Came here to say jade empire. I had completely forgotten about it until someone mentioned it in a post on another lemmy. I promptly found it on a rom site and loaded it on to my steam deck.
So much time spent playing Sid Meier’s Pirates! I think there was a remake that was faithful to the original with updated graphics, and it was great times. Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
Capture ships, attack forts, trade goods.l… just a great game.
I love games in that genre, they're so endlessly playable. The Mount & Blade series is kind of like a more recent take on that same idea. And X4 Foundations is like that but in space.
Sands of Time was so cool. That series was flawed (Warrior Within was the emo-most game in an era full of emo sequels as the original audience reached adolescence), but I’m sad that it essentially got canceled by warping into AC.
My go-tos. Granted, they’re largely city builders, but my main jam is WoW, so city builders “tickles” different part of my brain - my downtime when I need a break from the MMORPG space.
Planetbase - A survival/sim/city builder. Guide a group of space settlers trying to establish a base on a remote planet. Grow food, collect energy, mine resources, survive disasters and build a self-sufficient colony in a harsh and unforgiving environment.
Dawn of Man Command a settlement of ancient humans, guide them through the ages in their struggle for survival. Hunt, gather, craft tools, fight, research new techs and face the challenges the environment will throw at you.
The Pale Beyond You didn’t ask to lead this expedition, but here you are. Stuck in the ice, Captain missing, miles from civilisation. Someone has to take charge. Manage your meagre resources, balance safety and morale, make the hard calls, and head in the only direction you can - through The Pale Beyond.
Kingdoms and Castles Kingdoms and Castles is a city-building simulation game about growing a kingdom from a tiny hamlet to a sprawling city and imposing castle. Make trade agreements, alliance, and war with neighboring AI controlled kingdoms. Each villager and resource is individually simulated.
The Wandering Village The Wandering Village is a city-building simulation game on the back of a giant, wandering creature. Build your settlement and form a symbiotic relationship with the colossus. Will you survive together in this hostile, yet beautiful post-apocalyptic world, contaminated by poisonous plants?
Homewind Home Wind is a minimalist, relaxing and cozy city builder about creating large settlements based on proximity tactics. All for free!
Creeper World. It’s technically a tower defense, but the enemy is fluid, constantly pouring out of spawn area. And the game has a pretty good story line.
RUINER: Isometric twin-stick shooter with a 10/10 soundtrack. Basically zero advertisement, i only ever found out about it because I listen to similar music and got the soundtrack reccomended to me by the YT algorithm.
The Ascent is a longer game and leans harder into RPG elements than Ruiner ever does. For me, Ruiner ran better and like @Catastrophic235 says, the music is incredible. Blows The Ascent’s soundtrack out of the water. Ruiner might have slightly tighter controls too, but I’d have to replay to confirm since I played it with a mouse/keyboard while I played The Ascent with a controller.
Never played the ascent but heard it was meh. Controls for Ruiner were pretty tight, my only complaint is that I’d sometimes get caught on an object/wall that wasn’t very easy to see, but it was never more than a minor inconvenience.
I’ve seen Tametsi, Hexcells, and Bombe continually recommended online as hidden gems but I’ve put off buying any because I’m not much of a Minesweeper fan. I should really give them a try sometime though, since I think the luck aspect is my least favorite part of Minesweeper. Thanks for sharing!
I bought Tametsi recently based at another recommendation thread. It’s really good - it eliminates the big issue with minesweeper which is that sometimes you have to guess. In Tametsi you always have enough information for your next move which completely changes how it feels. It almost ends up feeling more like Sudoku with the “ok so if that’s true then that can’t be true” type steps in logic.
I just switched to only buying games on GoG. Yeah, i dont have the same selection and miss out on a lot of games, but there are enough quality games on GoG to fill my backlog.
Nox (the better single player Diablo, with some incredible game mechanics, even looking at it today)
Hexplore
Imperium Galactica
Giants (this game ran like shit on every age appropriate PC, I’m kind of wondering if the engine can even run without stuttering, but it’s a fantastic game)
Gothic 1 (alive open worlds are not that new and exciting anymore, but this game has a lot of charm & an amazing sense of exploration)
The Longest Journey
Knights and Merchants (combat strategy game, the later levels are combat only and it’s very HARD)
Rage of Mages 2
Chrono Cross (probably the best jrpg of all time, but the combat system scared away many)
These are not really forgotten & qualify for being a cult classic, but merely they are old titles that the new kids have never touched:
Baldur’s Gate 1-2
Morrowind (so much better than Skyrim, it’s not even close)
Pharaoh & Caesar 3 (the city builders, there is a recently released HD remake for Pharaoh)
Oddworld: Abe’s Odessey (Much better art style & direction than in the still great remake called New and Tasty)
Jazz Jackrabbit 1 (Sonic feels soulless compared to this)
Settlers 3
Chrono Trigger (It’s not really a cult classic, because eventually all jrpg fans play this, right, RIGHT?)
Quick game: Journey! You are a beeing in some kind of migration Journey through multiple landscapes (desert, sea and snow). You have to pick up special símbols that are hidden so that your scarf becames longer and you can fly, also it works as some kind of HP bar.
The cinematics is just beautifull, you float and slide as the sun sets it is more art than a game, just to enjoy and relax.
One of the feafures is that another player, like you, will be there. As a 1st time player they will guide you through the secrets of each level/place. You dont talk each of you just emit a kind of musical sound and, without any Word, it is increadible how both players can talk. It is really beautifull. On some other games you will be the guide, you dont know, you have yo try to comunicate and figure out your place in Journey.
I confess I cried the first time I finished the game.
Longer game: The Last guardian From the same team that made shadow of the colossus, you will notice by the landscape.
You are a little boy in some kind of Maya/Inca Village that is kidnaped by a beeing that is mix of a giant mouse with horns and wings, called Trico.
It takes you to it s nest (huge and complex, like an ants), but both have an accident and get stuck somewhere. Trico lost it s wings so cannot fly.
Step by step you start to make friends with Trico to escape the huge nest, you can go on it s back, climb the hills, solve puzzles with it.
You also find why you are kidnapped (not going to give spoilers). You find other Tricos but they are very agressive, like they are under some kind of spell. Also the nest has strange beeings roaming around that try to suck your energy (the first encounter I had I got a huge gut feeling of strangeness and danger, increadible how the game can give you such a dread feeling and, no, I am not also telling how they are :) it is part of that first impact) and, remember, you are a little kid so you better run and trust that your Trico will help you.
(The game has a lot of detail. At some point my ps4 started to make a strange noise as an airplane taking off).
Have fun! Edit: removed the word “curiosity” to not confuso anyone, did not know it was a game as well.
Journey is such a special game. And the other player is such a key element to the experience. I’ve played it a few times and each time felt so different based on who I was playing with. First time I actually just wanted to do it alone (I’m usually really not a fan of multiplayer), but after spending most of the journey with another player I finally understood why it was important. The second time I played from start to finish with the same veteran player, who guided me to all the secrets I didn’t even have a clue existed, and we were constantly chiming to each other (that musical sound you mentioned). They were much more patient than the first player and by the end it was amazing how much emotion I felt having to part ways with someone I didn’t even know. And I’ll confess too, I cried on that second run.
Third time I must’ve had some connection problems because the other player would only be there for a little while then disappear, replaced by another later that would also disappear. When I finished the game by myself, it truly felt like a lonely experience. A beautiful, but sad lonely experience. But even after that time I would still 100% recommend it.
I haven’t played Last Guardian or Curiosity, but Last Guardian I’ve definitely been meaning to try, and Curiosity I haven’t heard of but I’m always a fan of games that put beauty before hardware longevity.
I don’t know if Gothic 1 and 2 qualify as true cult classics or not, but clunky controls and interface aside, these are two of the best games I have played in my life. Gothic 2 especially. The games offer an atmosphere like nothing I’ve ever played. The soundtrack, themes, and overall color pallete provide this rich and stirring ambience that always manages to make me feel as though I’m exploring an ancient pine forest on a dark, rainy day. See for yourself.
You can feel the spirit of the entire franchise contained within the first two minutes of that audio track, perfectly encapsulated. It was an entire world apart and years ahead of its time. If it resonates with you, then these games are absolutely worth the initial difficulty of figuring out those ridiculous keyboard controls. But if you’re really struggling with them, just read up on the Gothic 1 storyline and then skip straight to Gothic 2. It picks up right where the first leaves off. You won’t miss a tremendous amount, and the controls and gameplay are infinitely improved. However, sticking G1 out long enough to figure out what you’re doing will make G2 far more rewarding when you reunite with various characters and revisit previously explored areas.
A studio is remaking Gothic 1, but everything I’ve seen of it so far is about as faithful to Gothic 1 as The Dark Tower movie was to the books. They’ve massacred it. So stick with the originals.
To latch on to this: the first Elex, a game by the same studio as the Gothic series, is, despite the average reception by critics, THE definition of a flawed masterpiece! So many things to criticize (too difficult early in the game, bad cut scenes, flawed combat) but the main focus of the game, the open world filled with tons of monster and people to interact with, is just great! I loved how exploration is encouraged and rewarded, how there are meaningful desicions and characters that can be killed off. The world is huge and all though the general atmosphere is post apocalyptic, the developer somehow managed to fit a middle age type fraction and a science fiction type (Clerics) fraction in to the game. Also smaller groups you can’t join.
Elex has a very special place in my gamer heart and all though I can’t flat out recommend it to everyone I would say if you have a soft spot for open world games that do not play like the average Ubi game and don’t hold your hand the whole time, I say: check it out, it’s pretty cheap in most places!
It’s hard to see something that gets in the way of my ability to enjoy games as not evil. After all, I’m not getting paid and profiting from my inconvenience of the product I bought. Why would I care about some corporate spiel justifying why to make the product worse for me. Pay me and then I’ll nod my head. Otherwise I just want my product to work unhindered. It’s not an act of charity that I bought the game.
Until then using handheld like the steam deck and encountering issues like license renewals getting in the way of playing offline reminds me my product is inferior to cracked versions. Or stuff like denuvo getting in the way of some people playing their games due to activation limitations.
Whats next. Phone manufacturers actually expecting me to believe they are looking out for me by making third party replacements impossible, and have to opt for first party service that makes fixing my old phone more expensive than buying a new one?
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