Couch co-op! I miss the days of playing 4-player split-screen Medal of Honor: Rising Sun or working through a story game with another person. While online multiplayer is great and I play lots of...
Couch co-op!
I miss the days of playing 4-player split-screen Medal of Honor: Rising Sun or working through a story game with another person. While online multiplayer is great and I play lots of it, it would be nice to see a couch co-op renaissance.
On a similar note, LAN play. So many games have opted out of local area network multiplayer. I remember as a young person gathering up all of our computers and playing games in a small, cramped,...
On a similar note, LAN play. So many games have opted out of local area network multiplayer. I remember as a young person gathering up all of our computers and playing games in a small, cramped, and smelly room before the days of wide ranging broadband internet. Today, all multiplayer games are online only and it's upsetting.
I was never into gaming when LAN was the big thing but I have been tinkering with Hamachi ever since Star wars episode 1 racer came to gog. Are there any old games that only supported LAN that you...
I was never into gaming when LAN was the big thing but I have been tinkering with Hamachi ever since Star wars episode 1 racer came to gog. Are there any old games that only supported LAN that you would recommend?
The games I played at LAN parties are pretty old now, so keep that in mind. For RTS: Starcraft (really easy to setup because the product key could just be all 3s, so anyone who didn't own it could...
The games I played at LAN parties are pretty old now, so keep that in mind.
For RTS:
Starcraft (really easy to setup because the product key could just be all 3s, so anyone who didn't own it could just do that and we could all play together)
Warcraft 3
Command and Conquer (whatever was popular, a lot of these game out over a short period of time)
Shooters:
Source games like HL2, CS:S (long before CS:GO), but also Dark Messiah (which isn't a shooter, but still source and also a wonderful LAN game)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (Stands up, there is a new version of UT that's free, I think)
I'm sure we played other games, but those are the ones I remember.
I completely agree here, the trend of modern games being online-only for multiplayer is depressing. Halo 5, freakin Halo 5 didn't include local co-op. That is a major burn. That said, I've found a...
I completely agree here, the trend of modern games being online-only for multiplayer is depressing. Halo 5, freakin Halo 5 didn't include local co-op. That is a major burn.
That said, I've found a huge amount of success buying a Steam Link and a few controllers, and keeping my eye out of co-op titles on Steam. There are a surprising number of quality, enjoyable games with local co-op. I'm at work now or I'd spend a bit of time posting up a list, but yeah. They're out there.
I have read the reason it is excluded isn't because it isn't considered, but because to render two fully separate images would be like running two games at the same time - modern games would put...
I have read the reason it is excluded isn't because it isn't considered, but because to render two fully separate images would be like running two games at the same time - modern games would put too much strain on the hardware.
While that's true, why was Halo 4 able to do it on a weaker console, but Halo 5 can't on the Xbox One? That's my main question. Couch co-op is such a staple of the Halo franchise, that to not...
While that's true, why was Halo 4 able to do it on a weaker console, but Halo 5 can't on the Xbox One? That's my main question. Couch co-op is such a staple of the Halo franchise, that to not include it on Halo 5 is just... wrong, imo.
Couch co-op was something that Nintendo has been pushing ever since their Wii days as the era of console video gaming slowly moved towards online multiplayer. For two reasons really: Nintendo...
Couch co-op was something that Nintendo has been pushing ever since their Wii days as the era of console video gaming slowly moved towards online multiplayer.
For two reasons really:
Nintendo never really invested heavily into online infrastructure anyway
Nintendo wanted to promote personal relationships with anyone playing their games, so a lot of their games focused heavily on local multiplayer
I mean, just look at their franchises, right? Mario gets a whole sleight of games for it with Mario Party, Mario sports games (Tennis, golf, whatever their sports mix game was called), Mario Kart solely exists as a franchise on its own due to its insane popularity, Smash Bros., even a few Zelda games, their Wii Sports series, and I could go on, but you get the point.
The only problems with their popularity with a wider demographic is that they're perceived as "kiddie" rather than "family-friendly," which I realized apparently turns off a lot of adults. It was something I discovered while working for GameStop for a season and noticed a lot of men care about their masculinity and noting the kinds of games they like, with emphases on shooting, killing, and lack of cartoons. That, and their significantly weaker hardware makes it less desirable for developers to port their games to.
Either way, look to Nintendo for some good old co-op. Too bad there's still a lack of FPS games for it.
Honestly, I don't really understand people who get consoles that aren't Nintendo. This is the edge that Nintendo has over PC. XBox and PlayStation both just seem like much crappier version of PCs...
Honestly, I don't really understand people who get consoles that aren't Nintendo. This is the edge that Nintendo has over PC.
XBox and PlayStation both just seem like much crappier version of PCs to me.
I dunno, i sort of feel like there have been a lot of pretty good couch co-op games in recent years. Towerfall, Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Cuphead, Enter the Gungeon - those are...
I dunno, i sort of feel like there have been a lot of pretty good couch co-op games in recent years. Towerfall, Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Cuphead, Enter the Gungeon - those are just one's I can think of off the top of my head. I think there's some more recents ones that I haven't had a chance to check out that look promising too, like Wizard of Legend.
I guess there are far less options for couch co-op FPS games on PC though, if that's specifically what you're looking for.
Just to expand on your list, in case someone came here for recommendations... Rocket League, Brawlhalla, Stikbold, Broforce, Cortex Command And if we're not being too strict about the "co-op"...
Just to expand on your list, in case someone came here for recommendations...
Rocket League, Brawlhalla, Stikbold, Broforce, Cortex Command
And if we're not being too strict about the "co-op" part, here's a bunch of decent couch multiplayer games:
Speedrunners, Duck Game, Ultimate Chicken Horse, BattleBlock Theater, Tricky Towers, Gang Beasts, Move or Die, Rivals of Aether
There's a game coming out next year for PC and Switch called Rite of Ilk that you might want to look at. https://youtu.be/wy8KNLVOAYw I initially thought it was a take on the "Brothers: A Tale of...
There's a game coming out next year for PC and Switch called Rite of Ilk that you might want to look at.
Please! Sim City 4 is still the best and it is now a preposterous 15 years old. :( There are few things on the horizon I'm excited about. It's a bit off the path from Sim City style games, but...
Please! Sim City 4 is still the best and it is now a preposterous 15 years old. :(
There are few things on the horizon I'm excited about. It's a bit off the path from Sim City style games, but Industries of Titan looks pretty exciting.
If they decide to release for GNU+Linux, I'm interested in Industries of Titan. There's some hope for this, as they haven't released any release platform information yet.
It's not quite OpenTTD, but I'm into a similar genre, I would describe it as sandbox-management-basebuilder games. Not sure if you'd like them, but my favourites in order are: Factorio / Oxygen...
It's not quite OpenTTD, but I'm into a similar genre, I would describe it as sandbox-management-basebuilder games. Not sure if you'd like them, but my favourites in order are:
Factorio / Oxygen Not Included
Rimworld
Prison Architect
Kingdoms and Castles (shallow, but chill and super easy to relax to)
Factorio is really a genre of it's own, but it's similar enough that I think there's significant overlap in the people who enjoy them. I clumped them together not because they're similar, but...
Factorio is really a genre of it's own, but it's similar enough that I think there's significant overlap in the people who enjoy them. I clumped them together not because they're similar, but because I like them both equally.
I don't know a ton about video games, but I've always enjoyed the open world/no rules sort of games. Like I liked Myst/Riven a bunch when I was a kid, and I like Elder Scrolls and Breath of the...
I don't know a ton about video games, but I've always enjoyed the open world/no rules sort of games. Like I liked Myst/Riven a bunch when I was a kid, and I like Elder Scrolls and Breath of the Wild. I think with better computing power, it would be cool to see more procedurally generated worlds that offer endless new things to explore. The tough thing is making sure that there's still a meaningful story/puzzle/lore/something to dive into.
Did you play The Witness? That seems like it might fit with your "no rules", the game approaches it in a really interesting way (and is pretty reminiscent of the Myst/Riven style).
Did you play The Witness? That seems like it might fit with your "no rules", the game approaches it in a really interesting way (and is pretty reminiscent of the Myst/Riven style).
Cyan also has a new game they're working on, Firmament, which may well scratch the same itch. I believe it is designed from the ground up for VR, but I'm unsure if it will be VR-only.
Cyan also has a new game they're working on, Firmament, which may well scratch the same itch. I believe it is designed from the ground up for VR, but I'm unsure if it will be VR-only.
Have you looked at Kingdom Come: Deliverance? It's closer to Elder Scrolls, in that it has a relatively large open world to explore, complete with towns and NPCs to get to know. There's no magic,...
Have you looked at Kingdom Come: Deliverance? It's closer to Elder Scrolls, in that it has a relatively large open world to explore, complete with towns and NPCs to get to know. There's no magic, but the story and presentation is very solid.
I'd like to see a bit of a competitive RTS renaissance. Or hell, any kind of 1v1 competitive comeback. StarCraft is holding on and it will always be my favorite in that space but it would be nice...
I'd like to see a bit of a competitive RTS renaissance. Or hell, any kind of 1v1 competitive comeback. StarCraft is holding on and it will always be my favorite in that space but it would be nice to see it be trendy again. I don't like teamplay all that much.
I still try to keep up with the StarCraft scene over in Korea, especially Remastered and the ASL which seems to be growing in popularity compared to SC2. I personally find some of the matches...
I still try to keep up with the StarCraft scene over in Korea, especially Remastered and the ASL which seems to be growing in popularity compared to SC2. I personally find some of the matches really enjoyable and tense. If you don't keep up with the scene and you might be interested in watching a great series that happened recently, here's a great series between Flash and a protoss player called Snow https://youtu.be/8uXbRfYeDZY?t=32m40s
As a part of this, I think deep mechanics with a high skill ceiling both in terms of strategy and execution are a must. I am a big fan of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I have played that game on my own...
As a part of this, I think deep mechanics with a high skill ceiling both in terms of strategy and execution are a must. I am a big fan of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I have played that game on my own and with friends for probably 200+ hours. Because of how much there is to it, I am still awful, even compared to people who show up to local tournaments. The later installations in the series have lost some of the depth in favor of more accessibility, a trend in gaming in general.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the trend against mechanical difficulty / complex execution. There can be plenty of depth both ways, but I feel like making it hard to do high level maneuvers and such makes...
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the trend against mechanical difficulty / complex execution. There can be plenty of depth both ways, but I feel like making it hard to do high level maneuvers and such makes it so there's this really fun learning period (that may last forever, if we're talking Melee or Brood War or something) where there's very clear mechanical goals for you to learn. When there's not that much of that, you're forced to immediately focus on strategy and nuanced little things that are interesting, but I'm way more motivated to get into all that when I've already seen a bunch of progress through mechanical improvements.
Mechanical improvements were my jam in Melee, and are why I still come back to it semi-regularly even though I'm not involved with the community in any meaningful sense. That there could be so...
Mechanical improvements were my jam in Melee, and are why I still come back to it semi-regularly even though I'm not involved with the community in any meaningful sense. That there could be so much to just moving your character around the stage, let alone using that movement for a combo or to gain stage positioning, is fascinating. Plus, I get to press a lot of buttons, and who doesn't love that?
I am still waiting for a high-fantasy RTS to make a splash. Something like Age of Empires but with magic and mythic to substitute the things AoE wasnt able to do because of realism, etc.
I am still waiting for a high-fantasy RTS to make a splash. Something like Age of Empires but with magic and mythic to substitute the things AoE wasnt able to do because of realism, etc.
Oh yeah I totally forgot about warcraft, though isn't it mostly campaign focused, sorry if that's totally wrong, I've never played it for more than like 10 minutes at a friend's house
Oh yeah I totally forgot about warcraft, though isn't it mostly campaign focused, sorry if that's totally wrong, I've never played it for more than like 10 minutes at a friend's house
It can be mostly single player if you want it to be, but it was quite a healthy competitive game and there's still plenty of fun to be had in multiplayer.
It can be mostly single player if you want it to be, but it was quite a healthy competitive game and there's still plenty of fun to be had in multiplayer.
I feel like MOBAs have maybe permanently replaced RTSs in the mainstream. It makes sense – MOBAs are much more spectator-friendly because the action is concentrated in fewer places, and it's...
I feel like MOBAs have maybe permanently replaced RTSs in the mainstream. It makes sense – MOBAs are much more spectator-friendly because the action is concentrated in fewer places, and it's easier to tell who is winning at any given point.
Single player in general. A lot of games seem to be either multi-player with a single player campaign tacked on as an afterthought, or single player with multi-player options that are almost...
Single player in general. A lot of games seem to be either multi-player with a single player campaign tacked on as an afterthought, or single player with multi-player options that are almost required to complete the single player campaign that's the "focus" of the game.
I don't really do multi-player. I'm not that good at video games even though I enjoy playing them. But not being good at them means that I don't get enjoyment out of competing with others; I just get beat over and over until I give up.
Yeah, that's probably the case. Can't really make money on lootboxes if the players can't show off to each other with their fancy new skins or characters. Still bums me out, though.
Yeah, that's probably the case. Can't really make money on lootboxes if the players can't show off to each other with their fancy new skins or characters.
I also generally prefer singleplayer games and now (for the past several years) I've almost been solely playing games released by Paradox Interactive. e.g. Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis IV...
I also generally prefer singleplayer games and now (for the past several years) I've almost been solely playing games released by Paradox Interactive. e.g. Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis IV
I'm particularly drawn to their depth, replayability, and all the new content that keeps getting added the many years after release.
I do make the mistake of trying multiplayer games on occasion, then realising it just isn't worth dying then being relegated to watching the rest of the game, the majority of the time.
The computer that I use right now isn't particularly powerful, not that I would care to play most triple-A games anyway. But, if you'll humour me, there's always retro gaming. For example, you...
The computer that I use right now isn't particularly powerful, not that I would care to play most triple-A games anyway.
But, if you'll humour me, there's always retro gaming.
For example, you could download a torrent of all SNES games and play through some of the single-player JRPGs in an emulator if that's your thing, stuff like Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, Early Final Fantasy, and Chrono Trigger.
If you'll forgive a link to reddit, here is a list of particularly undemanding games that you can run on most platforms, of which, all are free. Some of my favourites from the list are Ur-Quan Masters and Open Freespace, though you'll have to acquire the game data for the latter one from another source, it's definitely worth it if you like space combat games.
There's also games like minetest (an engine, really), that I talked about elsewhere.
Anyway, don't let a puny computer stop you from gaming,
I know its kind of an anti-pattern , but the newer zeldas were too well made. When a game is cryptic and has some questionable design decisions you get invested from figuring things out. Basically...
I know its kind of an anti-pattern , but the newer zeldas were too well made. When a game is cryptic and has some questionable design decisions you get invested from figuring things out. Basically every zelda game after windwaker had extensive guides and tutorials to ensure the player never gets stuck.
When you go off on an adventure to explore unfamiliar lands you shouldn't get a tutorial. Whats the point of an adventure if everyone tells you how to do what you need to do.
The recent BOTW was an improvement in this aspect but I found it to be dull for other reasons. (whats the point of saving the world if its already rekt, too much climbing, you get 90% of the interesting items in the first hour)
Oh definitely this. And it'd be great to have them more story-focused. I loved Dragon Age: Inquisition, but the pacing had so many problems, with the story getting lost among all the huge-ass...
Oh definitely this. And it'd be great to have them more story-focused. I loved Dragon Age: Inquisition, but the pacing had so many problems, with the story getting lost among all the huge-ass areas in the game. Remember when 40-60 hours was long for a RPG?
I really want a new Ogre Battle 64. Procedurally generated campaigns would be siiiick. Also just slower turn based strategy games in general. I've been playing a bunch of Wesnoth, but I'm not a...
I really want a new Ogre Battle 64. Procedurally generated campaigns would be siiiick.
Also just slower turn based strategy games in general. I've been playing a bunch of Wesnoth, but I'm not a huge fan of that much RNG.
I think sRPGs have had the problem that 4x games offer a lot of what they offer, though often not the same level of small-scale tactical intricacy. It seems like a potentially hard genre to...
I think sRPGs have had the problem that 4x games offer a lot of what they offer, though often not the same level of small-scale tactical intricacy. It seems like a potentially hard genre to modernize given the core mechanics involved.
That said, if you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out Into the Breach - procedural generation, tactics-based strategy gameplay. Pretty tough to start though the more you get into it the more it feels controllable despite the randomness.
I've actually been working (very, very slowly) on a proc gen FFT/Fire Emblem-style sRPG, but don't hold your breath, haha. It does feel like proc gen could work really well for campaign-based sRPGs in particular -- I sort of hope that someone makes the game I want to make, but better than I can do it, as much as I'd love to design the exact game I'm drooling for (which sounds pretty close to yours).
I would love to see a surge of metroidvania indie games! There's only a few ones that I really love out there, but they are by far by favorite type of games to play. While i try to get into games...
I would love to see a surge of metroidvania indie games! There's only a few ones that I really love out there, but they are by far by favorite type of games to play. While i try to get into games like Civ or HoI4, I always end up coming back to a good old combo of hack and slash, exploration, and story.
Have you played Hero Core? It's not a new one, but it's a beautiful little Metroidvania. Also highly recommended from that category: Hollow Knight, VVVVVV, the Momodora series, Aquaria... I'm sure...
Have you played Hero Core? It's not a new one, but it's a beautiful little Metroidvania.
Some of my favorites are Hyper Light Drifter, Dead Cells, Neir: Automata, and Terraria if you can really call it that. Hollow Knight was really good, but I've only played it on other peoples...
Some of my favorites are Hyper Light Drifter, Dead Cells, Neir: Automata, and Terraria if you can really call it that.
Hollow Knight was really good, but I've only played it on other peoples consoles so I haven't finished a ton of it.
Metroidvania is probably my favorite genre. I actually feel like there are a lot of good options out there at the moment – definitely check out Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, SteamWorld...
Metroidvania is probably my favorite genre. I actually feel like there are a lot of good options out there at the moment – definitely check out Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, SteamWorld Dig (1+2), Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (also Momodora 3), and Cave Story
I'd forgotten Ori and the Blind Forest! I downloaded that forever ago and then life got in the way and I was never ale to play it. I should go see if I can still find it.
I'd forgotten Ori and the Blind Forest! I downloaded that forever ago and then life got in the way and I was never ale to play it. I should go see if I can still find it.
Same idea, but I want to see the other side. A metroidvania made by a solid AAA dev. Let's see Blizzards take on it. A 2018 SotN with the level of detail and care of overwatch or diablo would blow...
Same idea, but I want to see the other side. A metroidvania made by a solid AAA dev. Let's see Blizzards take on it.
A 2018 SotN with the level of detail and care of overwatch or diablo would blow my mind.
I would love to see some good MMOs that stay true to the "Massively" in their name. Nowadays online games are mostly match-based, and people you meet are gone right after the match is done. I miss...
I would love to see some good MMOs that stay true to the "Massively" in their name. Nowadays online games are mostly match-based, and people you meet are gone right after the match is done. I miss the extra degree of interaction of open-world MMOs. Maybe Star Citizen is what comes closest to a successor in that kind of games?
Not sure if this counts, but I miss flash games. I don't want flash to return, but there was something golden about those free flash game sites. miniclip, andkon, newgrounds, and whatnot that just...
Not sure if this counts, but I miss flash games. I don't want flash to return, but there was something golden about those free flash game sites. miniclip, andkon, newgrounds, and whatnot that just captivated me. I haven't had the same feeling from the modern equivs in a while, though. So maybe it's just me growing out of it.
Perhaps minetest could scratch that itch? It's a game engine that is minecrafty in the sandbox and visuals way and there are several different games you can use it to run. i.e. you can have one...
Perhaps minetest could scratch that itch? It's a game engine that is minecrafty in the sandbox and visuals way and there are several different games you can use it to run.
Fast-paced Arena Shooters! Epic made money hand over fist with fortnite. Wish they'd use some of the money to develop the new Unreal Tournament into a better game. The basic mechanics are there....
Fast-paced Arena Shooters! Epic made money hand over fist with fortnite. Wish they'd use some of the money to develop the new Unreal Tournament into a better game. The basic mechanics are there. It needs marketing and some form of "progression" to really catch on, I think.
I was really excited when they announced Champions, but the new interface with all the lootboxes, cosmetics, unlockable characters, and matchmaking-only gameplay kind of ruined it for me. Once...
I was really excited when they announced Champions, but the new interface with all the lootboxes, cosmetics, unlockable characters, and matchmaking-only gameplay kind of ruined it for me. Once you're actually in a match it's not bad, but the lack of a server browser and LAN play is a real bummer.
the recent DayZ stress test was alright. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it but I played it a little. It seemed a lot better than what the game was.
the recent DayZ stress test was alright. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it but I played it a little. It seemed a lot better than what the game was.
I guess something like "shoot 'em up"s but more in the style of stuff like Hotline Miami. There's nothing that quite scratches the same itch that that game does for me.
I guess something like "shoot 'em up"s but more in the style of stuff like Hotline Miami. There's nothing that quite scratches the same itch that that game does for me.
I want to see Twitch Shooters come back. Quake Champions I think is doing pretty well, but I want something without the 'heroes' aspect (event though I really enjoy QC).
I want to see Twitch Shooters come back. Quake Champions I think is doing pretty well, but I want something without the 'heroes' aspect (event though I really enjoy QC).
Dunno if it was ever a genre or of it was ever done well but I'd love to see multiplayer DnD with the same content and gameplay but on this generations systems. It'd be really cool to play the...
Dunno if it was ever a genre or of it was ever done well but I'd love to see multiplayer DnD with the same content and gameplay but on this generations systems.
It'd be really cool to play the game like you would on paper but actually see it visualized on screen.
There's always the MMOs that have been done, if MMOs are your thing. [Dungeons and Dragons: Online] (https://www.ddo.com/en) and Neverwinter are the two I know about. The latter of which is...
There's always the MMOs that have been done, if MMOs are your thing. [Dungeons and Dragons: Online] (https://www.ddo.com/en) and Neverwinter are the two I know about. The latter of which is released on Windows, Xbox One and PS4.
There may be a scene out there in the indie-sphere but more "fantasy" sports games or even wild takes on existing sports. I've never been crazy about traditional sports games but it would be great...
There may be a scene out there in the indie-sphere but more "fantasy" sports games or even wild takes on existing sports. I've never been crazy about traditional sports games but it would be great to see more Rocket League-esque games out there. Even stuff like NFL Blitz would be cool.
Back in the Sega days I never played the NHL or NBA games but games like 'Mutant League Hockey' or 'Arch Rivals' were just enough of a twist as to make the game interesting.
Back in the Sega days I never played the NHL or NBA games but games like 'Mutant League Hockey' or 'Arch Rivals' were just enough of a twist as to make the game interesting.
Coop, my friend and I want more games. I want a cool unique mmo, not a warcraft clone. And I want warcraft 4 /starcraft 3. and diablo 4. Please blizzard stop making your trash casual games.
Coop, my friend and I want more games. I want a cool unique mmo, not a warcraft clone. And I want warcraft 4 /starcraft 3. and diablo 4. Please blizzard stop making your trash casual games.
This might seem unimaginative but like almost everyone else, I pick couch co-op, I loved playing games like this on the PS2, PS3, and PC with my little brother. It was probably the most fun I ever...
This might seem unimaginative but like almost everyone else, I pick couch co-op, I loved playing games like this on the PS2, PS3, and PC with my little brother. It was probably the most fun I ever had while gaming, I miss having all these couch co-op games.
Real time tactics games like Ground Control and MechCommander. I miss the attachment I would build up to my veterans over the course of a campaign, it made the stakes of each battle feel a lot...
Real time tactics games like Ground Control and MechCommander. I miss the attachment I would build up to my veterans over the course of a campaign, it made the stakes of each battle feel a lot higher. These days the games that scratch that itch all seem to be turn based (eg: XCom, Battletech, ...).
I don't want genres to return as much as the time to play them that I had when I was younger. That said, I miss broader turn-based strategy games that aren't quite 4x, like Heroes of Might and...
I don't want genres to return as much as the time to play them that I had when I was younger.
That said, I miss broader turn-based strategy games that aren't quite 4x, like Heroes of Might and Magic. That or MMOs that are more community-driven compared to what the standard is these days (random matchmaking across servers and all), but I wouldn't have any time to get into one.
Couch co-op!
I miss the days of playing 4-player split-screen Medal of Honor: Rising Sun or working through a story game with another person. While online multiplayer is great and I play lots of it, it would be nice to see a couch co-op renaissance.
On a similar note, LAN play. So many games have opted out of local area network multiplayer. I remember as a young person gathering up all of our computers and playing games in a small, cramped, and smelly room before the days of wide ranging broadband internet. Today, all multiplayer games are online only and it's upsetting.
Oh man, LAN parties contain some of my best memories; hearing the satisfying screams of your friend as you headshot them is an unbeatable feeling.
I was never into gaming when LAN was the big thing but I have been tinkering with Hamachi ever since Star wars episode 1 racer came to gog. Are there any old games that only supported LAN that you would recommend?
The games I played at LAN parties are pretty old now, so keep that in mind.
For RTS:
Shooters:
I'm sure we played other games, but those are the ones I remember.
I completely agree here, the trend of modern games being online-only for multiplayer is depressing. Halo 5, freakin Halo 5 didn't include local co-op. That is a major burn.
That said, I've found a huge amount of success buying a Steam Link and a few controllers, and keeping my eye out of co-op titles on Steam. There are a surprising number of quality, enjoyable games with local co-op. I'm at work now or I'd spend a bit of time posting up a list, but yeah. They're out there.
I have read the reason it is excluded isn't because it isn't considered, but because to render two fully separate images would be like running two games at the same time - modern games would put too much strain on the hardware.
While that's true, why was Halo 4 able to do it on a weaker console, but Halo 5 can't on the Xbox One? That's my main question. Couch co-op is such a staple of the Halo franchise, that to not include it on Halo 5 is just... wrong, imo.
Yeah, that's where I'm at. I'd rather sacrifice the visuals a bit if it meant keeping local co-op.
Every other Halo (and many other games) drop the quality for split screen mp. They easily could've done it if they wanted to.
Couch co-op was something that Nintendo has been pushing ever since their Wii days as the era of console video gaming slowly moved towards online multiplayer.
For two reasons really:
Nintendo never really invested heavily into online infrastructure anyway
Nintendo wanted to promote personal relationships with anyone playing their games, so a lot of their games focused heavily on local multiplayer
I mean, just look at their franchises, right? Mario gets a whole sleight of games for it with Mario Party, Mario sports games (Tennis, golf, whatever their sports mix game was called), Mario Kart solely exists as a franchise on its own due to its insane popularity, Smash Bros., even a few Zelda games, their Wii Sports series, and I could go on, but you get the point.
The only problems with their popularity with a wider demographic is that they're perceived as "kiddie" rather than "family-friendly," which I realized apparently turns off a lot of adults. It was something I discovered while working for GameStop for a season and noticed a lot of men care about their masculinity and noting the kinds of games they like, with emphases on shooting, killing, and lack of cartoons. That, and their significantly weaker hardware makes it less desirable for developers to port their games to.
Either way, look to Nintendo for some good old co-op. Too bad there's still a lack of FPS games for it.
Honestly, I don't really understand people who get consoles that aren't Nintendo. This is the edge that Nintendo has over PC.
XBox and PlayStation both just seem like much crappier version of PCs to me.
I dunno, i sort of feel like there have been a lot of pretty good couch co-op games in recent years. Towerfall, Overcooked, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, Cuphead, Enter the Gungeon - those are just one's I can think of off the top of my head. I think there's some more recents ones that I haven't had a chance to check out that look promising too, like Wizard of Legend.
I guess there are far less options for couch co-op FPS games on PC though, if that's specifically what you're looking for.
Just to expand on your list, in case someone came here for recommendations...
Rocket League, Brawlhalla, Stikbold, Broforce, Cortex Command
And if we're not being too strict about the "co-op" part, here's a bunch of decent couch multiplayer games:
Speedrunners, Duck Game, Ultimate Chicken Horse, BattleBlock Theater, Tricky Towers, Gang Beasts, Move or Die, Rivals of Aether
There's a game coming out next year for PC and Switch called Rite of Ilk that you might want to look at.
https://youtu.be/wy8KNLVOAYw
I initially thought it was a take on the "Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons" mechanic, then I realized it was co-op only.
It supports online, LAN and local multiplayer.
Games like OpenTTD, the management/sim games need a good comeback.
I'd really love a good city management game that doesn't focus only on the society/building aspect or the infrastructure only but both.
Please! Sim City 4 is still the best and it is now a preposterous 15 years old. :(
There are few things on the horizon I'm excited about. It's a bit off the path from Sim City style games, but Industries of Titan looks pretty exciting.
If they decide to release for GNU+Linux, I'm interested in Industries of Titan. There's some hope for this, as they haven't released any release platform information yet.
I'd love to see a Sim city/ civ5 combo where the city planning affects your civ5 like view for geopolitics/militarization.
It's not quite OpenTTD, but I'm into a similar genre, I would describe it as sandbox-management-basebuilder games. Not sure if you'd like them, but my favourites in order are:
Factorio / Oxygen Not Included
Rimworld
Prison Architect
Kingdoms and Castles (shallow, but chill and super easy to relax to)
I wouldn't clump ONI and factorio together. They're very different games. ONI is more similar to rimworld than factorio.
Factorio is really a genre of it's own, but it's similar enough that I think there's significant overlap in the people who enjoy them. I clumped them together not because they're similar, but because I like them both equally.
Oh ok I gotcha, I would agree with that. Both are great.
Check out frostpunk. I'm tempted to get it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/323190/Frostpunk/
I don't know a ton about video games, but I've always enjoyed the open world/no rules sort of games. Like I liked Myst/Riven a bunch when I was a kid, and I like Elder Scrolls and Breath of the Wild. I think with better computing power, it would be cool to see more procedurally generated worlds that offer endless new things to explore. The tough thing is making sure that there's still a meaningful story/puzzle/lore/something to dive into.
Did you play The Witness? That seems like it might fit with your "no rules", the game approaches it in a really interesting way (and is pretty reminiscent of the Myst/Riven style).
I haven't played it. It looks cool! Thanks for the suggestion.
You might also be interested in Obduction, which is by the same studio as Myst: https://obduction.com/
This looks awesome! I'll have to tell my dad about this. We played Myst together when I was younger. I bet he'd be into this.
Cyan also has a new game they're working on, Firmament, which may well scratch the same itch. I believe it is designed from the ground up for VR, but I'm unsure if it will be VR-only.
Have you looked at Kingdom Come: Deliverance? It's closer to Elder Scrolls, in that it has a relatively large open world to explore, complete with towns and NPCs to get to know. There's no magic, but the story and presentation is very solid.
I haven't--I'll check it out!
I'd like to see a bit of a competitive RTS renaissance. Or hell, any kind of 1v1 competitive comeback. StarCraft is holding on and it will always be my favorite in that space but it would be nice to see it be trendy again. I don't like teamplay all that much.
I still try to keep up with the StarCraft scene over in Korea, especially Remastered and the ASL which seems to be growing in popularity compared to SC2. I personally find some of the matches really enjoyable and tense. If you don't keep up with the scene and you might be interested in watching a great series that happened recently, here's a great series between Flash and a protoss player called Snow https://youtu.be/8uXbRfYeDZY?t=32m40s
Yeah, a return of C&C would be awesome. But that is a shattered dream by this point :'(
As a part of this, I think deep mechanics with a high skill ceiling both in terms of strategy and execution are a must. I am a big fan of Super Smash Bros. Melee. I have played that game on my own and with friends for probably 200+ hours. Because of how much there is to it, I am still awful, even compared to people who show up to local tournaments. The later installations in the series have lost some of the depth in favor of more accessibility, a trend in gaming in general.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of the trend against mechanical difficulty / complex execution. There can be plenty of depth both ways, but I feel like making it hard to do high level maneuvers and such makes it so there's this really fun learning period (that may last forever, if we're talking Melee or Brood War or something) where there's very clear mechanical goals for you to learn. When there's not that much of that, you're forced to immediately focus on strategy and nuanced little things that are interesting, but I'm way more motivated to get into all that when I've already seen a bunch of progress through mechanical improvements.
Mechanical improvements were my jam in Melee, and are why I still come back to it semi-regularly even though I'm not involved with the community in any meaningful sense. That there could be so much to just moving your character around the stage, let alone using that movement for a combo or to gain stage positioning, is fascinating. Plus, I get to press a lot of buttons, and who doesn't love that?
I am still waiting for a high-fantasy RTS to make a splash. Something like Age of Empires but with magic and mythic to substitute the things AoE wasnt able to do because of realism, etc.
WarCraft 3 is still fairly active and recently got an update to make it more friendly for modern players.
Oh yeah I totally forgot about warcraft, though isn't it mostly campaign focused, sorry if that's totally wrong, I've never played it for more than like 10 minutes at a friend's house
It can be mostly single player if you want it to be, but it was quite a healthy competitive game and there's still plenty of fun to be had in multiplayer.
I feel like MOBAs have maybe permanently replaced RTSs in the mainstream. It makes sense – MOBAs are much more spectator-friendly because the action is concentrated in fewer places, and it's easier to tell who is winning at any given point.
Immersive single-player RPG's. i.e. Ocarina of Time
Single player in general. A lot of games seem to be either multi-player with a single player campaign tacked on as an afterthought, or single player with multi-player options that are almost required to complete the single player campaign that's the "focus" of the game.
I don't really do multi-player. I'm not that good at video games even though I enjoy playing them. But not being good at them means that I don't get enjoyment out of competing with others; I just get beat over and over until I give up.
I think the problem is that single player games are very hard to monetize.
Yeah, that's probably the case. Can't really make money on lootboxes if the players can't show off to each other with their fancy new skins or characters.
Still bums me out, though.
I also generally prefer singleplayer games and now (for the past several years) I've almost been solely playing games released by Paradox Interactive. e.g. Crusader Kings, Europa Universalis IV
I'm particularly drawn to their depth, replayability, and all the new content that keeps getting added the many years after release.
I do make the mistake of trying multiplayer games on occasion, then realising it just isn't worth dying then being relegated to watching the rest of the game, the majority of the time.
Yeah, it seems like PC is where I would be able to scratch my single player itch, but I don't have one capable of gaming.
The computer that I use right now isn't particularly powerful, not that I would care to play most triple-A games anyway.
But, if you'll humour me, there's always retro gaming.
For example, you could download a torrent of all SNES games and play through some of the single-player JRPGs in an emulator if that's your thing, stuff like Fire Emblem, Dragon Quest, Early Final Fantasy, and Chrono Trigger.
If you'll forgive a link to reddit, here is a list of particularly undemanding games that you can run on most platforms, of which, all are free. Some of my favourites from the list are Ur-Quan Masters and Open Freespace, though you'll have to acquire the game data for the latter one from another source, it's definitely worth it if you like space combat games.
There's also games like minetest (an engine, really), that I talked about elsewhere.
Anyway, don't let a puny computer stop you from gaming,
Was there something about future Zelda games that you felt didn't capture the same immersion as OoT?
I know its kind of an anti-pattern , but the newer zeldas were too well made. When a game is cryptic and has some questionable design decisions you get invested from figuring things out. Basically every zelda game after windwaker had extensive guides and tutorials to ensure the player never gets stuck.
When you go off on an adventure to explore unfamiliar lands you shouldn't get a tutorial. Whats the point of an adventure if everyone tells you how to do what you need to do.
The recent BOTW was an improvement in this aspect but I found it to be dull for other reasons. (whats the point of saving the world if its already rekt, too much climbing, you get 90% of the interesting items in the first hour)
Oh definitely this. And it'd be great to have them more story-focused. I loved Dragon Age: Inquisition, but the pacing had so many problems, with the story getting lost among all the huge-ass areas in the game. Remember when 40-60 hours was long for a RPG?
I really want a new Ogre Battle 64. Procedurally generated campaigns would be siiiick.
Also just slower turn based strategy games in general. I've been playing a bunch of Wesnoth, but I'm not a huge fan of that much RNG.
I think sRPGs have had the problem that 4x games offer a lot of what they offer, though often not the same level of small-scale tactical intricacy. It seems like a potentially hard genre to modernize given the core mechanics involved.
That said, if you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out Into the Breach - procedural generation, tactics-based strategy gameplay. Pretty tough to start though the more you get into it the more it feels controllable despite the randomness.
I've actually been working (very, very slowly) on a proc gen FFT/Fire Emblem-style sRPG, but don't hold your breath, haha. It does feel like proc gen could work really well for campaign-based sRPGs in particular -- I sort of hope that someone makes the game I want to make, but better than I can do it, as much as I'd love to design the exact game I'm drooling for (which sounds pretty close to yours).
I would love to see a surge of metroidvania indie games! There's only a few ones that I really love out there, but they are by far by favorite type of games to play. While i try to get into games like Civ or HoI4, I always end up coming back to a good old combo of hack and slash, exploration, and story.
Have you played Hero Core? It's not a new one, but it's a beautiful little Metroidvania.
Also highly recommended from that category: Hollow Knight, VVVVVV, the Momodora series, Aquaria... I'm sure I'm missing some.
But Hero Core's got the low, low price of free, and is a gem.
Some of my favorites are Hyper Light Drifter, Dead Cells, Neir: Automata, and Terraria if you can really call it that.
Hollow Knight was really good, but I've only played it on other peoples consoles so I haven't finished a ton of it.
Metroidvania is probably my favorite genre. I actually feel like there are a lot of good options out there at the moment – definitely check out Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, SteamWorld Dig (1+2), Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight (also Momodora 3), and Cave Story
I'd forgotten Ori and the Blind Forest! I downloaded that forever ago and then life got in the way and I was never ale to play it. I should go see if I can still find it.
Same idea, but I want to see the other side. A metroidvania made by a solid AAA dev. Let's see Blizzards take on it.
A 2018 SotN with the level of detail and care of overwatch or diablo would blow my mind.
Even just a remake of SotN, I would be so happy!
I would love to see some good MMOs that stay true to the "Massively" in their name. Nowadays online games are mostly match-based, and people you meet are gone right after the match is done. I miss the extra degree of interaction of open-world MMOs. Maybe Star Citizen is what comes closest to a successor in that kind of games?
Not sure if this counts, but I miss flash games. I don't want flash to return, but there was something golden about those free flash game sites. miniclip, andkon, newgrounds, and whatnot that just captivated me. I haven't had the same feeling from the modern equivs in a while, though. So maybe it's just me growing out of it.
Sandbox. Not even kidding. Minecraft was one of THOSE games, and I'd really enjoy that kind of "first-time MC player" feeling again.
Perhaps minetest could scratch that itch? It's a game engine that is minecrafty in the sandbox and visuals way and there are several different games you can use it to run.
i.e. you can have one that looks a bit like Legend of Zelda, or another that feels a bit like Lord of the Rings
You can also run various mods on the base game to play how you like.
Fast-paced Arena Shooters! Epic made money hand over fist with fortnite. Wish they'd use some of the money to develop the new Unreal Tournament into a better game. The basic mechanics are there. It needs marketing and some form of "progression" to really catch on, I think.
Quake Champions is looking pretty good in that aspect.
I was really excited when they announced Champions, but the new interface with all the lootboxes, cosmetics, unlockable characters, and matchmaking-only gameplay kind of ruined it for me. Once you're actually in a match it's not bad, but the lack of a server browser and LAN play is a real bummer.
I know people are going to hate me for this but, zombies. We still have not gotten that great open world zombie game that isn't shit.
State of Decay 1 kept me playing for like 100 hours but the 2nd one doesn't look very good
the recent DayZ stress test was alright. I didn't really pay a lot of attention to it but I played it a little. It seemed a lot better than what the game was.
I guess something like "shoot 'em up"s but more in the style of stuff like Hotline Miami. There's nothing that quite scratches the same itch that that game does for me.
I want to see Twitch Shooters come back. Quake Champions I think is doing pretty well, but I want something without the 'heroes' aspect (event though I really enjoy QC).
Honestly I'd love for Lan parties to make a comeback. Steam is an awesome tech don't get me wrong but it takes the social part out of gaming
Tribes!
Midair doesn't look bad but there aren't any Tribes-like games for Linux as far as I can tell.
Dunno if it was ever a genre or of it was ever done well but I'd love to see multiplayer DnD with the same content and gameplay but on this generations systems.
It'd be really cool to play the game like you would on paper but actually see it visualized on screen.
There's always the MMOs that have been done, if MMOs are your thing. [Dungeons and Dragons: Online] (https://www.ddo.com/en) and Neverwinter are the two I know about. The latter of which is released on Windows, Xbox One and PS4.
There may be a scene out there in the indie-sphere but more "fantasy" sports games or even wild takes on existing sports. I've never been crazy about traditional sports games but it would be great to see more Rocket League-esque games out there. Even stuff like NFL Blitz would be cool.
Back in the Sega days I never played the NHL or NBA games but games like 'Mutant League Hockey' or 'Arch Rivals' were just enough of a twist as to make the game interesting.
Coop, my friend and I want more games. I want a cool unique mmo, not a warcraft clone. And I want warcraft 4 /starcraft 3. and diablo 4. Please blizzard stop making your trash casual games.
I think I'd enjoy more AAA multiplayer shooters without progression and just giving people 3-4 preset classes that you can't fuck with.
This might seem unimaginative but like almost everyone else, I pick couch co-op, I loved playing games like this on the PS2, PS3, and PC with my little brother. It was probably the most fun I ever had while gaming, I miss having all these couch co-op games.
More atmospheric FPS in the style of old-school Doom/Quake I & II/Blood/Wolfenstein.
I've haven't been scared by a game in decades.
Real time tactics games like Ground Control and MechCommander. I miss the attachment I would build up to my veterans over the course of a campaign, it made the stakes of each battle feel a lot higher. These days the games that scratch that itch all seem to be turn based (eg: XCom, Battletech, ...).
I don't want genres to return as much as the time to play them that I had when I was younger.
That said, I miss broader turn-based strategy games that aren't quite 4x, like Heroes of Might and Magic. That or MMOs that are more community-driven compared to what the standard is these days (random matchmaking across servers and all), but I wouldn't have any time to get into one.