The last game you played that really blew you away

HardUp4HardWare

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
4,274
So, lets face it, I have played a lot of games. Some are good, some bad but very few leave me feeling like I just played something worthwhile. Something groundbreaking or at least gripping.

TLOU was probably the last game that really got me. I was sad the finish and glad at the same time. The characters especially the father really got under my skin. I could related to him and when I couldn't relate to him I wanted to. It was great storytelling and great gaming.

What game really connected to you and why? PC or console I don't care.
 
i guess Far Cry 4. Just one of those games that kept me wanting to play it for hours on end.
 
TLOU, GTA V very close second. And before them Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
 
Two of the most gripping I have played recently are:

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - really great story line

A Boy and His Blob - the soundtrack to this is just awesome.

The most recent game that I have started to play and enjoy is WarFrame.
 
I have heard really good things about Brothers, I tried it briefly but the controls made me sideline it for a bit. Will have to go try it for realz
 
I have heard really good things about Brothers, I tried it briefly but the controls made me sideline it for a bit. Will have to go try it for realz

I played a few minutes of it and found the mechanics to be intentionally difficult, I don't like games that do that.

My single player perspective on games tends revolve around cooling down and spacing out, I like my games to be an interactive daydream so to speak so I can get out of myskin and be the ingame characters for a while. so recently I'd say

The Walking Dead Season 2. Really gripped me in my seat. Unlike Season 1 which was just about racing against time and desperation, Season 2 was more angry and cynical, more about Starvation and self-preservation versus friendship. Every choice you made hurt and you really felt it.


Before that it was Last of Us I think. I recall somewhere towards the end you're in a large city and its just never felt so desolate and lonely but at the same time peaceful.

Then Dark Souls 2. Dark Souls 2 was incredibly involving, but once you beat the game and start playing for cute Armor and Clan stuff it starts to feel shallow. Still a great game.

MP wise I was playing some Chinese city map on BF4 64/64. For some odd reason my pub squad of randoms was completely in sync, I mean lockstep no questions no one screwing around despite no mic talk and at one point we took some rooftop check point on a sky scrapper and at the same time someone must of the blew the building? anyway we all 5 just walked straight off the ledge in unison parashooting down to another capture as the explosions were going off behind us. If someone was watching it would have looked like some trick at an AirForce show or something. Seemed pretty awe inspiring at the time.
 
I would say The Witcher 3. Besides the textures, which were amazing, the detail they put into the environment and atmosphere really makes you feel like you're in the world. They sort of drag the main plot along but there are dozens of amazing side quests in between that really grip you.
 
Last game that blew me away would probably be Beyond Two Souls.

Sure it has a lot of flaws, I even gave it a 6.5 out of 10 score in my review of it, but still it had some moments and elements in it that are unforgettable.

Like the seamless integration of campaign choices. Many people criticized it as linear, but what they didn't know is that they were making choices all along the game, it was just so seamless that they didn't know, there were actually multiple outcomes to almost every situation in the game. They thought their solution was the only solution that allowed the game to progress.

Sure last of us was great, but now reflecting from over 12 months of time, Beyond Two Souls is the one that stayed with me more. And while I have absolutely no plans for replaying TLOU, if they ever release a remaster of Beyond I'll definitely want to play that again.

Many hated the Navajo scene of the game, but to me that was one highlight of it. I loved the detached feel that you're so far away from every other problem, but you were still dealing with some heavy shit. I''m usually not a fan of these supernatural things, but they presented it so well here, it didn't feel like the usual religious bs, but something like a psychedelic ghost encounter.

And the most important part of the game, is that every character felt alive, and real. You couldn't help but feel for everyone, or at least see things their way. While for example in TLOU everyone apart from the two main characters felt paper thin, and totally forgettable.

The last game before that was Mass Effect 3. So much fan service and so many character moments. Especially with the Citadel DLC.

Going back even more I'd have to say Alan Wake. I wanted to hate the game so much for how they fucked every PC gamer over. Demoing it on a Core2Quad with these advanced weather and tornado effects, then releasing it as a fucking xbox exclusive? If that's not selling your soul then I don't know what is. But the story and especially the soundtrack really made the game come alive on the screen when it was finally released for PC, even if it was so much less than what it could've been if they stick to the original plans.
 
The Last of Us was the last one for me.

"Blowing away" absolutely. MGS 5 on the other hand I just didn't want to stop playing. The gameplay was incredible and I still have urges to go back and play it if it wasn't for Destiny.
 
Going back even more I'd have to say Alan Wake. I wanted to hate the game so much for how they fucked every PC gamer over. Demoing it on a Core2Quad with these advanced weather and tornado effects, then releasing it as a fucking xbox exclusive? If that's not selling your soul then I don't know what is. But the story and especially the soundtrack really made the game come alive on the screen when it was finally released for PC, even if it was so much less than what it could've been if they stick to the original plans.

YES
I played that LONG after it was out and thought it was an amazing game.
Alan Wake, yes, good call.
 
I've played several amazing ones in the last year or two that I've just absolutely loved.

Most recently was The Witcher 3.

Going back from there in order: Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider (reboot), Bioshock Infinite, & Witcher 2.

Probably a lot more I'm forgetting, but those were the most memorable off the top of my head. Playing each of those were just amazing immersive experiences that I loved the whole time I was playing. For just about all of them I put off playing them for a long time after they were released ('cause I'm cheap and spoiled by Steam sales), but when I finally got into each one I was astounded by the amazing narrative experiences and just how much fun each one was to play.
 
Star control 2, bioforge, and ultima online for me. When i was younger it was a lot easier to get sucked in.
 
I'm playing Far Cry 3 now and it has been a great experience across the board.
 
Easily S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Diablo III takes second place.

I've been bored since then...
 
To me, the last one was Bastion, on the iPad. I had never heard of the game before seeing it in Toucharcade, then after playing it, I tried the XBLA version... not as good. Something about the controls were a bit off to me. Before that, only Halo CE really blew me away, though that was the first "modern" FPS I had ever played (by then, Halo 3 had already come out, so I was a bit behind the times).
 
The Last of Us was the last one for me.


Absolutely.

Still stands as the best or one of the best games I've ever played, hands down. Anyone who disagrees can seriously fuck off because your opinion sucks. Yeah, that's right. Fuck off.


In less intense terms, I was pleasantly surprised by Arkham Knight, I just hit the first ending. Everything was great.... Graphics, gameplay, story especially and the amount of side plots.... Loved it.

Before that probably MGS4.

Honestly I'm having trouble really remembering before that. There was a number of years where I didn't game at all, and before that half life 2 was just released and I was playing CS and day of defeat constantly. So it's been a while aside from recently.
 
Witcher 3, then some aspects of MGSV

Mario 64 is probably my all time biggest mind=blown though
 
Halo: Combat Evolved for me. I've played a lot of great games since then, but nothing that has left me with the same sense of awe as that game. I think it was the combination of the technical achievement and storytelling that got me. Maybe I was just more easily impressed back then :D
 
Since it hasn't been mentioned. Spec Ops: TheLine. Holy fuck prepare for an emotional rollercoaster if you decide to try that one.
 
Far Cry 3 and Tomb Raider [reboot]
Plus NFS Shift and Shift 2 Unleashed.
Both very good and I still have them installed and play them.

ps I will be getting the new Tomb Raider as soon as it's released.
 
Last edited:
Witcher 3. Best game ever. Hope it shows developers what happens when you make an amazing game and don't include shitty ass DRM and PTW crap.
 
Last edited:
PT, easily the most significant example of a game designed from the ground up by people who wish to craft a new experience. Too bad it will never go anywhere.
 
To the Moon. This is the only title that truly blew me away. Most of the AAA titles I already had come to expect the quality, so they didn't exactly blow me away so be speak (I was already dug in due to expectations).

To the Moon was unexpected.
 
mgs5, literally the first time I put over 100hrs into a single playthrough of a game. Sure the story is crap, but the stealth approach to an open world never seems to get old
 
Back
Top