Last time you were pleasantly surprised by a game (any genre)

[Terenty]

The same goes for Doom 3(played coop)

Was that a mod or something? I don't remember Doom 3 having co-op.

Yeah, for some reason Id decided to put coop only in the xbox vesrion and even there it was restricted somehow.

The game is perfect for this, i'm not exaggerating when i say it's the best coop experience i've had so far and i played plenty

It's this one

https://www.moddb.com/mods/opencoop

 

[Baron Dupek]

Path of Exile - once you treat is as action isometric game rather than hack'n'slash with spamming LMB it's only gets better from this point. So much to do even after 1k hours you still have something to do and try.

King's Field 4 - Ancient City - back before FROM started Souls mania they made first person games with RPG elements with difficulty spikes here and here, I guess some "lolgitgud" fellas would find some parts unfair. Beside that it was their only game with music, made by someone who is not a composer and get something that beats to pulp 99% of modern crap (UnderRail is exception).

Speaking of UnderRail - finally some good Fallout-like game. It's amazing that you can create something dense without relying on first person perspective. Also - my first game beaten without a map. Never did that before in any game. Guess these complains comes from GPS addicts with no manual in their cars...

Battle Brothers - nuff said.
X-PirateZ is kitchen sinks of content, ideas and else but it's still great and still in developed by fella not poisoned by SJW garbo squads.

From mods? Ashes 2063 is great combo of exploration, intense combat with limited resources and great OST. Stalker Anomaly is great murderhobo simulator.

Also share most titles from OP

Going from most recent...

• Arcane Dimensions (last summer) - Among the best experiences I have ever had on the PC
• Project Warlock (last summer) - Wonderful concept, music, foley effects are second to none
• Neo Scavenger (a few years ago) - Amazingly fun blend of RPG and survival elements, an atmospheric and cleverly designed game
• Grimoire (a few months before it came out) - The best crawler experience, blew me away
• Wizards & Warriors (a few years ago) - Once you stomach the clunky controls and interface, becomes a really enjoyable and unique crawler
• Underrail (when it came out) - Enjoyed the combat and theorycrafting on the fly
• Wizardry 8 (3-4 years ago) - Loved the combat, the humor and character building. Awesome setting too
• ToEE (5 years ago) - revisited it for the 2nd time and had a ton of fun, literally sliced in half by 2 giant lobsters when I left town
  
• Legend of Grimrock (when it came out) - Loved the ambience and atmosphere

I do, however, like Legend of Grimrock 2 more. It didn't deserve shit sale...

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

The game that surprised me the most in a totally unexpected way was Dark Disciples II, the freeware-RPG. The game looks so absolutely simple, even primitive from an aesthetic perspective - but gameplay is some of the best I've ever had the pleasure to experience. Great quests, interesting puzzles (some stuff I never saw in another game), a massive world with different cultures, lots of adventuring and exploring... I must have invested months in playing this game and have nothing but the fondest memories on it.

https://ancient-architects.com/?page_id=225

Another one was Grimoire. I knew that in gameplay terms it would be similar to Wiz 7, but what surprised me was the high quality of storytelling, open-world exploration, secrets and quests. And the unparalleled magnitude of Hyperborea. What surprised me the most however was that it kept me fascinated and motivated to keep on going, I was never bored in the whole time - and it took me over half a year. It was worth every minute.

 

[cretin]

Resident evil 7 surprised me with a return to survival horror roots as well as boldly going for first person, especially considering garbage like RE5 and RE6 had been so commercially successful for them.

Dying Light. Avoided this one for years. Finally picked it up after reading good reviews on here, and it turned out to be one of the best AAA titles ive played in a long time. Think I sunk some 80 hours into it before it started getting dull and repetitive.

Darkwood. Early access indie intrigue ended up developing into one of the most underrated, original and sadly unsung survival horror games I've ever played.

 

[Ivan]

Subnautica was a magical experience for me for the first few opening hours. Lightning in a bottle, those moments.

 

[luj1]

This is like, art, man.

 

[luj1]

Subnautica

How does it compare to Abzu?

 

[Alpan]

I expected to be playing a decent game with NieR: Automata, but what I got was one of my personal all-time-greats.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

Someone mentioned CrossCode in this topic. Looks very interesting. Maybe I'll overcome my choice paralysis and try it though it seems you only have one type of attack (energy balls but different types and with ricocheting physics) throughout its 40-80 hour length. That could get real old real fast. However, I love me a good Zelda-oid with decent puzzles and shit so might give it a go

 

[Alpan]

Someone mentioned CrossCode in this topic. Looks very interesting. Maybe I'll overcome my choice paralysis and try it though it seems you only have one type of attack (energy balls but different types and with ricocheting physics) throughout its 40-80 hour length. That could get real old real fast. However, I love me a good Zelda-oid with decent puzzles and shit so might give it a go

I would second the CrossCode recommendation. The puzzling is quite good and the combat is more engaging than it looks (and there's also melee combat).

 

[Silly Germans]

Spellforce 3 and Everspace were alot better than i anticipated. Ruiner was also nice.

 

[Ludwig von Eisenthal]

Another game that totally surprised me recently and I'd like to add was Dracula 3 - Path of the Dragon. I expected the same mediocre story and gameplay quality as in the two earlier parts but didn't expect to find such a brillant storytelling that carefully balances between history and fiction. The game has nothing to do with the two earlier parts and tells the whole old Dracula-story from a completely different angle (or from multiple angles): The player - in the role of Catholic priest Arno Moriani - learns much about the historic Vlad III. Draculea - the Walachian ruler who was the actual main inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel. The way this game tells its story in different layers is simply masterful. Meandering between real history, 15th century legends and depictions of Vlad III., Bram Stoker's novel and its origins, and the present time of the protagonist (the war-ravaged Romania in 1920) the game tells it's story over centuries and with different reference points. And everything is well-researched. The image of Dracula the game creates in such a way has nothing at all in common with cliché pop-culture, it's much more complex and intricate and fascinating. Some of its puzzles are fantastic and unique too.

 

[Ivan]

Subnautica

How does it compare to Abzu?

Sorry, haven't played Abzu. From the looks of it, that looks more like a "walking sim" type game. Could be wrong.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

From earliest to latest, starting last august:

REmake 2
Most people were saying in this game's thread that it was fine but not on the same level as REmake, so I lost any expectations I migth've had. So when I played it, I was really surprised with the game. Specially in how despite all changes the game was still really faithful to all of the original's design principles and aspects and how similiar the experience felt. So I would have to disagree with the assertion that it isn't as good as REmake, because this one expanded where it needed to and in a smart way like REmake did.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
I had heard the game was criminally underrated, and it turned out to be true. It's easily one of best platformers of the decade and that Nintendo ever published.

Hollow Knigth
Started the past December. Expected a decent metroidvania, what I got instead was the true successor to Super Metroid - as in it's simply better than Super Metroid in all aspects.

 

[sullynathan]

I'm recently played a lot of Bioshock 2. I am actually surprised because of how good it is, because I remember 10 years ago that the reception was that the game is ok but not as good as Bioshock.

The real pleasant (or unpleasant to some) surprise is the fact that there are zero consequences to death in this game. Whenever you die, you wake up back in the closest world checkpoint, except everything else in the world stays exactly as it was when you died and you gain half of your health and mana back. So, failing to kill anything will usually return you a few seconds behind said enemy with said enemy only having a fraction of their health and you ready to kill them.

 

[Lady_Error]

• Neo Scavenger (a few years ago) - Amazingly fun blend of RPG and survival elements, an atmospheric and cleverly designed game

• Grimoire (a few months before it came out) - The best crawler experience, blew me away

• Wizards & Warriors (a few years ago) - Once you stomach the clunky controls and interface, becomes a really enjoyable and unique crawler

• Underrail (when it came out) - Enjoyed the combat and theorycrafting on the fly

Same, though I already played the Grimoire Beta 20 years ago.

I found Shadowrun Returns pretty disappointing, so I was very surprised how much I loved Shadowrun: Dragonfall.

Same.

Other than that, Star Traders: Frontiers is surprisingly decent and has some depth, though it doesn't quite reach the level of greatness. Lords of Xulima was surprisingly enjoyable in its own way. Tyranny (!) - that one was much better and different than I expected. Enjoyed it a lot.

 

[Generic-Giant-Spider]

Actually, I lied. When I revisited Grim Dawn in late 2019 I really liked it. When I first played I thought it was rather mediocre and not terrible but nothing special either. Then after a couple years I gave it a shot again, this time with proper build focuses in mind and I ended up having a blast. I mean don't get me wrong, it's not a game that will light the world on fire or anything but it knows what it wants to be and it sets out on doing that very well. It's a fun game to play when I want to play something but don't know what exactly and thinking of new builds or trying other ones out is fun thanks to the options you have within the game itself.

 

[luj1]

Grim Dawn is fairly solid, I liked it more than PoE because its solo and self-found viable.

 

[Mexi]

Dragon Age: Origins.

The trailers and press made me roll my eyes because they definitely did not portray the gameplay well whatsoever. Ended up getting it for very cheap, like $5, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Coincided with a bit of a gaming golden-era for me with Fallout: New Vegas and Demon's Souls,. Last time AAA-gaming really surprised me. I've not seen similar. I wish more games did 3-D AAA like Origins. Now, we just get pre-determined characters that are voiced, no in-depth background, or anything in that realm. We have to go to the indie's for that nowadays. Origins would've been a great formula for AAA-RPGs, though.

Not surprised by Resident Evil 2 remake because Capcom usually releases quality with the main branch of RE. The last RE game to surprise me was RE: 5 because it was surprisingly not very good. I mean I've enjoyed just about everything in the main series: RE: 1, Outbreak, Code Veronica, and everything else. Just not played RE 6 or 7.

 

[DalekFlay]

I'm recently played a lot of Bioshock 2. I am actually surprised because of how good it is, because I remember 10 years ago that the reception was that the game is ok but not as good as Bioshock.

The real pleasant (or unpleasant to some) surprise is the fact that there are zero consequences to death in this game. Whenever you die, you wake up back in the closest world checkpoint, except everything else in the world stays exactly as it was when you died and you gain half of your health and mana back. So, failing to kill anything will usually return you a few seconds behind said enemy with said enemy only having a fraction of their health and you ready to kill them.

Bioshock 2 was widely regarded as having better combat but worse level design, which I'd still say is roughly accurate. You can turn the vitae chambers off in the options, same for Bioshock 1.

 

[†††]

ITT: people who don't understand what last time means (including OP)

 

[Jick Magger]

Disco Elysium. I'd basically stopped paying attention to its development after it was first announced here under its original name, so I'd initially assumed it was just gonna be another one of those various indie RPGs that get announced then quietly shuffle in to development hell. I was very surprised to see it not only be released, but turn out to be easily my favorite game of 2019.

 

[Morality Games]

I was visiting a friend for a week. We're both cinephiles, but when we weren't doing that he gave me three options for how we kill time: quacamelee, Diablo 1, or Salt and Sanctuary. None of them sounded exciting to me, but I decided on Salt and Sanctuary.

(if people don't remember Salt and Sanctuary, it was Dark Souls as a 2D game -- literally every single system and overall design sensibility was point for point ripped from the first Dark Souls and adapted to a 2D perspective).

Salt and Sanctuary was great, so great that it actually taught me to finally appreciate and finish Dark Souls, which I had been plodding along with since it was released.

 

[DalekFlay]

Been replaying the whole FEAR series lately, doing Perseus Mandate last. I am very surprised at how good it is, up there almost with the main game. It's doubly surprising because the first expansion was pretty meh.

 

[Origin]

Subnautica - blew me away and let me with craving for something similar.

Keeping my eye on Breathedge, as it ticks all the right boxes.

Skipped many old games, as majority of them you've probably heard of.

Missing similar thread but with newer gems, as these are in scarcity.