Here’s a look at some of my favorite games. I must say pretty much anything from PS is my favorite. Ragnarok, Helldivers, Spider-Man, Ratchet and Clank, etc.
What I love: Primarily story-driven, third-person, high-fidelity, single-player games with solid fighting characteristics with simple upgrade paths. FPS are cool too. Anything with “power fantasy”.
What I hate: Anything complicated that I have to scower the internet just to learn how to play. Anything with classes or numerical attributes (Strength, Vitality, etc). I know this comprises many popular games, and if you like it, I’m happy for you, it’s just not for me.
Edit: no corporate trash. No Ubisoft, EA, Rockstar, Denuvo, or remote accounts.
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is a voxel sword fighting game with full dismemberment and a corny story. it has a campaign, a custom level editor with player-made levels, and a small multiplayer mode.
the upgrade trees is very simple and the sword fighting is neato, reminiscient of starwars jedi outcast.
KCD might be up your alley, it’s pretty fun if you like RPGs.
The Witcher 3 has nice combat, is 3rd person, story driven without a ton of stats and has nice graphics.
New Vegas has serviceable gunplay (it’s old and not super good as a shooter) but is very good when living in its world, doing quests, etc. There are some numbers, though.
Youa said no Ubisoft, but far cry 2 and 3 are good.
Crysis 1 is awesome and I hate that cryrek COD-ified Crysis 2.
I was going to recommend Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, but it’s listed in your screenshot. Deus Ex would be great. The original is the best but Human Revolution is good, too. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines would be good. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is also great.
The single-player campaign of Titanfall 2 is incredible. Short and sweet (about 6-8 hours), super fun parkour system and cool story to play. I highly to recommend to pick it up when on sale.
Days Gone starts out like The Last of Us but for people who think wrestling is real.
But it definitely picks up later when you expand your toolkit. The horde gameplay makes this game memorable. I played on PS5 and I think the improved framerate and motion controls gave it a new lease of life.
If you enjoyed Gris and Neva, you may enjoy Journey. It is a similarly artsy experience and an almost certain inspiration for Gris.
The Horizon series (zero dawn, forbidden west) seems to fit your favourites very well and is also a PS series. The storytelling of the first game is absolurely exquisite imo
If you enjoyed Portal I can’t imagine a world where you don’t enjoy The Talos Principle, they remastered the first game and theres also a sequel. Both jaw droppingly beautiful, engaging stories, lovely puzzles.
I can’t help but recommend Tunic. The combat is solid and simple, puzzles are great, and hoo boy does it keep on giving.
You’d probably get a kick out of Hellblade given the games you enjoy.
If you enjoy DMC you’ll probably love Hi-Fi Rush, super stylish and deep combat system that will reward you similarly to DMC
Outer Wilds. Greatest game of all time. It’s a bit more puzzle and story focused than most of these, but you have portal and GRIS and I would recommend Outer Wilds to pretty much anyone.
to temper their excitement, I usually love games where you have to figure things out for yourself, but that one had me completely stumped. I eventually uninstalled, with a bitter taste in my mouth because I really wanted to figure it out (and the mechanics are fun, the entire thing is lovingly crafted…). That’s coming from a guy who finished most of the Myst games.
Just saying because that suggestion doesn’t really mesh well with your OP statement
I hope you try it again someday! It really is a once in a lifetime experience, so if you aren’t enjoying it it’s a good idea to put it down and come back with a fresh start later. I would hate for someone’s only experience with this game to be one of frustration and forcing yourself to play something because everyone says it’s good.
I am definitely trying it again at some point, the plot is too intriguing and the sense of discovery too satisfying to give up on it. Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace or something.
There are ‘classes’, but it’s really just whatever special ability you want. And there are stats on guns, but those can mostly be ignored as you can just upgrade whatever weapon you have or like to use.
What I love: Primarily story-driven, third-person, high-fidelity, single-player games with solid fighting characteristics with simple upgrade paths.
There’s enough in here aside from simple upgrade paths that I think you should try Elden Ring. Just remember if you run into something that’s too hard go in a different direction.
+1 for Slay the Spire. It’s a bit different than Balatro, but to me it scratches a similar itch. It’s easy to get into but somehow I’m still not bored of it after over 500 hours. Even started a second save on mobile.
Tried Elden Ring. Got my ass kicked by the first guy I encountered repeatedly. Tried to run away but get chased down. I don’t understand the mechanics at all. Like how do you time anything when every maneuver takes 3 seconds to execute?
Since you mentioned not liking numerical attributes or things you need a guide to understand properly, I don’t think you’d like Elden Ring or Dark Souls. But you might like Hollow Knight, which does away with that unnecessary fluff.
If you are talking about the golden knight, you meet after emerging from the dungeon: yeah, this one is really hard and you can skip him until much later.
There is a small tutorial area, that is easily missed. After spawning into a new game, there is a big hole in the ground, jump down there (I think there is a guy or a message telling you to do it) and you learn the basics about fighting and other mechanics. Also with an adequately challenging mini boss at the end.
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What about uncharted? https://store.steampowered.com/app/1659420/UNCHARTED_Legacy_of_Thieves_Collection/
Anther great suggestion, thanks
Clover Pit
Not 3rd person, but A Story About My Uncle is a really good action platform-puzzler. Definitely worth picking up.
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metro gravity is a rhythm platformer metroidvania where you play as a gravity witch that asks the question “is it possible to be too caked up”.
if you enjoy the platforming, recommending Psuedoregalia
its a very quality platformer metroidvania that starts a bit slow and gets better as you unlock more movement mechanics.
Clone Drone in the Danger Zone is a voxel sword fighting game with full dismemberment and a corny story. it has a campaign, a custom level editor with player-made levels, and a small multiplayer mode.
the upgrade trees is very simple and the sword fighting is neato, reminiscient of starwars jedi outcast.
KCD might be up your alley, it’s pretty fun if you like RPGs.
The Witcher 3 has nice combat, is 3rd person, story driven without a ton of stats and has nice graphics.
New Vegas has serviceable gunplay (it’s old and not super good as a shooter) but is very good when living in its world, doing quests, etc. There are some numbers, though.
Youa said no Ubisoft, but far cry 2 and 3 are good.
Crysis 1 is awesome and I hate that cryrek COD-ified Crysis 2.
Kingdom come deliverance and also the second one. Solid story driven 3rd person
I was going to recommend Call of Juarez: Gunslinger, but it’s listed in your screenshot. Deus Ex would be great. The original is the best but Human Revolution is good, too. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines would be good. Kena: Bridge of Spirits is also great.
The single-player campaign of Titanfall 2 is incredible. Short and sweet (about 6-8 hours), super fun parkour system and cool story to play. I highly to recommend to pick it up when on sale.
I had a blast playing it last year. Great suggestion, it’s a 1st person story-driven power fantasy (although the story is on the simplistic side).
Isn’t that an EA game?
Unfortunately, Respawn was acquired by EA, yes.
Pass, thanks
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Have you played Days Gone or Returnal? I think they’re my favorites of the recent 3rd person PS games.
I’ve played Returnal and not fond of games where you play the same levels over and over. Haven’t tried Days Gone but I’ll check it out, thanks!
Days Gone starts out like The Last of Us but for people who think wrestling is real.
But it definitely picks up later when you expand your toolkit. The horde gameplay makes this game memorable. I played on PS5 and I think the improved framerate and motion controls gave it a new lease of life.
😂 I started Days Gone. Feels very much like an older version of TLOU.
If you enjoyed Gris and Neva, you may enjoy Journey. It is a similarly artsy experience and an almost certain inspiration for Gris.
The Horizon series (zero dawn, forbidden west) seems to fit your favourites very well and is also a PS series. The storytelling of the first game is absolurely exquisite imo
If you enjoyed Portal I can’t imagine a world where you don’t enjoy The Talos Principle, they remastered the first game and theres also a sequel. Both jaw droppingly beautiful, engaging stories, lovely puzzles.
I can’t help but recommend Tunic. The combat is solid and simple, puzzles are great, and hoo boy does it keep on giving.
You’d probably get a kick out of Hellblade given the games you enjoy.
If you enjoy DMC you’ll probably love Hi-Fi Rush, super stylish and deep combat system that will reward you similarly to DMC
Outer Wilds. Greatest game of all time. It’s a bit more puzzle and story focused than most of these, but you have portal and GRIS and I would recommend Outer Wilds to pretty much anyone.
Cool, thanks!
E: just realized I’ve never looked at this game bc I confused it with Outer Worlds…
Please get outer wilds it’s a whole experience
Okay fine geeze
to temper their excitement, I usually love games where you have to figure things out for yourself, but that one had me completely stumped. I eventually uninstalled, with a bitter taste in my mouth because I really wanted to figure it out (and the mechanics are fun, the entire thing is lovingly crafted…). That’s coming from a guy who finished most of the Myst games.
Just saying because that suggestion doesn’t really mesh well with your OP statement
I hope you try it again someday! It really is a once in a lifetime experience, so if you aren’t enjoying it it’s a good idea to put it down and come back with a fresh start later. I would hate for someone’s only experience with this game to be one of frustration and forcing yourself to play something because everyone says it’s good.
I am definitely trying it again at some point, the plot is too intriguing and the sense of discovery too satisfying to give up on it. Maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace or something.
Just in case you haven’t played it, the first SUPERHOT is, IMO, quite a bit better than the second, so I’ll toss that in there.
As a wilder card, I’ll suggest the Batman Arkham games. I think Arkham City is probably the most well-regarded of them.
SUPERHOT is the most innovative game I’ve played in years.
Yeah, I played them both. The original was extra sick in VR. I think I played it on the original Oculus DK.
I enjoy the Batman games as well!
Roboquest.
Fast paced fps rogue-lite. Its got a bit of story, though it basically boils down to ‘punch bots’.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/692890/Roboquest/
There are ‘classes’, but it’s really just whatever special ability you want. And there are stats on guns, but those can mostly be ignored as you can just upgrade whatever weapon you have or like to use.
Also, nunchuck cast iron pans.
Sick, co-op is a big bonus as well!
since balatro is on your list: Slay the Spire
There’s enough in here aside from simple upgrade paths that I think you should try Elden Ring. Just remember if you run into something that’s too hard go in a different direction.
+1 for Slay the Spire. It’s a bit different than Balatro, but to me it scratches a similar itch. It’s easy to get into but somehow I’m still not bored of it after over 500 hours. Even started a second save on mobile.
Tried Elden Ring. Got my ass kicked by the first guy I encountered repeatedly. Tried to run away but get chased down. I don’t understand the mechanics at all. Like how do you time anything when every maneuver takes 3 seconds to execute?
Since you mentioned not liking numerical attributes or things you need a guide to understand properly, I don’t think you’d like Elden Ring or Dark Souls. But you might like Hollow Knight, which does away with that unnecessary fluff.
Slay the Spire: seconded.
I do like it but I just get bored very quickly walking back and forth over the same path over and over trying to figure out wtf to go.
ah, that’s a lot of Hollow Knight and its sequel Silksong. A general trait of metroidvanias
Yes it’s why I also didn’t like the Ori games.
If you are talking about the golden knight, you meet after emerging from the dungeon: yeah, this one is really hard and you can skip him until much later.
There is a small tutorial area, that is easily missed. After spawning into a new game, there is a big hole in the ground, jump down there (I think there is a guy or a message telling you to do it) and you learn the basics about fighting and other mechanics. Also with an adequately challenging mini boss at the end.
I have no idea who it is. I’ll give it another go 😅