A bit of a weird title, but basically what’s a game that’s more than a year old but still considered “modern” that you love? There’s no real strict definition for modern, I’d just like to see some discussion around great games that aren’t quite classics yet (but probably will be one day).
The nature of this community typically attracts discussion around decade-old games (which is what I mostly play too), but I’d like to see some newer (but not too new) games on this post.
Subnautica
Rimworld.
Trying not to pick titles with sequels/franchises
Slay the Spire
Returnal
Stardew Valley
Elden Ring
Death Stranding
Honorable mention : Overwatch 2 (I honestly can’t see it as a true sequel, just an update)
got death stranding when it was free for a day on epic a while ago, been playing it for the last few weeks pretty nonstop and just finished the story. i’ve always been a kojima fan for mgs but oh my god this is magnificent. an absolute masterpiece, imho. i get it’s not for everyone but i’ve had a blast and may immediately do a very hard offline second playthrough. definitely recommend, especially if you can grab it free or heavy discount.
It’s the game I would have hated as a young adult but absolutely love as a… less young adult.
Satisfactory. It’s been in early access for a few years now, 2019 I think? At the beginning of this year (2024) they announced the next update would be the 1.0 release. I’ve been playing it on/off for years, especially recently with all the strides they’ve made in development.
The game is like Factorio, but presented as an FPS. You get dropped onto a planet in a pod straight out of Halo: ODST by a space-future megacorp called Ficsit, with the goal of harvesting the planet’s resources for Ficsit off-planet divisions.
I have almost 1500hrs in Satisfactory since I got it, there’s no shortage of gameplay. Coffee Stain (devs) have been posting videos regularly, updating the community on new/discontinued features, revamped recipes and production rates, and even just being silly as much as being helpful, to the point where Coffee Stain is my go-to example of good devteam-community interaction.
Oh, and it also has a really good modding community, so if there’s anything that’s not in game, that you want in game, it’s probably already been made by one or two modders.
And trains! Those are the best part. Both a joy, and a nightmare.
I don’t know of it’s considered a classic or if it will ever be, but to me Crysis 2 generally looks way better than most of the stuff you see nowadays.
Otherwise, I think Halo Reach is the best looking Halo and it doesn’t show its age too much, if you look at the MCC/PC version.
Crysis 2 doesn’t fit the 10 year timeframe OP mentioned ;)
Vampire Survivors isn’t that old yet, right?
It’s such a good Robotron clone.
Every 2-3 years I’ll fire up Terraria again
Me too, thinking I’ll finally have some enlightenment as to how to kill the first night or twos zombies without getting killed and rage quitting.
I’ve even watched “beginner tutorials” on that game game, and conveniently they ended the first video just after nightfall of the first night, and started the second video during the second day, but that’s not how it friggin works, you need to murder the enemies lest they murder you, and in 5 different starts of the game, across 3 different devices, I’ve yet to kill the first or second nights horde without them breaking down my doors and wrecking my shit.
That game is one of my biggest regrets, I bought the 4 pack when it first came out thinking my friends and I would all have a great time, it makes me feel like I’m old and disconnected that I can’t enjoy that stupid (supposedly fantastic) game.
If you dig a 2x3 pit immediately adjacent to your door outside the zombies can’t break in
Titanfall 2. I could keep playing that all evening. Its just a shame its not as popular as it was in its heyday.
Voices of the Void, slow horror
No Man’s Sky dragged me back in again recently. There’s an expedition going on for another few weeks that was lots of fun. I’ve also started a permadeath save that I’m really enjoying.
Grim Dawn.
Recently got Mad Max from GOG. It’s pretty great for Open World car combat and Arkham style brawling. It also runs great. Too bad it didn’t get more attention.
Cataclysm DDA, if it counts. There’s usually a lot of time between stable releases, and by the time they come out, it usually feels like a completely different game.
I keep coming back to Insurgency: Sandstorm’s PVE modes. Man, what a underrated shooter!
I wish it had some better AI enemies, though.
