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I stopped playing video games by the time I started college. I can't recall once specific game or event or thought that spurred the change. Recently, as I near
by fumar 10y ago
I stopped playing video games by the time I started college. I can't recall once specific game or event or thought that spurred the change. Recently, as I near 30 yrs old, I wanted to step back into my childhood and picked up a Switch with Zelda. The game starts with a nice intro, light game mechanics, and then sets you loose. It has been a week and I have been playing 2-3 hours per day, every day. I can't remember the last time, I played a game that teleported me to a new world, feel like a kid, success. Any other games you all recommend from the last decade?
- mzs 10y agoPortal and Portal 2
- komali2 10y agoAlso, the Half Life series. Not nearly as explorable as the early zelda games, though.
- swsieber 10y agoAntichamber is also a very fun adventure puzzler. It actually gives you tons of leeway even though it does have a linear path that's the easiest. I took maybe 6 hrs on my first play through, but there are speed runs that go under 10 minutes.
- soVeryTired 10y agoI got hooked on one of the newer Civilization games recently. Get nuked by Gandhi!
- viraptor 10y agoStellaris is a great game in a similar genre. Really well done.
- ZeroGravitas 10y agoSplatoon, a sequel to which should be coming out for the switch, is a different kind of game, but may inspire some of the same feelings.
- cgriswald 10y agoWell, I think you're after another game which gives you that kind of nostalgia, and honestly, nothing has come close to me like this Zelda has; it's got so much in common with the original, with all the added lore and advanced game play. But, I'll recommend the Borderlands series; especially Borderlands 2; the game play is a lot of fun, but the dialogue is absolutely amazing: rich and funny, and a little campy without being TOO campy.
- aabajian 10y agoTry The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS. If that doesn't take you back, nothing will.
- infectoid 10y agoThe Talos Principle. It rewards divergent thinking. Probably has the most easter eggs I've seen in any game. Great story as well. I believe a sequel is also in the works.
- flukus 10y agoIsn't the talos principle very linear? Or did I just never get beyond the intro?
- veli_joza 10y agoIt's not linear. You progress through different-themed worlds and you are free to play levels in any order. Each level has more-or-less single solution but it sometimes takes quite a bit of creativity to reach it. Great brain exercise.
- chadgeidel 10y agoJourney is a great game. You can "finish" it in one setting. Unfortunately it's a Playstation exclusive. Maybe you have a friend with a Playstation (3 or 4) that you can use for an evening or a weekend?
- FLGMwt 10y agoThe studio's newest game, Abzu, is on PC as well and is gorgeous.
- Impossible 10y agoAbzu is not a That Game Company game. It is made by Giant Squid, a studio founded by the art director of Journey.
- Jaruzel 10y agoSeconded. I replay Journey all the time. It's great for that 'i just need to unwind' moments. I took a punt originally and bought a second hand PS3 just to play Journey, and I'm SO glad I did. I've now got a second hand PS4, and the first thing I did was re-download Journey (for free! Thanks Sony!) One day I will get to be a White traveller...
- pchristensen 10y ago> I have been playing 2-3 years per day, every day That's losing track of time on an impressive scale!
- flgr 10y agoI also had a lot of fun playing Super Mario Galaxy. Great soundtrack as well.
- komali2 10y agoThe Witcher 3. Minecraft (with friends). Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
- viraptor 10y agoThe Witcher 3, definitely. You still need to sit through some intro / explanations, but it's pretty well made. And the story itself is amazing. (As are the books, if you're into fantasy)
- SN76477 10y agoI havent gotten through the intro on The Witcher 3 ... I have tried a few times and the PC controls seem pretty weird. Maybe I should try it again.
- viraptor 10y agoIf you feel overwhelmed by questions / story at the beginning, don't worry. You can mostly ignore the politics and learn about the factions as you go. As with all Witcher stories: everybody's got a point, everybody was hurt in the past, there are no "good" choices and you'll regret them very often. And that's great :-)
- SmirkingRevenge 10y agoI struggled with it in the beginning. For me, it took getting well into one of the major plot-point quest lines a couple hours into the game (bloody baron) before I got hooked.
- marak830 10y agoI'd say 7 days to die(with friends), I'm 33 now and we pour a lot of our free time into it (I'm at over 400 hours in the last 2 years)
- SN76477 10y agoI cannot stop playing 7days, so much fun.
- psbp 10y agoSome of my favorites (portal 2, mario galaxy, journey) are already mentioned. The most recent game I really enjoyed was Grow Home. It's not the most in depth game, but the mechanics and light, but wonderful, exploration make it one of my favorite games.
- ericzawo 10y agoThe Mass Effect series is absolutely worth checking out, especially if you're a sci-fi buff. :)
- Jach 10y agoDark Souls.
- cmrdporcupine 10y agoskyrim
- overcast 10y agoMass Effect, Last of Us, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid, God of War, Portal, Metroid Prime, Super Mario Galaxy. Mass Effect 1-3 is one of the greatest space epics of all time. Seriously, amazing. The Last of Us is just perfect storytelling, a true last hurrah to that generation. Uncharted is straight up living the life of Indiana Jones in modern day, in the most AMAZING set pieces ever. Metal Gear Solid, I don't even know how to begin. From the first game to the last, the vision, the scope, the insane story, the even more insane characters. It's the alpha and the omega in storytelling, and presentation. God of War has the most insane boss battles. Portal is just the most unique IP, totally different than anything else. Metroid Prime brings Metroid into 3D PERFECTLY. Mario Galaxy, is just charming.
- sametmax 10y agoI've been so disappointed by mass effet. After finishing fallout 2 recently, I looked up for some quality material, and people oversold it to me so I bought it on steam. Yes, having a SF + FPS + RPG is an nice innovation. And the atmosphere is really well done. All in all it's a decent game, with several endings, and a finely crafted epic touch. But it's nowhere close to the hype it got. The dialogues are terrible. Star wars episode 2 level. The environments are incredibly dull. Empty. Repetitive. "Illusion of openness" but really just closed connected corridors except on the empty planets. What saves the game is the space exploration system making you feel you are really bad ass. The combat system is a mess. I never could tell when I was winning because of my skill or some chance. Does my new equipment works ? Was this spell used right ? No idea. I just powered through the last 2 levels because it was just more efficient. Like in any modern game, healing is so easy anyway. The UI Is terrible. Your bag is full, but you can't mass manipulate things to sell them. Reading an item description takes a split second, which cumulatively makes choosing gear a torture. The game is buggy. FPS drops (it's an old game on a recent graphic card, damn it), characters stuck in walls, camera not moving... I was ok with that... on the PS1. The writing isn't close to any classical RPG (fallout, baldur's gate, final fantasy 7, tale of fantasia, chrono trigger...). The motivation of characters are underwhelming: you feel no passion, anger or driving emotion of any kind, nor intellectual master plans. Everything seems a reason and a shortcut to get going. The person you are playing has the charisma of an oyster. The backstories are the only thing not messed up, and each of your comrade have a cool unique personality. And god, half of the game time is spent on those awful planet exploration transitions with the mako. Not to mention moving anywhere is slow and clunky while being a good part of the game. And those unskipable animations (docking, mako droping, elevators, mass relays...), really what were they thinking ? The game is basically unplayable without using the apparently famous "bind game acceleration to middle click" hack so you can just speed up time and not become crazy. Having to cheat in a game not to win but to be able to enjoy it is not good design.
- elihu 10y agoThis is a bit outside your 10-year window, but Ico (2001) and Shadow of the Colossus (2005) are both very good.
- derstander 10y agoI definitely agree with the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus recommendations.
- moepstar 10y agoAnother game which hasn't been mentioned yet: Xenoblade Chronicles X on the WiiU. It is a game, very much in the same caliber that the current Zelda is - open world of the same level, great story, much to explore, the soundtrack is pure gold. If you have the chance, get it. I spent (not wasted!) around 280 hours in it, almost completing it fully (i'm at around 96 or 98%, can't recall). AFAIK Nintendo even bought out the studio which created it...
- CMay 10y agoNintendo bought them 10 years ago, before they created Xenoblade Chronicles which was the most impressive game on the Wii. Xenoblade Chronicles X is the sequel on the Wii U. The things they managed to put on screen with that hardware invoke memories of the demoscene. As soon as I saw the first footage of the new Zelda game, I thought for sure they were building it using Monolith's engine, because their engine is something special. Even the biggest open world games just don't feel that large compared to Xenoblade Chronicles. In real life when you look off and see a mountain in the distance, that's the feeling I get from it that I simply haven't gotten in any other open world game. Those ARE big, but just don't feel big. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Soft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_Soft
- justifier 10y agomario maker https://youtu.be/6xiVcScNQUE https://youtu.be/6xiVcScNQUE
- on_and_off 10y agoDamn, that's hard. Hyper Light Drifter might be a good fit (one game I often recommend). It takes a lot of inspiration from 'Zelda, a link to the past' and other old games and makes its own thing with them. It drops you in an unknown world and trust you to discover it yourself.
- EtienneK 10y ago- Skyrim - Mass Effect 2
- lmm 10y agoI'm nearing 30 and had almost given up on gaming. Overwatch has got me playing more games than I had for years, though it's very different from the kind of game you're talking about. Playing it with friends and voicechat in particular is immensely fun, because it somehow feels more meaningful than any other multiplayer shooter - maybe it's the characters, maybe just the general tone, but either way it feels like I'm learning and achieving things. Life is Strange does the transporting-to-a-world thing very nicely, though it's almost not a game (and many of the more game-ey elements detract from it IMO). Very cinematic, and a work of art in terms of storytelling - though I'm still not quite sure I'd call it fun. Kerbal Space Program is fantastic in terms of giving you a sense of achievement, of building something through your own skill. My first successful moon mission was probably the best feeling I've ever got from a videogame. Child of Light is a very cute hand-drawn, fairytale-themed, final-fantasy-esque adventure. Again maybe less a game as such, but a beautiful world to explore, though it's locked in the horrible dark dungeon of UbiSoft DRM. (Also be aware that it's full of doggerel, in keeping with the theme)
- jordigh 10y ago> though it's locked in the horrible dark dungeon of UbiSoft DRM. Damn, I was hoping to play this game some day, because I really like reading Brie Code's essays. I hope her new indie studio manages to sell without DRM.
- lmm 10y agoHeh, I disliked the focus of her popular essays, but I liked the game a lot (for reasons that I think were often the opposite of what she argued for). It was just a pain to have to wait a minute for uPlay to sort itself out whenever I wanted to play it, particularly when it's such a nice and sweet game that I played to get away from everything.
- jordigh 10y agoI might regret asking, but... what did you dislike about her essays? I'm all for playing different kinds of video games made by and for different kinds of people. That's what her focus seems to be. What did you get out of it?
- SmirkingRevenge 10y agoMust play: Bioshock Infinite Also, the original Bioshock is fantastic, but its a bit dated now. These are two of the greatest games ever made, IMHO
- matt_s 10y agoI see a lot of comments about game suggestions on things you may have missed out on. I think there is another common thread lurking of giving up gaming at some point, not consciously either, it just happens less and less. I felt this and then in the last few years I rediscovered my love for gaming. Is life calming down? Career stable, kids are growing and enjoying games too. Is that feeling of reliving things you loved from your childhood a thing that happens more regularly in 30's or 40's? Any studies on this that anyone is aware of?