Wolfenstein 3D Doom Duke Nukem 3D Portal Katamari
post
Half-life.
☼Dwarf Fortress☼
As far as labors of love go, Stardew Valley is probably the most current example. People paid for this thing years ago, but Concerned Ape keeps adding new features anyway. The retro graphics give this thing a timeless quality out of the box, so it already looks "dated" - this hasn't stopped the robust player community around it. We'll probably see this game stay relevant for a long time.
And that's before you start talking about modding the game.
The amount of mods for this game is insane. From simple QoL stuff through to full expansions.
No replay of the game ever has to be the same.
Do people ever do total conversion modifications anymore? Are there any Stardew Valley mods that turn it into something totally different?
I have no idea. Only recently tried an expansion mod for the first time. I never even considered conversion mods might be a thing for this game.
I was just reminiscing on how people used to do stuff like that for the early FPSes. And honestly, since I never really got into Stardew, I thought it might be cool to see a totally different world.
Hope you’re enjoying the expansion!
Yeah it's been great. Stardew Valley Expanded adds areas and characters and stuff to the game that feels like they belong in the original world. The creator did an amazing job.
Baldur's Gate 3
A lot of folks are listing their favorite games but this is the one that truly fits.
-
Unusually long development time by a studio known for DnD-simmiliar RPG games getting the next installation for the series that defined the genre.
-
Cast voice actors for several years, ones that are still playing their characters on a variety of platforms.
-
Just chock filled references to DnD lore, cute in-jokes, and faithful updates on old characters.
Everyone involved clearly loved it!
It got people not previously interested in DND to actually enjoy DND.
Unusually long development time
No joke, I installed the open-beta/pre-release years ago, played for a bit, and uninstalled it. When the actual release dropped, I had the most intense déjà vu about it all because I forgot that had even happened. I had to go back to my Steam library to puzzle it all back together.
The real question is what is Larian’s equivalent to Peter Jackson’s “Meet the Feebles”?
Part of the reason development took so long was due to them using early release for the right reasons. They listened to the player base and changed the game based on feedback from the fans
I'd argue there isn't one. Not on the scale of LotR. It cannot be overstated how unlikely it was that it happened the way it did.
World of Warcraft was a LOTR moment for me, thousands of hours of different content in a fantastic world. The extensions killed it ofc.
The Witcher universe is nearly an identical type of Norse style fantasy, with elves, dwarves, and giants, and 3 is a long epic quest across 3 huge regions. One of my first thoughts when I first played was that it feels like LOTR meets Game of Thrones.
The best PC game OAT: Disco Elysium
Which you should totally pirate, according to the devs themselves.
It's currently 90% off on steam btw
as others said: pirate it or buy like the cheapest key off of https://gg.deals/
The studio had an internal hostile takeover, kicked out most of the people who actually made the game and basically all of the lead ones and just kept the IP
So the money goes to them
Age of Empires 2, despite being Microsoft owned, is easily one of the best strategy games of all time and has very clearly stood the test of time. It's over 25 years old and people kept playing it a lot even before the HD remakes. I remember reading that the folks that made the 1st game often had to choose between "actual history or hollywood history" for some details, often going for hollywood because it made for a more fun experience.
I suspect Factorio might stand the test of time as well, and it's clearly something made by someone who really understands the medium. I haven't begun my factory yet.
Without a doubt the Witcher games, and Baldur's Gate 3. Probably Dragon Age too, but I haven't played those.
Just a side note I wouldn't necessarily put Witcher 1 on the same pedestal as witcher 2 and 3. You could enjoy it, thematically and story wise it's spot on Witcher, but it's pretty klunky mechanically speaking and really shows its age. 2 and 3 are Fantastic in every way though. I hear they're potentially remaking 1 and I'm all for it if it's in a style similar to 2 or 3.
Nah, Witcher 2's combat was an improvement, but still bad enough I know multiple people who gave up due to seemingly impossible fights.
I remember having a lot of trouble with letho specifically
I did love Witcher 2. Played through twice. Besides the combat everything else was spectacular at the time.
Even Witcher 3 controls are quite janky. Especially with a controller. I played W3 after playing Uncharted 4 and the difference in character control was staggering. Felt like several generations behind Uncharted’s controls. Took me several days to get used to Witcher 3’s system.
Yep tried to play Witcher 3 several times and gave up because of the ultra janky controls. I work in the industry and I just don't understand how control schemes can still be so shitty when other games have nailed it as far back as N64. That's not even counting how much I despise the overall industry shift towards prioritizing flowery character animations over player input, so your character always feels like there is a huge lag between player input and onscreen actions because your character is still doing the 4th twirl on his sword strike from the button you pushed 8 buttons ago..
In my opinion all characters in games should be as responsive as a fighting game when it comes to input and onscreen actions. I think the Ninja Giaden series nailed this down perfectly, compared to this level of responsiveness pretty much every modern game I've played feels like the characters are underwater.
I do think they finally got a handle on player control with Cyberpunk, so i hope Witcher 4 inherits that for 3rd person control.
I haven't played the recent ninja gaiden games, but to me they seem more like hack n slash style games akin to Devil May Cry, which isn't a bad thing by any means but I don't know if that makes sense for the world that The Witcher is set in. Please correct me if I'm wrong there, as my only experience was a demo of Ninja Gaiden Black on 360 a decade ago.
What are your thoughts on a Dark Souls style of combat for the witcher?
It's for sure more in the hack and slash style of game play, which I can understand doesn't fit into the witcher world that well. I just feel there is a balance to be had. I have not played the any of the dark souls series yet but I have played Sekiro, and while I think for my preference it could be a bit more responsive, I feel it achieved a good balance and is very playable.
I haven't played Sekiro yet, but it's built from the bones of the Souls games and shares a lot of the controls just like Eldin Ring. I'd say the only major difference is you don't have as heavy of an emphasis on parry/counter timing (although it's still there) and stealth isn't built into the games (although you can slowly walk up behind enemies).
To me, I think that style of combat is "grounded" enough to fit well into The Witcher. Geralt is faster and stronger than normal humans, but not extremely so and some noteworthy humans have given him a run for his money or whooped his ass outright. I think Soils Style combat could do a good job of representing that.
It is absolutely janky in its controls. I have run around in circles before, trying to inspect something on the ground, and Im quite certain there was never any testing done at all for Roach, certainly not for the 7 1/2 minutes she takes to amble over to you when called, or approaching intersections, or mounted combat. But I do still today love the regular combat, and the world and story are staggering.
I can see what you're saying, I may be looking back with rose tinted glasses. I don't know what the best control scheme would be, but I feel like if it felt like a Dynasty Warriors hack n slash it wouldn't feel right. Maybe something more akin to Dark Souls?
Super Metroid
Java modded Minecraft.
One Shot
Outer Wilds
Portal
Chrono trigger
The announcer at gay bingo knows someone that named their kid Chrono. :(
I need to know what gay bingo is.
That's sad. The characters name is Crono.
Prumbably the Morrowind game
Minecraft
I don't really know Minecraft before the acquisition. Is it really that much different?
Secret Friday updates used to drop with new features that weren't documented and just got to explore and find them.
I remember updating singleplayer to find cacti added and placing a bunch under a railway tunnel to stop mobs. (They updated the physics to break them when adjacent to another block patch or two later)
Microsoft has continued improving the Java Minecraft. I can't see a reason to complain.
Neither of these are popular enough to be on the scale of LoTR, but in terms of atmosphere and detail:
Hollow Knight - my absolute favorite thing about it is each NPC has its own voiced language recorded, babbling in the background as you read the dialogue.
Subnautica (the first one) - shitting myself with each new experience is something I'll always cherish. Highly recommend just playing without looking into the gameplay or plot. Has elements of exploring, resource gathering, base building, psychological horror (not graphic, just tense scenarios), sneaking.
I feel like the labor of love part being something like Factorio, Satisfactory, NMS is fitting. Also grand scale, holds up well, graphics aren't the main point
The Secret of Monkey Island
Outer Wilds
Inscryption
Expedition 33
Expedition 33
Woah. Would you really put Expedition 33 in the same class as the other two? This is the highest indirect praise I've seen of the game.
absolutely!
it's of course a very different game from the other two but brilliant nonetheless
i dislike turn based combat, i dislike jrpg, but Expedition 33? i adore. the world building, the story, the voice acting- are absolutely incredible. It's one of those lightnings in a bottle that suddenly appear out of seemingly nowhere
Really? I've seen Clair Obscura praised as a masterpiece.
Yes. The story is gut-wrenching, the world is rich and engaging, the gameplay is interesting. If I had one complaint it’s that the rare platforming segments don’t quite work… but being a masterpiece isn’t about perfection, it’s about impact, and Clair Obscur hits like a hydrogen bomb.
I would too. It’s just really well crafted world building , story, and side content. There’s so much to do and all of it feels fun.
man i tried so many times and couldn't get into outer wilds. it's so fucking boring to get started that when things start getting even remotely interesting I'm already checked out. the game's all "here's a bunch of threads, which one do you want to pull" and I'm like "I don't care"
Outer Wilds is best started on rainy evenings around late summer, it took me a couple of tries to get into it as well, i bounced off at least 2 times. but the 3rd time it grabbed me and now it's my all time favourite game.
basically, don't stress it :) it's a brilliant game and honestly after you finish it one day you'll long for the time when it was still ahead of you as you can only play it once for the first time
I love Outer Wilds. I'll never forgot the moment of resignation when the all too familiar music starts playing only to realize, Oh no, it's quite different this time.
The DLC though... not for me. It's like a completely different game, different genre, with the only thing in common being the looping. I started feeling like such a chore that I just installed some mods to blaze through it and at least see the conclusion.
top 100 comments