What are your favorite single player games to go back to?
What are your favorite single player games to go back to often?
Minecraft
Furi
Mario 64
Super Mario World
GTA SA and Vice City
It's kinda rare for me to go back to a single player game and replay it, but there are some games that are nostalgic in the same way place or smell can be nostalgic.
I know them so well that I can't help but want to go back and visit and I never really get disappointment by the experience. Sure, I don't get as immersed as the first time, but I definitely still enjoy the games.
Stardew valley. I stopped playing it earlier this year but picked it back up this week. I forgot I made a new game that went with joja instead of the community center and I feel disgusting playing it but I need to see how it shakes out lol
XCOM 2012 is my favourite turn based stratedy game, I really like the Long War mod. Saving earth from an alien invasion is such a cool fantasy.
Assassin's Creed Odyssey because I love Greek history and mythology, so being able to explore that part of the world is really appealing to me.
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War. It's just the best 40k game. I wish Relic would remaster it.
Sunless Sea. It's one of my favourite visual novels, and it has RPG elements. The writing is hilarious, and weird. It's like halfway between Charles Dickens and HP Lovecraft. Pilot a ship around a vast underground sea, fighting monsters and talking to Victorian wierdos.
Spelunky. I've been playing it for 10 years now, and completed it hundreds of times. I'd recommend it a lot.
STALKER Call of Pripyat. It's an alternative history first-person shooter set in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant. It's semi open world, and unlike any other game I've played for its story and atmosphere.
The only 10+ years old game I still return to for significant lengths of time is Guild Wars 2. Yeah yeah I know, it's not a single player game, but as far as I am concerned it might as well be. Also I return when there is new content, so I might be cheating there.
Every now and then I return to Magicka and then stop playing after enough crashes. Renegade Ops is also a favorite of mine (did a complete playthrough on Steam Deck last year). It's been a while since my last run of Crysis but I really enjoy replaying it (just the first game though, the sequels did not do the same for me), spicing up the experience with a couple of mods.
I like to go back to crpg's like the Pathfinder or Pillars of Eternity games.
I love trying out different story paths and finding the little things I've missed on previous play-throughs.
Skyrim,
Fallout NV
Fallout 4
Witcher 3
Ghost of Tsushima
Mass Effect (full trilogy)
BioShock (mostly 1, but sometimes 2 and 3 as well)
Borderlands (1 and 2, never really got into 3 or the Tales games)
Red Dead Redemption (both)
Assassins Creed Black Flag
Mad Max
Cyberpunk 2077
Dying Light (the original. Haven’t played 2 yet)
As far as single-player goes, the ones above all have several hundred hours each (a couple of them well over 1000 lol), across countless play throughs lol
Starbound.
They've had a couple of big story changes over it's development and it's not as big as terraria. But I enjoy the soundtrack and having a spaceship and just enjoying space travel (at the expense of stealing fuel from a ghost).
This game has occupied so many hours of my life. I play a ROMHack called "Rosy Retrospective," where modern features have been added, like pressing up to drop and being able to save pieces. Probably don't need to explain this game :D
Super Punch-Out!
Nostalgic pick because the SNES was my favorite system. I'm not really into boxing games, but this adds a puzzle element to it where you memorize patterns of ridiciulous over-the-top fighters (one of them kicks, so the boxing is loose here). I can easily pick this game up and play the time-attack mode to refight a boxer that I've defeated before. There is a lot of satisfaction completely owning a boxer. However, there are still boxers in this game that I can't beat.
NYT Crosswords
Love doing a crossword with friends. I highly recommend their app screenshared to your TV; NYT has done a fantastic job optimizing the experience for screens. The grid and the clues are very visible, as if everyone was crowded around you on a table looking at the print version. NYT has quietly done a great job diversifying their games business. Spelling Bee and Werdle I don't play as much, but I know a bunch of people who do. If you don't have a sub, you can play on Downforacross with friends, the Google sheets of crosswords.
Solebon Solitaire (iOS)
An app that has many variants of single-player card games on there. My favorites include Klondike, Golf, Monte Carlo, Yukon, and La Belle Lucie, but FAR and away the game I play the most is FreeCell. There is a randomness to Solitare where some deals just aren't winnable. However, with FreeCell, with the ability to have 4 reserve spaces to move cards around, the game is more forgiving and every deal is winnable.
868-HACK
A hacking roguelike on iOS. Love the graphics and concept. You play on a randomly generated grid of tiles and walls that you can hack. Hacking results in enemies appearing on the grid. You have to plan your way to the level exit, while also maximizing the rewards (abilities) you get from hacking.
Enyo (iOS)
A tactical roguelike on iOS. Grid based. You have to dispatch the enemies on the grid with your sword, hook, and shield. Enemies progressively have better abilities and become more numerous, so you really have to plan your route through the grid-based terrain. You can use your weapons in interesting ways, especially the hook and shield. The hook pulls most enemies toward you, so you can sometimes dispatch by pulling them into water. Other times you can swap places with them so you deploy your shield to push them.
Donkey Kong GB
Wonderful puzzle platformer originally released on the GameBoy. Nostalgic pick that I can easily pick up and play for a couple of minutes or a longer session if needed. Mario runs, jumps, and uses hammers to get through 50+ themed levels. Simple and very replayable. Very easy for kids to learn to play.
Hades
For longer sessions, Hades is my go-to roguelite. An isometric dungeon crawler that seemingly has almost endless replayability with your choices of random Greek god-powers and paths through the Underworld. All the things you dislike about roguelites are smartly dealt with. There is an actual storyline between deaths. I have never heard a single line of dialogue repeated. Ever. The game will give you options to make it easier if it notices you are dying a lot. So anybody can make it through this game and progress the story.
Bloodborne
The first FromSoftware game that clicked for me and forced me to 'git gud.' Something about the gothic horror environment and the weapon fighting is so satisfying to me. You can go through this game with different weapons and builds and have a completely different game experience (a staple of FromSsoftware games). I have this whole game memorized and have beaten it multiple times and yet, I can still get my ass kicked by a random enemy if I am not careful. Every March, a bunch of gamers on Reddit replay the game in celebration of it's launch, but I like to play it around Halloween. Sounds like that is coming up soon!
Ratchet & Clank Going Commando. I've spent countless hours in that game over the last 20 years. I still keep a PS3 in my room to have the HD trilogy available whenever I want to play.
Really wish it would be remastered to run on the current systems.
Sekiro. After a couple runs, you figure out the best route to take across the game, and it's a quick weekend worth of gameplay. It's also quite exhilarating being able to first try bosses that took me 5-6 hours to beat the first time around. A feeling of familiarity in the execution (🤫).
Lady Butterfly's "You've... Gotten stronger... Wolf" warms my heart.
Mod-friendly games with large mod communities like Skyrim or Mount and Blade 2. The ability to play a game like Skyrim in completely different ways keeps it fresh.
The first 5 of those i have installed on my phone and i play them during lunch breaks and when i have time at home the last 4 i have on switch and are just great games to revisit from time to time.
Im probably on my 7th play through of icewind dale since i originally played it all those yesrs ago.
Toy Story 2 for PS1, I'm willing to try the Dreamcast version, although I don't think it is very different...
Super Mario Bros 64 DS, since it doesn't bother me in the slightest the lack of the joystick this game is a gem with all the added content and portability (well portability was huge thing back in the days 😅).
New Super Mario Bros for DS, very easy to pick up and play, although I'm not a fan of not being able to save anywhere, if my flashcard supported save states I'd definitely use them with this.
Jackie Chan for PS1, I made like a weird tradition to re visit this game all the Decembers lol, don't ask me why, I don't even know it.
I have a bunch but I'll just mention one because I didn't see it: Mad Max. It's just so satisfying to drive around smashing shit and kicking ass. I wish the driving sections of Arkham Knight could have been that fun.
Rimworld. It's not a game for me at this point, it's a drug that I have to take from time to time, and it takes all of your free time like a good drug would.
There are others with that effect for me, like modded Minecraft, or Factorio, or Satisfactory, or Hitman, or Skyrim, but nothing is that severe.
Jet Set Radio Future, Oblivion, Fallout 3, Need for Speed ProStreet, Torchlight II, Paper Mario, Freelancer, Uncharted Waters: New Horizons, GTA San Andreas & Vice City, Front Mission 1 & 3, Metal Max Returns...
I generally go back to the nostalgia-filled retro titles from the nes-psx eras or for a more modern experience I'll lean into Mark of the Ninja, Guacamelee, or FTL. I've also put an embarrassing number of hours into the new Tomb Raider trilogy and Breath of the Wild. BotW counts as vintage these days, right?
The ones that I find myself going back to the most in the last decade are indie classics. Hyper Light Drifter, Kerbal Space Program, FTL: Faster Than Light (I just realized all these titles sound similar, but they're a 2D character action game, a spaceflight simulator/shipbuilder, and a very unique strategy game, respectively, and they're all among the best in their genres). Also, as a horror game fan and a Resident Evil fan in particular, I keep replaying the Resident Evil 2 remake from 4 years ago; easily one of the best horror games ever made.
Sacred Gold, the first game of the sacred saga
Age of Empires 1, 2 and Age of Mythology
Star Wars: Jedi Knight 2 and Jedi Academy
Titan Quest
Grim Dawn
Warhammer Dawn of War 1
For me it's probably "Golden Sun" from GBA (and "Golden Sun 2"). I played them at the time on the original GBA at least 3 times each, and on emulators in phones & tablets a few more.
I liked the story, the graphics, the combat system, the endless possibilities you could do, the discoverability, hidden corners, the different regions, the global map... If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it, it's full of nice things.
Virginia and What Remains of Edith Finch are two of my favourite narrative experiences. I've played through both of them a few times and I'm always eager to go back.
I've read the whole thread and nobody has said Spintires/Mudrunner/Snowrunner ... it's basically the same game, it just keeps evolving and it's impossible to really complete because by the time you do there's more levels released.
For me, driving big trucks through mud is repeatedly appealing.