r/gaming • u/KH_Nakama • 1d ago
What’s a game that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but absolutely nails the formula?
I’ve been playing Dragon Quest XI lately, and it’s made me appreciate games that are unapologetically “vanilla.”
It doesn’t have some groundbreaking combat system. It doesn’t try to flip every JRPG trope on its head. It just takes the classic formula and executes it incredibly well. Charming characters, fun turn-based combat, a great sense of adventure, and a world that’s a joy to explore.
It’s kind of like eating an amazing vanilla ice cream. Nobody orders vanilla because it’s the most exciting flavor—they order it because when it’s done really well, it’s hard to beat.
It’s made me wonder what other games fit that description. Games that don’t reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly revolutionary, but are so polished and well executed that they end up being some of the best in their genre.
What games come to mind for you?
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u/McPhage 1d ago
Paper Mario: the Thousand Year Door. When I first played it, it seemed like it didn’t do much past the original Paper Mario. But as I played through it, I realized they just… nailed it.
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u/DagtheBulf 1d ago
That is my favorite game of all time. It is peak all the way through. The only part I didn't like was finding that stupid bobomb near the end and having to backtrack to find him, but they mostly fixed that in the remake.
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u/JulienBrightside 1d ago
I wonder if the purpose of that mission was to give you a reason to revisit old places and pick up things you might have missed.
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u/ye_esquilax 1d ago
It may have vanilla gameplay, but its setting is definitely non-vanilla, at least from a Mario perspective. I played the original version almost 20 years after its release, and while I found the gameplay a bit tedious after a while, the story and setting felt very foreign from a typical Mario game. A completely different franchise could have easily felt at home in it.
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u/jeremiahvedder 1d ago
This game does not get enough respect. One of the most perfect games of all time.
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u/BigHaircutPrime 23h ago
It's fresh on my mind as I literally completed a run of it 2 days ago, but unfortunately I feel like it did not hold up nearly as well as I remembered it to. Still a fantastic game, but I could see the design decisions made to artificially pad the game time about 100%. I really love the fighting/badge mechanic though. That versatility makes the game shine line very few others.
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u/LancingLash 22h ago
I never noticed how much backtracking there was as a kid. I wish the levels were just larger.
Rogueport is a fantastic hub world though. I love hubs where you slowly unlock more areas or find more hidden stuff as you progress in a game. Hard carries the game in my opinion.
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u/Common_Wrongdoer3251 1d ago
Any time this game is mentioned, I feel the need to mention Bug Fables. It's the closest I've seen to a spiritual successor. I wish Nintendo still made good Paper Mario games.
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u/DyingGasp 1d ago
I just finished Bug Fables and I’m playing TTYD now. Bug Fables is superior.
But they learned from the first two Paper Mario games, so kind of expected. They made a ton of QOL improvements, notably with quests, and spy specs. I feel the battle system is better with the static part of three versus duo. I also appreciated Bug Fables just being a tad more difficult, like tattle vs spy.
But yeah, Paper Mario and Bug Fables have all been great:
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u/MrLK 1d ago
Grim Dawn certainly comes to mind.
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u/kaest 1d ago
New expansion out in a week!
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u/jkhunter2000 1d ago
Ive played grim dawn like 4 times and everytime I dont make it more than a few hours in. Me and my friend have made it our mission! To commit to grim dawn now with this expansion coming
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u/kaest 1d ago
Good on you! If you don't like the first act it does take some getting in to. Godspeed.
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u/DrStuttgart 21h ago
I'm 1200 hours into the original + expansions. Can't wait to wipe all my content and play for another 1200 after the new expansion. This dev team remembers what expansions are supposed to be.
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u/DooMedToDIe 1d ago
I wish I liked this game more then I do. None of the classes really appeal to me much like the Diablo 2 classes do, and I just found the first 5 or 6 hours kinda average
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u/McPhalicus 1d ago
I played it with a mod that added the Diablo 1, 2, and 3 classes along with Titan Quest and a couple other class sets. Pretty good mod. Don’t remember the name of it off the top of my head though.
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u/herites 1d ago
Grimallirion or Dawn of Masteries, both out of date and prepping for the expansion.
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u/OkChildhood2261 1d ago
I just tried it recently and it's just unbelievable fun. Finally, after god knows how many years, I found an ARPG that feels like playing Diablo 2 for the first time.
I can't even put my finger on why it's so good. It's just.... fun.
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u/SomniaCrown 1d ago
Mad Max
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u/DonaldTheWall 1d ago
I bought it when it came out, forgot all about it and played it a couple of years ago
It expands on the lore perfectly, the gameplay is solid, and nothing is overdone or falls short, it gives the sense of speed when driving and action on foot just like it should
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1d ago
[deleted]
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u/DingoSuavez 1d ago
And the sandstorms get even better when you hop in your car, punch that shit right into the storm and start harpooning large airborne loot crates with lightning crashing around you.
It's dope.
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u/weristjonsnow 1d ago
I just wanted the v8 prior to having cleared literally everything else lol. My own fault
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u/OkChildhood2261 1d ago
I always tell people that Mad Max is the absolute best average game I've ever played.
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u/FinnyMac_ 1d ago
Sleeping dogs
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u/DriftMantis 1d ago
Great game. I do feel like the open world melee combat and gangster vs. cop dual life setup was relatively unique. So while it does just do what other games have done it did innovate in some ways as well.
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u/alucidreality 1d ago
I believe it was originally a True Crime game, where those features were also part of the game
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u/Chief_White_Halfoat 1d ago
I think this is the perfect answer. It uses the popular combat style from that time from Arkham.
It copies heavily from GTA (and its own true crime series) obviously. But it's version of Hong Kong feels right and it feels lively (I appreciated being told I looked good after exiting the store).
It tells a story that is just chock full of cliches about an undercover cop in Hong Kong yet does it in a way where no matter how obvious the story beats are your attachment to the characters makes it work. It humanizes the gangsters just enough where you understand them but it never tries to pretend that these are good people.
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u/The_Relx 1d ago
The most recent Star Fox reboot/remake. It's pretty much a perfect arcade shooter.
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u/Irrationate 1d ago
Stardew Valley. Everything great about harvest moon or other farm games packaged into one complete 8 bit style package.
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u/chase_this_light87 1d ago
16 bit
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u/bigmoron30 1d ago
I'd even say 32 bits. Those are gameboy advance quality graphics. Harvest moon was 16 bits on the snes... and it was far from this.
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u/slur-muh-wurds 1d ago
I'll raise you and say 64-bit. It's definitely wrong, but I'm not about to let a big moron have the last word.
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u/SunshineCircusDwellr 1d ago
Came here to say this! It nails a lot of what Harvest Moon forgot it was supposed to be. I do wish sometimes that the characters were a little more appealing though, even if it is nice that they aren't deliberately meant to be as likable as possible.
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u/CBAlan777 1d ago
From what I understand Story of Seasons is the real Harvest Moon made by the original team. What is being labeled as Harvest Moon isn't the same people. It's a different team.
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u/Goody2shoes15 1d ago
Agreed, and no other farm sim I've seen since has been able to top it.
It also gets the title of best game to have entirely free dlc and additional content and could be one of the last really mass played games to see that level of long term support and expansion. ConcernedApe is rich now but he's still in it for the love of the game and that's beautiful to see.
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u/Capitan_Scythe PC 1d ago
It also gets the title of best game to have entirely free dlc and additional content and could be one of the last really mass played games to see that level of long term support and expansion.
No Man's Sky released the same year and has 43 named content updates to Stardew Valley's 7, all for free.
Which means, as a fan of both, we're eating good! Both Concerned Ape and the team at Hello Games are just amazing for what they've given to their respective games.
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u/EldrinJak 1d ago
Honorable mention to Darksiders 1 and 2. Never played the others.
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u/Mornar 1d ago
Just like 1 and 2 are different, so are the others. 3 I found much better than general consensus would make you believe, but then I like Soulslikes. The coop game I cannot remember the name of from the top of my head right now was pretty good too, obviously better in coop than solo though.
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u/neroselene 1d ago edited 1d ago
Devil May Cry 5 is basically a perfect Hack and Slash game in terms of Dante and Nero's gameplay.
It just gets everything right. Lock-on is simple and just works, button layouts work (but can be changed if need be), and then there's the style switching for Dante. Shocked nobody else has thought to do something like that for freeing up different combo's and mechanics.
As for Nero, his gameplay's just a straight upgrade from DMC 4 and the breakers give you some actual variety among his combo's.
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u/mucho-gusto 17h ago
Bayo 2 is also a perfect hack and slash action game. Even throws in enough curveballs like the Godzilla esque segment
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u/GhastFlabbers 1d ago
Need for Speed: Most Wanted, both of them. RIP NFS
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u/yourdudelyness 1d ago
Are they not making anymore nfs games? I thought unbound was.. alright. I love the goofy story, wish brake to drift would die but the mechanics are decent
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u/GhastFlabbers 1d ago
Not anytime soon. EA has restructured Criterion to focus exclusively on Battlefront for the foreseeable future.
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u/RedTheAwesome293 1d ago
Most wanted 2012 was the first nfs game I played, and it was and still is one of my fav racing games ever. So damn good. Rivals was pretty damn fun too. The graphics in rivals are pretty damn good to this day as well.
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u/vkdante 1d ago
Insomniac's Spider-Man.
Just takes a bunch of good ideas from past/other games and nails it.
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u/JustPlayDaGame 1d ago
idk about “nailed “, the crime tokens are grindy and a lot of the mission types feel repetitive after the main story. combat is a 10 tho
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u/aircooledJenkins 1d ago
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
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u/Troyface 1d ago
This is it right here. Nothing else has come close.
My picks are Borderlands 2 (cant believe this one hasn't appeared yet), Infinity Blade and Diablo 2
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u/Lastsoldier115 1d ago
Spyro 1 - 3. Just amazing platformers / collect-a-thons that defined an entire console generation.
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u/Wonderbread421 1d ago
Ripto’s Rage was my childhood. I have two older siblings and I was the first one to beat Crush.
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u/austino7 1d ago
Hades 2. Just improves on the first one in lots of ways but still has the same fun game loop.
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u/FygarDL 1d ago
Hades 2 had so much dialogue. Too much for me, but I think I’m in the mknority
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u/Most-Hawk-4175 1d ago
That was definitely the main criticism of the second game. Too much going on as far as character development and relationships. Kind of overwhelming. But the gameplay is just so good. Still one of my favorites.
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u/DueManner654 22h ago
This is actually funny, because I recently beat the game on game pass and had a feeling the game was actually shorter than the first one, but It may be Just an impression, since i didnt had to do the first ending like people that played early access lol
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u/SaxRohmer 1d ago
i think they added a touch too much tbh. doesn’t really grab me the way the first did
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u/buttskinboots 1d ago
I didn’t like the weapons as much or the new dash/sprint mechanic personally
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u/NarwhalsFromSpace 1d ago
Hollow Knight. Arguably my favorite game of all time, but really it's nothing but a very good metroidvania
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u/RedFlash99 22h ago
Another game that nails the metroidvania formula is Ender Lillies and its sequel Ender Magnolia
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u/theNakedMind 20h ago
Came here to post this. Doesn't really do much in terms of innovation, but totally nails the exploration, combat, storytelling, enemy design, world design, and customization from the plethora of games that came before it (including some non-metroidvanias). Take combination of all that, add a charming artstyle, great sound design, and a stellar score, and you've got yourself a masterpiece.
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u/Ok-Donut-4447 1d ago
Just wanted to say DQXI is a wonderful game for exactly the reasons you state. I love it ❤️
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u/Skydude252 1d ago
The dragon quest series as a whole is mostly this, and that is why people like it. It’s nothing revolutionary but it’s solid and pretty consistently wonderfully executed.
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u/blargher 1d ago edited 1d ago
If I've never played any before, should I start with XI?
EDIT: Lotta enthusiastic responses, lol. I knew the series was popular but never gave it a shot. Just picked up a steam key of the DQXI S Definitive Edition and started installing it on my Ally X. Thanks y'all!
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u/Dianae_Fox 1d ago
XI is a love letter to the series in general. It's a great introduction to the game, though if you are playing the S version, you will get call backs to previous games through the added Tockles Side quests
Other than that, the Original Trilogy, which can be played in release order, or chronological order, (3,1,2) is amazing in the 2D-HD remakes. I think the "Zenithian Trilogy" (4, 5, 6) doesn't need to be played in order. 7, 8 and 9 are not interconnected as far as I am aware.
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u/Mind-Breakar 1d ago
You absolutely can, every new installment has their own story that is rather unconnected to each other. You can jump in any of them without playing prior games.
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u/Skydude252 1d ago
It can be appreciated without playing any of the others, though they will enhance it. The “enhanced edition” has much better audio than the original release.
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u/DidntSeeNuttin 1d ago
Also, depending on the version you get to play little scenario nuggets of previous games and that alone got me playing the entire series from scratch, aside from 10.
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u/TheWayofUnions 1d ago
I wish it had more than one song. I had to give up after a few hours.
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u/Ayrios440 1d ago
The soundtrack is easily it's biggest disappointment. I honestly think the game would be elevated so much had it been given a further 20 or so tracks.
But as it stands, whilst you can indeed turn the music off, it brings the game to a slog with the same music everywhere and I've tried 4 times now to enjoy this game and get to a point where it just withers away.
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u/YourPalCasey 1d ago
Ghost of Tsushima is the best Assassins Creed game ever made.
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u/crystal_buckeye 1d ago
As an Assassin's Creed fan and an XBox console player, this makes me sad.
One day I'll build a PC and play it (if the prices ever come down for parts).
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u/ZYRANOX 1d ago
I'll tell you something nobody ever talks about. Prices on prebuilt PCs are better than ever nowdays specially around Black Friday/Christmas. Just do your own homework around that time by building your own PC and looking at pre builts online and make your choice. My friend got a pre built last year that was basically same price as separate parts plus he got a 500 dollar monitor for free added onto it as a bundled package. Some even have free mice/keyboards/headsets
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u/fatamSC2 1d ago
Yep the difference in price is so minimal these days as long as you watch for deals, the elitists/gatekeepers will deny it but it's true
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u/DrBoots 1d ago
I think both of the Horizon games do a lot with the basic open world game formula.
Nothing I haven't seen before but never feels like it's overstaying its welcome with it.
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u/PiG_ThieF 1d ago
This was my feeling for Horizon Zero Dawn. Nothing revolutionary but a great story and great environment with fun combat. Really the open world action RPG experience perfectly balanced. Forbidden west felt a little more bloated.
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u/QuickQuirk 1d ago
Horizon rocked the story. It was one of the few open world games that actually gave a damn. (Others, off the top of my head, being The Witcher 3, maybe Dragon Age: Inquisition)
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u/Lima__Fox 1d ago
I felt like Ghost of Tsushima was the formula perfected. I really haven’t been tempted to pick up another Ubisoft style open world since.
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u/ienjoyedit 1d ago
GoT was everything Assassin's Creed should have been since... like number 2. It was SO good.
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u/prophaniti 1d ago
Agreed. On a realted note, I dont think I have experienced a video game generated catharsis quite as potent as cutting through the last stalk of bamboo. For what was essentially a minigame, that task felt SO GOOD when you got it right.
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u/Rs90 1d ago
What do you mean "nothing I haven't seen before?". I feel like the entire setting is unique right from the jump. And all the enemies? I can't think of a single game with enemies like Horizon. And I guess you boil the combat down but it still stuck out as more interesting than a lot of games with a bow .
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u/achmejedidad 1d ago
Abiotic Factor
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u/Kind_Man_0 1d ago
I came here looking for this. I'm so glad I've been seeing this game on Reddit more. It really deserves more attention.
I've been playing it since the first few weeks of Early Access and they had it nailed right from the start. Custom sandbox rules, base building, and it scales well, you don't start the game with auto-sorting into chests, but you can craft an item for that, every tedious task gets easier over time and it lets you focus on the parts of the game that are ahead of you rather than constantly having to micromanage your base at home, so the game doesn't get stale after 6 hours.
It's like they made a game and asked, "Are we having fun at this moment" if the answer was no, they fixed it.
I know I sound like I'm fanboying, and I probably am, but I've been sick of half-baked "Early Access" games taking your $25 and keeping you limbo for years. Abiotic factor had a short road map to 1.0, and was an absolute breath of fresh air. If you haven't played it, I can't suggest it enough. It is a gem.
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u/zunuf 1d ago
It's like they perfectly distilled the things that make people play video games in the first place. Progression, exploration, a feeling of danger, mystery, surprises, action, having a secret base!
Only thing I don't like is having to use the bathroom. That's too much realism for me. But they let you turn it off. :)
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u/4KVoices 1d ago
I'm not gonna lie, as somebody who played in the beta, they made me cry a little bit. Not with any particular plot point; opening a door.
In the beta we built our base into an area, and it was a good base, but it was near a particular door (the one next to the office elevator) and I was dying to know what was behind it. There were a bunch of other doors we couldn't enter, but I wanted - NEEDED - to know what was behind that door.
Game released, we waited a while for it to be populated with content, eventually we moved to the Hydrodam and I kinda forgot about my door. Hit the end of content; waited some more; game got officially completed and we came back to finish the last few things.
The door that I had been so fucking entranced by is literally the final one that you open. You get teleported there, and when I opened it up from the other side and realized where I was, I quickly told my friends I needed to step away for a moment, muted for a second, and had to just sit with the gravity.
I think, of all the games I have ever played, Abiotic Factor has the best world/map. It's lovingly interconnected in a way that feels more rewarding than I'd expect, given that I absolutely do not get that same feeling from something like a Metroidvania.
It's EASILY - yes, EASILY - the greatest 'survival crafting' game of all time, in my opinion; it's just the fuckin' best.
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u/Beever_PixelArt 1d ago
This game has ruined survival sandbox type games for me in a way - me and my crew had went through playing 7 days to die, then picked up abiotic factor while knowing absolutely nothing about it.
It was that good that anything we tried to play after just felt stale, tried playing grounded and valheim but we all just wanted to play abiotic factor again.
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u/Owobowos-Mowbius 1d ago
Such a unique and skillfull twist on a tired formula/genre of games. My favorite of its kind.
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u/SpyroESP 1d ago
Super Mario Odyssey.
Just finished the main story today, I think it's genuinely the pinnacle of 3D Mario.
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u/decadent-dragon 1d ago
I would give the edge to the Galaxy titles. Odyssey is great, but too much focus on collecting and not enough on platforming. Galaxy 2 is the pinnacle 3D Mario imo.
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u/Pylgrim 1d ago
What? Platforming on Odyssey was sublime. The amount of movement skills and the way you could chain them is simply unsurpassed. Sunshine had that same variety but not as much flexibility.
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u/Fenexeus 1d ago
Honestly, i feel like the galaxy games werent quite as good as odyssey as a platformer. Those games have absolutely stellar level themes and design though.
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u/Fuck-WestJet 1d ago
Ori and the Will of the Wisps. A touching story that also happens to be a damn near perfect platformer and metroidvania game
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u/Owobowos-Mowbius 1d ago
Elden ring.
Its just them taking everything they learned from all previous soulsborne games and putting it all into a masterfully done big open world. None of it is unique but as a whole package... its unmatched.
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u/NoCity898 1d ago
I am personally more fond of a slightly railroaded, yet immersive world, like in Dark Souls 1. Open world in itself does not mean anything unless you feel drawn to it.
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u/howmanychickens 1d ago
Nothing really came close for me as when you're trekked all the way through undead burg, take a lift down, and blammo, back at fire link shrine. The whole interconnectedness of the first half of the game is amazing.
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u/FADM_Crunch 1d ago
Man, I feel like every single concept in Palworld is stolen from Pokemon, Breath of the Wild, Elden Ring, Rimworld, but it all comes together into such a fun game, I don't even care. They take it in stride and are kind of tongue-in-cheek about it all, change enough of the genuine creative elements to make it fun to explore, then just let you go nuts.
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u/meat_rock 22h ago
Yeah Palworld is my immediate thought too, it does kinda break the mold in how well it brings all these systems together, but everything is familiar from another game.
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u/Syrairc 1d ago
This sub hates it but Sea of Stars, IMO.
It doesn't reinvent anything and just feels like a pretty SNES JRPG.
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u/ryphos 1d ago
There's hate for Sea of Stars? I thought it was a fantastic homage to snes RPGs, I mean c'mon even one of the composers for Chrono trigger was involved!
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u/Dreaming_Dreams 1d ago
if you say sea of stars is good on r/JRPG they kill you
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u/freakmeoutt 1d ago
The sentiment I had when playing the game was that the fights feel more like puzzles to complete (i.e. follow a predefined sequence) rather than an activity where you have to use stats and strategy. I am aware that this is kind of a "feels" argument, but I believe the latter experience is really important for a large chunk of people playing the JRPG genre, and I also have felt the same way when playing the game.
Idk why but I reminded myself of FFX when writing this comment. I remember in 2007 when I played that bosses were hell to strategize around, and Yunalesca with the zombie status was the worst for me, worse than the final bosses. But she was actually a puzzle fight more than a battle of stats and strategy! Yet, a fight like that works better if it's an exception rather than the core experience.
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u/hideit1234 1d ago
I know I previously co-signed Forza horizon 6, but the real answer is counter strike.
Huge following super casual to ultra competitive, there were games that preceded it but unreal to have 1.3 cs to 1.6 to source to go, to cs2., and change almost nothing but the engine.
Valorant changes more per season than cs has in 24
Years.
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u/churly92 1d ago
Ghost of Tsushima seems to follow the formula popularized by Ubisoft, particularly in its AC games. But GoT just does it better and feels more polished.
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u/Estebansg7 1d ago
Lies of P imo
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u/Magma_Axis 1d ago
Yep, Solid Soul Formula with mostly traditional storytelling
Not everything need to be cryptic
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u/Sabetha1183 1d ago
Resident Evil 2 Remake nailed Resident Evil 4's combat system but in a modern survival horror game so well it became the gold standard for horror gameplay.
I have my issues with act 3, but Baldur's Gate 3 is mostly a textbook execution of the cRPG formula with a AAA budget.
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u/ConnerBartle 1d ago
Idk man I don’t consider RE2 remake to be the same combat system. Mechanics wise, all they have in common is being a third person shooter. There is no context sensitive melee combat and it’s significantly slower. There’s no long range gunplay in re2. And the accuracy and damage system is way different. Two different combat styles for sure.
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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 1d ago
This, RE2 was slower paced and had more puzzles with limited ammo. RE4 was more action-based and “run around and kill everything” type of RE
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u/imtpow02 1d ago
SMT and Persona series. Amazing jrpg with a pretty similar formula for each game.
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u/Prisinners 1d ago
Okami. Its art style is really unique, but its gameplay is mostly Legend of Zelda. It really nails the formula though.
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u/TimLordOfBiscuits 1d ago
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2 Both great ARPGs in their own right, they introduce amazing mechanics and trim the fat while staying true to systems and functions from ages-old classics. If you like BG3 I would definitely recommend trying them
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u/TheSteelyBoy 1d ago
Expedition 33. Basic rpg gameplay, but tweaked by giving the player something to do on the enemy turn other than stand there and take the hits.
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u/GhastFlabbers 1d ago
And it told a breathtaking story which, imo, is the pinnacle of game storytelling (so far).
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u/Wide_right_ 1d ago
did you know that masterpiece of a soundtrack came with a game too???
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u/guythatplaysbass 1d ago
the wtf is even going on mystery is so compelling, and so wondrously resolved
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u/pokemongenius 1d ago
Mario & Luigi did that way before
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u/Mayorquimby87 1d ago
Super Mario RPG did it way before that. (for the record, I don't consider this a negative on Expedition 33, and it's one of my favorite RPGs ever made (as is Super Mario RPG)).
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u/grundleHugs 1d ago
The reason I loved E33 was because it reminded me so much of super Mario RPG. It scratched an itch i didnt know i had from SNES.
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u/swimmingmoocow 1d ago
Dunno why you got downvoted, but yeah, people don’t seem to remember Super Mario RPG and how it utilized this mechanic (in a far more simplistic way than E33, but still).
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u/The_Vampire_Barlow Switch 1d ago
And the first paper Mario did it too. But it's a surprisingly under used style of gameplay in turn based rpgs, and mostly just in Mario games. I'm not surprised that a large portion of the gaming community wasn't familiar with it
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u/080087 1d ago
Also, Yakuza 7 and 8 (the turn based ones).
In addition to pressing button for extra damage/block, they also include positioning in the battle. So standing behind someone matters, standing near environmental weapons matters, standing near your ally matters, attacks do aoe in a line/circle etc.
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u/scootbert 1d ago
Forza Horizon 6
You could say the same with FH4/5/6, each game slightly improves on each other, but gives an amazing game play experience and gameplay loop.
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u/Aflyingmongoose 1d ago
Valheim, not just because it's a good survival game, but because it's a distilled concentrate of everything good about them.
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u/PapaBear_67 23h ago
Dragon Age: Origins. The only game that has kept me coming back to it after all these years. It just hits every box for me
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u/Lima__Fox 1d ago
Sea of Stars is a love letter to old JRPGs in the best way. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel for anything, it just takes the best parts of a dozen unique games and makes something that is all new but feels familiar. Add in a great story and low price and it’s just a damn good game.
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u/TimmiT401K 1d ago
Robocop: Rogue City. It's a Robocop FPS where you do Robocop shit, and the developers clearly loved the movies with how many little details from the movies are in the game. Not much more you could want from a licensed movie game.
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u/ThatNigerianMonkey 1d ago
Darksiders 1 and 2 really nailed what they were going for, imo. Can't wait for 4
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u/filanwizard 1d ago
Warframe. It certainly did not invent free to play, But it absolutely made the perfect execution of the formula.
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u/Midnite_St0rm PlayStation 1d ago
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.
Literally just JRPG/Final Fantasy X combat. Nothing remotely original or unique about the game. But it fucking kicks ass.
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u/thugbobhoodpants 1d ago
How far into dq11 are you?
I see this aaid about dq in general a lot because most Americans started with dq8 which is as standard jrpg as you can get
But dq11 does in one game what ff7 is trying to do inside a trilogy of games over two console generations imo
There are systems and story telling devices in dq4, 5 and 11 id still love to see in an ff game or even a remake still to this day
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u/cazana 1d ago
Might get some hate for this.
Overwatch was/is the final word on hero shooters. Everything after has felt derivative and sloppy and does not match the refinement OW brought to the table (looking at you rivals)
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u/CoffeeInMyHand 1d ago
Vanilla is literally one of the most complex flavors humans can taste. Don't be disrespectful!
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u/TheSwoleWaffle 1d ago
Astrobot for me. It did platforming to such an impeccable degree it’s incredible!
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u/HereInTheCut 1d ago
Avowed. Not a perfect game, but not every game needs to be.
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u/ProfessionalDrunk 1d ago
I'm playing it now for the first time after avoiding it from the reviews, having a great time.
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u/IDontStandForCurls 1d ago
Halo Reach was the perfect encapsulation of slightly modernizing Halo without adding anything too extravagant.
Outside of the odd armor lock annoyance it perfected that style of shooter without getting too far from the classic formula. Campaign obviously included.
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u/NewEvent5341 1d ago
I was going to make any argument for Persona 5 but I would not call that a vanilla type. Pokemon Gold...maybe
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u/TheStranger4321 1d ago
Avowed is such a solid Skyrim like. It doesn't do anything new, but it absolutely hits the formula in a way I found so impressive.
I'm experiencing something similar with Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon right now, but I haven't finished it so I don't feel like I can recommend it as strongly.
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u/No_Object_404 1d ago
Persona 5.
It built on what P4 offered a bit and refined somethings. But the formula was absolutely the same. And sure the improvements to the gameplay were great and made the game more fun.
But it was its presentation that really sealed the deal.
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u/QuickQuirk 1d ago
A lot of blizzards early career was exactly this: Taking a genre and polishing it. Warcraft 1, World of Warcraft, a case could even be made for overwatch.
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u/McGillis_is_a_Char 1d ago
Doom 2016. It is basically a straight modernization of Doom that reflects the then current technology.