Games where you can get lost

[Bobular]

I left behind hundreds of tiny houses that I couldn't find my way back to when I first started playing Minecraft. It got to the stage where I wouldn't explore anywhere that wasn't in line of sight of one of the giant beacons I started making everywhere, exploration became a task of find highest mountain, build beacon, explore area, go to next area and build beacon in sight of first beacon.

I just put a couple of cobblestone blocks on top of each other every now and then and then place a torch to indicate the direction I came from. Giant beacons are useful, but they aren't always reliable due to draw distance.
Real navigational problems don't start until I'm on a boat. A boat is a sure way to get really lost. Especially when looking for a jungle biome.

Why do things the practical way? Sure little way stones would be easier, but can it compare to giant towers with eternally burning fires from hell at the top?

Also I always found boats a sure fire way to end up stranded as I always managed to hit something and destroy the boat, I was always terrible at using boats.

Not that I have played in awhile, but with the addition of a starting map, I never leave my map. Once I get the materials for a new map, then I use it on the next map-sized square. The main issue is remembering where on the map my base is. The last time I played I was based on a bay/beach and eventually did sail south and east and made bases there, but I always stayed along the coast.

Yeah maps were a lifesaver when they came out and from then on I never left home without them, though it did get rid of the feeling I got from managing to navigate back home only using the local natural landmarks.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Morro---oh...meh, screw it, Morrowind. No quest arrows, no dungeon finder. Hell, when you were told to go to a place, they gave you real directions, like "Go down the road south of town until you reach the fort, turn right until you can turn left, then go until..."

Two World is an underrated diamond in the rough. The game is pretty huge and tries a few interesting ideas that other games dont. 2 is a better game, but its more...focused, so if you want a big world to explore, Id say 1 more than 2. Alot of different environments, like frozen tundra, open deserts, and even a huge bamboo forest.

I've tried to play Morrowind twice in the past (granted, vanilla, which is like driving a car with flat tires), but both times I just couldn't get into it. I felt like the game didn't give two shits about what I did, and absolutely not in a good way. If we use Soulsborne as a good example of that, those games at least have some indication and sense of where you're supposed to be going, even if the "what" is often completely obscure. Morrowind's incredibly shitty draw distance ensured that there were no mountains I could spot in the distance, get on my way and discover the game on the way there. Things just pop into view about 50m in front of you, be it a puddle of water or a massive city. The game basically says "k, go grind some levels or sumthin" after the first quest. The interface was horrifically bloated and unintuitive (why in the fuck does the game need to ask me how many gold coins I want to loot?????), and there was little to no sense of direction or purpose to any of it. The fuckers couldn't even put an indicator on screen to display you're wielding a weapon outside your ability, leaving my spear-specialized character whacking at a rat for 10 minutes with the iron sparksword they give you in the beginning.

I might check out Two Worlds 2 though.

 

[Saelune]

Morro---oh...meh, screw it, Morrowind. No quest arrows, no dungeon finder. Hell, when you were told to go to a place, they gave you real directions, like "Go down the road south of town until you reach the fort, turn right until you can turn left, then go until..."

Two World is an underrated diamond in the rough. The game is pretty huge and tries a few interesting ideas that other games dont. 2 is a better game, but its more...focused, so if you want a big world to explore, Id say 1 more than 2. Alot of different environments, like frozen tundra, open deserts, and even a huge bamboo forest.

I've tried to play Morrowind twice in the past (granted, vanilla, which is like driving a car with flat tires), but both times I just couldn't get into it. I felt like the game didn't give two shits about what I did, and absolutely not in a good way. If we use Soulsborne as a good example of that, those games at least have some indication and sense of where you're supposed to be going, even if the "what" is often completely obscure. Morrowind's incredibly shitty draw distance ensured that there were no mountains I could spot in the distance, get on my way and discover the game on the way there. The game basically says "k, go grind some levels or sumthin" after the first quest. The interface was horrifically bloated and unintuitive (why in the fuck does the game need to ask me how many gold coins I want to loot?????), and there was little to no sense of direction or purpose to any of it. The fuckers couldn't even put an indicator on screen to display you're wielding a weapon outside your ability, leaving my spear-specialized character whacking at a rat for 10 minutes with the iron sparksword they give you in the beginning.

I might check out Two Worlds 2 though.

I havent had issue with draw distance. As for "should go" that kind of depends on you. I always valued the freedom Morrowind gave me that later games didnt.

As for "go grind" Im guessing you mean when Caius says "Before I give you orders (main quest) etc". The idea is to join the local guilds that will help you get your bearings. The guilds in Balmora are very lvl 1 friendly.

I also wont say the game doesnt show age, cause it does, but until a new TES outshines Morrowind's freedom and depth, I will continue touting it as the best of the series.

As for your skills, well, you only get better by doing. Ultimately for weapons, pick one weapon as a main skill and use that. Also there are 3 types of attacks, a stationary "Chop" a side to side "Slash" and a forward/back "Thrust". Something to keep in mind as each weapon has different thresholds for each. Spears for example usually only have good thrust and poor other attacks. There is a "use best attack" option, but I dont think it always uses the best.

Im not saying you should feel bad for not getting into it, I just cant sit with you and help you play it, cause I would if I could. (Maybe I should start a "big brother/sister" style charity where people go around helping other people get started in Morrowind)

As for Two Worlds, the plot is actually connected, since you play as the same guy in 1 and 2 and they are direct sequels, incase you care. And I will say again, the world in 1 is better, the gameplay in 2 is better. (And they are making a third game which I am excited for)

 

[Xprimentyl]

I've tried to play Morrowind twice in the past (granted, vanilla, which is like driving a car with flat tires), but both times I just couldn't get into it. I felt like the game didn't give two shits about what I did, and absolutely not in a good way. If we use Soulsborne as a good example of that, those games at least have some indication and sense of where you're supposed to be going, even if the "what" is often completely obscure. Morrowind's incredibly shitty draw distance ensured that there were no mountains I could spot in the distance, get on my way and discover the game on the way there. The game basically says "k, go grind some levels or sumthin" after the first quest. The interface was horrifically bloated and unintuitive (why in the fuck does the game need to ask me how many gold coins I want to loot?????), and there was little to no sense of direction or purpose to any of it. The fuckers couldn't even put an indicator on screen to display you're wielding a weapon outside your ability, leaving my spear-specialized character whacking at a rat for 10 minutes with the iron sparksword they give you in the beginning.

I couldn't dispute your claims if I wanted to as they are all subjectively valid, but those are the EXACT reasons I think I love Morrowind so much. It demands your full attention at ALL times, and to me that serves to make the world and lore that much more engrossing and, for lack of a better term, realistic.

 

[09philj]

Skyrim. Oh, you can set an objective marker, but that doesn't help when night falls and you suddenly find out there's a mountain in the way (There's always a mountain in the way). It is also nearly impossible to approach any given structure from the direction which has roads and bridges, leading you have to walk all the way round it to find the bloody way in.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

If people thought Morrowind was terrible with this, stay as far away from Daggerfall as humanly possible.

No guide or walkthrough to help you out of the many, many randomly-generated, monster-infested dungeons or caverns. Unless you're a mage or you're handy with save games, you're screwed if you go too far in without decent stats or equipment. Of course, you can choose to ignore most of those quests if you enjoy doing more mundane chores for NPCs

 

[Xprimentyl]

I havent had issue with draw distance. As for "should go" that kind of depends on you. I always valued the freedom Morrowind gave me that later games didnt.

As for "go grind" Im guessing you mean when Caius says "Before I give you orders (main quest) etc". The idea is to join the local guilds that will help you get your bearings. The guilds in Balmora are very lvl 1 friendly.

I also wont say the game doesnt show age, cause it does, but until a new TES outshines Morrowind's freedom and depth, I will continue touting it as the best of the series.

As for your skills, well, you only get better by doing. Ultimately for weapons, pick one weapon as a main skill and use that. Also there are 3 types of attacks, a stationary "Chop" a side to side "Slash" and a forward/back "Thrust". Something to keep in mind as each weapon has different thresholds for each. Spears for example usually only have good thrust and poor other attacks. There is a "use best attack" option, but I dont think it always uses the best.

Im not saying you should feel bad for not getting into it, I just cant sit with you and help you play it, cause I would if I could. (Maybe I should start a "big brother/sister" style charity where people go around helping other people get started in Morrowind)

As for Two Worlds, the plot is actually connected, since you play as the same guy in 1 and 2 and they are direct sequels, incase you care. And I will say again, the world in 1 is better, the gameplay in 2 is better. (And they are making a third game which I am excited for)

^This. Oblivion and Skyrim were both fun, but there easily came a point in both when I felt I was done. Had the best weapons, armor, every location identified on the map, etc., because the games overtly TOOK me everything I needed, and since loot only leveled with the player character, there was literally no need to explore the unknown early on; if you did stumble across something of significance, chances are it's a location involved in a side quest later on and/or you get stuck with an item you can't drop because the game refuses to let you "break" the narrative by losing/selling items it needs for side narrative purposes. Oblivion and Skyrim (while fun) were "highly linear" tales oversold as "choose your own adventures." It's condescending, really. Morrowind, however, it was nothing for me to discover something unique and take it back to my house and store it away only to have it mentioned HOURS later during a lengthy side quest and I'm accountable for remember where I put it! It was true sense of accomplishment and discovery, and on the rare occasion I would lose something important, essentially locking parts of the stories out, it made subsequent playthroughs that much more anticipated.

 

[Evonisia]

Bloodborne. Man, those streets and branching pathways does get an inebriated woodland creature lost pretty easily.

Agreed. Even on subsequent playthroughs I find myself exploring just to get myself back on the correct path which never happened to me in the other Soulsbourne games.

 

[Hades]

I always get lost in Halo II actually. Its not in a good way

The level Quarantine Zone has a very confusing layout. The snowy fields and burning...caves? all look the same to me. It doesn't help that the stage is so bloody dark.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Bloodborne. Man, those streets and branching pathways does get an inebriated woodland creature lost pretty easily.

Agreed. Even on subsequent playthroughs I find myself exploring just to get myself back on the correct path which never happened to me in the other Soulsbourne games.

Yeah, they really nailed the dense, interconnected, Gothic, labyrinthian design. That game is more metal than any other that attempts to label itself so. Still have yet to try the DLC.

Am currently attempting to play Lone Survivor, Director's Cut (do I have to keep putting these subtitles up? Does anyone care?), I don't know where I am, where I'm going, what I'm supposed to be doing, who I am, where everybody else has gone...previous areas keep changing, keep having surreal trips, no idea what most the items do, the few people I do meet talk solely in riddles before disappearing god knows where, there's a weird cryptic man with a box on his head!...that game embodies "lost" like I embody early morning whiskey and crushing silence. And its a damn sidescroller, for pigeon hell's sake! Though I think all that is part of the game's intentionp, so alright then, off the hook.

 

[pookie101]

fallout 4 in the boston ruins. 1600 hours and i still get constantly lost in the alley ways in the city proper

Really? After 1600 hours?! I'm on like 200 and I got shit down!

im talking about the little side alley ways, sure you just have to go north and you will hit the river or you will spot a landmark but yeah in those little alley ways i still get lost

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

Thief. You have a compass and map to navigate yourself around. Except in many cases the map looks like this:

Spoiler

[img src=http://66.media.tumblr.com/a2451155dfd4f2a1b9100b81d017d1d3/tumblr_nptbhghiis1uslacwo1_500.jpg][/spoiler]


And while some of the maps you get appear to be more detailed: [spoiler]
[img src=http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/thief/images/2/2c/TG_M7_map_PAGE001.jpg]
[img src=http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/wo1fwood/blog/thief4/citymap.jpg][/spoiler] Turns out these are also outdated, so many of the passages visible on the map are now blocked by crap or simply do not exist.

Which is a thing i like, cause it actually encourages you to explore and builds up the atmosphere of traversing through alien, unwelcoming territory.

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Lost Guardia in Wizardry 7.

Even if you did have a party member with high mapmaking, it can happen out in the wilderness, you make a wrong turn at Albuquerque and..ho boy...what you find out there in terms of encounters. I met random encounters more powerful than the end game plot encounters.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Just throwing this out there. The original Darkness. Great game and when you were playing it you got a gist for where everything was. But I tried playing it again a bit more casually (as in not over the space of 2days like I originally did) and that city is confusing. Like you have to know which train station to take to connect to one hub and which back alley to walk and if you don't you end up wondering around lost.

I've always thought this game didn't get the attention it deserved. The story was really well constructed and dark without being too edgy about things. The WW1 themed Darkness world was so eerie.

You are very right about getting lost in the city though. I remember countless times getting turned around and going in circles just trying to get to the next objective. Thematically, wandering around this cold, lonely city completely lost makes a lot of sense. While you're spending upwards of 15 minutes just trying to figure out where to go it's hard to embrace that.

 

[lechat]

I remember soul reaver legacy of kain being a bit of a nightmare with it's changing of dimensions and world skewing.

 

[wings012]

Anything a decade old or more and isn't completely linear. The moment you have a map and quest marker, out goes being lost so to say.

Project Zomboid can be easy to get lost in. Though you can look up an online map and easily triangulate your own position, but I don't think the game offers you anything in the way of navigation thus far. Go to loot house for more peanut butter, alarm goes off, gotta bounce in a random direction of least incoming zombies and hide in some shed somewhere.... no longer know where the hell I am or where my safehouse is.

 

[WolfThomas]

I've always thought this game didn't get the attention it deserved. The story was really well constructed and dark without being too edgy about things. The WW1 themed Darkness world was so eerie.

You are very right about getting lost in the city though. I remember countless times getting turned around and going in circles just trying to get to the next objective. Thematically, wandering around this cold, lonely city completely lost makes a lot of sense. While you're spending upwards of 15 minutes just trying to figure out where to go it's hard to embrace that.

Really great game. And the sequel while entirely different in style and gameplay was fun too. I prefer the first, one thing I've never another game do before is it's use of actual real life television shows and movies. The part with To Kill a Mockingbird and the way you'd find goons watching old black and white movies (which years ago is often what you'd find at 3-4am in the morning on TV stations.

Really grounded the whole thing.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

None of you guys ever played Daggerfall

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

Project Zomboid can be easy to get lost in. Though you can look up an online map and easily triangulate your own position, but I don't think the game offers you anything in the way of navigation thus far. Go to loot house for more peanut butter, alarm goes off, gotta bounce in a random direction of least incoming zombies and hide in some shed somewhere.... no longer know where the hell I am or where my safehouse is.

Hence why it's a good idea to make your safehouse A: In a distinctive location or B: Leave some landmarkers of your own. Before I got pretty familiar with the towns, I built small signs at points just in case.

 

[Saelune]

None of you guys ever played Daggerfall

Considering Daggerfall is probably bigger than Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim combined, yet twice as empty, its not a fun kind of lost. But it also has justified fast travel.

Still better than Oblivion though. (To add, Arena is the worst TES game, but thats because it doesnt play like a TES game, cause it wasn't until Daggerfall that TES started down the path to TESdom, beyond the surprising amount of in-game lore.)