Games

Man, for a console gamer coming over this thread has a bunch of pretty terrible recommendations. I can't imagine a better way to send somebody back to console gaming than immediately dumping a bunch of fiddly mods and janky old stuff on them so they can play their OS for a while before having any fun.

I mean, if they're into competitive, hardcore console stuff they probably will want to decide if they want to go down the rabbit hole of competitive PC gaming. Checking out a couple MOBAs or fast mouse and keyboard shooters is probably a good way to start (for Steam ease of use I suppose DOTA2 and CS2 are the obvious choices). That's the fighting game equivalent stuff they're unlikely to have played already. I'd say if they aren't feeling it, then it's fine to step away, though.

Depending on how crazy their gaming PC is, it may be fun to go for crazy console-crushing visuals. Path traced games like Indiana Jones or Cyberpunk may be fun to check out even if they've played the console versions, if they got a current-gen expensive GPU in there.

There are a couple of genres that are also cross-over but play best on PC, like survival sims and the like. I'm a PC controller player, but I'll switch to mouse and keyboard for, say, Satisfactory, but that's less action-packed and timing-based.

And of course there's upcoming stuff. VF 5 REVO is coming out in January, and that seems like a good chance to jump into a new thing on a gaming PC instead.

Deep Rock Galactic

He can get used to mouse and keyboad, while you cover him.

As mentioned before, gift cards are good way to go.

It's not as elegant, but you might be able to give them some Steam Gift Cards and recommend some games.

https://store.steampowered.com/digitalgiftcards/selectgiftcard

If your friend is new to PC gaming then they might not be aware of how much they can get for free. I just wrote a post (stickied in [email protected]) summarising all the places you can regularly get freebies, could be a good way for them to try out a lot of different things.

Get them a month (or 3) of PC Gamepass so they can play everything and find out what they like.

The strength of pc gaming imo comes in the form of modding.

So

• modded multiplayer rimworld
• seamless co op randomizer Elden ring
• Minecraft pokemon or vault hunters
• Slay the spire downfall

Probably forgetting a lot

Outer Wilds is one of my favorite games. If he likes the explorey/other worldly feel of souls games, he might like it, but it certainly doesn't have any combat.

As for fighting, I've recently started replaying Returnal, and I really enjoy that. It's a well known console game, but I think it came out after 2020. It's a roguelike format so slightly different from souls, but I love it.

Teardown is good chill fun

How powerful is the PC? Is the question more about games optimised for mouse+keyboard, or is it about demanding recent games that allows his new machine to flex its muscles?

Since you say he likes Souls-likes Black Myth Wukong probably checks both boxes - I never ended up playing it (my backlog is too long) but it looked great with stunning visuals and I heard good things about the gameplay.

Cyberpunk with full path tracing is still one of the prettiest games out there and a pretty damn good game too after the patches and expansions.

Finally, something like Fallout: London could be an interesting suggestion as mods of that nature are out of reach of the console crowd. Could give him a whiff of what he's been missing out on.

Limiting to PC only games makes things tricky. Most games on PC are available on console as well. Especially soulslike and fighting games.

But my recommendation is Ultrakill. It’s a fast paced FPS with a Devil May Cry style system. It really showcases the benefit of having a mouse and keyboard for shooters.

Edit: another is Black Mesa.

For PC I would go for the avan-garde stuff

e.g. Cold line

Most popular indie titles are already on console as studios will port stuff to increase the sales.

I would go to look for stuff that can't be sold. Dream like avan-garde surrealism or under 2h experiences on itch.io and newgrounds.com

also RTS require mouse so it could be a fun stuff to get into.

Space Marines 2

Games with lots of mods for sure. It may be a generic recommendation but Minecraft with mod packs and gorgeous shaders is an amazing experience for someone who never got around to trying them.

Also if he's a souls-like fan, I highly recommend Elden Ring's convergence mod and Dark Souls 3's convergence mod (they're by the same team). It adds like a hundred new spells, new weapons and equipment, overhaul of some mechanics like having actual classes with game-changing effects, completely overhauls areas with new geometry, adds new enemies and bosses, etc. It's a very fun time.

I thought the old homeworld games were great. Kind of RTS in space ships. They're old now but still good.

Portal
Minecraft
Something shooty: TF2. Overwatch.
RTS game like Age of Empires 2

SuperHot

The DOOMs

The best game ever made is Baldur's Gate 3, so that's what I'd give if he hasn't played it. IDC what kind of games he usually plays, that's what I'd give.

Total war: Warhammer 3? Baldurs Gate 3? Maybe those are available on console as well..

Try Rise of the Triad, One Must Fall 2097, and Goat Simulator

Orange box?

Dead Cells

CARRION

Left 4 Dead 2

Hades

Game bundles like from Fanatical are a good start. You can't return them if you have issues, but they're great if you haven't played any of the offerings given.

A similar thing would be Xbox Game Pass, but that very much locks you into their ecosystem, and they're clearly done investing into worthwhile games.

straight up cash and a note saying "for games"

not a gift card, not steam credit, just real actual paper cash.

XCOM 2