Games of loneliness and contemplative solitude

[PartridgeSenpai]

I'm so envious of you guys who can get so drawn into the atmosphere of games. I'm just so bad at getting sucked into a game or film. I can just never turn off that signal that "this is just a game." It is really cool to see what games other people can get sucked into though, certainly.

[Xeogred]

Atmosphere takes more precedence over story for me.

[Ziggy]

Atmosphere takes more precedence over story for me.

+1

The original Metroid for the NES is one of my favorite games. It's not just the marvelously cold alien landscapes, the deliciously eccentric soundtrack, or the vast explorative gameplay that makes it great, it's how the whole thing comes together in this unique emotional experience. Metroid feels lonely. Quiet. Contemplative. I can get lost in myself in Metroid.

Maybe it's just because the game is new and I've been playing a lot of it recently, but if you replace "Metroid" with "No Man's Sky" in the above quote, I feel like that something I could have said about the game.

Another World.

Yes!

Everblue.

That box art and description makes me want to check it out. Is Endless Ocean on the Wii any good?

Here's one for me...

If you follow the story, you're not exactly alone. Gaia is guiding you. But as for actually playing the game, you couldn't be more alone. Gaia is only there for you when you die, and at the end of chapters.

The first chapter does everything to make you feel alone, depressed, uneasy. The setting, the music, the hostility of enemies. Once you get out of the water in Chapter 2 the music gets a little more bouncy and cheery as a whole. And the setting, being on land versus the ocean, is less depressing, but the game still has some depressing moments. Not to mention the good or evil choices you have to make once in a while.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Lots of old Western RPG stuff fits the bill. Even those games without music. Try playing something like Ultima III or Gateway to Apshai late at night with the lights off. Awesome.

I've talked about The 7th Saga extensively on these forums. A large grey ruined world, foreboding music, and mostly silent characters with unclear or ambivalent motivations. Incredible game.

The Lunatic Dawn games are also pretty haunting and minimalistic. Highly recommended.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Everblue.

That box art and description makes me want to check it out. Is Endless Ocean on the Wii any good?

The Endless Ocean games are literally Everblue 3 and 4. They just aren't called that. Exhumy Senpai can probably give you more detailed specs on which ones of those are the best and such, but I know he's talked about liking all of them on the Games Beaten (of this year, I'm fairly certain) though.

[Exhuminator]

Metroid/Super and Flashback are some good calls.

If you've never played Another World AKA Out of this World, I urge you to do so. The game is available on a variety of platforms. (I originally played through the SNES version and loved that one.)

That box art and description makes me want to check it out. Is Endless Ocean on the Wii any good?

As Partridge said below, Endless Ocean 1 & 2 on Wii, are actually Everblue 3 & 4 for all intents and purposes.

That said, I've beaten Everblue, Endless Ocean, and Endless Ocean: Blue World. Everblue was by far the most lonely and creepy of the bunch. You are always alone in it, and your job as a salvage diver means you must explore long lost forgotten wrecks, where your only company will be whatever strange sealife might inhabit them.

The Endless Ocean games in contrast, sometimes place you with other divers, meaning you're not always alone. You can befriend dolphins and train them to be your diving partners, so you can choose to never be alone even. However, if you do choose to dive say the abyssal plains, trenches, or underwater cavern systems alone, you'll be immersed in some serious solitude with much to contemplate indeed. I absolutely LOVE the Everblue/Endless Ocean games, but they are not for everyone. Most people will find them boring.

---

I'm guessing No Man's Sky fits this thread's theme. Though a better example in that vein might be Robinson's Requiem. https://www.gog.com/game/robinsons_requiem_collectionMi

Waking Mars may work too: https://www.gog.com/game/waking_mars

Miasmata absolutely: https://www.gog.com/game/miasmata

And of course Kholat: https://www.gog.com/game/kholat

And of course... Elegy for a Dead World:

[ElkinFencer10]

I'm so envious of you guys who can get so drawn into the atmosphere of games. I'm just so bad at getting sucked into a game or film. I can just never turn off that signal that "this is just a game." It is really cool to see what games other people can get sucked into though, certainly.

I'm usually pretty good at getting myself immersed into a game's world, especially horror games. That's why I scare much more easily in games than most long-time gamers; I'm able to let myself feel like a part of the game's world, so even so-so horror games can get me.

[winds]

Not sure if all would agree with me, but I always felt that Panzer Dragoon Saga felt very desolate and lonely. There we're only a few towns and even those weren't very well populated. I remember having a sense of complete loneliness while playing the game, it actually made me feel slightly depressed. It's the main reason I didn't have fun with that game or hold it nearly as high as a lot of people do, but if you're seeking that, it might be right up your alley!

[Exhuminator]

Panzer Dragoon Saga is dead on. That game just oozes "loneliness and contemplative solitude". I totally adored its atmosphere. If only its game design had been as polished as its immersive properties.

[ElkinFencer10]

Panzer Dragoon Saga is dead on. That game just oozes "loneliness and contemplative solitude". I totally adored its atmosphere. If only its game design had been as polished as its immersive properties.

My biggest gripe with the game was that it can't save and load directly from the cartridge memory, and since my batteries seem to die in the blink of an eye, I had to race through that game because I was paranoid that if I took a break for even a day, the battery would die and I'd lose 10 hours of progress (again).