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Steam Winter Sale 2023: Hidden gems
Inspired by the recurring topic every Steam sale over at /r/GameDealsMeta:
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What are some lesser-known Steam games that you recommend?
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Are there any genres you’d like hidden gem recommendations for?
There’s no hard requirement for what counts as a “hidden gem.” Any game that you think deserves more attention counts.
For general and popular game recommendations for the sale, please use this topic instead.
Here's a massive list that I compiled originally for Reddit, but I think Tildes might enjoy it as well. It contains about six years' worth of hidden gems from my library, roughly in the order I played them. As you'll see, I like story-rich games, and have been especially into mystery games lately, but I also enjoy logic puzzles and the occasional metroidvania. Disclaimer: I didn't check if they were all on sale.
General recommendations:
Mystery/Exploration:
Point-and-clicks:
Visual novels:
Puzzles of different kinds:
Walking sims:
Local co-op:
I've tried Senna and the Forest after your recommendation, but I'm a bit confused by it. Do you know whether it's meant to be a purely logical deduction game, where the solution is fully deducible from given information, or are you meant to try inputting multiple solutions to see which one is correct? E.g. with the withered trees in the first level, there are two that have the same parent and neither has their name mentioned, so it seems impossible to deduce which one is which. Are you just meant to try inputting different combinations until you get a correct one, or is there something I'm missing?
I tried the steam's discussion page, but someone has already asked this question 2 years ago, and still hasn't received a response.
No, unfortunately you have to guess at points, but the game doesn't penalise you for it.
The Outer Wilds (not The Outer Worlds) is the best game I have ever played in my entire life. I can't say too much because you can only experience it once.
Here is what I feel comfortable saying:
You fly around a mini solar system with incredible physics. You get off your ship and use your translation machine to translate mysterious text. The text gives you clues to solve the best puzzles ever devised in a video game. A beautiful story unravels.
Then you do the DLC and absolutely shit yourself in fear while being in awe of the fact that the devs managed to do it again.
Took me about an hour to get into it. I didn't understand what I was doing really at first but once you solve your first puzzle and it clicks, it's just an incredible experience.
To piggy back on this,
I absolutely loved Chants of Sennaar and am told that it is very similar to Outer Wilds. (And it has a demo which is nice)
I plan on pickin up Outer Wilds for this reason and am very excited.
While I kinda see where that comparison comes from, I would liken Chants of Sennaar much more to Havens Vault (a game I can wholeheartedly recommend), since translating an unknown language is the main focus of those to games. In Outer Wilds the actual act of translation is done by the tool, your task is to figure out how the pieces of information all fit together.
All that said, I hope you pick up Outer Wilds and enjoy it, playing through it for the first time and figuring out all its little secrets is an amazing experience!
Going to pick that game up now. Thanks for the suggestion!
If you liked Chantd of Sennaar I'd recommend Return to Obra Dinn. It has a very distinct visual style and is about solving the mystery of what happened on the ship. Very enjoyable even if quite difficult at times (eg. if you miss some clues). Only playable once though.
While it's a very different game in many respects, Tunic is another game that heavily leans into the "knowledge = progress" formula and provides a lot of the same mind-blowing discovery moments as Outer Wilds. It's essentially Dark Souls meets old school Zelda with a gimmick that everything in the game is written in a made-up language. It has a lot more layers than that though and like Outer Wilds it's best to go in as blind as you can.
The Forgotten City is another game commonly compared to Outer Wilds. The less you know about it going in, the better.
I’ll qualify it with the explanation that it has some jank you have to be able to look past (it originally started as a Skyrim mod before becoming a full standalone), but if you’re able to do so it’s similarly fulfilling.
I was quite disappointed with The Forgotten City. It starts with the appearence that knowledge = progress, but just a short bit in I realized you didn’t actually have to learn anything, you just followed your quest log and it pretty much told you what to do. You didn’t even have to remember it for future loops as you’ll just immediately tell a character to do the tasks for you.
I don't want to be dismissive or anything, but I don't feel this is accurate to what I experienced. The game definitely involves learning about different things and pursuing different leads -- admittedly once you do it gets noted in the quest log, but I consider that more of a quality of life thing.
The same goes for telling the character. Without getting too spoilery -- after my first loop, I was like "oh no, I'm going to have some chores to do each time". Telling the specific character to do those things was a huge boon to my playthrough, because once I'd understood what was going on with a specific part of the story, I no longer needed to see that part through, but I could still have that character resolve things for me. I consider that aspect an essential feature and didn't think it lessened the playthrough at all. In fact, I think it enhanced things. By the end, if I had to do a bunch of tasks myself to effect the "optimal" loop, I would have been pretty unhappy with that. Telling the character made things easy for me.
I do agree with some of your points, to some degree. You do learn things, but I never felt that you had to connect the dots yourself. The game always told you where to take the information next. I didn't feel like I had any agency in figuring out the pieces of the puzzle to have it click in the end, like I did with Outer Wilds. I only had to figure out each part of the puzzle and then it basically automatically solved the whole mystery for me. And again, I could skip almost all dialogue and still be able to make progress thanks to the quest log telling me where to go at all times, so the few puzzles I had to solve or dots I had to connect myself where few and far between.
The only time (as far as I remember) where I felt like I figured out something myself with the information I learned was when
Spoiler
you trick the assassin into the collapsing temple.Definitely giving this a try. Thank you!
I love love love the kind of review that is "you can only experience it for the first time once." To me, it's very high praise. I'll add this to my wishlist and see about it before the sale is over!
This is the case with Final Fantasy X. I wish I didn't know anythin about story, but would like to have some knowledge of the game mechanics.
Can I give it to a teen as a gift?
Absolutely
Yes! It's appropriate for any age but could be difficult to solve some of the puzzles. I would give it to a bright teenager.
I teach middle school and I can think of some students who would love it.
Oh, this game looks excellent. Picking it up now.
I've been missing out on this for years because I thought it was Outer Worlds which I tried and refunded because I didn't enjoy it, so I'd been ignoring the ads for it on steam!
I'm so envious of you! I wish I could play it again for my first time so badly.
Lol I've ignored so many people raving about wilds because of this same thing.
Just kept thinking outer worlds can't be that good these people crazy
I had a major existential crisis during the pandemic and Outer Wilds solved it. I can't recommend it enough.
Just adding it's up there with Riven as one of those games I plan on replaying every few years when i've forgotten enough of it to make it interesting again. Gorgeous game.
Psst. You know that Cyan's doing a remake, yes? Riven was the game I played through with my parents when it was first released. Sunday nights after dinner, my mother and I would take turns "driving", and my father sat beside us with his sketchbook and scribbled maps and illustrations.
My dad's passed, but I intend to set my mom up with it. In VR if I can.
I had no idea. That’s awesome. I played obduction which was good but lacking in the end, but I’d love to be able to play riven without jumping through hoops
Yes!
I recommend downloading one mod: a fan made voice acting mod. It makes it feel more alive and easier to distinguish what characters are saying what across your different findings.
It's a bit clunky (it's fan made after all) but full of love, endearing, and well worth it.
Not quite the same for me (that'd be Return of the Obra Dinn personally) but yeah, definitely top-5. It's the purest and cleanest exploration experience I've ever seen, and does it phenomenally well.
I love Obra Dinn so much. That's another game that really stuck with me. My biggest gripe is that while the graphics were very artistic and unique, I think I'd have enjoyed the game more if the art style was more traditional.
I keep reading basically everywhere how good this game is. I still haven't bought it and I still haven't categorized it for myself.
Is it puzzle game, as you suggested? Is there some other genre stepping in?
The DLC is separate? If I buy them in bundle, would I be able to differentiate what is standard and what is DLC content? Can it be played like so (is there a option in the menu where you select basic game or DLC)? Or is it like say Skyrim where you get all the DLC stuff thrown into normal game and just play it together?
I added the game to my wishlist last night so that I don't forget. And I might be buying it.
I like puzzle games, be it real puzzle like the ones from Zachtronics, or something story driven like Talos Principle. I enjoyed The Room series too.
It's more like the Talos Principle than anything else you listed, though I absolutely love zachtronics games as well.
The big difference is that these puzzles take place across a solar system rather than levels and you can complete them in any order. It's unique in that the only thing standing between you and the end is knowledge. You could go beat it in five minutes except you would never figure out how to do that unless you solved everything else first. No chance. I guess I would compare this game to Myst or Riven but not exactly. It's just the closest I can think of because a lot of the puzzles are environmental. It sucks because I can't say too much without giving stuff away.
Don't look anything up about this game. If you are absolutely stumped you might be able to Google "hints" or "no spoilers guide" but be super careful. This game really requires you to go in slightly blind and it can be spoiled in about a sentence or two if someone wanted to screw you.
As for the DLC, it is presented as a "new exhibit" in the starting area's museum. You would follow the clues to the dlc from there. Very tiny chance you could stumble across the DLC's access point randomly but you'd notice it was different as it adds/removes mechanics and gear, as well as changes thematically. You'll want to do the DLC after the main game in my opinion.
Those games you listed are my favorite types of games. I love Portal, QUBE 2, Talos Principle, Shenzhen IO, and Bonfire Peaks. I particularly like difficult puzzle games. The kind where my friends Google answers the answers but I hold out because I'm a puzzle masochist.
This one has the best difficulty balance I've ever encountered because it's definitely challenging but I was never putting it down to try again later. The puzzles can be done in any order so you can always leave and come back when you have more information from another puzzle.
Be prepared because this game will set a new standard for you and no other puzzle/exploration game will even come close. I think about this game very often because it impacted me deeply and I am always sad that I can't experience it again for the first time.
Words to categorize this game? Cozy, beautiful, puzzle, exploration, physics, investigation, existential, time and space, awe-inspiring.
For the DLC? Spooky as hell.
Well you just convinced another random internet stranger to buy this game for the holidays. Sounds really interesting.
Sidenote, cool username. Star Trek or astronomy? :)
Haha, actually it's based on my favorite podcast titled Wolf 359.
Excellent audio drama. Takes a few episodes to get the big plot going but once it does, it's amazing! Warm, funny, and intense. A real "one more episode" kind of show.
Also love Star Trek though!
I don't think I had that experience with the base game, but I definitely had that experience with the DLC; I hit a wall and only figured out how to get through it by trying some random dumb thing.
Anyway, piggybacking on this. Outer Wilds is easily my favorite game of the last five years, and definitely in my top five of all time. When I was a wee lad, I saw someone asking on a forum what they could do to make Ocarina of Time fresh again, and someone suggested bashing their head against a wall to give themselves amnesia. I wish I could give myself amnesia for Outer Wilds.
Also reiterating: DO NOT LOOK ANYTHING UP.
I wanted to let you know that I went to bed at 1:30AM because I played the game until then. I would have played longer but my Steam Deck's battery told me to get some sleep :-D
The game is great! I'm curious about where it will lead me to. Or actually where I would lead myself. I'm just a few hours in and love it! Thanks for your reply, you made me go for it, finally.
That's so awesome to hear. I love when people get to share this experience with me.
Let me know how you like it in the end?
Also, any good game recommendations for me?
Well, actually, yes. If you play strategy games, that is. Creeper World 3 totally got me. It is one absokutely abnormal strategy game. I have written a Steam review where I explain it a bit. You can read it as it doesn't really spoil anything. The story is meh, but the gameplay and levels are awesome and to some degree almost endless in count. If it clicks with you, you can do easily multiple hundreds of hours of this game. It also has level editor and use created levels...
Now... If you wanted some suspense and re-experience the Outer Wils through me:
Spoilers
* I've been to twins planets and explored underground on ember one and bridges on ash one. * I've been on Brittle Hollow and fell through black hole and on second visit I saw the hanging city and explored a bit. Then fell through black hole again.. * I have found other explorer(s) playing their instruments, not all though. * I have found two escape pods. I have also recalled shuttle from comet. * I have found dark bramble seed on home planet (Hearth I-don't-remember) * My hypothesis so far: Fifth planet got eaten by Dark Bramble as got Vessel of Nomai and third escape pod. My home planet might get eaten too. Nomai wanted to build impenetrale base on Ember Twin but it wasn't impenetrable or something happened there. The Sun goes supernova everytime (haven't measured the time so I don't know if it is time basedor event based). I live in a time loop probably where I retain my knowledge in between. What the hell is that "shooting" thing I see in the sky when I wake up? I need to get past ghost matter somehow.Totally spoiler free response:
I really love that you shared that with me. I was able to live vicariously through you for a moment. I have an infant at home so I haven't been able to game very much recently (plus, can't experience that game for the first time again anyway, as mentioned previously). But I enjoyed reading your theories and I'm sitting here just remembering my theories and what I was thinking at the time.
One of my favorite things to do was flying the ship and trying to land it nicely. Or getting a perfect orbit around a planet. Super hard right? I love that they make you think about your velocity more than other games.
Oh man! I have flown a few time directly info he Sun (although I didn't want to) and missed a planet doing over 500m/s. Eventually I found out about autopilot and now I'm just landing the ship. I don't actually try to land perfectly, just get it on the ground unharmed. But I like challenges of landing on small spots and deep in the forests/craters.
It's wonderful game! And I know even now at the beginning that I will miss it because it won't be replayable due to single time experience. But maybe in a few years I will forget enough to enjoy it again.
Once again and for ohers - there are obviously spoilers ahead! Continue if you want to know what I foind in the game and what I think so far.
The shooting thing is orbital cannon on Giant's deep orbit that shoots probe that should find the Eye (whatever that is).
I learned quantum mechanics - take a photo of it, it stays there.
I learned that Sun goes supernova after 22 minutes from me waking up/probe shot from cannon.
The impenetrable "base" is not on Ember twin but on Ash twin, sand movement from one planet to he other seems to be around 20 minutes, not much to do on Ash twin.
I've been in High energy lab and observed scout shit in black hole emerge from white one sooner than it goes into the black. I have also oerfected my way to the Sunless city from the escape pod. I still have to explore it more.
My theory right now is not that straight. I know Nomai wanted to be able to shift 22 minutes back in time using black/white hole. Thes probably built that base on Ash twin to be able to do that. These 22 minutes are precisely from probe shot to supernova. I guess they did this to be able to locate the eye in this neverending loop. I also thing they made the Sun go supernova by their actions (maybe Sun station has something to do with that, but I was unable to land there so far), but this claim is based on nothing, really.
My next journey is to the Tower of Quantum something on Brittle Hollow. It was the fist thing I visited when I left Timber Hearth the first time, so I don't remember it much. I also have to get to Southern observatory. I know how, but I fail to get over missing quantum "walk on the wall" stones in final part of the walk (I guess).
I've been inside the comet, Ghost matter stops me from going further. Was unable to find something using scout.
I've been to satelite that makes the in-game map and goes around the sun in up/down/vertical orbit. Nothing there, really.
I've been eaten by anglerfish on Dark Bramble twice. Now I know they are blind, I should return there, but I don't really want to :-)
I hope you can once more have sme flashback into your own gameplay :-)
Every line was like reliving it. Love it. That was awesome. I actually feel like I have forgotten enough of the DLC to go replay it and I think you've inspired me to do so. Unfortunately, I remember the main game too well way too well because I've played it twice and read all about it several times. Living vicariously through you has been super enjoyable. God, I love this game.
I'm here for an advice. The question will be at the end of this spoiler block.
I have made it to the Vessel. I played with the "controls" there but gotnowhere before supernova.
I made it to black hole forge in Hanging city.
I know that towers on Ash twin warp me to other planets.
I have seen Quantum moon and tried to land on it a few times
I know jellyfish can protect me when getting to the Giant's deep core, yet I don't know how to get inside the jellyfish.
I think I can get to Sun station by one of the towers on Ash twin - the one full of cactuses that I can't get through (my flying skill is too low for that).
I believe I know more than 90% of things in the game, yet it started slipping from my hands... I'm becoming stumped.
So the question, I guess... Do I really have to get through the cactuses in the Ash twin tower so I can warp to Sun station? Am I right in the theory o jellyfish protecting me while getting to the core of the Giant's deep? Maybe I have to get something from the frozen jellyfish on Dark Bramble... (try not to spoil).
I still hae to find something in the Sunless city, but I did thorough search though one whole time loop and went everywhere I believe. Also I mayhaveto figure out the Lakebed cave on Ember twin, as I got there but I couldn't warp with the quantum stone elsewhere although my scout showed me it warps to location with Nomai stairs. I have warped with cave stone before by chance which I realized when gettng out of cave on another place. Maybe I should try that again.
As I said, I seem to be getting stumped. Not much more to discover, but I need just a bit more to put all together.
The end game goal would probably be to discover the Eye, which should be done by warping to he sixth location via the Quantum moon. I guess the probe can help me if I get to the core of Giant's deep to have a look in the probe section of orbital cannon (that gets destroyed by shooting the probe and this one part falls down to the planet's core).
I may have to visit the Vessel once more too. But I don't think there is something to be done there at my current state. The warp core is probably non-funtional and I can't seem to know how the triangle controls with hexagonal patterns work (yet).
You think I'm on right track? Maybe ask me a question which I can or cannot answer so you know were I am at? If possible - no spoilers :-) I would love to know if I have to fly through cactuses on Ash twin though - I don't ask for directions, just simple yes/no. I don't want to try and fail endlessly for nothing.
Yes to giant's deep.
Yes to the cactuses. But they're extremely easy to get past once you know how. What's unique about this particular planet? What changes over time?
You're definitely on the right track. Let me know if you're still stuck after these two things. I don't recall exactly what info you get from passing these two challenges but you'll get some more threads to pull on.
If you're still stuck after that I'll give more very subtle, non-spoiler hints based on what you've told me.
Mass = gravity! Thanks, didin't occur to me, as I went there right from the get go when the planet was full of sand.
Yes to Giant's deep means for me going to Dark Bramble and have a look at the jellyfish once more. And talk to the explorer here, maybe I will havemore conversation options.
I know I will get info from both. I may be ale to learn why Nomai wanted the Sun station aka huge energy amount (although I very likely know why - to make this 22 minute time loop, as it was mentioned in High energy lab that it would need huge amounts of energy for such long warp back in time). I will learn something from he probe module of the cannon, as it is where they would get the signal back from the probe that should home in on the Eye - if it worked as intended, that is.
The jellyfish are helpful for getting where you're going in giant's deep. If you've already been there, you figured that out. Jellyfish won't help you on dark bramble.
Dark bramble will require you to be stealthy and use one of your navigation tools to figure out where the heck you're going :)
I have explored Dark Bramble to my liking. I know yu have to be stealthy and use the vines to your advantage (anglerfish can't pursue you there) OR go full speed in your spaceship as it seems to outrun the anglerfish. I've been to other space traveler there, froze jellyfish and also to the Vessel. And to the middle of the breedin area I suppose were I saw either fish eggs or simply some randomly connected circle things (say DNA-like looking). Also - if you hug the walls really hard, anglerfish can't eat you :-)
I think I have to get into jellyfish so it protects me when descending into the core on Giant's deep, but they keep zapping me. I need to get into one when it's not energized. Or maybe try and go through one while it is going inside the core (it my create kinda isolated tunnel). I have to try harder. I know what I have to do, I have to figure out how now :-)
I supposewe are so deep in comments hierarchy that we don't have to use the details box anymore...
I was wrong. It's not gravity that chages over time on Ash twin. I meat it changes too, but I learned that I can simply walk through that hallway if I come in at just the right time.
I aso foind froze jellyfish on Giant's deep yesterday. Now just unfreeze it somehow. Will try slving that today :-)
Also - came into the Sun station just at the right time to get all the info before I was swallowed by expanding Sun. And I've came across a vide where somebody actually flew to the Sun station. My skill will never be that good.
And also - Nomai thought they weren't successful at pokingthe Sun to go supernova. I guess they were not right with that assessment :-D Well, Sun station said that over 200 thousand years there were no input. Now we know some timeframe at last.
You figured out the cactus! Nice!
It's hard for me not to comment on your current progress but I'll wait til you figure it all out :)
I actually saw the sun station before I figured out you could teleport to it. I figured you had to land on it, so I kept trying until I did!! I landed on that sun station so early that the clues didn't make sense. I knew I had skipped some steps so I just forgot about it and went back later.
You get an achievement for landing on it manually.
YOU ARE DEAD
Yeah, I knew I'm stopping the cycle, somehow I thought I can read everything inside the Ash Twin Project, grab the warp core and make it to the Vessel in time... Nope :D
Next time I have to be faster, I won't do any reading and I know what I have to do. I have to get into Giant's Deep core once more though, I don't remember the coordinates that I have to input into the Vessel's controls. It didn't click with me the first time that it will be what I input there... I'm wondering where it takes me (well, to the Eye of the Universe, of course).
Holding my tongue:) let me know when you finish the game!
I had to look up three things...
How to use jellyfish (I knew themechanics, just couldn't get it to work)
How to get to comet's core (using scout I saw an opening where the ruptured core is but couldn't find a way how to get there)
How to get to Ash Twin project (what to do with coordinates, actually, which pointed me to Ash Twin project)
When I found warp core in Ash Twin project, I remembered there is broken one in the Vessel and also remembered that coordinates can be used there at the controls. I will play later in the day (central Europe).
What a game!
The ending was a but psychedelic, like 2001: Space odyssey - you either had used too little of drugs or too much :-)
But it was great to sit by a fire with all the other explorers listening to their tune! What a way to sell the soundtrack (which I'll be definitely buying).
I love that there are still such great games that have teams of just a few people behind them (credits, or rather how short they were, led me to this).
I can see myself replayng the game in a few years. One just have to want to pursue the Nomai story and not just the end goal. This is aupported by the clues you get written to your ship log - you want all of them = there is replay value.
I still haven't finished Quantum moon clues though. Is it because of my incompetence or is it how DLC starts? Did I have to land on it somewhere in the storyline? All the things I learned abour Quantum moon is the most important one that there is sixth cellestial body present somewhere, presumably the Eye of the Universe, which actually seems like origin of Quantum stones (say home planet, maybe?).
Great game, money well spent! Thanks for making me pull the trigger on this one!
The DLC starts with a new exhibit in the museum. And the DLC is incredible!
Glad you enjoyed it!!!!
I don't remember enough of the specific clues to tell you about the quantum moon. You'd have to Google and see what exactly you missed. But I do know I also finished the game with a couple missing clues. A lot of them just give some extra narrative or point toward the solution if the other clues weren't quite enough.
The ending broke my heart and made me so happy at the same time. The acceptance that their world has to end in order to make a new one was so beautiful and I thought it was well done. Very profound game.
The DLC is equally amazing! Much scarier though. Not gory horror movie scary, more like anglerfish scary :)
Thanks for updating me. It's been pretty satisfying to follow your playthrough. I'm so glad someone else enjoyed my favorite game!
I will google the Quantum moon. I'm curious, yet I can't find a way to advance in my own.
Really great game! Very well.made and perfect for me - someone who is driven by exploration and want to search every corner. Good story, great level design and imagination on developer's part. I will write Steam review, this game is easily worth it.
I tried to land there too, pilots would call that missed approach :-D Ended up in the Sun... I will never get that achievement.
Since I wasn't able to land there, I laid Sun station indefinitely. And after a few hours I learned you can get there by other means anc made a theory how this would work. Only needed to get past the cactus hallway.
Yeah, I'm no asking for another advice, as I will try to figure that out myself :-)
The clues from Sun station are not that much clues, actually. The only thing I learned there was that a comet came into the system. I will haveto get to the comet once again, because I learned that the ghost matter crystals don't mean you can't go over them. And I know how to see where I still can go through them, so Interloper it is.
And Giant's deep with that frozen jellyfish.
Those are my two main objectives right now. I will play later today.
It’s incredibly satisfying to go full-speed towards a planet and perfectly being able to slow down in time to not crash into it.
They really nailed the movement in the game, ensuring the gameplay loop is fulfilling while being super engaged by the story. Many story heavy games don’t have engaging gameplay like Outer Wilds.
I know for sure what the shooting thing in the sky is! :-)
I'm back once more. You asked for game recommendation, I've got a good one this time.
After playing Outer Wilds for a while I like the idea howthe story is served to you piece by piece. This thing alone reminded me of Horizon Zero Dawn. It is action RPG though, I don't know if you'd like it. It's not hard to learn though. I don't play such games much but it was pretty ok.
I went into Horizon Zero Dawn completely bind just as I did with Outer Worlds. I didn't know ANYTHING apart from screenshots. I didin't see even trailer. I loved the story! It is handed to you by pieces that don't mean much at first but sooner you will get some ideas and suspicions and then the game serves you big chunk and soon after another and you get the picture. It is perfectly crafted!
Expect 100 hours if yu don't fast travel and want to do and search everything. Story would be around 40 I guess.
I played HZD and absolutely loved it so much. Great recommendation and I hope someone else sees this and gets the idea to play it!
The sequel was great too, although I didn't finish because I had a baby lol.
I'm waiting for Forbidden West to come out on PC and I hope it run on Steam Deck kinda okay-ish /. HZD did 30 no problem with dips here and there, which is very ok for me - I was running it on 9W of power, so I didn't give the game much room to excel in framerate :-)
It is kina insta-buy for me, as HZD was sooo great! But there won't be the "what is this all about?" feeling as I already know where the game is situated and what happened... I believe they pieced a great story together for Forbidden West, yet I kinda think the moment of surprise was already spent in HZD.
I had the chance to play the VR Horizon game on PS5 for an hour or so, great time. Aloy looked better than ever! Friend finished the game and will probably buy HZD and FW too. The VR one was his first of Horizon series.
Sold!
I will buy it. I never figured it from the screenshots. It reminds me of Talos Principle which also can't be figured out from screenshots.
I will definitely go blind into this one. Thank you for your reply!
I would say it's more an exploration game than a puzzle game. It less about manipulating game states and more about understanding them.
I agree with @wolf_359: go in it blind.
I will learn that soon myself :) I have to pick now - finish KotOR (stil on Taris, so probably another 50 hours) or start Outer Wilds? Is Outer Wilds shorter? HLTB says 15-25 hours.
15-25 sounds right to me. Depends on how quickly you figure things out and how much you want to explore.
I personally found myself exploring freely a LOT.
I like to go into every corner. I love easter eggs or just having maps fully explored. I will give it a spin, SW KotOR can wait, I have already killed Bendak Starkiller...
The game does almost zero hand-holding and doesn't give you any real objectives or direction. The crux of the game is answering "What is that all about?" and "How do I get over there?" Your own curiosity is the driving motivation.
As for DLC, I'll say that the area is called The Stranger (not to be confused with The Interloper, which is the comet) and the best time to do the DLC content is ideally right before you end the main game (you'll probably be able to feel out when that'll be) after you've filled out most of the ship's log. It's not necessary, but the ending cinematic of the DLC changes based on how much you've discovered in the main game. It's just a nice little detail.
Zero hand-holding a driven by own imagination and curiousness is the best kind. If it sticks, though. And man! This one does! I'm just a few hours in and I'm hooked! I feel like I have explored a lot and nothing at the same time so far. And I'm looking forward to learning more from the game.
Is playing it on a Steam Deck good to experience it?
Yes, absolutely. I played it about half on Deck and half on PC (with a controller) and it worked great either way.
How much do I have to remember of the main game to play the DLC? I played the main game more than a year ago, so I forgot most of the details. Will I need to re-learn them to complete the DLC?
Definitely not.
You can jump right back in. I played the DLC like a year or two after the main game.
Go back and complete the game (the quick way, just go straight to the final solution) after you do the DLC. It changes the ending!
Thanks, that's great to hear.
I went to go buy it in Steam just now, and it wouldn't let me. Apparently I bought it years ago. This is the trouble with these sales...
Return of The Obra Dinn is a game where you have to work out how the entire crew died on a ship that disappeared, then mysteriously re-appeared, in the 1800's. It is probably the best murder mystery game I've played. It's made by Lucus Pope, the same guy behind Papers Please.
He ties the style, the audio, the controls all into the "puzzle" of the murder mystery itself. It's extremely tight, has a wonderful story, it's got plenty of ways of solving the murders. It's a blanket recommend from me.
I might update this comment with more when I get the chance, but I have to recommend Obra Dinn when u have the chance!
Case of the Golden Idol is a game in a similar vein to Obra Dinn. Less-known, not quite as ambitious, but still fun.
Even though it's already the topic of the main comment, I'll take this chance to just say that if you like Obra Dinn, there is a very good chance you'll also like the Outer Wilds, and vice versa. Both rely entirely on your ability to connect clues and context to figure stuff out and both tell a very engaging story.
And I think the opposite is true. For me they were both beautiful and clearly crafted with love - but I couldn't be bothered to work through the clue graph.
What I didn't like about Obra Dinn is that the graphics style trigger my motion sickness so badly, but the story keep me very intrigued that I have to force myself to finish it in session of 1-2 hrs. The game has a "native resolution" option which is even smaller than 640x480 and that help with the motion sickness. It's weird playing a modern 3D games in resolution smaller than a GBA game...
Little Inferno
The only zen game that works for me. Beautiful graphics and works in any potato machine.
By the same studio, I had a lot of fun with World of Goo as a very kinetic puzzle game (it's not on sale but still worth mentioning).
I liked World of Goo so much I bought a twelve-pack of gift codes like 10 years ago, of which I still have like 4 unredeemed, so LMK if you'd like to check it out.
Adding on your comment. Netflix subscribers can play the remastered version of World of Goo on mobile. It's technically free, but need the Netflix subscription of course.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netflix.NGP.WorldofGooHD
I LOVED World of Goo, played on Wii back in the day. But I don't understand Little Inferno's gameplay after watching the trailer on Steam, can you explain?
In short, you burn things and get money, and with that money you buy more things to burn to get more money. There are different catalogs, you unlock each one when you find combos. Certain things are "weird" and don't burn like normal (some explode, some start moving, some eject countless of poop things, etc), so It's fun to mix these up too.
But at it's core is a zen game, it awakes our pyromaniac side.
I'd like to add that there's also a small story, and even an ending once you have found all the combos.
Nice, somehow I already have this in my Steam library so I'll have to check it out.
I posted a long list of games on the previous Hidden Gems thread. I’m not going to go through and update all of those for the current sales, but here are a few I can add to that list:
Backspace Bouken - 94% positive; 56 reviews; 80% discount
Bloody Rally Show - 89% positive; 212 reviews; 85% discount
Glyph☀️ - 100% positive; 76 reviews; 55% discount
Handy Dandy - 96% positive; 254 reviews; free
HOARD - 85% positive; 502 reviews; 50% discount
Linelith - 98% positive; 478 reviews; 25% discount
The Spellswapper - 0 reviews; no discount
Hoard is an oldy but a goodie. I sunk a lot of time into it a decade (...fuck) ago when it was on a humble bundle. I imagine it'd be a great fit for a Steamdeck/other portable. Gonna have to go install it now.
Halls of Torment is super addictive and fun game, highly recommend it: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2218750/Halls_of_Torment/
I love this game.
I randomly stumbled upon it the week that it launched and sent it to a friend who said it was a Vampire Survivors clone. I hadn't heard of VS which sent me down the VS-like game rabbithole.
Some other similar noteworthy titles that I've played since:
Edit: Also, Void Scrappers
Terra Nil -- Restore the ecological balance of a ruined planet. A bit of a zen puzzle game but you don't have to solve anything in a precise order, just need to get the job done.
Necesse -- It's like a top-down terraria. Simple graphics but lots of fun to explore and build a sustainable colony.
Volcanoids -- Craft a digging machine and fight off killer robots on a large island. Short game but really fun to play co-op.
Space Haven -- Protect a crew on a spacecraft by carefully managing resources, fighting off threats and expanding the ship. Excellent management game though the combat can be a bit fiddly if you don't pause to take your time with it.
I'm always looking for more games with great Linux support, while Proton works with most games I like to support devs that go the extra mile to make sure everything works well.
Terra Nil is amazing game and I'm happy with the success it got. I'd played the original game from an itch.io bundle. It is still available for download on itch, if anyone wants to try it before buying. Steam version is greatly improved and better obviously however core gameplay is still there.
https://vfqd.itch.io/terra-nil
If you have a Netflix subscription, you can play the mobile version of Terra Nil there for free.
Seconding space haven - it's a lot of fun!
Suzerain, which I think I talked about before - has always been high on my list. You run a fictional country called Sordland in the 1950s in a similar - but not the same, world as us. You play as President Rayne, dealing with calls for economic and constitutional reforms, and with a potential war looming. The 2.0 update has made it even better, and it's currently 70% off which is a steal imo.
Admittingly it's not for everyone, but if you're interested in (geo)politics, enjoy well-written stories and like to think about parallels with our world in fiction, I can highly recommend it.
Your comment prompted me to buy this for iOS - it's slightly cheaper and it appears to lose very little as it's mostly text. I'm very much enjoying it! Thanks!
These are mostly older titles, many aquired from early Humble Bundles. But I haven't seen them mentioned much.
The Dwarves I got from an old Humble Bundle. It's a great little squad-based ARPG with in-combat pause letting you pull some tight maneuvers.
Renouned Explorers was a great little title that scratched the same itch as FTL for awhile....not quite as replayable, but it was fun.
Osmos is an incredible zen/chill game from 2009.
Road Redemption. Do you want to do motorcycle races? Do you want to beat your opponets with clubs while you race motorcycles? Then this is your game. It's a spiritual successor to Road Rash on the Sega Genesis. Don't get me wrong, there's no more depth to it than that, but if you loved Road Rash, you'll love this.
XIII Classic. The revamp isn't worth the money...a few simple mods and community fixes and it's hard to beat this value. It's dripping with style and it's a fun little romp. Especially since it's 20 years old.
If you like Renowned Explorers, you may also like these similar-ish exploration/adventure games:
80 Days (60% off), Curious Expedition (80% off), and Curious Expedition 2.
Oh wow, I played a lot of Osmos probably back when it came out. I might have to get it again.
For some reason I have a bunch of gift copies of Osmos in my Steam inventory. So, anyone who wants Osmos and doesn't want to drop the $3 should send me a PM.
Mars First Logistics combines Lego, robots, and Death Stranding's focus on navigating terrain. Build a robot from a decently wide variety of parts and use it to transport various items from point A to point B. It's a simple premise but there's a good variety of challenges to overcome and approaches to those challenges. Note: I don't usually suggest Early Access titles but for the price I'm comfortable suggesting this in its current state. The dev is still updating it, but even if they stopped tomorrow, it'd be worth the money.
Nova Drift: https://store.steampowered.com/app/858210/Nova_Drift/
EA but already addictive. Take acradey asteroids, add roguelike mechanics, add a TON of wacky skills with an obscene amount of combinations and crazy interactions.
For anyone confused, EA means early access!
Kenshi
I feel like this one is a marriage of a bunch of stuff the developer really liked, and the result is an incredible, unique experience. Imagine The Sims, but Mad Max. In Kenshi, you're a random person dropped into the world and left to fend for yourself. Early on, that's pretty tough to do, but with time, patience, and effort you can begin building up a team, then a base, then a town, sky's the limit. Scale up as far as you want, or don't and get involved with other stuff.
You do this on an alien moon, with its own history and species. A lot has happened but much of it is long forgotten by the time you show up. The world is a blasted hellscape, littered with machine corpses and scary wildlife. Stuff is so old, so far away in time, that folks don't know how to even properly talk about a lot of it. Over time, you come to learn more by way of weird things like lost settlements, robot friends, folk way out on the fringe of shit.
The gameplay is centered on squads. As the lone person there's not much you can accomplish (though it is possible!), so you start gathering folk and making a team. That can go in any direction - an adventuring party, a labor group, trade caravan, etc. Youre given settings to accelerate time when things need a lot of it. You can build production loops and automate the production process of whatever stuff you've decided to make, be it food, supplies, weapons, armor, etc. Eventually, you can just own and run your own major city like all the others you see.
My dad and I have been playing the shit out of this game for three days now and neither of us can tear ourselves away from it. It scratches many itches, for an action RPG, a life sim, city builder, etc. Early on it's closer to action RPG - you have your character, who gets better by doing stuff, go do stuff till you're good at something and see what comes from that. That's the part which makes me think of TES - the skill setup is really, really close to something like Morrowind. You "choose" your major skills by just going and doing the shit that raises them.
It becomes a squad based tactics game when you scale up to things like caravans and adventuring parties. Managing equipment across different characters, building them for different roles, etc. Then you can scale further, into life sim territory, where you own a settled piece of land and manage it to get better stuff for everybody. THEN you scale up again, into city building, planning out things like houses and shops and allowing the public to participate in your settlement. It's nuts how far you can go.
In my game, I've constructed a base out in the desert, called New Raidenton. We grow hemp, produce fabric, and sell that to people who wander by. We also collect loot from the bandit raids and sell that too. We've got a wind generator for lights, and a big house with a shed. People visit and trade with us often, but lately there's been more bandit attacks. My squad of melee fighters rushes out and pummels the bastards every time they appear, but they appear more frequently, and that's concerning. I finally turned the corner caravanning, selling off iron and copper I make two of my dudes mine all day, so we are profitable. I think the plan is gonna be to recruit a couple more folks to get to 30, and then we'll conduct a raid on the bandit camps (because where there's bandits there's camps).
Absolutely incredible game, one that I think sits with Civ, SimCity, and A-Train despite looking nothing like those games. It's a game where you can just...keep going. In whatever pursuit. Make it what you want it to be. The amount of interactivity, detail, and intricacy to what all you can do means you're free to establish yourself in whatever way, or don't, or just screw around and steal things, who cares. I've sunk teenager-amounts of time into it over the holidays and I don't usually play like that anymore lol.
I've had this wishlisted on Steam for quite some time. How much PvP is there, potentially? How much PvP have you done, if any? Can other players come and interact with your character(s), your stuff, your settlements? Any trolling, griefing, etc.?
It is single player only as far as I'm aware. There might be a multiplayer mod though.
Kenshi doesn't have any multiplayer. The game is a big world simulation, where the events that happen in it are all emergent from how it chugs along.
There's also sales at itch.io and gog.com.
I tried looking at Steam, and it just ... I can't sort by discount percentage, and the discount percentage is hidden in most of the games.
I'm tempted by Mages of Mystralia (75% off) solely because the magic system looks quite flexible and creative. Obviously not the extreme degree of freeedom found in Noita (50% off) but no other games can compare to that. Any other games on sale with a sandboxy freedom approach to magic?
Check out Steam DB, it has more sorting options.
Also to sort (if you don't know already), click the column to sort, then hold ctrl and click on others to sort them with the original keeping the main order. I sort by discount, then by reviews... so I see all 90% off games from best-rated to worst, then 85%, etc.
never heard of that one, looks fun (and 6 years old, but that's fine)
Mages of Mystralia also had Ed Greenwod (the fantasy author who wrote Elminster) as a story writer for the game. It's quite a good action/puzzle game where you have to figure out how to combine elements to make spells to complete puzzles and combat. Who knows, if you play far enough, you might even run into me in game :-D
There's a whole playlist of Ed talking about writing and the game
Sorted by a mix of what I'd personally recommend, price, and general amount of steam reviews. The stuff in tabs are either in that zone of popular indie or pricier than $10 or not on sale this time.
Way of the Passive Fist - $1.49 / 90% off / 159 Reviews
Beat-Em-Up with the premise that you're only parrying/dodging to tire the enemy out and charge up your special moves. If you have any interest in the genre or parrying, then go right ahead. There's medal rankings for each stage, a remixed post-game campaign, and a random encounter/upgrade mode.
Betrayal At Club Low - $6.69 / 33% off / 345 Reviews
A single-player dice-rolling, pizza-upgrading tabletop session where you pick your skills and choose how you infiltrate the night scene of Club Low to extract another undercover agent there. The latest in the surreal Off-Peak series by Cosmo D and the tunes to match.
Has a demo for the beginning area just outside the club itself.
The Sekimeiya: Spun Glass - $6.74 / 55% off / 163 reviews.
Mystery VN where 8 people are trapped in a building for 12 hours. The characters are weak and it can be played as a linear VN, but the story asks that you try to take notes and figure the mysteries out yourself. It provides a summary for each scene, a note section alongside it for you to use, and the entire text log for everything you've read with a search function for it for you to freely look back at past clues.
Space Gladiators - $7.49 / 50% off / 310 Reviews
Do you like the idea of Hollow Knight as a roguelite? Do you trust the Brotato dev? Well, this is the game they made before Brotato with the same artstyle and 8 characters to play as. 3 biomes + final boss.
Has a demo under Space Gladiators: The Hole
<=$10, >1k Reviews
Iconoclasts - $4.99 / 75% off / 3.5k Reviews
2D shooting platformer with lots of setpieces. There's lots of praise for it, but the main thing for me personally is the story and how dark it gets, the way everything just gets worse and worse because nobody can let go of their fatal flaws as the world gradually reaches its end.
It's been cheaper and part of bundles though, so this is something I vouch for as a fantastic experience, but not the best deal.
One Step From Eden - $7.99 / 60% off / 5.5k Reviews
Megaman Battle Network-inspired deckbuilding roguelite. 16 starting loadouts from the 9 playable characters and the characters you're not using are the bosses you face.
Paradise Killer - $7.99 / 60 % off / 2.5k Reviews
This is a stylized first-person exploration game disguised as a murder mystery investigation. Wander around, grab collectibles, talk to everyone repeatedly, and unlock more of the weird cultist island as you investigate.
Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling - $7.99 / 60% off / 4k Reviews
Paper Mario-inspired JRPG. Though inspired, it grasps its own charm in its bug-themed world and 3 main characters instead of Mario having several partners to swap between.
CrossCode - $5.99 / $9.33 with post-game story DLC / 70% off / 13k Reviews
This is the most popular game for this post in terms of Steam reviews and it absolutely deserves it. It's just a solid in every way SNES-esque action RPG.
Has a demo
Project Warlock - $2.76 / 77% off / 3.3k Reviews
Retro-style FPS. I'm not normally into these with all the secret hunting in the genre, but the guns here felt super punchy to me and there's a lot of different ways to build the Warlock with the skill points and gun upgrade paths.
Has a demo.
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight - $3.99 / 60% off / 9k Reviews
The 4th game in the Momodora, this entry began mixing in Souls elements into the series' metroidvania style and is the most well known for it. The next game is releasing in January actually.
The 1st and 2nd games are free on itch.io with the 2nd game being where the series found its identity as a metroidvania starring a leaf-wielding priestess with a bow. The 3rd game is the first of the series on Steam and felt more 8-bit along with going one stage at a time. Minoria is a spinoff made after the 4th game featuring sword-wielding nuns hunting witches and is apparently an alt timeline.
Yoku's Island Express - $3.99 / 80% off / 2.5k Reviews
Chill pinball metroidvania. I don't think anything else needs to be said because I don't think there's anything else out there that's like this. If there is, I'd want to know.
Has a demo.
Furi - $5.99 / $7.46 with DLC playable character / 70% off / 8.8k Reviews
Sci-Fi boss fight game. You control a silent badass with a sword and pistol breaking his way out of his custom prison by killing all the jailers between him and freedom.
Fight'N Rage - $7.99 / 65% off / 2k Reviews
Beat-Em-Up with 3 main characters, co-op, and lots of different routes and content. I think this is the gold standard for an indie Beat-Em-Up.
Shadowrun Trilogy Bundle - $9.97 / 80% off
Fantasy Cyberpunk WRPG with the XCOM cover-based combat. I believe the first game was fan-ported to the third game's Steam workshop, so that's an option for a mechanics update. Otherwise yeah, choose what you want to play as, influence your companions, and what kind of runner you are.
>$10, <=1k Reviews
Tyrion Cuthbert: Attorney of the Arcane - $11.99 / 40% off / 492 Reviews
Ace Attorney-inspired game set in a low fantasy setting with 5 cases involving magic. I'll try to say the following in a compliment-meaning way: the lack of breakdown animations for the witnesses gave me an uncanny valley feeling from how well the rest of the game drew me in and getting the sense that something was missing from the experience (it's a crowdfunded game apparently, so I assume there wasn't enough budget which still makes it impressive).
Has a demo for the entire 1st case.
Your Turn To Die -Death Game By Majority- - $13.59 / 20% off / 1.2k Reviews
Deathgame VN with some puzzle solving and trial-esque sequences. The characters do actually die here, so the tone honestly mixes the horror and trauma well along with the human will to survive and cooperate with each other even when trapped like this.
Well, you can actually grab this for free from vgperson's site since it started out as a translation project there and it was basically chosen as the official English translation I believe. The Steam version has some exclusive sidestories, is said to get updates earlier for the rest of the main game, and of course, supports the dev.
The Wonderful 101: Remastered - $17.99 / 55% off / 468 Reviews
Part of the Platinum Games catalogue of stylish action. Honestly, this game holds a warm place in my heart with all its Saturday morning cartoon goodness and I think the controls are more mechanically simpler than others of its genre.
Has a demo that covers Chapter 1.
Demons Roots - $14.99 / 25% off / 1k Reviews
JRPG with an epic story (in the dramatic sense of the word) of being driven to the brink and fighting against oppression, though it is the type of game that'd be marked as private in Steam's library. I'll just say that Deathpolca is a refreshingly competent JRPG protagonist who walks into situations prepared and with an ace up her sleeve.
Not on sale, but keep an eye out
The Zodiac Trial - Previous low $4.49 / 70% off / 118 Reviews
Very 999-inspired deathgame VN. 12 people are kidnapped and told to play a boardgame where the first people to reach the end go free while everyone else is executed. Lots of routes after the initial split and lots of death too.
Has a demo that ends just before it branches off to a route.
Rail of Möbius - Previous low $7.14 / 45% off / 286 reviews
Timeloop VN. It's got the pseudo-science, the dread of death in every loop, and highschooler shenanigans. Translation is basic, but understandable depending on your tolerance for it.
Has a demo.
428: Shibuya Scramble - $20 / 60% off / 1.7k Reviews
It is currently on sale, but its sale history shows it going between $10 and $20 so...
VN with lots of viewpoint swapping and the key premise of figuring out what decision each character needs to make to avoid butterfly effect bad ends for everyone else to make it through. The live-action footage/screenshots might take a little getting used to, but this is oh so worth it once everyone's stories start getting connected to each other.
Only tangentially related, but Betrayal at Club Low has some of the best music in it I've ever heard in a video game. All of Cosmo D's musical work is great, and I think that one is my favorite.
I share this one a lot personally: Rakuen. Beautiful music, wonderful art, and a heart wrenching story. Worth playing if you can handle it.
Laura Shigihara also did the Plants vs Zombies soundtrack and worked on a slew of indie games like Deltarune, Super Meat Boy, and a little game you may heard of called Minecraft. With all the work she's done, it shouldn't be surprising that she went into programming and made her own game that has been so well received. One for the wishlist.
Omori -- I'd say this is my favorite (j)RPG game I ever played. It was released almost exactly 3 years ago and I still think it's a masterpiece. It's not really that niche nowadays, but still not as known as for example Undertale, which I'd say is also the most direct comparison. I won't say anything about it, it's best to know as little as possible about it, so if you like these kinds of RPGs definitely go play it!
Monster Sanctuary
This is a delightful monster taming Metroidvania with tons of exploration assisted by the array of monsters, very satisfying team building and combocraft, gorgeous graphics... this is just GOOD. If you like monster tamers this is a no-brainer to pick up and if you don't like them, try it anyway.
(this was a repost of text I've used in another post because everything still applies. This game is a gem, and you should get it.)
Any tips for MMOs and similar online games?
It's not a "hidden gem", but I'll keep recommending Guild Wars 2 for MMOs. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/
There's an incredible amount of things to discover, and it's as social as you want it to be.
I have played Guild Wars 2. It is a good game. Unfortunately, after many attempts, I arrived at the conclusion that it was just not for me.
Thank you for the suggestion ;)
Any MMOs you do like? And then what do like to do in them? Just so we got a bit of a direction.
Hey, thanks ;)
To be honest, I know the big ones fairly well (WoW, FFXIV, OSRS, Guild Wars 2, Albion Online... am I forgetting something?).
I am open to playing OSRS, but it is a daunting game to start. Maybe I will play it someday. And FFXIV sounds like a slog at the beginning with all the MSQ. And it's not very cheap in my currency either.
I play Classic WoW from time to time, right now I am playing Season of Discovery. It's okay, I guess. More of a relaxing experience.
The one I haven't played was New World, but I just looked it up and it's not cheap in my region. I was hoping for a suggestion of some cheap hidden gem I might not know about.
Have you tried out Elder Scrolls Online? The base game with all but the most current expansion is 70% off in most countries/regions right now and can be played without a subscription if you don't want to throw more than a few bucks at it to give it a shot.
I played a bit on the Xbox. I was a bit disappointed because it clearly feels like Skyrim-MMO and would prefer something different. But it's definitely worth a second chance!
I didn't really like the Star Wars one. And then there's Black Desert which I played for a small bit ages ago, don't remember much (but it's cheap). There's just not that many of those kind of games.
OSRS can be a daunting game to start but if you don't have any desire to immediately rush endgame content it can be very laid back. It just takes a long time to get to endgame. If you do play I recommend ironman mode. You can't trade with other players and removes the ability to just buy every item needed for a quest. Instead you actually have to get the drops yourself. It takes much longer but I find it fulfilling.
IMO there's currently little to recommend except Final Fantasy XIV for a more "traditional" experience and Guild Wars 2 for a buy-to-play casual easy-going experience.
They are just so far ahead of the rest in quality, as difficult as they can be to get into because of their age they are still easily the best. YMMV of course, but damn the bar with these two is high.
It might be a little more mainstream but does anyone have any strong opinions on Outward? The definitive edition is very discounted and I've been about to get it a few times.
It's a really unique RPG. In fact, it's one of the few proper RPGs with both split screen and online multiplayer, though it's based around the host (they get quest rewards, etc).
It feels like an older game in that there's little hand holding. You're simply thrown in, and bad things can happen. You'll spend a lot of time exploring and getting a feel for the mechanics and locations.
Game knowledge is key. You could get overpowered in an hour or two if you know where you're going. For that reason though, I'd recommend avoiding using the wiki since it can easily ruin the one and only blind playthrough you get. You'll make mistakes and that's perfectly fine. The game is designed for replayability.
The main quest is pretty short, and the few side quests are as well. They're not really the point of the game, in my opinion. They're the backdrop as you learn to conquer the world.
There's a map but no compass, so you have to figure out where you are based on landmarks. There are a ton of dungeons scattered throughout the world, some of which are pretty unique.
The combat is decent. Some compare it to Dark Souls 1 because you need to commit to attacks. It isn't as tight as the Souls games though, and you'll notice the clunkier animations and more limited attacks.
I would like to give special mention to the magic systems. And I do say systems, because there's like three or four of them. One magic type is based on rune combinations. Another is based on using elemental sigils. For example a sigil of fire can upgrade a spark into a fireball. A third magic system uses wind power. There's others, too. All magic systems require you to obtain mana first, though it comes at a cost. I'll leave that up to you to discover.
I'm definitely a fan of Outward and appreciate how ambitious it was for such a small team. I also recognize that it's clunky and occasionally unfair in ways that would turn a lot of people off. If you like titles like Morrowind, where you need to look past the unrefined aspects and see the sandbox of potential underneath, then I think you'll feel right at home with this one.
It's been a couple years since I've played it, but put probably 30 or 40 hours into the game. Its got a great world design, fun weapons and spells with a good variety and depth of build options, and a really charming soundtrack. It can be a pretty slow game from what I remember in terms of having to walk long distances on foot, having a pretty limited carry weight, needing rations to stay alive and to travel between world areas with very limited fast travel (I think they added a form of fast travel in the DLC after I stopped playing?)
But overall I'd say if you've looked into the game and are drawn to that sort of design and can be patient with the slow parts, there's a lot there to enjoy. Like the other commenter posted, its got a very cohesive design, for better and, in some minor ways, for worse.
I don't, but seeing how it's been 2 days without a response, maybe this entertaining "review" by Sseth can sway you in one direction or another. My takeaways are that the game designer has a vision and sticks to it, even when that vision causes some inconveniences.
I played it on release with a friend and we were disappointed. Extremely punishing and hardly rewarding, clunky boring combat that made more sense to avoid because even the first enemies could ruin us in a few hits, uninteresting locations.
The freedom and challenge sound nice but there are more fun games that offer more of both. But maybe the game changed with time?
I'm not sure if this is actually a popular one, but I rarely see it mentioned in rogue-like threads, but I can't recommend Skul: the Hero Slayer highly enough. It's a side scroller rogue-like in which you play as a little skeleton warrior going to rescue the captive Demon King from the human armies. The hinge mechanic is that you can swap your skull for other skulls that give you new move sets and skills (like a werewolf skull or a Dark Paladin skull). Coupled with the items you pick up, they can synergize in really interesting ways.
It's challenging, fun, and a good way to kill 30+ minutes. It's published by Neowiz (Lies of P anyone?), and it's only $10 right now. Give it a try if you like rogue-likes!
Looking for hidden gem recommendations in three areas:
What are some lesser-known interesting things that fit any of those bills? Even better if they’re not “pure” versions of those games but instead add interesting/unusual mechanics into their base genres.
Faerie Solitare is one I picked up on a sale a few years ago and had fun with.
There's the Zachtronics Solitaire Collection. They started adding different solitaire mini-games in their other titles, and then they collected them into this set (along with a new tarot-based version) for people who aren't into the programming puzzles or just can't get enough solitaire variants.
thank you for this because I just learned that it's on Android and I ahve you to blame for my productivity loss!
The Solitaire Conspiracy by Bithell Games is fantastic. On its surface, it's a really pretty solitaire, but it adds some special abilities and throws in a storyline. I'm not a huge fan of solitaire, but I love Bithell Games and this was no exception.
BallisticNG is my perpetual anti-grav racing hidden gem. If you've played Wipeout, this is Wipeout right down to being given a choice of Wipeout physics models in the options. It's still getting free updates 5 years on, it's got Workshop support, and it rules.
I enjoyed Solitarica which is a roguelike based on Solitaire. It’s only $4 and when I played it on mobile I easily got far more than $4 worth of playtime out of it. I remember it having a good variety and repeatability to it!
It's not on sale (I think it just released) but:
Breakout Survivors
It's exactly what you think it is lol. Super indie, but very breakout.
I tried the demo of this recently and found it fun! I agree it’s very “indie” but I found that charming in its own way. Well worth $4 I think!
Snakebird is a sokoban-style puzzle game where you try to maneuver your Snakebirds to the exit. Your snakebirds need to get long enough to reach the exit, collect fruit to lengthen your Snakebirds, just like in the classic Snake game. Very simple rules, but IMO has the best puzzle design among all the puzzle games I've played. The presentation is charming too.
The game isn't easy, be prepared to really work through the puzzles. You can't rely on trial and error, each puzzle requires you to think about what's stopping you from achieving some step (e.g. how do I get everything up there? I need at least one of my snakebirds long enough to do so. Which one should it be? If this snakebird extends, then the other one seems to be obstructed, so maybe I should extend the other one. These blocks are also in the way, how do I free up enough room/use them as stepping stones? In which order do I push everything up/away? This sort of thing) and then figure out how to get past that.
The rules are very simple. Very few new behaviours are introduced through the course of the game. As you work through the puzzles, you'll realize implications of those (micro-scale) rules, which are new (macro-scale) techniques that you can apply towards solving later puzzles.
EDIT: I replayed some Snakebird levels, the crux of most puzzles is getting your Snakebird(s) into the right shapes and figuring out what those shapes should be.
Snakebird Primer is a much easier version. Also on sale right now. I've not played it, but veteran Snakebird lengtheners report being able to finish its 70+ puzzles in around an hour. There doesn't seem to be anything new in Primer that isn't already in Snakebird, this is intended (I think) as a gentle introduction to Snakebird
Patrick's Parabox is another sokoban-style puzzle game where you can go into and out of some of the blocks, sometimes many levels deep, Inception- style. (Thanks again for recommending it @jhombus!) It's not a mere gimmick, the game explores the consequences of this, which may turn your brain into scrambled egg. The difficulty doesn't ramp up as quickly as in Snakebird.
Jelly is Sticky is another sokoban-style puzzle game. What if some blocks can stick to each other? Very cool ideas explored, but I felt it's done over too many levels, felt like I was doing a fair bit of busywork rather than thinky stuff. But the difficulty also increases more gently than in Snakebird or Parabox.
The game is inspired by Jelly no Puzzle (Japanese title and developer. It simply means "Jelly puzzle"), which I found to have an absolutely brutal difficulty curve (I played it before Jelly is Sticky). Not on Steam, but the desktop version is freeware and doesn't require any knowledge of Japanese.
Fight'N Rage is a very fluid scrolling beat-em-up featuring anime-style chartacters. Lots of levels, branching paths, endings and unlockable content.
Space Tyrant is a quick turn-based 4X strategy game with a lot of personality. Each campaign mission usually takes (IIRC) 20 - 45 mins. It has a board-game feel to it, your decisions feel weighty. 80% discount (in my region) right now.
Happy holidays everyone!
Snakebird is currently available for free on Epic. Really interested to try it with your recommendation!
Ooo, the package being given away includes Primer as well. Thanks for the heads-up!
Edit: Primer is basically a superextended tutorial. What's being given away on Epic is the Complete edition which has both the Primer and regular Snakebird puzzles in the same game. At any time
you can switch between the two 'worlds' with a press of a button. You'll start off in Primer, and when you feel comfortable you can switch to the main game.
Does anyone have metroivania hidden gem recommendations?
Hollow Knight has been my all time favourite but I feel nothing else comes close. I've played Ori and enjoyed it, as well as Monster sanctuary. I've also heard good things about Ender Lilies.
Deedlit in wonder labyrinth is a charming one. It has a heavy Symphony of the Night feel (the moving animation is directly lifted from SotN I feel), and I don't think it is a bad thing. It's more combat-focused than you typical metroisvania though.
Is combat an important factor?
I highly recommend Yoku’s island express. It looks dumb as shit being a pinball metroidvania, but it’s surprisingly fun!
Astalon: Tears of the earth is among my favorite metroidvanias. Don’t let the art style fool you, the game feels much more modern than it looks.
I can also recommend Grime, Ender Lilies, Supraland, Haak, Haiku The Robot.
I’ll edit if I think of more games.
Seconding Yoku's Island Express if you don't care about traditional combat. I 100%'d it!
I also loved HK and both Ori titles. Long time fan of the genre. I'd recommend Aquaria which is a much older indie title (before World of Goo, which I personally mark as the kickoff of the "indie" genre) that is a very rich exploration of the metroidvania motifs. It's not on sale but it's only $10. If HK is your all-time favourite, you'll love the music/art pairings in the various environments. The movement/combat isn't as satisfying as Ori but still flows well enough it isn't a drag to move around. The plot is a bit "fanfic" but is definitely charming. It's been years since I've seen anyone recommend this title despite both developers going on to find success in more mainstream titles (Spelunky and Night in the Woods) which I find somewhat strange as it holds up surprisingly well 15+ years later. There are some collectables and minigames, a few secrets, and a dead forum with a few mods made. Definitely worth your time to check out.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/24420/Aquaria/
Hollow Knight is by the far best but some other smaller metroidvanias I've enjoyed are:
Axiom Verge NES style graphics w/ amazing soundtrack.
Dandara Very unique movement.
A Robot Named Fight More combat focused than story but well built.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night? It's not that hidden of a gem, but very good.
Blasphemous 1 & 2: Very focused on religious themes. One of my favorite Metroidvanias, even if the first one has one or two annoying mechanics. I especially liked how this game rewards thorough exploration, the quests really got the balance between guiding and letting you find things by yourself right.
The Messenger: Also one of the best Metroidvanias in my opinion. Takes inspiration from both the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, and switches between them for exploration in a very interesting way.
Death's Door: A top-down 3D Metroidvania, so a little different, but I had a lot of fun with this one as well.
Unworthy: Getting into real hidden gem territory. Made by a single developer as far as I know, so it doesn't compete with games like Hollow Knight for example, but it's extremely impressive and everything from the look to the story and the gameplay is very consistent and combines for a very enjoyable experience.
Guacamelee! I have it on the switch and love it.
Another vote for Guacamelee! (both 1 and 2). They are wonderful for couch co op as well.
Lone Fungus came out earlier this year and made some big waves among Metroidvania groups.
None of these come close to Hollow Knight, so take them with a grain of salt, but here are a few more I haven't seen mentioned by others:
KUNAI - 79% positive; 372 reviews; 60% discount
Shadow Complex Remastered - 84% positive; 396 reviews; no discount
Timespinner - 86% positive; 2216 reviews; 70% discount