The Advantures of
Jordan Mlynar
I am a 30 year old man that still plays video games
See above.
Twelve Minutes
Fitting the theme of “hard to talk about without ruining the experience”, Twelve Minutes is a modern successor to those point and click adventure games. You play a man who arrives home to his wife just in time to set the table for dinner and depending on your actions as the player, you have a rather normal night until a visitor knocks on the door revealing the beginnings to a MUCH deeper plot. Much like those point and click adventures, there are many details and options to explore and add to your knowledge about the game world which will be needed to progress the story. I HIGHLY recommend a blind playthrough with the note that the story contains blood, violence and adult topics. There have only been a handful of media that has pumped faked multiple possible endings on me, and Twelve Minutes left me posterized and broken ankle’d many times before I eventually arrived at the credits. TLDR: awesome story presentation that capitalizes on the gameplay style and with a Voiceover cast including Willem Dafoe, Daisy Ridley, and James McAvoy you are in for a top quality wild ride!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk / JSRF
This section of the site and that of the music selections were HEAVILY influenced by my exposure to Jet Set Radio Future. Without the misinformed (or possibly fate driven) generosity of my parents buying the Original Xbox one Christmas rather than the Nintendo Gamecube I was obsessed with, I would have never stumbled upon the promotional double feature disc that came with the Xbox combo pack containing Sega GT 2002 and JSRF. With little to no interest in the racing sim, I was captivated by the artstyle and soundtrack of the likes I have never seen or heard before. While it did contain spiritual ties to the Tony Hawk Pro Skater games with its own excellent soundtrack and roller sports gameplay, JSRF really pushed my interests in a new direction. Mentioned on the listening page of this site, Hideki Naganuma’s mixes really pull the gameplay and its ability keep you coming back for more up to a level beyond its means.See his article for more, but Hideki’s energy really leaks into your gameplay increasing the tempo you are playing at. After years of a Group of Funky Rollerblading Graffiti Artists shaped hole sat festering in a loyal community, news of a spiritual successor called Bomb Rush Cyberfunk emerged on August 11th, 2021. While not being released until August of 2023, BRC finally came to fill that hole. While I have not played BRC enough to recommend it, it is off to a great start. And with its already well supplied mod list even if it doesn't quite hit the mark the community will be there to course correct if needed.
BRC Steam | BRC Wiki | JSRF Xemu | JSRF Wiki
Tale of Two Wastelands
For any and all fans of Fallout 3 or Fallout New Vegas, this is THE mod for you. It’s just the two best Fallout games seamlessly and reasonably lore-preserving presented under one roof. Since it runs under the New Vegas version of the engine you get all of the quality of life and community developed engine stability fixes that come along with it.Storywise, you (optionally) start in Fallout 3 where you can explore, complete all of the different quests, meet all of your favorite characters, and complete DLC as much or as little as you would like. Then when you are ready, you can find a working metro line that will take you to New Vegas where you work as a Courier for a few years before starting the New Vegas storyline including access to its DLC, characters, areas, creatures and items with the chance to go back to the Capital wasteland once you find the return metro line. This with a plethora of mods to adjust gameplay or even simply add some of your favorites from both games into the new experience. Honestly this is the ONLY way to play either or both of these beloved games.
The Stanley Parable / The Beginner's Guide
Another Jordan “hard to talk about without ruining the experience” Mlynar Classic, both TSP and TBG have so many interesting options, twists, and turns that can only really be appreciated by playing the game yourself. The Stanley Parable, a more fully developed experience in comparison to its free predecessor, gets into the mind of the player and starts to exploit the way you think as a gamer and as a human in general. You play as Stanley, a worker at your desk going through the motions until he notices (with a nudge from the warmly voiced Narrator) the office appears to be completely empty. You are guided around the office by this formless voice until you are met with the choice of two doors where this voice tells you to enter the one on the left. While I recommend listening to the voice on your first playthrough, you have full control of the situations you are presented with and the game reacts accordingly. While the Beginner’s guide is less “open” in the sense of choices, the writing and uniqueness is also of the highest quality. In TBG, you are presented a collection of short games/experiences compiled by the developer with a guided narration/explanations of where the different game files were sourced and even contains some “behind the scenes” insights into the games files that slowly reveal themselves to be much much more than your average gameplay. Both titles can only be fully realized by playing them yourself which I highly recommend you do when you have the time to devote to focus on these underrated experiences.
Steam Bundle | Publisher's Website | Original TSP Free Mod
Star Wars: KOTOR I & II
With the sea of Licenced Starwars games out there, it is sometimes easy to pass over some of the older gems from the past. While there is a decent amount of knowledge of this era due to the TOP MMORPG, for me it never was gripping or interesting as Knights of the Old Republic I & II. Another one of those "I can't get into the storyline without ruining the fun" scenarios, KOTOR I revolves around your character, who awakes with amnesia, joins forces with a powerful jedi and a cast of other heros, and with the backing of the Jedi Council sets out to beat Darth Malak to the location of a weapon of impossible power. KOTOR II starts similarly except instead of amnesia, you character has severed their connection with the force after being exiled by the Jedi Council and learns of an Exchange plot to seek out and kill all remaining Jedi. Both games allow for some pretty major Light vs Dark side choices that affect the universe and other planets that you visit during the game. The engine used in both titles allows for a DnD turn based gameplay that both veterans and newbies to the tabletop experience will be able to pick up and enjoy.
KOTOR I Steam | KOTOR II Steam
Wartales
Wartales is a interesting take on a turn Based RPG where there is no real story and you are not the hero. You play as a group of mercenaries and are thrust into a world where you can choose to be a bandit, a trader, the hero, or the villian throughout a number of optional quests. While there are enemies in the form of hostile groups or fauna (wolfs etc)m another enemy is human needs such as hunger, disease and even unique traits such as dependencies to certain food or drink all of which needs to be managed. You are able to play solo or with friends in a fun tactical slow paced format with RPG elements and permadeath mechanics that make each choice all the more important and can make or break you runthrough.
Homepage | Steam | Custom Wiki
Honorable Mentions:
Skyrim Mutiplayer it is as cool as it sounds. It has come a long way since the early renditions. Worth a playthough!
Cube Escape Series I believe this series is the highest quality 'flash escape room' type games that nostalgia seekers and general escape room lovers should give a try.
MyAbandonware.com Remember that game your uncle installed on the family PC back in the day? That educational game the class would all load up during computer lab? It's here.
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic classic 1st person RPG made in the source engine where you can kick orcs off of cliffs... nuff said.