If you are in any way able to get your hands on Astro Bot, I recommend it sooooo much. Even at it’s steep price, it’s already worth it for me (30 percent completed).
And you can always use my strategy, buy second hand with the ability to sell again when you’re finished. I know this does not support the developer, but when money is tight (as is kind of the case for me) I think this doesn’t matter.
I love 2D platformers, especially metroidvanias. Some of my favorite ones (not just metroidvanias) are Battleblock Theater, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight and the Ori games.
I also think 3D Platforming sucks, so I try to avoid games, where this is the main gameplay. I’ve played some, like Portal or Grow Home, which I thought were good, but you probably won’t ever catch me playing some 3D collectathons or something.
Platformers are amazing. I think I like most of the big series that I’ve played—Mario, Sonic, DKC, Crash, Mega Man, etc.—and I really enjoy indie platformers.
Recent indie games that have taken the tried and true formula of unforgiving precision platforming to the extreme are also amazing. Celeste is a gorgeous games, Kaze kicks ass and retro throwback games like Byte the Bullet and Bzzzt are soooo satisfying.
I like a good pick up and play game, platformers fit the bill.
Once muscle memory kicks in, you’re golden. As long as the learning curve is right.
Going back and playing the first levels with the skill gained by completing the game is such a good feeling.
For me, SMB Wonder is a 10/10 platformer if we’re looking at recent 2D only. I don’t know many 3D platformers, but Crash 4 is a must play (I think that’s the most recent 3D platformer I’ve played).
For me, great platformers have fluid and responsive controls, and either implement a forgiving persisting experience (climbing the environment) or quick and not too far-off resets (level screens).
Platforming can be great in pure platformers, action platformers, 2d or 3d. They may shift but do not limit how stories can be told and how worlds or progression can be designed.
I imagine it can be difficult to balance forgiving platforming with challenges between novice and experienced players. Often, we see alternative or stretch-goal paths for collectibles or challenges, which is a good approach to serve both kinds of players - even if maybe not total novices.
Introducing game mechanics step by step can give good introductions and learning controls, preferably in-game without dialogue, popups, or text-only introductions. They can guide into a natural level and mechanics design progression, giving a natural progression across longer gameplay.
I started with what I had fond memories of and came to mind, but of course, I went to my steam library, and looked through games tagged platformer. And now I’m wondering if I should also link my reviews of the titles, specifically the most interesting ones. Either way, the list of fond memories / very positives became too long for one list, so it’s split by category now.
3d ego platformers
A Story About My Uncle, left a lasting impact on me back then as a very good if not exceptional title
Portal
Hot Lava, great, pure 3d platformer, a lot of of quality content
Supraland, 3d puzzle and action platformer
3d 3rd-person platformers
New Super Lucky’s Tale, a great 3d platformer
A Hat in Time, a great 3d platformer, with cute characters, good humor
RiME, I remember I wrote a very positive review about RiME
A Short Hike, great
Yooka-Laylee
2d platformers
Sheepy: A Short Adventure, free, exceptional atmosphere
Ori, with its great atmosphere and visuals
Webbed, very cute, great theming, playing as a spider
Yoku’s Island Express, great mixing of pinball and platformer, in a great setting
Spiritfarer, great atmosphere
Battleblock Theater, great absurd humor
Super Meat Boy, ok, this has been a long time ago, but it was incredibly fluid and fast, with a ton of content
Dustforce DX
Jubilee, I played this on my Steam Deck quite a bit (unfortunately no save sync)
Trine, for its great physics approach and narrated humorous storytelling
Wunderling DX, an “auto-runner platformer”, quite interesting, well polished, so try to for something different
Braid, I don’t actually know if it holds up today, it’s been so long ago
I’d love to hear your opinions on
A Highland Song, deep lore, great atmosphere - I felt a bit lost though, or wasn’t captivated beyond that, and beyond one run
Treasures of Aegean, another “roguelite” platformer, with interesting progression and discovery - still, I found it well made, but ultimately not personally captivating, maybe because of the disorganized nature [of re-runs and timeloop-crossing story]
Sable, only partially platformer, and not the best quality overall, but great atmosphere, exploration, and platforming discovery
I forgot there was a sequel. At least I think I’ve seen it before.
Grow Up is currently 75% off on Steam. Very positive ratings, and watching this ign review, seems like a decent iteration with enough fresh content. I think I will buy it 🤔 and go climbing again :D
I absolutely adored Hollow Knight, but my favourite platformer gotta be Celeste. In no small part due to its accessibility, but also great character writing, organic learning curve and gorgeous soundtrack!
On a more replayable side, my most played platformer is Dead Cells - which is understandable, since it is a roguelike.
Overall, in a platformer game I value learning curve and ease of controls more, since I’m not very good at this genre (as opposed to soulslikes, where I usually welcome the challenge). But of course, a good story transcends genres.
Can’t believe Celeste is so buried in a thread about platformers. It’s challenging but never unfair (game mechanics even weigh in the player’s favour, e.g. coyote time). A common complaint about difficult platforming is the brewing impatience from having to constantly restart, but Celeste’s reloads are so fast that this becomes a non-issue. Other than C-sides (and maybe some rooms in the hotel level), levels are small enough that you don’t have to slog through everything to get to the failure point.
Celeste is masterpiece tier for me, and I highly encourage anyone who remotely loves platforming to give it a try.
Even C levels felt fair to me. The only level I genuinely got frustrated with is the final final chapter, as it relies on some advanced platforming tricks I can’t perform consistently. But then again, it is basically a free DLC for the game so I understand the difficulty spike
So yeah, as mentioned in the post, I’m currently playing Astro Bot and absolutely loving it.
The gameplay is fun and varied and everything is so playful and full of joy. The music is super wholesome and I love how tactile everything feels.
I’m going through a bit of a harder period mentally and I find that this game can bring moments of wonder and surprise like few others can.
I had a similar experience with Astro’s Playroom and Super Mario 3D World. Sometimes a simple, colorful world with happy music and fun mechanics is all you need!
I edited the post to just platformers, as it was indeed a bit vague! Though I think I was going more for the run-around, collect and jump on enemies kind of deal (Mario, Donkey Kong, Crash Bandicoot, Astro Bot, Banjo-Kazooie, etc).
So less action-platform I guess?
But what do you like about megaman? I’ve never played any game in that series!
Thanks for reminding me! Those games were amazing and actually quite similar to Astro Bot in vibe: just wholesome, cute and positive all around!
I didn’t enjoy 3 that much, and the new Sackboy game is fun but seems like a different genre almost.
I did really like the PSP and PSVita entries of LBP, if you have access to those devices you should give them a go! Even though they weren’t made by the same team, they really captured the essence and both had a great campaign!
Sidenote, do you remember the millions of Shark Attack community levels? That was such a weird trend :).
I don’t hate Megaman but Megaman Zero is the best. You get to be the legendary robot hero and cut bad guys in half with a light saber. Also the characters are interesting and the music are too good for a GBA game.
I’m currently downloading Mega Man Legacy Collection on my 2DS. Any tips for a complete newcomer to the series? I know that you have different stages, each with a different boss, and that you are allowed to do them in any order. You receive powerups from the bosses you’ve defeated right?
in about 201X I was having a terrible time trying to get through the thesis period of a master’s program
picked up some bundle of the OG 2DS (black & blue variant) and Pokemon X and loved it
a world where I could pick my friends, people were pleasant, my next career moves were obvious, and my work was rewarded? To this day, this is my escapist fantasy.
Sorry to hear things are rough, I hope you get some reccs you like ❤️
I thought In Stars and Time was really uplifting, but it does deal with mental health issues throughout the game. One of my absolute favorites and something I go back to in rough spots tho :)
Fields of Mistria is similar to Stardew. Its still early access, but there is a lot to do in the game as is. Traveller’s rest is similar to Stardew, except you have a tavern.
Tiny Glade is good if you like sandbox games. Minami lane is also alright.
For adventure games, I thought Caravan SandWitch was fun, kinda bittersweet. I havent finished Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley, but i would be shocked if it wasnt uplifting. Islets and Crypt Custodian are also nice metroidvanias. I thought they were both funny and cute.
Actually playing games during dire emotional states throws fuel unto my dissociation/depersonalization/derealization problems; but just mindfully sitting in my favorite place in the Temple of the Moon on a private vanilla WoW server works great for me. The sounds, music, colors, lighting effects, and water create a very zen space that helps me observe my thoughts and feelings without getting so tangled up in them. That kind of presence helps me better understand what is really going on and how it all happened.
If things are merely bad then maybe I’ll play some original Sims 1 or Rimworld on the coziest of settings. So long as there’s no nest of trash around then it’s probably okay. Eufloria in relaxed mode is a lovely RTS game that hasn’t ever caused me any problems.
Outer wilds felt really good to play, optimistic nihilism and a happy lonliness. One moment that really stood out to me was when I followed a certain object out of the solar system, spent pretty much 20minutes drifting in space listening to the other astronauts play together planets apart and watching the stars
spoilerWatching the stars slowly blink out and realizing that I won’t be able to save the sun, that it’s the whole universe going away. Givining in to the inevitability of it all ending and just watching everything end.
It’s one of the most peaceful times I’ve had with a game, and playing it in the middle of covid I cried happy tears. Go in as blind as you can.
It’s a gorgeous game experience. Not to mention they put so many other gamedevs to shame with their technical accomplishments (especially in the expansion – flooding waves in a ringworld!).
Don’t look up spoilers. Get yourself a copy and play it. Find somewhere to land :)
Kerbal Space program wasn’t on the list, and maybe OpenTTD? The latter is also great when you have a random setup (the game is 10Mb, runs in anything and has zero needs) and have only 20 minutes to play.
I’m gonna go with Forza (Assetto Corsa also works to a lesser extent). Sure the focus of the game is on racing, but it can be extremely relaxing to hop into any car you want from any era and just take a cruise and look at the scenery
Sometimes I chill after work by driving around the Nurburgring in a touring car in Automobilista 2.
Alternately, for more driving games:
Art of Rally has a free roam mode, which is pretty chill.
I’ve been playing Sledders, a snowmobile game. It is super early in early access, but it can be fun to just roam around (and learn how to drive a snowmobile).
I’m well aware. I enjoy the game all the same. Besides, I think people overstate how bad rammers are. Yeah it happens sometimes, but most people want the same thing you do: a clean race
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