Date

Much to my surprise, I've actually finished my latest video game. (Much more common: that I play to the last boss-fight, decide that the fun parts of the game are all over, and put it aside to 'finish later'-- i.e., collect dust.) I also don't have a clue what I want to play next. Pray tell, gentle readers, any suggestions?

Some parameters:

  • To help you get a sense of my tastes, my favorite game of all time is Riven. Hands down, no contest. After that, I have liked (in no particular order): the other Myst games, Thief and sequels, the Mario Sunshine and Galaxy, the Metroid games, Prince of Persia, Beyond Good and Evil, Psychonauts, Quake, Silent Hill, Final Fantasy X-2 and XII, Legend of Zelda (Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Windwaker), Mario Kart (Double Dash and Wii), Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Reqiuem, Pikmin, Okami, and many others that will undoubtedly occur to me right after I hit 'post.' If there is a common theme, it's that I like games with an immersive emotional 'feel' and that have amazing art to back it up.
  • I have a Wii set up, so Wii games are optimal. I also have a PS2 I can pull out and hook up if the game is amazing enough.
  • Whatever you are thinking of, I probably haven't played it. I don't care how popular it was or is, or how old it is. I don't pay attention to the video-game world until I need a new game to play, and so have never even heard of even the most important or influential games of recent years.
  • In fact, the older the game, the better-- so long as I can still find it in the 'used game' bins. The older games are cheaper, after all.
  • Important note: I can not play games that require me to kill humans. This 'hot button' has only gotten worse over time-- I used to be okay with games where I killed humans in self-defense, but not any more. If it looks like an ordinary living human being and the game wants me to kill it, I turn off the game and never play it again. I can't even play the Lego games (Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, etc.), as I get squicked out by the way defeated enemies crumble down into their individual Lego pieces.
  • On a related note, I don't enjoy games that require me to murder sentient beings. This is slightly different, as I don't have any problem killing aliens / zombies / monsters / etc. that are trying to kill me. That's not murder, you see: that's self-defense. (I did like the Metroid games, after all.) But every so often I run across a game that says to me, "See that living thing over there, minding its own business and not bothering anybody? Go kill it." (See: Shadow of the Colossus.) This is totally a personal quirk, I know, but I don't enjoy that kind of set-up.
  • I will be playing this at night, right before bed. So the ability to save at any time (or to be able to save frequently, at least) will be greatly appreciated. Not a deal-breaker in any sense, but would be a bonus.

Many thanks in advance.

Update: I knew I'd remember more games I've liked: Katamari Damancy and Zelda: Twilight Princess. Also, if you made a recommendation to me before but don't see that game on the above list, please feel free to recommend it again. The odds are actually that I never got around to trying it and have now forgotten all about it...