Best adventure and exploration games

d_20

This is what I'm in the mood for. Probably my favorite type of game. I don't care what genre whether it's an mmo or single player. I've played Darkfall, Mortal Online, ELEX, LOTRO, Conan Exiles, Fallout 76, all the Elder Scrolls online or not. etc. I don't care. I just like to travel and find cool things as a solo player. 

Recently I've been looking at all kinds of stuff on steam like Mist Survival, Will to Live, even Gran Skrea Online (even though it's cheap, I looked at Steam charts and it's pretty dead, so I didn't buy. Didn't look like it would be a fun solo experience.). 

What are the best adventure/exploration games?

kitarad

How about Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4? Zelda Breath of the Wild.

Keller

You could give No Man's Sky a try. Hop from planet to planet and from system to system. 

Portal Knights or Lego Worlds also have exploration, but their "maps" are not that large. Yet they do have plenty of secrets to discover.

newbismx

Hmmmmm- I would consider giving 'The Long Dark' a try. Its a survival game but excels in exploration and adventure .

Check out some videos first- And if you play, only play the story mode long enough to grasp the basics and jump right in to the sandbox mode (whatever its called) with easy settings so you can learn the game- Its brutal, intense and very tense but also beautiful, surreal and gives you a real sense of accomplishment after you star surviving for longer than a couple weeks...It is 'permadeath' but in this case it really works and makes sense.

Fantastic game all around- But not an RPG (although there are skills to level) and even some persistent rewards that you can unlock and use between games.

edit- TLD is hands down the best survival game ever. Its really, really good if youre into surviving against the elements. 

d_20

Great recommendations. It turns out that due to Steam sales (and I have a Switch) I have all of these games except Lego, which I still haven't played (except for the Fallout games). I guess I have plenty to do this winter.

Thanks all.

Scorchien

   Ill for something new...I suggest putting Outward on follow on Steam

  It won the 2015 Canadien Media Award and this is a labor of love , that will release in 3/19 ..

           https://store.steampowered.com/app/794260/Outward/

Divinty 2 i really enjoyed exploring in .. very underrated under the radar game ...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/219780/Divinity_II_Developers_Cut/

If you enjoy Space X4 is really great to explore in ...

https://store.steampowered.com/app/392160/X4_Foundations/

  

Mendel

Keller said:

You could give No Man's Sky a try. Hop from planet to planet and from system to system. 

Portal Knights or Lego Worlds also have exploration, but their "maps" are not that large. Yet they do have plenty of secrets to discover.

I'll second No Man's Sky.  I might find it a bit limiting, but it certainly fills that exploration itch you might have.  Planets are huge, and the procedural generation landscapes may be a bit repetitive, but then you stumble across a cave complex where you can mine and harvest without the annoying sentinel-nannys looking over your shoulder every second.  Getting lost in a cave is an experience.

Wizardry

There lies a big problem @openedge1

This means spending a lot of time and resources on assets,something devs have been akin to NOT doing.Then to make matters worse,when we do see assets hey are often 2D assets.

The idea behind developers 99% of the time is to spend a bit of effort on ONE gimmick,the rest of the game is a wish wash of get er done and fast.

I SHOULD be able to think of what game does this best in a heartbeat but sadly i can't think of a single game.MOST of our worlds are bland empty land textures with trees and rocks and some water.
This is just one of the many areas that devs need to improve on because it brings the world to life.Then we need npc's hanging out at these locations,scripted content,AI for the npc's so they are not just standing in front of a 2D building .

If i was forced to pick one,i would say it would be more because the surroundings fit with the LORE and story so it brought it all together rather than just land to put mobs on to do quests.That would maybe be FF10 but i am not saying that game meets my standards for what SHOULD be a rpg full of exploration but it is pretty good just because it fits the story.

d_20

Subnautica and Outward are both on my wish list. Good recommendations. 

I've never played FF10. Are there still a lot of people playing?

Mendel

Addendum:  No Man's Sky.  I thought getting lost in a cave complex was cool.  Then I found a hidden cave complex underneath a resource deposit I was mining.  I am impressed with NMS's procedural generation mechanism, and I'm not easy to impress.

Kyleran

Mendel said:

Addendum:  No Man's Sky.  I thought getting lost in a cave complex was cool.  Then I found a hidden cave complex underneath a resource deposit I was mining.  I am impressed with NMS's procedural generation mechanism, and I'm not easy to impress.

I'll agree with NMS. I enjoyed my time there and plan to return eventually.

Theocritus

Mendel said:

Keller said:

You could give No Man's Sky a try. Hop from planet to planet and from system to system. 

Portal Knights or Lego Worlds also have exploration, but their "maps" are not that large. Yet they do have plenty of secrets to discover.

I'll second No Man's Sky.  I might find it a bit limiting, but it certainly fills that exploration itch you might have.  Planets are huge, and the procedural generation landscapes may be a bit repetitive, but then you stumble across a cave complex where you can mine and harvest without the annoying sentinel-nannys looking over your shoulder every second.  Getting lost in a cave is an experience.

That is one thing I'd like to see fixed is not having to scan the same exact things all the time on different planets.....I also dont like the forced space combat aspect...I guess I could just play the explore option but I chose regular.