What games have inspired true adventure in your mind?

[fast]

To me, true adventure is in discovery and exploration. So a large well populated world is a must. Fantasy settings help, but that’s the bias in me talking. To me there are four titles that really expemplify this (excluding rogues/muds):
The Legend of Zelda - NES
Legend of Zelda Windwaker - Gamecube
Elderscrolls II – Daggerfall – Win95/DOS Pc
Sacred – XP

These games all have incredibly large and detailed worlds that when running through really feel like you are on an adventure, that you are discovering new things to the world. But thats just me.

[arion]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I have played most of these games and they are pretty great. Is Morrowind that different than Oblivion? I have only played Oblivion and I haven't really been able to get into it.

I really couldn't tell you why, but Morrowind actually always felt far more immersive. Maybe it's because there were no other continents that were connected that you were blocked from getting to, or maybe it's that some of the world was just so alien that I didn't stop and say "I've seen this" over and over again. Plus, in some ways there was just more stuff, like more styles of combat and armor. Morrowind just felt like a better game to me. Oblivion...I get that feeling of wonder sometimes, but it just never got to me like Morrowind did. Too many Oblivion portals blocking my view, I suppose.

I'd also like to add since you only get instructions in how to finish the quests not a waypoint Morrowind makes you explore more. Hence it feels more like an adventure than oblivion which just does the whole adventuring for you.

[UBERTRON777]

Hmm. . . I'll look into playing it sometime. For me, a good adventure almost has to be in a stark, isolated world. Populated cities or almost any human contact pretty much just disrupts the trance for me. Another aspect of a good adventure would be one with little or preferably no explanation of what you "should" be doing. This is the main draw of the Legend of Zelda to me, a game that I used to shy away from because of the very same reason. Another cool game I overlooked was Out of this World. I thought that one was great.

[MrEco]

Myst and any of it's sequels really do it for me.

[spiritplx]

The next day I realized just what happened. All the logic was correct, but the initial assumptions were flawed.

Oh, so you did have the ice beam ?

[MrPopo]

No, the assumption was that there was a Metroid outside the bathroom. Turns out I was just hallucinating. Which makes Super Metroid the single greatest game I've ever played.

[elvis]

Wonderboy II and Wonderboy III on Sega Master System.

These were my earliest true adventure games, and for me were the first larger-scale games. Both took me ages to finish, and felt epic in comparison to games of that same era.

I didn't own a NES first time around, so it wasn't until Zelda: Link to the Past and Super Metroid on SNES that I played that sort of style of game again.

And an honourable mention as well to Super Adventure Island 2, which is a poor man's Wonderboy III clone.

[General Chaos]

The Quest For Glory series does it for me every time. That series (especially the VGA remake of the first) is just eerily captivating to me.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

The original Panzer Dragoon on the SEGA Saturn: From the opening level onward I always have a sense of childish glee when I play it.

Sonic Adventure DX on the Gamecube: Quite literally the most massive game I had ever played in terms of size and scope at the time of it's release.

Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube: Say what you want about this version of Mario, I found it to be a fantastic follow up to Super Mario 64 with intricate level design head scratching puzzles, and a fantastically interactive world full of side quests an hidden secrets.

[Erik_Twice]

Portal by far. Specially at the last part of the game.