I just finished playing Borderlands 1 (just in time for the remaster 🙄). Now I’m looking to play something else before jumping into Borderlands 2, but I have so many games in my backlog I want to play that I can’t make a decision. That’s why I’m looking for your recommendations.

I’ve pulled out some a mix of the highest rated and most rated games on Steam from my backlog. What should I play next? Why?

Feel free to recommend multiple games and even rank them if you want. Bonus points to games that have great gameplay, an engaging story, and controller support. Also, let me know if any of these games is overrated and I should skip it.

I was going to do a poll, but I had too many for a poll, so I just listed them below.

Update: Thanks to all your responses so far! I just played Refunct and Firewatch and started Hollow Knight based on your suggestions. I added a few more games to the list, so please do keep making recommendations for what to play next.

The Games

Apotheon
Batman: Arkham City
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Call of Juarez Gunslinger
Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut (never played a Deus Ex game)
Dishonored
Distraint
Firewatch (played)
Guacamelee! Gold Edition
Half-Life 2 (I know, I know. I should've played this already, but I jump around a lot between types and series of games.)
Hitman: Absolution (never played a Hitman game)
Hollow Knight (playing now)
Hyper Light Drifter
Infinifactory
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Life is Strange
The Messenger
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Mirror's Edge
Out There Somewhere
Overlord
Portal Stories: Mel
Psychonauts
Rakuen
Refunct (played)
Resident Evil 5
Saints Row: The Third (never played a Saints Row game)
Shadow Warrior (2013)
Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition
Slime Rancher
Spec Ops: The Line (never played a Spec Ops game)
The Stanley Parable
Subnautica
Superflight
The Swapper
To the Moon
Trine 2: Complete Story
Valley
The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

Oh, and here’s a choo choo for your two cents.

5 years ago*

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Half-Life 2

5 years ago
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5 years ago*
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Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons (short, according to hltb 3-4 hours)
Dishonored
Life is Strange
Deus Ex

5 years ago
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deus ex hr is good even without playing previous games
arkham city made me interested in batman games

5 years ago
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Good to know about Deus Ex.
Arkham Asylum actually made me interested in Batman games.

5 years ago
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Just a fair warning: there are a few games on your list that are deeply emotional, probably not suitable for the moment if you're into more light experience. I'm talking about Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons, To the Moon and Spec Ops: The Line, all three definitely among the best games I've ever played (even considering that To the Moon is basically a visual novel and that I hate shooters in general).

Life is Strange, Firewatch and The Witcher: Enhanced Edition also seem to fit your ctriteria: while they are different gameplay-wise, they are all brilliantly written.

5 years ago*
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For me Life is Strange was also deeply emotional, but in a different spectrum than Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons and To the Moon. It has a heavy vibe (it was clearly inspired by the movie Butterfly Effect), so be prepared. It's a really good game, though not one that I'd like to play again - it got me depressed for a while.

5 years ago
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Good to know.

5 years ago
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Thanks for the insights!

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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Gonna suggest hollow knight or psychonauts

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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Hollow Knight. I'm a big fan of metroidvanias, and Hollow Knight might well be the best one to date. It's just incredible! Just beware that the game does start a little bit slow, but it really opens up after the first real boss.

5 years ago
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I do like metroidvanias. What others have you played, and what makes Hollow Knight better?

5 years ago
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Life is Strange / Hollow Knight perhaps.
Good luck with your gaming!

5 years ago
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Refunct is a good one, since it's a one sitting experience. Play it when you want something relaxing.

The rest I can't really say, since it many of them are quite different and of varying lengths, so really depends on what type of experience you want.

5 years ago
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I had no idea Borderlands is getting a remaster until I've read your thread. At first I thought it's just a cash grab but I found out by googling that it'll be free for owners of the original on Steam. That's pretty cool! Not sure I'll replay it, unless they make loot as good as in other Borderlands games but that wasn't mentioned in their list of changes.

Anyway, for the games I'd recommend playing on your list:

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons - Amazing game and it can be beaten in several hours. Highly recommended. I wrote a review so feel free to take a look if you want more information about it.

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Also a fantastic game. The combat, abilities, animations, the way the world was built, nemesis system, graphics. Everything is really damn good!

Rakuen - I really enjoyed this game. To The Moon, which this game was inspired by was somewhat of a let down (not a bad game, but it's nowhere near as good as the praise it gets) so I didn't have high expectations from it. However this turned out to be a lot better designed game and it had more things to do. I wrote a short review for this one too. And if you decide to play it I heavily recommend applying the fan-made patch that adds the ability to sprint because otherwise the game might feel tediously slow, especially since it has a lot of backtracking.

5 years ago
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Yeah, I just found out about Borderlands a couple of days ago. BL 2 and Pre-Sequel are also getting free 4k texture packs (not that I have a 4k monitor or TV).

Thanks for the recommendations and the tip about the sprint patch!

5 years ago
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You should play Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. It's beautiful, has a wonderful story and nice gameplay (gamepad required). Also, you will finish it in 3 hours. I have played it some time ago and recently my boyfriend played it - we both cried. Get ready for a feels trip.

5 years ago*
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Thanks for the recommendation!

5 years ago
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Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Saints Row: The Third
Subnautica
The Swapper
To the Moon
Trine 2: Complete Story

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5 years ago
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  • Slime Rancher -
    I recently played this game, a very pleasant atmosphere, sorry for the content is enough for 20 hours, but it is constantly added as a DLC for free.
  • Subnautica -
    The best survival on another planet under water)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor -
    funny dialogue with the orcs + good match
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution -
    Non-linear passage of missions in the world of cyberpunk

Thanks for the train and welcome to my whitelist ;)

5 years ago
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"The best survival on another planet under water" <- That might be the best review of a survival game on another planet under water.

Thanks for the recommendations and adding me to your whitelist!

5 years ago
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Nice selection.

I'd go for Hollow Night if you want platformer, and Swapper / Portal Stories Mel if puzzle.

5 years ago
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My usual response to the "what should I play next" threads is to suggest playing whatever game is the shortest. Offhand I don't know what that is though.

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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If you like story based games I highly recommend Firewatch. I loved it. And it only takes 5-6 hours to complete.

The Stanley Parable was also really interesting and unique.

5 years ago
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You've got a LOT of good games on that list. I'd start with Deus Ex: Human Revolution - Director's Cut . It's an incredible game, even if you haven't played the previous games (it's a reboot/prequel, so while there are references to the older/later games, you don't need to catch them to enjoy the game.

Dishonored is also a great game

I keep being told that Subnautica is excellent, but I haven't gotten to it myself. :)

5 years ago
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Subnautica

5 years ago
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5 years ago
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Thanks for the wall of text!

5 years ago
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Life is Strange
Spec Ops: The Line
To the Moon

5 years ago
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bump

5 years ago
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I really enjoyed Dishonored, so that would be my choice.

5 years ago
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