Have you played a game that stayed in your head long after you played it?
For me, Outer Wilds would be that game. I feel like I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I beat it a couple years ago.
Portal 1.
Something about the ambiance mixed with the puzzles really stuck with me. I replay it almost once a year just to relive it.
Portal 2 is also up there with me. Just two spectacular atmospheric puzzle games. 10/10
If you like Portal 1 and 2 and want more, I’d recommend playing Portal Stories: Mel and Portal Reloaded, both are free on Steam if you own P2. The puzzles are pretty tricky though!
Reloaded made me want to smash my keyboard several times. 10/10 can’t wait for the multiplayer update
The one that came out 5 days ago?
I keep reading about Outer Wilds. I think its about time this summer.
To answer the question: Risk of Rain 1&2
And maybe the leviathans of my childhood. Ocarina of Time, Majoras Mask…
I haven’t played Majora’s mask but I feel like if you like it, you’ll love outer wilds. Just be sure to go in blind.
N64 Zelda will always be stuck in my head.
Mass Effect – particularly Mass Effect 2 – left an impression, but The Last of Us is and will always be the game that has stuck with me the most/longest.
For me, that game would definitely be Disco Elysium. I’ve never connected with a game as much as with that one. I’m actually reticent of playing it again for fear of it not living up to the first experience; I felt like my first playthrough was perfect, even if technically speaking it wasn’t.
Other than that, I also still think about Mass Effect a fair bit.
On a side note: if you liked the investigating and “detective-ing” of Outer Wilds, then you will probably also enjoy Return of the Obra Dinn, The Forgotten City, and The Case of the Golden Idol. I’d also add Disco Elysium to that list, but be aware it’s a lot more text heavy.
Oh Disco Elysium all the way, it’s possibly my favorite game. I have a notebook filled with lines in the game that stuck with me.
I want more of it, but it looks like that lightning won’t strike twice.
Subdue the regret. Dust yourself off, proceed. You’ll get it in the next life, where you don’t make mistakes. Do what you can with this one, while you’re alive.
The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting.
Great recommendations there, each got under my skin. I feel the same about David Lynch films, they connect with something inside me, and lodge permanently in my brain.
I’d put What Remains of Edith Finch, Dear Esther, Talos Principle, Stanley Parable, Metroid Prime and maybe Portal 1+2 in there too - they share an authentically mysterious vibe.
Obra Dinn and Outer Wilds hit me hard, they nailed the atmosphere perfectly. Haven’t actually played DE, was a bit put off by the sheer amount of dialogue, but I need to try it.
When I saw the OP’s question, my immediate thougt was Outer Wilds and Disco Elysium. Nice to see both represented at the top!
- half life 1, finished around 25 times.
- kotor 1, finished around 20 times with different classes, genders, alignment.
- kotor 2, finished around 25 times with different classes, genders, alignments, party members.
- might and magic 7, finished around 25 times with different party classes, alignments.
- might and magic 8, finished around 25 times with different party classes, alignments.
- mass effect 1&2, finished around 3-4 times.
- morrowind, played few hundred hours with different genders and classes.
- skyrim, played around thousand hour.
Who has obsession, me? No you have 🙃
You have great taste in games! Those are among my favorites as well.
Well, thank you 😊
Definitely Outer Wilds as well.
Hell, looking into the soundtrack changed my daily playlist to something heavily Midwest Emo.
Journey. Just the best coop experience ever.
By chance I ended up playing journey with only one other person. We got separated at one point and I thought someone else connected, but at the end it only showed one name.
I never did finish Outer Wilds and still think about it a lot! I need to go start it again because it is genuinely spectacular, but I struggle with my constraint of only being able to put short-ish play sessions into it.
Playing Ocarina of Time with my son was an epic journey I treasure. It completely captured his imagination, and I was along for that ride.
Grim Fandango was, and continues to be, a dream for me.
While I’m there, Full Throttle also executed its style so well that some of its moments still serve as cultural/stylistic landmarks in my mind.
Mass Effect 2 had several moments where the atmosphere and universe totally hit the mark (Going into the Afterlife Club… come on!).
Red Dead Redemption connected me to that setting in ways movies can’t reach.
Edit: I forgot to mention Firewatch! That game established a mood unlike any other game I can think of.
Man, Firewatch. I don’t know how they managed to make the player connect on an emotional level with a character that you don’t even get to meet, but they did a fantastic job.
Why do you think the play-session duration is a constraint with Outer Wilds? The game basically restarts every 20 minutes.
I’ve mentioned this game already in a few comments recently, but I think it really deserves more attention.
Prey (2017): I’ve loved it since the first moment, and I still think about the story and lore very often. It’s almost impossible to find a similar game (Bioshock 1 and System Shock 2 have quite some things in common with Prey, but the latter has its own unique vibe).
Oh yeah, I loved prey. One of the biggest mindfucks of an opening. Mooncrash was also really interesting, kind of a prototype for deathloop.
The 2006 version of Prey had an amazing opening as well. I replay it often. Art Bell is in it.
I love Prey! It was actually the game that got me into gaming. I used to play a little as a kid and it was also one of the few things that made me happy, but I was raised in a really strict home so I was only allowed a few pre-approved games with very limited screen time. I gave it up and sort of grew into this toxic mindset of “gaming is for loser nerds”. My husband started playing Prey and I used to sit and watch and just fell in love with the whole thing, the story, the music, the setting. He gave it up and never finished and I was so desperate to find out how it ends that I started playing. Now I have my own custom built gaming PC and spend 40+ hours a week gaming, so I’m a loser nerd lol
I tell people to play this game all the time and that it’s the “real” Bioshock 3
Yes! Prey is great. I think I’ve completed it like 3 or 4 times over the years. Still don’t have all the abilities unlocked so maybe it’s time for yet another NG+ run.
Vampires, The Masquerade: Bloodlines. The whole vibe of the setting, the story, the locations, and then when I finally understood what the plot was really about. Masterpiece of a game, couldnt stop thinking about it.
Seconding Bloodlines, this game has stuck with me since I first played it as a child. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the sequel, but also dreading that it ends up being awful and ruins any chance of more games.
Half Life 2. Specifically, the crossbow that shot rebar. That thing was AWESOME.
I love how the main half life games have never had a sniper rifle. There’s not really a reason for them not to, there are even sniper enemies, it’s just kind of a staple of the series at this point.
SOMA. The ending still freaks me out until this day.
SOMA’s amazing. I started my playthrough almost as a joke since I don’t really play those types of horror games. But then the story started going and I just got sucked in.
This. SOMA lives rent free in my head to this day.
A good portion of that game freaks me out. Especially because I have a massive fear of open water. Good ass atmosphere for sure though
Hades is so good. Waiting for Hades 2. Aaaaany day now.
I’ve tried to like Hades a few times over the years since it came out. I know I’m in the minority, it’s generally a well liked game, but I just don’t see the appeal. The gameplay loop is repetitive, difficult, and unrewarding, the main character is deliberately unlikable, the dialogue with the NPCs in the hub is repetitive and trying too hard to be funny. I didn’t enjoy a single second playing that game, and its one I actually paid real money for, I bought it and genuinely wanted to like it. I suppose I’m not the target audience.
Man, that’s actually so sad. But I guess most gamers will find that one game they want to like (because it’s critically acclaimed, their friends are super into it, etc.), but it just won’t work.
I had that experience with Valheim. On paper it looks like a fun viking-esque Minecraft with a bit more RPG elements. In practice I just found out cumbersome and the gameplay loop felt just plain boring/unsatisfying.
Easily RimWorld for me. The stories that play out over time, and how to make productivity more efficient live in my head rent free.
The Talos Principle - for me, the puzzles hit the sweet spot of being hard enough to be on my mind all day, but never feeling like the solution was out of reach. But even more than the puzzles, the philosophical elements made me reflect on life, civilization, and personhood in a way nothing else has. It was a peaceful, tranquil experience of just me, a serene soundtrack, and thought provoking text and puzzles.
I loved Talos Principle too, really excited for the second one.
this is a good one, I hope the second one live up to the expectation.
