On Exploration

[reiem531]

I have to say, the incredible detail and unsurpassed hugeness of SotC's world set it apart from every other conventionally "big," over-world. While looking for somewhere around the 9th or 10th colossus, I stumbled upon a small lake with beautiful scenery. I later found the shortest path to the next colossus and realized that through the entire game, had I not gone off course and instead taken the shortest possible route I never would have seen that place.

 

[Booze Zombie]

"You know. Fuckwits."
I love it, Yahtzee!

Would Saint's Row 2 fall into the category of "exploration" or does it being in a sandbox make it more of a "dicking around" sort of game, due to every area being built more just to contain the activies and diversions than for aesthetic appeal?
Either way we slice it, though, good fun.

Looking forward to your next video and article, keep up the great work!

 

[MasterV]

Exploration is a good thing, but only if the world is worth exploring. Wind Waker and SotC are the perfect examples of a world not worth exploring imho. Empty, bland with next to nothing in rewards.

On the other side of the scale we have games like the Metroid Prime Trilogy and the recent 2D Castlevanias. Games with worlds full of secrets and wonders at every turn.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Metroid Prime's first person perspective did horrible things to the platforming element, but it really brought out the bleak, exotic environment design.

I had zero problems with the platforming in Metroid Prime, but then again I didn't have problems with Turok on the N64, I must be some sort of first person platforming god.

 

[imnot]

Right off the bat, I agree with you. About throttling xSmootx, that is. As a fan of Kingdom of Loathing, I remember when he was a particularly notorious troll in that game's forums. It was truly rare for the Powers that Be to ban someone just for being annoying, but he was the exception.

KOL is a brilliant game isnt it, dont play it much anymore though. anyway i like it when theres loads to explore, fallout 3 oblivion ect 100 hours each found about 50% in oblivion and about 40 in fallout

 

[The Brewin]

I think the biggest thing undersold about SOTC was the emotional attachment you forge with the 'characters', that is you, your horse, the mysterious dead girl and the colossi...considering none have any tangible or actual dialogue between one another, you grow incredibly mentally drawn to the colossi, the hulking beasts that I actually felt sorry for.

After years of playing computer games and torturing guards in Metal Gear Solid 2 (you know, shoot out the guys radio, leg and arm and watch him scamper off as you take pot shots at him, just seconds after he begged you not to kill him), I had thought I'd have grown desensitized to game murder...after all, its just polygons. Boy was I wrong after I killed the flying beast here...or scared the little one with fire off a cliff....jesus I never knew I could care so much.

that and when your beloved horse...well I wont spoil it...

its amazing how in most games I couldn't care less about anyone, yet in SOTC, with practically no dialogue and development, I found attachment

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I love exploring in games, personally, but half the people I work with can't play them for some reason. If I mention Fallout 3 they say that they hated that game because they never knew where to go. They needed a linear path or direction, they couldn't do the whole "open world, go wherever you want" thing...

 

[itf cho]

I find it fun to explore - which is why I like open world game design, like Fallout 3 or Just Cause 2. I can follow the main story line, or just go haring off into the desert and check stuff out. I actually spent more time running around in Oblivion that I did in following the main quest line - which I never did finish. Guess that is one drawback of the open world concept. You can actually get bored with the game world before you actually finish the game.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Man this makes me feel better about my idea for a Sandbox game that is totally exploration based. The only problem is that I figured for that to be pulled off, I'd need to have really beautiful scenery to look at, which means really good graphics, which I can't afford to make on my own.

 

[MR.Spartacus]

This is why I love Hitman Especially Blood money. Each of the levels require exploration. Like once you realize you can rig the lighting, or notice that the hot tub has a glass bottom above a several story drop.

 

[natster43]

I do agree with him on exploration in Shadow of the Colossus and Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. I spent most of my time in my recent play through of Shadow of the Colossus exploring the land, finding all of the save points and seeing the beauty that was put into each area. And I actually went to every island in Wind Waker just to fill out the map and see what the islands had on them. Those were some of the things that kept me playing them so much.

 

[krtprime]

The Metroid Prime Trilogy is the entire reason I even bothered to buy a Gamecube/Wii, right from the first moment that the original game was announced back around the turn of the century. I would like to see Yahtzee feature it in one of his Retrospective videos, similar to what he did for the Prince of Persia trilogy.

 

[04whim]

I do think Bioshock was a good game for exploration. Rapture was a fairly expansive and interesting location with bits and bobs hidden in plain sight, like there's a tonic under the stairs but there's no way under the stairs but you stumble on a sliding hatch in the wall 2 feet away that's easily missed and such things. But it's good even for the fuckwits because if you really want an arrow pointing at your next objective, go to the options screen and turn it on!

Plus there's enough to shoot in the face to keep it from getting mundane, with some bits which make my wussier friends shit their pants, ala walk up to corpse, loot, turn around, hello splicer sniffing my hair... which quickly received a shotgun shell to the face since it was me playing...

 

[DarkPanda XIII]

Funny how I missed out on a good portion of the games, (I will not title them for the soul reason I don't get mobbed for not playing it) but interesting enough, I do agree to the general idea, and do need a sense of exploration in the majority of my games. Too bad a few of them actually give you points for trying to find them, like in the case that one game would only give you a secret ending if you just found every little treasure box in every little nook and cranny. (or, in all hilarity, play the game just on hard to get it, and I ended up having to play on hard).

But, to end my reply here, kudos again to you, Yahtzee, for bringing in a point.

 

[StriderShinryu]

This article brings me back to my NES days. Games like the first 2 Zelda titles and Castlevania 2, or even early RPGs. At best you had a map that showed you the vague details of the environment so you had that little taste of seeing where a distant village was but beyond that it was a mystery until you finally got there.

I also think back to the bridge mechanic in Dragon Warrior 1. There weren't many places in Dragon Warrior that you couldn't get to but you knew that every time you crossed a bridge you were going to be entering an area with even tougher enemies than the ones you'd be leaving behind. You always wanted to push on and explore further but with each bridge crossed you knew you might be getting further in over your head.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I absolutely love exploration in games. First thing I do in anything where I get control (even in movie DVDs) is fiddle around, and see what exactly I can and can't do, and Shadow of the Colossus is pretty much the pinnacle of that for me, with all the ancient ruins (like that small, abandoned village, which made me wonder "What happened here, and will I ever really know?"), lush wilderness, and open sky.

That, and the boss fights are pretty damn epic (contrary to the views of certain throttling-candidates).

The one thing I loved about the exploration in SoTC was seeing out-of-reach ledges or plateaus and trying to reach them. Like, finding out you can scale the outside of the castle walls in order to reach that colossal bridge and the secret garden.

That took a lot of stamina upgrades, I'll tell ya.

Long ago, before The Last Guardian was announced, it was rumored that Team Ico's new game was titled The Last Canyon. It was to be about a young boy with a hangglider who had to explore this gigantic Grand Canyon-like landscape. Apparently the emphasis would lie on exploration. But this was just a rumor.
Then again, maybe this concept will be in The Last Guardian nonetheless. After all, we still don't know what the game is really about other than that you play a young boy accompanied by a some sort of gryphon.

 

[Jared]

I loved the whole exploring around in the plans of SotC...it felty rather cathartic, and, it gave a peace you dont generally get in a game. A chance, to jsut explore a lush, huge world!

 

[Dora]

Saira, by Nicklas Nygren who also did Knytt, is pretty tops in exploration. It's not free, but I'd definitely recommend anyone who's a fan of that "what's around the next corner?" feeling certain games give check it out.
http://nifflas.ni2.se/index.php?page=1001Saira

I was actually a little disappointed with Windwaker as far as exploration went. For me, the tiny (frequently VERY tiny) islands weren't quite enough to break up the long periods of time where nothing happened. It's still probably the most fun I've had in a Zelda game. Except for the giant squid. The irrational phobia that lives in my brain was unprepared for that one.

But I'm actually really glad I read this article. I've never played Shadow of the Colossus before, and I wasn't entirely sure what it was about other than big boss battles. I've seen gameplay footage, though, and in my more introspective (read: cheesy) moments, the visuals and the landscape are the sort of thing that give me that little pang in my chest. If I ever pick up a PS2, I'll be sure to play it.

 

[Hallow'sEve]

What about Morrowind? I think that counts as an exploration based game

 

[Dexiro]

Not sure i agree that Knytt is anything like SOTC. It's more like a Metroid game, and has as much of an emphasis on platforming as it does on the exploration.

Untitled Story is another game similar to Knytt, explory platformer ^_^