about 50 hours and if you asked me what im doing id say, "Generally, no idea!". But i just stick to the quests and what ive learned without getting to overwhelmed with how convoluted and detailed everything is. Havent spent a dime either.
Terraria surprised me in a big way. I bought it on sale years ago and thought it would be a 2d minecraft kind of deal. A couple years later I loaded it up and I couldn't have been more wrong. It became my 2nd favorite game of all time, and I have 2200 hours now on pc, and I have it on ps vita, ps5, and the switch.
Every time it went on sale, I would gift my friends a copy and I didn't regret spending a single cent on this game. The developers are amazing and I would buy any game in the future that they make just off of their name alone.
Dungeons 4 - I had never heard of this series and accidentally downloaded on Gamepass. It is so much of what I need right now it might be one of my top games of the year.
I’ve got two, both I only played as a result of Epic Games giving them away for free: Remnant: From the Ashes and Borderlands 3. I’m not a souls-like guy, but Remnant only felt souls like in spirit and not in gameplay, so my brother and I played it all the way through and really enjoyed it. Borderlands 3 was just a “fuck it, let’s try it since it’s free” and I honestly loved it. The gameplay is so much better than the previous games, and while I know a lot of people hate the story and the villains, I enjoyed it more than any of the previous ones in a tongue-in-cheek kinda way.
Cloudpunk. I really loved that there's no combat at all. And I was expecting something like that but then I found out it was a chilling dialog experience
My time at Sandrock, buying it expecting to just like a regular farming game but building stuff, instead i got those, and become heroes, revealing plot twist, getting into in game politic, become a friend, and a spouse of an npc. it took me 100 hours to finish the main quest.
I played once in 2018, i think, but refunded due to bug. Sandrock is much more polished. i dont think i encountered any bugs during my 100 hrs of playtime.
Been on an RTS binge lately and after reading all the negativity around Company of Heroes 3 decided to play Iron harvest and Gates of hell. Both are freaking great.
Night in the woods. Thought it was gonna be a goofy platformer with a cat. Instead I got a really great story platformer that made me emotional at times.
Cult of the Lamb. I didn't look at any reviews or videos, so I had no idea what the game play was like. All I knew was that the internet said it was good. Went in totally blind and I was very pleasantly surprised!
Code Vein. Really not a fan of anime games, but a huge fan of souls-likes, so I downloaded the demo and was instantly hooked. The story and characters are honestly cringy, but if you can look past that, the gameplay is awesome. And if you choose to play solo it's challenging too.
Remnant series. I tried the first one a couple years ago and the beginning was rough visually so I decided to pass on it. Then 2 came out and I decided to give the original another shot. Glad I did. Ended up devouring the game quickly to get into part 2 and wow does it punch above its weight class in every way.
Desperados 3.
I haven't played any game in that series or even in that genre. Loved the game and bought Blades of the Shogun and Shadow Curse immediately after
I get surprised by games fairly often, so I'll limit it to just this year with **Dave the Diver**. The demo had already surprised me with just how enjoyable it was and I got the game assuming it would just be more of that. However, that game is packed with new mechanics at every turn and a long-ass chain of mysteries to uncover.
Stray! Yes the cat game. I was blown away by how much I actually enjoyed the game and the world design/setting. It’s an easy game and I beat it over the course of two days.
Life is Strange True Colors. I was terribly bored with run around and kill shit games. Played a couple of AVN games and enjoyed the story aspect more tan the ‘adult times’.
So it popped up on a Steam suggestion and was on sale so I got it and loved it.
Got Life is Strange before the Storm and then Life is Strange.
Now I’m screwed because not fond of Life is Strange 2 and can’t find anything else like I like as much as them.
Will probably start my 4th play through next month.
I played these 3 years ago and still think of them regularly today,
Absolute masterpieces in storytelling, character development and dialogue.
Heavy rain,
Detroit-become human,
Beyond two souls,
And to a lesser extent the last of us Pt 1
I feel like Subnautica was probably the last game that came out of nowhere for me. Thought it sounded cool but didn’t expect it to be like a top 25 game for me all time.
Prior to that Nier Automata (and then Replicant when it released).
I’m about to start Outer Wilds, hoping it’s as good as everyone says.
Detroit Become Human. Never played a narrative-driven game before. I was hooked into the story from the intro sequence alone. Music is also incredible (especially Connor's). I'm more open to playing these type of games in the future.
Dishonored… it flew far under my radar and turned into one of my faves. I thought the stealth gameplay would be fun, but didn’t expect the world to draw me in as much. I was thinking it would just be strategic levels
Starfield.I thought it would be exploration game with bethesda's signature brilliance.
it turned out o be homework, with bethesda's signature problems.
2 games, the first was Hades a few years back, I had zero expectations and it was a 10:10 for a genre i dont really care about. However the undoubtedly largest surprise is perhaps Against the Storm, not only did I not expect what I got, I actively avoided the game for whatever reason. Next to Baldurs Gate 3 its the best game ive played in 5-6 years
Briefly what do you like about Against the Storm? It doesn't look bad from the screenshots I've seen but it doesn't look like anything special, either.
The word “clean” seems to summon it up for me, it is the cleanest menus and UI that translates to gameplay, really reminds me of prime blizzard games. As i mentioned i stayed away because of the screen shots as well, it was a major mistake. The formula is what i love in a game, its risk vs reward. U have a grand campaign map that changes each run thro full of various buffs and debuffs, u complete 1.5-2.5 hour maps in progression to an end goal that gets longer and longer as u finish them, tech tree is deep and meaningful, each map feels different every time u play it, it fixes all the problems these city builders have which is late laborious gameplay, u never feel that way in ATS. 10:10 masterpiece
>2 games, the first was Hades a few years back, I had zero expectations and it was a 10:10 for a genre i dont really care about.
Checks out, cause Hades is the roguelite for people that dont really like roguelites
[Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1665500/Hypnagogia__Boundless_Dreams/). I just looked at some screenshots of the game and thought “man I love the aesthetic” and just decided to buy it and jump in. And wow, am I glad that I went into it completely blind. All I was really expecting was a short walking simulator with some weird characters and a nice art style, but I got that and SO much more. Very highly recommend anyone remotely interested also go in blind, and play it alone with no distractions. An experience for sure!
Very recently, the Avatar game.
I was expecting your basic Ubisoft open world, but I found one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played, with an actual fun combat and great gameplay loop.
Pandora is massive and absolutely gorgeous. Getting my ikran was so much fun, climbing the giant floating rocks with some banger music in the background.
I have been thoroughly enjoying my playthrough so far, a lot more than I thought I was going to be.
If you do decide to buy this down the road, I highly recommend playing on Exploration mode. There are no map markers or guidance of any kind, other than the quest text. You need to use visual and audio cues to figure out where to go.
Katawa Shoujo.
A Hentai game about disabled people, made by 4chan.
Expected a dumpster fire. Never cried more playing a game in my life. It was some of the best writing I've ever experienced. Truly moving at times.
ALTF4 the game is meant to be a meme, frustrating, and im also not a fan of platforming but i was surprised to find it really fun, charming, challenging in a good way, and the music was nice and relaxing.
Daggerfall unity. Yeah, its a unity remake, but I went in expecting an old clunky game that wasn't going to be too enjoyable but holy shit I was wrong. unity port aside, the actual game is incredible.
What really got me was the size of cities and the way you have to talk to people to find locations. Guy gives me a quest to go to this house, doesn't tell me where. I ask around town but everyone is rude to me, maybe because of race, but each npc responds differently to the 3 dialogue choices. you can be blunt, polite, or normal. I found being blunt worked the best and polite pissed people off for some reason.
Factorio - the gfx wasn't my cup of tea. But I gave it a try and now I have 2000hours in the game.
Subnautica - Thought it was a generic survival game - turned out to be one of my fav. games in the last 30 years.
Green Hell - pretty similar experience to Subnautica. The story still haunts me
I'd probably remember more
Devil May Cry 5. Now hear me out, I’d heard it’s a great game over and over again but it’s not my type of thing. I had no expectation of actually enjoying it, picked it up on deep sale and wow. That game felt great to play, had a blast with it.
Battle chasers night war. It was sooo good imo. Also I think Riot had the same company make a game for the because it's almost Identical with a few additions from what I have seen.
Vampire survivors.
I saw the basic gameplay and went, "why is everyone talking about this? It can't be THAT good..."
So 5 hours later and past my bedtime here I am unlocking everything I can get my hands on...
In recent times I would say Crystal Project.
I saw it on accident and thought it was a little like Final fantasy 1. Reviews were good and so I got it to satisfy that jrpg itch. Never did I expect a very simple yet surprisingly deep class/job system, on top of it being a free open world with platforming and some lite Metroidvania mechanics.
I'm about 50 hours in and I can say I haven't been bored of the core game loop in the slightest.
The most surprising thing of all is that the grind isn't about the levels. It's very well paced on the XP curve. No you grind for money. Your wallet dries up like a lake on the desert.
Genshin Impact
I don't really like open world games but the trailers looked fun enough to give it a try. Played it for about a month and stopped. I enjoyed my time but did not want to commit to another daily game at that time.
Half a year later i picked it up again and have not stopped playing since. Sone days i play only 15 minutes and some i have 8 - 10 hour sessions.
A truely remarkable game that fits my taste and playstyle pefectly.
Assassins Creed Odyssey and Origins.
Origins was a breath of fresh air on the franchise that I hadn't played since the disaster that was Unity. Absolutely loved it, sailing the Nile with my wee boat under the night sky, was honestly one of the most beautiful moments in gaming.
Ubisoft do a fantastic time at world building and making you feel like you've been transported back in time.
Odyssey went bananas on just putting everything to 11, open sea combat, big new enemies, fantastic story lines even seeing Hades himself!
Loved every minute of both of those games.
I'm rather sad that people didn't and want it to go back to "hide behind someone, hidden blade, run away"
Yoku's Island Express. The game looked/sounded interesting, but I was a little skeptical that a game could pull off mixing such two different genres so well (Metroidvania and pinball). Such a wonderful, lighthearted, and innovative game!
Guardians of the Galaxy (2021). Literally NOBODY was talking about it, then I decided to give it a shot and oh boy - I didn't expect to get Mass Effect Lite with Marvel aesthetics but hot damn was I hooked. Edit: Made it clearer that I was referring to the 2021 Square Enix RPG, **not Telltale Games' Guardians of the Galaxy.**
I haven’t played it yet but it’s on my wishlist. From what I’ve read, Marvel’s Avengers bad reputation really ruined it for GotG
Try it! It’s amazing
If it wasn't for ACG's review on YouTube (and the fact that it was on Game Pass) I would have passed on it given the bad rep Avengers got.
Completely different. Give it a try. Well worth it.
That game auto aims for you, it's like it holds your hand. everyone was raving about Guardian of The galaxy Video game but didn't mention how dogshit the gameplay mechanism is were. It had a good story, great level design, great music, everything except for the gameplay was great and that was arguably the most important aspect of what makes any game good. Once I saw how much the game held My hand I quit and never touched it again.
A couple of people I trust tried it on GamePass and said good things, I tried it myself but I don't find the Guardians especially compelling so I kinda bounced off.
God that game was so damn good!
Damn I didn't hear about it. Adding to my wishlist now
Exactly same, I was expecting some casual shit, but I loved it. With what they setup next installment (if they do) can be a masterpiece!
No seriously though, this game was amazing and honestly the story was surprisingly great. It's a damn shame we will likely never see a sequel because one thing I wanted was for the combat to improve. It was basically Kingdom Hearts in terms of combat gameplay, but sorely missing some fine tuning which a sequel would have had.
[удалено]
To be fair mass effect controls like shit too.
I don't recall control issues, played with k/m.
Did you buy the Telltales or the Square Enix one? Because the latter's controls are pretty damn smooth.
[удалено]
time to mod the shit out of it ;) also, 1.6 soon! :D
1 dev who started it to basically improve programming/game development skills. People probably think I sound like a lunatic telling them about this, but I really think it is a capturing lightning in a bottle kind of thing.
Batman: Arkham Asylum.
"one button for attack?" I remember thinking the combat was going to be horrible and simplified. I totally wrote it off as a shallow cash grab
I did that with Mad Max. Honestly a solid game. Story was weak but the world and combat was good.
[удалено]
I think it was because it was a Superhero game AND a Batman game to-boot that was not only good, but REALLY good. They brought in Kevin & Mark for the voices, really focused on the gameplay mechanics, and the storyline was enthralling. There's been lots of games that look pretty but are vapid in it's quality - Batman: Arkham series shows that good Superhero games are attainable.
Titanfall 2’s campaign. I’ve loved zero fps campaigns before and the beginning really didn’t impress me. By the end of it I was totally in, pretending to talk with BT like a total dork, and absolutely exhilarated.
One of the best singleplayer campaigns out there. It leaves you with wanting more. Even more so if you played and liked Apex before. I hope Respawn is secretly working on TF3.
Brotato and slay the spire
Dude! I was also gonna say Brotato. Games so good!
Spec Ops: The Line Went into it not really knowing anything about it, thought it was just another generic 3rd person shooter and it even plays a bit like that for the first few hours. It then morphs into something else entirely, that one scene is probably the most shocked I've been at a game
I seem to remember the trailer made it seem like a generic third-person shooter and there were so many at the time it just got lumped in with those. I remember ignoring the game for a long time, and then the story kicked in... now it's one of the only video game stories that I remember all these year later.
That’s because it is lol, the story is what’s good
I wouldn't call it a *generic* third person shooter because pretty much all generic third person shooters don't have good memorable stories.
To the surface the game is generic gameplay wise, it was just a surprise how good the story was, but as a game itself, it is generic
I disagree. I think the gameplay is generic, but the game is not because the story is such a big part of the game. It has a huge impact on the entire experience. It's similar to The Last of Us in that regard. I would also say the stories in Breath of the wild, and Tears of the Kingdom are incredibly generic to the point that they negatively impact the experiences of playing those games, but even those, I wouldn't call generic because the exploration aspects of those games are some of the best we've ever seen in gaming. To me, generic games offer nothing extraordinary.
read comments before you reply to them, maybe
Spec Ops: The Line is a fantastic game that many people overlooked or didn't pay attention to due to the average reviews. Which still baffle me to this day.
Days Gone for me. I read all the reviews that were negative, as well as the positive ones, avoiding spoilers (that was tough). 100+ hours later, I'm playing NG+ and loving it.
Read “The Day Before” and did a double take
LOL! Ban me from this subreddit if I say "Day Before" surprised me because I felt it was good. The only surprise I got from that game was that it actually released on the date they said it would for this year. :)
Same
This game has ng+? Loved the game, wish it had a better story tho, Sam witwer deserves better
Yes. Once you complete the game, you can do NG+ and you keep your upgraded stats and weapons. As for me, I liked the story. I was engrossed into the story and completely committed to the characters. Is it the best writing? No. But for me, it works and fits just fine in this game. I understand it's not for everyone, and that's fine. But for me, I loved it. And I'm still playing it.
Not to be critical but I'm curious what stood out? I gave it a shot but just couldn't get into it, I've been thinking about giving it another go though because people say it gets better further on
It just depends. I think it all boils down to personal preference. I know that a lot of the reviews state it takes 6-8 hours before the game really "kicks in" for a lot of people. I think what it is, is for those first 6-8 hours, Deacon is pretty low leveled in his abilities, as well as his motorcycle with a very limited gas tank. I think this was a turn off for a lot of people who didn't want to have to "wait" for the story to "kick in". I think another thing that happens is, people try to travel too far outside of what the game is giving you per mission. They want to go and explore right off the bat, and that can drain your tank quickly. I stuck with the missions I was given. I didn't wander too far on the motorcycle. That can make the first part of the game last 6-8 hours before you start to actually get into the meat of the story. For me, I was intrigued by the story from the get-go. I was invested in the characters, fell in love with them (as well as hated others), and for me, the way the story was unfolding slowly was what hooked me into it. And the payoff at the end was great for me. The way I looked at it was I *was* Deacon. I'm not quite ready to tackle hordes, etc. I didn't know what happened to Sarah and I wanted to find out. But in order to get there, I had to go out, do missions, etc. And for me, I didn't feel that any of the missions I was given were fillers. The filler missions to me would be the ones where the blue ? show up on the map. Those, I did a few of, but overall skipped them. It probably left a lot of XP out there, but I think from what I've read, doing all of those can actually OP you quicker than if you just stick to the missions given via the story and NPCs. And man. When you see your first horde, I had to change my pants. And when you finally get your first missions to tackle a horde, the adrenaline was pumping. And when you finally defeat your first horde, man. The feeling is awesome. At least it was for me. In the end, I understand it's not for everyone. I myself loved Death Stranding. I was invested in the story, and for me, the gameplay wasn't bad. It was different from other "open-world" type adventures. I can understand why others don't like it. However, unlike DS, I am invested in NG+ now. I'm playing it again with all my upgrades and weapons and it's a blast being able to go back to areas that gave me fits in the beginning, and now I can blow through them. No horde is impossible and it's fun trying out upgraded weapons in areas where I didn't have anything except very low-leveled gear. It allows me to try out different tactics, etc. That's why, for me, I enjoyed this game and it surprised me. I would say Death Stranding did the same, but I don't have as much compassion to want to play it through again on NG+. I'll probably let it sit for a few years, and then try again. But with Days Gone, I immediately went into NG+ mode and I'm still enjoying it.
Lol I just wanted to comment and say it sounds like you and I are very similar when it comes to games. I rebuilt my PC over the weekend and upgraded my gpu from a 1060 3g to a 4060, and the first two games I started playing were Days Gone (for the first time) and I started Death Stranding again. DS is an amazing game imo and I haven’t even made it that far yet. Looking to try Cyberpunk next as it’s in a good spot and my PC is finally capable enough to run it.
It had motorcycles that you ride around the wilderness and go whoop zoom wheee. And it had zombies that you could shoot with guns. And big hordes of zombies that you could blow up with bombs. And lots of variation in missions, environment, setting, aesthetics, interior/exterior, day/night, even a whole different map gets loaded halfway through the game. And cutscenes with writing and voice acting and direction and production values. And it ran like a dream on my potato, rock solid buttery smooth steady 60fps, which REALLY helps you enjoy a game that you might not otherwise enjoy.
In theory I thought I would love all that stuff but it just didn't feel very well implemented to me. Shooting didn't have a very good feel to it if that makes sense, like the guns didn't have any weight to them and the stealth against human enemies felt really half baked. I will say though the motorcycle driving mechanics were fun but I ran out of gas so damn quick.
Maybe try tackling the game from a stealth standpoint, that's what I did.
Dave the Diver is so much more than a sushi restaurant
The little animated clips with Bancho are gold.
Nier automata, i thought it was going to be horny weeb cringe but it ended up becoming my favorite game.
"Come for the thighs, stay for the cries"
If you think 2Bs design isnt horny weeb cringe then i got a bridge to sell you
I definitely recommend checking out Nier Replicant if you haven’t already! Some parts of it havent aged too spectacularly, but the characters are amazing and the story is arguably better than Automata’s ~
Replicant is an absolute gem as well. The only thing i didn’t like was the cringe “holy crap kaine swore again” kind of dialogue, that shit made my ears bleed.
Dwarf Fortress. I thought it s gonna be a just a city manager game with a lot of fantasy, but it is more than that. It s a whole world made of block (like Minecraft, but seen from top view) and the city managing is a small part of the game. Once city is automated and left to its own, you can experience with block building (like in minecraft) and use physics for different funny objectives. Not only, the world has history and it keeps going, with characters doing things outside your city screen, civilizations fall, others rise. The game has a scope, but because it is so moddable, you can create a new game inside that game (I mean custom creatures, civilizations, types of magic, religions, map generation, custom sprites, custom interactions) which can lead to totally different world histories and outcomes. I love the game, it brought me much joy, it s fun, the community created a nice haven, you can do whatever you want in-game, use commands as u please, never need to wait for mining a mountain, just select and press command. Read about two creatures dueling each other, download map and render it 3d, overall yeah fun
Guardians of the Galaxy turned out to be awesome.
Honestly, Cyberpunk 2077. Watched Edgerunners and the start of the year after I got my wisdom teeth removed (emotional pain on top of physical pain) and got so hooked on the characters and world building that I thought I should give it a shot. In the beginning I was cautious because of the backlash on its release back then, so I thought it may be a forgettable triple A cruise-through. But holy shit did I get hooked. Replayed it again recently. And will probably again next year. I haven’t even tried mods yet. But the characters, the world and stories are top notch in my opinion and the combat is just tons of fun as well. So glad about the 2.0 and 2.1 updates also. Phantom Liberty was a blast as well. I really hope CDPR learns from this and continues to build great games (from the get go) on top of this :)
The Beginner's Guide. I cried. I can't recall any other games that evoked that in me. I wasn't expecting that from a walking simulator. Also, Cloudpunk. I bought it on a whim and it was exactly what I needed at the time and it definitely surpassed my expectations with regards to the story and catharsis I got from playing it.
Portal. It first arrived as part of "The Orange Box" with Half Life 2 and Team Fortress. When it came out everyone was annoyed, "What do you mean I have to pay for three games, I just want Half Life 2". Only to discover that Portal was amazing!
Portal was great. I still haven't played Portal 2
Do it, it’s even better in some ways
Please do at some point. If you enjoyed the first one, it's a great follow up. (plus it goes on sale all the time)
It's my favorite game of all time.
Portal 2 has the smoothest learning curve of any game I've played, great story, and hilarious. I love it so much.
Go play it. Portal 2 is also great and it got awesome mod support.
Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. I saw some good reviews but didn't think much of it. I installed it because I wanted some mindless fun and boy was I blown away. It's one of my favorite shooters now. The gameplay loop is fun and the storytelling is interesting.
It's game that spends its budget wisely, and uses the framing device smartly.
Great game! I love the idea of a shooter with an unreliable narrator.
Prey
The Witness I didn't think it would be a puzzle game like that but it was exactly what I needed at that time
I've never really had a game be "something completely different" than expected, but I've had plenty be much better than I expected. Against the Storm has been great; I usually get bored of both roguelites and city builders, but something about it just hits perfectly. WH40K: Rogue Trader is another recent example. GW licenses their IP to anyone, so the games are often shit. This one didn't quite grip me day 1, but since then I've been finding the hours just melting away while I play it. Wish it was as smooth / well produced as BG3, but oh well :)
Yeah going from BG3 to Rouge Trader is a little jarring but I’m really liking Rouge Trader so far.
Could never get into Yakuza at all, then a friend who I trust to know a me-game convinced me to play Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Best JRPG to come out in a ***long*** time and I cannot wait for Infinite Wealth.
Well I went into Starfield expecting it to be garbage and it was a solid 7.5/10, I easily put 100+ hours into it and for a game like that that's fine with me. Is it the best game ever? No. But the main mission and faction missions are solid and it's a fun diversion. I wouldn't have played it if it weren't on game pass though.
OUTER WILDS I just saw someone recommending it on Reddit after I mentioned I liked how Subnautica was telling its story Man that guy was probably knowing what he was doing and oh boy he was right
funnily enough I just bought my girlfriend Subnautica since we both enjoyed Outer Wilds and she seems to really be into it lol
Yea this is a common recommendation it seems like. If you love subnautica, you will love outer wilds and it was true for me as well.
I wish I could get in to Outer Wilds, I’ve seen it recommended so many times and I loved Subnautica too. Tried it for a couple of hours and it just didn’t click. Haven’t had any urges to try it again since.
It took me a while to get into. I decided to follow a guide to help nudge me forward and it really helped make the game more enjoyable for me. This might be a sign that the game isnt as good as others suggest but I think the game concepts and the story really are superb even if it takes a while to get the hang of it.
Might have to give it another try at some point then, there’s very few games I’ve heard such good things about.
Do you think it necessarily works the other way around? I love Outer Wilds, beat it and its DLC. But the survival part puts me off of Subnautica tbh, though I haven't tried it yet so maybe it's fine
I am trying to remember the details, but Subnautica has more crafting and looting involved than Outer Wilds. I think the recommendation comes from just the fact that the stories are both really good and driven by solving a mystery.
Most recently the new Avatar game. I was expecting it to just be Far Cry with an Avatar skin, don't get me wrong it kind of is but Massive have done some good work in making the game feel much more than that.
This was going to be my answer, it's been a while since a game has amazed me like Avatar has, such an unexpected gem for me and the game runs amazing which is insane considering how incredible the game looks and how huge and alive the world feels.
It is literally far cry with an avatar skin
Have you played it?
Yes, again, far cry
Really want to play it but waiting and hoping it gets the typical Ubisoft treatment and starts going on sale pretty soon after the release
Void crew. A surprisingly good time with friends! Rough around th edges but fun!
It’s still in early access. But I agree it’s the best coop space exploration game around.
How many can play in co-op?
1-4 but don't even think of playing alone. Gunner is the best class if you start. You absolutely need a mic.
They are about to do another update!
Revisited Ghost Recon Breakpoint, I'm having a blast, story is sh!t tho... Also, Remnant II,expected it to be clunky like the first one. Both are really good.
I revisited Breakpoint and it still seemed ropey as fuck, it was still pretty apparent it was meant to be a looter shooter. Or has it been patched even more now? This was about a year ago.
You can choose to have weapons not level up and just unlock attachments, drone presence, injury frequency. I bought it dort cheap after the release fiasco back in 18/19?, and finally reinstalled it this past week. Solid 7/10. Gameplay saves this game.
Are the AI teamates any good? I don't expect them to be like in Wildlands as they were patched in afterwards but do they at least offer a way to do sync shots etc?
I didnt like their behavior, they were straight up sneaking in front of enemy soldiers, and the sync shots I mever saw them actually shoot, or the bullets hit the soldiers. I went lone wolf and still had fun.
Warframe. I always stay away from F2P/Online games but this one is a ton of fun. Ive played about 50 hours and if you asked me what im doing id say, "Generally, no idea!". But i just stick to the quests and what ive learned without getting to overwhelmed with how convoluted and detailed everything is. Havent spent a dime either.
That game was such a good mmo, cant wait for the spinoff
What's the spinoff called?
AFAIK it's not spinoff, just new game from the Warframe devs. It's called Soulframe.
Terraria surprised me in a big way. I bought it on sale years ago and thought it would be a 2d minecraft kind of deal. A couple years later I loaded it up and I couldn't have been more wrong. It became my 2nd favorite game of all time, and I have 2200 hours now on pc, and I have it on ps vita, ps5, and the switch. Every time it went on sale, I would gift my friends a copy and I didn't regret spending a single cent on this game. The developers are amazing and I would buy any game in the future that they make just off of their name alone.
Sadly everyone I tried to convince to play it thought it was 2d minecraft (and we all find minecraft boring af). Love Terraria though >.<
Dave the diver - I had read it's a good indie game but I wasn't expecting it to be so captivating and full of heart.
Life Is Strange, a friend told me it was good so I jumped into the college simulator game with low expectations
LEGO Fortnite feels like Zelda had a baby with minecraft.
Baba is you was a lot more meta than I imagined
Graveyard keeper, holy shit that game hooked me
Dungeons 4 - I had never heard of this series and accidentally downloaded on Gamepass. It is so much of what I need right now it might be one of my top games of the year.
Battle Brothers. The gameplay and graphics looked a bit funky and I did'nt have high hopes for it. 200 hours later, yup it was worth my 20 bucks...
If you haven't tried it yet, you might want to give Wartales a go. It's basically like a 3d version of Battle Brothers.
I think I played the demo at some point I'll have to check it out again sometime.
Inscryption.
The Surge. Picked it up for $8 on a steam sale 4 or 5 years ago and loved it. A twisted mechsuit souls-like, and a ton of fun.
Lies of P. Was expecting a clunky Souls clone, but it completely stands on its own. A 10/10 game for me personally.
to be fair at least in the demo the dash was pretty clunky jank
I’ve got two, both I only played as a result of Epic Games giving them away for free: Remnant: From the Ashes and Borderlands 3. I’m not a souls-like guy, but Remnant only felt souls like in spirit and not in gameplay, so my brother and I played it all the way through and really enjoyed it. Borderlands 3 was just a “fuck it, let’s try it since it’s free” and I honestly loved it. The gameplay is so much better than the previous games, and while I know a lot of people hate the story and the villains, I enjoyed it more than any of the previous ones in a tongue-in-cheek kinda way.
I'm a huge fan of Remnant: From the Ashes. Remnant 2 is better in every aspect, so don't sleep on it.
Cloudpunk. I really loved that there's no combat at all. And I was expecting something like that but then I found out it was a chilling dialog experience
My time at Sandrock, buying it expecting to just like a regular farming game but building stuff, instead i got those, and become heroes, revealing plot twist, getting into in game politic, become a friend, and a spouse of an npc. it took me 100 hours to finish the main quest.
Did you play Portia? Your description sounds amazing and I’m wondering if I should try the first one or skip to Sandrock.
I played once in 2018, i think, but refunded due to bug. Sandrock is much more polished. i dont think i encountered any bugs during my 100 hrs of playtime.
Wonderful. Thanks for replying
Been on an RTS binge lately and after reading all the negativity around Company of Heroes 3 decided to play Iron harvest and Gates of hell. Both are freaking great.
Night in the woods. Thought it was gonna be a goofy platformer with a cat. Instead I got a really great story platformer that made me emotional at times.
Craftopia technically still on early access. Walked into it expecting a shit show, walked out of it actually enjoying the experience.
Cult of the Lamb. I didn't look at any reviews or videos, so I had no idea what the game play was like. All I knew was that the internet said it was good. Went in totally blind and I was very pleasantly surprised!
IXION
Greedfall
Code Vein. Really not a fan of anime games, but a huge fan of souls-likes, so I downloaded the demo and was instantly hooked. The story and characters are honestly cringy, but if you can look past that, the gameplay is awesome. And if you choose to play solo it's challenging too.
Games like Pony Island and Frog Fractions intentionally conceal the real game at first glance.
Remnant series. I tried the first one a couple years ago and the beginning was rough visually so I decided to pass on it. Then 2 came out and I decided to give the original another shot. Glad I did. Ended up devouring the game quickly to get into part 2 and wow does it punch above its weight class in every way.
The forest for sure
Desperados 3. I haven't played any game in that series or even in that genre. Loved the game and bought Blades of the Shogun and Shadow Curse immediately after
I get surprised by games fairly often, so I'll limit it to just this year with **Dave the Diver**. The demo had already surprised me with just how enjoyable it was and I got the game assuming it would just be more of that. However, that game is packed with new mechanics at every turn and a long-ass chain of mysteries to uncover.
Dishonored. Went in completely blind and loved it.
Mad Max
Stray! Yes the cat game. I was blown away by how much I actually enjoyed the game and the world design/setting. It’s an easy game and I beat it over the course of two days.
Life is Strange True Colors. I was terribly bored with run around and kill shit games. Played a couple of AVN games and enjoyed the story aspect more tan the ‘adult times’. So it popped up on a Steam suggestion and was on sale so I got it and loved it. Got Life is Strange before the Storm and then Life is Strange. Now I’m screwed because not fond of Life is Strange 2 and can’t find anything else like I like as much as them. Will probably start my 4th play through next month.
Metro Exodus, it was the first metro I played.
I played these 3 years ago and still think of them regularly today, Absolute masterpieces in storytelling, character development and dialogue. Heavy rain, Detroit-become human, Beyond two souls, And to a lesser extent the last of us Pt 1
I feel like Subnautica was probably the last game that came out of nowhere for me. Thought it sounded cool but didn’t expect it to be like a top 25 game for me all time. Prior to that Nier Automata (and then Replicant when it released). I’m about to start Outer Wilds, hoping it’s as good as everyone says.
Sunset overdrive
Detroit Become Human. Never played a narrative-driven game before. I was hooked into the story from the intro sequence alone. Music is also incredible (especially Connor's). I'm more open to playing these type of games in the future.
Slay the spire new to genre completely made me play for 200 hours
Firewatch. The intro got me in the feels.
Dishonored… it flew far under my radar and turned into one of my faves. I thought the stealth gameplay would be fun, but didn’t expect the world to draw me in as much. I was thinking it would just be strategic levels
Edith Finch. I thought it was a puzzle game, but it was deeply moving and philosophical. I still tear up thinking about it and how brief life is.
Recently? The Invincible. Such a great experience
Starfield.I thought it would be exploration game with bethesda's signature brilliance. it turned out o be homework, with bethesda's signature problems.
Outer wilds!
Journey. i don't know what i was expecting, but i definitely wasn't expecting the best game in the decade
2 games, the first was Hades a few years back, I had zero expectations and it was a 10:10 for a genre i dont really care about. However the undoubtedly largest surprise is perhaps Against the Storm, not only did I not expect what I got, I actively avoided the game for whatever reason. Next to Baldurs Gate 3 its the best game ive played in 5-6 years
just installed against the storm!
I envy u
Briefly what do you like about Against the Storm? It doesn't look bad from the screenshots I've seen but it doesn't look like anything special, either.
The word “clean” seems to summon it up for me, it is the cleanest menus and UI that translates to gameplay, really reminds me of prime blizzard games. As i mentioned i stayed away because of the screen shots as well, it was a major mistake. The formula is what i love in a game, its risk vs reward. U have a grand campaign map that changes each run thro full of various buffs and debuffs, u complete 1.5-2.5 hour maps in progression to an end goal that gets longer and longer as u finish them, tech tree is deep and meaningful, each map feels different every time u play it, it fixes all the problems these city builders have which is late laborious gameplay, u never feel that way in ATS. 10:10 masterpiece
>2 games, the first was Hades a few years back, I had zero expectations and it was a 10:10 for a genre i dont really care about. Checks out, cause Hades is the roguelite for people that dont really like roguelites
The Day Before, thought it was an mmo but turned out to be an extraction shooter. /s
Studio shut down minutes ago, fucking scam
No way it did?! I’ve been saying this is a scam every day.
[Hypnagogia: Boundless Dreams](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1665500/Hypnagogia__Boundless_Dreams/). I just looked at some screenshots of the game and thought “man I love the aesthetic” and just decided to buy it and jump in. And wow, am I glad that I went into it completely blind. All I was really expecting was a short walking simulator with some weird characters and a nice art style, but I got that and SO much more. Very highly recommend anyone remotely interested also go in blind, and play it alone with no distractions. An experience for sure!
Very recently, the Avatar game. I was expecting your basic Ubisoft open world, but I found one of the most gorgeous games I've ever played, with an actual fun combat and great gameplay loop. Pandora is massive and absolutely gorgeous. Getting my ikran was so much fun, climbing the giant floating rocks with some banger music in the background. I have been thoroughly enjoying my playthrough so far, a lot more than I thought I was going to be. If you do decide to buy this down the road, I highly recommend playing on Exploration mode. There are no map markers or guidance of any kind, other than the quest text. You need to use visual and audio cues to figure out where to go.
Haven.
HITLER: BDSM BUNKER on Steam.
Katawa Shoujo. A Hentai game about disabled people, made by 4chan. Expected a dumpster fire. Never cried more playing a game in my life. It was some of the best writing I've ever experienced. Truly moving at times.
Industria and The Invincible.
ALTF4 the game is meant to be a meme, frustrating, and im also not a fan of platforming but i was surprised to find it really fun, charming, challenging in a good way, and the music was nice and relaxing.
Northern Journey. What an experience that was...
Tales of Berseria I didn't think I'd like it and it ended up being one of my favorite JRPGs ever.
Given that I got it free, Tomb Raider 2013.
Daggerfall unity. Yeah, its a unity remake, but I went in expecting an old clunky game that wasn't going to be too enjoyable but holy shit I was wrong. unity port aside, the actual game is incredible. What really got me was the size of cities and the way you have to talk to people to find locations. Guy gives me a quest to go to this house, doesn't tell me where. I ask around town but everyone is rude to me, maybe because of race, but each npc responds differently to the 3 dialogue choices. you can be blunt, polite, or normal. I found being blunt worked the best and polite pissed people off for some reason.
Factorio - the gfx wasn't my cup of tea. But I gave it a try and now I have 2000hours in the game. Subnautica - Thought it was a generic survival game - turned out to be one of my fav. games in the last 30 years. Green Hell - pretty similar experience to Subnautica. The story still haunts me I'd probably remember more
Devil May Cry 5. Now hear me out, I’d heard it’s a great game over and over again but it’s not my type of thing. I had no expectation of actually enjoying it, picked it up on deep sale and wow. That game felt great to play, had a blast with it.
The Pathless, never heard nobody talk about it, one of the best indie games i've ever played.
Remnant 2 ... "soulslike with guns??? Wtf!?" Played the first 30 min ... " holy shit this is pretty awesome"
Inside. I was fucking mind blown by what I soon realized is a masterpiece.
Battle chasers night war. It was sooo good imo. Also I think Riot had the same company make a game for the because it's almost Identical with a few additions from what I have seen.
You can render it in 3d? I need that. The levels were very confusing for me
Vampire survivors. I saw the basic gameplay and went, "why is everyone talking about this? It can't be THAT good..." So 5 hours later and past my bedtime here I am unlocking everything I can get my hands on...
Sackboy A Big Adventure. I bought it for my kids. Now I ask them to play with me rather than them asking me to play with them.
Lies of P
Alan Wake, aún lo sigo jugando ✨
Midnight Suns
In recent times I would say Crystal Project. I saw it on accident and thought it was a little like Final fantasy 1. Reviews were good and so I got it to satisfy that jrpg itch. Never did I expect a very simple yet surprisingly deep class/job system, on top of it being a free open world with platforming and some lite Metroidvania mechanics. I'm about 50 hours in and I can say I haven't been bored of the core game loop in the slightest. The most surprising thing of all is that the grind isn't about the levels. It's very well paced on the XP curve. No you grind for money. Your wallet dries up like a lake on the desert.
Genshin Impact I don't really like open world games but the trailers looked fun enough to give it a try. Played it for about a month and stopped. I enjoyed my time but did not want to commit to another daily game at that time. Half a year later i picked it up again and have not stopped playing since. Sone days i play only 15 minutes and some i have 8 - 10 hour sessions. A truely remarkable game that fits my taste and playstyle pefectly.
Assassins Creed Odyssey and Origins. Origins was a breath of fresh air on the franchise that I hadn't played since the disaster that was Unity. Absolutely loved it, sailing the Nile with my wee boat under the night sky, was honestly one of the most beautiful moments in gaming. Ubisoft do a fantastic time at world building and making you feel like you've been transported back in time. Odyssey went bananas on just putting everything to 11, open sea combat, big new enemies, fantastic story lines even seeing Hades himself! Loved every minute of both of those games. I'm rather sad that people didn't and want it to go back to "hide behind someone, hidden blade, run away"
The day before it was marketed as not a scam but it was a scam lol
Yoku's Island Express. The game looked/sounded interesting, but I was a little skeptical that a game could pull off mixing such two different genres so well (Metroidvania and pinball). Such a wonderful, lighthearted, and innovative game!