I’ve been playing a lot of video games, particularly games I can get lost in. Games that balance story and action, but are also open world enough to allow me to choose my own path.
We’ve written about games we like, and about individual video games as well, but many of us are playing a lot more lately. We had a rousing discussion about our favorites and I’d love to hear about yours!
Sarah: Stardew Valley, first and always. I’ve done multiple play throughs, tried out multiple farms, and each time I find a different focus.
In one I might level up my fishing skills as fast as I can; in another I might forgo farming as much as possible and focus on all the other characters. With the update, I’ve been even more enchanted by it.
I’m still slowly making my way in my first playthrough of Witcher III: Wild Hunt. I love this game. It’s like reading a really long, slowly evolving story, with new paths for familiar characters every time I log on.
As I mentioned in one of our end-of-year podcasts, I get to kill bandits who wear a helmet and medieval-style boxers, then magically loot their trousers for chicken sandwiches or sometimes a entire chicken.
This baffles me and I love it so much. Here’s a picture:
Tara spent her maternity leave (IN CANADA where it is a YEAR *sob*) playing a lot of Witcher 3, and recommended the game to me initially. She had no idea how much I’d come to love playing this game.
Tara: how do they have panini presses?
Sarah: Ye Olde Panini Presse!
I fucking love looting chicken sandwiches out of a dead bandit’s shorts
Tara: I somehow didn’t notice that at all and I love and find it hilarious how much you love this
Sarah: Bandit’s wearing moldy short pants and nothing else yet somehow they’ve got a whole chicken when I loot them.
Theory: clenched betwixt the bandit’s bumcrack
Tara: Goddammit, Sarah. I am in a meeting on video and I think I almost injured myself, stopping myself from laughing. which I realize is my own fault for looking at this during a meeting, but still!
Sarah: LOLOLLLL Sorry!
Tara: I have no regrets. That’s still the funniest thing I’ve seen today.
Sarah: Bandit’s Bumcrack Chicken: You’ll Keep Killing for More!
Tara: So maybe it’s the bumcrack that’s the panini press?
Sarah: OOOH MAYBE! Good lore!
Tara: It’s hard being a bandit. Gotta have that side hustle
Sarah: Yup. Especially if you keep working for shitty people.
Seriously, I love playing Witcher 3 for a few minutes or a few hours, and it’s available on so many platforms. Tara and I enthusiastically recommend!
On my list to try next: Firewatch (though I understand it can be sad) and Spiritfarer (same).
Kiki: I would like to second Stardew and thank all of you for talking about it so much and thus bringing it into my life.
Sarah: Aw, you’re so welcome!!
Tara: I will also second Stardew and I’m seconding Witcher 3 as well.
I’ll add to that Hades (A | Steam).
Holy shit. I’ve spent 50 hours on that alone.
Also, Animal Crossing New Horizons, which my Switch tells me I’ve spent more than 100 hours playing, despite starting WAY after everyone else.
I was also pleasantly surprised by how addictive Children of Morta is. It’s similar to Hades because you will die over and over again, and that’s okay, because that’s how you’ll grow stronger (using resources you collect to buy permanent, positive effects).
But in this case, it’s different because you’re not playing as one character. It’s about a family and you have a chance to play different characters all the time. I luuuurve it so much and want to send a shoutout to my friend Spencer who was like, “This game is on sale and you need to buy it NOW.”
Ellen: I THIRD Stardew. I am definitely 100% lost in it right now. I just finished all the initial bundles (if you know, you know) and was very pleased to immediately have a bunch more things to do materialize.
I also second Hades–you can really just keep playing it basically infinitely and it stays fun and fresh in my opinion. The art and the music are beautiful, too, which definitely keeps me coming back!
Of course I also have to say Fire Emblem Three Houses, which I am on my third playthrough of currently: Teen angst! War! Gods! Dragons!
As a tactical RPG with a sprawling story, it’s basically like the a puzzle game and a fantasy novel had a baby.
Finally, I would recommend Hyper Light Drifter to get lost in. It’s a pixel RPG inspired by Zelda set in a kind of post-apocalyptical fantasy world with a very fun exploration element.
Soooo many little secrets hidden across the world map.
Amanda: This might be A LIST
Right now, I’ve been really loving games that provide some sort of mindless repetitive activity: questing, collecting, etc.
Adding my shouts of praise to Stardew Valley and of course, Animal Crossing!
World of Warcraft and Minecraft are two games that I’ve been playing with friends and the social aspect has been really great for me right now, even if I’m just mining in caves or leveling a new character.
I’m a huge RPG fan, though I feel like I’ve played through all my favorites and I’m just waiting for something new. But my go-to standbys are Skyrim, the Dragon Age series, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
Not sure if I’m mentioned Control before, but you play as a woman searching for her missing brother and stumble across a mysterious government organization.
Cut to me throwing couches across the room at bad guys. Lots of fun!
Sarah: Have you finished Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey?
Amanda: I’ve finished the main storyline. I just have to work my way through killing the cult members.
Valhalla is…good, but it didn’t capture me like Odyssey did.
Sarah: “I just have to work my way through killing the cult members.” Yup. Sounds about right.
Amanda: And Valhalla’s romance options were subpar compared to what I felt was promised.
There are really only 3 options for long term story-driven/affected romance and two of them are not my type.
Sarah: That’s not nearly enough!
One of my favorite things about Dragon Age: Inquisition was that if I didn’t hook up with one character, they’d get together with another romance-able character and their dialogue was a delight.
Couples like Dorian and Iron Bull? Oh yeah.
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/BeewXcvOJG4″ title=”YouTube video player” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture” allowfullscreen></iframe>
I kind of want to start a new Dragon Age playthrough, thought that would likely mean I’d have very weird dreams about Iron Bull and Geralt having conversations. (Which is a reason I should, come to think of it.)
What about you? What video games do you love to get lost in? Let’s hear your suggestions!
Since I’m a really crappy wannabe gamer, I really have to research what I play. Monument valley is a puzzle game. You play as princess ida and have to work your way through mazes of optical illusions. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Most reviews complain that it’s over too quickly but I honestly had hours of fun with it.
I LOVE that you are reviewing video games. I’ve always loved games like Final Fantasy, Jet Set Radio, and the Mario franchise, but stay at home orders have helped me to reconnect and play with other wonderful games like Animal Crossing, Sims, and a lot more!
I just bought Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (this is my first time playing this series) a couple days ago and I’ve been enjoying it so much! I believe Stardew Valley was heavily influenced by the old name of the series, Harvest Moon. But I recommend so far based on my play through!
I also have been enjoying dating sim games like: Dream Daddy, Monster Prom/Monster Camp, Friends Furever, and bear with me … I love you Colonel Sanders (yes, the KFC dude). ♥️
I also really like Horizon Zero Dawn, I’m going back and forth between that, the Witcher 3, Final Fantasy XV and Jedi Fallen Order.
This list is *mwah* chef’s kiss. I especially second Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. I have sunk HOURS into that game and still not finished the main storyline. It is gorgeous, I love Kassandra, and it feels historically accurate to me where it matters (have an otherwise useless degree in history lol). Skyrim was my absolute jam back in college. Ah, nostalgia.
My partner played through Hades in like one week, he loved it so much. It’s definitely on my list of to-play games.
I’ve been playing a lot of The Sims 4 recently, and I watch a lot of Sims streamers (cozy vibes, yo), but reading this post has made me realize that I miss playing rpgs like Witcher 3 and Dragon Age Inquisition. Might have to start a new Dragon Age game soon or continue the Witcher save I started last year….
Sidenote, I love that y’all did a post just about video games. They’ve for sure helped me get through the Quarantimes. Maybe semi-regular posts about games y’all are playing and enjoying/game review column type of thing? Would read and share the heck out of that. Have many more gamer friends than romance-reading friends, unfortunately.
(Sorry for the rambling, but I heart this post so much. 🙂 )
Heeee…the Switch I bought literally got here last week and I bought Mario and Sonic at the Tokyo 2020 (lolsob) Olympic Games and Hollow Knight. I haven’t done a lot of gaming in YEARS, even when I had a Wii. So my daughter and I spent some time this past weekend learning the system a little bit. She KILLED at surfing on Mario and Sonic. Platformers were traditionally my jam, which was why I went with Hollow Knight. So far, I’m getting my ass fully handed to me, which I expected, but I’m having fun bouncing around. That said, when I offered to teach it to my daughter, I handed her the controller, showed her what buttons did what, and then watched her proceed to do the first level in one try. It’s always fun when the next generation is like, “Hold up, let me humiliate you a little bit.” I’m probably getting her a Pokemon game for her Easter basket, and a Roblox gift card for the son (that’s his poison).
I was on my second Breath of the Wild run when quarantine started (Zelda is my forever game franchise, I blame Ocarina of Time) and have logged a truly horrific number of hours in Animal Crossing. Then I played Red Dead Redemption 2 and fell hard. Arthur Morgan made me cry more than any other video game protagonist, so now I’ve been working out my feelings writing fic. Replaying the Bioshock series got me through a rough time time too although it’s hardly a comforting trio of games.
Otherwise I’ve been watching my sister replay Dishonored (it’s plague times, so why not) and start God of War which is almost as fun as playing myself.
World of Warcraft is my game world home away from home and has been for something like a decade. I have friends in there. I have a long distance relationship through there. I just joined an RP theatre group in there!
And when the real world feels out of control and I feel helpless and directionless, there is something incredibly comforting about going in, doing what the quests say to do, and receiving the reward the quests promised to give me. Sometimes, I’m just like “OH GOD SOMEONE GIVE ME A CLEAR ATTAINABLE GOAL” and WoW is like “we got u bebe go get twenty three bear butts and you can have a shirt and watch a number go up” and I’m like “BLESS YOU BLIZZARD INCORPORATED. BLESS YOU.” *grateful weeping*
Also, it has pet collecting. Petssssss.
@DejaDrew: My main character in WoW is 15 years old at this point and until I started again, I probably hadn’t played it for years. It’s been a very emotional homecoming.
I am definitely of the mount and pet collecting variety and right now, I’m running a shaman named Judi Dench.
Horizon Zero Dawn is my favorite game ever EVER. The story is fascinating, the world is gorgeous, and the characters are incredible. I very rarely manage to finish a game but I’ve played it through 4 times, although I keep wishing I could erase my memories and play it for the first time again because it was so addictive. I’ve never ever been that caught up in a game’s story or loved the characters that much. And it’s so PRETTY. EXTREMELY excited for the sequel and I may have to buy a PS5 just for that.
I also loved AC Odyssey although I’ve never been super into AC games before that. Origins is okay but I never finished it, started Valhalla but put it on hold for a while. But I devoured Odyssey in several hundred hours of play (…I’m very thorough) in the first few months of the pandemic and loved it. Side quests can be a bit repetitive but I never minded them, loved the setting and the characters a lot.
RDR2 is another I’ve sunk hours and hours into but never finished, mainly because, like Skyrim and Fallout, I spend too much time wandering doing side stuff and never the main story, but it’s absolutely amazing and I’m definitely going to get back to it and actually finish it one of these days.
Currently extremely addicted to No Man’s Sky: Beyond. The original game flopped when it came out but has been updated and refined into an amazing game. Much less narratively driven than most of my usual favorites, but literally endless exploration and gorgeous planets and stuff to find and collect and build. And it’s still getting frequent huge updates with new features and content years after release and *not* to keep squeezing money out of it – there is no paid DLC, just a game that keeps getting better. Also has a thriving and friendly multiplayer mode and very helpful and fun subreddit.
WE love Stardew Valley, especially the new updates. I played Spiritfarer, and really enjoyed it. I haven’t quite ended my last game, but I think I will soon and start it again. It is a little sad, but very peaceful.
I have Monument Valley on my phone – I love it!
I support Firewatch as a game play choice! On the scale of [slightly-sad] to [will-rip-your-heart-out] i would rate Firewatch a melancholy non-weeper. Now, To The Moon… is a beautiful game, incredibly sweet and love filled, and makes hardened callous grownups weep like babies. Play To The Moon if you’re up for the catharsis of a good cry (but not on stream, i’m serious, there *will* be tears!)
Moving on to a happy joke filled game, i’ve had a lot of fun lately with Moving Out, where you play as the “third best” movers in your city, running around breaking things and wreaking havoc. (it says co-op, but it only really plays well as “couch co-op” rather than remotely)
I blame Sarah for my playthrough of Witcher 3. I wasn’t interested until she started streaming it. I finished that and went back and just finished the first one and plan to play the second one before getting back into the third (hopefully making a few different choices, if I remember by then!).
Hey there! Do you keep an eye on upcoming titles as well? I’m really looking forward to Deathloop – I wouldn’t even be surprised if that game ends up giving us a side portion of romance, in the middle of the shooty-shooty-supernatural powers stuff.
I’m currently obsessed with Griftlands, which is an RPG deck-builder game. I’d never played a deck-builder before, but since I LOVED Klei Entertainment’s previous game, Invisible Inc., I finally bought Griftlands when their latest Early Access update said that they’re basically done and are just configuring it for Linux. No romance, and one of the three playable characters is a total loser, but it’s so much fun playing in their world! Since I’m a total loser, I will be the BEST total loser!!! Highly recommend this game, especially for $20 at full price. I’ve already enjoyed almost 23 hours on this game, unlocking less than half the content.
Recommend My Time at Portia for Stardew Valley fans. Prey and Detroit become Human are also good RPGs – more sci-fi oriented.