Which games blow your mind, but only if you know nothing about them in advance?
Best examples I can think of are:
- Outer Wilds
- Doki Doki Literature Club
- The Stanley Parable
What are yours?
(please no spoilers)
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Undertale, but at this point you’d have to have lived in a cave for the last decade to not know most of the spoilers by now.
Well, apparently I have!
The only thing I’ve heard about Undertale so far is that it is supposed to be good.That’s all Ive heard too. I tried playing it but the combat was weird. Kinda boring to me so I never advanced further.
It gets good by the end but yeah if you don’t mesh with it early on it can be hard to get into and want to finish it.
Yeah that happened to me. Never finished it and wonder why it’s so loved.
Yeah I almost had that happen with me but I think I ended up watching someone play it. Still kind of regret it but at the same time probably wouldn’t have finished it on my own otherwise and I atleast have Deltarune to look forward to now.
Same. Fehlt like a very early game experiment.
Yeah I didn’t really get it. I did play Everhood though and that was much better.
It’s good in a way that isn’t really expected - the only thing I can say without spoiling is it did something really different with things that had been there a long time.
Undertale is such a bolt of lightning. It both depends on its player having experience with traditional JRPG and having no fucking clue what it is. But when the conditions line up, as it did for many people at release, it was such a master fully crafted experience. But even the slightest amount of “it’s good because…” really siphons part of the experience away.
Tbh, I played it for a few hours, didn’t like it and don’t understand all the fuss about it. Does it get good later?
I was at a point, where I was going through a cave with a castle in the background (it was a few years ago), it was probably some kind of riddle, but I couldn’t be bothered.
Is it worth going forward or did I see enough to just say “it’s not my kind of game”?I’m gonna be the heretic here, it’s actually really terrible. If you don’t like Homestuck and that brand of humor, you won’t like Undertale.
Spoiler: There are high jinks, low jinks, dangers, puzzles, capers, japers, being captured, and other sorts of fun activities in this game.
Guess I live in a cave then. I have even had the game on steam for ages now. The graphics are just too much of a turn off for me to ever play it.
I have heard the name but don’t know what it’s about, I’ll look into it. Thanks !
I’ll look into it.
No, don’t!
Or at least don’t do anymore than choose your preferred platform and then buy it. Its available on Windows, Linux, Mac, PS, Xbox and Switch but not on Android or iOS.
Its a couple of bucks on steam at the moment, included in PSN if you do that, or full price everywhere else.
hop just got it. Thanks for the recommendation. Let’s see what this is all about 😁
- Disco Elysium
- Return of the Obra Dinn
- House Of The Dying Sun
- FEAR
- Limbo
- Oxenfree
I disagree with FEAR simply because I’d say to play it on the hardest difficulty and go balls to the wall because the AI will fuck you over if it gets the chance; and the longer you take to clear a room, the more time the AI has to organize and execute a plan. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve seen plenty of people get stuck on FEAR because they tried to play it like a cover shooter, I’d fully agree with you.
Honestly, fair assessment. Well said.
Yes! Return of the Obra Dinn 100%. You can still watch other people play it on YouTube later and have a blast seeing them figure things out. And read Lucas Pope’s excellent devblog later as well.
Can you send me the link to FEAR? In steam there are a lot of games with this name lol.
Ok thx, this one is actually available in gog too, and for cheaper. Gonna check it out. (Costed me 0.2$, but there is regional pricing here).
Heck yes. Enjoy. Say hit to Alma for me.
What region is that?
Brazil
I went into Oxenfree completely blind after picking it up for next to nothing on the switch store. Great story with choices that actually matter. OP, do yourself a favor and play this without a guide.
Heck yes. I still need to play the second one.
Control
Yeah, got it for free on epic, assumed it was a game on dictatorship for reason… What a trip it turned out to be
It’s on sale on Steam for $7, just got it!
Great combat, graat atmosphere, great story. Definitely worth your time.
The DLC for that game was a trip too. Highly recommend checking it out as it really added to Alan Wake 2 for me.
You should go into Nier: Automata thinking it’s a game about a hot chick fighting a bunch of robots. The only spoiler you should know is that the end isn’t the end, and you need to play it again.
You should go into Spec Ops: the Line thinking it’s a game about a cool special forces team fighting a bunch of terrorists or something. The only spoiler you should know is that it’s supposed to feel like a generic third person shooter.
Haha I stopped playing Nier Automata after finishing it once. Yeah, yeah I heard it’s not the end, but the gameplay really isn’t good enough to go through it again. Right now I’d give it a 7/10, but if you force me to do it all again I am going down to 3/10. I think it feels incredibly cheap to do this gimmick.
For you, a little extra spoiler: the next ending also isn’t the end, there’s a lot more. I will admit that playing the second run is a big grindy at first, but it quickly differentiates itself from your first run by the time you get to the first boss. Also, in the second run, the side quests are crucial.
An extra-extra spoiler: there’s a lot to dig your teeth into, philosophically, that makes the whole rigmarole worth it.
An extra-extra spoiler: there’s a lot to dig your teeth into, philosophically, that makes the whole rigmarole worth it.
That’s a strong point for me, and the main reason I liked it as much as I did. Same reason I loved The Talos Principle, despite having to look up guides for the majority of the puzzles.
Ooh, yeah, Talos Principle! Perfect rec for someone who loved Nier and Portal. I haven’t played the sequel yet, but really really enjoyed the first game. I agree about some of the puzzles, though.
I love Nier! I’m thought the second play through would be a slog, but they kept it really interesting imo. And starting it up for a third time was wild. Even starting that game is part of the game mechanic, it’s so neat!
I would have to disagree about the second playthrough; I found it to be a very large slog. The third and subsequent playthroughs were amazing though.
To each their own! I enjoyed playing as
spoiler
9S
But I’m glad you like the other playthroughs!
Oh I enjoyed the gameplay. But the actual story of the second play through was a slog until about 75% of the way through.
I bought it expecting like a Devil May Cry or maybe Souls… then the game started and I noped the hell out. It’s weird and I did not like it at all.
If I remember right, the first couple minutes is like a top-down shoot-em-up, but it transitions into that Devil May Cry style pretty quickly
Not really, the out-of-combat movement was almost strictly 2D? And the first real fight did not teach me the controls in any way, I had no idea what was going on.
It’s a game that relies on shifting the gameplay mechanics based on where you are and what you’re doing. There are certainly 2.5D and top-down sections, but it’s a small part of the game overall.
Tunic.
The one thing I think is worth “spoiling” just to save you some pain:
Tap for spoiler
If you find a room with a bunch of curtains and bells, it is NOT A PUZZLE!
I also second Outer Wilds.
i bounced off tunic super hard. i love the puzzle aspects, the cryptic manual pages, and figuring things out, but the combat was way too brutal, even on the easier setting. the bigger white ghost enemies at the very start killed me so many times i no longer want to go back to it.
I’ve gotta remember what those ghosts are.
I’ve slowly acclimated to Soulslikes since Tunic, and a common theme is that they make you think you need to be pressing more buttons, when they’re often teaching specialized bits of patience. In Tunic’s case, a lot of people expend their stamina too quickly.
Still don’t like FromSoft’s games
i thought that too, and tried studying their movements, but they attacked faster than i could even press the button.
Understandable. It got pretty frustrating for me too at various points. I’m kinda bad at this kind of combat in general. Most of what motivates me to push through it in games like Dark Souls or Tunic is being interested in the world. But sometimes not even that’s enough.
it’s especially wild in a cutesy game like tunic where it just bodies you ten minutes in. it made me feel like i had been tricked.
I didn’t have too much trouble up until the first real boss. Thankfully there was a save point pretty close by so I just threw myself at it more times than I’d like to admit.
I switched that to easy mode at one of the mid game bosses, and I still struggled. The combat is way too tough for what it is.
I just finished playing tunic (good ending). A friend and I were playing it at the same time. If I didn’t have that friendly competition I would have dropped it so many times. There is way too much manual work in this game that you often times aren’t playing a video game anymore.
At the end of it all I didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment just relief that I’m done with the game. Only to find out after doing the secret puzzle is just more meta puzzles outside the game.
Outer Wilds on the other hand is fantastic and not having to use a pencil and paper to advance in the game is A+.
Journey. You can get it on PlayStation, iOS, steam (on sale for $5 atm) and epic. It is 2-3 hours short and not very challenging, but it does look absolutely stunning and has a very beautiful gameplay mechanic that you better find out for yourself. IMO it is one of the best games of all time and one that really demonstrates what the medium is capable of.
spoiler
Gosh this one makes me cry every time
I wish someone had told me what Journey was about so I could have avoided it. I went in blind and didn’t enjoy it at all. It was a cool concept but it wasn’t for me.
That is odd that nobody could tell this wouldn’t be for you @SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE@lemm.ee
Thank you for this. Just recently picked up and played through twice Gris and Neva. Even though they’re short as well I really find myself loving the visuals, gameplay and the atmosphere created by these games.
Subnautica. You can only play it for the first time once.
Absolutely this. I am jealous each time I recommend it to someone who hasn’t played it yet.
I’m glad there was a thread about Subnautica in here.
absolutely stunning, especially if one has any kind of decent audio system
I tried it a few years ago and gave up after an hour of not knowing what to do. But I had this week off and tried it again, it I’m really enjoying it this time. It’s not like anything else, and once that initial bump is passed its learning curve is really quite good.
It is one of my all-time favorite games. I have unfortunately played it to death; I’ve run out of stupid challenge runs. The game has a story and uniquely for survival games it has an ending, there’s a Win The Game button. But the game is as much about the story you’re going to create; the way you choose to go about things, the order you decide to explore in, the happenstances of your adventure are maybe more important than what the wiki says the story is. Savor that.
I will offer this hint. I don’t think it’s a spoiler; I think there is a strong possibility this hint will prevent you from alt-tabbing out to look up the wiki and accidentally encounter a spoiler. But I will tag it as a spoiler anyway.
spoiler
If you find yourself without an immediate goal, you’re milling about the ocean thinking “well now what?” Go deeper.
Minesweeper
I don’t know if you’re being sarcastic, but your comment is so true it hurts. When you first figure out how minesweeper works, your mind is blown away.
I’m surprised no one mentioned Spec Ops: The Line yet
Inscryption
Damn, was I surprised as a fan of older TCGs and videogame TCGs.
Was gonna mention this one soooooo good
Inside. Made by the same company as Limbo, but Inside is much more “don’t look up a single thing”
Thanks for the recommendation. Just bought both for $3 lol
Sweet deal!!
Limbo was alright for me, but Inside blew my mind. So if Limbo doesn’t float your boat, don’t stop there!
have a great time !! Inside is fantastic
Awesome! Inside is far better than Limbo in my opinion, but they are both good games
Inscryption absolutely blew my mind. I’d toss Undertale on there too.
Inscryption totally lost me after the cabin. Felt like having the rug pulled out from beneath me.
The Long Dark
Getting lost in the snowy wilderness I so much fun. I have many “oh shit” moments that kinda don’t happen once you learn the maps and improve.
I’ve had that one in my library since it originally came out and I’ve been wanting to play it ever since, but haven’t found time. I understand they’ve added quite a bit since the early days!
Yeah it’s changed a lot over the years but is such a unique experience I recommend it to everyone.
They still haven’t released all the story mode chapters but survival mode is by far the best way to play.
Oh, the story mode is not finished yet? Any idea if they have a goal date?
They are on to the last episode now but it’s all overdue by like 5 years at this point so who knows.
Seems like just about all games end up overdue by years (or sometimes a decade) these days.
I have been thinking about some old survival game that I used to play that doesn’t exist anymore recently, maybe it’s time I give The Long Dark some real playtime!
Sauna2000 (it’s not out yet, but there are some demos floating around).
Squirrel stapler
Cruelty Squad - depends on the kinda person you are. If you’re super open-minded about game presentation then I’d tell you to go into it blind. If not, then I’ll happily try to sell you on it. If it helps, the game looks the way that it does because of how fucking confident it is in itself; and that confidence is fully justified. Give it time, even if the first level doesn’t hook you, give it time because in my experience it will eventually hook you and reel you in and leave you thinking it’s one of the best games of all time.
Undertale
Hypnospace Outlaw
Jet Set Radio, Jet Set Radio Future, Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Give the first two a try, and if you don’t like either one, skip BRC; it’s a spiritual successor to JSRF and if you didn’t like JSRF then you probably won’t like BRC.
Hylics. If you liked that and wanted more, Hylics 2. Hylics 2 actually does something throughout the game that I’ve only ever seen as a gimmick in other games. It’s really cool and it’ll probably catch you off-guard every time it does it.
Katamari Damacy. If you liked that, there’s also We <3 Katamari.
Myst. The newest version has VR support. If you liked that, the recent Riven remaster also has VR support.
S C O R N (if you like Myst, give it a try. It feels very myst-like)
Hrot (boomer shooter, but if you like boomer shooters then you should give it a go).
If you’re at a place in your life where you’re trying to still find yourself: Night in the Woods. Especially if you’re a furry. This game is really fucking good. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll make you cry. It’ll make you miss home but also be glad you aren’t there anymore. It’ll make you question your place in life and who you are. Also, you can interact with things multiple times, make sure you don’t miss out on dialogue, you’ll regret it.
STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl - This is hard to go into blind because it’s buggy as fuck and most people recommend some form of community patch even for your first playthrough. That said, play it on the highest difficulty. It’s unironically more fun once you get used to it. If it’s too hard though, don’t be fooled into thinking that dropping the difficulty will make it easier, the hardest difficulty is special (you can only take a few hits, but the same is true for most enemies), and dropping it down will result in enemy difficulty scaling becoming more traditional (buffing health and damage).
Portal (and Portal 2).
Bugsnax.
If I can throw in a movie too:
Willy’s Wonderland. It’s a Nicolas Cage movie and that’s all I’ll tell you. DO NOT LOOK UP THE TRAILER. I wouldn’t have watched it if I hadn’t seen the trailer, but the trailer also has huge spoilers. I’m not a huge movie person and I had to watch it after seeing the trailer, but again the trailer has spoilers. It is on my top-10 movies list now.
I was gonna mention Bugsnax, but you beat me to it. That game starts so innocent.
I’m gonna go with Skyrim, the more unoptimized and aimless your playthrough is, the more fun you’ll have.
Just started playing Skyrim for the first time last week.
My character is optimized for ending fights before they begin – by liquifying the opponent’s noggin’ with one swing of her 2-handed warhammer.
Other than that, she travels the world collecting ingredients to cook, brew and smith stuff with.
I suspect that’s not an optimal build, but it’s fun.Perfect, I wouldn’t change a thing.
