Majesty (Majesty 2 is okay, but lacks the charm of the original, but YMMV) - you run a kingdom full of heroes. The catch? You don't command the heroes. They have their own AI and goals and you have to offer incentives and place the necessary buildings appropriately to both enable and encourage them to do their jobs of saving the kingdom.
Ronin - a stealth/platformer. Combat is turn-based. No, combat is not mechanically separate from the stealth OR the platforming. Relatively short but very fascinating.
Pawnbarian - Roguelike, but movement and combat is done by chess rules.
Exanima. Combat is based entirely around physics/momentum and positioning. It's hard to get the hang of, but is immensely satisfying once you get your "He's starting to believe" Matrix moment and successfully block a few attacks in a row.
Crusader Kings 3. You know those map-painting Grand Strategy games, where the goal is to conquer other territories? One of those, but you're running a noble dynasty whose fortunes rise and fall, even passing between the overlordship of different countries and kingdoms. A lot of personality. I guess it's not as innovative as it once was, since it's spawned imitators at this point. Hm.
Ring of Pain. It's... hard to describe.
Phasmophobia. Multiplayer only. You hunt ghosts. Not like, 'combat' hunt ghosts, like 'You need to find evidence of ghosts' hunt ghosts. But the ghosts definitely hunt you back - in a much more malicious way.
Death Stranding. Walking simulator. No, not like 'You don't do anything but hold down the walk button', like 'You need to keep your balance while carrying things' walking simulator. Immensely weird.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Multiplayer only (at least practically speaking). Each person plays a separate member of the titular bridge crew, and cooperation to achieve even simple tasks is key.
Gods Will Be Watching. A series of puzzle scenarios about calculated risk, failure, and learning the rules anew each time.
I strongly object to the characterization of Death Stranding as a walking simulator. Walking place to place is core to the experience for maybe one quarter of the game. Once you get to the largest area and continue unlocking new tools and features, you spend very little time walking. It also dismisses combat, which I felt was considerably more prevalent than I expected.
I feel like I spent a good portion of my time walking and finding ways across rough terrain even after all the fancy gear was unlocked. The motorcycle could get you maybe half the way, usually.
I mean, at least until the zip-lines. Those ruined the game. Honestly, the rebuildable roads were a bad inclusion as well. Sitting on top of a hill, looking down at the streams and terrain around you, figuring out the best route with your tools, was peak satisfaction in that game.
Yeah, that’s fair. The first time you go to any new site there is walking involved along with everything else, but I still think calling it a walking simulator is reductive, since it just one tool in an ever-expanding toolbox.
Maybe it’s better to call it a scifi delivery simulator (including factions of delivery addicts you have to fight because they keep trying to take your things).
Majesty (Majesty 2 is okay, but lacks the charm of the original, but YMMV) - you run a kingdom full of heroes. The catch? You don’t command the heroes. They have their own AI and goals and you have to offer incentives and place the necessary buildings appropriately to both enable and encourage them to do their jobs of saving the kingdom.
I loved that you could build temples and get specialty priests for 5 different gods, but never more than two in one level, because some of the gods were opposed to others, including the one I never used because they were monotheists and I didn’t want to give up all other types of priests.
Also that every hero type had their own priorities and preferences and would do what they preferred barring a significant bounty on something else. Also that Rogues could fuck you over if a hero died and you wanted to use the resurrection spell on them because a rogue near where they died might just rob their grave.
Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Multiplayer only (at least practically speaking). Each person plays a separate member of the titular bridge crew, and cooperation to achieve even simple tasks is key.
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator did it before that, in 2010. ST: Bridge Crew is more or less “Artemis but with Star Trek branding”. Artemis just released a remake/sequel-sort-of-thing a bit over a month ago (called Artemis Cosmos, though it’s had a…rocky…launch so far) that’s a complete rewrite from the ground up.
And when I say they did it first, I mean to the point that some of the reviews describe Artemis by likening it to being a member of the bridge crew on the Enterprise, because there wasn’t a game like that on the market.
Gods Will Be Watching. A series of puzzle scenarios about calculated risk, failure, and learning the rules anew each time.
Is your brother making games? If yes : there are several easy to use game engine like mentalo.app, Godot, gdevelop and such.
If your brother is mostly playing, then anything by Nintendo would be a good idea. Old consoles are cheap and if you have the Switch there are a lot of really good game on it.
Edit: And I second Minecraft or the free version (minetest I think)…
While I do play Roblox (because we don't have a federated alternative for it yet) I had concerns about it - moderation, playerbase maturity issues (yes, while its being taken over by young adults the majority is still unmatured), updates that the community doesn't want, and "racism" against other platforms e.g. Linux. You're right about how they exploit the creators.
Do fedi or Foss games really need a roblox alternative ? I’m not sure… Do roblox teach you how to make games? Well it teaches you do build games for roblox that’s it. Is roblox the only place to find games for kids, surely not.
I feel like there’s two parts. On the one hand, Larian’s engine is fantastic and allows really creative and diverse approaches to their puzzles. There’s a number of fights that feel more like puzzles than fights, because they’re nearly impossible if you just go in spells blazing, but not nearly as threatening with a little preparation. They’ve honed that engine through DOS & DOS2, so it’s much more mature than you’d get if this were a pure derivative of BG1/2. The first time I lit Shadowheart up with Spirit Guardians and dashed her around a battlefield reaping the canon fodder…I actually giggled with glee.
Then there’s the storytelling. My journal is filling up with quests & side quests, but I don’t think any of them have been the “Kill 5 orcs,” “gather 10 blood moss,” or “deliver this McGuffin” variety. The NPCs you meet tend to reappear later and react differently depending on how their previous quest ended. I suppose, technically, that’s similar to going back to the same quest-giver, rising in their ‘ranks’ toward some prize, but it doesn’t feel the same. The NPCs, even the side-quest NPCs, feel like they’re woven into the overall narrative and it makes for a much more immersive experience.
I can’t imagine how much writing, animation, and voice acting had to be done to accommodate all the choices I won’t make. Even just the times some NPC voices my gender.
I agree about the quests feeling fairly good, but my hod is the jour Al itself atrocious. No way to remove/hide quests from the map. Many quests sort of remain in this “not done” quest state because completing it will have undesirable outcomes and it feels weird that I have to keep it there still
I agree, and the fact the NPCs have conversations and stories that play around you which are not automatically turning into quests for you to do (sometimes even chiding you for eavesdropping) makes the world feel much more alive and less player-centric.
You’re right, but I think OP meant almost all the games that are developed by Valve have a Linux version, meanwhile non of the games developed by CDPR has it.
Totally agree, I don’t want to have to do research before or during playing and have to consult a build guide for every level up, just so I don’t mess up my character.
Just let me fuck around, find out and do it better all over again in my own time.
Origins is definitely the best and the closest to that classic Bioware feel you like.
DA2 was polarizing but I enjoyed it. Very different from the first mechanically. Worth playing tho, IMHO.
DA:I was… not fun for me. I feel like they tried to modernize the formula and added all the worst parts of modern (at the time) games, namely HUGE time sinks for no reason because it’s not a fucking MMORPG that makes money by the hour. /deep breath Sorry, I am still a little bitter at how that game turned out. Anyways, probably worth checking out, maybe you will feel differently. But it wasn’t for me.
Dragon age 2 was insanely fun to me, i definitely played it more than origins. (Im aware I’m not in the majority with that) I thought the combat was so fun and i loved doing different play throughs with different builds in that game
2 definitely shows the issue of EA wanting to push the game out in 1.5 years. Many cut corners and a lack of assets with the repetitive maps.
I think it's the weakest entry in the Dragon Age series, and a lot of it's negative reception was because it failed to live up to expectations of DAO.
If Dragon Age 2 wasn't a Dragon Age game, it wouldn't have gotten the poor reviews it got. As a standalone game it's actually not bad.
I always recommend playing it, as it directly leads into the story of Inquisition and it has some great characters in it.
DA2 takes a different take for me when I realized that you’re playing through Varric’s retelling of the story. It kinda explains why people are falling out of the sky to join the battle and other inconsistencies.
This gets often overlooked, glad it got brought up. The entire game is an exercise in unreliable narration. Gives you a very different lens to experience the game through.
Ultima Online is a 25 year old MMO that still has the original servers running. The install is about 3GB and can run on any PC from the last 20 years. For the official servers, the player base is largest on Atlantic and you can sign up for a free Endless Journey account. PVP is only allowed in certain zones.
There are many many player run servers that fit a lot of play styles. The most populated being Outlands. That is where I mainly play as it is by far the most populated UO server, 2.5k-3k people on usually. Just beware, outside of the starting zone and towns, it is open PVP almost everywhere.
City of Heroes now has player run servers. The install is around 5GB. Homecoming is the most populated, with a lot of added content. Rebirth is less populated but tries to be the closest experience to the official servers.
Likewise, Everquest is still running, including some semi-official EQ-classic servers. Server population might be measured in hundreds – a far cry from the 500k peak in 2002.
I feel like that has vastly deeper meaning than it was ever intended to. A philosopher or sociologist could probably write their masterwork with that title someday.
I’ve been expecting it the last couple of games showcases where there were rumors too. I will say the new hardware launch makes the rumors more compelling, but I will literally not believe it until I see it. I’m fully expecting the event to end on a dumb note and to say “that’s it!?” like the last couple of times I got my hopes up
Burnout Revenge was a beloved game of my childhood. You had bonuses from wrecking your foes, got bonuses for creating wrecks, and for near death experiences. And there was an awesome mode where you would launch your car into a scene to cause as much damage as possible.
Midnight Club 2 where you could customize your cars and race them on fun tracks, but could also just beep around the open world.
Maybe it’s nostalgia, but I would love a fun racing game that doesn’t have a GTA attached to it.
This is literally why people spend $500 on a switch 2; it has the only arcade racer on the market worth playing. If you don’t want a single-game console or Mark Kart isn’t whst you’re looking for, tough luck.
SuperTuxKart is alright, from what I understand. They’re also making a new version apparently. Though I’m not into karting arcades, so dunno for sure how it compares.
Try ‘Wreckfest’: it’s similar to ‘Burnout’, but with better physics. Also ‘Circuit Superstars’ for a top-down racer with decent physics, pit stops, and multiplayer.
There are also ‘The Crew 2’ and ‘The Crew Motorfest’, ‘Tokyo Xtreme Racer’, ‘Asphalt Legends’, ‘Formula Legends’, ‘iRacing Arcade’, and of course ‘Forza Horizon’ 4/5 — but I haven’t played any of these, so ymmv.
Nahhh this mf had a whole ass PHD while I am STILL struggling with ONE college degree that was supposed to take six semesters since 2017!! Altho I had 3 whole years where classes were suspended (thanks to the Plague 19000), so technically I’ve only been at it for five years… BUT STILL!!
GORDON GIVE ME SOME OF YOUR LEARNING POWERS! I BEG OF YOU! I CAN’T POSSIBLY BE THIS WASHED AT STUDYING!!
i can tell you the one that surprised me the most: Yoku’s Island Express! utterly adorable pinball metroidvania. you’re a little dung beetle pushing a big ball around to deliver mail.
i find that there is so much focus on dark and dreary in the metroidvania genre, which makes sense considering the roots of the genre. me, i get enough of that in my daily life. i want colorful and full of curiosity. the ori games are good for that too, as is supraland, but i don’t know of many more.
PSA: Don’t buy a gaming laptop. They are trash. The plastic case will melt, the wifi card will come loose, the battery will die within minutes. A steam deck is truly your best option.
And never ever buy alienware. Screw them in particular.
Literally every higher end laptop gets called a gaming laptop… It’s a nothing term. Even the absolute least flashy laptop with no RGB and is basically just a glorified Thinkpad with a 4080 mobile in it gets called a gaming laptop just cause of the 4080.
Saying don’t buy a gaming laptop basically means you can’t buy literally any good high end hardware full stop.
It’s a short sighted and frankly stupid piece of advice that just hurts people.
The Alienware bit tho, that’s spot on. 100% fuck em.
Correction, don’t buy a cheap gaming laptop. There are plenty of ones like the lenovo legion and rog strix g16 that have good build quality and will last you years.
The ones with crappy plastic and overheat regularly are usually the ones under $1000
Yeah. And Dell bought them a long time ago so they would have a ‘gaming’ brand. Just buy a regular Dell machine and save money, it’s about as simple as that.
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