They’re older, but I enjoyed some of the Nancy Drew mystery games years ago.
Yeah, I have to throw my lot in with the Soma fans. I’d say it’s one of the best stories I’ve ever encountered in a video game, though I’ll grant you that’s not exactly the highest praise. But it’s interesting and surprising and disturbing and dare I say, even thought provoking. But, I do certainly accept that not everything is for everybody, though I would suggest sticking with it for at least a little longer.
Anyone mention:
Nope. Nobody mentioned Lionhead either.
I picked up Draugen today, but it’ll probably be a bit before I actually fire it up.
I read good things about it.
Again, thank you for all recommendations. We’re looking at every game mentioned here.
It’s hard to tell what the gameplay in Oxenfree is like from the trailers, but it got so much love in this thread I think we’ll have to put it near the top of the list!
I really enjoyed this:
It’s mostly walking and talking from that distant side view. (And, to be clear, it’s walking done well and talking done REALLY well.) And occasionally dialing a radio. And occasionally being REALLY wigged out. Superb game.
Fair enough. Definitely sounds like something she’d enjoy.
I finished watching that SOMA playthrough. Without wishing to deliberately offend everyone who loved it :D, I confess I thought the story was a bit meh. I’d figured out the main conceit of the game (status of protagonist) almost immediately after the brain scan, and the story didn’t really move on from then. Simon’s reaction at the end showed he remained clueless and selfish and hadn’t developed or grown at all.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, I absolutely hate the chase/hide thing in these games. It’s the same thing over and over and even if I didn’t nope like a scaredy-cat it just gets tedious. Does anyone really enjoy this run/hide/cower gameplay? I guess it makes it entertaining to watch ‘let’s play’ youtubers squeal.
I keep feeling like I should have enjoyed watching SOMA since I have loved so many similar narrative games (the ones without the scares that is). Maybe it’s because the story had to serve the gameplay mechanics rather than the other way around. Even ‘Dear Esther’ left me wondering and pondering for longer than this one!
Still, we’re all allowed our own opinions :)
That’s the problem with recommendations, oversell it and anything short of the second coming of Christ seems like a letdown. I told a couple friends of mine that Outer Wilds was one of the best video game experiences I’ve ever had, and they both tried it and basically shrugged. Oh well.
If lo-fi’s not a problem, I enjoyed Black Closet a lot:
So true. You’ve almost got to discover the genius by yourself, and then find others who’ve already felt the same way to talk about it with.
I also think the media chosen had a purpose, and not being the active party lessens the point of the game. Amongst other themes the game questions and which didn’t resonate with our friend at all.
Really? I’ve lost count of the number of games I enjoy watching someone else play far more than playing myself - everything from chess to ‘Among Us’.
I think probably in this case it was less impactful not because I wasn’t playing but because the player didn’t comment on what was happening, it felt to me like the story never developed, everything was explained in the first 10 minutes or not at all, and I always identifed with Catherine and not Simon, which is admittedly interesting as, like Catherine, I was the passive observer watching Simon do his thing but occasionally pausing time then continuing later as if nothing has happened.
Some games are like this - to some players they’re a profound statement about human existence, to others just a boring grind that says nothing new. I don’t think it’s about whether you’re playing the game yourself, but whether the story meets you where you are and unveils something profound for you. If the scenario is no revelation at all to you then it’s all going to feel a bit tedious, or, as Catherine put it, “come on Simon, you know that’s not how this works!”
But maybe I’m getting off topic now 😀
Those two statements make me think you may have missed what the game was expressing, because you had other expectations. And we’re back to what playing vs watching means in our medium!
It’s hard to talk about what I think it was expressing because spoilers… I’m definitely interested in why others felt so impacted by this story. Probably needs its own thread though.
Heh, and this is why horror games freak me out way more than horror movies: because it’s you who has to go out into the fog, in the middle of the night, on your own… uh, with an owl. Being the active participant totally changes the dynamic.
And yeah, only if I’ve played a game already and want to see how certain people react to certain moments am I likely to watch a Let’s Play or two (like I did with SOMA and Outer Wilds). On the whole I’d much rather play a game myself than watch someone else playing it. (I also acknowledge and appreciate that some streamers/Let’s Players are very entertaining and/or insightful!)
Exactly this.
I think it’s also worth noting that SOMA’s ‘run/hide/cower’ sections aren’t that frequent; there’s a lot of uneasy exploring, investigation, world-building and dialogue between them. Even when you do have to sneak around and avoid enemies, they’re often new and behave differently to the last batch. Some can’t see, some react to movement, some don’t like being looked at and teleport, some are fast etc. Navigating and exploring environments under that stress, having to create diversions, keeping quiet, all while working out what to do was… well, it wasn’t just a case of running, hiding and cowering! The whole Akers sequence was incredible for that and such a horrible horrible rush! I’ve no idea how I got through it. :-)