Good Games for INTPs

[Jaico]

Hey guys,

I was just thinking about getting a thread running about games you think are good (for INTPs, or just in general) - and not just limited to video games. I guess I'll just start off...

1. Clue - a game of deduction where you have to figure out three unknown cards by asking questions (best of all, there is very little luck involved!) Basically, I think it's a great game for anyone, but really for INTPs because it's quite cerebral - there is a lot of logical thinking, card counting, and strategy that one can use in order to win. Plus, it really pulls Ti, Ne, and Si into play (structuring card information, guessing at possibilities/people-reading, and card counting) due to the nature of the game. Wicked fun.
2. Diplomacy - a simplified version of World War I, with the major powers duking it out over Europe, with absolutely no luck at all. INTPs can excel at this game, especially if they know the other players; half the game is anticipating movements from others and acting accordingly, while the other half is forging strategic alliances (and breaking them when necessary!) Simply put, a great game for INTX's.
3. Metal Gear Solid 1/2/3 - a series of stealth games (with excellent storylines) where thinking/sneaking are favoured over straight-out firefights. I really think this is geared towards INTX types, because a lot of the times, sneaking past enemies requires more thought than precise skill - you can always think your way out of a firefight. It also helps that the guards always walk in a specific pattern, too...
4. Deus Ex - there's already a thread on this one here, but I thought I'd include it anyways...it's an adventure/FPS/RPG hybrid with a conspiracy centred storyline with multiple ways to complete the game. There's a huge amount of exploration and a myriad of secrets, and like Metal Gear Solid, you can approach the game in a stealth based manner, changing the focus from blazing guns to outsmarting and evading enemies. The open-ended style gameplay was very appealing to me (but that could just be because it's an awesome game ).

Well, that's it for now...if anyone else has any suggestions/descriptions, post them, I guess?

 

[Morel Panic]

By far, my favorite video game is "Link's Awaking" for the (original) Game boy. So I guess this is why when I think about it, it seems like a very INTP oriented game.

My type analysis of game play:
-inventive puzzle solving (very IT)
-applying items to get to new places (EN)
...thus it is proven.

Did anyone else really like this game? Or are all you gamers to "serious" nowadays to appreciate old school game boy?


P.S. If there are other Zelda fans, yes, I know that the "Ocarina of time" is OMGZ!!! THE! BEST! ZELDA! GAME! EVER!, I never really got into console games so LEAVE ME ALONE ABOUT IT!!!! AUGH!!!!

 

[Anthile]

-Vampire: Bloodlines

Based on the famous World of Darkness RPG system, it's pretty much like Deus Ex - an Ego Shooter/RPG that rewards you for being non-violent and taking alternative routes. Also, it's from the former Fallout developers.
The gameplay varies severely depending on the choice of your clan, far more than in any other game I've played.
A special mention to the Malkavian clan which start out as totally mad. This leads to many crazy awesome dialogues like that one with the stop sign:

STOP sign: STOP.
Malkavian: No, YOU stop!
STOP sign: ...
Malkavian: No, YOU stop!
STOP sign: ...
Malkavian: You've made a powerful enemy this day, sign!


Unfortunately this game is very bugged and you'll need a fanpatch.



-Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Horror adventure from the ego perspective. Scared me to death more than once.

The game's protagonist is Jack Walters, formerly a police detective with a talent for solving cases with apparently insufficient evidence (it is implied that he might be a psychic), who was committed to a mental institution after a disturbing encounter during a raid in Boston left him apparently insane and with a split personality. A few years later the secondary personality disappears and he is released, although still suffering from amnesia and schizophrenia.

Now earning a living as a private detective, whilst also attempting to trace his own actions during the period of mental disturbance that he now cannot remember, Jack is contacted to take up a missing person case in the town of Innsmouth. He is sent to Innsmouth by Arthur Anderson, owner of the First National grocery store chain, to find Brian Burnham, the missing clerk who has been running the Innsmouth location. Jack takes the case only to find Innsmouth unfriendly, and that the town does not welcome First National or Brian for being "outsiders", an attitude which quickly wins Jack enemies in the town.

Over the course of the game, Jack slowly unravels the strange and terrible secrets behind Innsmouth, the Burnham case, and even the Boston incident that initially landed him in the asylum. In an environment filled with murderous cultists, deep-sea monsters, and alien horrors, Jack must try to survive and remain sane despite the horrors of the new case and his afflictions.


The game has often been noted for featuring no HUD: instead of a health meter, Jack's condition is relayed through the sound cues of his heartbeat and breathing, which become more pronounced when wounded, and color draining from the screen with loss of blood and strength. Specific injuries are also indicated visually and aurally - a broken leg will cause Jack to limp and will make appropriate noises, a broken arm will make aiming more difficult, etc.

Jack loses sanity when he looks directly at upsetting aspects of the game world, such as mutilated bodies or precipitous drops, similar to the Nintendo Gamecube game Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem. Sanity loss can lead to hallucinations and visions, which manifest as graphical anomalies, sound distortion, and changes in control sensitivity. Also, Jack will begin to suffer from schizophrenia, hearing voices from various sources, such as his inner child pleading for him to go back to darker personalities that want him to come back with them. If he is sufficiently disturbed, then permanent insanity or suicide will result and the game will end. The health system was designed as a more realistic take on character injury than other games of its genre in that different forms of injury will require different remedies, such as a splint for a broken leg.

Initially, the gameplay mostly comprises unarmed escape and evasion, together with investigative exploration, although weapons and combat are introduced later on. As with most survival horror action/adventure games, ammunition is limited and must be conserved carefully for situations when it will really be indispensable, occasionally requiring the player to avoid combat, even when armed. The game as a whole is linear, with only one path through the chapters from start to finish, in contrast with some earlier survival horror games such as the original Alone in the Dark (which is also based on the Mythos).

There are several bugs during game play (such as the boat bug or the cave bug) and many users find the game difficult to play. Unfortunately, the game does not support cheats but there is an unofficial patch that fixes some problems and balances the game a bit by adjusting some parameters like running speed or the amount of noise the character makes while walking. God mode is also available.

-Lionheart

This is by far the weakest game on the list. Basically Fallout gone Hack&Slash. The most interesting part here might be the setting itself.

Lionheart's historical chronology puts forth that Richard the Lionhearted's massacre of 3000 prisoners at the Siege of Acre, during the Third Crusade, was used by a villainous character as fuel for a ritual which tore the fabric of reality. This resulted in magic invading the game's world from other dimensions. The game itself takes place during the 16th century, which, due to the alternate reality setting, has been ravaged by uncontrolled magic and demonic creatures.

During the course of the game, a villain seeks to fully and permanently open the dimensional rift which was only temporarily cracked during the Third Crusade, while the player character, who is a descendant of Richard the Lionhearted, attempts to stop it.

Several famous historical personas appear during the course of the game, most of them residing or imprisoned in Barcelona: William Shakespeare, Galileo Galilei, Machiavelli, and Leonardo da Vinci. It should be noted that this is impossible in the real-world history, but it is presumable that the game operates on an alternate timeline.


As Lionheart implements the SPECIAL system, the character creation is inherently similar to the Fallout series. A player begins by setting the values of his or her character's strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility and luck, and selecting "traits," which alter a character's inherent abilities for either better or worse, for the duration of the game. In addition, the player must distribute points to "skills" - abilities which a character uses to achieve various effects. One skill, "diplomacy," allows the player to talk their way out of situations gone awry, while another, "sneak," allows the player to move undetected by enemies. Unlike the Fallout series, Lionheart also allows the player to select magical skills - an example being "discord," which turns hostile enemies against one another.

A player also selects "perks" during the course of the game - abilities similar to traits, which affect a character's abilities in some form; for example, the ability "Superior Senses" grants the player character a +1 bonus to his or her perception and +15 skill points in the "find traps/secret doors" skill.

Another element newly introduced by Lionheart is the player's selection of a "Spiritkind" for their character, which is done during the "character generation" at the game's start. A "Spiritkind" is a spirit, which is either demonic, elemental or beastial, that resides in the player character and occasionally rouses to explain happenings or gameplay mechanics, or advance the plot.

Notably, the character generated by the player is the only character a player has direct control over, and though characters will occasionally join a player's adventuring party, they are AI-controlled without exception.

-Fallout 1/2/3

Obviously.



-Planescape: Torment

Best game ever. Best dialogues ever. Best characters ever. A masterpiece.

Planescape: Torment is primarily story-driven; combat is given less prominence than in most contemporary role-playing games. The protagonist is an immortal who has lost his name, lived many lives, and forgotten them. The game focuses on The Nameless One's journey throughout the city of Sigil and other planes to reclaim his memories of these previous lives. Several characters in the game may join The Nameless One on his journey, most of whom have encountered him in the past.

Just play it already!



-Arcanum

Steampunk meets Fantasy. Developed by the same developers who did Bloodlines, Arcanum's gameplay is very much like Fallout. Good story but the balancing is lousy.

Arcanum begins with a cutscene of the IFS Zephyr, a luxury zeppelin, on her maiden voyage from Caladon to Tarant. Two monoplanes, piloted by Half-Ogre bandits, shortly close in on the craft and commence attack runs, succeeding in shooting it down. A passenger aboard the Zephyr, an odd-looking gnome, now in his death throes under charred debris, tells the player to bring a silver ring to "the boy", and promptly dies. Being the only survivor of the crash, the main character is proclaimed as "The Living One," a holy reincarnate, by the only witness to the crash, Virgil. The story follows the player's path as he searches for the origin of the ring he has to deliver. Over the course of the game, the player uncovers more about the history of the continent, the motivation of the assassins out there to kill him and the identity of the one threatening to end all life on the land[21].

Arcanum is an example of a non-linear role-playing game. At various points throughout the game, players may take the story in different directions, sometimes permanently removing different paths of action. The game's central quest ultimately develops according to how players navigate its dichotomies, the most apparent being that of magic and technology. Many of the game's sidequests allow for more than one solution depending on the player character's specialisations and even certain portions of the main quest can be solved more easily through dialogue than through combat. The game's magic/technology and good/evil metres also influence what followers your character can attract throughout the game or how other NPCs will react to the player

-System Shock 2

By the same guys who did Ultima Underworld, the Thief series and would later do Deus Ex.

The game takes place on board a starship in a cyberpunk depiction of 2114. The player assumes the role of a lone soldier trying to stem the outbreak of a genetic infection that has devastated the ship. Like System Shock, Gameplay consists of first person shooting and exploration. A role-playing system allows the player to develop unique skills and traits, such as hacking and psionic abilities.


Like its predecessor, gameplay in System Shock 2 is an amalgamation of the first person shooter (FPS) and role-playing game (RPG) genres. The player uses melee and projectile weapons to defeat enemies, while a role-playing system allows the development of useful abilities. Navigation is presented from a first-person perspective and complemented with a heads-up display that shows character and weapon information, a map, and a drag and drop inventory.[5] Backstory is explained progressively through the acquisition of audio logs and encounters with ghostly apparitions.[4]

The game begins with the player choosing a career in a branch of the Unified National Nominate, a fictional military organization. Each branch of service enhances certain skills; the Marines augment marksmanship and weapon proficiency, the Navy improves expertise in repairing and hacking, and a paranormal branch of military, called the OSA, hones psionic powers.[6]

After choosing a branch and undergoing a character development stage, the player begins receiving "cyber-modules" for completing story-based objectives. Skills are enhanced by spending cyber-modules at devices called "cyber-upgrade units".[7] O/S units allow special one-time character upgrades to be made (e.g. permanent health enhancement), while in-game currency, called "nanites", may be spent on items at vending machines. "Quantum Bio-Reconstruction Machines" can be activated and reconstitute the player if they die in the same area. Otherwise, the game ends and progress must be resumed from a save point.[7]

The player can hack devices, such as keypads to open alternate areas and vending machines to reduce prices. When a hack is attempted, a minigame begins where a grid of green nodes form; the player must connect three in a straight row to succeed. Optionally, electronic lock picks can be found and automatically hack a machine, regardless of its difficulty.[8]

Various weapons can be procured throughout the game, including pistols, shotguns, and alien melee weapons.[9] Non-melee weapons degrade with use and will break if they are not regularly repaired with maintenance tools.[10] Different ammunition types exist which are more effective to susceptible enemies. For example, organic enemies are vulnerable to anti-personnel rounds, while mechanical foes are weak against armor-piercing rounds. Because ammunition is scarce, the player must use it sparingly and carefully search rooms for supplies.[11] Additionally, psionic powers can be learned, such as telepathy and the ability to hurl energy balls.

Look out for fan patches!



All quotes from wikipedia.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

I know I'm probly gonna get a lot of crap for this one but there is a board game called QUEST FOR SHANGRI-LA that was released by Insane Clown Posse, 11 different endings, 16 characters each with their own specific powers, surprisingly complex game, very rpg-ish, combines strategy and random luck, it can be found at their webstore, heatchetgear

also for PC or XBOX, its kinda old but Star Wars: Knights of the Old Empire 1 and 2
and also Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion are great time consumers, lots and lots to do and explore

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Farcry, when it first came out on xbox.
Because any idiot can run around with a big gun, but it takes a certain kind of cunning to sneak about with a silenced sniper rifle on a heavily forested map.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Dumb-ass AI, loads of glitches, more than one highly questionable game-mechanic, and various other shortcomings I can't remember right now. But somehow, perhaps by virtue of the game's atmosphere alone, I really enjoyed it, there's just something about fighting to the death over a can of baked-beans in a radioactive post apocalyptic landscape that appeals to me... yeah, it's concerning.

 

[Fedayeen]

Clue - a game of deduction where you have to figure out three unknown cards by asking questions (best of all, there is very little luck involved!) Basically, I think it's a great game for anyone, but really for INTPs because it's quite cerebral - there is a lot of logical thinking, card counting, and strategy that one can use in order to win. Plus, it really pulls Ti, Ne, and Si into play (structuring card information, guessing at possibilities/people-reading, and card counting) due to the nature of the game. Wicked fun.

I played 1 game of this with my family, no one would play with me after that

 

[Zaij]

Oh c'mon, how can anyone enjoy Fallout 3 after playing the first two?! It's like reading Harry Potter after reading Dostoevsky.

 

[Anthile]

I enjoyed both for entirely different reasons.

 

[Zaij]

Fallout 3 is more SJ or something rather than INTP - everything is all black and white, no real moral ambiguity etc

 

[Jaico]

Ah! How could I forget about System Shock 2? That game scared me so badly when I played it...a few months ago .

Another two games that I just remembered are:

Kingdom of Loathing: a web-based epic persistent RPG with stick figure graphics (it's a lot better than it sounds!) The far out references, ridiculousness of the puzzles (some of the solutions really require some mental leaps and bounds), and the heavy text-based interactions, of it makes it seem like an INTP game.

Twilight Heroes: quite similar to Kingdom of Loathing, but smaller, and focused on superheroes instead of a fantasy kingdom. Lots and lots of spoonerisms (although it's still in development).

 

[Adamastor]

Oh c'mon, how can anyone enjoy Fallout 3 after playing the first two?! It's like reading Harry Potter after reading Dostoevsky.

LoL.

This "clue" game seems interesting. I think I played something similar but from what you had described clue is way superior, since in this case luck is significant...

I think a really good game is Dwarf Fortress (http://bay12games.com/dwarves/). It is really amazing, it took me a while to get used to the whole game (i.e my dwarfs killing each other or starving to death 10-20 and reading the game's motto "Losing is fun." again and again).

In dwarf fortress the sense of freedom is fabulous, the way you handle the building of your fortress, the elegance and functionality according to your calculations is beatiful to see...

Another one, less time consuming, but again lots of fun is RTW (Rome Total War). I like the feeling of commanding an army and destroying your opponents, I see it like a chess game, though in real time and with environment variables...

And the classic board games: Igo and chess :P

 

[Jenn]

Robo Rally and Settlers of Catan.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Age of wonders

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

probably a bit more of an INTJ game but Rise of Nations has gotten me through quite a few very boring weeks with nothing to do

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Just recently was given Sins of a Solar Empire and have been playing it recently. It's not bad in terms of gameplay and it can be done to rather massive scales which I like. Some things about it can be annoying as one solar system can have 50 planets if you want and the planets don't move in any orbit which disturbs my sense of cosmic reality but I'm getting over it. It's alright.

 

[Devercia]

LoL.

I think a really good game is Dwarf Fortress (http://bay12games.com/dwarves/).

Good man. I was hopeing I would not have to break out the beat-a-dead-horse-stick on how awesome Dwarf Fortress is. IT is not only the top runner in my "best game ever" list, but stands head and shoulders above its competitors. And its free. There is really nothing like it in existence, and I dont thing there ever will be again; its a genre all its own.

Sword of the Stars is another good one. Its simplicity for a space TBS turned me off of it the first time I played the demo, but another forum had an After Action Report on it and it showed me how dynamic the tech race is in the game Its not a race to get the super tech or doom, or to siply out power your opponant with bonuses to your number crunching, but rather, you have to research techs to counter what your opponant deplys in the field. The delay in reasearching and haveing its friuts in the field means you have to be adaptive with your techs.

Dominions 3 is also recommended. Iit is however, old and expensive even now. Lots of content in it. Think Magic the gathering meets a more complicated version of the pre-Rome games in the Total War series. I've owned it for years, and I still can't think of all of what a person could strategize while playing it.

Rome Total War? Ive grown jaded with the TW series unfortunately. It was fun until I realized that it was a treadmill, albeit a cleverly disguised one. The older versions, especially Viking Invasion, were the most dynamic IMO. I suppose that because it was alot like Dominions 3 at that stage.

 

[Jenn]

Ok, you've sold me. I'm downloading Dwarf Fortress now.

 

[Ahava]

Can't say I'm a fan of MGS3. Hmm.

I can't quite figure out what makes a good *INTP* game. Any specifications?

My own personal favourites are Splinter Cell (I have no logical reason for that one... it just stuck), the *old* Mario Bros, Peggle, Hexic, Dead Space, Half Life..

 

[nickgray]

Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate trilogy, Obulis, Ballance, Pontifex (aka bridge builder), The Incredible Machine II, uhhh... probably a dozen more I forgot to mention.

 

[Devercia]

I can't quite figure out what makes a good *INTP* game. Any specifications?

*Strategic content or complexity favored over limitations imposed to ease the learning curve.

*Unpredictable, but senseable storyline. Lack of cliche.

*originality

* dynamism and customizability favored over well developed railroading gameplay.

*overall finish(in gameplay, not graphics) favored over periferal content.

*difficulty over ego strokeing.

my oppinions atleast.

 

[Kidege]

I like Scrabble.

 

[merzbau]

fictionary.
god games like sim city or civilisation.
thief 2: the metal age.

 

[RubberDucky451]

fictionary.
god games like sim city or civilisation.
thief 2: the metal age.

Try black and white 2 for a god game. I found that game endlessly amusing.

 

[Ahava]

I enjoyed Mirror's Edge. Unique and stupidly hard in a few places.

 

[travelnjones]

Mystery in the Abbey is sort of Clue 2 electric boogalou. with lots of deduction

Settlers of Catan is probably the best game in the world but it really popped for me with cities and knights, it became a great complex game with backdoors to victory that i liked.

I like strategy games that have other paths to victory i can take or at least use. Shogun/Samurai Swords has the ninja and other stuff like that.

Seven Cities of Gold was a great game.

 

[Latro]

probably a bit more of an INTJ game but Rise of Nations has gotten me through quite a few very boring weeks with nothing to do

Rise of Nations...to me has two issues:
1. The race differences are too minor. I understand that the first expansion helped this a bit, with races like the Lakota being substantially different from others. (Rise of Legends, a game that ran on more or less the same engine with a few similar mechanics (such as the attrition mechanic) but which was overall very different from Rise of Nations, corrected this, having 3 substantially different races.)
2. The counters are too soft. A unit that is "good" against another unit type doesn't just blow it out of the water. So with a big enough force of 1 unit type you can be successful. Granted you won't win in general this way, but still. I tend to prefer fairly hard counters. (Rise of Legends did not, however, correct this.)

Both of these lead into my somewhat obvious answer to this thread: Starcraft. With #1, the three races have extremely vague similarities; you're forced to say things like "they all have a fairly fragile melee unit" and can't go much farther than that without failing. With #2, the counters in Starcraft are very hard; a large swarm of hydralisks will lose to a fairly small number of tanks, especially if the tanks have a decent sized force of other units (e.g. vultures or goliaths) to hold the hydralisks' attention while the tanks reload. And of course, Starcraft in general is just amazing; these are only two facets of the entire game.

 

[Android]

Has Go been mentioned yet? I was once aspired to be a Go Sage, but I started confusing myself and getting worse at the game the more I thought I understood.

 

[Morel Panic]

Has Go been mentioned yet? I was once aspired to be a Go Sage, but I started confusing myself and getting worse at the game the more I thought I understood.

I don't know anyone at all who plays Go. Actually, most people I know haven't heard of it (which is sad. It's a pretty cool game). How do you find people to play?

I do know a few competitive (but not pro) chess players though, one of whom is very much an INTP.

 

[Android]

My uncle taught me how to play.. and I got a few friends interested in it. There's some online versions too, and some even have an AI to play against the computer which is good for learning at the very least. I've only played a handful of times in the last couple years as I no longer know anybody nearby that plays.

 

[Vecna]

Porto Rico
Galactic Civilizations
World of Warcraft
Civilization
Plants vs Zombies
Heroes of Might and Magic
Sim City 3000
Starcraft

Just to name a few. I love the games above and I'm sure INTPs would enjoy them as well. I don't know if the real time strategy games would be good though because you guys need more time to process scenarios and outcomes.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

World of Warcraft

Why would you think that? I believe - and hope, that most people here disagree.

 

[Vecna]

Why would you think that? I believe - and hope, that most people here disagree.

World of Warcraft players fit into two types:

• Casual Gamer
• Hardcore Gamer

INTP's may not enjoy the game casually as on the surface it's just another MMORPG with redundant tasks like quests, whacking mobs for experience, etc.

Now when you get into hardcore WoW gaming you start crunching numbers to min/max your stats and customize specializations. If you participate in PvP (player vs player) matches then you get to analyze all the strengths and weaknesses of all the other available classes and customize your equipment further to counter different builds. The hardcore aspects of WoW can be very fufilling even if you are not driven by competition like I am as an INTJ. Just researching game mechanics (spell efficiency, chance of landing melee hits etc.) can be very fufilling.

Of course no game is forever, and MMO's are marketed as just that. Eventually an INTP will get tired of the game once there is nothing left to analyze.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

If you want complexity, get a space based RPG, they're insanely complex.

 

[Vecna]

If you want complexity, get a space based RPG, they're insanely complex.

Eve Online!

 

[Latro]

Eve Online!

Beat me to it. So much freaking complexity...though admittedly that complexity is basically the whole point of the game, since the actual actions taken while fighting etc. are fairly dull.

 

[Cogwulf]

I've never played eve online, but X3 reunion is great, although it's more combat orientated than I've heard eve online is.

I don't see the attraction of WoW, how well you do depends so much more on the amount of time you spend playing it than it does on any sort of skill. I prefer games where how well I do depends on the reflexes I learn and the tactics I develop for every situation.

I've also never found a strategy game I really enjoy. I do enjoy strategy, I just don't think any games actually give me enough control over my forces for me to be able to use any of the stratergies I want to use. That and the fact that your soldiers don't have any sort of initiative of their own to use

 

[Spaekle]

I tend to love any kind of game that allows me to spend ridiculous amounts of time customizing, equipping, and levelling up characters. I don't think I've played a strategy RPG yet that I haven't become hopelessly addicted to.

I could also probably play Tetris for hours on end.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

I recommend Star Ocean 2 on playstation for a nice old-school space-based RPG. There are 2 main characters, a male and a female but you can choose which one you want to be the primary character. The item creation system allows for a lot of possibilities. Of course if you look it up or figure out certain tricks, you can get some very advanced equipment very early in the game. Great/almost necessary for the super hard more that can be unlocked. Earth/Galaxy/ or Universe mode. Earth-easy Universe-ultra-hard. Also breaks from normal RPG convention with a level system that goes beyond the traditional Level 99 that I get sick of seeing sometimes. You have to pick and choose which characters you want to recruit at certain points in the game and picking one character might lose you the option of recruiting a different one later on in the game. Lots of possibilities there. Also there is a Private Action(PA) system where you can interact with the characters in each different town, sometimes resulting in different items being gained and also emotional points gained/lost which can affect the endings. They like to pair up whenever possible. There are default pairs but there are ways of manipulating the PA system to change the pairings. The dialogue may not be the best and the battle system is a bit strange but I like it once I got used to it. Universe mode definitely gives a great challenge for those that like hard games, and there's a bonus dungeon that is ruthless in any difficulty!

This is on my top 3 list of all time for best RPGs along with Chrono Trigger and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

edit: I forgot to mention the skill point system, along with level ups you gain skill points which you can choose to distribute in different skills. Different groups of skills give certain abilities and when the group's level of skills reach a certain level group abilities become available as well. Fairly complex system to learn for a somewhat older RPG.

 

[Latro]

I recommend Star Ocean 2 on playstation for a nice old-school space-based RPG. There are 2 main characters, a male and a female but you can choose which one you want to be the primary character. The item creation system allows for a lot of possibilities. Of course if you look it up or figure out certain tricks, you can get some very advanced equipment very early in the game. Great/almost necessary for the super hard more that can be unlocked. Earth/Galaxy/ or Universe mode. Earth-easy Universe-ultra-hard. Also breaks from normal RPG convention with a level system that goes beyond the traditional Level 99 that I get sick of seeing sometimes. You have to pick and choose which characters you want to recruit at certain points in the game and picking one character might lose you the option of recruiting a different one later on in the game. Lots of possibilities there. Also there is a Private Action(PA) system where you can interact with the characters in each different town, sometimes resulting in different items being gained and also emotional points gained/lost which can affect the endings. They like to pair up whenever possible. There are default pairs but there are ways of manipulating the PA system to change the pairings. The dialogue may not be the best and the battle system is a bit strange but I like it once I got used to it. Universe mode definitely gives a great challenge for those that like hard games, and there's a bonus dungeon that is ruthless in any difficulty!

This is on my top 3 list of all time for best RPGs along with Chrono Trigger and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

edit: I forgot to mention the skill point system, along with level ups you gain skill points which you can choose to distribute in different skills. Different groups of skills give certain abilities and when the group's level of skills reach a certain level group abilities become available as well. Fairly complex system to learn for a somewhat older RPG.

I never did finish this. I was about level 107 and on the last boss (limiter on) and I just got bored and didn't feel like grinding. My party, by the way (not that much of spoilers; all of these characters are accessible around the halfway point of disc 1, and they aren't really mentioned at all before they join your party):

Spoiler

Claude, Rena, Ashton, Precis

I must say that the battle suits (of which I got 1 out of 3) and eternal sphere (which I missed) are ridiculously game breaking in addition to being ridiculously frustrating (they fit the GuideDangIt description, especially the latter). Just for the battle suit example, I had over half of the game left when I got my battle suit, and until the last dungeon in the game enemies were STILL doing 0 damage to me for the most part.

I should correct INTP in saying that SO2 isn't really space-based; it has scifi elements (for example, in the first battle Claude has a phaser gun; after that he uses a sword) but the extremely vast majority of it is set (and played) like a fantasy RPG. The same is true of SO1.

 

[Invoke Ninja's True Power]

I never did finish this. I was about level 107 and on the last boss (limiter on) and I just got bored and didn't feel like grinding. My party, by the way (not that much of spoilers; all of these characters are accessible around the halfway point of disc 1, and they aren't really mentioned at all before they join your party):

Spoiler

Claude, Rena, Ashton, Precis

I must say that the battle suits (of which I got 1 out of 3) and eternal sphere (which I missed) are ridiculously game breaking in addition to being ridiculously frustrating (they fit the GuideDangIt description, especially the latter).

I always have to look up game secrets once I finish a game and this game takes the cake. Almost every RPG has secrets in it you would never figure out without a spoiler guide.

The universe mode really offsets the game breakage of the eternal sphere. No level grinding necessary if you go to the bonus dungeon. There is more than enough XP in there if you can make it through. Lv.200+ is easy without grinding. I got mine up to Lv.269, I am a completionist when it comes to gaming though. I like my games to be time-consuming since I don't normally have the luxury of being busy a lot/ having lots of friends to hang out with or many other interests. Other than most of the battle suits and the eternal sphere, and the bonus dungeon, 1 or 2 of the characters, most of the other extra stuff I figured out through random trial and error.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Freelancer was good, maybe a bit frustrating when the story kicks in and you get railroaded along, but there's plenty of combat to keep you busy. In terms of technical depth it's quite simple compared to other games like it, but still complex enough to reward intelligent players.

I just wish it was possible to walk around the stations in first person and buy the bigger warships too, by the end of the game your little fighter becomes so powerful it can take on capital ships quite easily.

 

[Tunesimah]

I like Simcity, it fits my INTP tendencies perfectly. The desire to make the perfect structure, the freedom to experiment and try different things. Trying to understand exactly how this microcosm works.

I also really like the board game Puerto Rico, and similarly Race for the Galaxy. I think Puerto Rico is slightly better.

I also really enjoy the Professor Layton series, all those puzzles scratch an itch that most games barely even try to scratch... and I enjoy the story too. I think INTPs can get into the puzzles very much.

 

[rkr1410]

-Lionheart

This is by far the weakest game on the list.

Truly. I'd rather have another gastroscopy that play this rpg-spirit-killing abomination. As far as hack-n-slash rpgs go, I'd switch it for Divine Divinity.

-Planescape: Torment

Best game ever. Best dialogues ever. Best characters ever. A masterpiece.

Ditto. I used this game to show people that RPGs are not in fact about freedom of choice and openness. It's all about faking it, and making player think he's making decisions. Or make a story so damn good, that he doesn't care.


P.S. They don't make games like they used to... Lands of Lore, RoA: Blade of Destiny. Heck, I used to play Eye of the Beholder on Hercules emulating CGA and hadn't this much fun since. (Well, except maybe for Fallout and Ps:T).

 

[Atriamax]

PORTAL
I didnt read through all the posts and dont know if this has been mentioned but it is CRAZY. For all you that dont know it is a puzzle-type FPS game where you can shoot portals onto walls that lead to eachother that you need to solve fairly simple but complex puzzles. Ive beat it 2 or 3 times, i think half the hours Ive played it ive just been screwin around with the whole idea of it, it is a mind boggling game, I wish i could still be playing it but ive beat the puzzles so many times.

BRAID
Its a 2d platformer on xbox 360 and computer and it is NUTS. Its another trippy game that really makes you think. Its a 2d platformer but has numerous Time-space factors
that make the game interesting. It is a short but sweet game and most of my friends
couldnt solve the puzzles for their life, really makes you think in a different way than you ever have. Theres a demo you can download just google it. just TRY to play the demo then not go buy the game after.

these are my two favorite games of all time, let me know what you think or have any suggestions for me!

and @ professor layton: I loved the puzzles but the DIALOGUE AND STORY RUINED THE GAME, especially when it slowed down, i just wanted puzzles none of the stupid story that i would have to furiously tap the screen to speed up the dialogue.

 

[Tunesimah]

Oh other great games, Atriamax.

If anyone wants to argue that video games can be art or as mind expanding as literature... I always point to Braid. The final sequence is perfect...

The story in Layton hooks me... It's a bit cheesy sure... but I always find them refreshingly upbeat and heartwarming.

 

[Atriamax]

yeah i should get an english grade for playing braid lol

 

[Tunesimah]

yeah i should get an english grade for playing braid lol

Seriously, give it 100~200 years when they start overanalyzing the 'classics' Braid will be on the top of the list.

 

[Jaico]

Scribblenauts has to be one of the greatest DS games of all time.
The ability to summon the large hadron collider (as well as pretty much anything else you can think of) = instant win.

 

[cuterebra]

notpr0n! Hands down.

 

[Adymus]

How is it possible that none of you have already brought up D&D?!?!
It's a game that rewards just about any N personality because of the amount of imagination and original thinking that is involved; but for the most part ones with higher thinking functions like INTP, INTJ, INFJ, and ENTP (ENFP and ENTJ deliberately left out, because they usually wouldn't be caught dead playing D&D anyway), because the game does require some analytical skill and the tolerance of bookeeping.