Check out Transistor and The Witcher 3. Transistor has an interesting story, but it trusts the player to work it out and doesn’t spell out everything. The Witcher 3 is like a detective novel and, it got me as interested in its fantasy world as much as the main story.
Zikessays:
I second Sagar’s recommendations, especially The Witcher 3. While The Witcher 3 is a sequel, it tells its own (very well-written) story that does not require you to have played the previous games to appreciate. While you do meet characters from previous games, they are often accompanied by enough backstory provided by natural dialogue that you’re quickly brought up to speed.
Additionally, unlike many open-world fantasy games, you are stepping into the shoes of an existing character with his own past and motives. Instead of an entirely open-ended experience with a thousand bland and ineffectual choices, you get to experience a depth and richness of character typically reserved for more linear media like books or film (the Witcher game series does happen to be based on a book series).
It also has an impressive attention to detail in regards to side quests. Each side quest has real story and consequences that feel truly integrated into the game world. Whereas on the surface a particular quest might be to simply kill a wraith terrorizing a nearby village, in The Witcher 3 you’ll solve the mystery of the wraith’s origins as a former villager, caught up in a love triangle that ended in tragedy.
Still more great reasons to give it a look are the soundtrack, which is not only extensive and impressive (do yourself a favor and look it up on your streaming service of choice), but also largely influenced by the Polish origins of the CDPR development company, as is the fantasy setting itself. Many of the creatures are based on Polish folklore, making for an experience similar enough to Western fantasy folklore to be accessibly familiar yet historically rich and nuanced enough to be new and interesting for long-time fantasy enthusiasts.
Check out Transistor and The Witcher 3. Transistor has an interesting story, but it trusts the player to work it out and doesn’t spell out everything. The Witcher 3 is like a detective novel and, it got me as interested in its fantasy world as much as the main story.
I second Sagar’s recommendations, especially The Witcher 3. While The Witcher 3 is a sequel, it tells its own (very well-written) story that does not require you to have played the previous games to appreciate. While you do meet characters from previous games, they are often accompanied by enough backstory provided by natural dialogue that you’re quickly brought up to speed.
Additionally, unlike many open-world fantasy games, you are stepping into the shoes of an existing character with his own past and motives. Instead of an entirely open-ended experience with a thousand bland and ineffectual choices, you get to experience a depth and richness of character typically reserved for more linear media like books or film (the Witcher game series does happen to be based on a book series).
It also has an impressive attention to detail in regards to side quests. Each side quest has real story and consequences that feel truly integrated into the game world. Whereas on the surface a particular quest might be to simply kill a wraith terrorizing a nearby village, in The Witcher 3 you’ll solve the mystery of the wraith’s origins as a former villager, caught up in a love triangle that ended in tragedy.
Still more great reasons to give it a look are the soundtrack, which is not only extensive and impressive (do yourself a favor and look it up on your streaming service of choice), but also largely influenced by the Polish origins of the CDPR development company, as is the fantasy setting itself. Many of the creatures are based on Polish folklore, making for an experience similar enough to Western fantasy folklore to be accessibly familiar yet historically rich and nuanced enough to be new and interesting for long-time fantasy enthusiasts.