Video Games [ARCHIVED] Video Game • Page 248

I wanted to do a chorus clan and a family clan but I guess I have to choose between the two now.

 

well, only three of us on chorus play smite, so, eh. haha

 

My family clan would have been like 7 people but only two of us actively still play all the time haha.

Plus a clan can help us get all them skins. I NEED MOREEE.

 

I'll also throw in Kholat, The Long Dark, The Forest, and Stranded Deep. I know they are all currently available on Steam but I'm not sure about Xbox One or PS4.

 

These all look pretty good, but Stranded Deep looks amazing. I'll definitely have to get it once I get a computer that isn't a 5 year old macbook, in a few months.

 

Yeah Sanchez was right, i worded that a bit weird.

Have you played Oxenfree yet? Have a feeling you'd love it.

 

Kholat is on PS4 and it's pretty good. All of those games mentioned are great. I'd add Layers of Fear too. Oh and The Park

 

Oxenfree is amazing. Very Lovecraftian in a lot of ways.

 

I haven't played any of those 3 but definitely plan to, just gonna wait till they are on sale

 

those two were among my first to recommend :) all of my recs are on PC Windows, not certain how much cross platform and console access you'll have if that's an issue. buckle up, this is one of my favorite genres!

Games that are squarely exploration:
Proteus - an breezy (read: not moody) exploration game where everything is musical. no real story (although there is an end-state) and not loads of replayability, but soothing and atmospheric.
Home Is Where One Starts... - fits pretty squarely with what you're looking for. surprisingly poignant slice of life of a young girl growing up in the South. highly recommended.
Sunset - you're a housekeeper for a rich citizen/politician in a foreign country during a revolution. as the days go on, you begin to see the effects of the uprising and the class differences between the citizens and your employer.
Spirits of Xanadu - this one's also a shooter and got some puzzles, but you can actually set the difficulty to "Peaceful" and just experience the story through exploration. really great game, takes a lot of cues from System Shock 2, thought-provoking. highly recommended.
Three Fourths Home - you are driving home during a storm, on the phone with your family. features some skillful gut punch moments.
Jazzpunk - also not moody in the slightest but in fact highly comedic. absurd, bizarre, amusing.

Games that put a primary emphasis on exploration but include other gameplay aspects:
Kairo - this one's got abstract puzzles in it too, but iirc they're not too heavy. not story heavy, but very atmospheric, and in a very alien way.
Knytt Underground - just gonna copy my Steam review...
"in many ways, for me, a therapeutic, spiritual - i think the word "zenlike" is used in the description and it's apt. gorgeous, soothing visuals and soundtrack; tight controls; puzzle platforming ranging from easily doable to devastatingly brutal, but always cleverly and fairly designed; a story that's partly just a bunch of tropes and jokes but sneakily filled with subtle moments of heart and bittersweet character development. the open world is massive (beyond the first two chapters, which function as tutorials) and a pleasure to explore, full of small side quests, collectibles, and secrets beyond the main quest, all of which you can finish at your leisure and as quickly or methodically as you like. very little content is gated once you enter the true game in the third chapter; you're free to take off in any direction you see fit and are really only held back by how well you understand the game's physics and control of your character.
it's not for everyone - some would call it empty, but i would say it's anything but. look, i know it makes me pretentiously indie, but it's one of my favorite games. there's something simultaneously ethereal and human about it that i've never felt in a game before or since. if that makes sense and appeals to you, this is a game for you."
if the fact that there's a puzzle-platforming element doesn't dissuade you, i cannot recommend this game enough. it does a wonderful job of making you feel like a tiny being in a huge world that's all at once foreign and human. highly recommended.
Ossuary - a small world but full of dialogue interactions and an interesting, darkly humorous philosophy. pleasantly surprisingly enjoyable.
Tengami - gorgeous game influenced by Japanese art in pop-up book style. minimally puzzly, short.
Year Walk - delightfully creepy, a lovingly made folk horror game. has some small puzzles and uses its medium (available on mobile as well as PC) in fascinating ways. highly recommended.
Miasmata - you're stranded on an island. maintain your water, forage for ingredients to synthesize medicine, and avoid being mauled by a resident creature. realistic, unforgiving, wide open.
Antichamber - wander non-Euclidean spaces, solving non-Euclidean puzzles. very puzzle heavy, but very immersive and atmospheric. i still listen to the soundtrack to study and deal with panic attacks. highly recommend.

some smaller games that are also free (if you cant find them by googling, let me know):
Kitty Horrorshow games - she makes tons of games that are entirely built around exploration and world building through environment and notes. any of them are guaranteed to be worth at least checking out.
Fingerbones - dark horror game. a little puzzly.
Electric Highways - traverse surreal and abstract technological landscapes.
Serena - wander around your cabin, reminiscing on your ruined marriage.
The Static Speaks My Name - surreal night in the life of a suicidal person.
Saira - made by the creator of Knytt Underground. heavier on puzzles.
Ananke - very immersive but sadly ends on a cliffhanger. you're a cleaning lady working nights at a large, shadowy corporation. highly recommended
Bernband - enter a strange, sci-fi city. reminds me of Star Wars bar scenes.
Derive - you're in a lush, abandoned forest.
Frail Shells - an interesting take on military PTSD.
Good Morning Commander - a prequel to Spirits of Xanadu. a little annoying long-distance travel.
Gravity Bone - absurd spy simulator. humorous.
ICARUS.1 - surprisingly polished. you're a spaceship scavenger. pre-alpha and it doesn't save your progress, so I'm not 100% sure how long it is. i think i was near the end when i had to close it.
Lost Constellation - a poignant folklore game. a little frustrating, very charming and humorous. highly recommended
i've been late - a solemn game about ghosts... i think?
Little Party - you're a mom, hosting your daughter's friends for her sleepover creative art marathon, trying to figure out where you fit as your daughter grows older. highly recommended.
Oneiric Garden - bizarre... thing
Red Amazon - short thriller.
Subway Adventure - catch subways to surreal worlds. didn't actually do a whole lot for me but it was well received by others.
A Night n the Woods - "a quiet game about the end of the world." lovingly designed.

I haven't played these so i can't comment but they look good:
NaissanceE
Soul Axiom
The Old City: Leviathan
Grow Home
Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and the Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist
North


enjoy and let me know what you think of any/all! im a real sucker for these types of games.

 

Grow Home is only $8 on Steam, dang.

 

Oxenfree reminds me a lot of Until Dawn.

 

In what way?

 

i got it. it's cheap and since the reviews say "very positive" for 2000+ people, i was convinced.

pffff. ubi needs to make more 'indie' games.

 

You're making dialogue choices that affect the way things play out, it's scary as hell, I'm pretty sure you're actions affect who lives but I have not beaten it yet so I don't know, cheesy teen dialogue with all sorts of relationship issues...Right now it's like this group of teens visiting a beach(cabin) together to get drunk have split up and you're trying to get them all back together.

They're far from the same game, but I'm getting vibes.

 

Not quite the same, but since others haven't mentioned it yet, The Stanley Parable is absolutely worth playing, and you can more or less experience everything in a couple hours.

 

There was a sequel too right?

 

Listening to Phil Spencer being interviewed by GB, dude gets it.

 

Oh, yeah, this game is amazing. One of those I'm glad I went in completely blind about what it was about.

 

you're probably thinking of The Beginner's Guide. actually @MrRobot that's another you might like. very experimental, same dev as Stanley Parable, but very thoughtful, and especially impactful on people who create things

 

Yeah that one! Are they not related really besides developer?

 

I like Phil, dude is a great asset for MS and while I'm not the biggest Xbox fan, I do think he's just what the company needs to move forward.

 

What did it say?

 

Weird tweet to delete. It was a picture of Phil Spencer with WEED3 in the background from GB's set on the wikipedia page.