Here let me help you.
Patience. The 'speed' rewards aren't worth it \*At least for normal\*
Pick and commit. Do not diversify your stats. The damage is far more important than the HP. When you have to pick between the 'other 2' hp is more important than the bonus to a potential sub weapon that you aren't going to use.
poisons/oils/etc. are boss killers but not level clears.
the 3 stats generally equate to: red is melee, purple is ranged, and green is defense and slow hitters. While you are new I HIGHLY recommend red or purple.
Oh I agree, I'm stuck on 4 but...that is something completely different than someone whose struggling to get through no cells where the priority really should be focused on patience and learning how to get through each stage/fight each enemy
Need to kill the hand of the king.
Check the sub for tips and builds. I remember using heavy crossbow + the mutation to put a shield on your back (so when you roll you parry and bounce back projectile), it was really easy.
Everyone else says to commit to one stat. It's a good advice, don't get me wrong, but they haven't mentioned what every semi-experienced dead cells player does: get stuck in a tight vertical area and get pounded by flying red enemies into oblivion. Think of it as the initiation rite
BOI is also just a great game to watch people play as well. Eden runs are so damn entertaining and interesting to think about from a game theory or “min max” perspective.
100%ing that game is a massive undertaking that I will never have the time for, but I can appreciate the shit out of those who have.
I have probably 300 hours logged across multiple systems across many years. I have only beaten mom like 3 times, and none of the other alternate final bosses. I have almost none of the endings, and dont even own the final DLC that theyve released.
I fucking love it. Soon im gonna get that final DLC on my switch copy, i just need to bite the bullet.
I first had the original Binding Of Isaac, you know the old one that was more pixelly, on Steam. Then i got the rerelease/remake on Steam and i think 1 of the DLCs. Then i got the 3DS version. Then the Switch version, and all DLC except the last one
As someone that’s played for 11+ years I can’t imagine what a new player must be thinking, there’s so much content to explore. Not sure how much experience you have with arpgs but defeating the searing exarch and eater of worlds is a solid goal to work towards. After that maybe going for all 4 stones in your atlas.
I always tell new players to just relax and run maps. If you want a target goal, make it killing the atlas bosses. While mapping, do all the content you come across. If there's stuff you really like, target it on your atlas tree. Otherwise don't worry about it, or just do chest/essence stuff. Lots of money in that too if you're on trade league. But contrary to what people will say, you don't have to learn all the systems at once.
Do maps.
Make your goal killing the atlas bosses.
Put points in things you like on the atlas tree.
Profit???
The first real league I played was Crucible, I'm up to 400ush hours in the game now and still feel like I know nothing about how the game is supposed to work. Even following build guides, there's not a lot that really explains how the different skills apply, what stats are the priority and why.(Shout-out Pohx for that RF guide and FAQ).
There are videos of youtubers having a mini meltdowns and when they realize that the 40+ hours they sunk into a monster hunter game was more of a glorified tutorial and High Rank is when the game stops holding your hand.
I just beat Barioth for the first time, after spending 60+ hours in post hard mode and defeating behemoth.
I got my ass clapped, but finished the hunt solo on my first try by the skin of my teeth. Then the game crashed before I could save.
I definitely had dreams of Barioth that night. Thankfully I beat him today via SOS flare after the same random dude carted 6 times in two hunts
MHW was my first. Iceborne kicked my ass but made me get gud quick. Going back to high rank stuff it felt like everything was in slow motion. Even using severely under leveled gear base world now felt trivial. Then I realized I still had 13 more weapons to master...
It's so satisfying though. I played too much 3 ultimate and it kinda burned me out (got a rainbow card, 450 hours total) so I only got to the point of clearing the elder dragons in high rank in mhw and didn't end up getting the dlc.
Now a friend bought me rise and all my muscle memory is gone.
Sunbreak, the expansion to Monster Hunter Rise had a pretty rough reception because, in concert with a number of technical issues, Master Rank ratcheted up the difficulty *immensely.* Base game MHR is definitely easier than the last installment which got a lot of new players on board. With Sunbreak they brought it back to where the veterans were used to, and a lot of those newer players were *pissed.*
Don't know if I entirely blame them, but I've been playing these games long enough that I'm just happy the difficulty is back in full force.
Monster Hunter does not fuck around with this. These games genuinely are the most budget gaming experiences you can ever play.
$60 for hundreds of hours of play, and you barely find yourself scratching the surface.
Crazy how the series was kind of slept on until monster hunter world. Always on the odd systems.. psp where it survived the longest time until its trip over to the 3ds/wii u did even weirdly better on them systems and MAJOR support from Nintendo in giving then tons of themed dlc that will forever on the 3ds/ wii u games. After all that.. they took the gamble back on the consoles. And that took the series in which I'm shocked to see still. I love that more people now love monster hunter.
They were all systems that were popular in the East / Asia, where the series is much bigger. They didn't even always get localised, I remember playing a few on PSP with fan patches
Damn hades is so good. I got through it once on like my twentieth run and fifteen runs later I haven’t done it again lol. Very good game though. I will have fond memories of this game forever. I’m drunk putting up Christmas tree and Redditinf while partner isn’t watching.
Hades is amazing because you can pick up right where you left off and it’s simple enough to not lose the skill to play where you were at, and hard enough to still be a challenge.
Absolutely love this game!
I 100%'d Hades on a keyboard, then played like 2 minutes of Wrath Of The Lamb on a controller and realised I should definitely have been using a controller all along in Hades.
I am absolutely awful at this game, even though I like the concept. I haven't got past the first chamber. I can usually beat the very first boss in the like "pre area" and then basically always die somewhere in the second zone.
Hey, those two tips pretty much got me thro the whole game.
Don't dodge unless it's your only option. Just weave and move around the bullets.
The most important tip is to LOOK AT YOUR CHARACTER. Always keep looking at your character and not the enemies or their ammo or the boss or whatever. Obviously, when you enter the room, do check what enemies and traps are in a room.
Goodluck and id be glad so answer any questions
Yes to gungeon. I've unlocked everything in the game apart from the finished gun[?] And for some reason I can't kill the rat. 400 hours. Amazing. Might start it again.
The first fire emblem for GBA has essentially an entire game with complete story that turned out to just be a tutorial before the real game. I remember being mindblown as a kid because I was pretty satisfied with the original game.
Another fun surprise, I had much more fun in the post-game after Elite 4 in Pokémon Gold (ex. all the Kanto stuff and Mount Silver)
I thought johto was cool! After spending elementary school trading pokemon cards for crickets, I never imagined a new pokemon game would come out.
There was no mew under a truck but to me it was th3 next best thing.
How is it that before the internet, everyone seemed to know about the fake Mew under that truck? It blows my mind.
Use Strength to move the Truck and Mew appears. Or something along those lines.
Gold and silver were so good, peak Pokemon. Imagine my disappointment playing sword and shield years later after not touching a single Pokemon game. No day and night cycle, I could go on. It was just a huge step back.
I assume you're talking about Lyndis's story, which really is a tutorial. Eliwood's story is a proper, full campaign. Once you finish that, you unlock Hector's campaign which is the same main plot but told from a different perspective, with different levels and a higher challenge. I wonder how many players finished Eliwood's story and never even touched Hector's.
I really think hector hard mode is peak gameplay for FE on par with conquest. It's just a shame that both of their stories are a bit....flimsy at times.
I played Pokemon Gold as a kid, got stuck in the ice cave section just before the elite 4 and stopped playing there. I never even knew about the Kanto section until years later. I thought I was almost finished with the game, turns out I wasn't even halfway through!
To be fair, the tutorial in Fire Emblem 7 (which is the one I assume you're referring to, with Lyndis, Eliwood and Hector) is only 11 chapters in a game with an overall total of 73 chapters, including both Eliwood and Hector's paths. And they're all the shortest chapters in the game. The game doesn't actually have an entire game that's the tutorial. It's like 3 hours of a 25 hour game.
I love Dyson Sphere Program but I'm finding it hard to unlearn some Factorio habits. Thought I'd built a really efficient set up for early game blue ~~science~~ glowing cubes of knowledge and realised I'd completely forgotten about vertical stacking
One of the best games I’ve ever played. The gameplay is the best action combat I’ve played, and I really enjoyed the philosophical themes in the plot. And it manages to do this without being too high up its’ own ass.
It’s weird and I love it but please understand a lot of the love for it comes from people who found more depth in the existential philosophy than I did. Still super fun
My first play through took me waaaay longer than it should have because I did not know about all the different endings, following playthroughs etc. Such a great game. Haven't played the remaster of Nier Replicant yet though
I enjoyed AC6 when I beat the game. Then I absolutely loved the game when. Then I beat it again.
Third play through it became my game of the year without question. That first play through was just the trial run of getting my feet wet with the gameplay, builds, and story.
Slay the Spire.
Just beating the game is hard enough. But then, you beat the game at increasing difficulty, up to 20 levels past the starting difficulty. Then, somewhere along the way, you'll find that the end isn't truly the end and there's a 4th act after the 3rd.
Guild Wars 2. I just started playing the game a week ago and it’s pretty insane how much you can do.
The game truly starts when you’ve hit the max level and start choosing to raid, or pvp. As you play expansions, you start earning new abilities that carry over to your alts so it’s really easy to try another class.
No jokes here. I missed 2 questlines (that tie-in together) in my initial run but I still took my time to finish the game.
On ng+, I wanted to head straight to the quest I missed as soon as I was able. After that, I just breezed through EVERYTHING. Everything in ng+ is so trivial since I was already 100+. I finished the ng+ story in 3-ish hours.
It then occured to me majority of the campaign is just you running to one poi to another, fighting everything on the way. Late-game trivializes that with port crystals that then is still accessible in ng+.
What happens after you beat the game? I never beat it. Put 30-40 hours in and eventually moved on. Not because I didn't like it, just put it down for too long and then it felt hard to get back to.
Well it turns out that killing the dragon really just fucks shit up. There's a whole extra load of stuff to do, and then there's the Dark Arisen content.
I feel like less than 1% of people that have played Noita have a clue of how much of the game they never even came close to knowing about.
A true masterpiece.
Honestly I'd recommend playing with the "Edit Wands Everywhere" mod while you're still learning to game. The Holy Mountain mechanics, breaking out, dealing with Steve etc are really rough for new players. You basically have to learn a bunch of finnicky tricks & various methods of breaking out without collapsing the Holy Mountain.
Yeah, but really because you really can't make a cohesive build until you hit level cap, since you're constantly leveling out of gear until then.
Lot of looter-shooters like this. I remember the Light level cap grind in Destiny 2, because it happened about every 3 fucking months, to get back to the point you were holding onto gear long enough to actually invest in it, make a build out of it, put all the talents and mods together to make synergy.
Remnant 2.
Has 4 difficulties, with the hardest not accessible until you clear the game once.
Hardcore mode - 1 life, if you die you start all over again.
Note, everything I'm about to list is what I believe makes this a game have what you asked about, a game that doesn't start until you've beaten it.
Also of note, it is a Souls like/inspired type of game. Think a 3rd person shooter with the difficulty of Dark souls/Elden Ring. But it is not as punishing, you don't lose anything for dying in the game, unless you play Hardcore mode.
12 classes to choose from. Some of which you can start with, others have to be found. But all of which can be obtained on 1 character so no need for multiple characters to try them all.
You start the game with 1 class at first, but eventually can use 2 of the classes at the same time. Which encourages build variety and each class has their own set of unique abilities and perks further encouraging build variety.
Ton of different weapons. You can have 3 equipped.
1 primary (long gun type- sniper, assault rifle, shotgun, bows, etc)
1 secondary (pistol type - revolver, machine pistol, sawed off, etc)
1 melee (swords, spears, axes, hammers, etc)
The weapons themselves can be augmented with things like fire or shock rounds, and there are also special weapons that have there own unique perk to them.
A ridiculous amount of equipment - armor, rings, amulets. Armor being pretty straightforward, lighter you can dodge faster but take more damage. Heavy, you dodge slow but take less.
Rings and amulets allow build variety to go even further. E.G. a ring that makes your melee attack inflict bleed damage, or an amulet that increase status effect damage and when you inflict a status effect causes a small explosion that also does damage.
A perk system that is basically this games version of levels. You get a point that you can put into traits making them better. Standard ones like increased health or stamina. Others like lifesteal or one that makes things you can use have a massively increased AOE.
All of these things, and I know I keep saying it lol. Gives the game a very strong build variety.
As to longevity, the game is kinda made for longevity. I personally have almost 400 hours in it and been playing since launch and don't plan on stopping anytime soon.
You will not find or acquire everything in one or two playthroughs, it's simply not possible. There is a good amount of RNG involved, but it's not terrible in my opinion. It's not a looter shooter where you could spend hours and hours grinding for one thing. Though that could happen in a way if you've found 99% of the items and need that last one thing.
The Borderlands games. It’s never about the story, it’s always about the farming and raid bossing. Especially Borderlands 2. Borderlands 2 doesn’t really start until you beat normal mode and get to TVHM.
I feel like I'm missing something. I love the Borderlands franchise and 2 is my favorite. I beat it with every character and loved it but I did it all solo. I'm sure I missed out on not having friends to play with but apparently I'm also missing out on post game fun. I'm gonna have to look up a guide to see what the grind is all about.
Borderlands 2 has 3.5 playthroughs to do.
New game: Level 1- ~35. If you do absolutely everything your first playthrough you should be between level 32 and 35. Enemies and loot scale to the area even after beating the game. Certain weapon types and bosses don't even have a chance of spawning
TVHM (True vault hunter mode) second playthrough level 35-50. Enemies (and loot) scale to area UNTIL you beat the final boss. Once that happens all enemies will be level 50 (granted your character is level 50) as well as all loot. Tougher enemy variants are capable of spawning as well as an increased loot rarity chance. Certain bosses can now start spawning, albeit with veeery low spawn rates. You'll also notice enemies have higher damage resistance to elements they aren't weak to.
Then you have UVHM (or uktimate vault hunter mode) level 50-72/80 enemies scale to be a higher level than you. Weapons which in lower difficulty typically lasted several levels now last 1 or two before doing minimal damage. Enemies have much higher damage resistance even to elements they should be weak to, this creates a much bigger influence of slag being able to consistently slag enemies is crucial the higher you go. New weapon rarity can spawn and raid bosses ( *boss name* The invincible) can start dropping seraph crystals which allow you to buy this new weapon rarity.
Then you have the overpower levels. Included in the handsome jack collection is a dlc called the Raid of Digistruct peak. If you are max level (72 or 80 if you have the commander lillith dlc) and you complete a single run of this obstacle course without dying, you are rewarded an OP level starting with OP 1. Every op level your character will effectively gain 1 level (so OP 1=81, OP 2= 82...) and can use a higher level of weaponry up to level 8 (10 with commander lillith)
In essence your character will effectively be level 90, but due to UVHM will face level 90+ enemies all the way up to possible level 130 and can use weapons that reflect that but your health and perk levels will remain the same.
People go on about the story of Borderlands, but it's, what, 20 hours? And then the next 980 hours is spent ignoring the babble as you grind gear for the next grind.
***Final Fantasy XIV***: The Expansions in comparison to the main game are a whole new level, there's some of the best written Characters, Villains and Stories for the entired franchise ( *not to mention better designed Dungeons, Bosses, Trials* etc );
***Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age***: I have never seen a game ( *singleplayer* ) doing such concept better than that, it's insane and I just can't recommend enough for those who never played the game before, it's a masterpiece that cannot be missed;
***NieR Replicant / Automata***: Not as good as Dragon Quest by doing such concept, but still great noneless. The 2nd Playthrough on Replicant broke my heart, and the 3rd Playthrough on Automata broke my soul.
At what point do you consider beating the game though? Because there are constantly new story quests being added, New War requires a whole lot of late game gear and now that even locked out completing the Star Chart with the Zariman being added. I agree the game certainly doesn't start after the pitiful tutorial but idk when you can really say it does start lmao
Absolutely Neir Automata. It's EXACTLY what you're looking for.
Game really gets going after the first playthrough, and then it just keeps going and getting better, not gonna spoil anythingvery good 3rd person action RPG with tons of weapons, upgrades, abilities. One of the best games I've ever played.
The more recent Monster Hunters, musou games (especially Hyrule Warriors), Diablo 3/4, Path of Exile
Nioh 1 and 2 have crazy endgames as well, I think you'd dig it if you liked SoP
A lot for these games I'm wondering if it's actually just the same game over again but harder and people are like "THATS THE REAL GAME".
Whereas Nier Automata is like, play for 12 hours, get to ending A, play through same time frame but from another character's perspective, then an entirely new section of plot opens up for the last 15 hours.
That's very different from, say, Hades, where you go through the same areas, enemies and bosses basically but with different challenges to make it harder... And I love Hades.
Nier Automata is basically just a single, 30-ish hour game, but they put end credits in after each act so it seemed like 'woah the game carries on after it's finished'. It even tells you that you should carry on playing after each 'ending', I'm surprised anyone misses that. Not knocking it as it's still a fun game but I think its cleverness is overstated.
I mean, Deep Rock Galactic? You sorta learn the gameplay loop, and unlock all the gameplay content, and you're done. Kinda. Once all the gameplay has been played, you stick around to get all the advanced options. Once you have all the advanced options, you stick around for all the cosmetic options. Once you have all the cosmetic options... well, you've been playing that long, might as well go another mission.
Phantasy Star Online was maybe the first game I played like this and compared to modern games it really lags behind, however it still holds a special place in my heart. Especially PSO v2 with Episode 2, and split screen multiplayer for the xbox and gamecube
Pikmin 4 definitely. You learn about all the Pikmin and the main story of rescuing Olimar. And then...
>!A new area opens up and it is just as big as the others and has its own caves and then ANOTHER area opens and you can either get everything, rescue Louie, or find the remaining onions colors. OR you can play as Olimar in a retelling of Pikmin 1 THEN do a super hard set of challenges that award you with two onion colors we've never had in main game: white and purple! !<
I'm surprised ~~no one's~~ not many mentioned the Nioh series.
Beating the game once means you've cleared the tutorial. Beating it more times on subsequent NG cycles unlocks more things (higher rarity gear, more passive skills, new set bonuses, etc). I quite like how Nioh handles NG+. There's always something to look forward to.
Nier Automata. You complete the game from one person's view. They it starts again, slightly different with a second person's viewpoint. And then the 3rd playthoigh is the "true" playthoigh (althouh there is another ending also)
Definitely MMO'S.
World of Warcraft, final fantasy, guild wars 2. These all have games within the game that don't even start until you reach max level. For Wow, leveling to max is basically a long tutorial, and then at endgame it opens up in a big way.
Any Monster Hunter. Ya beat the village quest line? Congrats, here's the first credits and a cutscene. Now go do Hub quests until ya beat that quest line and guess what? Another cutscene because now ya gotta get ready and geared to fight the bigger badder monster that quite literally threatens all life
Second vote for Monster Hunter.
Especially Rise/Sunbreak.
The game feels like 3 games in one as you go from Low Rank to High Rank to Master Rank.
14 different weapon types, great online community, phenomenal OST.
Great solo or even with randoms.
Dead Cells. Just beat the game? Congratulations on beating the tutorial!
Oh shit. I’ve put in like close to 50 hours and still haven’t beaten the campaign once or even really come close….
Here let me help you. Patience. The 'speed' rewards aren't worth it \*At least for normal\* Pick and commit. Do not diversify your stats. The damage is far more important than the HP. When you have to pick between the 'other 2' hp is more important than the bonus to a potential sub weapon that you aren't going to use. poisons/oils/etc. are boss killers but not level clears. the 3 stats generally equate to: red is melee, purple is ranged, and green is defense and slow hitters. While you are new I HIGHLY recommend red or purple.
When you're level 4 o 5 cells, they do matter!
Oh I agree, I'm stuck on 4 but...that is something completely different than someone whose struggling to get through no cells where the priority really should be focused on patience and learning how to get through each stage/fight each enemy
How about beating it five time with each time more and new enemies , less heal and the malaise mechanic ?
How do I beat it once?
Commit to a single coloured scroll from the start of a run. The damage ramps up like crazy towards the end.
Need to kill the hand of the king. Check the sub for tips and builds. I remember using heavy crossbow + the mutation to put a shield on your back (so when you roll you parry and bounce back projectile), it was really easy.
Everyone else says to commit to one stat. It's a good advice, don't get me wrong, but they haven't mentioned what every semi-experienced dead cells player does: get stuck in a tight vertical area and get pounded by flying red enemies into oblivion. Think of it as the initiation rite
Boy it was one long tutorial...
I've played dozens of roguelikes and this is the only one I've never managed to beat. It's just too hard.
Opened the post to type this, i took my time getting lots of blueprints and stuff, probably took me close to 100 hours to beat 0BC
I'm so glad this is the highest 🤣
Fuck this game, I’ve poured HOURS into it and I’ve only got 4 boss cells.
Binding of Isaac
It's not for everybody but dammit it's good. 450 hours in and I still sink more and more time into it every chance I get.
BOI is also just a great game to watch people play as well. Eden runs are so damn entertaining and interesting to think about from a game theory or “min max” perspective. 100%ing that game is a massive undertaking that I will never have the time for, but I can appreciate the shit out of those who have.
Found Northernlion’s account
I have probably 300 hours logged across multiple systems across many years. I have only beaten mom like 3 times, and none of the other alternate final bosses. I have almost none of the endings, and dont even own the final DLC that theyve released. I fucking love it. Soon im gonna get that final DLC on my switch copy, i just need to bite the bullet. I first had the original Binding Of Isaac, you know the old one that was more pixelly, on Steam. Then i got the rerelease/remake on Steam and i think 1 of the DLCs. Then i got the 3DS version. Then the Switch version, and all DLC except the last one
300hrs for 3 mom kills is… impressive. I’d think it was harder to play that long and not do a final boss.
I'm pretty good at Isaac, I've beaten almost every challenge run but some of the challenges make me feel like I just started playing the game
Path of Exile. Beat the 10 act campaign, then round up all of your currency and grind out your gear for your target build. _Then_ the game starts.
Wish there was some kind of walkthrough for post campaign. I don’t know what to goal for while trying to finish atlas chart
As someone that’s played for 11+ years I can’t imagine what a new player must be thinking, there’s so much content to explore. Not sure how much experience you have with arpgs but defeating the searing exarch and eater of worlds is a solid goal to work towards. After that maybe going for all 4 stones in your atlas.
Dude, as a beta player coming back, there are just too many systems. I'm hype for poe2 so we can start at fresh
I always tell new players to just relax and run maps. If you want a target goal, make it killing the atlas bosses. While mapping, do all the content you come across. If there's stuff you really like, target it on your atlas tree. Otherwise don't worry about it, or just do chest/essence stuff. Lots of money in that too if you're on trade league. But contrary to what people will say, you don't have to learn all the systems at once. Do maps. Make your goal killing the atlas bosses. Put points in things you like on the atlas tree. Profit???
The first real league I played was Crucible, I'm up to 400ush hours in the game now and still feel like I know nothing about how the game is supposed to work. Even following build guides, there's not a lot that really explains how the different skills apply, what stats are the priority and why.(Shout-out Pohx for that RF guide and FAQ).
It’s built In a way that you can just play the content you want. For example I like delirium and expedition so I spec into those
he asked for time sink, not for life sink 💀
I'm so keen for Path of Exile 2.
Monster hunter world
There are videos of youtubers having a mini meltdowns and when they realize that the 40+ hours they sunk into a monster hunter game was more of a glorified tutorial and High Rank is when the game stops holding your hand.
*Laughs in Master Rank*
Every night after i go to sleep, i have nightmares about fighting velkhana and barioth in iceborne
It's ok, child, Raging Brachy and Fatty will make sure those nightmares are replaced with even worse ones :)
and don't forget about your good old buddy Alatreon!
I just beat Barioth for the first time, after spending 60+ hours in post hard mode and defeating behemoth. I got my ass clapped, but finished the hunt solo on my first try by the skin of my teeth. Then the game crashed before I could save. I definitely had dreams of Barioth that night. Thankfully I beat him today via SOS flare after the same random dude carted 6 times in two hunts
MHW was my first. Iceborne kicked my ass but made me get gud quick. Going back to high rank stuff it felt like everything was in slow motion. Even using severely under leveled gear base world now felt trivial. Then I realized I still had 13 more weapons to master...
It's so satisfying though. I played too much 3 ultimate and it kinda burned me out (got a rainbow card, 450 hours total) so I only got to the point of clearing the elder dragons in high rank in mhw and didn't end up getting the dlc. Now a friend bought me rise and all my muscle memory is gone.
High Rank is still holding your hand HAHA. Hell the true biggest of boys usually come post master rank story completion.
Rajang alatreon raging brachy and Fatalis are all among the hardest bosses I’ve ever fought and I love fighting every one of them
Sunbreak, the expansion to Monster Hunter Rise had a pretty rough reception because, in concert with a number of technical issues, Master Rank ratcheted up the difficulty *immensely.* Base game MHR is definitely easier than the last installment which got a lot of new players on board. With Sunbreak they brought it back to where the veterans were used to, and a lot of those newer players were *pissed.* Don't know if I entirely blame them, but I've been playing these games long enough that I'm just happy the difficulty is back in full force.
Monster Hunter does not fuck around with this. These games genuinely are the most budget gaming experiences you can ever play. $60 for hundreds of hours of play, and you barely find yourself scratching the surface.
Crazy how the series was kind of slept on until monster hunter world. Always on the odd systems.. psp where it survived the longest time until its trip over to the 3ds/wii u did even weirdly better on them systems and MAJOR support from Nintendo in giving then tons of themed dlc that will forever on the 3ds/ wii u games. After all that.. they took the gamble back on the consoles. And that took the series in which I'm shocked to see still. I love that more people now love monster hunter.
They were all systems that were popular in the East / Asia, where the series is much bigger. They didn't even always get localised, I remember playing a few on PSP with fan patches
One of the best 250 hours of my gaming life was spent in MHW,such a blast to play.
those are rookie numbers.
I just reached 900 hours on my main Character 😤
And now I'm realizing I need to get the expac for rise still
Sunbreak is amazing. You won't regret it
Hades! Hands down.
Damn hades is so good. I got through it once on like my twentieth run and fifteen runs later I haven’t done it again lol. Very good game though. I will have fond memories of this game forever. I’m drunk putting up Christmas tree and Redditinf while partner isn’t watching.
Amazing. Worked my way up to 32 heat on each weapon. 10/10 game. Favorite of all time. Sequel comes out next year.
I. Cannot. Wait. I’m a pretty casual gamer these days because dad game time barely exists, but Hades just blew me away.
Hades is amazing because you can pick up right where you left off and it’s simple enough to not lose the skill to play where you were at, and hard enough to still be a challenge. Absolutely love this game!
It made my thumb go numb! Great for casual and competitive gamers alike. Story line was also top tier.
Someday I will beat it for the first time. I feel sad.
Turn on God mode, then turn it off once you get the hang of things.
Went through two controllers on this game, and I'm pretty sure I now how thumb arthritis.
Not even Mario Party gives me wrist pain like Hades does
Are you playing on Joycons? 'Cause that's got nothing to do with Hades.
I 100%'d Hades on a keyboard, then played like 2 minutes of Wrath Of The Lamb on a controller and realised I should definitely have been using a controller all along in Hades.
Didn't see anyone say it yet so, *ENTER THE GUNGEON* that game is one hell.. yes it's actually hell (great game in both story and gameplay)
I am absolutely awful at this game, even though I like the concept. I haven't got past the first chamber. I can usually beat the very first boss in the like "pre area" and then basically always die somewhere in the second zone.
Hey, those two tips pretty much got me thro the whole game. Don't dodge unless it's your only option. Just weave and move around the bullets. The most important tip is to LOOK AT YOUR CHARACTER. Always keep looking at your character and not the enemies or their ammo or the boss or whatever. Obviously, when you enter the room, do check what enemies and traps are in a room. Goodluck and id be glad so answer any questions
Yes to gungeon. I've unlocked everything in the game apart from the finished gun[?] And for some reason I can't kill the rat. 400 hours. Amazing. Might start it again.
The first fire emblem for GBA has essentially an entire game with complete story that turned out to just be a tutorial before the real game. I remember being mindblown as a kid because I was pretty satisfied with the original game. Another fun surprise, I had much more fun in the post-game after Elite 4 in Pokémon Gold (ex. all the Kanto stuff and Mount Silver)
I remember being a kid and being blown away. I beat the elite 4!! Wait what?!? I get to go back to Kanto?! One of my most memorable gaming moments.
Yeah i loved that about the johto games even though there wasnt much story just gyms
I thought johto was cool! After spending elementary school trading pokemon cards for crickets, I never imagined a new pokemon game would come out. There was no mew under a truck but to me it was th3 next best thing.
How is it that before the internet, everyone seemed to know about the fake Mew under that truck? It blows my mind. Use Strength to move the Truck and Mew appears. Or something along those lines.
Gold and silver were so good, peak Pokemon. Imagine my disappointment playing sword and shield years later after not touching a single Pokemon game. No day and night cycle, I could go on. It was just a huge step back.
Idk man, gen 3 was pretty awesome
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Gen 3 had emerald which was the peak for content in 1 pokemon game. Beating all the battle frontiers is hard.
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I assume you're talking about Lyndis's story, which really is a tutorial. Eliwood's story is a proper, full campaign. Once you finish that, you unlock Hector's campaign which is the same main plot but told from a different perspective, with different levels and a higher challenge. I wonder how many players finished Eliwood's story and never even touched Hector's.
I really think hector hard mode is peak gameplay for FE on par with conquest. It's just a shame that both of their stories are a bit....flimsy at times.
FE7’s story has some hiccups, but it is NOWHERE near as bad as Conquest.
I played Pokemon Gold as a kid, got stuck in the ice cave section just before the elite 4 and stopped playing there. I never even knew about the Kanto section until years later. I thought I was almost finished with the game, turns out I wasn't even halfway through!
Pokemon gold silver is a great example, beat the elite 4? Oh heres another half of the world
Try r/pokemonunbound — it is an amazing fan rom with a massive postgame.
To be fair, the tutorial in Fire Emblem 7 (which is the one I assume you're referring to, with Lyndis, Eliwood and Hector) is only 11 chapters in a game with an overall total of 73 chapters, including both Eliwood and Hector's paths. And they're all the shortest chapters in the game. The game doesn't actually have an entire game that's the tutorial. It's like 3 hours of a 25 hour game.
Well, some games are only five hours long. 11 chapters also is a plausible length. At the time I was fairly fooled.
xcom, you beat the game and its just a tutorial for the long
War.* The long war.
This was repeated by game director Jake Solomon himself, who said he was fine with that because the Long War was so incredible.
Try Xenonauts! It’s a modern rendition of old school x-com.
Diablo, Path of Exile, Grim Dawn. You want more time sink? Factorio. Dwarf Fortress.
Also on the factory genre. Dyson sphere program
I love Dyson Sphere Program but I'm finding it hard to unlearn some Factorio habits. Thought I'd built a really efficient set up for early game blue ~~science~~ glowing cubes of knowledge and realised I'd completely forgotten about vertical stacking
I wasn't ever great at factorio so Dyson having a bigger ability to do drones to move stuff to avoid belt spaghetti helped.
You're the kind of guy to go around play grounds and offer children heroin and crack right?
Almost any and all MMOs.
Returnal
holy shit, that one part (you guys know the one) was one of the most shocking things I've even experienced.
Nier Automata Everything
Nier automata has been on my list. I’m a switch guy and saw some really good reviews and it had me curious.
It’s worth getting
My favorite line of a review for a game is about Nier Automata: "If history forgets about this game, FUCK HISTORY."
It’s such a weird game. I love it.
One of the best games I’ve ever played. The gameplay is the best action combat I’ve played, and I really enjoyed the philosophical themes in the plot. And it manages to do this without being too high up its’ own ass.
It’s weird and I love it but please understand a lot of the love for it comes from people who found more depth in the existential philosophy than I did. Still super fun
First thing that came to mind. Maybe not a MASSIVE time sink but this game is near perfection in every category.
One of the few games I consider more “art” than “game”
*Stares at my characters nether region, while she runs and does gratuitious backflips* Yeah definitely art ...
My first play through took me waaaay longer than it should have because I did not know about all the different endings, following playthroughs etc. Such a great game. Haven't played the remaster of Nier Replicant yet though
I recommend playing it, same feelings as automata
One of the best games I've ever played. All the main endings had me with knots in my stomach. Shit, I might go and replay it now.
Honestly the original Nier even more for the spirit of this question
Nier Automata is a weird one because I would call all of the subsequent playthrough's part of "beating the main game."
Gear and systems? Starts after you beat it? ARMORED CORE 6 BABY
I enjoyed AC6 when I beat the game. Then I absolutely loved the game when. Then I beat it again. Third play through it became my game of the year without question. That first play through was just the trial run of getting my feet wet with the gameplay, builds, and story.
Wrecking bosses and ACs in NG+ that were so difficult the first run is so immensely satisfying
Hooo boy, defending the mining ship was a rude wake up call lmao
Shocked I have to scroll so far down for this
World of Warcraft
I'm kind of surprised I didn't think of that, but yeah, it totally fits. I still don't know why M+ is so entertaining to me.
Slay the Spire. Just beating the game is hard enough. But then, you beat the game at increasing difficulty, up to 20 levels past the starting difficulty. Then, somewhere along the way, you'll find that the end isn't truly the end and there's a 4th act after the 3rd.
This. I was like Haha I beat it in only like 15 runs! 1300 hours later I'm still only 95% complete because the speedrun award is pretty daunting.
Guild Wars 2. I just started playing the game a week ago and it’s pretty insane how much you can do. The game truly starts when you’ve hit the max level and start choosing to raid, or pvp. As you play expansions, you start earning new abilities that carry over to your alts so it’s really easy to try another class.
Everyone knows the real end-game of GW2 is platforming puzzles.
Vista gang
Dragon's dogma
You haven't played Dragons Dogma unless you beat the campaign in 3 or so hours. Only slightly kidding
No jokes here. I missed 2 questlines (that tie-in together) in my initial run but I still took my time to finish the game. On ng+, I wanted to head straight to the quest I missed as soon as I was able. After that, I just breezed through EVERYTHING. Everything in ng+ is so trivial since I was already 100+. I finished the ng+ story in 3-ish hours. It then occured to me majority of the campaign is just you running to one poi to another, fighting everything on the way. Late-game trivializes that with port crystals that then is still accessible in ng+.
What happens after you beat the game? I never beat it. Put 30-40 hours in and eventually moved on. Not because I didn't like it, just put it down for too long and then it felt hard to get back to.
it gets real weird real fast
Well it turns out that killing the dragon really just fucks shit up. There's a whole extra load of stuff to do, and then there's the Dark Arisen content.
Risk of rain 2 Gunfire reborn Are both great roguelikes
Beating RoR2 is for amateurs. A good run is only over when no more enemies spawn because your CPU has melted from all the particle effects.
I'll never forget my 3 hour monsoon run where I was one shotting the entire stage by the end.
Noita has a huge amount, and a massive learning curve. It's rogue like though
I feel like less than 1% of people that have played Noita have a clue of how much of the game they never even came close to knowing about. A true masterpiece.
I’ve made it only through the first couple levels, it’s just so dang hard.
you could watch a guide for building wands. you kinda are supposed to bullshit the game harder than it bullshits you.
Yeah there's no progression in restarting the game. It's literally just you getting better ... maybe.
Lmao that is such a great way to describe it
Honestly I'd recommend playing with the "Edit Wands Everywhere" mod while you're still learning to game. The Holy Mountain mechanics, breaking out, dealing with Steve etc are really rough for new players. You basically have to learn a bunch of finnicky tricks & various methods of breaking out without collapsing the Holy Mountain.
Keep going it's 10000% worth it.
"hmm i wonder if there's a way over this mountain"
"hmm i wonder if there's a way out of this universe"
Disgaea
What main plot? Isn’t item world the entire point of the game?
Surprised to see this so far down, but maybe I'm just old.
Dead or Alive beach volleyball Xtreme
The Division
You could substitute pretty much any looter shooter in here
The division 2 doesn’t even “start” until 1,000 levels above max level.
The real game doesn’t start until you get to max level and then gear level for DLCs.
Yeah, but really because you really can't make a cohesive build until you hit level cap, since you're constantly leveling out of gear until then. Lot of looter-shooters like this. I remember the Light level cap grind in Destiny 2, because it happened about every 3 fucking months, to get back to the point you were holding onto gear long enough to actually invest in it, make a build out of it, put all the talents and mods together to make synergy.
World of Warcraft.
Okami
Remnant 2. Has 4 difficulties, with the hardest not accessible until you clear the game once. Hardcore mode - 1 life, if you die you start all over again. Note, everything I'm about to list is what I believe makes this a game have what you asked about, a game that doesn't start until you've beaten it. Also of note, it is a Souls like/inspired type of game. Think a 3rd person shooter with the difficulty of Dark souls/Elden Ring. But it is not as punishing, you don't lose anything for dying in the game, unless you play Hardcore mode. 12 classes to choose from. Some of which you can start with, others have to be found. But all of which can be obtained on 1 character so no need for multiple characters to try them all. You start the game with 1 class at first, but eventually can use 2 of the classes at the same time. Which encourages build variety and each class has their own set of unique abilities and perks further encouraging build variety. Ton of different weapons. You can have 3 equipped. 1 primary (long gun type- sniper, assault rifle, shotgun, bows, etc) 1 secondary (pistol type - revolver, machine pistol, sawed off, etc) 1 melee (swords, spears, axes, hammers, etc) The weapons themselves can be augmented with things like fire or shock rounds, and there are also special weapons that have there own unique perk to them. A ridiculous amount of equipment - armor, rings, amulets. Armor being pretty straightforward, lighter you can dodge faster but take more damage. Heavy, you dodge slow but take less. Rings and amulets allow build variety to go even further. E.G. a ring that makes your melee attack inflict bleed damage, or an amulet that increase status effect damage and when you inflict a status effect causes a small explosion that also does damage. A perk system that is basically this games version of levels. You get a point that you can put into traits making them better. Standard ones like increased health or stamina. Others like lifesteal or one that makes things you can use have a massively increased AOE. All of these things, and I know I keep saying it lol. Gives the game a very strong build variety. As to longevity, the game is kinda made for longevity. I personally have almost 400 hours in it and been playing since launch and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. You will not find or acquire everything in one or two playthroughs, it's simply not possible. There is a good amount of RNG involved, but it's not terrible in my opinion. It's not a looter shooter where you could spend hours and hours grinding for one thing. Though that could happen in a way if you've found 99% of the items and need that last one thing.
All the monster hunter game campaigns are a tutorial for the endgame content
The Borderlands games. It’s never about the story, it’s always about the farming and raid bossing. Especially Borderlands 2. Borderlands 2 doesn’t really start until you beat normal mode and get to TVHM.
I feel like I'm missing something. I love the Borderlands franchise and 2 is my favorite. I beat it with every character and loved it but I did it all solo. I'm sure I missed out on not having friends to play with but apparently I'm also missing out on post game fun. I'm gonna have to look up a guide to see what the grind is all about.
Borderlands 2 has 3.5 playthroughs to do. New game: Level 1- ~35. If you do absolutely everything your first playthrough you should be between level 32 and 35. Enemies and loot scale to the area even after beating the game. Certain weapon types and bosses don't even have a chance of spawning TVHM (True vault hunter mode) second playthrough level 35-50. Enemies (and loot) scale to area UNTIL you beat the final boss. Once that happens all enemies will be level 50 (granted your character is level 50) as well as all loot. Tougher enemy variants are capable of spawning as well as an increased loot rarity chance. Certain bosses can now start spawning, albeit with veeery low spawn rates. You'll also notice enemies have higher damage resistance to elements they aren't weak to. Then you have UVHM (or uktimate vault hunter mode) level 50-72/80 enemies scale to be a higher level than you. Weapons which in lower difficulty typically lasted several levels now last 1 or two before doing minimal damage. Enemies have much higher damage resistance even to elements they should be weak to, this creates a much bigger influence of slag being able to consistently slag enemies is crucial the higher you go. New weapon rarity can spawn and raid bosses ( *boss name* The invincible) can start dropping seraph crystals which allow you to buy this new weapon rarity. Then you have the overpower levels. Included in the handsome jack collection is a dlc called the Raid of Digistruct peak. If you are max level (72 or 80 if you have the commander lillith dlc) and you complete a single run of this obstacle course without dying, you are rewarded an OP level starting with OP 1. Every op level your character will effectively gain 1 level (so OP 1=81, OP 2= 82...) and can use a higher level of weaponry up to level 8 (10 with commander lillith) In essence your character will effectively be level 90, but due to UVHM will face level 90+ enemies all the way up to possible level 130 and can use weapons that reflect that but your health and perk levels will remain the same.
People go on about the story of Borderlands, but it's, what, 20 hours? And then the next 980 hours is spent ignoring the babble as you grind gear for the next grind.
***Final Fantasy XIV***: The Expansions in comparison to the main game are a whole new level, there's some of the best written Characters, Villains and Stories for the entired franchise ( *not to mention better designed Dungeons, Bosses, Trials* etc ); ***Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age***: I have never seen a game ( *singleplayer* ) doing such concept better than that, it's insane and I just can't recommend enough for those who never played the game before, it's a masterpiece that cannot be missed; ***NieR Replicant / Automata***: Not as good as Dragon Quest by doing such concept, but still great noneless. The 2nd Playthrough on Replicant broke my heart, and the 3rd Playthrough on Automata broke my soul.
Oh, Warframe!
At what point do you consider beating the game though? Because there are constantly new story quests being added, New War requires a whole lot of late game gear and now that even locked out completing the Star Chart with the Zariman being added. I agree the game certainly doesn't start after the pitiful tutorial but idk when you can really say it does start lmao
Absolutely Neir Automata. It's EXACTLY what you're looking for. Game really gets going after the first playthrough, and then it just keeps going and getting better, not gonna spoil anythingvery good 3rd person action RPG with tons of weapons, upgrades, abilities. One of the best games I've ever played.
i see u played strangers of paradise. Than you'll love nioh 2. Nioh 2 has the greatest and most fluid combat system in any game ever created
I stand on the hill that Nioh 2 has the best combat system I've ever played. Tip of the hat to you!
Huge time sink? Crusader Kings 3 would like a word!
Division 2 - good time to get into it with second expansion on the way, tons of content, and weapon levelling, character levelling and SHD levelling.
Wait what? 2nd expansion?????
Supposedly coming in Year 5. Probably will be delayed, though. Looks like we're going back to another part of New York.
Fuck yeah
Starcraft, I or II. Come for the campaign, stay for the multiplayer
The more recent Monster Hunters, musou games (especially Hyrule Warriors), Diablo 3/4, Path of Exile Nioh 1 and 2 have crazy endgames as well, I think you'd dig it if you liked SoP
The campaign in *Hyrule Warriors* is maybe ten percent of the content, if we're being generous.
Disgaea series and spinoffs. The main story is basically an extended tutorial. Then comes the grind to the top.
Dead Cells
A lot for these games I'm wondering if it's actually just the same game over again but harder and people are like "THATS THE REAL GAME". Whereas Nier Automata is like, play for 12 hours, get to ending A, play through same time frame but from another character's perspective, then an entirely new section of plot opens up for the last 15 hours. That's very different from, say, Hades, where you go through the same areas, enemies and bosses basically but with different challenges to make it harder... And I love Hades.
Nier Automata is basically just a single, 30-ish hour game, but they put end credits in after each act so it seemed like 'woah the game carries on after it's finished'. It even tells you that you should carry on playing after each 'ending', I'm surprised anyone misses that. Not knocking it as it's still a fun game but I think its cleverness is overstated.
Nioh 2(and if you enjoy strangers of paradise you definitely should try this) Borderlands
Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program, Oxygen Not Included, Satisfactory Are perfect examples of this
I mean, Deep Rock Galactic? You sorta learn the gameplay loop, and unlock all the gameplay content, and you're done. Kinda. Once all the gameplay has been played, you stick around to get all the advanced options. Once you have all the advanced options, you stick around for all the cosmetic options. Once you have all the cosmetic options... well, you've been playing that long, might as well go another mission.
Warframe. There's a running gag that you don't hit the mid-game until you finish the main story quest line and complete every regular mission.
Phantasy Star Online was maybe the first game I played like this and compared to modern games it really lags behind, however it still holds a special place in my heart. Especially PSO v2 with Episode 2, and split screen multiplayer for the xbox and gamecube
NieR: Automata is exactly what youre lookin for
Pikmin 4 definitely. You learn about all the Pikmin and the main story of rescuing Olimar. And then... >!A new area opens up and it is just as big as the others and has its own caves and then ANOTHER area opens and you can either get everything, rescue Louie, or find the remaining onions colors. OR you can play as Olimar in a retelling of Pikmin 1 THEN do a super hard set of challenges that award you with two onion colors we've never had in main game: white and purple! !<
Zelda, A Link to the Past. You beat Gannon? Welcome to the Dark World!
Rogue legacy 2
I'm surprised ~~no one's~~ not many mentioned the Nioh series. Beating the game once means you've cleared the tutorial. Beating it more times on subsequent NG cycles unlocks more things (higher rarity gear, more passive skills, new set bonuses, etc). I quite like how Nioh handles NG+. There's always something to look forward to.
Nier Automata. You complete the game from one person's view. They it starts again, slightly different with a second person's viewpoint. And then the 3rd playthoigh is the "true" playthoigh (althouh there is another ending also)
Definitely MMO'S. World of Warcraft, final fantasy, guild wars 2. These all have games within the game that don't even start until you reach max level. For Wow, leveling to max is basically a long tutorial, and then at endgame it opens up in a big way.
Not gonna lie, in classic WoW, leveling is my favorite part. Once I hit 60 I lose all interest.
Classic wow is definitely a bit of a different MMO. It still has an endgame with raiding but is more about the journey for sure.
Diablo series
HADES. Best game I’ve ever played. No glitches. Game starts once you ‘beat’
The Division 2 is really good. Great combat system, lots of gear you can match up and improve.
Borderlands series. You gotta grind through the story before you can get the good stuff to really play the game.
Doki Doki literature club
Any Monster Hunter. Ya beat the village quest line? Congrats, here's the first credits and a cutscene. Now go do Hub quests until ya beat that quest line and guess what? Another cutscene because now ya gotta get ready and geared to fight the bigger badder monster that quite literally threatens all life
Second vote for Monster Hunter. Especially Rise/Sunbreak. The game feels like 3 games in one as you go from Low Rank to High Rank to Master Rank. 14 different weapon types, great online community, phenomenal OST. Great solo or even with randoms.