The most interesting and varied game worlds?

[Dreakon13]

I found myself in a position of trying to explain to someone why I like Hollow Knight so much... and one point I kept going back to was how cool the world was.  Every area was so unique and interesting.  A mix of charming/cute and desolate/macabre that I've never really seen before.  The game has a ton of aimless wandering but the reason I was okay with that (I'm usually not) is because the world itself was such a treat to explore.  Not to mention tons of secrets to unearth in it.

 

I feel like Final Fantasy 7 is another great example of this.  It has so many different cultures represented in its towns (just compare Midgar to Kalm, Nibelheim to Wutai, Cosmo Canyon to Junon, Costa Del Sol to Rocket Town and so on).  I feel like I haven't seen such a greatest hits of town designs in a game before or since.  And that's just scratching the surface of how unique that games world can be and why people love it so much.

 

So I'm kind of wondering, in your opinions, what other games fit that bill?  I'm not talking an ordinary medieval or present day backdrop with good graphics, or interesting characters, interesting politics, interesting story, etc... but games where the actual world itself is so deep, rich and vividly realized that it stands on its own and is as much a reason to keep playing the game as anything.

 

Note: I put this topic in "Consoles" because it'd be cool if the suggested games were one readily available for us console users to play.  If there's a game so good and it happens to be PC exclusive, feel free to suggest it!

Edited September 8, 2019 by Dreakon13

[EcoShifter]

Gravity Rush series, the Jak Tetralogy, Spyro series, Shantae series, Sonic series, Borderland series. Listed all of those because of a mixture of varied cultures, settings, topography, music, and remotely-deep to deep lore.

[Crispy_Oglop]

Sotenbori, Kamurocho, Okinawa etc from the Yakuza series are some of the most interesting and vibrant worlds i've played in. The maps are small enough, but the content and events in them are densely packed and engaging.

[ExHaseo]

Most classic style JRPGs do a great job with this. They tend to take you to lots of varied and interesting locations that help the world feel alive. A more specific example is Tales of Symphonia. Taking you from an incredibly small town to a regal kingdom, a ninja village, and futuristic bases. The contrast between the two parts of the game is vast too. You can really tell that one part is flourishing over the other.

Another great example of this in JRPGs is Star Ocean 3. You travel between futuristic and medieval style planets and see different cultures and how they developed. Leading to a lot of really cool places to visit and an interesting overall universe.

 

The classic Sonic games also have done a great job taking you to a lot of interesting places that make the world feel interesting. From the grassy green hills, to a casino, to an icey mountain, and to a flying spaceship. It all was varied and interesting, and it was always believeable. You'd never show up to a new zone and think it didn't make any sense (except maybe Sonic CD). It's one of the reasons I think the series has been going for so long. The world is interesting and varied. You always want to see where it's going to take you next. Even the (good) newer games have this.

 

Bayonetta did a great job with creating an interesting world too. Especially combining both games. Seeing the contrast between human, angelic, and demon worlds makes for a really cool world.

 

Most of Suda51's games also did a great job building an interesting world. No More Heroes being the most popular example, but my favorite being Killer is Dead. All the locations are a mix of bizarre and interesting, and fits well with the personality of the character you're going after.

 

Lastly, I'll say Horizon Zero Dawn. The world the game built is one of the most interesting and impressive in the current gen. The present day is such a cool mix between old and new with the wilderness mixed with the machines. Then the more you discover about the world's past the even more interesting everything becomes. It really makes you want to seek out and discover as much as you can to unveil more about the game's world.

[BlackSquirrell1]

GTAV I enjoyed because of so much to do and the different terrain you could travel to.

 

ESO with all of the added DLC was pretty awesome, even thought it seemed like the new areas were a little similar.

 

Hollow Knight is in a class by itself.  A game that I suck at, but I plan on going back to in the near future.