I loved Hollow Knight except for the same issue. By the time I gain a new traversal skill, I have so many paths to explore that I can't remember them. Became all about meticulous backtracking, gave up.
Decided to give it another go. This time I found a map online, removed all icons and edited the image so it was just a simple outline with no spoilers. Printed it out. Marked it with notes and colour-coded symbols as I played. Made more progress, and exploration was way more fun.
Then I moved house and lost the map... I really love the game but just haven't gotten the desire to try again just yet. No idea how everyone does it with just those way-too-limited in game map markers
Well it's been a while, so either I still managed to get lost with that, or I completely missed that mechanic... Well, I think even if I were told what area I should be in, I'd still feel like I needed to check off the 3 new paths I can now go down of the 15 currently locked to me. If that makes sense. I miss my map...
You can just beat the crap out of everything with the wrench and the only consequence for death is... Moving 40 ft to a vitachamber. Bioshock is a great game but yeah you should just try to finish it, it's great.
The Witcher 3. Game looks great and fun but I spend so much time trying to upgrade my gear but it never felt that I got any stronger. Maybe I will revisit and look up a guide our something.
Darks Souls 3, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Skyrim.
I love RPGs but hate boss fights, for some reason. Once I feel I've done enough exploration and character development, I invariably lose all interest close to the last boss.
Do you not want to find out how the game ends? I think I get it, though, since I'd just make up endings I preferred for books with endings I didn't like.
Not really, and I think that's because in many games I play primarily to experience the world, find new items, and generally explore. The story itself usually takes a back seat and is rarely the thing driving me forward.
One counterpoint to that, off the top of my head, is Journey, which I always play through to the end scene.
BOTW is a beautiful game. But the complex controls and the fact that all weapons simply break would have had me sinking hours over hours into the game.
Honestly, the point of BoTW isn’t the ending. It’s much more about the adventure and exploration. I turned off all the HUD stuff and just enjoyed exploring the world. By the time I fought Gannon, it was trivial because of how powerful Link had become.
But it was worth beating it because
Tap for spoiler
after Gannon and finishing the main DLC quests, you get a sick dirt bike and get to tear ass around Hyrule like it’s an open world Mario Kart.
Nah, Zelda games don’t typically save once you beat them. You get a little star on your save file, I think, but otherwise, it drops you back to the save right before you fought Ganon so you can do all the side quests if you want. (If you’re a completionist, good luck finding all 1000 Korok seeds.)
I found the first half of master mode to be really fun too. Eventually, you level up enough that it’s not that much harder but at first, you have to basically play in stealth mode and avoid fights or use trickery. (Eventually, you level up enough that it’s almost easier because the monsters are all stronger and it’s easier to get good weapons/shields.)
Good to know, I guess I'll finally get around to slaying him then! I have done all the side quests, all the shrines, and all the DLC (all on Master Mode), but I have no interest in finding the remaining 400+ Korok seeds
Zelda combat gives me way too many heart palpations. I also tried for like 2 hours to take down a guardian with shield blocking (eventually did) and I really don't think I got any better at it.
Yeah, same. Getting past Guardians in BoTW required relying heavily on save scumming until I managed to get it right. Any fight that needed flurry rush was also always a disaster.
Oh, you can finish it up pretty quickly when you decide to. Just make a b-line for where all the big dungeons obviously are. You don't need much for gear.
Yeah, Back when I was a kid we used to roam those point and click adventures a lot. We'd get stuck all the times. Sometimes a friend would have an idea and we'd make some progress. But the internet was slow and we still had dialup. I guess there weren't that much walkthroughs available. At least not in the parts of the internet I knew my way around... Yeah, and English is my second language. So information was kinda scarce antways, before I learned the main language of the internet in school... Everything developed and now I have everything available. I even have those old games sitting on an SD card on a Raspberry Pi and waiting for me. I really should finish that game at some point. On the flipside, I'm an adult now and it's difficult to find the time to play point and click adventures all day long 😆
And regarding the items: I tried ManiacMansion, which I believe is included in DOTT. That's properly impossible without an expert at your side.
Been meaning to go back and finish Subnautica. I had a good time with it but one sea moth got destroyed bc I couldn't find the zap key in time and I got ejected from another when it was really deep and couldn't go back down and get it without collecting more resources.
I enjoyed the game but I wish it was like 10% easier with QoL improvements, like having a bigger inventory, your ship respawns, etc.
I highly recommend giving Subnautica another shot. It quickly became one of my all-time favorites. The devs have gone back and made improvements and even brought some buildables and minor features from Below Zero into the original game. It's not perfect and you could still potentially lose a seamoth to a bug but I was able to finish it on hardcore mode (one death erases your save) if that tells you anything about stability.
There’s a UI mod that makes a world of difference. Adds categories and columns for sorting, one of the categories is junk so you know what you can just trash without worries. Another is a weight/value ratio so its easier to drop heavy armor that looks sort of valuable but really isnt. It saves an incredible amount of time. Game still takes forever to beat if you wanna do all the quests.
The sword fighting becomes way easier once you unlock some skills through training. The first time I played I didn't know about the training and it took me way longer than it should have to figure it out. Maybe you already know about that, but just in case you missed that like I did at first, thought I'd mention it.
I haven't played in a good while, but just sneaking through the forests poaching deer (to cook because the second it's cooked it's not suspicious at all that I have 500 pounds of meat for sale) is one of the more satisfying hunting in games experience I've had.
(Edit: it's $3 on PSN right now. I have it on steam but I can't resist rebuying to have on both at that price.)
Mount and Blade, both titles
Kingdom Come Deliverance
Elden Ring
Ghost Recon Wildlands
I've got untold hours into Ghost Recon, but once they released the permadeath ghost mode, it's the only way I play. I even made a youtube guide on how to speed run the first hour for various perks. Sure I could beat the game in normal mode, but it just seems too easy.