Not anymore no, the initial reaction was justified. But yeah after nearly 8 years of free content updates they have certainly redeemed themselves

I’m glad I’m not the only one! Though if I play something for a second time I do tend to up the difficulty a bit.

That does indeed make sense, thank you (and many others) for the answers!

In other news, Olympic swimming champion outraged when they found out that water is wet

Don’t forget the Beef Stroganoff!

Yup, I have. I liked it, but it did not make the top 10 for me, purely because two of the storylines were amazing imo (Connor & Kara) and one was centered around a trope that I absolutely despise (Markus). It didn’t ruin the game for me, I still loved it and will play it again at some point, but because of that I cannot put it in my top 10.

Enjoy the new games!

For what it’s worth, it’s incredibly frustrating as a European with a functioning brain too.

Ranking is tough but I’ll give it a go. The ranking is based on the impact and enjoyment I got out of them regardless of playtime.

1. What Remains of Edith Finch & Kentucky Route Zero (shared 1st place)

2. Life is Strange

3. Stray

4. GRIS

5. Cyberpunk 2077

6. SOMA

7. Heaven’s Vault

8. The Town of Light

9. FAR: Lone Sails

10. Portal 2

That last one is a bit of an outlier but I have laughed so much while playing it, it deserves a place at the table.

Her life is not your choice though. Thankfully.

It is currently singleplayer vs bots and the scenarios are admittedly limited. However, again, single dev (at the moment). Multiplayer is on the roadmap far in the future and will likely not really be pvp as that introduces challenges for balancing.

For now though, the designer is very free in what it lets you do for the most part and has a lot of options.

If you’re on the fence, I would recommend looking up some videos on youtube that showcase the game’s capabilities. Make sure to pick a decently recent one (ergo past half year or so).

While it does indeed kind of smell like an ad, keep in mind this is not some triple-A bullshit. It’s made by a single dev and has a heavily involved community on reddit and discord where competitions are hosted and suggestions are made. Regardless of tankies reputation, that kind of behaviour is not tolerated in either of those communities. I’ve been playing it on and off and have over 500 hours into it by now. It is a very niche game, but for those that like tanks and military games in general, it is a real gem.

I too love emotional games. Here are my personal favourites. Some of these have been recommended by others but idc:

What Remains of Edith Finch - as Edith Finch, you go back to the house you grew up in and explore your family’s history. The Finch family have had much misfortune, and many did not grow old. As you explore the house room by room, you see that person’s last moments. I cannot recommend this game enough. It’s only 2 hours long and best enjoyed in a single sitting.

Life is Strange - you (Max) have recently returned to the town you grew up in for a prestigious art programme at the Blackwell Academy. One day, you discover you have suddenly gained the ability to rewind time. In this game, you explore your powers and reunite with your old childhood friend, Chloe. Don’t worry too much about the superpower thing, it’s without any Marvel BS.

Detroit: Become Human - in this game, you explore a world where robots are servants to humans from the POV of three robots. There are three stories that you follow that do meet each-other at some points. Not all stories are equally exciting, but two of the three are pretty great imo. It really makes you think about what it means to be human.

Kentucky Route Zero - this is an odd duck that you may enjoy as well. You start as Conway, an old man driving for an antiques shop doing his last delivery, as the shop will close down soon. As you try to find your way, a gas station attendant gives you cryptic directions to Highway Zero. As Conway and several other characters, you explore the surrealist world beneath Kentucky. It’s a game filled with mystery, grief, loss, and being lost. This game is more like a strange dream rather than a videogame, and is therefore best played in the later hours of the day.

I hope there are some interesting picks here for you. Enjoy!

The game came out of the blue for me, but I picked it up yesterday. The singleplayer experience so far is pretty nice. It’s not too difficult so far, the story is a bit basic but acceptable, and so far it runs great. I haven’t experienced any bugs so far either. I did see in the reviews that the multiplayer needs some balancing/tweaking though.

A bit of an obscure one is Roadwarden. If I remember correctly, it was made by a single person. The grafics are pixelated style, which is usually a bit of a turn off for me (I don’t need hyperrealistic, just don’t like big pixels), but the gameplay is amazing. It is a combination of a graphical novel and an RPG where choices matter. It does not have spicy real-time combat or a leveling system, but your choices in the story and of your class matter.

To give a quick introduction to the story: You start as a roadwarden, someone tasked with keeping the roads safe. You are tasked by the elite in a rich city to assess the trading prospects with a poor province up north; assess its people, infrastructure, and resources that they offer. You have a limited time to complete your task, as autumn and winter are closing in, and the nights are too dangerous to venture on the roads.

In this game, you cannot help everyone. Helping one group can condemn another, and actions that may be noble in spirit may fail spectacularly. I’ve had a lot of fun playing through this, and it is my recommendation if you don’t really care for real-time combat.

I have seen it recommended somewhere in the comments but I want to shed some more light on this game: What Remains of Edith Finch. It is a walking simulator that should take about 2 hours and is best played in a single session.

As Edith Finch, you go back to the house where you grew up in your younger years to explore it. The Finch family has an almost genetic trait of bad luck; many of them have died before their time. You explore the house room by room and explore that person’s last moments.

There is no gore or horror of any kind, but there are children that die, so if that is a trigger I would sit this one out. If not, it is currently on sale for less than €5. It is worth it.

As a non-native English speaker I fully understand what it means and will happily correct it to football for you :P

Rollercoaster Tycoon 1, 2, and 3 when I was quite young. In my teens it was Minecraft.

I bet you make images of stuff too then?

Same here. Needed an image of Uncle Sam as an Air Genasi. Can’t get stuff that specific without a comission (which is expensive and not worth it for a joke sidequest) or AI, so AI it is.