this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
110 points (97.4% liked)

Ask Lemmy

38377 readers
1473 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

For me, Tunic. Well, it's a bit more complicated. I was burnt out on soulslikes and wanted a break. Saw what I thought was a nice little Zelda clone, as in I was scrolling the Steam store home page and did a double take when I saw the one and only piece of promotional art for the game. That character design looked like it was one floppy green hat away from a lawsuit from Nintendo. Instantly downloaded it upon learning that the instruction manual played a big part in the gameplay.

I have fond memories of game manuals when I was a kid, coming home from not-yet-gamestop with a new game looking at all the concept art, or having my parents read to me from the super mario 3 manual when I was little. Anyway, long story short the game was another soulslike. Set in the ruins of a fallen civilization? Check. Spend currency to level up? Check. Opening up shortcuts to previously visited areas as you progress? Check. Difficult bosses? Check.

Oh, but what's this? The whole game is in this indecipherable script that you have to decode? Oh baby! I spent way, way way too much time trying to decipher it. I got so obsessed that it was effecting my sleep and I had to uninstall the game for a few weeks. Never ended up solving it.

spoilerI knew it was an English cipher from the beginning. Nobody ever goes full conlang, as much as I would love that. I got as far as deducing it was phonemic, as the same glyphs kept appearing before cleartext words, which I assumed were "a/an" and "the", and the way "the" was written made me think it was two glyphs, one for the and one for . The last thing I got before giving up and looking it up online was one of hte ghosts standing next to the well in the village and repeating the same word three times. Of course he's saying "well well well".

Anyway, overall the experience was a roller coaster of mild interest to acute dislike shifting to all consuming curiosity and finally to exasperation. I don't think a game has evoked that many varied reactions from me. The music is also amazing.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Hades. Hate roguelikes. Quite enjoyed that.

[–] ygurin@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Supergiant Games are great if you enjoyed Hades would recommend Transistor

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

Transistor is way more tactical.

If you wished you could customize your boons in Hades to a specific style without having to deal with randomness, Transistor is the game for you!

[–] KingOfTheCouch@lemmy.ca 6 points 2 days ago

Dwarf Fortress.

And, I mean pre-steam release.

The ASCII graphics, controls and everything about it were not appealing to me. I started playing it because of the Boatmurdered story and some friends trying to recreate that. We started playing and rotating fortresses on a random Friday night.

And once things started to click? I put way too much time into it. I'd eventually mod it and make it easier to play but I put many many hours into it.

I wouldeventually put the game down after that initial burst and then years later the steam release came, making it much more enjoyable and well... A couple thousand hours later I still keep going back to it.

[–] WagnasT@piefed.world 43 points 3 days ago (7 children)

Subnautica, I thought it was just minecraft under water, which sounded ok. Didn't expect it to have a story, absolutely didn't expect it to have an interesting story. The audio logs had some charming characters, ham and cheese had me cracking up whilst trying not to die. BUT, the exact moment I realized this game was special was the translated message you get after getting your arm poked, suddenly hours of environmental story telling snap into place as you realize what is about to happen. 11/10 would buy again.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Outer wilds, went in blind (as you should) was not disappointed.

[–] Stegget@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

I have become an Outer Wilds evangelist. One of my favorite games hands down.

[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

I went in to this blind and ended up quitting after a couple hours because there was no save ability and the checkpoint system was useless.

I learned months later, from my son-in-law, that it's a time-loop game. Tried it again with this knowledge and had a MUCH better experience.

So, my advice is to go in 99% blind. The player should know it's a time-loop game before they start.

[–] Inkstainthebat@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

It's not that deep, but I thought Ultrakill wasn't something I'd enjoy. Now I don't enjoy any shooter that isn't like Ultrakill

[–] DeepThought42@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago (12 children)

Horizon Zero Dawn - From what I saw from the marketing seemed just odd. Relatively primitive looking humans fighting animal shaped robots. It just looked a bit too gimmicky. Several years after it's initial release I saw that it was on sale and gave it a shot. I was genuinely surprised by the depth of the story. It was much more emotionally impactful than I expected and the story now feels almost prescient.

load more comments (12 replies)
[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 23 points 3 days ago (2 children)

These three jump out at me. I went blind on all three.

  • Portal 2 - I genuinely had no idea what it was about when I started, and I certainly did not expect comedy.
  • Titanfall 2 - Bought it on release because I wanted a solo FPS game. Amazing. I wish I could experience it for the first time again.
  • Spiritfarer - I cried. A lot.
[–] Gerudo@lemmy.zip 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I always up vote Spiritfarer.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Mofy@piefed.social 21 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Inscryption, I went in expecting a short card based escape room with a lil bit of meta story. I found so much more, by the end the risk investment was great!

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Added to wishlist, looks really cool

[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 3 points 2 days ago

Deep Rock Galactic. Even after a few years, I still regularly play this one with a group of friends.

[–] BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

marvel's midnight suns. the only other turn based game ive played was fallout 1. i just expected something to scratch my superhero video game itch and instead found a new favorite. im on my 2nd playthrough now and still loving it. my favorite "relaxing" game

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Midnight Suns is one of the few games I never skip the cutscenes in. Everyone is so cozy and delightful!

[–] Mesa@programming.dev 2 points 2 days ago

I played Warframe for about 3 years before I realized it was my favorite game ever. As in I was 12 when I started playing, and at the time, it was just what I had. It wasn't until I got my first personal gaming laptop and began playing on there that I realized how much I liked it, and started engaging in the community more.

JoeAAverage, if you're out there: Thanks, man. It may have seemed like a small gift at the time—especially for an already 3-year player—but now, 11 years in, I still can't be certain that I would've realized how cool of a game I had in my hands had you not gifted me that Limbo set. Limbo may be forgotten by DE, and I may not play him much anymore, but he will always be my favorite frame.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Hellblade. Senua's sacrifice

I don't particularly like "medieval" games. Which I thought this was. It isn't. But I played it because I heard somewhere it was a psychological game. It is.

It also was cheap when I bought it. Like $10.

I really like it. I ended up watching all the dev log videos on it. I have a background in psychology and was rather impressed by how many things in the game are based on the perception distortions common in schizophrenia.

Like the mask thing is part of that too. The pattern matching from perspectives. Seeing faces in trees or rocks (paraedolia). That's all part of the condition.

The story itself was also very good and it is a personal story of her journey.

However that said. Hellblade 2 was awful in every way that made the first one good. Bad puzzles. No real personal journey. Story was garbage. And very little player autonomy. No exploration. Fixed speeds and at the start of every single enemy encounter, the enemy, a man, beats the piss out of you.

Almost to the point it felt exploitive, and for people who like watching men beat up women.

Sad to see the 2nd so terrible. But the first is brilliant. It's also the perfect length. Not too long.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

The first game was a trip. Played it in a pitch black room with noise canceling headphones. It's wild how quickly I got used to hearing Senua's voices. World felt empty when I stopped playing. I still go back and listen to that one cutscene every couple months

[–] venacava@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action

I usually don't have the patience for VNs with minimal gameplay, but the atmosphere, soundtrack and the general mood of the game got me hooked.

[–] obelisk_complex@piefed.ca 16 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Control. I've always had a fondness for SCP-related stuff so when I saw Control on sale for $3 or $4 it was an instant mindless purchase. Bored a few days later I decided to give it a go, and then I went and beat the entire game and the DLC. Great power fantasy, great lore, great voice acting, fun moment to moment gameplay balanced between exploring, upgrading, story beats, and boss fights. Also ties in to their other games like Alan Wake; I haven't played that one, but I've strongly considered it just because of Control and wanting more of that universe.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] jagermo@feddit.org 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Saints Row the third. It hit a few right spots with me that GTA never could

Also Darksiders. I got it as a preorder bonus for Space Marine 1 and i ended playing it was more. Really like the universe.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

X-COM Enemy Unknown weirdly enough. Turn based strategy was not my cup of tea until then. X-COM sucked me in to the point where is go to work, go home, play X-COM until two in the morning, sleep and start the cycle again for about four days.

[–] Tuxman@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Gris

I was looking for a game to play with my daughter and I saw it included in the Apple Arcade subscription.

…. I don’t remember ugly bawling like that at the end of a game. Truly a work of art.

[–] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

My kid and I recently got Split Fiction and love it. It's so simple, but can be tricky in parts. Not hard enough to rage quit, each area is just long enough and interesting enough to keep you engaged. 6.5 hours straight the first night, streams to TV very well, controls are awesome and fluid. We're loving it, haven't finished yet. Looking at A Way Out next.

[–] pi3r8@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The saboteur

Picked it up randomly back in the day with 0 expectations . I loved playing this game. The way it uses black and white to express the despair of ww2 France , slowly transforming to colour as you destroy nazi infrastructure and the tide of the war changes is so satisfying .

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] taiyang@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Most recently, Slay the Princess. It's a VN, and I typically do not play VNs, but wow. It's actually quite amazing and I can't actually tell you why because it'd spoil it.

I get pleasantly surprised all the time though, since I like to use a randomizer to choose my next game sometimes. I think one of the other experiences was the Rusty Lake games. I got them in a bundle and since it was a puzzler, I had my friend join me in comms and it was... very strange. But we will use references from those games as insider nods to one another.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] cepelinas@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Botw it was my first zelda game I played, never expected myself to enjoy the game that much.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Couldbealeotard@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Final Fantasy XV

I'm a huge FF fan, but felt there was a dip after the golden era of 7-10. 13 was middling for me, 14 was an MMO which is not my area of interest.

FF15 took a long time to come out. And then we find out that you are manually controlling the main character like a hack'n'slash. It just no longer sparked that joyous wonder.

I waited ages before I got a PS4 and then got the Royal Edition. Slowly as I played it a fell in love with the characters. They are flawed, thrust into a journey they didn't get to choose, and instead of a toxic male fantasy it was a story about brothers, fathers and sons, about love, loss, and sacrifice.

I bawled my eyes out at the ending. The game definitely suffers from feeling like it's not quite a finished product, but the characters are the star of the show.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Another non-VN guy, but 1000xResist became one of my favorite games despite being essentially a VN. Like the gameplay is literally just walking up to people and talking, and the dialogue options don't impact the story at all, but damn if the narrative wasn't enough to earn a 10/10 from me

[–] binarytobis@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago (5 children)

Talos Principle 2. It’s a solid chamber puzzle game like Portal, but the philosophy audio logs were so good that they shifted my real world views into a less nihilistic place.

load more comments (5 replies)
[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Disco Elysium..., totally not my kind of game, gameplay-wise. I reluctantly accepted to give it a go after my best friend sold it to me passionately. and damn

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I died sitting in an uncomfortable chair. I'll have to pick it up again when I'm in the mood.

[–] Hadriscus@jlai.lu 1 points 1 day ago

heh, didn't know that was possible ! I almost died during a standoff, but I pulled it off with the magic of save loading

[–] myrmidex@belgae.social 9 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Back in the day Morrowind on a Twilight disc. I'm not into fantasy at all, but that game took me for a spin that lasted many years.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›