Hiking sims, but unironically

[Maxie]

I must confess something dire to all y'all. I tend to somewhat enjoy The Elder Scrolls, but for all the wrong reasons one'd enjoy an RPG game. Namely, I enjoy hiking, that is getting from one point to another through wilderness, fighting terrain rather than monsters, for no particular quest reason at all - just to try whether I will succeed. The various hypothermia and assorted autistic mods for Skyrim only strenghtened my, err, predilection, to avoid the term 'fetish'.

I would be grateful if you could name a few games you had the pleasure to play which invoked a similar feeling, that is of some good ass video game hiking. Mind you, hiking is not exploration, that is you do not discover hidden secrets and snippets of the world gone by, but you simply cross the terrain. I enjoyed me some hiking in New Vegas, and probably would've enjoyed it even more, were it not for the somewhat peculiarly located invisible walls. The less fantasy fare and questline molestation you encounter while on a hike, the better.

I wouldn't mind if likeminded hikers shared their thoughts on the phenomenon either. We're a repressed lot, apparently, in the sea of story aficionados and combat grogs.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Is this the skyrim thread?

 

[Maxie]

Not particularly so, no

 

[†††]

You're gonna love Death Stranding when it comes out

 

[just]

just like go outside

 

[Phaserlight]

Proteus, maybe?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxqFHOkg8L8

 

[just]

theres an app called geocaching
you can solve autistic puzzles and search for hidden secrets in your local woods or mountains
maybe you could even fight a wolf or a bear if you wander too deep

 

[Maxie]

theres an app called geocaching
you can solve autistic puzzles and search for hidden secrets in your local woods or mountains

I'm logistically challenged (ie. can't walk too far on my own)
Which is why I play games right

 

[DraQ]

just like go outside

This.

Maxie Do you have any particular hiking/survival mechanics in mind, or just any game that has you wander a lot around cool locales, regardless of any additional mechanics?

 

[Maxie]

just like go outside

This.

Maxie Do you have any particular hiking/survival mechanics in mind, or just any game that has you wander a lot around cool locales, regardless of any additional mechanics?

Juggling fatigue, hunger, body temp etc. are optimal if you're in for some extreme climate hiking, but I am sure they present themselves to be a hassle to design properly, so most devs refrain from these
Provided the locales are good enough and the hike challenging enough, I could do without such stats

 

[DraQ]

just like go outside

This.

Maxie Do you have any particular hiking/survival mechanics in mind, or just any game that has you wander a lot around cool locales, regardless of any additional mechanics?

Juggling fatigue, hunger, body temp etc. are optimal if you're in for some extreme climate hiking, but I am sure they present themselves to be a hassle to design properly, so most devs refrain from these
Provided the locales are good enough and the hike challenging enough, I could do without such stats

But what do you mean by challenging hike? Because Skyrim, for example, doesn't really give you mechanics for that.

Also, minimum fantasy and quests -> just go outside you dweeb.
Games are for getting what you cannot or won't dare to do IRL, even in regards to hiking.

 

[zapotec]

He wrote he can't walk without assistance

 

[:Flash:]

The kings of stats-based hiking sims are still Blade of Destiny and Star Trail, obviously.

 

[theLorry]

https://store.steampowered.com/app/791950/Hiking_Simulator_2018/

 

[Kitchen Utensil]

theHunter: Call of the Wild could fit the bill.
It has no survival mechanics, but the maps are huge, graphics are nice, you can pack a tent and if you get bored, you can do some story missions and/or shoot some animals.

 

[V_K]

If you like survival mechanics and can stand mid-90s graphics, play Robinson's Requiem. It's all about surviving on a hostile planet.
A more recent game on the same subject is The Solus Project. I tried it a bit back when it was released, but my then laptop couldn't run it properly, so I don't know how good it is. But sure looks pretty.
Finally, the recently released Titan Outpost seems to be of the same genre (exploration-survival, no combat), but with more RPG. But it's third person, so not sure about its value hiking-wise.

 

[jewboy]

Far Cry 4 if you like seeing friendly elephants and the occasional snow leopard. Beautiful game. Nice feel to the world. Maybe Far Cry Primal as well. Kenshi isnt beautiful but it may be an interesting game to wander in. I am sure there are much better examples too. Lots of games are good for that. It is sort of the easy part for any AAA game. If you have a Vive or Oculus you could try Fallout 4 and some other games that offer an immersive VR experience. Survival sims are popular at the moment too. I am just starting to install some though so cant recommend any.

 

[DraQ]

Maxie Are you physically or mentally logistically challenged?

Because if it's the former, I apologize.
If it's the latter, just get a GPS and map app.

 

[Gord]

Try The Long Dark maybe? It's hiking and some survival. Not the best-looking game, but not ugly either, just very stylized.
You can play in storymode, or just free survival mode.

 

[Alpan]

The story may or may not be to your liking, but the hiking in Firewatch is quite decent, particularly if you disable the setting that shows your location on the map.

In addition, I'm going to go ahead and prescribe a dose of Mass Effect 1 for the bouncy Mako exploration -- sure it's maddening, but if you want a challenge against both terrain and vehicle, you'll have it here.

Also, while this is not a hiking game in the literal sense, Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy is the ultimate game in terrain traversal. You'll have to play it or see it in action to see what I mean.

 

[howlingFantods]

Breath of the wild

Has fatigue and body temp
You can scale cliffs and hanglide off em. Plenty of walking too

 

[Reinhardt]

Realms of Arkania HD.

 

[DraQ]

I don't really know much simulationist hiking sims.

From non-hiking sims where you can wander around:

Skyrim is pretty nice, though better with proper core mechanics/content mods (read Requiem, etc.).
STALKER games have you walk around post-soviet rusting ruins with some nice (if irradiated and sprinked with anomalies) outdoors in between - while being shot at occassionally.
Morrowind is nice although fantasy vibes are stronger.

 

[Turuko]

Outward? it has thirst,weather,sleep and hunger mechanics
if you clear an area the respawn rate is quite slow, you can roam for a while

 

[Goromorg]

NEO Scavenger is just what you are looking for.