Support NeoGAF

[GymWolf]

I like the game, the system wasn’t complex at all. NPCs weren’t all that either.

It is more complex than 99% games where you can steal, so not complex in a vacuum, but more complex than almost everything else.

Definitely a better system than putting a chest in the head of a vendor so he can't see you stealing stuff or moving objects out of their sight to steal them like we did in oblivion or skyrim, fun but retarded.

 

[GymWolf]

It could be more complex, but if you take it from higher level, it makes a bit more sense.

This is early 15th century Europe. There is no habias corpus. Guards see someone suspicious skulking around, they take them in and perhaps talk to the owners of the house you were skulking around. Stolen items are identified and then further investigation proceeds.

You can talk your way out of it depending on your skills and reputation.

I know, i played the game.

I was just pointing out how we are still far away from actually intelligent and flexible npcs.

 

[GymWolf]

R Reizo Ryuu why the empathy reaction tho?

 

[Fess]

It has an excellent if a bit grim story. And really good side quests.

Overall game is fun because of the systems. It’s crazy what you can do.

Edit: Forgot to mention that there is a ton of different ways to finish various quests. It’s really expansive in that sense.

Sounds great! I’ll put it on my wishlist. It’s just that I’m too much into fantasy whenever there are swords, so not super interested by the themes if I read about it, but the systems sounds really great.

In general I love when there is interactions and when npcs act like you expect them to act. I spent time just observing npcs and wildlife in Red Dead Redemption 2. From the games I’ve played that’s the top game when it comes to ”life”.

And vice-verse I’m not a fan when there is no interactions and if game worlds are too static. Even high-budget titles like God of War can feel like a 8-bit NES game in how static and predetermined everything is.

 

[GymWolf]

Sounds great! I’ll put it on my wishlist. It’s just that I’m too much into fantasy whenever there are swords, so not super interested by the themes if I read about it, but the systems sounds really great.

In general I love when there is interactions and when npcs act like you expect them to act. I spent time just observing npcs and wildlife in Red Dead Redemption 2. From the ganes I’ve played that’s the top game when it comes to ”life”.

And vice-verse I’m not a fan when there is no interactions and if game worlds are too static. Even high-budget titles like God of War can feel like a 8-bit NES game in how static and predetermined everything is.

Different goals, gow looks dead but the combat in kc compared to an action game is pure dog water tier.

Crimson desert could be our next best hope of a decent city simulation with actual fun combat.

 

[StereoVsn]

I know, i played the game.

I was just pointing out how we are still far away from actually intelligent and flexible npcs.

Oh for sure. But I feel with current capabilities KCD2 did a bang up job. They have the best overall world and interactivity I have seen.

 

[MSduderino]

I'm surprised at how many are saying RDR2 when there is such limited interactivity and Arthur responsiveness moves like molasses. Currently playing Monster Hunter Wilds and it feels very alive and immersive during the hunts to me even though it does stuff like tracking the monster and crafting for you. The environments feel alive, while the NPCs are just scripts or quest givers.

 

[GymWolf]

Oh for sure. But I feel with current capabilities KCD2 did a bang up job. They have the best overall world and interactivity I have seen.

For 3d world sure, i personally prefer rdr2 because the animations and physicality of the world are far better than kc2 even if the latter has more complex systems.

If we talk 2d, rain world smash any of these games simulation and ai wise, too bad the game is super hard and obscure so very few people played it.

 

[StereoVsn]

For 3d world sure, i prefer rdr2 because the animations and physicality are far better than kc2 if the latter has more complex systems.

If we talk 2d, rain world smash any of these games simulation and ai wise.

Yeah, talking about 3D games. I felt that RDR2 mission design was very inflexible. And generally KCD2 was way more in depth on various systems.

 

[Sooner]

i find BoTW and ToTK also feels alive

Yeah.... no.

 

[GymWolf]

Yeah, talking about 3D games. I felt that RDR2 mission design was very inflexible. And generally KCD2 was way more in depth on various systems.

Rdr2 is at its best during the exploration of the open world and trying shanenigans with the npcs but the mission design is beyond restricted, yeah, kc2 absolutely smash rdr2 in terms of mission design.

 

[StereoVsn]

Rdr2 is at its best during just exploring the open world and trying shanenigans with the npcs but the mission design is beyond restricted, yeah, kc2 absolutely smash rdr2 in terms of mission design.

And to be fair to RDR2, even now in 2025, the world looks beautiful. And the game is how many years old!

 

[GymWolf]

And to be fair to RDR2, even now in 2025, the world looks beautiful. And the game is how many years old!

Nothing is gonna beat SOME aspects of rdr2 until gta6 is out (and i'm not even sure of that given the size of gta6 compared to rdr2)

No game has the amount of microdetails that rdr2 has, no witcher 2, no kc2 , no nothing.

You can rob a dude and intercept the coin he toss at you with a fucking knife, a game where you clearly see the 9 years of development and infinite budget and manpower, just unfair for any other dev and the reason why we need rockstar to take 10 years for each game, don't care for people who can't wait for greatness.

 

[Danjin44]

I know GAF currently have hate boner against this game but for me MHWilds when it comes to wild life.

 

[Mega Man]

RDR 2 has way too little interaction going on between you and the random NPCs. Skyrim is the king for me.

How much interaction do you have with random people walking around irl on a regular basis? The illusion is lost when every NPC greets you or starts on some random quip/observation while walking around.

 

[Fess]

Different goals, gow looks dead but the combat in kc compared to an action game is pure dog water tier.

Crimson desert could be our next best hope of a decent city simulation with actual fun combat.

I understand but it still annoys me. And spawning an enemy wave just because you walk over an invisible line feels 8-bit to me and is way too common. The best games let you trigger events that just keeps on going without you participating. Trigger enemies to attack enemies always bring a smile to my face. Pop a muddle bud on a big enemy in an enemy camp in Zelda TOTK. Rushing through an enemy camp in Elden Ring and drag soldiers out to fight giant dogs.

 

[EN250]

RDR2 is the definitive the answer for now
Before that for me was The Witcher 3, at least some of Velen and mostly Novigrad
And before that was definitely GTAV

R* still the of Open World games

 

[Zimmy68]

People crap on Cyberpunk but the state of the game now is pretty impressive.
Just walking down the street, I see different NPC behavior almost every time.
There is still jank but much better than ver. 1.0.

 

[GymWolf]

I understand but it still annoys me. And spawning an enemy wave just because you walk over an invisible line feels 8-bit to me and is way too common. The best games let you trigger events that just keeps on going without you participating. Trigger enemies to attack enemies always bring a smile to my face. Pop a muddle bud on a big enemy in an enemy camp in Zelda TOTK. Rushing through an enemy camp in Elden Ring and drag soldiers out to fight giant dogs.

Have you tried days gone? In that game you can attract an entire horde into an enemy camp and watch the absolute chaos unfold, or even just an infected bear etc.

Very few games let you do that organically, most games have just poison darts that make them fight each other (btw days gone also has that).

 

[Space Runaway]

From the games I've played probably RDR2 and Oblivion (Even the mega nerfed Radiant AI still had enough unpredictabilities to offset the routines).

 

[Boy bawang]

Rain World for me. My game of the decade

 

[Fess]

Have you tried days gone? In that game you can attract an entire horde into an enemy camp and watch the absolute chaos unfold, or even just an infected bear etc.

Very few games let you do that organically, most games have just poison darts that make them fight each other (btw days gone also has that).

Thanks for reminding me! It’s still unplayed in my Steam library

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

RDR 2 has way too little interaction going on between you and the random NPCs. Skyrim is the king for me.

Yep Skyrim, Oblivion are probably it with Skyrim being closer.

Even in base vanilla without mods. The NPCs in Skyrim have actual schedule where they'll go to sleep, wake up, travel around town, opening shop, visiting places and doing other things. There's even npcs that go across the huge ass map. When I first did the civil war truce quest, I was surprise to see the Queen and the General actually getting out of their castle and palace to walk all the way to High Hrothgar, same goes for the other NPCs during that meeting. Every NPC are active in REAL TIME even when you're not around whether they're in a village, or a city etc. They actually got true NPCs with the radiant A.I system unlike generic spawn in npcs from GTA and Witcher games. Which is why I'm fine with their being more loading screen as both NPCs and monsters takes way more to process compared to other games that just spawn generic moving placeholder npcs on the spot.

Even tons of random encounters to make things feel alive and these unscripted encounters are completely random and won't always happen the way same from different playthroughs. You can easily run into a battle between Stormcloaks and Imperials but a dragon or a vampire party would suddenly join in if they happen to be in the area. With mods to further enhanced all the immersion, it just makes it a game that's far beyond a 10/10 even. Some people might say mods shouldn't gain but it does and it's part of the soul of the series to make it beyond perfect. Over 9 billion mod downloads for Skyrim SE and Skyrim by themselves.. And that's not even counting mods from outside of Nexus. Fallout 4 which is the second most modded game in history only has 1.2 billion mod downloads so a huge gap compared to Skyrim being at 9 billion. The lore definitely helps in keeping the interest in Skyrim both as a world that feels alive and keeping the interest of modders. Warcraft has a huge fantasy lore that I like too but they are nowhere as deep as the lore of Elder Scrolls.

 

[JimmyRustler]

Wasn’t the biggest fan but… RDR2. The world was incredible and I’m curious to see if it will ever be topped the way the industry is going.

 

[GymWolf]

Thanks for reminding me! It’s still unplayed in my Steam library

If you are used to action games\tps don't play under hard 2 mode or it is too easy, the game has a great sense of progression and it get ruined if you smash everything from hour 1.

 

[Xaeroxcore666]

Retro: Shenmue 1 and 2.

Modern: RDR2....a last gen 7 yr old game and still haven´t been surpassed....Probably just GTA VI will raise the level.

Also special mention to BTOW and TOTK, for the level of interaction the world delivers!

 

[ReBurn]

Ever since GTA III it's been Rockstar games for me.

 

[Fess]

If you are used to action games\tps don't play under hard 2 mode or it is too easy.

I’m very used to action games but I suck at aiming with analog stick

 

[kiphalfton]

Breath of the Wild for me.

The way the world was so reactive and dynamic was just awesome; grass blows, bends, and burns, trees can be cut down and the log will then roll down slopes or float in water, metal and water conduct electricity, rain puts out fire, wind can influence the spread of a wildfire which itself creates an updraft, even carrying an elemental weapon can cool or warm you, allowing you to survive in the desert by carrying an ice sword, or in the snow by carrying a fire sword...

It's basically what I dreamed games of the future would be like back when I was kid playing SNES in the 90s.

World is empty, too many copy/pasted assets, no proper cities, with no easter eggs besides the stupid koroks.

 

[GymWolf]

I’m very used to action games but I suck at aiming with analog stick

Don't you have the game on steam? You can use m+k.

Or you can just stealth for most of the game.

 

[Ogbert]

Well, discounting WoW et al, in terms of attention to detail, it has to be one of the Rockstar titles.

But in terms of artistry and that idiosyncratic feel of a place actually *existing*, independent of the game, either BoTW hyrule or The Lands Between.

 

[yogaflame]

No mans sky

 

[Fess]

Don't you have the game on steam? You can use m+k.

Or you can just stealth for most of the game.

Normally I never play third person games with mouse and keyboard, aiming is great but digital WASD feels awful when you’re used to analog movement. But I could give it a try.
Can’t believe I never even started it!

 

[GymWolf]

Normally I never play third person games with mouse and keyboard, aiming is great but digital WASD feels awful when you’re used to analog movement. But I could give it a try.
Can’t believe I never even started it!

I straigh up can't play shit with m+k, not just tps.

 

[Ceadeus]

Assassin's Creed Unity is great for this. It would be even better if the npc AI were not designed to look like wandering hobos on crystal meth

 

[Roberts]

Other than the obvious ones mentioned here I would like to mention Grounded. It is a game that just kept on surprising me the further I got into it - that backyard is busy with all kinds of life and there are so many ways to interact with it.

 

[Fess]

I straigh up can't play shit with m+k, not just tps.

First person games play so much better with mouse and keyboard imo.
That said, I’ve been gaming on PC for 10 years and when I get stressed out I still occasionally press the wrong buttons…

You know what would be perfect?
Quest controller in left hand for analog movement, mouse for the right hand for aiming.

 

[Danjin44]

I also really like New LA in Xenoblade X.

Whats more amazing Monolith Soft achieved this with very under powered system.

 

[GymWolf]

I also really like New LA in Xenoblade X.

Whats more amazing Monolith Soft achieved this with very under powered system.

Is it like a mix of fantasy and modern reality?

 

[Danjin44]

Is it like a mix of fantasy and modern reality?

Xenoblade X is way more sci-fi than fantasy.

 

[teokrazia]

Red Dead Redemption 2 and is not even close.
Previously for many years it was Shadow of Chernobyl.

An none of Ubi, Sony or Bethsda shit could come close to it.

 

[Robot Carnival]

edit: wrong thread

 

[R6Rider]

I'd also like to shout out Watch Dogs 2.

The NPC interactions with you and the world is really good and most importantly, fun.

 

[BigBeauford]

KCD2 is absolutely mind-blowing. It makes Skyrim look like a proof of concept.

It think what's most impressive is where they made the right concessions with the simulation aspects to still make it feel like a video game. Obviously they could have made you eat 3 meals a day, have to carry around a bag to put your stuff in, ect.

 

[RoboFu]

it's not even contest. Everything in the games reacts to what's going on. Everything

 

[Fbh]

RDR2.
I might not be a fan of the Rockstar gameplay or mission design, but no one beats them in terms of detailed and alive feeling worlds. Most studios don't come close to being able to afford the money and time it takes to focus as much on the little details.

 

[nemiroff]

31 posts before the.mention of KCD2? Come on guys, you should be able do better than that...

KCD2
RDR2

Cyberpunk should've been at the top, but it wasn't even close

 

[existensmaximum]

How much interaction do you have with random people walking around irl on a regular basis? The illusion is lost when every NPC greets you or starts on some random quip/observation while walking around.

I disagree. If you can't interact or even have a conversation with them they feel like lifeless props to me, and the illusion is lost.

I at least want to have the option.

 

[boo]

Those side stories in Xenoblade Chronicles X that involve NPCs, something to look forward to.

 

[Ikutachi]

Shenmue. NPCs don't have the same daily routine during the four in-game months it has to offer. That's a lot of life went into it when you consider you can finish the story in only one game's month.