the delphic expanse

Okay, so it's a real stretch to call myself a gamer, but I do have a few favorites and I'm looking for more. I figure now's a good time, what with all the holidays sales, etc.

So, are there any other gamers out there? Any recommendations?

Some of my recent favorites: Portal, hands-down, is my favorite so far. Before that was Cyan's Riven of the Myst series. (I've played almost all of the Myst games but the last few were so easy and disappointing that I bailed on the last one.) I'm awaiting Portal II. I've played through Shadow of the Colossus, Unreal (the original), Burnout 3: Takedown, and some in Quake III. I've heard good things about Assassin's Creed and there seems to even be some fandom around that, so I'm even more intrigued.

I didn't want to get into the online multi-player games much after Quake so I've never poked around in WOW, etc.

They don't fall into the same category, but I used to really like The Sims and SimCity too and worked with a guy from EA - who'd worked on the games - for a while.

Anybody else play? Suggestions for something to try?

Shadow of the Colossus is hands down my favourite game of all time, the graphics are amazing, and combined with the music and the plot it's definitely more of an experience than a game.

The team behind it are about to bring out their third game, which from the trailers looks even more mind-blowing and beautiful than the last, but that's not for at least another year unfortunately. Their first, Ico, is actually a very loose sequel to Shadow of the Colossus (mainly just in the fact that it's set in the same universe), and whilst it's simpler, and a slight tad slow in parts, it's another beautiful and satisfying game to play.

I'm also going to recommend Okami, another visually intense game, very satisfying and addictive, deserves a play by everyone.

Aside from that I haven't had an opportunity to play much lately on anything but the Nintendo DS Lite.

Thanks for the recs! I'll have a look at Ico and Okami.

Anything by Bioware. Mass Effect 1 and 2 are awesome, with the 2nd one really taking everything that made the 1st one good and making it better. Dragon Age is a good old fashioned sword & sorcery epic, and while its not quite as good as ME in my opinion, its still pretty damned good. If you want really old school stuff, I strongly strongly recommend Baldur's Gate 1, 2 (Shadows over Amn), and the expansion for 2 (Throne of Bhaal.) They're 2nd edition D&D and are PC games, but are just awesome.

Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 are both really good, but like ME, you really can't play the 2nd one first because they made some engine changes that, once you get accustomed to them, you can't go back to the older game.

Awesome, thanks for the suggestions! I'll probably check out the Baldur's Gate games you mentioned first.

I checked out Assassin's Creed via some YouTube peeks and I'm in love with the look of it already. Unfortunately I'm going to have to do some upgrades to my system to be able to handle it.

Well, either no one else plays WOW or no one wants to admit they play WOW. I do, and have since it was launched 6 years ago. It's the only game I've ever played, and I've met some wonderful people there. It's a beautiful game to solo (and my husband prefers to do just that) but I enjoy the friendships and community as well.

mareel wrote:Well, either no one else plays WOW or no one wants to admit they play WOW.

I used to play it, but just lost interest in it. Alas.

I've got a lot of friends who play WOW but I decided to avoid it on purpose. I used to play a couple of MUSH and MUDs, so I knew it could be kind of thing I could get sucked into pretty easily and, as much as I knew I'd enjoy it, it was too much of a temptation to be a time sink. I know my own weaknesses.

Console games are better for me in that sense. I play 'em for a while and put them away or I'll play them for a half hour every night as I'm working my way through them. Once I'm done I might revisit them once or twice in a very long while just to look at 'em again but other than that, they're done. For me that works out a lot better.

So? Anybody here playing Portal 2?

Oh yes! I am convinced I am almost at the end of it now but I had to go to bed as my eye balls were in danger of falling out. The graphics are stunning and the game play is so smooth. Story line is fantastic and the dialogue is superb. I found myself actually laughing a couple of times at some of it. Also it's quite challenging in parts, Portal I flew through without hesitation.

I am looking forward to co-op mode once I have completed the play through.

I even cancelled a raid on WoW to play it tonight