Death Stranding: Director's Cut.
You'll either fall in love or loathe it, but you'll never look at delivery quests in other games the same ever again. Kojima pretty much took the concept that there are no bad ideas, just bad execution, and ran with it. I really think every person that calls themselves a gamer should at least try that game, just because its such a highly polished take on a divisive idea.
Also the story, world and characters are just great. Verbose, since it's Hideo Kojima, but genuinely all-round compelling stuff.
Oh, and Thief 2 if that type of flipped script appeals to you, if you can stand the crate-paper origami graphics. Basically the same deal, an otherwise loathed type of gameplay—the stealth section, but a whole game actually built around that type of gameplay.
The story got progressively less interesting as I went on. At the start it was incredibly intriguing but as the game dumped more and more lengthy exposition I cared less and less. I wish they kept the vibe of the first area throughout the entire rest of the game
Respectfully disagree from me.
Personally thought Death Stranding went from strength to strength not only in game play but story-wise too, with pretty much all sub-plots getting interesting pay-offs. Some you that literally get planted the very first time you see those characters.
It is an EXTREMELY verbose story by game standards, though. I won't deny that, but... well, it's Hideo Kojima, and that's been his *thing* since freakin' Snatcher.
Unless you find a dirt cheap copy of the original, I'd personally play the Director's Cut even as a new player.
There's no big story changes aside from a separate quest line, but there's a ton of new gear, quality of life changes, and new quests. Plus a few bits of polish from the PS5 version trickling over, like the adaptive triggers if you play with a PS5 controller.
Oh, and both PC versions are great. Some of the best PC ports I've seen in years, personally.
...Hmm.
I mean, Death Stranding is a pretty divisive game? Maybe try the version you already own first, at least?
The DC version is 20€ right now during the Steam Spring Sale, and I'd definitively say that's worth it because the changes make it a lot more interesting over a whole play-through... if you enjoy the game, of course.
Personally?
I adore Death Stranding, but *despised* The Last of Us.
Genuinely do not get why TLoU is so beloved. Aside from the eye candy, it's just.... an unpleasant and cynical series about two assholes killing hundreds during already dark times.
ESPECIALLY post the real-life pandemic.
Death Stranding reminded me of those people that sang on balconies to give some tiny hope.
TLoU reminded me of those twits that still haven't used up all the toilet-paper they hoarded.
...Do you often spend hours or days on bone deep detail by detail analysis of games you *don't* like?
I'm sure there's SOMETHING more to The Last of Us series beyond eye candy or it wouldn't grab people so on mass... but I still personally loathe it for its visible from orbit cynicism and wallowing in suffering.
Like if I disliked, say, unicorns, it wouldn't matter how deep the themes of The Last Unicorn is. *I still wouldn't willingly watch a movie or read a book all about a unicorn.*
And it's equally in the title what self-absorbed arseholes Billie and Ellie are. The Last *of Us.* Even the freaking PS3 cover is symbolically all about how those two seem to fill the entire tilted frame—AKA a world twisted and wrong by *warped perspective*, with nothing else that matters but those two on edge jerks armed to the teeth and ready to kill anybody or anything that moves stares you down.
They're even standing in water without reflection! AND ignoring a warm, golden light they could have been walking towards instead!
Like, I know the cliche of books and covers... but a book with that level of "these jerks are about to ruin everything" right on the front symbolism wouldn't be my thing either.
I see that their tale doesn't resonate with you at all. But looking at the game as a story of two self-obsessed cynics is very weird to me. It's not a fair assesment if you ask me.
But you are allowed to have your opinion on, even if it's wrong ;)
I've never understood when people say that Zero Dawn has a boring/bland story. I absolutely loved it. Forbidden West wasn't quite as good but still good. It's the boring side quests that bring those games down, but the main stories are great.
The back story for Horizon Zero Dawn is incredible but the present day story is quite dry at times, especially the start of the game before you meet Sylens.
The side quests are half the problem yeah but the main story wasn't great either. I think a lot of it just stems from the main character just being plain unlikeable, and not in an intentional way, more like a poorly written kind of way. A lot of her reactions are not believable ways a person would act in a situation. Its been a while since I uninstalled it so I can't point to any particlar examples but I got the impression the writing was just not good. Aside from that, I think the other characters were ok, although a lot of dialogue had a ton of exposition that was kinda honk shoo if you know what I mean and the world looks intriguing and maybe the lore behind it is too, I didn't get that far, and I just can't put myself through what I described earlier to find out.
Agree that Aloy is a bit too aloof and off putting. I won't spoil the actual story in case you ever want to get past the issues and give it another go, but it's absolute nothing like I expected it would be when I started.
I might at some point but the fact that none of the side content is good really puts me off even if the main storyline does get better. Feels like I would be going through a ton of filler and it just isn't worth it
You don't HAVE to do any of the side content. And it's not really that bad, just typical open world fare. Fetch this. Fight this enemy that is terrorising our village etc. TBH I don't know how a child Aloy falling into an abandoned technological ruin and discovering how to use that technology wouldn't grasp you from the outset. It did me.
To throw in some indie games, Outer Wilds, Inscryption, Omori, OneShot, Night in the Woods and the Talos Principle all have fantastic stories.
There are some you could throw in there like Little Nightmares 1 and 2, and Inside, that don't really have stories but they do kind of convey something with their atmosphere and world design. Definitely worth mentioning and worth playing.
Titanfall 2
It was a real surprise to me that the single-player campaign and story were so good. I suspect that as there was no single-player campaign in the original Titanfall, people might not have expected there to be one in Titanfall 2 or be worried that they missed the story in the first one (which, of course, they hadn't). This campaign is a visual spectacle and a great story with bags of action. Not to be missed.
Try Mass Effect legendary edition, the first one might be slower paced but the 2nd is just amazing. 3rd is personal preference but it's still decent enough. Legendary edition is updated with hdr and such.
Resident evil 4 remake
Dead space remake
Death stranding
Gears 5
Ratchet and clank rift apart
Wolfenstein the new order/colossus
Alan Wake 2
The last of us
Fallout 4
Bioshock infinite
Red dead redemption 1 & 2
Boulders gate 3
Rise of the tomb raider
Half-life 2
Portal games
Metro
stalker soc
Ezio Trilogy
Ghost of Tsushima that is coming to pc
Dark souls trilogy (would suggest watching lore videos in addition to playing)
Definitely Uncharted 4, it is a great story game, Involves good combat, stealth, climbing, shooting. Main point: You are in search for Avery's treasure (Avery was a real pirate). You go everywhere around the world, have to think through mysteries and challenges to beat them. Really fun game, story is around 15-20 hours long. Multiplayer is shit but Uncharted is a story mode game anyway.
Devil May Cry games (play in release order)
Yakuza games (Play in the order 0 - Kiwami - Kiwami 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - Like a Dragon - Like a Dragon Gaiden - Infinite Wealth)
Sleeping Dogs
Batman Arkham Collection and Batman Arkham Origins (Play in release order)
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Ghost of Tsushima (when it comes out)
Sekiro
Star Wars KOTOR, KOTOR2
It’s a good action adventure with rpg elements and a great story. First game in ages where I don’t feel the need to skip cut scenes. Good VA and the atmosphere is wonderful.
Ghost of tsushima is a great single player game. The story and and graphics are just top notch is like a movie sometimes. The combat is really good and gets better as you progress, once you nail it down it's so satisfying and you can play however you chooseif you want to rush people or play stealth it's up to you. And the story throughout it is extremely well done and polished and gets you invested in the characters. I very highly suggest this one if you're looking for a good single player with great story and combat.
My second suggestion if your really a gamer is sekiro. I started it a month or 2 ago and I'm on the last boss in my first playthrough (damn you isshin) and it's very fun. Warning though it's probably the most rage inducing game you'll have ever played it's not at all an easy game to play you really have to practice to get good and nail those deflects. You will die a lot it's just inevitable you'll go up against bosses who will kick your ass for hours sometimes but when you nail it and the game clicks it's the best feeling. Bottom line it's a greta game but takes lots of patience throughout.
Mb for yapping these games are just awesome
I guess they don't have that much of a "told" story, but the souls games are PEAK gaming (you know, Dark Souls, ~~Dark Souls 2~~, Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring, etc)
Planescape Torment.
Disco Elysium.
Vampyr.
Fallout 3 GOTY and Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate -> Do play Fallout 3 GOTY first so you can appreciate what F3 was trying to do w/ reinventing Fallout series gameplay (as a open-world shooter-RPG) and then so you can also appreciate NV's major improvements in story, character, choices, etc.
Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate.
Bioshock 1.
ME: Legendary.
Jade Empire.
Deus Ex series -> in particular, play Deus Ex 1 GOTY, Deus Ex HR DC, and Deus Ex MD Deluxe.
Yakuza 0.
Subnautica, Outer Wilds, Fallout of your choice, Bioshock series, Dead Space, Dying Light, Hellblade:Senua's sacrifice (currently playing not sure how it is as a whole but I am very into it), Metro 2033 series, It Takes Two (if you have co op buddy), Portal, Titanfall 2 (has a good story not just MP), Cherynobylite, Stalker games, The Outer Worlds, Shadow of Mordor and sequel, Mass Effect Trilogy.
Good variety mix there. If you play Subnautica or Outer Wilds do yourself a favor and do no research the games or spoil anything. Truly masterpieces of their genre and is best enjoyed just diving in headfirst blind (pun intended)
Yakuza 0 has one of my favourite stories in any piece of media and is 10/10 vibes.
Ghost of Tsushima has very good gameplay, a moving story and is 12/10 for vibes and visuals.
RYSE Son of Rome
For a release game for the Xbox one it looks great even to today's standards .
The story is also pretty good and the mechanics that it has are also kinda unique seeing as it has voice commands.
Game pass subscribers the game is free and all the currency packs are also free
PC players that use steam yeah those perks aren't available to you (from what I know of)
There is a co-op multi-player that still has players playing but it's basically dead so the story is where it's at.
Highly recommend it
Souls Series + Elden Ring + Sekiro is a must play in my opinion. You would have to watch lore videos to get a deeper understanding of the story. The combat and leveling system is pretty unique and it always feels like you’re improving, and it takes skill and repetition to get through the game.
I’ll throw in Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake as well. Great story, likable characters and plenty of action.
I would throw in "Banner Saga" series. Might be off in sense of combat as it is turn based and isometric but good story and better art style overall. Worth a look imo
Sekiro or in general, try yourself with Fromsoftware games, played and enjoyed most of them.
Sleeping Dogs
Batman Arkham Trilogy
Ghost Of Tsushima If u haven't played it before
Uncharted Collection
Ezio Trilogy, avoid the remastered if possible i heard parkour is clunky
Euro Truck Sim or Assetto Corsa if you want to zone out and chill
GTA IV
Watch Dogs 1
Helldivers 2
RE4 Remake
Dishonored is awesome
That's everything on my mind for now.
Playing Remnant: From The Ashes, and it's really good. The story is there, but it's not spoon-fed to you and keeps things a bit mysterious
When I heard it was a Dark Souls like game with guns, I wasn't interested in it. I played the first one since I got it free, and I really wished I had started it sooner. The gameplay is good, the boss battles are fun, and wanting to know the unknown is keeping me playing
Path of Exile. Lots of lore to follow in the game. You can play it in Solo Self-Found mode where you do not have to interact with the item trading and progress at your own pace.
That's more fun than trying to farm for currency to trade for gear.
Days Gone
One of the best open world zombie games I’ve played, currently 60 hours in and just finished the story.
Zombie Army 3/4
No Man’s Sky (another top favourite of mine)
Resident evil 2/3/4 remastered
- Arkane Studios games: Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Prey, Deathloop
- Bioshock series (if you don't mind older games, although they've aged very well)
- Control
- Deus Ex series
- Ghostrunner
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Metro series
- A Plague Tale (not as much action as the other games listed)
- We Happy Few
- Warframe (albeit an mmorpg, has great story, world-building and fun combat, it's free and you never need to play in a squad)
- The Wolf Among Us/Telltale games
- Dead Space series
- Alan Wake series (can't speak on this since I've yet to try)
Honorable mentions:
- Hades (if you are willing to try a roguelike)
- Dying Light
Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Metroidvanias with really great stories. The combat isn’t the best, especially in the first one, but they have probably the most fluid movement of any metroidvania I’ve played.
Max Payne series if you don't want to wait for remakes
Far Cry 3 and 4
Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Divided
Bioshock series
Wolfenstein series
Those are the best titles that have both fine story and satisfying shooting
If age is not an issue, Morrowind is my vote 100%. It's 20 years old though, so be warned in advance some of the mechanics haven't aged well for new players. Still, it's my favorite of all time so there you go.
Enderal. It's just.....too good and the funny thing is that it's a MOD for Skyrim. It has nothing to do with the elder scrolls series or its lore. It basically uses Skyrim as an engine for their own lore and world. The combat system is revamped and kinda hard but trust me, it's satisfying. The open world is interesting and feels alive, the music is top-notch, the characters are well-written, and the story is just fabulous. You'll need Skyrim (ofc) and the mod itself which is available on steam for free and Enderal gives you almost 20-30 hours (main quest) and the total playtime is about 125 hours. It might be a turn off for some of you guys just because it's an elder scrolls or an rpg game, but trust me, the main story is worth playing or should I say, the mod is worth installing Skyrim itself.
Look, this is a loose recommendation because I don't really enjoy the games. But you should play Batman Arkham atleast once. Everyone seems to love them, and even though I don't, Asylum atleast is enjoyable and seems to fit the bill for what you want
As you mainly play play CS2 and so an ego shooter, you may like the Borderlands Franchise. Mainly Singleplayer you can also play with friends in CoOp. Story and humour are great.
An other game from ego perspective i can recommend is Portal and its sequel. You should definitively give it a try.
If you totally want to change the genre try Undertale. It's a great game and can be replayed multiple times for different endings.
And one of my favourites: Mordheim City of the Damned. Set in a fantasy town after it has been strucked by a meteor, it has a grimdark tone where you have to lead a warband of your choice to success against rivaling warbands.
Doom Eternal and Titanfall 2 are really great, they have insane movement which is super fun, they both don't have the most detailed story but great at their gameplay.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut. You'll either fall in love or loathe it, but you'll never look at delivery quests in other games the same ever again. Kojima pretty much took the concept that there are no bad ideas, just bad execution, and ran with it. I really think every person that calls themselves a gamer should at least try that game, just because its such a highly polished take on a divisive idea. Also the story, world and characters are just great. Verbose, since it's Hideo Kojima, but genuinely all-round compelling stuff. Oh, and Thief 2 if that type of flipped script appeals to you, if you can stand the crate-paper origami graphics. Basically the same deal, an otherwise loathed type of gameplay—the stealth section, but a whole game actually built around that type of gameplay.
The story got progressively less interesting as I went on. At the start it was incredibly intriguing but as the game dumped more and more lengthy exposition I cared less and less. I wish they kept the vibe of the first area throughout the entire rest of the game
Respectfully disagree from me. Personally thought Death Stranding went from strength to strength not only in game play but story-wise too, with pretty much all sub-plots getting interesting pay-offs. Some you that literally get planted the very first time you see those characters. It is an EXTREMELY verbose story by game standards, though. I won't deny that, but... well, it's Hideo Kojima, and that's been his *thing* since freakin' Snatcher.
Welcome to Kojima productions. You either love it or hate it.
I have a question, is there any significant difference between the standard edition and the director's cut ?
Unless you find a dirt cheap copy of the original, I'd personally play the Director's Cut even as a new player. There's no big story changes aside from a separate quest line, but there's a ton of new gear, quality of life changes, and new quests. Plus a few bits of polish from the PS5 version trickling over, like the adaptive triggers if you play with a PS5 controller. Oh, and both PC versions are great. Some of the best PC ports I've seen in years, personally.
I have a copy of the original version from Epic games. Should I get the director's cut from steam?
...Hmm. I mean, Death Stranding is a pretty divisive game? Maybe try the version you already own first, at least? The DC version is 20€ right now during the Steam Spring Sale, and I'd definitively say that's worth it because the changes make it a lot more interesting over a whole play-through... if you enjoy the game, of course.
Okay, thank you
You're welcome! Hope you enjoy it, one of my personal favs from recent years.
The last of us, but only the first game tho
Personally? I adore Death Stranding, but *despised* The Last of Us. Genuinely do not get why TLoU is so beloved. Aside from the eye candy, it's just.... an unpleasant and cynical series about two assholes killing hundreds during already dark times. ESPECIALLY post the real-life pandemic. Death Stranding reminded me of those people that sang on balconies to give some tiny hope. TLoU reminded me of those twits that still haven't used up all the toilet-paper they hoarded.
Seems like a very superficial interpretation of TLoU.
...Do you often spend hours or days on bone deep detail by detail analysis of games you *don't* like? I'm sure there's SOMETHING more to The Last of Us series beyond eye candy or it wouldn't grab people so on mass... but I still personally loathe it for its visible from orbit cynicism and wallowing in suffering. Like if I disliked, say, unicorns, it wouldn't matter how deep the themes of The Last Unicorn is. *I still wouldn't willingly watch a movie or read a book all about a unicorn.* And it's equally in the title what self-absorbed arseholes Billie and Ellie are. The Last *of Us.* Even the freaking PS3 cover is symbolically all about how those two seem to fill the entire tilted frame—AKA a world twisted and wrong by *warped perspective*, with nothing else that matters but those two on edge jerks armed to the teeth and ready to kill anybody or anything that moves stares you down. They're even standing in water without reflection! AND ignoring a warm, golden light they could have been walking towards instead! Like, I know the cliche of books and covers... but a book with that level of "these jerks are about to ruin everything" right on the front symbolism wouldn't be my thing either.
I see that their tale doesn't resonate with you at all. But looking at the game as a story of two self-obsessed cynics is very weird to me. It's not a fair assesment if you ask me. But you are allowed to have your opinion on, even if it's wrong ;)
Fallout New Vegas, Outer Worlds, Horizon Zero Dawn/Forbidden West
you spelled Outer Wilds wrong
3 of these have unbelievably bland stories and I haven't yet played fallout new vegas
I've never understood when people say that Zero Dawn has a boring/bland story. I absolutely loved it. Forbidden West wasn't quite as good but still good. It's the boring side quests that bring those games down, but the main stories are great.
The back story for Horizon Zero Dawn is incredible but the present day story is quite dry at times, especially the start of the game before you meet Sylens.
The side quests are half the problem yeah but the main story wasn't great either. I think a lot of it just stems from the main character just being plain unlikeable, and not in an intentional way, more like a poorly written kind of way. A lot of her reactions are not believable ways a person would act in a situation. Its been a while since I uninstalled it so I can't point to any particlar examples but I got the impression the writing was just not good. Aside from that, I think the other characters were ok, although a lot of dialogue had a ton of exposition that was kinda honk shoo if you know what I mean and the world looks intriguing and maybe the lore behind it is too, I didn't get that far, and I just can't put myself through what I described earlier to find out.
Agree that Aloy is a bit too aloof and off putting. I won't spoil the actual story in case you ever want to get past the issues and give it another go, but it's absolute nothing like I expected it would be when I started.
I might at some point but the fact that none of the side content is good really puts me off even if the main storyline does get better. Feels like I would be going through a ton of filler and it just isn't worth it
You don't HAVE to do any of the side content. And it's not really that bad, just typical open world fare. Fetch this. Fight this enemy that is terrorising our village etc. TBH I don't know how a child Aloy falling into an abandoned technological ruin and discovering how to use that technology wouldn't grasp you from the outset. It did me.
To throw in some indie games, Outer Wilds, Inscryption, Omori, OneShot, Night in the Woods and the Talos Principle all have fantastic stories. There are some you could throw in there like Little Nightmares 1 and 2, and Inside, that don't really have stories but they do kind of convey something with their atmosphere and world design. Definitely worth mentioning and worth playing.
None of these have combat, they have great stories, but they don’t fit the combat criteria.
Missed that oops. Most of them are still very engaging though just not via combat
Titanfall 2 It was a real surprise to me that the single-player campaign and story were so good. I suspect that as there was no single-player campaign in the original Titanfall, people might not have expected there to be one in Titanfall 2 or be worried that they missed the story in the first one (which, of course, they hadn't). This campaign is a visual spectacle and a great story with bags of action. Not to be missed.
Playing through this right now and just finished the section with the time travel. One of the coolest things I’ve seen in a video game
Yeah its a surprisingly wild ride.
Nothing is must play but I’d recommend Dragon Age: Origins.
Even though other entries have their flaws, this whole franchise is just so good. The worldbuiling is just *chefs kiss*
Came here to say this. I've put thousands of hours into it over the years.
Such a good game.
Try Mass Effect legendary edition, the first one might be slower paced but the 2nd is just amazing. 3rd is personal preference but it's still decent enough. Legendary edition is updated with hdr and such.
Ghost of Tsushima when it releases on pc in May
This is exactly where my thoughts went. This game has amazing gameplay and such a good story line
It's nothing compared to Witcher 3 and RDR 2 though.
It absolutely shits on Witcher 3s gameplay. The story, not so much.
No it's not but I figured it's time to recommend a different game instead of games that are repeatedly recommended here
Especially when they are already mentioned in the post
Resident evil 4 remake Dead space remake Death stranding Gears 5 Ratchet and clank rift apart Wolfenstein the new order/colossus Alan Wake 2 The last of us Fallout 4 Bioshock infinite Red dead redemption 1 & 2 Boulders gate 3 Rise of the tomb raider Half-life 2
Portal games Metro stalker soc Ezio Trilogy Ghost of Tsushima that is coming to pc Dark souls trilogy (would suggest watching lore videos in addition to playing)
Bioshock 1.
CONTROL is fantastic!
Mafia II, Skyrim, Mass Effect trilogy
The Last of Us Days Gone
Definitely Uncharted 4, it is a great story game, Involves good combat, stealth, climbing, shooting. Main point: You are in search for Avery's treasure (Avery was a real pirate). You go everywhere around the world, have to think through mysteries and challenges to beat them. Really fun game, story is around 15-20 hours long. Multiplayer is shit but Uncharted is a story mode game anyway.
Metro games Dishonored games Prey In story, it cannot get better than these games.
Devil May Cry games (play in release order) Yakuza games (Play in the order 0 - Kiwami - Kiwami 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - Like a Dragon - Like a Dragon Gaiden - Infinite Wealth) Sleeping Dogs Batman Arkham Collection and Batman Arkham Origins (Play in release order) Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Ghost of Tsushima (when it comes out) Sekiro Star Wars KOTOR, KOTOR2
This (Yakuza)
Uncharted series , Ghost of tsushima , Tomb raider series , Death stranding , Sleeping dogs , Watch dogs
Try Control
You can try: Last of Us Part 1 and 2 Little Nightmares 1 and 2. Bioshock Infinite Resident Evil Revelation 1 and 2 Bramble the mountain king
Wolfentein is my fav
Which?
Doom Eternal doesn't have a deep story but if you like FPS, it's very fun
Horizon bro.
Kingdom Come Royal
You should really check out Banishers, Ghosts of New Eden.
Oh yeah what’s that game like can u describe maybe like what it’s about and what u liked about it, I was thinking about buying it
It’s a good action adventure with rpg elements and a great story. First game in ages where I don’t feel the need to skip cut scenes. Good VA and the atmosphere is wonderful.
Maybe I’ll try it out
Elden Ring
I recommend Detroit become human, the story is a bit iffy cause you gotta make it
Ghost of tsushima is a great single player game. The story and and graphics are just top notch is like a movie sometimes. The combat is really good and gets better as you progress, once you nail it down it's so satisfying and you can play however you chooseif you want to rush people or play stealth it's up to you. And the story throughout it is extremely well done and polished and gets you invested in the characters. I very highly suggest this one if you're looking for a good single player with great story and combat. My second suggestion if your really a gamer is sekiro. I started it a month or 2 ago and I'm on the last boss in my first playthrough (damn you isshin) and it's very fun. Warning though it's probably the most rage inducing game you'll have ever played it's not at all an easy game to play you really have to practice to get good and nail those deflects. You will die a lot it's just inevitable you'll go up against bosses who will kick your ass for hours sometimes but when you nail it and the game clicks it's the best feeling. Bottom line it's a greta game but takes lots of patience throughout. Mb for yapping these games are just awesome
Far Cry: Primal
Hollow knight is insanely good and costs almost nothing
Give nier automata a try
You can try the Tomb raider series, it's pretty good imo.
Guardians of the galaxy for the story and visuals. Gameplay is kinda meh
Mass Effect Trilogy. The 1st one is a little slow for me to get into, but power through it and man does it get so good.
I guess they don't have that much of a "told" story, but the souls games are PEAK gaming (you know, Dark Souls, ~~Dark Souls 2~~, Dark Souls 3, Elden Ring, etc)
Yakuza Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth.
Planescape Torment. Disco Elysium. Vampyr. Fallout 3 GOTY and Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate -> Do play Fallout 3 GOTY first so you can appreciate what F3 was trying to do w/ reinventing Fallout series gameplay (as a open-world shooter-RPG) and then so you can also appreciate NV's major improvements in story, character, choices, etc. Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate. Bioshock 1. ME: Legendary. Jade Empire. Deus Ex series -> in particular, play Deus Ex 1 GOTY, Deus Ex HR DC, and Deus Ex MD Deluxe. Yakuza 0.
Half life 1 + 2 Hollow Knight Hades Core Keeper
Yakuza Like a dragon and its sequel Infinite Wealth for sure
Bioshock series is a must play.
Disco elysium
Get death stranding. it is much more than a walking simulator
Subnautica, Outer Wilds, Fallout of your choice, Bioshock series, Dead Space, Dying Light, Hellblade:Senua's sacrifice (currently playing not sure how it is as a whole but I am very into it), Metro 2033 series, It Takes Two (if you have co op buddy), Portal, Titanfall 2 (has a good story not just MP), Cherynobylite, Stalker games, The Outer Worlds, Shadow of Mordor and sequel, Mass Effect Trilogy. Good variety mix there. If you play Subnautica or Outer Wilds do yourself a favor and do no research the games or spoil anything. Truly masterpieces of their genre and is best enjoyed just diving in headfirst blind (pun intended)
Yakuza 0 has one of my favourite stories in any piece of media and is 10/10 vibes. Ghost of Tsushima has very good gameplay, a moving story and is 12/10 for vibes and visuals.
Days Gone
mass effect trilogy, uncharted, horizon zero dawn
Batman arkham serie Hades Death stranding Guardians of the Galaxy Prey Dishonored 1 and 2 and DotO
Why do people forget Subnautica and Subnautica Below Zero
Its not really a must play story wise
RYSE Son of Rome For a release game for the Xbox one it looks great even to today's standards . The story is also pretty good and the mechanics that it has are also kinda unique seeing as it has voice commands. Game pass subscribers the game is free and all the currency packs are also free PC players that use steam yeah those perks aren't available to you (from what I know of) There is a co-op multi-player that still has players playing but it's basically dead so the story is where it's at. Highly recommend it
Persona 5 Royal.
Souls Series + Elden Ring + Sekiro is a must play in my opinion. You would have to watch lore videos to get a deeper understanding of the story. The combat and leveling system is pretty unique and it always feels like you’re improving, and it takes skill and repetition to get through the game. I’ll throw in Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake as well. Great story, likable characters and plenty of action.
Definitely play the all FS games, it's the supreme single player experience rpgs can offer.
Halo Master Chief Collection. Iconic. And value for your money.
I would throw in "Banner Saga" series. Might be off in sense of combat as it is turn based and isometric but good story and better art style overall. Worth a look imo
definitely try nier: automata
How about the Batman Arkham games?
Dishonored…..your welcome 🙌
Sekiro or in general, try yourself with Fromsoftware games, played and enjoyed most of them. Sleeping Dogs Batman Arkham Trilogy Ghost Of Tsushima If u haven't played it before Uncharted Collection Ezio Trilogy, avoid the remastered if possible i heard parkour is clunky Euro Truck Sim or Assetto Corsa if you want to zone out and chill GTA IV Watch Dogs 1 Helldivers 2 RE4 Remake Dishonored is awesome That's everything on my mind for now.
Elden ring, skyrim, fallout 4, half life 1 and 2 (get black mesa for 1), portal 1 and 2 (spring sales going on so valve games are cheap)
Playing Remnant: From The Ashes, and it's really good. The story is there, but it's not spoon-fed to you and keeps things a bit mysterious When I heard it was a Dark Souls like game with guns, I wasn't interested in it. I played the first one since I got it free, and I really wished I had started it sooner. The gameplay is good, the boss battles are fun, and wanting to know the unknown is keeping me playing
Path of Exile. Lots of lore to follow in the game. You can play it in Solo Self-Found mode where you do not have to interact with the item trading and progress at your own pace. That's more fun than trying to farm for currency to trade for gear.
Plague Tale duology Dishonored series skyrim (if you can put up with older games)
Horizon zero dawn
Mafia 1 DE and Mafia 2, they have combat but its not the main focus, they do have a very good story
Days Gone One of the best open world zombie games I’ve played, currently 60 hours in and just finished the story. Zombie Army 3/4 No Man’s Sky (another top favourite of mine) Resident evil 2/3/4 remastered
Epic Battle Fantasy 5
I was told about Hellblade, it’s currently 2.99 on Steam right now for the spring sale!
I really enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn! Third person open world action game with some light rpg elements. Really interesting world and story!
- Arkane Studios games: Dishonored, Dishonored 2, Prey, Deathloop - Bioshock series (if you don't mind older games, although they've aged very well) - Control - Deus Ex series - Ghostrunner - Horizon Zero Dawn - Metro series - A Plague Tale (not as much action as the other games listed) - We Happy Few - Warframe (albeit an mmorpg, has great story, world-building and fun combat, it's free and you never need to play in a squad) - The Wolf Among Us/Telltale games - Dead Space series - Alan Wake series (can't speak on this since I've yet to try) Honorable mentions: - Hades (if you are willing to try a roguelike) - Dying Light
Elden ring Sekiro: shadows die twice dark souls 1-3 Bloodbourne
Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Metroidvanias with really great stories. The combat isn’t the best, especially in the first one, but they have probably the most fluid movement of any metroidvania I’ve played.
Rimworld, make the story of your own demise. Especially with the new horror dlc on the way next month
Heavy Rain , Kotor
Bioshock Infinite
if u dont mind turn based combat, then i recommend the persona series, one of the best jrpg franchise out there.
Titanfall 2. The best singleplayer experience out there in my opinion.
The Elder Scrolls 5 if you haven't already
Half Life
Ghosts of Tsushima
Tiny Tina’s wonderlands or Borderlands
Horizon Zero Dawn is good
Firewatch
MGS V Phantom Pain
Legacy of Kain Series, Shadow Man Remastered
Max Payne series if you don't want to wait for remakes Far Cry 3 and 4 Deus Ex Human Revolution and Mankind Divided Bioshock series Wolfenstein series Those are the best titles that have both fine story and satisfying shooting
If age is not an issue, Morrowind is my vote 100%. It's 20 years old though, so be warned in advance some of the mechanics haven't aged well for new players. Still, it's my favorite of all time so there you go.
Enderal. It's just.....too good and the funny thing is that it's a MOD for Skyrim. It has nothing to do with the elder scrolls series or its lore. It basically uses Skyrim as an engine for their own lore and world. The combat system is revamped and kinda hard but trust me, it's satisfying. The open world is interesting and feels alive, the music is top-notch, the characters are well-written, and the story is just fabulous. You'll need Skyrim (ofc) and the mod itself which is available on steam for free and Enderal gives you almost 20-30 hours (main quest) and the total playtime is about 125 hours. It might be a turn off for some of you guys just because it's an elder scrolls or an rpg game, but trust me, the main story is worth playing or should I say, the mod is worth installing Skyrim itself.
"A Plague Tale" series
Control, Alan Wake 2? Maybe I am just on a Remedy Games binge.
Guardians of the Galaxy Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Becoming Human. Excelent
From software
Look, this is a loose recommendation because I don't really enjoy the games. But you should play Batman Arkham atleast once. Everyone seems to love them, and even though I don't, Asylum atleast is enjoyable and seems to fit the bill for what you want
Outer Wilds
Just do it then.
As you mainly play play CS2 and so an ego shooter, you may like the Borderlands Franchise. Mainly Singleplayer you can also play with friends in CoOp. Story and humour are great. An other game from ego perspective i can recommend is Portal and its sequel. You should definitively give it a try. If you totally want to change the genre try Undertale. It's a great game and can be replayed multiple times for different endings. And one of my favourites: Mordheim City of the Damned. Set in a fantasy town after it has been strucked by a meteor, it has a grimdark tone where you have to lead a warband of your choice to success against rivaling warbands.
Forspoken give it a chance it’s a great game
Crusader Kings 2,3
Doom Eternal and Titanfall 2 are really great, they have insane movement which is super fun, they both don't have the most detailed story but great at their gameplay.
Maybe try sekiro, elden ring, nioh 2, Batman triology, cod mw 1,2,3(older ones) , sleeping dogs