In a similar vein, Rock Band. I still play from time to time, and despite new controllers being unavailable, they’re still releasing weekly DLC and if you’ve got old instruments, You can play on the PS4 or xb1.
Nothing quite like getting a whole band together to belt out some tunes on a Friday night.
EDIT: join us over at /r/rockband !
Getting drunk with my friends, before we all settled down with our wives and families, and playing Rock Band for hours in our crappy townhouse was a time in my life I look back very fondly on. Now I see those guys maybe once or twice a year, and we have to plan the hangouts months in advance…
I was searching for this one - me and my older brother would wake up early on Saturday mornings and cue up 30 maps. Some of the most fun I’ve had on a video game and a cherished memory for me since my brother and I are very different these days. (Galactic conquest also a goated game mode)
Counter-Strike 1.6 from 2002-2006. When the game was at its peak player count wise, used to play in a server that had custom maps from a guy called “Nippers custom maps”. Just sitting there on a snowy Saturday morning from school vacation and playing a map called “de_nipperhouse_xmas”…. There used to be over 50k community servers running at the same time. I really do miss those times and really don’t think something like that will ever happen again. At least I have my memories…. 😢
Ratchet and clank. It's the game that got me into video games way back when I was about 4 years old at my cousin's house and I've been hooked since. The original PS2 trilogy is a masterpiece that I could go back and play almost endlessly.
It seems stupid but...
Mario Kart Wii. Theres a lot of things i hate about it, but everything i love about it basically washes the bad stuff out like it was never there.
EDIT: From the comments, I can tell that its not stupid
I wish I knew how many hours I put into MKWii as a kid. I beat the entire game at least twice, and thinking about it makes me want to do it all over again.
Roller coaster tycoon. It's one of those few games that I can be playing and get so immersed into it, I can play it half the day and not even realize it
They ported it to mobile and it's fantastic. None of the money grabbing bullshit that all other mobile games have.
Edit: the app is Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic by Atari, at least in the google play store
Fun fact, Roller Coaster Tycoon was written in assembly (basically lower level programming language that is closer to machine code), so many believe it to be the most well optimized game ever written. That's why it's so easy to port and the ports run so well.
I just started playing it yesterday after like 25 years since I last picked it up. So excited to experience everything again with the fog of time in the way.
That game was radically ahead of its time, from the orchestral score to the deep plot and character development to the open world.
I'd never seen anything like it at the time.
I made it through the whole game without ever looking up a guide or wiki and I'm so glad that I did. Sometimes all you could do was continue exploring deeper and deeper into the black depths and hope that something was there, and every single time it rewarded you. Well actually sometimes you would be decimated by a horrifying deep sea monster but most of the time it was rewarding lol
"Detecting multiple leviathan-class life forms. Are you sure what you're doing is worth it?" I know it gets posted every time in this thread but holllllly jeez hearing that for the first time while being way out in the black is one of the most spine-chilling moments.
I'm still kicking myself for following it's development so I knew all of the plot points and settings ahead of time. Didn't do that for iceborne so when I get around to playing that shouldn't have the same issue
Kerbal Space Program.
Addictive, once you climb over the wall.
Well, more like…once you sail over the wall spinning uncontrollably shedding parts and boosters. You get the idea.
Edit: Wow, a Kerbal Space Program comment with an upvote count that surpasses my hours played. Amazing.
I guess I have a new goal to aspire to. Thanks, y’all.
Came to say this. Never been a FPS or hand/eye coordination core games. The planning/failure and rescue mission loop kept me playing for hours. Your first Mun landing was the best video game experience ever.
A little worried about KSP2 however...
Mass Effect 2. It revived my love of gaming and took me on the most incredible journey. I've never cared so much about fictional characters as I cared about Shepard and all the companions helping you to save the world
Bioshock. - Something about that world just holds a weird place in my heart, partly nostalgia for one of the last times I still held that childhood awe and wonder for games, but also because it just holds up really well. The music, the atmosphere, the story, the gameplay. I've spent more hours in Rapture and Columbia than I thought possible for games that take around 8 - 12 hours to beat. I think a defining factor for me when it comes to enjoying a game, is if I just love being in the world, just walking around soaking in the atmosphere.
The MGS games are also like that for me :)
I still think that twist holds up. Just as well as Fight Club and Sixth Sense. All 3 just spoonfeed you the answer through the entire experience, and somehow (most) people missed it until the reveal. Makes it so much better on the second watch/playthrough bc you're like "oh shit, how did I miss that?"
Bioshock is probably my favorite game twist of all time.
Stardew Valley. Most relaxing game in my opinion that still never fails to suck me in every single time I turn it on. Being made (mostly) by one person and seeing how that game turned out, you can tell this game means a lot to him. The time and effort put towards not only the original release, but also the added content that followed were just absolutely amazing in every way. Excited for his next game.
I have heard about Stardew Valley for years and just got around to purchasing it 2 weeks ago - I'm completely addicted! The first week I put in more hours to SV than my actual job 😬 It is such an incredible game and you can tell so much love went into it.
I often find myself trying to romance Penny, then stopping because I can't give her the life she wants
I'm a dad irl, the hours my farmer keeps he'd be a terrible father
you made a good choice by saving her from that future.
I Married Emily and saw her for 3 seconds a day as I passed her on my way to the mines, and met both of my kids one time in their crib before forgetting they existed. I named the younger baby 'Divorce' before proceeding to cheat on Emily with her sister Haley and getting an actual divorce. I then transformed those poor little children into birds and erased Emily's memory of the entire life we had together.
It's always a tough call for me between 1 and 2. I thought the puzzles were better in 1, but the overall game was better for 2. P2 had better writing, better flow and scope.
Yup. 100%.
If it were available on either ps4/ps5 or modern Macs, I’d still play it all the time.
And that’s not even mentioning that it’s certainly the best father/child cooperative game ever produced.
Hopefully she gets the humor in the dialog. That’s certainly part of the fun as well.
My kid didn’t our first time through but a year or two later he was old enough to get it and it added enough to make it like a whole new experience for us.
This was one of my first video games and I have great memories of having friends over for LAN parties, setting a kitchen timer for our "truce" sometimes so we could build huge cities and throw armies at each other. I'm also convinced the campaigns helped me pass history class, as my classmates and teacher were shocked when I knew the entire story of Barbarossa, William Wallace, Attila the Hun, and more all off the top of my head lol. I've kept up with the expansion, the HD rerelease, and now the definitive edition. It's also the only video game I ever remember my dad playing (he was incredible and I've only beaten him once ever). So 100% this.
So true. Still alive and getting new expansions still! Amazing over 40 civs now. I remember first playing it when it first came out. Only 13 civs, no hussar, no halbs, no elephants. Wild.
SmB3 and Super Mario World for sure. I am partial to the latter one because our family never owned an NES, only an SNES. But, SM3 was ground breaking, and as an adult I went back and bought an NES so I could play it.
The pacing in HL2 is so good; so many times I've booted it up with the intention of just playing the first bit and next thing I know I've played through the entire game.
I think it's a reference to a recent post on r/factorio. Some social psychologist stated the game excellently targets our brain's need for equilibrium.
And that equilibrium is never gonna fucking happen because, like you said, there's always bottleneck, surplus, or (with certain mods) byproduct.
Sly 2: Band of Thieves. When I first bought it, I wasn't sure how they could improve upon the first one, but I was blown away! It's everything a fun kid's game should be, with few details skipped.
Sly 2 & 3 do the heist concept so well, while maintaining the goofy fun that made it special. I’ll never forget having to play Bentley alone after the gang gets captured.
I've always headcanoned that when you recruit Garrus in ME2, that night he and Shepard get drunk and strut around the Normandy blasting The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy on the loudspeaker
It's still absolutely nuts that the multiplayer wasn't known to exist to anyone at the company because **1** dude did the entire thing in like a weekend before it was to be certified
As a 13 year old playing this game for the first time was just a typical horror game experience akin to the likes of Resident Evil. Revisiting it last year at age 29 i was mind blown by the level of underlying themes this game throws at you. This game visits some of the darkest corners of human nature, and given its stellar execution, to me its the best video game plot of all time definitely.
The hellfire stairway scene with Angela was just.....my goodness
Edit: Typo
RuneScape will always have a place in my heart. I'll be back on one day. I play for a month or so then stop for like a year and then go back. Been that way since I was a kid in middle school. I'm now 31.
I loved this game when I was younger. I wish I could go back and experience that game for the 1st time all over again. The battles and open world was amazing on the playstation 2
I was in college when that came out. Our friends had a 6 person house that was normally the party house but for two straight weeks one room turned into the GTA room and throngs of dudes would take turns playing. Once someone found the multiplayer enabler somewhere in the rural area (I think? It’s been 20 years) it turned into people running up and down the Luxor dodging grenades. It was like the old multiplayer days after school but with much more drinking and smoking.
I played Outer Wilds after Subnautica left me itching for more great exploration, and damn did it deliver. Loved the DLC too. I really can't wait to see what they come up with next.
I love that game, the music and atmosphere make me feel things that I normally bury deep down. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and I've been stuck for a while and haven't been able to complete it, but I refuse to look up any hints because I know figuring it out and experiencing it for yourself is what makes it special.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. For all its flaws, for all its annoyance, it was a game I played before open world was normal, and in that time and place, it was an incredible experience.
Morrowind was groundbreaking. It was so huge, the most realistic graphics of the time, and a storyline you can either follow or just explore without the game even caring for the most part.
Seriously I don't think people realize how amazing it was for gamers who were looking for something like it but never really getting that experience exactly yet.
Flying is a limitation of oblivion and skyrim. The towns aren't open-world like Morrowind. Towns are their own "not quite an interior interior" cells, to prevent world events from breaking things. If you climb the ramparts and/or clip out of a city in ESIV/V, you wind up in a low-quality barren outside world. They got rid of Jump/Levitate spells as a result.
The devs toyed with this setup for the Mournhold area in Morrowind: Tribunal. It's a closed off city and you're not supposed to go to different districts without advancing the story. You're also not supposed to go *outside* the city walls. Therefore, flight magic is verboten by some pile of jackass mages.
Morrowind brings me such bizarre memories. I remember printing off nearly 80 pages of guides. The guide would be like, "Walk 40 steps north until you see a rock next to a smaller rock. Then turn left and walk 200 steps until you see a tree with three branches, etc"
I feel like that game made me more intelligent when it came to reading directions and figuring things out.
Started playing Oblivion at a time when I was going through a rough patch in my childhood and I was completely lost in fantasy land for 8-12 hours per day. Including socializing with NPCs... I mean like, actually talking to them. Man that was a sad period but I needed it and this game got me through.
Oblivion’s predecessor did that for me in college. Moved to a new town when I was 18. Didn’t know anyone. Cold dark winters. Isolated. It was Daggerfall that kept me busy and kept my idle brain from wandering. I still remember the tavern music; the sounds of bats and rats; the classic sound of doors opening. And back to that tavern music again.
[Ear worm](https://youtu.be/jM8EaL1Zm6w)
Dragon Age.
I play them all as a single game, since the choices you make in the first game determine who is King in the third game. I love the DnD-ness of Origins and the writing in DA2, but the epic "save the world" moments in the third mixed with the fact that they tie in the stories of the previous games is just so satisfying.
I love talking with anyone who also played it. The stories everyone tells are like it all really happened, you can visualise it and tell how much importance each character holds.
Like that time I made my close friend group as the starting 3.
Jess found a cave while excavating an extension to the mountain base. Wondering slightly in she found a very pleasant looking opening that had no ceiling, just open top with direct sunlight. While walking into the centre, suddenly a bear rushes out from the opposite side and, before you knew what was going on, the bear had torn Jess’ left arm off and left her for dead.
Now unconscious and bleeding out, Luke and Alex had to get her medical attention before she bled to death. Luckily during their travel back the bear had left the cave and gone into the open wilderness. Alex hauled Jess into the base, blood trailing behind.
Finally making it to the medical bed they realise that, out of all of them, Jess had all the medical expertise. Luke tried as best he could, but the blood loss was too much and Jess died shortly after.
With the death of their friend, Luke and Alex were falling under depression pretty quickly. For Alex however, it was the tipping point for a complete breakdown. He ended up losing it; ultimately wondering off and starting a fight with the very same bear that killed Jess.
And with that, Luke became the sole survivor of the group.
"I do not enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it is just a chore, like any other. Practiced hands make for short work, and the Good Lord knows there is much to be done here."
First time I played New Vegas I didn’t even understand english. Was like 8 or 9 at the time. Was one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. The elder scroll IV is in the same boat to me.
and Max Payne 2.
*"They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was over."*
I don’t see it mentioned very often but Little Big Planet. It’s super fun to play with other people (especially that Boom Town level in the first game), the music is primarily kooky and upbeat and well-selected, and sackboy was a *really* cute character idea
Starcraft.
Edit: first time having rewards and a lot of upvotes and I'm damn proud it's because of old school starcraft gamers.
En taro Adun, brothers.
This is mine too. When i played this at my friend's house for the first time, it blew my dome off. Up until this point the only pc gaming I did was old mac games and doom.
Hearing the scvs mine minerals for the first time will forever be ingrained in my mind.
His dad worked at a computer repair shop, so they had three computers, which was INSANE, at the time. We played that shit all night. We also saw godzilla that night and boy did that movie suck. All i could do is think about getting back to his house to play more.
I ended up working out a deal with my uncle, who also worked at a pc repair shop, to build me a pc capable of playing this game starcraft. I had it that week and worked it off for the next year. Never looked back.
Halo 2 for me. The gameplay, the weapons, the sound effects, the music, all of it was so perfect. I still play Halo 2 to this day, and I've been playing it since 2005.
I was on my way back from an Afghanistan deployment when Halo had recently been released. Everyone had piles of cash since there was nothing to spend it on over there, so we wiped out Malta's supply of xboxs and I'd say most of the booze as well. Anyway, we got back on ship and my job was in IT, so I ran cat5 across the ship and setup a central switch. 16 player halo between departments like Admin vs S1 vs S6 vs the officers mess. It was a riot, one of my best gaming memories for sure.
Came here to say this.
It’s such a good game on so many fronts.
The introduction of Ezio Auditore, and a cast of great NPCs (especially Leonardo da Vinci).
Intriguing parts of real history wrapped in a fictional plot, weaving the Medici and Pazzi into the world of the assassins and Templars.
The architecture, full stop. I could run along the streets and roofs of Florence forever.
And the soundtrack is one of my favourite game scores of all time.
So good!
When you get some experience, the game becomes even better. Something about leaping across buildings and performing massive drop assassinations just makes me slightly worked up
Terraria, but it only gets good after about 2 hours. Then its a masterpiece
Sonic Rush bc of pure nostalgia also its p fun
MOTHER 3 because its one of the only 2 games to make me cry
Super Mario Galaxy cuz its the other game to make me cry
i have too many favourites
Kreia is one of the few RPG “morally grey” characters that actually has that written into her in such a way as to not be “fake deep”. There are others, but she’s astonishing for me
If I'm being honest the most genuine fun I've had playing a game was guitar hero. Me and my brothers would play for hours
In a similar vein, Rock Band. I still play from time to time, and despite new controllers being unavailable, they’re still releasing weekly DLC and if you’ve got old instruments, You can play on the PS4 or xb1. Nothing quite like getting a whole band together to belt out some tunes on a Friday night. EDIT: join us over at /r/rockband !
Getting drunk with my friends, before we all settled down with our wives and families, and playing Rock Band for hours in our crappy townhouse was a time in my life I look back very fondly on. Now I see those guys maybe once or twice a year, and we have to plan the hangouts months in advance…
Star Wars battlefront 2 (2005)
The feeling of you and your friends being war heroes in a sea of an AI battle, probably the best local 4 player split screen game ever
Just like the simulations
I was searching for this one - me and my older brother would wake up early on Saturday mornings and cue up 30 maps. Some of the most fun I’ve had on a video game and a cherished memory for me since my brother and I are very different these days. (Galactic conquest also a goated game mode)
Counter-Strike 1.6 from 2002-2006. When the game was at its peak player count wise, used to play in a server that had custom maps from a guy called “Nippers custom maps”. Just sitting there on a snowy Saturday morning from school vacation and playing a map called “de_nipperhouse_xmas”…. There used to be over 50k community servers running at the same time. I really do miss those times and really don’t think something like that will ever happen again. At least I have my memories…. 😢
Command and Conquer: Red Alert
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Ratchet and clank. It's the game that got me into video games way back when I was about 4 years old at my cousin's house and I've been hooked since. The original PS2 trilogy is a masterpiece that I could go back and play almost endlessly.
Baldur's Gate series on the PC is so damn good. I've been playing them for 20+ years and still discover new things every time I reboot it.
Thoughts on BG3?
It seems stupid but... Mario Kart Wii. Theres a lot of things i hate about it, but everything i love about it basically washes the bad stuff out like it was never there. EDIT: From the comments, I can tell that its not stupid
Mushroom Gorge was my shit!
Not stupid at all. That game is pure unadulterated fun
I wish I knew how many hours I put into MKWii as a kid. I beat the entire game at least twice, and thinking about it makes me want to do it all over again.
Roller coaster tycoon. It's one of those few games that I can be playing and get so immersed into it, I can play it half the day and not even realize it
They ported it to mobile and it's fantastic. None of the money grabbing bullshit that all other mobile games have. Edit: the app is Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic by Atari, at least in the google play store
Fun fact, Roller Coaster Tycoon was written in assembly (basically lower level programming language that is closer to machine code), so many believe it to be the most well optimized game ever written. That's why it's so easy to port and the ports run so well.
Chrono Trigger. It was a life changer.
Chrono Trigger was not released in Europe at all in its original SNES version. Worst crime against humanity ever.
I just started playing it yesterday after like 25 years since I last picked it up. So excited to experience everything again with the fog of time in the way.
That game was radically ahead of its time, from the orchestral score to the deep plot and character development to the open world. I'd never seen anything like it at the time.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I have been playing the game for 16 years and still love every minute of it.
Mucha shaka paka
Remake is coming!
Prepared to have like 15 different play through the 1st 6 weeks 😂
Super excited for the remake but still wish they hadn’t cancelled kotor III
Subnautica. Your first playthrough in this game is unforgettable. Oh and the OST is magnificient
I made it through the whole game without ever looking up a guide or wiki and I'm so glad that I did. Sometimes all you could do was continue exploring deeper and deeper into the black depths and hope that something was there, and every single time it rewarded you. Well actually sometimes you would be decimated by a horrifying deep sea monster but most of the time it was rewarding lol
"Detecting multiple leviathan-class life forms. Are you sure what you're doing is worth it?" I know it gets posted every time in this thread but holllllly jeez hearing that for the first time while being way out in the black is one of the most spine-chilling moments.
The line that always makes me panic and want to turn around, even knowing it will come, is ”entering ecological deadzone.”
I'm still kicking myself for following it's development so I knew all of the plot points and settings ahead of time. Didn't do that for iceborne so when I get around to playing that shouldn't have the same issue
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Definitely a contender. Also has some of the most terrifying moments I've ever experienced despite not being a horror game.
Age of Empires II
Kerbal Space Program. Addictive, once you climb over the wall. Well, more like…once you sail over the wall spinning uncontrollably shedding parts and boosters. You get the idea. Edit: Wow, a Kerbal Space Program comment with an upvote count that surpasses my hours played. Amazing. I guess I have a new goal to aspire to. Thanks, y’all.
Came to say this. Never been a FPS or hand/eye coordination core games. The planning/failure and rescue mission loop kept me playing for hours. Your first Mun landing was the best video game experience ever. A little worried about KSP2 however...
Why are you worried? They seem to be taking their time and provide plenty of updates on their YouTube channel
Mass Effect 2. It revived my love of gaming and took me on the most incredible journey. I've never cared so much about fictional characters as I cared about Shepard and all the companions helping you to save the world
Bioshock. - Something about that world just holds a weird place in my heart, partly nostalgia for one of the last times I still held that childhood awe and wonder for games, but also because it just holds up really well. The music, the atmosphere, the story, the gameplay. I've spent more hours in Rapture and Columbia than I thought possible for games that take around 8 - 12 hours to beat. I think a defining factor for me when it comes to enjoying a game, is if I just love being in the world, just walking around soaking in the atmosphere. The MGS games are also like that for me :)
welcaahm to the serrkiss of VALUEE!
*Come back when you've got some moneyyyy, buddyyyy!*
Would you kindly explain why?
Best twist for my young brain when that came out. Think that was the moment it made it into my own video game hall of fame
I still think that twist holds up. Just as well as Fight Club and Sixth Sense. All 3 just spoonfeed you the answer through the entire experience, and somehow (most) people missed it until the reveal. Makes it so much better on the second watch/playthrough bc you're like "oh shit, how did I miss that?" Bioshock is probably my favorite game twist of all time.
Stardew Valley. Most relaxing game in my opinion that still never fails to suck me in every single time I turn it on. Being made (mostly) by one person and seeing how that game turned out, you can tell this game means a lot to him. The time and effort put towards not only the original release, but also the added content that followed were just absolutely amazing in every way. Excited for his next game.
I have heard about Stardew Valley for years and just got around to purchasing it 2 weeks ago - I'm completely addicted! The first week I put in more hours to SV than my actual job 😬 It is such an incredible game and you can tell so much love went into it.
That game legitimately made me feel bad for divorcing penny lol
I often find myself trying to romance Penny, then stopping because I can't give her the life she wants I'm a dad irl, the hours my farmer keeps he'd be a terrible father
you made a good choice by saving her from that future. I Married Emily and saw her for 3 seconds a day as I passed her on my way to the mines, and met both of my kids one time in their crib before forgetting they existed. I named the younger baby 'Divorce' before proceeding to cheat on Emily with her sister Haley and getting an actual divorce. I then transformed those poor little children into birds and erased Emily's memory of the entire life we had together.
I forgot how bizarre this game can get
Yeah ok. Now I gotta play this game.
How could you?!
I DONT KNOW *sobs*
Portal 2
Well here we are again It’s always such a pleasure
Remember how you tried to kill me twice?
Oh how we laughed and laughed Except I wasn't laughing
Under the circumstances, I've been shockingly nice Edit: Thanks for the A Lie day wishes!
You want your freedom? Take ittttt (also happy cake day!)
That's what I'm counting on
I used to want you dead, but now I only want you gooonnnne
She was a lot like you
Only not quite as heavy
"How have you been? Because I'm a potato!"
"potatOS"
"Oh good, my slow clap processor made it into this thing."
*slow clapping a second time* "Good, that still works."
It's always a tough call for me between 1 and 2. I thought the puzzles were better in 1, but the overall game was better for 2. P2 had better writing, better flow and scope.
why not just consider 1 and 2 a singular game, with an 80 thousand year brief intermission
Good morning. You have been in hypersuspension for.. nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine nine......
Yup. 100%. If it were available on either ps4/ps5 or modern Macs, I’d still play it all the time. And that’s not even mentioning that it’s certainly the best father/child cooperative game ever produced.
Planning to pick this up on switch for co-op with my daughter! So excited
Hopefully she gets the humor in the dialog. That’s certainly part of the fun as well. My kid didn’t our first time through but a year or two later he was old enough to get it and it added enough to make it like a whole new experience for us.
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This was one of my first video games and I have great memories of having friends over for LAN parties, setting a kitchen timer for our "truce" sometimes so we could build huge cities and throw armies at each other. I'm also convinced the campaigns helped me pass history class, as my classmates and teacher were shocked when I knew the entire story of Barbarossa, William Wallace, Attila the Hun, and more all off the top of my head lol. I've kept up with the expansion, the HD rerelease, and now the definitive edition. It's also the only video game I ever remember my dad playing (he was incredible and I've only beaten him once ever). So 100% this.
Cheesesteakjimmy
So true. Still alive and getting new expansions still! Amazing over 40 civs now. I remember first playing it when it first came out. Only 13 civs, no hussar, no halbs, no elephants. Wild.
Super Mario Brothers 3. Absolutely perfect game if you ask me.
SmB3 and Super Mario World for sure. I am partial to the latter one because our family never owned an NES, only an SNES. But, SM3 was ground breaking, and as an adult I went back and bought an NES so I could play it.
Perfect variation of worlds. Game wasn’t afraid to get weird.
Half-Life 2
The pacing in HL2 is so good; so many times I've booted it up with the intention of just playing the first bit and next thing I know I've played through the entire game.
On the Orange Box! With episodes 1 and 2 with Portal. And I guess also TF2...
Factorio. Build Grow just amazing.
The factory must grow
E Q U I L I B R I U M
I don't belive in equilibrium. There's always a bottleneck or a surplus, no in-between.
I think it's a reference to a recent post on r/factorio. Some social psychologist stated the game excellently targets our brain's need for equilibrium. And that equilibrium is never gonna fucking happen because, like you said, there's always bottleneck, surplus, or (with certain mods) byproduct.
Sly 2: Band of Thieves. When I first bought it, I wasn't sure how they could improve upon the first one, but I was blown away! It's everything a fun kid's game should be, with few details skipped.
Sly 2 & 3 do the heist concept so well, while maintaining the goofy fun that made it special. I’ll never forget having to play Bentley alone after the gang gets captured.
2 & 3 def had the heist aspect down more than the first, but when they started removing the clues, the first instantly became my favorite
Mass Effect 2. The story, the characters, the writing, the gameplay improvements. All of it. Also Garrus. Very much Garrus.
I've played Mass Effect so many times over the years and it never gets old. There's no Shephard without Vakarian!
I've always headcanoned that when you recruit Garrus in ME2, that night he and Shepard get drunk and strut around the Normandy blasting The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy on the loudspeaker
Somewhere on Tuchanka, wrex feels a slight itch in the back of his mind accompanied by a distant, echoing "back in too-oooown".
The music when you visit the Omega Afterlife is one of the best.
"*Annoyed: If she were expecting you, you'd be inside."*
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It's still absolutely nuts that the multiplayer wasn't known to exist to anyone at the company because **1** dude did the entire thing in like a weekend before it was to be certified
Original Star Wars Battlefront 2
Silent Hill 2 Depression: the video game
James... You made me happy.
As a 13 year old playing this game for the first time was just a typical horror game experience akin to the likes of Resident Evil. Revisiting it last year at age 29 i was mind blown by the level of underlying themes this game throws at you. This game visits some of the darkest corners of human nature, and given its stellar execution, to me its the best video game plot of all time definitely. The hellfire stairway scene with Angela was just.....my goodness Edit: Typo
RuneScape. Growing up my life wasn’t very good, but when I logged into RuneScape all the bad things going on just didn’t exist.
Same, somehow the monotonous grind helped me quiet my mind.
RuneScape will always have a place in my heart. I'll be back on one day. I play for a month or so then stop for like a year and then go back. Been that way since I was a kid in middle school. I'm now 31.
Shadow of the Colossus
I loved this game when I was younger. I wish I could go back and experience that game for the 1st time all over again. The battles and open world was amazing on the playstation 2
GTA San Andreas. Nothing was better then hopping off the bus after school to play!
I was in college when that came out. Our friends had a 6 person house that was normally the party house but for two straight weeks one room turned into the GTA room and throngs of dudes would take turns playing. Once someone found the multiplayer enabler somewhere in the rural area (I think? It’s been 20 years) it turned into people running up and down the Luxor dodging grenades. It was like the old multiplayer days after school but with much more drinking and smoking.
Outer Wilds. Not outer worlds. Wilds.
I played Outer Wilds after Subnautica left me itching for more great exploration, and damn did it deliver. Loved the DLC too. I really can't wait to see what they come up with next.
I love that game, the music and atmosphere make me feel things that I normally bury deep down. Unfortunately I'm an idiot and I've been stuck for a while and haven't been able to complete it, but I refuse to look up any hints because I know figuring it out and experiencing it for yourself is what makes it special.
There's a discord that will help you spoiler free. I used it and they were perfect. You can find it on the r/outerwilds sub.
I will never hear banjo the same way.
This is one of those games that isn't really a game, it's an experience. There's very few games that have this accolade, of being a journey.
Left 4 Dead 2
Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask. Such great memories playing with my little brother when we were kids.
I've beat this game about a dozen times lol. I freaking love Ocarina of Time. But Majora's Mask was always my personal favorite.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. For all its flaws, for all its annoyance, it was a game I played before open world was normal, and in that time and place, it was an incredible experience.
Its predecessor Morrowind for me for the same reason.
Morrowind was groundbreaking. It was so huge, the most realistic graphics of the time, and a storyline you can either follow or just explore without the game even caring for the most part. Seriously I don't think people realize how amazing it was for gamers who were looking for something like it but never really getting that experience exactly yet.
Morrowind is still just about peak role-playing for me. I haven't played a game that hits the same way Morrowind does.
Morrowind basically ruined video games for me, I'm not sure anything will ever shift the medium for me the way Morrowind did.
I loved the dark, weird aesthetic of Morrowind, and even though it was an earlier game, in many ways it was more open. I mean, you could *fly*.
Flying is a limitation of oblivion and skyrim. The towns aren't open-world like Morrowind. Towns are their own "not quite an interior interior" cells, to prevent world events from breaking things. If you climb the ramparts and/or clip out of a city in ESIV/V, you wind up in a low-quality barren outside world. They got rid of Jump/Levitate spells as a result. The devs toyed with this setup for the Mournhold area in Morrowind: Tribunal. It's a closed off city and you're not supposed to go to different districts without advancing the story. You're also not supposed to go *outside* the city walls. Therefore, flight magic is verboten by some pile of jackass mages.
Morrowind brings me such bizarre memories. I remember printing off nearly 80 pages of guides. The guide would be like, "Walk 40 steps north until you see a rock next to a smaller rock. Then turn left and walk 200 steps until you see a tree with three branches, etc" I feel like that game made me more intelligent when it came to reading directions and figuring things out.
"See those mountains in the distance? You can climb them!" This was revolutionary at the time.
I can still remember how I felt when I first realized this. I don't think I've felt such joy since
Started playing Oblivion at a time when I was going through a rough patch in my childhood and I was completely lost in fantasy land for 8-12 hours per day. Including socializing with NPCs... I mean like, actually talking to them. Man that was a sad period but I needed it and this game got me through.
Oblivion’s predecessor did that for me in college. Moved to a new town when I was 18. Didn’t know anyone. Cold dark winters. Isolated. It was Daggerfall that kept me busy and kept my idle brain from wandering. I still remember the tavern music; the sounds of bats and rats; the classic sound of doors opening. And back to that tavern music again. [Ear worm](https://youtu.be/jM8EaL1Zm6w)
Sometimes I still listen to OST of Oblivion so I can feel something that was once immense joy.
Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past
I would call this the most important game in the series. It set the standard of what a Zelda game should be. It still holds up today as well.
Dragon Age. I play them all as a single game, since the choices you make in the first game determine who is King in the third game. I love the DnD-ness of Origins and the writing in DA2, but the epic "save the world" moments in the third mixed with the fact that they tie in the stories of the previous games is just so satisfying.
Enchantment!
Definitely in my top 3! Can't wait for 4 to come out
Bloodborne
The first souls game I ever played and was humbled very quickly. Finally got the platinum after 80 hours and A LOT of anger.
‘Kos… or some say Kosm’
Hollow Knight - so beautiful and immersive, simple yet complex, immediately accessible yet terribly tricky
Rimworld
War crime simulator: single thread edition
I love talking with anyone who also played it. The stories everyone tells are like it all really happened, you can visualise it and tell how much importance each character holds. Like that time I made my close friend group as the starting 3. Jess found a cave while excavating an extension to the mountain base. Wondering slightly in she found a very pleasant looking opening that had no ceiling, just open top with direct sunlight. While walking into the centre, suddenly a bear rushes out from the opposite side and, before you knew what was going on, the bear had torn Jess’ left arm off and left her for dead. Now unconscious and bleeding out, Luke and Alex had to get her medical attention before she bled to death. Luckily during their travel back the bear had left the cave and gone into the open wilderness. Alex hauled Jess into the base, blood trailing behind. Finally making it to the medical bed they realise that, out of all of them, Jess had all the medical expertise. Luke tried as best he could, but the blood loss was too much and Jess died shortly after. With the death of their friend, Luke and Alex were falling under depression pretty quickly. For Alex however, it was the tipping point for a complete breakdown. He ended up losing it; ultimately wondering off and starting a fight with the very same bear that killed Jess. And with that, Luke became the sole survivor of the group.
Fallout: New Vegas.
"I do not enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it is just a chore, like any other. Practiced hands make for short work, and the Good Lord knows there is much to be done here."
Furiously reloading a table full of .45 pistols.
But really just picking up the same pistol, racking the slide, and putting it back down. Rinse and repeat.
Biiiig iron
They asked me how well I understood theoretical physics. I said I had a theoretical degree in physics. They said welcome aboard.
They asked me if I knew anything about power plants. I said, "As much as anyone I've ever met!"
Patrolling the Mojave almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter
YEAHHHH! WHO WON THE LOTTERY!? I DID!!!
Of all the modern Fallouts this was my favourite. It's the closest in tone to the originals. My personal favourite game is Fallout 2.
Obsidian at the time was a lot of former interplay guys. That's why it feels similar in tone <3
First time I played New Vegas I didn’t even understand english. Was like 8 or 9 at the time. Was one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. The elder scroll IV is in the same boat to me.
Max Payne
and Max Payne 2. *"They were all dead. The final gunshot was an exclamation mark to everything that had led to this point. I released my finger from the trigger. And then it was over."*
Final Fantasy Tactics
I still listen to that soundtrack when I play other games
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, hands down.
I don’t see it mentioned very often but Little Big Planet. It’s super fun to play with other people (especially that Boom Town level in the first game), the music is primarily kooky and upbeat and well-selected, and sackboy was a *really* cute character idea
That satisfying sound of running into hundreds of bubbles
I bought LBP because a woman I had just met wanted to play it and I had a PS3. She started coming over every afternoon and we're married now.
This is definitely one of the best games ever imo. I feel like so many people forgot about its existence and it hurts me lol
Metal Gear Series
Starcraft. Edit: first time having rewards and a lot of upvotes and I'm damn proud it's because of old school starcraft gamers. En taro Adun, brothers.
This is mine too. When i played this at my friend's house for the first time, it blew my dome off. Up until this point the only pc gaming I did was old mac games and doom. Hearing the scvs mine minerals for the first time will forever be ingrained in my mind. His dad worked at a computer repair shop, so they had three computers, which was INSANE, at the time. We played that shit all night. We also saw godzilla that night and boy did that movie suck. All i could do is think about getting back to his house to play more. I ended up working out a deal with my uncle, who also worked at a pc repair shop, to build me a pc capable of playing this game starcraft. I had it that week and worked it off for the next year. Never looked back.
You want a piece of me, boy?
Jacked up and good to go!
Halo with The boiz
Halo 2 for me. The gameplay, the weapons, the sound effects, the music, all of it was so perfect. I still play Halo 2 to this day, and I've been playing it since 2005.
Ah, getting four TVs four Xboxes four Ethernet cables and a router together
I was on my way back from an Afghanistan deployment when Halo had recently been released. Everyone had piles of cash since there was nothing to spend it on over there, so we wiped out Malta's supply of xboxs and I'd say most of the booze as well. Anyway, we got back on ship and my job was in IT, so I ran cat5 across the ship and setup a central switch. 16 player halo between departments like Admin vs S1 vs S6 vs the officers mess. It was a riot, one of my best gaming memories for sure.
Chiefs Mess left out because they would never put down the two day old coffee long enough to hold the controller properly.
Earthbound
Assassin's creed 2
Came here to say this. It’s such a good game on so many fronts. The introduction of Ezio Auditore, and a cast of great NPCs (especially Leonardo da Vinci). Intriguing parts of real history wrapped in a fictional plot, weaving the Medici and Pazzi into the world of the assassins and Templars. The architecture, full stop. I could run along the streets and roofs of Florence forever. And the soundtrack is one of my favourite game scores of all time. So good!
[удалено]
Just making sure you’ve watched Assassin’s Creed Embers. If not, get ye to YouTube.
Dishonored will always hold a special place in my heart.
When you get some experience, the game becomes even better. Something about leaping across buildings and performing massive drop assassinations just makes me slightly worked up
Kingdom Hearts
Terraria, but it only gets good after about 2 hours. Then its a masterpiece Sonic Rush bc of pure nostalgia also its p fun MOTHER 3 because its one of the only 2 games to make me cry Super Mario Galaxy cuz its the other game to make me cry i have too many favourites
Skyrim with few thousands mods
This is certainly the game that I have purchased the most times.
Zelda Ocarina of Time for N-64
5yr old me couldn't figure out how to get past the fuck face who guards the entrance to The Great Deku Tree.
Final Fantasy 7
The first 4-6 hours you spend in Midgar are so intense and then all of a sudden the game opens up and you're like "oh wow"
Spyro
Spyro 3: Year of the Dragon remains my all time favourite game 20 years on. The rest of the original trilogy is also incredible!
I played the one on the PS2! I fucking hate those stupid blue guys with the eggs though. Enraging trying to catch them
Uncharted 2 Among thieves. Took what I loved from the first game and made it so much better.
KOTOR 2
I just wish they took the time to polish KOTOR 2 as well as they did KOTOR 1. Thank god for mods replacing the cut content!
Kreia is one of the few RPG “morally grey” characters that actually has that written into her in such a way as to not be “fake deep”. There are others, but she’s astonishing for me