5 Videogames That Every Gamer Should Try
Every gamer has videogames that they love. Many gamers are also in a perpetual search for more videogames to play. So here are five videogames that every gamer should at least try. Who knows? One of these may be your next favorite! (Note: these games are in no particular order)
1. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
If you’re a gamer, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve heard or seen this name somewhere, if not played it yourself. You may not be much of an RPG fan, but I assure you, I wasn’t either…until I played this game. It’s that good. As with any medieval/fantasy RPG, you get to create a character from several different species/class types. However, you are not constrained to any particular gameplay experiences by your choice of character. Of course, some character classes are more suited for stealth and archery or for charging and sword-swinging, but you don’t have to follow this rule. You can choose your own path.
The gameplay is awesome. There are a lot of great towns to visit and dungeons to loot, a lifetime (no, seriously, there’s a ton) of side-quests, and the graphics are superb. You can fight dragons and draugr, bandits and spiders, and get a ton of gold and loot while you’re at it. It’s a huge, open world, yours to explore and live in. So go ahead and try it out!
2. The Batman: Arkham Series
When I first heard about this series, I wondered what kind of a game it would be, since I had only ever seen the Christian Bale Dark Knight trilogy. But this isn’t a movie videogame at all, which I was glad of. It takes Batman and his enemies and casts them into a whole new story (best Batman voice ever, by the way). You get to meet plenty of his supervillains, such as Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, and, of course, the Joker (who is voiced by Mark Hamill, and is quite on par as a character).
The simple, intuitive combat system is amazing and addictive, so it’s a good thing there are challenge modes and DLC in which to use these skills. But fighting is not the only thing you do in this game, luckily. You get to solve puzzles (not LEGO puzzles, mind you) with your many gadgets, glide with your Batcape, and plan stealthy attacks to take out henchman without being seen. There are three, soon to be four, of these games, so I encourage you to pick ’em up and try ’em out! After all, Batman: Arkham Knight is coming out soon, and it looks awesome. Players will finally get to drive the Batmobile and have free reign of ALL of Gotham City, not just one section of it.
3. Â Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
After the lackluster performance of some of its predecessors (*cough* Assassin’s Creed III), this pirate/assassin game was created. I was a bit skeptical at first, but then I played it, and it was awesome. The graphics are gorgeous, the world is incredibly huge and open and full of opportunities to use your assassin skills (even though the character doesn’t actually have any formal training and isn’t even allied with the Assassins through half of the game). Take the helm of a pirate ship to explore and take control of the high seas. Get off the ship and visit several different cities and islands complete with their own environments and opportunities, including awesome parkour. Players even get multiple opportunities to do underwater missions (watch out, there be sharks!). There are so many things to do and so many awesome upgrades that I still haven’t finished the main questline, though I intend to!
4. Portal  (1 and 2)
Two games you can beat in one day each (or less). A brain-bending, puzzle-solving extravaganza involving the creation and use of blue or orange portals fired from a portal gun. Little white gun turrets with low self-esteem will shred you if given the chance. An evil main A.I. robot that you don’t actually see until the end tries to kill you and offers you cake at the same time. All of this and more is involved in Portal, and despite the fact that the storylines are so short, they’re still awesome and really fun. If you’re a gamer, you’ve probably heard people sing the praises of Portal. That’s because it’s just that good. Do yourself a favor and go check it out.
5. Minecraft
Basically a highly-advanced computerized combination of LEGOs, Lincoln logs, and any other building block playset, this open-world, block-style, survival game is so immersive and fun that it has inspired probably dozens of knock-offs. Chop down square trees with your fists (or an ax, if you’ve crafted one), build shelters, grow and hunt food, mine for valuable resources, and slay the monsters that live underground or come out at night. Build tools on a crafting table. Learn to never dig straight down or straight up and always place torches everywhere when you go underground. Feel the intense excitement of finding diamonds–and then realize you need something more substantial than a stone pickaxe (i.e. an iron pickaxe) to mine them.
Or, you can go into creative mode and fly around (not kidding) building huge monuments, models, movie set replicas, or ginormous mansions that you’d never actually be able to afford. Either way you play, you’re in for a fun time. There’s no story mode, per se, as you create your own, but don’t let that deter you. It’s quite fun to play, especially with friends. Plus, Minecraft doesn’t require advanced graphics. It looks like a souped-up version of an ’80s game, but it’s still immensely fun.
These are just five of the many, many awesome games available to play out there. Hopefully, these will provide a starting point if you are looking for more good games to play. Happy gaming!