The Next 25 Video Games - UPDATED For 2015

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JAG

Cool, never heard of that one. I'd love to play that with my kids and see what kind of solutions they come up with.

xkcd: Scribblenauts


I find the sequels are smoother in the interface, but curve into difficult levels much more quickly

[Abe Sargent]

I honestly don't think that you folks are going to guess games #2 and #1. I think some of you could extrapolate #2 based on me and who I be. I think some of you might guess #1 as part of a shotgun approach naming multiple popular games and hitting on one. But I don;t think either are obvious, nail them o the head blatant obvious games.

[Abe Sargent]

#2. Tales of Maj'Eyal
Nicolas Casalini
2012
Roguelike RPG




This is the highest charting game which was designed by a single person on our charts. I grabbed it this year from Steam (although you can download it for free on their own website, but I wanted Steam achievements and such unlocked. I also picked up the DLC on Steam as well).


I started a class called the Doombringer and I was killed after a few hours. Sad face. Then I tried a dwarven berserker and was deep into the game before I died. I was pissed I tried a Temporal Warden and then won, and then I followed that with an Oozemancer, and won, and I put the game down for a while, around 90 hours into the game.




So, what is Tales of Maj'eyal?

I've played Rogue. I know what the game is like. Then someone wanted to make Rogue again in the 80s and it was a really hard follow up called Moria. I played it too, was really crazy and hard. never got close to beating it. Then another game game followed to make teh game is harder, and more fleshed out, one of the most important, compelling, and influential games you've likely never heard of called Angband.

I played the crap out of that game. It hit #9 on my first run through. All of these games are free to play, btw, and lack graphics, using ASCII characters to represent the world.

Angband was so popular, a ton of variants were spawned, most using teh 'band as a suffix - I played Zangband (my favorite, based on the works of Roger Zelazny), Cthband (based on Cthulthu), Gumband (based on Elric, and Michael Moorcock's work), and so forth. One variant, pernband, was based on Anne McCaffrey;s works on Pern.

List of Angband variants. I mean seriously:


List of Angband variants - RogueBasin


Okay, so Rogue was in a direct line through Moria, Angband, and then the Angband variants. All caught up? Good!




TOME, originally entitled Tales of Middle Earth, is based off the PernAngband variant. The developer of TOME began with PernAngband a long time ago, and has been the one in charge of its development ever since.

He wanted to dives the game of its new Middle Earth trappings, with the though of a lawsuit always being something to consider. So Nick decided to create version 4 of TOME and completely redesigned it from the ground up, and created a new world for the game, Eyal.

He wanted to modernize the Rogue/Moria/Angband?PernBand/TOME lineage. So he made some very un-rogue-like changes. He changed the culture and the concepts. He created a game that is friendly to newcomers, which is graphical based, and which brings in newer concepts of RPGs. For example, remember when Guild Wars was released? You could "equip" a certain number of skills,a t the bottom of your screen, and then use them when you needed. And that was it. The same is true here, you can equip skills, or items with abilities that activate, and then use them from the graphical menu.

Set in Eyal, this game introduces a variety of common RPG tropes, like quests, a plot, and so forth. You advance the game and then it ends when you complete it. Or die. There's even an option to turn death off. (It'll show up as such in your achievements though )

Not only is TOME an accessible, open ended, and fun game design. But he also adds new characters and templates I've not encountered before, like the Temporal Warden. That character specializes in teleporting. You teleport in and around the battlefield to get the best position and advantages. You have both expertise in close combat and bows at the same level, and you can move from one ot he other to take advantage of your foe. Meanwhile the Oozemancer makes, literally, various oozes, and is turning sort of ooze-like. You can gain various ooze-ish abilities over the course of the game.





The game is not afraid to push the buttons either. You have a variety of conflicts within the game, and you have to choose sides, and your decisions will change the world. Plus, and this is, at best, a light spoiler, things have meaning. For example, you'll have a major quest to kill some orc tribes. Most of them are now dead. So a DLC has been announced where the final orc tribe left, from your destruction of them, is going to be the site of the new campaign, featuring orc characters and classes. That's what I want from an RPG.

Now it's still a Roguelike. It's hard. There is perma-death unless you are on "exploration" mode. And you have to unlock some races and classes during game play (or by being a donor, in the case of the Dwarven Stone Warden).


The guy will add classes, dungeons, and more with updates. So the game is constantly under growth. And if you want to try it out free, or just play it, its available:

Download | Tales of Maj'Eyal and T-Engine4



Tales will likely replace Angband at #9 on my list, and Angband will drop on my Top 100 of all time. Probably, I haven't figured that out yet.

Now there are other snake-like tentacles that snake out from other Rogue-inspired games. I've played a fw of them, and I'm told that ADOM is really a lot better now than it used to be. So it's the next roguelike in my queue. In case you care!

[JAG]

I would've guessed ToME based on previous comments you've made. I used to love ToME 2 back in the day, it was my favorite roguelike with the different options for building a character with different possible skills. I really like ToME 4, it's probably my favorite game of the past five years. I keep going back and trying different class combinations and as you said, the gameplay is drastically different. An Anorithil is a strange spell caster that doesn't want to be at max range or melee but in-between, solipsists can be melee / caster / disabler, and so on.

[Abe Sargent]

LOL I just logged on and Nick is in game and just sent out a message to everyone about a dungeon he is unlocking for us. A special dungeon called the Santascape

[Abe Sargent]

Just purchased ,and downloaded, and trying out The Vanishing of Ethan Carter. See if I like it. It seems like my sort of thing. But I don't know for sure.

[JAG]

No Faster than Light on your list or honorary mention?

[Abe Sargent]

It's on my wishlist, does that count as "on my list"?

[Abe Sargent]

Meh, I tried ADOM for 45 minutes just now, and while it is more polished than your normal roguelike, it's still no TOME. I don't know if anything could be

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, time to finish this

[Abe Sargent]

#1. Don't Starve
Klei Entertainment
2013
Action




I'm going to make a statement right now, so get ready and hold onto your butts.


1). Don't Starve specifically, and Klei generally, are the best example I know of developers listening to fans and making changes based on their input. They have made numerous changes, updates, and additions to the base game since release. Only major changes to the game's central concept (multiplayer, seasons, and the new map one) require any additional expenditures in the form of DLC. For example, they have taken popular mods from the Workshop, and made them official.

2). Don't Starve is the single best designed, and best package all around for any indy game ever released. Period. Not just in the last five years but ever. (Obviously that's my personal opinion. But I stand by it)


Don't starve is unique. Deadly. Nasty. And you just have to play more. The graphics are awesome and creepy, the music is extremely on queue and properly moody. The tension is palpable. And you die a lot.


A lot.



The game is still hard for me. For example all of the world has a underground cave system, that's a few levels deep, and underneath that is a hidden underground ruin system (all added in free updates, btw). I was in day 100+ of my survival, I had a pretty pimped out camp I felt. And I was barely surviving the regular onslaught of attacks by the dog/hound puppy creatures that chomp you.

So I grabbed a bunch of stuff, armor, weapons, food, light, and my extra life stuff and headed down to explore. In about 15 minutes, I was harvesting some useful items, and then heading to bed for the night with a sleeping bag I made down there.

I kept exploring, and within another 20 minutes of play, I had died twice, and used up all of my extra death equipment I had made, and was about to die permanently the 3rd and final time, and I barely made it out alive, and a few minutes later, the dogs pounced on me and slew me. And I was prepared

That is the grandeur of Don;t Starve.



And you lose sanity, you begin to see things, and soon those things will have physical effects on the game. And some very important things require you to lose sanity. So I'm not above making a quick little tiara of flowers and wearing it all over god's creation because it restores my sanity a bit here and a bit there




Don;t starve gives you a constant barrage of needs both food, and sanity and health. Keeping all three up is rough (and if you add Reign of giants DLC you get seasons and a wet meter as well). All of the sudden that parasol looks downright essential.


My homes never look this good :0 -







It's hard to balance all three. weapons decay, armor gets ruined, you have to constantly look for wood, rocks, flint, food, leather, and more. And you are always needing some random ingredient that forces you to go hunting. Dammit, i need more spider webs! And you have to fight for virtually every major ingredient out there. And then you set up traps, walls, and other defenses

And don;t forget that your own allies can turn against you. I built some beehives near me for honey and yet still it's not unusual to have those bastards turn against me and try to kill me pretty regularly.


Campaign mode? Check. If you can find a portal, you can head over and get your campaign on.

You have to make tools, weapons, armor, cloths, cook food, make tents, fire places, bedrolls, places to cook, chests to hold your stuff, fences, traps, machines to research off, and tons more.

And you can unlock more characters and modes as you die. So there's that at least, right?



Just don't starve

[Abe Sargent]

My Top 25 Most Recent Games:


HN#1 - Higurashi, When they Cry
HN#2 - Planetarian
25. Westward IV
24. 999
23. Skyborn
22. Dungeon of the Endless
21. King's Bounty
20. Rebuild 3
19. Space Pirates and Zombies
18. UFO ET Gold Edition
17. Clash of Heroes
16. Craft the World
15. Shadowrun Returns
14. To the Moon
13. Invisible Inc
12. The Banner Saga
11. Divinity
10. Bravely Default
9. Papers, Please
8. Banished
7. Plants vs Zombies
6. The World Ends With You
5. Sunless Sea
4. Pillars of Eternity
3. Scribblenauts
2. Tales of Maj'Eyal
1. Don't Starve


And there you have it!

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

Thanks for the backstory on Fan. I didn't know any of it, interesting stuff. I always enjoyed this "dynasty" because we place pretty different weights on what elements are important. I think your priorities are pretty similar to my brothers so I should get him to read this.

Did you ever get your brother to check it out? I'd be interested in his take.

[Abe Sargent]

So the only super major game I've played since this list was made that would chart highly is Life is Strange. And that would be probably lower part of the top ten, like 8 or 9 or something.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, so I just spent the last hourish editing my Top 100 list with the new additions on this list as well as newer games I was recently exposed to in the last few months as well. I also massaged my master list and some games rose as others fell.

These games came off my list entirely:

Populous, Crossbow, Bard's tTale, QIX, Moraff's World, MUGEN, Microsurgeon, Medieval TW, Dark Legions, Blaster Master

And one game, Angband, was replaced by another. I choose to have just one hardcore Roguelike in my first 100 rather than Angband, Moria, and Zangband all there. So I am pulling Angband for TOME from this list entierly...

Here you go!

[Abe Sargent]

HN: Star Fox - SNES - Action


100. Donkey Kong - Coin-Op - Action - Platform
99. Adventure - Atari - Action/Adventure
98. Wishbringer - PC - Adventure - Interactive Fiction
97. Commando - Commodore 64 - Action Run N' Gun
96. WarioWare Inc - GBA - Action
95. Robot Odyssey - Apple II - Adventure - Educational
94. NHL Hockey - Intellivision - Sports - Hockey
93. Knights of the Old Republic - XBox - RPG
92. Planescape: Torment - PC - RPG
91. Higurashi, When they Cry - Visual Novel
90. Evil Genius - PC - Strategy
89. BattleTech VR - BattleTech Center - Action/Simulation - Mecha
88. Goldeneye 007 - N64 - Action - FPS/Stealth
87. Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - PC - Strategy - 4X
86. Ninja Gaiden - NES - Action - Platform, Combat
85. Overlord - XBOX 360 - Action/RPG
84. Contra - NES - Action - Run N' Gun
83. Bejeweled - PC - Puzzle
82. Majestic - PC - Alternate Reality Game
81. Pool of Radiance - PC - RPG
80. Wolfenstein 3D - PC - First Person Shooter
79. Military Madness - TurboGrafx - Strategy - Wargame
78. Serf City (aka Settlers) - PC - Simulation - Economic
77. To the Moon - PC - Adventure
76. Scorched Earth - PC - Strategy - Tank
75. Tetris - PC - Puzzle
74. Oregon Trail II - PC - Adventure - Educational
73. Sunless Sea - PC - Roguelike Adventure
72. Guitar Hero - PS2 - Rhythm
71. Grand Theft Auto III - PS2 - Action - Thug
70. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - GBA/DS - Adventure
69. Command and Conquer - PC - Strategy - Real-Time
68. Sid Meier's Pirates! - Commodore 64 - Action/Simulation
67. This War of Mine - PC - Survival OR Sheltered - PC Survival
66. Soul Calibur II - GC/PS2/XBOX - Action - Fighting
65. MarioParty 5 - GameCube - Strategy/Action - Party Game
64. Deathtrack - PC - Action/Simulation - Racing
63. Dungeon Keeper - PC - Strategy
62. Triple Action - Intellivision - Action
61. StarCraft - PC - Strategy - Real Time
60. Jagged Alliance 2 - PC - Strategy
59. Bully - PS2 - Action/Adventure - Thug
58. Sea Rogue - PC - RPG/Action/Adventure/Strategy
57. Archon: The Light and The Dark - Atari 8 Bit Computer - Action/Strategy
56. Metroid - NES - Action/Adventure - Platform
55. Life is Strange, FPS Action
54. Sid Meier's SimGolf - PC - Action/Simulation - Sports/Economic
53. Pac-Man - Coin-Operated - Action
52. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest - NES - RPG/Action - Platform
51. Plants vs Zombies - PC - Tower Defense
50. MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat - PC - Action/Simulation - Mecha
49. Lakers versus Celtics - PC - Sports - Basketball
48. Street Fighter II - SNES - Action - Fighting
47. Mario Brothers - Coin-Operated - Action - Platform
46. NFL Football - Intellivision - Sports - Football
45. Pillars of Eternity - PC - RPG
44. Railroad Tycoon 3 - PC - Strategy/Simulation - Economic
43. Mega Man 2 - NES - Action - Platform
42. Warcraft: Orcs & Humans - PC - Strategy - Real-Time
41. Fallout - PC - RPG
40. Metal Gear - NES - Action/Adventure - Stealth
39. Utopia - Intellivision - Strategy/Simulation - Real Time/God Game
38. Stardew Valley - PC - Simulation
37. Katamari Damacy - PS2 - Action
36. Super Mario Kart - SNES - Action/Sports - Racing
35. RollerCoaster Tycoon - PC - Simulation - Economic
34. Sea Battle - Intellivision - Strategy/Action
33. Baldur's Gate - PC - RPG
32. Monster Rancher 3 - PS2 - Strategy/Action
31. Master of Orion 2 - PC - Strategy/Simulation - 4x
30. Madden '99 - Nintendo 64 - Sports/Action - Football
29. Might and Magic VI - PC - RPG
28. TradeWars 2002 - BBS Door Game - Simulation
27. Star Chamber - PC - MMO Strategy
26. Tropico - PC - Simulation - Economic
25. Colonization - PC - Strategy/Simulation - 4x
24. Front Office Football 2001 - PC - Sports/Simulation - Football, Economic
23. Scribblenauts - DS - Puzzle Adventure
22. Heroes of Might and Magic II - PC - Strategy - 4x
21. Guild Wars - PC - RPG - MMORPG
20. Wing Commander - PC - Simulation - Outer Space
19. Final Fantasy - NES - RPG
18. SimCity 4 - PC - Simulation - Economic
17. The Legend of Zelda - NES - RPG/Adventure - Platform
16. Half-Life - PC - Action - First Person Shooter
15. Wasteland - PC - RPG
14. Pokemon: Pearl & Diamond - GameBoy DS - RPG/Adventure
13. Culdcept - Saturn - Strategy
12. Magic: the Gathering - PC - Strategy/Adventure
11. Star Control II - PC - Strategy/Adventure
10. Civilization - PC - Strategy/Simulation - 4x
9. Europa Universalis IV - PC - Strategy/Simulation
8. Tales of Maj'Eyal - PC - RPG, Roguelike
7. Don’t Starve - PC - Action - Survival
6. X-Com: UFO Defense - PC - Strategy
5. Master of Magic - PC - Strategy/Simulation - 4x
4. Crusader Kings - PC - Strategy/Simulation
3. Ultima Online - PC - RPG - MMORPG
2. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind - PC - RPG
1. Football Manager 2006 - PC - Sports/Simulation - Football (Soccer)

[Abe Sargent]

A couple of notes. At 67 you will note I have two games there. I am not sure yet which one will win out. This War of Mine came first, has amazing graphics, and a great atmosphere, but has a few mechanical flaws that Sheletered doesn't. While they are not the same game, Sheltered was certainly inspired by some of the mechanics in This War of Mine. Both are very, very strong. I think I'm going with This War ins Mine, but I want some time away from the games.

Both Don't Starve and TOME hit my top 10. Scribblenauts at #23, and a few others in this list are here - Pillars at 45, Life is Strange at 55, To the Moon at 77, Sunless Sea at 73 and Higurashi at 91.

We also have Stardew Valley hitting as well. That game i way too good not to. I put it at 38.

I thought Banished might make it, but after consideration I didn;t feel it or the two handheld RPGS from Square Enix in this go around.