Also both Dishonored games—best of the more recent descendants of the Thief/Deus Ex games. Improved with the right mindset—you start out more capable than the average person, and are very soon "hella OP", so, whatcha gonna do with all that power? Plus no save scumming and turning off all the modern flashy-arrow-waypoint HUD bullshit. Makes you really feel the weight of things better.
> max payne (1 and 2)
Max Payne 2 on the ultra-hard mode that you have to unlock, where you only get like 2-3 saves per level, is one of my favorite gaming experiences, and I'm not usually the sort to like hardcore "challenge" modes. It totally changes how you play. Highly recommended. Plus you get the real ending :-). Hated 3. Repeated "hold on while we take control for a cutscene then leave you standing in the open for no reason, with guys already shooting at you" got old fast, and the game just never stopped doing that, sometimes seeming only to take control in order to do that. Plus the story failed to make me give a damn about anything that was happening, which is a problem.
Horizon: Zero Dawn (PS4) might be up your alley if you've enjoyed the open world "make the icons disappear from the map" games (Red Dead, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry from 3 on) at all. It actually has a plot you might care about, unlike almost all the others, and the world is much cooler than average.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice has the best acting I've ever seen in a game and I've felt very involved and immersed in the game and the character.
But yeah, games like Horizon:Zero Dawn are great.
There is also some indie gems like Hyper Light Drifter - I've stopped counting how many times I've beat this game :)
It’s one of those games that I’m really looking forward to play again the next day. Those are few and far between these days.
I recently bought and played thief, thief 2, deus ex, starcraft, the rise of nations, prince of persia (My dad used to play Jordan Mechner (PC port) one with me, but I was too young then), max payne (1 and 2), half-life 2. I know these are blockbuster games of their time, but I feel they are better than blockbuster games of today. I play RDR2, Spiderman, God of War etc on my modern PS4 but thre is sothing these games are missing.
Some modern games I do like and recommend to everyone: Rimworld, Kerbal Space Program, Prey, ShenzenIO
Also Notable: the Witcher series