• inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
      22·
      2 months ago

      A lot of folks are listing their favorite games but this is the one that truly fits.

      • Unusually long development time by a studio known for DnD-simmiliar RPG games getting the next installation for the series that defined the genre.

      • Cast voice actors for several years, ones that are still playing their characters on a variety of platforms.

      • Just chock filled references to DnD lore, cute in-jokes, and faithful updates on old characters.

      Everyone involved clearly loved it!

      • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
        6·
        2 months ago

        Unusually long development time

        No joke, I installed the open-beta/pre-release years ago, played for a bit, and uninstalled it. When the actual release dropped, I had the most intense déjà vu about it all because I forgot that had even happened. I had to go back to my Steam library to puzzle it all back together.

      • Siethron@lemmy.world
        4·
        2 months ago

        Part of the reason development took so long was due to them using early release for the right reasons. They listened to the player base and changed the game based on feedback from the fans

      • Soup@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 months ago

        The real question is what is Larian’s equivalent to Peter Jackson’s “Meet the Feebles”?

  • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
    31·
    2 months ago

    As far as labors of love go, Stardew Valley is probably the most current example. People paid for this thing years ago, but Concerned Ape keeps adding new features anyway. The retro graphics give this thing a timeless quality out of the box, so it already looks “dated” - this hasn’t stopped the robust player community around it. We’ll probably see this game stay relevant for a long time.

  • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
    303·
    2 months ago

    A videogame that was made with complete love and devotion to the medium, made with talent and sincerity, and is a pinnacle of everything it stands, something that will stand the test of time…

    And nobody mentioned Stardew Valley? I spent too long looking for it and didn’t find a single mention of it. Absolute mastery of its genre, an incredible amount of dedication spent by the developer listening to the fans, and I can’t imagine it not still holding up 10 years from now, or even 20 years from now.

    Baldur’s Gate 3 is great, I love it, but there were so many performance issues with the game even with top tier hardware, and the game was borderline unplayable for others due to these issues. I have a little bias since my save didn’t sync across devices with the steam cloud and I have to start all over. Love the game, but I just can’t believe Stardew Valley isn’t even mentioned.

    • sunflowercowboy@feddit.orgEnglish
      6·
      2 months ago

      Terraria I feel would be closer as stardew valley is a one man job. Terraria grew as a vision that hasn’t really strayed beyond, but every update instead chisels the stone more. It is a game that took castlevania/mario inspirations and honed it into a perfect conception of 2d sidescrollers but with a liberty. (Akin to stardew being the first real open farming sim)

      Redigit did amazing on the original SMBX fangame. Basically took the concept, and removed constraints. You can see the differences in development ethos as new people came on and really created a diverse game. It is so groundbreaking in their conformity that most can only compare to Minecraft, something essentially extradimensional to terraria.

      Imagine being so baller you get compared to a game that puts you in control of shaping the world around you. When terraria is a game that predominantly shapes you around the world. Eventually even adding lore to these shapes it forms out of you.

      Are you the summoner? The fisher? The knight? The archer? The farmer?

      You will be all at some point in your journey of improvement. You will don every hat and for it you will be able to reflect back on your next life and proceed with new knowledge. The Belmont’s curse is never over, and this is our only solace.

    • thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world
      1·
      2 months ago

      I kinda feel like Stardew is incomplete, I want to know more about the world, the lore. I also wish that I could have more time in a day to complete what I set out to do.

      • JargonWagon@lemmy.world
        5·
        2 months ago

        Not every game needs an endless depth of lore that only those without jobs or have other things that fill up their days can dive into. Stardew Valley is a farming simulator, it doesn’t need hundreds or thousands of years of history for you to study up on, and thank the dieties it doesn’t. It meets the prompt provided in the original post.

        Not bagging on people who enjoy deep lore in games, you do you, but I only get about 1-3 hours a week to play so that shit is not for me anymore. I need a game I can very easily pick up, get some shit done, and be okay putting it back down again before not too much time is up.

        • sandwich.make(bathing_in_bismuth)@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          You can add layers to the lore; Minecraft as the first layer, Mass Effect as the second and Warhammer 40k as last. It takes as much time as the last though. But it doesn’t go the extent of all of those. I think Mass Effect did pretty well in that regard

  • Empricorn@feddit.nlEnglish
    243·
    2 months ago

    Ocarina of Time. I’m biased because of nostalgia, but I genuinely think it’s the best game ever created. It took everything that was great about the SNES classic A Link To the Past, brought it into 3D as an early N64 game, and improved literally everything. The atmosphere, the gameplay, the story, the time mechanic, the music… It’s not perfect, in fact these days it’s trivial to break many things in it with glitches, but I think it’s absolutely the best.

  • Green Wizard@lemmy.zipEnglish
    202·
    2 months ago

    FALLOUT NEW VEGAS! (Side note) Oh boy, a new list of games to play as I scroll through these comments.

  • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
    191·
    2 months ago

    There are too many to mention.

    MechWarrior 2
    Dragon Age: Origins
    Daggerfall
    Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
    Baldur’s Gate 3
    The Longest Journey
    Dark Souls
    Civilization 2 & 4
    Alpha Centauri
    The Outer Wilds
    Fallout 1 & 2
    Alien: Isolation
    Super Mario Bros. 3
    Death Stranding
    Doom (1993)
    Phasmophobia
    Psychonauts
    X-Com: UFO Defense
    The Witcher 1 & 3
    Disco Elysium

    • PolarKraken@sh.itjust.works
      7·
      2 months ago

      I like your taste. These are some bangers lol.

      If you haven’t, you should play Armored Core 6. It’s a FROM game, and it feels like one, in all the best ways.

      But it’s also a mech game, and it feels like one, in all the best ways! Every button assaults your enemy, every motion feels fluid, fast, effortless - or huge, heavy, clunky - your mech is your mech, and many thoughtful builds can become OP. The customization is bananas. And yet - some fights will remain challenging.

      With all sincerity, easy 10/10 game for me, I proceeded from NG -> NG+ -> NG++ directly, which is a first for me and I’m an oldish dude. AND I felt thoroughly rewarded by the end of NG++. It’s a literal perfect game, just unreasonably fun and well-crafted.

      • Zink@programming.dev
        3·
        2 months ago

        I’m going to have to try that game. I played a bunch of the original but I think nothing in between.

    • buttnugget@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 months ago

      Thanks for mentioning Alien: Isolation! It’s my favorite game. After many years, I’m finally attempting a silent Nightmare low% run! I’m almost done with M16. Cheers!

        • Aspharr@lemmy.world
          1·
          2 months ago

          Interesting take, what did 1 have that 2 didn’t? As someone who enjoyed 1 a lot, I found 2 to be a much more fun experience. 1 felt klunky for me mechanically speaking and just didn’t age well. Thematically and character wise I’d say they’re of similar quality for sure.

          • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
            2·
            2 months ago

            Here’s my thought process. We’re using two criteria, passion and longevity. The Witcher is clunky and weird and hasn’t aged well, but it’s also the reason The Witcher has become a global phenomenon.

            The Witcher 2 was developed with incredible passion and ambition, where choices would have massive game-changing consequences. The problem is, I can barely remember any of it. I have long felt that it simply wasn’t a very impactful adventure. And then came The Witcher 3, which felt like an adventure with choices that mattered and a world that felt alive and lived in. It overshadowed everything else. And yet, without the first game, there would be no The Witcher 3. We might not even have all the books translated to english.

            So that’s why I pick those two specifically.

            • Aspharr@lemmy.world
              2·
              2 months ago

              I think I see what you’re putting down. Witcher 1 crawled so that 3 could run, and 2 is just kinda living in 3’s shadow. Perhaps I was late to the bandwagon, I played 1 first when 2 was just getting released, I was under the impression Witcher 1 wasn’t that successful (but not a failure)and that 2 was what really brought the witcher into pop culture.

              Honestly I think they’re all good games, and by your reasoning I can see why you would say 1 over 2.

      • k0e3@lemmy.ca
        3·
        2 months ago

        I don’t really know Minecraft before the acquisition. Is it really that much different?

        • spudsrus@aussie.zone
          9·
          2 months ago

          Secret Friday updates used to drop with new features that weren’t documented and just got to explore and find them.

          I remember updating singleplayer to find cacti added and placing a bunch under a railway tunnel to stop mobs. (They updated the physics to break them when adjacent to another block patch or two later)

  • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
    161·
    2 months ago

    Mass Effect. I know some will disagree, the third game has a lot of glaring issues, and EA really fucked up the ending, but as far as a fully fleshed out story and universe with a multitude of unique and independently structured species, characters, and cultures I think it’s one of the best. The writing and possible story outcomes and decisions that vastly and permanently affect the story from the first to the third game are insane.

    • sandwich.make(bathing_in_bismuth)@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      2 months ago

      We don’t talk about Andromeda anymore… (And such a fucking lost chance at continuing the franchise) I agree. At the time of release, it sucked all your choices where concentrated to three at most. Actually it still sucks. Buy the whole experience from 1 to 3… It takes space in my mind you know. Its the peak of escapism for me. 3 should have been a lesson to learn from going forward with the franchise… But EA mauled all of it… The worst part is, with such strong connection to the world, lore and characters you can’t just make a “spiritual successor”. The same formula wouldn’t work without preexisting lore.

      • NotASharkInAManSuit@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 months ago

        I agree, it’s all or nothing with Mass Effect, you have to play all three games, especially with the third one because that game is trash if you haven’t imported a save from the previous games, it simply does not stand on it’s own like 2 does. Andromeda had a lot of amazing gameplay mechanics that I felt were a big upgrade from the Shepard saga, but every other aspect of that game was just so awful that I can’t even think of it as canon to the original series. They could have done some cool shit with it, but instead we just got a castrated rip off version of the original trilogy story, but with less species and absolutely no consequences for your decisions, and crew interactions were utter bullshit, everything lead to the exact same thing. Fuck EA. The online co-op stuff was pretty dope, though.