Support NeoGAF

[Drizzlehell]

So many open world games out there that simply don't get that aspect right. If you're gonna be spending like 60% of the time bumbling around that giant map, then at least make sure that the act of getting from place to place is enjoyable, otherwise you're just walking. I can go out if I wanted to do that, right? Hell, it's even worse in video games because at least when you go on a walk in IRL then you at least get some cardio out of it, with a slight chance of seeing something interesting, like a car crash or a hot chick wiggling her ass around.

Anyway, I think my first best pick would be Spider-Man for the PS4, because it turns its swinging mechanics into a literal Tony Hawk-style trick minigame and the feeling of speed and momentum while swinging between the skyscrapers is just great

And my second best pick is the Just Cause series, because driving a car at dangerously high speed is probably the most pedestrian and boring way that you can travel in that game, while surfing a military jet into a giant propane tank and jumping off of it at the last minute and pulling yourself to the ground with a zipline while an atomic blast is going off behind your back ranks up there among the most awesome.

 

[Jennings]

Traversal: City of Heroes. Super Jump FTW

Combat: Auto Assault. Pew pew pew

 

[Benniewise de Clown]

From all the games I've played, it's probably Infamous: Second Son.

Just loved the fluidity and speed of the neon-powers.

 

[Topher]

Batman and Spider-man. Web-slinging through Manhattan is incredible. Grappling/gliding through the Arkham is great as well. Similar combat tactics since Batman is pretty much the template for these types of games. Spider-man did an excellent job extending that formula into the web combat.

 

[Teslerum]

Personally, Prototype.

 

[SmokedMeat]

I mean, how on earth do you go against Spiderman?

So let’s just figure out second best. Sunset Overdrive is up there for sure. I’d go Mad Max as well, because combat was so satisfying, and the grappling hook/harpoon on your car just made for some fun combat as well.

 

[oji-san]

I remember liking Prototype and Infamous games, Batman Arkham is also very fun traversal. Those are all cool but tbh i think i like riding a motorcycle the most in open world games, it's fast and not big as a car so you can ride in small spaces.
edit: Saints Row 4 also had you as super hero powers and cool traversal.

 

[fart town usa]

I really enjoyed Ghostwire: Tokyo though it's certainly not the best.

Just Cause 2 is easily the most entertaining that I've experienced. Grappling fighter jets to the runway right before they take flight is so effing hilarious. They immediately nosedive and then fly erratic as shit cause they can't go anywhere. Same with grappling rockets to enemies and then shooting said rocket so the enemy is dragged through air while rag dolling. It's absolute chaos in the best way.

 

[Topher]

I mean, how on earth do you go against Spiderman?

So let’s just figure out second best. Sunset Overdrive is up there for sure. I’d go Mad Max as well, because combat was so satisfying, and the grappling hook/harpoon on your car just made for some fun combat as well.

I think Mad Max has, by far, the best car combat ever in a game. Damn.....talk about a game that needs a sequel.

 

[Fuz]

Prototype was pretty cool in that regard.

 

[Guilty_AI]

Racing games in general fit well with open worlds, especially if the driving mechanics are tight.

So my pick goes for Driver San Francisco

 

[Larxia]

Sunset Overdrive for me. So much fun, that feeling of keeping your combo going, with a unified combo merging both your traversal tricks and your combat actions, a constant neverending flow.
I would really love to play Gravity Rush though because I feel like it could be one of my favorites from what I've seen and tried (the demo on a friend's ps4), but I'd need a PC port for that.

It's not open world since it's multiple zones, but Kingdom Hearts 3 is also incredibly fun both in its movements and combats, and if KH4 follows the same in a more open world design, it could be my first pick.

 

[ironmang]

Sunset Overdrive
Just Cause 2

 

[Gamerguy84]

Traversal Days Gone for me. Loved cruising on my Harley Davidson so much that I only used fast travel one time just to see what it was like.

My HD was upgraded to the max and no matter how long the distance I always drove.

Honorable mentions Spiderman and Infamous.

 

[lughnasadh123]

I don't need hypermobility to have fun in an open world game. Even walking is an enjoyable act taking in the world around me and is far more than just getting from point to point as it provides a crucial immersive element that makes everything feel cohesive.

Days gone might rank up the highest solely because the bike felt so fucking good to be on. Shooting was also fun particularly the oh shit moments of trying to take on some of the bigger hordes.

Also anything with flying. Give us more flying please.

 

[Hohenheim]

I almost never used the quick travel in Cyberpunk, as I loved driving around and watching all the stuff goin on in that city.

 

[Chukhopops]

- Sunset overdrive
- Breath of the wild (glider, stasis ride)
- Morrowind with jump potions

 

[Black_Stride]

Just Cause 2 - Probably one of the greatest sequels of all time.

Prototype 1 and 2 - I made so many gifs of just running around jumping everywhere....then minus stopped hosting images and took all my gifs.(if imgur shuts down tomorrow im fucked)

Sunset Overdrive - Keeping your combo going was as satisfying as Tony Hawk, underrated game because it came out on Xbox One. I really should replay this game. My Cheerleader was cute as hell.

Gravity Daze - So relaxing.

 

[bender]

Just Cause 2 - Grappling Hook, Paraglider
Breath of The Wild - Korok Leaf
Shadow of the Colossus - Agro
Morrowind - Lore based fast travel system, exploitable/almost game breaking magic system
GTA: SA - Best variety in vehicles and vehicle physics
Spider-Man 2 - best/deepest web slinging mechanics

 

[Evolved1]

Kinda crazy the Hulk game on OG Xbox is still more fun than most modern super hero games.

 

[Zannegan]

Movement is one of my favorite parts of gameplay. It doesn't get enough focus, but there are a few every generation that knock it out of the park for one reason or another:

• PS2/Xbox/GC
  • Spiderman 2/Ultimate Spiderman - innovative, physics-based swinging
• 360/PS3/Wii
  • Crackdown - vertical traversal/agility orbs
  • Just Cause 2 - para-zipping/hijacking
  • Banjo-Kazooie: N&B - you could build some amazing vehicles
• Wii U/PS4/XB1/Switch
  • inFamous: Second Son - everything but concrete was ace
  • Gravity Rush - needs no explanation
  • Breath of the Wild - vertical traversal/gliding
  • Dying Light - excellent parkour

I'm sure there are some that I've forgotten, and there are a lot that I have yet to get to, too (Spiderman 2018, Halo Infinite, Sunset Overdrive, etc.). I
m really looking forward to trying the traversal from some of the VR games as well, but those are rarely open world.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Great answers so far. Also, is it weird that I really liked driving around in Far Cry 4? Not the best traversal, mind you, but I was surprised by how much I dug it.

 

[Rush2112]

Elden ring has the best mounted combat in any action game, ever.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Gravity Daze - So relaxing.

Awww si, kat is the best

 

[Laptop1991]

Traversal, on horse watching the world go by then it's AC Valhalla, Odyssey and Origin's, on foot then it's The Elder Scroll's games, and the 3D Fallout's also The Witcher 3,

As for combat, i'm not a souls fan so i don't like those long boss battle fight's, The Dragon in Valhalla Forgotten saga was really annoying lol, i don't really mind or complain about the combat too much, i like it in all those games, it did take me a while to get the hang of The Witcher 3 combat though, it put me off playing the game for a while until i got the hang of it.

 

[Thebonehead]

VR
Flight Simulator / DCS world

Do it your own way ( Fly / Drive / Skydive / Grapple )
GTA / Just Cause 3 / Halo Infinite / Batman

Traditional ( One way of getting around.)
Sunset Overdrive / Spiderman / Mirrors Edge

Enjoy the scenery
Read Dead Redemption 2

 

[Daneel Elijah]

Of the ones already said in the thread I completely agree with Spiderman and GTA San andreas. GTA have the jet pack and Spiderman is obvious.
I am surprised that no one said Death Stranding. The game is all about going from a point A to a point B after all, and some of the options given mid game are so satisfying to do...

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Astral Dog]

SpiderMan

 

[TintoConCasera]

Traversal: BOTW, jumping off high places and flying around never felt old.

Combat: Dragon's Dogma. I love climbing big monsters and fucking them up alongside my pawns, never gets old. It's also very fun while fighting mobs of smaller enemies, since all of them have differenr behaviors.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Traversal and Combat: InFamous 1 & 2.... by a mile.

Special mention: Prototype

 

[Cattlyst]

Infamous 2nd Son’s traversal was cool. That neon and smoke shit was interesting. Game looked amazing too, like actually next gen at the start of the PS4 age. Good game too.

 

[Teslerum]

People should really try Prototype if they haven't.

 

[The artful mincer]

Just cause 2 surely has to be one of the most influential games that nobody gives any credit to.

Think how many games have grappling hook these days and how fluidly it was originally implemented in Just cause 2.

 

[BennyBlanco]

People should really try Prototype if they haven't.

these games were tight. basically just spiritual succesors to hulk ultimate destruction without the license.

 

[The artful mincer]

Loads of people have already mentioned the Infamous games however changing into the bats in infamous Festival of the blood deserves a special mention

 

[Azurro]

Whichever has the fastest fast travel. Traversal is easily the worst part of open world games, it's annoying no matter what.

 

[AndrewRyan]

Spiderman2, Prototype, Bayonetta 3 with the roller skate things and and for VR I'll say Sairento VR and Windlands 2. Curious what others think for VR.

 

[sandbood]

Skell in XenoX

 

[RaduN]

(Ziplines in) Death Stranding.

Noticing a zipline far in the distance, just close enough to connect to a new one, over an otherwise, hellishly difficult terrain, is a feeling like no other.

 

[Husky]

For traversal, Dying Light and Sunset Overdrive are the two that come to mind for me. Dying Light felt very liberating, it unbound the shackles I'd started to find so annoying in other games. Suddenly I was allowed to use even the most minor of maneuvers that I'd found myself wishing for, such as stomping and dropkicks. Sunset Overdrive didn't remove my restraints, instead it said, "you see that car? You can bounce on that." It threw a unique set of mechanics at me, very cool.

For open world combat, I think Sleeping Dogs, The Witcher 3, and Dragon's Dogma did it best for me. Crazy good times.

 

[Goon_Bong]

Shadow of Modor/War came straight to mind.

Nothing completely out of the playbook but getting around felt smooth and everything felt like it was just far enough away to be satisfying.

 

[poppabk]

Traversal - Just Cause 2
Combat - Sleeping Dogs
Surprised no-one has said Crackdown, never played it myself, but I remember people raving about it.

 

[Topher]

Shadow of Modor/War came straight to mind.

Nothing completely out of the playbook but getting around felt smooth and everything felt like it was just far enough away to be satisfying.

How in the world did that franchise die?

 

[Goon_Bong]

How in the world did that franchise die?

 

[Topher]

 

[kiphalfton]

Surprisingly jumping, sliding, and hookshot in Halo Infinite could create some real momentum. But that was really only good for going down slopes.

I'd also say Zelda Breath of the Wild in the same vein, when you're surfing down hills in the rain on top of your shield. I don't particularly care for the game, but that was freaking cool as well as some of the other stuff you can do that really opened up the game gameplay wise compared to the older games.

 

[01011001]

 

[kiphalfton]

Kinda crazy the Hulk game on OG Xbox is still more fun than most modern super hero games.

People should really try Prototype if they haven't.

Evolved1 meet T Teslerum

 

[Drizzlehell]

Traversal, on horse watching the world go by then it's AC Valhalla, Odyssey and Origin's, on foot then it's The Elder Scroll's games, and the 3D Fallout's also The Witcher 3,

As for combat, i'm not a souls fan so i don't like those long boss battle fight's, The Dragon in Valhalla Forgotten saga was really annoying lol, i don't really mind or complain about the combat too much, i like it in all those games, it did take me a while to get the hang of The Witcher 3 combat though, it put me off playing the game for a while until i got the hang of it.

As much as I love Witcher 3, traversal itself in that game unfortunately doesn't rank very high on my list. I'd even call it downright annoying due to how often that stupid horse still refuses to go where I want it to, even in this latest next-gen version.

What saves that game is the open world, which is very immersive and fun to explore. But horseback riding? Sucks ass.