because I like making meaningless lists and losing my mind over what game to cut
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Visual Novels
- Higurashi when they cry: I love murder mysteries, and When They Cry is pretty much the best of the bunch when it comes to intricate, suspenseful plots with a cast of complex and fun characters. Umineko might be the richer text of the two but Higu will always be my fave, if only for the great French translation we got. Le sanglot des cigales...
- Analogue a Hate Story: my gateway into visual novels back in 2012. Also the first game with queer themes I played, I think? Anyway it's moving, tragic sci-fi and I adore basically everything Christine Love makes.
- 999: psychological thrillers/ontological mysteries/you-wake-up-in-a-weird-place-with-a-bunch-of-strangers have been my jam since playing 999 on my Nintendo DS and solving the Sudoku of Death. Uchikoshi has experimented with plenty of absurd meta twists after and before (Remember11 still fucks me up to think about) but 999 remains the purest, most successful version of the concept imo
- VtM Shadows of New York: I love the world of Vampire the Masquerade, even though it can dip too far into the edginess sometimes. Its moody, dark urban fantasy is so appealing to me. Shadows of New York is all of that, with a noir mystery story and a fantastically messy goth heroine at its core. Julia <3
- Echoes of the Fey - The Last Sacrament: take some good old fashioned private eye noir, and put it in a fantasy world with elves and magic. The second game's plot is super compelling, going beyond a regular investigation for a story of blackmail and heists, with our heroine caught between the whims of imperial heirs and dubious priests. I really, really hope we get a third game one of these days.
- Va-11 Hall-A: some classic cyberpunk vibes with amazing PC-98-looking art, but centered on an intimate, personal tale of people hanging out at the bar rather than big stakes conspiracies. I wanted to put Vengeful Heart in there too but Va-11 Hall-A is just so iconic of the genre, sorry
- Butterfly Soup: because sometimes a visual novel doesn't need a rich sci-fi world or mind blowing twists. It can just be about four goofballs arguing with their family, cheating at baseball and falling in love. I love them so much
RPGs
- Fallout New Vegas: liking this game has basically turned into a meme at this point. But you know, it holds up! The lights of New Vegas far away on the horizon; the messy faction politics full of ugly compromises; the way the geography of the land becomes part and parcel of the storytelling. It's more than good quests paired with good systems; there's an alchemy that makes the game a memorable experience as a whole.
- Disco Elysium: we're never getting another one like this, are we. Incredibly dense, incredibly written RPG diving head-first into politics and history while offering an unbelievable amount of freedom in roleplaying your character with strange and evocative stats. It's quirky, it's idiosyncratic, it's powerful; it's deliberately self-indulgent or over the limit sometimes. I don't believe we'll see anything quite like it again, and maybe that's fine.
- VtM Bloodlines: see what I was saying about Shadows of New York above. The writing is way more dicey in this one, and maybe 30% of it has aged like milk; but I find myself missing its gloomy streets and scheming bloodsuckers every time I launch a new RPG. It still hasn't had a worthy successor to this day, and Bloodlines 2... we'll see
- Sunless Sea: I was very into Fallen London back when it was called Echo Bazaar and fell off at some point. Sunless Sea is a more approachable way to interact with this universe, enhanced by zailing your little boat around and listening to the fantastic soundtrack, even if the resource trading can get a little tiring over time. Anyway, Failbetter makes perplexing, intricate worlds and they're fascinating whatever the form.
- Shadowrun Hong Kong: just a tight, well designed tactics RPG set in Shadowrun (so with cyberhacking, astral magic and capitalist dragons). The plot and characters are great but it's the moments where the mission design starts fucking with you that are the most memorable. Dragonfall is also super good, but Hong Kong beats it by a hair for the eclectic cast of weirdoes in your party.
- Long Live the Queen: Suzerain may be the deeper political simulation but it doesn't have you dying by poisoned chocolates twelve times in a row, does it. Princess-raising sim where you manage your stats and your calendar, except you're the new queen and everyone is gunning for you. The plot has a surprising amount of branching and the kingdom can end up looking very different by the end... provided you stay alive to see it.
- Citizen Sleeper: a very interesting and convincing way to incorporate modern TTRPG mechanics like clocks and partial successes into a preset, structured adventure. Coupled with a sci-fi world emphasizing solidarity and an anti-capitalist ethos, offering its own nuanced takes on the concept of identity and communities. Oh and that character art is straight up gorgeous. Can't wait to spend more time in this universe
Interactive Fiction and Narrative Games
- Known Unknowns: I find Brendan Patrick Hennessy's style of YA stories, full of quirky teens and deadpan absurdity, extremely charming. The Bell Park adventures are great, but Known Unknowns is the dark horse of the series: it plays in cool ways with the interactive fiction structure (the big party that changes as time goes by, the TV show script) and the characters are all wonderfully sketched, even minor ones.
- Heaven's Vault: I still need to play the Sorcery adaptation inkle made, but I doubt it would make me feel as much as Heaven's Vault did. The focus on translating old artifacts and uncovering forgotten history is fresh and captivating; the world is vast and open, letting you go and discover wonders wherever you feel pulled to. But mostly I resonated a lot with Aliya's journey, a lonely soul feeling out of step with her friends, out of place in the world around her.
- Ghost Trick: it's too hard to choose one Ace Attorney game from the series, so I cheated and picked Ghost Trick instead. It's pretty much a perfect game as it is: good puzzles, incredibly fun characters, twisty and emotional plot, beautiful art and music (the rotoscoped animations!). I would change literally nothing from it besides the one stealth sequence (and the weird undercurrent you get with some of the designs).
- Life is Strange: people can make fun of the writing all they want, Life is Strange was one of the rare games at the time that truly let you inhabit and vibe in a space. By the end of the game, Arcadia Bay feels as familiar as the setting of your fave cheesy soap opera. The plot is smartly constructed, with the investigation part and the time travel part butting into each other in unexpected ways. LiS 2 is the better written game, but it doesn't have the Max-Chloe relationship that still tugs at my heartstrings today.
- Technobabylon: basically any point&click published by Wadjet Eye Games is a guarantee of a good time. Technobabylon is dearer in my heart for the interesting cyberpunk world, the endearing characters, and also the variety of situations: one chapter you're examining a murder scene, the next you're infiltrating a secret meeting or delving into cyberspace. But I could have easily put Blackwell, Unavowed, or Primordia instead. They're all top tier adventures
- Tales from the Borderlands: the Telltale formula has had its ups and downs, but their flavor of narrative adventure is a solid framework; what distinguishes the games is the writing. And Tales from the Borderlands has some very good writing, that managed to make me laugh and care about the Borderlands world, the zany nonsense place from a shooter series I don't especially like. Those opening sequences are all Bangers
- The Case of the Golden Idol: you might have sussed out by now that I like investigation games. I could have put Contradiction (FMV ftw) or Obra Dinn in this spot, but the Golden Idol bite-sized mysteries are just so efficient and clever at giving you the clues and letting you piece the whole thing together in your mind. While still building a decades-long tale of secret conspiracies and ironic deaths! It's a masterpiece of design.
Survival Horror and Space (space is pretty scary)
- Dino Crisis: the OG, the one and only, I played it all the time on my PS1 and must have finished it like ten times. I'm sure it's the nostalgia talking but it will always be above Resident Evil in my heart. The second one is fun too, even if it's more action-y. Come on Capcom, give us the remake!
- Resident Evil 2: I don't have my PS1 to appreciate the originals anymore, but thankfully the modern Resident Evil games have all been pretty great. Easy to control (though the tank controls had their charm), good quality of life improvements, and they kept the ridiculous B movie plots. Haven't played the 4 remake yet but I think 2 deserves the top spot anyway: it's got the big puzzle box of the police station that you learn to master one room at a time, and Mr X's hulking footsteps stalking you everywhere you go, threatening to burst through a door at any moment.
- Signalis: not the first or the last low poly PS1 horror revival we got in recent years, but almost certainly the best. It grabs a handful of inspiration from the classics of the genre and spins it into its very own desperate tale of yearning and loss, as you follow Elster in her quest through the depths of a broken world falling apart around her, leaving only pure metaphor and feelings. The imagery is striking, the systems are stressful in the most enjoyable way. Incredibly impactful for such a concise experience. And the fact that it inspires the sweetest and cutest fanart only makes it more heart-wrenching.
- Alien Isolation: a great mix of stealth, horror and immersive sim with a really iconic look. Sneaking away from the alien is fun and scary enough on its own, but the best part comes from exploring the hallways of Sevastopol Station and learning about all the fucked-up shit that happened. It nails the big reveals, the latent dread, and especially the enemy design, with the Working Joes' stoic faces and calming words as they're trying to wring your neck. Yes, the ending drags on, but it's still a pleasure to revisit; I'm always a little disappointed we haven't had any kind of spiritual sequel since.
- System Shock 2: of all the old school im-sim classics I tried, this is the one that stuck with me and I'm not sure why. It's got all the fun trappings of the genre: sidestories you follow via audiologs, open levels full of danger to explore cautiously, obstacles you can bypass with a bit of ingenuity. Maybe it's the body horror angle present in the cyborgs and mutants chasing you, the cyberpunk stylings of the station, the tense atmosphere that doesn't let up; maybe it's just SHODAN's disdainful voice as she promises to crush you like an insect.
- Outer Wilds: truly a unique and unforgettable experience. A puzzle game, but where the puzzles you try to figure out are planetary weather systems and quantum laws governing an entire galaxy. An exploration game, where every place you find is both wondrous and absolutely lethal. A horror game, even, with its fair share of horrifying encounters and existential dread. And through all of it, a beautiful and incredibly human message keeping you moving as you watch the universe end in front of your eyes. Outstanding.
- The Talos Principle: takes some classic, reliable "laser beams and pressure plates" puzzle design, but makes the unexpected and delightful choice to put it all in the context of an exploration of faith, humanity and self-determination. Any game that lets you have philosophy debates with a petty socratic AI determined to contradict you is okay in my book. And the DLC even delves into forum culture and fanfiction communities, with a lot of funny and accurate observations.
Action and Strategy (or, you know, everything else)
- Team Fortress 2: the only multiplayer game I still play regularly (well, regularly-ish). What is there to even say about TF2? It's fun to run around and shoot, the class design works well, I can waste hours and hours in it without getting bored. I still have my golden wrench from way back then
- Hitman: specifically the World of Assassination reboot, but the rest of the series is good too (mayyyybe not Absolution). A stealth game based less on skulking around corners and more about being in the right outfit at the right place. It feels great to learn a level inside and out, manipulate the systems and set up the perfect murder. And it's extremely funny when you fuck up and get chased by thirty guards while throwing hammers and soda cans at them
- Hedon Bloodrite: I'm not familiar with a lot of boomer shooters (I never even played Doom), but Hedon Bloodrite feels special to me. It starts as a fun and dynamic shooter, then begins introducing immersive sim elements like puzzles and hidden interactions in the levels, and by the end it's turned into a big-ass RPG with dungeons and quests and companions. And it looks great, with some truly wild places to explore while shooting demons. Oh and you play as a cool orc lady who kicks ass. Yeah no it's fantastic
- Dishonored 2: my formative immersive sim was Thief 3 Deadly Shadows, of course I love Dishonored. The world is fascinating, shining through the lived-in feeling of its cities and the dark secrets it holds, even if its stories of revenge can feel more trite. The second one is a little improved on that front, but mostly it's an exercise in showing off what level designers at the height of their game can do. The witch conservatory? The time travel manor?? The clockwork mansion??? Astounding pieces of design.
- Hollow Knight: I didn't ever touch a Dark Souls but the bug metroidvania? Played the shit out of that one. It's beautiful, the controls feel great and there are cool secrets to discover everywhere. Even the sparse storytelling and melancholy world worked on me. That last scene with Quirrel...
- Solium Infernum: after reading the Gameboys from Hell RPS diaries over and over, I managed to find players and got into it for two or three years. A play-by-email grand strategy game where games can last months, all about being the most devious bastard in Hell and trying to get away with it. You can spy on people and rob them blind, frame them for your crimes and get them excommunicated, even lose the game and still win because of a secret perk. The game is vicious but very playful; it wants you to cheat and break the rules any way you can. I'm so ready to get back at it with the remake
- Invisible Inc: I haven't even played that much of it, I think I only finished one campaign. But that campaign had one of my best gaming moments ever: my agents boxed in a small room by too many guards, me staring at the screen for two hours hopelessly, looking for any way out. And then. The idea. The plan. It worked; got out by the skin of my teeth, won the mission. I really need to play more of it at some point.
