Game recomendation thread

I just wanted to make a thread for pitching and recommending fun game titles. ^^

For a good platforming experience, I heartily recommend Shovel Knight. I consider it the best platformer to date.
And in the zanier side of things, Scribblenaut Unmasked which is rather affordable, and makes for a fun little game at $20. Im a tad annoyed that the three main heroes of the game are superman, batman and...green lantern. But it still offers some fun puzzle possibilities.

If anyone is still on the PS2, I'd really recommend Haunting Ground for an awesome horror/survival game. The female protag is kick of dopey, but she has an awesome dog companion that is, in essence, your weapon. It doesn't really subvert any stereotypes, but the relationship that develops between Fiona and Hewie (dog) is really sweet. She has some limited combat skills, if you're brave, but your goal is to basically run and hide and solve puzzles to progress to the next section of the castle she's in.

Probably a fairly problematic game in a lot of ways relating to women (not so much that women are weak, but Fiona's womanhood is pretty central to the plot) and mentally disabled people. Might not be for everyone, but it's a HEART-POUNDING H/S game. I love it.

On the Steam side of things, The Cat Lady, Never Alone, and Child of Light (guess this is multi-platform) are all wonderful.

The Cat Lady is a horror/psychological thriller game featuring a middle aged woman as the protagonist. Deals with suicide/trauma pretty heavily, so might not be for everyone. But it's a really deep look at an unconventional protagonist. It's basically a 2D scroller with very basic graphics and essentially a puzzle solver - game play consists of directional buttons and hitting enter to select options. Not fast-paced, but still very thrilling if you like the genre. Took me about 10-11 hours to play the whole thing.

Never Alone is just beautiful. You play an Inuit girl and a fox spirit she meets and help each other through the wilderness in order to save the girl's village. It's a 3D scroller/puzzle solver. There are some "chase" scenes where you have to run from a boss and potentially solve puzzles along the way. Just a great game over all.

Child of Light is another scroller (I guess I have a type lol) that is just a beautiful fairy tale of a game. You play as Princess Aurora who is gifted with the power of the stars, equipped with a magic sword, crown, and wings. It has a pretty fluid, fun time-gauge battle system. Leveling is really easy and basic. Really memorable characters and beautiful art style. The dialogue is written in rhyme (and maybe iambic pentameter?).

I've wanted to play Child of Light for some time,I think I'm going to buy it this month.
Has anyone ever played Another World or TRINE? They both are on sale in the PS Store and look like fun games,so I've been thinking about purchasing them

I have had a frustrating time with child of light. ^^; I purchased it along with the DLC, but for some reason, my eyes cannot make out the screen. The whole game looks really blindingly bright to me, and I cannot read any of the text. I tried adjusting my tv, but I cannot find a balance that allows me to read anything.
Usually I have a problem where I cannot make out a game because things are to dark. Ive never had the reverse happen before.

And I have played a demo of Trine 2, which is available on the Wii U. It looks quite fun. Kinda reminds me of lost vikings.

wondercube wrote:If anyone is still on the PS2, I'd really recommend Haunting Ground for an awesome horror/survival game. The female protag is kick of dopey, but she has an awesome dog companion that is, in essence, your weapon. It doesn't really subvert any stereotypes, but the relationship that develops between Fiona and Hewie (dog) is really sweet. She has some limited combat skills, if you're brave, but your goal is to basically run and hide and solve puzzles to progress to the next section of the castle she's in.

Probably a fairly problematic game in a lot of ways relating to women (not so much that women are weak, but Fiona's womanhood is pretty central to the plot) and mentally disabled people. Might not be for everyone, but it's a HEART-POUNDING H/S game. I love it.

Did you also play Rule of Rose? It's kind of the successor of Haunting Ground, even though the story and the aesthetics are different. You are a governess in something like weird steampunk-horror-airship filled with creepy kids (and in the end, you even understand why you don't just slap the creepy kids around a little).
They kept the mechanic with the dog companion, this time called Brown, and he's even more integral to the story.

And I will never not recommend playing Persona 3 Portable with the female protagonist. She is so much cooler than her male counterpart, and the story is told much better. Also, speaking of dogs, social link to Koromaru!

wondercube wrote:Child of Light is another scroller (I guess I have a type lol) that is just a beautiful fairy tale of a game. You play as Princess Aurora who is gifted with the power of the stars, equipped with a magic sword, crown, and wings. It has a pretty fluid, fun time-gauge battle system. Leveling is really easy and basic. Really memorable characters and beautiful art style. The dialogue is written in rhyme (and maybe iambic pentameter?).

Child of Light is brilliant. I bought a copy when it was initially released on the 360 and then got a second for the Xbox One when it was one of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

The game is visually stunning, the score is so very lovely ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]), the characters are endearing, and the story is quite engaging. My only complaint is that it just seems to end suddenly. I've heard that there was supposed to be more story, but the team experience time and resource constraints. As such, it really doesn't have a lot of replayability; you can probably get through the game in a single weekend.

That said, it's well worth its cost -- which is much lower than many games that are released. It's generally around 15 USD and has gone on sale a handful of times on Steam and the Xbox Marketplace.

Nocturama wrote:Did you also play Rule of Rose? It's kind of the successor of Haunting Ground, even though the story and the aesthetics are different. You are a governess in something like weird steampunk-horror-airship filled with creepy kids (and in the end, you even understand why you don't just slap the creepy kids around a little).
They kept the mechanic with the dog companion, this time called Brown, and he's even more integral to the story.

And I will never not recommend playing Persona 3 Portable with the female protagonist. She is so much cooler than her male counterpart, and the story is told much better. Also, speaking of dogs, social link to Koromaru!

I actually own RoR, but I never got around to playing it before I left for college a million years ago lol. I REALLY wanted to play it for its connection to Haunting Ground. Was it made by the same team/company though? I didn't know it was like... purposefully connected (not in plot/story, obviously).

And P3P was my first experience with the Persona series. I loved it. I played as the boy first, cause I wanted to get the original game experience and see what changes they made with the female protag. Such a good game! I was hoping they'd include male and female options in P5, but alas...

Nuuni Nuunani wrote:I have had a frustrating time with child of light. ^^; I purchased it along with the DLC, but for some reason, my eyes cannot make out the screen. The whole game looks really blindingly bright to me, and I cannot read any of the text. I tried adjusting my tv, but I cannot find a balance that allows me to read anything.

That's really strange. I never ran into any problems like that. If you ever get the game running properly, it really is lovely.

PixelScientist wrote:Child of Light is brilliant. I bought a copy when it was initially released on the 360 and then got a second for the Xbox One when it was one of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

The game is visually stunning, the score is so very lovely ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]), the characters are endearing, and the story is quite engaging. My only complaint is that it just seems to end suddenly. I've heard that there was supposed to be more story, but the team experience time and resource constraints. As such, it really doesn't have a lot of replayability; you can probably get through the game in a single weekend.

That said, it's well worth its cost -- which is much lower than many games that are released. It's generally around 15 USD and has gone on sale a handful of times on Steam and the Xbox Marketplace.

I love love LOVE the score. I went through a big CoL phase last month and listened to the soundtrack on repeat. I don't remember the game ending too abruptly, but I really want more set in that world (more of Aurora). I keep comparing it to LoZ, and I feel like I shouldn't do that, but I think it has the same cool potential as LoZ in that they could just revamp with each CoL game and have new iterations of the story/characters/world each time.

Or, you know, they could just make a LoZ game starring Zelda and I'll be satisfied.

Heres a few more games I wanted to recommend.

Rain [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
A beautiful stealth game where you are invisible, and trying to escape invisible monsters in a city of perpetual rain.

Unfinished Swan [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Im not quite sure how to describe this game...Art game? Puzzle game? Its very beautiful overall.

Journey [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
What can I say about Journey that others have not said a thousand times? It lives up to its reputation. An amazing discovery with breathtaking beauty.

Papo and Yo [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
An overlooked platforming puzzle game, it has a fascinating environment and a game I heartily recommend.

Never Alone [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
One of the best looks into a culture that I have ever seen. And I cannot describe it better than 'cultural platformer'

Ive been on an arte game kick of recent, so I thought I would toss up some recommendations in relation to that.

I second most of these recommendations, especially Persona 3, but I would like to give a shoutout to the Oddworld series.

They started out as a series of 2D PS1 platformers but later branched out into 3D platforming and even a shooter game!

They have an amazing aesthetic and fully live up to the name "Oddworld," with lots of disgusting creatures and dark humor! And yet the protagonists are always so naive and well-meaning that you can't help but love them as they attempt to do a dint of good in this horrifying world.

I would recommend Abe's Odyssey and Stranger's Wrath the most. AO follows Abe, a mudokon working as slave labor in a factory as he decides to escape and free the others on his way out. It was the first game and it has a lot of intelligent, slow-paced puzzle platforming. It also had a remake a while back that I have heard very good things about.

SW is a shooter/platformer hybrid following a Clint Eastwood-esque Bounty Hunter who is raising money for a mysterious operation. It actually works really well, taking the series into a radically different direction gameplay wise while still maintaining the same humor that made the series so... odd!

For me, check out the Endless series.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a space themed 4X game, much like Galactic Civilizations. One of the things that really sets this game apart from the others is how streamlined it is, and how intuitive and easy the UI is. After playing this for so long I constantly get frustrated with other games for not living up to it's standard.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is the fantasy themed 4X game from the same company. Like it's cousin, the UI on this game is brilliantly done, and the game manages to be both complex and streamlined at the same time.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a unique Rogue-like that is... stupidly difficult. I have a love hate relationship to this thing, in that I love the game, but I hate the fact that I fail so badly at it.

Long Live the Queen:

Each play through only takes 20 minutes or so, so its a good one if you don't have a ton of time. Also, its fun and surprisingly difficult. You've got to keep a princess alive long enough to make it to her coronation as queen. You can choose what skills she focuses on mastering, and each one has advantages and disadvantages. Practicing your court manners and music lessons can be just as life saving as learning to swing a sword. One review called it a Sansa Stark simulator and that isn't far off. Your character starts off as a naive pawn and has to learn how to navigate the world she lives in.

Its also very hard, I think I've beaten it a grand total of twice out of 20 or so attempts.

Katrien Caffeine wrote:I second most of these recommendations, especially Persona 3, but I would like to give a shoutout to the Oddworld series.

I loved the Oddworld games when I was younger! My brothers and I used to emulate a lot of the things that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. I've played Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee, Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, and Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee, but never Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath.

I know that the original game was released as Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty on the Xbox One; I'll need to pick up a copy the next time that it goes on sale.

Thiazin Red wrote:Long Live the Queen:

I second this.

Thiazin Red wrote:Long Live the Queen:

Each play through only takes 20 minutes or so, so its a good one if you don't have a ton of time. Also, its fun and surprisingly difficult. You've got to keep a princess alive long enough to make it to her coronation as queen. You can choose what skills she focuses on mastering, and each one has advantages and disadvantages. Practicing your court manners and music lessons can be just as life saving as learning to swing a sword. One review called it a Sansa Stark simulator and that isn't far off. Your character starts off as a naive pawn and has to learn how to navigate the world she lives in.

Its also very hard, I think I've beaten it a grand total of twice out of 20 or so attempts.

I was surprised how brutal this game turned out to be, and pretty complex from a stats/leveling standpoint. I died with a crossbow bolt to the stomach when an enemy assassin attacked my carriage, because my first aid knowledge was not good enough.

wondercube wrote:
I was surprised how brutal this game turned out to be, and pretty complex from a stats/leveling standpoint. I died with a crossbow bolt to the stomach when an enemy assassin attacked my carriage, because my first aid knowledge was not good enough.

I still can't figure out how to avoid the crossbow death, I guess I'll never get to go to that party.

Thiazin Red wrote:

wondercube wrote:
I was surprised how brutal this game turned out to be, and pretty complex from a stats/leveling standpoint. I died with a crossbow bolt to the stomach when an enemy assassin attacked my carriage, because my first aid knowledge was not good enough.

I still can't figure out how to avoid the crossbow death, I guess I'll never get to go to that party.

There were two things I failed that lead to that death. I think it was athletics or something, and then when I actually got hit with the bolt after failing that, I died from lack of training in field medicine/first aid. So I guess you just gotta focus on those more, which means inevitably you'll get killed by something else lol.

FTL: Faster than Light. This roguelike is pretty hard, especially the final boss battle, which makes the eventual triumph all the sweeter.

And a question for people who have used U-Play: How awful is the service? I'm tempted to get Child of Light during the Humble Store sale but U-Play seems to have a terrible reputation.

Speaking of treacherous royalty, I've also been having a good time with Crusader Kings 2. Sometimes one of my characters has such an interesting rule I get a little sad that they didn't really exist.

My current guy has been having quite a year. Three different relatives started campaigns to usurp my throne at the same time (it turns out having too many children is way worse than just having one). One of which was an uncle who also staged rebellions on two other separate occasions under current guy's father. My guy managed to deal with all that, and then the king of France and a German prince allied to attack me. Thankfully the German died and his heir didn't feel like continuing.

Servilius Ahala wrote:FTL: Faster than Light. This roguelike is pretty hard, especially the final boss battle, which makes the eventual triumph all the sweeter.

And a question for people who have used U-Play: How awful is the service? I'm tempted to get Child of Light during the Humble Store sale but U-Play seems to have a terrible reputation.

I was pretty pissed that I was forced to download U-Play for CoL. Bullcrap.

It was fine, but I didn't use it in-depth. It was just another dumb launcher.

Servilius Ahala wrote:And a question for people who have used U-Play: How awful is the service? I'm tempted to get Child of Light during the Humble Store sale but U-Play seems to have a terrible reputation.

I didn't need Uplay for Child of Light on either the Xbox 360 or Xbox One, though I did download it on both consoles in order to get the associated achievements. I cannot relay if that is a consistent experience on other consoles or devices.

I used it exactly once for each game to send gems to friends.

I had to download it for CoL on steam. So, really, you can't *play* CoL on steam. You buy it, then you play CoL on uPlay because Satan is real.

I'm at the point to where I refuse to buy any more Ubisoft titles until they get rid of this shit. Oh, you know that awesome  [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] they've got going right now that I wanted to get because it has a ton of Splinter Cell games which I'm a sucker for.

Only redeemable on Uplay.

Fuck you Ubisoft. Uplay is shit.

(P.S. Fuck you too, EA. Origin is also shit.)

PixelScientist wrote:I didn't need Uplay for Child of Light on either the Xbox 360 or Xbox One, though I did download it on both consoles in order to get the associated achievements. I cannot relay if that is a consistent experience on other consoles or devices.

I used it exactly once for each game to send gems to friends.

I think it's only required on PC. Maybe I'll just wait until I have a console. Hmmm.

Katherinethegrape wrote:(P.S. Fuck you too, EA. Origin is also shit.)

I bought Witcher 1 and 2 off humblebundle the other day ONLY TO REALIZE THEY WERE ONLY REDEEMABLE ON GOG.COM. UGHUGHUGH *cries forever*

Servilius Ahala wrote:
I think it's only required on PC. Maybe I'll just wait until I have a console. Hmmm.

You know, the game is so good that downloading shitty uPlay was worth it. And I just uninstalled it once I finished the game, because yeah. So if you want to play it, I don't think uPlay is such a big deal that it detracts from how worthwhile the game is.

Can I just say that this game looks so cool: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]