Thread #3951090
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I've got something of an odd itch that's almost hard to describe because it seems so underused in games.
You know how so many rpgs give you a central goal or motivation to pursue, often with a set party of established characters but not always, and on the way you're taken across a variety of regions and locations friendly and unfriendly alike. Sometimes it gives you wriggle room to explore around and check out places that don't directly relate to the main goal but overall the tide drags you towards that main goal and big bad and that ending.
I want to know if there's any RPGs that are nothing but the world exploration and dungeon delving.
Basically that there is absolutely no plot or goal, and your adventuring band is just venturing out to discover things and get rich. The world just exists, perhaps with some random shifting factors to keep it fresh but no actual end goal or ending, and the motivation to find locations and dungeons and such is just to see what's there and what's to be found there.
More meat to it and it's world then a roguelike, even less goals and direction then an Elder Scrolls (although I've heard Daggerfall has elements that support what I'm thinking of), perhaps more emphasis on needing to prepare and gather supplies for particular ventures.
Does this actually exist in any form? Is it an untouched niche that someone should jump on? Or is it something that sounds better in my head but wouldn't actually be fun or keep attention if manifest?
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As far as the west goes I guess there's Kenshi?
But some people don't really consider it an RPG.
I suppose something like Wartales also qualifies, Mechajammer is also sorta relevant in that your only objective is to find a way out of a city you're stranded in and you are free to do it however you want with no bottlenecks or caveats outside of the game itself being buggy as hell.
There's of course a rather large variety of roguelike games like ADOM, Omega, and what have you but I don't think that's what you're looking for.
As for the east, the first Metal Max/Metal Max Returns is the closest thing to what you're asking, but it's rather old and might not be up to your standards in terms of mechanics and the amount of content.
Of course there's also a large variety of dungeon crawlers with no real story that are all about dungeon crawling and "numbers go up" until you decide to go to the last dungeon and beat the shit of whatever the last boss is, but to be fair I don't that's what you're asking for.
Alternatively there's the Lunatic Dawn games which are wholly open and rather directionless but like Kenshi some people consider them sim/management games rather than true RPGs.
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>>3951383
The intro is just your father kicking you out of home because you want to go on adventures and the ending is completely optional, you have to actively go back to your home and talk to your father to even see the "ending", the game's content can be completed in nearly any order and the game does not end after beating the "big bad" either.
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>>3951090
It's the rpg I've always wanted to make.
Basically you'd play a smuggler or itenerant of some sort. You might have some special gift, passed down from your family or something. Like an ability to sense rare power crystals or something. So you'd have a ship of some sort, powered by these crystals, and you'd sell the rest for profits. You'd be able to roam and adventure all over the world or galaxy, getting rich and powerful.
No grand narrative, though ideally there'd be lots of interesting lore to discover and characters to meet.
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>>3951090
Outward is pretty close to what you're describing. There is an initial "quest" with a timed element to it but it has multiple, easy ways to complete it. Or you can fail and still be able to continue. IIRC you just get locked out of the first home base, which I rarely used anyway.
From there, you can basically just adventure around as much as you want, ignoring the shitty skeleton of the main story if you want.
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>>3951090
Horizon's Gate might scratch that itch for you.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1224290/Horizons_Gate/
Tactical RPG party kinda like FFT. You get a boat, you explore the world on boat. You buy low sell high, explore a few dungeons, maybe go full-pirate and steal other ships. hire crew, train crew, etc. Basically zero story beyond the tutorial opening & the ending. the naval battles are fun once you find the better attachments. you can board enemy ships, kill the crew & steal it. bery fun.
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>>3953403 (me)
to add to this i'd recommend downloading a bunch of stuff from the workshop before your first playthrough if you're like me and get peeved by knowing something's modded content. the world can be pretty bare leaving you with the feeling of "i built up my party but there's not enough to throw it against" in endgame.
but it's usually a good sign when someone's biggest complaint is that there wasn't enough of something.
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>>3951090
Outward
Crystal Pajeet
Sable - It's pure exploration bliss once you get past the lack of combat.
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>>3951090
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>>3951090
Pretty much Crystal Project. There's a world with established lore that you can learn a bit about by going out of your way for/picking up on context clues, but there's 0 story whatsoever. Your party spawns in the from the sky and you're told to explore/find crystals. Finding crystals requires exploration, and exploring opens up more when you have more crystals. You can also sequence break if you really want to.
Caves of Qud technically has a main story, but you can just ignore it and explore the world. It's full of random bullshit and proc gen to create emergent gameplay.
>>3957121
Once you beat The Master the game becomes super story focused, and you quickly reach a point where you've done all the dungeons that have spawned in for the run/all the non-mandatory dungeons feasible at your current level
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>>3963212
>Without Julian it's doomed.
No proof that it would have amounted to anything anyways. Reminder that the studio began in 2019 with little to show for it.
Actually the recently announced custom engine and tech director are the most interesting news to come out in the past 7 years. At least something is happening, something other than an unreal engine demo teaser.
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>>3951090
There *is* a story in False Skies, mostly to give you a general idea of where to go but your party is a group of literal archaeologists exploring and finding random dungeons to delve into. It's funny because there's a bit of a running joke about how your party goes into more and more dangerous ruins, and people comment (in new towns, for ex) on your party being archaeologists but decked the fuck out in armor and weapons.
The game has an extensive job system to experiment with as well.
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This is my idea for a dream game. Something where you're a monster slayer/witch hunter/adventurer for hire just living your life. I want something that has quests and storylines, but no overarching main quest or high-stakes story. You would discover quests by talking to people, overhearing dialogue, or reading books, with as few non-diegetic guides (e.g. quest markers) as possible. Same with crafting or discovering loot--if you wanted to make a potion, you would actually have to find a book about making potions and then remember the recipe in the book. If you want an ancient magical dwarven weapon, you have to find out where the dwarven ruins are (by eavesdropping on the traveling dwarven merchants in the tavern or something) and then delve into them. There would also be rumours and dialogue that was misleading or led to dead ends.
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>>3963212
LOL