For me it’s first person puzzle games. I can think of maybe a dozen off the top of my head that came out in the last decade. I especially enjoy when they’re open world. The ability to just quit a puzzle that’s stumped you and go try something else for a little bit is incredibly refreshing.
Games that are made for the sake of making the game insread of being made to squeeze as much retention and money out of you as possible
Now thats a style that is becoming increasingly rare
Just follow a YouTuber with similar tastes and play the indie games they play. AAA is creatively dead
Thank you but I trust youtubers opinions as much as a gaming “journalist” which is to say, not at all
- Willing to paint an entire swath of people with a broad, negative brush
- Unwilling to spend any effort finding media you might actually enjoy.
The problem might not be with the industry.
Youtubers are inheritor by the virtue of their existence just are a little to biased like the gaming magazines, I also find text much easier digestable than 2,5 minutes of invideo ads, sponsors selfplugs, like button smashing.or whatever else they want to subject me to
I spend far more effort trying to find gold than one really should have, there shouldnt be a need to spend so much time
Take a genuine hard look at this industry, an industry full with exploitation, lootboxes, micro and macrotransactions, the same 5 ideas ad naseum, where for every cuphead you have 10 slendermans, (thats just the tip of the iceberg)
you mean to tell me in THAT industry its ne with the problem? Cause thats a fair assassment and ill support whatever conclusion you may or may not draw
I have hundreds of games in my steam library with no in game purchases or lootboxes which I have enjoyed for between 50 and 2000 hours each. If you really have that much trouble finding games you can enjoy playing, then you need to change your habits.
I think it’s more that, in absence of a gaming social circle, games discovery in the indie scene is hard. So, the easiest way for a lot of us is to find a gaming content creator who played games we like and play whatever they’re playing.
There’s a YouTube streamer I’ve been following for over a decade and every single game he plays is a 5/5 for me. At least ½ of my gaming is just games from his channel. It’s super easy; I don’t even watch him on Twitch much, but I can scan his recent broadcasts for gaming suggestions, and watch him play for like 30 minutes to figure out if it’s for me.
I contend that there are more games out there now that are made for the sake of making them than ever before. It’s just that fewer and fewer of these games are AAA titles. The indy scene is really what are making these games nowadays.
That or modding. Modded Minecraft is done purely because someone wanted to have the functionality of magic wands or engineering or resource processing in their lego game. It’s completely unmonetized and gets extremely involved very fast. I fondly remember my nuclear reactor exploding and having to work around the irradiated zone. Good times.
the indie scene may be greater for that but is also filled with the same money making trite and on top of that constantly copying each other and barely doing anything new.
Half-assed unoptimized horror game #367992: Find the 8 pages before the tooth fairy jumpscares you!
Rhythm Games like Guitar Hero, Band Hero and DJ Hero. Those were fun.
There are still plenty of them: DJMAX, Muse Dash, Spin Rhythm, Hatsune Miku Project Diva, Beatmania. Also there are tons of them on mobile.
You might be surprised to hear that Konami, famed for focusing casino machines, was actually mistranslated on also focusing on arcade machines. There’s still a whole rhythmgame scene, but unfortunately it’s mostly centered around Japan. That’s where DDR, beatmania, Gitadora (the series Guitar Hero/Rockband ripped off) are, including newer series like DanceRush and Maimai and whatnot. If you ever visit the higherscale independent arcades, you might find some unsanctioned imports with some even emulating the online functionality (with gacha, ofc…). Otherwise, your only hope in the states is Round1, which host official imports, and D&B which only has DDR.
To add on to the other commenter, check out Osu!, ADOFAI, Rhythm Doctor, Hifi Rush, and a whole bunch of apps if you don’t want arcades.
Check out Clone Hero! I’m away from my computer, but there are archives that let you import all of the Rock Band and Guitar Hero songs. You can use/mod old controllers or even 3D print your own.
RPGs in the style of the Ultima games, specifically ones that use a keyword-based conversion system. Aside from the Ultima series itself, the only other examples I know of that use a system like this are Cythera - a 1990s Macintosh shareware game that was very similar to Ultima 6 and 7 - and The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind.
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Tower Defense Games
Linear First Person Puzzle Games
We’re living in a golden age of tower defense games. Sanctum 2, elements td, dungeon of the endless/endless dungeon, rogue tower, dungeon defenders awakened, orcs must die 3, bug tdx, tiledeck td … Seriously there are so many. Even Path of Exile has a tower defense mode.
Old Bioware stuff, aka action RPG games that put importance to story, lore, companions, and my not-so-guilty pleasure: romance.
I have a lot of emotions about the upcoming DA: Dreadwold.
You might like the game tyranny. Just finished playing it and it was quite enjoyable.
Absolutely, I would still play DA:O and even the storylines of SWTOR over some other games that bloat the main story with unnecessary parts because otherwise the game is not long enough.
Please DA: Dreadwolf, do not suck.
You and me both friend, they know how much is at stake, yet I never hear good news coming out of the studio
The First Person Stealth Sim genre (Thief, Dishonored, etc) has been getting very little love in the last few years. Sadly the Arkane games don’t embrace it anymore; while great Prey was borderline as you really couldn’t control the stealth in many sections, and Deathloop and Red Rain are primarily short action games.
Have you played the two most recent deus ex games? HR is my personal favorite but I liked MD more for its atmosphere and level design. Both are primarily 1st person but switch to 3rd person when using cover.
I have, though even MD is getting on for 7 years old now. I don’t think that the series lived up to it’s roots in either title. I found myself feeling very constrained by them; I don’t necessarily mind if I have to play a character (Corvo is great as a Tabula Rasa) but Adam Jensen and his backstory are so fundamentally unlikeable.
Although they’re somewhat different the modern Hitman trilogy scratches this same itch for me (especially turning some of the guidance in the UI off and exploring the levels yourself, they’re actually designed well for that). Gloomwood is in early access but is shaping up really well and is inspired by classic Thief.
I liked the point and click games when they were 2d hand drawn and not (3d) rendered. It seems to be a thing that has now been lost to time.
submachine?
Interesting! Not exactly what I would think of but this seems right up my alley. Thank you!
Are those still playable? Loved those, great vibe!
mateusz has some on his website that you can buy for $25 in the form of the “complete collection.” He is also currently working on “submachine legacy” which combines all games into one and will be released on steam and I’m assuming will be paid.
https://www.mateuszskutnik.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=63
Wadjet Eye still makes them, no? There’s still a few, they’re not totally gone. I always keep an eye out for them on Steam.
Wadjet Eye games are soooo good.
I haven’t played a second strand type game
Sim games. Not THE sims but like SimTower, SimAnt, etc. There’s been some attempts over the years but everyones missed the mark.
Grid-based, dungeon crawler RPG (a mouthful, I know). The most recent titles in this genre I remember are the Mary Skelter trilogy, but the first game is about 10 years old already.
Hi there! I saw someone mentioning this game on Cohost and was reminded of this old-ass post of yours
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1768650/Path_of_the_Abyss/
I’m not sure if there’s an english version yet (Its still in Early Access) but I think that’s your type of game?
I don’t mind necro as long as it isn’t obvious spam, so don’t worry. =D
(besides, Reddit also had a lot of this, where pertinent replies would only appear a long time after the posts were made)But thanks! The game looks pretty interesting, going by the promotional materials, and the store page also mentions it has both English and Japanese, so likely at least texts will be translated.
Legend of Grimrock 1 and 2 are good ones. I’m sure you’ve come across those ones though.
I may be in the completely wrong genre, but have you played pillers of eternity? I played a few hours of the second one and thought it was great.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/629690/Vaporum/
I think he means stuff like this.
Yup, like this!
10 years old
The first ones? Maybe the first ones you played.
Just checked. Initial release was in 2016. Maybe I confused it with a previous title from IF/CH.
I do believe they thought you were talking about the first games in the genre not the first game in series you mentioned.
Oh. Oopsie. e.e"
Gridders my beloved. This curator on steam might be of use.
Like Myst? I love those. Have you tried The Witness?
Yes the witness and the Talos principle are two of my favorites
If you haven’t heard, Croteam have announced The Talos Principle 2.
oh i’ve heard
Quern - Undying Thoughts tickled that genre for me. As did Haven Moon and The Eyes of Ara.
Cyan released Firmament not long ago, FYI
Games like Populous or Mega-lo-mania.
Black & White
God games in general
Third person puzzle games with an engaging story like the Space Quest series, or The Dig. Also It Came From The Desert.
I am still very much in love with It Came From The Desert.
Do you have thoughts on the WadjetEye games? I’ve found a few of them quite engaging, particularly the later Blackwell games though I’ve heard good things of Unavowed.
The Cat Lady is also a gem but terribly dark.
Don’t see a lot of plain fast paced arena shooters these days. There’s The Master Chief Collection which kinda works but also isn’t, you know, new.
There’s been a huge resurgence of boomer shooters and arena shooters in the last 5 or so years. Off the top of my head I can think of Dusk, Ultrakill, Gunfire Reborn, Nightmare Reaper, Roboquest, Warhammer Boltgun, and new Doom (2016/Eternal), all of which get at least an 8/10 from me. There are many more of various quality.
I’m sorry, I should’ve been more specific: Multiplayer Arena Shooters. I’m a Ultrakill evangelist.
Ah, yeah, PvP shooters. Gotcha. Those aren’t really my domain, unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of recommendations there. Overwatch was pretty good for a while, but wasn’t really an arena shooter, and now can’t be recommended.
Anybody else remember the game Sauerbraten? Or was that all just a fever dream I was having round 2012?
you can actually still find like 4-5 people playing sauer at most times lol, but its only insta ctf. still a great time to load into every now and then if there are enough people on of course
I would also like some class based hero shooters that aren’t Blizzard or Paladins TBH. I enjoy being the healer/support more than getting kills (though shooting stuff is also fun) and Valorant or Apex don’t quite scratch that itch
Since you haven’t mentioned Ion Fury, I’m going to add it to that list. Not interesting for PC since they wanted PvP but it’s a great Build engine shooter.
Quake champions might be of interest
Edit lol just looked at the player counts, maybe not. Eh, I had fun with it for a while though.
If you’re looking for the Quake brand of arena shooters, I feel like you’re getting a lot of those these days. If you’re looking for the era just after that, which Halo would fall in, I’m also looking for that type of game, so the nostalgia that fuels indie game design is probably only a few years away from delivering us that sort of game again. Maybe that new TimeSplitters or Perfect Dark game will be good.
Toxikk, but multiplayer playerbase died pretty quickly.
