Have you played a game that stayed in your head long after you played it?
For me, Outer Wilds would be that game. I feel like I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I beat it a couple years ago.
For me, it’s bioshock infinite. The reveal at the end of the game changes how you perceive everything that you just went through. No spoilers, but it’s absolutely wild and is one of the best stories I have ever seen in a game.
I loved that ending!
Another game that got me was Horizon: Zero Dawn. It left me with a lingering sadness and a feeling I will never find a game with a story like that again.
Vampires, The Masquerade: Bloodlines. The whole vibe of the setting, the story, the locations, and then when I finally understood what the plot was really about. Masterpiece of a game, couldnt stop thinking about it.
Life is Strange Might have just been I played it at a point in my life that I could really relate to it but characters have stuck with me since playing it. Looking back, it could have been so much more then it was in terms of choices and such. But I still think overall it was great
Easily RimWorld for me. The stories that play out over time, and how to make productivity more efficient live in my head rent free.
For me, that game would definitely be Disco Elysium. I’ve never connected with a game as much as with that one. I’m actually reticent of playing it again for fear of it not living up to the first experience; I felt like my first playthrough was perfect, even if technically speaking it wasn’t.
Other than that, I also still think about Mass Effect a fair bit.
On a side note: if you liked the investigating and “detective-ing” of Outer Wilds, then you will probably also enjoy Return of the Obra Dinn, The Forgotten City, and The Case of the Golden Idol. I’d also add Disco Elysium to that list, but be aware it’s a lot more text heavy.
Great recommendations there, each got under my skin. I feel the same about David Lynch films, they connect with something inside me, and lodge permanently in my brain.
I’d put What Remains of Edith Finch, Dear Esther, Talos Principle, Stanley Parable, Metroid Prime and maybe Portal 1+2 in there too - they share an authentically mysterious vibe.
Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds hit me hard, they nailed the atmosphere perfectly. Haven’t actually played DE, was a bit put off by the sheer amount of dialogue, but I need to try it.
When I saw the OP’s question, my immediate thougt was Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium. Nice to see both represented at the top!
Oh Disco Elysium all the way, it’s possibly my favorite game. I have a notebook filled with lines in the game that stuck with me.
I want more of it, but it looks like that lightning won’t strike twice.
fwiw I did play it through twice, and maybe enjoyed it even more the second time - caught more of the little details
Subdue the regret. Dust yourself off, proceed. You’ll get it in the next life, where you don’t make mistakes. Do what you can with this one, while you’re alive.
Definitely Outer Wilds as well.
Hell, looking into the soundtrack changed my daily playlist to something heavily Midwest Emo.
Hades is so good. Waiting for Hades 2. Aaaaany day now.
I’ve tried to like Hades a few times over the years since it came out. I know I’m in the minority, it’s generally a well liked game, but I just don’t see the appeal. The gameplay loop is repetitive, difficult, and unrewarding, the main character is deliberately unlikable, the dialogue with the NPCs in the hub is repetitive and trying too hard to be funny. I didn’t enjoy a single second playing that game, and its one I actually paid real money for, I bought it and genuinely wanted to like it. I suppose I’m not the target audience.
Man, that’s actually so sad. But I guess most gamers will find that one game they want to like (because it’s critically acclaimed, their friends are super into it, etc.), but it just won’t work.
I had that experience with Valheim. On paper it looks like a fun viking-esque Minecraft with a bit more RPG elements. In practice I just found out cumbersome and the gameplay loop felt just plain boring/unsatisfying.
Firewatch, Hellblade, the Mass Effect trilogy, Cyberpunk 2077 to name a few. ME and CP77 are probably the ones that lodged themselves hardest in my mind by far.
You have good taste in games.
Have you played the “new” Deus Ex games, HR and MD? I’d slot them right in for my version of your list. Also Zero Dawn and Forbidden West.
Been thinking about trying the Deus Ex games but never got around to them. Might have to give them a shot some time!
The horizon games I’d really want to play but I’ve only got a Series X and a rather weak PC at the moment. :/
You should give Human Revolution a go, then. It’s pretty old by now and the graphics can be turned down quite far. It should run on most things.
Yeah, the deus ex games are available on xbox so I shouldn’t have a hard time playing those. Do they still hold up?
Human Revolution is fantastic, still. Mankind Divided is pretty much just upgraded more of it. The only downside is that Mankind Divided leaves the story unfinished, as it was the second entry in what was intended to become a trilogy. It failed financially due some BS mismanagement by Squenix.
But there’s hope! Eidos Montreal was acquired by Embracer Group last year, who have done much better with the management of their studios. There have been whisperings of Adam Jensen’s story being resumed at the studio.
Ah, I’ll keep them on the backlog then!
About Embracer though… you didn’t see this? Not sure exactly how it’ll pan out but it doesn’t sound good: https://www.polygon.com/23759179/embracer-tomb-raider-lotr-restructure-studio-closures-lay-offs
Oh darn… Having looked at their portfolio though, it was not all golden geese. Hopefully they’ll know what is worth the effort to keep.
Oblivion has lived in my head since the moment I first played it back in 09. Finally started teaching myself how to make mods for it last year and now it takes up even more of my brain!
Cyberpunk 2077. Say what you will about the state of the game, especially when it released. But there’s something about the endings that keeps me thinking about the game and has me really excited about coming back after enough updates have passed.
Yeah, the story and side quest are really well made, and the soundtrack is so good, I can’t wait for the expansion, apparently it will overhaul so many things that it will probably feels like a different game.
Half Life 2. Specifically, the crossbow that shot rebar. That thing was AWESOME.
Red alert 2 and counterstrike will be with me forever. I played those games so much growing up that I always find myself going back to them.
Nier:Automata
I still remember vividly how ending E broke me back then. Maybe because I have weight of the world in my playlist.
Might I recommend reading the novellas? Memory cage and and memory thorn are must-reads if you finished ending E. A much too silent sea was also cool.
Great, I’ll read it on my free time
You won’t regret it
Loom
It’s been, what, 30 years? I still think about that game pretty frequently.
Mass Effect – particularly Mass Effect 2 – left an impression, but The Last of Us is and will always be the game that has stuck with me the most/longest.
