MasterRocket's Video Game Recommendations #1

Hello! Hopefully this blog can be the beginning of a fun series where I get to talk about some of my favorite video games of all time, doubling as a recommendation list for all interested.

Note: For the most part I'll be aiming to avoid spoilers as I believe spoilers can massively hurt one's playthrough and enjoyment of certain games, especially for some of the ones below.

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Release: May 28, 2019

Available on: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch

Let me just get it out of the way, Outer Wilds is my favorite video game of ALL-TIME and probably my favorite piece of art ever! I could talk forever about the game, but I'll have to be short with my analysis as this game, perhaps more than any other, is extremely affected by spoilers, knowledge is the name of the game here so any piece of info is a robbery of a part of the experience.

Being very cautious with what I reveal Outer Wilds combines space exploration with puzzle solving in a mini solar system. The game takes place during a 22 minute time loop, Groundhog-Day-style.

It features some amazingly fun space physics, flying around is a blast, you really feel at the mercy of the universe, you are so fragile; I spent half my playthrough just playing with the physics and crashing into things.

But the real core of this game is its story, obviously it's impossible to explain without spoiling, but piecing together the narrative is incredibly satisfying, the amount of eureka moments and times my mind was completely blown is something I won't forget, only thing I wish for this game is that I could forget it and replay it again.

If you enjoy the game there also is the Echoes of the Eye DLC. Probably my favorite DLC ever aswell. Although I'd say that it's best to not play the main game with the DLC as it could muddle the experience, best to enable it after you're done with the standalone game.

Developer: Croteam

Publisher: Devolver Digital

Release: December 11, 2014

Available on: Windows, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch

What could be described as a philosophical puzzle game, The Talos Principle mixes challenging, well-designed puzzles with incredibly interesting themes regarding what it means to exist, what does it mean to be human and other philosophical conversations.

Puzzle games are some of the hardest to get right in my opinion, they can be very hit-or-miss with some designers struggling to make challenging, engaging puzzles that make you feel smart instead of tricked. That's partially why I love The Talos Principle so much, no other puzzle game I've played (other than the sequel) has had the plethora and the quality of puzzles as this game, it's so incredibly rewarding every time.

The other side of this game is of course the story, which is pretty light, but has tons and tons of substance if you care to look for it, the game is littered with tidbits of philosophy from various cultures and keeps what is usually a boring subject, to some, engaging with it's presentation.

The game has two DLCs, Road to Gehenna and the newly released In the Beginning, both packaged with the recently released remaster, The Talos Principle: Reawakened

The sequel, The Talos Principle 2 released in 2023 and pushes the gameplay and story even further forward, if you enjoy the first game you have to try it.

Developer: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Release: January 24, 2017

Available on: Windows, OS X, iOS, iPadOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch

After the action-oriented RE5 and RE6, Resident Evil 7 goes back to its roots with a major focus on the horror. Other than Amnesia: The Dark Descent this was the first horror game I had played and it absolutely sold me on a genre I was terrified of trying, there might be no better introduction to the genre than this game.

The graphics are amazing and that's unfortunate for us cause this game features some truly disgusting, grotesque visuals, which only further enhance the horror.

The game doesn't play around, ammo is scarce, you aren't meant to be a one-man wrecking crew, the safest solution is to outrun the enemies, not confront them directly.

It's narrative, simple puzzles and various locations also keep the game interesting. I ended up beating it 3 times which I rarely do for games like this.

Along with the game are the DLCs Banned Footage Vol.1 and Vol.2, End of Zoe and Not a Hero. Banned Footage being mostly minigames which still have a mostly horror element while End of Zoe and Not a Hero are more action-oriented and are a nice wrap up to the story.

Developer: 2pt Interactive

Publisher: 2pt Interactive

Release: December 7, 2021

Available on: Windows, OS X, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5 and Nintendo Switch

Oh wow another space game, well I have to admit I'm an absolute sucker for space and its physics. This is a very different experience to Outer Wilds though.

Heavenly Bodies is a 2D game about astronauts doing various missions in space, it has 3 sets of physics, which act as the difficulty settings: Assisted, Classic and Newtonian. The game is fun on all 3 settings and it's almost a whole different experience for each one. Going from a relatively simple game on assisted physics to a battle against gravity on newtonian.

The game is playable also in 2-player Co-op mode which I would highly recommend, it's so fun to watch your friend fly around uncontrollably as you both struggle to get your bearings on newtonian.

While the main game is split into several missions the DLC Clean Up is just 1 mission that takes place over multiple days, I've yet to play it but it looks as enjoyable as the main game.

Developer: FuturLab

Publisher: Square Enix Collective

Release: July 14, 2022

Available on: Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Nintendo Switch and Meta Quest (Pro, 2, 3)

This one might seem out of place, if you are unfamiliar with this game it might just seem like the run of the mill, done to death, simulator type games, which release virtually the same game yearly, and are generally pretty monotonous and uninteresting.

This isn't like those ones, from all these games I've played this one the most, because it's so relaxing.

Honestly, if you ever just want to chill out and listen to some music this game is perfect, there is something deeply satisfying to my monkey brain about powerwashing.

You can also powerwash with upto 5 friends online.

This game gets new content quite frequently with a substantial amount being free! If you ever needed more PowerWash Simulator you can try out the various free DLC like the Tomb Raider or Final Fantasy levels. Or dive into the worlds of Back to the Future, Spongebob, Warhammer: 40k, Alice in Wonderland, Shrek and Wallace & Gromit in various paid DLCs.

I haven't given any of these a score as I'm very bad with it and I feel that handing out a value to represent a piece of art is mostly unhelpful, however, I will be placing them in a list for you to see which are the very best.

1st Outer Wilds

2nd Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

3rd The Talos Principle

4th Heavenly Bodies

5th PowerWash Simulator

And that wraps up the blog, hope you enjoyed it although as the first of its type for me I think I missed the mark a bit. Regardless I really hope if you do decide to try out some of these games to have the same, if not better, experience than I had.

Video games are genuine works of art and too often they are dismissed as stuff for children, that's why I hope to have shined some light on true art.