Games that catch attention

[Gozuu]

I've been thoroughly searching for a game that have enough influence and inspiring content to catch my attention and make me want to come back for more unique experiences. Something which puts your real life aside and let you dive right into a universe so different yet similar to something which you know of. I can't say wether I am searching for an MMO or an RPG. I have certain criteria or rather - things I am not interested in, though I feel quite open to most things.

I sort of lack that certain feeling of being in a different place - being someone different, even to the extend of saying that I actually need to play a role of a different being in a different universe. Taking a step back, it may sound like I have difficulties with my self, which isn't the truth at all. There are just no similar experience and semi-addictive content that I have connected with as I did with World of Warcraft five years ago. The feel of the universe, the creatures, the environment and tasks as well as the social aspect that brought people with no similarities other than a passion for video games together to form alliances and defeat opponents. Wether they be other human players or NPC's wouldn't matter. To take a role and participate in an adventure through either Wailing Caverns or Molten Core, the feeling was quite the same to me. Being a part of a group with a set purpose.

There are plenty of games, more than ever actually, especially with the old games being revived in either HD or put on GoG.com. There are none however which gives the same feeling. It might have to do with my criteria of what I want to play that limits the options, though I'd like to think that there are some game out there, released or upcoming that will shake the same interest and addiction into me.

The few hours of Modern Warfare 3 weekly is plenty of fun. It's mindless shooting with a group of friends where we try our best to continue our winning streaks, improve our K/D ratio and have fun with trying different things, combination of equipment and weapons and best other people. That is however, all it is. A quick to play, easy to play and fun little shooter with no sense of accomplishment.

Heroes of Newerth is admittedly my only game that I continuously can return to and enjoy fully. The game is a close clone of DotA(WC3) which puts fast paced action gameplay on the RTS-table in a new formula. People might enjoy LoL also, which is a close resemblance, though different. Despite the community being hilariously bad mannered, the gameplay is fun, tactical and rewarding. There are no fancy achievements(though it's coming I've heard) nor titles that proves your insane accomplishments, but winning a game after 35+ minutes is pure joy being injected to your veins.

None of those games however, creates an interesting universe with almighty beings and a dark power with mythical descend. No, they give you a quick boost of something similar to adrenaline and an excuse to shout some very abusive words once in a while. You are not "part" of something greater than just yourself. There are no end purpose with countless of hours spent to accomplish something unique and challenging. You do not explore something magnificent that took a development team a lot of combined powers to brew. The universe and atmosphere are for me, the most important aspects of a video game.

Finding a new game which I can devote my spare time to, is seeming like a task that is impossible to fulfill. I'm almost praying that Guild Wars 2 mighty capture my attention or the Tri-faction MMO (The Secret World?) can become a new addiction. Skyrim was an option, but the grind fest seems never to end. It's all about experience, getting the next level of Fireball and craft the next tier of armor. The same formula which was used for years before TES, has continued and isn't refreshing or inspiring.

What do you RPS'ers devote your spare time to? Anything so magnificent that it tickles in your feet when thinking of what you will attempt once finally in the universe of another realm?

[Heliocentric]

TLDR

You really need to have a shorthand version of what you are asking, because that hard to decode. I'm joking of course, you mention Skyrim being grindy but then say an MMO would be nice.

Have you played Fallout: New Vegas? Its a game which will grab onto you and not let go if you let it. I find if i really want an obsession I need a long play. My current long plays are the 'RPS Divisions of Death Bloodbowl League', a multiplayer game of SotS played in semi regular session which will take over a year to finish and my semi aborted 'Single wire coms system' (a bit stream with encoding and decoding) in Minecraft.

Other than that I'm just hopping from game to game.

[Gozuu]

You really need to have a shorthand version of what you are asking, because that hard to decode. I'm joking of course, you mention Skyrim being grindy but then say an MMO would be nice.

Have you played Fallout: New Vegas? Its a game which will grab onto you and not let go if you let it. I find if i really want an obsession I need a long play. My current long plays are the 'RPS Divisions of Death Bloodbowl League', a multiplayer game of SotS played in semi regular session which will take over a year to finish and my semi aborted 'Single wire coms system' (a bit stream with encoding and decoding) in Minecraft.

Other than that I'm just hopping from game to game.

I can see what you mean. Mentioning MMO's when Skyrim feels like a grindfest is quite contradicting. Though, World of Warcraft did not feel like a grindfest when I first started and leveled to 60. As a matter of fact, it took me more than 25 in-game days of playtime to reach level 60 as had so many things to do which all were different from the other. Doing battlegrounds, completing class quests which honestly felt much different to any normal quest as there was a lot of content and background story involved, professions that needed not just grinding, but also pairing the right two together to maximize the potential. Doing instances and exploring new zones has always been a habit of mine, seeing new content and be in awe with the atmosphere and environment. No, it did not feel like a grindfest and it may just be nostalgia - but no other game have since put me in such a position where everything came together as pretty much perfect, despite WoW not being the most perfect release ever.

I have played some hours of Fallout III. I just feel like I miss something, being there from the beginning and having to play Fallout I & II which are rather outdated, I lost interest. I do have a -50% Fallout: New Vegas voucher in Steam, so I will have a look at it. Bloodbowl is something which I tried and lost interest in on the first play through. It feels like Chess in a different manner, but still kind of the same.

Hopping between games has been my daily gaming life since I stopped WoW. It works, but I have that empty space that requires me to be addicted to something, but it isn't happening at all with any games.

[Voon]

I'd say Bastion. If the narrating and the combat hooks you in, it'll never let you go. Same with NV but with its story, humour, dialogue and exploration instead.

Mirror's Edge is incredible with its visuals and gameplay. Just looking at a gameplay footage of it would want to make you play it in an instant.

[amusingthebrood]

I understand what you mean about being lost in a world Gozuu, and I had it myself in WoW. That feeling of immersion in a whole world and not just in the confines a game or its story is something that I sometimes miss.

Having said that, I have been deliberately avoiding games that I think will suck me in, either in that way or others, in order to have wider experiences, albeit knowing that many of those experiences will be shallower. So I'm probably short of useful suggestions for you.

I used to get that way about the X-COM universe, although I haven't visited for a long time. I get very attached to my Terraria worlds (and have stopped playing because of it) but that is down to my imagination not what has been created by anyone else.

[Gozuu]

I'd say Bastion. If the narrating and the combat hooks you in, it'll never let you go. Same with NV but with its story, humour, dialogue and exploration instead.

Mirror's Edge is incredible with its visuals and gameplay. Just looking at a gameplay footage of it would want to make you play it in an instant.

I should give Mirror's Edge a try - To my awareness, it was a PS3 Exclusive, is this still the case?

I understand what you mean about being lost in a world Gozuu, and I had it myself in WoW. That feeling of immersion in a whole world and not just in the confines a game or its story is something that I sometimes miss.

Having said that, I have been deliberately avoiding games that I think will suck me in, either in that way or others, in order to have wider experiences, albeit knowing that many of those experiences will be shallower. So I'm probably short of useful suggestions for you.

I used to get that way about the X-COM universe, although I haven't visited for a long time. I get very attached to my Terraria worlds (and have stopped playing because of it) but that is down to my imagination not what has been created by anyone else.

I think I will always have a wide experience of games through my hard drive, I just need to feel that particular feeling again. Wether it is a MMO, RTS, FPS or another genre is irrelevant. If I can find a game with depth, not that it has to be heavy in lore, but with depth to dig into a universe and experience something unique. Terraria does not seem like a universe to me. As you say, your Terraria worlds. I feel like it is a mixture of two things - Minecraft & the classic side scrolling games like Mario or Wario :)

I spend a good amount of hours in Dungeon Defenders recently with three/four other friends I know in person. A marvelous game and money well worth it. Though, there is a lack of background story. It tells what happens in the present and not what happens in the past. The past is important as it explains why you are in the particular situation at the time you jump into the game. It gives you knowledge of your character, your purpose and the conflicts you undergo during either the campaign or the continuous play through that MMOs offer. Around 25 hours in, none of my friends nor me are entertained with Dungeon Defenders. The story line was intense and doing them in the hard versions was also challenging. It just becomes a massive grindfest towards acquiring gear and gems in the most korean-MMO'ish way of them all: By doing the exact same lap at the exact same difficulty. It's like racing Mario Karts over and over knowing that you are always winning due to the nature of the NPC's and knowing exactly how to overcome them. There are nothing you must adapt to and so I feel it is with a lot of games.

Perhaps I am too picky?

[Heliocentric]

Mirror's Edge, PS3 exclusive? No not at all, not ever.

I bounced off fallout 3,but I loved new vegas. It's really good, another one for gobbling up your headspace is Stalker, don't rush to finish it and it really has a lot to offer.

[Voon]

Mirror's Edge, PS3 exclusive? No not at all, not ever.

I bounced off fallout 3,but I loved new vegas. It's really good, another one for gobbling up your headspace is Stalker, don't rush to finish it and it really has a lot to offer.

This.

And remember, everything's better after The Garbage (which is actually, a name of the second location of the map) and you start exploring on your own. Give it time and it will reward you a fantastic game experience.

[DigitalSignalX]

I'm really finding LA Noire quite compelling, playing one case a day. While it suffers a bit from the Mafia II "amazingly crafted, yet lifeless playground outside of the main story line" syndrome, I still am enjoying it in small enough doses that it never feels weighed down by what's not present rather then amazing for what is. I also play in Black and white, which really helps the immersion into a crime movie feel real. This was a title I held off playing for a while because the idea didn't seem that interesting, but now it has really caught my attention.

[Wizardry]

I've read everything in this thread but still have absolutely no idea what's being asked. Can someone sum it up in a single sentence?

Also, slight suspicion of a Wulf alt.

[Unaco]

Also, slight suspicion of a Wulf alt.

Why would Wulf need an alt?

Also, this...

The few hours of Modern Warfare 3 weekly is plenty of fun.

... and no insinuation that the poster's tastes/intellect/world-view are superior to all others, leads me to believe that it probably isn't Wulf. The OP doesn't say how brilliant and unique they are, not even once.

As for suggestions... I said I wouldn't, but I've recently gone back to M&B Warband, Prophesy of Pendor mod, and started a new campaign. For me, it's one of those fantastic games, with a dynamic, emerging storyline that you fill in yourself. I get an amazing ASoIaF/Black-Company/Malazan sort of feeling from the whole thing. It's incredibly addicting, and I often find myself at 2am, wondering where the last 4 hours have gone.

[Odeon]

Gozuu is looking for a really-immersive game world to lose himself in that is challenging and addictive. I think that about sums it up because he really didn't go into the specifics of what he doesn't like except for endless grinding.

For me that game is AfterWorld, an F2P MMO. Their game site is www.afterworld.ru, which has links to their forums and the player-made wiki site for everything in the game. It's a work-in-progress that's phasing out of testing and into "live," albeit rather slowly. I started a new topic about it, but be warned: it's rather long. I added a reply with a bullet point summary of its features, but I didn't include the story and feel of the game in the reply.

Here's my summary of the storyline, as seen in my signature on the game's forums:

One day in the future, humanity "perfected" the use of nanobots. They were implanted into people's heads to make them smarter, live longer, and to perform all sorts of tasks for them. It was all very fantastic until the fateful day when a military test made them all go crazy, effectively scrambling the brains of most of the global population. It is the year 2067 and the effort to restore humanity to its previous capabilities still has much work ahead of it...

The feel is like an FPS but like MMOs, it takes a number of hits to kill things. The world itself is post-cataclysmic Siberia right now, but the world space is expanding to include pretty much all of Asia and parts of Europe. Later on, it will probably include even more, but that's speculation on my part. Whenever I log in I feel like I'm being sucked into a future (the year is 2068) with high technology in a world that has been devastated and is scrambling back up towards civilization.

[Wizardry]

Gozuu is looking for a really-immersive game world to lose himself in that is challenging and addictive. I think that about sums it up because he really didn't go into the specifics of what he doesn't like except for endless grinding.

Ah, I see. But that's still quite vague. We really need to know what he likes and doesn't like in a game because he hasn't narrowed it down to a genre. Right now it seems every game is a possibility for suggestion, from MMOs to FPSs.

Why would Wulf need an alt?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foru...ble-commenting

... and no insinuation that the poster's tastes/intellect/world-view are superior to all others, leads me to believe that it probably isn't Wulf. The OP doesn't say how brilliant and unique they are, not even once.

Well, there was that bit about Guild Wars 2, and the post was long, and I finished reading it without having a clue as to what was being said.

[Odeon]

Very true. What's immersive and addictive to one person is not necessarily immersive OR addictive to another. Without more requirements from Gozuu, we're all just kind of shooting in the dark with our own ideas of what games are great.

[Gozuu]

It's true I haven't been too specific about what I like and what I do not like, which was entirely on purpose as I wouldn't want to scare people off if they had a game that they felt was so great but unfortunately would not list due to a criteria. I can make a few which ultimately is not my style of playing video games. I feel uncomfortable by role-playing games. I like that the game has depth and a background story for the content, but I am not intrigued by role playing, though I like to play a role (if you follow me) that leads me into this immerse universe with an atmosphere that connects you with your character and your purpose.

The games that has been suggested so far looks really interesting. The fact that I was wrong about Mirror's Edge being an exclusive PS3-title is really great and I heavily consider buying it. Afterlife looks interesting and I would follow it to its release and hopefully start out as soon as its development is long enough to call it retail. LA Noire was a must-have for me, but after some friends played it through, I got the impression that you really had to love an easy challenge to enjoy it. The idea of a scripted game with options, makes it seem so....fake of some sort. You cannot play with your own personality, which has influence on alot of choices you make.

Even though I am not into role-playing, that should not put off any suggestions to RPG's such as Mass Effect or games alike it. I like to think I have an open mind to games, even though I might not like them at first, I could get positively surprised. I know I did with Dungeon Defenders, Team Fortress 2 (Bought in 2009) and especially Minecraft.

[SirKicksalot]

I'm really finding LA Noire quite compelling, playing one case a day. While it suffers a bit from the Mafia II "amazingly crafted, yet lifeless playground outside of the main story line" syndrome, I still am enjoying it in small enough doses that it never feels weighed down by what's not present rather then amazing for what is. I also play in Black and white, which really helps the immersion into a crime movie feel real. This was a title I held off playing for a while because the idea didn't seem that interesting, but now it has really caught my attention.

Try pressing random buttons during the interrogations, I guarantee the experience will be exactly the same.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/foru...ble-commenting

LOL. No offense to Gozuu, but I also thought of Wulf.

On topic: Far Cry 2. I was in Africa. Some people don't like it as there's a lot of driving and a lot of dudes to shoot while traveling, but I loved it. Protip: watch Blood Diamond before playing. Also, I think Civilization covers a lot of what you're asking for.

[Odeon]

I feel uncomfortable by role-playing games. I like that the game has depth and a background story for the content, but I am not intrigued by role playing, though I like to play a role (if you follow me) that leads me into this immerse universe with an atmosphere that connects you with your character and your purpose.

I've never really seen the draw in full-on role-playing either, but I know that some people love nothing more. There are very few RPGs that actually require true role-playing and some MMOs have specific servers that require it, but it's not that common. AfterWorld could be played either way, but probably 99% of the players are just themselves behind a toon.

Afterlife looks interesting and I would follow it to its release and hopefully start out as soon as its development is long enough to call it retail.

That's a pretty common response. Most people don't really want to invest in a game that's still in testing and there are many, many people waiting for AfterWorld (AW) to be a "final" product. As an MMO, there's no such thing as "final" until the doors are closed for good, but I'm sure you get my point. Anyway, the cool thing about testing AW is that there won't be any wipes, so whatever you gain now will be yours when the retail version is released. Plus money that can be made in the game now (or in the future) will be transferable to a real-world PayPal or other account from within the game itself, which is pretty rare.

[Heliocentric]

If you are Wulf mentioning MW2 was genius.

I think he wants a world to explore and drink up, but no grinding.
I have additional suggestions:
Psyconauts, Outcast, Deus Ex, Morrowind, Grand Theft Auto (vice city or IV), Bioshock 1 & 2, Sacrifice,
Each of the above has a real sense of place and charm, often quite a lot of freedom..

[Unaco]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R

Edit: Nevermind.

[Odeon]

I'll second Morrowind if you haven't already tried it. That game world sucked me in big-time and didn't let go of me for a looong time. I didn't even finish the damn thing, but I tend to plod along slowly, enjoying all of the little side-tasks and things that are available.