Re: What Have You Been Playing... IN APRIL 2025?

On Wed, 7 May 2025 09:43:16 +0100, JAB <noway@nochance.com> wrote:

On 06/05/2025 23:25, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

I got similar joys wandering around Skyrim too. The autumnal forests
around Riften were particular favorites. I got similar -but not as
intense- joy from the Grand Theft Auto games; GTA4 in particular had
lots of nifty nooks and crannies to discover, and I loved comparing
its representation of NYC with my memories of the real thing.

>
Skyrim, like FO:3/NV, is one of those games that does it well as you can
pretty much ignore the main quest and wander off where you like, to see
what little stories you can find and explore.
>

I don't get that experience from all open-world games; for instance,
Ubisoft games all feel to generic, seemingly made of cut-n-paste
locations and once you've seen a little bit of the map, you've pretty
much seen it all. (and seen it for the next five games to boot). But
the joy of wandering open worlds obviously isn't unique to me alone; a
lot of 'walking sims' are essentially nothing BUT that joy,
encapsulated in a single game.

>
Out of the walking sims I've played Firewatch I found does this the
best. The map is compact enough that it's all walking, without been
excessive, but it's nice to just take in the scenery and atmosphere.
>

"Firewatch" is beautiful, even despite (or perhaps because of?) its
extremely stylized visuals. I don't get quite the glee wandering its
maps though, just because it's

    a) a bit too small; you can traverse the map in ten
       or fifteen minutes
    b) there's a lack of interactivity
    c) too many invisible walls shuffling me down almost
       corridor-like regions
    d) the quest takes you to pretty much every corner of
       the map already, leaving little room for exploration.

Instead, if I want wilderness adventures, I usually rely on "The
Hunter: Call of the Wild", which offers much broader vistas (if not
quite as enjoyable atmosphere. But it gets close, sometimes)

Which isn't to dismiss "Firewatch", of course. But its map works in
symphony with its story, and the one without the other is far less
enjoyable than the combination. I just don't get the same happiness
wandering in "Firewatch" that I do in other games without Deliah
nattering in my ear, which is what happens if you use it as a
wander-simulator (e.g., playing it after the main quest is over, for
instance)