I would say PC only games mainly consists of complex strategy games like StarCraft or Total War and small indie titles that were not ported to a console like Dwarf Fortress. I would argue in general that there aren’t really any must play titles, it all depends on what genres you like.
I would recommend Oneshot, which is in the second category and similar to Undertale. While there is a console port, it loses a lot of appeal due to a certain spoilery mechanic if you play it not on a PC.
Other games I like in the indie category:
FTL: Faster than Light
Into the Breach
Baba is you
Renowned Explorers
On the strategy side there are real time strategy games like StarCraft 2, Age of Empires 4/Age of Mythology, all of the MOBA games like Dota 2 or complex 4X games like Hearts of Iron 1-4 and all of the Total War series etc. I personally like AoE4 and the new remake for AoM.
If you like those totally depends on you.
Except Half-Life, that one is PC only and must play. I suggest to play the remake Blackmesa and Half Life 2, then you don’t need to play a 20 year old game.
Played FTL near to it’s release, and Into the Breach when it ended up on mobile / Netflix. Baba is You is still on my wishlist though.
Complex strategy game might be an interesting category. Will check out a few. Any recommendations that I should check first? I used to play Age of Empires before, so going to get AoE IV soon, but don’t know much 4X games (except maybe some Civilizations and Age of Wonders 2).
Also played Half-Life a while ago, haven’t played 2 though. Thanks for the reminder!
I have to admit I’m not into the complex strategy games myself, because I dislike that the first 100 hours are just the tutorial. But I heard good things about Stellaris, although you need apparently some of the DLCs, so wait for a sale there. Endless Legends and Endless Space are different games but both in the same universe, but the latter is in space and the other based on fantasy.
And I saw enough memes about Crusader Kings 2 to know that it is Crazy Story Generator in Medieval Times.
For the Total War series, starting with Medieval 2 is a good choice, it’s an incredible turn based strategy games with a focus on conquering enemies and real time battles with thousands of troops around (i think the hard cap is 20k troops on the battlefield). AI pathfinding during sieges is complete jank, but if you end up enjoying it, you can play for many campaigns.
Another RTS you should give a try is Supreme Commander. It’s a spiritual successor of Total Annihilation (it’s on my to-play list) and an awesome RTS. Unlike Age of Empires or Star/Warcraft, the scale of battles will go in several hundreds of units and resource gathering is more about keeping a positive input number. Robot infantry, tanks, ships, airships and huge experimental units to stomp around. If you want to play the campaign, be sure to launch from the non Forged Alliance (expansion) .exe, the latter throws you straight into the xpac’s campaign.
If you’re into space games, X3 or X4 can also be great experiences, BUT, you WILL need a tutorial to understand what the fuck is going on and how to play around, because the UI is messy and information is spread all over. If persevere and the game suddenly clicks, boy, you’re in for a ride, because you can create a small space empire from the comfort of your ship (you can also pilot any ship, from fast attack craft to heavy bombers to big capital ships, but the latter are slooooow) – A significantly more polished player experience on the same vein is Freelancer, which is abandonware so you’ll need to visit Internet Archive.
Lastly, Skyrim with mods like Unofficial Patch + Script Extender (SKSE) + SkyUI for basic QoL already makes the game better. Then add stuff like Apocalypse Magic + Summermyst Enchantments + Immersive Weapons / Armor + Convenient Horses + Warzones and bam, the game will feel like it received a REAL expansion. Plays mostly the same but you’ll see enough new stuff that it’ll feel like a very different, possibly much better, game.
I would say PC only games mainly consists of complex strategy games like StarCraft or Total War and small indie titles that were not ported to a console like Dwarf Fortress. I would argue in general that there aren’t really any must play titles, it all depends on what genres you like.
I would recommend Oneshot, which is in the second category and similar to Undertale. While there is a console port, it loses a lot of appeal due to a certain spoilery mechanic if you play it not on a PC.
Other games I like in the indie category:
On the strategy side there are real time strategy games like StarCraft 2, Age of Empires 4/Age of Mythology, all of the MOBA games like Dota 2 or complex 4X games like Hearts of Iron 1-4 and all of the Total War series etc. I personally like AoE4 and the new remake for AoM.
If you like those totally depends on you.
Except Half-Life, that one is PC only and must play. I suggest to play the remake Blackmesa and Half Life 2, then you don’t need to play a 20 year old game.
Played FTL near to it’s release, and Into the Breach when it ended up on mobile / Netflix. Baba is You is still on my wishlist though.
Complex strategy game might be an interesting category. Will check out a few. Any recommendations that I should check first? I used to play Age of Empires before, so going to get AoE IV soon, but don’t know much 4X games (except maybe some Civilizations and Age of Wonders 2).
Also played Half-Life a while ago, haven’t played 2 though. Thanks for the reminder!
I have to admit I’m not into the complex strategy games myself, because I dislike that the first 100 hours are just the tutorial. But I heard good things about Stellaris, although you need apparently some of the DLCs, so wait for a sale there. Endless Legends and Endless Space are different games but both in the same universe, but the latter is in space and the other based on fantasy. And I saw enough memes about Crusader Kings 2 to know that it is Crazy Story Generator in Medieval Times.
For the Total War series, starting with Medieval 2 is a good choice, it’s an incredible turn based strategy games with a focus on conquering enemies and real time battles with thousands of troops around (i think the hard cap is 20k troops on the battlefield). AI pathfinding during sieges is complete jank, but if you end up enjoying it, you can play for many campaigns.
Another RTS you should give a try is Supreme Commander. It’s a spiritual successor of Total Annihilation (it’s on my to-play list) and an awesome RTS. Unlike Age of Empires or Star/Warcraft, the scale of battles will go in several hundreds of units and resource gathering is more about keeping a positive input number. Robot infantry, tanks, ships, airships and huge experimental units to stomp around. If you want to play the campaign, be sure to launch from the non Forged Alliance (expansion) .exe, the latter throws you straight into the xpac’s campaign.
If you’re into space games, X3 or X4 can also be great experiences, BUT, you WILL need a tutorial to understand what the fuck is going on and how to play around, because the UI is messy and information is spread all over. If persevere and the game suddenly clicks, boy, you’re in for a ride, because you can create a small space empire from the comfort of your ship (you can also pilot any ship, from fast attack craft to heavy bombers to big capital ships, but the latter are slooooow) – A significantly more polished player experience on the same vein is Freelancer, which is abandonware so you’ll need to visit Internet Archive.
Lastly, Skyrim with mods like Unofficial Patch + Script Extender (SKSE) + SkyUI for basic QoL already makes the game better. Then add stuff like Apocalypse Magic + Summermyst Enchantments + Immersive Weapons / Armor + Convenient Horses + Warzones and bam, the game will feel like it received a REAL expansion. Plays mostly the same but you’ll see enough new stuff that it’ll feel like a very different, possibly much better, game.