Board 8 > banananor ranks the steam games he has completed

(+) Yeah! (+)

Page 2 recap "so far":
[63] Spore
[62] ICEY
[61] FTL: Faster Than Light
[60] Guts and Glory
[59] Q.U.B.E.
[58] Deadlight
[57] Mini Metro
[56] XCOM: Enemy Unknown
[55] Waking Mars
[54] SUPERHOT
[53] The Swapper
[52] Shadowrun Returns
[51] Oxenfree
[50] Broken Age
[49] Headlander
[48] World to the West
[47] Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
[46] Galactic Civilizations II
[45] Sorcery! Parts 1 & 2
[44] Spec Ops: The Line
[43] Machinarium
[42] SteamWorld Heist

Remaining Categories
[01]Neutral 4x or Sim
[01]Platformer
[03]Point & Click
[05]Puzzler or Quicker
[01]Real Time Strategy
[11]Running Around
[05]Shot Bullet
[04]Watch This
[08]Western Eastern RPG
[02]Zell Metroidvania
[41]Grand Total
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I think we've finally reached the part of the list where I can confidently send out a blanket recommendation for any of the games on this list! We're not quite at the 'if you don't like this i question your humanity' section, but we will get there eventually.

#41: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

This one's on the list through a technicality. In 2004 or so, I was a frugal child. I bought a used copy of the xbox version of Sands of Time from gamestop. I could hardly put the game down for two days. I finished it, and promptly returned it for full price.

Was getting a free rental unscrupulous? Maybe.

I own a copy through some sort of bundle or free giveaway, and I honestly can't remember if I completed it a second time.

This game is a wonderfully encapsulated cinematic experience.

I'll just list my favorite things about the game. The way the enemies dissipate into voluminous sand when they're sliced. The way the game is structured, with the prince telling the game as a story to convert a princess, and every time you die the prince walks it back and says 'ah... THAT's not how it happened.' The unrealistic, but still believable jumps and flips the prince makes without dashing around at obviously superhuman speeds or jumping on air. In fact, the ponderous and human pace everywhere. The dodge rolls, and deliberate animations in general. The water graphics and bloom. The fact that the game doesn't drag on forever makes sure it doesn't overstay its welcome. The satisfying end to combat when you suck the sand out of them with your dagger.

In retrospect, it's cute when the game tries to show off the 'new and revolutionary' cloth physics this generation of consoles brought with it.

Rewinding time is still so cool. It's mostly played for takebacks and cinematics rather than a puzzle element, which makes it fun to use. This game undoubtedly influenced games like uncharted, god of war, and batman down the line.

Thinking of downsides- the combat gets repetitive. These melee-fighting games hadn't quite finalized the formula yet. And the flying enemies were a little irritating. Enemy variety wasn't amazing. Later on in the game I spent a lot of time doing flips over people with a double slash on the way down just to stay safe.

I own the rest of the 3d prince of persia games from the 2000s (probably from the same bundle), but I've somehow never made it more than an hour into any of them. There's a special charm to Sands of Time, and its short length- i wanna say it takes 10 hours- means it's a small investment for a great experience. It's like reading the video game equivalent to a novella
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#40: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

It's crazy how licensed games can sometimes be really good.

This is the definitive Warhammer 40k video game- if you have any interest in or nostalgia for the setting i would consider it a must play. When I was a kid I wished I had the money for miniatures. As an adult I wish I had the space for them.

I say it's the definitive game of Warhammer 40k- even though you're not commanding any troops- because Warhammer 40k isn't about the tabletop game- it's about the galaxy, the history, the brutality, the splashy colors and overly hardcore quotes of the distant future. It's about squatting down next to those minis, closing one eye and trying to imagine whether your Termagant has line of sight to those Imperial Guardsmen and whether that Termagant feels fear.

The meaty melee finishers, the orks shouting "Spoice Marine!", the accurate characterization of the three (or i suppose four) factions represented, the set pieces including the final boss, the shitstorm that is the chaos, the necessary hypocrisy of the empire, the regular old doomed soldiers, the appropriate ending twist (maybe not that much of a twist for those familiar with the lore)... I dunno.

The plot is solid and well encapsulated. I would absolutely be down for a sequel if everyone got their licenses all in a row, but I'd be surprised if it ever happened.

This game is on the list because of the quality under-10-hour single player mode, but I was surprised to see it had a healthy multiplayer upon reinstalling it last year. Unfortunately, it seems plagued by a call-of-duty style weapon/class unlock system, but if I didn't already have multiplayer monsters in my life I could see myself getting sucked in. There are clearly jetpack classes. That is sweet.
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Does this include games not originally made for Steam, or that were ported to Steam later?
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#39: The Wolf Among Us

Sometimes you don't want to play a game as much as watch one.

I wasn't familiar with the comics, but as far as I can tell The Wolf Among Us mainly consists of Hugh Jackman as a Wolverine/Batman hybrid fucking up disney characters.

I love mystery or investigation-themed games. If Heavy Rain focused entirely on the Scott Shelby segments, or Detroit: Become Human only the Connor ones, I'd still be pretty satisfied. In this game, you're a private investigator for 100% of the time. On top of that, getting a tour of a weird alternate society is my favorite part of science fiction, and the entire game is basically that. Even though the society's entire premise makes zero sense, the level of creativity throughout helps me forgive that.

It's also fun to intentionally mess up the quicktime events.

I didn't connect emotionally with the characters, so I'm at least happy the ride was interesting. On top of this, if your PC is powerful enough to truly manhandle the Telltale engine, it might not even have to skip a bunch of frames randomly! My ps3 friends have a lot to say about that.

I've played a few Telltale style games, and they're certainly a genre of their own. If you view them as more of a cinematic short story and stop getting frustrated that you can't dramatically alter the plot or do anything that cool they're a lot more fun. I say all the time that games often fall into one of two traps- the gameplay gets in the way of the story or the story gets in the way of the gameplay. This deals with that by removing gameplay almost entirely.

Ultimately this genre ends up more fun than traditional point & click adventures at the risk of not really counting as a game at all.

I've heard this one in particular is a stupidly simple platinum, too, if that's your thing.

Too bad there's never going to be a season 2.
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Anagram posted...

Does this include games not originally made for Steam, or that were ported to Steam later?

As demonstrated by the last entry, the only requirement is that I own it on steam and I have "beaten" it!

This opens the door to a lot of ports/remasters/remakes.

I'm considering posting an alphabetical list of the remainder- it occurs to me that might be more fun than seemingly shooting random games out of thin air
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Im enjoying seeing random games pop up. Knowing whats to come removes some of the surprise and expectations.

Had you started off with a list of games, there would likely be a more vitriol over FTL being that low under a bunch of other games less people know, but because we didnt know whats to come, we could just read your argument and look forward to seeing what youbwould rank ahead of it
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banananor posted...

Anagram posted...

Does this include games not originally made for Steam, or that were ported to Steam later?

As demonstrated by the last entry, the only requirement is that I own it on steam and I have "beaten" it!

This opens the door to a lot of ports/remasters/remakes.

I'm considering posting an alphabetical list of the remainder- it occurs to me that might be more fun than seemingly shooting random games out of thin air

Thanks.
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just finished uncharted 4. what a magnum opus of an action movie/game hybrid

Getting back into the Steam zone...

#38: Banished

I warned you all I liked simulation games.

Imagine the sims or sim city mixed with age of empires mixed with dwarf fortress. Keeping track of individual people and families gives this game a more human element than something like Cities: Skylines. You goal is also objectively positive- their survival. You can still arrange your town however you want, but survival is the main focus.

In some ways this can be stressful- it creates a greater sense of urgency when mismanaging your town leads to Jessie getting sick and dying, going hungry, or freezing. Of course, this can always slowly break as you gather more and more citizens and the concept of homelessness becomes more real. It at first seems like the map can run out of resources, as well- which ultimately leads to your village depending on river trade.

While this game isn't anywhere near as byzantine or overwhelming as something like Dwarf Fortress, it's inching along that sliding scale as slowly as possible. I think it's the best one of the genre for players who aren't already invested, either in spite or because of the early 2000s 3d graphics and less impressive depth.

If you find yourself jonesing for something more, *then* maybe consider dabbling in rimworld or the afore mentioned dwarf fortress.

You might ask how I could have beaten this type of game, but once you have a self-sustaining trading hub there's nowhere else to go other than beautifying it all, which it about the point I made it to.
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#37: Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

In my mind, Splinter Cell has always been Metal Gear Solid's boring cousin that works for microsoft sometimes. More realistic, more reliable, more grounded, but way less entertaining. That's the price of keeping your sanity, I guess.

I guess Ubisoft realized their gameplay wasn't quite cutting it, and tried to transition into more of a bourne/taken action game. For the most part, it's a huge success. Sneaking around, making some stealth takedowns, and then marking the last few and popping them off with a smooth animation is a great core gameplay loop. A little bit ahead of its time, actually. Not sure how many games have that 'instantly shoot people you've tagged' button.

It's been like 5 years since I've played this one, but I feel confident in saying that the story was competent, but still nothing to phone home about- compared to a movie. Their commitment to semi-realism just prevents Splinter Cell from going beyond its Tom Clancy roots. It's just a solid, solid, solid, solid story with solid mechanics and smooth gameplay. What's not to like? I just can't put it higher because I don't find that much to love.

Since the series was first used to show off cloth physics on the xbox, I've been save-scumming my way through stealthy scenarios. This was the first game I actually found a joy to play, even if there was less to make fun of.

Well, aside from the fact that Sam Fisher somehow became like ten years younger. At least they still had Michael Ironsides! I'm still looking for a random studio to create a stealth action game with Michael Ironsides and David Hater voicing the two leads.

But you don't hack computers by mashing the keyboard anymore, or have super robotic animations while shimmying around. But still, my fondest memories of Splinter Cell are of playing the co-op in Chaos Theory. To this day, my friend and I still quote the weirdly excited duo. ("I'm reeeeady." "DAMN we're good.")

Conviction has that co-op, too, with all of the modern gameplay improvements. If you ever notice the game on deep sale, I would highly recommend it for that experience alone
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#36: Psychonauts

Psychonauts is a classic platformer. I absolutely love the tone- getting weird is the best! I was surprised by how creepy and dark it becomes as I got closer to the end, and not pointlessly so.

It does have some artifacts given its age as well as some design choices. Movement is not truly joyful, as it is in a modern Mario- it is a little finicky, something I would associate more with a ps1 platformer. But in some ways that was a sacrifice made to enable and require the various psychic powers.

The levels are sometimes inscrutable and difficult to progress in- but that is a sacrifice made to enable every level to be completely different.

One in particular was so abstract I could not figure out how to progress- it also happens to be one of the community's favorites. That's the sort of dissonance this game will give you. Basically, don't be afraid to look up something in a FAQ if you're truly stuck.

The final levels are blisteringly difficult in fair and unfair ways- and the fact that this game still has a lives/'game over' system means you can lose a LOT of progress.

Psychonauts is a must-play. It's immensely creative. Despite this, I cannot rank it higher because the gameplay is archaic and the experience at times frustrating- progress is absolutely motivated by story and novelty rather than any immediate fun of the process.

This is important- to feel like a hero you have to feel like you've been tested and put up with some unpleasantness along the way.
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#35: Life is Strange

It's rare that gameplay mechanics and narrative work together so well.

This is a narrative/walk forward point and click adventure in the style of telltale, done better than telltale. For one, the engine actually works.

The story revolves around a mystery, but really it's about the power the main character gains- rewinding time. Which is just perfect for a decision-based game, allowing you to do go back and see the results of various choices without hassle.

It's even episodic like Telltale games, and the structure is correct- every episode is stronger than the last, exploring the lead's powers farther, concluding with a fantastic finale.

Even if you have beef with teenage dialogue in games- and you will in this one; it is fundamentally impossible to determine whether the main character is realistically awkward or a 40 year old's poor attempt at youth slang- the characters are relatable and the situations powerful.

At its heart there is little to no gameplay, but the short story is worth it. A must-play.

This ranking does not include season 2, which I have not played. Apparently the power is just telekinesis/blowing things up, which completely misses the point.
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#36: Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun

I've always had a soft spot for 'team puzzle' games, where each character has their own special powers and you have to navigate through levels as a team. Lost Vikings, Hexplore, and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris are some examples. Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun is now one of them.

This game has the story of a quality RPG, but the stealth and puzzle gameplay of an actually good game. Maybe it's because my expectations were set low, but the last third of the game was quite a surprise.

One thing that sets this apart is the ability to queue a series of actions for each character, then hit a button to have them all executed simultaneously. Speaking of characters, each has completely unique abilities, and none are useless. They somehow all feel equally overpowered.

Each level is clearly hand-crafted, with context-sensitive- but not required- actions available on each level. You can methodically make your way through, eliminating each guard, or once you feel more confident, plot out a route to move as quickly and silently as possible.

The game is forgiving in that you can quick-save and quick-load whenever you want, so even when things got rough I always felt on top of the situation. There are a few funny ways to abuse the AI, but sometimes that feels less like a bug and more like a feature.

If you like stealth games, play this game. If you like isometric RPGs, play this game. If you like the tropes of feudal japan, play this game. If you like character interactions, play this game. It's just an all around solid experience that feels greater than the sum of its parts.

I'm disappointed they're not working on a sequel, but from what I can tell their next game is a mechanical successor that takes place in the wild west, right down to the enemy vision cones. So keep an eye on that one, I guess.
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Ive had Shadow Tactics for awhile, and its right up my alley, but I havent even launched it yet.
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ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Ive had Shadow Tactics for awhile, but I havent even launched it yet.

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Thanks new purge rate
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#33: The Walking Dead

Parenthood (and let's be honest, more specifically, fatherhood) has slowly emerged as a major theme in gaming. I suppose this is reflective of the average gamer as time marches onward. Telltale's The Walking Dead was the first I experienced that honed in on this theme. It was their first breakout hit, as well as the lightning in a bottle the studio tried to recapture until its dying day.

Summarized and abbreviated, you play as the most reasonable, yet practical, man in the universe caring for his adoptive daughter in the zombie apocalypse, and I'll let you fill in the blanks as far as what that entails. the game certainly isn't afraid to take emotional cheap shots. But not everything is cheap- the game builds your relationship with the other character/s naturally, and the scenarios are fairly grounded while being almost fairy-tale worthy. The humor is muted and good, a rarity in gaming.

They did have one eyeroll-worthy misstep early in the final chapter, but I suppose it just goes to show how well everything else was written.

The Walking Dead was the first successful 'modern' adventure game- that is, a glorified choose your own adventure book. There's nothing in the way of gameplay aside from some rushed decisions and scenarios, and I suppose that's fine. I've complained so many times about stupid puzzles or 'moon logic', and thankfully, that's not here. Somewhat unfortunately, they couldn't replace it with anything better than quicktime events, semi-timed 'pick up the item and use it' and 'help A or help B' scenarios.

It's a good thing all of the above is amazing, because the engine is absolutely awful. The PS3 would chug and fail to render basic quicktime events, and the graphics weren't even good for the time! I'm lucky to have played it on PC, where my comparatively high-end hardware was able to chug along and overpower the engine's core weakness.

The choices don't affect as much as you expect, so I could see someone being disappointed. But if you go in realizing people aren't going to make 2^36 endings for a game you'll enjoy the ride.

And do NOT look up spoilers. Do NOT look up sequels. I kind of dislike how that can influence peoples' choices, especially on a first playthrough. It'll be fine. Just play it and come back later.

Realize that they made multiple direct sequels (seasons 2, 3, maybe 4?) that weren't very good, and what little they sold was purely nostalgia for the first season.

I debated how to order The Walking Dead and Life is Strange, but not for very long. LiS is miles ahead technically and the time traveling gameplay meshes well with understanding the ramifications of choices as a teenager, but TWD hits harder and brings gravity by tying choices well with the responsibility of parenthood. For some reason that feels like it elevates the game. Everyone should play TWD S1 once.
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I've been pleasantly distracted by various things for the past few weeks, including the game Echo. It was discounted a couple of weeks ago, and I previously had no idea it existed. That one is a banger!

The best character development and voice acting performances I've ever experienced in a game. Neat gameplay gimmick and tense puzzles/levels. Sci-fi horror themed. Light horror. Absolutely gorgeous environments. Dense enough that I couldn't play more than an hour or so straight, but worth the journey.

Made very creatively by a small studio with few assets. Anyway, I've finished it so hopefully the list will progress naturally.
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Yep
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Shadow tactics sounds interesting

Need to try steamworks heist

Loved dig
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been traveling and playing too many games to work on this

crosscode has terrible, terrible pacing issues
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Going through the process of making these writeups, I feel like I'm going to want to re-rank them as soon as the list is finished.

#32: The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt

The tone and setting of this game absorbed me for about 30 or 40 hours in a way that few have. And there's something unique here. It felt like I was making my way through a solid serial work of fiction.

I should get this out of the way- the combat in The Witcher III sits in a kind of uncanny valley. Don't get me wrong, rarely does such a deep, narrative game have such active gameplay. The problem is that it is good enough to compare unfavorably to the best.

My main complaint is that there is a cool magic/parry/block/dodge/attack system, but the attack animations are so inconsistent that you can't rely on your attacks. Hitting 'fast attack' could result in Geralt cleaving a simple swing or him spinning in a circle before attacking, taking twice as much time. This incentivizes an extremely defensive combat style- particulary in group fights- if you're playing on anything above the lowest difficulty settings.

It was probably an intentional design choice- if the combat is too responsive or too fluid or too easy, preparation isn't necessary and you might as well throw out all of those RPG mechanics.

Granted, all of this does link to the game's theme, which is experience, preparation and responsibility. Geralt has been around the block two, three, or four times already, and his powers are relatively mundane compared to the cast of witches and reality benders around him.

The low-magic world will punish you if you don't use the proper oils and potions relevant to the monster you're tracking. You have to go out of your way to repair your equipment. You essentially walk around interviewing people and examining clues until you find the monster's trail and smell them out.

There's something about the music, the way the wind whistles through the trees, the wavy fields, the feeling of being outdoors in a sad peasant's fantasy world while still getting to set my lazy ass down in my comfy computer chair. The pace is slow. I compare it to reading a novel.

The stories are rational and the characters complex- probably the best in any game ever. Which makes sense, as they're lifted directly from a rich book series. Some of the chapters are extremely strong (everyone brings up the bloody baron and the expansion packs- the three hags are my personal favorite) and I guess a few are a slight disappointment to fans of the book series (the winter). While I do get tired of turning on "witcher sense" and looking for yellow objects, I was always inspired to keep going because of that mystery they're dangling in front of me like a carrot. Hey, realistically, being heroic involves a little bit of tedium. Obstacles aren't meant to be joyful.

I know I shouldn't get hyped, but Cyberpunk 2077 is absolutely on my radar.
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#31: Mirror's Edge

What? Oh, yeah.

I mean, this is short. And aging. But the art direction is beautiful. Everything flows and the controls are intuitive. Parkour games are great and this was the first one- if I'm wrong, please correct me!

The story is passable. Don't worry about that.

Oddly enough, I wouldn't have put it this high without the multiplayer time trial mode- I think it was added in a free patch. I had so much fun racing one of my friends over and over. I can't recommend it enough. It mixes that sense of competition with self-progression and the sharing of techniques with friends or teammates.

I'm a fan of fighting games (mostly on console, sorry), but the difference here is that when you and your opponent keep getting better, you get to visually see that progress, rather than constantly being in the middle of a tug of war with a consistently improving opponent.
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#30: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Look at what they've done to my boy ;_;, my poor metal gear solid!

I hate how amazing Ground Zeroes' gameplay is, just because it's tied to the most irritatingly- and i hate to say this- cringeworthy 20 minute long story. Kojima is a master at 'what he does', but sometimes if you shit in a bucket and call it art it's still shit.

I hate MGSV, because every other stealth game in the world now feels like garbage. The controls are so smooth, so responsive, and every item can be used in a bunch of ways. They spent roughly ten million years developing the FOX engine, and it actually shows, as opposed to something like FFXV.

I'm still mad that Kojima decided David Hayter wasn't serious enough to voice the lead. I'm about 35% convinced that "Crab Battle" is to blame.

Amazing water graphics, though.
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#29: Mass Effect

There's something both magnificent and awful about Mass Effect.

I didn't like the game the first time I tried it. I got bored maybe ten hours in after I glitched into the floor and lost two hours of progress because there isn't an autosave.

Also, I've tried to replay the game about three times and always give up quickly.

But that one playthrough in the middle where I immersed myself and really cared about the story was magic. What makes the game awesome is that gestalt of worldbuilding, characters and story. The core mystery of figuring out where saren is, what the reapers are, and what they are up to is the perfect centerpiece. It's just... that excitement, surprise and novelty wears off after a single playthrough.

In that way it's very similar to the witcher 3. they're both huge, high production value action-ish rpgs that require your full attention and participation, but the core gameplay isn't quite enough to carry everything

What can I say, I'm a sucker for sci fi, and I'm a sucker for production values. I'll complain about almost any game, but none are going to nail everything perfectly.

This trilogy is absolutely worth it, and while it's technically possible to start with 2, you shouldn't. One of the best things about this series is that you get to see some of the same characters from game to game, and they'll change slightly.

Mass Effect is pretty much the culmination of eastern and western party-based RPGs. They don't make them quite like this anymore.

Oh, it's also dumb that it has a light/dark (sorry, paragon/renegade) system, and if you don't invest all the way into one or the other you're shooting yourself in the foot.
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banananor posted...

I've been pleasantly distracted by various things for the past few weeks, including the game Echo. It was discounted a couple of weeks ago, and I previously had no idea it existed. That one is a banger!

Yep, second favorite game from 2017.
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#28: Pyre

I give this Pyre a lot of credit for being unique and trying something new, even if it ends up being frustrating to lose.

The game's sport is rugby basketball. It's pretty sweet. The range of characters all play differently, and over time the game nudges you towards trying characters and combinations you haven't tried before. And it actually creates differing gameplay. Your team is only 3 players- 3 big fat slow ones play differently than 3 that can just teleport all over the arena, and those play differently than 3 that have projectile attacks.

The fact that the story plods along even when you lose was touted as a feature, but I think my personality just isn't built that way. I was ready to lose at the beginning, but the game was too easy. By the time things became satisfyingly challenging, I was actually invested in the outcome. I'm only a little ashamed to admit I force-quit and tried again until i won. I know, the game is supposed to be about accepting loss and moving on, but I like the feeling of improving, and if you can't practice against worthy opponents you won't get better.

The reason I'm not super embarrassed is that after that match everything was suddenly easy again. But really, the story would've been fine if I had lost every match.

Oh, speaking of story. The characters were pretty fun overall, and again, the game is framed in such a way that each gets enough time in the limelight. Only one of them that I can remember kind of got on my nerves. There's a little bit of anime trope garbage going on, most memorably with Sir Gilman.

He does that thing where he shouts and points his finger/sword/whatever in the air in front of a flashing background when saying really basic, normal stuff. No one in real life talks like that, even the most annoying ones. F that guy. At least he was pretty effective.

The aesthetics of the world and your traveling caravan are so sick. I love the cartoon grimm's fairy tale style. The mode of travel, pacing, and worldbuilding is creative. I've always felt this way about Supergiant Games's titles, but their previous games just made me tired after a while. The main difference between Bastion/Transistor and Pyre is that Pyre is actually fun to control.

Yeah, Pyre also has those dumb challenge mode constellations or whatever that makes the game easier in the long term if you make it more difficult in the short term. I think that's just the worst design ever. People that want a challenge should be rewarded with more challenge, not less. It's just stupid balance

Idk, I just really like rugby basketball and the unique story.

Oh, by the way, we are solidly in the damn good game category right now. Looking up the list, everything from now on I would recommend to absolutely anyone. It's going to be some good stuff
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#27: Sleeping Dogs

Apropos of the title, I feel like this was a sleeper hit.

It's a smaller scale GTA that takes place in Hong Kong, has fluid martial arts combat (on top of the guns), and simply doesn't get anything wrong. It ended up greater than the sum of its parts.

It has a bunch of silly physics-based things you would expect from a modern open world game with cars, climbing around, drop kicks, and so on. The moment I realized that I could put my enemies into a grappling hold, run with them towards a car, shove them into the trunk and drive away was when I knew this game had the depth, love and care needed to be great. When a cop tries to handcuff you, you can do a counter and handcuff them. Eating food fronm stands gives you buffs. It's just cool.

The story is executed competently and never gets too weird. It's been a while, but IIRC you're the hong kong equivalent of an undercover cop or FBI agent infiltrating some gangs that also have some of your childhood best friends as members, and you're constantly weighing your loyalties. One of the rival gangs might have murdered your martial arts master. I think. Could be wrong about the details, but you should understand the general tone from that.

It does have a bunch of stores, NPCs, side activities, minigames (cockfighting, karaoke, uh other stuff), quests, etc you can do, store vehicles in your garage, etc. If you get the definitive edition you get a bunch of free cars, and the valet constantly pines for the day that he could be so rich. The outfits you can wear are pretty hilarious. I like the sense of humor.

There is a leveling system, with 'coplike' behavior rewarded with blue experience points and 'gang' behavior rewarded with red experience points. Which is whatever, but it doesn't restrict you too much. They mostly unlock combat abilities, and the combat is just rad.

Sleeping Dogs is my version of a happy medium between action and rpg. That is, sitting somewhere around the 80-90% action end, with good voice acting and believable characters. This is in contrast to text-dump sims like Shenmue or Yakuza, which have a huge amount of content but forget they are supposed to be fun, and not just on a meta level of absurdity.

The pacing is just good. Driving, shooting, chase, and martial arts scenes interweave without a hitch. Leaderboards in random categories can keep you playing longer than you otherwise might. This gets 2 certified thumbs up
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#26: Assassin's Creed II

Assassin's Creed as a series is immensely important in video game history. The formula of open world + tower climbing + mini objective unlocking that has been overdone for a decade was originally ironed out here, and evolved AAA gaming beyond GTA.

Assassin's Creed II is the first one in the series that got the controls right enough to not be super frustrating, while still kind of pretending to have a sensical plot. The first game was interesting and tightly wound, but the second was more focused on growing the series some longer financial legs and broadening the setting. The combat is an improvement but still ultimately tedious- you essentially sit around waiting to be attacked so you can hit the counterattack button.

Ezio "it's a me, Ezio" Auditore was an intentionally fun-loving choice after players didn't resonate so much with Altair. It didn't quite make sense to me- Ezio's primary motivation is supposed to be revenge for the slaughter of his family. But he mostly just happily, diplomatically and unthinkingly progresses from objective to objective (very well, happy to please).

Renaissance Italy is a gorgeous setting, and the verticality lends itself to to the renovated control scheme and parkour technology. The fake accents are entertaining. It's immensely quotable and just funny to play with an audience.
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#25: Assassin's Creed

To me, Assassin's Creed 1 is the awesome book that later gets turned into the hollywood movie that is Assassin's Creed 2 and onwareds.

While the gameplay gets vastly better in certain sequels- the parkour, stealth, and combat all have a solid core but are frustrating in the details- I firmly believe this entry must be played first. All of the original mystery and wonder of the game is spoiled in the first 20 minutes of AC2 and every AC game since.

Why am I locked in this lab? Who really put me there? What is the nature of the animus? It can't be what they say it is. What is this society Altair is a part of about? What are these people I'm assassinating, and what is their plan? Their goals seem so different! These answers are slowly revealed over the course of the game, in contrast to Ezio's uncle broadcasting 'oh yeah, we're all in a SUPER SECRET SOCIETY and we're gonna go stab these guy over here' to anybody who will listen 20 minutes in, or the "assassins" of AC3 that just wander the streets with massive cleavers. Basically, AC1 is the only game where I can totally buy the secret society of assassins actually being a secret.

The Holy Land during the crusades is a great, and in retrospect bold, setting and supports that aura of mystery.

I love the soliloquies your targets give as they die. They're abstract- a litle literary, a little philosophical- and that's what makes them good. Dropping away the background and giving them a private conversation with the protagonist is artful. Later games sort of try those speeches, but miss why they're amazing, and are usually restricted to "ugh, I can't believe you killed me. you suck."

Altair (sorry, I mean Altar) is a great character. I get why he couldn't stay the face of the franchise, but he was perfect for this first game. I neither buy into whimsical assassin protagonists like Ezio or Edward nor enjoy flat ones like Connor. Altar starts out as an irresponsible jerk, and the entire game is framed as a journey of repentance for his mistakes. He's inquisitive, constantly questioning his targets as well as his leader, which parallels the player's lines of thought. While he's never truly a good person- as a hardened assassin he never thinks twice about silencing someone he just interrogated- we see him piece together a moral code over time.

Assassin's Creed parallels the Mass Effect series for me. They both originally came out in 2007 with high production values and delicately balanced narrative gusto with playability and led to successful franchises. On top of that, their first entries both contained insane optional collectibles that killed my compulsive need to 100% complete games.

The biggest parallel is that subsequent entries slowly melted away the realism and upped the fun. But I think if there is a direction for a series to move over time, that is it. What's that phrase? "there is no double jump in real life", but that doesn't make it bad gameplay.

Even today, as far as I can tell, both of their most recent entries have devolved into unsatisfying romps of pure gameplay without a good story carrot. Anyway, Assassin's Creed is difficult in frustrating ways- the later segments are unfun in how good guards get at spotting you (it's harder to hide because the guards know you're the worst) and alert mode takes forever to leave, and I hate accidentally running 3 feet up a wall and then jumping backwards, but this is just one of those amazing games where the gameplay combines with the story so well that I think it shouldn't be passed up.
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time moves quickly. I regret committing to write ups without having them written up ahead of time, but it's too late now
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Wow
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#24: The Witness

This is the best puzzle game.

It has pretty environments, logical puzzles, and freedom of choice- when you can't figure out something especially frustrating, you can just move on to another part of the island until you learn 'the trick' or just plain old have an epiphany.

People have complaints about the game, but they're really not worth talking about. The Witness takes the good parts of myst (beautiful exploration and mystery) and mashes them together with the good parts of traditional puzzlers. Overall the game is super fair.

There's a healthy dose of Jonathan Blow bloviation if you dig too deeply into the extra difficult content, but that's fine.

I can't put this game higher because it's just a puzzler. It's not super fun to run around and there is little to no active story- although walking around and interacting with the environment is pleasant and there is lore to uncover.

Just play it. I didn't like braid, but this is just fantastic.
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#25: Saints Row: The Third

There were a few good things about Saints Row one and two, but they were far and few between, drowned out by the obvious fact that they were cheap imitations of the GTA series. I think after gta4 just completely blew saints row 2 out of the water Volition realized they could never win that particular game of catch-up.

This game was the first time Saints Row found its own voice- and that voice is fun. The over-the-top humor serves the gameplay and the over-the-top gameplay serves the humor. The ability to choose your voice and body type is wonderful. I went with the fake russian accent woman.

You're not part of a gang anymore- you're part of some kind of weird branding empire. Something here just clicks- movement is fluid, driving is fluid, shooting is fluid, taking over the city scratches that itch. You feel powerful, and it really surpassed my expectations. Never would have tried the game if a friend didn't practically strap me to a chair and put the controller in my hands.

All the minigames are solid, and once you get past the first 20% of the game and get some car and weapon upgrades the game is just a blast.
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#24: Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

This game is both great and terrible.

It innovated- and, as we saw with Assassin's Creed 1, innovation often comes with a lot of growing pains.

The heavy, thoughtful, consistent combat moves combined with the stamina system and good vertical hitboxes created a blast of fresh air in a decade of furiously quick attack combos (God of War/Devil May Cry,) cinematic, unpredictable, computer-calculated attack animations (Assassin's Creed/Arkham City) and colossal, ponderous pseudo-action RPGs (Mass Effect & company).

The maze-like game world is rewarding to master- finding out you could have gone a different way to reach this place more easily, or that you've made it back to an old, familiar bonfire from above gives everything a sense of place, or that you weren't supposed to go this way until 20 hours later.

And that's the summary- rewarding to master, annoying to learn.

All of the above things are also part of what makes the game so freaking stupid and annoying. The game expects itself to be attacked as part of a collaborative event. It partially enables you through soapstone messages, but mostly expects you to spoil yourself on the internet or be spoiled by friends who already have.

You could spend hours banging yourself against a wall by trying to descend below the graveyard when you're supposed to be progressing through the city, or by plowing through the forest when you're really supposed to be finding a key behind you and going down into the swamp. You could be cursed by a permanent status effect that halves your health with no indication as to how to be cured... or you could look up on the internet where the one random guy that can cure you is. You could start the game with a scimitar and not realize you can kick enemies to knock away their shields, because the scimitar specifically overrides your kick with a useless backflip. You could put points into the Resistance stat, which does nothing. You could mess up your weapon upgrades, which use up very finite resources.

There are all of these things that are rewarding to master that are also terrible for players who don't cheat. Yes, every single one of these things happened to me. But that didn't stop me!

What did stop me was horrible code. I originally played this on the PS3. Maybe there was something wrong with my console or game disc, I don't know. But one area- blighttown- was unplayable. I was getting single digit frames per second in the more vertical entryway. They hadn't correctly coded draw distances for the Y axis, so it tried to render absolutely everything in that area and collapsed under its own weight. Now, apparently there was another entryway that was more horizontal. I did not know that. Again, punishing game to the earnest.

Anyway, I put it down and got the game on sale for $5 or something on PC years later. Armed with knowledge and a capable CPU and Graphics Card, that obstacle wasn't there anymore. But I didn't forgive.

Why was I even trying to play?

Again, the game expects you to spoil yourself on the internet. There are hidden secrets in the form of invisible walls, items you can give to NPCs to motivate them to continue on their quest, special locations where you can meet them to help them survive the entire game, and so on. Even though most are undiscoverable by a solo player, this is really cool!

The story is somewhere between garbage and nonexistent. The backstory, on the other hand, is eerie and evocative. And that is the real magic of dark souls. It's parceled out in a way that screams "i am a video game"- you'll pick up a sword and the text description of the sword will tell you something about the world's history, and if you pay close enough attention to everything you might be able to figure out a plausible explanation for 75% of what is going on.
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I just read a comment on reddit that captures this perfectly, and i'll quote it here:

MrTheodore

Picks up ancient bicycle shorts

"These compression shorts belonged to Gwyn, who cycled around his kingdom after he created Lordran which is the afterlife and the crow that takes you there is the representation of death. See the ancient tank top for more cool Lordran facts"

Fascinating

That is disturbingly close to being accurate. And that's kind of the lesson here- soulsborne games are of a different genre. The atmosphere, the music, the fog, the weird art and enemies are so god damn evocative that i'll forgive most of the nonsense. It's art. The zones are absolutely beautiful and I cannot stress how cool it is when they fit together perfectly like a rube goldberg contraption. The macabre, mystical art direction and the fascination with western fantasy through an eastern lens is truly unique.

The segment of the game between 80% and 95% is bare bones and rushed. That's rough, but by that point you're in too deep to quit. Stockholm Syndrome.

I haven't even mentioned the multiplayer, but the co-op is cool, and the non-consensual invader pvp is brutal to new players. I'm so glad this art game exists.

*hipsters will say Demon's Souls started the train, but some parts were absolutely invented here
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#21: Batman: Arkham City

This game is just solid. The core gameplay cycle of rhythm/pattern recognition combat, stealth hunts, zelda item obstacles, unique boss battles, and flying (sorry, i mean gliding around, propelled by hook shots) around is so fluid.

I wouldn't even consider myself a Batman fan (marvel, all the way) but this is a great time. The giant city is great for enabling flight, but it does lack a little bit of focus. The riddler items are not particularly interesting.

The two things that really make this game stand out are the combat and controls. The combat is just impeccable. It feels like a rhythm game where you set your own music, and highly rewards skill despite the fact that the attack animations are variable. I think this was the first game that would pretty much just teleport you across the room to hit whatever enemy you were trying to punch.

Only facet that could be improved is that the vault/flip is too good- it lets you stall indefinitely (barring a specific enemy type) while maintaining your combo. Oh, second thing. Too much of the game is spent in 'detective vision' mode.

Related point- if you're not focused on advancing the plot, it's fun to try to mix up as many moves as possible into a routine combat to get the highest combo possible. There are some neat challenge modes. I think you can also play as catwoman as a change of pace.

It's been so long since I've played this that I kind of forget the story, but I remember it being passable. Bruce Wayne and pretty much everything about Gotham and Batman's rogue gallery is really dumb, but I like the goon dialogue. Side note, the way they ragdoll after batman sends his NONLETHAL CONCUSSION BOOM PUNCH (the crunching/explosion sound effect is nice) into their skull is funny- once you get over the obvious death that is occurring.
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#20: Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

Clean graphics, good music, good puzzles, unique controls (please, use a dual stick controller), and touching, minimalist story add up. What else do you want?

Come on, you're playing as an older brother and a younger brother with the right and left thumbsticks, on a journey to find medicine for their sick father! The mechanics resonate so well with the dramatic themes! It all takes place in a three-dimensional pseudo-fairy-tale world with strong art direction.

It has one minor twist in there and it takes like 3 or 4 hours to beat. Maybe it's because I myself have a brother as well as parents that I like this so much. I recommend snacking on this game if at all possible.

The obstacles aren't supremely challenging, but it does kind of stretch your brain in a way that implies this game is kind of like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. Maybe there are others out there like it, but I haven't played them.
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#19: The Banner Saga 3

#18: The Banner Saga

#17: The Banner Saga 2

I'm just going to go ahead and lump all of these together.

This series is basically oregon trail mashed up in a final fantasy adventure with an artfully executed norse theme, western sensibilities and extra choose-your-own-adventure segments. Probably my favorite RPG in recent memory.

The characters are believable as shit. No anime tropes. No excessive posturing or overly hardcore grimness- which is surprising given the premise and events of the game are ridiculously grim. Everyone has their own distinct personality without acting crazy. The worldbuilding continues steadily as the series progresses and new mechanics are slowly introduced in every title.

About that- saga 2 starts exactly where 1 left of, not only in terms of story but in terms of gameplay complexity. And 3 starts where 2 left off. So the third is probably my least favorite of the bunch, just because it tried so hard to turn all the strategies you had been learning on their head. I guess I just was so absorbed in the story I didn't want to deal with all these new stipulations...

I'm not a big fan of turn-based games, but this is somehow the exception. So keep that in mind.

And the story! Important characters can die, leave your party and fight against you, progress into better versions of themselves. You'll have favorites among the larger cast and it's really cool. Characters you're unlikely to have recruited in 1 will slightly change how things go if you still have them in 3. Narrator perspective will change and time will pass.

The Banner Saga has a creative and well executed setting as well as tone, and I think makes other games just look lazy.

And you're caravanning it up across this world, making oodles of choose-your-own adventure decisions along the way. I love that stuff.

I got the bad ending and didn't even feel that bad about it. There's no surprise Ex-Death or super abstract ending to distract from the series' premise, even if it had drifted far from where it started. I wish more RPGs were like this one.

Oh, and I rank them 2 > 1 > 3. This is because 1 introduces everything well and sets the stage, reaching a good narrative climax towards the end. 2 just builds on top of it, adds to the world, and brings us to even greater heights. Three just throws in the kitchen sink and gets the tiniest bit repetitive and too difficult for my tastes. But story-wise it was a satisfying conclusion and does not drag down the trilogy.

This game also technically has multiplayer and it's okay.
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#16: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Say what you want about me being boring, but this game controls well and there truly aren't many games like it. It's easy to take these AAA titles for granted.

I spent one summer of my childhood falling into Morrowind, so I understand what Skyrim is missing. Boosting my intelligence to 10000 and crafting rings of flying and levitation and spells of 100% camouflage is intellectually satisfying, but this game is actively fun to play from moment to moment.

There were a handful of moments in the game that actually surprised me, but mostly i just enjoyed sneaking around. Glitching horses up mountains and rubber banding them into the sky was pretty fun, too. The super dragon burps were such a good idea, too. Skyrim was just a happy gestalt of immersion, good storylines, and accessibility. There aren't any giant mushroom trees but you're not just in generic medieval land forever, either.

The only thing I missed from Oblivion was poisoned apples. But I never got into the game's mod scene, so I probably played about 10% of what I was supposed to. I simply couldn't justify putting this game (which steam says I've played for 105 hours) any lower
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#15: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

I've played Shadow of Mordor twice. Both times, I almost literally did not put the controller down until I had beaten it- I spent two weekends of my life doing this.

In the best games, the character feels like an extension of your body. This is one of those games.

The orc leadership system is kinda neat and adds fuel, but it's the core gameplay that makes things awesome. Knocking down hornets' nests, unleashing giant wolves, blowing up explosive barrels, poisoning food (oh what am I kidding i never did that), abusing individual generals' fears... and there's always the one that is strong against everything you're good at and weak against what feels like nothing.

The moments of flow when you kill a hundred low-level orcs in a row interrupted by the horns announcing the arrival of the most annoying boss in the game interrupted by a segment of stealth... it's just good. They made a spinoff of a truly beloved property, changed the genre entirely, and actually nailed it.

I could also write a thesis on the ways the protagonist aligns with various real-life fears and the feelings of the average 20-to-30-something player. Feeling more at home slaying orcs than moving on to the next stage of life with a family, wanting to stop the villains but also not wanting the adventure to end.

I'm just never going to get that one achievement/trophy of freeing 40 slaves in 60 seconds. I know it's possible, but I just can't fuckin do it. And try not to think too hard about the fact that the game is bookended by two quick-time events.
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#14: Dark Souls II

That's right, DS2 > DS1. That was once a hot take in certain circles, but I'll tell you why it's correct, and I think the general consensus has come to agree with me over time.

Mostly, the PvP is the best of the series. The controls are crisp and feels fair. DS1 would punish you for your opponent's lag or the server's lag, and everything basically amounted to 2 people with 99 endurance rolling around behind each other until one could pull off a ghost backstab. Dark Souls 2 still has invader pvp, but there are also designated PvP zones. They mostly fixed the co-op system with partner signs, allowing you to actually play with your friends.

Secondarily, the game isn't as inscrutable. Curse isn't going to bone up your game. Covenants are actually explained in that they are actually usable. It's clear what your statistics do and there are zero useless ones. You don't have to save scum to figure out what weapon upgrades do.

Thirdly, the game is completed. All of the zones have actually finished development. The game won't crash and burn due to the game trying to render too many enemies at once. The controls are more responsive.

Now, some of Dark Souls 2 is absolutely bullshit. The story, mostly. The story is even less existent than in Dark Souls 1, if barely so.

The main offense that initially turned me (and many players) off was the way the game keeps alluding to connections to Dark Souls 1, but never actually executes upon that promise. It is presumably set in the same world, albeit on a separate continent. Some bosses reuse fan favorite and lore significant boss models from the first game, but it's all completely superficial- there is zero lore connection.

There's absolutely a story in there, but it keeps alluding to similar tones and themes as 1, but it's basically a clumsier retelling rather than a linear advancement.

Dark Souls 1 is absolutely the more ambitious and significant work of art. Dark Souls 2 has none of the intricate, winding paths that all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle- you simply walk through a tunnel and you're in the next zone, and when pasted together the zones are actually overlapping each other physically.

Should've just called the game Giant Souls and called it a day.

Oh, and I should've mentioned things other than direct comparisins within the series. The Souls formula is just a great experience in general. The stamina system combined with weighty, long-animation attacks, combined with fantastical exploration is just wonderful for one or two playthroughs.
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#13: Dark Souls III

The Dark Souls series, taken as a whole, is just so damn good. It was really tough to rank the three, because none of them get the formula perfect. It created a new genre of gaming, and that doesn't happen very often.

Dark Souls 1 was the soul, the premise, the mystery. Dark Souls 2 was the game, the competition, the fairness. Dark Souls 3 is the magnum opus, taking the gameplay lessons learned from those and Bloodborne and finally creating a direct sequel and conclusion to Dark Souls.

The environments are absolutely gorgeous, if not as labyrinthine as in 1. Everything is fair. The premise is more directly spelled out from the start, and your character finally actually has a bare minimum motivation. Everything is super balanced.

Combat is a little floatier and more forgiving than in 2, but almost as good, and the core is still there. The best thing about dark souls is that when you push the same buttons, your character will always do the same exact animation every time. The stamina system is genius.

You go back and actually see many of the places you toured in 1, the effects of time upon them as well as their residents, and that sense of nostalgia is hard to top.

For that reason, I would never suggest jumping into the series with 3. A newcomer should play the series in the order 2 > 1 > 3, unless they are 100% positive they are devoted to completing the series. In which case I would say to go 1 > 2 > 3. One has too many glitches, tricks and pitfalls that could turn people off of the series. Three just has so many great callbacks to both games that it'd be a shame to miss them.

Did I mention the graphics are phenomenal? Some of these bosses are just so impressive. Black guck technology has gotten really, really good, and so has spooky ghost tech.

The story is still bullshit, though. It was bullshit in 1, and it's still bullshit in 3. By this point, I was just along for the ride.

But to tell you the truth, I don't know if I'll ever be able to play another soulsborne type game ever again. After Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls 3, Demon's Souls, and Bloodborne, I've heard this song too many times. I'm not sure if I'm going to play Sekiro or Elden Ring.

Oh, who am I kidding. I'm going to come around eventually.
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#12: DOOM

My favorite games are all about making the protagonist feel like an extension of your body and the game world a dreamlike environment in which that body exists.

DOOM (2016) nails this better than anything else on this list. It's held back only by the fact that the only thing this new body can do is kill demons.

This game is a first person shooter. It's good because not only does your health not automatically regenerate, but you can collect health from any enemy via a splashy, melee finisher. This fixes all pacing issues I have with the genre. When an FPS features regenerating health, it immediately becomes a boring cover shooter. When an FPS doesn't feature regeneration of any kind, it becomes a stupid, infuriating experience. I'll admit it, I wasn't a fan of the genre at all until halo came around.

Everything glides. The game revels in its hamminess without going full Duke Nukem 3D. The demons are nasty and the environments are brutal and vividly rendered. Controls are responsive, your guy runs fast, there is time for strategy as well as tactics. Weapons feel functionally different, and different enemies provoke different strategies. This checks off all of my boxes.

The music is also great. That's important, too.

The one downside is the corny transition of Doomguy into "The Doom Slayer." Whatever, dudes. I like the rest of the humor and tone. This game is tremendous.
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#11: Furi

Music: 100%
Allegory: 100%
Excitement: 100%
Symbolism: 100%

This game tells a great story and cuts right to the chase. I only played on normal, and it's a challenge!

There's something about games where each boss represents a different part of humanity that speaks directly to my soul. I can handle some abstraction of story in this circumstance. Metal Gear Solid was another game that did a good job of this.

Learning and gaining mastery over each fight feels so good. While only the second hardest fight, the only one that actually made me angry and actually close to giving up was something like the fourth to last (the purple boss). Not only is the structure of the fight frustrating but the final bullet hell sequence was just barely beyond my reach.

Oh, the core gameplay. I dunno, simon says (parry/dodge/attack/charge) is just a lot of fun when combined with great art and sound and dialogue. The hero is quick and I rarely felt like something happened that I didn't cause. I really felt for the protagonist even though he was clearly not thinking things through. The game is a bunch of people doing what they think is right and colliding head on.

Art doesn't have to be inscrutable. Sometimes it just makes you feel.
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#10: Dying Light

It's really weird- I expected absolutely nothing out of this game.

It's a dudebro story about super secret CIA coolguy parachuting into a quarantined, zombie infected city to do something, meeting up with locals and a few attractive women, and using the powers of parkour to defeat the local warlord and become the hero of the city.

It's so dumb in lovable ways. I love Roger Craig Smith's delivery- he often reminds me of Will Arnett pointing out and exaggerating his own selflessness. The hero is clearly attracted to the lead women- except for the one with one tiny scar.

Okay, so what makes this game good? It's the first person parkour. It's mirror's edge in an open world zombie city. It starts off a little rough- you really need to gain a couple of levels to be able to run without getting tired, knock over zombies, put zombie guts on yourself (i love the 'bleugh, bloooohhh' voice line) and generally have your way with the weakest enemies. After that, it's just a joy to run navigate the city. And you'll eventually get a grappling hook, so that's sweet.

It's pretty much that. Basic encounters are puzzles, you're always leveling up (separate tracks for combat, parkour, and 'survival'), human and the various type of zombie encounters all feel different. Guns attract zombies to your location, but melee weapons and arrows don't. The night and day cycle is always there to give you a challenge if you want- nighttime is spooky, but if you're careful you can bunker up and sleep through it, and the main plot rarely demands you go out.

Helicopters will periodically drop medicine and supplies (which translates to a large chunk of exp) around the map, and if you can parkour there fast enough you can snag them before the evil militias take their share.

The worst part? I'd say 1 out of every 5 sidequests requires looking something dumb up online to find where the last item is.

This game has fantastic, fantastic online co-op. I can't stress enough how fun and rewarding this is. I genuinely think this game is underrated, and it was even moderately popular. I think it's because it was a spiritual successor to the absolutely horrendous dead island. Does Borderlands way better than Borderlands itself.

Oh, and the DLC (which i think comes packaged with the game by now) adds a third map with configurable mad max vehicles. It's really cool.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the sequel, Dying Light 2. I don't know if they will be able to capture lightning in a bottle again.
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Oh I forgot to add that dragon guild duels on the lava bridge is the best part of ds2
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#9: Portal

Portal is a timeless classic.

It finds this sweet spot of puzzle, physics, and characterization.

I think The Witness is better in terms of raw art and puzzle design, but the tactile way the puzzles and obstacles are presented (i am here, i need to get over there, all i have is my legs and this superpower) makes everything feel slightly more applicable to life than the more abstract puzzles of other games.

Even decent titles like QUBE and that one I never finished (after googling, the talos principle) can't match the charm and smoothness. It totally feels like you've been thrown into a deranged lab.

The little characterization that exists in the game is charming, and the final level is a nice little send-off. All of this has been copied to hell and back since, so it's hard to forget what it looks like when executed properly.

The game is greater than the sum of its parts, even though at times it feels more like a tech demo- almost as if it could be even more.
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i want to do a decent job on the next write-up, which isn't happening at this exact second
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