Lots of people have replied with similar experiences.
But personally? I’m having the time of my life currently playing tons of new games. I love trying new ones and getting surprised, and maybe falling in love with a genre I hadn’t considered before.
I feel totally contrary to what others are saying: as I’ve gotten older, I find myself enjoying games way more. My time is more valuable to me now than ever before, so I want to fill it with things that are joyful and meaningful. Often those things are art. Games to me have always been very special in the way they can deliver a powerful artistic experience.
I think they also have a special power to be blatant disgusting soulless cash grabs, to be fair. As the years go by I feel like many aspects of the industry have become particularly unpalatable. But many studios are still releasing good games, and so far I’ve continued to find joy in seeking them out.
Not too many people on this post are actually listing games. So, in no particular order, here are some games I absolutely adored that I played recently. Games from the last ~year that have touched and moved me in some way. Experiences I don’t think I’ll forget.
Sable
Chicory: A colorful tale
Manifold Garden
Signalis
OneShot
The Talos Principle
Night in the Woods
Citizen Sleeper
Webbed
Rusted Moss
Armored Core VI
Iron Lung
Slay the Princess
Ghostrunner
Mundaun
Crosscode
Eastward
Animal Well
Pseudoregalia
Dave the Diver
Nine Sols
Patrick’s Parabox
Cocoon
Smushi Come Home
Not to imply that I expect you or anyone else to take a deep look here or to try any of these games. Just wanted to throw my perspective out there, and to show the games in concrete terms that have left an impression and continue to motivate me to keep looking and keep trying more
Yea! An all time favorite, but I played it a long time ago. I wanted to keep my little list just to recent games. Irl I am very annoying about recommending OW to everyone, as well as its dlc which continued to blow me away
I love that you're having a different experience! This is exactly why I posted about this: I have found that my taste in almost everything else has become broader as I aged, so I was wondering what's the deal with my uncharacteristically narrow taste in video games.
Sadly, I tried most of the games on your list, and found out they're not for me. I'll try the rest though! Thank you for taking the time to list them.
I find the same thing, but I’m really questioning the taste of others.
Never really did PC gaming, bought a SteamDeck to get into that ecosystem after seeing all the posts about “ZOMG! STEAM SALE!!!”
Are people just… not discerning? Do you just buy ANYTHING because it’s on sale?
The signal to noise ratio on Steam is just nuts to me… Yeah, some game might be $1.99, 90% off, but if it’s not worth the bandwidth to download, why are you bothering? Do you lack the ability to tell good games from bad games?
We don’t really teach appreciation of art enough. People unabashedly “hate watch” shows or go out to see blatant cash grabs in theatre, and buy games they don’t enjoy…
I’ve had arguments with friends who defend shows they admit have no redeeming value, and are only watching it because there’s a lot of it. Like there’s a hole in them that can only be filled with sufficient volumes of content. I can’t even talk to them anymore.
Art is in a way the study of choice. To simply make things without meaning anything by them, without doing anything on purpose except to make money, to me is little more than cheap nihilism - without adding to the conversation in the way that considered nihilism can.
A few game makers actually do contribute to the conversation of games as art, following on what came before and enriching us with new ideas. Those few should be followed closely and supported, when you find them.
82% positive just means that out of everyone who decided to buy it in the first place, 82% feel like they got what they expected. If you don’t expect greatness, then perhaps this game is exactly what you thought it’d be.
The thing is, there’s just so much stuff on Steam that even if you only care about the crème de la crème (hell, even if you only care about a specific genre), you’ll still find yourself with a wishlist longer than you’ll possibly have the time to play. I often go “ZOMG! STEAM SALE!!!” so in my case it’s slowly becoming a backlog but I do intend to play everything I buy.
Fair, Satisfactory is a lot heavier on the hardware for sure. But it’s a first person 3D game with a much bigger emphasis on beauty.
I find top down to be less interesting. I like to build factories in 3D with many vertical manufacturing layers in addition to spreading out horizontally. I think 3D factories is a more fun challenge. To each their own though. They’re both interesting games.
Dyson Sphere Program is 3rd person 3-D and it has combat these days. I’m actually wondering what they haven’t implemented yet, since it’s still early access AFAIA.
You have a narrow taste in games and that’s perfectly OK, nothing to be ashamed of at all. Enjoy what you like. You have no obligation whatsoever to play the newest, most popular thing just to keep up with the gaming Joneses. The list of popular games I haven’t tried myself is MUCH longer than the list of them I have played, either because they don’t appeal to me or I just don’t have the spare time or money, and I am 100% fine with that. I buy the games I know I’ll put time into and enjoy and don’t worry about the rest.
I recommend CrossCode, if you haven’t tried it. It’s a top-down twinstick shooter/fighter so the gameplay is comparable to some of those you’ve listed and the story is long and unforgettable, with tons of fun optional content. Probably my favorite game narrative; there’s nothing like it.
Some other favorites of mine are Revita, but there’s little in terms of story, and Outer Wilds, but it’s a slow burn. And if you’re looking for games to play with friends, these are some of my favorite multiplayer indie games:
Deep Rock Galactic
Roboquest
Gunfire Reborn
Don’t Starve Together
Risk of Rain 2
(Also Starbound, Terraria, & Core Keeper but those are bigger time investments)
I never played Alan Wake through to the end until recently when I got the second one.
Then I played through the first one, followed by Control including the DLCs and then Alan Wake 2. I can’t recommend this enough, it’s an incredible ride.
Yep, they also made me want to rewatch X-Files and Twin Peaks, two obvious inspirations (plus Stephen King particularly The Dark Tower, another kind of house that is the linchpin of universes).
I can also recommend The Lost Room mystery series from 2006. It’s use of magical, but mundane objects and a timeless hotel room also seems to have been a direct inspiration.
Damn, I knew about X-Files and Twin Peaks, but I had no idea about the others. It’s honestly a rabbit hole I’d love to go down if I ever get the time. Adulting sucks :(
Right?! I can’t run it at the moment so I’ll need to upgrade first, but damn literally every frame I’ve see of Alan Wake 2 is just peak Remedy goodness. The not being able to run it part actually kinda works out for me though because I wanna buy it once it hits Steam (although they seem to be taking their sweet ass time, it’s like they hate money or something).
Remedy’s one of the last handfull of studios still making actually good AAA games that aren’t compromised for monetization’s sake, or to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
AW2 is published by Epic, so I wouldn’t hold your breath about it coming to Steam. When you’re about to run it though, I highly recommend it. It’s the only game I’ve bought on EGS, and I’d do it again.
Thank goodness Remedy will be self-publishing going forwards. Control 2 can’t come soon enough.
Like the other poster said, Epic financed and published AW2 and paid good money for exclusivity. I doubt you’ll see it on Steam anytime soon. The only way to play it without Epic Games Launcher and all that is on console.
The game is worth it though. One of my most memorable gaming experiences over the past few years. And if you’re planning on upgrading I’ll tell you it looks absolutely gorgeous. One of the few games where ray tracing actually has a noticeable impact, too, in my opinion.
1 month ago, I know, sorry. I ended up upgrading and AW2 was like 70% of the reason. Can’t do RT and still hit 60 but even without it, what an incredible looking game, and that’s only the beginning. I don’t think I’ve ever played anything like this. It’s your basic (albeit bery solid) survival horror sure but the tone is PITCH FUCKING PERFECT and the story’s interesting in a way very few are. I’m only a few chapters in but it feels like playing through a novel more than a game.
I’m on the non-epic PC version right now (shhh) but I’m 100% buying it once I get the disposable income because even though I hate Epic, god damn Remedy deserves to make money off this.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying it! It’s a damn shame BG3 took the world by storm last year, as I felt AW2 truly deserved more awards, including Game of the Year. BG3 is good and all but at the end of the day it’s just a really well made RPG. AW2 is doing something bold and interesting with the video game medium in a way that deserves to be celebrated. It topped Jacob Geller’s yearly list for a reason, and I think he put it the best in his video:
“Is Alan Wake 2 the best game I’ve played this year? No. But it’s the most excited I’ve been to be playing a video game this year.”
Also it should have won the Game award for best soundtrack and I’ll hear no arguments.
It’s a damn shame it was overshadowed by BG3. Feels like an lesser version of the Titanfall 2 situation. Bought it on discount the other day because I want them to make money from it.
With that said, it’s always insane to me how 99% of the time, paying for a game is a worse experience than pirating it. I bought a single player game that I now cannot play because epic’s servers are down and it’s not letting me use offline mode because I tried to login when it prompted. Can’t even run the exe because the launcher force closes the game. Why tf is this offline game being treated like an always online game?! At least Steam lets you login offline if it knows your credentials from before. I’m actually considering refunding because I can’t guarantee I’ll be online the next time it logs me out.
Epic is just terrible. I wanted to bypass the launcher by using Heroic instead, but it wouldn’t recognize me having the Deluxe edition without actually installing the game through Epic and being logged in through their launcher. Garbage.
Complete and utter trash really. Just a horrible experience all round. I’ve used Epic before and I thought offline was a thing. After I was finally able to login, you can imagine my surprise when I learned that I can NEVER play offline. Logged in correctly, ran the game online fine, closed off everything, unplugged ethernet and tried to play - got hit with that “this game requires an internet connection” dialog.
I was willing to look past an outage since I figured maybe it’s because it was the second or third time launching it and it needed keys or whatever, but online only? We get internet and power issues like crazy here, that’s an actual deal breaker.
Genuinely didn’t wanna but I ended up refunding it. Remedy, if you’re seeing this, hmu when it’s on steam and I can actually play offline. Paid for it once, willing to again :)
Not to mention the fucking notifications for Epic Games Achievements are loud as all fuck and default to “on” every time you open the launcher so you have to manually turn on Do Not Disturb every time you launch the game or your immersion gets ruined every 5 seconds by an Epic Achievement notification ding (and visual on screen popup btw!)
It’s so funny you mentioned it because I was actually worried about that too. Achievement popups in a game like this (even on steam tbh) can really take you out of it. And AW2 has qute a few too sheesh. Not sure if steam offline mode still has em. Good to know I’m not insane though haha
I’m the same way. I just want to live in those stories until I’ve played them and replayed them so much that the feeling goes away. Currently: cyberpunk.
That sounds wonderful to me, as long as you have fun with your favorite games and the other content. You save a lot of money and, more importantly, time.
I ended playing Deus Ex for the 10th time last week and I realized there’s not many big budget titles that I like that shipped past 2017. The attention to detail, system complexity, and writing quality is just not there anymore. Its all slop. The last one that I can even remember with any fondness…is Arkane’s Prey. Well that’s not true, I dig Metaphor ReFantazio’s (sic) art style. But I’ve played JRPGs.
I think the AAAs are cooked, folks. But Indies? Have you heard of Mouthwashing? Empires of the Undergrowth? Satisfactory? Those are my timesinks and what sticks in my mind the longest.
I don't think there's anything wrong with it. The genres I like keep getting new games, but if most games now were precision platformers or MMORPGs, I'd read more lol.
Just try to hold back the good ol days mentality, try new stuff if it catches your interest, and let yourself enjoy your 10000th replay of your favorites? You aren't against new things entirely, after all. You just don't make yourself play games you don't like. Somewhere out there is an indie developer with similar taste, also frustrated they can't find a game they want to play, and I hope you find them and add a new game to your list.
This just means you’re figuring out what you like, and refusing to force yourself to enjoy trash.
Remember, 90% of anything is shit, and of that 10%, not all of it is going to appeal to your tastes.
On top of that, AAA gaming is a fucking wasteland right now. Publishers have squeezed all the life out of the medium in search of ongoing profit bonanzas. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a AAA game, unless we count Cyberpunk which had the benefit of being self published, so I don’t really think that counts.
Oh, my bad, Elden Ring would definitely count as AAA. That was awesome (still need to finish it, and the DLC). But let’s be real, Elden Ring is great because it’s so different from the vast majority of the open world games out there.
Anyway, I mostly spend my time on mid-shelf, indie and self-published stuff, and even then the number of games I like is pretty small. My main go tos are Darktide, Warframe, Insurgency, Chivalry 2, The Finals (I guess that’s kind of mainstream?), Stellaris, and Total War Warhammer. I’ve also recently enjoyed VA-11-Hall-A, Slay The Princess, Shadows of Doubt, and Space Marine 2. Those were all pretty great.
I like that a lot of games get more long term support now. That’s really cool. It’s fun to be able to keep coming back to a game I like and finding new stuff.
But yeah, you don’t owe it to anyone to enjoy everything, and you owe it to yourself to not waste your time on things you don’t enjoy.
I myself get bored of the games quickly, imo. I guess when I feel like devs are ‘cheating’ I lose interest.
Some examples:
Batman Arkham Asylum: Gave up I got to Killer Croc level. Didn’t like how the stealth/action game turned into precision platformer.
Batman Arkham City: Stopped at Mr. Freeze level. I looked up how to beat him and turns out I had to follow specific moves to defeat him. Ain’t got time for that tbh.
Spider-man: Stopped at Rhino + Scorpion level. Again with getting Rhino to headbutt a wall, under heavy load to drop it on him to stun him and beat him up? Bye.
Life Goes On: Gave up on a level where timing was crucial. Until that point I focused on steps to solve the puzzle but at this stage, even though I knew what to do, timing was too important and I haven’t got those reflexes or patience to replay the level again and again.
You see a new game as an investment. Nothing wrong with that. There’s different genres to games and once you’ve explored them it can be hard to put up with something you feel you’ve already played and that one of your favorites did better. You’re probably at the point where you’d have more fun playing with friends / exploring an mmo. Stay curious and be bold.
I realized that I need a certain amount of time with a game to warm up to it or else I‘m always drawn back to known quantities. Seems like playing things I know is just more comfortable. I also realized that I really like racing games for a similar reason: I don‘t have to learn anything new about the mechanics/game, I just have to drive.
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