[Storyfags only] Best Walking Sims ?

[AN4RCHID]

Yes, it does a few things well. The story itself is trite, but the amount of detail and density of objects in the environment art combined with the ability to interact with every object in the environment is cool.

 

[Neuromancer]

I guess, you haven't really played a lot of adventure games, do you?


There wasn't really much variety in details in Gone Home, to be honest.
Most of the objects were just identical items (and probably obtained/bought via an asset database) and just copy pasted like 30-150 times throughout the whole house - often even in the same room - to create a fake illusion of amount of details


The interaction was nothing special as well - especially compared to other adventure games and even some other walking simulators.

To just pick up and drop the 11th identical looking glass or open and close the 35th drawer - and there was nothing else you could really do with these objects - I wouldn't call that lots interaction.
Sure, quantity-wise you would be correct, but "cool" is another ting for me.


The very few puzzles in the game were very easy to non-existent.
I remember only one puzzle, where the solution wasn't found exactly in the next drawer - and that puzzle was even optional for some side story.


Of course, it all is a matter of taste.

At least we agree on one thing:
The story was utter bullocks!

 

[AN4RCHID]

Which aadventure games would you say did that better?

 

[anvi]

I know they aren't walking sims but if you guys like stories and characters, I hope you try some of the legendary Adventure Games. You gotta at least try:

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Sam & Max Hit the Road
Gabriel Knight
Monkey Island (series)
Full Throttle

There are lots of others too ofc Day of the Tentacle etc. But those ones are essentials especially if you are going to resort to playing shit like Firewatch which is 1000 times worse.

 

[anvi]

I only just noticed the Adventure Game discussion! What a coincidence.

 

[minakami]

If you're bored enough, try The Graveyard.

 

[pakoito]

Longer, better Edith Finch. It has an ARG for the Epilogue, read the spoiler after playing the full game to know how to skip it and access that Epilogue.

Spoiler

As you discover in The Hex, Carla always wanted to make a fishing game. Released a while after The Hex, a little freeware game called Beneath The Surface launched on Steam under the developer name “carla51”. It’s a single-screen ice fishing game with a basic upgrade system. [Once ingame] type “Lionel.exe”.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Hey, guys, I need to point out that you have extremely retarded confused understanding of what "walking sim" is. It's more or less okay, because there is no such genre (just like "immersive sim" lol), it's just an insult-turned-label, like "hippie" or "punk" was. Early precursors of the "genre" were really just about walking around and watch stuff, like Dear Esther or Gone Home with minimum extra mechanics at all.

However, in this thread there were many GOOD games mentioned, and I think I need to sort them out for clarifying.

- Soma - first person adventure game.
- What Remains of Edith Finch. - first person adventure game.
- Hellblade - action/adventure game with puzzles.
- Observer - first person horror adventure game.
- The Council - adventure game with light RPG (?) elements.
- Life is Strange - classical adventure game.
- Everybody Gone to the Rapture - probably the only real "walking sim" in this list, with very light single "puzzle" mechanics.
- The Last of Us - wtf is this even doing here
- Stanley Parable - more like very ironical narrative puzzle game...this game is amazing whatever you call it, play it anyway at least two times,
- Talos Principle - narrative puzzle game
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - yes, more or less walking sim
- Outer Wilds - narrative adventure puzzle game I guess? still got to play this one.
- Firewatch - first person adventure game which, yes. involves a lot of walking.
- GRIS - I guess yes, it is walking sim (side scroller one)
- Dear Esther - father and mother of the genre
- Mind: Path to Thalamus - walking psychedelic sim and not really a good one
- Layer's of Fear - it's a horror game, wtf is this doing here
- Night in the Woods - classic adventure/light platformer game, wtf is this doing here
- Virginia - yes, you are mostly walking occasionally clicking things. Don't try to touch this shit btw.
- Beginner's Guide, yeah, you are walking. In the existential void.
- Kentucky Route Zero - this is an adventure game without puzzles.
- Pathologic - first-person survival adventure game with RPG elements.
- Death Stranding - I think this game is a total joke about "walking sim" as a genre.

did I forgot anything?

 

[Neuromancer]

I agree and disagree on some of your points.

While I also have the impression that many people indeed use the expression "Walking Sim" just as a derogatory term for "game which I don't like", I think it is a valid game category.
Of course, you can't 100% press a game into it (same as every other game type). There are almost every time some elements which belong to a different genre.


I only discuss the games of your list, I know.

- What Remains of Edith Finch. - first person adventure game.

Disagree, this is a walking sim.

While the basic interactions and variety is really creative and this game IS the best walking simulator around, the possibilities to really do anything are extremely limited and there is only one linear path.
Even in "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter", which you list as Walking Sim later, there is much more to do and it is less linear than this.

- The Council - adventure game with light RPG (?) elements.

Agree

- Life is Strange - classical adventure game.

Mixed: While I agree, that this is not a Walking Sim, it definitely isn't a classic adventure either.

- Everybody Gone to the Rapture - probably the only real "walking sim" in this list, with very light single "puzzle" mechanics.

Agree, but not the only one

- The Last of Us - wtf is this even doing here

Agree

- Stanley Parable - more like very ironical narrative puzzle game...this game is amazing whatever you call it, play it anyway at least two times,

Agree

- Talos Principle - narrative puzzle game

Agree

- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter - yes, more or less walking sim

Mixed: This game is on the borderline between Adventure and Walking Sim. Contrary to other games of this genre, it actually has some puzzles and exploration. So you could count in both areas.

- Firewatch - first person adventure game which, yes. involves a lot of walking.

Disagree: This is a classical Walking Sim. While at some points there are slightly alternative paths you can "walk", the game is otherwise very linear with minimum optional exploration.

- GRIS - I guess yes, it is walking sim (side scroller one)

Disagree: This is (very easy - but still) platformer.

- Dear Esther - father and mother of the genre

Agree

- Mind: Path to Thalamus - walking psychedelic sim and not really a good one

Definitely disagree:
Please, play the game first a little more before judging it. You obviously only played (the admittedly very long) intro.

As I mentioned in another post before, this game has lots of puzzles later on and even features some kind of bossfight.
And the later puzzles are not extremely "walking through" easy, you actually have to think a little bit in order to solve these.
In general, the puzzles in this game are quite more difficult than the majority of puzzle of the other games in this list
(Right of the bat, I only see The Talos Principle as more difficult puzzle-wise than Mind: path to Thalamus.)

Yes, the story of this game is shit, but that has nothing today with the gameplay or genre.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Disagree: This is a classical Walking Sim. While at some points there are slightly alternative paths you can "walk", the game is otherwise very linear with minimum optional exploration.

This game has a different kind of "optional exploration" meaning you can even roleplay in your endless dialogues with the invisible radio woman. By being silent douchebag for example.

 

[Neuromancer]

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Compared to the other games, Firewatch really has lots of dialogue options and reactions, whereas the average Walking Sim is generally very limited in that area. Some even don't have dialogue at all or only some background narrator giving "deep psychologic insights", which often have nothing to do with the game directly.

And Firewatch also features some consequences leading to different reactions of her later - as you mentioned - although

Spoiler

she still leaves you alone at end, whatever you do....

 

[Spukrian]

I'll just post about some walking simulators that I've played.

Good:

Through the Woods: It's about a mother whoose child is kidnapped by a viking priest/shaman. She obviously decides to follow and get her son back. I liked it, mostly because I like Norse mythology and I'm a fan of stealth segments, which this game has a few of.

Apsulov: End of Gods: You play as a woman who wakes up without memory in an underground science facility. This game has a lot of stuff going for it, stealth, combat and resource management. Basically you have to decide: do I kill this monster now or do I save my energy so I will be able to short-circuit locked doors later? I really like the aestethic of this game, cyberpunk mixed with survival horror mixed with Norse mythology. Maybe it isn't a walking simulator at all. DON'T WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THIS GAME, it spoils too much.

The Signal from Tölva: You play as... uh... a hacker (maybe?) who is hired by the Information Broker faction to investigate a strange signal from the planet Tölva. You take control of a robot belonging to the Surveyor faction (all the factions in this game are robots), if you die you'll just hijack another robot. Gameplay consists of walking around looking at things, collecting junk (which is instanlty converted to money) and finding "signals" (it's just notes that you read). Often you have to battle with enemy factions (Blue robots = Bandits, Red robots = Zealots). The combat reminds me of Mass Effect 1 for some reason (shoot them with the railgun/sniper rifle, run behind a rock, pepper them with the assault rifle when they're close, die because you didn't get rid of their energy shield).

Unsure:

Kholat: You're exploring Siberia, looking for information about the Dyatlov Pass incident. While doing this you encounter information about secret Soviet experiments concerning anomalies... The environments in the game are absolutley beautiful, visuals and audio really conjures up the feeling of being in a frozen hell. This game is occasionally great and occasionally just frustrating. I haven't finished it actually, I guess I'll probably like it more when I'm done.

Bad:

Close to the Sun: Well, this game certainly has alot of interesting ideas and it is very pretty, however it is quite boring... Yeah, whatever...

 

[Ibn Sina]

Little Nightmares.

 

[Gahbreeil]

Journey.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Mundaun is finally out March 16

 

[Nifft Batuff]

Fugue in Void, a WS up to eleven. In the first 10 min. you are not even sure if the games is running or if it has crashed.

 

[aris]

+ What Remains of Edith Finch.

Best walking simulator I ever played.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

Didn't even know that there's so much debate about what a walking sim is - I mean it's not that hard to differentiate. It's not "it's only walking" it's "it's mostly walking and most of the mechanics don't matter - the only important thing is the story." But it's honestly more a: You know it's one when you played a couple.

I liked Firewatch and the ending and I'm pretty much a minority especially in regard to the latter.

I'm unsure if I would call The Stanley Parable a walking sim but this game is great. I'm really looking forward to the Deluxe Edition somewhen this decade (maybe this is the year! but I hoped this for the last two).

The Beginner's Guide was awesome and was made by Davey Wreden one of the minds behind The Stanley Parable and who created the original Half-Life Mod.

Dr. Langeskov, The Tiger, and The Terribly Cursed Emerald: A Whirlwind Heist is also cool and made by William Pugh the other half of the The Stanley Parable team.

Dear Esther was interesting, I played the Landmark Edition.

Fugue in Void is really interesting - I met the developer once in Berlin and also liked a couple of other games which he made. It's very artsy but the brutalistic style is awesome. I can really recommend NaissancE which is not a walking sim but has an awesome brutalistic aesthetic.

The Graveyard is just a meme.

Home is where one starts is a cheap walking sim from the creator of The First Tree. I think it was okay but I can't remember anything about the game.

Leaving Lyndow was really beautiful but I also forgot a lot about this game.

Scanner Sombre was nice but I also forgot most of the game.

That's it - I likely forgot something but I can recommend most of these.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

Ah, I forgot North. North is fucking weird and awesome.



It's pwyw on Itch

https://outlands.itch.io/north

And Conquest which is really short but interesting (and has nice trolling)

https://outlands.itch.io/conquest

 

[Spukrian]

Didn't even know that there's so much debate about what a walking sim is - I mean it's not that hard to differentiate. It's not "it's only walking" it's "it's mostly walking and most of the mechanics don't matter - the only important thing is the story." But it's honestly more a: You know it's one when you played a couple.

Good definition, but I would add that "looking at the pretty environments" is also an important part of walking sims.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

"looking at the pretty environments" is also an important part of walking sims.

It's certainly a selling point but I don't know if it's really part of the core. I love The Beginner's Guide but wouldn't call it particularly beautiful - it's interesting but very outdated (as to expected with the story). But discussions over definitions can be endless.

 

[GreyViper]

Observation - I found it had some good storytelling and kept you interested in what's coming next until the end. Having recently watched Ad Astra, I kept wondering why this game had a more interesting plot than a AAA Hollywood movie.
Paradise Lost - Really well-done game, with quite a lot of emotional moments. Also high prise on level and architecture design. A good way to see how an alternative vault could be built opposite to the ones we have seen in Fallout.
Deliver Us the Moon - So so game decent enough story, but nothing special in the visual department.
The Shore - Now this one I definitely recommend playing. Plot, who cares, you walk among the old ones mortal.
Moons Of Madness - Id like to say nice things about this, so it had a decent Mars surface segment. But as soon as you enter Umbrella esque secret lab atop a supposed expedition base, things get worse.

 

[Moaning_Clock]

Replayed "Home is where one starts ..." today since I saw it gotten a Remaster Update with graphical overhaul and other stuff. Was enjoyable to replay since I didn't remember a lot.

 

[Spukrian]

I'm currently playing The Solus Project and I like it a lot. Not sure if it really is a walking sim. There are survival elements (hunger, thirst, sleep and temperature) and you have to craft tools. There are also dangers you have to avoid (weather, aggressive flora, etc...). I recommend it.

 

[Neuromancer]

Haven't played that game, but from what you describe, it is definitely not a walking simulator.

As the name says, the main "gameplay" feature of these games is - well... that you walk around.
You may have some minimal interaction, but mostly it's just walking.