I literally just posted about a few of these in another thread. :)
Decent: Freespace and Freespace 2 are the best Space Fighter - Dog-Fighting Tactics games I’ve played. They still hold up to this day. And the voice-acting is great.
Dungeon Keeper and Dungeon Keeper 2 are also solid games, although more in the silly corner. Dig out a dungeon, build rooms to attracts creatures of the dark, train them and go to war against the foul knights and kings of the overworld.
The OG Fallout games are always worth a mention. Fallout and Fallout 2.
If you’re into old disturbing point and click puzzle games Sanitarium is a classic.
Or a bit more laid-back storytelling with mysteries, maybe? Then Oxenfree is worth looking into.
In the FPS category I recommend the Metro games. Well, the two first ones anyway. Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. Stealth is optional, but advised. :p
I’d also be amiss not to mention Soma. It’s a scary game and a solid mindfuck at the same time. Approach with caution.
That’s my list for now. I hope there’s something in there you can use. :)
GOG’s version works for me straight out of the box. Other than that, there’s the High-Res patch and the general Patch. They are quite important on modern machines.
If you play on Windows, make sure both patches are installed. Then screw around with the High-Res patcher a bit, hopefully you can find the right setting. It will probably take a few attempts.
If you play on Linux, I sadly can’t help you as I never got Fallout to work in it. :/
If you’re thinking about the Fallouts, don’t forget all the Infinity Engine games (Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Planescape Torment), and Neverwinter Nights, and Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2.
And Shadowrun (Returns, Dragonfall, Hong Kong).
There’s a universe of amazing isometric RPGs out there.
Battlebit has replaced Mordhau (for now) as my brainless relaxation game. The FPS mechanics are surprisingly solid and it’s just good, chaotic fun. I do think the netcode feels a little last-gen, but you’re not playing this game to be a CS:GO master.
It looks pretty fun! I’ll look more into it but I l’ll probably buy it! My main problem is that I read somewhere that they are planning to use faceit and I use linux and as far as I now faceit doesn’t work on linux.
First thing’s first: Luciole is right. Making hardline categories doesn’t work and you’re better off coming up with properties games could have. But if we’re gonna go down this route:
Dwarf Fortress adventure mode is one among a few games (Stoneshard being another?) that go for… an open-world with fairly traditional rogueish mechanics?
Hardcore Diablo, alongside other ARPGs and stuff like Tales of Maj’Eyal and Rift Wizard, I’d call “skill rogues”? If we’re not gonna care whether they’re turn-based or not. Games where you have a bunch of skills to unlock with cooldowns and very little importance placed on map loot.
Calling everything that isn’t turn-based an “action rogue” seems wrong. Like, Barony? Sure it’s real-time, but it’s seriously the classic Roguelike experience, except in first-person and co-op now. It’s rad as hell.
Something you’re missing IMO is… sandbox-ness? Like the “skill rogues” don’t have a lot of systems that can interact in weird unexpected ways. Nethack is the quintessential systemic sandbox. More modern examples would include Spelunky and to a much greater extent Noita. There’s a lot of overlap with totally different genres here- Immersive sims inherit some of Nethack’s sauce, and so does Dwarf Fortress (as in Fortress Mode).
What the heck even are DoomRL and Jupiter Hell? They’re turn-based but built to almost feel like they’re not. I feel like they’re their own special thing in a way.
I could never get into Bioshock for some reason. I started playing it twice, but just never felt super engaged or intrigued. Which seems really weird to me because I love a compelling story and that game has a reputation for being a great story. Maybe I just haven’t been in the right mood and need to give it another shot.
Depending on how many hours you played, you might not have reached the point that gave it that reputation. I absolutely loved the story already, including the characters and the environment of Rapture, but there’s a certain point in the story where it gets taken to a new level.
Appreciate the perspective. Maybe it’s just not for me. But I may also give it another shot at some point since I’m not inclined to spend a lot of money on games these days and that one’s already in my Steam library.
The villain would have won, if he’d just had the good sense to NOT BE OBVIOUSLY EVIL FOR LIKE HALF AN HOUR. You could have just celebrated your victory over the first bad guy while you let the hero meander back to the surface and fuck off forever. But NO, you have to be like “HAHAHA I’M EVIL SO FUCK YOU!” and now the hero has literally no choice but to stay and kill you. It was so lazy, and so stupid. Up to that point, it was good, and I loved the twist, and then he had to go completely ruin it with a boneheaded move that made 0 sense except to show how evil he was.
Then Bioshock 2 fucking did the same thing again. Let these meddling interlopers get on the submarine and go away, and you’ve won, all your goals are complete, Rapture is yours. BUT NO, we have to show the reader how EVIL the bad guy is again.
Then Bioshock Infinite did it fuckingagain. Great, we’ve won, the revolution is a success, the good guys are triumphant, oh, shit, did we make these people too sympathetic? Better have them suddenly become bloodthirsty child-killers for no reason so you feel ok fighting them instead of fucking off back home! By that point, though, it was kind of a Dead Dove: Do Not Eat situation; I don’t know why I expected anything different after the previous two times.
Instead of BF, I would try out BattleBit. It’s an Indie game that’s very similar to BF and got very popular recently.It’s supposed to be BF but actually good.
You like cool space stuff? Science fiction? Exploration? Games that don’t hold your hand? Wonderfully crafted experiences? Mysteries to solve? Existential crisis? “A-ha!” moments?
Outer Wilds is the game. If you answered “yes” to at least three questions, give it a try - you will probably love it.
Thing is, you can’t really explain much about Outer Wilds without getting into spoilers, as the whole point of the game is to explore the game’s solar system, figure out environmental puzzles and read ancient texts of a long-gone civilization to solve a mystery that you find yourself tangled in.
It is simply the most fascinating game I have ever played - it’s amazingly well-thought as an experience, every little thing neatly fits together. And there is no right or wrong way to play - after the ‘tutorial’, the game never tells you what to do or where to go next. It is all up to your curiosity and interests. Stuck on exploring one planet? Go investigate something else. You’ll probably find answers to help your exploration on the original planet! Any way you go about exploration, you will find revelations and eventually reach the game’s amazing finale.
Furthermore, if you know what to do, you can complete the game in around 10 minutes. Outer Wilds is a 15-30 hour game. There are no powerups or tools to unlock - knowledge is what gates you from answers and is what allows you to progress.
I just wish people weren’t so adamant about the whole “no spoilers” thing with it. It sort of soured my time with it when I finished the intro and was kinda just like… oh, it’s the Majora’s Mask thing. That’s the big mind-blowing twist people are talking about.
I guess what I’m saying is thanks for just talking about what actually makes it so unique / impressive.
To expand on what pipariturbiini said, the game is about discovery and knowledge, so any spoiler you look up is directly removing a part of the game experience for you. I’m sorry your experience was tainted by the advice to not seek out spoilers, but overall I think it does help ensure most people have the optimal experience.
Word of warning: systematically classifying video games is HARD. It’s a bit like classifying any form of creative media: music, cinema, visual arts, etc. It’s hit-or-miss. RPG forums routinely fall into that rut and the infamous corollary: [insert game here] is (or is not) an RPG.
If you’re dead set on this endeavour, I’d suggest identifying main features and tagging games with a number of them. Try and pick required ones if possible. Or don’t, because gate keeping sucks. If you know how to code, this is sort of the Composition over inheritance mindset.
I agree with this methodology, and it’s reminiscent of how traditional roguelikes are defined here. I’ve used a similar approach in my own endeavor of defining incremental games - define a canon, find the qualities they share, and indicate which ones seem most important to have.
Stuff like FTL and “The PIT” doesn’t fit super well into your categories I feel. I think they’re a little to defined and narrow.
I think one way to slice it would be how the games handle progression, is there any? Is it only on complete runs or also on partially complete runs or every single run you gain something?
It’s similar to what you’re on but a bit more concise. So
No progression: the game is about completing a run, which is very challenging but also very rewarding.
Some progression: the game builds over multiple runs offering different/new ways to tackle it as you complete runs or discover stuff.
Full progression: every run builds on your previous runs.
I don’t see the point in naming a genre for rougelike card games. To me it’s a mash up between a full progression rougelike and a card game, and it doesn’t need a name. Also a name for rougelike with safe havens seem weird as well. And rougelikes with full progression by nature become grindy since that becomes one way to win.
The fact that you can say “rougelike card games”, and we all know exactly what you mean, is precisely why we should name that genre. There are plenty of folks who want to seek out roguelikes and not be inundated with Slay The Spire clones. (I like them just fine, personally.)
FTL is what I’d call an Action Rogue, even though it’s pausable (and actually a lot, maybe all, Action Rogues are pausable).
I haven’t played The PIT - I need to look it up.
The idea of classifying based on progression is one of the most important ideas here, you’re right about that. But I also want to capture the idea that the core gameplay itself - grid combat, real-time, cards, JRPG-style battle screens, whatever - is important.
What I’m saying is those already are genres, a game can have more than one genre so use that. Rougelike TCG, Rougelike RPG and Rougelike Action RPG are all valid and much more universally understood than trying to make people understand what “Action Rouge”, “Bandlike” or “Cardlike” is. Then mentioning the type of progression helps as well. But if we try naming all permutations with more than 3 games fitting it then we’ll just end up with 10 new genres noone will use or understand.
Absolutely. I’m about to jump into the third one, which from what I understand is basically a remastered version of 2 with more civilizations to choose from.
Generally I try to keep my Freelancer obsession under wraps until I’ve known people for at least a few months.
I love this game and have put thousands of hours into both the online and campaign (I speedrun it) and into online server play. If you’re a fan of Everspace, Elite: Dangerous, or other games in that vein, I very much recommend giving Freelancer a look as it still hasn’t been beat 20 years later.
The world is set roughly 800 years after the Alliance has left the Sol system during the Alliance-Coalition War. Following the events of Starlancer (not at all necessary to have played, just tangenting off that universe) five sleeper ships were launched as part of the escape. The five ships named for their home countries - Liberty, Bretonia, Kusari, Rheinland, and Hispania, headed toward the Sirius sector and each landed on separate planets and funded their own governments mirroring their Earth counterparts.
The story picks up as you, Edison Trent, arrive on Planet Manhattan. You and the survivors of Freeport 14, which has been destroyed at the hands of some mysterious and seemingly alien force, are just coming to terms with what has happened and you’re trying to pick up and move on. You meet a Liberty Security Force agent Jun’ko Zane, who has some contract work for you to pick up and outfits you with your first ship. Not two minutes out of atmo and the incoming diplomatic delegation from Rheinland is attacked and destroyed, and you, Juni, and her partner King find yourselves unraveling an investigation that goes to the highest levels of all four major Houses.
The rest of the game is pulling on those threads and unraveling a political conspiracy as you, King, and Juni track down leads. The main structure is alternating story missions and free roam periods, where the story missions expand the area you get to play in and push out to new systems, and then the free roam is you being the titular freelancer and picking up off jobs to earn credits and purchase better equipment and learn more at your own pace.
While the story is interesting, the true hooks in this for me are two things:
The World - There is so much love and lore tucked into every corner of this game. Loads of environmental storytelling, but then nearly every selectable object has an infocatd with additional detail fleshed out. History about everything is thought out to some degree. And if you see something interesting, odds are it has an interesting story to tell. This makes exploration rewarding, sometimes also financially within the game. Each system really feels like several hundred years of development and history were thought out to get to the game world’s current state.
The Controls - Generally in an older game, controls are hard to get the hang of. Freelancer uses an intuitive mouse aim flight system that lets you focus on where you want to go rather than how you have to maneuver your ship to get there, which means it’s not a burden to exploring and makes combat fun while still retaining a lot of depth. It’s not a space sim in the traditional sense. It doesn’t have the systems control that your more hardcore space sims do if that’s your thing, but between the ship customization and ease of flight, the barrier to entry is almost non-existent while still being engaging.
Past the campaign, there is still a very active modding community that continues to support an active online player base. There are plenty of simplistic mods to add new ships, weapons, or QOL features, out to full mods such as Discovery that adds a new house and continues to extend the game storyline through iterative updates and player-driven events, including dynamic player-created stations, to total conversions like Tides of War that wrap the world in a well put together Star Wars skin.
I was active on Discovery for a long time and really is where I put most of my hours into this game, playing online and just existing and driving the world into different directions at the same level of quality as the original game.
I could gush so much more, but just booting it up and playing a few minutes I think is enough to hook the right person. While not on the digital distribution platforms, the usual abandonware sites typically host a copy of the disc iso (as does DiscoveryGC for use during their mod install process) and it will install and run without issue on modern systems. Last fall, the Freelancer HD Edition mod was released on ModDB that updates visuals, textures, and adds some QOL features so that the game properly supports widescreen resolutions and looks great on modern displays.
I love this game, and frankly it’s the platonic ideal of a space sim that I’m still looking for a worthy successor to this day, with the closest from a gameplay perspective being Everspace, and nothing matching the depth and care and just jot of zooming around space.
One thing I love about Dead Cells is how every level feels different. There is always some unique gimmick or special features or a very specific level structure etc…
The DLC levels are no exception, and just for that I’d say they’re worth it.
This sounds like a fun project! :) I’ve only played one game in this genre, Cave Noire for Game Boy. It has randomly generated dungeons. It’s turn based. There’s no stats to level up, instead the player just has to improve their own gameplay strategy. There’s 40 stages (to put it simply), each getting a little harder. After you beat a stage the game saves and you never have to play that one again. How would you classify it?
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