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Games that gave you the greatest feelings of exploration and adventure?
- Thread starter Fou-Lu
- Start date
Omega Kirby
Member
Assassins Creed 4
The sailing, the shanties, landing on a new undiscovered islands, plundering forts.
The sailing, the shanties, landing on a new undiscovered islands, plundering forts.
TheSpaceBetween
Member
Metroid Prime Series, Zelda Series, Souls Series.
ClosingADoor
Member
Morrowind probably.
Final Fantasy IX, XII, and XV really gave me that feeling while playing. The latter in particular is one of the best examples in the series of nailing that feeling of adventure due to being able to get out of the car at any point (in the first 1/2) and just run around and explore.
IX nails the feeling in a different sense, in that things are set into motion and you're along for the ride right from the get-go.
IX nails the feeling in a different sense, in that things are set into motion and you're along for the ride right from the get-go.
Yabberwocky
Member
Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus, Dark Souls 1, Xenoblade Chronicles, and kinda FFXII. It looks like Breath of the Wild and Horizon will soon be joining their ranks, judging by all the previews and reviews.
ASilentProtagonist
Member
Grandia
Windwaker
SOTC
Oblivion
Windwaker
SOTC
Oblivion
super-famicom
Member
Dark Souls
The way every area is connected is amazing.
The way every area is connected is amazing.
GasProblem
Member
I think World of Warcraft takes the no. 1 spot for me. Having that whole world to explore when you start playing for the first time, woo boy.
Xenoblade definitely made me feel like going on an adventure as well. It's one of my favorite jrpgs because of that reason. I hope Xenoblad 2 keeps that feeling of exploring an huge world.
Skyrim and The Witcher 3 get honorable mentions as well.
Xenoblade definitely made me feel like going on an adventure as well. It's one of my favorite jrpgs because of that reason. I hope Xenoblad 2 keeps that feeling of exploring an huge world.
Skyrim and The Witcher 3 get honorable mentions as well.
I haven't delved into it too deeply, but The Long Dark seems really great at this. You just work your way through snow drifts searching for shelter and resources, but the areas are pretty big yet still have a sense of place. You start to remember a thicket or hollow where something you meant to come back for is sitting. It's all covered in snow and trees, but it really brings the feeling of the woods to life.
But my ultimate answer is Gothic 3. Most people will hate this game to it's core, but it's total freedom in a vast, unforgiving world that actually manages to do social consequences better than just about any other WRPG of this scale.
But my ultimate answer is Gothic 3. Most people will hate this game to it's core, but it's total freedom in a vast, unforgiving world that actually manages to do social consequences better than just about any other WRPG of this scale.
His Majesty
Banned
Going with RuneScape here. In a gigantic open world with severe consequences for player death the progress you made felt real and significant. No game since has managed to evoke the same feeling for me. The quest series involving the Elven lands is perhaps the most memorable in this regard.
OverturePT
Member
I definitely think JRPGs have been the best at this for me: Xenoblade, Xenoblade X, Dragon Quest VIII, Terranigma, Skies of Arcadia. The Zelda series is also up there. These are games where you really get to feel like you are on an adventure.
I like you, a lot.
I'd say Xenoblade definitely, a bunch of Zelda games, Assassins Creed IV (I have a thing for oceans) and the Witcher series immediately come to mind.
Lumpy Onion
Member
Final Fantasy XI. Going on a long trek from town or outpost without a map was something else. No way-markers and giveaway locations like in XIV. Sometimes even with a map you had to use your sense of direction to find your way. Loved finding some obscure hidden entrance to a dungeon that's off the beaten path. Exploring Vanadiel was some of the best exploration ever. It's world and its history felt tangible too.
IbukiLordSA
Member
Dragons Dogma
ASHES IN THE HOURGLASS
Banned
Obvious answers: Wind Waker, SotC, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Journey, Chrono Trigger, Red Dead, Okami, Pokemon, Ico, The first disc of FF9 before it shits the bed. Honourable mentions to Skies of Arcadia, Grandia, Xenoblade, Morrowind & DQ8 (own all except DQ, haven't gotten to them yet, damn backlog). Soon BOTW will likely claim the throne as the ultimate adventure game.
Labombadog
Member
Chrono Trigger
Grandia
Skies of Arcadia
Chrono Cross
Zelda OOT
Dragon Quest VIII
Edit: Dark Souls and Demons Souls. Duh.
Grandia
Skies of Arcadia
Chrono Cross
Zelda OOT
Dragon Quest VIII
Edit: Dark Souls and Demons Souls. Duh.
John Kowalski
Banned
FFX really nails that feeling of a big journey and the feeling is a good one that makes me happy
Kain-Nosgoth
Member
1.LA-MULANA
2.LA-MULANA
3. LA-MULANA
This is just one area.... Now multiply that by 18 and you have the full game!
Look at all the small detail in each screen, and there's lot of puzzles, it's not just exploration
2.LA-MULANA
3. LA-MULANA
This is just one area.... Now multiply that by 18 and you have the full game!
Look at all the small detail in each screen, and there's lot of puzzles, it's not just exploration
Pila
Member
Same.
Lumpy Onion
Member
Especially with the nighttime being so dark and dangerous. Felt like I had to make the most of each journey. I know some folks bash the lack of easily accessible fast travel but I thought it added to the experience.
San Andreas
Couldn't tell you. Something about these big sprawling woods and small towns inbetween major cities blew my mind in a way no other game has.
Everquest as well just because I never knew where the fuck I was going and you had to find places using memory a lot of the time.
Couldn't tell you. Something about these big sprawling woods and small towns inbetween major cities blew my mind in a way no other game has.
Everquest as well just because I never knew where the fuck I was going and you had to find places using memory a lot of the time.
ASHES IN THE HOURGLASS
Banned
Here's some food for thought, do you think it's easier for 3D games to capture this sense of adventure than 2d games. IMO, yes because of how 3D games allow you to look into distant places and make you want to go there.
lastrealgameralive
Member
Depends on how you define exploration.
The Big 5
The Big 5
While I posted two examples of 3d games, I disagree. A lot of 2D games give you a great sense of exploration, Super Metroid being the one I listed but also for the most part a lot of RPGs like the two first Golden Sun games and the earlier Final Fantasies along with many others.
I think it depends on how the world is presented to you, 3D or 2D, if they make you curious to see what else is in the world then they've captured that aspect of it.
Assassin's Creed lost me waaaay before Black Flag, but the more I hear about it the more it seems like I should give it a chance.
Maybe it is easier for 3D games, but... 2D games like the classic Final Fantasies, Dragon Quests, and Zeldas, plus games like Terranigma and Super Metroid are all super adventurous.
Maybe it is easier for 3D games, but... 2D games like the classic Final Fantasies, Dragon Quests, and Zeldas, plus games like Terranigma and Super Metroid are all super adventurous.
San Andreas
Couldn't tell you. Something about these big sprawling woods and small towns inbetween major cities blew my mind in a way no other game has.
Everquest as well just because I never knew where the fuck I was going and you had to find places using memory a lot of the time.
This is a good answer. The game felt gargantuan back in the day.
I am Christina Aguilera
Member
Shadow of the Colossus and Metroid Prime definitely come to mind for me.
GIANKRATOS
Member
Exploration and adventure: SOTC.
Adventure: GOW, Uncharted 2, TLG.
Adventure: GOW, Uncharted 2, TLG.
I'm Spartacus
Member
Got to be Metroid Prime. It's a masterpiece in exploration and adventure.
ASHES IN THE HOURGLASS
Banned
Yeah a lot of 2d Jrpgs do it well, mostly due to their sense of growth. But whereas they achieve this through hours of progress, a 3D game like Wind Waker does from the beginning since you can see neighbouring islands in the distance from Outset Island. It's actually why it's the only 3D Zelda that does the slow beginning right IMO. It's a matter of preference I suppose. I will disagree with Super Metroid though, that game is so fast paced that it never quite allows you to soak in each individual room like Metroid Prime does. I would call it more exploration than adventure.
Stilton Disco
Member
Ocarina of Time is the first that springs to mind, Majora's Mask following close after. Both games had a kind of grand, high adventure, folklore and mythology feel to them.
After that, Final Fantasy 8, 8 and 9 jump to mind. While the first two 3D Zelda's felt like exploring an exotic foreign land, those three felt like chatting whole new worlds, living planets with more stories and adventures in them than the game even showed.
The most recent example would probably be Uncharted 4. That game was designed to be an adventure into an unexplored unknown, a lost mystery that spawned the globe in search of cursed pirate treasure.
Fuck those were wonderful games! I cannot wait for Horizon and BotW next week now! Big, Open World, RPG and Action Adventure games rule!
After that, Final Fantasy 8, 8 and 9 jump to mind. While the first two 3D Zelda's felt like exploring an exotic foreign land, those three felt like chatting whole new worlds, living planets with more stories and adventures in them than the game even showed.
The most recent example would probably be Uncharted 4. That game was designed to be an adventure into an unexplored unknown, a lost mystery that spawned the globe in search of cursed pirate treasure.
Fuck those were wonderful games! I cannot wait for Horizon and BotW next week now! Big, Open World, RPG and Action Adventure games rule!
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Off the top of my head Skies of Arcadia and Skyrim.
tiebreaker
Member
Ni No Kuni.
RespectThySole
Member
The Witcher 3
Okami
Dark Souls
Metroid Prime
Uncharted 2
Okami
Dark Souls
Metroid Prime
Uncharted 2
Elitist1945
Member
The Uncharted series did it for me like no other. A true Indiana Jones-esque adventure.