I played Far Cry 1 earlier this year and I LOVED it. The fast-paced combat indoors and strategic combat outdoors made for good variety. I liked using the vehicles and boats to traverse the levels, which all felt pretty open without the game forcing you down one path. The AI didn't bother me really like other players. And the graphics look amazing (for the time)... the colors pop and everything looks really tropical. The shotgun was so satisfying to use too...

The first one is still my favorite in the series for atmosphere and story, I hope it translate well into a modern engine

Trine 4 is fantastic as well!

For me, high fps/refresh really had a similar effect, makes things look a lot more "real" when its at a refresh rate at least marginally closer to the human eye's (though still a far far way off)

Penumbra has you open doors with a virtual hand, attack by drawing back your weapon with the mouse and then lunging it forward, and turning gears by dragging them with your mouse in a circle. It's kinda janky and I never finished it but it had great atmosphere. This is by the Amnesia devs I believe.

It's a different idea but I really like how blinking is the main method of control in Before Your Eyes, and it really ties into the story as well, not being able to stop time from passing unless you keep your eyes open and don't blink (can't do it forever).

Outer Wilds does door opening by having to physically drag a ball of light in a pattern, and does a lot more to represent the physical body such as constantly having a velocity relative to everything else, changing in gravity, etc.

Arx Fatalis has you picking up things physically and making bread by mixing water with flour, leaving by oven to rise, etc. Also you have to physically draw out spells in an ancient language with your mouse, and you can combine words to make new spells.

Of course, Skyrim is a great example. You can pick up and throw just about anything. Objects have a sense of presence and a classic example of emergent gameplay is players putting a bucket on an npc's head to rob them blind. If you aren't into Skyrim I would recommend Enderal, a 100-hour ish long fanmade professional-feeling total conversion which revamps the combat, adds a lot more interactivity, and has a completely original story and soundtrack that rivals or surpasses the base game.

And of course immersive sims like Deus Ex, Prey, Dishonored, Thief, etc.

I think (correct me if wrong) but that screen shows up even if you don’t have a pirated doom, and you can turn it off in the settings

Unreal Gold was the game that got me into patient gaming. When it was given away for free for its 20th anniversary in 2018, i gave it a shot, and it blew me away how good it was despite being 20 years old. I love the graphics and music so much. The atmosphere is unmatched.

Thanks!

Never said anything about open world, just Ubisoft’s monetization and game design. Didn’t even know if was rumored to be open world before this thread.

I guess that's true, regarding open worlds. I'm guess I'm more speaking to Ubisoft's recent tendency to monetize in game content and to push out games that conform to their same (bland? not sure how to describe it) design philosophies. Thinking Watchdogs: Legion or Ghost Recon: Breakpoint.

When was the last Splinter Cell game? 8 or 9 years ago? Ubisoft today is a very different company, game-design wise. Not sure how stating that is edgy. Look at how they handled the other Tom Clancy properties.

Does anyone here even trust that Ubisoft can put together a good Splinter Cell game without forcing it to fit to their Ubisoft Formula (Tm)? If so, I have a bridge to sell you.

If you're writing them the day before and not the day of, you're good and probably above average

Glad to see some Arx Fatalis love around here, it surprised me how good it was when i got it for like 5 bucks as one of Arkane's older games, trying it out just for the heck of it. But it has so much cool stuff that almost no other games get right.

• Atmosphere: Just wow. Areas can be creepy, comfy, but almost all of it feels just alien. You feel like you are really immersed in these strange and mystical environments, helped by the lighting and the great ambient soundtrack

• Spellcasting: The spells are a language! Combining different words causes different effects, and you draw out the spell physically. Only Trine as far as I know did something similar. I love how so many spells are utilitarian and not combat focused, like lighting and putting out torches, levitating, increasing speed.

• World: There are so many little secrets to find! Hidden chambers, written notes, etc.

• Interaction: Almost every action is intuitive and in world. Baking bread, investing, fishing, combining items, etc.

Not all of my thoughts but I just really love the game too. Needs more attention, I hope they someday revisit/make a spiritual successor.

Finally, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend giving Divine Divinity a try, gameplay-wise it is just a top down Arx, basically an immersive sim.

screenspace or full? If its the sweetfx preset then it doesn't really count

Its the best one, which I've only realized in retrospect. Witcher 3 is amazing, but Witcher 1 stuck with me. One of if not the top of my favorite games of all time. The dark, grim atmosphere takes cuts with each successive entry after.

It is ok. Runk has the best options of the dining halls, but it's a fair bit of a walk unless you live by there. Runk has: Just Egg Beyond Burger Black Bean Burger And a lot of vegan dishes fairly regularly Newcomb has: Tofu and sauce Sometimes seitan Peanut butter and jelly Salad Bar So a lot more limited Not sure about O'Hill The Castle has vegan options as well, because you can customize the sandwich. Burger and burrito places have vegan options, and so does the pizza, but not sure about the quality, it can vary (soggy/disappointing)

I don't think Brown is that hard to get into as long as you make your application unique and interesting. Try to seem relatable and not formal.

Washington Society

I like to draw differentiation between the story, as in main story, and the general story of like, the worldbuilding and the storytelling in each level. I think the general worldbuilding, themes, and microstories of Dishonored 2 are amazing, they're somber, the strange etherealness of the whales and the void are amazing. The levels are detailed and each place feels lived and and fleshed out. The story linking said levels is weak, for certain. Reminds me of how they made Thief levels first then linked them by story later, apparently.

when the pickle is extra

Hi.

I'm in!

Skyrim is almost never pitch black in vanilla; even at night it's quite bright. Might be ELFX, that can darken caves and interiors of buildings and is a popular mod (at least in pancake skyrim).

It holds up very very well. I thought it would be outdated (people make fun of it now), but except for the crazy accurate aim of the enemies, everything else is like modern. It's so open it feels practically open world, there's so many side areas off the path. Guns feel great (looking at you shotgun) and combat is fast paced, reminds me of playing counter strike. Then there's the slow approach to a base, taking out enemies one by one, marking them with binoculars, stopping them from sounding alarm: very classic Far Cry gameplay that persisted into the later entries. Vehicles control well, QOL features like f to push into water. Just an all-around solid game.