Single-player Video Games Thread

[WendyDarling]

My recommendation was for the original Dungeon Keeper, not the newfangled mobile app.

[fuse]

Since it's considered a classic fps with rpg elements and forerunner to the Bioshock series, I gave System Shock 2 a spin. It did not disappoint. Great atmosphere and soundtrack, good, basic skill system, and excellent gunplay and mechanics. Tense, fast, survival horror fps in space. What's not to like?



Also, Divinity: Original Sin is just about the perfect isometric rpg. Well realized and doesn't hold your hand. Has a fantastic soundtrack, too.

[Sauwelios]

I also still want to get Rise of the Tomb Raider (on PS4 or 360) and Arkham Knight, and have preordered The Last Guardian. [...] Dishonored was great, too.

Got RotTR, and it's rotten. I just don't really enjoy most of it. Too much Raider and too little Tomb: I like my Tomb Raider with as little combat as possible. It's strange though, because I really liked the 2013 reboot whose sequel it is. Dunno if it's me or the game. I have the same problem with Arkham Knight: I loved Asylum and City, but soon lost my interest in Knight. I had the same thing with Assassin's Creed: I loved the first and especially the second game, but after that the series has never been able to get its hooks in me again. With Arkham Knight, the problem may be that the situations now feel contrived; with Assassin's Creed, it was (among other things) that the first game had few combat mechanics and the second only gradually unfolded the many it had, but from the third game on, you immediately had all of them and I'd forgotten most of them; there was no tutorial. But there seems to be a pattern of me losing interest in third-person 3D action adventure games. I also canceled my order for The Last Guardian, even though I loved Shadow of the Colossus--because I don't have too many moneys at the moment, and I didn't want the same experience as with RotTR, for which I paid full price. Also, I still have Fallout 4 DLC, the finale of RotTR, much (most?) of Arkham Knight, and almost all of Dishonored 2 to play. Yes, I got Dishonored 2, including the digital remaster of 1, at a significant Black Friday discount. Anyway, I don't think The Last Guardian will disappoint me, but it doesn't hurt to postpone it. Unless I die before I get it. Then my life will have been seriously flawed. But at least I have a cat!

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Metroid prime 1 and 2 is the best game ever made.

Its got a perfect blend of combat and puzzles.

I played a tomb raider demo once, wasnt as good as metroid prime, Tomb Raider's atmosphere reminded me too much of a cheap B movie. James Bond and Indiana Jones were made as a deliberate mockery of B movies, and that is why they have a better atmosphere than actual B movies. The only B movies that are any good are movies with an urban setting.

The second reason the tomb raider franchise isn't that good is because it doesn't actually make you feel like a female. In Metroid prime you actually feel like a female. Tomb Raider is rather bland.

I played a top-down version of Tomb Raider but it was rather bland. The intro cutscene wasn't even animated, just cardboard cutouts saying generic scripts. It somehow got a 4/5 rating but I don't know why. The maps were bland and procedural looking, and the game had no substance felt like a chore. You could easily exploit AI by finding a ledge and jumping on it, then the enemies could not hurt you.

James Bond goldeneye was a good game but I were to make a remake I would add a trap system, because in the movies there are a lot of traps and not non-stop gun shooting like in the games. The James Bond goldeneye remake for the XBOX 360 was very bad, it was actually worse than the goldeneye remake for the Wii, which was more good than it was bad. The XBOX 360 goldeneye was bad because I played the demo and it had no puzzles, just repetitive call of duty style point A to Point B gameplay.

[Sauwelios]

Metroid prime 1 and 2 is the best game ever made.

Its got a perfect blend of combat and puzzles.

I agree that those two are some of the very best games ever made, and thereby deserve the hyperbolic/metaphorical title of "best game ever made". (I never played 3 because I don't like motion controls.) Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze are by the same developer, by the way. Especially the first of these is also the best game ever made in my opinion.

I played a tomb raider demo once, wasnt as good as metroid prime, Tomb Raider's atmosphere reminded me too much of a cheap B movie. James Bond and Indiana Jones were made as a deliberate mockery of B movies, and that is why they have a better atmosphere than actual B movies. The only B movies that are any good are movies with an urban setting.

I like the setting of TR 1, which got a great remake as Tomb Raider Anniversary. That game and Underworld are actually the only old-school Tomb Raiders I really like (by "old-school" I mean "from before the 2013 reboot" here).

The second reason the tomb raider franchise isn't that good is because it doesn't actually make you feel like a female. In Metroid prime you actually feel like a female. Tomb Raider is rather bland.

Well, Metroid Prime is first-person, maybe that has something to do with it. I wouldn't know either way, as I'm "cis-gendered", but I suppose on some gut level there seems to be something to what you say. Doesn't impact the actual gameplay for me, though.

I played a top-down version of Tomb Raider but it was rather bland. The intro cutscene wasn't even animated, just cardboard cutouts saying generic scripts. It somehow got a 4/5 rating but I don't know why. The maps were bland and procedural looking, and the game had no substance felt like a chore. You could easily exploit AI by finding a ledge and jumping on it, then the enemies could not hurt you.

Yeah, I never played that spin-off. And in any case, to me Tomb Raider is about being alone (after all the enemies are dead) in a tomb or temple or the like and especially wall-scaling through it (I also loved this in Assassin's Creed 2 and Prince of Persia Sands of Time, 2008, and The Forgotten Sands). Anniversary and Underworld even made shimmying fun by allowing you to go faster by tapping a button (meaning both interactivity and speeding up of what's otherwise just lamely holding a direction). For some reason they took that out with the reboot...

James Bond goldeneye was a good game but I were to make a remake I would add a trap system, because in the movies there are a lot of traps and not non-stop gun shooting like in the games. The James Bond goldeneye remake for the XBOX 360 was very bad, it was actually worse than the goldeneye remake for the Wii, which was more good than it was bad. The XBOX 360 goldeneye was bad because I played the demo and it had no puzzles, just repetitive call of duty style point A to Point B gameplay.

I liked Goldeneye back in the day, especially the first level, but after Deus Ex I cannot go back to such unstealthy FPSes.

[Ultimate Philosophy 1001]

Yeah, I never played that spin-off. And in any case, to me Tomb Raider is about being alone (after all the enemies are dead) in a tomb or temple or the like and especially wall-scaling through it (I also loved this in Assassin's Creed 2 and Prince of Persia Sands of Time, 2008, and The Forgotten Sands). Anniversary and Underworld even made shimmying fun by allowing you to go faster by tapping a button (meaning both interactivity and speeding up of what's otherwise just lamely holding a direction). For some reason they took that out with the reboot...

The top-down tomb raider didn't have any wall climbing, or maybe it did I can't remember. In any case it was lame.
The tomb raider demo I played was 3rd person and much better, still wasn't that good though. The gunplay of it was very basic and plasticy. The atmosphere didn't seem diverse, just jungle temples basically the whole game. If I can recall, the background music was very generic and subpar, like a generic B kiddie action movie like Incompetech music. (I wonder why they call it Incompetech?)

I liked Goldeneye back in the day, especially the first level, but after Deus Ex I cannot go back to such unstealthy FPSes.

Goldeneye is a very stealthy game, not that realistic though. It takes 2 shots to alert outside enemies, not one. And the AI line of sight cannot see through windows or gates. Perfect Dark has better AI and stealth.
I played one of the older Dues Ex demos a while ago, I think I liked it but I never bought it. I don't remember being amazed by it, just enjoying it a bit. Animations of it were md2-ey, didn't have the depth of animations like Perfect Dark did. Non-interpolated animations work best in frantic games like Quake where you can't really focus.

[MagsJ]

Mahjong and solitaire..

[Xunzian]

Glad to see SS2 get some love. Strife is also good if you want to go back to see what the Doom Engine can do. Deus Ex is still probably one of the best games ever made. Fallout 1.5 Ressurection was recently released in English and if you like Fallout it is an absolute must play. Morrowind is, of course, timeless.

Lately I've been really enjoying Crusader Kings 2. It taps into my love of history and my love of fucking shit up. It's a great "story generator".

Speaking of "story generators" I think 2D Dwarf Fortress is best Dwarf Fortress from a game perspective but I fucking love every new thing Toady does so 3D DF is also "fun" but it's more fun to think about than actually play.

Speaking of "great games I no longer play" EVE isn't the same since Vilerat died. I haven't been able to get back into it since.

[WendyDarling]

Amorphos,

Might & Magic VI-VIII, inspired the Elder Scrolls series indubitably, (PC-Windows 2000, ME, or earlier required) unless you download from GOG, but the old discs play much smoother on old systems. Old games are why I still have an old, gaming-only PC and Win.95. If only I'd kept my Atari package, that would be a blast about now.

[WendyDarling]

Phantasmagoria, old PC point and click adventure similar to Myst but way easier. Twisted surprise ending, good luck staying alive without cheating.

Mummy:Tomb of the Pharaoh
Frankenstein:Through the Eyes of the Monster

[Pandora]

Mahjong and solitaire..

Moonlight Mahjong!



I loved playing nvChess, they had really cool graphics, but they don't have an app for it.

[Sauwelios]

[MagsJ]

Mahjong and solitaire..

Moonlight Mahjong!

[img]---[/img]

I loved playing nvChess, they had really cool graphics, but they don't have an app for it.

Not played in a week or so.. will check out nvChess when i next do.

[fuse]

Geralt: Silk kerchief. Monogrammed d.l.C. A noble's accessory, clearly.

One thing - I found a handkerchief in the water. Monogrammed "d.l.C." Mean anything to you?

De la Croix? It cannot be. Was it he the Beast slew?!

Seems so. Knew him well?

Long past. We were close friends, once, but our paths diverged. He was a man of extremes, standing by his companions no matter the odds, fighting his foes to the bitter end.

[AutSider]

Prototype 1, great game. I still turn it on occasionally every month or so and screw around a little. Too bad they fucked the 2nd game up by making Mercer the villain and a dumb, angry nigger the protagonist. It was so poorly received they can't make Prototype 3 now.

[youtube]0B3lHfivQMQ[/youtube]

[youtube]ZJP7vN4J6Eg[/youtube]

[youtube]Pen7zDaRAtg[/youtube]


Some great videos about the great Gothic games. Warning, the videos contain major spoilers for those who haven't played it yet but may intend to. I've heard many people compare them to the Demon/Dark Souls series, or rather, compared Demon/Dark Souls to Gothic since Gothic was first. I can't confirm if they are similar or not since I haven't played them (my PC is old).

The comparison seems to be that they are both rather dark (Gothic less so), that they have a similar combat system (Gothic's is clunkier, apparently), similar open world design with focus on story instead of sandboxing, and that they are both difficult and challenging.

Another thing that's good about Gothic is that it doesn't have a liberal bias like many newer, mainstream games.

Anyway, the videos:

[youtube]eX4BGaKG5VM[/youtube]

[youtube]BNHnQBz3BV0[/youtube]

[youtube]hVYrALStucs[/youtube]

[youtube]m4g7WQcEXcc[/youtube]

[Amorphos]

i am struggling to find first person games either shooters or rpg, many like witcher is 3rd person. nothing matches skyrim or fallout 4 - that I have found. nor anything like them. any ideas people?

[WendyDarling]

Amor,

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-3-first-person-mod-gives-gamers-a-geralts-eye-view-of-the-world/

The Witcher 3 first-person mod gives gamers a Geralt's-eye view of the world

Witcher 1: use mouse scroll button

[fuse]

i am struggling to find first person games either shooters or rpg, many like witcher is 3rd person. nothing matches skyrim or fallout 4 - that I have found. nor anything like them. any ideas people?

1st P -- Metro: Last Light, Bioshock: Infinite, System Shock 2 (a great fps/rpg cross), Deus Ex (any in the series), GTA V

I've played all except the Deus Ex series. They're all good games.
But my favorite games of the past 5 years have all been 3rd person.

3rd P -- Dark Souls, Bloodborne, Witcher 3, Tomb Raider, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Mass Effect, Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid: V

untab

If you haven't played Witcher 3 yet, I strongly suggest you find some time and get into it. Once you get used to the mechanics, it surpasses Skyrim in almost every way and is the most stunning open world rpg of its scope ever made. I suppose I still like Skyrim's score a little better but Witcher 3's is still one of the best.

I put down all gaming for almost a year. I came back to Witcher 3 after my hiatus. Started a new savegame without even having finished my previous. Did a full playthrough, start to finish, without interruption, because, like a great movie, it's worth it.

[Sauwelios]

That's cool if you're on PC, Wendy. I have the same problem as Amorphos, as far as 3D goes I mostly just like first-person view these days. I even got Mirror's Edge Catalyst in the Easter sale because it's so rare for such a game to be first-person. I did like The Last Guardian, though. And Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition, which may have been the best 5 euros I've ever spent. Dishonored 2 Limited Edition, which came with the digital version of Dishonored Definitive Edition, was also a fantastic buy at little over half price, by the way. Haven't got around to playing the new Zelda yet; I hope that remains a series I can enjoy in third-person 3D.

[fuse]

The comparison seems to be that they are both rather dark (Gothic less so), that they have a similar combat system (Gothic's is clunkier, apparently), similar open world design with focus on story instead of sandboxing, and that they are both difficult and challenging.

I never got to checking out the Gothic games, but that description of Dark Souls sounds about right.

Except that Dark Souls doesn't really have a story and is better described as punishing.

It feels like the game is against you, especially at first. You will die, countless times. You will imagine satisfied game devs. You will get better and you will defeat the most demoralizing foes. You will feel like a boss. And you will be, because you learned everything the hard way and learned it well.

Witcher 3 has a story. Dark Souls has incredible atmosphere and a minimalist narrative. The fantastic thing is the story that develops in the player's head as you become familiar with every odd corner of the world, the haunt of every enemy, his movement & attack patterns. You won't progress until you appreciate these things. As far as plot, all you'll get are a short intro sequence, fragments of conversation, and minimalist lore that the developers never push in your face. Still, the world feels alive. And it does feel like the player has some forlorn purpose there. Even the most interesting tidbits and connections are easy to miss. It's that much more fun to play again to pick up on all the backstory and intrigue, plus the fact that you'll feel like a god.

[AutSider]

i am struggling to find first person games either shooters or rpg, many like witcher is 3rd person. nothing matches skyrim or fallout 4 - that I have found. nor anything like them. any ideas people?

Like Skyrim - Gothic 3, it can be played in first person (I think I already recommended this to you actually)
Fallout - I haven't played the 4th, but assuming it's anything like the 3rd, which I did play, I'd say STALKER series is the most similar - dark atmosphere, zombies/mutants, open world exploration, etc. Another is Metro, I played this years ago but never finished it cause the lag was killing me, but it's a decent game.

It feels like the game is against you, especially at first. You will die, countless times. You will imagine satisfied game devs. You will get better and you will defeat the most demoralizing foes. You will feel like a boss. And you will be, because you learned everything the hard way and learned it well.

It's the same in Gothic games. I don't know about Dark Souls, but in Gothic enemies don't scale with you , meaning that at the start you'll have to carefully pick your battles. Unless you also know exactly how strong every enemy is (you played the game before), you'll likely die a lot unless you have perfect reflexes. And it's very satisfying to come back stronger and defeat an enemy that kicked your ass before.

The fantastic thing is the story that develops in the player's head as you become familiar with every odd corner of the world, the haunt of every enemy, his movement & attack patterns. You won't progress until you appreciate these things. As far as plot, all you'll get are a short intro sequence, fragments of conversation, and minimalist lore that the developers never push in your face. Still, the world feels alive. And it does feel like the player has some forlorn purpose there.

Well, I guess the comparison then was really justified, that's exactly like Gothic. Each enemy has certain movement and attacking patterns that you have to learn and adapt to, some enemies are more vulnerable to some types of weapons, etc. And though it's story oriented, the lore is minimal and isn't pushed in your face. When you find books (which are actually short texts), they're 90% of the time relevant to the actual game and describe some important part of the game world or some mechanic. Same thing applies to what characters say. There isn't superfluous lore or tedious, repetitive quests added just for the sake of prolonging the game.

[Magnus Anderson]

Souls games are dungeon crawlers. Basically, slow-paced action games. The only thing in common with RPG genre is skill development. Other than that, there is nothing in common: no story, no dialog choices, no open world, no nothing of what is unique to RPGs. It's more about combat and prudence than anything else. Many assume it's a hack n slash game because of the way it looks in the videos but the problem is you can't play it like a hack n slash. You die when you try to do so. It's a slow-paced game: you must be very careful with every step and move you make.

[WendyDarling]

Sauwelios,

Changing platforms to play a great game is not a question for a die hard gamer. Just sayin'.

[Sauwelios]

Sauwelios,

Changing platforms to play a great game is not a question for a die hard gamer. Just sayin'.

True, and I was considering getting a laptop as my next "console" anyway. Then I should definitely try that mod.

[WendyDarling]

Amorphos,

Might & Magic VI-VIII, inspired the Elder Scrolls series indubitably, (PC-Windows 2000, ME, or earlier required) unless you download from GOG, but the old discs play much smoother on old systems. Old games are why I still have an old, gaming-only PC and Win.95. If only I'd kept my Atari package, that would be a blast about now.

Sauwelios,

GOG.com has some updated versions of M&M VI-VIII, of course, the graphics are low polygon count and there are no awesome kill shots (low tech combat), but if you enjoy RPG skill building, an open world, and loads of challenging everything (bad guys, items, quests), check it out. I've never finished any of them nor have I even attempted to play the non turn-based mode (you get swarmed so it's suicide). Even with walk-throughs and cheats, it'll be devotional.