This might be a slightly unusual attempt at a prompt, but might draw some appealing unusual options.
The way it goes: Suggest games, ideally the kind that you believe would have relatively broad appeal. Don’t feel bad about downvotes, but do downvote any game that’s suggested if you have heard of it before (Perhaps, give some special treatment if it was literally your game of the year). This rule is meant to encourage people to post the indie darlings that took some unusual attention and discovery to be aware of and appreciate.
If possible, link to the Steam pages for the games in question, so that anyone interested can quickly take a look at screenshots and reviews. And, as a general tip, anything with over 1000 steam reviews probably doesn’t belong here. While I’d recommend that you only suggest one game per post, at the very most limit it to three.
If I am incorrect about downvotes being inconsequential account-wide, say so and it might be possible to work out a different system.
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Occult Crime Police is a fantastic free offering for those looking for a bit more Ace Attorney. It mostly follows the gameplay of Ace Attorney games, in which you investigate murder scenes involving strange, paranormal phenomena, and then discover contradictions in people’s witness accounts to uncover the culprit. It’s a bit easy, but maintains some great humor and charming animation production value.
An excellent example of storytelling elevating a game. The game play is a decent puzzle platformer, and the story is very charming.
In Grotto, you play the role of a soothsayer living in a cave who is occasionally visited by members of a tribal society living nearby. They come to you with problems, and they want you to present your opinion, but you can’t speak. You have access to constellations of stars, which each hold different meanings, and you must present your answers in the form of a single constellation, which the petitioners are left to interpret.
You’ll feel a bit of frustration as your intended message is missed completely in favor of something that the petitioner wanted to hear, and the same constellation might mean different things to different people, but that’s just part of the game. The story unfolds around you and its progression is communicated to you only through the explanations your petitioners give for their visit. Each is a uniquely unreliable narrator, so what you believe is for you to decide.
Two endings, and an interesting story with some occasionally unexpected consequences that might make you feel bad, so if a game giving you a case of the sads is unappealing, maybe take that into consideration.
Magnetic By Nature is a 2D platformer where you are generally using either attract or repel mechanics. I came across this game on the PAX East show floor, and it really wowed me. I may be one of only a few hundred people who ever played it. There’s a bonus chapter, after the credits, that was kind of bullshit, but the 7 or so hours of gameplay before it was fun, challenging, and unique. Initially available for like $15, it’s now down to $1, and it’s a steal at that price.
Ooh, I’ll play.
Final Profit: A Shop RPG is an RPG about a deposed elf queen who opens a humble shop and slowly advances through the ranks of the Bureau of Business with the eventual goal of defeating Capitalism from within. It’s unique. It has some incremental game like mechanics, and can get a little repetitive in the mid-game, but it has a surprisingly compelling story and a lot of unfolding mechanics that keep it interesting all the way through.
Roughly a 30 hour playthrough with many endings, NG+ and some optional challenge modes that remove or change some of the most obvious strategies for advancement, so if you finish it and still want more, you can play through again with a somewhat different experience.
Eternum (warning: NSFW) is an adult visual novel that keeps touching me with every new update. It’s completely free, and I can’t help but think of the creator as a master of the genre.
The characters are all well written and (those who are meant to be) lovable. The story is interesting, compelling even, and the humor is often hilarious. When you go to the website, you might think “Porn game!!!”, and not be entirely wrong, but Eternum is so much more. It’s a story about love, friendship, and a mystery.
Setting: Orion moves back to the USA after a long time. In recent years, a video game called eternum has been gaining traction, that allows going into virtual worlds, think full dive VR like in Sword Art Online. I’d say about 60% of the story happens IRL.
I can only recommend this masterpiece of a visual novel.
Are you sure you aren’t touching yourself?
Oooh, sexual content in media for adults, how scary
??
You okay?
Sadly, it’s not available on PC, but it is available on Nintendo Switch (US eShop page linked above) and PlayStation 4 (and PlayStation 5 through backwards compatibility).
It’s a sci-fi game made by the creators of some games you might’ve heard of in passing (namely Dragon’s Crown, Odin Sphere, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, etc.), Vanillaware. I can’t go into any details about the game itself because of spoilers, but I will say it is quite simply the best and most uniquely told story I have ever seen in a game. It’s a game you have to experience for yourself. You should go into it as blind as possible, too.
I will say the English dub of the game is also surprisingly good, considering it was recorded almost entirely in COVID lockdown. The Atlus West sound engineers (Atlus published the game in the west) must’ve worked some incredible magic to get it to sound as good as it does.
If you liked this I really hope you’ve dug into 1000xRESIST. They’re not super similar but enough so that I think if you liked 13 Sentinels you’d probably like it also
I’ve started playing through it, but I’ve got other games currently that I’m focusing on (currently Trails in the Sky FC, then Persona 3 Reload: The Answer, and then Metaphor ReFantazio).
Ah, a fellow Into the Aether listener perhaps? Or maybe just a big JRPG fan 😁
I gotta check out Trails at some point. The whole tetralogy thing kinda puts me off in the same way Yakuza does but you gotta start somewhere I guess!
Chex quest. I got this game in a cereal box back in 1996. It defined my childhood.
Now they have an HD version on steam. 10/10 good times.
I prefer Brutal Chex Quest:
I found this game a few years ago after playing a remake on Pico-8. The premise is youre an unhoused person who just got out of jail, and you have to collect cans and change, find work, get an education, and a nice job, all while avoiding several hazards like muggers and the IRS.
I found it surprisingly addictive and very fun.
Very cool. I just watched a longplay and have to ask: what does alcohol do for you? I saw the player opt for it a couple of times, but I couldn’t notice a benefit.
If i recall… The alcohol lets you run your hunger to zero without dying.
Makes sense, thanks!
Archive.org mirror of the game download
I genuinely have NO clue if this game is known, but i suspect it mostly isn’t.
It’s Keyboard Drumset Fucking Werewolf! It’s kinda like a music video, but it’s a music video game 👉😏
It’s a collaboration between 2000s indie weirdo darling gamedev cactus and Swedish synthpunk band Fucking Werewolf ASSO.
it’s aggressively strange and moderately challenging, but I think it’s just a goddamn delight and maybe you will too.
