I also have felt that in my older age I’m gravitating more towards medium-length games with a proper story that you can finish and put away, as opposed to the endless MMOs and grindy ARPGs I enjoyed in my youth.
You could not have captured it better.
I am glad we had this conversation. Please do recommend me some more games. if you do not mind.
I was on a long break from gaming (almost a year) due to life, and plan to resume weekend gaming soon. For the same reason, I have been scouting these communities and threads for recommendations.
As of now, I zeroed down on the Mass Effect trilogy on the Steam Deck but I am also considering a second play through of Ghosts of Tsushima. I would prefer a light(er) game which is easy to get into and allow me to take breaks as I don’t think I will be able to pull off hour long sessions initially.
For another indie game you might not have heard about Skald: Against the Black Priory was a surprise hit with me when I played it earlier this year. Cool story and world building, very concise and conscious of its budget limits so smaller in scope, probably a 16-20h game with no filler and no grinding. I liked it a lot, and it should play great on the Steam Deck too. Sort of a tribute to retro CRPGs but without the clunk of those old games. Combat was simple but fun, not overly complex. Beautiful pixel art, especially the splash screens.
I am way less high on Ghost of Tsushima than most people. I would never even consider a second playthrough. The game is way too long for what it is, which is essentially just a more polished garden variety Ubisoft open world game. There is not enough variety in it to sustain a what - 60h playthrough? The quest design isn’t interesting or varied enough and most importantly: the writing isn’t varied enough. You can’t have 60 hours of dialogue delivered in only a stoic, dour monotone. 15 minutes of Kenji spread over a handful of moments isn’t enough to break it up. Anyway, rant over.
Okay what else… Well, Blue Prince came out this year and is a contender for Indie of the Year - maybe even a potential Game of the Year nomination. I liked it a lot, a puzzle roguelite is an interesting concept and if you like note taking and screenshotting and escape room type puzzles you’ll have a good time with I think.
Otherwise I won’t be the first you see of this if you’ve been scouring these threads, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is almost a shoe-in for game of the year and the hype is most certainly deserved. Any gamer should do themselves a favour and experience it, not least to be able to participate in the zeitgeist.
Thanks again for the recommendations. Blue Prince looks refreshingly good and different. I did hear quite a bit about Clair Obscur, but turn based gameplay never appealed to me. I did not play Baldur’s Gate 3 for the same reasons, in spite of it being so well received.
I agree with your criticisms about Ghosts of Tsushima, and have made similar observations as well. However, Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man are my comfort games where I just soak in their music and atmosphere while I do something else like talk with someone.
Clair Obscur has active combat elements injected into turn based combat. Attacks require QTEs to pull off successfully and most importantly - enemy attacks can be dodged or parried in real time. It feels much more like playing Dark Souls than a traditional turn based game. The gameplay designer uses to be a Sekiro speedrunner, and it shows. I will again almost insist on you giving it a chance, it’s very rare for games to come around that are works of art in this manner.
For what it’s worth: I don’t think BG3 is as good or as important to play. I think BG3 has a lot of flaws and doesn’t deserve the hype of “best game of all time”. It’s a fun game to play, but that’s it. It’s writing is “okay for a videogame” territory, but nothing more. It also falls apart in the third act in several ways.
Clair Obscurdoes imo deserve the hype. It is gaming as an artform in a manner that’s rare to see in a AA+ budget format. It also has a very strong prologue, which should fairly easily fit under Steam’s refund window. I suggest giving it a shot.
No problem, I love to espouse my opinions as I’m sure you can tell and I love talking about games in general. I especially love getting to recommend great games to other people, I get such second hand enjoyment from it every time.
To circle back to the very start of this conversation: I did eventually cave today and started NG+ of Mandragora. It’s so much more enjoyable than grinding out the last couple of areas of Blasphemous. Though now I worry my lack of discipline will lead to me never coming back and finishing it.
Very curious to hear your thoughts on Clair Obscur, for me it was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had the past decade or so. It won’t beat Disco Elysium as my favourite game of all time, but it might well make a strong case for the number two spot.
Disco Elysium is my favourite game from the last decade (maybe even beyond, but I have a soft spot for old games).
To me, it is a case study of how well games work as a storytelling medium if done with the right mindset and people. Everything including the art style, music, game mechanics worked for the story, and it was a joy to experience that.
It is a shame what took place behind the scenes, and I wish there is a better way to show my support to the original developers.
P.S. I could not find a way to save/follow your profile here. So, I did the next best thing, and tagged you and saved your comments.
You could not have captured it better.
I am glad we had this conversation. Please do recommend me some more games. if you do not mind.
I was on a long break from gaming (almost a year) due to life, and plan to resume weekend gaming soon. For the same reason, I have been scouting these communities and threads for recommendations.
As of now, I zeroed down on the Mass Effect trilogy on the Steam Deck but I am also considering a second play through of Ghosts of Tsushima. I would prefer a light(er) game which is easy to get into and allow me to take breaks as I don’t think I will be able to pull off hour long sessions initially.
For another indie game you might not have heard about Skald: Against the Black Priory was a surprise hit with me when I played it earlier this year. Cool story and world building, very concise and conscious of its budget limits so smaller in scope, probably a 16-20h game with no filler and no grinding. I liked it a lot, and it should play great on the Steam Deck too. Sort of a tribute to retro CRPGs but without the clunk of those old games. Combat was simple but fun, not overly complex. Beautiful pixel art, especially the splash screens.
I am way less high on Ghost of Tsushima than most people. I would never even consider a second playthrough. The game is way too long for what it is, which is essentially just a more polished garden variety Ubisoft open world game. There is not enough variety in it to sustain a what - 60h playthrough? The quest design isn’t interesting or varied enough and most importantly: the writing isn’t varied enough. You can’t have 60 hours of dialogue delivered in only a stoic, dour monotone. 15 minutes of Kenji spread over a handful of moments isn’t enough to break it up. Anyway, rant over.
Okay what else… Well, Blue Prince came out this year and is a contender for Indie of the Year - maybe even a potential Game of the Year nomination. I liked it a lot, a puzzle roguelite is an interesting concept and if you like note taking and screenshotting and escape room type puzzles you’ll have a good time with I think.
Otherwise I won’t be the first you see of this if you’ve been scouring these threads, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is almost a shoe-in for game of the year and the hype is most certainly deserved. Any gamer should do themselves a favour and experience it, not least to be able to participate in the zeitgeist.
Thanks again for the recommendations. Blue Prince looks refreshingly good and different. I did hear quite a bit about Clair Obscur, but turn based gameplay never appealed to me. I did not play Baldur’s Gate 3 for the same reasons, in spite of it being so well received.
I agree with your criticisms about Ghosts of Tsushima, and have made similar observations as well. However, Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man are my comfort games where I just soak in their music and atmosphere while I do something else like talk with someone.
Clair Obscur has active combat elements injected into turn based combat. Attacks require QTEs to pull off successfully and most importantly - enemy attacks can be dodged or parried in real time. It feels much more like playing Dark Souls than a traditional turn based game. The gameplay designer uses to be a Sekiro speedrunner, and it shows. I will again almost insist on you giving it a chance, it’s very rare for games to come around that are works of art in this manner.
For what it’s worth: I don’t think BG3 is as good or as important to play. I think BG3 has a lot of flaws and doesn’t deserve the hype of “best game of all time”. It’s a fun game to play, but that’s it. It’s writing is “okay for a videogame” territory, but nothing more. It also falls apart in the third act in several ways.
Clair Obscur does imo deserve the hype. It is gaming as an artform in a manner that’s rare to see in a AA+ budget format. It also has a very strong prologue, which should fairly easily fit under Steam’s refund window. I suggest giving it a shot.
I wasn’t aware about the similarities with Dark Souls, and about the designer’s previous interests.
I guess what I needed was a strong recommendation. Just purchased the game on Steam after checking for its compatibility on ProtonDB (it is platinum).
Thank you for the recommending the game, and for taking away the chore of deciding what to play this weekend.
Again, I am really glad we had this conversation.
No problem, I love to espouse my opinions as I’m sure you can tell and I love talking about games in general. I especially love getting to recommend great games to other people, I get such second hand enjoyment from it every time.
To circle back to the very start of this conversation: I did eventually cave today and started NG+ of Mandragora. It’s so much more enjoyable than grinding out the last couple of areas of Blasphemous. Though now I worry my lack of discipline will lead to me never coming back and finishing it.
Very curious to hear your thoughts on Clair Obscur, for me it was one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had the past decade or so. It won’t beat Disco Elysium as my favourite game of all time, but it might well make a strong case for the number two spot.
Disco Elysium is my favourite game from the last decade (maybe even beyond, but I have a soft spot for old games).
To me, it is a case study of how well games work as a storytelling medium if done with the right mindset and people. Everything including the art style, music, game mechanics worked for the story, and it was a joy to experience that.
It is a shame what took place behind the scenes, and I wish there is a better way to show my support to the original developers.
P.S. I could not find a way to save/follow your profile here. So, I did the next best thing, and tagged you and saved your comments.