Game Recommendations for Idlesum
A personalize list for a friend. Recommendation "ranking" isn't determined by the game's overall quality but rather by what I think are the chances my buddy will enjoy the game in question.
20 Games
This is a visual novel that takes its time setting up its narrative, one that consists of several stories taking place in different time periods with their own set of characters to follow. While the earlier chapters are passable, it’s after the 15 or so hour mark where the story transitions from a good visual novel to an exceptional one and where everything up to that point starts to fall into place. It may feel like a slog to get through but I promise that the end justifies the means.
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 30 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 30 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
You’re already interested in this so there’s not much I can say that you haven’t heard before. Is gud. Although you should start with Replicant, the prequel story, as there are some key moments that get spoiled in Automata. It’s not necessarily required as the events Automata takes place thousands of years into the future and you can still appreciate Automata even without the context of Replicant (I know I did)
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
Oh boy, this is a hard one. Over the past couple of years, I made several attempts to get into this game, only to find myself dropping it each time. Not understanding as to why it was loved by many among the gaming community. I always felt aimless, confused, often frustrated and perplexed with its design, leading to a sense of resentment towards it. It’s only up until recently where I decided to power through it and stick with it until the end and although there were moments when I contemplated abandoning it once more, I’m glad that I didn’t. I can’t go into detail why the game finally resonated with me without giving too much away, but I will say that this is the kind of game where you should absolutely go in blind as possible. Let yourself get lost and know that it’s a journey where it’s perfectly fine not to know where to go, to feel occasionally overwhelmed, and to lack a clear goal at times. Have faith in the process, follow your curiosity, and it will eventually lead you to the answers. It’s a narrative so uniquely designed that it can only be told through the medium of video games. Fuck, video games are so cool.
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 16 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 16 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
An extremely tightly designed 2D platformer that has 3 core mechanics; Jumping, dashing, and climbing. The game pushes the limits on what it can accomplish with just those 3 mechanics. While Celeste is an amazing 2D platformer, where it truly shines is within its narrative and how it incorporates its themes within the level designs themselves.
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 8 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: HIGH
Time Estimation: 8 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
You don’t necessarily need to complete the first two games before diving into this one but it is highly encouraged you do so. The ending of XC3 rewards those who have played the first two titles, beautifully tying everything in the series. However, the problem with XC1 and ESPECIALLY XC2 is that they tend to embrace anime troupes, which I just know that you aren’t too fond of in stories. This makes it hard for me to recommend them to you. XC3, despite still retaining some of that anime flare, is the most grounded story in the trilogy, one that I believe will resonate with you deeply. It’s a story about discovering compassion, meaning, and acceptance in a world that is devoid of all that. All ever knowing the life of a nihilistic never ending war, indoctrinated to kill the opposing side with seething hatred without questioning the reason behind all the constant bloodshed. My only hope is that playing this will interest you enough to consider exploring the previous titles as it’s a series that I hold dear to my heart and wish more people would experience them.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 100 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 100 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
I’m always hesitant to recommend Danganronpa to you due to how silly and over the top it can be, as well as having an influx of characters that are not all developed equally as some of the other characters that have a bigger role in the story. While I absolutely adore Danganronpa, it doesn’t hold a candle to this. Your Turn To Die feels like Danganronpa but written by someone who understands how to tell a compelling narrative with interesting characters that all get time to shine one way or another. The story is one that asks you a simple question. In a death game involving men, women, and children, where individuals are voted out as sacrifices, and only two will come out of it alive by the end of it all, what’s the best path forward? Do you emotionally invest in the group, striving to help as many people as possible even at the risk of your own life, or logically adopt a cold and calculated mindset to secure your own survival? There’s no absolute right or wrong answer, only the one you believe in. Two conflicting ideals that constantly clash, with every character having a say on the matter and pinning you in agonizing decisions where both sides present compelling arguments for their own course of action. It’s fucking brutal and you feel the weight of your actions as the game progresses with consequences that can return to haunt you.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 13 hours (ongoing)
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 13 hours (ongoing)
Personal Rating: 9/10
Think of GTA but set in Japan and restricted to following a character’s own set of moral codes, meaning refrained from harming innocent civilians. It’s a dialogue heavy game entirely in Japanese so be prepared to do a lot of reading. It somehow manages to tell a compelling narrative while all the same immersing you in some of the wackiest scenarios I’ve seen in a game. One moment, you’re having to protect a Michale Jackson look alike as he moonwalks through a horde of zombies, the next you’re witnessing a no holds barred showdown between two shirtless yakuza men where they physically and metaphorically beat their beliefs into each other. Then you’re back to grooving on the dance floor at a karaoke bar while having to press buttons in rhythm, only for moments later to be crying your eyes out as a character mourns the loss of a loved one. It’s anime ass fuck yet grounded in its ability to humanize its characters. Seemingly transitioning between being horny, funny, bizarre, sad, hopeful, all the while exuding a pure sense of unapologetic badassery. You will laugh, cry, and mouth to yourself “what the fuck am I watching” within moments of each other. It’s an insane roller coaster of a game where it shows the darkest and brightest parts of the human experience. Overall just a great game
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 30 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 30 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Tears of the Kingdom builds on top of what Breath of the Wild created and there’s almost no reason to go back to BotW unless you want some context for the story. I’ll just be bold and say that the stories for these two specifically aren't all that great and you won’t care for it unless you’re a fan of the franchise. You’re here to experience a game that revolutionized the open world genre, one that has been stagnated in the same level design and ideas since the early 2010s.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 60 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 60 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
I’d choose World over this but Rise is a much beginner friendly experience with tons of quality of life features that World lacks. Since you were into fashion in Destiny, I believe you’d fit right at home with the ability to personalize your hunter with cool gear.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 7/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 7/10
By far one of the most exceptional FPS games I’ve ever played. It’s a game that gives you an arsenal of weapons and encourages an unrelenting, all out assault, bloodshed against demonic enemies. It’s bloody, it’s brutal, but above all else, it’s a high-speed, adrenaline pumping shooter like no other. The story itself isn’t anything to write home about, and while there are occasional moments that humanize the protagonist in subtle ways, it’s not something that will be keeping you at the edge of your seat. You’re here primarily for the sleek pew pew gameplay.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 11 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 11 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
The most unconventional-conventional Zelda game. It’s a weird take on the Zelda formula, diverting focus away from dungeons and instead emphasizing side quests to give life to its NPCs. You’re stuck in a perpetual three day cycle, with the looming moon threatening to destroy the world of Termina and it’s up to you to figure out how to break out of the time loop. Each NPC has their own set schedule, meaning that you need to be in the right place, talking to the right NPC at the right moment to advance certain stories. It’s for this reason that I’d recommend playing the original N64 version over the 3DS remaster. Sure, the remaster offers a ton of quality of life improvements but I feel like that diminishes the raw feeling of being caught in a time loop. Many of the “flaws” in the N64 version stem from the developers’ tight time constraints where they were tasked to create an entirely new game within a year after Ocarina of Time. This led to recycling assets from OoT and cutting corners and the feeling of dread of the looming deadline bled into Majora’s Mask as a result. I think the 3DS version doesn’t deliver on the feelings of frustration and anxiety that N64 does. Also, I don’t care what anyone says, those N64 graphics lend themselves perfectly to Majora’s Mask’s darker themes.
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
Recommendation: Medium
Time Estimation: 20 hours
Personal Rating: 10/10
A beautiful arthouse video game that has you going on a journey to the summit of a mountain.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 2 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 2 hours
Personal Rating: 9/10
I know you said that you're not really into puzzle games but this feels like the exception. Not only is it a neat game in the genre, it's the only game that I've seen to have managed to do portal physics so perfectly. It's a 16 year old game and it still holds up to this day.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 3 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 3 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
You might’ve heard people proclaim Stardew Valley as the ultimate farming game, but I’m here to set the record straight. They’re WRONG. Stardew Valley is so much more than just farming, yes there’s an emphasis on it but not the main focus. In theory, you can become a fisherman and make a living off selling fish or a cave dweller seeking for ore and collecting monster parts just as easily as becoming a farmer. Hell, you can even live off your days just enjoying the passage of time and creating relationships with those around.Stardew Valley is more along the lines of a life simulator with a focus on time management. You get to decide what you do each day and engage or neglect any aspect of the game as you see fit and still come out enjoying it. There’s also co-op so you can play together with a friend or three wink wink nudge nudge.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: Indefinitely
Personal Rating: 7/10
Cute cozy little game where absolutely NOTHING ever goes wrong.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 21 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 21 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
It’s Mario game where Bowser actually feels like a threatening force of nature that should not be fucked with.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 3 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 3 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Cute little game that you can play with your girlfriend.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 14 hours
Personal Rating: 7/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 14 hours
Personal Rating: 7/10
This is a shot in the dark. I’m not entirely sure if you will end up liking this one as it deviates from traditional gaming experiences and resembles more of an interactive painting. No dialogue to be heard, no objectives that will be told upfront and the story is told in an extremely subtle way. All you do is walk, delving into the surreal dreamscape worlds that reside in the mind of a hikikomori girl.
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 5 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
Recommendation: low
Time Estimation: 5 hours
Personal Rating: 8/10
I haven't come around to playing this myself but from what I've heard it just sounds like something that you and I would love.
I haven't come around to playing this myself but from what I've heard it just sounds like something that you and I would love.
