30+ brahs, what video games can you genuinely get immersed in these days?

[BearyManilowe]

I only play the OG Red Faction. Game is goat. Another one is Brute Force. They don't make any games like this anymore. I also miss the destructible/interactive environments. They have been taking them out of the games for years now.

Imagine having Red Faction II available and pretending the OG is better. You guys can't even do retro games correctly.

[elterrible987]

I want something I can pick up and play atleast at the beginning and if i have to do some research later after im into the game then ok fine.


i work all fuking day and dont want to have to research like im writing a college paper after coming home just to pay a video game.

[Akd123]

Didn't read the rest of the thread but solid turn based JRPGs and tactical strategy games still suck me in.

The last game that I REALLY got sucked into was Tales of Arise. I couldn't put that game down.

Beat Arise not long ago. Solid Tales game. Gonna play the DLC when it gets cheaper. Bought Arise brand new from Gamestop for $5. They still have decent deals once in a while

[Destor]

I’m playing through Baulders Gate 3 right now

But have also played through like all the big, highly-rated games over the past few years. I don’t have problems getting into them, with a bit of inebriation anyways

[phillipsanchez]

Mystery games are good.

If they're well written it's easy to get hooked, probably because you have to use your brain. Most games these days, everything is just shown to you and you don't have to think.
Point and click adventures are like this too but I wouldn't call them immersive.

Some of the best are:
Outer Wilds
Disco Elysium
Return of the Obra Dinn
Paradise Killer

[EDcellent]

Cyber Punk definitely sucked me in, I had about 5 playthroughs pre Liberty DLC, and 1 after. Currently in another one.

Besides that, it's been a while since something has sucked me in. The only games I can think of besides in my childhood has been Skyrim, Witcher 3 and StarCraft 2. Ironically I never played the 3rd installment of SC2. WOL was God tier to me, Swarm was decent.

I was barely able to replay FF7 remake, and I bought rebirth on day one, but have yet to play it. Feelsbadman. However I have a 3 day weekend coming up, so I'll probably play it.

[SSM12]

I can’t. No time or patience anymore. I’ll buy the games that look sick. Play for an hour then get bored. If I have time to play it’s:

MLB The Show(GOAT sport game, coming from a hockey guy)
NHL(microtransactions and turning it into fortnight has ruined this game, hardly touch it unless I’m playing with my brother online. It gets worse every year)
WWE 2k

Or any of the Mario or DK games on Switch, except RPG. Old school and new school.

[Snootz]

I am in the same spot as you.. a lot of stuff just doesn't draw me in.. Ghost of Tsun, God War, Hogwarts legacy, Fallout 4.. these are all good games.. but i couldn't last more then a few hours.. i got 75% of the way through FFX16.. the boss fights are fun/great.. side quest/open world parts sucked

I thought i was bored of the open world format.. which Witcher 3 did incredibly back in the day.. and other games copied (got to ? etc) but never matched the sidequest/story of the Witcher

But i think that's not the case.. last year or so i had 100 something hours put into Cyberpunk (loved the combat/jumping in that).. and again last Christmas with Baldur's gate 3.. all though i guess that's not the type of open game world i was referring to

Anyway games that got me over the past 5 years.. Persona 5.. Baldurs Gate 3.. Cyberpunk.. all 3 are great.. I was planning to play Dragons Dogma over the Easter holiday's.. but wasn't feeling it.. so got Persona 3 reload for 35$.. hopefully it matches the other 3 games mentioned

[Kokanee]

Yakuza is easily the best "newer" series out there. Played every RGG title twice except Infinite Wealth. Obviously not for every one but they really got me feeling nostalgic for games again. Really enjoying FF7 Rebirth right now. In many ways its better than the OG and i had that in 97 day one. Gaming is far from dead

I got like 2/3 through Like a Dragon before quitting and watching the rest of the story on youtube. The story and characters were good, but the game was 90% dialogue and backtracking through a small map. The dungeons didn't even have puzzles. JRPG doesn't work well when almost all of the travel is backtracking through the same region. And there was wayyyyy too much damn talking. I never did much with the mini games. They didn't seem very fun either. Not sure what people like so much about this game. It seems like it could've been really good if they made it less monotonous instead of just bloated.

[TugOfPeace]

Days gone
WoW
Diablo 2
Fromsoft games

[Akd123]

I got like 2/3 through Like a Dragon before quitting and watching the rest of the story on youtube. The story and characters were good, but the game was 90% dialogue and backtracking through a small map. The dungeons didn't even have puzzles. JRPG doesn't work well when almost all of the travel is backtracking through the same region. And there was wayyyyy too much damn talking. I never did much with the mini games. They didn't seem very fun either. Not sure what people like so much about this game. It seems like it could've been really good if they made it less monotonous instead of just bloated.

A lot of it will go over your head if you didnt play the other games but i like games with dialogue if its good. I dont even mess with the mini games.Its got classic JRPG elements and thats my bread and butter. Like i said they are not for every one. I really liked it and its probably my favorite after Yakuza 0

[ispy]

i think iv'e given up on games for the time being. most of them focus on graphics over gameplay. only one that i still have interest in is diablo 2 resurrected. blizzard is slowly trying to turn diablo 4 into diablo 3 without being too obvious about their ****up, so i've not played it since s1, until i see anything interesting, especially a reworked item system.

if d2r was available natively on silicon mac, then i'd probably get rid of my windows system for something like a mac mini. at this point most of the work i do on the computer can be performed on either platform, and i prefer macos over windows 11 (not saying that windows 11 is bad). having used a regular m3 mac, it would cost me about same amount of money i paid for my windows setup to achieve same or better performance from a mac mini.

[Lastro]

Imagine having Red Faction II available and pretending the OG is better. You guys can't even do retro games correctly.

it's not about which game is better. it's about some posters thinking they are cooler for liking older prequels regardless of how much crappier they are compared to their sequels

new=bad is a pretty sad and pretentious trend that has taken over this section of the forum

[7empest]

nice one folks, thank you. i'm being lazy 100%, i'm looking at what's big on twitch and most played etc, but it's weird i don't hold the same idea i have for music than i do for video games.

i don't try and force myself to enjoy harry styles or taylor swift, so why am i likewise trying to force myself to enjoy mainstream games aaa games


yeah i need to start looking deeper, this thread really helps because there's games I haven't played/seen so I can check those out

i really enjoy character progression games , runescape was fantastic for when I was 11, so if there's an 'adult' alternative that would be amazing. i don't mean 'adult' as in tits etc

i mean just imagine WoW or Runescape but something fresh and exciting. what was aweomse about WoW days was my guild had all kinds of people in it, the guild leader ran/owned a hotel or something like that irl. was just great to have an escape like that, but yeah games you can really sink time into. but also something that pays off, it sucks for instance, if you get an item that someone (or yourself) could just buy for literally £1 online (gold sellers, item sellers etc).

I know it's dumb because you need to play games for yourself but it does suck that being hardcore about something isn't paid off. i just feel like with games like that you're 100% guaranteed to enjoy your time playing them, say you have 2 hours, 20 mins, 10 no life sesh - you're going to enjoy it. i know also I need to adapt my approach to competitive games and also Muzzlrpress you are 100% right gotta branch out and try new things. I tell myself I don't like story games but I haven't tried one in awhile.

lastly is there are good website like IGN or whatever that had a list of game reviews etc, I know there is but i'm asking what's the best. Metascore was always pretty highly regarded right?

[Muzzlrpress]

nice one folks, thank you. i'm being lazy 100%, i'm looking at what's big on twitch and most played etc, but it's weird i don't hold the same idea i have for music than i do for video games.

i don't try and force myself to enjoy harry styles or taylor swift, so why am i likewise trying to force myself to enjoy mainstream games aaa games


yeah i need to start looking deeper, this thread really helps because there's games I haven't played/seen so I can check those out

i really enjoy character progression games , runescape was fantastic for when I was 11, so if there's an 'adult' alternative that would be amazing. i don't mean 'adult' as in tits etc

i mean just imagine WoW or Runescape but something fresh and exciting. what was aweomse about WoW days was my guild had all kinds of people in it, the guild leader ran/owned a hotel or something like that irl. was just great to have an escape like that, but yeah games you can really sink time into. but also something that pays off, it sucks for instance, if you get an item that someone (or yourself) could just buy for literally £1 online (gold sellers, item sellers etc).

I know it's dumb because you need to play games for yourself but it does suck that being hardcore about something isn't paid off. i just feel like with games like that you're 100% guaranteed to enjoy your time playing them, say you have 2 hours, 20 mins, 10 no life sesh - you're going to enjoy it. i know also I need to adapt my approach to competitive games and also Muzzlrpress you are 100% right gotta branch out and try new things. I tell myself I don't like story games but I haven't tried one in awhile.

lastly is there are good website like IGN or whatever that had a list of game reviews etc, I know there is but i'm asking what's the best. Metascore was always pretty highly regarded right?

Metacritic and gamefaqs are where I like to look, and I do have people on youtube whose reviews I like. Gameranx before you buy series is one of my favorites. They don't do scores, just talk about the games while showing gameplay, and then giving their thoughts on different elements of the game.

If you want to get back into mmo life (I can't because they're too all encompassing with time), I've heard great things about Final Fantasy 14.

I don't know your thoughts on turn based games, but Baldur's Gate 3 is a very good game that you can absolutely get immersed in. All lines are voice acted, there's a huge variety in the way you can build your character, and you have tons of dialogue options that shape how the story plays out. I don't know if you've ever played dnd, but it offers a lot of freedom in the way you can tackle a fight or quest.

Do you like any roguelikes(lites)? I find that I can get in, play for an hour and have a great time, and get out. Nothing super deep usually, but great fun with awesome replay value. My favorites are Enter the Gungeon, Hades, and Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire has the most replay value for me, and since it's on mobile as well, I can always start a run when I want to alleviate some boredom.

If you don't feel like a turn based rpg, but still want an immersive western rpg, I think The Witcher 3 is a great choice if you've never played it.

For action games, Ghost of Tsushima is a very solid game. Might even make you shed a tear.

[7empest]

Metacritic and gamefaqs are where I like to look, and I do have people on youtube whose reviews I like. Gameranx before you buy series is one of my favorites. They don't do scores, just talk about the games while showing gameplay, and then giving their thoughts on different elements of the game.

If you want to get back into mmo life (I can't because they're too all encompassing with time), I've heard great things about Final Fantasy 14.

I don't know your thoughts on turn based games, but Baldur's Gate 3 is a very good game that you can absolutely get immersed in. All lines are voice acted, there's a huge variety in the way you can build your character, and you have tons of dialogue options that shape how the story plays out. I don't know if you've ever played dnd, but it offers a lot of freedom in the way you can tackle a fight or quest.

Do you like any roguelikes(lites)? I find that I can get in, play for an hour and have a great time, and get out. Nothing super deep usually, but great fun with awesome replay value. My favorites are Enter the Gungeon, Hades, and Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire has the most replay value for me, and since it's on mobile as well, I can always start a run when I want to alleviate some boredom.

If you don't feel like a turn based rpg, but still want an immersive western rpg, I think The Witcher 3 is a great choice if you've never played it.

For action games, Ghost of Tsushima is a very solid game. Might even make you shed a tear.

nice one, yeah i've seen FF14 mentioned a few times. tempted to give it a go - i just find unless an MMO is really good it's kind a highway to nothing. i know you can't look at time like that but it's hard not to. hard to dabble in an mmo without going balls deep, and then it becomes a bit triviliased if it's dumbed down like WoW is currently (season of discovery, level cap at 25 or something).

oh a rogue lite is a great plan mate thanks, been meaning to try Hades, binding of isaac etc. shovel knight too apparently

do you prefer witcher or elden ring btw?

i've really missed out on games like Tsushima because i'm a PC player and very obsessive when I get into a game - hence how I haven't broadened my horizons much, but there's no excuse because I have a controller for my PC (i always feel some games need a controller vs mouse/kpad)

also an aside, console games are awesome in that you can sit back and play them. hard to do that with a mouse and keyboard!



i will give baldurs gate a go at somepoint but I didn't get on with divinity 2 original sin, so if it's too similar to that i may not get on with it

[Strawng]

Yakuza is easily the best "newer" series out there. Played every RGG title twice except Infinite Wealth. Obviously not for every one but they really got me feeling nostalgic for games again. Really enjoying FF7 Rebirth right now. In many ways its better than the OG and i had that in 97 day one. Gaming is far from dead

Yakuza Like a Dragon is probably one of the only turn based RPG's I have really enjoyed, and the rest have fun beat em up-esque gameplay IMO.

Yeah I think that's why I enjoyed Like a Dragon so much for what it is. Most turn based RPG's seem to lean heavily on the fantasy lore direction or some crazy fictional settings, but it was different, featuring real Japanese locations and a story focused on some Yakuza dude kicking gangster ass. Plus all the side activities you can do in the series has always been a lot of fun for me.

Why haven't you two played IF yet? I'm going thru it rn & I fuking love it (& I hate almost all turn-based RPGs).

[BigElephant]

I play Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2 for a minimum of 2-3 hours a day. If I've got nothing going on that day and I'm not feeling any other games it's like 5-8 hours lol. Only other games I've ever been able to do that with were Battlefield BC2/3/4, Modern Warfare 2 (2009), Black Ops 1, and Ark.

Currently getting a lot of time out of WWE 2k24. Mostly doing creative stuff. I've been doing a lot of photoshop messing around with face textures and custom titles, so I've made a few CAWs, custom entrance videos, and titles.

I was anticipating getting really into Ark Survival Ascended this year but they delayed their release of the other maps and some of the mods I want still aren't updated to that version yet.

Also, weren't all the old COD's supposed to be out on Gamepass sometime in Q1 of 2024? I was hoping they'd be on there by now, I had small hope that a decent number of players might come back to MW2/BO1 and I could get some time out of those.

[JayJ350]

Why haven't you two played IF yet? I'm going thru it rn & I fuking love it (& I hate almost all turn-based RPGs).

IF is a game I will buy eventually, still haven't played through some past Yakuza games I want to beat so I'm just going to get it on sale one day or play it on Gamepass if it ever shows up there. They honestly release em faster than I can play through em. Incredible considering their quality and the development standards of today.

[mgftp]

The only thing I've outgrown is the hyper twitch shooters with all the obnoxious garbage added in. I am sure this has somewhat to do with age, but I've always been more into realism than fantasy when gaming, COD2 and COD3 were much different games than COD today for example, and I feel shooters have changed much more than I have.

But overall I am more into gaming as an adult than I ever was as a kid, it's my go to hobby. I don't understand people saying they outgrow it, I can still get immersed in a variety of titles, but everyone is different. IMO nothing beats the feeling of having put in the hard work to get educated and build a career so you can rot on videogames as long as you want guilt free.

[WoofieNugget]

Hard to believe nobody has mentioned Helldivers 2. I am NOT a first person shooter guy at all, but it's a game you can pick up for one mission which takes about 30 mins and have a blast for a short time. It can be made super easy or challenging as hell and 98% of the time the people you're matched with are just kind of there and most are cool and know how to play. Even my girlfriend likes watching me play it because it's fun as hell.

Right now it's my game for just picking up and blowing off steam. You can solo missions as well without playing with others, although it makes the game much harder to get through.

[NitrogenWidget]

WOW
Red dead online
phasmophobia.

[Visel]

Dragon's Dogma 2 during the moments you just go out and explore, do combat, maybe do some radiant quests. But not when you're dealing with some of the janky quests and systems.

[Muzzlrpress]

nice one, yeah i've seen FF14 mentioned a few times. tempted to give it a go - i just find unless an MMO is really good it's kind a highway to nothing. i know you can't look at time like that but it's hard not to. hard to dabble in an mmo without going balls deep, and then it becomes a bit triviliased if it's dumbed down like WoW is currently (season of discovery, level cap at 25 or something).

oh a rogue lite is a great plan mate thanks, been meaning to try Hades, binding of isaac etc. shovel knight too apparently

do you prefer witcher or elden ring btw?

i've really missed out on games like Tsushima because i'm a PC player and very obsessive when I get into a game - hence how I haven't broadened my horizons much, but there's no excuse because I have a controller for my PC (i always feel some games need a controller vs mouse/kpad)

also an aside, console games are awesome in that you can sit back and play them. hard to do that with a mouse and keyboard!



i will give baldurs gate a go at somepoint but I didn't get on with divinity 2 original sin, so if it's too similar to that i may not get on with it

I LOVE both TW3 and Elden Ring, but ER is a game you have to be in a certain mood for. There are many, many ways to make the game easier for yourself (co-op, summons, grinding, finding top tier weapons early), but you'll still game to sweat from time to time, and something somewhere will piss you off.

TW3 is a MUCH more narrative focused experience. While I found the combat fun, some people dislike it. The writing in this game is the main reason people were hyped for Cyberpunk if that tells you anything. What TW3 does differently than other rpgs is it makes almost every single quest interesting in some way, and many of them have unforseen consequences later. I went into TW3 knowing nothing about the characters outside of a youtube story recap video to get prepared, and by the time the credits rolled, I'd fallen in love with almost every character (especially Lambert) .

Also




GWENT IS LIFE

[DASBUNKER]

Hard to believe nobody has mentioned Helldivers 2. I am NOT a first person shooter guy at all, but it's a game you can pick up for one mission which takes about 30 mins and have a blast for a short time. It can be made super easy or challenging as hell and 98% of the time the people you're matched with are just kind of there and most are cool and know how to play. Even my girlfriend likes watching me play it because it's fun as hell.

Right now it's my game for just picking up and blowing off steam. You can solo missions as well without playing with others, although it makes the game much harder to get through.

HD2 sounds and look fun, but its been ages since an online shooter really grabbed me, like the sound of it being a "casual" shooter, for $40 might be a steal

[Briangumble]

Lately I've been playing NBA 2k24 a lot. But I like the Resident Evil series and the Metal Gear Solid series so I'll play those games when they release new ones or remakes.

[NinGood]

Doom of course.

[swolefnatic]

These days the only games that are worth it to me are long rpg games and action rpgs like soul borne with good story / lore.

Can’t do online shooters and fighters anymore due to the sweatiness

[LtGoose]

If gaming doesn't interest you anymore then try men.

I haven't gotten bored of gaming yet and I have an entire backlog of games I'm inching to play. I regularly take days off work to go thru my backlog. Feels good mane

[Deathstroke]

Jrpgs a lot

Occasionally I’ll unlock 100% achievements or pop a plat.

FfviiRebirth. Unicorn Overlord. Jrpg backlog. Wwe 2k.

I don’t watch football or prono. I do read books about war. I got a nice average house, with a nice hardwood floor.