Ask Lemmy

The original Master of Magic for DOS. It's STILL being actively modded 32 years post release and has never quite been duplicated.

The Age of Wonders series does a fairly good job with the feel, but it's just not the same.

Back in the day I really enjoyed ONI.

_edit: _ some gameplay footage.

Guardian Heroes was an outstanding RPG beat 'em up on Sega Saturn. It had

• a two player co-op storyline with branching choices to get alternate endings

• unlockable characters for a 6-player arena mode

• incredibly unique characters to unlock, spellcasting with ➡️⬅️⬆️⬇️ input

• and a kick ass soundtrack.

Nothing has really scratched the same itch since (yes, I'm aware there's a sequel, but it's terrible).

Thing Thing series

Pocket Tanks

Black Ice

Shining Force 3. Mostly cause it's marooned on the Saturn but it's so friggin good.

Definitely Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds, an RTS in the Star Wars universe that uses the Age of Empires 2 engine and has very similar gameplay.

Hi-Fi Rush deserves way more recognition! Both story and gameplay are perfect. DMC meets DDR!

Just a great time all around once you get into the flow of things.

Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Even just the soundtrack is worth the price of admission.

One of my favorite games is a hidden gem that I never see people mention. It's called Out of Space and it's a couch co-op game similar to Overcooked with two major differences, it's less frenetic so you can play it to chill out, and it's procedurally generated so you have lots of replayability. For me and my wife it's the perfect game of "let's play a round of something", yet I never see it mentioned anywhere.

The Longest Journey. It’s one of the best adventure games ever made, and has one of the best stories in interactive storytelling.

Sacrifice. An old Interplay title where you are a sorcerer in service to a god. You summon armies of creatures and cast world-altering spells using the souls of creatures you’ve sacrificed to your god.

During lockdown I played ECHO, which had been in my backlog for a few years after a stray recommendation I saw on MetaFilter. It was a surprisingly tight integration of beautiful and intriguing environmental/UI/sound design, gorgeous music, compelling yet minimalist storytelling (and voice acting), and a really strong gameplay loop of stealth, puzzle-solving, and the occasional panicky run-and-gun. Imagine my surprise when I read up on it after and learned it only sold a few thousand copies!

I strongly recommend playing it blind, but this trailer gives a good overview of the style and mechanics.

Urban Terror

I used to play the shit out of The Specialist, a HL1 mp mod.

Also while most were hooked on Twisted Metal my brother and I loved Vigilante 8.

Space Station Silicone Valley

The Void by Ice-Pick Lodge, the makers of Pathologic.

This game taught me that actions have consequences and that I should be more humble and think twice about the environment before exploiting it like I'm playing a game.

Yes, it's that kind of game.

The Fatal Frame series (maybe the second one here and there) and Kunitsu-Gami. The second one surprised me since it's relatively new, but I thought it was a great surprise. I loved the hell out of that game.

GUNZ The Duel - man that was just so much fun. Online guns and swords gladiator style battles in the most neat stages. I remember an old mansion with broken staircases and balconies, a train station with freight cargo all over the place, an actual roman colosseum, a beach with a grounded ship ashore.

Some people could do this thing called K-style or butterfly style where you slash your sword against walls or other objects which made you lift off the ground, and switch between your gun to shoot as you do so - it was a neat trick which I learned but definitely did not master.

So much fun though.

I rarely see any Ys game referenced. It's gotten a bit bigger, but still a super underrated series.

The Saboteur by Pandemic as well.

Field Commander on PSP.

The original Overlord game (with the minions).

Squarez Deluxe.

I've been on a one-man promotion spree of that game for almost 20 years

It is now freeware, it's available on DOSBox, and it is the best shape-packing game ever made - you cannot even debate me once you try it.

Perfect Dark. I didn't have a sibling to play with, so I am eternally grateful to Rare for making computer-controlled bots in the multiplayer mode.

Shadowgate / Deja Vu / The Uninvited (NES)

Uniracers (SNES)

Custom Robo (GC)

Lost Kingdoms (GC)

Baiten Kaitos (GC)

I think I'd have to say La-Mulana.

Star Tropics for the NES.

The Witness. It might have had its moment but it feels like it's probably pretty forgotten at this point. It's a first person puzzle game where you're on an island ... and it's not Myst, Riven, or ... that other game that was a puzzle game where you were on an island? At least as far into it as I've played, it's pretty low stakes and there's very little in the way of videos or audio narration. It's spooky but in bright daylight. There's quite a lot of game there, too.

An old game that never really took off, Orbz.

I was one of the best players in the world while it lasted.

Simple little game, you're a ball and you throw yourself at stars. The more you hit in a row without missing, the better your combo and score.

Essentially pong, but you play the ball, and it's on a landscape rather than somewhere you fall off and die.

I made a few levels for it.

Another was Triptych, which my friends and I called jelly tetris. Imagine tetris but the bits are springy and bounce a bit. It was a blast. Both were commercial games available on Linux at the time, early 2000s.

I have good memories of LAN parties playing a game called DEFCON which is basically the Thermonuclear War game from the 80s movie Wargames. The game itself is fairly basic but was a blast to play with a group and I am a sucker for the retro vector atheistics.

Dysmantle.

Casual post apocalyptic survival etc game. It’s also available on consoles, switch and mobile.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/846770/DYSMANTLE/

Sauerbraten FOSS FPS, available in your repo. Single player racemaps are fun. Get to the podium in the quickest time.

Try these servers:

-Racing#1 2021 [rev]-

or

Racing Reloaded

--//--

0AD FLOSS RTS, also available in your repo.

Excellent theming and challenges.