Hey all, I’m on the hunt for games that really suck you into their world, the kind where you look up and suddenly three hours have gone by.
Games I’ve loved and couldn’t put down:
- Plague Tale
- Horizon
- Subnautica
- Mass Effect
- Expedition 33
- Homeworld
Doesn’t matter the gente, as long as it’s got that vibe where you just exist in the atmosphere and forget about everything else.
What are your go-to games when you want to disappear into another world? Bonus appreciation if it’s something underrated or off the beaten path.
Edit: Thank you all. I will definitely keep this thread bookmarked. You all dwarved what I found on Reddit ir any other platform! Well done!
Dishonored and BioShock come to mind.
They’ve likely already been mentioned.
- Subnautica
>“Atmospheric” game
>Looks inside
>Water.
This is Breath Of The Wild or Death Stranding. Both got me through COVID lockdown.
Firewatch was a good game for me to get immersed in for an evening. It involves hiking around an isolated open world park. It follows a linear story which is pretty interesting, but I think there’s an option to wander freely after completion
Gravity Rush.
OMG I could float for hours in this game and I HATE TRAVERSAL. Like, literally traversing long distances is one of the main reasons I never play open world games.
Gravity Rush is one of a kind though.
Obduction was incredible, especially in VR.
Noita.
Just be prepared to die. A lot.
Caves of Qud has a pretty substantial learning curve, unfortunately. But if you can get through it, the story and world are deeply engrossing. I think they even won a few writing awards a while back.
Edit: Also, Hyper Light Drifter has immaculate vibes.
Caves of Qud is one of my favorite games of all time! The writing got a Hugo award last year. The story is developed algorithmically for each playthrough, with historical events that affect the towns and factions within the game. It’s tone is amazing, I can’t recommend it enough for people who enjoy roguelikes.
Cyberpunk 2077. It had a lot to build on with the IP being decades old with a lot of worldbuilding done already. Such a huge, intricate, and alive world. My first playthrough took 200 hours just from exploration, and there’s a TON i never got to. Over 1k hours later, there’s still connections i haven’t made, secrets i haven’t found. I honestly haven’t found a more immersive game for me.
Runner up: Red Dead Redemption 2. Again, the world is so alive and detailed that my immersion goes off the charts. Another 200hr first playthrough. NPCs have lives and schedules, the voice acting is fantastic, and the overall world building is immaculate. Tiny details that 0.01% of players would ever notice are carefully constructed (Lemat cartridges, looking at you). Wildlife interacts realistically with other wildlife and other stimuli. Cats in cities will search for, find, and hunt mice. I never fast traveled because just riding across the landscape and looking around was a better time. Could not recommend more highly, but watching or playing the first one first is advised.
Fallout NV
While it may not be everyone’s cup of tea there’s something about playing NV with radio NV running and running around the emptier parts of the map, then I get jumped by a bunch Romaboo larpers.
Arcanum
While it’s immesian is a bit different it’s music and story telling can drag me in easily.
Outer wilds
Death is inevitable, so you may as well enjoy some music with your pals.
Disco Elysium. I’m surprised it wasn’t mentioned yet. There was also legal drama with the original creators, so feel free to pirate. Not that Lemmy needs convincing of it.
I can’t get it to run with Linux. Must check again…
https://www.protondb.com/app/632470
You should as lots of folks say it works straight away.
If you don’t mind a somewhat old game, The Void by Icepick Lodge https://www.gog.com/en/game/void_the
Similarly, if you don’t mind an actually old game, Thief 1 + 2 have probably the best ambiance I’ve ever seen: https://www.gog.com/en/game/thief_2_the_metal_age
I’ve been getting into Avowed and having more fun than I expected. The dialogue is a bit bland though so I’m glad you can speed read and skip.
Sekiro
Lies of P
Hollow Knight & Silksong
Outer Wilds
Space puzzle exploration game. It’s the kind of game where it’s best to go in as blind as possible. I will say no more.
I tried it. I think I’m not smart enough for the puzzles. I go to a place and don’t seem to be able to complete much. It says there’s something left, and I can’t find it. It gets frustrating. I still have it installed because I love the atmosphere so much.
One thing to be aware of is that you can’t just go to a location and “complete it”… It’s not like normal video games where you just grind until there’s nothing left to do in a specific spot. Many times you don’t have the necessary knowledge to complete a location, and you must go and explore elsewhere to learn how to proceed in your previous locations.
If you want a more tailored nudge to proceed, feel free to DM me with what you have discovered, and preferably a screenshot of your computer in “Rumor mode”
The game is very nonlinear. If you can’t solve a puzzle in one place, you should go to another. Some puzzles require hints from elsewhere.
I had to look up a few solutions when I was done with exploration. That was a little bit unsatisfying but it didn’t ruin the game for me.
They’ve been making games like that since FOREVER. The original Myst is like that. It can be extremely frustrating and I’d just give up on recommending games like that to people if they push back. It can be very anxiety inducing to walk into an area and wonder obsessively if there is some clue you missed or object you need to pick up to combine with another object and if there is a puzzle where the solution lies…
Ah, I see. I love these kinds of games so I’m a bit ignorant to how others perceive them. If that’s how you feel then of course the game’s just not for you.
I want to play Myst one day. Everything I hear about this game says me I’m gonna love it.
I’ve got this problem too. I played a bit more than you, but now I’m stuck and don’t know how to proceed. It’s more frustrating than engaging. I feel like I already looked for every hint the game provides.
Also I never experienced the much hyped revelations or what everyone talks about.
The revelations come later… The early game is mostly driven by an “oh that looks cool” exploration. You start seeing some puzzle pieces. Then as you explore for the sake of exploring, you find a few patterns but can’t see how they interact. This is where the game starts to get frustrating, you don’t know where to go, and the knowledge you have gained doesn’t make enough sense to be able to start piecing things together, this ms where most people get stuck. But if you persevere, then at some point you will discover a piece that connects some of the patterns you found before, and suddenly you can start exploring in a more focused fashion. Only well into this section you start experiencing the revelations.
If you want a more tailored nudge to proceed, feel free to DM me with what you have discovered, and preferably a screenshot of your computer in “Rumor mode”
Thanks, I’ll need to get back to the games some time.
I could check a guide. But am too stubborn to do that. Checking a guide feels like falling. 😄
I bought it two years ago, still haven’t played past the first little cave thing. I suppose I’ll find my way back to it this winter.
I bought it specifically because its soundtrack was absolutely amazing (not knowing anything about the game itself).
Unfortunately, it did not play as well as it sounded 😿
