The screenshot is from Morrowind (Running in OpenMW)
Easy To the Moon. Great little indie game with an amazing story that will make you cry
I think MGS2 on the original PlayStation or PS2. That was a dream a few decades later.
Probably World of Warcraft. That’s a couple thousand hours in total as I played on and off on private servers throughout the years from 2006-2012, plus a brief stint with BfA.
Actually, no, I’d rather not forget how I saw the game evolve, even if my experience wasn’t the ideal one.
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos (and it’s expansion, The Frozen Throne).
The level of storytelling for a strategy game’s campaign completely blew me away at the time. The “good”-coded guys are haughty and rigid, the “bad”-coded guys are (mostly) just trying to get by in a world that rejects them at every turn, not to mention you play as the lovable young protégé and prodigy that slowly casts aside his humanity until he becomes a “big bad” for everyone else. The campaign has world-altering events take place, and you actually get to see the world altered after the fact.
Can’t believe nobody mentioned Last of US.
Outer Wilds, probably.
My first thought too. Probably in my top three games, but you can only play it the best way once.
I went back and tried to play the DLC and even that just wasn’t the same. I want to play them both blind.
I still keep it installed but I’m waiting a decade more before I replay it. Hopefully I forget enough to have a similar experience
That game came out when I happened to be really into the PBS Space Time series and I was learning as much as my brain could comprehend about general vs special relativity; which is all I can say without spoiling the game lol. So even if I could forget all of the story I don’t think it would have quite the same impact. It would still be something magic though I’m sure. I still enjoy watching others experience the game for the first time too.
Portal 1 and Portal 2. Every time.
The Mass Effect trilogy for sure.
A lot of good ones here already listed, some of those I’ve started and veered off due to busy life with kids.
What I didnt see was uncharted 4. Never played any other in the series, but bought that one from steam sales. You know when you picked up a good book which you couldnt put down but had to read through as fast as possible? Or new tv series that you had to binge? Well surprisingly uncharted 4 was that for me last year. After I was finished I felt empty: “whats now?”.
A very few games have gripped me that way.
Ohh! Good call! Uncharted!
Uncharted is on a next level. It’s a game ahead of its time.
Im almost not sure if I want that. Most of the games I would do that for are older games from like 25 years ago, and I honestly can’t see playing them today and ever having those fond moments like I did then. In my case, the time of playing them also mattered a lot.
Most of the games I would do that for are older games from like 25 years ago, and I honestly can’t see playing them today
I’ll take the opposite side of that
I bought an old Radio Shack Color Computer off EBay and had a total blast playing Dungeons of Daggorath with my kids. Plus, it’s educational: it teaches you to type “A L <enter>” really really fast
Same, of course the memory of the time you played is also important. I was more asking hypothetically since this is not possible, as a game you’d love to experience again, maybe at that time also. Like go back and play it back then.
Inscryption. I thought it was a poor man’s Slay The Spire using janky escape-room mechanics as a cheap, nifty gimmick to lend it some value.
It appeared on Game Pass, and upon trying it I sneered a little at it, as Spire and Monster Train were my only experiences with deckbuilders and I had been spoiled. I had no idea how good it really was. Gameplay mechanics it can’t match up, but it contains a story thats shot straight into my top 10 of all time.
It shares an exclusive room in my memory alongside Bioshock, Deus Ex, KOTOR and the like.
Unfortunately it can’t take me by surprise twice. The shock, suspense and mystery have been depleted and I cant feel it again. Ive been told the dev has more games that are all gold like that, but I cant look them up. I went into Doki Doki knowing that something happens and youll just have to find out and its spoilers and iykyk etc, and when it did it it just felt kinda neat but thoroughly underwhelming. I just need to hope that I stumble onto one of the devs other projects like a beautiful landmine in the future.
The correct answer to this question is always Outer Wilds.
It’s a game that can be beaten in five minutes if you already know the solution. But the process of discovering that solution, and unearthing the incredible story around it, is one of the most unbelievable gaming experiences you will ever have.
It’s an absolute masterpiece and if you haven’t played it yet, you really, really need to.
A story about my uncle
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
OUTER WILDS! If you’ve played it, you know why. (If you haven’t, do not ask. Play it.)
I’ve tried to play this game twice. I get confused and have no idea what to do or where to go or what to do when I get there. Spent about 12 hours playing and just feel lost. And everytime I bring it up. People reccomend I just keep playing. And yet I’m still lost haha
I think the biggest predictor of whether people will vibe with Outer Wilds is how much natural curiosity they have and how self-motivated they are. Outer Wilds doesn’t push players towards any particular objective, it instead tries to give players questions so they go looking for answers. Of course a game that relies so heavily on intrinsic motivation isn’t going to be for everyone, but the thing that makes the game so difficult for some people to get into is the same thing that makes those who do get into it love it so much.
Some non-spoilery advice if you decide to give it another shot:
Use the ship log every loop and read what’s new. Look at the biggest cards in rumor mode and try to find them. There are several “secret” locations in the game that many of the hints point towards which contain information that puts the game’s mystery into perspective and gives players a sense of direction and purpose. In the playthroughs I’ve seen where they didn’t finish it was almost always because they played for a long time without finding any of the “big” secret locations.
This is legit the first time anyone has given me actual advice. Thank you! I’ll probably give it another shot at some point
That’s surprising that you feel so lost. Did you perhaps miss the journal / discovery board in the back of your ship? Basically just need to look at that and try to flesh out any of the plot threads you see on there. Whenever one isn’t progressing, take a break and try a totally different direction or just wander wherever you can for a cycle or two and you’ll have stumbled on to some new leads probably.
Its pretty intentional that most players hit a stall around the middle because you have to start challenging things you THINK you know but haven’t actually proven to be certain yet.
Discovery board?
Well. That makes things make a little more sense I had no idea about it. I just thought it was various ways to experience a death loop over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over
I just looked it up and it’s actually called the Rumor Map apparently. It’s pretty important to organize all the things you find in a loop and check yourself to see if there is more to uncover on some plot point.
If you get in your ship it’s opposite the pilot seat. I’m sure it was pretty maddening to not have that tool and hear people say such high praise about the game lol.
If you haven’t been spoiled on it, you might find the game a lot more enjoyable giving it another shot some day!
