Walking Simulators

[Gorse]

cola?'s post in the "What makes games bad?" thread got me thinking about these again. Did anyone actually like any of these walking simulators: Dear Esther, A Stanley Parable, Gone Home, etc. etc.?

The genre seems to have completely died off in the late 2010s, so I must ask: Is there anyone out there who's actually a fan of it? What did you think about the pushback that these games got at the time? Would you ever want to see a widespread revival? No trolling – I'd love to hear your thoughts.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Stanley Parable is funny, and that's about it.

 

[fake-kun]

cola?'s post in the "What makes games bad?" thread got me thinking about these again. Did anyone actually like any of these walking simulators: Dear Esther, A Stanley Parable, Gone Home, etc. etc.?

The genre seems to have completely died off in the late 2010s, so I must ask: Is there anyone out there who's actually a fan of it? What did you think about the pushback that these games got at the time? Would you ever want to see a widespread revival? No trolling – I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I liked What Remains of Edith Finch.

 

[Gorse]

Stanley Parable is funny, and that's about it.

I quite enjoyed Stanley Parable at the time, too, but it's not something I would ever play again. It's very cute, but highly shallow, and I never really was interested enough to pick up the developer's following game, A Beginner's Guide.

 

[Spike's iconSpike]

Does DayZ count? It's all you do.

 

[Elwiwi]

Any open world falls under that category if you think hard enough

 

[Gorse]

Does DayZ count? It's all you do.

TVTropes specifically uses this game as an example of what isn't a walking simulator, funny enough.

 

[Spike's iconSpike]

Any open world falls under that category if you think hard enough

1,702 km2 (657 sq mi) map and no vehicle for a loooooong time.

TVTropes specifically uses this game as an example of what isn't a walking simulator, funny enough.

welp

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Most itch.io horror games are this

 

[DeadVoivod]

Not too much of a fan of it, but I think those hundreds of horror games coming out lately all are walking simulators.

The Stanley Parable was funny in the beginning, after some point it seriously got on my nerves and I had to stop.
I thought Gone Home and Dear Esther were boring.
I enjoyed The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter (fine) and Firewatch (great).

 

[oyster_engine]

I enjoyed What Remains of Edith Finch, but I really see no point in replaying it.
I guess they fall under that VN gameplay meme, but instead of "Press A" it's "Hold Right stick forward"

 

[RustySK]

They're certainly not my kind of thing and I can't claim that I miss that trend. I always found them unsatisfying no matter how I tried to approach them.

The one that came closest to working for me was probably Firewatch, but that one really was down to the voice acting, so I'm not sure the experience would have lost a lot had it been presented as an audio drama or something.

I dunno. Not for me.

 

[bjork]

I think they're fine, every one of those is probably someone's favorite game whether I think they're good or not. You know?

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Maybe they are a niche now.

Just how VNs are their own thing, speaking as someone who likes VNs.

I don't know, i'd rather just play a VN than a walking simulator, at least some VNs have mini-games, and aren't made in an engine i despise (Unreal Engine).

Most VNs can also run on a toaster, which is something devs forget is an actual pro.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

And my issue with Walking Sims is that while it can tell a nice story they cannot be good games unless they're heavy on puzzles and exploration.

Myst was a proto-Walking Sim but at least the entire island was a big puzzle.


Point'n clicks saved themselves with actual researches and having to find items to use them adequately and some VN like Ace Attorney and Zero Escape for the same reasons but the lack of them would've greatly reduced their impact.

 

[Evaccaneer Doom]

cola?'s post in the "What makes games bad?" thread got me thinking about these again. Did anyone actually like any of these walking simulators: Dear Esther, A Stanley Parable, Gone Home, etc. etc.?

The genre seems to have completely died off in the late 2010s, so I must ask: Is there anyone out there who's actually a fan of it? What did you think about the pushback that these games got at the time? Would you ever want to see a widespread revival? No trolling – I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Never played any of those and no it didn't die out. Gris is a modern walking simulator that's focused on artsiness. Death Stranding also exists and that's getting a sequel. We can't forget about Stray's reputation either

As for my thoughts, eh. They're kinda like a VN with less actions to me (and you know it's bad when you're beaten by the graphic novel video game genre) and I don't really mind/care.

 

[Glimbo]

I don't think walking sim games ever went away. There are all those liminal space and backrooms games in recent years. Now it's spot the difference walking sims like Exit 8.
Not my kind of genre, but there was one I liked called Anatomy. It's a horror game about the anatomy of a house. Really nails the atmosphere.

 

[Gorse]

Not my kind of genre, but there was one I liked called Anatomy. It's a horror game about the anatomy of a house. Really nails the atmosphere.

This one had a really cool premise and atmosphere, but I watched a video essay about it and basically didn't need to play the game, anymore. OH WELL

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

This one had a really cool premise and atmosphere, but I watched a video essay about it and basically didn't need to play the game, anymore. OH WELL

That's the issue I have with WS and VNs...

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

That's the problem every story focused game has, unless you really like the story and wanna see it again, replayability is very low, almost non-existent on Walking Sims and Kinetic VNs.

 

[fake-kun]

That's the problem every story focused game has, unless you really like the story and wanna see it again, replayability is very low, almost non-existent on Walking Sims and Kinetic VNs.

Replayability is overrated.

 

[cola?]

i was 100% one of those HEH...... WALKING SIMULATOR? DEAR ESTHER, MORE LIKE ERM DON'T BOTHER..... people when dear esther was about, although that was partially cus i had no money to actually try it for myself (don't tell anyone i still haven't got around to it)

there's actually a pretty fine line between where the walking sim ends and the Gamer's Game begins i've come to learn, especially when you start including stuff like the stanley parable. if you wanna be an asshole like me you could totally include stuff like monkey island in that definition since all you do is walk and talk and then use items to talk more - but oh shit turns out i wanna listen to these guys talk.

the definition is just too nebulous for me to ever wanna attach to anything is a big stinker for me, since even if a game is nothing but WASD movement and mouselook that's still something. you can't even mouselook in real life
doom the gallery experience is a 5 minute pisstake of art snobbery and walking sims both and it still has personality to it i'd still call it pretty fun, at least a good few giggles in there. you don't gotta be shooting people to appreciatee looking at nice things! there's those horror spot the difference games that take the concept of looking at nice things and expanding on it like

Now it's spot the difference walking sims like Exit 8.

like that one!! man i gotta stop taking so long to type these out considering it's just unfiltered rambling anyway

This one had a really cool premise and atmosphere, but I watched a video essay about it and basically didn't need to play the game, anymore. OH WELL

this has started becoming a real big stinker for me on video essays. people who take on some story rich and give the most surface level thoughts on it while basically narrating the entire plot to you. it's like second hand consumption
we somehow managed to go from people spoiling something for you to mother bird digesting and dribbling it into your awaiting beak it for you

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Replayability is overrated.

I agree, I myself think being memorable is more important than replayability.

 

[ATenderLad]

I don't have a terribly interesting opinion; they're fine, and I don't begrudge folks enjoying them. I think it's a *slow* way of experiencing a story, but I generally prefer text to video so that's just my hang-up.

(Stanley Parable was pretty funny though).

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Replayability is overrated.

I disagree, what makes some games recognised as being great and timeless was because you could always enjoy them when redoing it for the 10th time. Mario 64 and Doom are some examples among many.

But then again you've just dismissed almost every arcade and 8-bits era video game ever since they're made to be really short with replayability in mind which is probably not what you actually wanted to imply.

And once again not everyone would agree with your statement (which is an opinion despite the usage of the term "overrated" to make it seemingly objective).

Why are movies seen again, musics listened again and books read again but not video games?

The issue is that when a game is marketed to be hundreds of hours long but offers little to no variety in its gameplay it makes it less enticing than a short yet intense experience.

I agree, I myself think being memorable is more important than replayability.

Why not both? Memorable and replayable.

I think I could even replay the Zero Escape games just for the puzzles even if I knew the story.