The Gobstopper, according to Wonka, is a candy for children with very little pocket money. When I turned into an adult, I had a lot of pocket money--but so very little time. In a world of sweeping sandboxes with pretty graphics, fantastical settings and numerous plot devices, holes and whathaveyous, this game allows the speedy adult in me to have epic adventures in the littlest amount of time possible. It doesn't pad you with needless "epic" maps; gameplay is instead simplified into single events which either turns out to be a combat encounter or a random event (a fallen fruit on the road, a pamphlet, random items, etc.). Here are a small list of the things you can do here: build up a character with a generous character generator (with several classes and several unlockable races), build a shack, upgrade it, build a toolshed, make weapons and armor, fight in an arena, random non-combat events, fetch quests, bounty quests, kill quests and die and repeat. The whole file size is under 150mb and there's still a lot more to do here than most games running at more that 5gb. The only thing I want from these guys is an android port (and thank GOD they don't have that or I won't have time for other things like sleep). TLDR: Great game, better than most AAA games out there like say, Fallout 4 (BUT not better than Fallout New Vegas but a very, very close second).
While I understand people's gripes about how Fallout 3 was initially perceived, when I finally played it I was just--BOOM. Happiness went nuclear. I could say that playing the game in FPS style was initially jarring, but the first time you bring up the pip boy, and ACTUALLY SEEING THE THING ON YOUR ARM IN GAME was pretty cool. This third game was done with great respect for Fallout 2. To illustrate, Fallout 2 is classic Coke; Fallout 3 tastes more like vanilla Coke; Fallout New Vegas is cherry Coke. Fallout New Vegas is great, but I'm not writing a review about Fallout New Vegas. Get this game, and if you're still reading this, wishlist/buy New Vegas. And maybe pass up Fallout 4 because that thing is Pepsi.
One of the best games I have ever had the joy of playing. Unlockable vehicles, weapons, pilots and areas, a procedural "dungeon" mode with missions (destroy this, survive, go to the nearest exit) and a excellent world-building make this a must buy. Also, THAT SOUNDTRACK. Also, fully destructible everything. If you have the ammo and the firepower. It's just absolutely glorious.
Everyone else is saying that this game is pretty much the distillation of Baldur's Gate + everything that is good about EA's RPG experience: Baldur's Gate is to Lord of the Rings, Dragon's Age is to Game of thrones. That should be enough to give you an idea of what to expect here.
Fun character and enemy design, worlds which feel challenging and not frustrating to romp around in, decent death penalty mechanics which won't punish you too much for getting careless and the ability to rollback a few points in the skill tree if you suddenly regret your build. Also: procedurally generated dungeons. Also you get pets you can equip and who won't die on you. And lots of loot. Also, be warned that you'll be telling yourself "just until I finish this one quest and then sleep". Next thing you know it's already 3am. Then 4am. Then you'll call in sick for work. (try not to do this every other week)
Think FTL was great but just a tad too much? Get this. You'll enjoy this. Then you'll think about FTL. Then you'll play FTL again, then you'll feel bad after dying a lot then you play this again. It's a process. ... or think of FTL as your house, then during the summers when it gets ridiculously roguelike permadeath hot you go to Battlestation: Harbinger, your summer house. You take a swim, you walk around the beach, play in the sand etc. You'll be doing this until your shorts chafe and you miss home and you go back to FTL. And repeat. Bottom line: get this one. It is cheap and almost any machine can run it and it has unlockable ships. It is brilliant. (And if I hadn't just gotten Star Wolves 3 I would've gotten this one. Goddamn it GOG you are ruining my productivity)
To survive and enjoy this game you have to try to get into the mindset of a guy whose job it is to try to destroy the rot that will eat the world from the inside out by launching human-shaped weapons against it's creepy-crawliness. In a way, getting into that mindset is a sort of roleplay in itself and it's just one of the charms of this monster of a game. There's persistent progress, team tactics, dealing with "real" stress, reasonable consequences (at least when dealing with unnameable horrors not of this world) , and thick, Gothic horror atmosphere unlike anything I've ever seen before (since Diablo I at least--that thing was monstrously awesome). If you'll only be playing one game this year, play this one.
