I know you want to avoid Final Fantasy style games, but both Chrono Trigger and FF Tactics Advance are unique takes on JRPGs (you’re open to Earthbound, after all). They are also timeless, IMO, and stand up against modern titles.
Kirby’s Adventure is great all around. Has saves, interesting gameplay, tight controls, excellent music, secondary secret objectives, and it’s just goddamn adorable. It’s also better than Kirby Superstar, IMO, but do try both.
I’m going forward just to see more of the environment, but I nearly gave up in the beginning for that reason. The gameplay itself is a bit stale, and it reminds me a lot of mobile games with how simple the combat and AI is. There’s also no explicit “Exit Game” option, so when playing on Steam Deck, you have to open the menu and force exit.
If not for the highly detailed environments, I’d think it was a mobile port.
Been playing The Ascent, a 3/4 looter shooter. Not a particularly deep story, and you are kind of a nameless nobody (so not much of a character arc), but they nail the atmosphere. Each zone has that cyberpunk dystopian feel with lots of NPCs loitering around, so the world feels alive.
The combat is kinda okay. The enemies aren’t particularly unique: the guys with guns try to maintain a distance, and the melee guys zerg rush you. Additionally, there’s a high-low aiming system that doesn’t feel good to work with, but is a necessary part of combat. You upgrade your guns via a finite currency, and as far as I can tell, each gun type acts as your “class.”
Overall, I’m having fun, and I will be playing with friends later on, but it’s not going to be for everyone. Its Mixed and Mostly Positive reviews on Steam are justified.
I really liked BioShock Infinite. I enjoyed the story, I enjoyed that it was a deviation from the previous two, I liked the characters and the dimension travel. I especially liked the “fake facade” of it all, versus the overt, grimy dystopia of Rapture (which was fine). It gets extra points for being playable with ReShade on solely a Ryzen 5600G.
Loved AoE II. I still play it on occasion, and I grew up playing it with cheat codes (there’s some silly ones). I think it still holds up well to this day, even with my nostalgia glasses off.
If you’ve never played it, my only caveat would be to expect the AI to not compare to modern iterations. “Balance” in campaign missions sometimes comes in the form of giving the AI an unfair advantage, but everything can be overcome, and you can always save-scum your way to victory. It’s fun, and I definitely recommend a play if you are into retro gaming or RTS’s.
I don’t play anymore, but I sank over 1500hrs into it. They’ve had several content updates since then, too, so there should be plenty to keep you busy.
Word of advice for starting: focus on opening up every planet in your star chart. After that, you should have access to every mission and event.
Similar experience. The building doesn’t feel as nice as you’d expect, and it’s often more satisfying in traditional Lego games. Still, the overall gameplay is a unique divergence from their usual game design.