pretty much the title. i have played most of sierra, lucasarts and telltale catalogues so if you are suggesting one of their games i’ve probably already played it. it doesn’t have to be a copycat, homage or in the same style as these companies’ games either, just that it must satisfy the vague definition of being an “adventure game” and have a good story. thanks in advance, can’t wait to see your recommendations!
EDIT: thanks for your recommendations i couldn’t reply to everyone. i can’t to play (most of) them when i got time.
I really feel like Disco Elysium treads the line between RPG and old school Adventure Game.
If you want story, its got it in spades.It’s really stretching the adventure game definition but if you are open to first person games without combat with great stories I would recommend :
- “the outer wilds” : really nice puzzles, good story, wonderful setting, definitely not linear.
- “SOMA” : a little dark, engaging story, this was an amazing experience.
Did you mean The Outer Worlds or Outer Wilds?
He surely meant “Outer Wilds” based on his description. Fantastic and memorable game that will make you sad reminiscing your playthrough. Go in completely blind
Immortals fenyx rising was a good adventure game. Good story, good writing, breathe of the wild knockoff gameplay. I really enjoyed the characters.
Couldn’t make it more than a couple hours in this game. Everything was just so “generic open world Ubisoft game” and I found the dialog to be obnoxious.
There’s a beauty and peacefulness to it that’s hard to describe. The music will stick with you, too.
It’s a big stretch on the definition, but try the Hitman Trilogy. There are tons and tons of solutions to achieve the kills without trying for tricksy, difficult stealth challenges - just by recalling a bunch of hints you’ve seen/heard by wandering around the region, and combining them in fun ways.
Basically, if you see that the target is inside a complex guarded by two armed men, you shouldn’t be trying to flick a coin to see if you can turn a guard just long enough to use your garrot on one, and hide him around a corner, all in 10 seconds. You SHOULD, instead, look for options like:
- Find a pizza delivery guy, get him alone, knock him out, take his uniform and pizza, and greet the guards so they let you in
- Set off an alarm in a nearby room that causes a guard to go shut it off
- Call the target on the phone and tell him you want to meet about his secrets. Then, he leaves the complex himself with one bodyguard to your proposed meeting spot “right underneath the suspended ornamental anchor”.
What’s often misleading about the games is they orient themselves around all this equipment you can bring in, but the best way to explore a lot of levels is with no equipment at all (sometimes not even a pistol). Granted, the game changes in speedruns and other challenges, but it DOES feel like playing a Monkey Island game at times.
I personally enjoy Brok the Investigator, if you don’t mind beat-em-up mixed in with your story. Has multiple endings, every single area has 3 hidden collectables that act as hints in case you get stuck, and is available on console (ps4/5, xbox one and series s/x, switch) if you don’t feel like playing on PC.
You play the first chapter as a detective alligator (Brok) who has a new case to solve. Starting chapter 2, you gain access to switch between him and his cat son (Graff). Depending on your actions, you get the different endings. To make things easier on getting different endings, you can load yourself in at specific chapters, too.
It’s not really an adventure in the classical genre definition, but maybe Return of the Obra Dinn is something for you if you like solving puzzles and fancy murder mysteries.
i have played return of the obra dinn. it’s one of the greatest puzzle games i’ve played and i feel like most people that have played it say the same. actually solving all identities is legitimately hard, the story is interesting and the presentation is top notch. not an adventure game as i would define it but i highly recommended playing it to everyone that haven’t played it.
Basically the entire Wadjet Eye catalogue, and the first two games in the Broken Sword series (then stop - the 3D ones are crap)
Unavowed is so good. Different party members mean different ways to solve the same puzzles. Great narrative.
A while ago I played through the first two Broken Sword games, and I enjoyed them very much!
An Point and Click series I really enjoyed: Deponia. It’s focuses more on humor, but also has great writing.
I enjoyed Botanicula. It’s a cute point-and-click adventure game.
I know many people did not, but I really enjoyed the King’s Quest reboot.
Free Stars: The Ur-Quan Masters has an excellent story and wordbuilding, and you can talk to all kinds of weird aliens. If you don’t like the ship combat, you can set up the game’s AI to fight for you.
Sorry if either of these already got mentioned:
- Call of the Sea
- Quern (this one is light on story, but it’s a solid Myst-like game)
Hollowknight if you like metroidvanias. Id definitely consider it an adventure due to the exploring aspect. Up to your discretion though.
Story is fantastic imo and the visuals are stunning. Its pretty combat heavy if you’re into that.
That game is fucking hard. Only play it if you like cursing a lot.
I was about to say something about it not being that hard but my second favorite game is darksouls 1 so maybe I’m biased
