Play Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the two newest Zelda games, or Elden Ring without a walkthrough. You can still get this feeling, but due to economics, you’re unlikely to find it in big expensive games anywhere near as often anymore. Smaller indie games can experiment more with this sort of thing. But basically, it’s still out there.
For me I got the feeling from dark souls 1. I was exploring because it was such a beautiful and interesting world full of treasures to find. I loved the idea that at any point in game you could find or miss out on finding good gear.
Absolutely. A huge reason why soulslikes are so beloved. Through a huge combination of deliberate decisions touching nearly every facet of the game, an ethos is crafted all for the sake of intriguing the player, challenging the player’s mind and physical execution, and then triumphing, with discovery of several forms peppered throughout the way.
The lack of a map, enabled by a well designed and memorable world is one of the best examples for me. Nothing else I’ve played quite matches navigating Dark Souls without a map. You’re in one spot of this large, interconnected, seamless world. You just finished grinding an item in Darkroot Garden, and you want to return to Firelink.
Mentally, a collage of images appears in my mind, laying a pathway, a map of the world, the different paths and elevators I must take to get to where I need to go, and I begin walking, and I follow my own directions. That experience is all over the place in that game, and for all the obtuseness that’s in there, it was still so worth it to commit to that design so hard.
BOTW was one of the first games in a while that hit me with that feeling. I had so much fun with it and I still haven’t beat it because I’ll be damned if I don’t 100% the game first. It was a little slow at first, but I came to appreciate the pacing more as I played it.
I’m also just getting back into Minecraft after not having played it consistently since 1.13, and I’m having so much fun with all the new shit.
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Play Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the two newest Zelda games, or Elden Ring without a walkthrough. You can still get this feeling, but due to economics, you’re unlikely to find it in big expensive games anywhere near as often anymore. Smaller indie games can experiment more with this sort of thing. But basically, it’s still out there.
For me I got the feeling from dark souls 1. I was exploring because it was such a beautiful and interesting world full of treasures to find. I loved the idea that at any point in game you could find or miss out on finding good gear.
Absolutely. A huge reason why soulslikes are so beloved. Through a huge combination of deliberate decisions touching nearly every facet of the game, an ethos is crafted all for the sake of intriguing the player, challenging the player’s mind and physical execution, and then triumphing, with discovery of several forms peppered throughout the way.
The lack of a map, enabled by a well designed and memorable world is one of the best examples for me. Nothing else I’ve played quite matches navigating Dark Souls without a map. You’re in one spot of this large, interconnected, seamless world. You just finished grinding an item in Darkroot Garden, and you want to return to Firelink.
Mentally, a collage of images appears in my mind, laying a pathway, a map of the world, the different paths and elevators I must take to get to where I need to go, and I begin walking, and I follow my own directions. That experience is all over the place in that game, and for all the obtuseness that’s in there, it was still so worth it to commit to that design so hard.
BOTW was one of the first games in a while that hit me with that feeling. I had so much fun with it and I still haven’t beat it because I’ll be damned if I don’t 100% the game first. It was a little slow at first, but I came to appreciate the pacing more as I played it.
I’m also just getting back into Minecraft after not having played it consistently since 1.13, and I’m having so much fun with all the new shit.
I second this. Also add Cassette Beasts to that list.