I want to go on a lonely adventure into an unknown, interesting world. Any PC recommendations?

[loa]

You played starbound but not terraria?

 

[ninja666]

You played starbound but not terraria?

I played both. I just liked Starbound much more than Terraria.

 

[loa]

Well then that leaves dark souls as the archetypical lonely adventure that is open world-ish kind of game.

 

[ninja666]

Well then that leaves dark souls as the archetypical lonely adventure that is open world-ish kind of game.

While I like Dark Souls as a series, it doesn't really fit what I'm looking for. The world isn't open nearly enough, the progression is mostly linear, and there isn't really anything to do in these games apart from killing enemies and bosses.

 

[American Fox]

Also, you could buy a 2TB external drive to put your bigger games on. You could get one sub-$100.

That way you totally could sexperience the stuff you want.

Unfortunately, I don't live in a first world country. Hardware over here is ridiculously expensive. A good quality 2TB external hard drive would cost about a quarter of a monthly minimum wage.

So Papers, Please is a reality sim for you, then?

 

[ninja666]

So Papers, Please is a reality sim for you, then?

It actually was till '89. Nowadays it's not that bad. We're just much poorer than the rest of the EU, but other than that, life's pretty normal here.

 

[Asita]

Subnautica, perhaps? It's perhaps a bit sparser than you're looking for and I'm not really versed on specs outside of my own, but there is something to be said about being stranded on and exploring an alien, underwater world. Main quest is basically trying to get off the world (which you can't do yet. The game is still early access and updating regularly), but the bulk of the content is exploring, trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B, crafting/resource collecting (food and water included)...and trying to avoid the Reaper Leviathans.

Nice suggestion. Might be something up my alley. I'm not gonna play it right now because I don't play Early Access games, but I'll definitely keep an eye out for when it's fully finished. Thanks for suggesting it.

Ordinarily I'm the same, but following a few people playing through the game convinced me it was complete enough as a sandbox to warrant an exception in my books. For reference sake, full release is slated for August or September this year.

 

[ninja666]

Ordinarily I'm the same, but following a few people playing through the game convinced me it was complete enough as a sandbox to warrant an exception in my books. For reference sake, full release is slated for August or September this year.

Well, August and September aren't that far from now. Might as well wait those two or three months and get a complete release instead of playing an incomplete one right now.

 

[Trunkage]

So Papers, Please is a reality sim for you, then?

It actually was till '89. Nowadays it's not that bad. We're just much poorer than the rest of the EU, but other than that, life's pretty normal here.

Well, that got a little too real...

EDIT: I should add a suggestion. How about the original parts to the trilogy for the Witcher. They are set in acts with smaller maps but I think they are still good. (Witcher 3 has segments to the map too, but there is one huge one that you spend 2/3 of you time in.)
Maybe Sunless Sea. I spent almost 100 hrs on that, but it does have you going back to places repeatedly to advance the story. It well worth it.
If you are willing to give a Witcher 2 map a go, Deus Ex? Any of those is full of stuff that will keep you entertained.

May not be what you want though

 

[lacktheknack]

Not quite what you want, but based off of the title alone, "The Void" would be really good. As would the Myst games if you're into puzzles.

 

[MHR]

I'm very starved for a decent open world experience right now.

How has nobody mentioned Don't Starve? It fits the OP's description perfectly. You've been tricked into creating a portal device that transports you into a strange and isolated wilderness world and must use your wits to try and figure out how to survive, fight, craft, and not starve. It's a top-down isometric indie game and $23 dollars gets you the base game, and 2 expansions. Reign of Giants adds new content that makes the game even harder, and Shipwrecked offers an alternate sea exploration world with lots of island hopping.

But it has permanent death. There are ways to use mysterious magics that can give you another chance at life, but when you die you get XP totaled up based on how long you've survived and that unlocks new characters.

Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and I recommend it. It's one of my favorite games because it's not really like any other. You'll have to decide though whether you want the single player version or the Don't Starve Together multiplayer since they are 2 different games.

 

[American Fox]

I'm very starved for a decent open world experience right now.

How has nobody mentioned Don't Starve? It fits the OP's description perfectly. You've been tricked into creating a portal device that transports you into a strange and isolated wilderness world and must use your wits to try and figure out how to survive, fight, craft, and not starve. It's a top-down isometric indie game and $23 dollars gets you the base game, and 2 expansions. Reign of Giants adds new content that makes the game even harder, and Shipwrecked offers an alternate sea exploration world with lots of island hopping.

But it has permanent death. There are ways to use mysterious magics that can give you another chance at life, but when you die you get XP totaled up based on how long you've survived and that unlocks new characters.

Steam reviews are overwhelmingly positive, and I recommend it. It's one of my favorite games because it's not really like any other. You'll have to decide though whether you want the single player version or the Don't Starve Together multiplayer since they are 2 different games.

Oh, fuck.

I forgot about it. Klei games are so awesome, I have them all. They just put a base builder game into early access called Oxygen Not Included. It has everything I wanted, plus its adorable, with the Don't Starve art asthetic. I've refunded Factorio, Rimworld, Slime Rancher, and a few others, none of them quite scratch the itch that Klei games have.

P.S. Play Mark of the Ninja

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Uru. Definitely Uru.

 

[maninahat]

Subnautica, perhaps? It's perhaps a bit sparser than you're looking for and I'm not really versed on specs outside of my own, but there is something to be said about being stranded on and exploring an alien, underwater world. Main quest is basically trying to get off the world (which you can't do yet. The game is still early access and updating regularly), but the bulk of the content is exploring, trying to figure out how to get from Point A to Point B, crafting/resource collecting (food and water included)...and trying to avoid the Reaper Leviathans.

I second Subnautica. One thing I like about it is that it isn't some procedurally generated POS, the world has been entirely hand crafted, so stuff is laid out rather nicely. If you play it, I recommend doing the non-survival version, in which you don't have to worry about food or water - you still have to watch out for things like oxygen and killer fish, but it gives you far more time to explore.

 

[loa]

Oh, there is no mention of skyrim in here.
I guess you already sunk your 200 hours into that one but if not, this was and is THE prototypical world to get lost in kind of game. Especially with that kind of modding community.

 

[American Fox]

Oh, there is no mention of skyrim in here.
I guess you already sunk your 200 hours into that one but if not, this was and is THE prototypical world to get lost in kind of game. Especially with that kind of modding community.

You claimed to have read the thread? Hard disk space is limited along with already talking about Bethesda games in the first post.

 

[ninja666]

How about the original parts to the trilogy for the Witcher. They are set in acts with smaller maps but I think they are still good. (Witcher 3 has segments to the map too, but there is one huge one that you spend 2/3 of you time in.)

I've already played the first two Witcher games. They don't really fit what I'm looking for, though. The maps are too small and the game is too story-driven for what I need right now.

Maybe Sunless Sea. I spent almost 100 hrs on that, but it does have you going back to places repeatedly to advance the story. It well worth it.

I had a look at it. I don't really like its presentation. It's just a representation of a ship, sliding around a representation of a world map, looking at representations of Lovecraftian horrors. It doesn't feel too immersive to me.

If you are willing to give a Witcher 2 map a go, Deus Ex? Any of those is full of stuff that will keep you entertained.

I tried giving both Deus Ex 1 and 3 a try numerous times over the years, and every time I just couldn't play them for longer than two-three hours before becoming bored of them. I guess they're just not my cup of tea.

Well first I recommend getting some mods for Starbound, namely the Frackin' Universe mod, which overhauls the universe generation and adds a lot of content. I also recommend race mods, the Elithian races mod.

I'll check them out, thanks. I assume they work with 1.0 (i.e. non-Early Access) release?

Honourable mention: The Underhell mod for Half-Life 2 is a bit of an iffy example, it doesn't really have a strange or particularly open world, in fact it's more of a metroidvania game. It does have that lonely adventure part for the first two thirds of chapter 1. The thing is chapter 1 and the prologue are all that's out now but chapter 1 is actually quite large. It's certainly not large as a regular sandbox game but there are some sidequests, though they only happen around a small part of the game.

It looks nice, but I'm not really a fan of a zombie apocalypse setting. The fact that this mod is technically unfinished doesn't really help either.

I'm very starved for a decent open world experience right now.

How has nobody mentioned Don't Starve? It fits the OP's description perfectly. You've been tricked into creating a portal device that transports you into a strange and isolated wilderness world and must use your wits to try and figure out how to survive, fight, craft, and not starve. It's a top-down isometric indie game and $23 dollars gets you the base game, and 2 expansions. Reign of Giants adds new content that makes the game even harder, and Shipwrecked offers an alternate sea exploration world with lots of island hopping.

But it has permanent death. There are ways to use mysterious magics that can give you another chance at life, but when you die you get XP totaled up based on how long you've survived and that unlocks new characters.

Thanks but no thanks. I hate games that have permanent death. I don't want to lose my entire progress because of one single fuck up. Even Terraria and Starbound I played on a difficulty where dying meant simply respawning at your home base. I play those games for fun, and permadeath doesn't equal fun in my book.

Uru. Definitely Uru.

I googled it and the only game that comes up is Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, so I assume you meant that game. It's not really a game for me. I suck at puzzle games. Hard.


Overall, I think I'll either pick myself up a copy of Darksiders 2, or dig up my Two Worlds DVD from the bottom of the drawer. From all of the suggestions so far, they seem to fit what I'm looking for the most (if not perfectly). If you have any more suggestions, then by all means, feel free to post them - I'll be observing this thread for a little while longer. Although in general I feel I'm already satisfied with what you've given me, so thank you all for the help once again, especially to Adam Jensen and Saelune.

 

[ninja666]

Sweet Jebus, nobody threw out Stalker: SOC or COP yet? If you haven't, give those a whirl OP, especially being a fan of fallout 4. Fallout 4:survival mode is the closest thing I've played to a stalker joint since they popped.

If you do choose to take the dive though, consider using the 2009 complete (for SOC) and 2012 complete (for COP) mods for a nice bit of smoothening and enhancing of the experience.

Ha, I was just about to suggest these. SoC in particular can be rough around the edges but they all capture the feeling of isolation and scavenging resources rather superbly. They are also perhaps more immersive than the stuff like OP mentioned since you pretty much live and die off of what you physically collect as you go, with the only real gamey aspects being some of the creatures you encounter and paranormal story elements.

On the other hand, that may damper the sense of wonder constantly exploring new and interesting places full of loot or artifacts since it's all based on an existing, dilapidated landscape. I'd say if OP appreciates immersion over the gamier kind of surprises then these could be right up the proverbial alley.


*edit* Just read OP played SoC, but the Complete Mod 2009 and Zone Reclaimation Project both add enough to distinguish them from the original. The former yields more of a presentation-based set of enhancements, while the latter focuses mainly on greatly enhancing the vanilla game in terms of gameplay immersion.

In short, go with Complete Mod if you just want to be dazzled, and ZRP if you want a unique challenge.

 

[JUMBO PALACE]

Niet Automata has a lot of the things you're looking for. It's story driven but there are a TON of side quests and content for you to explore at your own pace and at any time. Plus the world has exactly the aesthetic you described- lonely, barren, melancholic. The music and narrative all revolve around this loneliness and meaninglessness.