xkcd

by **Fin Archangel** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:08 am UTC

I have been of late exceptionally disappointed with the games available for my DS. It seems that outside of some quirky 15-minute distractions (Big Bang Mini, etc.) and Pokemon there hasn't been anything truly memorable. Recently reading the plot synopsis of Metal Gear just reminded me further of that fact.

So what I'm looking for are games for the DS that have real, meaningful, mature, and deep plots. The only thing that's even come close to this that I've found is Shin Megami Tensei (Both Devil Survivor and Strange Journey), both of which I enjoyed greatly. I don't even care what genre it is anymore, although I think I would most prefer a turn-based tactics game (i.e. Disgaea, Luminous Arc, FFTA2 etc). Probably the game experience I am looking for is closest to that of Tactics Ogre: the Knight of Lodis, for the GBA.

Any help would be appreciated ^_^

by **Fin Archangel** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:13 am UTC

Styfios wrote:
Would you care to narrow it down just a teensy bit from "single player PC game" ?

I basically was just looking for any type of game I could play by myself, preferably for short intervals in between work.

Nethack, Minecraft, Escape Velocity: Nova, and Elona RPG provide some quick but addicting experiences. As for long term games, there are about a bajillion. Dragon Age, BioShock, Borderlands...the list goes on and on and on.

rigwarl wrote:I'm looking for free, easily accessible games along the lines of isketch or transformice I can play with my girlfriend online. Any suggestions?

omgpop has several games specifically built for easily accessible multiplayer play. My favorite is probably Draw My Thing.

by **Jorpho** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:38 am UTC

Fin Archangel wrote:So what I'm looking for are games for the DS that have real, meaningful, mature, and deep plots. The only thing that's even come close to this that I've found is Shin Megami Tensei (Both Devil Survivor and Strange Journey), both of which I enjoyed greatly. I don't even care what genre it is anymore, although I think I would most prefer a turn-based tactics game (i.e. Disgaea, Luminous Arc, FFTA2 etc). Probably the game experience I am looking for is closest to that of Tactics Ogre: the Knight of Lodis, for the GBA.

Have you played The World Ends With You yet? It's probably more than a bit of a stretch to suggest that the story covers all of "real, meaningful, mature and deep", but I found it more than adequately enjoyable.

Or you could try branching into the somewhat less game-oriented options:
Nine Persons, Nine Hours, Nine Doors
Hotel Dusk/Trace Memory
The Phoenix Wright games

I've also heard some good things about the Valkyrie Profile game, as far as turn-based strategy goes. Maybe Knights in the Nightmare?

by **Menacing Spike** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:45 am UTC

Fin Archangel wrote:I have been of late exceptionally disappointed with the games available for my DS. It seems that outside of some quirky 15-minute distractions (Big Bang Mini, etc.) and Pokemon there hasn't been anything truly memorable. Recently reading the plot synopsis of Metal Gear just reminded me further of that fact.

So what I'm looking for are games for the DS that have real, meaningful, mature, and deep plots. The only thing that's even come close to this that I've found is Shin Megami Tensei (Both Devil Survivor and Strange Journey), both of which I enjoyed greatly. I don't even care what genre it is anymore, although I think I would most prefer a turn-based tactics game (i.e. Disgaea, Luminous Arc, FFTA2 etc). Probably the game experience I am looking for is closest to that of Tactics Ogre: the Knight of Lodis, for the GBA.

Any help would be appreciated ^_^

Plot driven games? The amount of fun plot driven games for the DS I can recall is surprisingly low :/.
Um... Phoenix Wright series (do them in order!), Black Sigil (but use AR or an emulator to cheat around the encounter rate), Suikoden Tierkris (or however the fuck it's written), Knights in the Knightmare, Ghost Trick.
Covenant of the Plume is a tactical game that has a very similiar tone and style to TO:KoL, but I didn't like it very much (as the protagonist as an utter cretin and the characters frankly boring), but who knows, you may like it. It did have good gameplay.

Fun but less plot:
Dawn of Sorrow, Order of Ecclesia, Rocket Slime.

by **Fin Archangel** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:56 pm UTC

I played The World Ends With You for about 15 minutes but I wasn't attracted by it, but I will certainly pick it back up as that was about a year ago. Valkyrie Profile looks like something very close to what I am looking for, and I have no idea how I missed it as I have definitely seen it before. The detective/lawyer games are interesting as well, and I've been meaning to play them for awhile now.

I do have KitN, and I'm not sure why I haven't been playing that recently. Quite an interesting and aesthetically pleasing game. Suikoden Tierkris looks very interesting as well, and I Will pick that up soon. As for the Castlevania games, I was never much one for platformers, although if ever there was one I would play it would be that. Or IWBTG

by **Firnagzen** » Sun Feb 20, 2011 4:02 am UTC

Hmmhm. Looking for a game (MMO preferred) that has an interesting crafting/character tweaking system, and isn't cutesy and bright. (In the mood for GRIMDARK.) Any suggestions?

I rather liked Anarchy Online, for example.

by **ameretrifle** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:59 am UTC

Fin Archangel wrote:I played The World Ends With You for about 15 minutes but I wasn't attracted by it, but I will certainly pick it back up as that was about a year ago. Valkyrie Profile looks like something very close to what I am looking for, and I have no idea how I missed it as I have definitely seen it before. The detective/lawyer games are interesting as well, and I've been meaning to play them for awhile now.

I think I was a bit underwhelmed by TWEWY at first, too. The whole aesthetic isn't really my thing, the main character starts off as a jerkass, and the gameplay took me a while to get used to-- I had to go back and grind a couple levels to deal with the first (or was it technically second? whatever) boss, leading to the strategy I kept through the whole game: overlevel like heck, because I am not good at splitting my attention, *at all*.

Now I'm level 92 and working my way through all the post-game secrets, and not just out of obsessive-compulsiveness. If you want a storyline-- and a serious storyline-- please allow me to second the recommendation, because imo, it's there.

Ace Attorney's plots can tend toward the silly, but god damn is Ace Attorney Investigations awesome, and you can find it for pretty cheap so let me second that too. (yeah, not in order, but I am poor and I have read a hell a lot about the series before, so XD) And Hotel Dusk, if you don't mind a limited amount of actual "game"-ness.

Anyway, our interests mesh in this and I will be looking up these titles with great interest.

by **Jorpho** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 5:23 am UTC

Blargh, it's $18 at Amazon.com, but still $35 at Amazon.ca . How I hate it when that happens.

By the way, Hotel Dusk's sequel is out in Europe. (I guess a NA release is kind of unlikely.) "Again", a not-dissimilar game that did come out in North America, has gotten some mixed reviews.

by **rigwarl** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:27 pm UTC

Appreciate the answers!

Fin Archangel wrote:So what I'm looking for are games for the DS that have real, meaningful, mature, and deep plots.

Golden Sun?

by **Endless Mike** » Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:42 pm UTC

Jorpho wrote:Blargh, it's $18 at Amazon.com, but still $35 at Amazon.ca . How I hate it when that happens.

Won't Amazon.com ship to Canada? I know I've purchased stuff from .ca before.

by **legopelle** » Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:42 pm UTC

Fin Archangel wrote:I have been of late exceptionally disappointed with the games available for my DS. It seems that outside of some quirky 15-minute distractions (Big Bang Mini, etc.) and Pokemon there hasn't been anything truly memorable. Recently reading the plot synopsis of Metal Gear just reminded me further of that fact.

So what I'm looking for are games for the DS that have real, meaningful, mature, and deep plots. The only thing that's even come close to this that I've found is Shin Megami Tensei (Both Devil Survivor and Strange Journey), both of which I enjoyed greatly. I don't even care what genre it is anymore, although I think I would most prefer a turn-based tactics game (i.e. Disgaea, Luminous Arc, FFTA2 etc). Probably the game experience I am looking for is closest to that of Tactics Ogre: the Knight of Lodis, for the GBA.

Any help would be appreciated ^_^

As mentioned before, the Phoenix Wright games. Now. Plenty of meaningful murders for you to explore.
I mean, have you seen the attention these games get on the internet? It's for a very good reason. Well-developed characters and stories actually as good as books. And Edgeworth. And if you stretch the definition a bit, It's partly turn-based strategy.

Secondly, the Professor Layton series. Now, don't look at me like that. They actually have seriously good plots, filled with twists. How many good puzzle-games have more than decent plots? Portal?

by **quantumnerd** » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:28 pm UTC

I like games. Need a reccomendation.

Games I have on steam (most of which I have played): (no capitals so I can type it faster)

ben there, dan that
braid
counter strike source
crysis, wars, warhead
half life, blue shift, opposing force, source
half life 2, episode one, episode two, lost coast
mirror's edge
portal
the secret of monkey island 1 and 2
shattered horizon
counter strike, CZ, CZ DS
DoD
HL Deathmatch Classic, source
richochet
team fortress classic
aaaaa a reckless disregard for gravity
audiosurf
darwinia
defcon
defense grid the awakening
multiwinia
osmos
plants vs zombies game of the year
time gentlemen please
trackmania nations forever
uplink
alien swarm
counter strike source
crysis wars
day of defeat source
dirt 2
fallout, tactics, 2, 3, new vegas
gmod
half life 2 deathmatch
just cause 2
left 4 dead 1, 2
mass effect 1, 2
monday night combat
civ v
starcraft ii
team fortress 2
torchlight
minecraft

Want some suggestions. I'm amused by grimdark. I like first person shooters. I really enjoy sci-fi settings.I'm easily scared, being a person that has jumped out of his chair playing flash games, so no horror please. I don't have much experience with vehicle games so I would like some suggestions. I would also like to try new types of games.

Essentially: I crave sci-fi aerial combat games and sci-fi shooters. Grimdark accepted.

HARDWARE: i7 920, 6GB mystery RAM, 1TB HDD, 5850 1GB that overheats.

by **llamanaru** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 4:47 am UTC

Try The X-* series and Vega Strike for Scifi ship combat. Crysis (instead of Crysis wars) or Prey for single player Scifi FPS. Tremulous or Natural Selection 2 (also the first) for multiplayer Scifi FPS. Be advised all the FPS do have their startling moments, nothing as bad as Amnesia though.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Thu Mar 10, 2011 1:12 pm UTC

Eternal Silence. It's a free source mod I used to dev for. It's half space flight sim, half Quake-like FPS.

Neotokyo. It's basically Counter Strike, set in the Ghost in the Shell universe. Very well made.

by **Canineteeth** » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:22 am UTC

I'm back once more! This time with a new computer that can handle all games pretty well. What I'm looking for is a Dwarf Fortress / Age of Empires-like game that can be played online, PREFERABLY with a persistent world. I get bored of rebuilding over and over. Things that take a long time to complete are fine with me but are single-player are fine with me. Something like Utopia (oldish text based game) or Civilization, with a persistant online world, and if it has the depth of DF I'd call it heaven.

by **Naurgul** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 1:44 am UTC

I'm probably just describing a game that doesn't and won't ever exist, but I've got to give it a try anyway:

I'm looking for a game I can casually play every day or every other day for small amounts of time (30-120 minutes). I don't have a preference on genre but I'd like if it was multiplayer and playable with a small number of people (3-5). I'd prefer co-op but a competitive game would be somewhat fine too, I guess. Then, I'd like it to be mostly relaxed in pace and strategy. Not too slow and not completely devoid of thinking but keep in mind that I consider most FPSs too fast-paced and I wouldn't want to be continuously thinking and doubting what I should be doing. It would also be nice if in each session you started where you left off in a continuing campaign instead of starting over.

by **Goldstein** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 9:49 am UTC

Sounds tricky, Naurgul. Have you played Battle for Wesnoth at all? I won't say it's necessarily relaxed as a strategy game, as it can be very competitive too, but it's turn-based and there are a huge number of game variations where I think you could easily find a more casual format. It can be played co-op against varying levels of AI skill, and there are multi-session campaigns available. Obviously, if you're looking to have a continuing story over multiple sessions with friends, you'll have to arrange that yourself, but that'll always be the case.

As well as that, Magicka fits your criteria particularly well.

by **Naurgul** » Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:45 pm UTC

Battle for Wesnoth seems promising. In the same vein, I suppose Heroes of Might and Magic would be a good choice. A big map with us humans battling against an overwhelming computer force. As for Magicka, I have tried the demo and found it too chaotic and fast-paced for my liking.

I've been thinking that cRPGs might fit the bill. Any good cRPGs (action or not) that can be played co-operatively out there?

by **Menacing Spike** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 3:25 pm UTC

Naurgul wrote:I've been thinking that cRPGs might fit the bill. Any good cRPGs (action or not) that can be played co-operatively out there?

Diablo II?

by **rigwarl** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:01 pm UTC

Diablo II is pretty slow paced on your own, but keeping up with a group (with how fast the characters move relative to the size of your screen) is actually pretty demanding. I know from experience

It is awesome though.

by **Naurgul** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:59 pm UTC

I was wondering if this would come up, because after posting I realised I was describing an (action) RPG. I don't think it's too fast but the fact of the matter is that I think I have played it enough already and I can't get back to it again.

Oh, by the way, I started playing die2nite. It's way less engaging than what I'd prefer, but it's rather nice.

by **ArgonV** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:06 pm UTC

Anyone know a good city building game? I quite like Simcity 4 + expansion + mods, but I've been playing it off and on for years now.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:05 pm UTC

I understand Cities XL is pretty good.

by **rigwarl** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 12:17 am UTC

Not quite city building, but I like Rollercoaster Tycoon.

by **Jorpho** » Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:19 am UTC

Lots of people seem to like Constructor. It's available from GOG.

by **balderduck** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:49 pm UTC

Alright guys after the disappointment of Dragon Age II I'm looking for a good INDIE RPG to play

Western style, preferably turn-based
Think Planescape:Torment NOT Diablo
Doesn't have to be fantasy

I player the Eschalon demo, which is looking pretty good, but a bit TOO old-school even for me

Have any other recommendations?
Thanks a lot

by **Menacing Spike** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 3:19 pm UTC

balderduck wrote:Alright guys after the disappointment of Dragon Age II I'm looking for a good INDIE RPG to play

Western style, preferably turn-based
Think Planescape:Torment NOT Diablo
Doesn't have to be fantasy

I player the Eschalon demo, which is looking pretty good, but a bit TOO old-school even for me

Have any other recommendations?
Thanks a lot

Spiderweb games.
Series:
Exile, you are cast into a portal where the mighty Empire stashes criminals/dissidents away. Portal leads to some subterranean hell. Exiles form a basic society and battle against the evil, evil caves. They are pissed, and they want out.
Avernum: Exile, prettier. Exile stops at III, avernum continues the plot further.
Geneforge: The sect of Shapers control the secrets of life, creating and manipulating it. Some are not happy with that, chiefly among them the Drayks, the most intelligent and ruthless of their creations.
Avadon: You are agents of the almighty Fortress, maintaining order inside an alliance of five nations.

I favor the geneforge series myself, they are ambiguous and grim as fuck. Also you get to lead your horde of mutant monsters.

by **Aliquantic** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:12 am UTC

Somewhat in the same vein of the above poster, but I fear this may be a tough one

I'm looking for a RPG that has little grinding, few but challenging fights and decent game mechanics. Repeated encounters with easily destroyed enemies is my biggest turn off in RPGs... I feel like it's my own life that's being slowly being drained after each trivial random encounter, and gaining xp/items doesn't really entice me. Planescape Torment is one of the few RPGs I've really been able to enjoy (rats aside), along with Arcanum and Fallout to a lesser extent, and the admittedly few Japanese RPGs I've tried (Chrono Trigger, a few of the Final Fantasy games, Etrian Odyssey) haven't worked at all for me.

It probably doesn't help that I tend to favor story/setting-heavy RPGs, and I'm at least familiar with all the Bioware, Elder Scrolls and Ultima games and a few indie companies like Spiderweb, but that's basically it. Thanks a lot if you can throw a few names in my direction

by **balderduck** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 12:20 pm UTC

Aliquantic wrote:Somewhat in the same vein of the above poster, but I fear this may be a tough one I'm looking for a RPG that has little grinding, few but challenging fights and decent game mechanics. Repeated encounters with easily destroyed enemies is my biggest turn off in RPGs... I feel like it's my own life that's being slowly being drained after each trivial random encounter, and gaining xp/items doesn't really entice me. Planescape Torment is one of the few RPGs I've really been able to enjoy (rats aside), along with Arcanum and Fallout to a lesser extent, and the admittedly few Japanese RPGs I've tried (Chrono Trigger, a few of the Final Fantasy games, Etrian Odyssey) haven't worked at all for me.

It probably doesn't help that I tend to favor story/setting-heavy RPGs, and I'm at least familiar with all the Bioware, Elder Scrolls and Ultima games and a few indie companies like Spiderweb, but that's basically it. Thanks a lot if you can throw a few names in my direction

That's pretty much the same thing I'm looking for!
And that's how I started looking for that kind of game after killing the 14398th identical enemy in dragon age 2

So great! We may even swap recommendations! I'd recommend Valkyria Chronicles on a PS3 - it's a bit of a strategy/rpg hybrid but the battle system is EXACTLY what we're looking for and there's also another game which is coming up and it's called age of decadence. The demo shows a battle system that is very similar to the first fallouts (which is fantastic of course)
I'm gonna also try Drakensang 2 and tell you if it fits the description!

Nice to see more people interested in the same thing as me...

by **Okita** » Sun Apr 10, 2011 11:44 pm UTC

Today someone asked me for a game recommendation for his parents who have been playing lots of Lego Platformers. I suggested "I wanna be the guy".

I may be a bit evil.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 12:23 pm UTC

You could also suggest VVVVVV.

by **emceng** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:55 pm UTC

Machiavelli:The Prince

Does anyone know of a similar, more recent game?

Background: The basic premise is you control a family in Venice around 1300. The basic gameplay is hiring ships and donkeys to travel to different cities, and trading between them. There are maybe 16-20 commodities, and the idea is buy low, sell high between cities. There are additional things, some military action, some political maneuvering too. It's fun, but the AI is pretty bad. Even on expert you easily outpace them, and it turns into a grind of how long it takes you to finish.

So mainly looking for a trading/economics game.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:53 pm UTC

EVE Online is the logical conclusion of economy games.

by **SurgicalSteel** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 7:41 am UTC

Dawn of Discovery has some trading aspects. For instance, you might need certain resources on your main island to satisfy your population, so you can setup a colony on another island that has that resource and establish trade between the two islands, or you can do the same with an AI controlled island. There isn't any dynamic economy though, I don't think, except in the story campaign when it's relevant to a plot point.

There's also East India Company. I haven't played it, but wikipedia says it's a mix of trading and RTS battles.

by **Markus__1** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 7:26 pm UTC

emceng wrote:Machiavelli:The Prince

Does anyone know of a similar, more recent game?
<snip>
So mainly looking for a trading/economics game.

It had a successor.

You may want to look at The Guild 2 and the Patrician series.

Also http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kategorie:Wirtschaftssimulation and its English counterpart might be inspirational. I've even seen the genre of business simulations characterized as "German games".

by **Goldstein** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:26 pm UTC

Now then. This is rather vague as I'm a little out of my element here, but can anyone recommend a great text adventure game? That's... That's basically it.

I've been talking to a friend, who is taking a creative writing course and told me she'd like to have her story made into a game some day. I thought that was a bit weird as.. well, it rarely works out well, does it? In an effort to give the idea some saving grace, I suggested a text adventure. She was entirely unfamiliar with them and I think she could enjoy playing one, so I'm just hoping someone can suggest a real gem for her. It doesn't matter if it's all text or has some picture elements or whatever, and popular themes are likely to include adventure, mysticism, wilderness, mystery, medieval times, romance, other worlds.. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

by **Box Boy** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:31 pm UTC

I recommend the Zork series, you can find most of it online for free (legally) to play, but I don't know about downloads.

The original monkey islands are great as well.

by **Menacing Spike** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:47 pm UTC

Goldstein wrote:Now then. This is rather vague as I'm a little out of my element here, but can anyone recommend a great text adventure game? That's... That's basically it.

I've been talking to a friend, who is taking a creative writing course and told me she'd like to have her story made into a game some day. I thought that was a bit weird as.. well, it rarely works out well, does it? In an effort to give the idea some saving grace, I suggested a text adventure. She was entirely unfamiliar with them and I think she could enjoy playing one, so I'm just hoping someone can suggest a real gem for her. It doesn't matter if it's all text or has some picture elements or whatever, and popular themes are likely to include adventure, mysticism, wilderness, mystery, medieval times, romance, other worlds.. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Dungeon crawl?

More seriously, Starship Titanic.

by **headprogrammingczar** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 1:59 am UTC

I also recommend making it clear that stories in games are fundamentally different from other types of stories. A story in a book is about what the characters do, while a story in a game is about what the player does. The writer has to prepare for the fact that there's an actor in the story that is totally uncontrollable.

(On topic: Zork is the quintessential text adventure game)

by **Jorpho** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 3:24 am UTC

Come now: Zork may have been the first major text adventure, but that just means that it made a whole lot of mistakes that were avoided in later generations. I mean, really, how the heck are you supposed to clue into the fact that you're supposed to be putting stuff in a trophy case? And no, I don't think that's a spoiler, because odds are you'd need to read that somewhere else if you were to have any chance of completing the game these days!

I've heard much better things about Infocom's Trinity. And the more modern release that is constantly raved about is Photopia.

In the vein of "stories to games", apparently Bradbury once endorsed the game loosely based on Fahrenheit 451. I might also suggest the two games based off of Pohl's "Gateway"; those still count as text adventures. Here's a review I wrote:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gateway/gateway.htm

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