Recommend me some PC games!

The Game Room
1

With the advent of some new Pascal based laptops, I finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new gaming machine. I posted a thread here before looking for game recommendations: Just finished dragon age inquisition - what next? - The Game Room - Straight Dope Message Board but at that time I only had consoles.

So now I return, after almost 6 years out of the PC gaming world to ask for recommendations for PC games. Witcher 3 is on my list (should I bother with 2?). In general I like story driven RPGs, but am open to suggestions outside that genre.

I’ve been avoiding PC game news for the last few years so I’m out of the loop, so what are the classics I should be on the look out for?

2

Storywise, I’d argue yes. W2 is not nearly as good of a game as Witcher 3, but it is still a good game relative to its contemporary peers and narratively W2 ties into W3. But it isn’t strictly necessary - Witcher 3 allows a quick narrative end around the W2 plot early in the game.

3

Dishonored 2 is next on my playlist, has received good reviews. Story driven, choose your style of play with RPG elements.

ETA: You could do a lot worse than playing the original+DLC, too.

4

First things first: set yourself up on Steam. As for the games themselves, I’m still playing Borderlands 2. Then there’s the Worms series of games.

5

What Quartz said.
You will soon find yourself with more games than you can ever have time for, but they were on sale!!

For what it’s worth, I am also playing Borderlands 2 right now. Such a fun game.

6

I have steam & GOG galaxy and a reasonable back catalog of games on them already. In steam I have Divinity II, Dragon Age, Oblivion, Skyrim, Overlord, Patrician II, Civ III, KOTOR, Witcher and in GOG I have Dungeon Keeper, NVN Diamond, BGII and (one of my favourite games of all time despite being so easy, Zeus + Poseidon). Plus a bunch of stuff I got as part of bundles etc, some of which are probably good but I just haven’t played.

Also, if you’re recommending a game it would be super if you gave a line or two abouto what kind of game it is (just the gist, RPG, FPS, city builder, RTS etc)

7

Actually yeah, maybe that wasn’t clear from the OP. I was originally someone who played games mostly on PC, then after my gaming PC died I switched to console for a few years and now I have a pretty decent gaming laptop and am wondering what the current “best game” are.

Undertale is something I’ve heard a bit about, is that worth getting? I messed around for 5 mins on the demo and it seems interesting, but possibly not 10euro worth of interesting.

8

I’ll third (or fourth) the Borderlands series too.

9

I’ve been on a Borderlands 2 kick recently as well. It scratches that progress treadmill itch for me and it’s quite a large game with all the expansions. Hoping I can persuade some friends to tackle The Pre-Sequel as a group.

As for story driven RPGs, the **Shadowrun **games (Returns, Dragonfall, and Hong Kong) are pretty solid. Returns is overly linear and kind of skippable, but Dragonfall is more open and has some solid companion characters.

Pillars of Eternity is pretty great if you liked Baldur’s Gate and those other infinity engine games from years back.

Divinity: Original Sin doesn’t have the best story ever, but it has a pretty great system for mixing and matching elements and taking advantage of environmental hazards.

10

It’s a great game, but I have no idea if it is up your alley. It has some very, very unique features, including messing with you quite a bit. It appears to be simple when you first look at it, but it is actually quite complex and intriguing.

My wife and I played to the end once, killing no one(yes, this is a valid option). We then watched youtube videos of other ways of playing and the various endings. Very neat.

11

I feel so much better. Playthrough 2 with Krieg right now. :smiley:

12

If you like story driven RPGs, you can’t go wrong with Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky.

You could probably have played it on your OLD PC, since you sure don’t need heavy hardware for it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not great.

13

I’ve actually never heard of it, but will check it out, thanks for the recommendation.

Ironically I’ve spent about 10 hours now playing Star Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, so that shiny new graphics card is really not being put to much use :smack:

14

First recommendation is not to buy anything today. Wait until tomorrow, when the Steam holiday sale begins (and goes through … the second of January, I believe).

If you like Borderlands 2, I recommend the Pre-Sequel. Some say it’s not as good, but I liked it more than 2 - you can really see the developers freed themselves a little more from the typical FPS restraints.

Witcher 3 is good. Witcher 2 is garbage, IMHO. You’re better off either reading a synopsis or, better yet, going through the English translations of the books. They’re in slightly different universes, but there’s not all that much backstory, and it’s pretty easy to get into the game. Don’t play 3 on easy mode (“Just the Story”) - then the fights will just be rote. Play at least on medium (“Blood and Broken Bones”). If you’re an action game savant, step it up to the hardest difficulty (“Death March”).

If you like bullet-hell shooters, and also like rogue-likes, I heartily recommend Enter the Gungeon. Solid mechanics, randomized loot, lots of bullets everywhere that reward quick reflexes and a small amount of strategic thinking.

There have been a lot of good RPGs in the last few years. Dishonored and Dishonored 2 are both excellent. I had a lot of fun with Fallout 4 (though, arguably, Fallout: New Vegas is superior).

A lot of the Final Fantasy games (of Playstation fame) are out on PC now. You can get 1 - 13-2, not to mention the MMO (which is #14). #15 just came out on PS4, but there are rumors of a PC release by 2018.

If you prefer turn-based or isometric RPGs, I second the recommendation for any of the Shadowrun games. Also in a similar vein is Satellite Reign, which is a RTS/RPG hybrid in a cyberpunk setting, similar to the old Syndicate franchise. Sorcery! (sold in separate parts) is getting rave reviews as one of the best RPGs of the year, so definitely worth checking out.

XCOM 2 is a really good turn-based strategy game, though I think it’s hurt by the final mission. Shadow Tactics may be superior, though it’s focus is more on stealth.

If you like action RPGs like Diablo, I recommend Grim Dawn. In the same vein, there’s Path of Exile, but for some reason I bounced off of that one pretty quickly (might be the always-online requirement). **Transistor **is another one that didn’t get a lot of attention. If you missed out on Torchlight, get the sequel - it’s better in a lot of ways.

If you like third-person action games, it seems like almost everyone is playing Grand Theft Auto V these days. It has a good single-player campaign, but most people play it for the multiplayer. It can be difficult to work your way up to be able to afford much, but it’s still a lot of fun.

Other murder simulators like GTA: Saint’s Row (I recommend starting with III, then playing IV), Just Cause (2 or 3 are pretty good, though 2 has a better end-game), Shadows of Mordor (plays merry havoc with Tolkien’s lore, but has a good system for creating bad guys), and the new Hitman. Out of all the games in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, I think 3 and 4 are the best ones.

In a more relaxed vein, the city simulator Cities: Skylines is fantastic. The colony management sim RimWorld isn’t done yet, but is in constant development and plays well, even in alpha. You can make some impressive supply chains in Factorio or Big Pharma.

If you really want to put your graphics card through its paces, walking simulators are very relaxing for you and a little taxing on your system (depending on the game, of course). My two favorites are No Man’s Sky (space) and Abzu (ocean).

15

I just bought GTA V for the whole family, so I have a pre-built 4-person crew, and we are having a blast. You definitely need to use a controller with this game, for any missions involving flying at the very least.

16

Unfortunately, it’s at the point in development where pretty much every new patch will bork any game saved with a previous version.

17

Some good choices here. On Steam:

I’ve also enjoyed Styx: Master of Shadows (a sequel is coming out); sneaking around as a little goblin-assassin-thief was fun.

Red Faction: Guerrilla is also good; I love the object-destruction system of the game. It’s just fun sometimes to run around blowing up buildings or driving into them or whatever. It’s practically a “breaking stuff” simulator.

**Choice of Robots **is an interesting multipath text game; kind of like those old choose your own adventure books actually.

Sunless Sea is an interesting, weird and dark game about sailing an underground ocean and trying to not go mad or get eaten or worse.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown is a turn based tactics game about a secret war against alien invaders. With the Enemy Within expansion you also get stompy cyborgs and genetically engineered soldiers on your side.

18

I’m having a blast with Wolfenstein: The New Order, recommended on this very board. It’s the first Wolfenstein game I’ve played since Wolf3d, so I don’t think you need to play the previous ones. Some puzzles, some story, good action.

Borderlands 2 is a blast and I’ve played through it twice. My kid played the Pre-Sequel and likes it. I never really tried it.

I got stuck in Witcher 3 and gave up on it – I didn’t like all the potions and so on you had to make and keep track of. I never really got the knack of that.

GTA 5 is great – I played the campaign mode and my son still plays it online.

Doom 2016, or Doom 4, or whatever it’s called, is fantastic if you like that kind of game – the fight mechanics are great, I thought.

Wolfenstein TNO and Borderlands should both be pretty cheap right now.

19

Ok, I’m slowly filling up my basket in the steam winter sale;

Dishonoured, is it worth the extra 7euro to buy the definitive edition vs the base game?

Similarly, Witcher 3, should I get the full game with all DLC for 30e or get the witcher bundle for 16e which gives the base games of all 3 witcher games?

20

I plunked for the combined edition. But it was only US$10 more, and I only buy about two games a year… sometimes zero. :slight_smile: