Most worthwhile exploration game?

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DArtagnan

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Since I'm a huge fan of exploration in my games, and in particular in my RPGs - I started thinking about what games handle this aspect best - and what it means to handle it best.

I love to explore and come upon a unique area with its own little tale. Perhaps the best game for this would be something like System Shock (both of them). Almost every single room in these games has its own story and purpose. These rooms/areas give you a sense of history and that helps to immerse you into the game. The Fallout games also have great exploration.

I could sit down and analyse what combination of diversity, reward, and surprise is best - but I'd rather hear your thoughts.

What do you think is most important for exploration, and what games have been the most enjoyable in that way - for you?
 
best: Ultima 7. To my knowledge there is probably no other game which has such a complete world, you can explore with horses, ships, and a lot of other ways ( which I won't spoil ). There are cities,dungeons, special islands, secret little stories, dreams, etc to explore, and there are lots of hidden treasures and secrets and easter eggs to find.

Gothics are also great in this aspect IMHO.

Ultima underworld is not bad either.
 
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Exploration ? Divinity 1, Two Worlds 1, for example ... ?
 
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best: Ultima 7. To my knowledge there is probably no other game which has such a complete world, you can explore with horses, ships, and a lot of other ways ( which I won't spoil ). There are cities,dungeons, special islands, secret little stories, dreams, etc to explore, and there are lots of hidden treasures and secrets and easter eggs to find.

Gothics are also great in this aspect IMHO.

Ultima underworld is not bad either.

I haven't even played U7 much… Could never get past the awful combat system.

Guess I should give it another shot soonish.
 
I agree with Alrik on Two Worlds exploration; it was solid. I think the tongue-in cheek chivalric tone of the game helped me enjoy it more also. To be honest, I found it more fun to wander around and simply enjoy the sights in that game than say in Oblivion. It just seemed immense and more unpredictable terrain wise, which I think is one important aspect of exploration. I like diversity amid the sense that you can easily become lost or stray off the known trails.

Morrowind also comes to mind. Encountering Daedric ruins for the first time after straying from the path is a strong memory for me, as was undertaking a pilgrimage quest that required an immense amount of hiking. Inevitably that led to many diverting walks in the opposite direction that the quest intended you to go in!

For earlier memories of exploration, I'd have to mention "searching area" in Curse of the Azure Bonds in every town just to find out what kind of dungeons existed and what they contained in spite of the random encounters that could beset your party at any point.

Gothic, Risen, Might and Magic series...the list is endless and it would be a difficult task to say which was most worthwhile.

One could argue that the concept of a post apocalyptic world easily lends itself to the concept of exploration. The Stalker series and the Fallouts bear mentioning for instance, as scavenging and the search for artifacts and anomalies brings another dimension to exploration.
 
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I would say (probably unsurprisingly?) that Morrowind and the first two Gothics are my favorite exploration games. While Morrowind had its share of generic content, as GG will no doubt point out, you could, time and again, find really neat unique stuff. I remember stumbling upon my first dunmer Fort, eying it from afar, terrified. Wondering what the pylons were. Climbing a big stone pillar in a huge cave, finding a mummy tucked away out of sight with an awesome glas sword, Finding Ald-Rhun in a sand storm and gawking at Skar. ...and stripping naked to escape a toomb after being burdened or weakened to near paralysis by one of these undead that haunt them. then stealing stuff to buy clothes and gear again, to take sweet revenge...
The Gothics likewise have all these little optional tugged away treasures and locations that makes exploring them a delight - coupled with the dread of really tough monsters, this was wonderful.
 
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Only adding what haven't been mentioned; S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
 
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Hey JemyM - read my post again. ;)
 
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I didn't care much for TW1 exploration, though, as most areas seemed quite void of content.

Yes, I had that feeling as well.

Everything looked to me like ... a backwater country, freshly civilized only a few decades or centuries ago ...
 
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I haven't even played U7 much… Could never get past the awful combat system.

Guess I should give it another shot soonish.

Yeah, the combat system is the weakness. However unlike many other games, the main thing about this game is not combat. Also ones you get a lot of spells and equipment and a hang of everything. Combat becomes better + it is better in part 2 the serpent isle.
 
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The game world I most loved exploring was Morrowind by far. The design was flawless and constantly interesting and so many nooks and crannies held secret items or interesting notes/books/characters.
 
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I want to add a couple of oldies here:

7 Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa. These are very old and simplistic by today's standards, but at the time were the kings of exploration. A slightly newer game would be Conquest of the New World. This game allowed you to explore North and South America IIRC, and would reward you for finding rivers, mountains, valleys, gold mines, etc. It was wonderful and could really use a remake.

Does anyone know of any other strategy game like CotNW where exploration is rewarded in this way?
 
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I would say Morrowind as well even above Gothic games. Part of the reason for that is, Morrowind is the first exploration type game I played. When I got to Gothic, I have already seen some of the "tricks of the trade" so they weren't awe inspiring any more :)
 
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Although I hated the game, Morrowind did a great job with exploration. Lots of little things to find all over the place.

As to the "every place has a story" angle, I thought Bioshock did a stellar job with that and so far (I'm still pecking my way thru it) Bioshock2 has maintained that aspect.
 
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Thanks for your contributions. It goes to show how differently people perceive worthwhile exploration :)
 
I thought the original Baldurs Gate with Tales of the Swordcoast was fantastic for exploration for it's time with tons of areas that had to be traversed to get to another. Others are any Gothic/Risen games and Divinity games.
 
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It's a strange pick, but I think I agree that Baldur's Gate had some amazing exploration. I honestly felt like I was wandering through real forests; more so than in current games with such great graphics.

I want to add a couple of oldies here:

7 Cities of Gold and Heart of Africa. These are very old and simplistic by today's standards, but at the time were the kings of exploration. A slightly newer game would be Conquest of the New World. This game allowed you to explore North and South America IIRC, and would reward you for finding rivers, mountains, valleys, gold mines, etc. It was wonderful and could really use a remake.

Does anyone know of any other strategy game like CotNW where exploration is rewarded in this way?

Until just now I thought that Conquest of the New World was a Sid Meier game. I was about to tell you about an expansion for Civ IV called Colonization which I thought was a recreation of CotNW. But, I guess it's a recreation of Sid Meier's Colonization from the same era as CotNW. I only ever played the demo for CotNW but I loved the exploration in that.
 
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