I got myself a new laptop, but can't for the life of me think of a game to play

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

I dunno, look at Steam bestsellers then?

Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor - Martyr - WH40K is up your alley, right? It's a fresh, new release, though reviews seem to be MIXED at the time. Your choice.
Vampyr - another new game. Reviews could be better, but atleast the setting looks unique.
Mad Max - looks like a fun 7/10 sandbox.
Rocket League - everyone seems to love that.
Dead Cells - here's an example of tired ol pixelart that still looks great.
Project CARS2 - an obvious skip, if you're not into racing games, but it does look stunning
Moto GP18 - see above, but with motorcycles
Rainbow Six Siege - looks like only multiplayer game worth a damn, on that list
Divinity II - an indie RPG that plays like classics, from what i've heard, but doesn't look like one
Frostpunk - another indie that doesn't "look" like indie. City builder, where you have to defend your settlement against incoming Ragnarok via coal powered plant and child labor. What's not to like?
Vermintide II - if you also into classic WH
Total War: Warhammer II - see above
Subnautica - survival, sandbox, but underwater. IMHO, from what i've seen, one of the few in this genre that don't look like absolute crap.

Minecraft looks terrible, and it'd totally throw me out of the experience. Not that good graphics are all that's needed, but it certainly helps and bad graphics shouldn't be given a pass just because its indie.

First up, yes graphics should get a pass if it's indie. They don't have the budget or the art department for it.

I can't entirely agree with that. Yes, there's no chance someone without a proper budget will get, iunno, Uncharted level of detail. But there are examples of indie games that pick the laziest way to do pixelart, or have that flash browser/mobile game look to it.
Seeing this may very likely make me skip those, for other indie titles that look better.

BTW, OP. You mentioned Cuphead in your opening post. That IS and indie title.

 

[Elijin]

Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor - Martyr - WH40K is up your alley, right? It's a fresh, new release, though reviews seem to be MIXED at the time. Your choice.

Im fence sitting on this so hard. The mixed reviews are largely in part backlash from some release day server issues, which were fixed pretty quickly. The other factor is cliche "Online game is online, angry ramble!".

Let me know how it goes if anyone gets it though, Im pretty curious.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

snip

Yeah cuphead is indie, but it goes for good graphics. Yes its style is 1920s animation, but its clear and clean and obvious. Its not blocky and purposefully gross looking just so its easier to program.

 

[Yoshi178]

Play Tetris obviously.

 

[Tanis]

CIV5: BRAVE NEW WORLD

Star Wars - Empire At War - Forces of Corruption

Stars in Shadow

Kingdoms and Castles

GALCIV2: ENDLESS UNIVERSE

 

[sXeth]

MY laptops kind of limited, so pretty in the indie sphere (My atcual PC could run AAA games, but I use that for work, so no games burning down the life cycle any faster for that)


Oxygen not Included - Early Access still, but a fun little colony management thing.
Hollow Knight - The end bits were uh, not the best aftertaste. Up to that point it was a solid entry though.
Moonlighter - Newer thing. Kind of mixes Link to the Past Zelda dungeons with rogue like elements, and a basic hsop management sim where you sell your treasure.
Dead Cells - Decent action game. Haven't been on it in abit, forget if its out of EA yet. Graphics are a little on the headachey inducing side at times.
Hob - Not the most extensive experience, but one of my favorite games of last year. Action/Metroidvania.
Battle Chasers : Nightwar - Essentially a JRPG (though done by the Darksiders lead artist). Very much a throwback to older final fantasy type stuff.
Salt and Sanctuary - Played it on PS4, but it is on PC as well. Best Castlevania game in ages. And a bit Dark Suls flavored too.

AAA-wise, I'm usually on PS4. But Doom was good. Dark Souls 3 is alright. Destiny 2 is a decently fun romp, certainly if its in budget range. I'm finding Conan Exiles fun, but I'm not gonna try and sell anyone on that because the genre is hit and miss and experiences seem pretty all over the place.

As negative stuff goes. XCom2 I had at launch and it was just a mess of horrible performance and glitches to rival a Bethesda game. Enter the Gungeon seemed briefly entertaining, but fell under the weight of obnoxious RNG, poor item synergy, and most of the loot pool just being terrible rather then viable.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Im fence sitting on this so hard. The mixed reviews are largely in part backlash from some release day server issues, which were fixed pretty quickly. The other factor is cliche "Online game is online, angry ramble!".

Let me know how it goes if anyone gets it though, Im pretty curious.

Quite liking it so far, though bear in mind I'm only 13 hours in, not sure how it'll be long term.

Thing that gets me about it is a really irritating control decision. It might just be me being old and shit with the reactions of a drugged sloth but...

The game uses point and click for movement and shooting by default, so you have to be a bit careful to make sure you're right on target or you'll start running off in the direction of your target if you accidentally click the ground. There is a "stand still" button to stop this, but it means pressing 2 buttons every time you want to fire.
Now, you can turn off mouse move and use the arrow keys to move, Hooray! Except the dodge move for the assassin uses WASD, so using the assassin's dodge either requires an extra hand or some pretty tortuous button re-mapping. Why they didn't go for double tap is beyond me.