And people wonder why I still play Factorio, Parkitect, ATS, or RCT. People suck and being able to ignore them is great.
I’ve been playing Planet Crafter waaay too much. Check it out if you like Factorio, Satisfactory, etc. It’s fun and super addictive. At least to me.
Dyson Sphere Program
I’ve played DSP, it’s a great game too. I’ll probably jump back to that when I burn out on Planet Crafter. The thing I don’t like about it and Satisfactory is conveyor belt management. The constant battle to rewire the spaghetti.
bruh factorio is literally in active development and has a huge active community, who would even think twice seeing someone playing it.
I absolutely love rollercoaster Tycoon. There really isn’t a game like it.
Have you tried Planet Coaster? Might be up your alley.
Here I am playing games from the 90s and 00s. Crazy that Quake III and Unreal Tournament are still active.
I often use UT, Q3 and CS 1.6 as examples of how long a game can stay active when players are given tools to setup their own servers, as opposed to companies handling multiplayer themselves (and often killing it off in a few years).
When they’re good, they’re good. Good gameplay beats good graphics every day
Single player is the best.
yes but i do miss co-op gaming.
Couch co-op, split-screen, hotseat; Kingdom Two Crowns is nice. So is Darksiders Genesis, For The King, Moon Hunters, Trine, etc.
Always on the lookout for other good co-op couch games, especially with a good story, but I feel that they are few and far between. :(
Brothers, It takes two and A way out.
A way out I really liked.
For me its the Borderlands series & portal 2.
It takes two is absolutely amazing in every aspect.
Deep Rock Galactic.
Rock and Stone, Miner!
A few games that are great single player can also be played with friends such as Terraria, Stardew Valley, Factorio and Minecraft.
Powerwash Simulator.
10 year old games on a 4k OLED with maxed out settings is the best. Especially if it’s a game you can run above 60 fps.
100% Online gaming is pretty toxic and I love being able to play at my own pace.
Only exception to this for me was stardew with my wife.
Toxicity is one thing for sure but I don’t like how the commercialization of MP has shaped it.
Indie games have a very different feel in their online gameplay compared to “commercial” games.
Even way back, HL1 online and those online experiences felt so different because it was designed to be about the group experience rather than level up and get a skin, buy a weapon, our skill tree is massive. Sure technology was holding it back but I wish I could see what it would’ve been without the massive push for $$$.
Oh, yeah. I just ignore that stuff. But it’s really annoying. I can’t even think of the last time I played a game online.
Oh, I got fallout 76 on sale super cheap and uninstalled it after 20-30 minutes.
I only want to play single player games. I’m not a super big gamer, but I just want campaigns. I recently got a PS5 and I’ve been struggling to find newer games that have a great single player campaign. RDR2 is my style, it’s my favorite game. The gameplay itself is a little problematic, but it’s gorgeous and the story just gets me where I live. And that’s what I want.
I only play single player games, but couldn’t care less about achievements. It is all about exploration, story, game mechanics and modding for me.
People treat achievements as if they are a status symbol. I mean sure, if you don’t know what else to do in a game, they can give you some goal, but IMO the game itself should encourage you to reach the goal, not some external badge. The experience doing the task should be the reward in of itself.
Achievement unlocked! You’ve completed the tutorial!
Achievement unlocked! You opened the game!
I feel like even that would have only like a 60% achievement rate.
depends on the game, achievement hunting can be a lot of fun in a game u already love its just more stuff to do and more reasons to play, sure if all the achievements in a game are things like getting all of a collectible or beating certain story missions/quests they are pretty boring but in pdx map simulators for example many of the are interesting run ideas or they indicate where the hand crafted content is at. And despite how much i love the game i dont think i would have played as much of Tyranny as i did if i hadnt decide to get all the achievements.
Sure there are some interesting achievment, like the Stanley parable ones. For instance: ‘Go outside: Don’t play the game for 5 years’ (https://thestanleyparable.fandom.com/wiki/Achievements)
last played oct 15 2017 damn i guess its been more than 5 years
Only silly people flaunt achievements. I use them as a meta-gaming guideline, which in a good game leads to interesting and fun challenges. In an RPG, it’s like a check box for getting every ultimate weapon, fighting every boss, etc.
Can also give me something to do in a game I’ve played but loved. Retroachevements for instance encouraged me replay SaGa (aka Final Fantasy Legend) with only one character in the team. Wasn’t too hard, but definitely a second playthrough thing.
Well, the issue with that is that achievements are global over all playthroughs, so it doesn’t really work as a checklist.
True, if and when I ever get around to replaying things that could be a problem (although the industry has seen to remaking everything I cared about, sometimes poorly, but that’s another problem).
Another shout-out to the nerds running retroachevements though because they thought it that; they have an encore mode that let’s you redo achievements. Although honestly you could just make a second account, that stuff is for emulated content anyway and it’s not like it’s DRMed, haha.
I love any game with a handcrafted map and some exploration. Even Satisfactory, a factory building game, does an excellent job at that. Procedural generation has its uses but lacks soul I guess.
It never went away.
deleted by creator
Yeah, single player games are nowhere near dead. If they ever did go the way of the dodo, I would probably stop playing altogether, because for the most part I just don’t like multiplayer games.
“$3,000 setup to play a game from 2010.”
I have an RTX 4070 that I’ve been using to play Half Life. I’ve owned my copy for a while, but have never played it.
Drives my wife crazy lol
Isn’t there an RTX Version?
There’s a fan made mod for the original, but HL2 has official RTX support I believe
I know that Nvidia released a Portal mod, so the Source Engine is already done. No idea how much effort is needed between games.
I upgraded to a 3070 from a 1080 just to play grim Dawn. Good games are good games
$5 Black Mesa brother. It looks phenomenal now.
Don’t care about achievements play games till like 70% then drop them. If it stops being fun I’m done, finishing a game is never a requirement don’t have time for that
Yeah, play the story and sidequests but don’t do any of the collectibles that are often necessary for 100%.
Yeah unless the story is good I’m rarely going to stick around for the last bit, which is usually just padding. Actually, good difficulty levels / other accessibility options have been a nice development.
Lets you turn down the volume on the gameplay so you can finish for the story.
Friends don’t let friends play League of Legends
That’s why I play DotA 😎
(Yes, this is a cry for help)
Or play factorio… Look at the time, ah it hasn’t changed, then an hour later notices the date incremented. Oh
Or Civilization, where one more turn becomes five hours where you’ve barely moved.
Gods I was strong then.
Sometimes I even set the difficulty to Easy to really chill.
And replay games I already know by heart. I can start a new game or… play Starfox 64 again. “Do a barrel roll”.
Sometimes I’ll get the trainer so I can chill and feel like a badass. I could “Git gud” or better yet ill take infinite ammo and no reload and relaxingly kill everything
I’m glad I’m not the only one! Though if I play something for a second time I do tend to up the difficulty a bit.
deleted by creator
Well it’s an AI generated picture
I want to play my character, not just play towards whatever the optimal setup is
I strive to ultimately be able to tank enemies and kill them with weak weapons like forks.
If you want to be the Cutlery Colossus then you can
Please recommend me your favourite story games. This is me and I’m in need of a good ‘book.’ :)
Edit: I’m going to tell you all to play Night in the Woods. Now, it is set in my home region and felt like a game made for me, but I think it has messages anyone could relate to.
‘Outer wilds’ don’t look it up. The most fun is play ing it for the first time. It doesn’t hold your hand though.
deleted by creator
Thirding lol
Fourthing, my absolute favourite game.
I’ve read that comment a lot and it makes me feel like there’s something big that I might spoil if I ever Google about it. But like I’m a couple dozen hours in at this point… After how many hours of playtime would you say the “don’t look it up” advice expires?
I think there are guides that gently point you in the right direction, without too many spoilers.
I definitely got stuck on a few things.
YouTube started recommending Outer Wilds videos, intermixed with my Minecraft: Create mod videos and I was very confused what mod it was
Bastion will make you feel like you’re reading a book. It’s one of my all-time favorites, by the developers now best known for Hades.
Sea of Stars.
I’m listening to the soundtrack right now and it’s awesome. The story is decent and the graphics and design are top notch. It was so captivating that I pretty much didn’t play anything else while I was working through the game.
I have to say is this is clearly the closest gaming has come to a sequel to Chrono trigger
Mostly in alphabetical order going down my steam list:
Great stories great games: Tales of Symphonia and Vesperia, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky trilogy, Metal Gear Solid, 2, and 3, Subnautica, Secret of Mana, Legend of Mana, Chrono Trigger, Hollow Knight, Spec Ops: The Line, A Hat in Time, Hades, Doom, Deus Ex, Eternal Sonata, F.E.A.R., FF6, FF13-2, Nier Replicant & Automata, Sleeping Dogs, Undertale, Valkyria Chronicles (admittedly haven’t beaten it though).
Mindless fun simple stories: Ys (almost any of them), My Time at Portia or Sandrock, Resident Evil games, Rune Factory 4 and 5, Harvest Moon 64 and Friends of Mineral Town, Stray, Amnesia, Armored Core 6, Have a Nice Death, I am Setsuna, Life is Strange, Neon White, Cyberpunk 2077.
If you had to twist my arm I’d give you these variations of top recommendations.
Best typical JRPG: Tales of Symphonia
Best Metroidvania: Hollow Knight
Best where choices matter: Undertale
Best fps: Spec Ops: The Line
Best comfy story: My Time at Portia
Best environmental storytelling: Subnautica
Best simple stories in stories: A Hat in Time
Best story with a bajillion endings and things to keep playing for: Nier Automata (play Replicant too!)
deleted by creator
Negative. I’ll take a look, thanks.
I absolutely adored a low budget game called Firewatch. It’s first person and your only contact with another human is through a radio. You’re running away from your life and work for a summer in a fire watch tower in a national park.
The story is nice and the characters are interesting and flawed and relatable.
Buy it on sale and have a fun evening or two with it.
Tales of Vesperia. I like the combat system most, but the story’s pretty good, and there’s a lot of optional content.
Nier automata, nier replicant, Yakuza like a dragon, FF7R, Baldurs Gate 3, Divinity Original Sin 2, Control, star wars fallen order/survivor
Star Wars Fallen Order has a great story and really fun gameplay.
Story first games: Tacoma, What Remains of Edith Finch, Life Is Strange, Botany Manor(more puzzle than story), Open Roads, Lake, Deliver Us The Moon, Firewatch, Kona, Day of the Tentacle (The remaster is incredible)
For more standard shoot or action games with good writing/story I love the remedy games, Alan Wake, Quantum Break, Control.
I was never a huge fan of Telltale style story games that much, but I really enjoyed the Back to the Future one that came out years back. Not sure if that’s still available anywhere though.
I recently got “Yakuza Like a Dragon” from my Humble Choice bundle and it’s so good it’s made me want to check the rest of the series.
Yakuza 0 was absolutely fantastic, kiwami 1 was ok and kiwami 2 was also good
It’s maybe my fav series in gaming. Kiryu is so much better than ichiban
I picked up “Yakuza 0” on sale not too long ago, and I’m enjoying it so much that I picked up the rest of the remastered series while it was on sale. Based on how long I’m spending mucking around in the first one, It may take me the rest of my life to get through them all. I don’t know how “Like a Dragon” compares to the earlier games, but I really enjoy the narrative, combat, sub-stories, and mini-games in “0”.
As an aside, I really enjoy a well-done pool mini-game. I probably spent more time playing pool in the various space stations in “Rebel Galaxy Outlaw” than doing anything else. Likewise, Kiryu spends a lot of time in the pool hall, as well as hanging around the batting cages, and fine-tuning his pocket racers.
Pillars of Eternity. I’ve owned the game for 8 years but finally sat down recently to learn how to play a classic CRPG. I haven’t been this engrossed in a game since Mass Effect 2 or Skyrim.
Witcher 3. The story is insanely good, just remember: your decisions matter (but don’t look anything up).
Some people say it’s hard to get into it and to be fair it is a bit complicated first but you don’t have to use all mechanics, and it’s well worth getting into it.
It just got an official mod creator (yes, that game from… 2015? (graphics from 2022 since there was a huge graphics update) still got a new update in 2024) and the community still is strong so it’ll get even better over the next years.
I have played “The Invincibles” recently. It’s a beautiful walking sim.
In Stars and Time is especially appropriate for Pride Month!
Disco Elysium is phenomenal as well.
“To the moon”, it will take you 4h to finish and the story is awesome, it’s worth playing in a single playthrough. I wish I could forget and play it again.
You got a lot of great recommendations already, but I want to add one more indie game: Lost Words Beyond the Page. Gameplay is simple and it’s not very long, but the writing is excellent.
Favorite point and click adventure: Sam and Max. They recently remastered the first season. Funny/silly game.
The Sea Will Claim Everything
https://store.steampowered.com/app/337720/The_Sea_Will_Claim_Everything/
Steins;Gate. It starts slow, but once it picks up it’s amazing and puts all that slow build up to good use. Not sure if it technically counts though. Visual novels are a weird middle ground that aren’t really book or game, but there are some really good ones. Definitely the way to go if you’re in more of a reading mood but want some art and music to go with it.
Just looking through my HLTB at things I’ve done recently:
The Ace Attorney series Sucker for Love Coffee Talk Haven (good for co-op)
If you want a bit more gameplay, but still chill:
Paradise Killer Braid Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
More gameplay focused:
Control Portal Wargroove Cat Quest Knack (I know it’s a meme, but the games are actually pretty fun)
Martha is Dead. A tragic and frightening story. Heed to the warnings they give at the start, tho. My wife literally got sick from playing it. No other game or movie has touched me that deep.
Disco Elysium. Its an RPG, but most skills have an application both in the world but also in conversations (of which there are a lot, and very well written). Its got a very bitter-sweet vibe to it.
I almost never buy multiplayer-focused games anymore. Of course not all gamers are shitty, but enough are to matter. Having left those games behind I can see how they were taking more joy from my life than they added. If friends want to do private co-op that’s cool, but it’s also rarer now that we’re all older.
As far as sales go, I love playing a year or two behind new releases. Patched games at a discount ftw and timing doesn’t matter in single-player games.
To me, multiplayer video games should be about having fun with friends. Couch co-op, LAN parties, online multiplayer work for different genres and depending where your friends are. I don’t care if they’re older games, newer games, as long as it’s fun and interesting.
Yeah I don’t really care to play with strangers and none of my friends have ever asked to play so I also stick to single player games when I do play.
What did they take from us? I haven’t played an online game in years now.
I’ve been hmming and hawing in answering this. But I’m out for dinner and bored. So alot games original vision is to be a single player experience but then online features or an online overhaul is shoved by the aboves. IE SimCity was considered unplayable by thr online features, anthem was originally designed to be single player but was completely redone, etc etc.
Yeah I see that. I remember the disappointment of sim city.
It could be I don’t follow games close enough to see what I’m missing. I find more SP games popping up in my feeds / friend recommendations than I could ever hope to play.
I definitely feel like mainstream AAA/AAAA and even iii to a certain extent have been progressively enshittified. But I’ve been at this a while, so I’ve seen how it’s gone this way as more and more money got brought to bare on games.
The moment someone who wasn’t involved in actually making some part of the game was expecting a fat return on investment was the moment the wheel of shit started to turn.
