Games that are great... But can't recommend.

[trickybus]

The only one that comes to my mind is What Remains of Edith Finch.

For one, it's a walking sim and there's already something of a stigma against games that aren't "gamey" enough—normally, I'm one of those folks who ignores anything that focuses story over gameplay but WRoEF is a rare exception. Then, there's the subject matter: WRoEF is a very depressing game. It tackles a lot of heavy subjects with hardly any breathing room in between. I'm willing to delve into games I feel handle these topics well but I know there are those who hate extended trauma trains regardless of how competently it's handled, so if I do recommend this game, it's to people I know who are like-minded and even then, I still offer a content warning.

 

[Moth_Lobster]

The only one that comes to my mind is What Remains of Edith Finch.

For one, it's a walking sim and there's already something of a stigma against games that aren't "gamey" enough—normally, I'm one of those folks who ignores anything that focuses story over gameplay but WRoEF is a rare exception. Then, there's the subject matter: WRoEF is a very depressing game. It tackles a lot of heavy subjects with hardly any breathing room in between. I'm willing to delve into games I feel handle these topics well but I know there are those who hate extended trauma trains regardless of how competently it's handled, so if I do recommend this game, it's to people I know who are like-minded and even then, I still offer a content warning.

"Walking sim that is very depressing"
Ok I'm sold. That means it's a good game. Where do I sign up

 

[trickybus]

Ok I'm sold. That means it's a good game. Where do I sign up

It is good; I hope you enjoy it!

What Remains of Edith Finch on Steam

What Remains of Edith Finch is a collection of strange tales about a family in Washington state. As Edith, you’ll explore the colossal Finch house, searching for stories as she explores her family history and tries to figure out why she's the last one in her family left alive.

store.steampowered.com

 

[brighter]

I truly believe that Dota 2 is one of the best games ever made. They've wrung every possible gameplay idea out of the Warcraft 3 playercontroller, covering even more design ground with that seemingly basic concept than most enthusiast STG studios managed in the same 20 year period. The amount of weird interactions they've considered, and you get to strategically exploit, is enough to overflow ones' brain. Even simple heroes like Skywrath, Huskar, Antimage, Monkey King, etc are very interesting, to say nothing of Rubick or the micro-heavy guys, let alone the entire active item system. Every possible moment of gameplay could be played slightly better, or have been set up better beforehand. It is War3, Guilty Gear XX, & D&D3.5 made one.

Unfortunately, playing it requires one to play Dota 2, with and against other people who play Dota 2.

 

[MagmaRam]

I've never been one for "can't recommend," usually I'm desperately trying to get people to play my offputting faves on the off chance one of them likes it and I get someone else to talk about it with. My go-to for "great game, can't recommend" was Pathologic, but now Pathologic 2 exists and is an actual video game instead of a misery simulator, so that's good. All that's left are the more in-depth strategy games. It's hard to recommend someone a game like Rule the Waves or Aurora 4X, games which more closely resembles some sort of moderately-outdated business software than an actual video game.