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My stupid friend is bugging me to ask GAF which PC games he/she/they should play (Exclusive PC games from across all decades and genres)

My friend who was ripped-off by buying a expensive but poorly spec'd desktop computer is nagging me to ask GAF which PC games he should play and explore once his PC arrives in the mailbox.

He believes that PC have some fantastic PC exclusives such as:
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Rust
  • Escape from Tarkov
GAF, what other quintessential PC games should my friend play as he enters the PC Master Race this decade for the first time since 2002?
 

AV

We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I haven't played all of these, I'm just getting some default answers out of the way

CRPG
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Disco Elysium
Pillars of Eternity
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2

ARPG
Diablo 1 & 2
Path of Exile
Grim Dawn

FPS
Half-Life 1 & 2 (better on PC)
System Shock 1 & 2 (or wait for remakes)
Call of Duty
Battlefield 2, 1942 & 2142
Crysis
No One Lives Forever

RTS
Starcraft 1 & 2
Warcraft 1, 2 & 3
Age of Empires 1 & 2
Total War: Rome, Medieval, Empire

Strategy
Civilization (all of them)
Black & White
Alpha Centauri
 
I haven't played all of these, I'm just getting some default answers out of the way

CRPG
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Disco Elysium
Pillars of Eternity
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2

ARPG
Diablo 1 & 2
Path of Exile
Grim Dawn

FPS
Half-Life 1 & 2 (better on PC)
System Shock 1 & 2 (or wait for remakes)
Call of Duty
Battlefield 2, 1942 & 2142
Crysis
No One Lives Forever

RTS
Starcraft 1 & 2
Warcraft 1, 2 & 3
Age of Empires 1 & 2
Total War: Rome, Medieval, Empire

Strategy
Civilization (all of them)
Black & White
Alpha Centauri
Great list, AV AV ! Arigatou :)
 

DESTROYA

Member
Why don’t you tell your “ stupid friend “ to join GAF and ask themselves?
I don’t mind helping people out but I’m not gonna hold your hand all the time, tell em to grow a spine and do some of the dirty work themselves sometimes it’s the only way they learn new shit.
 

Pupo

Member
Here's something

Hotline Miami 1 & 2
The binding of Isaac
Northgard
BattleBlock Theater
Guacamelee!
Risk of Rain
Transistor, Bastion & Pyre
Spec Ops: The Line
 

Virex

Banned
My friend who was ripped-off by buying a expensive but poorly spec'd desktop computer is nagging me to ask GAF which PC games he should play and explore once his PC arrives in the mailbox.

He believes that PC have some fantastic PC exclusives such as:
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Rust
  • Escape from Tarkov
GAF, what other quintessential PC games should my friend play as he enters the PC Master Race this decade for the first time since 2002?

LTx4x4B.gif
 

Virex

Banned
My friend who was ripped-off by buying a expensive but poorly spec'd desktop computer is nagging me to ask GAF which PC games he should play and explore once his PC arrives in the mailbox.

He believes that PC have some fantastic PC exclusives such as:
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Rust
  • Escape from Tarkov
GAF, what other quintessential PC games should my friend play as he enters the PC Master Race this decade for the first time since 2002?
Have your friend create a GoG account. There is plenty of good shit on there. Old, new etc. Also have your friend buy Atom RPG
 
I haven't played all of these, I'm just getting some default answers out of the way

CRPG
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2
Fallout 1 & 2
Planescape: Torment
Disco Elysium
Pillars of Eternity
Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2

ARPG
Diablo 1 & 2
Path of Exile
Grim Dawn

FPS
Half-Life 1 & 2 (better on PC)
System Shock 1 & 2 (or wait for remakes)
Call of Duty
Battlefield 2, 1942 & 2142
Crysis
No One Lives Forever

RTS
Starcraft 1 & 2
Warcraft 1, 2 & 3
Age of Empires 1 & 2
Total War: Rome, Medieval, Empire

Strategy
Civilization (all of them)
Black & White
Alpha Centauri
Thief is so stealthy that you forgot about it entirely haha.
 

Husky

THE Prey 2 fanatic
The Witcher and STALKER are essential. FEAR and Crysis are PC shooters that just happened to get inferior console ports, so get him to play those as well. And the Half-Life series. What console did he migrate from? Has he played Alan Wake?
 

Nightrunner

Member
Assuming your "friend" is actually interested in older titles:
Commandos 2 Men of Courage -> Squad based stealth rts that plays like a somewhat flexible puzzle game.
Max Payne 1 & 2 -> A shooting experience you can only have on PC - beat the game and then try the New York Minute mode.
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2 and CnC: Generals (two different games) > Great RTS games
Severance: Blade of Darkness -> Great if you're a Souls fan and can get it to run, especially troublesome on Win10
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (just don't get the anniversary edition) -> One of the best Point & Clicks on PC
 
Last edited:

ThatGamingDude

I am a virgin
I think this question kind of sucks with just how large the library is

I mean; are they looking to get a more historic breath? Just the absolute must play items (And if so, what genres? Must play titles reach back to the 80s for PC)
Are emulators out? Are they going to just play base installs or get into mods or things like content restoration? IE: KOTOR2 has a huge chunk of it's content cut, and is a hell of a lot better to play with it

Are they trying to get an industry growth perspective? Etc etc.

That, and how far back they're willing to go, depending on if there was a re-release, could end up meaning a lot of patching, tinkering with config files, compat modes, etc.
 
My friend who was ripped-off by buying a expensive but poorly spec'd desktop computer is nagging me to ask GAF which PC games he should play and explore once his PC arrives in the mailbox.

He believes that PC have some fantastic PC exclusives such as:
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Rust
  • Escape from Tarkov
GAF, what other quintessential PC games should my friend play as he enters the PC Master Race this decade for the first time since 2002?

Meaning you?

Anyway, the strength of PC gaming lies within its customizability, which is an exclusive feature that'll never be replicated on closed systems. For example, setting up emulators to play your favorite PS2/Gamecube/Wii/etc. games in 1080p or higher, setting up a dual display environment (connecting both your monitor and your TV), or downloading .. say The Witcher 3 and playing that at 4K/144FPS with the choice of graphics mods or gameplay mods. There's really no end, it's like an ocean opened up after you've been swimming in a puddle.

For starters, your "friend" should set up a Steam account and GOG account and check some good deals there. I highly recommend going by the user reviews on Steam/GOG, they're not Metacritic and they're a good gauge to know whether or not a game is worth trying out.

As for games, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is my favorite franchise ever with a huge modding community that has kept the game(s) relevant these days, but they're difficult for a beginner, sort of like playing Dark Souls for the first time after you've been playing Final Fantasy your entire life. They're very different from typical first person shooters, but they are extraordinarily atmospheric, unique and have not been replicated since they were released. I recommend checking the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Reddit section and the Mod DB modding site.

If you want to play them, i highly recommend firstly trying out S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (GOG version !!!) with the Zone Reclamation Project (huge bug fix patch). Graphics still look appealing, i mean you can play that thing in 4K at 144FPS if your machine can handle it, allthough the weapon models are kind of bad. If graphics are too much of an issue, then download my package strictly designed to massively improve the graphics and animations - XpressTuning's Remaster (Ultimate Edition). Once you're done with SoC, then buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (GOG as well, ofc), the third entry in that series and some think it's the best - though it's not my favorite. Apply AtmosFear and Absolute Nature 4.04 for much better graphics (i don't know what's up with them, but they look damn worse in open environments than SoC), and that's it.

Once you're done and accustomed with the series, you can really get into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Anomaly, which is the most complete S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience and one of the best games ever made. Highly recommend a few tutorials, this extraordinary experience makes the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series look like a cake walk.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Trying not to echo anyone else, if I did, OOPS! Also trying to make sure they're solely PC releases, haha.
  • No One Lives Forever 2
  • Alien Vs Predator 2
  • Day of Defeat
  • UT2004
  • Battlefied Vietnam
  • Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines
  • Painkiller
  • Star Wars Empire At War
  • Crysis
  • Far Cry
 
Last edited:
Thief 1 and 2
System Shock 1 and 2
Deus Ex
Every Lucas Arts adventure, especially Monkey Island 1-3, Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max and Fate of Atlantis
Every Blizzard game released prior to Diablo 3
Every Valve game released prior to Artifact
Every Doom game, every Heretic game, every Hexen game
Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior and Blood
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Clive Barker's Undying
No One Lives Forever 1 and 2
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2
Planescape: Torment
Gothic 1 and 2

There are tons more, but that should keep him busy for a year at least.
 

Xaero Gravity

NEXT LEVEL lame™
Thanks for the recommendations guys. I was too shy to ask for myself so I had my boyfriend make a thread instead. Although I probably won't try any of these though and just stick to playing Dream Daddy.
 

Kenpachii

Member
My friend who was ripped-off by buying a expensive but poorly spec'd desktop computer is nagging me to ask GAF which PC games he should play and explore once his PC arrives in the mailbox.

He believes that PC have some fantastic PC exclusives such as:
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R
  • System Shock 2
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Rust
  • Escape from Tarkov
GAF, what other quintessential PC games should my friend play as he enters the PC Master Race this decade for the first time since 2002?

Shower with dad simulator

abece66531acb9fc735b5e5f876b7bed.gif
 
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