Good stand-alone games

[Savo]

Deadly Premonition. There's been talk of it becoming a series, but for the time being it remains an amazing stand-alone game.

 

[The White Hunter]

Red Dead Redemption. Yeah Rockstar would be stupid not to make another "Red" free-roam western game, but it's unlikely to have any connection to redemption.

Red Dead Redemption is a sequel my good man, to Red Dead Revolver.

In name only. Doesn't share any characters, settings or themes except western, and even then Revolver was more silly with it (Didn't one guy have a laser gun or something?). They're separate enough to be stand alone.

Ehh Idk I never played Revolver frankly, so I have absolutely no idea, I just thought Redemption was a follow up of some kind. Damn it Rockstar!

That said it's one of very few rockstar games I've ever actually enjoyed.

 

[The White Hunter]

This may have come up but; The World Ends With You

Seriously, play it, it's absolutely brilliant, kick ass soundtrack too.

From what I've heard, yes. But I haven't been able to find a copy yet so I might just find it online.

I'd say you'd probably have to buy it online, it took me months to hunt it down and that was only a year after release, but I'd guess amazon or eBay will have it easily enough at a fair price.

 

[Yali]

Evil Genius... sadly. It would make me very happy if it had a sequel.

 

[Lugbzurg]

Spore

This game has a sequel. It's called "Darkspore".

Final Fantasy Tactics

Final Fantasy 13. Self-explanatory.

Call of Duty

Are... are you serious...!?

Alan Wake

Sorry. It's got both a sequel and a prequel.

Red Dead Redemption

Nope. Red Dead Revolver was out on PS2 and X-Box by Rockstar a few years ago.

Castle Crashers

Alien Hominid

Not entirely certain if it counts or not, but there have been at least a few flash games on Newgrounds made out of these made by some of the actual developers.

Anyway, I am SO glad I didn't hear anyone say "Skyrim"!

Anyway, Rage, Bayonetta, Lollipop Chainsaw, Vanquish, Bulletstorm, and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale all seem pretty good. It's just too bad I haven't gotten to try any of them, yet. Demo or otherwise.

Anyway, if remakes don't count, I think I would say "Chip's Challenge". There's one I haven't seen mentioned, yet. Most people only know about the 1992 remake. It was actually out in 1989 first. It's just that the 16-Bit version is so much more famous to the point that most people think it is the original version.

 

[Overusedname]

It feels weird that I can't put down Okami anymore.

Gaurdian's Crusade is a very obscure, very humorous RPG aimed at younger audiences. It can be enjoyed by anyone though, and has a very moving surrogate family thing going on with the three main characters. You get to raise a Baby Dragon monster, train it, spoil it, scold it, feed it and customize it's abilities. Depending on how kind you are, and how you balance that kindness with strictness, you can give it orders in battle or end up having it hate you and start attacking YOU in battle.

Also has a unique spin on the whole 'destined hero' trope. It plays with a lot of RPG stereotypes, and kind of takes the piss out of the Tales, Dragonquest and Final Fantasy stereotypes. Not in a hateful way, it just shows that there's always two-sides to every story in a very clever way. Pretty smart little story with some subtle comments on prejudice.

It's a fun little PS1 game, with lots of unique story and gameplay elements. Stylish jazz/funk soundtrack as well. Only flaw is the aged graphics. But good luck finding it. Very obscure, but I saw plenty on Ebay and Amazon when I recently bought my new copy.

Other than that one example, I have no idea. Everyone's mentioned the other ones I know. This really is an industry built on franchises. Mario, Zelda and Final Fantasy's influence in the 80's saw to that (for better or worse).

 

[JasonKaotic]

Lost Odyssey [small](But I'd do anything for a follow-up. Not necessarily a sequel, just a similar game with the same level of quality. GAH.)[/small]
Shadow of the Colossus
Alpha Protocol
Catherine
+1 for Bayonetta
Enclave [small](If you use cheats. Seriously, you can't play that game without cheats. There's a difference between difficult and whatever that is)[/small]
Fahrenheit [small](If you like that sort of thing)[/small]
Heavy Rain

I guess there aren't that many great standalone games that I've played. Huh. I never realised before.

 

[DoPo]

Spore

This game has a sequel. It's called "Darkspore".

Aw, damn, I forgot about that one. In my defence, I wasn't terribly fascinated, so that's why I forgot it. Well, I'll edit my post anyway.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

Day Z, soon enough.

 

[BENZOOKA]

Bastion
SpaceChem

Such great games, that I'm going to stop there.

 

[The Great JT]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC). This is a glorious action-adventure-RPG that time just kind of forgot, and it's a real shame. I think it's getting noticed a little more thanks in no small part to LittleKuriboh doing a Let's Play (As Marik friggin' Ishtar, no less! Oh and Bakura is sitting off in the room somewhere.) that is readily available as long as you search for MARIK PLAYS BLOODLINES.

Skies of Arcadia (Dreamcast) -OR- Skies of Arcadia Legends (Gamecube). This is kind of the JRPG that time forgot. You know how Final Fantasy characters have been dark, broody, angsty and the world is very drab and colorless (not you, Final Fantasy IX, please return to your glorious golden throne)? Don't you wish there was an anti-FF, one where the world and characters are colorful, upbeat and bright while the story is still sprawling, epic and full of twists and turns? I wish that something like that exists...OH WAIT, IT TOTALLY DOES AND ITS NAME IS SKIES OF ARCADIA. This thing is absolutely glorious. Immediately it wins points because the player character is a pirate whose ship does not sail the sea, but flies through the skies. Further it wins more points by including a minigame where you discover landmarks around the world, ship combat, and in the Gamecube version it has bounties to hunt! The characters are likeable and interesting, the world is fascinating, the bosses are huge and the plot is fantastic. How this hasn't gotten more recognition baffles me. Track this down RIGHT THE HELL NOW. DO IT NOW!!

 

[lithiumvocals]

Man this is much harder than you'd think it would be.

Shadow of the Colossus (I consider it to be stand alone. Some might not.)
I'd put Republic Commando, but that's part of a huge already existing universe.
I hear that that Beyond Good and Evil thing is pretty cool.
...

Shit, this is hard.

 

[solemnwar]

"The Void" is good, if hard as balls...

 

[DarklordKyo]

Mischief Makers, the best N64 game in my opinion

 

[TheKruzdawg]

Oh yeah, forgot about MFP.

Well, the plots are unconnected and it's a different dev. I think the are just using the name for more sales, I'm sure we can give it a pass. Sort of like the "Tales of" games. I hear they are all standalone despite being a series.

Actually they are both made by Frictional Games, but you are correct in saying that MFP isn't a direct sequel. It's more of a spiritual one, like System Shock to Bioshock.

OT: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, if spiritual sequels don't count.

If they do...
Super Meat Boy
The Bard's Tale

Would Goldeneye count since each Bond game kind of stands on its own (pretty much like the movies)?

 

[TheKruzdawg]

Oh yeah, forgot about MFP.

Well, the plots are unconnected and it's a different dev. I think the are just using the name for more sales, I'm sure we can give it a pass. Sort of like the "Tales of" games. I hear they are all standalone despite being a series.

Actually they are both made by Frictional Games, but you are correct in saying that MFP isn't a direct sequel. It's more of a spiritual one, like System Shock to Bioshock.

Nope, it's published by Frictional. It's being developed by The Chinese Room, the guys who made Dear Esther. Look it up.

I stand corrected. That's what I get for just skimming the Wiki page and seeing the name that fit my preconception.