I’m practically allergic to fast travel, no matter the game. I don’t play games to “get through them”. If I’m playing something where I’m that bored with traveling in an alternate universe, I should probably just pick another game.
I take transit in Cyberpunk and it makes the world feel way more alive. Downtime is something some games are entirely built around so the moments of action have that much more impact. I admit some games do this poorly, but those are ones I typically just avoid in the first place.
I like when my games feel more like roleplay and less like an action movie.
I’d recommend emulating some nostalgic games from your childhood, ones you’ve played to death and wouldn’t mind any sudden interruptions of since you’ve seen everything a hundred times.
Basically, the video game equivalent of putting on old sitcoms.
Morrowind was perfect without fast-travel. You had to come up with creative solutions. On the way to Balmora and don’t want to hike through the ash hills? Just use the spell Waterwalking and use the river as a convenient highway.
Use Divine Intervention to teleport to the next temple in a town, then use the siltstrider to travel to the next city or boats to go alongside the coast. Mage Guild offered teleport devices to other cities. The Spells Mark and Recall did the rest.
That being said, first mod that I made for Morrowind back in the day, was an extention of the transport network, with a bunch of teleportation points, and random silt strider stops all over. As much fun as it was to jump around, it gets old eventually
That’s the trick to Morrowind. It does have fast travel, it’s just integrated into the world building much better. Between Silt Striders, Boats, Mage Guild Teleportation, Mark and Recall, Intervention spells, and things like Levitation and the Boots of Blinding Speed, you can actually often get around the map faster than in later games (just watch a Morrowind speed run). But to do so you needed to build up both your character, and your own knowledge of the game world.
Fast Travel wasn’t some feature that broke immersion to add convenience, it instead added to both. It enhanced the feeling of exploration, and character progression, while teaching the player about the world.
I almost never fast traveled when I played Skyrim. To busy exploring every random cave and building along with climbing random mountains because why not.
This was me with Horizon Zero Dawn. I finished my first playthrough without ever fast traveling. Then after the credits rolled I spammed it.
No ragrets. Was fun.
Honestly, managing exams along with work and other responsibilities can be really overwhelming. Hiring someone to take your test can sometimes feel like a practical solution when grades are on the line. I came across this topic while looking for Class Exam Help Online, and it really highlights how students are trying to balance pressure and performance in today’s academic world.
Silksong surprise dropped this September after 7 years with like a 2 month heads up
Clair Obscur Expedition 33 came out of absolutely nowhere and is a work of art in every way
Deltarune chapters 3 and 4 finally launched, 3 is fun but 4 is incredible.
I think Balatro came out in that timeframe, and CloverPit in a similar vein this year (though the latter’s most recent update is frankly terrible and hopefully most of the charges will be reverted in the next update)
Ball X Pit becomes more of an idle game once you make progress, but it’s a great little casual take on Breakout, with a fair bit of grinding for completion.
Eden Ring Nightreign is an interesting take on the formula and IMO a far better game than its original counterpart
Alan Wake 2 may have been 2023, my memory’s a bit fuzzy, but I think if anything they dropped a decent sized update last year.
Mycopunk is a fantastic early access FPS, coop emphasis and super chaotic
Path of Exile 2’s early access is phase is finally nearing its end. Game has solid bones
Ninja Gaiden Ragebound is pretty underrated, first modern game in the series that builds on the classic NES formula instead
Antonblast is a great little Wario-inspired platformer. Not as speedy as Pizza Tower, but really tight.
Yakuza Pirates I guess, though I’d argue it’s legitimately the worst game in the franchise. It’s not bad but it’s not good.
Witchfire is another early access FPS about to hit 1.0. It’s been out for a few years now but they’ve been really cracking down on the updates lately.
I Am Your Beast is an underrated one for sure, very fast paced speedrun-driven FPS about taking down a fascist private military. Strange Scaffold never disappoints.
These couple years saw a huge resurgence of casual party-based games. Lethal Company, REPO, and Peak are all fun with the right group, though popularity of the first two is dwindling last I checked. A bit of a fad but they’re fun.
I’ve definitely missed a handful here and got my years wrong in some places, but these have been some standouts for me lately.
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