Incline Games for gentlemen

[AwesomeButton]

Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2

Do you actually play this or are you just posting screenshots?

 

[Butter]

In my view, though, they do have a lot of merits that I haven't really seen many (if any) other games properly emulate. Ico is slow and introspective, but it actually manages to achieve what I thought was impossible: make the player become immersed in what is essentially a giant escort mission.

Shadow of the Colossus is a recommendation because it focuses on easy and introspective exploration with no markers that is rewarded by boss fights that are often light, but extremely well-designed puzzles. It does have a marker in the form of a beam of light you can activate from your sword, but it is often innacurate, requiring the player to figure out how to traverse the terrain by looking at what's around them and, in some cases, taking risks.

Is this journalist-speak for "nothing happens"?

 

[Iucounu]

Subnautica is very accessible right from the start, except for the childish artstyle. Traces of wokeism can be found, but are manageable.

 

[rubinstein]

Subnautica is very accessible right from the start, except for the childish artstyle. Traces of wokeism can be found, but are manageable.

dios mio...

 

[KafkaBot]

In my view, though, they do have a lot of merits that I haven't really seen many (if any) other games properly emulate. Ico is slow and introspective, but it actually manages to achieve what I thought was impossible: make the player become immersed in what is essentially a giant escort mission.

Shadow of the Colossus is a recommendation because it focuses on easy and introspective exploration with no markers that is rewarded by boss fights that are often light, but extremely well-designed puzzles. It does have a marker in the form of a beam of light you can activate from your sword, but it is often innacurate, requiring the player to figure out how to traverse the terrain by looking at what's around them and, in some cases, taking risks.

Is this journalist-speak for "nothing happens"?

Only if you consider "exploration" the equivalent of nothing.

spoilers

It's introspective in the sense that, unlike many games, SoTC is not afraid of making the player traverse large distances where the only form of direct stimulation comes from their own thoughts and observations about the environment. Let me give you an example: at one point, the player has to reach an open plains. The light beam isn't really helpful; following it directly leads to unpassable obstacles. If the player observes the layout of the land and explores, they can realize that they can either take the (very long) way around or attempt crossing that lush forest that's apparently right in the way. If the player has paid attention to his surroundings thus far and learned what the world can offer him, he'll have realized by this point that certain geckos and fruit can increase his stats... and will likely come to the conclusion that hey, these are probably plentiful in a forest. Those who stop to actually hunt these resources will be beautifully rewarded... and those who paid attention to the land and took a gamble by going through the forest will be shown that yes, it is an excellent shortcut to many different places, not just the one they're aiming for right now.

These are all relatively simple ways of interacting with the world, but none of the above is ever explicitly said to the player. They actually have to stop and think about what they're doing to reach any of these conclusions. The same applies to almost anything in SoTC.

It's not complex by any means, but every single moment in Shadow of the Colossus that isn't spent fighting the colossi is meant to be used to understand and explore the player's surroundings (quite unlike walking simulators, which give you nothing to do other than walking from point A to point B). There are no distractions, no annoying NPCs trying to tell you where to go, no quest log; it's just you and your horse (best horse I've ever seen in a game, by the way, but that's another discussion). That and the puzzle-y nature of the colossi are why I said they are great games for introducing the medium to "someone who's never played [a game], but is quite well-acquainted with introspective works in other mediums", since any titles that scratch similar itches in some of these aspects will probably be too much for someone who is still in the learning stages. That said, SotC is definitely not for those who get bored if they aren't attacked by a bugbear or presented with a new sidequest every five seconds, but hey, nothing's for everyone.

 

[HappyDaddyWow!]

If by gentlemen you mean people who aren't gamers but want a game that's rich in artistic expression while not being too mechanically complex, probably Cosmology of Kyoto.

Cosmology of Kyoto is phenomenal, but can be quite esoteric and a bit obtuse at times. It will definitely please those who enjoy this kind of artistic expression, but even many open-minded people might end up bouncing off of this one. I'd only recommend it to the kind of person who is willing to, say, watch a Terayama flick.

it is obtuse and a bit hard to figure out, but that's not really an issue considering the game has no real goal/objective other than exploration and looking at cool stuff. iirc it doesn't even have a proper ending but I haven't played it since I was a kid.

In other words I think wandering around not really understanding what's going on, is an intended effect and basically the gameplay.

 

[KafkaBot]

If by gentlemen you mean people who aren't gamers but want a game that's rich in artistic expression while not being too mechanically complex, probably Cosmology of Kyoto.

Cosmology of Kyoto is phenomenal, but can be quite esoteric and a bit obtuse at times. It will definitely please those who enjoy this kind of artistic expression, but even many open-minded people might end up bouncing off of this one. I'd only recommend it to the kind of person who is willing to, say, watch a Terayama flick.

it is obtuse and a bit hard to figure out, but that's not really an issue considering the game has no real goal/objective other than exploration and looking at cool stuff. iirc it doesn't even have a proper ending but I haven't played it since I was a kid.

In other words I think wandering around not really understanding what's going on, is an intended effect and basically the gameplay.

That's precisely why I said I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It is a wonderful game, but even many seasoned players won't have the patience to truly get lost in Cosmology of Kyoto. Now imagine someone who isn't even used to games. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if many gave up after dying a few times.

Now, if they are the sort of person who enjoys this kind of artistic expression? Then yeah, it is one of the best games you could possibly recommend.

 

[Gerrard]

You got filtered. Yes, the controls probably aren't the best thing ever, mainly because they are unintuitive. But if you can look past that very simple concept and adapt (many can't, challenged motor skills and/or inability to look past mental roadblocks/biases), you'll find a wonderful game that cannot really work without those controls in particular, as they synergize perfectly with the grid-based level design and platforming mechanics.

Kill yourself. I don't care about "being filtered" by garbage game design. It just means your game is garbage.
Tomb Raider was console trash, and you can tell by the controls that were designed for a gamepad.

 

[Fargus]

Arcanum
Deus Ex
Jagged Alliance 2
Arx Fatalis
HoMM3

I can recommend more, but i'm lazy.

Why Arx Fatalis? It's okay but nothing outstanding IMO.

Why not? Ash explained it well, i'll just give my 2 cents. Gameplay is fun and intelligent, the world is original, it has great atmosphere, cool magic system and actually takes some brains to finish especially with the best ending. It could have been better and you can see how it was unfinished in some parts but it's definitely a game one must play.

 

[Raghar]

Subnautica is very accessible right from the start, except for the childish artstyle. Traces of wokeism can be found, but are manageable.

dios mio...

Considering they imply in Subnautica he has IQ 90... I guess character portrait is very accurate.

 

[Iucounu]

Subnautica is very accessible right from the start, except for the childish artstyle. Traces of wokeism can be found, but are manageable.

dios mio...

That abomination must be from the marketing, fortunately the game itself is first-person only. I think the worst woke parts are the audio logs from the female merc...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

yeah and on top of that you didn't save your game at the beginning, probably happened to a lot of people heh(including myself)

I'll do you one better. I eventually killed the skeleton(for some reason, I'm still thinking there was a bear) or whatever it was that killed me a couple of times. I then kept going on, trying to find my way out, only to get killed by something else. Then I realized that I never saved. Then I started over, and died to that skeleton(or bear?) about a dozen times and then quit for the day in frustration. The RNG wasn't on my side at all. I'm pretty sure this experience is why I wouldn't hand this game over to someone that's never played video games before.

 

[Raghar]

Arcanum
Deus Ex
Jagged Alliance 2
Arx Fatalis
HoMM3

I can recommend more, but i'm lazy.

Why Arx Fatalis? It's okay but nothing outstanding IMO.

Why not? Ash explained it well, i'll just give my 2 cents. Gameplay is fun and intelligent, the world is original, it has great atmosphere, cool magic system and actually takes some brains to finish especially with the best ending. It could have been better and you can see how it was unfinished in some parts but it's definitely a game one must play.

It has crap graphic nowadays. You have to wonder why they made Deathloop instead of remake.

 

[Fargus]

Arcanum
Deus Ex
Jagged Alliance 2
Arx Fatalis
HoMM3

I can recommend more, but i'm lazy.

Why Arx Fatalis? It's okay but nothing outstanding IMO.

Why not? Ash explained it well, i'll just give my 2 cents. Gameplay is fun and intelligent, the world is original, it has great atmosphere, cool magic system and actually takes some brains to finish especially with the best ending. It could have been better and you can see how it was unfinished in some parts but it's definitely a game one must play.

It has crap graphic nowadays. You have to wonder why they made Deathloop instead of remake.

I'm not a graphics whore so i think Arx visuals aged really well for 2002 3d game. And Arkane's art direction helped a lot to preserve it.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

If by gentlemen you mean people who aren't gamers but want a game that's rich in artistic expression while not being too mechanically complex, probably Cosmology of Kyoto.

Cosmology of Kyoto is phenomenal, but can be quite esoteric and a bit obtuse at times. It will definitely please those who enjoy this kind of artistic expression, but even many open-minded people might end up bouncing off of this one. I'd only recommend it to the kind of person who is willing to, say, watch a Terayama flick.

it is obtuse and a bit hard to figure out, but that's not really an issue considering the game has no real goal/objective other than exploration and looking at cool stuff. iirc it doesn't even have a proper ending but I haven't played it since I was a kid.

In other words I think wandering around not really understanding what's going on, is an intended effect and basically the gameplay.

That's precisely why I said I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It is a wonderful game, but even many seasoned players won't have the patience to truly get lost in Cosmology of Kyoto. Now imagine someone who isn't even used to games. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if many gave up after dying a few times.

Now, if they are the sort of person who enjoys this kind of artistic expression? Then yeah, it is one of the best games you could possibly recommend.

I think someone who isn't used to games would handle the game a lot better than you might think. The game's style seems to work very well on people who don't already have a set in stone opinion on what games should be like. I think the bigger problem is that to get it running, you need to either figure out an emulator or get a pre-installed version that for all a non-gamer knows, is a virus.

 

[Lemming42]

I'll do you one better. I eventually killed the skeleton(for some reason, I'm still thinking there was a bear) or whatever it was that killed me a couple of times. I then kept going on, trying to find my way out, only to get killed by something else. Then I realized that I never saved. Then I started over, and died to that skeleton(or bear?) about a dozen times and then quit for the day in frustration. The RNG wasn't on my side at all. I'm pretty sure this experience is why I wouldn't hand this game over to someone that's never played video games before.

There's a bear spawn behind a secret door nearby the exit. Doubly funny for new players since they won't have any reason to suspect secret doors are a thing in the game, so it's a fun surprise when the wall suddenly opens up and the Death Bear emerges.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2

Do you actually play this or are you just posting screenshots?

Why do you doubt me? Don't see a natural connection between an anime avatar, an RPG Codex account, and European descent? Can you really imagine me poring over this ridiculously complex game designed by an old and highly orthodox developer who created his greatest hits at SSI before I was even born? Awesome, you hurt my heart.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Is the second game worth buying if I own the first? I checked it out once, but it seems like the updates aren't worth 50 eur or whatever he is charging for it.

 

[Kruyurk]

It was hard to choose between recommending this one or Bloons TD 6.

 

[Häyhä]

Gentleman's sport for gentleman gamers, still unbeaten to this day.

 

[La vie sexuelle]

Is the second game worth buying if I own the first? I checked it out once, but it seems like the updates aren't worth 50 eur or whatever he is charging for it.

Well... it's basically improved and all, but I'm not sure the full price is worth it, especially when you have the first game.

Personally, I would recommend, ahem, try before you buy way.

 

[luj1]

Gentlemans game is something like Grim Fandango

Indeed.

You know what else is a gentleman's game? Encarta Mind Maze

 

[Alan]

I recommend Invisible Inc, The Witness and NEO Scavenger

 

[Silverfish]

Before getting too heavy into "here, play the games that I like", I'd probably just recommend something casual like Columns or 2048.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

something casual like Columns

Columns is pretty great. I remember being enthralled by it when I had a Genesis back in high school.