"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
I am mainly
a fan of RPG’s but the Strategic Simulations Gold Box Series games were definitely
among some of my favorites. That they had many fantasy books related to the
series was great, the fact you could carry over your characters from game to
game in a continuing arc was very cool, the rules were as close as possible to
the AD&D rules of the time as well.
Pools of
Radiance -> Curse of the Azure Bonds -> Secrets of the Silver Blade ->
Pools of Darkness
By the end
you were rocking some High level (18th plus) characters. There
was also a Dragonlance 3-part series (very bugged back in the day but GOG
fixed it up), and a couple Ravenloft games.
Neverwinter
Nights the early 2000’s version. Bioware had a *Mod* support enabled before it was a big thing, and the
executives knew how / wanted to exploit it. So many community members making
content for others to enjoy freely, was a great experience.
Most
Final Fantasy games in the main series + tactics.
Most
Dragonquest games in the main series + builders.
Elden
Ring, so much to explore.
Ok the
title did say satisfying single player games and not sure if everyone will remember
these but certain PC magazines in the early 80s used to include a source code
for a game at the back, you type in the code and save it to tape / diskette and
you have yourself a game. You had of course to type it in perfectly, some were
4+ pages of code small print, the games themselves were pretty basic like Miner
49er, but when you had it in correctly and the game worked it was very
satisfying!
I'll go with Distance - it has an incredible, atmospheric way of telling its story through addictive gameplay that tests reflexes and skill through a masterfully sculpted, increasing difficulty curve. What is actually going on is somewhat open to interpretation, in a Stanley Kubrik-esque, trippy series of "flashback" scenes that might be more than just flashbacks, possibly due to the fact that you may or may not be infected with some type of nanovirus or bioweapon type thing; however you and your amazing abilities may just make it back down to Earth before the entire array self destructs in 4 hours (yes, you get 4 hours to beat the game), bound for uncertain utopia.
Ori and the Blind Forest - I'm only 20 minutes in, but I already know this is going to be one of my favorite games of all time. It just about defies prose; sure, it's an explorative side-scroller where you gain abilities over time, with some engaging combat as well, but the way it's presented (noticing a theme here?) goes lightyears beyond its genre. I'm told "The Iron Giant" and "The Lion King" were influences for this game, but definitely throw some Miyazaki in there.
Botanicula - Amanita Design understands the fractal nature of reality; allow me to explain: look a leaf, you'll notice little patterns of veins and cells, and perhaps the pretty way light flows through from the other side: AD will take something like this and turn it into entire worlds, with complete mythology and epic hero quests in unhurried, beautiful to look at scenes that invite one to ponder and experience zen-like bliss. They are all amazing, but Botanicula is my favorite.
Hyper Light Drifter - Another game that will test your skill; the gameplay is very satisfying, and the soundtrack by Disasterpeace is sublime. Learning to dodge, strike, and whip out your blaster to pull off 12 shots like Han Solo is just a great experience. The art direction is retro, but purposefully so, with a great deal of style.
Honorable mention:
Halo: Combat Evolved - An older game, but this was a bold new step for Bungie, and it basically sold the X-box. The story was rife with Biblical references, and fleeing the Flood with another player next to you on the couch was super freaking cool. Hence, honorable mention: I think it has easily the one of the best local co-op multiplayer campaigns of all time. Right up there with Mario 3.
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Authored 139 missions in VendettaOnline and 6 tracks in Distance
Using the time I ended up playing them as my choice criteria, the first of my two picks is a game nobody else mentioned. And I'll also note here that mods are what primarily kept me coming back to these two games for so long:
1) Kerbal Space Program - this game captivated me for years, in large part due to the youtube tutorial videos of real life teacher and space buff 'Scott Manley' which helped get me past the large learning curve the game required.
2) Skyrim - so many great mods, so little time. Although unfortunately, I got addicted to 'adult' mods with this game and now always feel like there's something missing from my RPG's when they don't offer this, err, feature.
Comments
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I am mainly a fan of RPG’s but the Strategic Simulations Gold Box Series games were definitely among some of my favorites. That they had many fantasy books related to the series was great, the fact you could carry over your characters from game to game in a continuing arc was very cool, the rules were as close as possible to the AD&D rules of the time as well.
Pools of Radiance -> Curse of the Azure Bonds -> Secrets of the Silver Blade -> Pools of Darkness
By the end you were rocking some High level (18th plus) characters. There was also a Dragonlance 3-part series (very bugged back in the day but GOG fixed it up), and a couple Ravenloft games.
Neverwinter Nights the early 2000’s version. Bioware had a *Mod* support enabled before it was a big thing, and the executives knew how / wanted to exploit it. So many community members making content for others to enjoy freely, was a great experience.
Most Final Fantasy games in the main series + tactics.
Most Dragonquest games in the main series + builders.
Elden Ring, so much to explore.
Ok the title did say satisfying single player games and not sure if everyone will remember these but certain PC magazines in the early 80s used to include a source code for a game at the back, you type in the code and save it to tape / diskette and you have yourself a game. You had of course to type it in perfectly, some were 4+ pages of code small print, the games themselves were pretty basic like Miner 49er, but when you had it in correctly and the game worked it was very satisfying!
"The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance
Old Bioware games
Elder Scrolls series Morrowind and newer
All the Fromsoft games
Gothic series