I have had playstation for a while, but aside from Petz, Rollercoaster tycoon, and the sims <4 I never had a pc that could handle games.

I was gifted a used custom gaming PC cuz the owner was getting a new one! I have an $80 steam gift card I’d love to spend on multiple pop culture classic games I’ve missed out on and can only enjoy on PC/Xbox… my favorite are 3rd person rpg with exploration as an important element in learning about the lore/story. Some sort of reward for exploring thar isn’t loot.

Games I loved

  • Control

  • Horizon zero dawn

  • Persona 5/royal Those three are S tier life changing, think about forever types

  • Bishop trilogy (2 is best @me bro)

  • P5 strikers

  • Persona 4 golden

  • Final fantasy, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15

  • Catherine Full Body

  • Alan Wake

  • Ni no Kuni2

  • The forgotten city

  • Until dawn

  • A plague tale 1 innocence

  • TLOU1

  • Uncharted 1-3

  • Portal 1 & 2

Meh

  • life is strange 1
  • TLOU2
  • Nier automata (ikr, wtf? )

Did not finish/Gave up for lack of interest

  • Mass effect 1 (and thus none of the sequels)
  • Little nightmares
  • Fallout 4
  • Cyberpunk 2077 and not for glitch reasons
  • Ghostwire

So far the only game I’m sure of is the fable series but I dont even know what version to get? It often gets confusing for older games for a newbie

Computer details: Intel i9, 32gb ram, and Nvidia GeForce rtx 2070

  • Anissem@lemmy.ml
    20·
    10 months ago

    Steam has lots of sales so be patient. steamdb.info Is a useful website to track sales and see if they’re historic lows, also lots of other ways to sort through what’s available on Steam.

  • Lka1988@sh.itjust.works
    12·
    10 months ago

    Everyone is recommending games, but you haven’t told us a thing about this gifted PC. It’s important to know that prior to recommending anything, as a “custom gaming PC” could be an i7-4790k system from a decade ago.

    What are the specs?

    • asteriskeverything@lemmy.worldOP
      5·
      10 months ago

      I would love to tell you but my last pc was win7 and the newest windows is not intuitive for me. I can’t explain it except that things that should and have been simple for me aren’t anymore. I couldn’t even guess where to go in settings to get that info. I really really hate this os I’d love to figure out how to dual boot Linux and just not deal with windows except for gaming. Sorry old person drunk rant about tech…

      • deathbird@mander.xyz
        2·
        10 months ago

        If your primary gaming is through Steam, then you shouldn’t have to switch back to Windows much if at all.

  • supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
    10·
    10 months ago

    The Witcher 3? That is probably the high water mark here.

    Also see the new Stalker if you want open world vibes (fps tho).

    Maybe Elex?

    • SatansMaggotyCumFart@lemmy.world
      4·
      10 months ago

      I’ve played Outer Wilds for about four hours now and while it’s decent I haven’t understood the hype yet.

      It is worth sticking it out or is it not for me?

      • Contramuffin@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 months ago

        It’s a slow burn game. There is a plot, and the plot is really good, but it only becomes clear really late into the game. Instead of the plot, the primary driver of gameplay is learning. I see a lot of people approach the game as though the writings are just flavor text, or just a way to portray a clue to a puzzle. It’s really not. You’re supposed to seek out the writing because the writing itself scratches the itch of learning. The developers put an incredible amount of attention to the entire game, and paying close attention and thinking through the implications of the text will reveal the plot points and lore. Basically, you play for the knowledge, and then only later does it become clear that everything that you’ve been doing was actually advancing the plot. And you’d want to remember what you learned so that the plot makes sense

        All this to say, there is a wrong way to play the game, and that is to treat the game like nothing more than something to be completed. If you’re feeling a bit lost, yeah, that’s kind of the point. You decide which thread is most interesting to you. All I will say is that any thread that you pull will eventually converge onto the plot, so feel free to pursue another thread if you get stuck or if you get bored of the current thread that you’re pursuing.

        Also, remember that in space, there’s no friction, so however long it takes for you to speed up, that’s how long it takes for you to slow down.

        If you gave it a genuine shot and it really just doesn’t click with you, then perhaps just watch a Let’s Play. I think it does eventually click with most people, but I acknowledge that some people just don’t like the weight of making truly unguided decisions like the game is expecting you to make

      • Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 months ago

        It really depends on how fun do you find exploration and deduction to be. If you prefer games with more… curated direction, shall we say, then it might end up being more frustrating or boring rather than entertaining.
        If you like to figure things out for yourself and take pleasure in exploring the world and themes of what you play then there’s a good chance OW will click with you.

        There’s a lot of interesting stuff in this game but it’s certainly not for everyone. You’ll need patience, curiosity and some out of the box thinking to get the most out of it.

  • terraborra@lemmy.nzEnglish
    6·
    10 months ago

    Not an RPG but has a lot of lore and a form of exploration: Talos Principle 1 & 2.

    Hands down the best puzzle games I’ve ever played.

  • pivot_root@lemmy.world
    5·
    10 months ago

    my favorite are 3rd person rpg with exploration as an important element in learning about the lore/story

    Not PC exclusive, but if you haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3 yet, it might be something you would enjoy. It’s literally Dungeons & Dragons, and it’s not going to guide you through every little piece of content. You can miss something on one playthrough and discover it completely by chance on your next one.

  • Owl@mander.xyz
    5·
    10 months ago

    Baldurs gate 3

    Incredible game AND - this is very very important ! - it doesn’t need fixing with mods, patches, retexturing etc…

    Morrowind, Fallout : New Vegas, Oblivion

    All need, fixing, rebalancing, graphics enhancements etc…

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    10 months ago

    There are entire genres that only work with mouse/keyboard, and thus only really exist on PC. Notably 4X, RTS, base-building, and simulation games. They are where I would start:

    Also, make sure to check out Is There Any Deal to give you historical (and current) best prices on games. PC games go on deep discounts on the regular. You do not need to buy PC games at full price if they were released more than 6 months ago.

  • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    Don’t know the specs or if you’ve played it on console already, but given you played and liked Control and Alan Wake I think Alan Wake 2 is a must-play. It is a very demanding game, though. But would otherwise tick all your boxes.

    Dragon Age: Origins is an old 3rd person RPG classic, and I would argue it is best on PC since you can install a couple of mods that fix bugs and restore cut content. And the UI and gameplay is better on PC I’d say. But given you gave up on Mass Effect I’m slightly hesitant.

    The Witcher 3 has already been mentioned but it too would be a good shout.

  • cmrss2@aussie.zone
    41·
    10 months ago

    Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was life-changing for me. There’s quite a bit of exploration that will let you experience various bits of deeper lore, including an entire hidden story that links up with the backstory of one of the minibosses. Not sure if that’s what you’re looking for, but I really enjoyed this one.

  • BoatMeat@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    Witcher 3 and Red dead redemption 2 are a couple of the best games I’ve ever played. Try those out. Witcher 3 goes on sale quite often on Steam, so you can get the complete version with DLC’s for less than 10$.

  • Donebrach@lemmy.world
    1·
    10 months ago

    get a gamepass sub, play avowed.

    also re: Neir, did you start a new game plus after the first play through?

    • asteriskeverything@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      10 months ago

      That is a difficult question to answer but I will say I am confident I completed the story and I had zero interest in ng+ for any reason. It felt extremely repetitive to me and I never got good at it or anything for it to be rewarding.

      • Donebrach@lemmy.world
        1·
        10 months ago

        That’s unfortunate. The new game+ isnt really just the same thing over again as it introduces new gameplay and further fleshes out the story—its really more accurate to call it the games second act, with a third and fourth to follow after that. But if you didn’t find the gameplay enticing, fair enough.

  • VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’ll chime in with the obligatory New Vegas recommendation.

    It’s so different than Fallout 4 it’s really hard to describe. No looter shooter stuff, no focus on clearing the next dungeon. The world is there, it’s alive, it’s reactive, and you decide what to do and where to go. I’ve spent many hours scouring the world, and I always find something new. And when I say something new, I’m not talking about a copy/pasted skill magazine or bobblehead. I mean new quests, new lore, new perspectives It’s the closest I’ve ever seen a video game come to emulating real-world ideological conflict, and I adore it. The player freedom is off the chain, too. Hell, you can kill every NPC and still beat the game. Love it, rant over.

    You can play New Vegas without mods, and I’d say it actually functions well (everyone’s machine handles the game differently though, tbh), but I recommend following this guide, at least the base version, to mod your game. Not strictly necessary, though. I’d hate to recommend you a game you have to spend hours fixing before you can play it.

    As for Fable, there’s two versions on Steam. Fable: The Lost Chapters is the original Xbox release, and Fable Anniversary is the 360-era remaster. The only real differences between the two are:

    1. Fable Anniversary has remastered graphics. (As for if they’re better, that comes down to personal preference. I personally like the way Fable: TLC looks more)

    2. Fable Anniversary has controller support.

    3. Fable Anniversary has an added hard mode.

    The controller support makes Anniversary my preferred way to play on Steam, but the remaster kinda destroyed the game’s atmosphere. I’d still rather just boot up my Xbox copy of Fable TLC so I can have my cake and, furthermore, eat it as well.

    • asteriskeverything@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      10 months ago

      Thank you so much! I know I should play NV but it’s also painful, a dear friend I lost was really into it and I associate it with him. And games being too open can be overwhelming for me. Decision fatigue. But I still think I should try it and all the info you have provided was very helpful for when I do, thank you again.