I’m tired of Warcrack and CIV, and I have been playing a lot of World of Tanks with my army buddies, but I think I am going to be chairborn for a little while, so I am looking for a new game. Asked Erik Kain and he suggested Divinity: Original Sin, and it looks really good. I love turn-based games like that.
Just to give you an idea of what I like, I think that Deus Ex, Vampire the Masquerade, Knights of the Old Republic, Baldur’s Gate, and the first Dragon Age were excellent games with turn based combat. Don’t get me wrong, I like a shooter and love mmorpgs, and I like games like Half-life and what not, but I am just in the mood for something single player that I can just immerse myself in and not have to deal with other humans.
Speaking of Dragon Age, why did they change the combat? The first one was perfect. I wish they had just refined it. Not to mention, the character development was so much better that in DA 2. Hopefully the new one will be solid.
Any recommendations? Or should I just go with Original Sin?
spudvol
Be a man, play EvE.
21 free trial.
stibbert
hi John,
if it’s an “ignore the world” time-sink that you need, look at Matrix Games’ War in the Pacific:Admiral’s Edition – turn-based strategy on a map that stretches from Karachi to San Diego. single-player against the AI, or PBEM. Do a short limited-map scenario, or start the campaign on 07 Dec 41. Possibly the best ROI of any game evah. Mind-numbingly detailed.
wasabi gasp
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017RSYCG/
Ben Lehman
I’ve heard really good stuff about the Witcher series.
If you don’t mind old graphics, dig into Bioware’s back catalogue. Jade Empire is fantastic, say.
John Cole +0
@Ben Lehman: I played Jade Empire about 20 times through on XBox
Joseph Nobles
Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is available on Steam. It’s a very good game. Plus, you get to kill and ride dragons. And you’ll LOVE Lydia.
John Cole +0
@Joseph Nobles: Have it and played the hell out of it already.
schrodinger's cat
Original Sin? Sounds biblical.
Geoduck
Dwarf Fortress! Trust me, you’ll love it!
dslak
@Geoduck: Let’s not recommend games likely to give him an aneurysm.
Tim F.
@Joseph Nobles: Yeah, Skyrim obvs. When you said ‘a lot of time’ that comes close to the top of the list.
Played through Divinity. Great game. The complexity of the elements system is not overwhelming but it makes combat strategy a lot of fun. Just swallow your pride and google some of the more obscure puzzles.
Have you thought about the Spiderweb games? We’re talking about the far end of the production values spectrum but the Avernum, Avadon etc series are stellar turn-based isometric RPGs. Great writing and design considering one guy puts them out.
raven
No Bic
Matt Sandwich
I’ve played the first Witcher game. As long as you aren’t too concerned with combat being a critical aspect of the game (and I’d suggest using the Polish language option with subs), it’s pretty great. Dark fantasy that’s reminiscent of an East European Michael Moorcock. It’s also on sale this weekend at the awesome GOG.com for 80% off their usual price. Not affiliated with them, just A) share your fondness for the games you cite and B) am genuinely pleased with their operation. So I thought I’d chime in as a “long-time reader, first-time commenter.”
Origuy
I don’t do a lot of gaming, so I don’t go for the new games. Neverwinter Nights was a continuation of Baldur’s Gate, so if you liked BG and didn’t play NWN, try it. I tend to like strategy games. I’ve replayed through Age of Mythology a few times. Rise of Nations is good too.
Crashman
I heard Original Sin was awesome; a true spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate, which is right up my alley. Haven’t had any time to play it yet but all my favorite reviewers loved it.
dslak
A fun, recent indie game in the turn-based RPG genre is Catalyst Lab’s Shadowrun Returns. The sequel, Dragonfall, was much better, but you have to buy the original game anyway to run the second. It’s available on Steam.
RandomMonster
In tangentially related news, Glenn Beck is concerned about a new game from EA that he thinks turns tea partiers into opponents:
âLetâs go to the game that has just come out that makes American constitutionalists and Tea Party people the enemy. And you can go and shoot them,â Glenn said on radio this morning. âLetâs go to the game that has just come out that makes American constitutionalists and Tea Party people the enemy. And you can go and shoot them,â Glenn said on radio this morning. âAnybody have a problem with this?â
I can proudly say I worked for that company for a couple decades, and even contributed (for a very short time) to the game in question.
Joseph Nobles
@John Cole +0: Oh, good deal. I’d suggest ES: Online, but you want single player.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@stibbert: Second the Admiral’s Edition.
Baldur’s Gate 2 has been updated and expanded.
Soonergrunt
Left 4 Dead 2 is a decent shooter that you can play with people in 4x co-op or by yourself.
Don’t bother with the original. It’s good, but the sequel is better and includes all the original missions and characters. The last turn-based combat game I played was KOTOR and KOTOR2 (which was a bit of a disappointment.)
dmsilev
Won’t do you any good right now, but since you mentioned Civ, I hope you know that Firaxis will be releasing a spiritual successor to SMAC called Civilization: Beyond Earth in a couple of months.
I can feel my free time shriveling up and dying already.
Mike in NC
@RandomMonster: I would gladly buy a video game where you could shoot Glenn Beck and a bunch of fascist teabaggers.
larimegimp
X-Com: Enemy Unknown. Turn-based strategy defending the world from an alien invasion. Remake of the 90’s classic.
schrodinger's cat
Caturday open thread needs Boss Cat Yogi
Central Planning
A few months ago someone mentioned playing Faster Than Light or FTL for short
It’s a much harder game than I thougt it would be. It’s cheap, and available for almost all platforms
Hkedi
For a quick weekend game I would suggest Transistor. Good game and the music is astounding. The Banner saga is also a really interesting (and a bit longer one too). I don’t know if you have grabbed XCOM Enemy unknown, but that’s an excellent turn based combat.
If you want something MMO based, I Can’t suggest The Secret World enough. Only MMO game that has genuinely freaked me out. Also only MMO game that had genuinely hard puzzles (think old 80’s text game hard).
If you are looking for something a bit different, a little more along lines of an engineering game, play Kerbal Space Program. Challenging, but you will learn a lot about space, and there are a bunch of videos explaning, well everything.
RandomMonster
For recommendations, John, I live for solid SP games. Of things I’ve played recently, I thoroughly enjoyed Far Cry 3 and the latest console Tomb Raider.
RandomMonster
@Mike in NC:
Sadly you can’t do either. The threat is all in Beck’s paranoid mind.
Tim F.
@Matt Sandwich: I always liked the atmosphere of the Witcher games and especially the books. Read those first as the games drop a lot of references and plot lines expecting you to know where they fit in. I recommend the first book in particular, it is clearly a labor of love and long effort. The others read a bit more like something banged out faster to fill in a series. They all bring that wonderful bleakly complex eastern European moral frame that rolls its eyes at anything so simplistic or banal as good and evil. STALKER also does that well (have not played STALKER? Crazy person. Just make sure to download the most latest patches…)
The Witcher games also bring lots of semi-explicit witch sex. Better they not only address why everyone is young and smoking hot but the books at least make it a compelling plot point.
Matt Sandwich
FTL is frighteningly addictive, and there’s a lot of strategy in the form of resource management, but there’s no story to speak of. I love it, and can easily be engrossed in it for hours at a time, but hate myself afterward in a way I don’t with RPGs.
Tim F.
@Central Planning: For the love of god not FTL. It should have a warning label for people with addictive personalities.
Frankensteinbeck
@Mike in NC: and @RandomMonster:
There is DEFINITELY such a game, and it is called Bioshock Infinite.
@spudvol:
Ah, EVE, the most frustrating spreadsheet program in the world.
Goblue72
Broken Age by Tim Schaefer (Grim Fandango, Escape from Monkey Island) is a great adventure gaming throwback.
Keep an eye out for Cuphead – being released soon. It’s literally a 1930’s cartoon come to life. With a jazz soundtrack. Google it.
Night in the Woods comes out in 2015. Highly stylized, cartoon cat and her friends in a coming of age story. Google it.
Child of Light is a solid RPG with a great story. Also too – Witcher 2 is great. Witcher 3 comes out next year.
Matt Sandwich
@Tim F.: Thanks for the tip. I picked up a few books, and figured I’d read them before playing the first game. It’s the Nerd’s Way, after all. But something finally made me forge ahead with the game– maybe, as you suggest, the diminishing returns associated with the endeavor. I DO have the STALKER trilogy, and made a point of grabbing the mods that update graphics, etc. Just haven’t played it yet after an initial, frustrating encounter. Come to think of it, same thing happened with Witcher II…
Edit to add: and I see we’re surfing on the same wave re: FTL.
asiangrrlMN
Nuclear Throne. It’s an awesome game. It’s a rogue-like-like-like-like, made by Vlambeer. If you insist on a turn-based combat system, XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Both are on Steam. Here’s my review of NT: http://theminna.com/2014/06/22/quick-bites-nuclear-throne-a-damn-addictive-game/
And, Cole, please try to keep yourself in one piece. We like you better that way and your animals need you! Congrats on staying on the wagon.
ETA: I really did not like Broken Age, but I’m one of very few people with that opinion. And, I like point-and-clicks in general.
RandomMonster
Oh, and the Telltale Games version of The Walking Dead is awesome — one of the few games to get “decisions have consequences” right in a narrative sense. Try out the first episode, it’s free.
SiubhanDuinne
Scrabble is good. Also, Free Cell. And Chocolate Fix.
jibeaux
Amazon has a lot of good strategy tabletop games marked down 40%. You could have, you know, people over.
Matt Sandwich
Oh, crap, I forgot about the lo-res but wonderful Avadon series. Retro style (because they’re done by one guy, not as a nostalgia gimmick), turn-based combat, interesting stories. He’s done other series that are even lower-res, but Avadon is a treat. And not much bigger than 100 megs.
JCJ
@SiubhanDuinne:
I agree! Backgammon is also excellent.
James Probis
Just have to second Shadowrun: Dragonfall anf FTL. BTW, the Steam Workshop for Shadowrun has some pretty decent user generated content IMHO, giving it a lot of added value.
JW
Howdy John,
My current favorite games are pretty old so the graphics are relatively primitive. If you laugh, I’d consider that a plus.
Divine Divinity a role playing game. You can be pretty much whatever you want. Lots of baddies to kill and puzzles. I hope that the latter isn’t a breaker.
Arcanum another role player. You can pretty much *really* create a character a large assortment of characteristics. LOBTK and puzzles.
Try the old chestnut Diablo. I’m sure that you know what that’s like, but it replays rather well.
GOG has been a wonderful source of games I’d heard of but never played.
chopper
Turn-based? Now I feel like firing up my old Kingdom of Loathing account.
RobertB
For turn-based, I’d recommend XCOM: Enemy Unknown. FTL was recommended above, and is pretty good for as cheap as it is.
wick
I’ve been playing Path of Exile. The skill system is fun to play around with, and it manages to be free to play without pay to win.
SiubhanDuinne
@JCJ:
Chess, Tri-Peaks….
chuckbutcher
Diablo 4 can be single or multi
Hkedi
@SiubhanDuinne:
Chess? Ha! Play a real game like Go!
/troll
Mike J
Just finishing up bragging rights quests in Agrarian Skies, but Minecraft isn’t everyone’s cuppa. In AS, everything needs to be automated, and when you think you have 10 times more of a resource than you have, go get ten times more than that, even after you take that rule into account.
whiskey
Crusader Kings 2 and/or Europa Universalis 4
Tara the Antisocial Social Worker
The problem is, they haven’t made a game that’s closer to science fiction than your life.
That said, I have no useful suggestions, since my taste in games veers toward things like Killer Bunnies.
Mike J
@Geoduck:
YesyesyeysyeyesyesyFuck Yes.
Mike J
@Tara the Antisocial Social Worker: I was never a fan of collectable card games, but I do have a copy of Bunnies and Burrows, the rabbit based tabletop RPG.
bago
Dishonored is free until 8/31 if you have XBL gold …
El Cruzado
Definitely Original Sin, and I second the recommendation for Shadowrun and the Spiderweb Software games.
Anyway, Original Sin should keep you busy enough until Wasteland gets finished, and then there you have another hundred hours busy.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hkedi:
Huh. Parcheesi or nothin’
Emerald
I have to second the Spiderweb suggestion. Understand, these are made by Jeff Vogel, who is one guy in his basement, so the graphics are resolutely old school, but the gameplay and storyline and HUMOR are first class. You can just do the major quests or mop up all the side quests to make the game longer and longer. They’re turn-based but not simple.
I’d start with Avernum: Escape from the Pit. It’s a remake of Avernum 1, which is a remake of Exile 1, which is what put Vogel on the map. It’s basically the same script, but the script is so good it’s kept him in business for nearly 20 years.
His Avadon games are good too, but for an introduction to Spiderweb, I’d go with the Avernum series.
And incidentally, if you’re looking for something completely different, why not try a good adventure game? Jonathan Boakes has some excellent ones, my fave being The Lost Crown (sequel coming soon). No combat but incredibly immersive. Also made by one guy, so cut him some slack on the voice work, but the script is fantastic. Ghost hunting stuff. TLC is very long, however. Shorter: the original Darkfall: The Journal is what put Boakes on the map and it’s still a scary, immersive game, despite the slideshow style. (Skip Darkfall 2, but Darkfall 3: Lost Souls is quite frightening.)
Also Jane Jensen has the excellent Gray Matter which is much shorter. She’s just come out with a new one called Moebius that I haven’t played yet. Jensen is the one who did the ancient but still powerful Gabriel Knight games (still probably the best adventures ever made, and with Tim Curry voicing Gabriel! Start with Sins of the Fathers–GOG has these).
Choose wisely.
Jon Wiesman
I am obviously biased but I really think you should give WildStar a chance. (I’m the Lead Client Engineer/UI Lead on it.) Yes, I know it’s an MMORPG and you said single player, but I’ve been lurking/commenting here for 6 years, and I think you’d enjoy it.
Send me an email and I’ll give you a 7-day pass so you can try it for free.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/wildstar/critic-reviews
PaulW
I STILL miss City of Heroes.
I am currently Force-using on Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I am trying to get back into Dungeons & Dragons with their released 5th edition as my nephews are expressing an interest… we still use graph paper to make our own maps, right?
Frankensteinbeck
@PaulW:
Let us pray that City of Titans IS a worthy successor. More and more I see what a brilliantly designed game City of Heroes was, and how it spoiled me.
one of the jasons
Xcom! I’ve also been playing the remastered baldurs gate for the first time in years.
trollhattan
@Mike J:
“Dwarf Fortress” sounds like Stonehenge from “Spinal Tap.”
N M
Go get Elite or one of the many emulated versions for free. Or the beta of the modern remake. You’ll love it.
N M
Another classic would be Star Control 2 – also free after the publisher Toys for Bob open sourced it as the Ur-quan Masters.
http://sc2.sourceforge.net
My advice – try it on your own for a while then get a walk through and beat it. You’ll love the humor and especially the end credits.
N M
Mike J
@trollhattan: Read the Boatmurdered saga. It is epic in every sense of the word. You will either want to play this game for 73 hours straight or gouge our your pancreas.
Hal
This could be an endless debate, but after taking a couple of years break and selling my PS3, I want to get back into gaming. I’m leaning towards a PS4. Does anyone like the X-box better?
As for games, I loved Arkham City when it came out, so I’m probably going for the sequel.
Violet
I played the card game “Old Maid” with “Old Maid” cards. Stayed at a condo a few weekends ago and the card pack was in a basket under the coffee table so we played on a whim. What we didn’t know when we started is that there were two Old Maid cards in the deck. We each ended up with one so in the end no one won. Or lost. I’m sure that was a liberal soshulist plot.
esc
I concur about XCOM and FTL. If you ever play puzzle type games, I think you might like Orcs Must Die 2, which is rather funny and lets you kill hordes of orcs with various devices. Did you somehow miss the Mass Effect series? I doubt it, but if you did, start now. If you never played the ME2 DLC, do that. And Plague Inc is an interesting take on a strategy game; you play as various types of diseases, including a zombie variant, to wipe out humanity. They just released a Planet of the Apes expansion.
askew
I am not a gamer but I am looking for a game for my 6-year old nephew. He plays Skylander Swap Force and just loves it. Are there other games that are similar to that without being too violent or scary?
YellowJournalism
I will second Assassin’s Creed based on the recommendation of my husband. He never used to play those types of games and became addicted thanks to a free copy on his Windows phone.
Me? I’m more hard-core. Oregon Trail: American Settler and Minion Rush.
Triumph
I can second the Divinity: Original Sin recommendation. Good solid game that will remind you of old turn based stuff like Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2.
The new Dragon Age game has been getting really solid impressions, it comes out in a couple of months I think? I’m in the same boat as you though- thought the sequel sucked so bad that it’s gonna take me a while to warm up to the 3rd installment.
Finally, keep an eye on Pillars of Eternity- made by a lot of the same guys that did those old games we old bastards love so much. Comes out later this year.
https://eternity.obsidian.net/
askew
On another note, this rider for Hillary Clinton’s speech at UNLV makes her look like a spoiled asshole. And it leads me to believe she isn’t running for president. She has to know how poorly this would play in the media for her and for only $225K. That’s pocket change for her.
jl
I like Conan O’Briens war game reviews. I guess that is progress for me.
Belafon
It looks like Germany has been spying on the US. Shocker! And I really do love their claim that it was an accident.
Countries spy on each other. It’s how governments keep from being surprised.
esc
OH! And, if you want something story based, The Walking Dead by Telltale Games is, for my money, by far and away the best Walking Dead anything out there. The first “season” and its DLC are available, and they’ve released most of the second (you buy up front, and get the different chapters as they are released).
stibbert
@SiubhanDuinne: Chess? Didn’t you read about Tromso? 2 deaths, & the Burundi women’s team disappeared. NTM, JC’s shoulders need some rehab & rest, before he could safely execute a queen’s-side castle.
Mike J
@Belafon: I have it on good authority that only Americans do anything the least bit wrong. Who on earth is going to believe your wild ass story about Germans doing something evil?
stibbert
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism: Good to know I’m not the only AE idjit ’round here.
Villago Delenda Est
@RandomMonster: Sorry, Glenn, but “American Constitutionalists” and tea partiers ARE the enemy. They are racist, fascist scum.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Forkbeard
@Jon Wiesman: And that kind of behavior right there from the devs is why I recommend Wildstar to just about everybody. That, and that it’s fucking rad.
Seriously though, it’s a great game. Go play it!
dopealope
Why don’t you try a real gamer’s game like Dark Souls or Dark Souls II? Or, are you just afraid?
? Martin
Dwarf Fortress is really all that needs to be said.
I’ll lay my DF credenza on the table – I’m the same Martin that played Morul, the Most Interesting Dwarf in the World.
Mike J
@RandomMonster:
I find it hilarious that a game that is almost entirely about the glories of militarizing the police is being criticized by the same people who call the protesters in Missouri animals who should be put down,.
? Martin
I’ll toss another vote in for Kerbal Space Program as well. Love that game.
jurassicpork
I recommend the original Grand Theft Auto. There’s a cheat code where, when you punch it in, it features Darrell Issa’s voice. Yeah, I’m kidding.
Anyway, get a mention in my novel’s acknowledgements and trailer. Get a free copy. Get a character named after you. Get everything by helping me in my homemade Kickstarter campaign.
Hobbes
Its still in beta, and its a MMO, but you may want to check out Archeage.
Halcyon
Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall is a lot of fun. And I was going to recommend X-Com but I feel like maybe John’s blood pressure doesn’t need the spike. (Although if you play X-Com and you think to yourself that really the second half of the game is too easy, try out the Long War mod. Massively extends the life of the game.)
Finally, though, if you liked Baldur’s Gate but have never played Planescape: Torment, you missed out on probably the best of the truly old D&D PC games. Basically, you’re immortal and *pissed off about that* because you’ve been alive so long it’s starting to take a toll on your soul. As such, dying is actually an important game mechanic. And the conversations you have actually matter a lot (and can get pretty philosophical if you want).
Halcyon
Oh, and since somebody else mentioned it, Wildstar is the only MMO I’ve seen that is in the same league as WoW. (FFXIV is close but just massively lacks content at the end game level.)
BethanyAnne
Borderlands 2 is a fun single player shooter. Funny and mindless. Minecraft is the box of Lego you didn’t know you were missing so badly. And the latest Tomb Raider is great.
For the general game discussion in the thread, I’m truly enjoying Elder Scrolls Online. I guess I play it pretty much like a single player game, but it works very well like that.
Major Major Major Major (formerly J.Ty)
I’m playing through Chrono Trigger again right now.
BethanyAnne
The new cats are out and exploring! Lots of head bobbing and looking around.
Gravenstone
I’ll toss in another vote for X-Com, very faithful to the feel of the original. And I know you said you’ve tired of WoW, but Blizzard has a FTP online CCG called Hearthstone. If that sort of game is to your liking, you might find it a useful time waster.
Violet
@BethanyAnne: Told you! Glad they’re coming out so soon.
NCSteve
Non-multiplayer shooter? Wolfenstein, the New Order. The Nazis won. It’s 1960.
Single player turn-based? Yes, definitely X-Com, Enemy Unknown.
iboudreau
Just about anything recently from Paradoxâs stable of grand strategy titles is well worth the effort of overcoming the learning curve. For me theyâve completely supplanted the Civ series. Crusader Kings 2 has become one of my favorite games ever, and Iâm looking forward to delving into Europa Universalis IV. The company continues to expand both games.
If itâs an RPG youâre interested in, check out Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Must-plays if you haven’t already.
Another neat RPG to check out is Shadowrun Returns. Itâs a cyberpunky, text-heavy game with old-school turn-based combat. Itâs also open to Steam Workshop modding, so people have built entire new campaigns that you can download for free.
Sebastian
Typing on my phone, apologies for the brevity.
I second XCOM, the reboot is superb.
Can’t believe noone mentioned the Total War series! Really? That’s like half a dozen games reaching max review score at IGN and other game mags. Turn based campaign game (building cities, moving armies and fleets, etc) and then real-time battles.
I recommend Total War: Medieval for starters. TW Rome is good but the graphics are a little dated, TW: Shogun 2 is IMHO a little complex, haven’t yet checked out TW: Rome 2
Annamal
How are you on tower defense games?
Defense grid gave me hours and hours of game-play that was very soothing
Tim C.
Kernel space program is an amazing thing, wasted huge hours on it, but it may not be what you want in the adventure category. I assume Fallout New Vegas is already on your list, but I liked it a lot.
James Probis
@BethanyAnne: Borderlands 2 is a fun single player shooter. Funny and mindless.
Even better multiplayer co-op. And actually, goofy as it is I found parts of it to be a lot more than just dumb fun- especially the Tiny Tina DLC, which is interesting as an expression in video game form of this project of the real life Tina.
Howard Beale IV
Goat Simulator.
tsquared2001
@Hkedi: I read Shibumi as a kid and was fucking fascinated by that game.
gian
@NCSteve:
I thought they won in 1980 with an assist from John Anderson.
I mean they followed up with a visit to Bittburg, but the guy who kicked off the campaign in the town where people who wanted to register blacks to vote got murdered (of note the murder victims were of more than one race, and the hoover lead FBI bent the rules to get suspects in custody – according to a show I saw, they ended up with a mafia guy basically deciding to kidnap and torture a prime suspect.
Oops, games. you may like the whole company of heroes stuff – since you like the tank simulator, it’s RTS not turn based though. being an old and all, I prefer turn based stuff myself, reflexes are what they are. But the CoH line are all decent to great games.
tsquared2001
@Violet: If I was you, I’d blame POTUS
mclaren
I heard there’s this really cool hi-tech game called PONG.
tsquared2001
@mclaren: When I read gaming, I was gonna turn John onto Tiger Woods for PS3. Oops. Not nearly nerdy enough.
Gene108
@PaulW:
What was the last edition of D&D you played?
Game mechanics changed a lot between 2.0 and 3.0/3.5
I think 5.0 tries to channel 1.0/2.0 a bit more.
Skip 4.0, I have not met anyone who likes it.
You could also try Pathfinder, which is a more refined version of D&D 3.5 rules (been playing Pathfinder a lot lately, good game)
BethanyAnne
@James Probis: I haven’t gotten any DLC for it yet. But Tiny Tina is my favorite. I have her “I’m gonna eat so many crumpets it’s going to be a goddamn *crumpacolypse* ” ringtone on my phone.
Major Major Major Major (formerly J.Ty)
@Gene108: Pathfinder’s great.
Gene108
I went to the dealership to get some work done. While I was waiting I mulled about the showroom and a sales guy came out wanting to know if I wanted to drive test drive cars. Slow day on the sales floor, so sales guys had time on their hands and it’d give me something to do while I waited.
I said sure.
He looked beat. I asked him if he had a late night. He said yes, but he met a nice girl but had a few too many drinks at the bar.
He then goes on to tell me a bit of his life story. How he got engaged to his high school sweet heart but broke she broke off the engagement, after being together ten years.
He did not have a lot of education, but was into sales and had started an advertising business on his own and worked part-time in car sales. She went to med school and met another doc-to-be, who she had more in common with currently.
I wonder why some people just decide you want to hear what they have to say like that, because I would never open up to a stranger like that about my personal life.
KithKanan
@dslak:
@James Probis:
@Halcyon:
I agree with the Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall recommendation, but suggest waiting another month if you don’t already have it – they’ve announced a stand-alone Director’s Cut release that’ll hit steam Sept 18.
I would also recommend Wasteland 2, which is currently in early access but should be fully released about the same time.
Anne Laurie
@askew: Some twelve years ago, I was at the periphery of an event where ex-Prez GHW Bush would be appearing. That contract ran almost a hundred pages, including a rider that anybody working with it had to sign a confidentiality agreement. Some of the more diva-like riders, we were told, were explicitly Secret-Service security-related. It wouldn’t surprise me if the HRC “nobody else on stage” item and limits to the number of people who could be photographed with her fell under SS restrictions, frankly.
Morzer
The Total War franchise is great for strategy plus battles plus some city/economy management (Rome, Medieval II or Shogun II are the best, most stable games in the series – and are pretty cheap on Steam). Shogun II has some inadvertently hilarious attempts at in-game commentary, including the infamous ” A cat in blow” which is probably meant to be “A crushing blow”. Empire Total War was a mess and Rome 2 is still being patched and beaten into shape. Rule of thumb with Total War – wait for at least a year after a game is released, then buy the cheaper, fully functional version.
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes is a lot of fun as well. Not to be confused with the original Fallen Enchantress.
Anne Laurie
@Hkedi:
If you’re trying to kill time amusingly, may I recommend all 72 episodes of the Hikaru no Go anime? A modern tween’s introduction to “the cut-throat world of professional Go” and the neverending search for the Hand of God…
Dan
@larimegimp: I don’t like science fiction games, but I just finished playing that one and loved it.
Cole, if you get it: Be monomaniacal on satellites. Put all resources into building satellite uplinks, power generators, buying satellites and launching them. Don’t upgrade weapons or armor, don’t train up the soldiers, don’t do a damn thing until you’ve got satellites over all 16 member nations. (Cover Asia and Africa first – best early bonuses.) I didn’t do that first time around, got about halfway through the game and realized I’d painted myself into a corner.
Satellites, my friend.
Darkrose
The PC versions of Final Fantasy VII and VIII are available on Steam for cheap these days; I recommend them both. Assassins Creed 4 seemed really good, but my gaming laptop couldn’t take it. I’ve never tried the previous installments, but I’ve heard good things about them.
Not sure how I feel about DA3. I loved Origins. I loved my Sarcastic!Mage!Hawke and his beloved Fenris, but I hated hated hated most of the storyline. I’m annoyed that neither my Hawke nor my Warden will ever get real closure to their stories, and I wish David Gaider had stayed off Tumblr instead of turning into Exhibit A of “Why Creators and Fans Need to Have Separate Spaces.”
Gene108
If you have time on your hands you can try Snakes and Ladders, which is the traditional version of Chutes and Ladders, but thanks to some rules about the dice rolls needed to complete the top row and win, the game can take a very long time.
Tommy
I think I am a gamer. I have a Sega Dreamcast, N64. PS2 and PS3 all running. But I find I can’t pull myself from the darn games I get on my tablet and phone. Simple games like Cut the Rope and Dots. Those are two games, I kid you not, my five year old niece turned me onto.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@PaulW: @Frankensteinbeck: Y’all have heard about this, right?
Humanities Grad
I’d second (or third, or twentieth, actually), the recommendation of the new XCOM. I spent a LOT of hours back in the day playing the original X-COM and Terror From the Deep. The reinvention of XCOM gets a lot of flak from many fans of the original, but I never really understood why. It’s not a literal recreation of the original games, and it is a very different experience. But it’s a lot of fun, and some of the changes that the designers did make served to weed out stuff that was annoying or tedious in the earlier games.
A couple of people way upthread suggested War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition from Matrix Games. I’m not saying that that’s a bad choice, but there are some things a player needs to be aware of before diving into it. I’ve played a lot of the original War in the Pacific (never got Admiral’s Edition, which is a buffed-up version of the original WitP). And while I like it a lot, it’s a game that doesn’t have a learning curve so much as it straps you into the cockpit of a rocket and fires you into space. It’s HUGELY complex, and I was somewhat familiar with the engine before I bought it, because I’d played an earlier Matrix title called Uncommon Valor (same idea as WitP, but restricted to the South Pacific theater). If you have the persistence to stick with it, it’s great, but the first 100 hours are going to be spent just figuring out how everything works.
The other potential drawback with the War in the Pacific games is that they’re REALLY expensive. I think the digital version of Admiral’s Edition was running close to $100 the last time I checked. Again, if you get into the games, they’re totally worth it, but it’s a pretty hefty investment to make if you’re not sure you’re going to like it.
debit
@BethanyAnne: Yay!! Once they feel confident, they’ll be tearing around the place in no time.
Gene108
@Tommy:
Have you tried plants versus zombies?
Saw my nephew playing it and it is addictive.
Kermit
@larimegimp: Yes. X-Com. Really nice single player game. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Frankensteinbeck
@Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism:
I’ve already mentioned it in this thread! I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Always nice to see news updates for it. I’m really, really hoping City of Titans pans out.
Net 7 successfully fan reproduced Earth and Beyond, which was wonderful. City of Titans might just pull off a CoH sequel.
Bruce K
Another vote in favor of XCOM … and a recommendation against EVE, unless you’re comfortable in a rather cumbersome demonstration of how Ayn Rand’s philosophy breaks down when exercised by actual people…
Bruce K
Another vote in favor of XCOM … and a recommendation against EVE, unless you’re comfortable in a rather cumbersome demonstration of how Ayn Rand’s philosophy breaks down when exercised by actual people.
Jon Wiesman
@Forkbeard: Thank you so much!
Central Planning
I’ve also been thinking about getting a C64 emulator to play the Ultima series. I’m just afraid I won’t think it will be as good as I thought it was when I was a kid.
Seanly
@Gene108:
My brother & I have been playing 1st edition AD&D by Skype for a couple of years now after taking a 20 year break. Since it’s just the two of us, we have to break a lot of the cardinal rules like the DM having a couple of characters.
However, it’s so much more fun than the computer games.
I’ve also started playing Pathfinder with some other folks. For a lot of the hardcore AD&D players, 4.0 was so bad that most moved on to Pathfinder instead.
RE: Computer games – I am getting the Civilization: Beyond Earth on 10/24 and the new Dragon Age (on Xbox One) on 11/18. I hope the new DA is more like the first. I only played the demo of the 2nd one and thought it was horrible.
Seanly
@Gene108:
My brother & I have been playing 1st edition AD&D by Skype for a couple of years now after taking a 20 year break. Since it’s just the two of us, we have to break a lot of the cardinal rules like the DM having a couple of characters.
However, it’s so much more fun than the computer games.
I’ve also started playing Pathfinder with some other folks. For a lot of the hardcore AD&D players, 4.0 was so bad that most moved on to Pathfinder instead.
RE: Computer games – I am getting the Civilization: Beyond Earth on 10/24 and the new Dragon Age (on Xbox One) on 11/18. I hope the new DA is more like the first. I only played the demo of the 2nd one and thought it was horrible.
LongHairedWeirdo
I see a mention of the Diablo series – if that is of interest, pick up Titan Quest, one of the world’s best dungeon crawl style games.
Berial
If you liked Skyrim’s open ended game play, you could try Fallout 3 or Fallout New-Vegas. Also, if you enjoyed Civ V, but have had enough of the normal gameplay try some of it’s scenarios. They mix things up and can make that game interesting again. Mods galore as well, for Civ V.
2liberal
i just bought serious sam revolutions on steam which is an update – i can’t offer any review right now. It is in beta release for $10. I loved the franchise though and played the major releases
InternetDragons
The XCom remake for sure.
Diablo3 as single-player is pretty spectacular.
I think you’ll like Divinity.
And John, if you haven’t tried it, the Hearthstone game that Blizzard recently released is a ton of fun. I don’t even LIKE most online strategy card games, but this one is fast, easy to learn, and has done a good job of integrating WoW characters that will be familiar to you. I never thought that the graphics for an online card game could be engaging, but these are great.
You can play against the AI while you are learning, but even when you are playing against real opponents, the system is set up so that there’s no trash talk possible – no interactions that you have to deal with other than a few very limited emotes like “good game!”. When you win games against other players you earn in-game gold that can be used to purchase more decks and can even be used to purchase the new expansion that’s based on the Naxxramas dungeon. It’s a very nice change of pace, and something you can pick up and play for just a few minutes, or you can dive in and play for hours.
askew
@Anne Laurie:
Yeah, that makes sense except GHW is an ex-president. Hillary is just a spouse of a president (in SS protection terms). Is her security that tight? Is Hillary the only ex-First Lady that still has SS protection or does Laura too?
I think what was more offensive was the insane hotel and airplane demands.
Tymothi Loving
Are you left-handed? If so, I suggest avoiding Divinity: Original Sin until a patch that makes the right shift key usable happens, if it happens. For some unknown reason, there is a key mapped to the left shift key only, and it’s one that you have to use a lot, making the game very awkward if you use the number pad to move like me.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Frankensteinbeck: No, no, not City of Titans, though I have high hopes for that, too. NCSoft is suddenly open to selling the CoX IP. Negotiations have been ongoing for several months. Everyone has their fingers crossed that we hear something about CoX returning within the next few weeks.
AnonPhenom
Space Engine is cool, is on Steam and it is Free.
JustRuss
Currently playing Dishonored and enjoying it. You can go totally stealth or kill everything, or in between. Lots of replayability.
If you liked Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights is worth a look. I never played BG, but the consensus seems to be that NWN is close but not quite as good.
econtutor
Probably a bit late to this one but if you’re a fan of the old Panzer General games I can not recommend Panzer Corps enough. The grand campaign in it easily takes over 100+ hours of single player glory.
Mike in dc
Hearts of Iron
Europa Universalis
Nazgul35
Warframe.
Nina
Yet another vote for XCOM here. There’s a series of videos by Zemalf, a Finnish gamer, who did an Ironman Impossible run without losing a soldier. I played XCOM for a while, did OK, then I watched some of his series (slow talking, slow moving, incredibly thorough) and it raised my game up to no end.
XCOM is a great game for when you feel like thinking things through and taking your own time.
I’ve also been playing Banished! lately. It’s a city builder, nothing fancy, with slow music and turns of the seasons. No combat, just the peaceful accumulation of resources and buildings and a remote view of the lives and deaths of little people inside your computer.
Goat Simulator is very funny but it’s not a longterm play thing.
If you want a good game to ‘read’ in one play session, I heartily recommend Gone Home. It’s a lovely game, takes you through an abandoned house discovering clues to where the inhabitants went. Just when you think the plot is going one way, it takes a different turn. Really lovely game, very evocative of the early 90s. But it only has a couple of hours of gameplay and not a lot of replayability. Still, everyone in the US should play it through once. Just don’t let anyone give away the plot.
Singular
Dead thread I know but I just have to add my voice to the Balloon Juice X-COM fans. Get this game and play it. If you don’t love it I’ll buy a hat and eat it.
(just to flash my epeen, I finished it on Ironman Impossible with most Second Wave options – it was about the hardest game I’ve ever played).
aetmos
Planetside 2. Free-to-play MMO FPS. A must-try for any self-described gamer.
oh, magoo
Almost-never post, but if you are a fan of Baldur’s Gate and you haven’t played the original Planescape: Torment, you are doing yourself a disservice.
There is also a kickstartered remake in the works, but the original is brilliant.
Medicine Man
Cole:
I have heard good things about Divinity: Original Sin but haven’t tried it myself. As others have said, the Firaxis remake of X-COM is pretty good, though I found it a trifle lacking in replay value.
A few suggestions of my own:
If you like turn-based, menu driven RPGs with a strong retro sensibility, you might like Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. I haven’t played a JRPG for more than a decade and am pleasantly surprised by how inoffensive this game is. Pretty easy to get into, a nice detailed world with loads of secondary characters, and a combat system that sorta RPG-tactics.
If you aren’t adverse to action RPGs I suggest trying Dark Souls 2. While this game doesn’t hold your hand, it is a lot more forgiving than its predecessor and a lot easier to get into. I would also be happy to write up some basic how-to survive tips for the game if you are at all interested.
Like others here, I am also quite fond of Crusader Kings 2. There is a considerable learning curve to CK2 though and it is quite different than CIV, so it is hard to say what you might make of it.