Open World/Sandbox

[Gamerdude854]

Discuss open world/sandbox games here.
My personal favorites are:
Gta 4 and 5
Sleeping Dogs
Xenoblade Chronicles X
Simpsons Hit and Run
Mafia 2
Batman Arkham City
Bully
Saints Row 3

 

[Stars]

Been a big fan of The Elder Scrolls since Morrowind. The odd thing about that series, though, is that even though I never jump on the hate train for all the "terrible" changes they make to each new game, I end up playing each one significantly less than the one before it. In Morrowind, no exaggeration, I probably played 20-30 characters and finished the main story and multiple guild quest lines with many of them. In Oblivion, I made maybe a dozen characters and finished the main story once. In Skyrim, I made one character and never came close to finishing anything (played for 70+ hours though).

I also enjoy the first two Infamous games (don't own a PS4 and haven't played Second Son). They were my second and third platinum trophies on my PS3. Control over electricity is one of my favorite superpowers, despite how silly some of Cole's abilities are (e.g., electricity handcuffs).

I played Minecraft for about a month and loved it. Then I just...stopped playing. Haven't touched it in a few years now.

 

[Gamerdude854]

Been a big fan of The Elder Scrolls since Morrowind. The odd thing about that series, though, is that even though I never jump on the hate train for all the "terrible" changes they make to each new game, I end up playing each one significantly less than the one before it. In Morrowind, no exaggeration, I probably played 20-30 characters and finished the main story and multiple guild quest lines with many of them. In Oblivion, I made maybe a dozen characters and finished the main story once. In Skyrim, I made one character and never came close to finishing anything (played for 70+ hours though).

I also enjoy the first two Infamous games (don't own a PS4 and haven't played Second Son). They were my second and third platinum trophies on my PS3. Control over electricity is one of my favorite superpowers, despite how silly some of Cole's abilities are (e.g., electricity handcuffs).

I played Minecraft for about a month and loved it. Then I just...stopped playing. Haven't touched it in a few years now.

I remember enjoying that one Infamous game where Cole becomes a vampire, the new powers were awesome, also i'm pretty sure that game wasn't canon either

 

[Stars]

I remember enjoying that one Infamous game where Cole becomes a vampire, the new powers were awesome, also i'm pretty sure that game wasn't canon either

Ha, I never played it, but I know what you're talking about. I believe that was DLC for Infamous 2. "Festival of Blood," I think it was called. Basically the equivalent of a "zombie mode" found in many other games. Except vampires because everyone does zombies, I guess.

 

[Gamerdude854]

Ha, I never played it, but I know what you're talking about. I believe that was DLC for Infamous 2. "Festival of Blood," I think it was called. Basically the equivalent of a "zombie mode" found in many other games. Except vampires because everyone does zombies, I guess.

It actually wasn't DLC, it was a full stand alone game for like 10 bucks

 

[Stars]

It actually wasn't DLC, it was a full stand alone game for like 10 bucks

Huh, I stand corrected. I looked it up, and it just uses the same engine as Infamous 2.

EDIT: Sadly I have played none of the games you listed, and I can't recall any others that I've played (10 bored and confused minutes of Terrarian hardly counts). I did load up Bully once, but I barely played past the intro for whatever reason. I did recently acquire a copy of Sid Meier's Pirates in a Humble Bundle that I might try sometime, and both A Valley Without Wind games in an old...Indie Royale maybe? So yeah, I have a few others in my backlog. I just need to get around to playing them.

We need more people in this topic.

 

[Sutekh94]

Any other Saints Row fans here? I've been meaning to get back into IV for a little while now...

 

[Gamerdude854]

Huh, I stand corrected. I looked it up, and it just uses the same engine as Infamous 2.

EDIT: Sadly I have played none of the games you listed, and I can't recall any others that I've played (10 bored and confused minutes of Terrarian hardly counts). I did load up Bully once, but I barely played past the intro for whatever reason. I did recently acquire a copy of Sid Meier's Pirates in a Humble Bundle that I might try sometime, and both A Valley Without Wind games in an old...Indie Royale maybe? So yeah, I have a few others in my backlog. I just need to get around to playing them.

We need more people in this topic.

Bully get's better as it goes on, I think you should give it another go

 

[Gamerdude854]

Any other Saints Row fans here? I've been meaning to get back into IV for a little while now...

I loved the third game but never played any of the others

 

[Whitetail]

I've got a copy of Freelancer laying around somewhere I really need to pick up again, I got it for a bargain at Target and didn't know it was a cult hit at all until a few years later after I stopped playing it

Also been playing Xenoblade X for a while, it's a super fun game once you get past the frustration of how it explains literally none of it's mechanics to you - the scope of what you can explore super impresses me it's an absolutely huge game with absolutely huge monsters (now only if you could pull a kingdom hearts and climb up them while you fight them).

 

[Velvet_The_Reindeer]

I have never really been a big fan of sandbox games, mainly because I usually get distracted and never go for the objectives, but in the end there is just so much "chaos" you can cause before it gets repetitive and boring in my opinion.

The only 2 sandbox games I actually enjoyed were Crackdown (The first one, the new one also looks promising) and Red Dead redemption jsut because I love westerns.

 

[fah_q2]

Grand Theft Auto V and The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt are two of my favorite open world games. I hope GTAV gets some single player DLC like GTAIV did, and i'm still waiting for Blood and Wine for TW3 to come out.

 

[Whitetail]

I have never really been a big fan of sandbox games, mainly because I usually get distracted and never go for the objectives, but in the end there is just so much "chaos" you can cause before it gets repetitive and boring in my opinion.

Honestly that feels more specifically like a problem with Grand Theft Auto than most open world games - I remember when I was younger whenever I'd play it with friends we'd just cause as much chaos as possible and never really do anything with the story - other games have felt a bit more enticing to keep you focused on getting things done

 

[Sutekh94]

I will agree that the storylines of GTA games got kinda boring to me after a while of playing, and I just wanted to do random stuff. On GTA IV, I just simply hopped on free mode online when I got tired with the story. I've noticed that other open world/sandbox games that I've played seemed to have kept me more interested in the story.

 

[Gamerdude854]

I will agree that the storylines of GTA games got kinda boring to me after a while of playing, and I just wanted to do random stuff. On GTA IV, I just simply hopped on free mode online when I got tired with the story. I've noticed that other open world/sandbox games that I've played seemed to have kept me more interested in the story.

I actually got pretty invested in GTA IV's story, I really liked it's gritty, real feel. I also loved GTA V's story just because of how ridiculous and sometimes even funny it was.

 

[Szkieletor]

Been a big fan of The Elder Scrolls since Morrowind. The odd thing about that series, though, is that even though I never jump on the hate train for all the "terrible" changes they make to each new game, I end up playing each one significantly less than the one before it. In Morrowind, no exaggeration, I probably played 20-30 characters and finished the main story and multiple guild quest lines with many of them. In Oblivion, I made maybe a dozen characters and finished the main story once. In Skyrim, I made one character and never came close to finishing anything (played for 70+ hours though).

I played Minecraft for about a month and loved it. Then I just...stopped playing. Haven't touched it in a few years now.

Spent half my childhood playing Morrowind. Still do, as evidenced by my current playthrough.
Oblivion was the one I played the least (not counting Arena and Daggerfall), probably because of it's... generic setting. It could've been a cool jungle Beth, and you've made it a Generic Fantasy Land #38. Still a fun game with good quests. Edgy Brotherhood questline was the best.
Skyrim was good. Had a few characters, never finished the Dragonborn DLC though. I just can't focus on the game long enough to actually finish that DLC, even though it's basically Morrowind but on Creation Engine. All those generic "Kill some stuff" quests are really boring after a while.
I don't really know what Bethesda's problem is but it seems that they are "pandering to the masses" more with each game, taking away the unique feel of TES in favor of HARDCORE COMBAT ACTION. It wouldn't be that much of an issue, except Beth can't do combat for shit and it's the weakest element of each game.
Still better than TESO's which for some reason is bland and boring even with the addition of skills. TESO's saving grace is really good lore, save for occasional time-traveling book or two.

I've also spent a lot of time playing Minecraft. Classic, Indev, Infdev, Alpha... and then when the Beta came out I kinda lost interest. Can't really get back into the game these days.

Any other Saints Row fans here? I've been meaning to get back into IV for a little while now...

Played all of them except the first, since no PC port, and Gat Out Of Hell.
Completed SR2 about four times, The Third about 12, IV like 8 times. I like The Third the best. SR2 is clunky today and SRIV is not a GTA parody gangsta game, it's a superhero game. Damn fun but The Third is still the best, gameplay-, story- and character-wise.

Recently, there's Elite: Dangerous which I've been playing on and off since it released. Too bad there's not much to actually do in the game, but it's real fun flying around a combat zone with a wing, basking in the Emperor's glory while blasting Federal scum.

 

[Sutekh94]

I actually got pretty invested in GTA IV's story, I really liked it's gritty, real feel. I also loved GTA V's story just because of how ridiculous and sometimes even funny it was.

I dunno. Maybe it was f'ing Roman that made me get tired of playing single-player. No, Roman, I don't want to go bowling! Haven't played V yet...

 

[Rich Jammer]

Are games like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2-4 counted in Open World/Sand Box games?

 

[Sutekh94]

Are games like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry 2-4 counted in Open World/Sand Box games?

I'd say both of them count in my mind. Speaking of which, anybody here played Far Cry Primal? I hear it's pretty good.

 

[Necroceine]

Any other Saints Row fans here? I've been meaning to get back into IV for a little while now...

I've played IV and the Third, and I love them both. They both open with ridiculous and intense action sequences that really get you into the game immediately. And they don't take themselves seriously, but still have a great cast of characters.

And I could play a chubby middle aged woman who was constantly angry, painted her face like the Japanese flag, and had a husky voice with a European accent. In the Third she wore high heels and business suits or a trenchcoat. In IV she fully adopted the superhero thing and put on a cape and purple and green Vegeta hair.

I really liked the traversal options IV opened up. Movement was so fun I'd gather all the collectibles I could find as soon as I went to a new area. It didn't feel like a chore like in many other sandbox games.