Which games blow your mind, but only if you know nothing about them in advance?

Best examples I can think of are:

  • Outer Wilds
  • Doki Doki Literature Club
  • The Stanley Parable

What are yours?

(please no spoilers)

  • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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    5 days ago

    You should go into Nier: Automata thinking it’s a game about a hot chick fighting a bunch of robots. The only spoiler you should know is that the end isn’t the end, and you need to play it again.

    You should go into Spec Ops: the Line thinking it’s a game about a cool special forces team fighting a bunch of terrorists or something. The only spoiler you should know is that it’s supposed to feel like a generic third person shooter.

    • 2ugly2live@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      I love Nier! I’m thought the second play through would be a slog, but they kept it really interesting imo. And starting it up for a third time was wild. Even starting that game is part of the game mechanic, it’s so neat!

    • SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org
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      5 days ago

      Haha I stopped playing Nier Automata after finishing it once. Yeah, yeah I heard it’s not the end, but the gameplay really isn’t good enough to go through it again. Right now I’d give it a 7/10, but if you force me to do it all again I am going down to 3/10. I think it feels incredibly cheap to do this gimmick.

      • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
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        5 days ago

        For you, a little extra spoiler: the next ending also isn’t the end, there’s a lot more. I will admit that playing the second run is a big grindy at first, but it quickly differentiates itself from your first run by the time you get to the first boss. Also, in the second run, the side quests are crucial.

        An extra-extra spoiler: there’s a lot to dig your teeth into, philosophically, that makes the whole rigmarole worth it.

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          4 days ago

          An extra-extra spoiler: there’s a lot to dig your teeth into, philosophically, that makes the whole rigmarole worth it.

          That’s a strong point for me, and the main reason I liked it as much as I did. Same reason I loved The Talos Principle, despite having to look up guides for the majority of the puzzles.

          • iheartneopets@lemm.ee
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            4 days ago

            Ooh, yeah, Talos Principle! Perfect rec for someone who loved Nier and Portal. I haven’t played the sequel yet, but really really enjoyed the first game. I agree about some of the puzzles, though.

    • msage@programming.dev
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      5 days ago

      I bought it expecting like a Devil May Cry or maybe Souls… then the game started and I noped the hell out. It’s weird and I did not like it at all.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        4 days ago

        If I remember right, the first couple minutes is like a top-down shoot-em-up, but it transitions into that Devil May Cry style pretty quickly

        • msage@programming.dev
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          4 days ago

          Not really, the out-of-combat movement was almost strictly 2D? And the first real fight did not teach me the controls in any way, I had no idea what was going on.