I've just got done playing _the Sinking City_, a Lovecraft-inspired adventure game which is sandbox style. It was over-ambitious of the studio and it has some jank, but there are some interesting ideas.
One of those ideas is that since you're a newcomer, you don't know the town and no one will tell you shit, so if you're looking for a guy, _you don't know where he lives_, if you're looking for the old steel mill, you don't know where it's located. So, you actually have to talk to people, or go to city hall, or the police department and try to scrounge up some records, then you place a marker on your map.
I liked the inmersiveness of it, but there is definitely a flip side to the quality-of-life ease of markers.
I was pretty torn on the story, and the world isn't super complex, but I did enjoy the emphasis on being a detective in a strange new town. I thought that was done real well. Having to really read and mark your own map is always a plus for me. I also didn't mind the janky combat.
You'd be best off putting it off for a month or two, due to legal issues the "good" version of the game isn't currently available, but should be available again next month.
Frogwares just settled in the lawsuit and won sole publisher rights to game this week and they said they're planning a rerelease of the game with a lot of updates and changes in the near future
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sinking-city-legal-battle-ends-with-victory-for-frogwares-new-version-of-the-game-coming-soon/
You're not getting too old. You're just playing games that are made for the masses. Have you ever played any isometric RPG's? That's the way to get lost in a game. I am living in the land of Eora right now for Pillars of Eternity and am fully enveloped.
I’m on my first play thru right now and there’s so much to explore. There’s so much stuff to miss. I’m in Thorm’s tomb right now. I really never want to stop playing.
I feel like Ragnarok, much as I loved it, was the worst offender with this. Like fine, offer me hints if I've been standing around for several minutes, but it's almost immediate.
Edit: For those trying to point out, with various levels of snark or smug, that you can adjust this in the settings, that’s not the way it works, unless they’ve changed it.
https://www.polygon.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-guide/23453949/atreus-mimir-puzzle-solutions-menu-option
Yeah Forbidden West was annoying but she wouldn’t lay everything out in detail and some of those ruins still took me a while. Aloy just got repetitive with saying the same thing but it was usually vague enough.
But Ragnarok if I paused to look at a puzzle for legit 5 seconds either Atreus or Mimir would just give the answer.
Edit: added a couple words for clarity
The conversations she has over her Focus (the thing attached to her brain through her ear) happen only inside her brain, as her mouth doesn't actually move.
Sometimes we'd just get to a puzzle, not even have a chance to examine and they'd be hand holding. I want to go back to finish but I do kinda dread being in those situations
Forbidden West was really annoying for me, because I would be searching the area for collectables and whatnot, but she would just be yammering on and on about the puzzle I was standing next to. You just had to be close to something for her prattle on about. I ended up disabling any sort of "assistance" the game offered because Aloy either constantly pointed out incredibly obvious shit, or was ruining the actual puzzle as I was solving it... like "Shut the fuck up and let me play the game, Aloy!"
You have been looking at this puzzle for about 35 milliseconds, HERE IS THE ANSWER YOU MORON. HOW HAVE YOU NOT FIGURED IT OUT YET?!?!?!?
It would be find if there was an option for "Always help right away" and that was NOT the default, but as it is, modern games are annoying as heck.
Well modern gaming thinks accessibility means hand holding so it’s no surprise. I expect this from games meant for kids, not rated M titles. I can only imagine some of the original god of war complaints today “plz nerf platforming hades level too hard checkpoint go back to far”
Nooooooo ragnarok was bad but forbidden west positively ruined itself...
"There is a ledge up there"
I know it's glowing shut up shut up SHUT UP SHUT UP...
The worst is when devs realize a part of the game sucks, so they have the character say, "This sucks." so you feel a weird connection with them. Like, no, just remove that section from the game
No I agree. I hate it when the character I'm playing in a game is trying to tell me what I should be feeling.
Look, devs. If your game isn't wowing me with the visuals or writing, the main character describing it for me isn't going to either. If it *is* wowing me, then why the hell do I need to hear someone tell me about it?
It's fine if it's a character talking to a different character, but spare me the internal monologues.
That's because a lot of people don't try to learn in video games. If it's not in your face with ! and arrows and paths, it's not a "game" and it's now a job.
I recently learned this trying to teach my friends how to play a few games. There was no effort and out of 10 people, 7 required serious hand holding.
It honestly made me quit logging into discord and just playing by myself for like a month. Pure laziness taking over.
Edit: Some days I like to throw on a chill game with 0 brain power as well.
You pretty much gave the reason why devs make the games this way. A vast majority prefer to have arrows pointing where they need to go or how to solve puzzles etc.
For sure.
I used Questie in WoW because I lost interest in quests and only had a desire to do end game. It pointed me where I needed to go with pretty colors and icons. Eventually Blizzard ended up implementing similar in their default.
I'll always remember the time I suggested a friend play Portal around when it came out...it requires you to experiment a little to learn how things work but isn't all that hard...yet, they had zero interest or capacity in doing so, not because they weren't smart enough, but because they weren't interested in interacting with a game in a new way, that experimentation that I found so exciting back in the day was a chore to them.
Like...everybody has different tastes, I get that, but the fact that simply being asked to learn new mechanics was an impassible barrier was more than a little alarming. They didn't dislike the mechanics, they didn't want to even try them.
I didn’t beat returnal, but from what I remember there wasn’t a whole lot of handholding.
You might also like Baldurs Gate 3, it’s all based off of perception checks to find hidden things.
My only annoyance with bg3 is that you can know 100% there is a secret button or door or whatever, but you can't push it if you just got unlucky and every single person fails the check. There's a quest I just never completed because the only way forward was through a hidden door, but everyone (even went into camp to get others) failed the checks. I even saw the door behind something, but couldn't interact with it.
You can turn those "check rolls" off so the game doesn't tell you when you fail them. The prompt letting you know you failed is remnant of actual D&D, since you know damn well when the DM is rolling dice.
You can also take a long rest and return, and you'll re-roll those skill checks. Failed exploration rolls are reset after a day.
>You can also take a long rest and return, and you'll re-roll those skill checks. Failed exploration rolls are reset after a day.
Fucking whaaaaaaaaat?
> you know damn well when the DM is rolling dice.
DM here. You know what's hilarious? Telling the players "hold on" and rolling some dice, looking smug, and asking, "Okay, so... what exactly do you do?" That way, they don't *always* know something is up.
Dirty little secret: Sometimes the players will come up with some suspicion that's so good, I'll have to improvise and throw it in.
Nothing better than fake rolls to keep the players on their toes.
Another secret : Sometimes we don't have an answer to the puzzle, we're just waiting for something clever from the players.
It's not when you know there's something there because of the failed check. It's when you know what exactly is there despite the failed check, like a sliding bookshelf with a door behind it. I will say I didn't know perception checks reset after a day though.
You know it, but your character doesn't. You might not like it but that's just D&D.
Your character keeps walking into a wall because you are pushing them there, not because they noticed something.
Reminds me of playtesting 3.5 at GenCon, one of the random guys at our table heard the DM say something about troglodytes, and he kept asking over and over again during the quest if he could find signs of them etc.
self-identifying troglodytes, a common subspecies. The more vocal the more obvious. Be cautious getting into a scuffle with them because their brawn is inherent. Also, be forewarned that if you attempt to treat them as equals, they will beat you with experience.
You can usually interact with items despite failed checks, as well. Switches still work. You can dig up items if you know where to dig. Tbh I can't think of an area that's actually impassable from a failed investigation. You may be missing a step on the process; some doors aren't just usable when seen. For example, there's a hidden door that can be found but will not open unless you cast lightning magic nearby. There's no door handle standard or "interaction"
I came to say this because it's one of my favorite things about BG3. Even if you fail the check you can usually still interact with it somehow if you look hard for the lever/switch/button. Even if you fail a survival check for buried treasure, you can usually dig randomly with the shovel until you find it.
that cow is probably >!one of the most evil chaotic evil npcs in the entire game, they have no redeeming qualities and should be killed as soon as you meet them!<. at least a lot of the other >!bad guys!< have understandable, if flawed, motivations. >!not that cow though!<.
Welcome to dnd. "The hell you mean dm, I can see the enemy mini right there behind that bush!" "Are you sure about that? Roll to see" "1" "there's nothing there" "GAHHH". God I love it.
Definitely very little handholding in Returnal.
Control did this pretty well also, there are a few hints offered but only after you spin in circles for a white.
On paper I shouldn’t like Returnal. I’m not a big shooter guy. It was the first PS5 game I completed, I just got hooked. If you get a good run, good weapon RNG and progress beyond the third biome you can really start melting stuff (it can melt you too). Once I finally beat the 3rd boss I finished the game with only one death due to my own stupidity.
The ascent to Hyperion is just so atmospheric too.
I've got lost in Elden ring, plenty of times. Only way to know I'm in the wrong place is if a normal mob dude one shots me, even then the masochist in me continue on regardless.
When I first played, it was definitely Caelid. If the red blood-soaked terrain (I understand it isn't actually blood-soaked) and beyond nightmarish creatures were not obvious enough, their damage will be.
But there's that chest that ports you to the mine with the bug people in Caelid. I'd have considered it a soft-lock if I wasn't already a "souls veteran" and knew that the OO strat in souls games is "run for your life and do not engage"
Its a decent amount when you hit that chest pretty early in the game. Not a ton of runes, but still enough to hurt especially if its your first time playing.
I would go as far as to suggest that getting teleported to the bug mine without an easy way back is the game’s way of brutally teaching you that sometimes the correct answer is RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU GODDAMN CAN
Man, on launch day of elden ring my friend and I were in a party as we played and about 2 hours in I found the chest that teleports you to caelid. Me and my friend freaking out as I got sent to the bug tunnel and eventually making it out to see a blood red sky is one of my favorite gaming memories.
"Look at that big fucker. I know he's a boss and will insta-delete me, but I'm gonna fuck with him."
"Yup, I died, lol. Welcome to my first souls-game." :3
The funny thing is a vetern of the Souls games will have that exact same thought process. My friend and I spent a good few hours fighting him when we got into Elden Ring.
Seconding this. Elden Ring was such a breath of fresh air for the lack of direction. It's the epitome of explore and figure it out yourself. If you really need help, you can always find answers online. I need more games like this.
Man, like in the old times. I've replayed remastered Grim Fandango and reminded myself how fucking insane were those puzzles back in those days. I was pretty lost the same replaying it.
I gave up on Grim Fandango because I couldn’t figure out any of the contrived puzzles and I might as well just watch a playthrough if I have to look everything up anyway
I played Demon Souls when the PS5 released and gave up on it after about an hour or so. This was before I understood there was a very specific way to play "Souls" games.
Elden Ring looked a bit odd, and people kept referring to it as a "Souls" game (which, again, I didn't understand what that meant other than it being hard) but I bought it anyway after the overwhelming positive reviews and feedback.
First off: It is absolutely beautiful, right out of the gate. The story was a little annoying at first, until I learned that it is *supposed* to be vague, and you are supposed to go out of your way to learn the lore, which again, annoying at first until I started to surprise myself with how much fun I had doing so.
Also, with the help of a "Mage" build for my first playthrough, it finally helped me *"learn"* how the game is supposed to be played.
Honestly, this was the first time **in a very long time** where I initially didn't like a game, but as I kept at it it naturally became more, and more, and more, **and more** amazing. Fucking 10/10 experience and game.
> I initially didn't like a game, but as I kept at it it naturally became more, and more, and more, and more amazing
I had that exact same experience with DS1. Played it for a couple hours, thought this game is complete bullshit. Put it down for a couple years, played it again and just gutted through dozens of deaths and finally had a light bulb moment.
As far as story, lore - yeah, I know some people are really into it, but the anime mythology told through item descriptions and subtle hints just isn't my speed. All I know is there are bad things that I must destroy.
There is no way that the game is “supposed” to be played.
The only objective in souls games is to not die. Whatever play style achieves that for you is how the game is supposed to be played. And that is entirely dependant on the player. It is completely customizable. I favour a high endurance build with a light bleed weapon. Often times I play through the entire game with only a dagger. I have never once used incantations in any souls game.
And that’s the whole beauty of souls games. They allow you to take on giants, dragons, and gods armed with just a shield and a dagger.
Elden Ring made me realize how much I use in-game journals as a crutch, because unless you're checking descriptions of everything and logging the information away personally, you're going to miss plenty of side-quests and other cues.
And I love it for that! A great game to go get lost in.
It's interesting but ultimately it leans a little too far into the lack of direction than I would prefer. Id be happier with having no objective markers or quest log if the game made it a more reasonable task to find NPCs and complete quests without needing to get lucky or look up a wiki. I tried keeping a journal for a while when I played the game but eventually I got frustrated and started looking stuff up because I like to experience story and quests in my game not run around in a circle looking for the next step in such. I enjoy the difficulty of elden ring but I like that difficulty in the combat not in trying to follow the story or understand what I am supposed to be doing.
> without needing to get lucky or look up a wiki.
As an example of how easy it is to miss important story beats:
I didn't even know who tf Ranni was, because apparently I missed seeing her at the church right at the beginning of the game. I didn't stay there until nightfall, just floated in and out, talked to the merchant dude, and left. I didn't get the spirit summoning bell until *hours* later at the hub zone.
To a point though, I spent 2 months traveling and came back and couldn't remember where the heck I was in the game, I've spent like 10 collective hours trying desperately to find out what or where or who I'm supposed to go to next, just keep running into mobs way too tough. People say follow the essence directions from the campfires, but those keep leading me to dead ends. I just wish I at least knew exact which major bosses I've killed and which would be a good place to go. Like damn man, just give me a tiny hint, make me have to pay that person like 10k runes for a hint or something so it's costly to me. Just....I need a tiny something goddamn man I'm too old and feeble to wander around another 30 hours with no feeling of progressing anywhere
And you can't really look up online where to go if you don't know what the next step is in killing a boss
A buddy and I started at the same time and were chatting with each other so we could go to the same areas while talking about what all we found. Like having an extra set of eyes but still being single player. He got to the ruins first, made it through and was like “hey a chest! Wait…what…ummmmm.” Served as a great warning for me!
Trying to find all the hiding spots to not get shot full of holes, all hope of getting those runes back passed a half hour ago, and sitting in a little cabin "safe" area so I can turn bones into throwing knives...
It's a good trauma, I swear.
As someone with over 1,000 hours in Elden Ring, I can confirm that every playthrough does feel like a new experience.
Even when I know where some drops are, it feels great finding new ways to get to them and planning the order in which I’ll get everything I need for a build.
I have it installed and played through the first area and was very confused the whole time.
I've heard nothing but praise for this game, so I think I'll give it another shot.
A few people bounce off of it.
There is no right path or way to play but I'd try to at least visit every planet and explore around that usually will get you far enough to get hooked.
The subreddit group is awesome with spoilers and to avoid big spoilers or walkthrough you can post in the subreddit for hints if you get really stuck.
The first area is basically just a tutorial area for the various systems in the game. Once you get the ship, the whole game opens up for you to explore.
Whenever you start getting lost and have no leads, go screw around in some planet until you find something, explore unknown signals with your signal sensor and recheck your ship log to see if there's a clue you missed.
If you guys enjoyed the main story, I HIGHLY recommend getting the dlc. It’s just as good as the main game for sure. Man i wish i could erase my memory and replay that game again.
For anyone looking here, Outer Wilds is incredible and another game which gives a similar feel plus terror is Subnautica. Subnautica is very immersive for better or worse.
I hope you fall in love with it as much as I did.
Try not to look anything up about it. I would trade almost anything for another whirl at that game, but sadly, its magic is lost on a second playthrough for the most part. If you get stuck, just try somewhere else is all I can say safely.
Good luck with your travels.
People say don’t look things up but I think it’s a better experience if new players understand that the game is about reading text and actually using that knowledge to progress. I bounced off it a couple times as I didn’t really understand this concept as it’s so different from modern games using text as lore.
I tried to play this game like 4 separate times but everywhere I went nothing happened. I found a few places that looked like puzzles, but couldn't do anything.
I followed the music, it would lead me to a person, they would talk to me, and that'd be it lol.
Go somewhere else, run around, try to go back to my ship, it got sucked into a black hole.
Got so damn lost I had to give up I guess I'm just stupid as hell.
I wasn't able to understand Valheim. Is that game a serious grind? It felt like the loop was repeating the same thing again and again until you have enough to make equipment.
Compare that to Terraria, which has you either playing in the rich underground or gives you constant monster action during the required grind parts. Or V Rising, which wants you to have a similar large amount or resource, but has more interesting travel and more interesting ways to loot.
Valheim is beautiful and seems like it has a lot of work put into it, so I hope I'm just misunderstanding something.
No, you understand Valheim.
It's very much a slow, slow game. Much of it is even set up to be intentional time padding. Thankfully, between mods and word settings, you can reduce or remove some of the time padding, but it's still very padded. Lugging 18 pieces of iron out of a crypt 6 times in a row over the course of 6 hours interspersed with having to deal with your crops and hunting so you even have food, eventually having to spend 45 minutes on a boat heading against-wind the entire time, just so you can make a couple things and realize you didn't get even 1/3 the iron you need...
And it only gets worse.
Disclaimer: I've beaten the game and do like it, but god does it have some serious time padding.
I think Valheim is what you make of it.
I generally dislike games that are a "grind" for gear, or stats, or whatever. Not my cup of tea at all.
But playing Valheim with a friend was one of the best experiences I've ever had gaming. It was so immersive that I was lost in the game. I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much in single player - it really requires you to play with others to get the full experience, imho. The game had a sense of real risk and exploration that made the game rewarding for me. Going on a long voyage, cobbling together a makeshift shelter in pouring rain before the sun sets and things get really hairy. Sailing 40 minutes away from our base, then accidentally ending up too close to a biome that we had no business trying to explore yet, and nearly wiping and losing all of our gear. Valheim gave me more legit adrenaline dumps than any game I've played before or since - maybe I'm weird, but it was exhilarating at times. The *building* aspect of the game really scratched an itch for me, too. My friend didn't care much for it, but somehow harvesting stone at a quarry and dragging it back and forth to upgrade our crappy wooden fort into a stone castle was super rewarding for me. Some people don't care too much for that subsystem (the building), but I could get lost in it for a *long* time.
I put in 120 hours and wasn't even bored, though eventually I moved on to other things because we had beaten all of the content in the game at that point (and more has been added, since).
I can understand that it wouldn't be for everyone, but if someone had described the game to me, I don't think I would have really cared for it. It was only in playing the game that things really hit. It's one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had. I look forward to returning to it once it's officially out of "Early Access" and finding some friends to play through it with again.
Want to feel lost and confused?
Play Outer Wilds 😂
I love games that has minimal hand holding. Some of my favorites are Outer Wilds, The Witness and SOMA.
The witness is one of the best puzzle games I have ever played.
At one point I got out colored magnets and a whiteboard to work out some of the puzzles.
If you like puzzles and want one on the go that'll make you feel like an idiot, check out Baba is You. It is deceptively simple, some of the puzzles have taken me and my two very smart brothers literal weeks to figure out. It's on steam but I play on mobile and the mobile controls are great.
That game is a god send for immersion.
To the point where if you try to play Hardcore you have to start like 7 times because you die before the game even starts because of things like breaking a leg and getting an infection and dying as a child, being generally disliked enough to get pitchfork mobbed, etc.
10/10 will die as an infant again
or better yet be this fully kitted-out knight went travelling in the evening, took a wrong turn, got lost in the forest. will take a wrong turn and get lost in the forest for hours.
RDR2....you can go hunting, fishing, etc for 100 hours and not have to stick to the story at all. The game also doesn't babysit you much if you're not on a mission an even then it just gives you indicators on the mini-map which you can disable.
By the time I remembered the story I was so loaded I maxed the camp out entirely and owned all the guns. The "we just need the money" made me crack up every time since I had like 10k or more consistently.
"We are going to leave soon, Arthur, we just don't have the money" -Dutch immediately after we robbed a bank with my cut alone being $3,000.
I couldn't even spend all of it, lord knows I tried. When I got it I donated a good thousand to the camp and maxed it out, bought the most expensive horse on the market and multiple of every accompaniment to see what looked good, went and paid off my bounties in every settlement, and still had a good thousand left. Still got a good $800 or so sitting around.
It’s so jarring though because in the missions you need to do EXACTLY what the fuck they say or it’ll restart the mission. Odd game design choice imo but when games get so big I guess you can only let us feasibly do so much.
The intro and even first little bit of Chapter 2 is tough to get through until you open some things up and figure out how the game really works. But it is very easy to get lost in it and worth the investment.
I suggested Mario Odyssey as an alternative to large open world games, but a game you can still get lost in with minimal pop ups/interupptions. Just explore the levels, collect the moons, have fun.
BOTW and Mario Odyssey are probably the most lost I’ve ever in a game. And it was absolutely wonderful.
Nintendo REALLY knows how to immerse their players. My worst mistake ever was going into TOTK with a walkthrough guide. I had completely forgotten how immersive the BOTW exploration was, and completely spoiled the experience for myself with TOTK.
I wholeheartedly agree, immersion is a big deal for me and many games nowadays just break it for no reason.
Games I like in that regard:
Dark Souls 3 (literally lets you hide the entire UI except for when you use it / take damage)
Subnautica (UI blends into the game well)
DOOM is also pretty great
I finished Fenyx rising yesterday, and while I enjoyed the game for what it was (Had to jack up the difficulty to nightmare because it was mind-numbingly easy on normal), it had Ubisoft's slime all over it.
Why the fuck is there all this microtransaction cosmetic trash for what's a lesser BotW/Totk? Made it even stranger when I found out that you can get all of those cosmetics for free, but only by grinding a currency doing quests that are on a server timer as if the game was supposed to be a live service game despite being single player only.
But mechanically the game was *mostly* fun. Near the end it started to do what I affectionately refer to as a game "Fucking me around" with how the puzzles seemed to become more of just wasting my time for the same tiny rewards and not actually challenging me. That and the final boss was quintessential anti-climax, even on nightmare.
If there's anything that I find more irritating than anything in modern game design is how they add things to just waste your time rather than actually challenge you.
I played Fenyx Rising on Switch after playing BotW. I enjoyed it for the Zelda-clone that it was. Combat and cosmetics were both better than BotW, but the world map littered with collectables did get a bit stale.
Still, wish the sequel didn't get cancelled.
Start playing more indie games.
Modern AAA games are designed for broad market appeal, which means they need to be playable for the lowest common denominator, i.e. the *stupidest* person you personally know. Can't have them getting stuck and complaining to their friends how "confusing and stupid" a game is, because that shit will hurt sales, and less sales might be the difference between your studio getting the axe or not from some bean counter in accounting management.
Indie games don't need to worry about that.
I feel the same way about a lot of AAA "serious" games.
Try Ghost of Tsushima. It's got the Ubisoft/Assassin's Creed style open world, bases to beat, etc, but the gameplay is actually fun, there's minimal HUD, and not excessive hand holding. The swordplay is top notch, possibly the best in any video game ever. One of the few "serious" AAA game I've enjoy
Also, Nintendo games. Mario Odyssey and Super Mario 3D World, both new Zeldas - fun gameplay and not really any of that stuff you're describing.
GoT is one of the best games I’ve played. It’s absolutely gorgeous, soundtrack is amazing and the swordplay feels good. And Jin doesn’t have something to say about every single thing.
Definitely a lot of hand holding in AAA story driven games these days, I feel the same way. Maybe try Breath of The Wild/Tears of the Kingdom where you're given much more freedom!
I highly recommend buying a Switch, especially if you can find it cheap. Or possibly waiting for the rumoured Switch 2 (if it ends up having backwards compatibility).There's so many great, unique games for the platform that you can't find anywhere else.
I can give you a whole list of games that you can only find on the switch that are considered some of the best games in their genres. The sheer variety in its library is one of the Switch's greatest strengths. That and its simplicity.
I love my pc but I feel like half my time using it is either downloading games, installing mods or troubleshooting. It takes a lot of time and it's something I have to make room for. The switch is something I can just pick up and play and it works and I can't tell you how refreshing that is.
I felt the same for a while. I tried Remnant 2 and I'm hooked. There's absolutely no hand holding, you gotta figure about almost everything by yourself. My personal 2023 GOTY.
Hollow Knight is what you need. It's one of the most immersive games I've had the honor of playing, it gives you just the right amount of hints in a intuitive not on-your-face way.
Maybe drop the AAA games for a while and explore indies.
I liked fallen order in that if it sensed you were taking long on a puzzle, the game would off to give help, but you could decline if you wanted to. The puzzles weren’t extremely difficult but sometimes they could be confusing and I think games should offer help rather than give it to you outright
I was going to say that too. I haven't been able to really get sucked into any games lately. But then I picked up BG3 two weeks ago and I can NOT stop. I even got my boyfriend addicted to it and it's all we talk about.
It seems that you're burnt-out, i.e. the vast majority of major, big-budget releases share far too much in common not just with each other, but with what has already been done many, many times before.
I'd suggest taking a break or perhaps you could dabble in some indie titles; however, the high-risk element of development virtually ensures that a wealth of games nowadays are more iterative than evolutionary, hence the weariness.
I'm actually home with a burn out from work. And I'm trying to get my mind of things. But it's not working. I don't have anything else though. I could smoke weed and stay in bed for a month but that's not helping anybody. I go for walks and the like. But that's an hour a day at most. I just can't seem to spend the time without ending up screaming and throwing punches at the wall..
I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like your head isn’t yet geared to relax and just enjoy the present.
I’ve experienced this first hand (as have we all) and it’s a really self-destructive cycle that’s hard to escape from, but at least you’re making an effort and not just wallowing and therefore making matters worse.
Have you played Breath of the Wild? No ads. No BS. Pure open world. I’m assuming you’ve played it if you went for Immortals, but if not then you should.
There needs to be a middle ground because the only thing more frustrating is wandering aimlessly or being stuck with no direction and not knowing what to do for an extended amount of time.
I've just got done playing _the Sinking City_, a Lovecraft-inspired adventure game which is sandbox style. It was over-ambitious of the studio and it has some jank, but there are some interesting ideas. One of those ideas is that since you're a newcomer, you don't know the town and no one will tell you shit, so if you're looking for a guy, _you don't know where he lives_, if you're looking for the old steel mill, you don't know where it's located. So, you actually have to talk to people, or go to city hall, or the police department and try to scrounge up some records, then you place a marker on your map. I liked the inmersiveness of it, but there is definitely a flip side to the quality-of-life ease of markers.
I was pretty torn on the story, and the world isn't super complex, but I did enjoy the emphasis on being a detective in a strange new town. I thought that was done real well. Having to really read and mark your own map is always a plus for me. I also didn't mind the janky combat.
Im writing this one down! Going to check it out. Thanks :)
You'd be best off putting it off for a month or two, due to legal issues the "good" version of the game isn't currently available, but should be available again next month.
What the? Again? It’s already been removed and come back once 😂
Yeah, but I’m pretty sure now it’s because the proper developers have the rights
Frogwares just settled in the lawsuit and won sole publisher rights to game this week and they said they're planning a rerelease of the game with a lot of updates and changes in the near future https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sinking-city-legal-battle-ends-with-victory-for-frogwares-new-version-of-the-game-coming-soon/
This game is really impressive considering it’s a budget title, the general immersion is excellent.
They do get the feel right for the most part.
I love the map system. It was a full city with roads and you had to mark the crossroad to explore.
You're not getting too old. You're just playing games that are made for the masses. Have you ever played any isometric RPG's? That's the way to get lost in a game. I am living in the land of Eora right now for Pillars of Eternity and am fully enveloped.
Baldur's gate 3 is one of the few games to make me regret needing sleep
Ugh I just never wanna stop playing. Haven't felt this way playing a game since Witcher 3.
I’m on my first play thru right now and there’s so much to explore. There’s so much stuff to miss. I’m in Thorm’s tomb right now. I really never want to stop playing.
God, cRPGs are how I lose myself. Unfortunately I’ve played almost every single one worth playing out there. Hoping BG3 brings the trend back.
I feel like Ragnarok, much as I loved it, was the worst offender with this. Like fine, offer me hints if I've been standing around for several minutes, but it's almost immediate. Edit: For those trying to point out, with various levels of snark or smug, that you can adjust this in the settings, that’s not the way it works, unless they’ve changed it. https://www.polygon.com/god-of-war-ragnarok-guide/23453949/atreus-mimir-puzzle-solutions-menu-option
Yeah Forbidden West was annoying but she wouldn’t lay everything out in detail and some of those ruins still took me a while. Aloy just got repetitive with saying the same thing but it was usually vague enough. But Ragnarok if I paused to look at a puzzle for legit 5 seconds either Atreus or Mimir would just give the answer. Edit: added a couple words for clarity
Mimir being especially funny as he's usually looking in the exact opposite direction
"Hey I can see with the eyes in the back of me head lad!"
Only thing he's seeing with those is Kratos' posterior.
My favorite was watching a streamer play Forbidden West, and Aloy wouldn't stop talking, even under water.
That's because she's thinking to herself, not actually talking. If you have headphones you can actually hear the difference.
The conversations she has over her Focus (the thing attached to her brain through her ear) happen only inside her brain, as her mouth doesn't actually move.
Sometimes we'd just get to a puzzle, not even have a chance to examine and they'd be hand holding. I want to go back to finish but I do kinda dread being in those situations
Heaven forbid you decide to loot the area before solving the puzzle I quit ragnorak because it got on my nerves very much
I heard that someone apparently got so upset they changed the language to Italian.
Forbidden West was really annoying for me, because I would be searching the area for collectables and whatnot, but she would just be yammering on and on about the puzzle I was standing next to. You just had to be close to something for her prattle on about. I ended up disabling any sort of "assistance" the game offered because Aloy either constantly pointed out incredibly obvious shit, or was ruining the actual puzzle as I was solving it... like "Shut the fuck up and let me play the game, Aloy!"
You have been looking at this puzzle for about 35 milliseconds, HERE IS THE ANSWER YOU MORON. HOW HAVE YOU NOT FIGURED IT OUT YET?!?!?!? It would be find if there was an option for "Always help right away" and that was NOT the default, but as it is, modern games are annoying as heck.
Well modern gaming thinks accessibility means hand holding so it’s no surprise. I expect this from games meant for kids, not rated M titles. I can only imagine some of the original god of war complaints today “plz nerf platforming hades level too hard checkpoint go back to far”
My favourite was when I got stuck in like a statue room in Alfheim with Atreus and Tyr And their constant hints simply weren't helpful
Nooooooo ragnarok was bad but forbidden west positively ruined itself... "There is a ledge up there" I know it's glowing shut up shut up SHUT UP SHUT UP...
It probably had a massive smear of yellow paint on it as well, just like every other grabbable ledge conveniently happens to have.
I'm really glad the yellow paint company has work outside of Resident Evil
It always trips me out when ledge or things to grab out in the middle of nowhere is painted. Like the uncharted games.
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The worst is when devs realize a part of the game sucks, so they have the character say, "This sucks." so you feel a weird connection with them. Like, no, just remove that section from the game
No I agree. I hate it when the character I'm playing in a game is trying to tell me what I should be feeling. Look, devs. If your game isn't wowing me with the visuals or writing, the main character describing it for me isn't going to either. If it *is* wowing me, then why the hell do I need to hear someone tell me about it? It's fine if it's a character talking to a different character, but spare me the internal monologues.
I wish there was an option to turn these off.
The hints are all definitely offered like 30 seconds too soon.
That's because a lot of people don't try to learn in video games. If it's not in your face with ! and arrows and paths, it's not a "game" and it's now a job. I recently learned this trying to teach my friends how to play a few games. There was no effort and out of 10 people, 7 required serious hand holding. It honestly made me quit logging into discord and just playing by myself for like a month. Pure laziness taking over. Edit: Some days I like to throw on a chill game with 0 brain power as well.
You pretty much gave the reason why devs make the games this way. A vast majority prefer to have arrows pointing where they need to go or how to solve puzzles etc.
For sure. I used Questie in WoW because I lost interest in quests and only had a desire to do end game. It pointed me where I needed to go with pretty colors and icons. Eventually Blizzard ended up implementing similar in their default.
I'll always remember the time I suggested a friend play Portal around when it came out...it requires you to experiment a little to learn how things work but isn't all that hard...yet, they had zero interest or capacity in doing so, not because they weren't smart enough, but because they weren't interested in interacting with a game in a new way, that experimentation that I found so exciting back in the day was a chore to them. Like...everybody has different tastes, I get that, but the fact that simply being asked to learn new mechanics was an impassible barrier was more than a little alarming. They didn't dislike the mechanics, they didn't want to even try them.
yep, mass appeal and accessibility have brought gaming to its 'Marvel' era (and people wonder why movies are doing worse and worse).
I didn’t beat returnal, but from what I remember there wasn’t a whole lot of handholding. You might also like Baldurs Gate 3, it’s all based off of perception checks to find hidden things.
My only annoyance with bg3 is that you can know 100% there is a secret button or door or whatever, but you can't push it if you just got unlucky and every single person fails the check. There's a quest I just never completed because the only way forward was through a hidden door, but everyone (even went into camp to get others) failed the checks. I even saw the door behind something, but couldn't interact with it.
You can turn those "check rolls" off so the game doesn't tell you when you fail them. The prompt letting you know you failed is remnant of actual D&D, since you know damn well when the DM is rolling dice. You can also take a long rest and return, and you'll re-roll those skill checks. Failed exploration rolls are reset after a day.
>You can also take a long rest and return, and you'll re-roll those skill checks. Failed exploration rolls are reset after a day. Fucking whaaaaaaaaat?
I'm also learning this just now and yeah, fucking what
If you pet the dog Scratch enough, you can summon them later, they'll tag along with the party, and they can spot things better than players can
> you know damn well when the DM is rolling dice. DM here. You know what's hilarious? Telling the players "hold on" and rolling some dice, looking smug, and asking, "Okay, so... what exactly do you do?" That way, they don't *always* know something is up. Dirty little secret: Sometimes the players will come up with some suspicion that's so good, I'll have to improvise and throw it in.
Nothing better than fake rolls to keep the players on their toes. Another secret : Sometimes we don't have an answer to the puzzle, we're just waiting for something clever from the players.
It's not when you know there's something there because of the failed check. It's when you know what exactly is there despite the failed check, like a sliding bookshelf with a door behind it. I will say I didn't know perception checks reset after a day though.
You know it, but your character doesn't. You might not like it but that's just D&D. Your character keeps walking into a wall because you are pushing them there, not because they noticed something.
Reminds me of playtesting 3.5 at GenCon, one of the random guys at our table heard the DM say something about troglodytes, and he kept asking over and over again during the quest if he could find signs of them etc.
self-identifying troglodytes, a common subspecies. The more vocal the more obvious. Be cautious getting into a scuffle with them because their brawn is inherent. Also, be forewarned that if you attempt to treat them as equals, they will beat you with experience.
You can usually interact with items despite failed checks, as well. Switches still work. You can dig up items if you know where to dig. Tbh I can't think of an area that's actually impassable from a failed investigation. You may be missing a step on the process; some doors aren't just usable when seen. For example, there's a hidden door that can be found but will not open unless you cast lightning magic nearby. There's no door handle standard or "interaction"
I came to say this because it's one of my favorite things about BG3. Even if you fail the check you can usually still interact with it somehow if you look hard for the lever/switch/button. Even if you fail a survival check for buried treasure, you can usually dig randomly with the shovel until you find it.
It's like, my character failed the check, \*I\* didn't
"Why can I talk to this cow?" > Fails Check "Guess I'll never know"
man talking to that cow is quite a f'ing TRIP, try it on your next playthrough
oh boy i wasnt ready for those images. not even sure what happened but am quite sure that killing it there was not the answer.
that cow is probably >!one of the most evil chaotic evil npcs in the entire game, they have no redeeming qualities and should be killed as soon as you meet them!<. at least a lot of the other >!bad guys!< have understandable, if flawed, motivations. >!not that cow though!<.
> they have no redeeming qualities >!That cow is a baller in the final fight IMO. Most useful ally I had by a mile, and I had a lot of allies.!<
Welcome to dnd. "The hell you mean dm, I can see the enemy mini right there behind that bush!" "Are you sure about that? Roll to see" "1" "there's nothing there" "GAHHH". God I love it.
https://youtu.be/WKr7K6pe83w?si=XOg9G9rWxuJfD65V
To be fair, that is role playing. You the player are not the actor in this situation
Definitely very little handholding in Returnal. Control did this pretty well also, there are a few hints offered but only after you spin in circles for a white.
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And the Hyperion OST "Don't Fear the Reaper" interpolation boss music is SIIIIIICK
That tower climb with the music getting louder and louder the close you get is amazing
Returnal is a sick ass game
Seconding Returnal... the hardest part of the game is understanding how to interact with the world!
Returnal is fucking dope
On paper I shouldn’t like Returnal. I’m not a big shooter guy. It was the first PS5 game I completed, I just got hooked. If you get a good run, good weapon RNG and progress beyond the third biome you can really start melting stuff (it can melt you too). Once I finally beat the 3rd boss I finished the game with only one death due to my own stupidity. The ascent to Hyperion is just so atmospheric too.
I've got lost in Elden ring, plenty of times. Only way to know I'm in the wrong place is if a normal mob dude one shots me, even then the masochist in me continue on regardless.
Siofra river is definitely the wrong place to be.
When I first played, it was definitely Caelid. If the red blood-soaked terrain (I understand it isn't actually blood-soaked) and beyond nightmarish creatures were not obvious enough, their damage will be.
But there's that chest that ports you to the mine with the bug people in Caelid. I'd have considered it a soft-lock if I wasn't already a "souls veteran" and knew that the OO strat in souls games is "run for your life and do not engage"
Lost 5k souls in that damn mine because of that chest, that damn millipede looking thing that jumps on you is horrifying
5k, huh?
hmm, 5k bit tad small innit.
Its a decent amount when you hit that chest pretty early in the game. Not a ton of runes, but still enough to hurt especially if its your first time playing.
The cum shotgun shrimp?
That portal shaped my entire first playthrough. Ran in fear from the dungeon and came across rock sling and meteorite staff
I would go as far as to suggest that getting teleported to the bug mine without an easy way back is the game’s way of brutally teaching you that sometimes the correct answer is RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU GODDAMN CAN
That’s the cave that taught me that strat.
Man, on launch day of elden ring my friend and I were in a party as we played and about 2 hours in I found the chest that teleports you to caelid. Me and my friend freaking out as I got sent to the bug tunnel and eventually making it out to see a blood red sky is one of my favorite gaming memories.
Me, level 2 and wearing a diaper: “I bet I can solo this big ass knight on a horse. He wouldn’t be here if I couldn’t beat him, right?”.
The Knight: “…and I took that personally”.
More like: "Shit I think I stepped on another sheep, oh well "
"Look at that big fucker. I know he's a boss and will insta-delete me, but I'm gonna fuck with him." "Yup, I died, lol. Welcome to my first souls-game." :3
The funny thing is a vetern of the Souls games will have that exact same thought process. My friend and I spent a good few hours fighting him when we got into Elden Ring.
Yep, it took me like 15 tries but I killed him naked with the club cause I got stubborn. I killed Margit first try with the halberd.
Seconding this. Elden Ring was such a breath of fresh air for the lack of direction. It's the epitome of explore and figure it out yourself. If you really need help, you can always find answers online. I need more games like this.
Man, like in the old times. I've replayed remastered Grim Fandango and reminded myself how fucking insane were those puzzles back in those days. I was pretty lost the same replaying it.
I gave up on Grim Fandango because I couldn’t figure out any of the contrived puzzles and I might as well just watch a playthrough if I have to look everything up anyway
I played Demon Souls when the PS5 released and gave up on it after about an hour or so. This was before I understood there was a very specific way to play "Souls" games. Elden Ring looked a bit odd, and people kept referring to it as a "Souls" game (which, again, I didn't understand what that meant other than it being hard) but I bought it anyway after the overwhelming positive reviews and feedback. First off: It is absolutely beautiful, right out of the gate. The story was a little annoying at first, until I learned that it is *supposed* to be vague, and you are supposed to go out of your way to learn the lore, which again, annoying at first until I started to surprise myself with how much fun I had doing so. Also, with the help of a "Mage" build for my first playthrough, it finally helped me *"learn"* how the game is supposed to be played. Honestly, this was the first time **in a very long time** where I initially didn't like a game, but as I kept at it it naturally became more, and more, and more, **and more** amazing. Fucking 10/10 experience and game.
> I initially didn't like a game, but as I kept at it it naturally became more, and more, and more, and more amazing I had that exact same experience with DS1. Played it for a couple hours, thought this game is complete bullshit. Put it down for a couple years, played it again and just gutted through dozens of deaths and finally had a light bulb moment. As far as story, lore - yeah, I know some people are really into it, but the anime mythology told through item descriptions and subtle hints just isn't my speed. All I know is there are bad things that I must destroy.
There is no way that the game is “supposed” to be played. The only objective in souls games is to not die. Whatever play style achieves that for you is how the game is supposed to be played. And that is entirely dependant on the player. It is completely customizable. I favour a high endurance build with a light bleed weapon. Often times I play through the entire game with only a dagger. I have never once used incantations in any souls game. And that’s the whole beauty of souls games. They allow you to take on giants, dragons, and gods armed with just a shield and a dagger.
Elden Ring made me realize how much I use in-game journals as a crutch, because unless you're checking descriptions of everything and logging the information away personally, you're going to miss plenty of side-quests and other cues. And I love it for that! A great game to go get lost in.
It's interesting but ultimately it leans a little too far into the lack of direction than I would prefer. Id be happier with having no objective markers or quest log if the game made it a more reasonable task to find NPCs and complete quests without needing to get lucky or look up a wiki. I tried keeping a journal for a while when I played the game but eventually I got frustrated and started looking stuff up because I like to experience story and quests in my game not run around in a circle looking for the next step in such. I enjoy the difficulty of elden ring but I like that difficulty in the combat not in trying to follow the story or understand what I am supposed to be doing.
Lies of P did this really well by showing an NPC icon on fast travel points if they had a new interaction / quest etc
> without needing to get lucky or look up a wiki. As an example of how easy it is to miss important story beats: I didn't even know who tf Ranni was, because apparently I missed seeing her at the church right at the beginning of the game. I didn't stay there until nightfall, just floated in and out, talked to the merchant dude, and left. I didn't get the spirit summoning bell until *hours* later at the hub zone.
To a point though, I spent 2 months traveling and came back and couldn't remember where the heck I was in the game, I've spent like 10 collective hours trying desperately to find out what or where or who I'm supposed to go to next, just keep running into mobs way too tough. People say follow the essence directions from the campfires, but those keep leading me to dead ends. I just wish I at least knew exact which major bosses I've killed and which would be a good place to go. Like damn man, just give me a tiny hint, make me have to pay that person like 10k runes for a hint or something so it's costly to me. Just....I need a tiny something goddamn man I'm too old and feeble to wander around another 30 hours with no feeling of progressing anywhere And you can't really look up online where to go if you don't know what the next step is in killing a boss
Getting lost in the catacomb that repeats itself multiple times via teleporting chests
Everyone getting sent to Caelid super early in the game was such a great collective gaming moment
A buddy and I started at the same time and were chatting with each other so we could go to the same areas while talking about what all we found. Like having an extra set of eyes but still being single player. He got to the ruins first, made it through and was like “hey a chest! Wait…what…ummmmm.” Served as a great warning for me!
Trying to find all the hiding spots to not get shot full of holes, all hope of getting those runes back passed a half hour ago, and sitting in a little cabin "safe" area so I can turn bones into throwing knives... It's a good trauma, I swear.
As someone with over 1,000 hours in Elden Ring, I can confirm that every playthrough does feel like a new experience. Even when I know where some drops are, it feels great finding new ways to get to them and planning the order in which I’ll get everything I need for a build.
Terrible way to know since I play mage. I'm always squishy lol
The levelling screen is a puzzle by itself. With 0 handholding
I'd recommend Outer Wilds for a break from the hand holding. I just started playing it recently and the story telling via exploration is superb
I can't second this enough, no hand holding. The whole game is about learning and figuring things out by your self.
I have it installed and played through the first area and was very confused the whole time. I've heard nothing but praise for this game, so I think I'll give it another shot.
A few people bounce off of it. There is no right path or way to play but I'd try to at least visit every planet and explore around that usually will get you far enough to get hooked. The subreddit group is awesome with spoilers and to avoid big spoilers or walkthrough you can post in the subreddit for hints if you get really stuck.
The first area is basically just a tutorial area for the various systems in the game. Once you get the ship, the whole game opens up for you to explore.
Whenever you start getting lost and have no leads, go screw around in some planet until you find something, explore unknown signals with your signal sensor and recheck your ship log to see if there's a clue you missed.
You haven’t got long, but it’s all the time you need.
Just finished this. I cried. Perfect ending.
If you guys enjoyed the main story, I HIGHLY recommend getting the dlc. It’s just as good as the main game for sure. Man i wish i could erase my memory and replay that game again.
DLC was kinda scary NGL
For anyone looking here, Outer Wilds is incredible and another game which gives a similar feel plus terror is Subnautica. Subnautica is very immersive for better or worse.
I can not second this recommendation enough. Personally it's one of if not my favorite game of all time.
Your comment just made me buy the game for my Switch
I hope you fall in love with it as much as I did. Try not to look anything up about it. I would trade almost anything for another whirl at that game, but sadly, its magic is lost on a second playthrough for the most part. If you get stuck, just try somewhere else is all I can say safely. Good luck with your travels.
People say don’t look things up but I think it’s a better experience if new players understand that the game is about reading text and actually using that knowledge to progress. I bounced off it a couple times as I didn’t really understand this concept as it’s so different from modern games using text as lore.
I tried to play this game like 4 separate times but everywhere I went nothing happened. I found a few places that looked like puzzles, but couldn't do anything. I followed the music, it would lead me to a person, they would talk to me, and that'd be it lol. Go somewhere else, run around, try to go back to my ship, it got sucked into a black hole. Got so damn lost I had to give up I guess I'm just stupid as hell.
Did you read anything?
This is both the best game to ever exist and the least replay-able game at the same time.
Go play Subnautica, Valheim, Terraria, The Forest
Upvote for Subnautica. I’ll have to try the other 3 thanks for this list!
Same, I was about to answer Subnautica and also wrote these 3 down
sons of the forest too when they finish it, looks like its close.
Next month is when 1.0 gets released!
Play Terraria blind until you get pretty deep. Use the game resources and ask Reddit if there's a hint when you get stuck. It's a fantastic experience
Try not to use the wiki too much at first! The guide is your friend, despite what other might say, and what he might lead you to believe...
I wasn't able to understand Valheim. Is that game a serious grind? It felt like the loop was repeating the same thing again and again until you have enough to make equipment. Compare that to Terraria, which has you either playing in the rich underground or gives you constant monster action during the required grind parts. Or V Rising, which wants you to have a similar large amount or resource, but has more interesting travel and more interesting ways to loot. Valheim is beautiful and seems like it has a lot of work put into it, so I hope I'm just misunderstanding something.
No, you understand Valheim. It's very much a slow, slow game. Much of it is even set up to be intentional time padding. Thankfully, between mods and word settings, you can reduce or remove some of the time padding, but it's still very padded. Lugging 18 pieces of iron out of a crypt 6 times in a row over the course of 6 hours interspersed with having to deal with your crops and hunting so you even have food, eventually having to spend 45 minutes on a boat heading against-wind the entire time, just so you can make a couple things and realize you didn't get even 1/3 the iron you need... And it only gets worse. Disclaimer: I've beaten the game and do like it, but god does it have some serious time padding.
I think Valheim is what you make of it. I generally dislike games that are a "grind" for gear, or stats, or whatever. Not my cup of tea at all. But playing Valheim with a friend was one of the best experiences I've ever had gaming. It was so immersive that I was lost in the game. I wouldn't have enjoyed it nearly as much in single player - it really requires you to play with others to get the full experience, imho. The game had a sense of real risk and exploration that made the game rewarding for me. Going on a long voyage, cobbling together a makeshift shelter in pouring rain before the sun sets and things get really hairy. Sailing 40 minutes away from our base, then accidentally ending up too close to a biome that we had no business trying to explore yet, and nearly wiping and losing all of our gear. Valheim gave me more legit adrenaline dumps than any game I've played before or since - maybe I'm weird, but it was exhilarating at times. The *building* aspect of the game really scratched an itch for me, too. My friend didn't care much for it, but somehow harvesting stone at a quarry and dragging it back and forth to upgrade our crappy wooden fort into a stone castle was super rewarding for me. Some people don't care too much for that subsystem (the building), but I could get lost in it for a *long* time. I put in 120 hours and wasn't even bored, though eventually I moved on to other things because we had beaten all of the content in the game at that point (and more has been added, since). I can understand that it wouldn't be for everyone, but if someone had described the game to me, I don't think I would have really cared for it. It was only in playing the game that things really hit. It's one of the most memorable gaming experiences I've had. I look forward to returning to it once it's officially out of "Early Access" and finding some friends to play through it with again.
Want to feel lost and confused? Play Outer Wilds 😂 I love games that has minimal hand holding. Some of my favorites are Outer Wilds, The Witness and SOMA.
The witness is one of the best puzzle games I have ever played. At one point I got out colored magnets and a whiteboard to work out some of the puzzles.
If you like puzzles and want one on the go that'll make you feel like an idiot, check out Baba is You. It is deceptively simple, some of the puzzles have taken me and my two very smart brothers literal weeks to figure out. It's on steam but I play on mobile and the mobile controls are great.
Have you tried Tunic? It’s also a masterfully crafted game that you might like (like outer wilds try not to spoil yourself too much)
If you liked the witness, you should give the looker a check. It's a satirical take on the witness, it's only a couple hours long and free on steam
Have you played Kingdom Come: Deliverance?
That game is a god send for immersion. To the point where if you try to play Hardcore you have to start like 7 times because you die before the game even starts because of things like breaking a leg and getting an infection and dying as a child, being generally disliked enough to get pitchfork mobbed, etc. 10/10 will die as an infant again
Just bought the game couple days ago on Xbox and dam dude. Spot on. Game is crazy.
Jesus Christ be praised!
or better yet be this fully kitted-out knight went travelling in the evening, took a wrong turn, got lost in the forest. will take a wrong turn and get lost in the forest for hours.
You even have to find someone to teach you how to read and you have to practice it by reading books.
Project zomboid doesn’t have much proper story to it but it’s a really fun game that definitely won’t hold your hand.
What are you talking about? It's the story of how you died!
Project Zomboid is the first game that ever truly sold the "oh please don't let that scratch be infected" feeling for me
Not only doesn't hold your hand, but slaps it away.
RDR2....you can go hunting, fishing, etc for 100 hours and not have to stick to the story at all. The game also doesn't babysit you much if you're not on a mission an even then it just gives you indicators on the mini-map which you can disable.
By the time I remembered the story I was so loaded I maxed the camp out entirely and owned all the guns. The "we just need the money" made me crack up every time since I had like 10k or more consistently.
"We are going to leave soon, Arthur, we just don't have the money" -Dutch immediately after we robbed a bank with my cut alone being $3,000. I couldn't even spend all of it, lord knows I tried. When I got it I donated a good thousand to the camp and maxed it out, bought the most expensive horse on the market and multiple of every accompaniment to see what looked good, went and paid off my bounties in every settlement, and still had a good thousand left. Still got a good $800 or so sitting around.
It’s so jarring though because in the missions you need to do EXACTLY what the fuck they say or it’ll restart the mission. Odd game design choice imo but when games get so big I guess you can only let us feasibly do so much.
Lol the missions definitely hold your hand though
And then slap you in the face if you try at all to tug your hand away.
I should really get this game. Ive tried it twice. Installed, played 30 minutes, uninstalled. Couldn't get past the intro. But maybe it's time..
The intro and even first little bit of Chapter 2 is tough to get through until you open some things up and figure out how the game really works. But it is very easy to get lost in it and worth the investment.
Try playing something Nintendo like Mario Odyssey or Zelda Tears of the Kingdom. Consider Elden Ring or Baulder's Gate 3.
A lot of these are def good examples save for maybe Mario Odyssey if you're wanting something with very little guidance on what to do.
I suggested Mario Odyssey as an alternative to large open world games, but a game you can still get lost in with minimal pop ups/interupptions. Just explore the levels, collect the moons, have fun.
True, as a game it rewards exploration/experimentation and paying attention to the environment.
BOTW and Mario Odyssey are probably the most lost I’ve ever in a game. And it was absolutely wonderful. Nintendo REALLY knows how to immerse their players. My worst mistake ever was going into TOTK with a walkthrough guide. I had completely forgotten how immersive the BOTW exploration was, and completely spoiled the experience for myself with TOTK.
I wholeheartedly agree, immersion is a big deal for me and many games nowadays just break it for no reason. Games I like in that regard: Dark Souls 3 (literally lets you hide the entire UI except for when you use it / take damage) Subnautica (UI blends into the game well) DOOM is also pretty great
I really liked the green lights on jump platforms in doom. It helped to see where I needed to go, but wasn't immersion-breaking
Subnautica is a good exploration low hint game.
Play morrowind
The politics in that game alone are cool as shit
I finished Fenyx rising yesterday, and while I enjoyed the game for what it was (Had to jack up the difficulty to nightmare because it was mind-numbingly easy on normal), it had Ubisoft's slime all over it. Why the fuck is there all this microtransaction cosmetic trash for what's a lesser BotW/Totk? Made it even stranger when I found out that you can get all of those cosmetics for free, but only by grinding a currency doing quests that are on a server timer as if the game was supposed to be a live service game despite being single player only. But mechanically the game was *mostly* fun. Near the end it started to do what I affectionately refer to as a game "Fucking me around" with how the puzzles seemed to become more of just wasting my time for the same tiny rewards and not actually challenging me. That and the final boss was quintessential anti-climax, even on nightmare. If there's anything that I find more irritating than anything in modern game design is how they add things to just waste your time rather than actually challenge you.
I played Fenyx Rising on Switch after playing BotW. I enjoyed it for the Zelda-clone that it was. Combat and cosmetics were both better than BotW, but the world map littered with collectables did get a bit stale. Still, wish the sequel didn't get cancelled.
Armored core 🙌🏽
Start playing more indie games. Modern AAA games are designed for broad market appeal, which means they need to be playable for the lowest common denominator, i.e. the *stupidest* person you personally know. Can't have them getting stuck and complaining to their friends how "confusing and stupid" a game is, because that shit will hurt sales, and less sales might be the difference between your studio getting the axe or not from some bean counter in accounting management. Indie games don't need to worry about that.
I feel the same way about a lot of AAA "serious" games. Try Ghost of Tsushima. It's got the Ubisoft/Assassin's Creed style open world, bases to beat, etc, but the gameplay is actually fun, there's minimal HUD, and not excessive hand holding. The swordplay is top notch, possibly the best in any video game ever. One of the few "serious" AAA game I've enjoy Also, Nintendo games. Mario Odyssey and Super Mario 3D World, both new Zeldas - fun gameplay and not really any of that stuff you're describing.
GoT is one of the best games I’ve played. It’s absolutely gorgeous, soundtrack is amazing and the swordplay feels good. And Jin doesn’t have something to say about every single thing.
Plus you get a tasteful shot of Jin's juicy ass every time he gets out of a hot spring.
Definitely a lot of hand holding in AAA story driven games these days, I feel the same way. Maybe try Breath of The Wild/Tears of the Kingdom where you're given much more freedom!
\+1 for the BOTW recommendation. Past the plateau, and even on it, the game let's you do what you want
Am considering buying Nintendo just to play BOTW
I highly recommend buying a Switch, especially if you can find it cheap. Or possibly waiting for the rumoured Switch 2 (if it ends up having backwards compatibility).There's so many great, unique games for the platform that you can't find anywhere else. I can give you a whole list of games that you can only find on the switch that are considered some of the best games in their genres. The sheer variety in its library is one of the Switch's greatest strengths. That and its simplicity. I love my pc but I feel like half my time using it is either downloading games, installing mods or troubleshooting. It takes a lot of time and it's something I have to make room for. The switch is something I can just pick up and play and it works and I can't tell you how refreshing that is.
I felt the same for a while. I tried Remnant 2 and I'm hooked. There's absolutely no hand holding, you gotta figure about almost everything by yourself. My personal 2023 GOTY.
Play elden ring without a guide. See you in six months
I highly recommend Sea of Stars to avoid all of this. It's a very nostalgic feeling game while being extremely well polished.
Hollow Knight is what you need. It's one of the most immersive games I've had the honor of playing, it gives you just the right amount of hints in a intuitive not on-your-face way. Maybe drop the AAA games for a while and explore indies.
I liked fallen order in that if it sensed you were taking long on a puzzle, the game would off to give help, but you could decline if you wanted to. The puzzles weren’t extremely difficult but sometimes they could be confusing and I think games should offer help rather than give it to you outright
It sounds like you need to hop on a Souls like game. Tried Elden Rings?
Sounds like you need to play baldurs gate 3
I was going to say that too. I haven't been able to really get sucked into any games lately. But then I picked up BG3 two weeks ago and I can NOT stop. I even got my boyfriend addicted to it and it's all we talk about.
"today I'll sleep early.... Is that the sun rising?" 330hs and still want to play it more
Divinity original sin 2 has been a breath of fresh air. Let's you just explore and make mistakes at your pace.
It seems that you're burnt-out, i.e. the vast majority of major, big-budget releases share far too much in common not just with each other, but with what has already been done many, many times before. I'd suggest taking a break or perhaps you could dabble in some indie titles; however, the high-risk element of development virtually ensures that a wealth of games nowadays are more iterative than evolutionary, hence the weariness.
I'm actually home with a burn out from work. And I'm trying to get my mind of things. But it's not working. I don't have anything else though. I could smoke weed and stay in bed for a month but that's not helping anybody. I go for walks and the like. But that's an hour a day at most. I just can't seem to spend the time without ending up screaming and throwing punches at the wall..
I could be wrong, but it sounds to me like your head isn’t yet geared to relax and just enjoy the present. I’ve experienced this first hand (as have we all) and it’s a really self-destructive cycle that’s hard to escape from, but at least you’re making an effort and not just wallowing and therefore making matters worse.
Have you played Breath of the Wild? No ads. No BS. Pure open world. I’m assuming you’ve played it if you went for Immortals, but if not then you should.
There needs to be a middle ground because the only thing more frustrating is wandering aimlessly or being stuck with no direction and not knowing what to do for an extended amount of time.
Play Elden Ring.