A huge long list of video game recommendations
My video game recommendations! I generally wrote these out for lebo_superman although I have impeccable taste so everyone should see this list. v_v
For RPGs:
First, for apocalyptic survival, I would suggest the Fallout series. The first two games are available on PC and are fairly standard 90's CRPGs in terms of gameplay. There's a good deal of character customization and the quests are frequently designed to have multiple avenues of success, though overall I found these games pretty tough. :(
There are two more modern incarnations of that series, Fallout 3 which was made by the studio which made Morrowind and Fallout: New Vegas which was made by the studio which made Knights of the Old Republic 2. Both are available on PC or PS3. The trailers focus on the shooting elements, although melee weapons can be used and the shooting can be made a bit easier with a system to freeze time and let the invisible math make your shots for you, if running around shooting things isn't so much fun for you. Of the two, Fallout 3 is a good introduction to the idea of the series, although Fallout: New Vegas better captures the feel. Overall, my recommendation is for Fallout: New Vegas because it offers many different ways to deal with quests, several interesting companions to help the PC out, and multiple factions to join or use or betray as necessary. The main storyline isn't quite so epic, but the world feels more lively.
Also in the old-school computer RPG realm is the Baldur's Gate series. These two games are basically 300 hours of gameplay. The games use the AD&D rules, which can be unintuitive at times, and sometimes the difficulty can be frustrating. However, the characters are fun and the storyline is very epic in a traditional zero-to-hero way.
Finally for old-school computer RPGs there's Planescape: Torment. This video game is one of my favorites (I'm even gearing up to replay it soon). It also uses the AD&D rules system, although what I like best about it is that many fights can be side-stepped through roleplaying or clever thinking. PS:T is set in the Planescape D&D universe, in the city of Sigil, an interstellar hub of sorts that can take travelers to any world imaginable. The city is run by competing factions who seek to make their philosophy the dominant one because in the realm of Planescape, beliefs literally shape reality. The story is very atypical, focusing on a man who wakes up in the Mortuary without memories and discovers that he cannot die; the player must unravel the mystery of who he is and how this came to be, all the while discovering what his past lives have done. The companions include a snarky floating skull, a chaste succubus, and an arsonist who has had a conduit to the Plane of Fire opened into his body as punishment. Overall, I would recommend this video game for anyone who plays video games for the story and wants a lot of bang for his buck.
For more modern RPGs I would suggest the Dragon Age series, done by Bioware. The first game focuses upon the Grey Wardens, and the storyline involves gathering up allies to fight off a blight known as the Dark Spawn. This game is Bioware's attempt to be more "shades of grey" in their writing, and features a lot of political maneuvering and tough moral decisions. The gameplay difficulty can be adjusted (which is good as it can be tiring dying over and over again from Dark Spawn ambushes) although fights are a bit busy anyway. The second game focuses more upon the PC and their family as they flee to the city of Kirkwall and try to rebuild their life, giving the story a more intimate feel. The interactions with the party are my favorite part, although the storyline is somewhat more of a Shakespearean tragedy than Bioware usually does. The gameplay can get a bit hack-and-slashy although one can build their character to be a bit simpler, and the party members' actions can be scripted so they take care of themselves for the most part. These games are both available on PC (albeit using EA's Origins service) or on PS3.
For adventure games:
Adventure games are a little bit more difficult for me to recommend because while I love them to pieces I frequently don't have the time and attention span to always finish them so this is more a list of adventure games I've played a bit of, enjoyed, and want to get back to one of these days.
First is Gemini Rue, a very new adventure game that is a noir mystery in space.
Next is Machinarium, an adventure game about a little robot trying to defeat the bad robots to rescue his robot girlfriend.
Then there is the Sam and Max series, featuring a detective dog and his psychopathic rabbit friend. There are two seasons, with a third up on the developers website. The humor is weird and the situations are ridiculous and that's exactly why I like this series so much.
I'm playing through the newest Monkey Island game Tales of Monkey Island, but I've played the others in that series which aren't easy to get legally anymore so I'm not sure I'd recommend it without playing the first ones? And the Blackwell series looks pretty interesting although I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet.
For action games:
First I would recommend Psychonauts a game about a summer camp where kids train to enter into people's minds to do psychic warfare. The levels are cleverly designed and visually interesting and the writing is funny. The gameplay is pretty standard fare for a platformer, so take that how you will.
I also really enjoy the Soul Reaver series. The first game is about a vampire who is turned into an immortal wraith that hunts mutated vampires, the second game is time-travel hijinks of the highest order. I'm not even sure how to sell this series because as my summaries might indicate, they're pretty strange. The gameplay is fairly simple, mostly focused on exploring the world, killing little bad guys, and lots of puzzles; even the boss fights are puzzles! Check out the first game if you have the time and inclination. It's a good series if one can buy into the premise.
There's also Beyond Good and Evil, a game about a journalist who gets involved in a conspiracy involving her planet's government and the mysterious aliens who bombard its surface. The setting is interesting and the characters are all kinds of charming. The gameplay focuses on infiltrating areas and sneaking around, although there are some fighting, racing, and camera shooting segments.
Bastion is a stylish game that is about the protagonist waking up after the whole world has gone to hell, and struggling to put the pieces back together. It's available for purchase a few different places.
Aaaand that's all I can think of off the top of my head. ;)
Hopefully there will be something interesting in that list for you?
For RPGs:
First, for apocalyptic survival, I would suggest the Fallout series. The first two games are available on PC and are fairly standard 90's CRPGs in terms of gameplay. There's a good deal of character customization and the quests are frequently designed to have multiple avenues of success, though overall I found these games pretty tough. :(
There are two more modern incarnations of that series, Fallout 3 which was made by the studio which made Morrowind and Fallout: New Vegas which was made by the studio which made Knights of the Old Republic 2. Both are available on PC or PS3. The trailers focus on the shooting elements, although melee weapons can be used and the shooting can be made a bit easier with a system to freeze time and let the invisible math make your shots for you, if running around shooting things isn't so much fun for you. Of the two, Fallout 3 is a good introduction to the idea of the series, although Fallout: New Vegas better captures the feel. Overall, my recommendation is for Fallout: New Vegas because it offers many different ways to deal with quests, several interesting companions to help the PC out, and multiple factions to join or use or betray as necessary. The main storyline isn't quite so epic, but the world feels more lively.
Also in the old-school computer RPG realm is the Baldur's Gate series. These two games are basically 300 hours of gameplay. The games use the AD&D rules, which can be unintuitive at times, and sometimes the difficulty can be frustrating. However, the characters are fun and the storyline is very epic in a traditional zero-to-hero way.
Finally for old-school computer RPGs there's Planescape: Torment. This video game is one of my favorites (I'm even gearing up to replay it soon). It also uses the AD&D rules system, although what I like best about it is that many fights can be side-stepped through roleplaying or clever thinking. PS:T is set in the Planescape D&D universe, in the city of Sigil, an interstellar hub of sorts that can take travelers to any world imaginable. The city is run by competing factions who seek to make their philosophy the dominant one because in the realm of Planescape, beliefs literally shape reality. The story is very atypical, focusing on a man who wakes up in the Mortuary without memories and discovers that he cannot die; the player must unravel the mystery of who he is and how this came to be, all the while discovering what his past lives have done. The companions include a snarky floating skull, a chaste succubus, and an arsonist who has had a conduit to the Plane of Fire opened into his body as punishment. Overall, I would recommend this video game for anyone who plays video games for the story and wants a lot of bang for his buck.
For more modern RPGs I would suggest the Dragon Age series, done by Bioware. The first game focuses upon the Grey Wardens, and the storyline involves gathering up allies to fight off a blight known as the Dark Spawn. This game is Bioware's attempt to be more "shades of grey" in their writing, and features a lot of political maneuvering and tough moral decisions. The gameplay difficulty can be adjusted (which is good as it can be tiring dying over and over again from Dark Spawn ambushes) although fights are a bit busy anyway. The second game focuses more upon the PC and their family as they flee to the city of Kirkwall and try to rebuild their life, giving the story a more intimate feel. The interactions with the party are my favorite part, although the storyline is somewhat more of a Shakespearean tragedy than Bioware usually does. The gameplay can get a bit hack-and-slashy although one can build their character to be a bit simpler, and the party members' actions can be scripted so they take care of themselves for the most part. These games are both available on PC (albeit using EA's Origins service) or on PS3.
For adventure games:
Adventure games are a little bit more difficult for me to recommend because while I love them to pieces I frequently don't have the time and attention span to always finish them so this is more a list of adventure games I've played a bit of, enjoyed, and want to get back to one of these days.
First is Gemini Rue, a very new adventure game that is a noir mystery in space.
Next is Machinarium, an adventure game about a little robot trying to defeat the bad robots to rescue his robot girlfriend.
Then there is the Sam and Max series, featuring a detective dog and his psychopathic rabbit friend. There are two seasons, with a third up on the developers website. The humor is weird and the situations are ridiculous and that's exactly why I like this series so much.
I'm playing through the newest Monkey Island game Tales of Monkey Island, but I've played the others in that series which aren't easy to get legally anymore so I'm not sure I'd recommend it without playing the first ones? And the Blackwell series looks pretty interesting although I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet.
For action games:
First I would recommend Psychonauts a game about a summer camp where kids train to enter into people's minds to do psychic warfare. The levels are cleverly designed and visually interesting and the writing is funny. The gameplay is pretty standard fare for a platformer, so take that how you will.
I also really enjoy the Soul Reaver series. The first game is about a vampire who is turned into an immortal wraith that hunts mutated vampires, the second game is time-travel hijinks of the highest order. I'm not even sure how to sell this series because as my summaries might indicate, they're pretty strange. The gameplay is fairly simple, mostly focused on exploring the world, killing little bad guys, and lots of puzzles; even the boss fights are puzzles! Check out the first game if you have the time and inclination. It's a good series if one can buy into the premise.
There's also Beyond Good and Evil, a game about a journalist who gets involved in a conspiracy involving her planet's government and the mysterious aliens who bombard its surface. The setting is interesting and the characters are all kinds of charming. The gameplay focuses on infiltrating areas and sneaking around, although there are some fighting, racing, and camera shooting segments.
Bastion is a stylish game that is about the protagonist waking up after the whole world has gone to hell, and struggling to put the pieces back together. It's available for purchase a few different places.
Aaaand that's all I can think of off the top of my head. ;)
Hopefully there will be something interesting in that list for you?