Genre defying game recommendations

nyarlothothep

I'm open to most genres as I have no idea what I want to get, though I have a preference for rpgs/fps games. Am looking for a game with plenty of player input/customisation with a plot or other attributes which are original rather than following a tired path. Darkness/demons with excellent compelling characters are a plus. Edit: for PC

johnny_ultimate

All your bases are belong to Persona 3 & 4.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6_rl_ldcj4

Sarky

In case you don't have Planescape: Torment, you really should get it. Ticks all the boxes.

nyarlothothep

Sarky wrote: »

In case you don't have Planescape: Torment, you really should get it. Ticks all the boxes.

hmmm, I really have to think about this one, the visual style is very unappealing to me but it does tick all the boxes.

Sisko

Enjoying the hell out of The Witcher 2 atm. Though I dunno if its what you are looking for, I did not know much about it going in but found it much better than I had expected.

Its not exactly genre defining though.

cherryghost

System Shock.

ríomhaire

nyarlothothep wrote: »

I'm open to most genres as I have no idea what I want to get, though I have a preference for rpgs/fps games. Am looking for a game with plenty of player input/customisation with a plot or other attributes which are original rather than following a tired path. Darkness/demons with excellent compelling characters are a plus. Edit: for PC

Definitely check out Deus Ex and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. if you haven't already.

Gunmonkey

You could also get Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. As long as you use the fan-made patches, twas a very buggy game on release.

Spunge

Gunmonkey wrote: »

You could also get Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. As long as you use the fan-made patches, twas a very buggy game on release.

I was about to post Vampire: Bloodlines too. Seems to tick all your boxes. FPS/RPG hybrid a la deus ex, intriguing story and characters, lots of cool quests, some hilarious dialogue/emails/sign-posts, lots of dark or adult themes.

I always recommend it because its lesser known, but really great, but in this case it seems to be right up your alley.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ríomhaire wrote: »

Definitely check out Deus Ex and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. if you haven't already.

i can only thank this post once, but if I could i'd thank it 20 or 30 times

Icyseanfitz

all of the above are great, id also recommend mount and blade warband as its great

ríomhaire

I was posting my recommendation of Deus Ex and STALKER from a phone (at work) last night so I couldn't go into detail. I'll do that now.



Deus Ex is a near future (2050s I think) based FPS RPG where you play a special agent for the United Nations Anti-Terrorist COalition (UNATCO) and you are also one of the first nano-augmented people in the world (that means you have nano-machines living inside you making you somewhat super-human). As far as gameplay goes it's an FPS-RPG. The RPG elements consist of a skills system and an augmentation system. For skills you gain XP throughout the game that you can use to freely upgrade any skill you like whenever you like.

There are several weapon categories and a bunch of other skills like hacking, first aid and lockpicking. Your skills pretty much determine how you're able to approach missions. If you have no skill invested in pistols you simply can't hit the broad side of a barn while shooting one but the game allows you to approach missions however you like. It's actually possible to play the entire game and only kill one person (and that person can be killed without a fight as well). The augmentation system acts a bit like your spells/special abilities. There are several augmentation slots that have two upgrades you can install and you can only choose one. For instance for the feet upgrade you can pick either silent running or fast running. These abilities drain your energy and you have to recharge it using batteries.

The combat isn't the game's strong point to be honest but the freedom it gives is wonderful. For instance in the first level you must infiltrate an area controlled by terrorists and find and interrogate their leader. You're also given the side objective of rescuing a captured agent. You can fight your way in, sneak in the back way or hack their security systems and have their own turrets kill them or any combination of the above. If you kill everyone your brother berates you for using excessive force and one of the other agents will think you're weak. If you sneak in without killing too many people your brother congratulates you on showing restraint. If you rescue the other agent you have the option of giving him your pistol or telling him to just run away unarmed. If you do the latter he will be super pissed off at you and spread rumours around the base affecting how the guards at HQ talk to you. If you give him the gun he will talk you up.





STALKER is a semi-free-roaming FPS that takes place in the environs of Chernobyl. The plot is that in 2011 a mysterious incident happened at the reactor and the area has become a lot worse that it once was. Mutants roam the area and deadly physics-defying anomalies make many places almost impossible to transverse. But every once in a while the anomalies spit out artifacts which scientists are desperate to analyse due to their strange properties (they also confer bonuses and penalties to the player when equipped). You wake up in the zone with no memories, no name (you're just called the Makred One) and a single note on your PDA telling you to "kill Strelock" and you must find out what's going on.

It's often compared to an RPG but there's no levelling or anything like that. What you can do is pretty much determined by what equipment you have and can afford. If you don't have good-quality gear you should just stay out of the tougher areas. You'll get better and better gear as you progress, make money and new friends and occasionally find them in a weapon's cache if you're lucky.

Where the game shines is atmosphere. It's a lonely and scary experience a lot of the time and you will at some point find yourself creeping back to camp in the middle of the night, low on ammo and with no medkits left wondering was that sound you heard a boar, bloodsucker or your imagination and praying it was the last one.

The game though is notoriously buggy and unfinished but has a huge and fantastic mod community. Mods are pretty much an absolute must. If you want to play the game as-is without fan content it's still highly recommended you install at least the fan-made bug fixes (because there are a lot of bugs). The mods range a lot. For a first time play I'd recommend either playing it with just bug-fixes or play with STALKER Complete. This mod is basically fixes and upgrades everything about the game without altering the core elements or adding a tonne of new features. Better lighting, better AI, fewer bugs, better textures, better effects, better sounds, etc. There is also a version of Complete for the two sequels, Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat. This game seriously looks as good as Crysis or better with mods.

Then if you want you can try out the other overhaul mods like Oblivion Lost that do the above and add lots of new features and things that were cut from the final release of the game like cut enemies, vehicles, random blowouts and artefact recipes.

Lab_Mouse

would also recommend pyschonauts by tim schafer..excellent game and strange as fuk:)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonauts

Kadongy

Soul Reaver and Blood Omen games.

The Witcher 1 was awesome. Found the Witcher 2 a bit of a disappointment so far personally. Tedious amount of running around. Easy to die quickly which suggests challenging or skillful combat - but it's not you just roll out of the way and cast shield the whole time - so really it just means you have to go back to old old saves when you let your concentration slip for three seconds and dont cast your shield spell. The combat in the first one was rhythm based and I found that much fun.
Maps are confusing even with direction indicators for quests (though I am bad at finding my way around maps in lots of games tbh).
The plot is not intriguing me yet in the way the first one really did.
The graphics and animation arent as amazing as people make out - even on high settings.

Robert ninja

Demon's Souls

nyarlothothep

Thanks for all the recommendations, I think I might get Amnesia The Dark Descent although it seems a bit difficult and gloomy. On the other hand Vampire Masquerade looks promising, though not so much graphically. Planescape seems cool but nowhere seems to sell it.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

www.gog.com sell planescape

and about five million other awesome old games