There's also a short DLC campaign for TNO called The Old Blood. The gameplay has a lot of rough edges, but once you've gotten an understanding of an encounter they're quite fun, and the story is still good.
There's also a short DLC campaign for TNO called The Old Blood. The gameplay has a lot of rough edges, but once you've gotten an understanding of an encounter they're quite fun, and the story is still good.
I had the opposite response: the story was forgettable (it's more a throwback to the older wolfenstein games) but the game feels like a more concentrated version of New Order.
@CorriganX theres one part early in the game I can't get past but it's fairly nondescript. I may bug you about it.
You're walking into a cave that has Nazi buildings at the back. There's an officer that comes out of a room and I die before killing him, or he does *something* and things end.
Every time I tried, I can't seem to ping him off before I can't progress.
So my new phone is actually able to play games, and while there's a dearth of anything even worth trying on the play store there was a visual novel-type thing that looked promising. A variety of scenarios to play through, can make your own character and dress them up, etc. Fun premise. The key selling point was all the different choices you could make along the way to alter the story.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
Thanks to @Pimsy and @destroyah87 for joining me with some Division this FNG evening (alas Dissociater had to bail with his bowl of cheese and cracker)!
We right winged conspiracy theorey'd our way into a base and kill some dudes who totally deserved it!
Yup.
Please feel free to use the FNG boards or chat room to give dedicated game ideas. Nice as the poll is, downloading games takes away precious time.
Ugh, my second game of Stellaris isn't doing so well now that the crisis stuff showed up. The other races are no help, and I can't afford to support my war effort. I'm winning individual battles with my fleet, but i'm losing credits, food, alloys real quick, it's unsustainable.
0
Options
Zavianuniversal peace sounds better than forever warRegistered Userregular
there I was in Warhammer II co-op vampirating it up with @Karoz who was playing the immortal mummy, Settra the Imperishable, to my mermaid pirate queen, Aranessa Saltspite. A totally platonic alliance, of course! There were some fun skellie parties as we tried to secure not-Egypt from snooty Bretonnian knights and other would-be mummy kings...
when suddenly we were backstabbed by Clan Skyre, who I had just negotiated a peace deal with! To be fair, they are Skaven ratmen, so should have expected as much. Worse yet, they started decisively defeating me in battle while looting and corrupting my lands...
eventually I was able to mass my forces at Skavenblight, their rat-men capital, and finally overtake it. Though even as I started to relax, confident in victory, the rat-men summoned their horned rat god to sow discord in the hopes of regaining their filthy rat den capital once more...
Will the combined might of mummy powers and magical mermaid pirating be enough to cleanse the world of the rat-men scourge? Maybe, maybe not; for now, rat's all folks!
So my new phone is actually able to play games, and while there's a dearth of anything even worth trying on the play store there was a visual novel-type thing that looked promising. A variety of scenarios to play through, can make your own character and dress them up, etc. Fun premise. The key selling point was all the different choices you could make along the way to alter the story.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
They are less visual novels, and more digital choose-your-own-adventure novels, but anything by Choice of Games is pretty decent.
On the looks like porn but isn't side, Long Live the Queen is cool.
And my top recommendation is the fantastic 80 Days.
there I was in Warhammer II co-op vampirating it up with Karoz who was playing the immortal mummy, Settra the Imperishable, to my mermaid pirate queen, Aranessa Saltspite. A totally platonic alliance, of course! There were some fun skellie parties as we tried to secure not-Egypt from snooty Bretonnian knights and other would-be mummy kings...
when suddenly we were backstabbed by Clan Skyre, who I had just negotiated a peace deal with! To be fair, they are Skaven ratmen, so should have expected as much. Worse yet, they started decisively defeating me in battle while looting and corrupting my lands...
eventually I was able to mass my forces at Skavenblight, their rat-men capital, and finally overtake it. Though even as I started to relax, confident in victory, the rat-men summoned their horned rat god to sow discord in the hopes of regaining their filthy rat den capital once more...
Will the combined might of mummy powers and magical mermaid pirating be enough to cleanse the world of the rat-men scourge? Maybe, maybe not; for now, rat's all folks!
@Zavian 's conquest of Skavenblight was unfortunately not the smoothest when he first went to amass his hordes. The sneaky rats laid an ambush of his Vampire Admiral without the knowledge of Queen Mermaid.
For once not trusting to Lady Luck, Zavian took to the battlefield to repel the vermintides.
Images are large so I spoilered them
The fighting was fierce but Zavian managed to slay their Seer Lord
While he managed to repel the first wave, another rabid swarm soon approached and so he gathered his forces to repel them once again.
Alas the horde proved too great that day and while the army survived it was ravaged and required a new vampire admiral to take charge.
However, soon after, Skavenblight fell to Zavian's barnacle encrusted boots. (I need to do more campaign map pictures)
So my new phone is actually able to play games, and while there's a dearth of anything even worth trying on the play store there was a visual novel-type thing that looked promising. A variety of scenarios to play through, can make your own character and dress them up, etc. Fun premise. The key selling point was all the different choices you could make along the way to alter the story.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
Magical diary
Long live the queen
Gender bend- I'M KIDDING! PUT THE GUN DIW DOWN!
So my new phone is actually able to play games, and while there's a dearth of anything even worth trying on the play store there was a visual novel-type thing that looked promising. A variety of scenarios to play through, can make your own character and dress them up, etc. Fun premise. The key selling point was all the different choices you could make along the way to alter the story.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
A good dev for those kinds of RPG/VN blends is Winter Wolves. Here the standouts are Loren the Amazon Princess and Planet Stronghold. I don't own Seasons of the Wolf, so I haven't tried that one yet, but the others I've played have all been good fun.
The New Colossus is a game where you can't ask people if they got to "that part" yet because there's several of them.
+6
Options
Zavianuniversal peace sounds better than forever warRegistered Userregular
edited January 2019
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology! What's worse is that the game KNOWS easy mode is for wimps like me..
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology!
Honestly, theres so many awesome set pieces and amazing moments, that playing it on Easy and just coming through and destroying shit like the first of an angry god could be an amazing way to play it. Im playing on a higher difficulty, and theres parts where I get killed 4-5 times in a row, but I can definitely see the "I am the terror of the nazis" really playing well with an easier difficulty setting.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
0
Options
Zavianuniversal peace sounds better than forever warRegistered Userregular
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology!
Honestly, theres so many awesome set pieces and amazing moments, that playing it on Easy and just coming through and destroying shit like the first of an angry god could be an amazing way to play it. Im playing on a higher difficulty, and theres parts where I get killed 4-5 times in a row, but I can definitely see the "I am the terror of the nazis" really playing well with an easier difficulty setting.
+11
Options
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Can't you just adjust the difficulty mid-game in Wolfenstein? I could have sworn that's the case, but I might be mixing it up with another game.
I forgot about Winter Wolves' games. I have played Planet Stronghold but none of the others. And now it looks like there's a sequel coming out this summer, awesome.
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology!
Honestly, theres so many awesome set pieces and amazing moments, that playing it on Easy and just coming through and destroying shit like the first of an angry god could be an amazing way to play it. Im playing on a higher difficulty, and theres parts where I get killed 4-5 times in a row, but I can definitely see the "I am the terror of the nazis" really playing well with an easier difficulty setting.
You should go back and watch that Giant Bomb "Best Wolfenstein 2 Moment of 2017" once you finish it. It's crazy just how many amazing moments that game has.
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology! What's worse is that the game KNOWS easy mode is for wimps like me..
The "easy mode is for babies" is a holdover from the original Wolfenstein 3D that I really wish they would have left in the past.
Shaming people for playing on easier modes is shitty enough, but to do it for a game that (At launch at least) had combat that was kind of broken and a noticeable downgrade from the first game... like, get bent please?
+11
Options
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
I got stuck after the first few missions in Wolfenstein 2 cause I suck at the pew pew pews and stopped playing. But now I feel shamed into playing it again. I need to start over on easy mode or something. Those damn Nazis and their bullet sponge technology! What's worse is that the game KNOWS easy mode is for wimps like me..
The "easy mode is for babies" is a holdover from the original Wolfenstein 3D that I really wish they would have left in the past.
Shaming people for playing on easier modes is shitty enough, but to do it for a game that (At launch at least) had combat that was kind of broken and a noticeable downgrade from the first game... like, get bent please?
I picked one of the middle difficulties and it was like every Nazi was an aimbot. Besides the difficulty I was enjoying it though. I'm going to put in my pacifier and hop back in though on easiest mode cause it does seem a lot of fun. I also have the latest Doom which I never beat yet also. Damn you backlog! Totes giving Wolf 2 another try today though, damn you Corrigan!
So my new phone is actually able to play games, and while there's a dearth of anything even worth trying on the play store there was a visual novel-type thing that looked promising. A variety of scenarios to play through, can make your own character and dress them up, etc. Fun premise. The key selling point was all the different choices you could make along the way to alter the story.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
Sounds like either Choices or Stories or Chapters. Choices has some absolutely amazing writers working for them (they were born from the team that did the original "Surviving High School" that proved there was even a market for this kind of thing on phones, Centerscore). On the other hand, they are expensive as all hell. Best in small doses, or look up a route planner and map out how many diamonds it will take you to get that ending. Stories and Chapters... I think one is backed by a large number of licensed properties, and the other has a massive amount of stuff but it's all fan-made, so good luck finding a decent one on that app.
If you're looking for some solid VNs, I can suggest a few.
I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything made by Winter Wolves: if you're into something modern-day, Roommates is a pretty damned solid game. You play as a male or female college student, trying to find love and succeed in your first year of college- and to get along with your dorm-mates. There are a number of different romance paths you can take, and they're all well-written. You'll be identifying with these characters very, very quickly.
I'm also going to second the also-so-very-wonderful Loren the Amazon Princess, mostly because this was my absolute first true VN that I'd ever played and look at me now, I'm kind of, well... me. A very solid RPG section paired with some very strong writing and interesting characters- I've said it before and I'll say it again- Winter Wolves has some of the best writers out there, too.
I'll also plug Amber's Magic Shop as well. It's still a solid game, maybe not as solid as Loren or Roommates, but maybe good for a second or third purchase if you really like the Aravorn setting. (And waaaay in the back last ought to be Queen of Thieves, as long as it's on sale.)
If science-fiction is more your thing, try out Planet Stronghold. (Make sure it's this one and not the Colonial Defense game by the same name!)
I can't say much for the other WW stuff, I haven't played them.
Magical Diary: Horse Hall is goddamned addictive as well. It may look cute and pretty, but Hanako stuffed this one completely full of story and background and conflict and everything- all the ingredients you need to make a yummy, tasty, meaty story that you'll dive into over and over again. Don't let the magical girl theme throw you.
Choice of Games also has some damned fine text-adventure VNs. One you will frequently hear me beating the drum for is Heroes Rise- at least, I suggest the first three books, which are completely fucking amazing. (The first three and the last two in this series comprise different stories, and the second one is kind of so-so, but I heartily recommend the first three with everything I have.)
Slammed! is also a really, really good one, but unless you have a bit of knowledge about pro wrestling, it might go over your head in places.
Those might give you some decent places to start, but yeah, there are a few out there that are not really much more than porn-fests. (I think Pixie has most of them, though...)
I can has cheezburger, yes?
+3
Options
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Doom is worth playing on higher difficulties too, if you feel up to it. Even enemies with hitscan weapons aren’t aimbots, and most ranged attacks are things like fireballs which you can see coming and dodge. The difficulty comes when you lose you’re momentum rather than the game being bullshit.
It’s one of those games where the game beats you over the head and you roll up your sleeves and beat it back.
0
Options
KalnaurI See Rain . . .Centralia, WARegistered Userregular
Really with someone would bring back Heretic with that same level of love.
I haven't played Heretic, but I think I remember seeing things about it when it first came about, kind of an FPS but with fantasy stuff instead of sci-fi, right? Still "Dark Fantasy Demons and shit"? That would totally be sweet.
Edit: what I'm remembering is actually Hexen, but still, same series.
Kalnaur on
I make art things! deviantART:Kalnaur ::: Origin: Kalnaur ::: UPlay: Kalnaur
Really with someone would bring back Heretic with that same level of love.
I haven't played Heretic, but I think I remember seeing things about it when it first came about, kind of an FPS but with fantasy stuff instead of sci-fi, right? Still "Dark Fantasy Demons and shit"? That would totally be sweet.
Pretty much.
It wasn't as memorable as doom, but is still a very solid game.
+1
Options
-Loki-Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining.Registered Userregular
Unfortunately Hexen and Heretic are Raven Software properties and they were swallowed up by Activision after releasing those games, the original developers left and now they’re the caretakers of the Chinese Call of Duty Online.
Really with someone would bring back Heretic with that same level of love.
I haven't played Heretic, but I think I remember seeing things about it when it first came about, kind of an FPS but with fantasy stuff instead of sci-fi, right? Still "Dark Fantasy Demons and shit"? That would totally be sweet.
Edit: what I'm remembering is actually Hexen, but still, same series.
Heretic was basically a Fantasy DOOM skin. Hexen was when they branched that off into more of its own thing, with new mechanics and world traversal and stuff. They're both great, just kind of different.
There's also a short DLC campaign for TNO called The Old Blood. The gameplay has a lot of rough edges, but once you've gotten an understanding of an encounter they're quite fun, and the story is still good.
I had the opposite response: the story was forgettable (it's more a throwback to the older wolfenstein games) but the game feels like a more concentrated version of New Order.
TNO was my first Wolfenstein game, so the throwback stuff was fresh for me. The gameplay, I felt like there were lots of encounters where stuff just takes you by surprise and kills you too fast for you to recover from the error you couldn't have realized you were making, or things of that nature. Once you've figured out what that stuff is in any particular encounter, it actually is fun to respond to it and interesting decisions to make, but the period where you're still feeling it out is rough.
Really with someone would bring back Heretic with that same level of love.
I haven't played Heretic, but I think I remember seeing things about it when it first came about, kind of an FPS but with fantasy stuff instead of sci-fi, right? Still "Dark Fantasy Demons and shit"? That would totally be sweet.
Edit: what I'm remembering is actually Hexen, but still, same series.
Heretic was basically a Fantasy DOOM skin. Hexen was when they branched that off into more of its own thing, with new mechanics and world traversal and stuff. They're both great, just kind of different.
I wonder if they could get the rights to Catacomb Abyss...
There's a game called AMID EVIL thats a kind of modern reimagining of HERETIC (I would prefer to keep the sprawling, aimless maps of Hexen in the past), but it's more like what DUSK is to QUAKE/BLOOD than DOOM (2016) is to the original DOOM.
But if you throw in ION MAIDEN, there's a really great niche genre bubbling away here
TeeMan on
0
Options
SteevLWhat can I do for you?Registered Userregular
Ziggurat always felt like a neat roguelite take on the Heretic/Hexen aesthetic.
Heretic, Blood are the last on my list of childhood games to be made awesome now. Doom, mortal kombat, wolfenstien, all are awesome and better than ever
My secret shame hope is redneck rampage, but that'll never happen
Also Duke, but that's never going to be good again with the company that owns it. The only way that character would work now is an Austin Powers style fish out of water storyline, where the worlds changed and like Dukes daughter hates him, and he has to learn to change and grow
Heretic 2 was one of my favorite games ever back in the day. I loved multiplayer blade match. The one multi mode EVER where I was nearly always the top player. Haven't been very good at any game since =p.
It wasn't anything like Heretic 1 but I still loved it.
I would love to see them come out with a modern Heretic/Hexen/Quake like they did with Doom.
I would love to see them come out with a modern Heretic/Hexen/Quake like they did with Doom.
Hexen amd Heretic won’t happen as above - they were Raven Software who were swallowed by Activision after those games and whose sole job is now being the caretakers of Call of Duty Online.
Sad because they made great single player games. Quake 5 has a better chance but id see it more as an online arena shooter than single player now.
Though I’d play the shit out of any of those.
+1
Options
Dac VinS-s-screw you! I only listen to DOUBLE MUSIC!Registered Userregular
I've been on a original Doom binge this month and the message I'm getting from all of you is "THE NEW DOOM IS AWESOME, YOU SHOULD TRY IT", now I wonder how well it would run on a R9 380 card. Which IIRC was middle of the line back in 2015.
I've been on a original Doom binge this month and the message I'm getting from all of you is "THE NEW DOOM IS AWESOME, YOU SHOULD TRY IT", now I wonder how well it would run on a R9 380 card. Which IIRC was middle of the line back in 2015.
DOOM 2016 is supposed to be super well optimized, runs well on much less than people expect.
Posts
I had the opposite response: the story was forgettable (it's more a throwback to the older wolfenstein games) but the game feels like a more concentrated version of New Order.
You're walking into a cave that has Nazi buildings at the back. There's an officer that comes out of a room and I die before killing him, or he does *something* and things end.
Every time I tried, I can't seem to ping him off before I can't progress.
Except upon getting into the game the choices were always: "Do this fun interesting thing that sounds cool and will make the story go better" or "Decline and do nothing instead". Guess which one cost 20 gems to select.
Since there are more actual games on steam and not just people writing programs to extract money from people's wallets, does anyone know of anything that would be similar to that but actually meet the premise instead of just being fake? Visual Novels really aren't an area I know much about and looking through Steam it just seems like it's all porn porn and more porn.
We right winged conspiracy theorey'd our way into a base and kill some dudes who totally deserved it!
Yup.
Please feel free to use the FNG boards or chat room to give dedicated game ideas. Nice as the poll is, downloading games takes away precious time.
when suddenly we were backstabbed by Clan Skyre, who I had just negotiated a peace deal with! To be fair, they are Skaven ratmen, so should have expected as much. Worse yet, they started decisively defeating me in battle while looting and corrupting my lands...
eventually I was able to mass my forces at Skavenblight, their rat-men capital, and finally overtake it. Though even as I started to relax, confident in victory, the rat-men summoned their horned rat god to sow discord in the hopes of regaining their filthy rat den capital once more...
Will the combined might of mummy powers and magical mermaid pirating be enough to cleanse the world of the rat-men scourge? Maybe, maybe not; for now, rat's all folks!
They are less visual novels, and more digital choose-your-own-adventure novels, but anything by Choice of Games is pretty decent.
On the looks like porn but isn't side, Long Live the Queen is cool.
And my top recommendation is the fantastic 80 Days.
@Zavian 's conquest of Skavenblight was unfortunately not the smoothest when he first went to amass his hordes. The sneaky rats laid an ambush of his Vampire Admiral without the knowledge of Queen Mermaid.
For once not trusting to Lady Luck, Zavian took to the battlefield to repel the vermintides.
Images are large so I spoilered them
While he managed to repel the first wave, another rabid swarm soon approached and so he gathered his forces to repel them once again.
Alas the horde proved too great that day and while the army survived it was ravaged and required a new vampire admiral to take charge.
However, soon after, Skavenblight fell to Zavian's barnacle encrusted boots. (I need to do more campaign map pictures)
Magical diary
Long live the queen
Gender bend- I'M KIDDING! PUT THE GUN DIW DOWN!
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=16534
@Aistan
A good dev for those kinds of RPG/VN blends is Winter Wolves. Here the standouts are Loren the Amazon Princess and Planet Stronghold. I don't own Seasons of the Wolf, so I haven't tried that one yet, but the others I've played have all been good fun.
I'd also recommend pretty much anything by Hanako Games, especially Magical Diary and Long Live the Queen.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
Honestly, theres so many awesome set pieces and amazing moments, that playing it on Easy and just coming through and destroying shit like the first of an angry god could be an amazing way to play it. Im playing on a higher difficulty, and theres parts where I get killed 4-5 times in a row, but I can definitely see the "I am the terror of the nazis" really playing well with an easier difficulty setting.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
My Backloggery
You should go back and watch that Giant Bomb "Best Wolfenstein 2 Moment of 2017" once you finish it. It's crazy just how many amazing moments that game has.
The "easy mode is for babies" is a holdover from the original Wolfenstein 3D that I really wish they would have left in the past.
Shaming people for playing on easier modes is shitty enough, but to do it for a game that (At launch at least) had combat that was kind of broken and a noticeable downgrade from the first game... like, get bent please?
You could in TNO and TOB. I did it when about mid game it got too tough and I just wasn’t enjoying it. Not sure about TNC.
I picked one of the middle difficulties and it was like every Nazi was an aimbot. Besides the difficulty I was enjoying it though. I'm going to put in my pacifier and hop back in though on easiest mode cause it does seem a lot of fun. I also have the latest Doom which I never beat yet also. Damn you backlog! Totes giving Wolf 2 another try today though, damn you Corrigan!
Really wish someone would bring back Heretic with that same level of love.
Sounds like either Choices or Stories or Chapters. Choices has some absolutely amazing writers working for them (they were born from the team that did the original "Surviving High School" that proved there was even a market for this kind of thing on phones, Centerscore). On the other hand, they are expensive as all hell. Best in small doses, or look up a route planner and map out how many diamonds it will take you to get that ending. Stories and Chapters... I think one is backed by a large number of licensed properties, and the other has a massive amount of stuff but it's all fan-made, so good luck finding a decent one on that app.
If you're looking for some solid VNs, I can suggest a few.
I'm a huge fan of pretty much anything made by Winter Wolves: if you're into something modern-day, Roommates is a pretty damned solid game. You play as a male or female college student, trying to find love and succeed in your first year of college- and to get along with your dorm-mates. There are a number of different romance paths you can take, and they're all well-written. You'll be identifying with these characters very, very quickly.
I'm also going to second the also-so-very-wonderful Loren the Amazon Princess, mostly because this was my absolute first true VN that I'd ever played and look at me now, I'm kind of, well... me. A very solid RPG section paired with some very strong writing and interesting characters- I've said it before and I'll say it again- Winter Wolves has some of the best writers out there, too.
I'll also plug Amber's Magic Shop as well. It's still a solid game, maybe not as solid as Loren or Roommates, but maybe good for a second or third purchase if you really like the Aravorn setting. (And waaaay in the back last ought to be Queen of Thieves, as long as it's on sale.)
If science-fiction is more your thing, try out Planet Stronghold. (Make sure it's this one and not the Colonial Defense game by the same name!)
I can't say much for the other WW stuff, I haven't played them.
Magical Diary: Horse Hall is goddamned addictive as well. It may look cute and pretty, but Hanako stuffed this one completely full of story and background and conflict and everything- all the ingredients you need to make a yummy, tasty, meaty story that you'll dive into over and over again. Don't let the magical girl theme throw you.
VA-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action is also a damned fine VN that I keep meaning to go back to over and over again.
Choice of Games also has some damned fine text-adventure VNs. One you will frequently hear me beating the drum for is Heroes Rise- at least, I suggest the first three books, which are completely fucking amazing. (The first three and the last two in this series comprise different stories, and the second one is kind of so-so, but I heartily recommend the first three with everything I have.)
Slammed! is also a really, really good one, but unless you have a bit of knowledge about pro wrestling, it might go over your head in places.
Those might give you some decent places to start, but yeah, there are a few out there that are not really much more than porn-fests. (I think Pixie has most of them, though...)
I can has cheezburger, yes?
It’s one of those games where the game beats you over the head and you roll up your sleeves and beat it back.
I haven't played Heretic, but I think I remember seeing things about it when it first came about, kind of an FPS but with fantasy stuff instead of sci-fi, right? Still "Dark Fantasy Demons and shit"? That would totally be sweet.
Edit: what I'm remembering is actually Hexen, but still, same series.
Pretty much.
It wasn't as memorable as doom, but is still a very solid game.
Heretic was basically a Fantasy DOOM skin. Hexen was when they branched that off into more of its own thing, with new mechanics and world traversal and stuff. They're both great, just kind of different.
I wonder if they could get the rights to Catacomb Abyss...
Goodreads
SF&F Reviews blog
But if you throw in ION MAIDEN, there's a really great niche genre bubbling away here
My Backloggery
My secret shame hope is redneck rampage, but that'll never happen
Also Duke, but that's never going to be good again with the company that owns it. The only way that character would work now is an Austin Powers style fish out of water storyline, where the worlds changed and like Dukes daughter hates him, and he has to learn to change and grow
It wasn't anything like Heretic 1 but I still loved it.
I would love to see them come out with a modern Heretic/Hexen/Quake like they did with Doom.
Hexen amd Heretic won’t happen as above - they were Raven Software who were swallowed by Activision after those games and whose sole job is now being the caretakers of Call of Duty Online.
Sad because they made great single player games. Quake 5 has a better chance but id see it more as an online arena shooter than single player now.
Though I’d play the shit out of any of those.