In search of a unique video game
I think the last game I really had a lot of fun exploring was Jurassic Park: Trespasser...though it's mostly linear, so there's only so much exploring you can actually do. But there's some really neat stuff to discover, especially in the beta version (which is a little less combat driven, and a bit more survival driven, which is how the game was originally supposed to be).
The first two Thief games are really fun to explore...there's a whole lot of really great secrets that bring me back to the days of DOOM, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, and the mantling and rope/vine arrow mechanics really add a lot to the experience. There are some combat elements (especially the first game), but for the most part you're encouraged to sneak around and avoid confrontation as much as possible. The other Looking Glass games had a lot of exploration too, but they're all far more combat oriented.
I can't think of too many exploration games that aren't stereotypical RPGs or GTA...at least not ones where they intend for you to explore Sometimes I'm satisfied enough with a good LEGO game, just trying to figure out how the heck to get a certain minikit.
Actually it's a spiritual sequel to Ultima Underworld, which was the biggest inspiration and the underlying engine for the first Elder Scrolls game
I just meant Arx is an Xbox Original game... Meaning Xbox 1 not Xbox 360. On 360, Xbox 1 games are called Xbox Originals... so I guess I worded that wrong. Arx Fatalis had a lot of Morrowind like elements being a fp-rpg but I thought the system of the game was more interesting... especially the arcade magic system of drawing out the runes to cast spells. I'm sure Arx isn't a first but it was a very cognitive game and I liked that very much about it.
AnAlias
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It's a sci-fi/space simulator but you can play it in any style you like--as a pirate, mercenary, explorer, merchant/trader, capitalist-industrialist....
It has a really steep learning curve (and a horrible plot which can be completely ignored)and it's so free that many new players feel lost and overwhelmed at the beginning. However, if you stick to it, the game is really rewarding.
My first real game of X3 started in a single scout ship. When I finished, 18 months and 100's of play hours later, I was a billionaire with 100's of factories and trade ships and a fleet of Capital ships to protect my galaxy-spanning empire...
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DemonAbyss10
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It's a sci-fi/space simulator but you can play it in any style you like--as a pirate, mercenary, explorer, merchant/trader, capitalist-industrialist....
It has a really steep learning curve (and a horrible plot which can be completely ignored)and it's so free that many new players feel lost and overwhelmed at the beginning. However, if you stick to it, the game is really rewarding.
My first real game of X3 started in a single scout ship. When I finished, 18 months and 100's of play hours later, I was a billionaire with 100's of factories and trade ships and a fleet of Capital ships to protect my galaxy-spanning empire...
I actually like how the tutorials were handled in starlancer and freelancer. Same for Nexus: The jupiter incident.
The only real nagging points I have about X3 are the following
---Early game goes way to slow (earning credit wise anyways). People will recommend capturing ships, but what do you do when noone EVER abandons them.
---When buying ships/equips, they really dont go over their stats at all. Thats what I liked about nexus and freelancer, you had numbers to crunch.
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GoonSquad
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---Early game goes way to slow (earning credit wise anyways). People will recommend capturing ships, but what do you do when noone EVER abandons them.
---When buying ships/equips, they really dont go over their stats at all. Thats what I liked about nexus and freelancer, you had numbers to crunch.
Yeah, in-game info can be a little skimpy but there are plenty of good spread sheets over at the X-universe forums.
There's also some great mods to tweak the gaming experience (like making capping easier)....
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Nethack (there's a wiki with spoilers if needed, and a public server at nethack.alt.org)
Netrek (great premise, however nto played much)
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I have been playing Heavy Rain obsessively for the past month.
I would consider it a very unique game, and it adds a lot of new things to the table.
It is a psychological thriller/murder mystery that is driven entirely on moral choices, so it could probably be considered as something of an aquired taste.
However, I found it extremely enjoyable, and it is the most unique game I have played in a LONG time.
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Easy, I never stick with anything unless it's unique:
New gen Strategy:
-Company of heroes and associated games (all modern relic things, let's just heap them into one thing)
-World In Conflict(Plays like a cross of counterstrike (for the teamplay) and some crazy realtime tactical wargame)
-Sins of A solar Empire: Massive scale,, a 4x game (see below), but in REAL TIME. huge modding potential
-Half Life 1/2 MODS (yes, deserve their own section):
Christ the console version was a waste. The Whole point of half life is the source engine, as it spawns endless amounts of new game play. Just as one out of hundreds of examples of games I tested, one which evnetually went commerical where 1 team was 1 player playing the game like an RTS and 8 player splaying fps against him.. Most notable among them(and commercial form valve) is PORTAL. PLAY PORTAL. Hell, counter-strike started the same way.
-Psychonauts: Gameplay somewhat traditional( well it would be if anyone played adventure games anymore), concept and execution very, very interesting (and hilarious)
-Battlezone Series: Old, but very interesting concept and best commercial RTS/FPS fusion I have yet to play.
-4x:
More an old genre that has seemingly been forgotten by the masses, these games often have incredible complexity and depth if you are willing to look past graphics. Usually focus on "ruling the world" and such. (Excellent example, DOMINIONS 3, you can win the game with magic, you can with the game with armies, you can win the game with religion. Combos are endless)
-More mods/source platforms: Seriously, you want new game play? Make it, or just support those who do. Innovative gameplay usually starts with these, no publisher is going to roll the dice on some completely unproved, untested concept, so these are where innovation begins. There are many, many great modding platfroms other than the well known ones already mentioned, ie:
-Rome Total war (new TW's much less so)
-the SPRING project
-Morrowind/Oblivion (ok, less gameplay innovation, but some mods have sweeping new changes in the world)
-Roguelikes: no graphics (literally uses keyboard symbols until you inpout sprites), Dwarf fortress is a subset of these.
-Minecraft: originally designed to be visual, 3d dwarf fortress. Popular now, but we'll see if the dev has the working out put to accomplish something big out of all of this.
-blahblah blah, use google. Mod db also not a bad place to start
Want even more innovative? Break out the dice, and start reading through the myriad of commercial and free tabletop rulesets.
Essentially the more work you put into looking and understanding the community at large, the more you will find.
Happy gaming
Ps: Yes, these are all PC games (or both). You will have a very hard time finding innovative things on these platforms that do not hit PC and become wildly popular there first. Motion control may be an exception. It may also be a gimmick. The console market is targeted to the masses/the common denominator, so there is much less room and/or interest in crazy new untested concepts. They are just going to release Halo and COD until people get pissed off, then re-release the games labeled as new series with maybe ONE new concept (ooo rechargeable shield soo revolutionary!!1)
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I would consider it a very unique game, and it adds a lot of new things to the table.
It is a psychological thriller/murder mystery that is driven entirely on moral choices, so it could probably be considered as something of an aquired taste.
However, I found it extremely enjoyable, and it is the most unique game I have played in a LONG time.
I completely agree. The biggest problem with it though is that the story wasn't very well thought out and leaves quite a few plotholes and looses ends at the end. However, as you've said it is extremely enjoyable and is very unique.
Metal Gear Solid is quite a unique stealth game (the proper Metal Gear Solid games, not the shooter fourth one) in that you can approach it in many different ways, it's very story focused and contains quite a lot of replayability and Tongue in cheek humour. I know it's not unique in the sence that the gameplay is a sneaking game but I'd consider it unique simply for the fact that no other stealth game plays like it.
As others have said, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus (spelling?) are very unique and there is a PS3 bundle coming out soon (I can't recall the date though) so it's the perfect time to try it.
Okami, although I've never played it, has a unique art style but I don't know how well it plays.
One of my favourites though has to be Demons souls. It provides the challenge missing from most games, has hundreds of hours of replayability and you'll be sure to create multiple characters. It is really the only game I know that makes you feel like an actual human in the game.
Someone already mentioned it, but Minecraft is great. It's like an infinite LEGO world to explore and build in. Also, there are zombies and skeletons that try to kill you at night.
The greatest thing about Minecraft is that you change the game world by playing it. You need stone to make a castle, so you end up with a quarry where you removed stone from the ground. If you need wood, you go and cut down trees... but then that part of the world becomes deforested. Every change ends up altering the world in an interesting way. By the time you finish your castle you also have a quarry, a mine, a clearing etc... It's also really scary. Digging deep down in the ground, placing torches for light as you go... hearing monsters in the dark... so awesomely scary.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the creator of Minecraft is on spectrum as well... I mean, he put in the functionality to build working computers in the game by assembling switches in series.
you can find minecraft at minecraft dot net.
Magic of Scheherazade for the NES... if you haven't played it... just play it... Seriously, it's really ahead of it's time and it's a really, really great RPG. It's like Zelda and Chrono Trigger had a baby that was raised by Aladdin and Final Fantasy. It's really unique, heck, even the setting, the Middle East, is quite unique for an RPG.
Oh yeah, did I mention that the music is AWESOME
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