Gaming inspiration needed

[harvb739]

Hey all, long-time gamer but first-time poster here. Hope this is the right place to post this...

I'm hoping you guys 'n gals can inspire me!

Quick bit of gaming history - started way back in the dawn of time on the ZX81 before becoming a fan of the Speccy, then the Amiga and Atari ST and all of the classic games of that era. The last couple of decades have been big into PC gaming.

I love my games and from my gaming history you'll see I don't really need to have fab graphics to enjoy a game. My oldest game loves were Halls of the Things and Panzadrome, for those that know them, and more recently Cyberpunk 2077, Ghost Recon Breakpoint and Sniper 5.

Here's my issue - and I suspect I'm not unique - I just want something I can sink hours into. I love my co-op gaming but I just don't see the right people playing co-op, I tend to come across kids with ninja reflexes who want the latest shiny thing. Maybe I'm being unfair.

So I need your advice, please. I'm looking for games that I might have missed or games that have passed me by. The very latest will likely melt my old PC so it's unlikely I can play the new GTA when it comes out, for example, and Red Dead on my PC becomes a slideshow. Cyberpunk funnily enough runs pretty well.

I like RPGs, action, roguelikes, FPSs and third-person games mainly, but I'll try anything. I suffer a bit with motion sickness so some FPSs make my brain 'splode.

I've been on and off enjoying CoD: Modern Warfare but there's so few people interested in co-op.

Essentially please hit me up with ideas. I'd like to try stuff I've missed.

If you want to add me on Steam and look at my recent gaming history I'm on there as Heron - I've got a Ghost Recon gaming desktop on there if there's more than one.

Cheers!

H

 

[Zloth]

Oh jeez, where to start?

If you want to add me on Steam and look at my recent gaming history I'm on there as Heron - I've got a Ghost Recon gaming desktop on there if there's more than one.

There's well over a dozen, none of which has a desktop PC as an avatar. (Many having a heron as an avatar, except one that has a llama!? 🤔) Maybe you could just link to your... oh, right. New person. It might not let you post links until you've been around a bit.

I'll just throw stuff out there, then. If you've played them, I guess what I say might help you measure what I say about other games.

Death Stranding - a very different game. Killing people in this game is not a good plan as they tend to explode. You deliver stuff, finding your way over natural landscape, while dodging ghost-like things. Assuming you turn the option on, things like ladders, bridges, vehicles, and highways you build are shared with others and some of their stuff will be shared with you. It makes the game into something of a community project. (A whole bunch of Macintosh users are about to rush in but hey, they are Children of the 68000 just like we are!) If you're averse to cutscenes, though, best avoid this one.

How are you with JRPGs? Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth was quite good, IMHO. Yes, Square boneheaded the graphics settings, but you can easily unlock Unreal and set whatever settings you like. It's a bit cryptic, but it sounds like you've been around long enough to know what most mean. Maybe you could use it to mitigate any PC melting issues? Anyway, it's a fun action RPG, and I'm someone that doesn't normally like action RPGs (though I did really love the original FF7).

Or maybe go back in time a little and play Dragon's Dogma. Lots of monster climbing and big spells in that one, and the graphics aren't a challenge at all. The "pawn system" for your companions is still unique, and there are strong indications of a Dragon's Dogma 2 coming out soon. (Sadly, it isn't called "Dragon's Apologetics," but it is an imperfect universe.) (And there's a sale on, so it costs less than $5 right now.)

 

[Brian Boru]

my old PC

For ref, my recs work on my i7-7 + 1060.

something I can sink hours into

FPSs and third-person games

All Far Crys work for me, and it's your choice how long you spend in game—there's loads of side stuff to do.
Sniper Ghost Warrior games—SGW3 is my fav for its open world location, but others are decent too.
Recent Tomb Raiders—I put a few hours into 'Rise of…' until the platforming and TPP did for me, but I regretted having to drop it, looks a great game.

I'll try anything

Turn-based? Any of the Civilization games from IV onwards—just make sure you get the complete version, you want the expansions to turn a good game into a great one. I've got thousands—yes, plural—of hours in 4, 5, 6.

RTS? The C&C Remastered has the 1990s classics—2 full games + 3 major expansions, superb value for MSRP of $20. You can play skirmish v AI for the rest of your life

 

[harvb739]

Both of you, thank you so much for your time in replying.

First off, I'm an idiot, my avatar is now the Thin Blue Line black Union Jack... I think (I hope) I'm the only one

Not a huge fan of JRPGs, I did try them but i found them all 'splodey and kiddy, but having said that I will go back on that recommendation and look again, cheers.

Re: Death Stranding: I do have that, I need to install it and go take a look, cheers. I haven't really got on with Hideo Kojima games previously, but I hear good things about this one. I like the idea you can see the passing of other player-characters.

Dragon's Dogma, tried it and found the UI too clunky and uncomfortable. I like the look and the feel of the world though, reminds me a lot of Ultima Online and the old school games which I love.

Far Cry's: yes, love those - completed the stories on them all, really enjoyed them, good shout cheers.

Sniper Ghost Warrior games - I tried it and didn't like it, I personally felt it tried to do what the Sniper Elite and Ghost Recon series' were doing but didn't quite pull it off. No offence, just my take on it. I hear there's a new one in the mix though so I will take a look.

Turn-based: I go through phases. I used to quite like the 4x games but I'm utterly UTTERLY garbage at them. Love the Total War games, or the idea of them, but I can't fight my way out of a paper bag.

Tomb Raiders: I put this into the same category as the Assassins Creed games; when I find one I can gel with I tend to like them. I loved Assassins Creed Black Flag and Valhalla but the earlier ones drove me nuts. Same with Tomb Raiders. I'll keen an eye on them in the sales though, thank you.

Some good ideas and stuff to look at it, but happy to talk more! I know I'm the new guy, sorry, I'll get there - think of me as gaming grandad.

 

[Brian Boru]

I haven't really got on with Hideo Kojima games previously

I knew I detected an aura of discernment and good taste in your OP!

Seems clear your savior will be Game Pass. Try as many games as you can manage

 

[harvb739]

I'll check out the Game Pass, cheers - I'm a complete Steam addict and I've previously ignored other platforms but I guess I should expand my horizons, cheers

 

[ZedClampet]

think of me as gaming grandad.

Many of us here are probably in your age group, so don't feel too old. I've been playing since Pong and @Brian Boru actually killed the last dinosaur.

My recommendation is to sign up to Game Pass for PC. You'll get a ton of games you can try, including all the Bethesda games (Fallout, Skyrim, etc) You'll also get games by non-Xbox companies, like Atomic Hearts. I'm not really a shooter person, so I'm not good at recommending these types of games. They also own Obsidian, and that shooter they made (memory escapes me) a couple of years ago is quite good.

If you want to try something different, look at V Rising on Steam. It's categorized as a "survival" game, but it really isn't. You aren't constantly looking for food and water, etc. It's top down, but beautiful. There is a ton to do, loads of content, and the difficulty is extremely customizable. If you don't have a co-op partner, the game is very playable solo, but depending on your skills, you may want to drop the difficulty to about 50 percent to try a solo run. It's in early access, but it's a complete game now and bug free.