Games

I've been interested in Soulslike games and got Code Vein on sale recently. I think I'm about halfway through and it's pretty good. Playing at the 2nd hardest difficulty, dying here and there but also one or two shotting most bosses, which suggests it's found a good sweet spot for difficulty where it's not overly punishing but also not trivial, though I kinda wish I had started it on the hardest difficulty. I'm not sure how popular the game was but I suggest it.

Everhood is really unique and id recommend it to anyone who enjoys Undertale.

I also want to shout out just shapes and beats which is a good time and I pray it'll see a sequel

Environmental Station Alpha is a good metroidvania IMO, and it has just over 1000 reviews on Steam. It has good platforming, combat, sound design, and chunky pixels. Not the most expansive or complex metroidvania, but it’s surprisingly polished and costs less than $10.

Deathkarz 1999.
Had more Hours in that game than in iRacing now

Are visual novels allowed? If they are I strongly recommend you:

Hotel Dusk and its sequel, Last Window. Time Hollow.

All these three games are for the Nintendo DS.

I was mildly a Borderlands fan, but then I played Tales from the Borderlands and fell in love. It's such a great game with amazing writing and music that I'm always surprised to hear that most people, including fans of the main Borderlands games, have never heard of it.

If you like Soulslikes The Surge is a really good sci-fi take on the genre. It succeeds in the vagueness, the atmosphere, and the combat. It has a bit of a gimmick with how you obtain parts by targeting and dismembering limbs which is really fun. However the story kinda goes off the rails near the end and the last few areas of the game are arguably the worst designed levels of the game. Plus the boss fights can be a PITA despite being super cool design wise.

I don't see it brought up as often as things like Nier or Mortal Shell though, and IMO it's better than both of those.

I really liked Unsighted and didn’t feel like I saw a whole lot of hype around it at the time.

N64 Timesplitters, had tons of fun with friends in that