Hello everyone

I recently upgraded my PC and I’m excited to explore new games that can take advantage of my improved hardware. Previously, my old PC was limited, and I had to be selective about the games I played. I also have a Steam Deck, but I’m looking for offline single-player experiences on my PC.

I’m looking for games that offer an unforgettable experience and high replay value. I enjoy open-world games that give me the freedom to explore, similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I know it’s not a PC game, but it gives you an idea of my playstyle.

Here are some games I’ve enjoyed in the past:

• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - My favorite game, I love the freedom to explore without being bound to quests.

• Far Cry 3 - Great open-world experience that didn’t get boring.

• NieR: Automata - Engaging story, but it got a bit repetitive.

• Scarlet Nexus - Great story, high replay value, and a beautiful world, although it can be repetitive.

• ULTRAKILL - Challenging and high replay value.

• Portal 2 - High replay value.

• Portal 1 - Enjoyed it, but didn’t love it.

• Subnautica - Absolutely loved it.

• The Witcher 3 - Didn’t enjoy it, but I’m giving it another try soon.

• Doom Eternal - Liked it.

• Horizon Zero Dawn - It’s an average game, with a mid-story and a beautiful world.

For me, a good story is often the top priority, but I also enjoy games like Breath of the Wild where I can relax and play without thinking too hard.

If you’re curious about my specs, here they are:

New PC:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core

• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX

• RAM: 64GB DDR5 Memory

Old PC: • GPU: AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB

• CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K @ 3.50GHz

• RAM: 4GB DDR3 Memory

I’d appreciate any game recommendations that fit my preferences.

Edit: Thanks already for the recommendations, I might also add, that I love the Halo games. Except the newer ones.

  • @[email protected]
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    34 months ago

    Black Messa (fanmade Half-Life remaster) followed by Half-Life 2 (and its episodes), maybe also Half-Life Alyx if you have a VR headset (a cheap Quest 2 should be fine for PCVR)

  • ByteMe
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    14 months ago

    I liked spiderman and death stranding is also pretty nice although it’s big and kinda slow

    • Jay🚩
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      14 months ago

      Also not for graphics but plant vs zombies is fun game.

  • @[email protected]
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    34 months ago

    Honestly psychonauts 1 and 2 are both absolutely amazing, and the art style means that they don’t end up looking ancient despite still looking old. The story is also very enjoyable and influential on the level design

  • DigitalDilemma
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    14 months ago

    Enjoying Factory Town at the mo, a little chill automation game with a surprising level of complexity.

    Factorio 2 is also fantastic if this is a genre you enjoy.

    • slazer2au
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      54 months ago

      There is only one Factorio game and they released 2.0 and a DLC in October

  • Captain Howdy
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    14 months ago

    Xbox Game Pass for PC is an incredible value, even with the caveat of having to run windows (which sucks so bad). That’s always my top rec for PC gamers.

    Elden Ring is still my number one game. It’s awesome and will run great on your new PC as well as your deck. It’s also got a lot in common with your listed games.

    Grounded is a great game as well! It’s a reasonably difficult survival crafting game (like Subnautica). Same goes for Return to Moria.

    • @[email protected]
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      24 months ago

      I finished it a few months ago and their launch did the game dirty. Absolutely gorgeous game with a compelling interesting story. Big time recommend!

  • @[email protected]
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    4 months ago

    The Long Dark? Offline single player survival in the postapocalyptic Canadian wildernis. There is a survival mode in which you can freely explore, but also a story mode and several challenges. In my opinion an extremely beautiful game and on the higher difficulties also extremly challenging.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      14 months ago

      After Watching the Trailer, it gave me some Firewatch Vibes. The story seems very interesting. I think I will give it a try. Thanks.

  • apotheotic (she/her)
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    14 months ago

    Sable is very breath of the wild adjacent, and quite beautiful. Lots of secrets to discover.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      14 months ago

      I’ve tried sable, but It’s a little too calm for me. I maybe haven’t played enough, but I think this just isn’t my game. Correct me if I’m wrong, but thanks for the suggestion.

      • apotheotic (she/her)
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        14 months ago

        Nope sable is a very calm game, I thought that was what you enjoyed about botw but I evidently misunderstood!

  • boletus
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    84 months ago

    Outer wilds if you enjoyed subnautica’s sense of wonder and exploration. Not replayable but a unique once in a lifetime experience.

    Helldivers 2 if you enjoy halo firefight and it’s expansive sandbox. Very replayable.

    Teardown is very replayable and will run great on your rig.

    Curious why you went for 64gb of ram instead of 32, because the extra dosh could have gone to a better gpu. Always use the extra on the gpu or monitor.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      34 months ago

      Thanks for the suggestions. I already own Helldivers 2, and it is great, but I would like something more single-player since my friends aren’t online all the time and playing with strangers is just half the fun.

      Teardown does look really promising. Especially that it’s literary, a game where you can just blow up anything!

      I went for 64GB because I wanted my RIG to be future-proof. I chose an AMD GPU, because I use Linux (of course on Lemmy ;)), it’s also a Statement to choose AMD over Nvidia because of the outrageous pricing. Honestly, any newer GPU is an upgrade in perspective to my old pc.

    • @[email protected]
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      14 months ago

      Seconded for Helldivers 2! Play it with the in game music off and with the halo music instead. Wayyy more epic

  • @[email protected]
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    24 months ago
    • Cyberpunk 2077 (very good since 2.x and with Phantom Liberty expansion). Since I have similar hardware to you, you can play it with Raytracing enabled and have at least above 30 fps which should be enough for most playstyles except maybe fast melee-based combat. The game’s lighting effects look absolutely gorgeous with Raytracing.

    • Witcher 3 (keep at it. It’s amazing. It can feel clunky at the beginning due to its weird combat mechanics but you get used to it. Also you can switch it up by integrating signs (magic) into your swordfighting. Which is what I recommend doing. I think it’s more varied). Also, the game gets better as you go. The base game is great, but the DLCs are even better, especially Blood & Wine has kind of a legendary status among all DLCs, you rarely get such value inside a DLC, except Phantom Liberty which has a similar scope and quality to it.

    • Baldur’s Gate 3 is probably the best game of the last decade or so so highly recommended. It’s not open world, but it’s still huge and is at the same time very densely packed with stuff, so you need a lot of time when you want to explore and loot everything. The game feels huge that way. Especially compared to open world games, it’s like the opposite - open world games have a vast area but almost nothing in-between major points, which means the world can feel empty in a lot of open-world games. Baldur’s Gate 3 has something around every corner and never feels empty (unless you’ve cleared a whole area already).

    • Red Dead Redemption 2 - a lot of people like it, so far it didn’t feel right to me (so slow) but I can still see how it’s a good game and if you like chilling with a game it might be just your thing

    • Elden Ring is amazing but has very tough combat/action of course. Still, it really feels great as an open-world game. It completely throws the “Ubisoft formula” out of the window, which most open-world games follow, and that’s precisely why it’s so good. I’ve rarely had more feeling of true exploration and accomplishment within an open world game. Still, combat is very challenging, so if you prefer games to be on the easy side, then it’s not right for you. But if you don’t mind a challenge (a challenge you can also often delay for later when you’re stronger) then it’s a must-play. If you don’t know, as most or all games from From Software, these games don’t offer different difficulty settings so there is only one difficulty which is the same for every player (and it’s tough). These games are also very fair and reward accurate playing - it’s possible to not get hit at all by anything, for example, if you’re really good. So they never feel unfair and when you die (which you do a lot) you’ll always know why you died and have an idea how you could do it better. Besides the difficulty, what can also feel oppressive in those games is the fact that all enemies (except bosses) respawn whenever you rest. But Elden Ring kind of mitigates that because you can skip a lot of areas and come back when you’re better prepared (i.e. gained more levels/attributes or better gear). Then, past challenges can start feeling easy. And skipping weak enemies is kind of the normal thing.

    • STALKER 2 (may still need a couple more patches but it’s playable and has a great overall atmosphere and visual design. They fixed the worst post-launch problems I think). Very strong in atmosphere and immersion.

    • @[email protected]
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      14 months ago

      Baldur’s Gate 3 is probably the best game of the last decade or so so highly recommended. It’s not open world…

      And that’s probably exactly why it’s good. Most open world games I’ve played are absolute snores.

    • @[email protected]
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      14 months ago

      I also recommend Baldurs Gate 3 and Elden Ring. Baldurs Gate has one more big patch in the next month or two so I would wait until then to play it. I’m kind of waiting for that patch to drop to start another run through. Protip: pick the Dark Urge backstory.

  • companero [he/him]
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    54 months ago
    • Prey (2017). Good FPS gameplay with RPG mechanics, incredibly detailed semi-open world, emphasizes exploration and player freedom.

    • Watch Dogs 2. Above average for an Ubisoft game. Great open world that emphasizes player freedom.

    Honorable mentions that you’ve probably already considered: Cyberpunk 2077, Control, Alan Wake 2

    • @[email protected]OP
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      34 months ago

      Prey looks great, and I think I will like it very much. Judging from the Steam review’s it’s very versatile which I like.

      Watch Dogs 2 Also looks very cool. The story peek from the Trailers looks like it matches with my overall interests. The trailer really hooked me, but I’m still looking through other suggestions, thanks.

      I have bought Cyberpunk right after Release, but then after watching some reviews, it just waited in my Drawer (physical copy). Because of that mishap from CD Projekt Red, I’m a little hesitant on that. I know that the patch is out, but I somehow not ready to play it yet.

      Control seems promising, but I feel like the story is Whack. Guessing by the name, it seems like I can control everything, so that has some appeal.

      Alan Wake 2 seems interesting, but not as compelling as Prey or Watch Dogs 2.

      • @[email protected]
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        14 months ago

        Outer Wilds is an unforgettable experience, but has very low replayability. Everything is knowledge based, and playing the game means figuring everything out for the first time (so be sure not to look anything up).

        But it’s all exploration, it has an excellent story, and I would recommend it to anyone.

    • lime!
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      44 months ago

      outer wilds outer wilds outer wilds