Hey folks! Back in the PS2 days I had Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and besides the quests and stuff I also loved just driving around and going on little road trips and stealing planes.
And then in the PS3 era I had Just Cause 2, and the voice acting was terrible, and the quests were kinda dumb, but wow was it fun to just drive around and go on little road trips and steal planes. And your dumb little hookshot was nearly immersion breaking it was so unrealistic, but instead it was a ton of fun zipping through the air from 150 paces to kick a dude off his motorbike…
Anyway, I’m wondering what people’s opinions are on these kinds of games these days! I know Cyberpunk has some driving, but I don’t know if people enjoy cruising in it. I really liked Breath of the Wild, which is not really the same but had some screwing around times. I know there’s a GTA 5 which I never played but it’s probably good, I think there’s a Just Cause 3 but I haven’t looked into it. Some people love Red Dead 2, which I mostly bounced off of but maybe I was wrong.
Do you folks have any favourites in this “genre”? Things I should check out? Stories of worthless hijinks? Thoughts?
Anything Elder Scrolls kept me busy much longer than the main story, most notably Morrowind. Also, I replayed GTA IV (+ stories) last week, was heaps of fun, especially compared to GTA V which I played a few months back. Read Dead Redemption 2 is a good one for this list as well, I enjoyed that one immensely, but I mainly focused on the main quest during that run-through, so this is a good reminder to myself to pick this up again soon (sadly I fell back into the pull of Satisfactory so it might be some weeks/months/… before I get to it)
I quite liked Watchdogs. Dicking about a city causing traffic problems and steaming cash from people’s accounts.
I just recently got Spider-Man on sale and I’ve not once used fast travel except in the tutorial because it’s too much fun swinging around the city. And there’s like 50 types of collectibles/ side missions to do while you’re fucking around.
Also you should definitely try Grand theft Auto v if you had that much fun in San Andreas
Yeah, I said in another reply I didn’t even think of Spiderman, but I actually have been playing the remaster of the first modern one, and I agree fully. It totally matches this vibe and it’s pretty great!
Untitled goose game. You can play it or dink around. HONK
The saints row series is pretty good. It was kind of a GTA knockoff but was much sillier and let you actually keep and upgrade/paint cars. It really lets you make the game yours. In… Number 3 or 4 the player gets movement abilities that make using a car actually slower so that really killed the vibe, but the ridiculousness was higher than ever so it kind of balanced. I’d recommend playing them in order or at least watching YouTube videos because the story is sort of linear.
Someone else said morrowind which really is the ultimate “do whatever you want” game. You’re basically never locked out of anything by not doing the main quest, and nearly every npc is killable, even essential ones (though the game will tell you if you do this so you can reload a save). There’s no vehicles really so I don’t know if that’s the vibe you’re going for, but it really is a blast if you can accept the painfully outdated graphics and mediocre combat system.
Valheim is a survival crafter exploration game that can be surprisingly cozy, and sailing around is fun. Also not the vibe I think you’re looking for but I love it so I shill it when I can.
Cyberpunk is actually a damn decent game now, and the world has SO MUCH crammed into it you can just wander and do whatever activity you run into for ages without getting bored. Even the smallest side story has lore that illustrates a tiny piece of night city and I find that really cool.
I think saints row probably best matches what you’re looking for without being a sequel to a game you already mentioned. Cyberpunk too, probably.
A few people mentioned Saint’s Row, and it basically wasn’t even on my radar as a series I knew about. I’ll check it out!
Red Dead 2 is a masterpiece of this genre
I dunno how well crafting/building games fit what you’re looking for, but I can jump into Valheim and just screw around for hours collecting and making stuff. The world isn’t populated like a grand theft auto, but it’s fun to just explore and mess around/build stuff in!
I’ve played a bunch of Valheim with friends, but I can’t do it by myself. The openness is cool, but I can’t grind, so any kind of survival or crafting game becomes tedious so fast.
It seems like fun when other people do it, but it just doesn’t happen for me. Oh well!
BotW was a great exploration and movement game. I think the things that help are fun transportation methods and a big open world to use them in. So Tony hawk might be a lot of fun to just ride around but the levels are too small for any real exploration. Or daggerfall is a huge open world, but traveling feels pretty tedious. MMOs are kinda fun for this but the leveled regions means some places are very dangerous to move around in without a group or higher levels. Forza 4/5 were a lot of fun for this if you ignore the loot box casino garbage. The last couple Spider-Mans were really good for this & Burnout paradise was a good one too.
Oh yeah! I didn’t even think to mention it, but I did really dig just swinging around in Spiderman!
Have you played Subnautica yet?
What I took away from your writing is that you like the freeworld aspect, and Subnautica has plenty to fuck around with. It has a main story line, but the game is so good, you can kinda forget about it and just build your underwater palace. No stealibg cars or planes, but you can craft pretty amazing vehicles and ‘fly around’ underwater with them.
I think you’d enjoy it.
Subnautica and I have a tricky relationship…
I tried it once and bounced off basically right away due to needing water constantly.
Then years later I tried again and got into it for about 15 or 30 hours, and was having a great time, but then I hit a point where I lost immersion. I could feel what they needed me to do to get the resources I needed to progress, but I wasn’t into it, and then a big monster broke my favourite little sub and I was like “fuck this, I’m not going to grind around getting the resources to rebuild my sub, I’m out”
But there was some time where I enjoyed it in the middle there!
- A Short Hike
- Lil Gator Game
These two indie games, both set in a nature park, are more about enjoying their worlds than actually completing quests. With no quest tracker or map, you’re free to roam around and talk to characters. Or just pick up sticks and swing them.
Surprised not to see the Horizon games on here. That was some fun screwing around, especially being able to climb just about anything. Yes, the intended climbing paths were just “hold up & push X to follow the yellow brick road”, but I remember enjoying breaking the game by summiting mountains behind strongholds and dealing death from above to the big baddie before his cutscene could even start.
Games I’ve enjoyed in terms of shenanigans:
-GTA 3-5
-Just Cause 3 (4 too, but it’s not as good)
-Untitled Goose Game
-BOTW
-Read Dead Redemption 2
-Saint’s Row 2-4
-Cyberpunk 2077 (driving is kinda meh, motorcycles are a little more fun)
-Watchdogs
-Elder Scrolls
-Teardown
Also, I haven’t played it, but I heard the new Indiana Jones game is fun with high shenanigan potential.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is too slow paced imho for what you’re looking for.
Both GTA5 and Just Cause 3 (or 4) are genuinely good picks for what you’re after.
Agreed! Okay, if Just Cause 3 is alright, I might give that a shot. And it’s good to know the newer GTAs are still recommended. Thanks!
Definitely Cyberpunk is a great choice as its built in systems try to pull you into stuff all the time. Don’t sleep on Just Cause 3&4 too.
All good info, thanks! Time to put some stuff on a wishlist…
