Preferably in the high fantasy or sci fi genre.

I enjoy playing games like Chronotrigger, Tales of Symphonia, Witcher 3 (easiest difficulty), Mass Effect (in Story mode), Outer Worlds (in Story mode), etc.

Basically, story first, mechanics second. What’s your fav?

  •  Naate   ( @Naate@beehaw.org ) English
    7•6 months ago

    You sound a lot like me, and probably get annoyed with a lot of grindy mechanics. Especially when you have limited time to play games.

    Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes will really scratch that Chronotrigger itch.

    Outer Wilds is also incredible (don’t read spoilers, just go in blind). It’s mini space exploration with cartoon-arcadey newtonian physics.

    Sword & Sworcery is also great, and a good point-and-click adventure with an amazing soundtrack. I’d almost argue it’s better on a tablet or largeish phone through. It’s very touch input focused, which is OK with a mouse, but I think is better with a finger (as intended)

    Others I enjoy :

    • Kentucky Route Zero (point and click with a wild vibe)
    • Firewatch (walking Sim with pretty low poly art)
    • Dishonored 1 & 2 (gritty fps with stealth and magic)
    • Inside (short puzzle platformer)
    • Abzu (undersea exploration, relatively chill, but I never completed it)
    • The Invincible (more recent than the rest, a very pretty walking sim in a retro-future sci-fi setting (Stanislaw Lem) that kept me pretty engrossed and occasionally worried)
    • Horizon: Zero Dawn. (Absolutely adored this world and story. Story mode combat was good, but I just used cheats for a lot of the basic pickup/crafting stuff. Yes, I can take 30 minutes to run around and gather basic materials, but I don’t have that kind of time irl.)
    •  frog 🐸   ( @frog@beehaw.org ) English
      1•6 months ago

      Abzu (undersea exploration, relatively chill, but I never completed it)

      @troyunrau@lemmy.ca Abzu isn’t an RPG, but I’d still second this recommendation, as it’s very chill to play, has zero combat, and has a lovely story to it. Would also recommend Spirit of the North for the same reason. No dialogue in either, though - the story is very much in the visuals, music, and atmosphere rather than words.

    •  Troy   ( @troyunrau@lemmy.ca ) OP
      1•6 months ago

      Thanks for the recs! Already played Chained Echoes and quite liked it. Wish it was longer haha. Seen Sea of Stars reviews saying weak on story and dialogue and such, so I backburnered it, but maybe it’s worth it for the exploration elements alone?

      Never played Outer Wilds. But seen it recommended before and it’s on my radar. Should it be played on console, do you think? Or is the steam version fine.

      I’ll look into the rest when I have time. I appreciate all the details :)

      •  Ethereal87   ( @Ethereal87@beehaw.org ) English
        2•6 months ago

        Re: Outer Wilds, either console or Steam is fine but I would recommend a controller in either case. The flight mechanics can be a little tricky with a keyboard and mouse, but I had no issues getting it with a controller.