The Best PC Games (You Should Be Playing)

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TechSpot has posted a list of the best PC games (you should be playing) and, I have to admit, it's pretty good with the exception of one or two on the list. Personally, I'd recommend The Witcher 3, Fallout 4 and DOOM to anyone that hasn't played them yet.

While not all the titles on this list are exclusive to the PC, it’s the place where they truly shine. If you haven’t tried some of these, know that you’re missing out. In our opinion, these are the best PC games you should be playing right now, so what are you waiting for?
 
Playing games are not the issue, it is finishing them then I have trouble with. (I finally finished Tomb Raider 2103 last Christmas and was probably the only game I have finally finished in the last 10 years. :eek:)
 
Anyone play that Stardew Valley? Sounds pretty relaxing!
Put about 15hrs into it (or more?). Its a spiritual successor to harvest moon but I found it was far more forgiving with time/effort needed on crops. Music and graphics are relaxing, peaceful. Some of collections might keep you up at night trying to complete.
 
That is a pretty great list. I didn't see any that I disagreed with.
 
Anyone play that Stardew Valley? Sounds pretty relaxing!

It nails the casual positive feedback loop. I purchased it because I am a sucker for small indie projects. I did enjoy it for a while, but it isn't really the type of game I normally play.

The game is simply amazing especially when you consider everything was created by one guy. His love for what he was making really shows.
 
This is shaping up to be a pretty decent year for games I like.

I'm still working my way through Fallout New Vegas (it was in my backlog forever) but when I'm done, I'm looking forward to Fallout 4, Deus Ex mankind Divided and Civilization VI.
 
This is shaping up to be a pretty decent year for games I like.

I'm still working my way through Fallout New Vegas (it was in my backlog forever) but when I'm done, I'm looking forward to Fallout 4, Deus Ex mankind Divided and Civilization VI.

FO4 is fantastic. Im in the closed beta for the Nuka-World DLC, and it's fun as hell. Make sure to pick it up! In fact, get all the DLC :)

I excited for Civ VI
 
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FO4 is fantastic. Im in the closed beta for the Nuka-World DLC, and it's fun as hell. Make sure to pick it up! In fact, get all the DLC :)

What is the season pass thing I keep seeing? Is that something that includes a bunch of DLC?
 
FO4 is fantastic. Im in the closed beta for the Nuka-World DLC, and it's fun as hell. Make sure to pick it up! In fact, get all the DLC :)


As a Bostonian I'm also looking forward to seeing if I recognize any landmarks :p
 
This is shaping up to be a pretty decent year for games I like.

I'm still working my way through Fallout New Vegas (it was in my backlog forever) but when I'm done, I'm looking forward to Fallout 4, Deus Ex mankind Divided and Civilization VI.

What is particularly noteworthy about this is that if we don't count DLC/Expansions which I bought all of for Civilization V, the last three games I bought were Red Orchestra 2 (2011), Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011) and Civilization V (2010).

Nothing launched since then really interested me until now.

So I went 5 years without buying a single game, and all of a sudden there are 3 being released in the same year I am interested in!
 
What is particularly noteworthy about this is that if we don't count DLC/Expansions which I bought all of for Civilization V, the last three games I bought were Red Orchestra 2 (2011), Deus Ex Human Revolution (2011) and Civilization V (2010).

Nothing launched since then really interested me until now.

So I went 5 years without buying a single game, and all of a sudden there are 3 being released in the same year I am interested in!


You should be playing Diablo3. It's in a great place right now.

Season Pass includes all of the DLC. I wish I bought it when it was still 20 or 30 bucks.
 
You should be playing Diablo3. It's in a great place right now.

Not my kind of game. I generally don't do anything fantasy.

I'll get in to the craziest Sci-Fi sometimes, but as soon as you add wizards, orcs, mana, potions and magic to anything, I check out. The suspense of disbelief needed to enjoy them is just too great for me :p


Season Pass includes all of the DLC. I wish I bought it when it was still 20 or 30 bucks.

Hmm. Wonder if it is a good deal for a new buyer now. Will have to look at that.
 
I know it's not FPS shooter, a genre of which I'm totally done with, but I was going to say World of Warships should be on the list.

As a "Free" game, it can get expensive as hell bit it is a masterpiece of programming and digital artistry.
 
Wow, what a bold article. People do need to pay more attention to small hidden gems like GTA:V and Fallout 4. Titles like that barely have any marketing behind them and really struggle to break even for the small indie studios behind them.
 
I will get FO4 when a final gold version is released and it is on sale on Steam. Won't buy GTAV because Rockstar are control freaks and have read about them unjustly banning many people from MP. Enemy Unkown 2 is just an enhanced version of the first one with timed missions so don't need that. Doom is just an 11 hour SP game really so will wait for massive discount. Already have Witcher3 and the others do not interest me except maybe that Metal Gear Solid game. I mostly buy cheap EA games these days because AAA games are way overpriced in Canada. I won't pay $80.00 CAD for any game, which is what they now want here for AAA games. Nope.
 
Anyone play that Stardew Valley? Sounds pretty relaxing!

It is literally the non facebook version of farmville. There is nothing further that needs to be said other than if this qualifies as a "Best PC game", it has been a truly shitty year in gaming.

I generally agree with the rest of the list outside overwatch. It's popular sure, but it isn't what I would call the best. That however is personal bias because I utterly despise the achievement driven casual style of modern FPS.
 
It is literally the non facebook version of farmville. There is nothing further that needs to be said other than if this qualifies as a "Best PC game", it has been a truly shitty year in gaming.

I generally agree with the rest of the list outside overwatch. It's popular sure, but it isn't what I would call the best. That however is personal bias because I utterly despise the achievement driven casual style of modern FPS.

Never touched a single Facebook game, or any F2P(pay-to-win) game, mobile or otherwise.
 
Only mobile game I ever install is Chess from chess.com. Chess is the only game anyone really needs.
 
Late to the party, but just dived into Path of Exile last night - all the old Diablo II feels coming back.

I started with PoE about a week ago but although it seems to have all the right D2 feel, it's missing something for me. I can't seem to grasp the build mechanics. It's almost like every character I make and class I choose turns into the same thing.

Now let me highlight the difference. In D2, one of my favorite builds was a singing Barb. I built him to use his warcries, in particular the one shout that Stunned nearby mobs. I would go into the Cow Level and stun cows, and drag them around behind me and stun them until I would have 60 or more cows around me packed so tight while my barb shouted and stunned them over and over and over. Now the shouts didn't do the killing so I had those unique throwing axes and one hell of a lot of poison, and piercing and leach, and I would pause the warcries when my mana got low and throw axes and poison as many cows as I could and leach back all that manna in a hot second. And then I would shout and shout and shout again.

Now this didn't kill cows very quickly, but it did draw attention from other players. My favorites were the Javazons who would see my stack of cows and blast them with Lighting Fury I think it was. And if I could get that Zon to figure it out, they would drag the cows to me where they would get stuck in my stun and I was like a sheep dog, I would help collect the cows fast and hold them in place, and the zon would blast them and together we could clear that level pretty fast.

So that's what I mean, I am having a problem getting a handle on the build mechanics and even for what I might be selecting a specific build for.
 
I know it's not FPS shooter, a genre of which I'm totally done with, but I was going to say World of Warships should be on the list.

As a "Free" game, it can get expensive as hell bit it is a masterpiece of programming and digital artistry.

I sold my Wargaming Account with 5 years in it and literally hundreds of dollars invested, and with it, went the Warships account that was also off to a decent start. In short, I was just spending too much money on it and I had to stop myself. That being said, I enjoyed both, but Warships to me was a problem. I think they messed up with all the island bullshit and sacrificed any actual resemblance to naval warfare for gamey arcadish crap. Too bad, all the mechanics were there, they just needed to have more faith in the player base.
 
It is literally the non facebook version of farmville.
I'll admit I never played farmville, but I'm curious do you meet other people, and have to "buy" their affection to build relationships? Do you swing a sword? Do you go into dungeons? Fishing? among other things... if so, then sure it's the non-facebook version of Farmville.
 
Doo(V) - When on sale for 20 dollars or lower
Witcher 3:WH - Worth full price (recommend HoS and BW at the same time)
Dark Souls 3 - Super boring game - worth 3$
Overwatch - Love the hype Hate the game - worth 9.99$
X-Com 2 - A buggy mess - worth 10.00$
GTA 5 - A short story and cheaters online - worth 13.99$
Rise Of The Tomb Raider - Story is not that interesting - worth 10.00$
Fallout 4 - Old gamebryo engine and a short story - Worth 5.00$ - DLC is worth 0.01$
Phantom Pain - Gonna need another limb for the rocket launcher - worth 1.99$
Inside - worth 4.99$

Out of all these games Witcher 3 is the only true winner.
 
Not a single simulator. What a surprise. I'm going back to X-plane now. Maybe fire up the old dos box and play aces of the deep (great ambiance, all I have to do is open up the window and get hot, 100 degree 100% humidity weather, I can pretend I'm in a hot, humid sub, all i need is some diesel fumes), or Combat, and have Chuck Yeager tell me I'm a rotten pilot. Now that's a game.
 
I mostly buy cheap EA games these days because AAA games are way overpriced in Canada. I won't pay $80.00 CAD for any game, which is what they now want here for AAA games. Nope.

It has been $60 in the US for years. Which is essentially the same as $80 CAD. Although I am sure your sales tax is higher.
 
  • Doom - Actually a very well designed game, finally a remake that doesn't disappoint, despite it's more like Quake 2 than any Doom. But the story is lacking, even though the gameplay is perfect there is nothing to make me finish it.
  • Witcher 3:WH - Haven't played it yet. Didn't like Witcher 1, hated Witcher 2, so it's not likely that I'll try it before it costs 5€ or less regardless of the hype.
  • Dark Souls 3 Unfortunately didn't try this one. I have enough in my backlog so I'll not add this to it.
  • Overwatch - I don't care for multiplayer so worth 0 to me. In fact I wouldn't play it if they paid me 60€ to play it. But that can be said about any MP game.
  • X-Com 2 - Easily game of the year, I'm confident nothing will be better this year, so I'm ready to give it that award now. I'm already over 200 hours played with it, and I can't seem to get enough of it.
  • GTA 5 - Extremely dragged out and boring story with unrelatable characters that you don't care one bit about. It was a chore to finish.
  • Rise Of The Tomb Raider - Started playing but the gameplay is a carbon copy of Tomb Raider and since I finished that right before this one I couldn't finish it, probably will revisit it at a later time.
  • Fallout 4 - Good sandbox environment. A little lacking here and there still well worth to play. The environment is beautiful it has some great side quests and characters, and the exploration is a really rewarding experience.
  • Phantom Pain - first MGS for me, realized that Kojima is an egoistic overrated a-hole. The game is a mediocre repetitive shooter, not worth to bother with.
  • Inside - Never heard of it.
 
Won't buy GTAV because Rockstar are control freaks and have read about them unjustly banning many people from MP.
I've got a couple hundred hours in GTAO, only person I've heard of is a friend of a friend who got a 2 week ban for cheating (he was).

Phantom Pain - first MGS for me, realized that Kojima is an egoistic overrated a-hole. The game is a mediocre repetitive shooter, not worth to bother with.
It's the second one I've played other than the first MGS, I've found it fun enough as long as you don't mind skipping an absolute shit ton of cutscenes (and of course the created/directed by kojima every damned mission).

Oh, and I bet everyone can't wait for the next MGS; featuring survival, zombies, and co-op :)
Konami strikes out on its own for 'Metal Gear Survive'
 
I started with PoE about a week ago but although it seems to have all the right D2 feel, it's missing something for me. I can't seem to grasp the build mechanics. It's almost like every character I make and class I choose turns into the same thing.

Now let me highlight the difference. In D2, one of my favorite builds was a singing Barb. I built him to use his warcries, in particular the one shout that Stunned nearby mobs. I would go into the Cow Level and stun cows, and drag them around behind me and stun them until I would have 60 or more cows around me packed so tight while my barb shouted and stunned them over and over and over. Now the shouts didn't do the killing so I had those unique throwing axes and one hell of a lot of poison, and piercing and leach, and I would pause the warcries when my mana got low and throw axes and poison as many cows as I could and leach back all that manna in a hot second. And then I would shout and shout and shout again.

Now this didn't kill cows very quickly, but it did draw attention from other players. My favorites were the Javazons who would see my stack of cows and blast them with Lighting Fury I think it was. And if I could get that Zon to figure it out, they would drag the cows to me where they would get stuck in my stun and I was like a sheep dog, I would help collect the cows fast and hold them in place, and the zon would blast them and together we could clear that level pretty fast.

So that's what I mean, I am having a problem getting a handle on the build mechanics and even for what I might be selecting a specific build for.


I totally get you. I did some deep diving, and just started to figure out the build mechanics last night. The build tree is confusing at first, but once you know what your character specializes in, it becomes easier to chart a course based on your play style.

I do feel that DII had better and clearer specialization, while PoE has a much steeper learning curve for the builds. And I can see how a lot of them would come up the same.

The one thing I would suggest is to really explore the tree with their site's character builder, and decide beforehand what you want your character to specialize in. If you don't have an idea on that, explore the trees by your start point, and see if you see anything that interests you, and then plot a course for it.

But no doubt the learning curve for that build tree is VERY steep, and without pre-planning, I can see how all characters can seem vanilla. I haven't been in the game long enough to refute that, either.

That said, still enjoying the story right now, but I would agree we share the same beef with the game, although perhaps it will grow on me the more I get accustomed to it.
 
Doo(V) - When on sale for 20 dollars or lower
Witcher 3:WH - Worth full price (recommend HoS and BW at the same time)
Dark Souls 3 - Super boring game - worth 3$
Overwatch - Love the hype Hate the game - worth 9.99$
X-Com 2 - A buggy mess - worth 10.00$
GTA 5 - A short story and cheaters online - worth 13.99$
Rise Of The Tomb Raider - Story is not that interesting - worth 10.00$
Fallout 4 - Old gamebryo engine and a short story - Worth 5.00$ - DLC is worth 0.01$
Phantom Pain - Gonna need another limb for the rocket launcher - worth 1.99$
Inside - worth 4.99$

Out of all these games Witcher 3 is the only true winner.

This has to be a parody post.
 
I started with PoE about a week ago but although it seems to have all the right D2 feel, it's missing something for me. I can't seem to grasp the build mechanics. It's almost like every character I make and class I choose turns into the same thing.

Now let me highlight the difference. In D2, one of my favorite builds was a singing Barb. I built him to use his warcries, in particular the one shout that Stunned nearby mobs. I would go into the Cow Level and stun cows, and drag them around behind me and stun them until I would have 60 or more cows around me packed so tight while my barb shouted and stunned them over and over and over. Now the shouts didn't do the killing so I had those unique throwing axes and one hell of a lot of poison, and piercing and leach, and I would pause the warcries when my mana got low and throw axes and poison as many cows as I could and leach back all that manna in a hot second. And then I would shout and shout and shout again.

Now this didn't kill cows very quickly, but it did draw attention from other players. My favorites were the Javazons who would see my stack of cows and blast them with Lighting Fury I think it was. And if I could get that Zon to figure it out, they would drag the cows to me where they would get stuck in my stun and I was like a sheep dog, I would help collect the cows fast and hold them in place, and the zon would blast them and together we could clear that level pretty fast.

So that's what I mean, I am having a problem getting a handle on the build mechanics and even for what I might be selecting a specific build for.

PoE has some pretty unique builds, but a lot of them require very specific items & levels to get going properly

for example, potion flask build

 
I totally get you. I did some deep diving, and just started to figure out the build mechanics last night. The build tree is confusing at first, but once you know what your character specializes in, it becomes easier to chart a course based on your play style.

I do feel that DII had better and clearer specialization, while PoE has a much steeper learning curve for the builds. And I can see how a lot of them would come up the same.

The one thing I would suggest is to really explore the tree with their site's character builder, and decide beforehand what you want your character to specialize in. If you don't have an idea on that, explore the trees by your start point, and see if you see anything that interests you, and then plot a course for it.

But no doubt the learning curve for that build tree is VERY steep, and without pre-planning, I can see how all characters can seem vanilla. I haven't been in the game long enough to refute that, either.

That said, still enjoying the story right now, but I would agree we share the same beef with the game, although perhaps it will grow on me the more I get accustomed to it.


But for me, a build is something that meets a need. My Singing Barb was a cow herder, that was what he did best, mob control. I don't know anything about the higher parts of the game so I can't forcast a need and develop ideas for builds. I don't want someone else's solutions, I want to make my own.
 
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