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What game takes home the trophy for “free roam” ?
- Thread starter Deleted member 10623
- Start date
Red Dead Redemption 2's world is hard to beat, from the incredible landscapes to the immersive wilderness.
I just loved exploring every nook and cranny.
I just loved exploring every nook and cranny.
EDIT: just noticed the wrong forum
Insomniac's Spider-Man. Both are phenomenal but I guess I'll give the edge to Miles Morales for being basically the same but more refined.
Never before has the mere act of movement been so satisfying. I've wasted countless play sessions just swinging through the city.
Never before has the mere act of movement been so satisfying. I've wasted countless play sessions just swinging through the city.
Well your thread has free roamed it's way right into etcetera side, somewhat appropriate I guess. Tough question to answer but probably Spider-Man, so much fun just swinging around even when there is nothing to do.
It has to be Witcher 3 for me. The amount of side quests and just hidden crap all over the place was insane. You could just pick a direction and start riding and you would come across something neat or interesting.
RDR2 is a very close second though. That game felt alive, but it was a bit more on rails than W3 to me.
RDR2 is a very close second though. That game felt alive, but it was a bit more on rails than W3 to me.
Gravity Rush 2. The best transversal system in gaming + a very unique and original city to explore
Lego Marvel Superheroes! No joke. My kids and I love playing the free mode split screen together.
Easily Breath of the Wild but Xenoblade X is definitely way up there too, more games need the running jump that X has
Bethesda games worlds are unmatched in stumbling into something along the world where most are barren.
Red Dead Redemption 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Yeah BGS's world design is incredibly good
Yeah BGS's world design is incredibly good
breath of the wild for me.
i can't remember the last time i was put into an open world map and was that excited to go explore it all. i felt like there was something to do or find where ever i went. it might only be a korok seed but it made me want to explore every corner. once you come off the great plateau you have an idea where to go but you can head off in any direction you want and i didn't want to immediately go progress the story i just wanted to see what was over there...
too many other games i didn't feel that freedom. either the story puts too much pressure on you or the game doesn't really give you a reason to want to explore.
i can't remember the last time i was put into an open world map and was that excited to go explore it all. i felt like there was something to do or find where ever i went. it might only be a korok seed but it made me want to explore every corner. once you come off the great plateau you have an idea where to go but you can head off in any direction you want and i didn't want to immediately go progress the story i just wanted to see what was over there...
too many other games i didn't feel that freedom. either the story puts too much pressure on you or the game doesn't really give you a reason to want to explore.
BotW.
Sure, the spider man games make free roam less boring because it's fun to swing around New York, but I couldn't recall (let alone name) asingle interesting location or land mark i naturally came across.
Meanwhile, no part of the map in BotW feels the same as any other.
Sure, the spider man games make free roam less boring because it's fun to swing around New York, but I couldn't recall (let alone name) asingle interesting location or land mark i naturally came across.
Meanwhile, no part of the map in BotW feels the same as any other.
Quite a few Era threads are "What is your favourite X" + 350 responses of "This one" with little to no direct interaction, elaboration or ongoing discussion.
Not saying there's anything inherently wrong with that, but it is a trend I've been spotting as I begin to hang out on these forums more often. "Snackable posting" is a thing, where the moment is enjoyed but little of true value is generated. It's a social media thing rather than an Era-specific thing though, it's unreasonable to expect every conversation on the web to be detailed and thought-provoking; sometimes people just want to project a simple thought onto a screen.
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To answer the topic though:
I feel that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a great example.
Although it does have missions and objectives, the minutiae of your actions can be pretty varied. SuperBunnyhop explained it rather well at the start of this video, in how some of the playstyles used can take you down a completely different path (both geographical and mechanical) than the "intended" one.
Combine this freedom of approach and dynamism of interwoven systemic elements with a really tight and responsive control set and this ended up being the game that "spoiled" open-world games for me, as very few play so good in your hands once you know what you're doing.
Completing MGSV
No story spoilers in this one, just gameplay. Extended talk about the experience of 100%ing Metal Gear Solid V.Last week on the TOVG podcast, I thought Peter...
www.youtube.com
The best I have actually played has to be BoTW. However I have Spider-Man/Mile Morales and also Gravity Rush 2 mentioned above installed so maybe it's just due to lack of experience that I choose Zelda.
AC-V for me, along with Skyrim and RDR2. I love the fact you can bugger off and go where ever you like in Valhalla right from the get go. Ok, you might get beaten to a pulp if you stray into areas underleveled, but you just have to sneak, and there is obviously lots to engage with if you want too, even if it's just basic resource gathering.
BotW because you actually feel like you're roaming and discovering things on your own. The world feels like it's full of secrets waiting to be discovered rather than a backdrop that's just there to fill in space between map markers.
If only any of that mastery had translated into a good game.
I will give RDR2 one thing: it is the only game I've ever tried a thousand times to find reasons to enjoy.
Never succeeded, but I tried.
RDR2 definitely takes the cake for just being able to just travel around without a purpose and still find shit to do, things to see, and just have a fun, pleasant time being there in the world. In the end game that is, before that you are a bit more limited with all of the SW closed off and such so there's some major barriers to just going where you want until then. But still what is available from the start is massive and dense with variety and content.
BotW wins out if you consider things from the get go. The no hard limits at all once you leave the Plateau is really something else. But the world is more hostile throughout due to Guardians roaming around that can really make certain areas super hostile and the world itself is less structured for just normal roaming around on horseback and demands more active climbing and traversal.
Spider-Man is unparalleled for just zipping around the city, but sadly I think it's brought down a lot by how stale the city itself. There's really nothing going on at the street level interaction wise and gameplay wise the game just is pretty weak when you're on foot. The way Peter/Miles controls and everything does not translate well on foot or even close to the ground at slow speeds at all except when in fight where you quickly lock onto enemies and flip around.
Ghost of Tsushima is pretty great to just roam around in too in the late/post game, but the world just isn't as reactive/interactive as BotW or RDR. So it's just pretty to look at and going around, maybe hunting some left over Mongols, but you can't hunt or find NPC AI doing cool shit or anything like that. So it's a pretty static experience, jaw dropingly pretty as it is. Best horse controls of the generation too which really helps.
BotW wins out if you consider things from the get go. The no hard limits at all once you leave the Plateau is really something else. But the world is more hostile throughout due to Guardians roaming around that can really make certain areas super hostile and the world itself is less structured for just normal roaming around on horseback and demands more active climbing and traversal.
Spider-Man is unparalleled for just zipping around the city, but sadly I think it's brought down a lot by how stale the city itself. There's really nothing going on at the street level interaction wise and gameplay wise the game just is pretty weak when you're on foot. The way Peter/Miles controls and everything does not translate well on foot or even close to the ground at slow speeds at all except when in fight where you quickly lock onto enemies and flip around.
Ghost of Tsushima is pretty great to just roam around in too in the late/post game, but the world just isn't as reactive/interactive as BotW or RDR. So it's just pretty to look at and going around, maybe hunting some left over Mongols, but you can't hunt or find NPC AI doing cool shit or anything like that. So it's a pretty static experience, jaw dropingly pretty as it is. Best horse controls of the generation too which really helps.