Recommend three games

[Malek Deneith]

So, an idea that was running around my mind for a while now. We're all gamers here, right? I mean, we wouldn't be here if we weren't into games enough to recognize a classic inspired gem-in-making And most of gamers I know are on lookout for more titles to play, or have titles they'd want to share with others - so how about we spread some love and share our recommendations.

But to spice things up a bit I propose each of us recommends three games: One that you've beaten recently and enjoyed. One upcoming one that you're looking forward to (or just something you look forward to playing to in future if no coming games are of interest to you right now) - other than HFA naturally because that one's obvious. And one that you want to share just because - perhaps it's something you doesn't get as much reception as you think it should, or has some cool uncommon feature, or just your favourite game ever.

With that said, here's my trio of games to (hopefully) start up things:

Beaten - Shadow Warrior (2013)
Ever played some of the old FPS games? Things like Doom, Blood, Quake, hell even Serious Sam TFE or TSE to use a slightly more recent title? Wish they made games like that nowdays? Not fond of how modern shooters do things? Well if so, then this remake-slash-prequel is for you. The game gives you some quirky but enjoyable guns, a bit of magic, superbly fun sword, and (to quote Yahtzee even if he was speaking of another game) "the entire population of Murdertown between you and where you need to be". And it works great, I was gifted this game on christmas and spent several next days steaidly slaughtering my way through hordes of demons. And even if the gameplay wasn't fun enough, I'd say snarky banter between Lo Wang and Hoji is probably worth the price of admission by itself

Awaiting - Pillars of Eternity
What can I say, I am a sucker for all of the Infinity Engine games, so this spiritual successor project had my eye ever since it was kickstarted as Project Eternity. Alas I didn't back it when it was in KS (although I did crack and preorder during this winter season) so I can't try out the backer beta but what I saw/read through their wiki, forums, and that one gameplay showcase with Jesse Cox gives me a good feeling about the game. Bring it on Obsidian.

Recommending - Analogue: A Hate Story and Hate Plus
Okay so I'm cheating here a bit, but that's for a good reason and that is that Analogue isn't really a complete experience withou Hate Plus. Mostly because it's not a game, not in the traditional sense. Rather than that it's a visual novel. Without spoiling too much I can say, the game puts you in place of a lone spaceship captain who gets hired to investigate an old colony ship that suddenly reappeared. So you fly to it, link with the computers inside remotely and find it empty except an AI. And then you sit down and pour through ship logs describing a society who rolled down into some of the lowest lows possible, and how it ended dying out. And then Hate Plus lets you learn how exactly was it possible for a colonisation mission to regress that much. I'm not usually into sappy stuff but I have to say Analogue and Hate Plus got to me. So give 'em a try, m'kay?

[Alonso Martin]

Cool idea! My contribution's probably going to be rather poor since I haven't had the chance to play many games as of late, but here goes :p

A game recently played & enjoyed
I think one of the more recent games I've played (that I've liked), other than Shovel Knight, was Escape Goat 1. I'm not that much of a puzzle games fan, but that game did really make me want to try over and over again until I finally beat the main levels. I also felt the level design/mechanics were executed pretty well, and gave enough room to be able to play around with them once you knew how everything worked.

Game I'm looking forward to
I have to say I'm really waiting for the upcoming Zelda Wii U title. Nintendo has never really screwed up that franchise (talking about the main titles, at least), so I'm sure the open-endedness is something that will be done well—I'm just curious as to how they'll carry it out without making everything seem like it's just an over-detailed non-structured experience.

A game I recommend
Well, I have plenty of these. I suppose there are several I'd suggest you guys give a try, but I guess I should pay homage to one of the games that've influenced HFA.

For those of you who haven't played Xenogears, I would suggest to give it a try. It's not an amazingly accessible game—you can't skip cutscenes or dialogue for that matter, but the story and world of that game is incredible, and things just keep on unfolding and getting bigger. The mechanics are also fun, compared to the other games of its time.

Originally, Xenogears was going to be Final Fantasy VII, but it was apparently deemed too dark for that franchise. It does take about a couple of hours for the story to start growing out, which is what originally made me stop playing my first time around, but towards the end I wasn't able to put the controller down. Worthy of note is that part of the team that worked on Neon Genesis Evangelion worked on this game, and some of the "religious" notions were also inherited from that series. Granted, Xenogears drops a lot of names and concepts and doesn't explore them that much, but it's definitely more than games were doing back at the time. Anyway, those are my two cents

[Guardian of Irael]

I didn't play many game lately, too. But let's see...

Beaten - Child of Light
Ok, maybe too famous! XD But I loved it mainly for the art style. Good gameplay, too, a bit repetitive and short as game, but overally an hidden pearl, just the painted draws worth the play.
^ ^

Awaiting - Toad's Adventure
Spin-off and puzzle game, maybe I might be biased because I love Toad and Toadette as characters, but it seems a game funny to play and with a good graphic, Nintendo classic, but I love that kind of 3D.
^ ^

Recommending - Klonoa: Door to Phantomile
My favourite game. Today my nephew played the wii version. He was stucked on the last level (vision). I took the controller and finished it with last boss and extra level, could no resist! XD The feeling on the ending ;____ ;
Sadly it had not the expected success, but it was as good as Sonic, Crash and other platforms... A real pity. It only gets 2 chapters (but several spin-off, volley, too XD): psx and the second on ps2. I reccomend the psx version of the first title, the wii's one is a remake, but the original is better (and if you try the wii version then change the voice in the menù option! Original! Wahoo! XD). Simple and funny mechanics, great music, singular graphic/world, quite the story for a platform game... Well if 2 mebers of this small forum have Klonoa as avatar I think there will be a meaning behind!
^ ^

[Thymbres]

This looks like a good note to make my introduction to the forums.

Recently Finished: Elliot Quest
This here is one 8-bit retro adventure game developed by Ansimuz Games. If you ever wanted a game that was much like Zelda II but with a stronger focus on platforming then this is it. You are dropped into the world and given no directions; everything is there for you to figure out. Comes packed with a variety of neat dungeons, plenty of bosses and an assortment of interesting power ups.

Coming Soon: Apotheon
So here we have another 2D platformer action rpg but with a large focus on combat. The visuals of this game are styled Greek art and are quite beautiful. Many might be reminded of the vases from Disney's Hercules. Apotheon should be released sometime this month.

Play This: Corrypt
On the surface this game looks like a simpleton's block pushing game, but it is much more than that. Much more. The game first makes you complacent by having you push and pull blocks and collect mushrooms and then the big twist happens and BOOM. Now you're thinking in ways no video game has ever caused you to think before.

[Alonso Martin]

Oh, that's right! I recently played Elliot Quest as well. I didn't get that far into it, but I definitely appreciated the open-ended NES nature that it had, as opposed to the now more linear experiences of modern games, at least during the opening segments. I might play that on stream some time

[Malek Deneith]

(...) Xenogears (...)

Damn this game gets mentioned a lot. The fact it does makes me almost consider upgrading my 3DS to New 3DS to play the remake that was announced last year. But probably won't happen, or at least not any time soon considering price tags I saw on some New 3DS imports that got to my country and other purchases on my priority list those light novels won't buy themselves >_>

[Alonso Martin]

I had NO idea they were planning on remaking Xenogears! That's kind of exciting, though I'm almost sure I would not enjoy it as much as the original. There's something about the "outdated", low-poly graphics that I really enjoy about the PS1 title, as well as the music and the general '90s feel. However, I would be interested to see how they deal with the whole business of Disc 2, and if they'd actually go about building that other half of the story to replace the big info-dumps. I'll be looking out for that

[Malek Deneith]

Duh. I have to correct myself it seems - in the process of trying to dig out the relevant info I realized that the game being re-made for 3DS and thus the one I heard about wasn't Xenogears but Xanoblade Chronicles. Xeno-this, Xeno-that you have to excuse my confusion considering I haven't played either of the games.

On the flip side I've also learned that Xenoblade apparently came to PS1 classics for NA... in 2010. So there's that if someone wants to play that game.

*shakes fist at Sony for not releasing FFT PS1Classic version in Europe*

[Alonso Martin]

Ah, that's a shame Would've been quite cool to see that game remade, but it definitely has a very small following to justify the expenses. But hey, never say never!

[moonshadow]

Recently finished: To The Moon.
A wonderfully executed love song to old 3/4 overhead RPGs, with a solid plot to boot. Really enjoyed it and would recommend.

Awaiting: Rime is probably the game I am most excited about after HFA; I loved Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, and with the Last Guardian sadly looking to be on indefinite hold, this looks like where my next fix will coming from. (Close second, though: Infinifactory; Factorio crossed with Minecraft by the author of SpaceChem, what's not to like?)

Play this: Fortune Summoners. There are still people that haven't heard of it!

[maxwelldemonic]

Freshly beaten: Axiom Verge
Thomas Happ, as a sole developer, has created one of the best platformers of the era. It's a giant throwback to Metroid and Castelvania (mostly the former). While paying homage to games past, he managed to create a unique and rewarding brand of gameplay. His reinvention of the standard conventions in Metroidvania games shows through with a slew of unconventional and interesting mechanics. What's most impressive, he managed to do it all without a morph-ball xD.
(Also I have a special thanks credit in the game so I might be a little bias)

Coming Soon: Mighty No. 9
What happens when take Keiji Inafune's influence out of Mega Man? He takes back the idea, redefines it, and puts a shiny new finish on it. Mighty No. 9 is what Mr. Inafune wanted for the Mega Man IP. If Capcom would have left him with creative control, this would simply be the latest game in the Mega Man franchise. I'm really excited to see what he can do when not tethered down in giant game-conglomerate bureaucracy.

Just Because: Chrono Trigger
The days of the Super Nintendo have long since passed. As a child, I spent many hours fighting the forces of evil and righting virtual injustices with my SNES controller in hand. It's become apparent over the past 5 or so years that the latest crop of gamers see the SNES much like I saw the Colecovision or Sega Master System; Before my time and somewhat primitive. The shame of this is, that generation is missing out on dozens of extremely good games. Chrono Trigger is the shining example of what was good about SNES RPGs. It's got a great difficulty curve that lends well to the rather simple but detailed combat system. The storytelling is extremely fluid and clever. I can't say enough good things about it and I sincerely wish that more kids would take the time to play though the classics of that era.

[BlackStar]

(...) Xenogears (...)

Damn this game gets mentioned a lot. The fact it does makes me almost consider upgrading my 3DS to New 3DS to play the remake that was announced last year. But probably won't happen, or at least not any time soon considering price tags I saw on some New 3DS imports that got to my country and other purchases on my priority list those light novels won't buy themselves >_>

I see much confusion here, Xenogears was a PS2 Rpg Series, its is NOT the game that has been remade on the 3DS from the Wii, that is called Xenoblade Chronicles, a totally different game and series but still highly regarded as one of the best RPGs ever.   Now to my list.

Beaten: Freedom Planet

I have recommended this game many times while it was still in beta because it was already that good, but with the full release we have something that started out as a Sonic fan tribute, to a extremely well done Sonic based action platformer that not only pays homage to several classic games from yesteryear (rocket knight, gunstar heroes, a bit of Megaman X, Ristar), but manages to outdo 2D Sonic in every possible way and stands out with its own sense of originality.  Multiple playable characters, Huge levels and bosses, amazing neo retro soundtrack (which i highly recommend you buy on bandcamp as it has tons of extra music that you will miss otherwise) beautiful sprites and animations, full voice acting (for better or worse) characters with real personality (think powerpuff girls meets sonic with a bit of MLP at times) and a bad guy who you really grow to hate more and more as the storyline proceeds, turns out to be a badass final fight that will push you on normal difficulty alone.

Recommend: River City Ransom Underground

Im a total sucker for old school action games (why HFA is so dear to me) and this one is one of the first i played growing up with an rpg system, for weeks i leveled my character, buying different moves, (like the javelin where you pick up a downed enemy and toss him all the ways across screen in a corkscrew that looks awesome and takes out anyone in the path) maxing out stats while laughing at the dialogue that takes place between the different characters and bosses mid fight (still something pretty rare in any deat em up action game).  The kickstarter video was pretty funny and shows the level of work going into this project, i know this game wont disappoint unless they make it too short, the private demo should be up soon so im ready to get my hands dirty kicking, punching, throwing, stomping, slapping, piledriving and more in the near future.

Play this: The Guardian Legend (Nes)

This one is a personal favorite that I feel few people know about with a twist as its a metroidvania meets  blaster master meets top down shooter.  You begin the game thinking its a standard top down shooter thats hard as nails and proceed to rage quit as the intro level is tough with low health and a lot of enemies onscreen, but once you make it past that you watch your plane transform into a humanoid character waking around shooting enemies while picking up speed, heath and weapon upgrade with a diffculty set on full death to the untrained, only to beat a boss, pickup another upgrade and hop into different portals to do another difficult flying level, this game has that dark souls effect where enemies can feel overwhelming until you die and learn enough, so play if you love great gameplay with a challenge, one day i will replay as i never did beat the game, its that hard.