The screenshot is from Morrowind (Running in OpenMW)
OUTER WILDS! If you’ve played it, you know why. (If you haven’t, do not ask. Play it.)
Which game would you erase from your memory, in order to experience it fresh once again?
Submitted 2 weeks ago by eru777@lemmy.world to retrogaming@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/4cf53bac-4144-421d-aaeb-654b6048bca5.jpeg
Comments
Balinares@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
HalifaxJones@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve tried to play this game twice. I get confused and have no idea what to do or where to go or what to do when I get there. Spent about 12 hours playing and just feel lost. And everytime I bring it up. People reccomend I just keep playing. And yet I’m still lost haha
Stromatose@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That’s surprising that you feel so lost. Did you perhaps miss the journal / discovery board in the back of your ship? Basically just need to look at that and try to flesh out any of the plot threads you see on there. Whenever one isn’t progressing, take a break and try a totally different direction or just wander wherever you can for a cycle or two and you’ll have stumbled on to some new leads probably.
Its pretty intentional that most players hit a stall around the middle because you have to start challenging things you THINK you know but haven’t actually proven to be certain yet.
Schmoo@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I think the biggest predictor of whether people will vibe with Outer Wilds is how much natural curiosity they have and how self-motivated they are. Outer Wilds doesn’t push players towards any particular objective, it instead tries to give players questions so they go looking for answers. Of course a game that relies so heavily on intrinsic motivation isn’t going to be for everyone, but the thing that makes the game so difficult for some people to get into is the same thing that makes those who do get into it love it so much.
Some non-spoilery advice if you decide to give it another shot:
Use the ship log every loop and read what’s new. Look at the biggest cards in rumor mode and try to find them. There are several “secret” locations in the game that many of the hints point towards which contain information that puts the game’s mystery into perspective and gives players a sense of direction and purpose. In the playthroughs I’ve seen where they didn’t finish it was almost always because they played for a long time without finding any of the “big” secret locations.
Gt5@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I felt the same way. I had a hard time with it because you don’t really know what you’re supposed to be doing. I ended up getting frustrated with it and looked up how to finish it.
After I finished it, I regretted looking it up. It really is a masterpiece but it takes a certain type of person to be able to get through it. I couldn’t get through it myself, but my partner and I have fun playing these types of games together.
We’re currently enjoying working through the dlc now.
I guess I’ll say I get it if you want to quit or just look up the solution, but I promise it’s worth it if you make it through
Balinares@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
Hey, it’s okay, friend, not every game has to be for everyone and that’s fine.
What worked for me, I guess, was to not approach it in terms of a game where I’m trying to make progress, so much as a vast place with a lot of mysteries that all actually make sense once you work it out; and that happens naturally if you let your curiosity drive you. You will, in fact, be making progress; you just won’t realize it until the pieces fall into plane and, all at once, you know.
TipRing@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It would be like the one upside of a TBI.
But really, due where I was in life when I played it and how much it helped me process things, I’m not sure I would give up the experience I already had.
Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com 2 weeks ago
What I love most about the game is the community’s refusal to spoil it for others. Spoilers exist, but you really have to look for them.
Honestly, it’s a testament to how good the game is that we all collectively, agreed to say nothing about it beyond “It’s incredible, I wish I could play it for the first time again. Go play it”. I wasn’t told to not spoil it, I just won’t.
Anyways, Outer Wilds is mine. There’s lots of games in this list that I love: MGS, KOTOR, FO:NV, I would rate all of them above Outer Wilds in a “my favourite game” list.
But, Outer Wilds really gains something from the first experience above and beyond what those others do, and it’s worth preserving.
BlueLineBae@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
Agreed! I think this applies to any game where you have to explore both the world and the gameplay. It gives you these incredible “ah-ha” moments that you’ll never forget and have an impact on your gaming for the rest of your life. I think for me the number 1 game I had this experience with was Animal Well. Our group played both Animal Well and Outer Wilds for our indie game club and every single person had multiple moments like this for each game.
Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
The correct answer to this question is always Outer Wilds.
It’s a game that can be beaten in five minutes if you already know the solution. But the process of discovering that solution, and unearthing the incredible story around it, is one of the most unbelievable gaming experiences you will ever have.
It’s an absolute masterpiece and if you haven’t played it yet, you really, really need to.
syreus@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The wonderful thing about benzodiazepine gaming is that if you wait a couple years you can experience the same game a couple times before it sticks.
cepelinas@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
I beat it, but I needed walkthroughs because for some reason my game was so stuttering after the first loop it was basically unbearable especially in some areas.
Tap for spoiler
and the anglerfish were imposibble to go around because I didn’t have any controller, so I had to install a cheat plugin and I thought why not add a halfl-ife asset pack and voicemod so the ending altough cursed still made me cry.
Atlusb@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
‘Stanley examined the question carefully, he knew the answer he gave would be important’
Maybe the Stanley parable or the Beginners guide, but I’m not sure what undoing there effect on me would be.
Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Have you tried Wanderstop?
Atlusb@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Its on my to play list after getting it on sale. I get the impression this is davey’s burn out recovery
Brick@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Portal. I played the whole thing on the first sit down as soon as it downloaded, but the audio had glitched so I missed the voice over.
shalafi@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
That was my vote! There’s little to no replay value, but damn what a ride. Spent 2 or 3 weeks imagining portals IRL. “I could snatch the TV remote without moving if…”
“Now you’re thinking in Portals!” was the most accurate tagline I’ve ever experienced.
qjkxbmwvz@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
the audio had glitched so I missed the voice over
This was not a triumph.
JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m making a note here: huge abcess
justsquigglez@leminal.space 2 weeks ago
The Outer Worlds. I never beat it, but I played through a lot of it. I went in completely blind, not knowing what it was, and my mind was blown away.
I wish I could experience all of it brand new whenever I go back to finish it up.
ShieldsUp@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
Its comments like this that made me finally go and purchase The Outer Worlds a few months ago. Going in blind and within 10 minutes I’m thinking, what is this bullshit?!?! I have yet to try the right game yet but that always makes me laugh.
Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Outer Worlds is a good game too, but doesn’t hold a candle to Wilds
SaraTonin@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah. If there’s one answer to the question of what game can you only play for the first time once, is Outer Wilds.
beveradb@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
The whole Mass Effect series
Talaraine@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Was typing this when I saw your comment. +1 Commander
Aralakh@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I’m commander Shepard and this is my favourite game on the Citadel.
dotslashme@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
Monkey island, Myst, Riven and Heavy rain.
TommyJohnsFishSpot@lemy.lol 2 weeks ago
Bloefz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Seriously? :) It was an ok story but the guy was so annoying and the QT events soooooo frustrating. Just make it a real adventure.
VeryVito@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
It took me about five nights to get through Heavy Rain, and every night I went to bed feeling like I’d been punched repeatedly in the gut.
Fantastic game that I consider one of my all-time favorites… and I’d NEVER want to go through that again.
TotallyNotSpezUpload@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
You fight like a dairy farmer!
MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
How fitting, you fight like a cow!
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
I would not want to grapple with a dairy farmer.
dontsayaword@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Great list
orhtej2@eviltoast.org 2 weeks ago
Subnautica probably, to experience the way the way the world unfolds.
perfectduck@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Agree, sequel is more of the same, but at the same time isn’t anything close enough.
Similar style is prey 2017 and deathloop. I love being rewarded for what my favourite streamer calls “being a nosy bastard”.
olafurp@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I heard subnautica 2 has some drama
DJKJuicy@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Portal 1 and Portal 2. Every time.
Feathercrown@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Ooh good choicew
chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nier: Automata. God, if I could feel that pain again… what a fucking game.
tanisnikana@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Even just the goddamn soundtrack.
The entire game is flawless.
ProperlyProperTea@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Well, ::: spoiler Replaying as thr story as 9s can get pretty slow, and the combat isn’t nearly as enjoyable. spoiler:::
Other than that, yes, it’s still my favorite game. The ending hit me so hard; had me messed up for a while. I just started Clair Obscure: Expedition 33 in hopes of having a game hit me as hard as Nier: Automata did.
chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The soundtrack quickly became one of my favorites. It’s on rotation with Chrono Trigger/Cross, Xenogears, Expedition 33, and Hades.
Hackworth@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
Cyberpunk 2077
Bloefz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
With you on this one 🫶
jebingo@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Outer wilds
kieron115@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
Outer Wilds
mat@linux.community 2 weeks ago
Outer Wilds! 🥲
nevemsenki@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Deus Ex. A strangely prescient game that had shaped how I view the world.
The need to be observed and understood was once satisfied by God. Now we can implement the same functionality with data-mining algorithms. You will soon have your God… and you will make it with your own hands.
Die4Ever@retrolemmy.com 2 weeks ago
try the Randomizer mod lol mods4ever.com/project/DXRando
nevemsenki@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Whelp, time to reinstall it again! Thnaks!
dontsayaword@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Ocarina of Time
Outer Wildsj0j0@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Do you hear music?
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Return of the Obra Dinn.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 weeks ago
Mine as well. The intersection of detective work and historical knowledge paying off hit me just in the right spot.
newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Disco Elysium for sure
TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Transformative narrative experience…
leriotdelac@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Yes! The good thing, it’s repayable! My number one game ever.
not_woody_shaw@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
KOTOR
Crylos@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Half-life 2
cepelinas@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Half-life thr… I mean 5
perfectduck@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I agree with so many here, but I have a new one.
Dredge.
It just seemed like a fishing simulator, but it got creepier as it went on. Definitely an ending I didn’t expect. That may have been me just getting too into finding every fish.
Great gameplay loop and played on steam deck excellently.
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Honestly, I had completely the opposite experience with Dredge.
The first few days in the game feel truly scary, with your terribly slow ship, and strange lights in the darkness are terrifying. Those initial quests with the pulsating wet package are creepy, and you wonder where that’s going to lead, and what storyline will cone from that.
But then, you get a few engine upgrades and there’s suddenly not a single danger in the game you can’t easily run from. You’re invincible and the whole ocean is your oyster. The pulsating package was just a bit of flavour and nothing comes of it at all - in fact the quests in the game are almost entirely plain fetch quests, totally shallow with very little real story. And while the ending gets interesting, it’s all too brief.
Now don’t get me wrong - I loved Dredge, actually. But I loved it as a cosy collect-em-all fishing sim bombing around the ocean in your fun and zoomy boat, rather than the narrative-driven Lovecraftian horror the trailers made it out to be, which it ultimately I felt it wasn’t at all
SidewaysHighways@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
im gonna check this out! on gog!
Demdaru@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Vampirte the Masquerade: Bloodlines.
Either that, ir Fallout: New Vegas
ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Outer Wilds, probably.
Mad_Punda@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Obra Dinn
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Inscryption. I thought it was a poor man’s Slay The Spire using janky escape-room mechanics as a cheap, nifty gimmick to lend it some value.
It appeared on Game Pass, and upon trying it I sneered a little at it, as Spire and Monster Train were my only experiences with deckbuilders and I had been spoiled. I had no idea how good it really was. Gameplay mechanics it can’t match up, but it contains a story thats shot straight into my top 10 of all time.
It shares an exclusive room in my memory alongside Bioshock, Deus Ex, KOTOR and the like.
Unfortunately it can’t take me by surprise twice. The shock, suspense and mystery have been depleted and I cant feel it again. Ive been told the dev has more games that are all gold like that, but I cant look them up. I went into Doki Doki knowing that something happens and youll just have to find out and its spoilers and iykyk etc, and when it did it it just felt kinda neat but thoroughly underwhelming. I just need to hope that I stumble onto one of the devs other projects like a beautiful landmine in the future.
Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I like your pick, Morrowind. I was very hyped to play it, and when I could finally own it, it was even better then I had hoped.
I think my pick would be Inscryption. What a weird and delightful game :)
thesohoriots@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
SOMA for sure.
LiquidMastering@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Breath of the Wild
tanisnikana@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
INLAND EMPIRE — You know full well what the answer would be.
SHIVERS — It is written on *the city itself*.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY — It’s Schedule One, right?
Weirdfish@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The Mass Effect trilogy for sure.
HeyJoe@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Im almost not sure if I want that. Most of the games I would do that for are older games from like 25 years ago, and I honestly can’t see playing them today and ever having those fond moments like I did then. In my case, the time of playing them also mattered a lot.
nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Speak for yourself.
I bought an old Radio Shack Color Computer off EBay and had a total blast playing Dungeons of Daggorath with my kids. Plus, it’s educational: it teaches you to type “A L <enter>” really really fast
Wizard of Daggorath
eru777@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Same, of course the memory of the time you played is also important. I was more asking hypothetically since this is not possible, as a game you’d love to experience again, maybe at that time also. Like go back and play it back then.