So Greedfall was one of this months PS+ releases and as you might be able to tell, I quite enjoyed it. I'm looking for some more games in a similar vein to play in the future, so here's a quick summation of things I liked:
Now for recommendations, I'm pretty much keeping it to what is available on my PS5/Switch. To get a head start, I will say for immediate purposes I'm looking at:
Vampyr - was also free, pseudo-historical and presumably dialogue-dependant, I'll probably play this next
Technomancer - I don't really want to play a game that is described as functionally the same as Greedfall right away, but it's like $4 on the PlayStation store right now so I'll put it in the library
Elex? - seeing some recommendations for this when I googled Greedfall recommendations, don't know anything about it though
Some suggestions I imagine I'll get but maybe don't have much interest in-
Fallout/Elder Scrolls - I watched and played a bit of Oblivion and FO3 with a girlfriend years ago. I don't think these games are for me
Witcher 3 - already have from PS+, but was never too interested for some reason. I know it's supposedly the king of side quest design, but something about the character Geralt seems obnoxious, and I was always very sceptical of the fact the game looked so very white, and people defended that whiteness as if a game about fantasy shit should be grounded in a historical whiteness. Plus with all of CDPRs other shit I just don't really want to support them. Maybe I should watch the show at some point?
Dragon Age: Inquisition - I don't know much about it except that it was criticized as a kind of vapid, meaningless romp. I'm somewhat more interested in the first two games if they're ever ported. Change my mind if possible.
Mass Effect - never really appealed to me. Maybe when the trilogy is cheap on sale in the far future.
I don't really mind if its third person or isometric, real time, real-time with pause, turn based, etc. I don't like first person typically though.
- Party companions (even if dialogue and characterization was sparse unless they were relevant to the mission), and that even though it wasn't super common the fact that they had input here and there, or applied stat bonuses when in the party or at certain relationship levels
- The setting of a native, magical land being colonized by pseudo-Europeans/Middle East. I enjoy fantasy, pseudo-historical stuff a lot. Sci-fi could have an appeal too, but it's not my first love, and I'd take high fantasy before it too usually.
- The general gameplay loop (dialogue choices, chasing down leads, not super frequent combat) was very addictive. I understand the criticism that there's way too much backtracking or having to travel, but in the earlier hours it was very enjoyable
- The combat itself was actually pretty fun for me. I rarely use magic in games and this was no different - I focused on traps/phials/gun/one handed sword for most of the game and really actually enjoyed it. I could wipe out enemies pretty easily but if I wasn't careful just a few hits could take me out as well and I love that glass cannon approach to combat where it feels more "real". Also, tactical pause is great too, I'm not great at action and it feels good to cool off for a second if I need to re-strategize
- Exploration was fantastic. I don't love massive open worlds with millions of checkpoint tasks to do, nor do I want a linear hallway of action. This game basically nailed the level of exploration I most desire, even if the map sucked and the cities could be labyrinthine in their design which was frustrating in early hours
- Side quests were meaningful. By which I mean they felt just as integral and designed as main quests, often with a decent level of depth to them
- Skill checks are fun (apologies to Xenoblade 2 critics, but I like the concept more than the execution there). I liked your character build could change dialogue choices, or what loot you could attain, or what approach to the terrain you could manage.
Now for recommendations, I'm pretty much keeping it to what is available on my PS5/Switch. To get a head start, I will say for immediate purposes I'm looking at:
Vampyr - was also free, pseudo-historical and presumably dialogue-dependant, I'll probably play this next
Technomancer - I don't really want to play a game that is described as functionally the same as Greedfall right away, but it's like $4 on the PlayStation store right now so I'll put it in the library
Elex? - seeing some recommendations for this when I googled Greedfall recommendations, don't know anything about it though
Some suggestions I imagine I'll get but maybe don't have much interest in-
Fallout/Elder Scrolls - I watched and played a bit of Oblivion and FO3 with a girlfriend years ago. I don't think these games are for me
Witcher 3 - already have from PS+, but was never too interested for some reason. I know it's supposedly the king of side quest design, but something about the character Geralt seems obnoxious, and I was always very sceptical of the fact the game looked so very white, and people defended that whiteness as if a game about fantasy shit should be grounded in a historical whiteness. Plus with all of CDPRs other shit I just don't really want to support them. Maybe I should watch the show at some point?
Dragon Age: Inquisition - I don't know much about it except that it was criticized as a kind of vapid, meaningless romp. I'm somewhat more interested in the first two games if they're ever ported. Change my mind if possible.
Mass Effect - never really appealed to me. Maybe when the trilogy is cheap on sale in the far future.
I don't really mind if its third person or isometric, real time, real-time with pause, turn based, etc. I don't like first person typically though.
