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The biggest issues have already been mentioned by others but I’d just like to add - there’s a lot more climbing in Forbidden West, but the mechanics feel a lot worse (to me anyway). I found the climbing in HZD boring but serviceable; in HFW it just feels awful, Aloy never does what I want her to do and I regularly plunge to my doom for unknown reasons. Also the pullcaster (basically a grappling hook) is super clunky to use and adds essentially nothing gameplay-wise, just some random superfluous interaction points. It feels like there might have been some cut content there.
I enjoyed Zero Dawn quite a bit - the hunting and fighting mechanics in particular - but Forbidden West is kind of a sidegrade at best. It just feels like a sequel for the sake of a sequel.
Huh, same here! I have it on GBA and have been periodically playing it since I was a kid, but I’ve never actually been more than 2/3 or so in. I was never able to put my finger on why - it seems like an amazing game with its charming aesthetic, good controls, it does a lot of things well - but now that you say it I think you’re right, the level design and emphasis on checking every nook and cranny really does make it kind of a slog. I just booted up my last save and played a bit of the next level, and the amount of backtracking, secret side areas, and mini puzzles is kinda overwhelming.
This ended up a bit longer than I intended, whoops. Most of your examples are more conceptually unique than most of these, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to mention them since they all do something ‘different’ you might find interesting. I’ve really enjoyed all these games myself.
- Perspective - Absolutely mind-blowing, this is the one that I think fits your question best. There’s both walking around in a 3d environment and 2d platforming, but the platforming is based on your perspective. It’s hard to describe, but it’s free (college project), so go check it out!
- Cortex Command - I wouldn’t exactly call it experimental, but it’s certainly unique. The selling point is the fully destructible particle-based 2d environment. It may be 20 year old abandonware, but there’s a reason it still has an active fanbase working to improve it (check out the Cortex Command Community Project).
- Antichamber - Reality-bending first person puzzler. It can be frustrating at times but it has some seriously mind-boggling challenges.
- Little Inferno - You burn things. It’s amazing.
- Reassembly - Hard to describe, kinda like 2d space legos with some strategy elements? You build spaceship things and slowly amass your army, gathering resources and commanding your fleet. It’s a bit sandboxy for my taste but I’ve never played another game with this unique mix of strategy and building. It’s a lot of fun seeing the ships you create flying around independently, gathering resources, fighting enemies and even making more ships themselves.
- Melody’s Escape, Beat Hazard (1/2/3), Symphony - I’m a big fan of games that use music for generating levels, and these are my favorites. It’s a small ‘genre’ but it’s fascinating to me to see how different developers approach it. Melody’s Escape is a rhythm game which is pretty unique among this ‘genre’, Beat Hazard has spectacular visuals and adds in progression (with varying degrees of success), and Symphony is pretty similar to Beat Hazard in basic conception but executes things differently at every level.
- Sanctum 2 - Combination tower defense + FPS. The unique thing about this is less the idea and more how well it’s executed. A ton of fun with friends.
- Yoku’s Island Express - Pinball metroidvania-lite. What can I say, they make it work.
- The Beginner’s Guide - A linear story / adventure game sort of thing. The setup is essentially about exploring different short games made by someone who committed suicide. It’s slow and sad, but has a unique concept that it executes well. It has a couple of twists that really make the game.
- Shelter 1 & 2, Meadow - Shelter 1 is a linear adventure game where you play as a badger mother caring for her pups. Shelter 2 is a nonlinear survival game where you play as a lynx mother caring for her… kits? Then Meadow is a sandbox social MMO in the same universe, with little goal aside from just interacting with other players; but there’s no text chat, only a limited set of emotes and some actions you can do. This is a great little family of games, each being an entirely distinct and unforgettable experience.
- The Messenger - Starts out as a linear 8-bit-styled action platformer that (spoilers) turns into a 16-bit-styled metroidvania. Conceptually that’s all that really makes it unique but it’s done well, lots of fun.
Recently I’ve been exploring flash games again. I played them a lot as a kid, but in revisiting them I’m blown away at how unique and interesting so many of them are. Here are a few of the more unique ones you might enjoy, you’ll have to use something like Flashpoint to play them:
- This Is The Only Level - There’s one level, but the mechanics change each time you complete it. Super fun.
- Demons Took My Daughter - A combination 2d platformer and tower defense (complete with mazing). It’s worth checking out all of the developer Nerdook’s games, he has a habit of mixing genres in completely new ways.
- This is not a minimalist game - A short adventure game, nothing groundbreaking but has some interesting ideas.
- The Day - This is a weird one, kind of hard to describe without spoiling it but it’s like <20 minutes to beat, mostly just a walking simulator sort of thing. The game’s dev, Gregory Weir, has a lot of experimental games, if you like this one you’ll probably like more.
- Sugar, Sugar - A really unique puzzle game, its basic idea is simple but it makes the most of it. Another dev to check out more from.
CDPR as in CD Projekt Red? Are they associated with GOG in some way?