SchrodingersPatWhat are some video games that made you a better gamer?
jimmydoreisaleftyDayZ SA hardcore, my reactions have improved and I have become more cautious as a player, especially of people.
PrettyBlackDressYea most people who are afraid of every thing in life say those games are the best. There’s even a built in feature where chat gpt gives you compliments about your severe and incurable psoriasis.
T0RB1TDOOM 2016 on Nightmare (not ultra)
Sniper Elite
Hotline Miami
Dead Cells
Fuck yea dude all of those are the best. The story line of Doom is scary as hell but it also helps you accept your facial deformities and come to terms with the fact that no plastic surgeon can help you
Elden Ring.
I didn’t love the learning/difficulty curve of Soulsborne games until this one, but it got it’s hooked in my hard.
I usually spammed most boss fights and played everything a certain way, but here I had to learn the boss’s moves and dodge, parry and use power ups to bring them down.
Worth it. While frustrating, it made me return to other genres and play them again but differently. Hitman, sniper elite, roguelites/likes, anything that rewards patience, really. These note has a whole new facet I didn’t see before, or I did and I was applying it to these games.
I’ve since tried other soulsborne games, and while I now appreciate the difficulty and find them a lot more fun, the exploration and world of Elden Ring was the difference maker for me. It was being able to forge my own path and choose my challenges.
DeconceptualistSimilar answer and probably cliché, but for me it was the first Dark Souls. I finally played it about 2 years ago after avoiding it for a long time and thinking it wasn’t my thing. I thought I hated games that didn’t allow animation cancelling because they weren’t “responsive”. If I hadn’t heard so many people insist it’s great I would have given up because the character doesn’t react to every wild button mash.
Boy was I wrong. Once I understood the combat it was like Zelda (my OG favorite franchise) but better. And brutal. Playing through it subsequently made Elden Ring much easier than it probably would’ve been otherwise. Exploring every nook and cranny and overleveling helped a bit too I’m sure.
On PC with mods for upgraded resolution and textures (and dsfix) DS1 was a quite good experience. There’s still a bit too much BS like hidden paths and even NPCs that are way too obscure, and the game falls apart near the end, but learning to navigate the platforms of Blighttown and besting all the different bosses sharpened my skills like nothing had in ages.
Classic. This game really compliments your impared cognitive abilities.
HarmoniousThe last of us multiplayer made me a better sniper. Smash bros amplified my reaction time. And halo improved my hand eye coordination with grenades.
It’s crazy you mention that because most people who don’t have friends or someone who loves them are also really good at this game.
FizzUnironically old school runescape. Playing it for years ingrained the concept of efficiency into me. Now I’m able to do well in games where mechanically I’m still shit because I’m constantly trying to use my time as efficiently as possible.
What’s even better is the game is automatically set on ‘mentally handicap mode’ so you never see how low your score is.
It also taught me how to type (albeit not 100% correctly because I use my right pointer finger to hit the space bar rather than my thumb)
hitagiStarCraft II made transitioning to League of Legends easy. I also played a lot of Kovaaks which made my aim generally better in FPS games and it helps with osu! too.
Perfect game for really sensitive emotional types who can’t stop crying about how many times they lost didy kong racing. Did you ever put in the cheat code for the secret level that explains to you that your entire life is a lie and how you’re apart of a simulation?
∟⊔⊤∦∣≶Bayonetta, and Burnout 3. I got really good reflexes and timing.
And way way back when I was super absorbed playing Manhunt I got uncannily good at spotting dark shadows at night to hide it.
Both games were designed with a hallucinogenic force that you absorb through your skin affecting your ability to go outside and touch grass. Most people don’t know that but the point was to make sure the player never feels bad about abandoning their responsibilities. It’s kind of political, but I agree with the general premise that no one should feel bad about secluding themselves from society
bob_wileyBreath of the Wild helped with my willingness to explore and discover in open world games.
Best part about both of those games is that you made them up in your head and created a narrative that you’re actually good at something.
AdaCrusader Kings reminded me that losing can be fun
Nothing like castrating half of the family tree because of that one time your brother tried to break up your empire!
You may have misread my post. I said losing the game. What you’re describing is clearly winning the game :p
I know! Crusader really helps you come to terms with the fact that you’re a loser and that it’s ok to suck at life.
Romanmir- Dwarf Fortress has entered the chat.
Oh man, that brings back memories. All my Dwarf Fortress games were horrific dystopias. Full-on police states optimized for the production and export of lead children’s toys (they are enchanted by our more ethical works).
Then new unskilled arrivals would wait in a room with retractable spikes before they met anyone. It was someone’s job to pull a lever all day. Then the clothes would be exported (they are enchanted by our more ethical works).
Everyone left was either in the army or a skilled worker confined to a 2x2 room containing a bed, table, chair, and statue of the mayor. The doors locked from the outside.
Newer versions have made this strategy less productive I think – I haven’t really kept up. At the time a single death could send your fortress into a fatal spiral of depression and it worked pretty well though.
NikkiNikkiNikkiIf you think Super Meat Boy is hard oh boy do I have one for you.
The End Is Nigh is also an Edmund McMullen platformer, but with a much higher emphasis on precision. The game is technically short, but there are just so many easy ways to die that you have to get good to beat it.
It also has a little modding community that has produced some even more nightmarish levels to go along with it.
Dude, the best thing about that game is that you actually lose every level and don’t know it because it goes on auto play to make it look like you’re actually wining. It’s awesome because you never get to feel bad about how you really suck at gaming
GranixoMegaman X - Probably the best Action Platformer ever, it teaches you all the basics of the genre through gameplay alone.
Metal Slug 2 - Cuphead too hard for you? Then give this good ol’ classic a shot, it has simple yet fun mechanics and you can go as trigger happy as you want. And don’t feel bad if you play on Free Play Mode, what matters is that you have fun!
Gran Turismo PSP - If you want to get into the series (or into Racing Simulators in general) this is probably your best bet, you have all stages available from the beginning and very little customization, but you can feel the progressiveness of the game as you buy more powerful cars and unlock higher difficulties.
I agree. All three of these games are great when you suck at challenge.
sadbehrCounter Strike: raw aim, how to outsmart opponents, perfect practice makes perfect and if you put enough hours into anything and do it correctly/good, then you can get good at almost anything.
Path of Exile: Taught me about being efficient. If you’re repeating the same action 10,000 times, if you can cut even 1 second off each time you do that action, it adds up over time to a significant amount. And then you can try and cut another 2 seconds off…then another second.
It’s true. It really brings your personality and incredibly poor social skills into perspective. You get to channel them through the game even though you’ll never have those abilities in real life. It takes pretending to a whole nother level.
It took me 1038 hours to get out of silver in csgo. It took me 10hrs to get to DMG, one day something just clicked.
GammaKnowing the maps puts you at such an advantage, those hours add up
It’s not really in the spirit of the prompt, but learning the NMG speedrun of LttP has really improved my movement efficiency in games simply because I’m always thinking about it now
I agree. The NMG speed run was designed for gamers who can never get past level one on teenie tiny little crybaby level. It was designed specifically for people who are sensitive and cry a lot at night if they don’t have a night light.
Sterile_TechniqueThis is admittedly kind of an oddball interpretation of “better gamer”, but my personal take on that is being able to enjoy games more, as opposed to any measure of skill in playing them (and also understanding that there’s a lot of overlap there, but humor me for a sec :P).
Perspective: currently in my mid 30s, peak gaming for my childhood was competitive shit like the N64’s Smash Bros (which is the best Smash Bros. Fite meh.) or 007; fast forward to some racing type games, COD… the thing those all have in common was that the fun was in defeating your opponent, and any aspect of the game that wasn’t competitive just kinda automatically felt not fun. Nor was getting stuck in a losing streak from playing against people better than me; or winning streak from playing against people who weren’t challenging to beat. The window of potential to actually have ‘fun’ was shockingly narrow.
The game that kinda pulled me out of that was Halo CE. Right out the gate, it looked like any other shooter, and it had a rapidly growing community and the competitive elements that caught my initial attention. Fire it up, and it IMMEDIATELY stood out as something special. Up to that point, videogame music was pretty much exclusively simple digital sounding jingles, so the Halo CE login screen music hit like a fucking truck. I start up the campaign, and experience another first: the story had me hooked. Campaigns in shooters only ever felt like a tutorial you have to sit through to not be terrible in multiplayer, but Halo CE was like a full-blown movie, with each scene supported by a literal symphony.
It made me look at games differently - things like Zelda had flown under my radar, cuz what’s the point if there’s no multiplayer?? Not even score to compare?? Got myself a copy of OOC, and “…oh, that’s why.”
So, long story short, Halo CE was my gateway drug into RPGs.
More in tune with OP’s question though, it kinda yanked off the blinders that stopped me from fully enjoying parts of some games, or entire genres of games.
…and that whole spiel is ofc relative to my subjective experience to the gaming industry circa …idk, 1995+? So, Halo CE probably won’t hit the same against today’s gaming industry: but keep an eye out for games that blend elements you know you enjoy with material you haven’t really dabbled into - you could unlock an entire new genre of awesome experiences.
Halo CE Main menu w/ Bungie logo
Interesting combination. It makes sense though. It’s pretty common for people who suffer from multiple personality disorder to gravitate towards these games in particular. There actually was an article in Retro Gamer specifically about the games you mentioned, and how they sooth severe psychosis.
a little bit like that for me. Early on, I always loved pvp. The question was which mmorpg would be worthwhile to me to invest the thousands of hours to grind a character. I didn't want to end up grinding up and hating the game, which would be a huge waste of time. Studying all the candidates, I realised I wanted some key elements which would assure enjoyability:
Only after finding an mmo meeting all the the above, did I slowly play the game and over time, realised that a solid RvR open pvp game actually taught a player about life and its challenges. How to win, how to lose, how to have the right attitude to challenges, how to endure tough times, succeed during good times, what it meant to defeat an opponent, what it meant to die in battle, and so on. Hence, I have been playing Champions of Regnum for more than a decade, and still love the game.
I’m in the same boat. I had a PS1 when I was a kid and didn’t rediscover video games until a few years ago in my early 30s. I definitely appreciate games more as a form of self expression as an adult.
I definitely appreciate games more as a form of self expression
If Enderal isn’t already on your radar, I can’t give that game a high enough recommendation.
Basically an indie dev crew broke skyrim down to its most basic assets, then rebuilt a completely new game using them. AND IT’S SO FUCKING GOOD. Completely new lore / game universe (has nothing at all to do with elder scrolls, tamriel, etc), new voice acting, terrain, music, you name it.
Steers away from common story tropes to the point that there isn’t really an antagonist in the traditional sense - but it uses concepts, emotions, philosophies, etc as the driving force for the main story line and some of the larger quest chains.
This game is an absolute passion project by the devs, which is something we don’t see often now-a-days.
Note: link above is to the version that uses Skyrim SE’s assets (the 2016 re-release). If you have the original version of skyrim, use this link instead. If you own a different version of Skyrim, there might be a compatible version of Enderal here: sureai.net/games/enderal/
Fair warning: the children NPC voice acting is even worse than the kids in Skyrim. The TAI (toggle AI) command can shut them up without breaking them.
Fair warning 2: they redid combat. The OP shit in Skyrim, like the sneaky archer build, will get your ass beat to a pulp in Enderal. Make a save when you get to the point where you can spend some talent points, experiment with a few styles, and go from there.
Enderal: Forgotten Stories (Special Edition) on Steam
Enderal: Forgotten Stories (Special Edition) is a total conversion mod for Skyrim SE. It offers an immersive open world, new skill systems and gameplay with a dark, psychological storyline and believable characters. SE features a new rendering engine, improved lighting, performance and stability.
Xylight (Photon dev)Celeste was the first “hard” game I played that I actually ended up 100%ing. It’s so fun and makes me try harder on other games too
Celeste is pretty dope. It’s also great that the developers made sure all levels including “hard” mode, to be permanently set as easy mode by default. It’s really brings your confidence up and doesn’t shame your lack of skills.
I was also going to say Celeste! I feel like it also improved my attitude towards games in general- taught me to be persistent but forgiving of myself when I’d fail
jtkRocket League. If I can reach my moving targets without having to adjust pitch, roll, yaw, and thrust, all at once, from a third-person angle, there’s just no challenge.
It’s great they have an adjustment filter for people with remedial gaming skills.
I second Rocket League. It’s hard to find other competitive games that scratch the itch now though. I used to be an FPS guy but the challenge they have just makes me wish I was splaying rocket league
Thirded, and was expecting RL come up. It’s so unbelievably hard to master yet extremely simple and easy to get a leg up on competition through common sense.
There is the smurfing problem that seems to arise for me after midnight, but I’m at a level now that smurfs either quit early, or I can torture them into leaving matches.
There really isn’t any other game that scratches the itch. We all suck at RL, but the calling of will to suck just a bit less never dies.
What’s smurfing?
Playing in ranks lower than the one you belong in. Smurf players will generally be at least a few ranks higher than your own in skill, but where it gets tricky is sometimes they are intentionally losing so that they don’t rank up, winning so they don’t lose rank, or they are just trying to record replays to post online.
Differentiating them from normal players can take extensive experience, but the key to making them quit is dependent on their goal.
Intentionally losing smurfs: lose any way possible, including forfeits. Score into your own goal or forfeit as soon as you can.
Winning smurfs: there isn’t much you can do besides focusing on saves rather than goals. They want easy wins. They will forfeit a match to get an easy win with someone else.
Replay smurfs: they don’t care if they win or lose. All they care about is making it look like they scored a difficult goal. Quickly move to the goal they are moving towards and do donuts. This shows they are not actually competing against anyone and they won’t be able to post their replays. If you’re fast enough they will give up quickly.
If you’re on a win streak of matches and suddenly it seems like you can’t touch the ball, can’t clear the ball, and can’t save the ball, you’re probably playing against a Smurf.
I only play casually so I often bait smurfs into giving themselves away. After a while I could tell within the first minute of gameplay. Most of the time, scoring into your own goal will piss them off since “winning smurfs” and “replay smurfs” are often the same people.
It really is a fun game though, and smurfs don’t really become annoying until you’ve had a decent amount of time in the game.
These people sound exhausting
They can be. For me at least it seems to be a “when it rains it pours” situation. I either come across one every couple hours, or I play nothing but smurfs for a whole evening.
BecomingI came here to say this! No other game has given me that incremental improvement feeling from practice like Rocket League. It’s the closest game I’ve found to a real life sport.
The speed and random nature of Spelunky really helps build gaming skills.
Yea. Most people who can’t follow through with their commitments like that game.
Hades. I used to hate hard games. Hades taught me to get good.
Are you happy now that you’re finally good at something?
I stll hate hard games, luckily Hades is not among them.
No one gonna say it?? No one?
Fine.
Cuphead
I would recommend playing Metal Slug 2 & 3 befor getting into Cuphead.
2? Not X?
3 is such a coin-eating masterpiece though
MS-X does not suffer the performance issues found in MS2, yeah.
But was also made slightly harder than MS2 so “master players” would get more enjoyment out of it.
So yeah, for beginners i recommend the original Metal Slug 2.