If I weren’t currently at work and would have time to think about the answer, I could probably come up with more titles, but those are the top 2 that come to mind, if I ignore cRPGs (at least that’s how I read your “avoiding final fantasy-esque” requirement):
Settlers 2: It’s new enough to still look decent by today’s standards, and has amazing game design. Available at GoG.
Star Control 2: One of the best early open world games. The graphics have definitely aged by today’s standard, but the humour hasn’t. Or maybe it has, but just a bit. Available for free and open source.
My relationship with cRPGs is weird. I adore disco elysium and citizen sleeper, two of my favourite games. I enjoyed the first ~30 hours of Divinity Original Sin 2 before I just got uber fatigued on how much the game got in the way of the characters for me. Final Fantasy (style) games i just get so exhausted by all the faffing around with party composition and stats and junctions and equipment and skills and whatever the fuck else. What I live for in my tabletop experiences is high storytelling and roleplay, where I can do a little fooling around with fun combat builds and whatnot without getting too bogged down, and my videogaming preferences mirror that.
I guess what I’m saying is that a crpg with a greater focus on the RP and less on the G really fits my tastes, so earthbound is a natural fit.
Settlers and star control both look somewhat neat! I’ll have a look, many thanks.
Older JRPGs in particular are definitely a bit of an acquired taste. There are a lot of games that I love dearly but have a hard time recommending to anyone who didn't grow up on that style of game.
That said, Chrono Trigger is the one that really stands the test of time and I think is the best entry point into the classics. Or just try some more modern games, the genre has evolved considerably.
Earthbound is probably the one I'd put next after CT, but it's a bit of a slow burn that's honestly carried by its writing. Mother 3 raises the bar considerably, but you gotta play EB before M3.
Yeah, I’ve had such a love/hate experience with JRPGs. When the game gets out of the way and lets me just explore the world and its characters I fall in love. And then the gameplay comes back and I have to get out my spreadsheets and shit and I just fall asleep. CT comes highly recommended so I’m looking forward to giving that a go alongside EB and M3. I have Sea of Stars on my backlog which is apparently a spiritual successor to CT so that’ll probably follow along nicely.
Not gonna lie only game I play on mobile is clash of clans. I don’t play mobile often and don’t spend money on it either. Been playing since middle school though off and on.
i’ve been really enjoying that pokemon emerald rogue rom hack… it’s such a breath of fresh air. it’s all the good parts and all the parts. (goodtime zone has really good videos on it if you’re curious)
Yesss its such a good hack! I loved version 1.0 but 2.0 is a whole other level. No other hack touches it in terms of qol features in my opinion. And it’s endlessly replayable. Pokemon distilled down to its best bits!
Both Turnip Boy games (Tax Evasion and Robs a Bank), short fun, games with decent replayability. The writing is what makes it work though.
Wayfinder, don’t have a full opinion on this yet but it would have been interesting to see it if it had been released as an MMO as planned, the world is very pretty.
Crime Boss Rokay City is pretty fun, at launch it was crap but they’ve moved more towards a PayDay angle with heists and is pretty decent now.
I’m getting to the later stages of Jedi: Fallen Order, and bought the ‘Pixels with a Porpoise’ bundle on Humble Bundle, so I’m looking a several weeks of pixelated fantasy fun, I think.
Subnautica has a long and beautiful OST. It’s been a long-time favorite of mine, and just a great instrumental jam to fuel my creativity lately. Stardew has my other favorite game soundtrack!
starfield the game is divisive to say the least, but i cant imagine anyone would talk bad about the soundtrack. inon zur’s best work so far, and the death metal songs in there are fucking awesome too
I would suggest “quake 2”, it’s rock /metal and put me in a good mood when I work. Now if you like instrumental metal, it’s no game music, but I would suggest Aephenemer (their official instrumental playlist is on YouTube).
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