What to Play in Quarantine: Top 100 Games. Part 1 (Topic)

Judging by the steady daily increase in Covid-19 infections, we regret to admit that the pandemic, and with it self-isolation and forced quarantine measures, will remain with us for a long time. There is little pleasant in this, but in order not to go crazy surrounded by four walls, you can always turn to video games, and if you are looking for what to play in quarantine on PC and consoles, then for these purposes we begin to talk about the 100 best games. Note that we have previously published a game top for the period of self-isolation, however, with the extension of quarantine measures, we considered it necessary to significantly expand the list.

What Remains of Edith Finch

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch

What Remains of Edith Finch is the best testament to how versatile games can be and how they can be narrated. For a short 5 hours, playing as a girl who is looking for answers about a deadly generic curse, we will have time to live in the body of a baby, feel like a cat jumping on the crown of a tree, visit a comic book and become the king of a fantasy state. Because of its not too complex gameplay, the term "walking simulator" is sometimes used to define the genre of What Remains of Edith Finch. In our opinion, this is completely wrong and the game from Giant Sparrow is more like a roller coaster that surprises with every new turn.

Portal 2

Where to play: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

What we especially love Valve for is its impressive implementation of even the most risky concepts, as can be seen once again with the example of Portal 2. A large-scale AAA puzzle game - the idea sounds just as crazy in 2020, just like in 2011 when the game came out. The reliance on original gameplay and a story full of humor and spectacular scenes has endowed Portal 2 with the status of an almost timeless game that has not lost its charm and uniqueness over the past decade. And as a highlight on the body of the masterpiece - a separate cooperative campaign, which is only slightly inferior in quality to the single-player story mode.

Celeste

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch

Outwardly unassuming hardcore platformer Celeste is surprisingly harmonious in its combination of gameplay and storyline. Cracking, sometimes even dishonest, but nevertheless exciting gameplay with dozens of unsuccessful attempts to jump over the next abyss resonates with the story of the girl Maidlin, who goes through the most difficult tests in order to find herself in this life by overcoming trials and knowing the limit of her own strength. Separately, we note that for those who want to enjoy only history, there is a separate mode with simplified gameplay.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch, PS3, Xbox 360

Yes, we know what you might be thinking: another top of the best games and another mention of "Skyrim" in it. But what can you do if in 2011 Bethesda managed to brighten its gameplay formula for a modern RPG in the open world, which is why, even after several hundred played hours, the lands of Skyrim continue to beckon with intoxicating freedom and northern beauty. Also, do not forget about hundreds, even thousands of mods for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that can dramatically update the experience of the game.

Batman Arkham City

Where to play: PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360

Batman Arkham Asylum is to video games as much as Nolan's The Dark Knight is to cinematography. The talented developers at Rocksteady have proven that comic-based games can have outstanding artistic value and compete on equal terms with the best in the industry. But, in fairness, the primacy among the games in the series, we still give Batman Arkham City, which has become the benchmark among adventure games for many years to come.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Play: PC

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is the best proof of the superiority of gameplay over a beautiful picture. Let's be honest, graphically CS: GO is noticeably inferior to many competitors in the field of multiplayer shooters, and the main game mechanics have not changed for almost 20 years. Does this make the game worse, forcing the gaming community to turn away from it in favor of other games in the genre? Not at all, but over the past year, the popularity of the game has reached new heights, for which, first of all, we need to thank the gameplay, honed to the smallest detail.

Persona 5 Royal

Play: PS4, PS3

For players far from Japanese game developers, the Persona 5 concept may sound a little strange, which makes it easy to distrust the game ahead of time. The game is based on a mixture of JRPG and visual novel. On the one hand, turn-based battles with otherworldly creatures, and on the other hand, the gameplay for an ordinary schoolboy, because of which you have to do your daily routine, go to lessons, take exams and get out with friends in a cafe. The fusion itself is unusual, but thanks to the amazing music, delightful stylization and the plot, not afraid to raise adult and current topics in society, Persona 5 Royal will hardly leave you indifferent.

Titanfall 2

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One

It hurts to admit, but the last 6 years have not been the best time for story-driven single-player shooters, but we are even more upset by the fact that Titanfall 2 has not found proper recognition in the gaming environment. Possessing hurricane gameplay and throwing up a lot of non-trivial game situations with enviable regularity, Titanfall 2 manages not only to keep pace throughout the game, but to accelerate it many times with each new mission, in order to then loudly shoot an epic ending. If you were looking for what to play in quarantine during the Covid-19 pandemic, then we guarantee that Titanfall 2 will repeatedly beat off every penny spent.

Bioshock

Where to play: PC, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360

As an antipode to Titanfall 2, we recommend that fans of the FPS genre pay attention to another option for playing on self-isolation - Bioshock. Instead of spectacular and straightforward gameplay, Bioshock follows in the footsteps of Immersive Sim, offering many options for solving one problem. Special mention should be made of the stylization of the underwater metropolis under the art deco of the 50s and the cult, in many ways even brilliant philosophical plot, which regularly provides the first Bioshock with leading positions in all sorts of tops of the best games of all time.

Stardew Valley

What to play on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch, iOS, Android

Epic adventures, wars of technological mechs and confrontation between space states are, of course, good, but sometimes you want something more mundane, relaxing gameplay, which is nice to relax after an eventful day. As such a game, we can recommend Stardew Valley, which has a real therapeutic effect. It doesn't matter if you grow a small garden next to the house in the game, go on adventures in the dungeon, get married, have a first child or explore Stardew Valley in co-op with your friends, the game always manages to maintain its relaxing charm.

The Last of Us

Play: PS4, PS3

In anticipation of the release of The Last of Us Part 2, it's time to turn to the first part, if for some reason you missed one of the loudest exclusives for the Playstation family. The reasons for the popularity of the game are quite simple, as well as for everything ingenious. The Last of Us is a cinematic, violent story about people in post-apocalyptic America, which speaks on topics that are understandable to everyone and thus manages to reach even the most callous hearts. The gameplay in the style of the Survival Horror genre is no less valuable in the game. Unless we advise you to start the game at a high level of difficulty, so that the intricacies of the gameplay are revealed in all their glory.

Dark Souls

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch, PS3, Xbox 360

The iconic Action-RPG Dark Souls is undeniably one of the most influential games of the last decade. Despite the not-so-great sales, echoes of From Software's creation can be found in a slew of big games, from The Witcher 3 to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. In addition to them, there were direct imitators, but none could get close to Dark Souls, which captivates with a dark aesthetics and surprises with the versatility of developers' imagination in almost every element of the game.

Minecraft

Where to play: PC, PS4, Xbox One, NSwitch, PS3, Xbox 360, iOS

Speaking of influential games, it would be a real crime not to remember Minecraft. Despite the somewhat dismissive attitude towards the game in a couple of gamers who are accustomed to big games, Minecraft fully earned its popularity due to its gameplay, which has an almost inexhaustible number of possibilities. It is through the sandbox gameplay that we would like to draw attention to Minecraft for parents who are looking for something to play with their children on PC and consoles. If you want to instill in your child a love of creativity, then putting him behind Minecraft will not be the worst idea.

SOMA

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One

Video games have one big Achilles' heel compared to other art forms - weak storytelling. Games have learned to tell stories flawlessly, but the quality of these stories, the level of writing, with rare exceptions, leaves much to be desired. SOMA is a striking exception to the rule. Taking as a basis the horror genre and the setting in an underwater base at the bottom of the ocean, the developers took the trouble to write a rather non-trivial story, trying to answer the question "what is a person." As with all such philosophical works, you will not have an exact answer to fundamental questions, but there will be plenty of food for thought.

Fallout New Vegas

What to play on: PC. PS3, Xbox 360

Fallout New Vegas is one of the rare occasions when, a decade later, a game is released that is equally capable of satisfying an army of demanding fans and attracting new people to the series. Taking the gameplay concept of Fallout 3 as a basis, the developers from Obsidian filled the game with everything that Bethesda forgot about in Fallout 3. Fallout New Vegas is an impressive variety, the black humor typical of the series and an abundance of content bordering between drama and madness.

Starcraft 2

Play: PC

In recent years, you can see how the RTS genre is starting to come out of oblivion with small but confident steps, delighting strategy fans with original and high-quality games. However, despite numerous attempts to throw Starcraft 2 from the throne of the king of the genre over the past decade, not a single game has succeeded. With its polished gameplay and spectacular storyline campaign, Starcraft 2 remains the premier blockbuster in the RTS world, a must-try even for those who deliberately pass the strategy genre.

Planescape: Torment

What to play on: PC, PS4, Xbox One, iOS, Android

The birth of the RPG Planescape: Torment is the greatest success in which several factors combined at once: all-consuming non-conformism and the desire to go as far as possible from the boundaries of the genre and the developers from Black Isle, who, being one of the best masters on the planet in the RPG genre began to implement the risky concept Planescape: Torment at the height of their creativity. You yourself probably know about the result: even after 20 decades, Planescape: Torment remains a unique role-playing game filled with philosophical ideas and unusual concepts.

Journey

What to play on: PC, PS4, PS3, iOS

Journey is one of those games that is treacherously difficult to talk about, you need to feel it. Hear the wind whistling in your headphones and the orchestral soundtrack rumbling with enchanting melodies, see how the dunes heave under the influence of the winds, and scraps of fabric begin to come to life under your feet. Finally, survive dozens of meetings with random travelers, helping each other out and trying with all his might to climb the coveted top of the mountain, solving simple puzzles along the way. Journey is definitely worth playing for anyone who is open to unusual adventures in video games.

Nier Automata

Playable: PC, PS4, Xbox One

The very existence of Nier Automata is the greatest prank in the gaming industry in the last 7 years. Enticing players with the deliberately sexualized protagonist of 2B, the developers and in particular the main writer Yoko Taro unleash a dramatic, complex story on unsuspecting gamers, centered on the nature of good and evil, artificial intelligence, environmental disasters and existentialism. The original approach can be traced in the gameplay, where a slasher, an arcade shooter and RPG elements in the open world are combined in one crazy round dance.

The Last Guardian

Play: PS4

I would like to finish the first part of our top of the best games during the Covid-19 pandemic on the extremely emotional adventure The Last Guardian, created by the master of Japanese gamedev Fumito Ueda. As in previous creations, the famous game designer managed to create an unusually strong connection between the characters in the scenery of an ancient and ruined kingdom. The impression from The Last Guardian can only be compared with Hayao Miyazaki's full-length cartoons, so regardless of your age, we recommend not passing by the game, the history of which risks echoing in your heart for months.

See also TOP 5 games where death is not the end.

The Topic of Article: What to Play in Quarantine: Top 100 Games. Part 1.
Author: Jake Pinkman