# Recommend me a game!



## Toby Frost (Jul 26, 2020)

I thought this might be a useful thread for people to suggest what they're looking for, and others to make suggestions.

I'm looking for something engrossing (which probably means some kind of RPG), with decent gameplay and story. Ideally, I'd like something that isn't in a stereotypical setting: so preferably something other than bog-standard zombie, fantasy and sci-fi settings (something weird like Dune would be cool, though). I've enjoyed the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, although Morrowind felt like the most original of them by a fair way. In terms of graphics, I don't think my PC would run anything too cutting edge, and I think I'd have trouble with anything made before 2000 or so. Can anyone think of a game that would qualify?


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## .matthew. (Jul 26, 2020)

Have you looked into the Shadowrun games?

Wasteland 2 was okay too, but a bit bland.


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## Toby Frost (Jul 27, 2020)

Yes, I really enjoyed them. It's a shame that there's aren't any more. The second one was particularly good, but they were all really decent. Thanks though!


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## Brian G Turner (Jul 27, 2020)

My family recently got into The Outer Worlds, which is basically like Fallout in space, but more story-driven.


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## BAYLOR (Jul 27, 2020)

*Skyrim*       In this game you have  multiple quests and an entire wold to explore.


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## Toby Frost (Jul 27, 2020)

I played a bit of The Outer Worlds on the Xbox. I don't think my PC would run it, but it was good. It reminds me of Firefly crossed with Fallout. Thanks for that.

One thing that's always really appealed to me is exploration, which is why I think I liked the first two Thief games so much. That idea of an immersive setting that you can just wander around and explore is very appealing. It becomes less appealing when the setting is very generic and there's nothing unusual to find.


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## .matthew. (Jul 27, 2020)

Divinity Original Sin (and sequel)? They are very pretty but not too intensive graphically, and while it's a pretty standard fantasy setting, the sheer number of options of how to play are crazy (their philosophy seems to be let players do anything within the mechanics even if it's totally insane).

Edit: and how could I forget to talk about how awesome the elemental magic and companion systems are...



I accidentally set fire to the entire map one time 



The Banner Saga was okay (I never finished it but it has a lot of excellent reviews).

Obviously The Witcher 3 (I'm kinda assuming you've already played that though).


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## Iwroteathing (Jul 27, 2020)

Stardew Valley doesnt demand much to run (at least it didnt when I last played). A lot more cheerful and relaxing than Fallout and Elder Scrolls (and no setting fire to the world, that I know of). Basically much like a pixel-y 2D Animal Crossing but less crippling debt. There's some dungeon diving to break up the farming and gathering parts of the game. A simple but rewarding character relatationship mechanic is what I enjoyed (like getting to know the guy who lives in a beach hut trying to write his novel). 

It's just wholesome, inoffensive, simple fun, but you'll find yourself planning in game days better than most folk do in real life. And multiplayer too.


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## Foxbat (Jul 28, 2020)

I enjoyed Arcanum. It’s kind of steampunk and it’s cheap on GOG








						Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
					

Welcome to an industrial revolution in a world of magic! Imagine a place of wonder,




					www.gog.com


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## Venusian Broon (Jul 28, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> I played a bit of The Outer Worlds on the Xbox. I don't think my PC would run it, but it was good. It reminds me of Firefly crossed with Fallout. Thanks for that.
> 
> One thing that's always really appealed to me is exploration, which is why I think I liked the first two Thief games so much. That idea of an immersive setting that you can just wander around and explore is very appealing. It becomes less appealing when the setting is very generic and there's nothing unusual to find.



If your PC does run it. pr your Xboxing, there is new DLC coming out for _The Outer Worlds_ on September 9th. They are adding another world.

After completing it, I found it a bit meh, late game is really bland IMO, but generally fun at the start. The exploring aspect quickly get a bit stale for the game as I'd say all the worlds are quasi-linear and there just isn't much to discover by going off the main path. A couple of big worlds...but even those seem to railroad you. 

Having much more fun with Assassin Creed Odyssey, loads of exploration - but you might be put off by the price. Another game I got recently is _Satisfactory_ which is a management, construction and production game which also has you doing a bit of exploring of alien worlds to find things and resources.


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## Toby Frost (Jul 28, 2020)

Arcanum was extremely old-school but I remember enjoying it - apart from the bugs. I wonder if they've sorted them out?

I've started the first Shadowrun game again, which is the one I remember the least well. It's pretty good so far.

I do miss the sheer craziness of games like Morrowind, where you travel around on a giant flea, fight sky-jellyfish and can visit a god in his house (and fight him). I can see why something like that wouldn't sell but I found it fascinating. I remember going into the lair of some evil cult and finding that all the furniture was inexplicably piled up to the ceiling. It struck me as quite creepy at the time.


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## Venusian Broon (Jul 28, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> I do miss the sheer craziness of games like Morrowind, where you travel around on a giant flea, fight sky-jellyfish and can visit a god in his house (and fight him). I can see why something like that wouldn't sell but I found it fascinating. I remember going into the lair of some evil cult and finding that all the furniture was inexplicably piled up to the ceiling. It struck me as quite creepy at the time.



A game I've seen a bit like that:

_Outward _ on steam at the moment. It's a bit rough, but then so is Morrowind. Has the same sort of stance on play. Old school RPG, no fast travel, no easy markers on the map. It's not perfect, but might satisfy that Morrowind itch.


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## Foxbat (Jul 28, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> Arcanum was extremely old-school but I remember enjoying it - apart from the bugs. I wonder if they've sorted them out?


I bought it from GOG and played it through a couple of years back and I can't remember encountering any bugs. Of course given the nature of most bugs being dependent on many variables, maybe I just got lucky.


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## MikeAnderson (Jul 28, 2020)

_Final Fantasy 7 Remake. _The updated graphics and combat system make a game that's already a legend even better. Can't wait for the next part; see how they do the Weapons bosses.


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## Toby Frost (Jul 30, 2020)

Thanks everyone. I have bought Journey, which is extremely stylish. I am a cloaked person with striking eyes, making my way through a mysterious desert. I'm enjoying it, but I shall be disappointed if Shai-Hulud doesn't show up.


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## BigBadBob141 (Sep 11, 2020)

I've heard Planescape Torment is an old but interesting R.P.G. type game, an afraid I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it sounds interesting, look it up on You Tube.


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## Toby Frost (Aug 24, 2021)

A little while ago I was looking for an old Amiga game called Perihelion. It had a lot wrong with it, as I recall, but it was very stylish:










I discovered that Perihelion was essentially the work of one man, Edvard Toth. Back in the 90s, since games were much simpler than they are now, a sufficiently-talented person could basically make one from scratch. What this meant was that there was much less money riding on the success of a game, and so it didn't have to have massive, instant appeal to make a profit. As a result, I suspect, games could be more eccentric (and in many cases, bad).

At the moment, I find myself tiring of the way that the vast majority of games fit into very few settings: Western fantasy; Japanese/manga fantasy; guns & gasmasks; drab post-apocalypse; zombies and so on. I've started getting much more into games like Journey and Abzu, which are about discovery and exploration as much as fighting stuff and "beating" the game, just because there's more chance of seeing something new in them.


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## AllanR (Aug 24, 2021)

Grim Fandango an older game (1998), though it was remastered in 2014. A film noir saturated adventure in the land of the afterlife.

from wikipedia: The game combines elements of the Aztec belief of afterlife with _film noir_ style, with influences including _The Maltese Falcon_, _On the Waterfront_ and _Casablanca._


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## .matthew. (Aug 24, 2021)

Toby Frost said:


> I discovered that Perihelion was essentially the work of one man, Edvard Toth. Back in the 90s, since games were much simpler than they are now, a sufficiently-talented person could basically make one from scratch. What this meant was that there was much less money riding on the success of a game, and so it didn't have to have massive, instant appeal to make a profit. As a result, I suspect, games could be more eccentric (and in many cases, bad).



There are still a lot of games made by one person or very small teams these days - a lot more than in the past if you're talking straight numbers and not the percentage of the total. Of course, these are almost exclusively PC titles but there are a lot.

Most fall into the management/roguelike genres though, as FPS and strategy games have so much greater requirements in terms of graphics and scale.



Toby Frost said:


> At the moment, I find myself tiring of the way that the vast majority of games fit into very few settings: Western fantasy; Japanese/manga fantasy; guns & gasmasks; drab post-apocalypse; zombies and so on. I've started getting much more into games like Journey and Abzu, which are about discovery and exploration as much as fighting stuff and "beating" the game, just because there's more chance of seeing something new in them.



Settings tend to cycle, with a popular game causing a lot of similar clones until the market is saturated and something new (or old) comes around. 

I do find myself sticking with games that feature some sort of random generator element, things like Rimworld that create stories.

Moddable games are really a must too since they can add so much more to the base experience through tweaking aspects to your tastes, fixing little annoyances, etc.


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## .matthew. (Aug 24, 2021)

AllanR said:


> Grim Fandango an older game (1998), though it was remastered in 2014. A film noir saturated adventure in the land of the afterlife.
> 
> from wikipedia: The game combines elements of the Aztec belief of afterlife with _film noir_ style, with influences including _The Maltese Falcon_, _On the Waterfront_ and _Casablanca._


Literally the favourite game of my youth. So much so that my usual internet gaming name is a character from that.

I haven't brought myself to play the remaster for fear of it ruining the memories though.


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## Rodders (Feb 11, 2022)

Is God of War worth getting?


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## Vladd67 (Feb 11, 2022)

Just started another game of Kenshi, a sandbox rpg with no linear story.








						Kenshi (video game) - Wikipedia
					






					en.wikipedia.org


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## Foxbat (Feb 11, 2022)

I’ve harped on about this before but….if you like strategy with a post apocalyptic flavour, the best I’ve ever come across is Shadow Empire. It’s a very difficult game with incredibly complicated logistics but also  incredibly rewarding if you put the hours in (and I really mean hours). It took me months to learn and understand the basics of the logistics system and, when you do finally grasp it, you realise that this is the pivotal point of any expansion you care to make. There are also factions within government and egotistical subordinates to deal with as well as other major and minor regimes. 

Add to that, tech research, resource management and straight forward warfare on a hostile planet and you have, what I consider to be, the best 4X game ever created.


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## paranoid marvin (Feb 20, 2022)

BigBadBob141 said:


> I've heard Planescape Torment is an old but interesting R.P.G. type game, an afraid I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it sounds interesting, look it up on You Tube.




PT looks very much in the mould of Baldurs Gate, but it is driven more by team and character interaction than it is abvout exploration and combat. It is (or at least was) a very,very good game. But in today's gaming of immersive, open worlds where can (almost) go anywhere and do anything , all in glorious 3d and usually with professional voiceovers it probably seems a little - limited. Also, in order to get the most from the game, there is an awful lot of text to be read.

Which probably sounds a little like I'm criticising the game. Which I'm not. You just have to bear in mind that it is a 20 year old game. But it tells a wonderful story, and once you are hooked there is no letting up until you get to the end. The story of The Nameless One and his companion Mort is a fascinating one, and (for me at least) comes from the golden era of PC gaming.


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## BAYLOR (Feb 20, 2022)

Toby Frost said:


> I thought this might be a useful thread for people to suggest what they're looking for, and others to make suggestions.
> 
> I'm looking for something engrossing (which probably means some kind of RPG), with decent gameplay and story. Ideally, I'd like something that isn't in a stereotypical setting: so preferably something other than bog-standard zombie, fantasy and sci-fi settings (something weird like Dune would be cool, though). I've enjoyed the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, although Morrowind felt like the most original of them by a fair way. In terms of graphics, I don't think my PC would run anything too cutting edge, and I think I'd have trouble with anything made before 2000 or so. Can anyone think of a game that would qualify?



*Outerworlds *


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## Bugg (Mar 9, 2022)

Rodders said:


> Is God of War worth getting?



Hell yes.  Fabulous game.


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## Rodders (Mar 9, 2022)

Thanks Bugg. I ask because the game play looks to be similar to Jedi: Fallen Order, which i really enjoyed. I'm 10 hours into Fallout 3 at the moment, so i suspect that i'm not looking to get into another game for a while.


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## Bugg (Mar 9, 2022)

By the time you finish with Fallout 3 it'll probably be cheaper anyway


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## Draven Vertigo (Mar 9, 2022)

Fallout New Vegas, The Mass Effect Trilogy, Fallout 4,  Seven Days to Die State of Decay 2, Resident Evil 2 remake


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## Rodders (Mar 16, 2022)

I just pre-orders Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. 

Looks like it'll be a lot of fun.


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## Please Be Nice (May 14, 2022)

Civilization 6
Dark Souls/Sekiro/Elden Ring
Halo 1-3
Mass Efect 1-3
Asuras Wrath
Fallout 1-4

Axiom Verge
Carrion


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