Games with fun traversal (open world or otherwise)

[DickHams]

I was playing Just Cause 3 on my PC over the weekend, albeit briefly - game keeps crashing on me. I had a blast from what I did manage to play though, and I think that's 100% due to the wingsuit. Such a joy to be able to gain momentum from pretty much anywhere with the hookshot/parachute, and then zip around in the wingsuit until you crash into a cliff.

Back in the day I think it was San Andreas that had jetpacks? I remember flying around the city with an uzi and having the best time. I may have been using cheats though to gain infinite ammo and jet fuel. Can't remember for sure.

Post some games where just getting around in the game is fun enough!

 

[Deleted member 1413]

Breath of the Wild. Being able to glide, climb, and slide everywhere is great.

Nier doesn't have the greatest map, but I appreciate how fast 2B is. Also has a hover jump and slides around the sand dunes

 

[Momo]

Xenoblade Chronicles X duh

 

[Cess007]

I know Infamous Second Son wasn't everybody cup of tea, but moving around the city with the Neon powers was super fun.

 

[Baron Von Beans]

Prototype had a very odd control scheme. But once you got it down, sprinting up buildings, gliding through the air, and surfing on pedestrians was such a breeze. And a blast, to boot.

 

[808s & Villainy]

I like how in Xenoblade Chronicles X you were basically a machine and could run as long as you wanted at insane speeds, jump insane distances, take no damage from falling regardless of the height (which made exploring awesome) and that was before you got yours Skell which allowed you to move even quicker AND fly

 

[Flarin]

Gravity Rush (Remastered). I could fly, slide and jump around that world for hours collecting gems and not get bored. They really found fun ways to use those mechanics. Sadly, Gravity Rush 2 got way more story-heavy and wasn't quite as good.

Flinthook is also quite fun. 2D sidescroller where you use a...well...flinthook to fling yourself around the levels. You can also slow down time which makes it even cooler.

 

[MauroNL]

Crackdown and Dying Light for me. No need for fast travel when traversal is that fun.

 

[ParanoidRED]

Sunset Overdrive

 

[Deleted member 27938]

Most superhero games for me:

Hulk Ultimate Destruction
Prototype 1 and 2
Saints Row 4
Crackdown

 

[Goldenroad]

Sunset Overdrive. Too bad the combat isn't as fun as the traversal and the story is terrible. Getting around that world and grabbing those collectibles is the best part.

 

[Transistor]

Sunset Overdrive

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Came to say Sunset Overdrive. Some of the most fun I've had with open world travel.

Also, Infamous: First Light and Second Son with the neon powers

 

[BouncyFrag]

Dying Light. With each leveling up of your agility you get a new perk making traversing the zombie horde infested world more fun and streamlined. In the expansion you get a buggy and it's a blast. Buggies in games are my jam.

Levitation in Morrowind.

 

[Deleted member 11995]

ReCore immediately springs to mind.

Dash-boost, jump, jump, dash-boost.

Some wonderful, fun traversal in that game. Loads of areas in the open maps built around platforming 'puzzles' to reach collectibles, and some brilliant dungeons dedicated to mastering traversal in a challenging but addictive way.

Edit: Infamous: Second Son and Sunset Overdrive are both really good to fantastic as well.

And Titanfall 2!

 

[Memento]

InFAMOUS Second Son and Batman Arkham games

 

[galv]

Loved traversal in Batman Arkham Knight, gliding around, jumping directly into combat or into the batmobile was so fluid and flawless.

https://gfycat.com/TemptingFrayedBassethound

Also, movement in Titanfall 2 and Warframe need to be studied and placed into every game which wants to act like a modern exo suit shooter. I'm looking at you Call of Duty.

 

[C.Mongler]

Breath of the Wild. Being able to glide, climb, and slide everywhere is great.

Nier doesn't have the greatest map, but I appreciate how fast 2B is. Also has a hover jump and slides around the sand dunes

Click to shrink...

Damn, first reply took both my immediate answers.

While absolutely not open world, I found something incredibly satisfying about the movement in Doom 2016. The speed at which you can run, jump, shoot, and tear was just so fast and pleasant. You never really feel like the environment is slowing you down or getting in your way.

Another recent non-open world (well most people might argue anyway) example for me is Mario Odyssey. The way Mario handles in that game is top notch and I really hope Nintendo keeps similar movement mechanics in future 3D Mario titles.

 

[Ehoavash]

Xenoblade chronicle X is the best answer.

 

[Al3x1s]

No games feel as good to just control the character and move and jump around as the Mario games to me :o)

 

[Conor419]

Xenoblade Chronicles X duh

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Yep, one of the best world maps I've played on (and games I've ever played).

My only change would have been to bend the upper left and right regions round about so that there was less ocean space, or perhaps have two or three miniature islands in the ocean.

What a game though.

 

[danmaku]

Just Cause 2-3. The combo grappling hook + parachute is awesome.

 

[ResetGreyWolf]

I know Infamous Second Son wasn't everybody cup of tea, but moving around the city with the Neon powers was super fun.

Click to shrink...

^ This 100%.

Also Dishonored. Mobility in Dishonored feels amazing.

 

[Deleted member 10726]

Sunset Overdrive's traversal was an absolute joy once you got past the control scheme.

 

[Pancracio17]

Sunset Overdrive is super fun. Chaining different wall runs, rail grinding, bounces, etc. felt amazing.

 

[nbnt]

I don't think anything will ever beat Gravity Rush 2 for me in this regard.

 

[Cyberninja776]

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance, flowmotion letting you to places you couldn't before did wonders for exploration.

 

[cyberninja]

Infamous Second Son was the most fun I've had with traversal mechanic, it's simple, fluid and fun.

 

[Thrill_house]

Spiderman 2 for ps2/og xbox

 

[capitalCORN]

Another one for Prototype. Wall jump up a scraper and cut through the sky with triple dash and triple glide.

 

[shan780]

Xenoblade chronicle X is the best answer.

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this is one of the major reasons I think xenoblade X is the best game in the series

I'm really hoping for a xenoblade X follow up, or even a switch port that resolves the cliffhanger ending

 

[Sebalt]

I'm playing A.O.T. 2 - Attack on Titan 2 - right now and the traversal is really cool! Kinda like Spider-Man 2.

 

[Avis]

Dying Light

All the Infamous games

Prototype

 

[Brass Body Dave]

Prototype was GREAT at this

 

[Bamboo]

Portal. The walking sections in the second game turned me off. But the first is pretty open in how you approach a problem and move through space.

Zora swimming in Majora's Mask. Rolling around as a Goron is also pretty fun, but jumping out of the water was just so much fun. Only played the N64 version, I heard the remake botched the zora controls?

 

[Deleted member 28461]

Spiderman 2 for ps2/og xbox

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Phew, I was worried I was going to be the first.

No other game has been as satisfying to zip around in. Web of Shadows came close, but Spider-Man 2 has not been topped. It requires effort and concentration to get around efficiently, and is extremely rewarding because of it.

I'm hoping the Insomniac game has good swinging, but I'm not getting too excited since I know it needs to be accessible.

 

[Spikematic]

Arkham Knight's traversal was super fun and Shadow of War's was quite good as well. The parkour in Titanfall 2 and Mirror's Edge, however, is just sheer bliss. I have yet to play ME Catalyst because I had open world fatigue, but I'll definitely try it out soon to scratch that parkour itch.

 

[eXistor]

I'm not gonna mention anything new or shocking. I'd say Breath of the Wild and Xenoblade Chronicles X are the pinnacle of this for me.

 

[Francesco]

Assassin's creed is one of them for me.
Maybe not the one, but still the early titles (2 and Unity most of all) were good fun.

 

[Iucidium]

I was playing Just Cause 3 on my PC over the weekend, albeit briefly - game keeps crashing on me. I had a blast from what I did manage to play though, and I think that's 100% due to the wingsuit. Such a joy to be able to gain momentum from pretty much anywhere with the hookshot/parachute, and then zip around in the wingsuit until you crash into a cliff.

Back in the day I think it was San Andreas that had jetpacks? I remember flying around the city with an uzi and having the best time. I may have been using cheats though to gain infinite ammo and jet fuel. Can't remember for sure.

Post some games where just getting around in the game is fun enough!

Click to shrink...

BoTW, Crackdown and Titanfall 2

 

[TeenageFBI]

Arkane is great at this, the Dishonored games in particular. High jumping, sprinting, mantling, sliding, teleporting, swimming just feel perfect. No one does FPS camera movement like they do.

 

[Bushido]

Lots of games with cool traversal mentioned already (BotW, Sunset Overdrive, Saints Row, Just Cause, Dishonored), but one that's still missing for me is...Skate. I just love skating through the world without any actual goal in mind, pulling off a trick here and there, exploring a little...it just FEELS amazing.

Similar story with Steep, where I spent more time aimlessly carving downhill than doing actual challenges. Pure Zen.

 

[Vadara]

Driving in any Mafia game with sim physics on.

Feels like people only talk about on-foot traversal when discussing it in games.

 

[Deleted member 11002]

Moving through the environment in Sundered was really fast and fluid once you get a few upgrades. I recently beat it, so it's fresh in my mind

 

[Thrill_house]

Phew, I was worried I was going to be the first.

No other game has been as satisfying to zip around in. Web of Shadows came close, but Spider-Man 2 has not been topped. It requires effort and concentration to get around efficiently, and is extremely rewarding because of it.

I'm hoping the Insomniac game has good swinging, but I'm not getting too excited since I know it needs to be accessible.

Click to shrink...

Believe me, i was on it. Noticed no one mentioned it and was disappointed. Yes to this day, and it shocks me, no other spiderman game has come close with the swinging mechanics. Hell I would of been ok with a carbon copy of them for the next games. As you mentioned, I really hope they use that mechanic in the upcoming ps4 spiderman.

 

[CoolestSpot]

MGSV

Hulk Ulimate Destruction

Ninja Gaiden

 

[twisted heart]

I don't think anything will ever beat Gravity Rush 2 for me in this regard.

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Can't believe it took that long to post the Queen.

 

[dyst]

Far Cry 4 to an extent (walking, running, vehicles, gliders, parachute, chopper and even an elephant).
Batman (walking, running, bat mobile, gliding and the zipline thing).

 

[Phabh]

BotW, Super Mario Odyssey, Celeste, Mark of the Ninja, Vanquish, Bayonetta (Panther mode), Arkham games...

 

[ClickyCal']

Any metroid game once you get the space jump/screw attack

 

[Aokiji]

I know Infamous Second Son wasn't everybody cup of tea, but moving around the city with the Neon powers was super fun.

Click to shrink...

Which is why I'm surprised SP wanted to do ninjas instead of more heroes because boy do they have super powered travel down