For me: Easily Portal 2.
A deeply rich story, funny dialogue, and great puzzles that will truly make your brain think. The story is very rich and spans across several different eras of Aperture history, going as far back as the 50s. The dialogue is funny and some of the lines are the most memorable in all of gaming (like the Cave Johnson lemon rant). And last but not least, the puzzles are great. They start off pretty simple, but as you progress further in the story, they get more and more complicated, especially when you get the repulsion gel and proposion gel. I feel like Portal 2 is the Gold Standard for puzzle games that every game that comes after it will be judged on.
Also, if you don’t own Portal 2 yet, now is a fantastic time to get it - it’s on sale for $1 on Steam, same with Portal 1. And if you want both games, the bundle containing both games is $1.50. Do not miss out on this offer, it’s so worth it.
If you already have beaten Portal 2 you should check out Portal Revolution. Free mod with voice acting and a lot of new puzzles.
Okay you do some good advertising I’m considering the purchase
Don’t consider, act, that game fucks and it fucks hard.
My favorite moment of Portal 2 is easily Cave Johnson’s lemon rant. Easily one of the best quotes in all of video game history.
“All right, I’ve been thinking. When life gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life’s manager! Make life rue the day! It thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I’m the man who’s going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I’m going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down! [COUGHING]”
Absolutely golden.
Was that the same dude that was the lawyer in the British show ‘Outlaws’?
I swear they sound the same.
Also, if I had to pick, resident evil 7 and 8. The best story games period and the best horror games period.
Go in cold! And definitely play Portal first. It’s really short.
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I just bought it two weeks ago for 10$. Excellent game though. Well worth 2 coffees!
Stardew Valley.
Its revolver has continuously released huge updates for free and has commuted to never charging for dlc.
The games mechanics are pretty great and nothing in the game requires too much grinding to get.
Even when you “finish” the game, there are still things to do and starting a new files is always fun.
The characters are all great and have unique personalities. It really makes you feel like you are part of the town.
My wife and I have over 400 hours on a single file. It’s also enjoyable starting a new file. I like to challenge myself to see how quickly I can do certain objectives in the game.
It’s also decently cheap and has a huge community behind it.
The game is just perfect. Many farms were made and many hours spent.
My only complaint is that there isn’t more of the game 😂
Luckily mods solve this.
factorio
the dedication of the dev is perceptible, almost unlimited replay value and the will release a major extension in 9 days that looks wonderful.
What? I thought the space DLC was months away!
It’s happening!
Crosscode, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, Celeste, Fallout: New Vegas
I think everyone should play factorio for at least a few hours. It will be some of the most interesting 17 months of their lives.
Is it a time lapse game? Where you play for like an hour, then suddenly the sun is down?
Hollowknight my beloved
Terraria
Dishonored!!
Mount and Blade Warband for me. Native is fun but the community has made so many total conversion mods for it that can be swapped in and out at the launcher. It can be Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, most points of history between now and ancient Rome, and it can even be Star Wars
I love M&B, it was the first game where I could have a chill sword fight in super slow motion, defeating hordes of enemies with convincing swipes.
What good mods are there for it at the moment?
Awoiaf (GoT)
Last Days of the Third Age (LotR)
Warsword Conquest (Warhammer)
Perisno + Prophecy of Pendor (Fantasy conversions with lots of lore and things to do)
Gekokujo Daimyo Edition (Sengoku period Japan)
Anno Domini 1257 (13th Century Europe)
L’Aigle (Napoleonic Wars)
https://www.moddb.com/games/mount-blade-warband/mods?sort=visitstotal-desc
Theres tons of them on Moddb and they’re easy to throw on your game
Valheim
Valheim is definitely a must buy. It’s a survival game with crafting and building elements.
And whoever likes Valheim should have a look at 7 Days to Die and The Forest (and probably The Forest 2, but I haven’t played that one yet).
“Anyone who likes survival crafting games will like other survival crafting games.”
But yes.
There was an outstanding RTS game from 1997 called Total Annihilation. The soundtrack was 11/10, it was made by Jeremy Soule, the guy who did the Skyrim soundtrack. Some might say that Supreme Commander 2 is their most recent successor to TA, but they are wrong. Check out Beyond All Reason (BAR). It’s in Alpha and it’s free but it’s already sooooo good.
I think most people that enjoyed SupCom1 didn’t like SupCom2. The first game was leagues better, imo. There was also Planetary Annihilation some years ago, which was much simpler, then an expansion and I dunno how different that one plays.
I only gotta mention one that everyone should play at least once in their lifetime: Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
It might be as close to a perfect game as it gets. I love that you can turn off the HUD and it’s still completely playable. Nintendo is one of the few companies that puts so much care into their open world that you can just explore and talk to people and get all the information you need to complete the game.
For modern games, I also love Nier: Automata and Horizon Zero Dawn for the complex stories and creativity but Breath of the Wild is just so perfectly executed. It’s sort of like classic Pixar movies where it might be rated G but still manages to appeal to adults.
I’ve heard of both. I didn’t know Horizon was an open world sort of game.
Either way, I completely agree. Even at the old age of 16, I was touched so harshly by that game that it became my favorite game I’ve ever played after just 2 sessions
Command & Conquer, Tie Fighter, Simpsons Doom, Quake, Portal, and DDR.
Well since you didn’t specify, I’ll let everyone know you definitely meant Command and Conquer 4.
Sorry, I meant Red Alert.
Simpsons Doom sounds interesting!
Doom had a great mod community, and Simpsons Doom was my favorite mod.
Hello fellow 50ish year old gamer.
You forgot homeworld.
I’m not 50 something, but I got some of these games from a 50 something.
Chrono Trigger is a must for anyone that likes RPG’s.
RPGs*
