Games I Recommend People Play

Below are a collection of games that I have completed that I would recommend people play. Of course, some games I would only recommend you play if you like the genre already or you can handle certain aspects of them (level of violence or difficulty, for instance), but if that isn't a factor, feel free to play any of these games without fear of them being absolute crap!

	Alan Wake (Xbox 360) This is one of my absolute favorite games of all time. It would be a disservice to humanity if I didn't tell you to play this game. Okay, maybe I'm exagerating a little, but it is one of my all time favorite games. Play it. WARNING: Violence and jump scares.
	BioShock (Xbox 360) The first BioShock is stil the best BioShock. It is super violent and horrifying in a great number of different aspects, but I absolutely love it. WARNING: Strong violence and gore, strong language, drug use.
	Celeste (Xbox One) Celeste is a difficult (or not) retro platformer where you play a young woman struggling with mental health issues in her attempt to climb a mountain with mystical properties. Along the way, she meets all sorts of different characters, including a semi-evil version of herself. The platforming is more Super Meat Boy than Super Mario Bros., with tons of tricky platform jumps through difficult spikes, lava and other traps. You will die, and you will do it often. However, if you want to just enjoy the story (which itself is pretty good), there are modifiers you can turn on that make the game easier. Either way, this game can be enjoyed by almost everyone.
	Child of Light (Xbox One) A well done turn-based RPG with puzzle elements. While the game is short, it is most definitely worth what time you have with it.
	Creature in the Well (Xbox One / Windows 10) A charming cross between a dungeon crawler and a pinball machine. I would liken parts of it to top-down action adventure games like the classic Legend of Zelda titles, and other parts to pinball games, where slashing at balls of energy in order to hit targets and enemies is your primary means of making progress. Features great level design and frantic boss fights, all while being tough enough to pose a challenge, but not so hard it makes you want to throw your controller. Play this game!
	Degrees of Separation (Xbox One) Okay, I'm going to get this out of the way right now: this game is more geared towards girls than guys, and it is basically a collectable-centric game. The story line has very much of an angst-y romantic bent, but the gameplay is fun and challenging enough for everyone to make up for it. Thankfully, there's an option to turn off the narration so you can just enjoy the puzzles for what they are. The main idea of the game is that you control two different characters: one warm and summery, the other cold and wintery, and the placement of either character changes the environment depending on who is where on the screen. There are plenty of different puzzles and enough variety on the theme to keep the puzzles engaging without being monotonous.
	Deus Ex: Human Revolution (Xbox 360) Play this game. You won't regret it. WARNING: Some strong language, violence.
	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360) A good many people say that Oblivion is the best Elder Scrolls game. I am not one of those people. I like me some Skyrim. WARNING: Violence and gore.
	Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) Play this game. You won't regret it. WARNING: Strong language, violence and gore.
	Fallout 4 (Xbox One) While I hear a lot of people give this particular Fallout game a lot of crap, especially when it comes to the main story line. However, I rather enjoyed my time playing it and I would recommend it to others. If you're a fan of the Fallout franchise and you haven't picked this one up already, what are you waiting for? WARNING: Strong language, violence and gore.
	Fallout: New Vegas (Xbox 360) Play this game. You won't regret it. WARNING: Strong language, violence and gore.
	Firewatch (Xbox One) I feel like Firewatch is more of a walking sim than an adventure game, but however you want to classify it, its a well done game. I started the game not really thinking I was going to like it, but I ended up really getting into it as time went on. You play a man who took a job watching out for forest fires in the middle of a Colorado forest during the summer of 1989. Your only companion is a voice over the radio from another nearby watch tower named Delilah, with whom you start talking too constantly about all sorts of things over the coarse of the game, learning more about each other in the process. As you play you have to perform various hikes around the forest in order to insure the safety of others, meanwhile slowly uncovering a mystery regarding the person who occupied the firewatch tower before you. Overall, a game worthy of a look. WARNING: Strong language.
	Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Xbox 360) While this is mostly just the campaign of Halo: Combat Evolved with shinier graphics, the game also adds in secrets and features that were not in the original Halo, namely skulls and terminals. What's really neat is that you can switch between the new, updated graphics and the old with the press of a button, reliving the game as it was originally or enjoying the updated visuals. Of course, if you haven't played Halo this is a good place to start if you don't have and Xbox One yet, or if you just want to play Halo again. WARNING: Violence and gore.
	Halo: Reach (Xbox 360) This is one of my favorite Halo games, if only because it has the best version of Forge available on the 360 (one might even say the best version of Forge period.) As for the game itself, it takes place before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved on the planet of Reach, which becomes a battleground between the UNSC and the Covenant as they search the planet for a secret buried somewhere under the surface. WARNING: Violence and gore.
	Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Xbox One / Windows 10) What is it about me finding and playing through games about mental health? I don't know. But this game is one that I can't recommend enough. While I've played games with similar themes of mental health issues, this is probably the only one that I would play through twice just for the fun of it (and I did!) The game is heart wrenching, violent, nightmarish, and yet at the same time touching and beautiful. It handles the subject matter in ways that actually make the game a delight to play. Just don't play it around the kids. WARNING: Strong violence and gore.
	Hexologic (Xbox One / Windows 10) If you like puzzle or logic games, this super simple game is one that I would recommend. I tried it on a whim, and while solutions for every puzzle are available online to make this a super quick completion, I found that this one is super enjoyable trying to figure out on your own. Every level is a math and logic puzzle, where you have to line up totals of numbers of dots in a hexagonal grid in order to get the total number displayed on the end of each row without going over or under on any other row. Check it out. You probably won't regret it.
	InnerSpace (Xbox One) InnerSpace is kind of difficult to describe. This flying and submarine game has you exploring small, inverted worlds, searching for a way to get out. While the objectives at time might not be perfectly clear and even though the worlds can be confusing to navigate at times it gets a lot of things right. You flying about the levels running through tight corridors, flipping switches, snapping wires, collecting energy, and "fighting" bosses in order to open up the next portal, learning bits of lore and story as you go. WARNING: I'm cautiously recommending this game to those people who do not easily get sea sick from games. The reason why is this game can be quite disorienting at times, because of the small, enclosed worlds.
	LEGO City Undercover (Xbox One) I've played a lot of LEGO games in the past, and despite having access to a ton of massively popular properties like Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, this one based solely on the plain City line of sets is somehow my favorite LEGO game ever. Playing detective for LEGO City PD, Chase McCain, your job is to catch badguys all the while maintaining your undercover identity in order to take down criminal Max Fury. Plays similar to other open world games like GTA or Sleeping Dogs but with a kid-friendly LEGO twist, yet still puts in tons of adult-oriented jokes from other detective movies and shows that flies over kid's heads. Great fun playing with kids, or even on your own.
	Maize (Xbox One) I don't normally recommend adventure style games, mostly because I'm not a huge fan of them (trust me, I've played enough of them to know I'm not a huge fan, despite me continuing to play them.) However, if you happen to like them, and you have a twisted sense of humor (or like British humor) then you might possibly enjoy this game. The game centers around you exploring a government science lab on a farm in the middle of nowhere where a misunderstood memo has resulted in an army of sentient corn. I'll the rest for you to discover yourself, but I enjoyed this one.
	Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360) While this game is quite the departure from the first combat wise, I still count it as one of the best games for the 360. You play as Commander Shepard, recently brought back from the dead in order to save the galaxy from the looming Reaper threat by criminally racist organization known as Cerberus. Over the course of the game you find companions to help you in your quest to go on what is essentially a suicide mission through a portal that no one has ever made it back from. WARNING: Sex and nudity, strong language, violence and gore.
	Mass Effect 3 (Xbox 360) One of my favorite games in the Mass Effect series, this game has everything but a good ending. While many people hate on the way this game ended the series (when it was the end of the series) the game is great even in spite of it, which should tell you a lot. Plus, the addition of a terrific multiplayer experience that is better than anything EA has put out since should tell you even more. You should definitely pick this one up... though I recommend picking up earlier entries in the series first to get the best experience story-wise. WARNING: Sex and nudity, strong language, violence and gore.
	Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Xbox One/Xbox 360/Playstation 3/Playstation 4/PC) I cannot say enough good things about this game. If you're at all familiar with the Metal Gear series, then you know at least part of what to expect here. However, in a series first, this game features an open world setting, where you can wonder around two giant maps (one in Afghanistan and one in Africa) where you can explore, acquire new items and resources, and try (and retry) missions. This has to be one of my favorite games in the series, if not of all time. You won't regret picking this one up. WARNING: Partial nudity, violence and gore.
	Plants vs. Zombies (Xbox 360 Arcade) Sometimes the original game in the series is still the best. Plants vs. Zombies is the best game that Pop Cap ever made before they got bought out by EA, and probably ever. This tower defense game is cute, challenging, and most of all, fun.
	Q.U.B.E. 2 (Xbox One) A 3D puzzle game akin to Portal, where the player utilizes different colored squares to navigate a giant alien cube structure in order to stop its voyage towards Earth. There's a plot twist or two in there somewhere, but that's about all I'm going to say about the story. The real draw is the puzzles, which are just difficult enough to challenge your brain without treating you like an idiot, but easy enough that it won't send you into an eternal rage when you can't figure it out. It was a Games with Gold a while back, and so if you're an Xbox Live Gold member you may have it in your library. If not, it's worth picking up if it goes on sale.
	RiME (Xbox One) I was pleasantly surprised at this game. It is a bright, colorful exploration 3D adventure puzzler, somewhat akin to ICO. I would recommend starting out the game with just that information alone and play it through to the end, though I will warn you that the subject matter can be a bit difficult for some. That said, I really enjoyed this game. Like, really, really enjoyed it.
	Rock of Ages (Xbox 360 Arcade) This game is crazy fun. Basically, you are a giant boulder whose task is to roll down a hill and bust open a door in order to squash whichever famous "boss" is on the inside. The visuals and gameplay are very much inspired by Monty Python, which adds to the overall silliness of the game. Sure, it can be a bit challenging, but there's nothing quite like watching famous historical figures scream like a little girl just before you crush them under a giant round rock with a smiling face.
	Slime Rancher (Xbox One) Yet another Games With Gold acquisition that I enjoyed a bunch. Sure, it's a super cute and colorful game geared more towards kids (or girls) than the average game, but its oddly addictive fun. Gameplay is much like an exploration heavy Metroid Prime crossed with animal collection aspects of Pokemon, and all of it is fun. The basic premise is that you are a slime farmer, someone who captures and breeds cute slime creatures in order to collect their "plorts," basically crystal poo. Each type of slime produces a different type of plort, and each different plort is worth a different amount of money based on the whims of the markets. One day a certain type of plort can be worth a ton of money, the next it change depending on how many plorts of a certain type you sell. In order to get different plorts, exploring the planet on which you have set up your farm is key, as is upgrading your vacuum cleaner-like "weapon" and equipment.
	The Messenger (Windows 10) A metroidvania platformer game where you, a ninja, become the Messenger of legend in order to break an ancient demon curse... among other things. It's basically a giant mashup of Ninja Gaiden and Metroid, with a heavy helping of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to boot, all blended together with a intelligent sense of humor that will probably go over a lot of younger player's heads. If you're into platformers, this one will take a bit of time to beat and there are a bunch of challenging sections that will make your palms sweat, but trust me, this game is well worth the effort of picking up.
	Zone of the Enders HD Collection (Xbox 360/Playstation 3) Just in case you missed these games when they first came out for the Playstation 2, the Zone of the Enders HD Collection puts together two of my favorite games from that generation in one convient package so you can try them out. It's even backwards compatable for the Xbox One, so you have no excuses! While I would be hard pressed to say that the first Z.O.E. game was a masterpiece (though it is still a great game), the Second Runner certainly is. GET IT.