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points by izacus 1 day ago | 0 comments

Also, if you haven't, Prey (2017) is the final song of that genre and probably the best of them.

If you love Deus Ex, I think the Dishonored games carried the flag for this kind of game too. Harvey Smith, lead designer on Deus Ex, was heavily involved in making them and while the setting is completely different (magic, steampunk-ish), the “feel” of the games owes a huge amount to Deus Ex.

Dishonored 2’s fictional city of “Karnaca” gave me similar joy to explore and unpack as when I first encountered Hong Kong in Deus Ex.

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Smith_(game_designer)

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dishonored_(series)

[–] jasomill 1 day ago

Also the System Shock and BioShock series.

[–] giobox 1 day ago

Agreed on the System Shock, and of course if we are talking about Looking Glass games you have to mention the Thief influence.

Bioshock has never been in the same category for me, because it is very focused on run and gun combat, for this reason I’ve never felt it worked as an “immersive sim”. The levels aren’t nearly as open plan either, and there isn’t anything like the focus on providing players with multiple pathways to solve the same objective. It’s still great in its own right of course.

It’s not a perfect test for defining “immersive sims” - it’s a broad term - but I do think a key attribute is being able to complete many objectives using tools other than shooting someone. Bioshock leans much more into the shooting people than any of the other games mentioned.

[–] izacus 1 day ago

Agreed, the Dishonored series was great as well.

[–] ceuk 1 day ago

I picked it up a few months ago for the first time but I've not found the enthusiasm to keep going. Think I was around half way maybe. Does it get better? It's the sort of game I really like on paper but it just feels a bit shallow tbh. Plus I don't find jump scares relaxing after a long day at work. Feels like I'm missing something

[–] peezd 1 day ago

Honestly doesn't get a ton better, but your character gets stronger and more able to deal with the enemies so they become less of a concern and can explore with a bit more freedom

[–] FuriouslyAdrift 1 day ago

Only thing that bugged me about Prey is it felt like it was "on rails" and I couldn't just explore. The game is huge and gorgeous...

One of the few modern games that actually got me tense and scared. It is a really good game.

[–] satvikpendem 1 day ago

The Mooncrash DLC specifically is one of the best pieces of gaming available. It turns the base game mechanics into a Rogue-like where the world resets but some things in the world still stay persistent.

[–] izacus 1 day ago

While I like that DLC, I think it loses what makes these games so great to play: the feeling of exploration and slowly uncovering a story. Moon crashes repetition and time limits don't quite do it for me (although I still really recommend it to anyone).

[–] thor-rodrigues 1 day ago

Absolutely agree. Prey is stunning puzzle sandbox and I love so much the atmosphere of the game, from both the artistic and environment design perspective, but also from the outstanding ambiance soundtrack by Mick Gordon.

Unfortunately I have the impression that the final part was rushed, as the story feels incomplete at best. I wish Arkane could dedicate 6 more months to this game.

[–] mjr00 1 day ago

Prey is extremely good, but boy did I hate the ending. It's not just a disappointing ending, it's one that retroactively cheapens the rest of the game, IMO. Still a great game and worth playing, but that ending will always leave a bitter taste in my mouth.

[–] paulryanrogers 1 day ago

Agreed. I try to focus on what I enjoyed and imagine my own head-cannon ending.

[–] spopejoy 6 hours ago

> final song

I mean there's deathloop ... not saying it's anywhere near as good.

It does seem like immersive sim is gone, but it feels like it's influence lives on in BG3 and Elden Ring. The best games these days try hard to hide the rails.

[–] aidenn0 1 day ago

I've been out of the gaming scene for a while; will the iGPU on my Ryzen 7 9700X be able to handle a 9 year old game?

[–] aidenn0 1 day ago

I tried it out: Smooth on Low setting, playable on Medium nausea inducing on High.

[–] load-bearing 1 day ago

Until you get a better response, here's my experience: my 7700 gets stable 60 fps in gta5 at 1080p on medium-low. Haven't tried anything more modern, I'm addicted to ancient stuff.

[–] aidenn0 1 day ago

It's on sale for $5, so I'll take the risk and find out this weekend.

[–] aidenn0 1 day ago

I just checked, and it's available now for $8 with mooncrash or $5 without at gog.com

[–] jasomill 1 day ago

It's impossible to speak highly enough of this game.